Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling, nor will I ever be. Therefore, I do not own Harry Potter or it's characters... Just wanted to make that clear... haha

This story is rated T for foul language

Chapter 3

James' POV

"Mister Potter, could you wait a moment please?"

I let out a sigh and sit back down while the rest of the students clamber out of the potions dungeon. I drum my fingers on the top of the table as I wait for everyone to leave. Once the last student has finally left, Professor Slughorn motions for me to join him at his desk. "Mister Potter, I understand that you were struggling with potions this summer. At the request of your father, I have found you one of my best students as your tutor. If anyone else had asked, I would have said no. But anything for someone who has made my wall." He grins as he looks over to the wall, where my father's picture hangs among other successful students Slughorn has had in the past.

His attention turns back to me. "As I said before, your tutor is one of the best in my class. If anyone can teach you everything from last year AND help you with this year, it is her."

There is a knock at the door and Slughorn grins. "Ah, here she is now. PLEASE COME IN."

The door opens slowly and Ariana pokes her head in. "You sent for me, Professor?"

He smiles at her and signals to a chair in front of his desk. "Yes Miss Brighton. Please take a seat."

She walks in quickly and sits in the chair Slughorn gestured to. "Sorry I'm late, I was talking to Professor McGonagall."

"That is quite alright Miss Brighton, this will only take a moment. I just wanted to let you know that, since you did such a great job with Landen last year, you will be tutoring Mister Potter this year." She opens her mouth to argue but he holds his hand up and cuts her off. "End of story. Now do I need to sit in her again or can you two handle being alone?"

I sigh and roll my eyes. "Alone is fine. Now can I go? It may only be the second week, but I really do have tons of homework already."

Slughorn nods and excuses both of us. We walk back to the Heads dorm in awkward silence. That is, until Monroe joins us. "HEY JAMIE WAMIE!"

I hear Ariana mumble "I swear that bloody girl is deaf…" before she speeds ahead.

I sigh and mentally curse Ariana for leaving so quickly. I turn to Monroe with a fake smile. "Hello Monroe… I don't mean to be rude but I have a lot of homework, so I really must be going."

She grins widely and wraps her arm through mine. "I WILL HELP YOU WITH IT! That's what GOOD girlfriends do!"

I sigh again and nod. "Let's go then…"

Ari's POV

I hear Monroe coming before I see her. "HEY JAMIE WAIME!"

I grimace and speed up my strides, whispering "I swear that bloody girl is deaf…" as I speed walk away. I get into the Heads dorm and walk directly to my room. I toss my things onto my bed and walk to my closet. I pull a tank top off of a hangar and change into it. I then make my way over to my dresser and grab a pair of shorts. I am supposed to meet Landen at the astronomy tower in ten minutes. I hear James enter the common room with someone else, and since I'm not in the mood to deal with him right now, I plot out how I'm going to sneak out of the common room.

I tip toe out into the common room and grin. So far so good…

My grin fades, however, as I get next to the couch and my vision blurs. I can feel myself beginning to fall so I outstretch my hand to try and break my fall. I can hear my shallow breathing, my heartbeat, and someone calling my name as my palm comes in contact with the cold floor. My shoulder and head follow my hand as they hit the chilling stone floor. The world seems to be spinning and I've broken out in a cold sweat. Suddenly my blurry vision goes white and I am back in the cemetery.

I look over to Landen and see him looking toward the back of the cemetery. I follow his gaze and see Rachelle fighting Logan, James collapsed against a headstone with Bella tending to him and Al fighting with Freddie.

Rachelle's never been much of a fighter so I don't know how she's holding up… And against her boyfriend… I don't know how she can do it…

As the thought crosses my mind, Logan shoots a spell that hits her in the chest, the green sparks that shoot out of his wand all too familiar. I feel as though the wind is knocked out of me as I watch her lifeless body fall to the ground. Bella jumps up and brandishes her wand. She shoots a spell at him and begins fighting with him.

I will my legs to move and I sprint to them, although I feel as though I moving in slow motion. I grip my wand tightly and hurdle over headstones and dug up graves. I literally can't hear anything except my heartbeat as I run to them. I point my wand at him and yell "STUPEFY!"

He collapses to the ground and Bella lowers her wand. She flashes me a quick, thankful smile and sighs. I'm just a few feet away from her when suddenly, out of nowhere, Arowena runs through the cemetery. She points her wand at Bella and says "Avada Kedavra!" Green sparks fly from her wand and hit Bella full on. Her smile fades and her body crumples to the ground. I can hear someone screaming pain filled screams, but I can't figure out who it is. I look around to find out and realize the screams are coming from me.

Arowena then turns to Logan and says "Avada Kedavra!" His already limp body twitches ever so slightly but remains unchanging other than that. She turns to me with a smirk then skips away. I raise my wand and scream at the top of my lungs "SECTUMSEMPRA!" The spell skims her arm and cuts her, but doesn't do any other damage. She smirks at me again and continues to skip away.

I try to run after her but someone grabs me by the waist and holds me back. I strain against the person's arms and scream again. "NO! YOU BITCH!" My screams turn to small sobs as I look over to Freddie and Al. Freddie twirls his wand and hits Al with a spell and he collapses to the ground in a heap.

I feel the wind leave my lungs as I try to fight against the person who's holding me. Hot tears flow quickly and freely down my face as the last of my friends dies. I scream out again as if that's going to change the events that just took place. "AL! NO PLEASE!"

I see a spell shoot past us and hit Freddie in the chest. He crumples to the ground and a bunch of people run past us to my dead friends. I see Harry in the group of people who are checking the kids and that brings on a whole new wave of emotions. His two sons are dead because of me. My throat is killing me, but it doesn't stop me from yelling out. "I'M SO SORRY! THIS IS ALL MY FAULT! I'M SO SORRY!"

The person holding me pulls me to the ground and wraps me in a tight hug. I bury my face in their chest and sob openly against their shirt.

I come back to and feel someone gripping my shoulders tightly. "Ariana! Ariana are you alright?"

I shakily sit up and push James away from me. "I-I'm fine. Leave me alone…" The image of his unconscious body mixes with those of my dead friends and I can't help but shudder. I can feel fresh tears running down my face. I bring up my hand and wipe them away.

James looks hurt at my attitude toward him, but I don't care. There's nothing he can do to make me feel better. Plus, every time he gets near me, it gets harder for me to remember that this isn't the same James I was dating so long ago. It gets harder to let go and harder to forget. He frowns at me and stands up. "Fine."

I hear Monroe say under her breath "Melodramatic bitch…"

I slowly stand up and frown. "Monroe you're such a stupid twat… You have no idea what's going on so you really should just shut the hell up."

She looks to James and begins crying. She points to me and says through sobs "JAMIE! WHAT… ARE… YOU… GOING… TOOOO… DOOOO? S-SHE INSU-ULTED MEEEE!"

James rolls his eyes and sits down in front of a book. "Monroe, you're seventeen. You can handle it yourself."

She stops sobbing and turns to him with wide eyes. "Y-you don't love me anymore?"

I laugh loudly and exit the common room. I sneak my way to the astronomy tower and find Landen looking through a telescope. I tip toe up behind him and poke him in the side. He responds by jumping to the side and letting out a small squeal.

He glares at me then lets out a laugh. "We will never speak of this again, do you hear me?"

"I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you over that girlish squeal!"

He narrows his eyes at me and smirks then he turns back to the telescope and looks through the scope. "So how have the nightmares been?"

I lean back against the stone wall and shrug. "As rough as you'd expect. Something odd happened today though. It was right before I came here… I was walking out of the dorm when… well, I'm not really sure what happened. One second I was walking here and the next I was back in the cemetery watching Bella and Rachelle get murdered again…"

He leans up from the telescope and gives me a serious look. "Are you alright?"

I roll my eyes. "I'm fine. I was a bit upset, but I will get over it…"

He nods. "How was your talk with McGonagall? What did she say?"

"Aren't you supposed to be plotting constellations? If I'm going to be a distraction then I can leave…" I say with a smirk.

He shakes his head quickly and picks up his star chart. "No, no. That won't be necessary… I am plotting constellations right now, see?"

I let out a laugh and nod. "Well, McGonagall said that she thinks James and I being in close quarters the way we are now will help him get his memory back. I don't see how that's right though, since we already live together and nothing has happened yet. She also said that she thinks if I stay busy then I won't think about their deaths as much. Again, she's wrong. I'm not going to be able to stop thinking about it even if McGonagall were to kick Monroe out of Hogwarts."

He chuckles lightly and plots another constellation. "Well if you need anything, I'm here for you."

"I know. But right now, what I need you to do, is finish that star chart!"

He laughs and holds up his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay… Come help me though!"

I get up from where I'm leaning and walk over to help him. If seems like only minutes have passed when I look down at my watch. 1:18 am…

I poke him in the side again and he squeals once again. He shoots a menacing glare at me. "Do it again… I dare you…"

I accept his challenge and we slowly circle each other. I suddenly lunge out and try to poke him, but he anticipates it and catches my wrist. He pulls my wrist out and scoops me up over his shoulder, my face against his back. "Mmphmhm."

He lets out a laugh. "What?"

I place my palms on his back and push up. "I said: curfew…"

He looks at his watch and curses loudly. "Thanks for the heads up you prat!"

I punch him in the back and laugh. "Let me down you git! I'm not getting in trouble for the likes of you!"

He chuckles lightly and shakes his head. "Well since you asked so nicely… no."

I release my hands and lie limply. "Bloody prat…"

He laughs and runs down the corridors silently. He hides when necessary and runs quite stealthily the rest of the time. We get to the Gryffindor common room and Landen sets me down. "It's about time! I was losing circulation to my brain!"

He smirks. "There wasn't much circulation to be lost so no harm no foul."

My mouth drops open and I punch him in the chest. "Prat!"

"You make it too easy, Ariana! If you made it more challenging it probably wouldn't happen as often!"

I grin and shake my head. "Right… You need to get off to bed now. I'm not afraid to give you a detention!"

He sighs. "Alright. Will we get to hang out tomorrow?"

"Sadly, no. Although I do thoroughly enjoy your teasing, I have to tutor James tomorrow. Which means you'll have to find someone else to tease!" I nudge him with me shoulder and smirk.

He frowns heavily. "I didn't know you were tutoring Potter? Are you ready for that?"

I roll my eyes and groan. "Ugh! Always the worrier, aren't you? Fine, meet me out here tomorrow night. We can talk then."

He nods and walks to the boys dormitory. He gives me one last wave and ascends the stairs. I smirk and enter the Heads dorm, only to find James sitting in front of the fire.

James' POV

I sit staring at the fire, lost in the memory of my most recent nightmare, when someone touches my shoulder. "James?"

I jump at her touch and fall off the couch with a loud "OOF."

She helps me off the ground and smirks. "More nightmares or were you just worried about me?"

I don't answer her, but instead stand in front of the fire staring at her like an idiot. She rolls her eyes at my lack of speech and turns to walk away. I grab her wrist and stop her, which is obviously a big mistake.

She turns her head and stares at my hand on her wrist with wide eyes for only a moment and then she jerks her arm free from my grasp. She looks at me angrily. "What?"

I just continue to stare at her, willing my lips to say what I'm thinking, but no words come out. She rolls her eyes again and walks into her room. Finally the words come and I blurt out "I've been having dreams about you."

She pokes her head out from her room with a shocked expression on her face. "Excuse me?"

"Every night… It's not always the same dream but they all have you in them." I say, my words more spilling out now than anything else. "It's been ever since the camping trip… I tried to tell you about it at the lake that first day of the camping trip, but that obviously didn't happen."

She shakes her head and sighs. "James… I-I can't. I just can't do this right now… Maybe we can talk about this tomorrow…"

I nod glumly. I had wanted more than anything to talk about these nightmares and I had ruined it. I pinch the bridge of my nose and walk back to my room. I throw myself onto my bed and groan. Why am I having these stupid nightmares? I close my eyes and try to fall back asleep, but sleep evades me.

(Break)

My classes were grueling since I hadn't gotten any sleep. My day was extremely long and Monroe just made it worse. She spent the entire day telling me about how terrible Ariana is. Apparently their fight last night revived her feelings from the camping trip. "She's just such a slutty bitch."

"Yes Monroe, you've said that… multiple times…"

She sighs. "Well did I mention that she bullies me on a daily basis and has done so for the past two years?"

I nod and internally groan. "Yes Monroe. You mentioned that as well… Look, I have to get to tutoring now. We can continue this 'Ariana bashing' later if you still feel the need to."

"Okay Jamie Wamie… Just don't let her seduce you with her sluttiness…" She bats her eyelashes at me and smiles with fake innocently.

I roll my eyes and laugh. "I'll do my best. I did live her before, so I think I can handle myself." I turn to walk away but she grabs my hand before I can. I turn and smirk. "Wha-"

She cuts me off by grabbing my neck and pulling me down for passionate kiss. She releases me and smiles. "Don't forget about me Jamie Wamie…"

I roll my eyes again. "I really have to go Monroe." I pull away from her and walk through the portrait. I basically sprint to the potions dungeon. I have been looking forward to this all day, but I'm not too sure why…

Maybe because I haven't really ever spent much alone time with Ariana before…

Maybe it's because I really want to talk to her about my nightmares. I figure if there's anyone who knows about nightmares, it's her.

I fling open the door to the classroom and calmly walk in. Ariana is sitting at one of the potions tables with her head buried in a book. The door to the classroom shuts behind me and her head snaps up. "Are you ready to get started?"

I take a seat next to her and smirk. "Hello Ariana. I'm doing well today. It's good to see you too."

She rolls her eyes and laughs. "I'll take that as a yes. Go get the ingredients for…" She points to a potion in the book, "…this potion here."

I nod and walk over to the ingredients cabinet and gather the necessary ingredients. I walk back to the table and drop them off. "Is this everything?"

"Yes. Now what ingredient does the book say to add first?"

I add the first ingredient and she nods approvingly. I add the next two and she nods again. I stir the potion as the book says and add another ingredient. I reach over and grab another ingredient but Ariana slaps my hand with a smirk. "If you add that now, you're going to ruin the whole potion."

I drop the ingredient. "How do you know?"

She laughs cheerfully. "Because I know how to read the instructions! If you did too, you would know that we have to wait two ninety five minutes before we can add anything else."

My mouth drops open. "Ninety five minutes?" Her only response is a grin and a nod. I close my mouth and shrug my shoulders. "Ninety five minutes it is…"

She nods again and goes back to her book from before. She's not getting off that easy…

"So about last night…"

I see her tense up at the mention of it but she doesn't look up from her book. "Mhm?"

I grab the book she's reading and shut it. She reaches for the book but I stand up and hold it over my head. "You said we would talk about it today."

She jumps for the book but doesn't come close, so she retreats and sits back down with a glare. "James why are you insisting on this?"

"Because, Ariana, I think they mean something and you seem to be an expert on nightmares since you've been having them since the end of last year. Plus they're rather confusing and I could really use another point of view…"

She sighs and sits back in her chair. "Fine. Start off by telling me about them."

I take a deep breath and tell her about the nightmare from the forest, the one where she is being crucioed by Carter Cass' father. I tell her that there are three girls with me who I don't know, along with Freddie and Carter Cass, who are with me. Her eyes widen, but that's the only reaction I get out of her.

Then I tell her about the dream with the creatures. I tell her about the snow, about the car, about the creatures and about the cuts.

When I mention the cuts, her eyes dart from my shoulders back to my face, her own face ashen. She waits until a few moments after I've finished talking to respond. "I- um… I… Okay. Why are the nightmares confusing?"

"Why did you react like that?"

I watch her face go from stoic to pained to fearful to angry in just a few seconds. She asks me more firmly this time. "Why. Are. The. Nightmares. Confusing?"

I let out a sigh and pinch the bridge of my nose. "Because the nightmares have me convinced of one thing about you and Monroe continues to confirm it, but times like now have me completely convinced otherwise…"

She looks at the table. "Oh. Okay, well I'm not sure how to-"

I hold up my hand and interrupt her. "I'm not finished. Why do you and Monroe hate each other so much and why isn't SHE in any of my nightmares?"

"Do you really want to see your girlfriend in your nightmares?" She asks while stifling a laugh. "Monroe wouldn't be in your nightmares anyways because she doesn't give two shits about anyone but herself. That is also, coincidentally, one of the same reasons that she and I don't get along…"

I nod. "Okay, final question. Why did you react that way when I told you about my nightmares. It was as if you knew exactly what I was talking about… As if you had been there for real…"

She rolls her eyes and groans. "Merlin, James! Why are you so aggravating? Can I just have my book back please? I talked to you about your nightmares like we agreed…"

I nod warily. "Okay…" I give her the book back and she snatches it from my hand with a glare.

"But this isn't over. I can tell that you're hiding something and I'm going to figure out what it is. I promise you that, Ariana…"

I hope you lovely readers enjoyed this chapter and as always, I would love to hear your thoughts and opinions!

Thanks yall! :)

-Tx