I was in a deep sleep. I was finally at peace. It had been so long since I was able to sleep like this. It used to be that I would have nightmares and wake up in the middle of the night, sweating and panting. It was horrible. And just when I could finally sleep and be at peace with myself, someone woke me up.

It was Hermione. "Max, wake up," she whispered.

"Is it morning yet?" I asked her.

"No, just get up. I have an idea."

I groaned and got up. We went over to the dorms where the boys were sleeping and Hermione looked at me.

I gave her a funny look. "What?"

"Go get your brother and Ron," she said.

"Why me?"

"I'm not going in there," she scoffed in response.

I rolled my tired eyes and crept into the room. I shook Harry and told him to wake up. Then I went to Ron and whacked him upside the head with a pillow that was on the floor.

"Ow!" he grunted.

"Shush!" I said, "Hermione wants us downstairs. She sent me in here to wake you two up."

Ron groaned and reluctantly got out of bed, followed by Harry. We all followed Hermione downstairs into the Gryffindor Common Room. Ron sat in his chair, followed by Harry and I sitting on top of the desk beside him.

"You woke us up at three in the morning, so this better be good," Ron told her.

"Remember when we said that we needed someone to teach us how to defend ourselves?" she reminded us.

"That was four hours ago," I pointed out.

"Well, I know who can teach us," she said in excitement.

"Who?" Ron asked.

"Harry and Max."

"What?!" we said at the same time.

"Oh, come on, you two! You know what it's like out there. What's the problem with teaching other students the things that you've done before?"

"Because, Hermione, that was all by pure luck. There was never a time where we actually defended ourselves," Harry replied.

"What about the Patronus Charm in third year?" she asked.

"Again, it was pure luck," I replied this time.

"Last year, when You-Know-Who returned?" Ron spoke up.

"That was..." I trailed off. "That's something I wish to forget." I didn't mean to say it so harshly, but I wanted that memory out of my head forever. "Sorry. I didn't mean to say it like that."

"No. I brought it up. It's my fault," Ron said.

"Back to the subject." Hermione cleared her throat. "What do you guys think?"

"Hermione, I know you think that Max and I are pretty good when it comes to defending ourselves out there, but that's not skill. We're just lucky when it comes to things like that." For once, Harry had a point.

"He's right," I added. "Plus, everyone hates us. They're not going to want us teaching them."

"But think about it. Out of all the students here, who has survived the Killing Curse? Who produced the most powerful Patronus Charm? That was you two. I know you can teach us how to defend ourselves."

I sighed and looked at my brother. "Well?"

"We'll think about it," he replied, turning back to Hermione.

"Good. Meet me here in the morning. I want your answer by then." With that, she headed back up to bed.

"I think she'll have to meet me down here in the morning," I commented.

I heard the boys chuckle at me as I made my way to the couch and plopped down, falling into another deep sleep.

*******

"Okay, this isn't a good idea," Harry stated as we were on the way to some abandoned pub.

Hermione let word get around about a meeting at the Hog's Head. She was practically dragging us there. While she pulled Harry by his hand, Ron was struggling with me. I was trying to get out of his grasp and run back to the castle.

"Ronald, will you stop playing around?" Hermione called from in front of us.

"It's not me! Max won't stop!" Ron yelled back, grabbing my arms tightly.

"Harry's right," I spoke up. "This isn't a good idea. It's actually a mad idea! Who would want to be taught by me and Harry? We're nutters, remember?"

"You said that you would think about it," she reminded me.

"Well, you didn't really give us time to think about it," I retorted. "Let go of me, Ron!"

"No, because I know you'll run away."

"No, I won't." Stupidly, Ron let go of me and I made a run for it. The two boys raced after me as I jumped over a little wall.

"Max, get back here!" Harry called out.

"Neverrrrrr!" I smirked to myself.

"Expelliarmus!" he shouted towards me.

I quickly turned around and blocked the spell. "Stupefy!" Harry blocked the spell like I did. "Damn you, Harry!"

He started gathering up snow with his wand and formed it into a snowball. "You better run."

"Harry James Potter, if you throw that at me..." Before I could finish, I quickly ducked from the flying snowball. "Ha! You missed!"

"Will you two come on?!" Ron yelled from the bridge.

We sighed and I ran over toward Harry. Then I pushed him to the ground.

"What was that for?!" he shouted.

"Sorry, I just couldn't resist." I started walking away from him quickly. I went back to Ron and Hermione, who still wanted me to go inside the pub. "Why, Hermione?"

"Just give it a shot. Please," she begged. "I just saw you two dueling out there. You and Harry can do this."

I sighed and headed inside. There was no one here except for an old man. The place was old and smelled like alcohol. Looked like the owner liked to get tipsy at times. It was also small as well.

"Well, this is cozy," Ron commented.

"Thought it would be safer off the beaten track," Hermione said.

"Who's supposed to be meeting us, then?" Harry asked as he entered inside.

"Just some people," Hermione replied.

"Lovely you can join us, brother." I smirked as he wiped the snow off of him.

He playfully hit my arm as we sat down and waited for people to show up.

It didn't take long for that to happen. Students from Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw piled inside, some I knew and others I didn't.

After a few moments, once everyone was settled in, Hermione spoke up. "Um...hi." She stood up and greeted everyone awkwardly. "So you all know why we're here. We need a teacher. A proper teacher. One who's had experience defending themselves against the Dark Arts."

"Why?" someone asked.

"Why? Because You-Know-Who's back, you tosspot," Ron replied coldly.

"So the Potters say," another person spoke up.

"So Dumbledore says," Hermione intervened.

"So Dumbledore says because they say. The point is, where's the proof? If the Potter twins can tell us more about how Diggory got killed..."

I huffed a sigh and stood up. "We're not going to talk about Cedric, so if that's why you're here, clear out now." I turned to Hermione. "Let's go. They're here because they think we're just twins who are nothing but freaks."

"Is it true that you two can produce the Patronus Charm?" Luna asked in her dreamy voice.

Harry stood up with me. "How did they find out?" he whispered to me.

"I don't know," I whispered back.

"Yes," Hermione answered Luna's question. "I've seen it."

"Blimey. I didn't know you two could do that," Dean commented.

"And they killed a Basilisk, with the sword that's in Dumbledore's office," Neville added.

"It's true," Ginny said.

"Third year, they fought off about a hundred Dementors at once," Ron commented.

"Ron, you weren't even there," I reminded him.

"Well, Hermione told me about it," he replied.

"And last year, they really did fight off You-Know-Who in the flesh," Hermione informed everyone.

"Wait," I stopped her and then looked at everyone else. "It all sounds great when you say it like that, but the truth is, most of that was just luck. Harry and I didn't know what we were doing half of the time. We nearly always had help."

"She's just being modest."

"Hermione, stop," I told her. "We're not being modest. Facing this stuff in real life is not like school. In school, if you make a mistake, you can just try again tomorrow. But out there...when you're a second away from being murdered...or watching a loved one die right before your eyes...you don't know what that's like." I paused for a moment. "But I do. I watched it last year. I watched my boyfriend die right in front of me." I swallowed hard and sat back down. Harry and Hermione sat back down as well.

"You're right, Max, we don't," Hermione spoke. "That's why we need your help. Because if we're going to have any chance at beating...Voldemort...then we need to defend ourselves."

The pub was silent for a moment. Then a little boy spoke up. "He's really back?" Harry nodded.

There was a desk in front of us that already had my signature at the top and Harry, Ron, and Hermione had theirs under mine. Everyone got in a line and signed their names. After some people left, it was just me, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, Ginny, and Neville.

"First, we need to find a place to practice where Umbridge won't find out," Harry said as we walked back to the Gryffindor Tower.

"The Shrieking Shack?" Ginny suggested.

"Too small," Harry and I replied at the same time.

"Forbidden Forest?" Hermione asked.

"Not bloody likely," Ron replied.

"Guys, what happens if Umbridge does find out?" Ginny asked.

"That bitch won't find out," I said.

"Who cares?" Hermione said. "I mean, it's sort of exciting, isn't it, breaking the rules?" We all grinned at her.

"Who are you and what have you done with Hermione Granger?" Ron asked.

"I love how you act like we've never broken a rule while we've been here," I told her.

She smiled. "Anyway, at least we know one positive thing that came from today."

"What's that?" Harry asked.

Hermione grinned at me and I replied. "Cho couldn't take her eyes off you, could she?"

"Shut up." He playfully pushed me. I thought I saw him blush a little.

So Harry came up with a plan. Over the next few weeks, each of us would come up with different places to practice where Umbridge wouldn't have a chance at finding us. It was a good plan, and I couldn't believe we would actually be teaching people the things we had done since we were first years. I was kind of nervous and excited at the same time.

That night, I was sitting by the fire in the Gryffindor Common Room when Harry plopped down beside me.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," I said back.

"That was brave of you, telling everyone about Cedric."

"I know. Although, I don't think I should've said that."

"Why?"

"Because Cho was there."

Harry wrapped his arm around me and stared into the fire. "You think we'll make good teachers?"

"I hope so," I replied. "Harry?"

"Hm?"

"Do you ever wonder what would've happened if Voldemort didn't kill Cedric?"

He looked at me with pity and replied. "He would still be with my awesome sister."

I grinned a little. "I still love him."

"And he still loves you. He said so that night."

I sighed and looked at my brother. "Yeah, he did." I paused, rubbing my eyes before I could cry. "I'm going to bed. Good night, Harry."

"Good night, Max." I headed upstairs and changed into my pajamas. I crawled into my bed and drifted off to sleep.

*******

"Max."

"What?"

"Max, wake up."

"Who is it?"

"It's me, Cedric."

I shot up from bed and saw him standing there in front of me. "Cedric?"

"Yes." I couldn't believe he was here, his ghost, right in front of me. "Can we go somewhere in private?"

I got out of bed and slid on some shoes and grabbed the map and my wand. I followed Cedric all the way to an empty classroom. I slowly closed the door behind me and looked at him. "What are you doing here? You're dead."

"It doesn't mean I still can't see you. I miss you."

"I miss you, too. Everyone misses you. It's not the same without you here."

"I know. I guess no one here believes you and your brother about my death."

I shook my head. "No."

"How have you and Harry been?"

"Horrible." I felt a lump in my throat. "It's just...it's just so hard. I can't move on without you. I can't talk to you because you're not physically here with me. I love you, Cedric. I still do."

"I love you, too. I never stopped."

I reached out, wanting to touch him. "I miss your touch," I whispered.

"Max, I want you to do me a favor. I want you to be happy again. Ever since I died, you have been miserable, and I don't want you to be like that for the rest of your life. You don't want people to know why you're unhappy."

"It doesn't matter," I said. "I told everyone about us. About watching you get killed that night." He didn't say anything. He just listened. "I shouldn't have said anything. Cho was there and she's probably upset now that--"

"Cho was going to find out sooner or later, along with everyone else," he interrupted me. "You did the right thing. Besides, I did kiss you in front of the entire school. Ten months is a long time of keeping things quiet. Still, it was worth it with you."

I sighed and finally couldn't hold back the tears any longer. "I love you, Cedric. I hope you know that."

"I do, love, and even though I'm not alive with you, I'm still with you here." He placed his hand over my chest. "I'll always love you, Max." Suddenly, he vanished.I continued crying as I left the room and headed back to bed. About halfway there, I ran into the last person I wanted to see: Malfoy.

"Potterette, what are you doing out of bed?" he questioned in annoyance.

"Draco..." I started, which threw him off by surprise. "I know what you said earlier this year, but just this once, can you not be an arse and be the Draco that I know at the manor?" I never called him by his first name. I just wanted a friend. Even though we weren't exactly friends, he liked to help me at times.

"Why?" he asked.

"I need someone to talk to," I replied.

"About what?"

"Everything. I mean, Cedric...he's gone." I paused. "Can you walk me back?"

He nodded and we started walking. I told him everything that happened just now. About Cedric, about telling everyone about us, about all of it. It was like I poured my heart out to him and he listened. He never interrupted me to make a snarky remark. I never thought that Draco Malfoy would listen to me.

"Thank you, Draco," I said as we got to the entrance of the Gryffindor Tower.

"You're welcome..." He paused for a moment, "Max." I smiled a bit at him. Then I pulled him in for a hug. "What's this?"

"This is a hug," I replied.

"Oh," he replied. "I like this."

"Me, too."

After we pulled away, he bid me goodnight and left me as I said the password and entered through the portal. I headed back up into my own bed and went back to sleep. Instead of dreaming about Cedric, I was dreaming about Draco.