AN: Holy story alerts Batman! Wow, I'm shocked that this story is getting any recognition but it's awesome! Rainbow Unicorn Cookies for everyone!

I want to give thanks to Goldenwolfhowl for my very first (and only lol) review! Thanks so much for the feedback, it helps with the process!

My apologies for the slow updates but my muse is not cooperative and seems to be using all her powers on a destiel RP I have going on . anywho! Thanks to anyone who is sticking with it :3!

EDIT:: I had to resubmit this chapter because it was pointed out to me that I mentioned them going to classes on Christmas oops! So I think I fixed that mistake, if I happened to miss a part where it mentions classes just ignore that XD anywho...

On with the story!

Hot…everything was so hot and sticky…and the smell. What was that smell? It was familiar but not wanted in the least, on the contrary. It was bad enough to make someone want to vomit repeatedly. What was this place and why was it so dark? Oh Merlin the smell….It was probably a good thing that he hadn't eaten lunch earlier or the smell of vomit would soon be joining him in this place. What was this place? He tried to open his eyes but it felt as though someone had glued them shut with that muggle super glue. It had to be the Slytherins; they would take great joy out of gluing his eyes together. But why would they have superglue? Unless it was a curse…yeah, a curse. He was surrounded by some kind of liquid, sticky and hot and rising quickly. It just keeps rising and rising, was he going to drown? Green eyes flash open suddenly allowing him to see what he was drowning in. Blood. It looked as though he was in the Black Lake, judging by the trees far off in the distance but why was it filled with blood? There was time to contemplate that fact later, for now he had to swim before this blood cut off all his airways, but of course he couldn't move, that would be his luck wouldn't it? He felt as though someone had hit him with Petrificus Totalis, his limbs were so heavy. So this was how he was going to die? Drowning in a blood filled Black Lake? Well, that was just fantastic. Voldemort had yet to get the upper hand on him but the Boy Who Lived was about to die by drowning…he could see the Prophet headlines already. The blood slowly began to seep into his mouth and nose, and if anything was worse than the smell it had to be the taste. Iron, so much iron. He could feel his stomach churning at the same time that he felt his air ways being cut off, this was it. The edges of his vision start to go black and the last thing he remembers is hoping that he will be able to see his parents after this.

"HARRY!" a heavily panicked voice breaks through his subconscious and his eyes snap open, revealing a very dishevelled looking red head. The raven haired wizard sits up quickly, almost bashing his head into Ron's in the process. Looking around he see the familiar gold and red colours of his dorm room, he was dreaming? If he had been dreaming then why could he still smell the blood and why was the taste of iron heavy on his tongue? He swallowed down the bile that was creeping up his throat and stared around the dark room, must still be night. "Harry?" comes the voice again and he remembers that Ron had been the one to wake him from the nightmare. Turning his head he sees his best friend sitting on the end of his bed, looking more than a little terrified. "I thought you were done with that whole nightmare thing? Bloody hell….you were making this gasping, gurgling noise…I thought you were dying!" Deep frown lines are etched in the freckled brow of his friend, clearly his nightmare had succeeded in freaking out the both of them. Now wasn't that something? Wouldn't be the first time though. What scared him though was the fact that his nightmares were never just that…they always had some kind of deeper, precognitive meaning to them. But what could a Black Lake filled with blood be trying to signify? Perhaps it was just a post traumatic nightmare that most people experienced. That girl….he blood had flowed so freely out of her wounds, making puddles around her, perhaps that's what caused the images. His trauma ridden brain had just morphed it into something more.

"Sorry Ron, it was nothing, just a nightmare. You know how I get," he tried to laugh it off like it was nothing but his clothes catch his eye, he hadn't changed after yesterday's incident and there were patches of blood all over them. Images from his nightmare flashed through his mind and he could feel his stomach turning over dangerously once again. He stared down at his sweat drenched clothes with a frown, swearing that he could smell the blood wafting up from the patches on his clothes. "So much blood," he groans quietly and moved out of the bed quickly, running to the bathroom, completely ignoring the protest coming from Ron. The young wizard slams the door behind him and just manages to make it to the toilet in time to spill the contents of his stomach…a grand total of saliva and bile, lovely. Now he had the joy of having his throat burn along with everything else. Flushing the toilet, Harry stands up and makes his way over to the mirror, staring in horror at his reflection. It was no wonder Ron had been so freaked out by him, he was so pale and gaunt looking that he could rival Nearly Headless Nick. He groaned quietly and splashed some cold water onto his face, finding that it wasn't helping in the least. A shower, that's what he needed, and then maybe some food. Something to forget about the images that refused to leave his mind. A bloody body of a young girl wearing muggle clothes…and the lake running red with blood.

Ron stared up at the closed door for a moment longer, no less confused than he had been a moment ago. What was Harry talking about, 'so much blood'? Sure, he wasn't blind, he could see that there had been blood on his friend's clothes but it shouldn't have been enough to warrant such a panic attack. It's not like he hadn't been covered in blood before. Had been something to do with the girl in the courtyard that he had heard about? He hadn't been surprised when he heard that Harry and Draco had something to do with it but he would really like to get the full story from the man himself, but something told him that he wasn't going to get anything out of Harry while he was like this. Shaking his head, Ron stands up and gives the door one last look before heading over to his bed and settling underneath the covers once more. "Why am I friends with these people?" he grumbles to himself before settling down to return to his sleep, hoping it wasn't interrupted once again.

The walk back to the dungeons had not been an easy one. First he had been stopped by no less than 3 prefects, questioning why he was out of bed. Why the hell there were three prefects around the same area he will never know, useless wankers the lot of them. Then Peeves decided to use Draco as his guinea pig to test his new water bombs on, ones of which were filled with not only water but water that turned your skin purple for five hours. Then he had to try and sneak around that damn squibs cat. All in all, he was never happier than now to be able to see his bed. On the bright side, at least he hadn't run into Pansy, he was in no mood to deal with that idiot right now. Sure, she was a good snog but she was a complete ditz, he spent half the time wondering why he wasted his time with her, but hey, she put out! Not much credit could be given to his other friends either though. Crabbe and Goyle didn't have a brain between them and Blaise was a narcissistic fool. Nott was alright, he was quiet and wasn't nosey, plus easy on the eyes, yeah Draco was kind of a man slut but when you looked as good as him it would be a downright sin for him not to share. Plus, as frustrating as his friends could be at least they were pure-blood. He only associated with the proper type of people unlike a certain messy raven-haired, pompous, Gryffindor who liked to cut up innocent girls. You hurt her too! It wouldn't have happened if you hadn't taunted him, or if you hadn't moved out of the way…it should have been you that the spell hit. "Oh shut up," he groaned into his pillow. Why did his brain hate him so much? Ever since he was young that arrogant and condescending voice made itself known. The way it spoke was so familiar yet Draco had never been able to place whose voice it was. One day he would find out and he would rid himself of that voice for good. It always made him feel so much doubt in everything he did. Every little mistake he made the voice would never let him forget it. The blonde tried to be strong but sometimes it was just so overpowering.

Draco lifted his head from the pillow when the cold air from the room started to flow over his exposed arms. He really needed to find that little twit who had stolen his clothes; no one stole Draco Malfoy's clothes and got away with it. He ungracefully rolls off of his bed making quick work of changing his clothes. It was a little weird that he had been out for who knows how many hours and yet he still felt exhausted. By the time he managed to change into his sleeping attire he could feel his eye lids getting heavy as he quickly crawled under the blankets, falling asleep no less than a minute after his head hit the overstuffed pillow.

Usually the sunrise was something that Harry enjoyed seeing but this morning it only reminded him of things to come. Yesterday he had been able to avoid everyone's questions and accusations but he knew he couldn't hide from them anymore. People would start to wonder what was going on if he avoided this any longer, but oh it was looking tempting. In his life he was forced to face mounds of controversy but at least he was able to defend himself against most accusations but how could he defend himself when he wanted to get after himself for the very same? Not to mention, he didn't know how he was going to face Malfoy without wanting to punch him in his stupid smug face, but that's what caused all this in the first place was it not? The Gryffindor makes quick work of getting washed up and dressed, managing not to wake any of his roommates. The longer he could put off confrontation the better. "Boy Who Lived? More like Boy Who Lived to Constantly Suffer…Merlin I'm melodramatic."

"You know Harry, even in the Wizarding World, talking to yourself is not normal," a soft female voice sounds behind the Gryffindor, causing him to pause with a frustrated sigh. So much for avoiding confrontation. Turning around he spots the vibrant red head of Ginny Wesley and figures that it could always be worse, it could have been Hermione trying talk out his feelings and what went wrong and that was not something he could handle at the moment. "I heard what happened yesterday. Is it true that the girl tried to step in front of Draco to save him? That seems highly unlikely, considering not even Draco's friends would do such a thing." She didn't sound accusatory, just curious and for that he was thankful.

"No one would want to save Draco Ginny, not even his parents. Don't blame them though, bloody git. She should have never gotten hurt, the curse was meant for him but he ducked and she was there." Harry can hear his voice getting lower as he speaks, finding that it was hard to even speak about it. He hadn't even been confronted by the professors yet and he was sure that it was going to come along eventually. How much could he get away with before he was kicked out of Hogwarts permanently? In fact, maybe that would be a suitable punishment for him. He ruined a little girls life all because he let his temper get away from him, and for Malfoy of all people! All this was driving him crazy but there was something deep down that was bothering him more than anything else. "Ginny, you wouldn't happen to know who that girl was do you? She didn't have any visitors in the hospital wing and she wasn't wearing any house robes, it's like she appeared out of nowhere."

Long strands of red hair flew around erratically as the younger girl shakes her head in the negative. "No, no one seems to know where she came from but from what I've heard everyone who came across her got a feeling like she shouldn't be here, but how could anyone get into the school if they were never meant to be her," he finely groomed eyebrows title down into a confused expression, clearly Harry wasn't the only one bothered by all this. However, her confusion is quickly replaced by a more excited look, "oh did you hear though? Turns out she's missing! All the profs are in quite the uproar about it. She is going to get an earful when they find her." She lets out a small giggle, crossing her arms over her chest. "I can't understand why they would be so upset about one little girl though, it's all very suspicious." Ginny lets out a small hum, staring ahead of her as they continue to walk down the corridor and to the Great Hall for breakfast. At the thought of breakfast Harry's stomach makes a loud growling sound that rivals Fluffy the three-headed dog, reminding him that he hadn't eaten anything in hours. His hunger doesn't stifle his embarrassment at the noise though when he sees Ginny look at him through the corner of her eye which are clearly filled with amusement. "Somebody's hungry," she mumbles teasingly and winks over at her friend.

Harry huffs out in embarrassment but tries to shrug off the comment in favor of focusing on the more pressing issue at hand, "she's missing?" Since when did people escape from the hospital wing and since when were all the profs in the school unable to find said missing person? Not to mention, Harry had seen how injured she was and he didn't think she could get very far before the injuries stopped her up. The again, people could do crazy things when hyped up on adrenaline. "Why would someone who goes to Hogwarts be so intent on escaping?" The raven haired Gryffindor stops in his tracks, a shocked expression in his face as he realizes something important. The girl didn't go to Hogwarts. That's why she had been so panicked to wake up here. That's why she had looked so amazed when he first saw her. That's why she felt she needed to escape. Oh…this was not good.

It takes Ginny a few moments before she realizes that Harry is no longer beside her. "Harry? What are you…Harry?" she questions, her voice filled with worry once she sees the expression on his face. Something had definitely spooked him and in a castle filled with ghosts, that was really saying something. "Are you alright?" she calls out which seems to snap him out of his stupor. Harry blinks a few times before nodding and running to catch up to Ginny. She wanted to question him but knew that when he didn't want to talk about something chances were she wasn't going to get anything out of him. "What I'm really wondering though is...no offense but..after seeing what that spell does, why would you think to use it again? We hid that book for a reason Harry. No one was supposed to be hurt by that again." When she doesn't hear anything from Harry's direction she turns to see him looking at him with a furious expression, causing her to flinch slightly in fear. Perhaps she went too far with the questions, now she was going to have to deal with a furious Harry. Furious Harry was NOT fun.

"That has nothing to do with you. You don't know anything." He whispers out and Ginny feels more frightened by the quiet tone than she would if he was yelling at her. Before she can tell what's happening she finds herself pressed into the wall behind her, the breath knocked out of her. "It is none of your business." With that said Harry turns around and quickly stalks off down the steps and out the front door. It takes Ginny a few moments before she can move again, still frightened by the anger she saw in Harry's emerald eyes. She didn't think he had ever seen her that mad.

"You shouldn't lean against the walls like that, Gnargles like to take residence on those who do," a dreamy voice travels over Ginny's ears, pulling her out of her Harry induced fear. "You look like you've seen a Zooglsplot. I think you need some pudding. Let's go get some pudding." With that Ginny feels her arm grabbed by Luna as she drags her down to the Great Hall. Well, if anyone could calm her down it would be Luna's crazy rambling. She just hoped that Harry would calm down too.

Draco had found himself unable to face breakfast, his stomach protested greatly to this but his guilt wouldn't give him the satisfaction of food. He hated it, hated more than anything that he was feeling guilty about this. It wasn't his fault! Yes it was. The blonde groans and sinks down on the bridge into the snow, fists clenched in his hair "Damn it," he gasps out with wide eyes that are not focused on anything. In fact, he's so consumed in his trace that he doesn't immediately notice the person who has walked up a little ways away from him. In his defence though, the other person doesn't seem to notice him either, which is odd considering how quiet everything was right now. Draco is starting to find that it's too quiet. Usually you could hear the hooting of owls or the shuffling of the whomping willow but now…not even the wind was making a sound and it was unnerving the Slytherin greatly, so when he hears the shuffling of feet in the snow it causes his heart to jump so much he's afraid it might leviosa right out of his chest. A small puff of air releases from the blonde which he will never admit was due to fear. He carefully turns his head to see the bane of his existence. Potter is standing a few meters from him looking as though someone had stolen Christmas from him. "What Potter? Come to find more innocent girls to prey upon?"

An annoyingly pretentious voice sounds to his left and he thinks life couldn't get any worse. He already snapped at Ginny for an innocent question, all because the question was something he had been screaming at himself for the past day. Now here was Draco Malfoy, the cause of all this, bothering him when Harry just wanted a moment of piece to reflect on things before he had to go to class. Harry really thought he had gotten a hold on his anger but when he finds himself sitting on Malfoy, holding him down into the snow and glaring down at him he sees that that was just a pipe dream. "Maybe I am. Why? Are you offering you slimy piece of scum?" when Malfoy manages to pull his wand out of his pocket Harry immediately knocks it out of his hand sending it and unfortunately his own wand down to the other side of the bridge, but perhaps it was a good thing. They couldn't curse each other if they didn't have their wands. Draco's steely gray eyes glare up as his as their owner tries to squirm out of Harry's grip, but the Gryffindor had too tight of a grip on him. Harry does the first thing that comes to his mind and punches the pale blonde right across the face, ironically giving him a mark that matches the one Blaise gave to him earlier. He knows that starting yet another conflict with the blonde was probably the worst thing he could do but the rage seemed to have taken over his body. The brunette lifts his fist to wind up for another punch when he sees Malfoy's eyes widen in genuine fear and a bit of confusion. Harry felt smug that he was finally enticing some fear into the stupid git but it only lasts a moment until he notices that the grey eyes were not focused on him but something right behind him. He only has a moment to take note of the shadow that's looming over them before a sharp pain goes through his head and his vision goes black. Right before he loses all consciousness he hear Malfoy's voice filled with fear and anger "Keep your hands off of me you filthy Mu-" and then it all fades into nothing.