notes ∣ at the end of the chapter
i. dream of dragons
The boy is merely a child when he first wanders into Morpheus' realm. The Dream-King doesn't pay too much attention on children's dreams, not unless there is something special about the child. This one isn't special – he notes the boy's entry into the Dreaming and puts him out of his mind.
And then the child somehow finds his way to Fiddler's Green.
Morpheus knows of travellers who spend their lives searching in their dreams and never finding the dream. The child is not special – isn't marked by any of his siblings or the gods who still inhabit the mortal plane. For him to find Fiddler's so easily, and on his first trip into The Dreaming-
Morpheus finds himself interested.
Charlie Weasley flourishes in The Dreaming.
Morpheus does not meet him in person often – he has his reasons for staying away from mortals, and he knows better than to flirt with the Fates. But the boy finds wonders in his realm that few mortals ever have before – Abel sends him dreams of fantastic creatures that will never exist on earth, and the wyvern who guards his castle befriends him.
It doesn't surprise him when Fiddler reports to him with news that the boy wants to be a dragon-tamer. He has lived a life wilder than any possible in Morpheus' realm – dragon-taming is one of the few things that earth has to offer that can ever hope of matching that excitement.
The wyvern preens over that for months, convinced that their friendship helped pushed the boy towards his goal. Morpheus doesn't think that it's completely wrong.
Sometimes, the boy's siblings and other family members drop by into The Dreaming. They have their attractions – but unlike Charlie Weasley, they are merely visitors. Charlie Weasley, for all his mortal form, is a citizen of The Dreaming at heart, one of Morpheus' own Dreamers.
In another life, Morpheus thinks that the boy could easily have been one of his dreams.
Morpheus is not like some of his siblings – as long as they give him their loyalty, he protects his own. Even when the boy grows up to become a man, and leaves to chase the dreams that formed during his time in the Dream-King's kingdom, Morpheus follows him.
He protects him, sending more dreams than necessary and less nightmares than is his due to him. And as the world around him grows darker, and Morpheus' realm slowly receives an influx of witches and wizards, he ensures that the boy's nights give him the peace that his days cannot.
Dream of the Endless, Morpheus the King of Dreams rarely takes an interest in mortals anymore. Especially not children who are unmarked on their first journey to his kingdom.
But then, Charlie Weasley has always been different.
A/N: for my readers who are solely versed in the harry potter fandom:
a) fiddler's green: a place within the dreaming which all travellers (especially sailors) dream of finding. can take the form of a man who goes by the name gilbert
b) the dreaming: morpheus' realm, the realm of dreams
c) the endless: seven beings who embody powerful forces or aspects of the universe - destiny, death, dream, destruction, despair, delight and delirium
i hope you guys liked this! as always, please don't forget to drop a review on your way out :)