Sorry I'm taking so long guys. We're at two practices a day for volleyball and I'm trying to balance it. I promise I'll get better. Just adjusting. Thank you guys so much for reading!!!! I love all the support I'm getting and I love you guys!!!!!

"Ahhh. Miss Black. I thought I'd find you here!" Dumbledore? He crossed the room sitting on the bed beside me.

"Y, you did? H, how?" I hiccuped, wiping at my eyes. He gave me a small smile, placing his hand on mine.

"My dear, I had your father in school. You're just like him you know. This is where he, and James and Remus for that matter, came when any of them were upset. And this is the first place the others would check for them. It became an instinct to them. I assumed, you'd be the same way!" He smiled, patting my hand. I nodded slowly, smiling at the man in front of me.

"He told me the stories about coming here. And when I left, I didn't think, I just ran. Straight here!" I giggled, smiling at the headmaster. "I'm sorry sir. I know I'm not really supposed to be here!" I dropped the smile, staring at my hands.

He chuckled again, patting my head. "It's alright dear. But I have to say, had it been anyone else to find you, you may have been in a bit of trouble." He chuckled again, moving around. I moved over, that way he could be comfortable.

"I know sir. I shouldn't have run. I was embarrassed, so um, I ran." I mumbled, twit tiling my thumbs.

"Ahhh. Would you like to tell me about that?" His eyes flashed to the door, but I ignored that. It was obvious someone was listening in. I nodded my head slowly, looking him in the eye.

"Well you see Sir, it was my boggart. It sort of combined all my fears together to make one big picture. Um, first, let me say, I'm not scared of Voldemort. I'm scared of what he can do. One of my fears, is that I'll loose the ones I love. So, in this scene, he stood above them all. They were all dead, even Lilly and James were there. I'm also scared of storms. So there was a storm in the background. I could have gotten through that, it was seeing the people I loved that really affected me. And he was laughing! How could he laugh about something like that?" I whispered, but I never broke eye contact. Quite a feat if you ask me.

"I see." He paused for what seemed like forever. "The reason he laughs, is because he doesn't know love. Voldemort doesn't understand the power love can truly hold." He paused again. "I think you can come in now Mr. Black!" I spun around, looking at the door. Dad came through, giving me a small smile.

"Dad?"

"Hey kiddo. What you up to?" He laughed, shoving his hands into his pockets. He looked awkward, kind of nervous.

"Nothing?" I laughed, getting up to hug him. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, Remus told me as soon as you ran off. I came straight here." He said, scratching the back of his neck in an awkward motion. I laughed again, hugging him tighter. "Are ya mad?"

"Nah. I'm glad you came. I needed a good hug!" I giggled, looking up at my dad. He sighed in relief, hugging me back tightly. When he let go, it was my turn to be awkward. Look at us. A bunch of awkward little turtles! "So, I suppose your upset?"

"What? Why would I be?" He asked, sounding shocked.

"Well, I uh. Kind of ditched my evening classes and came somewhere I'm not supposed to be," I said, running a hand through my hair.

"Like I haven't done it." He scoffed. "Or James. Or Remus!" He said, breaking into a full laugh, shaking his head. "How was his lesson? Besides the obvious of course."

"Well. You'd be surprised. He's the new favorite!" I laughed, Professor Dumbledore and Dad laughed as well.

"I'd have never thought!" He chuckled, ruffling my hair. "What do you say kid? Ready to get out of here?"

"Yeah. I'm ready. Did I miss dinner?"

"Nope!" He popped the 'p', putting an arm around me and leading me out the door. I stopped in my tracks, turning around to face the headmaster halfway down the stairs.

"Thank you sir!" I smiled, walking back up to hug him. He patted my back, chuckling. He even hugged me back a bit.

"Your welcome Gracie. Now, lets get back to the castle, shall we?"

"Yes sir!" I giggled, skipping back over to Dad. Neither asked me about the howling so I assume I wasn't busted. Yet. That was close, and I need to be more careful. Sure Dad knows, and Professor Dumbledore knows about him, but if he finds out I'm unregistered as well I don't think he'll be happy. From now on, I have to be careful!

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"Hey guys!" I chirped, taking my place between Harry and Natalyn at the table. They all stared at me in shock.

"Where have you been?" Ron yelled, putting down his food. He put down FOOD. Uh oh. I'm in trouble. I gulped, my eyes darting to find someone who didn't look angry, Ginny.

"It doesn't matter! So, Ginny, how was your first day back?" I made the first part of my escape. But she just had to take it away!

"Oh no! I don't know what you did but don't pull me into it!" She pushed her plate away, getting up and walking out of the hall. "Talk to you guys later!" No one answered.

"Gracelyn Paige where were you?" Nat snarled, glaring at me.

"I went somewhere to think and cool off! Is it so bad that I'd like to keep it a secret? It helped it helped! Yeesh!" I snapped, grabbing small things to fill my plate. Once again, I feel like only eating chocolate, but I need to eat real food. Eh. Mash potatoes and some of this will work.

"No. It isn't bad. What's bad, is that you ran off not telling anyone where and haven't been see since!" Hermione snapped, scooting farther down the bench, closer to me. I sighed, rubbing my temples. They're all snapping and it's getting irritating!

"I'm sorry guys! I didn't think! I just ran okay? I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys, but to be honest, I didn't even know where I was going till I was over half way there!"

"You couldn't have come talk to one of us?" Harry whispered, speaking for the first time since I got there. But then again, they've been taking turns yelling at me. Guess it was his turn.

"I'm sorry! Okay? I was upset, everyone was staring at me, I just wanted to get out of there. I'm fine! See? Nothing wrong with me. I'm going to go. I'll talk to you guys later!" I stood up, my voice dropping to a whisper at the end. They all dropped their heads, not speaking. They just nodded, not even trying to stop me. I nearly ran out of the hall, not caring who saw me.

What surprised me, was that Ginny and the twins were waiting on the other side. Realizing that they were waiting for someone, knowing Ginny probably me, I walked closer to them, attempting to start a conversation. I haven't talked to them talked to them in a while. I miss that.

"Hey guys!" I plastered on a fake smile, but they weren't fooled. Ginny hugged me, the twins as well.

"I didn't think you'd be far behind. They weren't really being nice, and no one was talking before you sat down. I knew they were mad about something. Care to explain what happened?" Ginny whispered, letting go of me. I nodded, smiling at her and the twins. We walked down the corridors in silence, Ginny was still hugging me, and the twins were leading us to who knows where.

"In here!" They chorused, pointing to a statue of a witch. They tapped its head, muttering a spell. It moved out of the way, revealing a path. I'm not even gonna ask.

"So, what happened?" Ginny asked, getting comfortable in the tunnel. We all sat down, it was kind of small, making things harder, but still. It worked! It's private, and that's a good thing. I'm still embarrassed about what happened.

"Well, it was my boggart. I couldn't do it, and everyone stared at me. It was just hard. I was embarrassed and the image, it made me sad, so I ran." I whispered, toying with my fingers. Geez, I do not want to tell anyone else! There's still time to go to the quidditch pith. I want to go. I wonder if they'll go with me?

"What was it sis?" The twins chorused, staring at me in concern. Staring. Just like earlier.

"A stormy night, and Voldemort was there, laughing, and everyone I loved was lying, dead. Even Lilly and James!" I mumbled, not meeting their eyes.

"Well that's alright Gracie. That would be a hard vision for anyone. That's a grown up fear, most kids are scared of snakes, spiders, any of that stuff. But your fear was more mature. Something to really think about. Don't worry about it, okay?" Fred asked, placing an arm around my shoulder.

"Gracie?"

"Yeah Gin?"

"I didn't know you were afraid of Voldemort? Your the reason I'm not. You always have that saying?" Her eyes were questioning, like I'd lied to her. I hadn't though.

"I'm not afraid of Voldemort Ginny." I placed a hand on her shoulder, ignoring the confused stares from the twins. "I'm afraid of the things he does, and can still do."

"Oh. That makes since!" She giggled, resting her head on my shoulder. "I'm not sure if your up for it, but do you want to go to the pitch?"

"It's like you read my mind!" I giggled, moving towards the entrance of the tunnel. The twins cheered behind me, I guess they're going too!

We made our way down to the pitch, calling for our brooms as we went. We couldn't do much of course, not even enough to make a team, but that was okay. We had two chasers, and two beaters. The twins worked on their position, and Ginny and I worked on quaffle passing. My skills had diminished some, but I regained them quickly, flying around the pitch.

About halfway through, we started hearing cheers on the stands. When I turned to look, the gang was there, cheering for us. I wanted to be angry, but I couldn't. They were just worried. I waved at the group, giving them a small smile.

The sky darkened and the moon made an appearance. Ginny, Fred, George and I dismounted our brooms, making our way towards the stands. "Hey guys!" I chirped, walking over to them.

"Gracie we're sorry!" Harry said, stepping forward and wrapping me in a hug. "We were just worried. Please forgive us?"

"Please Gracie?" Nat whispered, giving me a small smile.

"I forgive you guys. I understand!" I smiled, hugging each of them. "Now, lets get back to the common room!" I giggled. And there we went, running back to the castle, Ginny and the twins behind us.