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 8

Ari's POV

"Expelliarmus!" The spells flies from the end of my wand toward the person across from me. There is only darkness around us so, due to the lack of visibility, our spells are sporadic and wild. The only way I know if this fight is over is if I hear my opponent shoot another spell or respond.

I take a deep breath and listen for any form of a response, only to be greeted by silence. I've been at this for what feels like hours and I'm exhausted. I highly hope this fight is finally over… I lower my wand and release a big huff of air.

"Avada Kedavra!"

I flick up my wand quickly and say "Protego!" The spell ricochets off my wand into the black abyss around us. I slash my wand and yell "Sectumsempra!" I hear loud, desperate screams full of pain and agony as my spell hits my opponent. The screams continue, tugging at my stomach as I realize I'm the reason this person is hurting so bad. The screams become gurgled and then stop.

One by one, torches light around us, finally revealing my location. I look around me and see that I'm standing in one of the corridors at Hogwarts, stone walls on either side of me. It's not a corridor I recognize though, but it's definitely Hogwarts.

The soft glow of the torches has also revealed who my opponent was. I take a deep breath and slowly lower my eyes to the body that is sprawled out on the ground sitting in a pool of thick blood. I take slow, calculated steps toward the body, my shoes slopping through the blood as I go. I bend down and flip the person over, exposing my opponents face and coating my hand in warm, sticky blood. I gasp as I see Bella's face on the dead body, her eyes reflecting the pain she felt and her mouth stuck in a permanent scream. I stumble backwards and bring my blood covered hand up to my mouth.

Suddenly Bella's face morphs into my mother's face, her expression the same as Bella's was. I take a step forward and lower down again. I brush a strand of her blood caked hair out of her face and then let out a scream when the face morphs again, this time into Rachelle's face. The face quickly changes from Rachelle to Astoria, then to Carter, then to my father, then back to Bella.

I reach out and close Bella's eyes. "I'm sorry Bells…"

At that moment, Bella's eyes open and she lets out more pain and agony filled screams, her back arching off the ground as her hands desperately claw at the stone floor. Her cries of pain fill the corridor and reverberate off the walls. I clasp my hands over my ears and back away from her. I can feel warm tears streaming down my face as I try to escape the screams. "STOP! PLEASE!" I turn and run away from the shrieks, only to see a familiar silhouette at the end of the corridor running toward me.

Nobody is keeping me in this corridor… Not even that oaf Castor!

I swipe my wand again and say "Sectumsempra!"

The person at the end of the corridor drops to the ground and begins writhing around in pain. I catch up to them and point my wand at Castor's face. Except, the face doesn't belong to Castor… It belongs to Landen!

"SHIT!" I drop my wand and fall to my knees, pressing my hands firmly to the large cut that is slashed across his chest. "No, no, no, no… NO! Please stop bleeding!" His blood is flowing steadily out of the cut and pooling on the ground. He shakily reaches a hand up and touches my face, the pain in his eyes subsiding as his head falls against the ground lifelessly.

Bella's cries of pain still echo throughout the corridor as someone aggressively grabs the back of my shirt and hoists me up. They roughly kick Landen's bloody body and then turn me around to face them. I narrow my eyes as I come face to face with James Potter, sneering as he says. "I win."

I stretch my hand out to the side and feel for Landen, but to no avail. I shoot upright, sweat matting my hair to my face, and the first thing I see is James staring at me with an odd look on his face. That asshole… I glare at him and do the first thing that comes to mind; ball my hands and solidly punch him in the nose.

James' POV

"OW! Bloody hell Ariana!" I gently place my hands over my nose and glare at her. Warm blood runs down over my lips, dripping into my hands as I hold it. "What was that for?"

She clasps her hands over her mouth and her eyes widen. "James! I'm so sorry! I was having a nightmare and… I'm so sorry! Does it hurt too terribly?"

I laugh and nod. "Of course it hurts! You just punched me in the nose!"

"Oh… Right… I really am sorry… Wait, what are you even doing in here?"

"I was in my room when I heard screaming coming from your room. I came in to see if you were okay." I walk to her bathroom and flick on the light. I look in the mirror and wince. My nose is definitely broken…

Ariana walks into the bathroom behind me and grimaces. "Come here and let me see it."

"Like hell! I'm not letting you anywhere NEAR my nose!" I say with a skeptical laugh.

She rolls her eyes and grabs my face, jerking it down so that we're eye level. Her bright green eyes dart around my face as she examines my nose, tilting my face every now and then to get a better look at it. She's so close I can see that she has light brown freckles sprinkles across her nose, and her green eyes have flecks of blue in them. She points a finger at me and says "Don't move." She leaves the bathroom for a few seconds and then comes back with her wand in hand. She raises the wand and steps toward me, causing me to take a step back. She puts her hands on her hips and gives me a firm look. "Get your ass back here now."

I shake my head and say "Like hell!"

She steps forward. "Do you want me to punch you in the nose again?" I shake my head rapidly and she grins. "Then get over here."

I step to her and bend over a bit so that she and I are eye level again. She points her wand at my nose and says "Episkey."

I can feel the swelling in my nose go down and the blood stops running from my nose. I turn from her to the mirror and inspect my face. It looks good as new! "Thanks…"

She tucks her wand behind her ear and smirks. "Maybe next time you'll knock before entering."

I nod with a chuckle. "Absolutely. How are you doing?"

"I'm fine." Her answer is concise and a bit edgy, which doesn't really convince me that she's "fine".

"Do you want to talk about it?"

She splashes some cold water on her face and shakes her head. "Nope. Look I'm really sorry about your nose, and I appreciate you coming to check on me, but-"

I hold up my hand and nod. "I get it. I'm going to head back to my room but, if you need anything, you know where to find me."

She nods her thanks while picking up her brush and I exit her bathroom. I walk out of her room and, as soon as I pull her bedroom door shut, I hear something shattering. I hesitate by the door for a moment but decide that if she had wanted company, she wouldn't have sent me out. I cross the common room, passing Landen as I do. I grab his arm and say "Your girlfriend has a hell of a right hook." He grins and I release his arm, finishing the trek to my own room. I climb into my bed and lie down, silently hoping I will be able to fall back asleep.

Ari's POV

"I get it. I'm going to head back to my room but, if you need anything, you know where to find me."

I nod to him and pick up my brush as he leaves my bathroom. I stand silently in my bathroom, still clutching my brush and waiting for the sound of my door to close. As soon as I hear the clicking of the door I take a deep breath then throw the brush I'm holding with a grunt, shattering the mirror across from me. Glass shards from the mirror fall to the floor, tinkling as they hit the cold hard stone. I slide down the wall behind me until I'm sitting and glare at the glass shards on the ground, my nightmare replaying again in my head.

What the HELL had that stupid nightmare meant? My parents and dead friends were normally the subjects of my sick dreams, but this time they involved James AND Landen… Not only had the twisted little dream involved them, but it even went as far as to make James seem like the villain… I let out another grunt. WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME?

The door to my bathroom opens and I hear a chuckle. "I thought we were done throwing things?"

I roll my eyes and flip him off. "Shut up Landen…"

He extends his hand out to me and sighs. "Come on, let's go talk about it. We'll clean this little mess up later."

I grab his hand and sigh as he helps me off the ground. We walk out to my room and sit on the ground, our backs leaning against my bed. I look at my watch and frown. 6:23 am…

Landen clears his throat and takes the wand out from behind my ear. "So, before you tell me about your nightmare, I've got to ask… Where and why did you punch James?"

I let out a laugh and look at him in disbelief. "How do you know about that?"

He winks at me with a grin. "I have my ways…"

"Oh Merlin! Do you want to hear about the nightmare or not?"

"Hold on!" He laughs and jumps on my bed, laying on his stomach with his forearms propping him up. "I wanted to get more comfortable. Now you can tell me."

I smirk and roll my eyes. "Alright well since you're so eager…"

James' POV

"Dammit!" I sit up and pound my fists on the bed. I've been laying here for an hour and I haven't been able to fall back asleep. I get out of bed and cross the room to look at the time. 7:23 am…

I sigh and put my wand in my pocket. I grab the invisibility cloak and leave the Heads dorm. I take a few turns and some stairs and see the door to the astronomy tower is locked. I pull out my wand and whisper "Alohamora."

The lock clicks open. I grab the handle and pull the door open. I ascend the stairs and come to the first level of the astronomy tower. I inhale the fresh air around me and smile. I am about to go up to the next level when I hear talking.

"Andromeda, I can handle this. That little American filth may have changed a bit since I last saw her, but she's nothing I can't handle. She won't get in my way."

Andromeda responds with a slight French accent. "Good. Do not fail zee Dark Lord, Castor."

Castor laughs icily. "Don't tell me what to do, Andromeda. You may be Caledon's little bitch but that doesn't make you the boss of me."

" 'Ow dare you speak zee Dark Lord's name! I would rip your insignificant little tongue out of your mouth if we didn't need you for zis!"

Suddenly my foot slips from one of the stairs, making a scraping sound. Caledon growls and says "Go Andromeda. We aren't alone…"

Then there are footsteps coming down the stairs. I stand at the bottom of the stairs, immobilized, as Castor walks down the stairs toward me. "Well hello Potter… Fancy seeing you here. I hear the American has replaced you with my dimwitted step brother."

I look at him curiously. "The American?"

He raises an eyebrow and smirks. "Ariana? Ariana Brighton? You two were practically attached at the hip fifth year…"

"I just met Ariana at the end of last year…"

His smirk turns to a knowing grin. "Interesting… Well, as much as I would like to stay and catch up, I don't have the time. You, however, might want to go find a radio. I have a feeling something important is going to be broadcast soon and you're definitely going to want to hear it…"

Ari's POV

"…Then I woke up, saw James staring at me and, still upset from my bloody nightmare, I punched him in the nose. I broke his nose, healed his nose, and broke a mirror. Now you're caught up."

Landen laughs and raises his eyebrows at me. "Let me get this straight, you killed me off in your dream? Was snogging in the closet yesterday really so bad that you had to kill me?"

I nod with a grin, taking Landen's hand. "Oh it was absolutely abhorrent."

He rolls his eyes and opens his mouth to say something, only to be interrupted by my bedroom door opening. James rushes in and shuts the door. "Where's your radio?"

I shake my head at James. "Do you not believe in knocking or something?"

"WHERE IS YOUR RADIO?" He starts digging through my stuff and I get up from my floor, releasing Landen's hand, and grab James' arm. He looks at me with furrowed eyebrows. "Please, where is your radio?"

"If you stop digging through my stuff, I'll show you where it's at." I walk into my bathroom, almost stepping on the broken glass, and grab my radio from a drawer in there. I walk back out and toss the radio to James, taking a seat on my bed next to Landen.

James plugs in the radio and turns it on. All we hear is crackling at first so Landen leans over and says "Was our kiss really that bad?"

I look at him with a smirk and plant a kiss on his nose. "Not at all, it was actually quite pleasant… I just really enjoy toying with you."

He rolls his eyes again and wraps his arms around me. "You're bloody awful, you know that?"

"SHHH!" James turns and glares at us, gesturing for us to be quiet as the crackling dissipates and is replaced by an all too familiar voice. I look at Landen and gasp. "Caledon…"

"…You all disgust me with your false sense of security and entitlement that you walk around with. You ALL deserve to die and I plan to make sure that happens. I will make sure you all suffer as I kill you, I will make sure you know pain and experience fear at just the mention of my name. You will never feel safe, no matter where you go. I will haunt you in your every waking moment. You will live in constant fear of Lord Caledon… I hope you're ready, because there's a war coming…"

The radio cuts out and we all sit in silence looking at each other, desperately trying to make sense of what we just heard.

That's pretty intense, right? haha I wonder what's going to happen next!

I would like to thank everyone who reviewed the last chapter and urge yall to let me know what you thought about this chapter! :)

I would also like to apologize in advance because I'm not going to be able to update for about a week since I have finals next week that I need to study for. Sorry yall! I will be back to updating once finals are over though, I promise!

I really appreciate yalls support with this story!

Thanks! :)

-Tx