Off to another exciting chapter, I am having a lot of fun with Prisoner of Azkaban!

I just wanted to preface with a point on the boggarts from last chapter. I really enjoyed putting everything together and wanted to say I did do some research about them. It was mentioned online that those with Lord Voldemort as a boggart, Riddikulus turns him into a dummy, so that's why I chose the doll. I also wanted to say that I did struggle with finding things that were funny, especially when most everyone's was so serious.

Happy reading everyone!

When I hurried past the fat lady, I quickly ran up to my room, ignoring the looks from my friends.

My mother had dated Sirius Black? The idea itself seemed preposterous, inconceivable… impossible. This was the man who had betrayed her, all of them.

My mind was reeling from behind the closed red curtains since I had wanted to remain undisturbed from my dormmates. Aster came over to sit on my chest and I methodically started running my finger over their wings and I tried to will myself to sleep. Apparently, Aster seemed to like this, and I wanted answers. I just had to fall asleep. Eventually, I did end up falling into a restless sleep and tried to summon my own dreams. If my family didn't want to tell me the truth about Sirius Black, then maybe my mother would.

I was walking in the pitch black of my dream, willing a memory to appear that would provide any necessary information. But I had never done this before.

I tried calling his name.

"Sirius," I called out, feeling a little hopeless. "Sirius!" I repeated again, with more volume.

A scene started to appear around me. When it finally came into a focus, I realized I was on a familiar looking street. There was also a black-haired man running towards me.

"Lena!" he called frantically.

"Sirius, where have you been?" I asked with equal hysteria.

We turned to stare at the Potter residence.

"Are they….?" he asked in a frightened whisper.

I felt my body convulse under stress.

"I can't, not again," I started, feeling the sobs escape.

Sirius Black put his arms around me and tightly pressed me against his body, almost as if trying to keep us both standing.

"We can't leave them," he whispered into my hair, wet from his tears.

"I know."

He hesitantly pulled away but didn't let go of my hand as we started towards the house with great hesitation.

"He might still be inside," Sirius said wearily, trying to put an edge into his voice.

"He's not, I already saw him leave," I replied, feeling a shudder crawl up my spine.

"What!?" Sirius asked incredulously.

"Not now," I said, almost whimpering.

We were now paused at the door with Sirius' other hand on the doorknob. He inhaled deeply, as if trying to summon the ability to open it, before turning the handle and propping it open. The hallway was darkened, and it felt as if my blood had frozen inside my body. The tears were a continuing steam down my face, but the sobs had subsided for now.

I took out my wand. "Lumos."

I braced myself as we walked into the short hallway before looking into the den. I knew James was right off the entryway.

Sirius' agonized cry was evidence enough that he had spotted his proclaimed brother lying on the floor. I didn't want to see him again, but I knew I couldn't let Sirius alone. I allowed myself to crumple to the floor, more out of necessity since I felt I could no longer stand. It was too much to bear.

"That bastard!" Sirius suddenly shouted.

"I think he's gone now," I said meekly.

"Not him! Wormtail!" he continued.

"What do you mean?" I could hear the disbelief in my mother's voice.

I could also tell she didn't want to hear the answer.

"I'm going to kill him!" Sirius continued with vengeance and hate coursing through his voice.

It was terrifying.

I woke up with a start and was thankful to see the red curtains of my four-poster bed surrounding me. Aster was looking at me with concern since I had startled them awake. Carefully, I put Aster onto the pillow before throwing back the curtains and running towards the washroom. I felt like I was going to be sick. I had had this dream before, but it had never gone this far. The feelings my mother felt were like my own and now I felt crippled with grief. I ran some cold water on my face and tried to even out my breathing. It took several moments before I could even lift my head again. The walls of the dormitory seemed too confined, I needed some space. I quickly threw on some pants and the jumper that Mrs. Weasley had made me before heading out of the room. I was almost jogging down the stairs with my head looking down when I bumped into someone on their way up.

"Marnie!" Angelina exclaimed.

I looked up at her to apologize but saw the anxiety on her face.

"What's happened?" I asked worriedly.

I didn't think I could take anything she was about to say.

"It's Sirius Black, he's just tried to get into the common room!" she said frantically.

I blanched, feeling the nausea rising again.

"Professor McGonagall is taking us all to the Great Hall, I was just on my way to come get you," she continued.

I didn't reply but followed at her brisk pace to the common room where everyone was quickly gathering.

"Hare!" I heard Fred say anxiously from across the room.

He was coming over at a hurried pace.

"Are you alright?" he asked worriedly, surveying my face.

He obviously saw something I hadn't been able to hide.

"What did you see?" he asked in a whisper to avoid others hearing.

"I saw him," I replied uneasily, unsure if the words had even left my lips.

"He won't hurt you, I promise," Fred said confidently, bringing me into a protective embrace.

"Gryffindor's follow me!" I heard an authoritative sounding Percy order from the entrance of the common room.

Fred released me but took my hand and led me towards the exit. I barely felt my other hand being taken by Harry who was looking at me with concern. I knew he suspected I had had a dream, but there was no way I could tell him. At this moment I was just worried that Sirius Black was going to get his hands on Harry, and I wouldn't be able to defend him.

A new sense of fury started taking hold when I thought about the fact that Sirius Black had somehow been able to enter one of the most secure places in magical Britain which was also currently being guarded by dementors. It shouldn't be possible. And if that couldn't keep him out, how were Harry and I supposed to stop him?

When we arrived at the Great Hall I could see the other houses filing in. I was relieved when I saw Cedric enter the room and made an effort to catch his eye. Despite everything that was going on, I just wanted to ensure he was alright.

"School-wide slumber party?" Cedric asked lightly as he came over, obviously oblivious to the situation.

"Are you daft? Sirius Black tried to get into our common room!" Fred retorted angrily.

I also realized he was still holding my hand. I pulled my hand back and gave him a withering look.

"Well he didn't know that now did he. I just found out about two minutes ago myself so why don't you sod off?" I replied forcefully.

My usual level of patience was non-existent, and I had no time to referee Fred's attitude. Fred shuffled his feet and mumbled an apology before I saw him go off and join George.

"Is it true?" Cedric asked concernedly.

I could see him trying to keep up his confident façade, but the truth was we were all scared.

"Yes, it appears to be," I replied evenly.

My anxiety was currently being overtaken by my level of exhaustion.

"Should I stay with you?" he asked sincerely, the fear now plain on his face.

It was sweet how Cedric obviously cared for me and wanted to protect me but sleeping beside him seemed too intimate for the current state of our relationship.

"I'll be fine Ced, I have Harry and the others to stay with me. You should go be with your friends and stick together," I replied with my own level of concern showing through.

I wanted to make sure he knew how worried I was about him as well.

He gave me a soft smile in return.

"That's the first time you've called me Ced."

He then took my hand and brought it up to his lips before kissing it sweetly. Despite the chaos around us, for a split second, I felt like we were the only two in the room. I somehow felt grounded and weightless at the same time and was thankful to be temporarily brought out of my own anxiety.

"Good-night Mar, sweet dreams," he said softly, dropping my hand back down.

"Good-night Ced, be safe," I replied, reluctant to let him go.

But he nodded and turned around to go and find his friends. I sighed and followed suit, finding my friends in an assortment of states. Although the overall mood was still anxious, the girls were giving me big grins after seeing me with Cedric. Ginny and Hermione were also there, bearing their own grins while the boys rolled their eyes. Fred had an unreadable expression but dropped it quickly before I could decipher anything while Harry looked livid. I guess your maniac godfather trying to kill you and then watching your sister have an intimate moment with her boyfriend was too much to handle. He didn't say a word after that. Ron just scowled when I walked past which just caused Ginny to whack him over the head.

Immune to everyone's reactions, I crawled into the sleeping bag beside Angelina and did my best to ignore her sly grin. However, Alicia and Katie had returned to panicking and I could hear Lee and George trying to calm them down.

Five minutes later, Percy, along with the other prefects, were dimming the lights and ordering everyone to sleep. I closed my eyes and listened to everyone around me fall into their own slumber. But I was plagued by the vivid memories from my dream and was in no state to fall back asleep. It had been one of the worst ones yet, but I guess mum had been trying to warn me what Sirius Black was capable of. He was obviously cunning and resourceful enough to break into the castle undetected and had blatantly vowed to kill who I could only assume was Peter Pettigrew all those years ago. It was disturbing to think what this man was capable of committing.

XXX

Over the next week most everyone was on edge, but that didn't stop anyone from getting hyped about the upcoming quidditch game.

Hufflepuff had replaced Slytherin against Gryffindor since Draco Malfoy was feigning an injured arm due to his mild scuffle with Hagrid's hippogriff.

So I was spending my evenings going back-and-forth between watching both teams' practice. The Hufflepuff team had been skeptical of my close connections with the entire Gryffindor team, but dating the team captain had its perks. So, every night I would bring out my homework to keep up for my OWLs and sit in the stands to support my friends and boyfriend. By the end of the week however, things were seeming a bit tense.

"Marnie, you shouldn't be sitting and watching the Hufflepuff's. It's treason," Ron fumed one night in the common room.

"Ronald!" Hermione scolded. "You're not even on the team, what has gotten into you?"

Ron just grumbled and folded his arms over his chest.

I rolled my eyes at his odd behaviour. This incited a chorus of giggling from the girls who looked at me slyly.

"Cedric is so quiet and mysterious," Katie giggled which caused Lee to sigh and look at me warily.

"Kate, he's not mysterious," I said, wanting to placate the ongoing glares I was constantly receiving from Lee.

"But he is a gentleman," Alicia cut in.

I just rolled my eyes and shrugged. It had been like this all week and I was on the losing side of an up-hill battle. I gave my best apologetic look to Lee. He didn't look impressed.

"The real question is do you have any insider tips? You could be our little spy," George suggested for the tenth time that night.

I turned my exasperated expression towards him, but he just shrugged.

"I know you'll cave eventually."

"I told you I won't tell you anything, just like I don't tell Cedric anything about your strategies," I explained again.

"Who's been leaking Gryffindor quidditch strategies?" Oliver Wood asked frantically when he passed by.

Alicia rolled her eyes.

"No one Oliver, Marnie has kept her word," Angelina reassured their captain.

He gave me a hard look before nodding and continuing up towards the boys' dormitories.

"Everyone should be asleep by nine!" he shouted over his shoulder.

"Good-night Oliver," everyone replied evenly.

Everyone was used to Oliver's high-strung personality when it came quidditch. The poor bloke only wanted to win the cup in his final year.

Obligingly, we did all go to sleep at nine though. Despite how much Oliver annoyed his team, they did respect him and the game. They also wanted to win almost as badly as he did. Almost.

The next morning, I headed out to the pitch with Ron, Hermione and Neville to watch the match. Unfortunately, the rain was torrential and there was no possible way of staying dry. Thankfully, Hermione had been clever enough to put a charm on Harry's glasses, so he would be able to see the snitch better, or at all. The rain was almost like a white sheet.

I could barely see Oliver and Cedric walk towards the middle of pitch to shake hands before taking their places back with their teams. I couldn't hear the whistle over the wind, but moments later all the players were in the air. It was difficult to keep track of everyone since they would disappear into the rain and I could hardly hear Lee, so it was difficult to keep up with the score.

"Blimey it's freezing," Ron shouted from beside me.

The rain had been cool, but it felt like a new, frostier chill was taking hold.

"They've seen it!" Hermione exclaimed from my other side pointing at Harry and Cedric racing for the snitch.

I watched in anticipation but saw Harry stop in his tracks. As the panic started to set in, I stood up and leaned against the wooden rail since we had gotten front-row seats.

There was a billowing, cloaked creature floating in front of Harry.

I cried out his name, but flashes of James' body floated across my vision.

"Harry!" I shouted, worried it was his dead body I was seeing.

"No!" I screamed louder, frantic to get to my brother's body.

I could faintly see him falling through the air and then saw a flash of a motionless body lying on the floor.

"Harry," I said one more time, still trying to reach out my hand to touch him before everything went dark.

xx

"Harry's fallen!" Angelina exclaimed as she quickly dismounted beside George and started to run after Fred.

"Hare will never forgive me," Fred muttered to himself.

He approached Harry's unconscious body with trepidation before bending down to assess him. He also heard Alicia shriek when she approached, and Fred knew how bad it looked. Thankfully, Harry appeared to be breathing, but they needed to get him to the hospital wing immediately.

"Marnie!" Fred heard someone say from above him.

"Oh great," Fred thought to himself. "Hare doesn't need to see Harry like this."

"Marnie!" Fred heard Angelina exclaim before he saw his friend stand up and bolt for the other side of the pitch.

"What's going on?" Fred asked aloud, frustrated that it was taking so long for a teacher to arrive.

Then he saw her, crumpled in a heap at the foot of the stands. His Marnie being surrounded by several students and teachers.

Finally, Madam Hooch was coming over to help him with Harry.

"What happened?" Fred croaked, still staring as Cedric knelt by Marnie's side.

"She passed out from the dementor, same as Potter. Fell from the stands it looks like. Quite a few broken bones but she's breathing. She'll be fine," Madam Hooch explained much too casually for Fred.

All he wanted to do was leave Harry with the quidditch teacher and flee to her side, but she would never forgive him for leaving Harry. He had also fallen from a great height. Plus, Diggory was there. As much as Fred hated to admit it, the pretty boy did obviously care for Marnie, and would at least ensure she got to the hospital wing before Fred could attend to her himself.

Fred gritted his teeth.

"If it wasn't for this bloody rain, I could have seen her. I would have caught her," Fred thought to himself furiously.

And why the hell had a dementor been in the middle of the quidditch pitch during a match?

Fred ended up escorting Harry up to the castle along with his teammates and watched Cedric like a hawk the entire time. Angelina and Ginny were also with Marnie which made Fred more comfortable with the situation, but he was still antsy.

xx

Harry started to stir from his bed.

"Did we win?" were the first words out of his mouth.

The team couldn't look him in the eye.

"Cedric caught the snitch mate," George explained delicately.

"He did try to ask for a rematch, but they won fairly," Katie added disappointedly.

Harry looked dejected and obviously angry with himself.

"No one blames you mate," Fred said, wanting to cheer him up, especially with Marnie still unconscious.

Fred started to stare at Marnie again and tuned out of the conversation. She always looked so fragile when she slept, especially being covered in bruises. She was also still soaking wet and wished the matron would hurry up and attend to her.

"Marnie?" Fred snapped out of his thoughts and turned back to Harry.

He had a frantic look in his eye.

"What happened to Marnie?" Harry asked anxiously, now turning to look at the far bed she was laying in.

"Same thing as you I guess," Lee shrugged.

"We were with her," Ron started to explain. "She was screaming your name and then she just passed out. We tried to catch her mate, really! But she was already leaning over and then she just fell."

It was obvious Ron was worried his best friend would be angry with him. But Harry tried to sit up instead causing Fred to push him back down.

"Rest up mate, she's in good hands," he said quietly.

Harry looked over again and saw Cedric idly sitting by her bedside. He sighed before nodding and relaxed back down onto his pillow.

"He better not try anything funny with her," Harry added grumpily but didn't try to get back up.

Fred couldn't help chuckling and shaking his head. Harry obviously shared similar sentiments about Cedric as he did, but for the moment both boys knew he was who she needed, no matter how much that upset them. Fred could also see George giving him and Harry a knowing look which caused him to scowl. Fred wasn't going to give in that easily to the idea of Cedric and Marnie together, but at this moment, the dire circumstances seemed to prevail. He would have to re-assess once everything was back to normal.