Ok so I cant really be annoyed at getting a total of 2 reviews for chapter 50 when its taken me god knows how long to post it but still… if the ending to this one doesn't get me some reactions then I will know that matt and Frankie were actually the only people that read it!!! Ah well!

Enjoy…

Chapter 51- Rising

"I can't believe were not through the syllabus yet." Hermione babbled a week into term, "We still have so much to do and there's only a few weeks left and how can I revise properly if we haven't done it yet? And these are the most important exams we've ever done and what if…"

"Hermione!" Ron cried eventually, "RELAX!"

"How can I relax!?" She exclaimed, eyes wide and voice several octaves too high. Ron answered her question not with words, but instead with a kiss, and when he pulled back, her eyes were still wide, but more vacant. "Oh." She said quietly. Ron grinned, brushed her hair back from her face with a finger,

"It's all gonna be fine, 'Mione." He said softly, "McGonagall will get the course done in time, and I'm sure there is stuff you can read up before that… you're gonna do great."

She smiled, and nodded,

"Thanks Ron."

The others were trying to decide where they were meant to be looking, paying a lot of attention to their food, or gazing round the great hall, all with rather amused expressions.

"Erm… I'm gonna go." Harry said suddenly.

"Where?" Dawn asked with a frown, "Class doesn't start for half an hour yet."

"I…ah… forgot a book, I'll see you guys there."

"Oh… well if you're going back to the tower I'll come with you… I can't take these guys anymore!" She chuckled. Harry forced a smile,

"Uh… yeah… sure… but um… I actually forgot it in the library…"

"Ok, whatever, I just…"

"Oh look, there's Draco." Harry said quickly.

"Huh?" Dawn turned to see Draco walking over from the Slytherin table and grinned, "Hey you." Harry slipped out of the hall while she was distracted, and hurried out of the front doors, grinning when he saw the dark haired girl sitting on the bottom step.

"Working on your tan?" Harry called out as he descended. Blaise turned and beamed up at him,

"No point… sunlight seems to bounce straight off my skin." She replied. Harry sat down beside her and kissed her softly,

"Morning."

"Morning." She replied happily. They kissed again, enjoying these new feelings even while they were confused about how to deal with it all. Suddenly a new voice broke into their little world,

"Hey there Harry, Blaise… don't mind us!" Faith called with a smirk as she Buffy and Charlie left the castle heading for Hagrid's. The pair broke apart, flushing beetroot and gasping for something to say, but the trio had already passed them by.

"So you don't reckon the centaurs will be any help?" Buffy sighed. Hagrid shrugged,

"It's unlikely, unless Voldemort actually threatens their land. I mean… if we get more Polgaras and the like in there then they might pitch in, but centaurs don't like to bother themselves with human affairs."

"But the threstrels could be useful." Faith put in.

"Definitely." Hagrid nodded.

"I just wish we knew what he was planning." Charlie said thoughtfully.

"Well where would be the fun in that?" Faith quipped, squeezing his hand.

"How about everywhere?" Buffy said, frustrated. "This is hopeless! He could have every evil magical… thing attack the castle at any time and we can't possibly pre-empt it."

"No, we can't pre-empt, but we can be ready." Faith said calmly. "No matter what he has going for him, we have the one man he has ever been afraid of, we have two slayers, we have Harry and we have Dawn, who whether we like to admit it or not is damn powerful."

"Harry and Dawn can't get involved in this…"

"They are involved in this, Buffy." Hagrid said quietly. "We all know there is no way that we're gonna keep them out of this fight."

Buffy looked furious but she knew that Hagrid was right. She sighed deeply,

"So what do we do?" She murmured.

"We prepare as much as we can." Charlie said firmly.

"Did he say what he wanted?" Hermione asked at lunch. Harry had received a message from Dumbledore in the middle of potions via a wide eyed first year who had stood gaping at Harry for a full five minutes before Snape actually picked him up by his robes and deposited him outside the door. Harry shrugged,

"Nope." He said with a mouthful of lasagne. "Just that he wants to see me immediately after lunch."

"McGonagall won't be impressed." Ron commented, "She's stressed about work as it is."

Hermione looked worried,

"Maybe you should ask if you can change it to later…"

"No." Harry said quickly. "If he's allowing me to miss classes it must be important. There's no way I'm rescheduling… not with how things are right now."

"But nothings happened in ages." Ron said.

"It will. Soon." Dawn said softly.

"How do you know?" Hermione asked, rather pale. Dawn smiled at her,

"You don't grow up on a hellmouth without learning how to tell when a storm is coming." She and Harry shared a look the others missed. Each of them knew that this was going to be much worse than anyone else imagined.

When Harry set off for Dumbledore's, he heard quick footsteps behind him, and turn to see a sheepish Dawn.

"Harry…" She said.

"I'll tell you all what he says later."

"I know…" She said hesitantly, "It's just… this is gonna be really bad, isn't it."

Harry swallowed,

"You've been feeling it too?"

She just nodded.

"Yeah. Its gonna be bad." Harry replied, finding that there was a lump in his throat.

"We might not all live through this." Dawn said next. It wasn't quite a question or a statement, and she wasn't sure whether she wanted him to reassure her or to agree that her feelings were right. Harry tried to reply several times, but couldn't quite work out what to say. Eventually he sighed,

"It'll turn out alright." He said with a half smile.

"Yeh." Dawn forced a smile. "Go, you're gonna be late for Dumbledore. I'll see you later."

"Yeh… see ya." He watched as she turned away and resisted the urge to call out to her. He kept having an awful feeling that every time he left his friends it might be the last time.

"You think he's ok?" Hermione asked Ron later that evening. They were lying on his bed, Hermione's cheek rested against his chest, arms around each other. She grinned as she felt his chest rise and fall as he took a thoughtful breath.

"Yeah… I think so…" He began. "He's just… pre-occupied. He didn't tell us the whole of his meeting with Dumbledore."

"Well I know that." Hermione scoffed. She sighed, "Wonder what Dumbledore told him." Ron shrugged,

"Beats me. Hey, maybe he found out some way to defeat him!"

"Harry would have told us if that was the case."

"Huh, yeh I guess so."

"Did you see Dawn's face when he told us that bullshit cover?" Hermione asked.

"As if I could miss it, and this is me. She was pissed, huh?"

"Fuming I think is closer. I think she feels things like Harry does… I reckon she thinks she has a right to know just as much as Harry."

"It's more complicated than that though… I mean, yeh she feels stuff but Voldemort and Harry… its one of those things isn't it…Its always gonna be Voldemort and Harry, right til the end."

Hermione chuckled,

"You're a lot more perceptive than you like to let on, aren't you mister Weasley?" She purred, and lifted herself slightly to kiss him.

"Oh I try." He murmured.

A scream penetrated Harry's deep sleep. He spun to see who it was, but the corridor was dark and deserted.

"Hello?" He called out, to no avail. He frowned… where was everyone? Then came another scream, closer this time. Harry ran towards it, down stairs, round corners… it was the castle, only different… he couldn't seem to find his way.

Death eaters apparating everywhere

Harry spun, breathing heavily now, but the corridor was empty again.

"HELLO!?"

"Harry!"

"Blaise?!" Harry cried out, "Hello? Can anyone hear me!?"

"It's just you and me now boy."

Harry shook his head, and set off running again, there had to be someone!

A green flash, that evil laugh filling his mind

"No!" Harry yelled, throwing his hands in front of his face… but nothing happened, the corridor was empty again. "What the fuck is this?!" Harry exclaimed.

"I love you Harry… you don't have to be alone in this."

"Dawn…?" But she was nowhere to be seen. Wait a minute, Harry thought, there was a shadow further down the hall… "Hello?" He called out. It was getting bigger. But it was so damned dark in here! The figure was wearing a black cloak. Harry felt for his wand but it wasn't there. It was lifting its head…

Harry snapped awake, sitting bolt upright in bed, drenched in cold sweat and the image of those red eyes burnt into his mind. Shit. It was coming. Seconds later there was banging on the door, and Dawn burst in, her eyes wide.

"Are you ok?" Harry exclaimed, leaping out of bed as the other stirred from their sleep.

"You had it too didn't you?" Dawn said shakily, "The dream?"

Harry nodded, wrapping his arms around her and holding her quaking body tightly.

"Yes." He said, "I didn't realise you had them."

"I don't, usually." She replied with a half laugh, already feeling better for the warmth of his arms around her.

"'Arry…? Dawn…?" Ron slurred sleepily, "Wha's going on?"

"Nothing, bad dream… go back to sleep." Harry said. Ron shrugged, rolled over, and did as he was told.

"Should we go to Dumbledore?" Dawn asked in a whisper. Harry shook his head,

"We can wait til morning. It's not happening tonight." Dawn nodded,

"No way im going back to sleep though." She complained. Harry chuckled,

"C'mon, lets go down to the common room." He pulled his duvet off the bed and they descended the boys stairs to where they could talk properly. They curled up on a sofa by the dying fire and draped the duvet over themselves. "So what did you see in yours?" Harry asked.

"Well I was in the school… but it was different…" She began. By the time Harry got to the end of his side of the dream, the young American girl whose life once held sway on those of all beings on earth was deep asleep. Harry sighed, stroking a stray hair back behind her ear and tucking the duvet around her. He carefully stood up, took one last look at her, sleeping so peacefully, and headed back to his room where he too was soon asleep, under a spare blanket.

"So do you think it'll be soon then?" Ron asked, aghast. "Like… in the next few days??"

"What did Dumbledore say?" Hermione added.

"None of us know exactly when it's going to be… but the teachers and Buffy, Faith Charlie and some of the others are going to take shifts patrolling the grounds and the castle. Dumbledore has even asked Sirius to come… and he's putting up more wards… If they arrive, we'll know about it."

Over the next few days, both teens had the dreams every night. And every night they got worse.

On the third day Harry was starring thoughtfully out of the window when he saw a huge black dog crossing the lawn towards Hagrid's hut. Harry smiled- the thought of Sirius being at Hogwarts gave him a little more confidence. Maybe they could really win this fight. As soon as their classes were over, the trio and Dawn headed to Hagrid's, Draco deciding that it was better for him to stay up at the castle. Noone said it but the others agreed.

"Who is it?" Hagrid called out when they knocked.

"It's Harry." He replied. The door opened only a crack and the four slipped in, Hagrid peering suspiciously out into the grounds before closing the door. There in one of the enormous arm chairs sat Sirius, a broad grin on his face.

"Harry!" He said like a proud father, "How are you doing?"

Harry shrugged,

"Keeping it together." He said with a wry smile.
"Ron, Hermione… and this must be Dawn."

Dawn glanced at Harry and smiled nervously.

"Hi." She said. Sirius chuckled, "Glad to finally meet you. That little ferret 'round here?" Dawn scowled,

"Don't call him that. Draco is a good guy, he's proven that plenty."

Sirius beamed, thrilled at the strength in Dawn's stony reply.

"Just testing kid."

Dawn raised an eyebrow in confusion, but Hermione rolled her eyes and shook her head,

"Stop teasing, Sirius." She chastised. They all took seats and accepted cups of tea, and just chatted aimlessly until they realised that they were over 20 minutes late for dinner.

On the fourth night of the dreams Dawn awoke screaming, much to the alarm of Hermione and the others. She was exempt from classes that morning, and Draco bunked to sit with her out by the lake.

"I'm scared Draco." She said quietly.

"We all are, Dawnie… its nothing to be ashamed of."

She grinned at him,

"This coming from the fearless Draco Malfoy."

He chuckled,

"Hey, I'm no wimp, but I'm not stupid either. I know when to be scared."

Dawn was biting her lip. "Dawnie?" He said, concerned.

"I think it's gonna happen tonight." Dawn almost gasped. Draco's face froze,

"Are you sure?"

"No…" She admitted, "But I think so."

Draco nodded, shocked, then seemed to force himself to regain his resolve,

"Well… we're ready for them… it'll turn out ok."

"God I hope so." She said quietly, leaning against him. "Hold me." He wrapped his arms around his girlfriend and kissed the top of her head.

That night the gang sat in the Gryffindor common room, Slytherins and all. Not one of them gave a damn that they could lose a lot of points for being in the wrong common room after curfew, not when Harry and Dawn both had that expression on their faces. Hermione and Ron, Dawn and Draco, and Harry and Blaise were all holding hands so tight that they were losing feeling, but none of them noticed… they just waited.

On the stroke of midnight, Screams erupted from all directions.

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Oh come on you know you love those cliffies!!