A/N: I forgot to mention that the sixth book pays no reference to this story. A few things are mentioned from the sixth but nothing major, like the end.

Chapter 3

Harry was scared. It was true. He was really and truly scared. As the prophecy rang through his head at every step he took, he became more and more scared. Death wasn't on his Top Ten List of things he wanted to do. In fact, it wasn't even on the Top One Hundred. It was far from it.

Memories started to flash through his head, blocking out the prophecy. First Year was great, Harry thought, reliving the memory. Meeting Ron was possibly the best thing that could've happened. Let's not forget Quidditch either; possibly the second best thing that could've happened. Hermione was somewhere on that list. Harry chuckled as he thought of Hermione. And then he laughed when he thought of Hermione and Ron, together in the same room.

It was never a dull moment with his two best friends. They were always there for me, no matter what, Harry reminisced, thinking about the Sorcerer Stone adventure. They would both sacrifice themselves for me. And that's why they couldn't come. Harry wouldn't let them sacrifice themselves for him. They deserved to live and fill out their dreams. Ron deserved to be the Quidditch Captain and maybe even play professionally. Hermione deserved to be the first woman Mistress of Magic.

Of course, all the adventures weren't the only thing that happened in his years at Hogwarts. Hermione and Ron fighting were always pretty exciting. Fourth was a pretty good idea of Hermione and Ron's bickering, so was this year, his sixth year.

"It was always about love," Harry muttered. Fourth year, Ron was mad at Hermione because of Viktor Krum, sixth year it was because Ron was with Lavender Brown and Hermione was mad. Why didn't the two of them just get together?

If there was any year that proved their bond as best friends, it was their fifth year, possibly their hardest year so far. They fought Death Eaters for him, Death Eaters! How many would fight Death Eaters for their best friend? Harry smiled at the thought of it all. At the thought of his fifth year, Harry's mind drifted away from his two best friends and onto Sirius Black, his godfather.

Ripped away from his life during his fifth year, Harry never truly knew his godfather. He had only known him for two years, but still loved him like he was his own father. Watching someone that close to you die, ripped away from your life, was hard. Extremely hard for someone who had been through so much already. Confronting the pain was the hardest.

Harry quickly wiped a stray tear from his face. This wasn't a time for crying. This was a time for battle. A time to be strong. Be strong for Hermione, Ron, everyone. Be strong for Ginny, Harry thought. A smile played on his lips. Ginny…

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I was pretty happy when I reached Hogwarts. I had survived the carriage ride without a single hex aimed my way. A lot of people would be pretty happy if that happened to them, especially if the carriage was full of Slytherins.

So with my body fully intact, I hurried away from the Slytherins and up the steps to the Great Hall. Since we were the last carriage to arrive, everyone was seated except a few people. The difference between the Platform and the Hall was tremendous. On the Platform everyone was quiet and sad, here everyone was happy. The Great Hall was filled with laughter and voices. It was unbelievable. The happiness made me want to shout, 'Hey guys! Guess what? My brother's dead! Stop being so happy!'.

I, of course, refrained myself from doing so, though it took a few moments of teeth grinding and fist clenching. I slowly realized that the students were quiet on the Platform because they were vulnerable. They didn't care about my brother; all they cared about was getting to Hogwarts. And here they were, at Hogwarts, the safest place in Great Britain, so of course they were ecstatic, no one was going to hurt them now. Especially with Dumbledore around.

Did they really believe that stupid lie? Did they really live in that fantasy day in and day out? Hogwarts isn't safe. It was far from it. If it was safe, besides from keeping evil out, then it would keep the students in, safe from harm. Well, just look at how well that turned out. Evil still got in every year. Quirrell, the diary, Black, Crouch, my forth year we all left without anyone knowing, last year Harry left without a care in the world. It was like he had Dumbledore's permission. When was this school going to keep track of its students?

"You might want to take a seat, Weaslette," a cold voice whispered in my ear. I jumped and whirled around. I saw Draco standing there with that stupid sneer on his face. I glared at him and then saw that we were, in fact, the only two standing up and Dumbledore looked like he wanted to start his speech.

I blushed furiously and hurried to my seat. Today really wasn't a good day. Everyone quieted down as soon Dumbledore stood up.

"Welcome students to another year at Hogwarts. I won't get into all the rules of this year quite yet. I will let you eat," Dumbledore said, his voice filling the room. When the last word left his mouth, plates and dishes, cups and pitchers were filled with food and drink to the brim.

The people around me immediately started digging into the food and dishing it onto their plates. I looked in disgust. True, I was hungry, but you didn't see me rushing toward the food like a herd of elephants. Being the civil person I was, I reached toward the roast piece and took a slice, careful not to splatter it as I set it down on my plate.

Watching the people around me digging into their food with no manners, talking with food in their mouth, and not even bothering to wipe food from around their faces made me want to throw up. Had I ever acted like that? I doubt Ron had even acted like that.

Suddenly I stopped with my fork half-way to my mouth. I slowly put it down, registering everything I had thought in my head. Was I being too hard on these people? These people I used to call my friends? What was my problem? Why was I acting like this? Had death changed me? Was I comparing every one I met and knew to Ron?

As I mulled these thoughts in my head, I slowly began to eat again. I put my fork to my plate to grab another bite and heard it clatter. I looked down and saw that it was empty. I looked up and saw that everyone was sitting back, looking expectantly at Dumbledore. I slowly put down my fork and also looked up at him.

Dumbledore stood up and made his way to the podium in the center of the front. He cleared his throat and began to speak in a loud, strong voice.

"Now that everyone's stomach is full, I will mention a few notices and rules to be followed. These past few years of tragedy, especially last year's, has greatly encouraged me to step up this years security. Hogsmeade is now banned to all students."

Moans and groans from all the upper students immediately rose from the students. A few even shouted. I was sad, yes, but I wasn't that sad. Dumbledore quieted the students with a wave of his hands.

"I'm sorry to say that keeping track of the students is hard work and it's possible that a student could sneak away. Something could happen outside of the protection of this school. As always the Forbidden Forest is off-limits. Anyone found within its premise will serve a designated detention. Mail leaving and entering the school will be checked. Any packages have to be approved before leaving the school. Entering packages will be opened. There are other minor rules posted on Argus Fitch's door down in the dungeon. Please consult the list sometime this year. If you have any questions concerning these rules, please talk to me or Professor McGonagall. Now then, off to bed!" Dumbledore said goodnight and stepped down from the podium.

People immediately got up from their seats and started to walk out of the Great Hall with their friends. I got up more slowly. Students bustled around me, shoving me and pushing me out of the way. I think I heard 'I'm sorry' about five times for about the billion times I was shoved.

"Ginny!"

I heard my name called from behind me and turned around. A bobbing head of wavy blonde hair greeted me. I couldn't help but chuckle as I saw my friend, Anna, attempt to squeeze through the crowds to me.

Anna was one of my best friends. She was a short, petite girl with naturally wavy blonde hair. She was very hyper around her friends but very shy around boys and people she didn't know. Hearing her shout my name surprise me; she's never done anything like that.

I stopped walking as I waited for Anna to catch up to me. She was out of breath when she finally reached me.

"Hey Ginny," she said, giving me a half-smile. One where she wanted to smile at me but wasn't sure if she should.

"Hey Anna," I answered her, giving her a smile. We started to walk again toward Gryffindor Tower. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Anna biting her lip, a habit she had, trying to decide what to say.

"I sent you a bunch of owl posts over the summer," she started, biting her lip again, waiting for my reaction.

"I know," I responded, not elaborating.

"I missed talking to you," Anna tried again.

I didn't want to push away my friend, really, I didn't. I couldn't help it though.

"I'm sorry," I responded again. I tried to say something else, but I couldn't.

By now we had reached the entrance to the Gryffindor Common room. The door was open since students were still filing in. Slowly we reached the entrance.

"Ginny, let's talk," Anna said as we started up the stairs to our beds.

I almost groaned when I heard those words, the very words I had been dreading. Why didn't people just get the message that I didn't want to talk?

"No, Anna," I simply said. I could almost feel the dejected look on her face. I took off my robe and peeled off my regular day clothes. I reached inside my trunk and pulled out a T-shirt and a pair of guy boxers. I looked at the shirt I pulled out and almost started to cry. I quickly threw it onto my bed and pulled out a different one. I put on the new shirt and boxers and climbed into bed, pulling the hangings close.

I grabbed the shirt I had thrown on my bed and hugged it to my chest. I could still smell that stupid cologne he always wore. Ron never did learn that it just made him smell worse. I pulled the covers around me and snuggled with the old T-shirt. Before I could stop them, tears started to roll down my cheeks again. When was this waterfall of tears going to end?