Goodbye
Hermione ran through the forest. She knew she was dreaming, but she didn�t care. She had to get to Harry. She didn�t know why, but she had to. She didn�t even stop when a branch caught her sleeve. It scratched her arm and tore a hole in her robes. She kept running �til she saw Harry. He was walking toward the images of his parents.
�Harry, no!�
Hermione woke up in a cold sweat. She�d been keeping herself awake so she wouldn�t have the dream, only sleeping when she couldn�t stay awake any longer. This seemed to help with the dreams. She didn�t have the dream every time she slept anymore. But it didn�t go away. It had made a reappearance tonight.
Hermione rubbed her eyes. It was only a dream, she tried to tell herself. But it felt so real. Now that the effect of the dream was wearing off, she began to feel something else. Fear.
Something was going to happen. She could feel it.
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�Harry, no!�
Harry sat up and tried to calm down. The voice echoed in his mind. He couldn�t remember what it sounded like.
Harry�d been avoiding sleep. He only slept when he had to. He didn�t have the dream all the time anymore, but he still had it. He�d had it again.
That was it. Harry couldn�t take it anymore. He couldn�t go on like this. He knew what he would do. And no one would be able to stop him.
* * *
By the time the other boys woke up, Harry had formed a plan. He would do it tonight. In the meantime, he needed to act like nothing happened. He didn�t want anyone to suspect anything.
Harry went down to breakfast and sat next to Ron. He ate a bit to keep them from yelling at him. A slight fluttering announced the arrival of the mail. Harry didn�t look up. He never got anything.
�Mum�s getting better,� Ron announced, holding up a letter he�d received. �Dad says she got up to feed the chickens today.�
�That�s great,� Sheila said. �What�s wrong with that Malfoy guy? He looks like he�s seen a basilisk.�
�Who cares?� Ron asked. �Hey Harry, first Hogsmeade visit�s today. You gonna go?�
Harry shook his head.
�Okay then,� Ron said. �I�ll bring you something back.�
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Draco watched his eagle owl swoop over the table, dropping a letter on his plate. He unrolled it and paled slightly as he read the shaky handwriting.
Draco,
I�m visiting family in France. Your father is very busy at work. You will stay at school for Christmas.
Love,
Mother
Draco folded the letter and put it in his pocket. He knew she was lying. They didn�t have family in France and if his father did any work over the holidays Draco�d eat his owl. They just didn�t want him home. He didn�t care. He�d wanted to stay for the Yule Ball. He knew exactly who he wanted to ask.
�Drakie!�
Pansy Parkinson wrapped her around Draco, nearly choking him.
�Go away! I�m not in the mood.�
Pansy pouted and walked over to where her best friend, Blaise Zabini, was sitting.
Draco got up and left the hall, heading for the Slytherin common room. He had to get ready to go to Hogsmeade. If all went well, he�d have a date to the Yule Ball by the time he came back.
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�So where should we go first?�
Ron threw his arms around Melissa and Sheila�s shoulders as they walked through Hogsmeade.
�Well,� Sheila growled, �if you don�t move your arm you�ll be going there.� She pointed toward a graveyard they�d just passed.
Ron jerked his arm away from her just as Melissa whipped around and walked back the way they�d come. She turned and entered the graveyard. Ron and Sheila looked at each other briefly before hurrying after her.
�Where are you going?� Ron yelled after her.
Melissa stopped near a tombstone. There were two large stones set into the ground on either side of it. Flowers had been planted in a circle around the graves.
Melissa stepped over the flowers and knelt in front of the tombstone. She lifted the hem of her cloak and wiped away dirt that had built up on the stone.
�I knew it�d be here,� she whispered so that Ron had to strain to hear her. Sheila stepped over the flowers and joined her sister. After a few moments of silence, they stood and walked back to where Ron was standing. He could now see the inscription on the tombstone.
James Potter Lily Evans Potter
1955-1981 1955-1981
He couldn�t read the rest of it.
�Let�s go,� Sheila said.
They left the graveyard in silence.
�I just remembered something,� Melissa said when they got back to the street. She rushed off and disappeared into the crowd of students walking between stores.
�Where�s she going now?� Ron asked.
�I don�t know,� Sheila said. �Want to go to the Three Broomsticks?�
�Sure!�
* * *
Ron walked back up to the school that evening, his pockets stuffed with things he�d gotten in Hogsmeade. He shivered slightly as he walked past the dementors guarding the doors. Sheila had gone back early so she wouldn�t have to walk past them. They were put on guard at six o�clock.
When he got back to the common room, Ron immediately scanned the room for Harry. He was sitting in the same chair he�d been in when Ron left that morning.
�Hey I brought this back for you,� he said, pulling a bottle of butterbeer out of his pocket. Harry took it and stared at it for a few seconds. Then he opened the bottle and drained half of it in one gulp.
�Whoa, take it easy!� Ron said. Harry put the bottle on a table and went back to staring at the wall.
Ron sighed. Harry had gotten worse over the past month. He wouldn�t talk to anyone anymore.
Ron, Melissa and Sheila had come to a silent agreement on how to handle this. Melissa had the job of trying to get Harry to eat. She only managed to get him to eat enough that he didn�t starve to death.
Sheila had the job of trying to get Harry to sleep. She had the most luck, but only because, after a while, Harry couldn�t stay awake any longer.
Ron had the hardest job. He had to make sure Harry�s grades stayed up. Harry had stopped doing homework. Ron had been doing his homework for him. Luckily, Professor McGonagall didn�t say anything when they turned in identical essays on switching spells. Ron suspected that the teachers knew what Harry was going through and felt sorry for him.
Ron shook his head. He couldn�t think about that now. He had something else he had to do. He took a deep breath and walked over to where one of the Potter twins was sitting, reading a book.
�Melissa,� he said, �will you go to the ball with me?�
�I�m not Melissa,� she said, not even looking up.
�Oh, okay,� he started to back away.
�Aren�t you gonna ask me to go to the ball with you?�
�Will you go to the ball with me?� Ron asked reluctantly, hoping against hope that she�d say no.
�Oh thanks so much for asking but no. I�d rather be force-fed poison. Besides, I�m going with George.�
�Okay,� Ron walked away feeling stupid. He spotted Melissa in the corner, writing a letter.
�Melissa,� he said, �will you go to the ball with me?�
�Ron, I�m sorry. I�m going with someone else.�
�Who?�
�I�d rather not say. Can I borrow Pig?�
�Sure,� Ron said. �Just tell me something. How can people tell the difference between you and your sister?�
�Sheila�s left-handed,� she said absentmindedly, folding up her letter.
�Oh great. Now I�ll know it�s her if she takes a swing at my head with her left fist. Wait a minute, if she�s left-handed, why�d she hit me with her right fist?�
�I didn�t hit you,� said a voice behind him. Ron whipped around to see Sheila standing behind him. �I barely touched you,� she continued. �If I really hit you, you�d be spitting blood.�
As Ron hurried away, he could hear them laughing behind him. He felt even more stupid now.
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The warmth Harry felt when he drank the butterbeer quickly faded away. He felt a cold wave run through him and knew the dementors were patrolling the hallways. He stood and walked to the stairs leading up to the boys� dormitory. He turned back around. No one had noticed him leave.
�Goodbye,� he whispered to no one in particular. He walked up the stairs and into the dormitory. He sat down on his bed, drew the curtains, and waited.
He only had to wait a few hours. The other boys came upstairs and went to bed, not knowing what Harry was planning to do.
Harry got out of bed and tiptoed to the window, trying not to make any noise. He opened the window. It had started snowing and a thin layer had formed on the windowsill.
Harry breathed in the cold air and prepared himself for what he was going to do. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the pocketknife Sirius had given him. He flicked the knife open and held it over his wrist. He hesitated and turned back to look at the room.
�Goodbye,� he whispered and began to cut.
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