Hello lovelies! I've got the next chapter written! Yay! Hope spring is treating you all well, and enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: Not mine. Not mine. Not at all. Not even a little bit.

OOO

Chapter 27

Sunlight. Warmth. Someone's chest rose and fell in time with mine, but as I blinked I could hear more than Fred's gentle breathing and slight snore.

I could hear laughter.

"Someone's back together," a boy muttered.

"Really, it's just embarrassing," a girl said.

"Can I get a picture of this?"

"No, Colin." That was George. Thank God. "Not unless I get a copy."

"What the hell, George?" My eyes opened just as the flash went off, and Fred's snore turned into a dissatisfied grunt.

"Wh' appuned?"

I sat up as Fred wiped the sleep from his eyes and saw the trio grinning at me from across the room. I rolled my eyes.

"Alright kids," George said, as Fred sat up. He already had an arm around my waist. "Show's over. Game today."

I jumped up. "Today?" I ran into Angelina on my way up to the girl's dorm.

She glared.

"Two minutes!" I cried over my shoulder. "I'll be ready in two minutes!"

I pulled my hair back and washed my face. Then I brushed my teeth and pulled on quidditch robes. I paused when I saw the marks on my arms. Then I cast a mild glamour charm. There was nothing to do about them now, and I couldn't stand to look at them.

"Ready!" I said, broom in hand. I jumped down the last three stairs, only to see an ashen-faced team. Fred and George looked furious. Then I spotted McGonagall. "What happened?"

Angelina stormed out of the portrait before anyone spoke up, and George quietly followed her.

McGonagall cleared her throat. "Professor—headmistress," she made a face, "Umbridge, has banned quidditch due to recent events with Dumbledore's supposed army."

Harry shook his head as Hermione awkwardly patted Ron on the shoulders. "She can't get away with this," he muttered, ears red.

McGonagall walked up to me. "Your Uncle asked me to give you this," she said, handing me a sealed roll of parchment.

Meet me in my office after curfew.

I narrowed my eyes; Snape was asking me to break the rules? "There's a first," I muttered. With Umbridge in charge, Snape didn't seem to want to take any risks. I nodded at McGonagall and she left, worry in her eyes.

"I guess I should change out of my robes," I said, glancing around at all of the stricken faces.

"You would have been great," Fred said, teeth clenched.

"I'm not the one who should be on the field," I said, forcing a smile.

As I went upstairs, I saw George walk back into the common room, giving Fred a look. Worry overtook me. When I came back downstairs, the common room was abandoned; the red and yellow posters Hermione and Neville worked so hard on seemed like harsh reminders of a game that would never take place. Outside of the window, the grounds were covered with students milling about. Most of them looked livid.

Fred and George came downstairs just as I decided to go outside, and Fred wrapped an arm around me. I pretended not to see the expression on his face.

"You know what we should do?" he said, kissing my cheek.

I grinned. "What?"

"We," his arm draped over my shoulders. "We should go to the room of requirement and see how many candles fit in there."

I snorted with laughter. "Very slick."

"It works with all the bonny lasses," he said.

"I'm sure." A large part of me wanted to take him up on his offer, and we did have a lot of time to make up for.

"Kat!" Hermione's voice shocked me out of my thoughts and I turned to see her balancing a large stack of books in her arms.

Fred swore under his breath.

"We need to get to the library. Ron and Harry are already there. OWLs are in a few weeks!"

I let out a sigh before getting up and taking half the stack out of her hands. "I'll see you later, ok?" I said to Fred.

He nodded. "I'll just, er, catch up on things," he said, eying Hermione. I smiled; She had been hounding the twins for months about testing their merchandise on students, and I was sure he was about to make use of some Hermione-free time.

"Honestly, I don't know how we're going to get everything covered," Hermione said as we walked through the corridors. "It's certainly a relief that you and Ron have extra time to study now."

I raised my eyebrows as Hermione paused, considering her words. Then she glanced at me.

"You know I didn't mean it like that!"

My hands went up. "I really don't care about quidditch." I didn't tell her that I also didn't care about exams. At this point, they were too far down on my list of priorities to even bother. But I spent the morning and afternoon studying with the trio.

I put most of my effort into charms and transfiguration, since Snape had already made sure I would be fine on potions. He assigned extra homework, but to be honest, it wasn't that difficult. I tapped my finger as Hermione translated runes. Harry and Ron passed notes, smirking occasionally.

Then I looked up. Beyond Madam Pince, right by the entrance, Umbridge slinked into the library, looking around at the students. The already sparse laughter stopped all together as her beady eyes scanned the room. My blood boiled.

"Ron, your essay isn't long enough," Hermione said, the edge of her quill poised to fix it.

Ron shrugged. "How much can I possibly write about the connection between laughing charms and the imperious curse?"

Hermione glared. "A lot. Now why don't you try expanding on this paragraph regarding—"

"Hem hem."

I turned around as Hermione's glance landed behind me. Umbridge's toad-like face was focused on the article I was reading.

"What have you got here?"

My blood froze as I realized she wasn't focused on the book, but my forearm. The glamour spell I'd done earlier that morning had faded a bit, and the words "property of" were clearly visible. I swallowed.

"Nothing," I said, but my voice caught halfway through the word, and no one missed it. I cleared my throat. "Nothing." It sounded more confident this time.

"It looks as if you've cut yourself. I'm sure you know that such behavior is unacceptable in my school."

"No, I—"

"You should just show her, Kat," Hermione said.

My eyes widened, but then I realized that her hands were under that table, and her wand was pointed at me. As I muttered "revelio," I hoped to God that Hermione knew what she was doing. The words became larger and more spirally.

Property of Fred Weasley

I let out a soft sigh of relief as Umbridge frowned.

"I like tattoos," I said, "but I thought they might be against school policy, so I hid mine. Do you like it?"

"Detention." She turned away to another group of students, and I rested my head on the desk. Hermione stared hard at her report as I tugged my sleeve down.

"That was close," Ron said.

"Too close," Harry said.

We continued studying, but I couldn't keep my mind on anything. I absent-mindedly answered questions, barely doing better than Ron and Harry. Hermione still looked agitated after a surprise quiz on the five most ancient transfigurations that took place in London.

"You're not trying," she said.

I shrugged. "Sorry."

"I don't think you understand, Kat."

"Whoa. I only got two wrong. Clearly I understand something."

Her eyes narrowed. "You should try to memorize everything you can. You never know what might end up as valuable information, especially if you don't bother to learn it."

"Hermione, it's just school."

"This isn't just school! This is about," she leaned in, "Voldemort. Snape's lessons with you will only go so far. You've got to concentrate if you ever expect to beat him."

I sighed, opening up my transfiguration book. "Fine."

Despite the harsh tone, Hermione seemed satisfied with my answer. "Good. Now Ron, back to your essay…"

Night fell long before Hermione deemed our study session over, and as the trio headed back to the common room, I snuck a glance around the hall and decided to go straight to Snape's office.

"Have fun," Harry said, sarcastically.

"Oh I will," I said. "You sure you don't want to come with? Try a little mind reading?"

He glared as I stalked off. I felt a little guilty for such a low blow at Harry. By the time I got down to the dungeons, the castle was quiet. Snape swung the door open before I was able to knock, and he ushered me in, glancing around the hall.

"I wasn't followed," I said.

"That is for me to decide," he said. I sat down at his desk and he locked the door. "We must be extra careful now that Dumbledore has left the castle."

"I'm really, really sorry about that—"

"It was not your fault," Snape said. "It was that imbecile, Potter." He sat across from me, shuffling parchment on his desk. "However, now that we are on the subject, what were you thinking?"

I bit my lip. "I was thinking, hey, a bunch of people are going to die. I should stop that from happening."

He frowned. "Do you still believe yourself capable of taking on an army alone?"

My voice was small. "I didn't think I would be facing an army."

"You thought wrong. Now sit down." I did as I was told, and Snape levitated the Pensieve to his desk.

I stood up. "No." I said.

He glared. "Why not?"

"It's just. It's private."

"Any more private than the rest of your thoughts during Occlumency lessons?"

My fists clenched. "I'll tell you. Just let me tell you."

He hesitated, then nodded, and I recounted yesterday's events for the third time. I knew better than to cut anything out, and Snape's eyes narrowed at numerous points.

"But I started taking the potion again," I said. He'd stayed silent after I finished my story, and it was unnerving. "I promise I won't do anything stupid—"

"Do you?" He frowned at me. "It seems you never believe your actions are foolish until after they occur. Until then, you think you're brave."

"Hey. I was trying—"

"To help?" He sneered at me. "You were trying to save lives? Well those few passengers may have survived, but do you really think Voldemort won't be curious as to how you figured out one of his plans?"

"They didn't have a clue," I started.

"But they stumbled onto another possibility: me. You may think your actions were noble, but don't delude yourself. They were pure selfishness, Katarina. You're acting just like Potter." He spit the name out like a swear word.

Blood rushed to my cheeks. "I—"

Snape stood up. "How can I trust you when you continue to disobey every rule? You're putting your life in danger when everyone else is risking their own for your well being! Why not simply write a letter telling them everything they want to know about us?"

"I'm trying to help!" I shouted.

"You're not helping! It's actions like this that will do exactly what we're trying not to."

I crossed my arms. "What do you even mean?"

"You're drawing attention to yourself. The only reason why you've survived this long without Voldemort asking for your presence is because you've done nothing extraordinary. Killing one of his most skilled followers and fending off several others, that's extraordinary." He took a deep breath. "If he finds out you're a seer, you will be in grave danger."

I snorted. "I'm pretty sure I've been in grave danger, Snape. I think I can handle it by by now."

He laughed. "The stupidity coming out of your mouth right now, Kat." The smile slowly faded from his face. "Right now, Voldemort wants to kill you. If he finds out you're a seer—a true seer—he'll never let you die. He'll capture you. He'll keep you locked away. He'll torture you and everyone you know in the worst ways imaginable to find out what he wants to know." Snape shook his head. "You'll beg for death."

My heart had all but stopped by the time Snape was finished.

"Pray he stays in the dark," Snape said.

I forced myself to take a few deep breaths. Then I sighed. "I—I'm sorry," I said. "It won't happen again.

Snape nodded. "Good. Now show me your arm."

Snape glared at Bella's marks, and I winced as he traced them with his wand, muttering so low that I couldn't hear what he said. Then he clicked his tongue. "She's reckless, but she knows how to leave a mark."

He tapped my arm with his wand and we both waited. The words glowed red as hot coals and began to burn. I let out a yelp as Snape quickly doused my arm with a clear potion. The pain faded slightly, but when Snape raised his wand a second time, I yanked my arm away.

"Don't you want to remove the words?"

I bit my tongue and held out my arm. Three tries later, the scars looked even worse than before. The skin around them was red and irritated, but Snape couldn't stop.

"I'm stuck with them, aren't I?" I said.

He looked away for a moment. "It certainly seems like it," he muttered.

I rolled down the sleeve of my shirt and Snape handed me a small container.

"It's a salve. It'll at least dull the pain."

"Thanks."

It was well past midnight when I returned to the Gryffindor common room, but Harry was wide-awake when the portrait swung open.

"You ok?" I said, yawning. Part of me was tired, but I anticipated nightmares, so sleep was off the table.

Harry shook his head, staring at the fire. "I had a nightmare."

I cursed. "Another one?"

He nodded.

"Harry, you can't keep doing this. These nightmares, they're not normal."

But Harry kept staring at the fire.

I sat down next to him and grabbed his shoulders. "Listen to me, Harry." Finally, he looked up at me. But his eyes weren't green; they were blood red. I jumped up, but when I blinked, they were green again. "Harry, you've got to get control. Snape's teaching you Occlumency—"

"Not anymore," Harry said. "We, we got into it a few weeks before Dumbledore left. He's a git."

My brow knit together. Of course. I just assumed that Snape or Harry would have said something when it happened.

"What happened in your nightmare?"

Harry sighed, but it came out shaky and uneven. "I was walking through a hallway. It was blue. Then it changed, and instead of orbs, I saw Voldemort. He was talking to Malfoy—Lucius—about you."

"What?"

He glanced at me. "They're not always real, though, right?"

I swallowed, then nodded. "Right. What did they say?"

"I couldn't pick anything out. My scar hurt really bad." He winced, and I could tell he was still in pain.

"Harry, I need you to promise me something."

"Depends."

"If you have a nightmare, or vision, that you want to act on, talk to me first. Please."

He frowned. "Why not just tell me what you think is going to happen?"

"Voldemort's going to try and trick you into leaving Hogwarts. Don't fall for it. If anything bad happens, I swear I'll help you, but don't go running off on your own."

"Like you do?"

I went upstairs without saying goodnight, because to some degree, he was right. But I couldn't admit it.

OOO

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