I unfortunately don't own any of the characters in the HP series the belong to Mrs Rowling. I would like to thank for the review's I've received. I really appreciate them! Thanks a lot!

Mpe! Do you really think it would be fun if it were as easy?

The dementor

Feeling quite awake, Harry went to the bathroom for a well-needed shower.

His trunk was standing in a corner, with all of his things thrown into it. Harry who didn't want to experience Mrs Weasley's wrath, started to sort through it. He was in a bad mood, when putting Hedwig into her cage, he'd found the missing potion's book. In the trunk!

He had just managed to persuade Hedwig to enter her cage, when Ron banged his way into the room, looking irritable.

"Percy won't stop nagging, he's now accusing me of dripping tea on his photograph of Penelope Clearwater…" Ron went on complaining about Percy whilst Harry pulled on a sweatshirt. Fred and George looked in to congratulate Ron at once again infuriating Percy. They all hurried down to breakfast, where Mr Weasley was reading the front page of the Daily Prophet with a frown. Mrs Weasley, Hermione and Ginny sat giggling at something Mrs Weasley was telling them.

Percy stormed in and was greeted by the twins grinning faces. Percy's face went ashen at the sight, afraid of what was coming.

Harry didn't know why, but Ron and Hermione were arguing again. At the worst possible moment too, they were all busy heaving the trunks downstairs. Finally, Mrs Weasley lost her temper with them and snapped at them, leaving both casting cold glares at each other. With Percy's casting worried looks at the twins, it was a tense partythatfinally got out of the Pub and into the waiting green ministry cars.

When they arrived to Kings Cross, the drivers found them trolleys and unloaded their trunks before driving off. Harry walked with Mr Weasley at his back into the station.

"Right then" Said Mr Weasley, glancing around them. "Let's do this in pairs." Harry stepped forward with a bored look. "Um…Mr Weasley, it's not as if someone's going to jump…" He trailed of, getting a stern look. "Humour me, Harry. Right then, Harry" Harry walked over to the barrier between platforms nine and ten, together with Mr Weasley, who gave him a meaningful look and leaned against the barrier. Together they fell sideways trough the solid metal onto platform nine and three quarters. The scarlet steam engine was puffing smoke over the platform, which was packed with wizards and witches seeing their children of. Ginny and Percy stepped through behind Harry. Percy left without a glance towards his girlfriend, chest thrown out so that she wouldn't miss the shiny badge. On his back, a piece of paper declared that the HB stood for Bighead boy and that he liked cuddling with his teddy bear, scruffs.

When the rest of the family arrived, they loaded their trunks and cages into an empty looking carriage.

Mrs Weasley kissed all of her children, then Hermione. Harry stepped forward with his arms spread out waiting for a big hug. He appreciated them more now that he knew that they could disappear one day. Mrs Weasley got tears in her eyes and started fussing with his hair after giving him an extra hug. "Do take care, Harry." She sniffed and then started handing out sandwiches. Mr Weasley was giving Harry confused looks. "Stay away from Black, Harry. If he's innocent well find out eventually, but stay away for my sake." Harry didn't want to argue with him and so, only nodded in response.

Harry boarded the train with Ron and Hermione who had been waiting for him. After Ron had kicked Ginny out of the compartment, they were seated. Ron stared at the shabby looking wizard seated in one of the seats. "Who do you reckon he is?" Ron whispered whilst Hermione slid the door shut.

"Oh, that's Remus." Said Harry at the same time as Hermione said, "Professor R.J.Lupin." Ron looked between the both, confused. "How'd you know that?"

"Well, it's on his case" replied Hermione, pointing at the luggage rack over the man's head. "How do you know him, Harry?" she asked. Harry who hadn't meant to say anything at all just shrugged. "Wonder what he teaches?" Said Ron, looking suddenly alarmed at the identical facial expression on Harry and Hermione. "That's pretty obvious, isn't it?" Whispered Hermione with a superior tone, looking at Harry. "Defence against the dark arts!" they exclaimed together, laughing. Ron who was still casting confused looks at the other two didn't react. "Harry you're not allowed to read any more books." Was all he said before moving away from Hermione's out stretched hand, which struck out at him.

Harry started a conversation on Quiddich and Hermione sighed, grabbing a book. After arguing over who was going to make the most goals this year out of the four houses, Ron got into the topic of Hogsmead. Harry groaned, he wasn't allowed to go, his permission slip wasn't signed. "Well, it's probably for the best anyway." Hermione started at the look Ron gave her. "Black, Ron. Black is one of you-know…"

"He is not!" Harry screamed, standing up. "My godfather is not a death eater!" Hermione looked shocked and Ron was pointing at something behind Harry.

Harry quickly turned, expecting Remus to be awake, but found that the older man was still sleeping soundly. "Sorry." He whispered at Hermione and sat down heavily. "Sirius isn't a…" He stopped talking immediately. He had forgotten all about Peter being Scabbers, and Scabbers being in Ron's pocket. Seeing the confused looks Ron and Hermione was giving him he quickly tried to come up with something to say, only to be saved by Crookshank.

"Don't let that thing near me." Ron said, eying the stretching cat. "Ron. He can't be locked inside the basket the whole trip. Can you Crookshank?" Hermione stated irritable. Crookshank settled in an empty seat, yellow eyes on Ron's pocket. Harry, who wouldn't mind if Crookshank got a nice little rat dinner before school started, turned towards the window. The landscape out side had changed as much as the weather, dark clouds were gathering further away, promising rain.

After stocking up on sweets from the food trolley, which left with more Galleons and considerably less sweets, Harry and Ron started up the Quiddich conversation again, much to Hermione's dismay.

A couple of hours later when the rain had started hammering against the window, their compartment door slid up revealing, Draco Malfoy and his two cronies Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle.

Harry knowing what Malfoy had been forced to do, and how it all ended, found that he couldn't dislike the other boy anymore. Maybe the paler boy noticed a change in his rival, because he paused at the sight of Harry, looking suddenly unsure.

"Hello, Malfoy. Bad weather isn't it. It won't be fun getting out at Hogsmead if it continues…" Harry trailed of, seeing the shocked looks on the three Slytherin boys' and the absolutely scandalised look Ron was giving him.

"Right. How was your summer?" Harry tried again to get a response from any of the boys and again they just stared at him. Harry felt a little disturbed with the silence and wished that someone else would open his or her mouth. After giving Harry a confused and suspicious look, the blond boy motioned for his friends too follow and left, never actually saying a word. Harry feeling a little put out at the lack of response, sighed and closed his eyes. He therefore missed the astounded looks on his friend's faces.

"Um, Harry? Are you all right? I mean, you were just friendly, with MALFOY!" Ron screamed the last part, to shocked to remember Professor Lupin in the corner. Luckily, the older man didn't wake up.

"Well do we have to fight with them?" Harry was getting sleepy, and the diminished light didn't help at all. The trains rattling and the rain hammering against the window glass, was like a lullaby to Harry's tired mind.

The train suddenly came to a jolt and Harry found himself waking up, shocked that he'd fallen asleep in the first place.

Harry froze, how could he have forgotten. He grew cold, fear taking over. All the lights had gone out and he heard Ron and Hermione's worried voices. "LUMOS!" Harry not wanting to sit and wait for his greatest fear in the darkness, lit his wand. The worried eyes of Ron and Hermione meet his.

"There's something moving out there." Whispered Ron who was peering out the window. "I think people are coming on board…" Suddenly Neville fell in, shielding his eyes from the sudden light coming from Harry's wand. "What's going on?" He asked, yelping in fear when Crookshank hissed at him. He had almost sat on the cat, not looking at the seat, before sitting down. Hermione stood, telling them that she was going to go and talk to the conductor. However, before she got to the door, it slid open and Ginny entered. "What's happening?" she sat down next to Ron. "No idea." He answered, looking at Harry who had his eyes closed in what looked like pain. "Harry?" They were all looking at him now.

Harry himself was surprised, he hadn't been this affected by Dementor's before. It wasn't even close yet, and still it felt as if it was standing right next to him. Without being conscious of his actions, he lifted his wand. He didn't hear his friends terrified grasps at the sight of the dark creature or Remus trying to discuss with it, all he knew was that it had to leave.

"Expecto…" Cedric Diggory and Sirius died. "Expecto patro…" Dumbledore's pleading eyes looking at Snape. "Expecto patron…" the letter, telling him of his friends. His friends!

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" the absolute joy of knowing that his friends were alive and well. The knowledge, that he had the power to save Cedric, Sirius and Dumbledore from death. He was filled with so much hope, so much joy that it felt as if he was about to burst.

A light so bright, it made the rest in the compartment scream in shock, emitted from Harry's wand. Neville, who was seated next to Harry, didn't utter a sound. He closed his eyes and seemed to be in peace.

Then the most horrible screech ever heard, tore through the compartment. The sound sent shivers down Harry's spine. The light continued to shine from Harry's wand, only now the blinding white light had a golden tint to it. Harry thought he heard the sound of a phoenix singing, but the screeching sound made it hard to hear properly.

Suddenly it stopped. It got eerily quiet. Harry who felt as if his head was made of stone felt his eyes roll up into his head. The blinding light ended and Harry found himself surrounded by darkness.

"Harry! HARRY!" someone was calling him out of the peaceful nothingness he'd been resting in. "Harry!"

Harry opened his eyes, and had a very disturbing sense of déjà vu. He had fainted, again! Malfoy was going to be ruthless. "Great. Just great…" He said, not aware that it was said aloud. "Harry, how do you feel?" Remus was standing over him, looking almost in awe. Harry looked at the others and caught Ron looking away in something akin to fear. "What happened?" He asked looking at Remus. Remus looked away, "I really don't know Harry, but I don't think the Dementor's are going to cause you any more problems." Harry didn't understand anything, why wouldn't the Dementor cause him any more problem. "Harry, where did you learn to do the Patronus charm?" Remus asked, as if it just hit him. "Um…" Harry didn't think that telling Remus, that Remus had been the one to teach him the charm would be such a good idea. To tired to speak, he sat up on one of the seats and closed his eyes. "Here, eat this." Remus handed him a chocolate bar and then left the compartment to speak with the conductor.

Nobody dared to say a word after Remus had left. The train soon started moving, and Harry tried to figure out what had happened. He remembered feeling cold but after that, it was only this strong white light, which figured in Harry's mind. "Um, Hermione!.What happened?" He opened his eyes and found that they all still were looking at him. "Well, that thing. The Dementor, that is. It looked into our compartment and Professor Lupin told it to leave. And you… You did some charm, Oh Harry! It was horrible. It screamed and then it just… The robe or whatever it was wearing, just fell down and it was gone. There was nothing in it." The others nodded, as to agree with her statement. "It disappeared? I…I killed it?" Harry looked at them in shock. "But the Patronus can't kill them, it only drives them away." the others looked at him, confused. "Harry, how did you know that charm?" Hermione asked. "Can I borrow the book?" She then added, whilst Ron snorted.

"Oh, grow up Ron. This is important! It could be on our OWL's." Ron groaned. "Hermione. We're not taking the OWL's until our fifth year, you can't start studying for that now." "And when do you propose, we should start then? One week before the test's." She sighed, when Ron actually nodded his approval. "Oh, really."

Harry who had eaten up his chocolate bar, felt a little better, but still to weak to move. "We will be at Hogwarts in a couple of minuets" Said Remus, who was back. "Are you feeling all right, Harry?" Harry nodded, and gave the Professor a tired smile.

Finally, the train stopped and they got out, into the pouring, ice-cold rain.

"Firs-years this way!" Called the familiar voice of Hagrid, the groundkeeper. Harry waved at him before climbing into a carriage, glad he didn't have to go on a boat.

Ron and Hermione keep looking at him, as though frightened he'd surprise them with some more magical tricks. As they passed the gates, Harry saw two more Dementor's and was shocked to see that they quickly moved away from their post's as their carriage passed. It was as if they were afraid. Harry didn't notice the cold as much as before, and didn't question it.

As they stepped out of the carriage, Harry found that the students around him were all looking at him with curiosity. "Great." Was all Harry had to say before entering the castle. He caught Malfoy's eye and was surprised when the blond boy didn't gloat.

"Potter. Granger. I want to see you both." Hermione looked at Harry, who turned towards Ron. "Save us seats, will you." Ron nodded and continued to walk into the Great Hall casting a last glace back. Harry followed the Transfiguration teacher, with limp steps. He was wearier than he had thought.

They entered her office and Professor McGonagall motioned for them to sit. "Professor Lupin sent an owl, telling me you got ill on the train, Mr Potter." Harry didn't get a chance to respond however. There was a knock on the door and then Madam Pomfrey entered.

"Oh, it's you." She said before bending over him, motioning with her wand. "It was a Dementor, Poppy" Said Professor McGonagall. However, Madam Pomfrey wasn't listening. She was motioning with her wand over Harry, repeatedly, with a frown.

"Now this doesn't make any sense. What were you doing Mr Potter?" She moved over to the fireplace and stepped through without waiting for a reply. She soon came back with a steaming goblet. "Since I doubt that you'll come with me down to the hospital wing, I want you to drink this pepper up potion. In addition, you are to go straight to bed after the feast! Is that clear?" Harry swallowed the last of the potion felling much better, and nodded to her.

"Promise." He said for good measure. The school nurse just snorted and left. "Mr Potter, could you kindly wait outside whilst I have a quick word with Miss Granger." He only had to wait for a short moment, before Hermione appeared looking extremely happy about something. Followed by Professor McGonagall they entered the Great Hall.

Harry and Hermione got seated on either side of Ron. "What was that all about?" Ron asked. But before any of them had the chance to explain the headmaster stood and addressed the school. "Welcome!" he said "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I have a few things to say before we start our excellent feast." He cleared his throat and looked out at the students.

Harry didn't hear a word of what Dumbledore said, to busy staring at the headmaster. Alive! Dumbledore was alive and well. Harry was shaken out of his stupor when the students clapped for Professor Lupin. He quickly joined in, and when the headmaster announced that Hagrid was the new Care of magical creatures he clapped loudly, remembering how happy Hagrid had been to be appointed.

After eating, they walked up and congratulated Hagrid. Harry, who was starting to get tired again, leaned against the head table.

They soon left for the common room and after Percy declared that the new Password was Fortuna Major they entered. Harry heard Neville groan at the changed password.

They all climbed up the stairs, and Harry fell down on the bed. Fast asleep before he even hit it.