Unofficial Portkey Archive

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the original characters in Harry Potter, J. K. Rowling does. The plot and any extra characters belong to me :)

Harry struggled to stay in focus, but Divination was not the best class for him, especially at the end of the day. The voice of Professor Trelawney's drawled on in the misty, stuffy room, and Harry found himself dosing off frequently.

"Mr. Potter."

He shifted his glasses and stared into the inquiring eyes of his professor. "Yes, mam?"

"Excellent chart," She commented as she handed him a piece of parchment. "Wonderful predictions! Class! If you have time, do come look at Mr. Potter's winter star chart. You may benifit from it."

Lavender and Parvati were at once at Harry's desk but Trelawney raised a hand to stop them. "After class, please." And the disappointed girls walked back to their desks sulking.

Harry rolled his eyes. December 11... I will carelessly fall into the lake and get lashed by a Lobalug.. He would have to thank Neville for that one. Shaking his head, he returned to his daydreaming and gazing at the foggy landscape from the window next to him. Divination felt more like creative writing to Harry, and probably for alot of other students taking the class. Yet after all these years, Lavender and Parvati still seemed faithful to Professor Trawlawney and her so called inner eye.

Before he was sure his mind would slip into another train of thoughts, Trelawney dismissed the class and Lavender and Parvati were on him once again.

"Ooooh Harry, can I see your chart?" Parvarti said eagerly, her eyes twinkling.

Harry shrugged, "Er, sure?"

"Thanks!" Lavender took the piece of parchment into her hands with Parvati eagerly leaning over her shoulder to see Harry's 'excellent' chart. "Goodness...you have some horrible life don't you?" Parvati said in astonishment.

"I suppose," Harry strained to keep a straight face.

"Oooh, did your hair really get accidentally dyed hot pink?" Parvati exclaimed.

He frowned, "Uh, no." I don't remember that one...

"Well that doesn't matter, because I'm sure Hermione would love your hair in any colour anyways," Lavender commented with a quick glance at Harry.

"What?"

Parvati looked at her friend with a questioning look. Lavender simply shrugged and handed Harry's chart back to him. "Oh, don't look at me like that! Both of you!" She shook her head, causing strands of hair to come loose from her messily tied ponytail. "Some people are so dense! Let's go Parvati, I want to go to the library to check something out."

Harry simply watched as the two chattering girls left. Not wanting to be left alone in the perfume scented classroom, he quickly gathered his books and headed down the ladder.

Hermione would love my hair in any colour? Harry's mind repeated, a small smile hanging on the side of his lips. Really? I'm just being a stupid git to believe anything of that sort. God, me and my stupid stupid thoughts...

"Harry!" A loud cheerful voice greeted from behind his shoulder. He recognized it as Ron Weasley's and quickly turned to meet the red-headed boy.

"Hey."

"Ok, so the re-match is scheduled the day before Christmas Eve. Splendid isn't it? A Quidditch match and then the Christmas feast! If we win it'll double the goodness!" Ron chattered excitedly. "I've taken Dean's broom out from his closet, I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

"Oh...uh how is Dean anyways?"

Ron's excitement faded slightly. "Still the same, but Madame Promfrey says he'll probably wake soon. The thing is, he'll probably still be stuck in the Hospital Wing until Madame Pomfrey is happy with him to let him out of that place." He shuddered. "Darn unpleasant place. All the white sheets and everything, doesn't it scare you?"

"Well, I guess not," Harry replied.

"Ah, then you probably go there often." Ron chuckled. "But anyways, I wanted to tell you that there's going to be a practice scheduled the day after tomorrow. You'll be practicing with the Snitch and all. I've just informed the rest of the team about you!"

Harry's stomach flipped. "Uh...are they...weird?"

"What do you mean weird?"

"I meant, what was their reaction?" Harry gulped.

Ron broke out into laughter. "Harry! They're excited! They can't wait to see you play. Loosen up you silly git."

Harry managed a weak smile. "Well I don't know, I don't think I know any of them at all..."

"You know me, and the rest of the team is just as easy to get along with! You should be nervous about facing the other teams, not your own!" Ron shook his head and grinned. "So other than that..Dean's broom has been sent to your room. I kind of snuck into the kitchens and got one of the house elves to take it up to your room." Ron glanced around him and lowered his voice. "That's not exactly following the rules, but we break them alot don't we?"

Harry nodded. "Right.."

"Yeah, so I'll see you at dinner then?"

"Ok."

Ron nodded and hurried off with a wave.

Harry watched as the red head disappeared from his sight and he sighed, looking out the large oval window next to him. The sun was setting, as it was winter and day was shorter than night. He breathed out, fogging up the glass directly in front of his mouth. He smiled, seeing his reflection smile back at him.

For once everything seemed to be..on track...there finally seemed to be a purpose to his life, his existence. He actually felt needed.

Hermione wandered down the halls, farther and farther away from her starting point; the Head Girl dorm. She wasn't really sure what she was doing, and she was pretty sure dinner was just about ending. Being her usual self, she had spent the late afternoon in a cozzy corner of the library, and not even Madame Pince realized that there was still a student in the library for she had been working so efficiently that she had been as silent as a mouse.

She massaged her shoulder gently, flinging her book bag to hang on her other shoulder. It simply seemed to be getter heavier by the day. Hermione sighed, fumbling a hand nervously into the pockets of her robes. She blinked in surprise when it came in contact with something solid.

Bringing her hand out, the glistening glass rose met her gaze at once. "Oh!" She cried out, startled. Raising it up to eye level, she stared at the delicate thing for a good long while, her feet stil carrying her down the torched lit hallways of the ancient school. I completely forgot about you, you little thing. She chuckled. I'm really loosing it! Talking to inanimate objects now, are we Hermione Granger?

She closed her fingers around the stem of the glass rose, pressing it gently to her chest. From Harry...this is from Harry. Hermione went around a corner. So what? It was kind of an accident he gave me this in the first place. I said it was pretty...and he has such a good heart that he knew I was interested in this glass rose...and so he gave it to me. Nothing special, nothing personal. Simple as that.

Hermione grunted softly, annoyed at her own ridiculous thoughts. Her feet suddenly stopped, as she looked around her surroundings. I'm...at the Prefect Dorms aren't I? Right. I am.

She laughed to herself, wondering why on earth she was here, in this hallway, when she could do nothing at all but stare at the many portraits that aligned the stone walls of the particular hallway. Her eyes traveled across the paintings in interest, catching snippets of conversation from some of them.

"Oh looky here! It's the head girl!" A rather plump young girl in a painting giggled and pointed to her, signaling the other paintings to take notice of her.

"Well what about it, Anna-Belle? Have you never seen a girl before? Must I remind you that you're a girl too?" A rather intelligent looking man sitting ontop of a pile of dusty books retorted.

The paintings broke into chatter, across the hallways scowls and sneers being thrown about. Hermione rolled her eyes. Silly paintings... Her eyes came to a stop on a particular silent painting, a portait of a lion who was simply staring back at her with round golden eyes filled with compassion and warmth. She didn't seem to be able to lift her eyes from it. Neither did the lion.

"I see you've taken...interest to the portait leading to my living quarters?" A voice took her out of her trance. Her head quickly snapped to the source of the voice.

"Harry!" She yelped.

He was leaning slightly on the wall, his arms crossed and a goofy smile plastered across his amused face. His two eyes seemed to twinkle so brightly that it was almost painful to stare directly in his eyes for too long. She merely swallowed, not knowing why she felt in the need to...panick.

"Surprised to see me? Well..you shouldn't be. I suppose I should be the one surprised, no one except the prefects wander about in this hallway...unless you're wanting to sneak into the prefect's bathroom? It's known for the best washroom in Hogwarts." Harry shrugged.

Hermione shuffled her feet and gazed at a spot just above Harry's eyebrows- namely his scar that was visible at the moment. "No, no I'm not here to use the bathrooms. That's just..a waste of time." She added. "I just..ended up here..and got lost!"

A painting giggled, "Look at that! She's turning red isn't she? Isn't she?!" It giggled excitedly.

Hermione blushed, involuntarily. "I'm glad this painting that leads to your room isn't as annoying as the whole lot of them." She glared at the painting that had just laughed at her.

Harry chuckled and came up to the portait of the lion, it smiled at him. "Griffon Wings," He muttered, but Hermione heard it anyways. She wondered if he didn't mind her knowing the password..

"Want to come in?" He was already through the hole and was looking at her curiously.

Hermione blinked, "Oh, ok...if that's alright with you. I mean, I kind of just appeared and.."

"It's alright."

Hermione nodded and stepped into the room. It was warm and cozy, decorated similarly to the Gryffindor common room except that there were less squashy armchairs and a bed was against the left wall. It wasn't as big as the Head Girl dorm though, Hermione noticed, but it was just as grand. A pile of books on Harry's bed caught her attention and she couldn't help but feel curious at what type of books he read.

She walked towards the bed while Harry flopped himself down on the scarlet couch facing the lit fireplace. "Why are there so many books on Dark Wizards, Harry? On your bed!" Hermione exclaimed as she carried the books towards him and plopped herself onto an armchair beside the couch.

"Oh those?" Harry stared at the books, a slight frown tugging at his lips. "They just kinda appeared...strange isn't it? I thought maybe Neville left them up in my room, since he knows my password. But I asked him, and he said he never signed out books from the library because he was scared of loosing them." He shrugged. "Oh well, they're kind of interesting you know?"

Hermione opened the book and landed on the page Harry had read before. "Yeah, that page is all about Voldemort." Harry pointed out.

She lifted her head, "Don't say that name!!"

"Sorry," He answered. "I've just never been able to get why a simple name is to be feared of. I mean, what harm can it do to just say his name?"

"It's not like it'll harm you, but it just brings shivers you know?" Hermione muttered and scanned the page. "Oh look, isn't this weird?" She pointed to a specific line on the page and showed it to him.

He sighed, "Yeah, I noticed that connection too. But it's no big deal, I mean..there are lots of Potters out there."

"But what if you are related to Lily and James Potter?" Hermione asked excitedly as her honey brown eyes shone. "Or even crazier, you might be that baby boy that might've survived the attack!" Hermione announced as she finished reading the paragraph.

"That's too far-fetched," Harry mumbled.

"But we never know!" Hermione said and tucked a strand of her wavy hair behind her ear. "I mean, you're an orphan right? If I remember correctly.." She realized the sudden crest-fallen look on the boy's face and instantly frowned. "Oh I'm sorry Harry...I didn't mean to bring that up.."

"It's ok, really. I was just thinking how horrid my aunt and uncle are..and my hideous cousin," Harry managed a feeble smile. "Yeah, wouldn't that be neat? If I was Lily and James Potter's son? Ha..."

Hermione opened her mouth to comment but suddenly realized the colour that was draining from Harry's face. She stared opened mouthed as he doubled over in pain, his hands clutching his forehead that had suddenly erupted with sweat. She kept herself from screaming in shock and quickly knelt down beside his shaking form. "Harry! What's wrong?!"

He had his teeth clenched together as he groaned. "My..scar.."

"Your scar?" Hermione couldn't keep the panick from her voice.

"Hurting...no...burning..."

"Should I go get someone?! Dumbledore?! Madame Pomfrey?! Neville?!" Hermione was trying to look at his face, but he was looking dowards and she couldn't see his expression.

To her horror, his hands were suddenly dripping with blood, trickling down from his forehead. "You're bleeding..." She uttered.

"I..know.."

Hermione shook her head, get hold of yourself Granger! What do you know that can stop the pain? Can you even do that? Argh, what can I do? She pulled her wand out from the pocket of her robes and waved a quick healing spell over his forehead. Nothing seemed to happen. "Harry! I can't stop it!"

"It's..ok.." He said through gritted teeth. "I'm...fine...it'll be over..soon..." His figure suddenly stopped shaking, and Hermione shrank back as he slumped down onto his knees.

Hermione quickly got up and hastily tore a bit of her robes to wipe off the blood that smeered Harry's hands and forehead, his scar was a bright red. She shivered and failed to notice the black shadow hanging outside of Harry's window.

There was nothing but grass, dead grass, dry grass...all around him, stretching out for miles and neverending...grass. He wasn't alone though. Somone was breathing heavily beside him and clutching onto his arm. Somehow, he couldn't turn his head to see who this person was. He couldn't really move..

"Boy. You must be confused. You must be scared...you must feel betrayed, do you not? Betrayed from the only people you ever thought of as friends? Or even family?" A cold voice that seemed to seep around him whispered faintly.

"You are powerful...you have power that you do not know how to use. I can teach you how to use it, I can teach you many things that they cannot." The voice seemed to be hanging in front of him. "So why not join me?"

He felt himself step back from the voice, shaking his head frantically. The person beside him stepped back with him and seemed to be speaking to him but he couldn't hear. "No. NO." He said loudly to the air that hung in front of him.

"No? Are you refusing an offer from the Dark Lord?" A new voice broke into his thoughts, his eyes shut tightly. The tugging on his arm increased from the person standing next to him. "Stop tugging on me!" He wanted to scream but nothing came out.

Only the wind pounded in his ears, and the cold death gripping voice filled his mind and soul. "Join me or die...join me or die..."

He didn't know why he even bothered to refuse, he just knew it was right. Right not to join him. "No...I rather die.." He felt his own shaky voice speak, much to his surprise. A cool breeze whipped by him and sent shivers down his spine and his whole body seemed to freeze.

"You rather die? How...heroic," The voice seemed to be taunting him now, mocking him. "You are a fool then, just like the rest of them. Not knowing power when it is standing right in front of your eyes. Fools." The voice spat.

"And who is this?" The voice left him now, seemingly sweeping by him and now landing onto the person standing next to him. His fists clenched and he opened his mouth. "Don't touch her." So it was her. A girl. Who?

"Ah, don't touch her? Why not? Is she worth anything?" The voice was lacing around them now, circling them. "I can see that she is nothing but a muggle-born...a Mudblood. Nothing but that. With a pretty face, even if she is scared..what is she worth saving for? I say I should kill her."

"No." He felt himself say firmly.

"That means yes," The voice hung in silence for a few seconds before uttering. "Avada Kedavra..."

He jumped up into a sitting postion, finding himself in a tangle of white sheets and white walls that met his eyes. Harry Potter quickly examined the room he was in and let out a sigh of relief, realizing that it had all been a dream. A chuckle brought him back down to earth as he met the warm blue eyes of Albus Dumbledore who was gazing at him through his half-moon spectacles.

"How are you, Mr Potter?"

"I'm...fine, sir," He relaxed onto his pillow. "How did I get here? What happened? Is she okay?" He blurted out every question without another thought.

"You got here because Miss Granger hurridly found me in Professor McGonagall's office and told us that you had fainted in your room. And if you are asking if Miss Granger is alright, she is perfectly fine although urgent to see if you are alright."

Harry rubbed his eyes and uncautiously fingered his scar. "Professor...I don't understand.."

"Hmm?" His eyes glinted.

"I don't understand why my scar..burns.." Harry frowned. "It never burns, but recently..."

"Ah, your scar," The old professor brought his own wrinkled finger and traced Harry's lightning-bolt scar with a weary look. "It's not an ordinary scar. Do you know how you got it?"

Harry shrugged, "From a car crash I suppose."

Dumbledore looked amused. "Ah, muggles do have a sense of creativity. But no, your scar is not from a car crash. It was given to you, by none other than Voldemort."

"Voldemort?" Harry repeated in disbelief. "No, no that's just weird. I've never met this Voldemort, and even if I did, shouldn't I be dead then?"

The wise wizard sighed and looked at Harry straight in the eye. "I think it is time for me to tell you what I should have told you long ago...perhaps seven years ago, but I felt that you weren't ready. But now, whether I think you are ready or not, you must know. Because it has come."

"What has come? What do I need to know?"

"He has come back, Harry. And you need to know, that you are no ordinary boy."

AN: Goodness, this story is going too slowly for even my own liking. Sorry folks, I'll pick up the pace. And the end of this story might be closer than you all think it is. But anyways, yay! Harry's gonna know all about his life story and everything by the next chapter and yes...H/Hr interaction =P *feeling frustrated with fic..*