"Get up Harry!"

       Harry groaned, lying in his bed and trying to ignore the voice so that he might sleep a little longer. After such an eventful day he was completely drained of energy, and wished nothing more than to pull his pillow over his ears and go back to sleep. 

      "Harry!"

      "What?" he mumbled grumpily, glancing at his watch as Ron prodded him awake. "It's two in the morning ..."

      "Didn't you hear McGonagall's announcement?" Ron inquired, pulling his cloak on over his pyjamas and grabbing his wand.

      "No, what's going on?" Harry said, wide awake and wondering what was so urgent that Ron was awake at this time.

      "The Forbidden Forest caught fire somehow," Ron told him, "sixth and seventh years are supposed to come and help fight the fire."

      Harry got up and rushed to the window and gazed down upon the forest, horror engulfing him as he caught sight of black plumes of smoke swirling in the moonlit sky, flames dancing beneath them.

      "Come on!" Ron said urgently.

     "Right ..."

      Harry pulled on his cloak and grabbed his wand as well, jammed his feet into socks and shoes and ran down the stairs and into the bursting common room; it looked like just about the whole house was up. The younger years were looking out the windows with scared expressions on their face, being reassured by older siblings  and all the while students scrambled about, following McGonagall's instructions.

      "Seventh and sixth years, follow me," McGonagall said eventually. "Everyone else remain here until I return."

       "How'd the fire start?" a brave little first year asked McGonagall before she could leave.

      "We haven't figured that out yet," replied McGonagall. "We are concentrating on fighting it for the moment, now come!"

       Down staircases and through the castle they went, converging with the other houses as they made their way to the grounds. As they neared the doors the smell of smoke met their nostrils, growing thicker and thicker as Hagrid threw the great doors open to reveal the grounds. Leaking through the doors came a frightening light, a kind of flicker that inspired fear in the hearts of those facing it. Demonstrating their bravery, the Gryffindor house stepped forward first, followed by the Slytherins, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws.

      "Harry," Draco panted, catching up to the Gryffindors, oblivious of the people staring at him. "Do you know how it started?"

      "No, McGonagall didn't know either," Harry replied, coughing slightly in the smoke as the teachers organized their houses and gave instruction over the whistling roar of the fire, which was rapidly growing in the unusually dry air.

      As Harry looked around he saw that the grounds had crowded with people, students and residents of Hogsmead who had come, all hoping to help fight the inferno growing within the depths of the forest.  It appeared that those from Hogsmead had been fighting a while already. Somewhere down the way trees were being cleared for a firebreak and all sorts of magic was being used to subdue the flames. While this was happening the students were being brought by groups out to the firebreak, weaving around people at work. Harry was separated from Draco when the students split up into thier houses. 

      While parties of Hogsmead residents cleared underbrush and wood around them, the  teachers rapidly went from student to student, charming their clothing to repel heat. As they did this, the students were lined up and instructed to shoot water at the flames with their wands when brought further into the forest to fight the fire. They were using a variation of the charm Aguamenti, which had been designed to shoot water at a further distance. Though the charm was fairly easy to master, it was hard work bridging the distance from them to the fire and keeping the flow of water steady. Thankfully the groups were given a small rest in between, for the teachers rotated the lines back and forth so that they might renew the heat repelling charms and give students a break from the heat and smoke.  

     Harry was in the midst of falling back once more  when he heard her, calling out for him, a ways up the forested slope nearby, where the fire was quickly heading to.

      "HARRY!" screamed Ginny frantically.

      "GINNY! I'M COMING!" Harry shouted. And without giving it a second thought he turned away from the growing firebreak and darted out through rapidly catching underbrush.

       "NO!" Severus yelled as he led some Slytherins out for their turn, but it was too late, Harry was already in the forest.

      Severus flung himself forward and into the flames after Harry, who was still pursuing Ginny, and not quite aware that the fire was quickly pursuing him.

       Harry followed Ginny's voice far into the forest, until at once it stopped. And with it so did he, pausing to look around the trees and bushes for Ginny. He called out to her, wondering where she could have gone. Until, with a sickening clench of his stomach, he realised that she had been just like the one he'd heard before, the Ginny that he was hearing from far away. He thought fleetingly of her flaming red hair, which suddenly reminded him of the present. He turned around to glance at the trees behind him, afraid of what he'd see. What met his eyes was not reassuring at all, for through the layers of shimmering heat he could see the fire advancing, having gained a lot of ground since he had first broke away from his group.

      "KEEP RUNNING!" Severus shouted at Harry as he made a mad dash through the forest with the fire on his heels, ash swirling through the air like snow. 

      Harry waited for Severus to catch up and began to run as well. Just then a mad cackling sounded behind them. It was Bellatrix Lestrange. Harry's blood boiled, and he grinded to a halt on the forest floor, turning his head the direction he heard her, thinking of nobody but Sirius.

     "Harry, she was created in your mind, like the others. Run!" Severus told him, dragging the boy by the back of the cloak.

      To avoid being choked by his cloak, Harry moved his feet once more. All the while finding it hard not to turn around and curse everything in sight as Bellatrix's laughter rang through his head, sending shivers up his spine. But shivers were not only going up his spine,  but his left leg, for it had begun to tingle, and the further they ran the less he could feel of it.

     "Severus, I can barely feel my left leg!" Harry gasped, wide eyes reflecting the flames that followed them. Severus however, remained silent.

      They were gaining ground, for the wind had switched directions slightly, slowing the fire. But it was coming no matter what, and all they could do was find somewhere the fire could not get them. At least that was what Harry thought Severus was doing.

      "This way," Severus coughed, turning them to the left and going down a sharp hill.

      Harry's left foot caught a root, having become clumsy with numbness. He was sent rolling down the hill as Severus tried to avoid the same fate. The hill was steep and Harry reached the bottom in very little time. His head spun as he laid on the ground, which rocked to and fro beneath him as if the earth were perched upon a giant swing seat.

      "Get up Harry," Severus commanded sharply, having reached the bottom of the slope himself.

      "Dizzy ..." he mumbled.

      "There isn't time, get up!" Severus gasped, clutching a stitch in his side. "Look where we are!"

       Harry pulled himself to his feet, the world still spinning slightly. He gasped when he saw the stream that he had sleepwalked to, but it was very different than before. No longer just a stream, but now a spectacular sight.

       "That wasn't there before, was it?" he whispered as he stood up shakily, mesmerized by the image that met his eyes.

        "Yes, this is the way back, the waking point has opened."