Author's Notes: Thanks to all of the readers out there who read my story in the past week. And a special thanks to all who submitted a review.

ProfessorChris: Thanks for the encouragement. But let me tell you this right now. Geoff has higher goals than being a Head of House. I hope to hear more from you in the future.

Wow, and now we have broken 1,000 hits after just four weeks! Seriously, it took my first story three months to get that many hits. I'm so popular. Yay!

Okay, last week's Monty Python reference was when Horace Slughorn listed all those synonyms after Geoff had knocked on the door to the dungeon room. The line is a word-for-word quote of John Cleese's in episode 13 of Monty Python's Flying Circus. It's from a sketch titled "Psychiatry - Silly Sketch" where Terry Jones, dressed up as Napoleon, has just walked out in the middle of the sketch, complaining about how all these sketches are the same.

Another magic-based reference in the previous chapter was the password needed to get into the Headmistress's office. Cosmic Creepers was the name of Ms. Price's black cat in the Disney movie Bedknobs and Broomsticks, staring David Tomlinson and Angela Lansbury. It's a good movie, which is very similar in appearance to Mary Poppins, even including an interlude where the live actors interact with animated characters.

Well, now that that's out of the way, lets get back to the story.

Chapter 4: Temporarily Reunited

Harry apparated just outside of The Burrow just after noon on August 12. He had only a change of clothes with him; he couldn't stay here long.

Harry slowly walked up to the door of The Burrow and knocked on the door. After a few seconds, the door opened and he saw Mrs. Weasley who immediately hugged him.

"Oh, Harry!" she cried, "We were wondering when you were going to come around. Ginny has missed you so much. We were so worried that you had been captured!"

The very mention of Ginny's name brought an avalanche of guilt down on Harry's heart. After having almost two months to look back on it, Harry regretted that he had to break up with Ginny at the end of the school year. He knew it was something he had to do for Ginny's safety, but Harry felt terrible about it. And it wasn't just for Ginny's sake. He felt so lonely without her now.

"I can't stay long, Mrs. Weasley," Harry informed, "I can only stay for the wedding, and then I have to leave."

"Oh, Ginny is going to be upset about that," she responded as she let go of Harry, "She has been crying all summer long about you, Harry dear. I can't say that I blame her, though I can't fault you for calling it off with the situation as it is."

Harry was about to respond when he saw a door on the upper landing open and there she was. For a moment, Harry's heart felt like it had been lifted into his throat upon seeing Ginerva Weasley. She saw Harry and immediately shouted, "Harry!" as she ran down the stairs and rushed right into him and embraced him in a huge hug. Harry returned the gesture and for a moment, he was happy and content. There was no Lord Voldemort and no prophesy. There was no dangerous undertaking he had to perform and no sacrifice he had to make. Everything was perfect at this moment.

But then, the nightmare he had last night came to mind. It came back to him like a bad habit, with no way to stop it.

--

Harry stood over the rubble of his parents' house in Godric's Hallow at night. The sky was lit up as if it were day by lightning and the rain came pouring down all around him. The raindrops fell on his glasses and blurred his vision, but he didn't need to see anymore. He knew what had happened. Harry, with his wand in his right hand, looked down at the ground and saw a sickening sight that delighted him. At his feet lay the decapitated body of Lord Voldemort, black blood oozing out of the stump of his neck. Harry had been victorious. He had destroyed the evil that had terrorized his world for so many years and had killed so many people, including his own parents and godfather. Good had triumphed over evil, at last.

But Harry was not happy with this. He turned around and there on the ground, face-down, a body with flaming red hair in a black witch's robe. Harry staggered over to the body, his every step causing him great pain, knowing what he was about to see, yet refusing to believe it. He collapsed onto his knees and turned the body over.

And there he saw the terrible sight, the one that took every bit of joy out of his victory. There was Ginny Weasley's beautiful face, caught in an expression of absolute terror. Her bright brown eyes were wide open in fear. Harry felt her neck for a pulse. He felt nothing, just as he knew he would. He saw her get hit in the chest by a green bolt of light from Lord Voldemort just moments before Harry would cast the same spell onto Voldemort, killing the Dark Lord once and for all before cutting his head off with a knife to make sure that the task was complete. No more Horcruxes, no more Lord Voldemort.

But the price was too high for Harry to pay. He kissed Ginny's still-warm lips one last time, closing her eyes as he did. "I have nothing left to live for," he whispered to the body as he pulled away, "My destiny is fulfilled and all those I loved are dead. My parents, Sirius, Dumbledore, and now you. I have no business being here any longer." He then shoved the end of his wand into his chest and was about to cast one last spell onto himself.

Except that his strength finally failed him. His arms could no longer support even the weight of his wand. His wand slipped out of his fingers and fell to the ground next to Ginny as Harry collapsed on top of her, praying for death's embrace to take him.

"Just let me die," he muttered before he passed out, "Just let me be with her." But he had a feeling that his wounds would not prove fatal. And with his return to the world, he would have to wait more than a hundred years before being reunited with his love.

--

Harry opened his eyes from this flashback and looked down. There was that mane of flaming red hair, but he knew that this Ginny was alive and well. And Harry wanted to keep it that way, even if it meant that their hearts would have to break in the process.

"Great to see you too, Ginny," Harry said, "Are Ron and Hermione here?"

"You'd rather be with them than me?" Ginny said with a smile as she looked up at Harry, "Oh, you're no fun anymore." Mrs. Weasley chuckled.

"I need to talk to them about something important," Harry replied.

"They're both here and in Ron's room," Ginny informed him, "But I don't think you'll interrupt anything important."

Harry and Ginny shared a smile as they broke away from each other's embrace. "I'll talk to you later, Ginny," Harry said as he walked away toward Ron's room. He knew what his two best friends in the world had to do.

He reached Ron's room door and knocked once. "Who is it?" Ron's voice asked.

"It's me, Harry," Harry responded.

After about two seconds, the door opened up and Harry saw Ron, the closest thing he ever had to a brother in his life. "Oi Harry! We were starting to think you wouldn't show up!" Ron half-yelled as he hugged Harry, "It's great to see you!"

"Good to see you too, Ron," Harry replied as he walked into the room, "Hey Hermione."

Hermione put the book she was reading down in her lap and said, "Hey Harry."

"How long are you going to be staying?" Ron asked.

"Only long enough to see the wedding, I really can't stay here," Harry replied with his eyes looking at the ground, "There are just too many things I have to do right now, meaning I won't be going to back to Hogwarts."

"Harry, you know we'll be coming with you to help you," Hermione said in a comforting way.

"That's what I need to talk to you about," Harry replied, getting right to the point, "I have been thinking about that and I have come to the realization that if the Death Eaters attack Hogwarts, someone will have to lead its defense. I am almost certain the Death Eaters will attack it again this year. You two have to defend it."

"But Harry," Ron began.

"He does have a point, Ron," Hermione interrupted, "And after all, you are Head Boy."

Harry quickly turned back to Ron. "You're Head Boy?" he asked quickly.

"Yeah," Ron said with a nod, "And Hermione is Head Girl." What would have been the shocker of the millennium to Harry was if Hermione wasn't made Head Girl.

"Both from the same house," Hermione commented, "That hasn't happened in a while." She didn't want to remind Harry that it was his mother and father who were the last same-house Head Boy and Head Girl pair. "If it wasn't for what happened at the end of last year, Malfoy probably would have been made Head Boy," she added.

Harry felt a surge of anger through his body at the mention of Draco Malfoy, who had been ordered by Voldemort to kill Dumbledore. Though Harry had realized that Draco could never have built up the nerve to complete the mission himself, Malfoy was also on Harry's list of things to take care of. All those years of nonsense had built up into nothing but pure hatred for a young man who talked a big talk, yet fell well short when it came time to walk the walk.

"Harry, you really ought to finish school before you start your hunt for Voldemort," Hermione suggested, "It will make you more prepared for him."

"By then it'll be too late," Harry pointed out, "And I already have the knowledge to do this. Professor Dumbledore made sure of that. All I have to do is find the remaining four Horcruxes, and then find Voldemort."

"It won't be easy, mate," Ron said, "So I wish you the best of luck. We'll keep Hogwarts safe, don't you worry about that."

"Thanks guys," Harry said as he walked out of the room. He looked around, but Ginny was nowhere to be seen.

--

Ginny just couldn't sleep that night. She was too anxious about the wedding. And thinking of Harry wouldn't help her out either. She decided to take a walk through the house, so she left her room and walked across the upper landing to the stairs when she stopped at Harry's door. She had heard him say something from inside the room. She slid an extendable ear she had gotten from Fred and George under the door and listened.

"I am the most powerful wizard in the world, Weasley," she heard Harry say in the sort of way that told her that he was talking in his sleep, "And now, your family of blood traitors will suffer for its transgressions against your fellow pureblooded wizards and witches. I will kill your entire family, and I will start with you. Avada Kedavra."

At this point, Ginny, who was now frightened beyond all belief, burst into the room and saw Harry, sleeping face-up on his bed. He was now laughing maniacally.

"Harry, stop," Ginny said as she walked next to the bed.

"Granger, the mudblood, you'll be next!" Harry raved, his closed eyes making the scene too surreal to be believed and Ginny thought for a moment that she was the one dreaming, "You call for your hero. It is no use, for he is dead. I am Lord Voldemort!"

"Harry!" Ginny yelled.

Suddenly, Harry bolted up in bed and started breathing fast, a look of horror on his face as the bout of madness induced by this nightmare subsided. "Ginny," he said, though he hadn't even seen her yet.

"I'm here Harry," she replied as Harry turned to look in her direction.

"Oh, thank heavens!" Harry exclaimed as he hugged her, "It was just another nightmare."

"What happened?" Ginny asked as she reached her arms around to Harry's back.

"Well, I had killed Voldemort and I had cut off his head," Harry began, "And then I felt compelled to . . . to drink his blood." Harry was starting to lose whatever semblance of stability he had left and Ginny could see that as well. His body was shaking uncontrollably.

"Harry, please, it was just a nightmare," Ginny comforted.

"I picked up his head and I looked right into his eyes, those dark eyes. And then I put his head over mine and blood came down and into my open mouth," Harry continued, starting to sweat profusely, "I swallowed it all and then I saw you. My vision went all red and . . . "

"And then you killed me," Ginny finished for him.

Harry looked at Ginny and nodded. He then lowered his head into his palms as he shook his head. "I've been having these nightmares for weeks now," he said, "I think Voldemort is playing mind games with me."

Ginny knew she needed to get Harry's mind off of Voldemort, and quickly. "Harry, I couldn't sleep at all," she said.

"Why not?" Harry asked.

"I guess I'm a bit anxious about tomorrow," Ginny said as she sat down on Harry's left, "And I just can't stop thinking about you Harry. I just can't."

"Ginny, I have to tell you something," Harry began.

"Not now Harry," Ginny replied as she rested her head on Harry's left shoulder, "It can wait until tomorrow." Ginny knew what Harry was about to say, but she didn't want to spoil this moment.

Ginny would stay in Harry's room for the rest of the night.

--

Author's Notes: In the original version of this chapter, Harry actually did end up killing himself in the first nightmare sequence. However, I changed it as this story will end up with more than enough suicide scenes to warrant the M rating, along with a very disturbing sequence that is coming in the next chapter.

I will warn you all right now, the next chapter contains a sequence that is DEFINITELY not suitable for children and the impressionable. I will mark this section of the story off so that you can steer clear of it if you want to, but after that the choice is yours. Be careful.

Well, until next week, read, review, and enjoy. Oh, and Happy 232nd Birthday America!