Disclaimer: I don't own the Potterverse, it is the exclusive property of J. K . Rowling

Chasing Dreams

Author's Note: The song for this night is Roy Orbison's In Dreams. The story takes place during Order of the Phoenix

Harry awoke and yawned in the eerie half-light of the Gryffindor Common Room. The place was empty. The fire had burned out and the ashes were cold. Harry arose and drifted towards the portrait hole, wrapping himself in the invisibility cloak. The corridor was empty and Harry floated down the staircase unmolested, avoiding Peeves by checking the Marauder's map at regular intervals. He made his way to the marble staircase and swept down it to the entrance hall and then turned through the entrance to the stone staircase that led down into the dungeons, his way lit by flickering torches. Deeper and deeper into the labyrinthine passages he travelled. This far beneath the ground where the sun never shone, a damp chill hung in the air. Harry checked the Marauder's map and saw Draco Malfoy approaching the entrance to the Slytherin common room and stealthily followed him. He had beaten Malfoy at Quidditch so was eager to catch up with him. Draco had been keeping his head down as of late.

The Slytherin common room was a long, subterranean cavern that had been enlarged, cutting more deeply into the rock. Stalactites dripped water into milky puddles onto the floor. Harry followed Draco more closely and the ghostly green light of one of the overhanging lights flared, illuminating the back of Malfoy's white blond head. It looked like Malfoy was heading for the entrance to the boy's dorms. The Slytherin common room appeared almost empty. There were just a few girls sitting around at the roughly carved stone tables, probably wasting time on homework or other rubbish. Harry almost slipped in a puddle of water, but righted himself and continued to follow Draco. He crept past the fireplace, where the flickering fire was suddenly doused by a shower of water from the ceiling. Draco left the common room through an archway in the right hand corner with Harry still shadowing him. They descended down a steep, spiral staircase that delved deep into the roots of the mountains. Down and down in what appeared to be an inverted tower. They passed landing after landing, which led, Harry surmised, to different dormitories. Eventually, at the very bottom of the tower Draco turned and pushed aside a heavy wooden door. Harry slipped in after him and found that they were in a carpeted Jacuzzi room, gently lit by a shimmering crystal chandelier. The Jacuzzi was bubbling merrily and Draco was slipping off his robes and draping them carelessly over the book case in the corner. Harry crouched beside a chest of drawers. There was a tube of mints on wooden surface of the top of the drawers and Harry picked one up and sampled it. It was an indigestion tablet. Harry choked and spat out the white froth that erupted in his mouth. Draco's back was to Harry and he was standing beside the Jacuzzi. The light of the crystals cast bars of shadow over his back. Harry was feeling like a caged animal himself as he licked his lips and gripped his wand, feeling himself harden. Draco slipped beneath the bubbles with a sigh. Harry, hot in pursuit, jumped into the Jacuzzi himself. Bubbles everywhere obscured his vision. They battered against his ears so he could only hear a confusion of bubbling noise. He did not know what happened next.

"Draco!" A high voice sounded from outside the room, "Pansy's after you tonight, I think she intends to wait in your bed. Sis says so," the voice giggled.

Draco groaned. "Thanks for the warning Astoria, I don't know what I'd do without you. Why don't the other boys put her off somehow!"

"Oh they're off-putting enough," she sighed, "you really don't appreciate how determined she is do you?"

When Harry surfaced he was still disorientated. Draco had gone, so Harry had to find his way to the fifth year dormitories unaided.

Eventually he climbed to the middle landing and slipped through the dormitory door. The walls of the room were bare stone, but in the gloom it was just discernable that they were hung with tapestries. Harry crept over a threadbare rug. The heat in the underground room seemed to emanate from a stove near the far end. Harry crept into the bed nearest it and felt down. Hmm must have got into the girls dorm by mistake he thought as he felt. Suddenly he heard Goyle's grunt and gave a start of disgust. He jumped onto the rug again and glanced around. He recognised the silhouettes of Crabbe, Nott and Zabini. The fourth bed clearly was the one which contained his destination. He jumped onto it striking the reclining figure in the chest. It did not feel as he anticipated. It felt sort of lumpy and yielding. The sleeping figure gave a grunt and a writhe. The duvet shifted and to his fury and disappointment Harry saw Pansy Parkinson squirm, beginning to wake. He quickly wrapped a pillow around her head and pummelled her in the stomach and the ribs with as much force as he could muster. She put up a struggle, but as her thrashing and kicking began to subside Harry released his grasp on the pillow and left the dormitory. Allowing her to live, though barely. He was cheated of his real target that night.