A/N: Please review! Constructive criticism welcome, flames will be used to toast marshmallows. IMPORTANT NOTE: THIS PART IS RATED PG-13 FOR DREAM VIOLENCE. IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, TURN BACK NOW.
Summary: Tem has a disturbing dream.
Disclaimer: I own Tem, Alan, Alyssa, and Fay. J.K. owns everything else.
Harry's Neighbor: Part 6
The
Dream
An eerie
mist swirled about the yard. The inky
blackness filled the space around him; the only light source came from the fire
in Hagrid's cabin, only a few hundred feet from where he was standing. He looked longingly back at the castle,
wanting nothing more than to be back in his warm common room with his friends
and his journal, and was shocked to find it in ruins. There was a sign in front of it that said Abandoned. Keep out. He
was too confused to be afraid of what this might mean.
Cold pervaded everything; the Forbidden
Forest loomed to the right, the lake to his left. He had no place to go. Tem shivered, tugging his cloak tightly around him, and turned his back
on the demolished castle, toward the cabin. It was his only solace now. He
ran towards the light, but the distance kept growing. He ran until he collapsed from exhaustion, and an overwhelming
fear began to grow in the pit of his stomach. A voice popped into his head. Run
it said, Go now or you will die. He forced himself onto his elbows and began a much slower, stumbling
walk. The distance to the cabin kept
growing. He could now only see it as a
speck of light on the horizon, but he had to get there. There was something after him, and he could
feel it getting closer.
A huge
black dog leapt from the shadows of the forest and ran towards him, growling,
hackles raised and fangs bared. Tem
screamed in terror as the dog grabbed the back of his cloak in his mouth, and
started dragging him towards the cabin. He ignored the pain of rocks and dirt grinding into his side,
concentrating only on remaining conscious. He realized that they were going very quickly. This time, he was making progress. The cabin came closer, and the light and warmth grew. The dog dropped him outside of the building
and looked at him with urgency and sadness in his eyes.
Tem was startled as it spoke to
him. "If you don't hurry, he will die
and there won't be anything left. Please, hurry," it implored, and then ran back into the Forbidden Forest
as suddenly as he had come. Tem watched
him run into the forest and then turned towards the cabin. Where it had been standing was now a
smoldering crater. The light and warmth
that had been the welcoming glow from the windows was now coming from the dying
embers of what had obviously been a devastating fire. Hagrid stood outside the cabin, back turned to Tem. His shoulders were hunched and shaking; he
was crying.
He turned around to look at Tem,
his large eyes spilling tears on a tiny bundle in his arms. Hagrid opened the bundle to reveal a crying
infant with a large cut on its forehead. The giant suddenly took out a large knife from his moleskin coat and
slashed the infant's throat, crying harder as he did so. The dead baby tumbled from his arms and
landed in a pool of blood on the ground. It cried no more, and remained motionless. Hagrid looked up at Tem, who was shocked and scared to death of
what he had just seen. The giant spoke
with fear in his voice and disbelieving tears in his eyes.
"Yeh've killed him," he shook
his head and began to back away from Tem in fear. "Yeh've killed him! He
was supposed to be yer friend, and yeh've killed him!" In Tem's mixed horror and confusion of what
just happened, he looked down. In his
own hands rested the knife that had slashed the infant's throat. A trickle of blood escaped the blade and
found its way to Tem's hand. From
there, the drop of blood stained his skin and grew, spreading like poison through
his skin, turning his entire arm a blotchy scarlet red. It looked like the fake tan from Hell. Hagrid continued to stare at him in
horrified silence, only every now and then whispering, "He was yer friend…how
could yeh…"
Tem dropped the knife, unable to
take it all at once. The
baby…Hagrid…the blood…it wouldn't wash off. He clawed at his hands and arms, and it wouldn't go away. It was as if the blood had been dyed into
his skin. As the knife clattered to the
ground, a green misty light began to permeate from its tip. It swirled brighter and brighter, a
sickeningly bright color. Tem turned
his head, doing anything he could to protect his eyes lest he go blind. Suddenly, in front of him appeared a set of
glowing red serpentine eyes that just stared at him, inspecting him. From the light came a high-pitched, cruel
laughter. The eyes seemed to dance with
excitement. The laughter subsided to a
menacing growl. "You will do just fine,
boy," the wicked voice cackled. "Yes,"
it said pensively, "Just fine." Out
from the swirling green mist, an arm appeared; the scaly, taloned hand was
grasping a wand that pointed right at Tem. "Avada Kedavara!" the voice cried. The green light intensified, and Tem suddenly felt as if he were being
burned from the inside out. He
screamed. The pain was so intense. He screamed again. He screamed until the pain was so much that he didn't even
realize he was screaming anymore.
"Tem? Tem! Tem, wake up!!" He was finally jolted awake, cold sweat pouring down his face with the entire Ravenclaw house staring down at him. Apparently, he had woken them all up with his screaming. Alan, who had been the one to wake him up, looked down at him with concern, the sleep still fresh in his eyes. "Hey, are you ok? I don't think that's your normal fluffy bunny, naked chick dream." Tem gulped, still staring wide-eyed around the room, the horror of the dream still fresh on his mind. A few people smirked at Alan's attempt to lighten things up, but most looked really worried about Tem. None more so than Fay and Alyssa, who had pushed their way to the front of the crowd to see their friend.
"I…I'll be fine. It was just a dream. Go back to sleep. Sorry," Tem murmured, embarrassed at the attention. He was still recovering and didn't want anyone around in case he started crying. People slowly and reluctantly began filing out of the room, casting concerned glances back in Tem's direction. In his daze, he caught snatches of conversation drifting amongst the crowd like, "…only his second day…" and "…must be homesick…" Soon, (though not soon enough) only the male first-year Ravenclaws and Fay and Alyssa were left. Fay sat on the edge of his bed and looked at him with sad eyes.
"Are you really ok?" she asked, timidly. "I mean, we heard you shouting clear into our dorms, and those aren't incredibly close by. Do you think it had anything to do with your talk with Harry tonight?" Tem didn't say anything, but visibly paled. Fay just nodded. "Ok. Just try and get some sleep. We'll see you at breakfast." She patted his comforter-clad leg reassuringly and left the room. Alyssa followed her, not saying anything, but tossing a comforting glance behind her as she left.
Finally, only the boys were left. Before Alan reached to blow out his candle and draw his bed curtains closed, he checked on Tem one more time. "Are you sure you're ok? I could go get the head of the house," Tem shook his head vigorously.
"No, really. Thanks, but it was just a dream. Really. I'll be fine." Alan cast one more wary glance in his direction, but didn't want to say anything that might agitate his friend's already unstable mood. He silently extinguished the light and flooded the dorm with darkness. Tem lay there, pale and shaken in the dark. There was something off about that dream. The horror of it all was still fresh in his mind, but that wasn't it. He had had nightmares before. Nothing like this, though. You weren't supposed to feel pain in dreams. You weren't supposed to feel anything. You were always safe in dreams because that's all they were. Tem rubbed his hands together and shuddered as electricity shot through them.
He eased his head back onto his pillow, half wanting to go back to sleep, half afraid to. Whenever he closed his eyes, all he could see was that pair of glowing red eyes staring back at him. Finally, he sat up and resigned himself to a night of sleeplessness. He reached for his wand and, staring intently at its tip, he muttered a spell that Harry had shown him. "Lumos," he whispered. A faint spark appeared at the tip of the wand, and then went out again. Tem grunted in frustration, the tried again. "Lumos!" he whispered again, a little louder this time. He put all his will and concentration into it. This time, the tip sparked and began to glow faintly. It stayed lit. Sure, it wasn't the bright beam of light that Harry had produced, but it was at least something. It was comforting. And (though Tem didn't know it,) damn good for his second day.
He reached through his bed curtains to his backpack that lay yet untouched at the foot of his bed and took out his latest journal and a pen. Reading back over some of his most recent entries, he lost himself in the world of a few weeks ago. Everything had changed so much since then. It had only been two days, and yet it felt like he had been here forever. This was home. This was his future. If he could live through the night.
Tem set pen to paper for the first time since he had arrived at Hogwarts. He relived the train ride, the Sorting, the feast, and his first day of classes, including a condensed version of what Harry had told him that night. He stopped when he got to the dream. Finally somewhat calmed, he really didn't want to think about it again. While his body was no longer stained with blood, (that was one of the first things he had checked when he woke up) his skin burned slightly whenever he thought about the curse that had been thrown at him by that…thing. Tem shuddered just thinking about it. He decided that he needed to walk around a bit. Clear his mind. He ripped a page from his journal and scribbled a note to Harry. Tem peered out of the curtains at the clock that was hung at the far side of the dorm room; the hand was halfway between Too Early and Time to Get Up. He decided that he probably wouldn't get in trouble if he went up to the owlery now.
Slipping out of his pajamas and into his robes silently, so as to not wake his roommates, Tem stole through the hallway, into the darkened common room, and through the passageway. The coat of armor gave a disgruntled squeak as Tem nudged it awake. As soon as he had passed, he could hear a rusty metallic snoring disappearing down the corridor behind him.
On his way to the owlery, Tem lost his way twice and almost ran into Filch once while rounding a corner. The caretaker had eyed him disdainfully, but couldn't find anything punishable in getting up early to send an owl. Tem walked away without detention, but still slightly disoriented. He still wasn't quite used to all of the twists and turns and hidden passageways of the castle. By the time he had found the right tower and given the note to Gill to deliver, several students were up and wandering about the halls. He thought about going back to his common room and meeting his friends, but then realized he didn't know how to get back there. Instead, he followed a Hufflepuff fourth-year down to the hall for breakfast.
Harry made his way down to breakfast that morning in a great mood. He was away from the Dursleys, with his friends, back under the protection of Dumbledore and the new Defense Against the Dark arts teacher who he had yet to meet but hoped wasn't stupid or evil, and he had sorted things out with Tem. As he stepped off the marble staircase that led to the Great Hall, he passed by a group of third years that were huddled in conversation. He only caught a few snippets of their conversation, but it was enough to put him on alert. "…Ravenclaw…" "…Woke up screaming…" "…First- year…" these were the words that reached Harry's ears as he slowed past the group. He thought momentarily about stopping and asking the group what they were talking about, but then decided to just talk to Ron and Hermione. Maybe they had heard something.
Plopping into a chair between his two best friends, he asked him if they had heard anything. Neither was aware of a problem, but it was only breakfast time; he'd probably find out soon enough. Harry became lost in thought, wondering if the troubled Ravenclaw had anything to do with his friend. He got his answer when a dark brown owl, which he recognized as Ogilvy, landed on the table and dropped a note in front of him. Harry set out a bowl of dry cereal for the owl to eat while he waited and opened the note.
Harry-
I need you to help me figure something out. When's the soonest you can meet me? Bring Hermione and Ron.
-Tem
Hermione raised an eyebrow as Harry passed the note to her with a troubled look on his face. Reading it over, she knew why Harry was worried. "Yeah," she agreed. "It definitely sounds like it has something to do with what you heard those kids talking about earlier. He probably just had a bad dream or something. You said you told him everything last night, right?" Harry nodded. "Well, then. It probably had something to do with that. Don't be too worried." Hermione was right. Of course, Hermione was always right. About everything. Harry flipped the note over and wrote that they would meet him right after dinner that night in Myrtle's bathroom, then gave the note to Gill. It was about time. All of the cereal that the owl hadn't eaten was now strewn across the table and stuck in other people's hair.
Harry watched the short flight of the owl between the two tables. He was shocked as his eyes finally came to a rest on Tem. He looked awful. Tem was incredibly pale with dark circles underneath his eyes. He reminded Harry of Remus's condition after his monthly forays into the night. It was an altogether disturbing look, like the wearer, in addition to the pale exterior, had an invisible weight pressing on his shoulders. Harry knew that feeling all too well. He thought briefly of writing another note, telling Tem that they should meet earlier, but then the bell rang and Harry had to get to his first Divinations class of the year. He shuddered.
Tem finished dinner as fast as he could that night. He was anxious to talk to Harry about the dream, and also to get away from the stares and rumors that had been following him all day long. Somebody in Slytherin had spread one that he had wet the bed, and for some reason, the rumor just wouldn't die. When he got up to the bathroom, Harry and his friends hadn't arrived yet. Myrtle wasn't there, either. Well, at least that was something to be relieved about. He walked over to a wall adjacent to the door but cast in shadow, just in case Filch, Mrs. Norris, or any other authority figure happened to find their way in there. As soon as he sat down, the weight of his dinner began to sink in. That, combined with the previous night's lack of sleep began to pull on his eyelids.
All he
saw was darkness. Tem held his hands up
in front of his face, realizing that he couldn't even see those. What he did realize was that there was
something in his hand. He dropped it in
surprise, and jumped back as a faint green misty glow began to emanate from the
object. It became brighter and
brighter, swirling around him, illuminating his surroundings. Tem perceived that the object he had dropped
was a large, cruel knife with a curved blade and mysterious symbols inscribed
on the handle. The next thing he
noticed was a massacred infant lying in a pool of blood not far from the
knife. Tem fought the urge to retch at
the sight.
The
glowing became more intense, and he was aware that it circulated only around
him. The mist curled around his
shoulders, arms, and legs, tightening and becoming solid. The translucent bindings began to lift him
off the ground. Tem shouted and
struggled, trying in vain to free himself from his invisible captor. Yet again, those horrible, malevolent red
eyes manifested in front of him. They
narrowed in disgust. "Well," the venomous
voice sneered. "Look who's back. I had hoped to take care of you last night,
but it seems you escaped. You can't elude
me forever. I will always be here in
your dreams, waiting for you. This
time, you are mine."
A high-pitched giggle that Tem had only heard accurately
reproduced in horror movies rent the air. The scaly, reptilian arm reappeared with a wand in its grasp. It pointed the wand directly at Tem's head
and bellowed the curse. "Avada
Kedavara!" A brighter green light than
that lifting and surrounding him shot through the air. As it hit, a million volts of electricity
jolted through Tem's body. He screamed
in pain, and then began to drop. The
ground came faster and faster, and Tem silently prayed that the fall would kill
him before the curse could finish burning him from the inside out. He hit the hard earth and once again, all he
knew was blackness.
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\A/N: That's it for now!! Sorry for the slight cliffie. But, if that's what it takes to get you to review and keep reading, that's what I have to do. Hope you enjoyed it. If you did, review. If you didn't, review!!! Come on, people. Seriously, what do I have to do to get you to review, eh? Do I have to become one of those people who won't post unless they get so many reviews? Those people annoy the crap out of me. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. Well, that's it for this week folks, tune in next week for "He Sees You When You're Sleeping" or, "The Night of No Winks". Come on, don't you ever watch Rocky and Bullwinkle? Honestly…