Harry was sad to leave his new haven. Everyone else, especially Sirius who was still stuck there, was itching to leave. Harry wished that Sirius could see the house the way he did. It just had personality and some interesting quirks. Kreacher was really the only unpleasant thing about the place, and Harry had only seen him the one time he'd run away screaming. He thought he saw the elf a few times out of the corner of his eye or leaving a room as soon as he entered, but he couldn't be sure. Even Sirius's mother was fine, you just needed to know how to handle her…like unleashing his full aura at the painting in the middle of the night until she was as much afraid of him as Kreacher, but yeah, problem handled.

It wasn't just leaving the safety and comfort of Grimmauld Place, it was also leaving Sirius and going into the unknown by himself essentially. He wasn't one hundred percent sure his magic would work, he was worried all the house elves would scream and run, he was certain Ron and Hermione would eventually figure out what was going on, what if Jamie got hurt and he had to go to Madam Pomfrey and she figured it all out, and what if Voldemort attacked again? Also…what did that dementor mean when he said, "We'll see you again?" Really, how ominous can you get? If all that weren't enough, what if he sucked all the happiness out of his friends and they were miserable and suffering from dementor exposure by the end of the year?

It was with even more fear than when he started in first year, that Harry pulled his trunk down the stairs and made ready to leave for Hogwarts to start his fifth year. "Has anyone seen Crookshanks? I haven't seen him in days!" Hermione asked frantically as she ran through the house trying to collect her wayward cat.

Harry shrank into the corner, knowing the cat was hiding from him. It had a similar reaction as Kreacher when he saw it in the hallway a few days before. Thankfully, no one had been there to witness it that time. "I'm going to miss you around here, pup," Sirius said dejectedly as he joined Harry in the corner. "Maybe Snuffles can come visit you some during the year," he added on with a hopeful grin.

His first instinct was to yell at Sirius to not be an idiot and stay where he was safe. On second thought though…that was probably asking too much of the man that was nowhere near emotionally stable. Feeling Sirius's emotions, Harry knew better than anyone that staying isolated was draining the life from his godfather. He seemed to be constantly fighting severe depression and anxiety.

Granted, the man still called him James occasionally, but Harry loved him regardless. The man, as unstable as he was, emitted strong emotions that he cared for and loved Harry, maybe for being James's son, but Harry was certain that in his more lucid moments, Sirius was cognizant of the differences between Harry and James. He just wasn't always in one of those more lucid moments.

"Oh Padfoot, please don't get yourself arrested," Harry sighed tiredly, giving up on the man staying put in the house. "I'd really hate to have to break you out of Azkaban. It'd completely ruin my reputation with the ministry…well what's left of it anyway."

Harry actually thought about that statement for a minute before continuing, "I guess there's not much left to ruin…sure, I guess I'll get you out, but please don't try to get arrested anyway. Let's save that as a last resort."

As a dementor, Harry was certain he could break his godfather out, but he really didn't want to have to try it. The other dementors might not take too kindly to it. However, it might be nice to go on the run with Sirius to some tropical climate where it was warm and people were happy…it might not be the worst back-up plan.

"Awesome!" Sirius exclaimed happily, and gave Harry the largest smile he'd ever seen on his godfather's face. "The first prison break was hard enough though; I'm good with not doing that again any time soon."

"Yeah, sure," Harry chuckled. "If you decide to visit, just owl me first so I can meet you with the map, ok?"

"Sure thing!" Sirius was almost vibrating in excitement at that.

"And no living in caves and eating rats!" Harry chided him. "I'll hide you in Snape's office or something before then," he grinned broadly.

Sirius fell over laughing. "Oh Merlin! I can just imagine! Snivellus coming into his office and me sitting under his desk!"

"This house really isn't that bad. Give it a chance will you…for me?" Harry asked pleadingly. "I want to come back and visit, and that'll be hard if you hate the place."

"Harry, I gave the place a chance for the first 16 years of my life. I don't think its 'charms' are going to wear off on me," Sirius sobered and steered Harry to the group leaving the house since Hermione had finally found Crookshanks in a kitchen cupboard.

"Be good, Padfoot."

"Cause hell for Snape, Harry," Sirius waved in parting.

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Ron and Hermione abandoned Harry as soon as they boarded the train for prefect duties. He wasn't upset though since he was hoping to find an empty compartment to hide from the students for a while since he was already starting to feel a little hungry, everyone was just a little too happy to see their friends again.

Unfortunately, the Grimmauld group had been running late and were some of the last to board; after the shock of losing Ron and Hermione's company due to them being prefects, Harry decided to find an empty compartment but every compartment he saw had at least one person in it. Feeling the emotions around him, Harry felt around for a compartment that didn't make him hungry.

He ended up looking into the window of a compartment in which he noticed Ginny was reading a book. So, he pushed open the door and stuck his head in. "Hi there! Do you mind if I join?"

The girl looked over her book at him with the most beautiful brown eyes he had ever seen. She smiled in a vague way and motioned to the seat in front of her. "You are very welcome, Harry," she said kindly.

Harry grinned and situated Hedwig's empty cage in the overhead compartment since she had decided to fly to Hogwarts instead of being cooped up on the train.

"I'm sorry that you really must feel uncomfortable here," Ginny stated sadly.

Harry sat down and looked at the girl confused for a moment or two. "Er, I'm not sure what you mean? I'm pretty comfortable here in the compartment with you."

Giiny flashed him a smile. "No, I mean carrying a body around you aren't attached to. It has to be very uncomfortable… like wearing shoes that are too big I would imagine."

Harry basically choked on air and figured that if he didn't die by choking then it would be a heart attack. "What do you mean carrying around a body?" He asked very slowly, really hoping he'd misunderstood.

In response, Ginny pushed her fiery red curls behind her ear that was away from the compartment door. The ear was very normal, if not exceptionally cute. She then waved her hand over it and a glamour peeled away revealing a dramatically pointed ear that reached up into her hair.

"Woah! What the..That's bloody awesome!" Harry exclaimed, leaning forward a bit to see her ear better. It was extremely cool looking.

"Thank you," she said and another wave of her hand reapplied the glamour. "I'm a fairy. There are wings too, but those are more noticeable to just appear in a train compartment."

"But how... are all Weasley's fairies? Is Ron?" Harry gasped

Ginny smiled at him kindly. "Only me, only Weasley girls have this privilege. That's what makes us so rare. I'm the first in over seven generations. Fairies see what others disregard. We see how magic interacts with the world around us and how all beings are interconnected," she explained.

Harry stared for a minute, not knowing where to even start with all of that. He was both worried and utterly confused. "Er, so, does that mean you knew what I was the whole time?" He finally decided to ask first.

Ginny nodded with a smile. "Of course, dementors are a part of magic just as all beings are."

"And you aren't afraid of me?" He asked nervously, not really sure why Ginny's opinion suddenly mattered so much to him, but it did.

"Why would I be?" She giggled. "Oh Harry, maybe you should talk to a dementor before you decide they're all the embodiment of evil. Have you ever actually sat down and had a conversation with a dementor before."

Having had many horrible experiences with dementors, he completely disregarded that suggestion as ludicrous and instead laughed. "Er, yeah, I don't think that's the best idea." He pictured showing up to Azkaban and asking if a dementor wanted to go for tea.

Harry took a deep breath in. Ginny accepted him, told him to let go of his negative feelings about himself, and listened. He wished he had befriended her years before. "Thank you, Ginny," he said with all the feeling he could muster into the sentence.

"You're welcome," she nodded.

Harry pulled his wand out of his pocket after a couple minutes of staring out of the window and thinking about what she had said. "Do you mind if I try some magic? I don't know if I can still cast spells. I'm really worried I'm going to get to Hogwarts and they'll just send me back, or worse send me off to guard Azkaban."

"You're still connected to magic. You just need to tap back into that connection," she assured him.

Harry nervously pointed his wand at her book and called out, "Wingardium Leviosa!"

The book shook a little bit but didn't stir to Harry's horror. "Try releasing your aura just a bit, not enough to lower the temperature, but enough to loosen your hold. I promise you won't hurt me," Ginny assured him. "You have such a tight hold on your magic, you're not letting any of it out right now."

Even more nervous, Harry loosened his tightly held reigns on his aura and tried again. This time the book rose up into the air as it should. Harry smiled as Ginny exclaimed excitedly across from him. "Bravo, Harry!" She called out. She made him feel like he just survived the dragon in the first task of the Triwizard Tournament instead of casting a first-year levitation charm.

"Thank you so much, Ginny," Harry gushed as the book floated down again. A thought then came to him, and he was very interested to hear the answer. "Hey, sorry, I meant to ask…are there more fairies at Hogwarts?"

Ginny laughed and picked up her book. Harry wasn't sure if that was a yes or a no, but smiled at her anyway, knowing absolutely nothing about fairies and really hoping there turned out to be more around the school...only if they were just like Ginny though.

It didn't take long before the compartment door was pushed open again. Harry looked up, expecting to see Ron or Hermione. Instead, Neville Longbottom smiled broadly at both of them. "Harry! Ginny!" He said, coming in and plopping down beside Ginny.

Ginny smiled at him. "Good summer?"

Neville shrugged. "My greenhouses are doing great, and Gran and Uncle Algie are as they always are."

"I'm sorry, Neville, but I'm never going to like your Uncle Algie," Ginny commented with a frown as if this were a common argument they had. "Throwing someone out of a window to see if they have magic is unacceptable. Whether you had magic or not, you're a part of the family and should've been treated with respect. You should've come to stay with me at the Burrow some over the summer."

Harry frowned. He'd never even questioned Neville's stories about his family. If he were being honest with himself, it was because Neville's homelife wasn't too much different from his own, maybe even a little better. At least Neville's Uncle Algie could use magic to save and/or heal his nephew if he hadn't used magic to bounce. When Dudley had pushed Harry out of a window, Harry was just lucky he'd been able to grab onto a tree limb to keep himself from falling.

While Harry was putting some serious thought into what Neville had told him about his homelife and what acceptable treatment from a family member meant, Neville was explaining how things had gotten a bit better and the new plants he was cultivating.

The door was pushed open again as Ron's red hair made an appearance. "Hey Harry, Nev, and…er, Ginny," Ron grimaced at the end when Harry and Neville both glared at him.

"The prefect meeting was so dull!" Hermione exclaimed as she pushed in behind Ron.

"Hermione," Harry sighed with a roll of his eyes. "I've already told you; I didn't want to be a prefect. You don't have to downplay how much you like it for me."

Hermione smiled and sat on one side of Harry while Ron took the other. "Well, in that case, I'm so excited! We get to patrol the corridors right after curfew and are in charge of the first-years."

"Ergh!" Ron groaned dramatically. "We have to hang out with Malfoy who's also a prefect."

"I wonder who actually picks the prefects," Harry mused. "Malfoy has decent grades, but he's gotten in almost as many fights as I have."

"Ron's gotten in more," Neville chuckled.

"Yeah, mate. You should be the one that has to deal with the first years," Ron told Neville to Harry's surprise. He didn't realize his friend actually agreed with him. "Sure, my family is super happy, but you know my patience isn't exactly legendary."

"More like infamous," Harry gave his shoulder a shove.

Neville and Ginny shared some sort of look, but it was largely unreadable. "Nah, I'm fine just trying to make it through this last year of Potions," Neville finally said in a calm tone. "I'm never going to pass it on my OWLs, so at least I don't have to take it next year. Besides, my gran and Professor McGonagall have a bit a feud going on. I'm not saying that factored in the decision at all...but it's a mark against me anyway."

"Seriously? How's this the first we've heard about a feud?!" Harry raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Come to think of it...I'm not sure I've ever seen McGonagall talk to you outside of class..."

"Er, yeah," Neville said slowly with a wince. "I don't think she tries to treat me any different, but I can tell she also really doesn't want to spend time with me. I never really thought it was worth mentioning. It was something about my grandad when they were all in school together...honestly, I learned early on not to ask."

"Young love," Ginny gave them all a knowing smile, which had Ron gagging and Hermione looking like the girl had just committed blasphemy against one of her heroes.

Harry shook his head with horror on his face. "Yeah, mate, I don't think I would ask either," he agreed.

"Oh no! We need to get our robes on and get ready!" Hermione exclaimed as she stood looking at her watch. "Ron, we have to help get the first years together for the boats."

"Fine, I guess I'll catch up with all of you at the feast," Ron groaned and followed Hermione out to grab his robes from his trunk he'd left in the prefect compartment.

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Harry, Ginny, and Neville all shared a carriage up to the castle. Harry was surprised to see the thestrals pulling the carriages since they'd been invisible to him before he had seen Cedric Diggory die just a few months before, and he was even more surprised when they weren't afraid of him as every other animal besides Hedwig had been.

"Thestrals are lovely creatures," Ginny assured him as she petted the one that would be pulling their carriage after explaining what they were to her new friend. (Fairies can see thestrals.) "I'll take you to see them in the forest soon. I think you'd particularly enjoy the colts."

"I don't think I'd call a skeletal horse a lovely creature," Neville said with a grin from where he held the door open to the carriage. "Interesting might be the better adjective."

"No… Ginny is right. They are definitely lovely," Harry said quietly, the horse's aura pulling him in. It seemed to welcome him as a friend and kindred spirit when he reached out and ran a hand down its long nose. "Thank you. I'd love to see the colts. Let me know, any day."

Ginny grabbed his hand and pulled him behind her into the carriage. "Of course, Harry. I have so many things to show you."

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By the end of the welcoming feast, Harry wished he was back in the basement of Grimmauld and never had to leave. She's not here for me…she's not here for me… Harry kept repeating over and over in his mind as he followed along behind where the new first years were being led to Gryffindor Tower by Ron and Hermione. The new ministry official that had taken over DADA was going to give him a nervous breakdown. If she found out what he was, he could kiss spending time with his friends and being out in the normal world goodbye.

If all the dementors guarded Azkaban, then the ministry must have some way of making them stay there, and Harry didn't want to find out what that way might be.

I'll just keep my head down and not cause trouble. Harry promised himself, trying not to remember how ineffectual that had been in the past.

Harry sat on the edge of his bed in the fifth-year boys' dorm. Hogwarts wasn't as he remembered it. Well, it was…but he was different. Gryffindor Tower was no longer a comfortable and safe feeling haven for him. The reds were too bright, and the gold wasn't shiny at all. Something about its location in the castle and aura just weren't right either. For the first time since his sorting, he wished he hadn't talked the hat out of putting him in Slytherin. The dungeons sounded like a much more enjoyable location. He was actually happy he couldn't sleep anymore because he was certain the uncomfortable aura in the tower would keep him awake tossing and turning every night.

As was becoming usual with his new pet, Harry was also concerned about leaving Jamie alone and defenseless in the room. He trusted his dormmates, but the soulless body couldn't take care of itself. What if something happened when he wasn't there to look out for it? Or, what if Ron tried to wake him up and realized he wasn't responsive?

The dementor decided to pull a page from Hermione's book and take out his anxieties on research. As soon as the last boy in the dorm pulled his curtains closed, Harry left Jamie and wandered out of the tower, invisible in the shadows. There had to be a book on wards and security spells in the library. If he could find a ward to place on his bed or Jamie himself to alert the dementor to danger or someone trying to wake him up, then he would breathe much easier. Hedwig met him halfway to the library and flew along beside him, keeping him company. "I'm looking for a book on wards, Hedwig," Harry told her in a series of inhuman screeches while he scratched her head with a long, skeletal finger. "If you can read, then hoot if you see one." The owl flew to the top of a bookshelf and ignored the instructions.

It was almost too easy to sneak about now. He didn't need his invisibility cloak, and since he hovered instead of walked, he made absolutely no noise as he searched the library. He didn't even need a light to read by since he didn't have eyes and was using some sort-of extra-sensory-vision-thing to see with. He didn't even think Snape could catch him now…it almost took all the fun out of it. Though…it would be beyond funny if Snape were to walk into the library to see a dementor hovering at a desk and reading a book with an owl beside him. Harry chuckled quietly at the thought.

Harry's nighttime sneaking paid off with an entire shelf of warding books. He pulled one on medical wards, one on security wards, and one geared towards parents for their children (why was that one in a school library?). Anyway, he settled into a long night of research and studying up on wards. Sometimes it was nice to not need to sleep anymore.

A/N: Thanks for reading and please vote and comment!