Much to my dismay, fibbing to Harry and Ron that I had to skip breakfast to go to the library meant that I actually had to skip breakfast. Naturally, by lunch I was positively famished and in no mood to be interrupted from stuffing my face and naturally, Hermione had to haul me off to the side to talk to me.

"What is it?" I snapped impatiently as she surveyed the area, making sure no one was around to eavesdrop.

"Ron told me you had another vision." She said offhandedly.

"'Mione, if that's what you dragged me here to talk about, we can discuss it later-"

"No, no, no, stay here! That's not what I wanted to talk about!"

"Well then what, Hermione, because I didn't eat this morning!"

"You're as bad as Ron sometimes," She began scolding before starting at the glower on my face, "Alright! I want to suggest something to Harry, but I wanted someone to tell me it wasn't the most completely daft idea they've ever heard before first."

I nodded as she paused for my approval.

"I... I think Harry should teach us Defence Against the Dark Arts..." Hermione almost whispered.

"What?"

"Just think about it, Umbridge isn't going to be any use to us and we're going to need to know how to..." She stopped, almost too scared to continue, "Sarah, you know as well as I do that there's something out there. Harry's the only chance we've got."

I stared at her hard and it all became clear. Harry knew what it was like to be in combat, to be up against something evil. He'd fought You-Know-Who multiple times for Merlin's sake! We could learn from him, he could teach us how to defend ourselves.

"Oh, I know. It is daft." Hermione sighed under my stare.

"Hermione, no. It's brilliant!" I exclaimed, grabbing her shoulders.

"You really think so?" She asked, lighting up. I nodded furiously.

"Now I've just got to get Harry to agree to it." She said before she walked away. Now that was something we both knew was going to be hard. "And we're going to have to talk about it sooner or later!" She yelled over her shoulder, referring to those "visions".

Potions that afternoon was gruelling. It was the only class I had that day that Gryffindors shared with the Slytherins and one Slytherin in particular didn't seem to want to evade my mind. I still had his cloak, I'd kept it in my book bag on the off chance I'd get the courage to go up and give it to him. It still smelled like him...The last lesson of the day passed with me only catching words of Professor Snape's sentences and his final instruction, a twelve inch essay on the effects of Veratiserum to be done by the morrow, which I knew I was going to struggle with that night.

After dinner I sauntered up to the library not bothering to rush and occupied an empty table, dumping my belongings. I wandered the aisles of books aimlessly and gathered a few containing information on Veratiserum until I had myself a satisfying stack. When I returned to my table I found it was not as empty as I had left it.

"Hi." I said nonchalantly, not looking him in the eye as I sat directly opposite him.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" Draco asked, like it was normal that he would. I shook my head in response, opening one of the books and beginning to read through it.

He pulled out parchment, a quill and ink from his bag and opened one of the other books, not saying anything more. I had finished about half of my essay when the silence finally became to much to bear.

"I still have your cloak if you wanted it back." I offered, not taking my eyes off of the words in front of me, nervous they would betray my calm composure.

"You can give it back when you want, I haven't missed it." He replied, continuing to scratch his quill on the parchment.

"Why are you here, Draco?" I blurted out. He looked up at me and studied my face for a while before going back to his essay.

"I don't know." He replied softly.

Neither of us spoke after that. When he finished his essay he got up and left without saying goodbye and when I finished mine I dawdled back to the common room, more confused than I thought I ever had been. I slumped down in an armchair next to Tyler who seemed to be completely rapt in a book about Quidditch, the only thing you'd ever see my brother read. I rested my head in my hand and sighed, I'd had an intense time already and we hadn't even been at school a month.

"Laurie told me what happened, are you okay?" He asked, setting his book down. I shrugged.

"I will be."

"Shortest relationship I've known you to have." He attempted at humour. I chuckled and rolled my eyes as Liriana jumped onto the armrest beside me and made herself comfortable. Tyler always seemed to know how to cheer me up, whether it was by making jokes at my expense or making himself look like a fool. "Laurie's a bit of a wanker anyways, Teddy."

I shook my head, "He's still your bestfriend, Rex." Teddy and Rex, they were nicknames we made up for each other when we were still children. I couldn't even remember how they originated.

"I had another dream." I told him quietly, staring into the fire.

"You mean one of those visions?" I nodded solemnly.

"I saw what happened at the graveyard last year with Harry. I saw Cedric die... I saw him come back."

"You-Know-Who?" I nodded again,"He really is back then."

"I'm scared." I admitted, more to myself. There was a a war approaching and he was leading it and I was more scared than I ever had been, I realised. More scared than when I stole Nate's broomstick when I was five and fell off it miles away from our house and I'd thought I'd broken every bone in my body until Tyler found me and told me everything would be okay. More scared than when I'd driven the Weasley's flying Ford Anglia with Ron when we were thirteen and we'd ran out of fuel in the middle of nowhere at night, only to find that we were parked fifty metres away from their front door the next morning. And more scared than when I'd been centimetres away from having my soul sucked out of my body by a Dementor before school started. I think everyone was scared, even the people that wouldn't admit that Harry was right. They were only lying to themselves out of fear for what the acceptance would hold.

"Me too."

I pushed myself out of my armchair and crawled over to the foot of Tyler's, resting my head on his legs, "What's wrong with me, Tyler?"

He stroked my hair comfortingly, "Sarah, there is absolutely nothing wrong with you. I promise you we will work this out."

I stared into the fire thinking about Harry and You-Know-Who and my family and Draco and my friends and those ridiculous visions until I drifted to sleep. When I woke the common room was all but empty and I had been returned to my armchair with a blanket draped across me, Liriana in my lap. I sat up drowsily and spied Hermione, Ron and Harry sitting by a window. Careful not to interrupt them and what I knew they would be discussing, I wrapped myself in the blanket and tiptoed upstairs, turning in for the night.

Everyone was crowded around the noticeboard the next morning when I stumbled down to the common room. I spotted Fred and George appear from the midst of the group and push their way out, looking more pleased than they usually did. I hailed them over.

"What's all this fuss about then?" I asked wiping sleep out of my eyes.

"Angelina posted the results of the Quidditch tryouts." Fred answered.

"And naturally, we're beaters, fifth year in a row." George added, high-fiving Fred effortlessly.

"Naturally." I chuckled, passing them and pushing my way through the crowd of people to the team notice.

This years Gryffindor Quidditch representative team has been decided as follows:

Harry Potter – Seeker

Ronald Weasley – Keeper

Fred Weasley – Beater

George Weasley – Beater

Angelina Johnson – Chaser

Laurie Parker – Chaser

Sarah Eddie – Chaser

Any inquiries are to be taken up with myself, the team captain.

Congratulations on your new positions, training will be held every Thursday.

I expect everyone to be there at 6:30 sharp.

Signed, Angelina Johnson, Gryffindor Quidditch team captain.

After what had happened at the end of the tryouts, I'd been slightly worried Angelina would look badly upon my behaviour, so I was very glad she'd overlooked it and chosen me for my regular position. It was my third year playing on the team. First years weren't allowed and in second year Harry had forced me to put on my brave face and approach Oliver, playing for both second and third year and skipping fourth year because of the tournament. I made my way back out of the crowd, receiving many congratulations and slaps on the back as I went. I spotted Harry and Ron nearby and hurried over to congratulate Ron. As I got closer I saw that he was looking positively gaunt and I was worried he'd faint at any moment.

"Ron! Congratulations!" I yelled, trying to cheer him up. He just looked at me with wide eyes.

"Yeah, congratulations... What am I going to do? I can't play Quidditch, what was Angelina thinking!" He burst out suddenly, sounding hysteric. I glanced at Harry. Angelina had only agreed to put Ron on the team on the condition that we practiced extra with him to help him improve... and he needed to improve a lot.

"You'll do fine Ron! We promised to help you out remember? We can start tonight if you'd like?" Harry offered, looking to me for assistance, I took the bait.

"Yeah, Ron! You're already really good, you just need to learn some tactics!" I tried to assure. Ron coloured a little and nodded, walking off and mumbling something about wanting breakfast.

"The poor thing" I sighed after he had retreated through the portrait hole.

"He'll be okay, we'll help him." Harry replied uncertainly before following our nervous friend out of the room.

I had an easy start to the morning with Herbology, so after I'd downed a hefty breakfast of pancakes submerged in maple syrup, I started down for the greenhouses. Winding my way through the castle I came across a certain long, blonde headed girl standing directly in the middle of a wide corridor, staring up at the ceiling.

"Hi, Luna!" I greeted cheerily. She smiled and swished her head so that her hair fell away from her face and I noticed dangly earrings in the shape of turnips adorning her ears.

"Hello, Sarah." She replied dreamily, not taking her eyes off of the ceiling. Not many people were too fussed on Luna, but I liked her. She was harmless and she always seemed to surprise me in some way or another, it was always interesting with Luna. I glanced up at the ceiling and spotted a pair of striped, rainbow sneakers dangling from the rafters.

"Are those yours?" I asked, a little confused. She nodded.

"It seems some of my classmates have played a joke on me, it's quite clever really. I was just admiring their knot work."

Their knot work, honestly. Although, it really hadn't even surprised me. I smiled and shook my head.

"I have to keep going, Luna, so I'll talk to you later. Oh! And I really like your earrings!" I said over my shoulder as I continued my path to the greenhouses.

The lesson went by smoothly, we spent it taking notes on the Fanged Geraniums Professor Sprout had lined up at the front of the greenhouse in preparation for handling them the following lesson. Everyone in the class, including me, were joking about how harmless they were until Ernie Macmillan walked past one and it took a chunk out of the back of his robes. Everyone was quiet after that.

Next I had Care of Magical Creatures which would have been a lot more enjoyable if Hagrid had been back. Professor Grubbly-Plank was a good teacher, but no one could make handling dangerous creatures fun like Hagrid could. We were really starting to worry about him, no one had heard or seen anything of him since the start of term. Neither did it help at all that Professor Umbridge was walking around, standing over students shoulders, asking the Slytherins, of all people, how they liked Hagrid as a teacher. At some stage I heard Malfoy and his cronies mouth off about him and I had to resist the strong urge to go over and call him a traitor, or punch him or slap him or something. He was a git sometimes.

In anger I tore through my started essay on Bowtruckles and stood up to throw away the crumpled piece of paper. As I turned, I slammed into something large and hard and all the air was knocked out of me.

"Jeez, watch where yer going, Eddie!" Seamus shouted at me.

"Why don't you ask your mother to watch where she's going." I grumbled back. It was a poor shot, I'll admit it, but Seamus just got on my nerves. His face reddened.

"What was that about me mum?" He shot back. I glared at him, looking him straight in the eye.

"Nothing." I spat before turning away and finding myself face to face with Professor Umbridge.

"I would ask you, Miss Eddie, to be respectful towards all students." She said in her little, sickly sweet voice. I heard Seamus chuckle behind me and I wanted to turn around and tell him to shut it or I'd snap his wand in half, however, I thought that may be unwise.

"Yes, Professor." I said slowly, making sure to emphasise both words carefully. She hummed in disapproval and stalked off to find another student to prey on.

"Just ignore them, both of them." Hermione advised after I sat down again with her, Harry and Ron.

"Yes, because that's so easy." I said through clenched teeth. I realised I was starting to act as Harry did when he became frustrated, so I calmed myself. I inhaled and exhaled deeply and leaned on my best friend's shoulder, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay." She assured. She smiled and played with a loose strand of my hair.

When the class was finished I managed to steal away alone and found myself a shady elder tree to lay under, as for once the sun was surprisingly showing through the dense grey clouds that seemed to permanently occupy the sky. I needed time to think, I seemed to need a lot of that time really. There was too many things going on at the same time, my brain only had room for a certain amount. However, instead of using my thinking time for actual thinking, I ended up dozing off for a little and only woke when the school bell startled me from my nap.

Chapter 7! Hope you're enjoying, don't forget to review! :)
I replaced Alicia Spinnet and Katie Bell with Sarah and Laurie on the Quidditch team for story purposes, I hope you don't mind.