A/N: Oh man this took me forever! School started and I was stuck. I hope you guys like it and again, sorry for the wait.

Chapter Three – We Die Young

Harry had been walking along the side of the road for some time now. He had no idea where he was going and he was growing impatient. He was hoping to find that lake Sirius had told him about the night before but had been unsuccessful thus far. He had been craving a nice long swimming session for weeks now but to his extreme dislike the promise of a hole full with water looked rather grim for he had seen nothing that remotely resembled water on that never ending trail he was following.

Fed up, Harry was about turn back and head back home when he finally spotted it. Through the cracks of several trees a body of water was slightly visible, the sunlight bouncing of the glistering surface. Already feeling the familiar call, Harry broke into a desperate sprint as he fought through fallen branches and rusty leaves, desperate to reach his destination.

One by one, Harry began peeling all his clothes off. He could practically feel his arms whimpering at the amount of work they were about to do and in one swift dive, he submerged into the icy lake. Harry resurfaced and as in auto pilot his arms began to break the once peaceful surface left-right-left- right with tremendous aggression as he greeted the bitter coldness that was already making him numb.

Harry hadn't felt this alive in a long time. He ignored the voice in his head telling him after what seemed like hours of nonstop swimming to get out, accepting the pain pulsing throughout his body and welcoming it with open arms. He knew he was pushing it to the edge but he couldn't stop, he was addicted to the ever growing blinding pain floating up and down his naked body.

In a moment of pure exhaustion, Harry's arms stopped working. He tried to hoist himself up on the water but it was no use as he felt himself sinking. Water rampaged through his nostrils and his mouth as the lake began to claim his body, pulling him into her great depths. With one last glance at the surface, he could have sworn he saw a shadow reach for him, but he was too weak to do anything.

After another successful night, the moon was preparing to say its goodbyes to the earth and make room for the sun to do its job. But since it still had a couple of hours left the moon decided to play with the sea for a while, making waves up and down along the seashores.

Meanwhile at the Potter residence, a young fourteen year old boy had been awoken from a very good dream involving a certain Esther Nelson, by an unidentified noise that sounded very much like a knock. Deciding it was probably the neighborhood cat rummaging through their garbage again, he went back to his busy dream.

However, the noise wouldn't stop making him stir on his bed for a few seconds until finally, the persisting knocking caused him to fully open his eyes. He jumped three feet in the air when a grinning James Potter burst through the door, scaring his son half to death!

"Get up Harry!" yelled James with the enthusiasm of a five year old.

Disbelief evident in the young man's face, Harry turned his gaze towards the clock and read the time, 4:34 AM. He snapped his head back looking at his father as if he had thirty-seven heads before grunting and sliding back under his covers. Closing his eyes he decided he was having a nightmare because surely his father had not just barged in like a silly five year old and had woken him up at such ungodly hour.

James fought back a grin as he made his way over to the edge of the bed and in one swift movement, he pulled the covers off his son. Harry's nightmare was becoming increasingly real.

"Harrrrrrrrrryyyyy! Wake up you lazy bum. Wake uuuupppp!" said James as he sneakily motioned his best friend and Harry's godfather Sirius Black to come in. Sirius and James grinned at each other and tried to suppress their laughter as Sirius made his way to the left side of Harry's bed, carrying what surely was a bucket of very unpleasantly cold water in his hands.

The unsuspecting Harry let out a long yawn as he snuggled his body closer to himself in annoyance, looking to maximize his body heat. He was not in the mood for his father's antics at the moment. All he wanted was to go back to sleep where Esther was waiting for him. "Go to sleep old man, the sun's not even out," he managed to hiss out.

"Oh come on Harrrrrry, don't be such a baby! Get up right this instance young boy, or else…" he snickered as he stole a glance at Sirius. Still oblivious to Sirius who was edging the bucket lower and lower, Harry rolled his eyes and tried shutting out his father's annoying voice out."C'mon dad lemme sleep. Go away!" he pleaded, knowing very well he was losing the battle.

There was a moment of silence in which Harry foolishly believed his father was truly going to respect his pleas and let him sleep.

"Alright then son," Harry gave a smile of triumph as he let out a few chuckles. "…but don't say I didn't warn you."

James had Harry's full attention now, his chuckles long forgotten in the silence of the room. Slowly, he opened an eye and saw his father backing away from his side. He inwardly groaned at the sight of that famous mischievous grin that was currently plastered on James's face. Oh man, that couldn't be any good.

He opened his mouth but before he could say anything, a chill ran down his spine as he heard a familiar voice at the back of his head. Dread beginning to dawn on his features; he was a goner.

"Morning sunshine," Sirius beamed at Harry with a boyish grin before successfully dumping the complete bucket of doom on his godson.

He should have seen it coming. Harry cursed at himself as he felt all warmth and comfort escape from his body, immediately replaced by utter wetness. He attempted to dry his face with his wet hands, glaring at the laughing figures of his father and godfather who by now had joined James at the other side of the room. Tears were coming down their face at the sight of dear 'ol Harry, the wet duckling.

"I .. Harry… warned you… didn't listen!" James painfully squeezed out as he held on to Sirius who was on the brink of collapsing from all the laughter.

Despite his current 'wet' situation, Harry felt a small smile tugging at the edge of his lips. He had to hand it to them, they were good . . . too good. They'd gotten him for what seemed like the millionth time. Then again, they were the masters of pranks, complete monsters when they were younger he imagined, bless their parents and everyone who had to put up with those two.

"I see you guys managed to wake up Harry there," said Lily, casually strolling into the room with an amused look on her face. James and Sirius stopped their laughter for a second and shrugged their shoulders giving her a double dosage of innocent looks, earning a roll her eyes at them, making them snicker in response. Like the caring and attentive mother she went to the closet and came back, handing Harry a very nice dry towel which he accepted immediately, wrapping it appreciably around himself.

He gave his mother a loving look that she returned happily. A sudden mischievous grin of their own appeared on Lily and Harry Potter's face going unnoticed by the two other men in the room. They made last second arrangements with their bright emerald eyes and out of nowhere, a loud war cry was released, startling the two fools in the floor who had no time to defend themselves against the two lunatics who were currently lunging themselves at them full force. Sirius and James were slammed onto their backs hard and faster than they could say 'ribbity rabbit do'.

Laughter thundered throughout the Potter residence as James, Lily, Sirius and Harry wrestled and tickled each other to death.

That day had been one of the most amazing days of Harry's life. His parents along with Sirius had taken him for an early breakfast at their favorite dinner, Danny's Dinner where they were treated to round after round of the best, the incredible and 100% true epic chronicles of Sirius & James. They had been very loud throughout their time there, laughing and joking around earning curious glances every now and then from the few people who were there fighting the never ending battle with their eyes: to drift away into sleepdom, or wake up.

After they had gotten their fuel and energy, they had driven to the beach where they were going to be camping for the night. It was the first time Harry had gone camping and he found it quite amazing. The day was full with numerous activities such as swimming in the beach, playing a nice game of volleyball and hiking on the nearby hills.

It had been hours when night had finally arrived once again, hugging the day goodbye.

Sirius was helping Harry tend to the fire that threatened to dissolve for the third time. James and Lily were sitting a few steps back holding each other tightly with a blanket over them as they tried to lessen the coldness from the air.

Harry watched as his mother slowly lifted her head up at her father and looked at him with so much love in her eyes that he right about melted. James gave her a sweet tender kiss that told her a million times over how much he loved her and always would. Lily snuggled even closer and lost herself in him, forgetting about the world and everything around her (maybe not Harry) but her husband.

Harry's eyes shined with awe at the sight of his parents and a feeling of warmth spread inside of him. Would he ever find that one person who he'd love forever and above all? That person who would take his breath away with a flash of her smile and make his whole body ache when she wasn't around? That person who would love him despite all his obvious flaws without an ounce of effort? His soul mate . . .

Sirius had also seen the scene in front of him and felt nothing but happiness for his two best friends. Their love was so strong and powerful, something he hoped he would find one day if he was lucky enough. They had created a beautiful family with a wonderful son and he felt pretty damn lucky to be part of it as well. He noticed his godson was still staring at them with a goofy expression on his face. Curious at what he was thinking, he cleared his throat once and after getting no result attempted again. Nothing.

"Oi Harry!" he said as he waved his hands in front of his face. "Penny for your thoughts?"

Harry finally turned to his godfather, the goofy expression still on his face.

"What?" he asked, turning his gaze to the waves crashing with the sand. It was a beautiful sight to behold, instantly making him relaxed.

"Don't you what me; I saw that look on your face Harry . . . what was that all about?" he raised an eyebrow at him, amused at the redness coloring his cheeks.

"I don't know what you're talking about," said Harry, firmly holding his ground. He was not about to admit to his godfather what was going through his head because frankly, it surprised him that he even had those thoughts. Harry didn't want his godfather to think he was going soft or something.

But Sirius was not letting him off that easy though…

"Harry…"

"No."

"Come on—"

"Nope."

"Please?"

"Not gonna happen . . ."

Sirius knew he wasn't getting anything out his stubborn little mouth. He needed something fast! Something that would make Harry feel guilty or at least uncomfortable enough that he had no choice but voice his thoughts out of sheer annoyance. Aha! He had it.

"I changed your dirty diapers and endured your constant peeing on my face!"

Harry just sat there, mouth slightly opened, a look of disgust on his face.

"Oh that's gross. That's just plain disgusting even for you Sirius!"

Success.

Sirius beamed at his godson, a smirk of triumph on his face.

Harry wanted to wipe that smirk off his face. He needed a comeback. There, he had it!

"Then again, it's not like I held a dagger to your throat and forced you do it now did I?"

Ugh, what a smartass. Sirius held his arms up in defeat. "Fine, fine, don't tell me if you don't want."

Harry could not believe he was about to voice his thoughts but there he was, the words softly sliding out of his mouth.

"Do you? I mean, do you think I'll ever find that . . ." he trailed off as he fixed his gaze at his parents once again. They were currently engaged in a suffocating embrace.

Sirius wasn't sure he had heard him right. But the look on his face assured him he had. Sirius smiled knowing exactly what Harry meant. He had been asking himself the same thing for a few years now. There was actually a time when he believed he had found it, briefly if only for a moment and it had been the most amazing time in his life. Thinking of her still made his chest ache. He had forgotten how much joy and pain the thought of her could still inflict on him.

Feeling a pair of piercing green eyes staring at him intently, Sirius pushed aside thoughts of her telling him it was best to not dwell on the past. What was done was done and there was no changing that. Then again, that didn't make it hurt any less . . .

"Yeah, it's true love at its finest," replied Sirius absentmindedly. He smiled once again at his two best friends. They had finally noticed they were being watched and they both stuck out their tongues at them making Sirius and Harry laugh at the love birds.

No more words were spoken that night on the matter as the family of four retreated into their tents letting the sound of the tides and the whispering of the wind lull them to sleep.

Harry's eyes fluttered open to see a blurry figure looming very closely over him. He blinked a few more times as he rubbed his eyes until his vision was clear. Sure enough, the blurry figure came into focus in the form of a soaking curtain of curls attached to the head of a girl with the most beautiful chocolate almond shaped eyes he had ever seen.

He was engrossed in her stare, ignoring the tremendous pain screaming from every pore in his body and the myriad of questions plaguing his head.

Who was this girl? Where had she come from? What the hell had happened? How in the world did he end up where he was? Why couldn't he look away from those addictive eyes?

Harry noticed that she was wet. Why was she wet? Then his head started working and he began to remember everything that had happened. His body had failed him and he had drowned. This girl must have been the shadow that saved him. If it wasn't for her, he would have probably been dead by now, claimed by the bottom of the lake.

He was extremely grateful but he couldn't help but question, when had she gotten there? He hadn't felt the presence of another person. Then again, he was blinded to everything around him but the pain both physical and mental he was undergoing.

The curiosity was killing him. He wanted to know who this vision was and what she was doing there.

But not before he realized something very important. Slowly, he shifted his gaze down at his body and realized he wasn't wearing anything. Oh man, wasn't this a lovely day.

Trying to ignore the very important detail, Harry finally managed to gather up his courage and whatever dignity he had left.

"W- Who are you?" he stuttered.

Completely caught off guard by the sudden noise, the girl lost her balance and fell right on top of Harry, crushing him.

Crushing his very naked body . . .

Harry stiffened as he fought really hard to control himself and his little buddy down there. The girl just lay there, studying him like an open notebook. The strain on his groin was becoming too much and his body was a thousand degrees. Mortified, he felt himself harden under the girl's weight. The girl must've felt it because she instantly blushed and hoisted herself up to her feet.

"Umm . . . sorry," she said as she turned her back to him. Harry covered his face with his hands, embarrassed at the situation. Frantically, he searched for his clothes and finally spotted them on the other side of the lake.

Great.

"Err . . . I'm just going to …" he said pointing to his clothes. The girl turned to look at him and blushed once again at the sight of him. "Uhh, yeah okay. I'm Hermione by the way," she said softly, focusing very hard on an oak tree in front of her.

"Hi Hermione, I'm uhh, Harry," he said to the back of her head as he quickly rushed to fetch his clothes. He finally reached them and put them on as fast as he could, running back to where Hermione was.

She turned to face him, giving him a shy smile. "Hi Harry."

This was awkward.

"So umm, thanks for saving me back there," he said, shoving his hands inside his pockets.

"No problem," she said with a small smile. "I was going to have a swim myself too when I noticed you swimming and I - uh…" Hermione blushed even more if that was possible.

Amused, Harry felt a smile emerge on his lips. Feeling a bit bold, he took a step forward, making Hermione take an automatic step back. "When you what?" he asked.

He saw how nervous he was making her and for some reason, he liked it.

"Well … you see, I …" she sighted, lowering her head, caught like a deer in headlights. She couldn't tell him that she had been looking at him swim. That was just creepy.

Harry decided to finally put her out of her misery. "It doesn't matter. The point is that you were there and thanks to you, I'm here. I don't know what I was thinking; I guess I just needed to release everything . . ."

Hermione nodded and tucked a piece of wet hair behind her ear.

"Well, I have to go now, my mom is probably wondering where I am. It was nice meeting you," she said as she walked up to him and stretched her hand for him to shake.

Harry wanted her to stay. He wanted to know more about this Hermione person but he needed to get back to Sirius and Tonks as well. He stretched his hand to meet hers, lingering a little more than necessary. Harry felt something warm surfing through his body. He notice it evaporate as soon as their hands lost touch.

"Right, well … goodbye Harry" Hermione said as she turned and started walking away. Harry watched her retreating form.

"Wait!"

Hermione abruptly stopped and turned around, giving him a questioning look. He ran up to catch up to her. "When will I see you again?" asked Harry, eagerly waiting for an answer from the mysterious girl who had gotten his attention.

Hermione smiled.

"Soon," she said, giving him one last smile as she turned to leave.