Here you are, the 16th chapter. Things will speed up. I think I'll wrap up this story with the end of year five, sequels probably to come. What do you guys think?

Disclaimer: Unnecessary at this point.

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Chapter 16:

As the Quidditch game drew nearer, Hogwarts became exponentially less fun. Umbridge was declared High Inquisitor, which meant she began to butt in where she had absolutely no right to be. I felt stupid, because I knew for so long that the world of magic was not all fun and games, but it still came as a shock when reality reared its ugly head.

I ran into Harry, Ron, and Hermione late one night after detention to see them gathered around the fire.

"You guys should really be more careful," I said, causing them all to jump.

"Hello, Kat," Sirius said, having already sensed me there. His head seemed projected into the fire, flames licking harmlessly at his face.

"Hey Sirius." I plopped onto the couch and chewed on an apple; Snape had insisted that I have a snack after each session. Apparently magic was draining on the body.

"You scared us, Kat," Hermione hissed.

I shrugged. "Well, it's not my fault that you guys aren't taking the necessary precautions."

Harry rolled his eyes and turned back to the fire. He'd been angry at me for a long time now, having long since realized that I'd been avoiding his questions about my visions.

"She's controlling everything," he muttered. "She's evil."

"No, not completely," I said, just as Sirius opened his mouth. "She just likes to impose her ideas about how the world should work onto other people. In short, she likes power."

"Well said," Sirius said, though it seemed he was irritated that I'd beaten him to the punch.

"Sorry." I stood up and stretched, remembering that I had an essay due tomorrow for Flitwick. "I'm going to bed now, but if I were you, I'd speed up the conversation. Umbridge is watching all the fireplaces at this point."

Almost on cue, a hand reached out and Sirius dodged it, muttering a quick goodbye and disappearing into the flames. Harry whipped around then, and blocked the doorway to the girls' dorm.

"Why are you avoiding me?"

I crossed my arms. "I'm sorry that my life does not revolve around you, Harry, but believe it or not, there are more important things I have to worry about."

"You sound like Snape," Ron said, glaring at me.

I shrugged.

"Have you had visions yet?" Hermione asked.

My silence was enough of an answer.

"What have you seen?" Harry asked.

"A lot of things."

"Do you know if Voldemort is defeated?"

"Maybe."

Harry slammed his hand on the table. "This isn't a game! We need to know!"

"Why?"

"So we can change it!"

"I don't think you really understand what it would mean to change it," I said, the echoes of Dumbledore and Snape's words finally making sense to me. I shrugged. "And I could be wrong."

"But you could be right," he retorted.

"If I'm wrong, telling you could cause death instead of preventing it."

The words resonated for a moment, causing pause in all four of us.

Harry shook his head. "So you're just going to sit here and let things happen?"

I snorted. "Of course not, but telling you what I know would do nothing but give you a whole lot of stress and pain."

"But—"

I put up my hand. "Knowing the future sucks," I said plainly. "Seeing your loved ones die, get tortured, murdered, it's the worst thing in the world to be forced to see it and know that you can do nothing about it."

My eyes were stinging when I finished.

Hermione and Ron backed down, but Harry seemed more stubborn than ever.

He took a step towards me. "What, exactly, have you seen?"

I closed my eyes then. "You really don't want to know."

**

It was during an Occumency lesson that Snape learned of Dumbledore's Army. I'd finally gone on the offensive, breaking through his outermost mental barriers, and in stunned retaliation he'd gone a bit too far into my head.

"What was that?" he asked, black eyes narrowed as we both breathed heavily.

"Just the part of my visions that started before I got here," I said, grabbing my bottle of water from the desk. I was nervous about him knowing, but I didn't want to show it. I knew that it was important for Harry to do this, and that they'd already had their first meeting.

I'd wanted to join, but with Snape in my head every week, I had enough information to hide without worrying about Harry's present predicament as well.

"Why didn't you tell me that this was going on?"

I raised my eyebrows. "So let me get this straight," I started, tucking my wand in my pocket. "You and Dumbledore don't want me to tell you about the perils of the war and the wizarding world in general. You don't want to know about Voldemort, but you're ok with me snitching on my fellow students?"

He inclined his head. "Point taken."

But his look seemed to suggest otherwise, and I knew that his personal grudge against Harry was flaring inside despite his best efforts.

"Just curious," I said, taking my wand out after Severus poised his own for an attack, "but why haven't you seen any of my other visions?"

He stayed silent for a moment. "You're better at Occlumency than you know."

**

The morning of the Quidditch game, I woke up remembering exactly what would happen. Fred and George waited for Angelina and I in the common room, dressed in their robes and talking about the game, their faces wrought in concentration.

"Can I talk to you for a minute Fred?" I still didn't want Angelina to know. She was nice, but I couldn't risk it.

He nodded. "We'll meet you in the Great Hall."

George wiggled his eyebrows. "Maybe they're off to have a snog for good luck. Care to help me out Angelina?"

We heard the quick slap and George's shout of pain before the portrait swung shut behind us.

"Are you ok?" Fred asked then.

I smiled quickly. "I'm absolutely fine. For now." My smile faded. "But I know about the Quidditch game, and I just wanted to warn you—"

"Don't tell me Slytherin wins, not after all the hard work we've put in!"

"No, no, it's not about that."

His brow furrowed deeper and I swallowed, trying to get the wording right. I didn't want to make him even angrier than he would be.

"Could you just promise me to not lost your temper?"

He smiled slightly. "That's a bit cryptic, love."

I sighed, and ran my hand through his hair. I shook my head, thinking about how short a time we'd known each other, and how it didn't correlate at all to how well we knew each other. I kissed him, and all too soon it was over.

"You've got the Weasley temper," I said, suppressing a grin. "Just try to reign it in for the match. And tell George and Harry to keep cool too. Ok?"

He nodded. "Whatever you say, love."

**

An hour later, I sat on the stands next to Hermione, cheering on Gryffindor.

"Come on Ron," she muttered, frowning in the direction of the Slytherins. Her hand inched towards her wand and I smirked, having entertained the same thoughts. If only we could hex them into shutting up…

They sang their stupid Weasley chant so many times that even Dumbledore looked sour, though I suspected that not everyone would notice. I glanced his way, disheartened to see Umbridge smiling like a toad. She must have reveled at all of the competition. I tried not to glare too obviously. She leaned forwards and I noticed Lucius Malfoy a few seats down.

My blood chilled slightly.

A chorus of yells shook me back to the game and I looked up, seeing that Ron had missed his first goal.

"Man up, Ron," I muttered. He was blushing furiously, and I saw Harry fly next to him, shouting some words of support that the audience couldn't hear. Angelina flew towards the two of them, shouting something that I decided must have been less supportive, because as she flew off, Ron looked worse than before.

I turned back to Lucius, startled to find him already staring my way. I scowled at him, disturbed when he smiled cordially and nodded. I turned back to the game, refusing to look at him again.

The Slytherins were in position now, and they flew like hawks towards Ron. The quaffle hurtled his way at an alarming speed, and whooshed past his outstretched fingers. I saw Harry slump as the Gryffindors let out a collective groan, and the Slytherin stands swelled with the sound of their ridiculous chant.

This would be a long game.

Just as I thought it, Harry zoomed right past Malfoy, grabbing the snitch from behind his ear. I rose with the rest of the Gryffindors, cheering madly. Then I ran downstairs, hoping that Fred could keep his word.

But even as I dashed towards them, I saw Fred leap at Draco Malfoy, along with George and Harry.

"Fred, NO!" I screamed, doubling my speed. Lucius Malfoy made it there just after I did, and as Ron, Hermione, Ginny and I pulled the three from Draco, Lucius cleared his throat.

"Is this the type of behavior that Hogwarts allows now?" he said with perfect inflection. "I find it completely unacceptable."

Umbridge popped up, and somehow Dumbledore had gone missing. Fred had a bloody lip, and Harry had the beginnings of a black eye blossoming on his face.

Lucius stood behind his son as Umbridge banned the three boys from Quidditch, and even as they protested, I knew things would only get worse from there.

I backed away, crossing my arms as a headache began to make its way into my vision, and then I saw it.

The Ministry of Magic looked just as I'd imagined it, and as I ran through the halls, I knew I wouldn't make it in time. Voices loomed ahead of me as a vivid blue pierced my vision. The hall of prophecies.

Lucius Malfoy spoke then, but I couldn't hear anything as the sound of a crowd crashed in around me.

I gasped, back on the pitch, as Hermione looked at me in concern.

"They've left," she said, and sure enough, Fred and George were storming towards the castle, ranting at each other with fervor.

Harry walked with Ron, silent as the grave, not too far behind the twins.

"I guess we should go back," I said. Hermione nodded.

**

Angelina lost no time in figuring out replacements. Ginny would relinquish her post as chaser and replace Harry as seeker, and tryouts would be held for beater and chaser positions.

"I want you to join," she said to me as Fred and George sulked next to us.

I shook my head immediately. "No way."

Her lip thinned as Harry and Ron plopped down, both looking miserable.

"Why not?" she said.

I searched frantically for an excuse. "Because I uh, have a lot of homework."

She rolled her eyes as Fred looked up at me. "That hasn't stopped you with anything before."

"Quidditch is a huge commitment," I said, thinking of the essays that always threatened to pile up, of the extra lessons Snape had been giving me, of my own research into horcruxes and Occlumency. "I don't know if I have that kind of time."

Angelina took my hand. "Please," she said. "Please Kat, do this one thing for me."

"And me," Harry, Ron, Fred, and George said at the same time.

"Did you guys friggin' rehearse this?" I said, frowning at the boys' collective puppy eyes.

They nagged me through the entire meal, and finally I cracked. "Fine!" I said, slamming my pumpkin juice down a little too hard.

Dumbledore walked into the great hall then, followed closely by Snape. They were both looking at me.

I frowned.

But before I could say anything, Angelina hugged me tightly.

"Thank you so much, Kat! You won't regret it! You'll be a great addition to the team!"

I rolled my eyes, smiling despite my best efforts. "Yeah yeah," I muttered.

Snape made his way towards us and she let go of me, returning to her seat.

"What's the matter?" Fred asked, following my gaze.

"What happened?" I asked him, closing the distance between us. As a result, we stood near the Slytherin table, which was all too cheerful for my taste.

"We need to talk."

"Is it about mom?" I asked, ignoring him completely. Fred came up behind me as Dumbledore strode toward us.

Snape's eyes glittered oddly and I knew it was.

"Did you find her?" I asked, already knowing they hadn't. Snape's face was dangerously blank, but I saw his eyes tense just a bit.

My own eyes widened and I took a deep breath. "She's dead," I said, but it came out as air.

Snape nodded, and I nodded.

Then I fell to the ground.

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So? REVIEWREVIEWREVIEW!

No, seriously, please review. It takes two seconds, and it brightens my day! Aaannd I'm not posting the next chapter till I get at least 7 more. I know, I'm being bitchy. Sorry.

I'm working on the next chapter rightright now! I'm really excited about it because the story gets to take a few very interest turns as of now :)