Hermione made her way up to the head girl's room after a long night of
studying. She knew staying up that late wasn't particularly healthy, but
she just had to finish her last two papers. Sure, they weren't due for
another week or so, but now that they were done, she could resume studying
for final exams. She barely managed to change into her nightgown before
she fell into her bed, already half asleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There were little children running up ahead of her. She knew they were suppose to go with her into the monstrous building that loomed above, but the children couldn't be allowed to get away from her. They were her responsibility, and she wasn't one to neglect anything.
She caught up with them as they entered the doorway. The building was some kind of maze, with stairways and ramps and windows into other rooms. The sound of the children giggling and running bounced off the walls and echoed all around them. Hermione tried to keep the children together and quiet, but they were determined to have a good time on their own. She raced after them, the pounding of her feet echoing through the building.
Finally, they had just gotten too far ahead. She could just barely hear their laughter in the distance, but she didn't know which way they had gone. She began to look around her surroundings more carefully, and discovered that she had wondered into some type of dark cavern.
Glancing up, she realized the low roof was covered in gigantic bats. The adults would have come up at least to her waist, and the babies were about the size of a human baby. The little bats all looked at her expectantly, while the older bats seemed to be deciding whether to eat her.
As she started to back away, she got the urge to do something odd. Suddenly, with a voice she didn't know she possessed, she began to sing a gentle, haunting melody. The baby bats smiled appreciatively at her, and even the adults seemed to approve. The music surrounded her and filled the cavern, and even she could barely realize it actually came from her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She awoke to find herself on one of the unused balconies of Hogwarts, swaying in the wind with just her nightgown on. It had just stopped snowing, and she could see her footprints coming from the door.
As she stood there shivering, still thinking of the oddly realistic dream she'd just had, she noticed that there really was a bat perched on the railing of the balcony. It was looking at her with its head cocked, as if trying to figure something out.
Hermione had never been afraid of bats, but something about this one bothered her. Perhaps it was the dream, or the way the bat gazed at her like it knew what she was thinking.
She started to back away from it to get back to the doorway, but she tripped over the hem of her nightgown. Lying in the fresh snow, she saw the bat flutter down to sit on her arm. It began to crawl up to her head. To get the bat to go away, she tried to sing the song she sung in the dream. Once again, she heard the beautifully strange tune coming from all around her, but felt the vibrations of her own voice in her throat and mouth.
The bat stopped advancing and just looked at her. It slowly began to sway to the music, and then it lit off into the night.
Hermione sat in the snow for a while, pondering over what just happened. Then the cold really hit her, and she had to go in. She changed into a dry nightgown and got into bed just as quickly as she had earlier that night, but this time it took a little longer to fall asleep.
When she woke up the next morning, she thought the whole thing had been a dream, until she saw the still damp nightgown drying over a chair. She wasn't sure what everything that had happened meant, but she planned to do some extra research in the library about bats and music.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There were little children running up ahead of her. She knew they were suppose to go with her into the monstrous building that loomed above, but the children couldn't be allowed to get away from her. They were her responsibility, and she wasn't one to neglect anything.
She caught up with them as they entered the doorway. The building was some kind of maze, with stairways and ramps and windows into other rooms. The sound of the children giggling and running bounced off the walls and echoed all around them. Hermione tried to keep the children together and quiet, but they were determined to have a good time on their own. She raced after them, the pounding of her feet echoing through the building.
Finally, they had just gotten too far ahead. She could just barely hear their laughter in the distance, but she didn't know which way they had gone. She began to look around her surroundings more carefully, and discovered that she had wondered into some type of dark cavern.
Glancing up, she realized the low roof was covered in gigantic bats. The adults would have come up at least to her waist, and the babies were about the size of a human baby. The little bats all looked at her expectantly, while the older bats seemed to be deciding whether to eat her.
As she started to back away, she got the urge to do something odd. Suddenly, with a voice she didn't know she possessed, she began to sing a gentle, haunting melody. The baby bats smiled appreciatively at her, and even the adults seemed to approve. The music surrounded her and filled the cavern, and even she could barely realize it actually came from her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She awoke to find herself on one of the unused balconies of Hogwarts, swaying in the wind with just her nightgown on. It had just stopped snowing, and she could see her footprints coming from the door.
As she stood there shivering, still thinking of the oddly realistic dream she'd just had, she noticed that there really was a bat perched on the railing of the balcony. It was looking at her with its head cocked, as if trying to figure something out.
Hermione had never been afraid of bats, but something about this one bothered her. Perhaps it was the dream, or the way the bat gazed at her like it knew what she was thinking.
She started to back away from it to get back to the doorway, but she tripped over the hem of her nightgown. Lying in the fresh snow, she saw the bat flutter down to sit on her arm. It began to crawl up to her head. To get the bat to go away, she tried to sing the song she sung in the dream. Once again, she heard the beautifully strange tune coming from all around her, but felt the vibrations of her own voice in her throat and mouth.
The bat stopped advancing and just looked at her. It slowly began to sway to the music, and then it lit off into the night.
Hermione sat in the snow for a while, pondering over what just happened. Then the cold really hit her, and she had to go in. She changed into a dry nightgown and got into bed just as quickly as she had earlier that night, but this time it took a little longer to fall asleep.
When she woke up the next morning, she thought the whole thing had been a dream, until she saw the still damp nightgown drying over a chair. She wasn't sure what everything that had happened meant, but she planned to do some extra research in the library about bats and music.