FULL SUMMARY: Dream after dream, Harry Potter sees a girl that just give him butterflies in his stomach; he is thoroughly convinces that this girl does to Hogwarts with him. His only problem with her? Every time he comes close to seeing the face of this girl, he wakes up from his dreams. So when he tells his best gal pal Elaine Port, she laughs and tries to convince Harry that maybe his so-called "dream girl" really is just in his dreams. Is Elaine right? Or is Harry's dream girl a reality?

DISCLAIMER: Though I find this completely unnecessary, I feel somewhat obligated to state that the Harry Potter franchise does not belong to me. Also, as you read the story, keep in mind that this is simply a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products of their rightful owner's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

STORY DEDICATION: To swiftscout – the girl who used to mock my obsession for Harry Potter until she read the books cover to cover – this one's for you.

Chapter Fifteen – The One At Fault

For the next few hours or so, Hermione and Ron exchanged their holiday anecdotes to Elaine, who filled them in on her uneventful stay at the castle. Hermione told stories about the cozy cabin her parents rented out at the ski resort while Ron reported on the winter shenanigans of the Weasley twins, as well as the rest of his family.

"Mate, you set yourself up for that…" Elaine remarked. "You basically walked into that prank. Oh man, I miss the twins so bad."

"Oh, believe me," Ron groaned. "The twins miss their partner in crime just as much as you miss them."

Elaine and Hermione laughed at Ron's comment. Hermione then turned to face the round-faced girl sitting on the floor beside the unlit fireplace.

"So… what really happened during the break?" Hermione questioned. "When we left, you and Harry weren't on speaking terms. This morning, the two of your were sitting with each other at breakfast."

Shrugging, Elaine looked at stairway to the Boys' Dormitory sadly. "Nothing happened, honestly. We just started talking the day after you guys left and… that's about it. We actually had an awkward misunderstanding last night and this morning was kinda just the outcome of it: an even more awkward breakfast alone."

"Oh…" Hermione said, carefully eyeing Elaine. "What did you two fight about?"

Elaine shrugged. "I wouldn't call it a fight, Hermione; it was literally a misunderstanding… about Mary Poppins."

"You're kidding, right?" Hermione wondered. "Why in Merlin's name would you argue about that?"

"… he was talking about her practical perfection," Elaine explained, knowing full well what she and Harry had fought about the night prior. "And I guess, I disagreed; it was a really stupid misunderstanding."

Hermione and Ron exchanged doubtful looks with each other before nodding toward Elaine, who was now standing.

"Where're you going?" Ron asked her.

The light-brown haired girl pointed toward her dormitory. "I'll be right back, I promise. I'm just gonna get my knitting needles, so that the three of us can continue catching up, okay?"

Without waiting for a response from the couple, Elaine rushed up the stairs to the girls' dormitory. Although she had raced up the stairs, the Gryffindor slowly and fearfully approached the dormitory door. She knocked hesitantly before nudging the door open.

"What the hell do you what?" a cool voice sneered from the bed furthest from the door.

Elaine locked eyes with Ginny Weasley. She took note that the fifth year's flaming red hair was a tangled mess, as opposed to the long silk-like appearance it naturally had. Elaine also noticed at the young Weasley's brown eyes no longer shone with the brightness they once had before the holiday.

"… hey, Ginny…!" Elaine blurted out. She could feel the tension in the room worsen as she made her way to sit on the bed next to Ginny's. "So… how was break?"

"Why do you care?" the young girl hissed, standing up from the bed. "Give me one good reason why I should believe that you even give a bloody damn about how my holiday was!"

Quickly taking a few steps back, Elaine prayed that the redhead before her would not make any sudden attacks. "I do care, Gin… whatever gave you the idea that… I didn't?"

"I'm supposed to believe that?" Ginny screamed, reaching into her sweater pocket and tossing out a balled up piece of parchment. "Do you see this? This is all your fault!"

As the youngest Weasley inched toward her with a glare, Elaine continued to take a few steps backwards. When Ginny chucked the balled up paper toward Elaine, she attempted to catch it; however, as it landed in her hands, Elaine quickly dropped it as Ginny continued to scream at her.

"So just grab your stupid letter and get the hell out of my dorm!" Ginny exclaimed angrily.

Elaine looked at Ginny confused. What on earth did she have to do with a still little piece of paper. "Ginny, can't we talk about this?" she wondered as tried to unravel the parchment.

"Out!" Ginny shouted, pushing Elaine out the fifth year girls' dormitory.

As the door slammed behind her, Elaine came face to face with Hermione.

"Up to get your needles, huh?" Hermione taunted. "Lose your way to our dorm, Elaine?"

"Sorta…" Elaine replied, still stunned at her encounter with Ginny. "I guess. What're you doing here?"

"You were taking forever to get back to the Common Room," Hermione said. "I figured I would go check on you, but then I heard screaming from our dorm. So I went to check it out… Is everything okay?"

"I… don't think so?" Elaine said, looking at the balled up parchment. "Apparently, it's my fault…"

Author's Note: This chapter of the story was written on December 12, 2013 and published on March 1, 2014.

I am sooooo sorry for the delay in all of this. I moved back in with my parents after my first semester because my depression worsened. Plus all the chaos of moving back prevented me from publishing this. Soooo, I am really, really sorry. I wish it could've published this before moving out, but I forgot about it until everything finally settled down.

Honestly, though… I am so sorry. I can't say that enough. Uhm, to answer a few questions from my hiatus: Yes, Elaine is my OC. She was created years prior to writing this fanfiction, but once I came up with the idea of the fanfiction… I decided that this was the perfect story for her. And for the anonymous reviewer that asked about the Starkid reference, yes. Yes, it was. I love the Starkids! My little brother even got us tickets to go see Apocalytour when they were in Anaheim. LOL.

Anyways, my apologies again. I'll update ASAP. OOOOOH! And and and please leave a review.

Much thanks!

~ May