Coming Home.

Chapter One - The Dream.

T.J Foster awoke to the sound of screaming. It took her a moment to realise that the sound had been ripped from her throat. She was bathed in a cold sweat that chilled her to the bone. She stared around wildly seeming to have forgotten where she was. Outside she heard the sound of running feet, and then her door burst open as if it had been hit by a freight train. Logan came rushing into her room. T.J finally remembered where she was; this was her room at the Charles Xavier School For Gifted Children. "T.J what's wrong; are you alright?" Logan asked crossing the room and sitting on the edge of her bed. He grabbed her shoulders and dragged her up into a sitting position. T.J turned to look at her friend and teammate just as Scott Summers, Jean Grey and Bobby Drake entered the room. She dropped her head and nodded not trusting herself to speak, not wanting them to hear the tremble of fear in her voice. Logan felt her shudder and pulled her into his arms. He smoothed her hair back as she wrapped her arms around his waist. She felt his strength and began to calm down. What had woken her up? Her head was a little fuzzy as she strained to remember. She jumped back from Logan as she finally recalled her dream.

T.J Foster was not only a mutant, but she was also a witch. She had found out she was a witch before she had discovered her nature as a mutant. She had received a letter accepting her to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry when she was eleven years old. Her parents were ecstatic as they had both attended Hogwarts themselves.

T.Js first four years at Hogwarts went fairly smoothly. It happened when she was in her fifth year at the school. Her mutant abilities asserted themselves. That fateful day was emblazoned on her memory. She had been sat with her friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger at the Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin. She was cheering Gryffindor, her team, on when suddenly she felt a chill run through her. As she looked down at the pitch she saw perhaps a dozen or more Dementors gliding onto it and pointing towards Gryffindors Seeker and her friend Harry Potter. She saw Harry lose consciousness and fall from his broomstick, which was about fifty feet in the air. She vaulted from the stands and just managed to dive into the mud below Harry before he hit the ground. As Harry landed on top of her she heard several of the bones in her back break. White-hot pain and fireworks exploded in her brain, and then stopped as suddenly as it had started. As she lay there trying to stop herself from passing out she could feel the bones beginning to knit themselves together. She was healing at an alarming rate. She rolled over and gently pushed Harry off of her; and then slowly got to her feet. She was stunned because her back was completely healed. She stooped and lifted Harry easily into her arms just as Ron and Hermione came over looking stunned. They told her later that they had witnessed the whole incident. She took Harry to the Hospital Wing and left him to be cared for by Madam Pomfrey. As she left to go get something to eat she ran into some boys from Slytherin who were making fun of Harry. Before she could register what had happened she had one of the boys pinned to the wall. As she raised her fist three metal spikes erupted from just above her knuckles. She jumped back and lowered her hand and the spikes retracted leaving no visible trace that they had ever been there. T.J had run to Professor Dumbledores office; if anyone could explain what was happening to her he could, she hoped.

T.J had finally had to leave Hogwarts. This broke her heart, but what made it worse was that her parents didn't want her at home either. T.J ended up living on the streets until she was found by Professor Charles Xavier and taken to his School for Gifted Children. Dumbledore kept her Hogwarts education going and two years later she graduated from Hogwarts a full- fledged witch. She chose however to stay with Professor Xavier and become a teacher.

"I've got to go back," T.J said quietly to no one in particular. "Go back where T.J " Logan asked gently taking her hands in his and looking into her eyes. "Back to Hogwarts. Logan the students and teachers are in grave danger, I have to help them." She replied looking from Logan to the others. "Don't you mean we have to help them? We can't let you have all the fun." Bobby piped in before anyone else could say anything. He smiled at T.J and she nodded her thanks before looking at Scott. Scott dropped his head and thought for a moment. When he looked up he nodded at T.J. She smiled back. "Ok Jean, Bobby go and wake the others and get them down to the conference room" He said. Jean and Bobby left to go and wake the other X-Men, "T.J get your thoughts in order cos we're gonna need to know what we're up against. Scott and Logan left the room and T.J started piecing together the fragments of her dream, as she got dressed. The rest of the X-Men were gathered in the conference room twenty minutes later when T.J walked in feeling a lot calmer. As she looked around the room she noticed a familiar face sat with Professor Xavier. "Professor Dumbledore what are you doing here?" She asked stopping dead in her tracks. "I had come to ask for your help T.J, but from what your friends have told me you already knew we needed help." Dumbledore replied smiling at her. T.J nodded at her old mentor hoping against hope that her dream hadn't already come true. "Why don't you tell us your dream T.J" Charles Xavier suggested gently bringing her back to reality. T.J nodded and took a deep breath before she began, "Well you all know about Lord Voldemort. It appears he's back." She paused as a gasp of shock came from her friends, "In my dream Lord Voldemort had somehow managed to get into Hogwarts again and was killing students. He was after my friend Harry Potter, but none of the students would tell him where Harry was hiding. He started killing the teachers, Snape, McGonagall and the others, in front of the students. He was hoping to scare them into giving Harry to him." She paused once again to compose the thoughts that were whirling around in her head threatening to overwhelm her. Once she had control she continued, "There was a last ditch effort to stop him by some of the students led by Draco Malfoy, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, but it failed. Voldemort found Harry and killed him." T.J stood there with tears coursing down her face and her heart breaking. She felt Logan come and stand behind her. He gently laid one hand on her shoulder and the other on her waist, lending her his strength. She looked to Dumbledore, pleading with her eyes for him to tell her it hadn't happened already. "I'm glad to say that none of that has happened yet, but it looks like it is going to come to pass." Dumbledore said in his matter of fact tone.
END OF CHAPTER ONE.