4 – A terrible nightmare

A/N: ...ooo... This signals the beginning or end of a dream.

"DEATH: "Mostly they aren't too keen to see me. They fear the sunless lands. But they enter your realm each night without fear."

MORPHEUS: "And I am far more terrible than you, sister."
― Neil Gaiman, Preludes & Nocturnes

...

"Is that me?,' Leo said. 'Like me-having this dream-looking at me having a dream?"
― Rick Riordan, The Lost Hero

"Okay. And make sure to take something not too obvious. Something he won't notice right away." Haley told Ron in a conspiratorial tone.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Why exactly are we doing that again?" The red-head asked absently.

"Revenge! I told you. Quick now, he's coming!" Haley whispered, shooing her friend away so that now she was the only person standing in front of the potions class room. Most of their class mates hadn't arrived yet but from the corridor behind her Haley could hear a group of Slytherins make their way over to them. How did she know they were Slytherins? Well for one, their laughter never sounded particularly friendly. And for another… she had seen them a second ago.

Now, she couldn't see them, as she was standing with her back towards them. It was an uncomfortable feeling, not being able to see what was coming… As a Gryffindor, shouldn't she find it thrilling? Waiting for the inevitable and getting ready for a figh-

"Hey Potter," drawled the voice of the most awful person Haley knew, "How cute. Have you been waiting for me?" The voice was getting closer and closer until…

A hand grabbed her left shoulder, turning her around roughly. But she was prepared.

Before Malfoy could do as much as squeak (not that he would ever squeak but…) Haley sank to the ground, pulling him down with her forcefully.

"What the-?" He began to say but the git was already lying on the ground, only a few feet away from her. Haley looked for his school bag. Damn. It was lying on the ground right next to Malfoy.

She sighed. It was no use. With a whispered "Depulso" she made his bag slide over to where Ron was standing.

Had Malfoy noticed something? No. He was too busy rubbing his elbow in annoyance.

"Potter you utter-" Malfoy said as he got into a sitting position. But Haley would never hear the rest of the insult. She couldn't let him get up before Ron had completed their mission. So she jumped on top of him. That's when Malfoy squeaked.

"Get off me, Potter!" He yelled angrily, trying to push her off him. But she didn't move an inch, sitting on his stomach and gripping his wrists tightly.

"Not until you've promised you won't bother me anymore!" Haley insisted. Her long braid was hovering directly over Malfoys face, tickling him. He freed his right hand from her grip and swatted her hair away in annoyance.

Malfoy chuckled mockingly. "You wish," he sneered, and rolled them around in a swift move so that he was the one on top, pressing her arms to the floor. The look he gave her was so intense, that Haley feared he was going to punch her. She knew what her dad would have done in that situation: He would have smiled and punched the git before he'd have a chance to hit him. And her mum? She would have met his gaze head on, daring him to do his worst. Never showing the hint of fear like a true Gryffindor. As much as Haley wanted to make her parents proud, she couldn't do either of those. Instead she closed her eyes tightly and turned her face away in fear like a coward. Malfoy's grip on her arms loosened considerably.

"I wasn't going to hit you, idiot," he said quietly, sounding almost appalled. At the tone of his voice Haley had to open her eyes and see what was going on for herself. He was frowning at her like he found the mere suggestion ridiculous. What the hell? Now, he was a guy with principles or what? Pushing her out of a train was okay but he wasn't going to punch her?

"Get off her, you git!" A voice called, and a second later someone was pulling the Slytherin away from her.

"Get your filthy hands off me, Longbottom!"

Neville, Haley thought in relief. Then her eyes widened in alarm. No, no, no, this was bad! What if Ron hadn't found a suitable object yet?

"Wait!" She yelled, holding onto Malfoy's arm, before he could get up fully.

"What now, Potter!" Malfoy hissed, sounding irritated.

"I-" She opened her mouth, but couldn't think of anything useful to say.

"Is there a problem?" A deep voice asked, with a threatening undertone.

Haley hadn't even heard the bell, but it seemed Professor Snape had arrived already.

"No, there is no problem at all, sir," Malfoy said calmly after he had got up. As she let Neville help her up, Haley saw, that Professor Snape was eyeing the Slytherin suspiciously.

"Is that true?" He asked with a look in Haley's direction. She was tempted to say no, and see how the little git was trying to worm himself out of the situation. But she wouldn't sink down to his level. Not if she could help it.

"Yes," she said, with a smile, "we had a little misunderstanding but it's all resolved now."

"If you say so," Professor Snape drawled in a disinterested voice. Haley had to hold back a grin. Although Malfoy was in Professor Snape's house, he had never taken his side when he had found him fighting with her. And Malfoy had long ago stopped trying to manipulate him into punishing her. It had never ended in his favour anyway. Haley didn't know why but for some reason Professor Snape liked her. Or maybe tolerated was the better word. It had not always been like that. In the beginning she had even thought he disliked her more than he seemed to dislike students in general. (Students that were not Slytherins anyway.)

But Haley had always had an exceptional talent for potions. (Her mum was a genius where potions were concerned and Haley had grown up watching her brew one fascinating potion after another. Once she had been old enough to help it had become something the two witches regularly did together.)

She suspected it was the fact that she liked potions so much that made him respect her. On the other hand Malfoy, was quite talented in the subject as well… So there had to be another reason.

With a boom the doors to the potions class room opened and Snape entered, his robes billowing behind him like a cape. The Gryffindors and Slytherins followed him quickly.

Where was Ron? Haley tried to make her friend out among her fellow students. There he was, already entering the class room with Hermione. But where was Malfoy's bag? Ah, she spotted it… hanging over Malfoy's shoulder. He was glaring at her disdainfully, but she ignored him. As she walked into the dungeon she hoped Ron had enough time to carry out their plan.

During the lesson she didn't dare question him about it because Malfoy was hovering around their table every now and then. There was no doubt he was looking for an opportunity to mess up her potion. She couldn't let her cauldron out of her sight for more than a few seconds, she had to keep an eye on Malfoy and on top of that she had to make sure not to mess up her potion herself.

It was more than a little stressful. But at the end of the lesson, she corked up a flask of her finished Invigoration Draught and walked up to Professor Snape's table to hand in her potion with a triumphant grin.

"Watch out!" Someone shouted near her. Haley turned around, to find Neville crash into her forcefully. With her right hand she managed to hold onto a nearby table, preventing them from falling over.

"Sorry," Neville apologized, "I stumbled – I – I don't know where that bag came from. I swear it wasn't there a second ago."

"It's fine," Haley assured him, now that she was slowly getting used to his presence again, it was easier to talk to the boy, "Let me just-"

Haley stared at her left hand in shock. Where was her potion? She didn't have to look for long to find it: Glass splinters and a sad puddle on the floor. Haley inhaled deeply. That was no problem at all. She would simply go back to her cauldron and fill up another bottle.

Except her cauldron was empty.

"No, no, no, that can't be. That can't-" Haley's throat began to tighten up. She looked up in search of one face in particular. Malfoy was packing up his things. The git had surely handed in his potion already. There was a disgustingly amused grin on his face that made Haley growl in anger. He wasn't even looking at her, which made it all the more evident. It had been him. All of it. She knew it. But she couldn't prove it.

She balled her hands to fists. There was a burning sensation behind her eyes. Not now, she thought. This was all so unfair! But the git didn't know what was coming for him.

"Just you wait," she whispered angrily. She was going to show him what she was capable of. It was time to fight back.

…

Over dinner, Haley finally got around to asking Ron about their mission.

"So, did you find something?" She asked eagerly.

"I-" Ron replied, "There wasn't much. The usual stuff you know? Quills, rolls of parchment, and loads of sweets… That bloke has a massive sweet tooth. Guess he has to make up for his own lack of sweetness somehow." He laughed roaringly, helping himself to a big bowl of chocolate pudding.

"And?" Haley urged. She twirled the end of her braid around her fingers in anticipation. She couldn't even eat.

"I also found some crumpled notes that looked interesting but there wasn't enough time to go through them."

"Ron," she groaned impatiently, "Wasn't there anything useful?"

"Oh, right," he replied, catching up on her impatient tone, "I don't know if that's what you were looking for but..." He trailed off, fetching something from the pocket of his robes and placing it on the table in front of Haley. It was a green gobstone. A glinting gobstone with a hole in the middle and a dark leather band that was going through it.

"A gobstone?" Haley asked in surprise. She had expected something more spectacular.

Ron shrugged. "You told me, to take something he wouldn't miss right away,"

"Yeah," Haley whispered, turning the gobstone around in her hands experimentally. What did Malfoy carry a gobstone around for? And why the leather band?

"You definitely found it in his bag, right?" She asked.

Ron nodded in confirmation.

"Then that's enough," she said more to herself, as she slipped the gobstone into her pocket. If Malfoy saw her tinkering around with his gobstone, her whole plan would have been for naught.

Although it was unlikely that he'd be able to make out the gobstone from all the way across the Great Hall, she didn't want to risk it.

"Are you going to tell us about your plan now?" Hermione asked. She was sitting opposite Haley and had quietly listened.

"Soon," Haley said vaguely. She would have told Ron but she was reluctant to tell Hermione. It was very likely that her friend would try to talk her out of her plan. She certainly wouldn't support a plan that involved spying on other people's dreams.

Hermione eyed her suspiciously. "It's nothing that goes against the rules, is it? Or something dangerous?"

"Hermione you worry too much," said Ron, coming to her rescue, "You know Haley. She wouldn't do something like that. Her mum is almost as strict as mine!"

Haley snorted. She couldn't help it. Her mum was strict indeed. But that didn't mean she wasn't above breaking a few rules every now and then. Hermione didn't look convinced.

"Exactly," Haley said, as she placed a slice of blueberry pie onto her plate. She picked up a piece with her fork and brought it up to her mouth. It tasted delicious.

"I wouldn't do something like that," she continued nonchalantly. A few blueberries had tumbled out of her pie. "Not even to Malfoy," She whispered, as she crushed the blueberries with her fork.

…

It was even harder to fall asleep this time around although she had felt inexplicably tired all day. Haley couldn't wait to finally be able to get back at Malfoy. She even resorted to counting hippogriffs! At 3840 hippogriffs she started to get frustrated, as she was still as awake as 10 minutes before. For the umpteenth time Haley checked, whether the leather band was still tied around her wrist (it was long enough to fit around her wrist three times!). In case she wanted to visit her mum or her brother, she was also wearing one of Simon's gloves and her mum's clasp. She was ready. Now there was nothing left to do but fall asleep…

...ooo...

There are hippogriffs all over the dorm. Two are sitting calmly on my bed. What the hell?

"You still haven't reached 4000 yet," a hippogriff informs me as I start to scramble to my feet. What do I do? What do I do? Hermione! I jump over toward my friend's bed and throw the bed curtains open. The scream dies in my throat as I spot the hippogriff that is sleeping in Hermione's bed instead of her.

I have to get out of here! I have to reach the door! Quickly. But there are about ten hippogriffs blocking my way. How am I supposed to get past them? Maybe I could try jumping. Who knows. It might work. I get myself ready for the jump of my life and soaaaaaar over the hippogriffs like a paper plane. It's a fun experience. Almost like a dream…

I land in front of the door that leads out of the dorms when suddenly the door starts to open.

Who could it be? As I wait for it to open completely I notice that the door handle looks funny. Kind of like an owl…

"Am I dreaming?" I whisper to myself. Then I am faced with the curious gaze of my mother.

"Mum!" I exclaim happily. I'm always happy to see her. But even more so, when there is a horde of hippogriffs occupying my dorm room.

"Have you been counting hippogriffs?" Mum asks, as she enters the room. I pout. I was just going to leave.

"How do you know?" I ask in return.

"We've all been there," she answers, closing the door behind her.

"Mum," I whine, "I was just about to-"

"Go and snoop around in other people's dreams?" Mum completes my sentence.

"Um..."

She chuckles in amusement. "Let's sit down for a moment," she suggests. Before I can argue that there is no room because the dorm is bursting with hippogriffs, she makes them vanish with a wave of her hand. Amazing.

We sit down on the bed that is closest to us. She's not going to try and talk me out of my plan, is she? After all it was her idea.

"Haley, love," mum starts to say and takes one of my hands gently, "I want you to remember that whatever it is you're going to find out, it's still a dream in the end. And dreams don't always show us the truth. Sometimes they show us our wishes or desires or even our fears. And no matter what you're going to see or whose dream you're visiting, you need to consider carefully what you're going to do with the information you acquired. You need to remember that dreams are a very private thing that sometimes represent us in our most vulnerable moments."

"So basically you're telling me not to abuse my power," I state in a rather unimpressed way.

Mum watches me for a moment, then nods.

"Yes. Basically that," she says, "But even though I'm telling you all that it doesn't mean I don't trust you."

I squint my eyes at her. Really? It didn't sound like she trusts me at all.

"Would I have told you about this in the first place if I didn't trust you to be responsible enough?"

Mum asks as she pinches my nose. I stand up to get out of her reach.

"And Haley?"

"Yes," I say slowly. I'm starting to get impatient.

"If you're confused about what you might find out you can always come and talk to me about it. My door is always open." Her smile is so warm, that I get the urge to throw myself into her arms and let her brush my hair and tell me stories. But I don't have the time for that. So I just nod.

"Haley?" She calls again, just as I'm opening the door.

"What now?"

Mum raises an eyebrow at me and eyes me sceptically. "Are you really going to go like that?"

I look down at myself. Shit. I'm still wearing my night gown! I'll be damned if I turn up inside Malfoy's dream dressed in nothing but a thin night gown!

"While you're at it, you might as well disguise yourself properly. Why don't you try to make yourself look like another person?"

That's a brilliant idea. But whose face should I pick?

"Like who?" I ask.

"How about… Neville?" Mum suggests with a sly smirk.

"No!" I almost yell. I'd probably be able to pull it off, since I know his face so well. But… I'd rather not use his appearance for this.

"Isn't there anyone you've always wanted to look like?" Mum asks curiously. And then I know.

I've always wanted to look like her once. I close my eyes and concentrate hard on the picture in my mind.

"Who is that?" Mum asks in confusion as she looks at my new appearance.

I look down at my long and sleek black hair. It's like silk.

"Cho Chang," I answer, "She's the most beautiful girl at Hogwarts. Everyone wants to look like her."

"Really?" Mum asks. I nod. She's even more beautiful than me. That's at least what Dean Thomas said during a game of Truth or Dare last year.

"Well, she's definitely pretty," mum muses, "And she looks nothing like you."

"That's the whole point of it," I agree with her.

"She's really cute now that I think about it."

"Mum, I'm your daughter. You're supposed to say that to me!"

Mum doesn't say anything for a moment. Then she mutters, "You have enough people telling you that. If you're not careful your ego might grow as big as your dad's."

"But mum," I argue as she opens the door and walks out into the dream corridor.

"Weren't you planning on doing some stalking?" Mum asks. I follow her through the door just as she is about to enter her own dream door.

"Besides that, beauty comes from the inside," mum winks at me and is gone a second later.

The corridor feels lonely without her cheerfulness. But it doesn't matter much since I'm not planning on staying here for very long.

I look back toward my door with the painting and the thorns. How did mum get in there anyway? I don't even know my own defence mechanism! If I even have one. I'll have to come up with a riddle or something. Just in case. But for now there is something else to do.

I turn left and walk down the corridor past my brother's door and a handful others. Then I finally reach it. Draco Malfoy's dream door.

Myron Wagtail, the lead singer of the Weird Sisters, looks at me suspiciously. Well, the poster version of him anyway.

"Who are you and what are you doing in front my master's dream door?" He inquires importantly.

"What's your favourite song?" I ask the singer innocently. I've thought about this a lot. If I'm right the singer is going to be stupid enough to tell me the right "tune" himself.

"Well, I don't want to boast or anything buuuut", Myron singsongs, "I do enjoy the majority of our music. And some of our new tunes are really catchy, you know. People love them. They go absolutely crazy about the hippo-" He stops himself and turns accusing eyes at me.

"This is a trick! You're trying to trick me into telling you about the right tune that opens my master's door! But I'm not that stupid. I'm not!"

I barely stifle a laugh. To be honest, I actually like the Weird Sisters but this guy is seriously bonkers! He somewhat reminds me of that portrait of Sir Cadogan.

I reach for the acoustic guitar that's leaning against the door and strum over each string once.

It sounds beautiful. But maybe that's just my imagination. This dreaming thing is so confusing.

It's stupid to try this because this is the most obvious song of the Weird Sister's he could have chosen. But I've never thought Malfoy was one of the cleverest wizards.

I position the fingers of my left hand on the strings and play the notes of the chorus. It's the part where it goes "Can you dance like a hippogriff? Ma ma ma. Ma ma ma. Ma ma ma." And so on. Once I'm done with the chorus I look up at the poster expectantly.

Myron seems to be enjoying my performance. But then he shakes his head sadly.

"Nice try," he says, "you're welcome to try again. I do enjoy your tune."

Hm. Should I try a different song? Or maybe the guitar solo from the Hippogriff song?

I decide to try the solo. But it's hard with an acoustic guitar that's not magically enhanced.

In my mind I go through the solo part and place my fingers on the strings. It's a really tricky solo but I've been practising it nearly a hundred times with Sirius. Just for fun. And also because it's a cool solo. In the middle of the solo my fingers land on the wrong string and it's ruined. The singer looks at me like I've just insulted him.

"What was that?" He asks in bewilderment.

I flex my fingers and get ready to play the solo one more time. It's a tiny bit too slow but beside that it's flawless.

"That wasn't half as impressive as I would have performed it buuuuut," Myron singsongs, "I do like your tune, sooo… I guess you can enter."

"Really?" I have to ask. I don't feel like having my hand electrified or anything once I touch the door knob.

"Yes," he replies and nods at me approvingly.

Cool. I put the guitar back and reach for the handle. There's no turning back now.

With baited breath I pull open the right door. Then I walk in.

…

I don't know what I expected but I certainly thought it would be more spectacular than that.

I'm in the dungeons at Hogwarts. In front of me I can see a crowd of students who are standing around something. As I get closer I notice that they are standing around someone. And that someone is myself. And I am sitting on top of Malfoy who is lying on the ground. Malfoy tries to struggle free. Just like he did this afternoon. At some point he rolls me over and- No, wait. Not me. I am merely standing here, watching the whole scene. Looking like Cho Chang. This is so confusing. So... he rolls my doppelgänger over until he's the one on top. He looks at her angrily and I know what's going to happen next. My doppelgänger will close her eyes and turn her face away in fear.

I don't want to see that. But I want to know if everything happens exactly in the same way it did this afternoon.

"I wasn't going to punch you, idiot," Malfoy says like before. I look around the students in search of Neville. Any second now he will arrive. He will come to save the girl on the ground.

But I can't make him out in the crowd. He's not coming. Why isn't he coming? What is going to happen to me – I mean my doppelgänger – if Neville doesn't save her?

Malfoy raises his right hand and I fear the worst. Is he going to hit the girl after all? I have to stop him!

"Your face is way too pretty for that," he says. It's enough to halt me in my tracks.

Is he being serious? Or is he mocking me – my doppelgänger – like always?

Malfoy strokes a hand over the girl's face slowly. It looks almost like a caress. But that's not possible. On top of everything the git also starts to smile at the girl!

I want to push him off her. He has no right to smile at her in such a creepy way.

But I don't get to do that. Because the world shifts around us and I find myself in a meadow full of poppies, daisies and buttercups. I spot a tall tree to my right. The shape of its bark reminds me of a door. It must be the door that leads to the dream corridor.

There's only three people in the meadow. Me, Malfoy and my doppelgänger.

Malfoy who still has that creepy smile on his face. Malfoy who is still leaning over my doppelgänger, pushing some strands out of her face with his dirty hands. I'm going insane!

Then something even weirder happens.

My doppelgänger smiles back. She actually smiles back! Why is she smiling at the git? And it's not even an evil smile. It looks friendly, happy even!

And just when I thought it couldn't get even worse Malfoy does something that makes me doubt my state of sanity.

He leans even closer to my doppelgänger and kisses her nose. The girl that looks like me giggles and Malfoy kisses her again. On the cheek, on the nose, on her forehead. He covers her whole face with kisses and the foolish girl doesn't stop giggling!

I get nauseous from watching this… this whatever this is! I don't know if it's possible to actually be sick in a dream but maybe I'm about to find out soon.

They're both laughing like loons now and a second later Malfoy leans in to kiss her properly. On the mouth! And what does the foolish girl do? She kisses him back!

My legs are about to give out when Malfoy gives me the death blow.

He breaks the kiss and lies down next to her. Then he buries his face in my doppelgänger's shoulder and wraps his arms around her middle. And when she hugs him back he has this look in his eyes. He looks ridiculously happy. It's almost like the girl hung the moon or something.

I can't breathe. This is too much. I can't handle this. I can't.

"STOP!" I shout because I can't watch any more of this. My scream is accompanied by loud thunder. Did I cause that? Malfoy and my own face look at me in surprise. Looks like they've finally noticed me.

"Haley?" Malfoy asks, as he looks confusedly back and forth between me and my doppelgänger. That's when I notice my hair is back to its original colour. Damn. I look like myself again.

I don't waste another second and run straight toward the tree that looks like a door.

I throw the door open and leave this nightmare without a glance back.

Only seconds later I stop in front of my brother's door. It looks terribly inviting. Not even a week has passed since I last saw him but I think Simon's sunny company is exactly what I need right now.

I hesitantly reach for the door (no electric shocks!) and pull it open. Well that was easy. Simon is too trusting for his own good. But for now I'm glad I can get in so easily.

I walk through the door and find myself inside a café. My brother sits at one of the tables and eats scones. With lots of butter. I run over to him and attack him with a bone-crushing hug.

"Simon," I say. My voice sounds slightly wobbly.

"Hey sis," he mumbles, "Is there a reason you're trying to crush me?"

"I simply missed my favourite brother," I say with a chuckle and sit down in a chair next to him, without letting him go. Normally I'd hit him for calling me "sis" but seeing him is so comforting that I let it go this one time.

"But I'm your only brother," he argues.

"Shut up." I hit him. Lightly of course.

"I thought you missed me?" He complains, "Could you maybe let go? I can't eat like that."

I can't help the laughter that bubbles out of me. This is why I came here. My adorable little brother who even in his dreams cares about nothing else but food. You simply have to love him. I kiss the top of his head and loosen my death grip on him. He frees his arm and promptly continues to eat.

"You want some?" Simon offers, gesturing toward the huge plate of scones in front of him.

"I'm good," I say with a shake of my head. I'm not sure the nausea from earlier isn't going to make a return. Besides, I'm contend just resting my head on my brother's shoulder and watching him eat happily. It's almost enough to make me forget the scene I witnessed only minutes before.

…

A/N: Hello! I haven't posted in ages but here is an update! Finally. What did you think of the chapter? I was going to keep this fairly light and happy but I'm afraid there will be some angst soon... It won't be too heavy though :D
Who spotted the Hamilton reference? I always sing that part when I read it xD Thank you for reading and let me know what you think :)

The song I mentioned is "Do the Hippogriff" from the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire OST. But I'm sure you knew that already :) The solo part comes after the chorus is sung for the second time and Haley plays a combination of the guitar solo and the bagpipes solo. You should definitely give the song a listen even if you know it. It's so crazy :D And I'm planning to use it for a "really fun" dream. So look forward to that!
Oh and a "magically enhanced" guitar is basically an electric guitar. Just for wizards.

Till next time, Feather :)