I have procrastinated on this chapter long enough! I am sorry for the long delay but a number of factors have caused this, some are personal and others are less so. However I am going to push through and post some more of my story. Hopefully you enjoy reading it half as much as I did writting it!

Chapter Twenty-three

Dangerous Games

Remus stared at Taylor in disbelief. What would ever make her ask such a question? What would she need to see Snape about anyway and what was with this very line of questioning about the night James and Lily died? What was she searching for? This wasn't just simple curiosity about her parent's deaths. This was something much more.

The sudden appearance of a white misty wolf stole Remus' eyes away from Taylor's and he looked at the Patronus as it relayed its message in a breathy voice. "Remus, I'm at our rendezvous point and you are late, please explain."

As the light from the Patronus faded away, Remus pulled out his wand and sent his own Patronus off with a hurried message of its own. Then he turned to Taylor who had moved over to the door of the Room of Requirement, her hand resting on the doorknob. "I've got to go, I'm late with my patrol, but I can't let you see Snape. It's out of the question. He's still at headquarters under tight surveillance."

"Yeah alright, Lupin, thanks for talking to me," and Taylor pulled open the door and hurried off down the corridor, her mind reeling from her talk to Dumbledore's portrait about the very real possibility that she also carried some of Voldemort's powers. Then there was the talk about her parents that had opened up a raw place in her heart. On top of all that, Lupin had said she couldn't speak to Snape, the only person she thought might have some answers. Even if she hadn't believed that she would actually be allowed to see him, it was a blow to hear it denied. Taylor soon found herself back in front of the Fat Lady. She glanced at her watch to see that it was a couple of minutes past curfew, "Gobbledygook" she said, wondering as she scrambled through the portrait hole, if Harry would notice her being a few minutes late.

"I see you can't tell time yet!" A voice growled from over in front of the fire.

Taylor rolled her eyes. She was in no mood to have her brother nit pick at her. "Why don't you go get yourself snogged!" was her snapped reply, as she turned to head up the stairs to the girls dorm.

"Hey, I heard that!" Harry said as he looked over the back of the sofa at his sister heading for the stairs. "Taylor did you get to have that talk?"

Taylor stopped at the foot of the stairs and turned back to look at her brother. She couldn't keep the emotions that threatened to overwhelm her, from her face as she met his green eyes. Fear, anger and frustration were the three strongest warring in her at the moment.

Harry's eyes narrowed as he caught sight of his sister's face. Something had upset her. That much he could see. "Taylor, are you alright?"

Taylor looked into those green orbs for a second, almost tempted to go and tell him everything, then she noticed a movement beside Harry. A mass of red hair, then deep brown eyes peeked over the back of the couch beside Harry's green ones. Ginny was sitting with him. Taylor shook her head and said, "Yeah, I'll be alright. I'm just tired." She turned and went up the stairs, the need to be alone and think overriding the brief desire to talk to Harry.

Harry watched his sister's retreating back as she went up the stairs. His brows drew together as he wondered just what she and Dumbledore had spoken about that had upset her so.

Ginny saw the concern in her boyfriend's face and sighed inwardly. She knew that the light flirting that they had been sharing before Taylor's entrance into the common room was gone for that evening. She again wondered at the strange relationship that the two seemed to share, not that she was jealous, she had no doubt about Harry's feelings for her, but it was indeed strange. Harry was protective of Hermione. That he cared for the bushy haired brunette went without saying. Like tonight, Hermione and Ron were out patrolling together, so Harry had made an excuse to stay in the common room waiting for them to get back. Sure, it had been a good plan. The common room had been almost empty the whole evening, as most of the Gryffindors had opted to study or hang out in their rooms instead of the common room, the fight from last night still fresh in everyone's mind. Ginny still couldn't shake the feeling though, that Harry had been just as worried about Taylor as he was about Hermione, maybe more so. She had been observing their strange relationship since that summer. They would pick at one another, not unlike how Ron and she did. The difference though, was their ability to communicate so easily with one another without saying anything. Like last night when they had stood and stunned those two girls together. Ginny highly doubted that she could get Ron to pay enough attention to her in the heat of the moment to cast a shield charm together, let alone a complicated spell like the one Harry and Taylor had used simultaneously.

Just then there was the sound of voices and Hermione and Ron climbed in through the portrait hole as they returned from that night's patrol. "…she was worried that something had happened, when he didn't show up on time, but I saw him heading down the second floor corridor just before I met back up with you." Hermione finished saying as she and Ron sat down in the other sofa in front of the fire.

"Who was worried?" asked Ginny as she snuggled closer to Harry, who had put his arm around her.

"Oh, Tonks was looking for Lupin. He was late getting to their rendezvous point, but I saw him a short time later heading towards her," Hermione said.

"I wonder what held him up. Lupin is usually very punctual," Ginny said.

"I don't know but he looked quite worried about something to me," Hermione frowned as she spoke, and she glanced around. "Where's Taylor?"

"She got back a few minutes ago, but she went straight up to her room," Harry said. He wondered if Lupin being late and worried had anything to do with how upset his sister was when she got back.

"Harry, McGonagall just informed the prefects tonight that there is going to be Quidditch after all! But because of the fewer number of students here this year the teams are going to be combined. We're going with Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff is with Slytherin. Thank Merlin! That McGonagall didn't put us with Slytherin, but I suppose she knew that Slytherin and us just wouldn't work! I pity the poor Hufflepuff's though. She is going to let us know who the team captains are tomorrow at supper when she tells the whole school!" Ron told them, his voice excited.

Harry only nodded. He was still thinking about Taylor and he wasn't sure if he even wanted to play quidditch this year, with everything that was happening, the attacks on people, and the deaths and then there were the Horcrux that he needed to find. The old excitement for quidditch just wasn't there. Ron noticed his lack of enthusiasm, as did Hermione and Ginny.

Hermione frowned a little as she watched the lack of excitement in her best friend. She knew that just a few months ago Harry would have been just as excited as Ron about the chance to play quidditch again, but the weight of finding and destroying the Horcruxes and then having to face Voldemort, had robbed her friend of his carefree youth.

"Well, I for one think that this is a brilliant idea on our Headmistress' part," said Ginny as she looked at the frowns on Harry and Hermione's faces. "What better way to raise morale, and by combining the houses like that, make it less likely that students will dare to do anything against the rules with more eyes watching to see what the other is doing!"

"Yeah, if the Slytherin's don't curse all the Hufflepuff's into oblivion!" Ron said sarcastically.

Hermione rolled her eyes and stood up from the sofa, "I think I'm going to head up to bed too, I'll see you guys later." She smiled at Ron, then turned and made her way up the stairs and into her dorm room to talk to Taylor.

Harry frowned as he watched his best friend go up the stairs to do what he wanted to do and that was talk to his sister, because the more he thought about it, the more he was convinced that somehow Lupin being late and worried, and his sister returning to the common room upset, were connected.

Taylor was sitting on her bed looking out the window at the black night sky, the almost full moon playing hide and seek with the clouds. Lavender was down the stairs at another girl's dorm, braiding each other's hair or something of the sort, so Lavender had said when Taylor met her on the stairs. For a moment Taylor let herself imagine what it would be like to be a normal girl, getting her hair braided and talking about boys. Then she shook her head. It wasn't like her to want those things, besides her hair was so short right now she wasn't sure if she could even make a barrette stay in it, let alone a braid. The opening of the door brought her out of her musings.

"Hey Taylor. Harry said you were up here." Hermione said as she walked over and sat down on her bed. She looked closely at Taylor and saw the worried knot in her eyebrows.

"Yeah, I got back a little bit ago and came right up here. I had some things I wanted to think about."

"Does it have anything to do with that dream you had last night? I really think you should tell Harry about it. Where did you go when you left the library? All Harry said is that you went to talk to someone." Hermione questioned, her voice was gentle but, her eyes stared hard at her best friend as if she could somehow read Taylor's thoughts.

Taylor visibly tensed as Hermione questioned her, the turmoil of that night's discussions with first Dumbledore's painting, then Lupin, had left Taylor feeling raw and exposed. Normally, Taylor confided with her bushy haired friend about everything, other than the fact that Harry was her brother, but she couldn't tell Hermione about what she had talked to Dumbledore about, even if Dumbledore hadn't made her promise to not tell anyone.

"Taylor, you said that you would tell me what that dream was about later and this is later," Hermione knew that she was pushing Taylor but she had been thinking about what Taylor had said to her after her dream, and… well, it worried Hermione, a lot.

Taylor, though, had reached her breaking point, "Hermione…. Just drop it ok!"

"No, I can't just drop it Taylor. You are my best friend and last night… well… quite frankly you scared me."

Taylor stood up and began to pace in agitation. She wasn't going to tell Hermione any more about that 'dream', that was for sure. And she couldn't tell her about what she had just talked to Dumbledore's portrait about either. Then there was the discussion that she'd had with Lupin and that too, was out of the question. Taylor ran her hands through her hair, causing the already heavily finger combed mahogany hair to stick out even worse. Taylor shot a look at Hermione as she paced past and saw the heavy lines of worry etched into her friend's face. This caused Taylor to pause in her pacing. Hermione was worried about her. Taylor's hands raked up through her hair once more, "Aarrgghhhh!"

Hermione watched as Taylor paced in front of her. She had never seen Taylor like this before. Something was really bothering her friend, but Hermione knew that no amount of coaxing would get her to open up if Taylor made up her mind to not tell.

Hermione decided to try, "Taylor, please I know if you just…"

"Hermione! No!" Taylor wheeled and faced Hermione, her voice full of all the raw emotions that she was desperately trying to keep in check. "I can't tell you… I just can't!" Taylor looked at Hermione willing her to just let it go, but knowing that she wouldn't.

Taylor began to pace again, "I know what I said last night, but I can't tell you any more. Please, Hermione you are my best friend, but I can't tell you."

"Taylor, it's ok to be scared…" Hermione began again.

"Scared! Oh hell, Hermione! Scared just doesn't even begin to scratch the surface, but I'm not scared for myself. Can't you see, I'm trying to protect you!" Taylor faced her friend again.

"Protect me, but I..."

Once again Taylor cut Hermione off, "Yes protect you, but not just you. Harry, Ginny, Ron and everyone else, if anyone knew…" Taylor shuddered thinking what could happen if anyone found out, if Voldemort found out… "Hermione I promise you one thing I will never allow this, this thing, to hurt you or anyone else. I would rather die than allow that to happen." Taylor stood right in front of Hermione and looked down into her brown eyes and made that solemn promise. One Taylor vowed to keep.

As the weeks went by, life at Hogwarts settled down. There were no more students attacking one another, at least that couldn't be easily explained, like when several Slytherin's decided to get their revenge on Taylor for putting Pansy Parkinson and her friends in the hospital wing. This time, though, Taylor didn't have to worry about her back as Harry and Ron were there to cover it. Taylor still couldn't help but smile at the thought of the grossly misshaped piles of robes on the floor that used to be Slytherin students, transformed by the various hexes that the three friends had used. Hermione wasn't in the hallway with them that day, because she was at a prefect meeting that Ron had conveniently forgotten.

Although Taylor knew that Hermione hadn't forgotten about their talk in the girls' dorm that night, Hermione hadn't mentioned anything about it again.

Taylor adjusted her scarf and pulled her cloak tighter as the cold wind blew past her and the other students making their way to the Quidditch pitch. This was going to be the first game of the year, Gryffindor against Ravenclaw. There had been such an uproar against the proposed combining of the houses that McGonagall had withdrawn her suggestion of combining houses and left it the way it had always been, much to the relief of the vast majority of the student population, especially the Hufflepuffs, who weren't looking forward to combining with the Slytherins! Harry, who had been appointed captain again this year, had agreed to play after Ron, Ginny and Taylor had promised to disown, hex and poison him, respectively, if he didn't.

Taylor followed the student body up into the seating area. She was to meet Hermione there, as both Ron and Ginny had again made the team this year. Taylor smiled to herself as she thought about how much more relaxed Harry was, now that he was playing Quidditch again. It wasn't that the five-some had lost sight of looking for the Horcruxes, or how to destroy the one that they had. No, it was more that quidditch was a distraction from the real horrors that were out there, not just for the five-some but for all the students and the teachers too. Taylor knew all to well that physical activity was an excellent way to release pent up frustration; the pillows in the RoR bearing testimony to that fact.

"Hey Taylor!" Hermione called as she made her way through the throngs of excited students all hurrying to get to a seat. The cold wind was playing havoc with her hair and had already painted her checks red, but she was grinning as she sat down in the seat Taylor had saved for her.

"I ran into Hagrid on the way up into the stands. He was heading for the teachers' seats. He said to say hi." A roar from the crowd cut off any more talk between the two friends, as the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw teams came out onto the field.

It wasn't the best of weather for a quidditch match. The wind was blowing so hard that it kept pushing the players off course. The chasers from each team had the quaffle intercepted by someone from the opposite team because of the wind, more than once! The beaters were having a tough time of it too. Once a beater from the Ravenclaw team miscalculated the winds force and hit a bludger into the stands opposite where Hermione and Taylor were sitting. Hitting two students from their own house.

Taylor watched as Harry circled the pitch searching for the snitch, the wind pushing him around like a leaf. Twice now Harry had made a dive towards the ground, the other seeker following him closely, only to pull up inches shy of the ground and move off back down the field. Taylor wasn't sure if Harry had seen something, or was just trying to mess with the other seeker.

Every time the quaffle came near Ron and the goal, Hermione would grab Taylor's arm and squeeze it, digging her fingernails into Taylor's arm even through the thick cloak she was wearing. Ron's attempts at defending the Gryffindor goal hoops, although ungainly, were mostly successful. Whether or not the wind helped or hindered him, Taylor wasn't sure, although she kept this to herself.

An hour and a half later, the wind showing no sign of letting up. Gryffindor was in the lead by only one goal, when suddenly the Ravenclaw seeker, who had been following Harry for most of the match, made a sharp turn and headed back up the field, towards where Taylor and Hermione were sitting. The cries from the crowd drowned out the announcer's call, but Taylor knew that this wasn't a feint, for even she could see the snitch hovering half way up and just out from the stands several meters.

Taylor's scream was lost in the roar, as Harry wheeled around and took off back up the field, laying flat to his broom. He'd been momentarily distracted as Ginny flew by several meters below, her hair whipped back by the wind, balancing on her broom as she made a difficult pass to the other chaser Dean Thomas.

Harry growled at his broom to urge it faster, knowing that his momentary lapse could cost Gryffindor the game. He was flying directly into the wind, causing him and his broom to be bounced up and down, side to side as his broom sought to push through the head wind. His superior broom handling the force of the wind better then the Ravenclaw seeker's and this was the only reason that he was able to catch, and then pull along side, the other seeker. Arm outstretched, reaching for the snitch as his broom took him just out in front of the other seeker, Harry's fingers closed around the snitch as he flashed past just below Taylor and Hermione.

Well there you have it the first qudditch match of the year! :) I really did enjoy writting the games! Yes there will be more! So what did you think?

I want to say a HUGE thank you to Twighlightgirl105! This chapter is being posted because you added this story to your Favorites! Thank you! As well as all of you who have read to this far! Thank you!

Also thank you to my wonderful bata barbc... She makes this story readable!

So until next time(which I really hope is much sooner then this time!)

cytpotter