"blah blah"- Speaking Greek (or a dream)

"blah blah"- Speaking Amestrian

'blah blah'- Thinking

***** - Begin/end flashback

Disclaimer: Seeing as I am neither British, Japanese, or a man; it stands to reason that I am neither J.K. Rowling, Hiromu Arakawa, or Rick Riordan, which means I do not own their respective works. In addition, I do not own the song 'This is War' by Thirty Seconds to Mars.

Harry

"Harryyyy…" the girl perched atop a library table swung her legs and pouted. "I'm bored!"

Harry glared at the parchment in front of him and tried to ignore the girl that only he could see. The girl stopped swinging her legs and frowned.

"C'mon Harry," she wheedled. "Talk to me! It's not like you're actually getting any work done over there!"

'Maybe I would be,' Harry thought in annoyance, 'if you would stuff it so I can concentrate.'

"You can't ignore me forever, you know."

'Wanna bet?'

"After all…I did save Ginny, didn't I?"

Harry sucked in his breath sharply and tightened his grip on his quill. "I don't know that for sure," he muttered. "You could just be making stuff up to annoy me, Alex."

Alex's composure brightened immediately. "He speaks!" She cheered, thrusting her hands into the air. "Though I am disappointed by how very little trust you seem to have in me…what can I do to prove myself to you?"

"Nothing." Harry finally turned his head to glare at the girl. "So shut it, and let me work."

Out of the corner of his eye, Harry could see Alex raise a finger to her lips in a mock-serious gesture. "Quiet, Harry," she whispered. "This is a library, you know. Not to mention…" a smile tugged at her lips. "You wouldn't want people to think you're crazy, would you?"

Harry felt that if he clenched his jaw any tighter he might break it. "All the more reason for you to leave me alone," he ground out.

"But that's no fun," Alex whined, throwing her head back. "Why can't you go somewhere else so we can talk?"

"Why would I want to talk to you?" Harry hissed.

"Well, you're talking to me right now," Alex pointed out. "Besides, you're the only person I can talk to, or else I would find somebody else."

"That's your own fault," Harry reminded her. "You didn't have to make yourself appear to me and only me."

Alex cocked an eyebrow at him. "You clearly have no idea how this works," she said dryly. "And before you ask, no, I am not going to 'enlighten' you."

Harry decided against answering, knowing that it wouldn't accomplish anything, and would only lead to another unwanted conversation. The whole situation that he found himself in gave him a headache just thinking about it. Harry slammed his book shut and pushed away from the table. Forget studying. He wasn't getting anything done. Besides that, it was nearly time for dinner. Rising to his feet, Harry began to gather his spare parchments, quills, and ink-bottles and stuff them into his bag.

Alex hopped off of the table she was perched upon, a grin lighting up her face. "Where are we going?" She asked, falling in step with Harry as he exited the library. "Somewhere interesting, I hope. More interesting than a library, that is. Not that libraries are boring. I actually find them very interesting, when I can actually use the books. But I can't use the books, for obvious reasons. Which makes them boring. Are we going somewhere were we can talk? That would be nice. Do you think that –"

"Would you shut up!" Harry hissed, whirling to face the invisible girl.

Two passing first-years gave Harry an odd look, hurrying down the hall away from him. Harry sighed and ran his hand through his hair, gripping the messy black locks in frustration. Turning away from Alex, he tightened his grip on his bag and marched down the hallway, determined to ignore the girl beside him.

"That's not very polite," Alex muttered, but she was silent for the rest of the walk to the dining hall.

"Harry! I was beginning to think you weren't going to show up!" Percy greeted as Harry slumped into a chair next to him. "How's studying?"

"About as good as it normally is I suppose," Ron said around a mouthful of potatoes. "Which is not good at all."

Hermione rolled her eyes at the two of them. "It's not all that bad."

"Whatever you say, Hermione," Ron said with a wave of his hand.

Harry smiled as he felt some of his stress slip away. Surrounded by his friends, the clamor of the dining hall, and mouth watering food, it was almost easy for him to forget about Alex. The girl stood just behind Harry, invisible to all but him, her arms across her chest as she observed him with narrowed eyes.

~o~O~o~

Two weeks passed, with December arriving swiftly. The weather was cold and bitter, a perfect match for Harry's mood. 'Alex' had not stopped appearing to Harry, coming up on three weeks since her first appearance. The girl was there every time he opened his eyes in the morning, grinning her childish grin, tilting her head and saying in that singsong voice, 'What's it gonna be today, Harry~?' Harry had tried every way he could think of to tell his friends of the strange girl, but no matter what he did, whether it be open his mouth to speak or attempt to write it down, Alex was in front of him, waving her finger with a disapproving frown.

Whoever 'Alex' was, she was real, Harry was sure of it. A hallucination did not have that kind of power. Despite deciding this, Harry couldn't fathom who 'Alex' could possible be – there was no way she was who she said she was – and whatever spell she was using to control him was far too powerful for someone her age. Nothing about the girl made any kind of sense. Try as he might, Harry simply could not come to a reasonable conclusion. So he was forced to endure her constant presence, and every day she drove him closer to the edge.

Because of the circumstances, Harry's state of mind was less than stable the day that Professor McGonagall announced the Yule Ball at the end of Transfiguration. While McGonagall explained the parameters of the Ball, emphasizing that they were all expected to find a partner, Harry dropped his head into his arms with a low groan.

'Perfect. Just what I needed,' he thought bitterly.

"Oooooh~!" Came the all-too-familiar voice next to Harry. "I've always wanted to go to a ball!" Alex's usual grin widened further than Harry thought should be possible. "Too bad I can't actually do anything while I'm there." She shrugged, the smile still on her face. "Oh well. I'm sure I'll still have fun!"

'I guess that makes one of us,' Harry grumbled internally as McGonagall dismissed the class. Gathering his bag, Harry tuned Alex's rambling, something he was becoming exceptionally good at. So good at, in fact, that he completely missed Ron's question.

"Oi!" The redhead waved his hand in front of Harry's face. "You still with us mate?"

"Sorry," Harry replied, startled. "Spaced out for a minute."

"You've been doing that a lot lately," Thalia commented as she hoisted her bag onto her shoulder. "Have you been sleeping okay?"

"Fine," Harry lied as the group began walking down the hall. "Just got distracted is all."

"Who are you planning on asking to the Yule Ball?" Percy asked, hints of a teasing smirk on his face. "Got anyone special in mind?"

Harry shrugged, attempting to seem nonchalant even as his thoughts jumped to Cho Chang. "Nobody in particular."

"Two lies in less than five minutes," Alex piped up from behind Harry. "That's a new record!"

"What about you?" Harry asked, ignoring Alex and focusing on Percy. "I'm not the only one has to find a partner."

Percy's expression changed, but it was so brief that Harry almost thought he imagined the sadness that crossed the boy's face. "Nah," he said easily. "I'll find somebody though."

"What about you, Thalia?" Ron asked with a smirk. "I'm sure Dean would love to – ack!" Ron doubled over, clutching his midsection where Thalia had elbowed him. "Thalia!" He wheezed.

Nico snickered. "You were asking for that."

"Don't get me started on you, Death Breath!" Thalia snarled. "This is your fault."

"I don't see what you're so worked up about," Nico said. "There's an easy solution to this problem. We go together, as friends. Neither of us have to find a date, Dean is off your back, and I still win my bet. Problem solved!"

Thalia narrowed her eyes at Nico. "Somehow I think that you're more concerned about your bet than anything else," she muttered. "But yes, that was my plan too."

"Come on, you two have it easy!" Ron whined, having recovered from Thalia's attack.

Nico shrugged. "I'm sure if you look hard enough, you'll find a girl desperate enough that she'd be willing to be your date."

"Don't you have alchemy class soon?" Harry jumped in as Ron sputtered for a response.

"As a matter of fact, we do," Hermione said. "And you know how Edward feels about us being late," she said with a pointed look at Percy and Nico, who grimaced.

"It was one time!" Percy protested. "One! If you ask me, he overreacted."

"It was your own fault," Thalia said. "Let's just go, so it doesn't happen again."

Nico voiced his agreement, and the four students turned down a separate hallway, leaving Harry and Ron alone.

"That's much better. I was tired of not having any room to walk next to you."

Well…almost alone.

Harry grit his teeth and gripped the shoulder strap of his bag so tightly that his knuckles turned white. Alex smiled.

~/o\~/O\~/o\~

The night was cool, still, and foggy – very foggy. So foggy that attempting to see anything was like staring directly into a blanket. It was quiet – very quiet. So quiet that it was unnatural. No insects, no animals, not even a whisper of a breeze through the tall grass that stretched endlessly through the sea of white. The silence and the fog stretched on, and on, and on, and on, giving off a sense of claustrophobia that was hardly rational when standing in the middle of a field.

In the middle of all of this there sat a woman. In a perfect circle of cleared grass, she sat, her legs folded underneath her, her hands resting lightly on her knees, and her eyes closed. She seemed to sit perfectly still, without even breathing. Her long hair trailed down her back, coming to a stop millimeters away from touching the ground.

"The bloody hell is all this? Some sort of spell?" The coarse voice shattered what had seemed to be an unbreakable silence, and the woman's eyes flew open.

After two heartbeats that seemed to last an eternity, the silence resettled. The woman rose to her feet so gracefully that is seemed as if she were floating. Her soft, clear voice did not disrupt the silence the way the first had; instead, it seemed to melt into the fog, twisting its way around so that it only reached the ears of her listener, as if the voice, somehow, was itself part of the silence.

"I did not bring you here to ask questions. I simply want answers. Can you do what I request?" The woman's voice was toneless, but full of melody, soft, but harsh, warm, but cold, inviting, but dismissive. Her voice was like herself – impossible to understand.

The intruder shifted uncomfortably, realizing that the woman was not all she seemed. "Yes." He flinched at his own voice, too loud, too intrusive, too rough, not suitable for the place in which he unleashed it. "I can do it." Even at a whisper, the man inwardly cursed the sound of his own voice.

The woman nodded. As with everything she did, her movement blended seamlessly with her environment. "Good. Meet me back here when you have it."

The man swallowed hard, his eyes darting nervously around the fog, though he did not see anything other than white. "H-here?" He forced out, trying to ignore his growing anxiety.

The woman raised an eyebrow. "Is that a problem?"

Realizing his mistake, the man hastily attempted to cover for himself. "I mean – how will I contact you? How will I let you know to meet me?"

The woman stared passively at the man for several seconds. He shifted on his feet, clenching and unclenching his sweating hands, feeling more and more nervous by the second. At last, the woman answered.

"Come when you have it," she said. "I will be here." With that, the woman turned away from the man. With one step, she had disappeared completely into the fog.

The man's knees nearly gave way with relief, and he wasted no time in turning to run from the fog, the woman, and the unearthly silence that threatened to swallow him whole.

A/N – GUYSSSSSSS. I'm back! I'm so excited to be writing this story again! Also, sorry this chapter came out wayyyy later May than I was thinking it would…from now on I'll do my best to be back on my usual update schedule, which is once every 2 weeks, give or take a few days. But hey, I update as soon as I have the chapter finished, so it could be sooner. Who knows. Anyways…this chapter isn't the greatest. In fact, I really don't like this chapter. But it's written, and that's what matters. Hopefully you guys enjoyed it! I would absolutely love to hear from you :D Seriously, reviews would be amazing. I missed hearing from you guys so much while I was gone! This hiatus did wonders for me though, and I am doing much better mentally. I can't thank you guys enough for the support! I hope you enjoyed, and I'll see you next chapter!

P.S. – I got an Instagram for my art, if any of you are interested in following me there. (Shameless self plug, I know) It's silverdam_art. I even have a few FMA fan arts posted.