The three translucent figures looked down upon the dark haired young man as he stirred and murmured restlessly in his sleep. "I'm worried about him James." "I know love. Me too. He's keeping too much inside." "Wouldn't know where he gets that from." the third figure said dryly. "There's no need to bring up ancient history Sirius" said Lily. "Well it true," Sirius persisted. "If Moony and I hadn't locked you two in that broom closet..." "I'll never understand how you knew she liked me. I had no idea." James smiled, remembering. "We didn't," Sirius laughed. "We thought two hours in there with Evans and you'd be over your crush. Imagine our suprise when we came to let you out and found you two..." "All right," Lily interrupted, blushing slightly. "We're not here to malign my character. We're here to help Harry." "We've got to do something to help him." Sirius agreed. "He'll never be able to do what he needs to if he's like this. Maybe I could talk to him... he'd probably think he was dreaming." "Sirius... you know we're not supposed to interfere," Lily said. "We can watch, we can guide, but we cannot interfere. We're not ghosts you know... we're his guardian spirits. No direct contact." "She's right Padfoot. He's got to work this out on his own." agreed James reluctantly. "Bah," Sirius gave a short bark of laughter. "Of course you wait until you're dead to start following the rules Prongs." "Who said he always followed the rules?" said Lily mischeviously, remembering Harry's third year. "Now Lily...he never knew it was me. He thinks he saw himself so it all worked out in the end really." "A-ha! Knew you had lost your nerve." Sirius grinned triumphantly at his friend. James merely rolled his eyes. "I just wish he'd talk to someone about the guilt he's feeling... about the prophecy. Bottling it up is not good for him." Lily turned worried green eyes back to her sleeping son and sighed. "Maybe we can give him a push to do that. Ron and Hermione would be there for him," said James. "No," Sirius said. "They'd listen, and do what they could, but they could never truly understand what he's going through," Sirius flashed a wicked grin suddenly. "Although... I have a good idea who might."
Harry sat bolt upright in bed. He'd had the nightmare again. Night after night, he watched helplessly as Sirius fell through the veil. Night after night, his guilt grew. During the day he wandered the halls of Grimauld Place, remembering and missing Sirius even more. Harry got up and strolled over to the window, looking sightlessly down on the small courtyard below. He knew his friends were worried about him. He wanted to forget, to go back to the person he was before, but he couldn't. If only he had some reason to continue fighting, something to fight for. He was distracted from his thoughts by a movement on the ground below. He saw the pale figure glide across the courtyard. Her barefeet seeming to skim the ground, her long hair blowing gently in the breeze. At first he thought he was seeing some faerie spirit from long ago, and then she raised her face to look up at the stars. "Ginny?" he breathed. "Good lord when did that happened?" Ginny had always been "Ron's little sister" to him and now... Now she was this gorgeous creature of pale moonlight and silken hair. How the hell had he missed that? "Well what are you waiting for Harry? You wanted a sign there she is. Go to her." Almost of their own volition his feet carried him through the sleeping halls and out into the courtyard to Ginny. "Uh...Hi." said Harry. Ginny looked up, startled. "Harry! What're you doing out here?" "I... um...couldn't sleep so I thought I'd take a walk. What about you?" "The damn shutter in my room kept coming unlatched and banging. Woke me up. I fixed it 3 times but... I finally gave it up." she said grinning. "Oh well... I guess I'll go back in. Night Ginny." Harry turned to go mentally berating himself for his fabulous conversational skills. "Stop him Ginny! He needs you! He needs to quit blaming himself!" "Harry! Wait!" Ginny stood up and grabbed his arm. "It's not your fault you know." Harry was suddenly angry. "How was it not my fault? Sirius was there because of me. He died because of me Ginny!" "No Harry... he died because you were tricked. He died because Voldemort used you... just like he used me." Harry had almost forgotten the part Ginny had played in opening the Chamber of Secrets in his second year. "That was different. No one died because of you. You didn't lead the people who you cared most about into a trap... you didn't lead anyone to their death." "No... you're right. I didn't. I merely released a basilisk upon the entire school, caused several people, including Hermione, to be petrified, damn near allowed Voldemort to return to power, and almost got you killed in the process. It took me a long time to come to grips with that Harry. Was all of that my fault?" Ginny's brown eyes flashed angrily in the darkness. "No...of course not...but this is different" he said again. "How Harry? How is this different? Voldemort tricked both of us. He used both of us. Sirius would understand that. Sirius would want you to forgive yourself." "Ginny... I just miss him so much. Especially now that I..." his voice trailed off. He had not meant to say that. "Now that you what Harry?" "Nothing." "Harry James Potter! Don't you dare shut down on me now. What is going on?" Her warm brown eyes stared into his tortured green ones. "Tell her Harry. Let it go." Suddenly Harry found himself pouring out all of his fears. How Dumbledore had told him about the prophecy and how he, Harry, would literally have to kill or be killed. He told her about his fears that he'd again be tricked by Voldemort, and how he didn't think he could stand to lose anyone else. The words seemed to pour out of him, taking with them the anger, guilt, and fear he'd been holding in. Tears streamed down his face as he talked and Ginny did her best to be strong for the one who'd always been strong for everyone else. In the end, Harry slept the first dreamless sleep he'd had in almost a year, his head craddled in Ginny's lap."He's going to be all right now isn't he James?" said Lily her eyes glistening with unshed tears, as she watched her son come to grips with his destiny. "Yes love... i think he is at that" said James. "What is it with you Potters and red-heads?" teased Sirius. "Hey!" said Lily indignantly. "Only kidding Evans." "Harry just happens to have his father's excellent taste." Lily replied somewhat smugly. The three exchanged a grin and looked once more out the window. "Well Prongs old man... What do you think? Mischief managed?" "Most definately Padfoot my friend. Most definately."