Dreams
Chapter 9: What the hell is going on?
A/N: Thanks all reviewers. You really brighten up my day. J
A/N2: I have to give credit for chapter eight's title to Nykole Flame. She's a personal friend of mine and she gave me the idea. Check out her story, it's called Mortal Peril. Thanks!!
A/N3: One of my friends read chapter eight and said the grammar really sucked. Sorry my muse started working when I was half asleep. Okay finally on to the story.
Disclaimer: I am poor. If I owned Harry Potter I would be rich but the key sentence here is that I am poor. Don't sue me! J
"Hey Harry," his parents replied. Nothing was wrong with them. They seemed perfect. Harry didn't want his parents to worry but he had to tell them.
"What's wrong Harry?" Lily asked. Harry was about to ask about how she knew something was bugging him but then he remembered his mom's special skill.
"You might wanna sit down for this," Harry responded.
His parents obediently sat on the couch, next to Harry. The fire was blazing. The frames of all the pictures were reflecting the inferno. Harry was distracted for a moment and suddenly brought back to reality by Ron's shaking.
"Harry, Harry…Get up Sirius is waiting for you in the fire."
This sent the groggy fifth year jumping out of bed. He had totally forgotten about the meeting he was supposed to have with Sirius.
"I'm sorry Sirius, I didn't remember our meeting," Harry said in a hushed voice.
"No problem Harry. So what did you want to talk to me about."
Harry was wondering if he should talk about Dumbledore or his parents.
"Dumbledore is sick. Something attacked him."
The stare Sirius had acquired from Azkaban returned.
"Well what attacked him? Did he say?". There was a jolt of a doorknob. "Hurry up Harry, I broke into a house again."
"Well he talked about some black cloak. And how it tried to suffocate him."
"Oh that's a L…. ". Sirius was cut off by a yell. "I'm sorry I have to go. Send me an owl if anything else happens."
"Alright I will Sirius, just don't get caught."
"No problem, kiddo," Sirius replied with a wink. That had to be the wink his father, James, had been talking about. Sirius happened to be quite the lady's man.
Ron and Harry tiptoed up the stairs to their dorms. They said their goodbyes and snuggled under their covers. Harry quickly went back to sleep.
"I'm sorry about that…I had to talk to Sirius."
"Oh how is he," James asked curiously.
Harry gave his parents the abridged version of his third year. His parents seemed to be completely consumed in thought.
"A lots changed J," Lily muttered.
"I know Lils, I know," James mumbled while grabbing her hand. Her touch always seemed to calm him down. After a few minutes the subject went back to Dumbledore.
"So where was I?"
"You were going to tell what attacked Dumbledore," his parents replied.
"Oh yeah. Well Dumbledore said something about a black cloak attacking him. Like trying to strangle him. I thought he was crazy but then he said he knew about me talking to you."
Harry said this with one breath.
"Wait up, a cloak assaulted him," James asked.
"That sounds a lot like this animal…James what was it called? It started with an L."
"Jeez, Lils I don't remember. I haven't been to Care of Magical Creatures in awhile. But I recall tropics. Any thoughts, Harry?"
"You're asking the wrong person. I should ask Hermione, she would know."
The smile that was on Harry's face disappeared. He would have to tell her about his parents and about the dreams.
"Don't worry, she'll understand," Lily said in a comforting voice.
"Okay…I can tell her. I mean, Malfoy wants to talk to her. I've got more guts than that prick."
"That's the spirit," James said with a pat on the shoulder. He added, "You might want to look in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. The guy who writes it is very good."
"NO WAY!! The Monster Book of Monsters is much better. Just remember to tickle the spine of that book. Those pages have really sharp teeth."
"Hehe, no need to tell me that mum." Harry gave a brief account of his experience with the book during the summer. His parents laughed and then looked at each other.
"Oh, um Harry follow me," James said after a not so awkward silence.
The devilish grin his mom had worn had appeared again.
"Mum, were you ever an animagus?"
"Nope, why?"
"Well with that grin, I'd say you were a Cheshire cat."
"He definitely has her humor," James thought.
His parents led him to a very white room. It didn't have anything in it.
"Here's your room," his parents said with pride. "You can do whatever you want with it and that way you won't sleep on the couch."
"Sweet thanks." A room to himself. He had this with the Dursleys but it was never to his liking. Plus the people who loved him the most surrounded him. Life couldn't get any better for Harry.
He wasn't up for much decorating at the moment so his parents conjured a bed out of thin air. It was queen sized and had emerald green sheets. The frame was made of willow and the floors were mahogany.
"Man white walls are bright. Harry what color do you want your walls," Lily asked.
Thoughts of Cho popped into his head. Ravenclaw's color was a nice blue.
"How about some blue walls?"
"No problem with me." With magic words and wands Harry's room had been transformed. With that his mother said her goodnights and retired to her room. Before James left he made an adjustment.
"Who do you really like? In school I mean," James asked curiously.
An image of Hermione materialized before Cho's did. "That's not right," Harry thought to himself.
"Son, you know I love you but I like sleeping too. Especially sleeping next to your mom." His dad's face went into a dreamlike mode. Weird little smiles were forming at the ends of James' face.
"Dad, hey dad. Great I thought hormones only lasted when people were teens. Oh well, I guess that's what love is."
"Yeah Harry, that's what love is. When you can think of someone 24/7 for years, now that's true love," Lily said. "James," Lily said softly. With that one word, he woke up out of his open-eyed sleep.
"Yea, Lils," James responded.
"You were going to do something to Harry's room."
"Oh yeah, yeah I remember now. SO…"
"IlikeCho," said a rather uncomfortable Harry.
"Right…Um just picture her in your mind," James instructed.
"Ok, I'm ready," Harry replied.
"Nice, lets get these posters going."
After a couple of minutes, the posters were completed. The Cho's looked beautiful. They were all smiling and waving. The best poster, the most magnificent, was made of a different person. This person had bushy brown hair and not so large front teeth. This was none other than Hermione.
"Weird," Harry said.
"Looks like you are fond of two girls," Lily said.
"Sucks to be you is all I have to say," his father piped in.
"Thanks dad, you're making me feel a whole lot better," Harry said sarcastically.
"Don't worry about it, just get some sleep," Lily replied.
Harry closed his eyes. He couldn't believe that he was sleeping inside his sleep. He wondered if he would wake up at his parents house first and then at the school or just go to the school.
"Whatever, no need to worry about it tonight. But it will be nice if I can fix my bed before I go," Harry thought to himself.
**While all this dream stuff is happening, in the Slytherin Dungeons…**
Malfoy was in the common room again. He wasn't alone either. His friends Goyle and Crabbe were there, too. Malfoy was silently thinking to himself while his idiotic friends played Exploding Snap. It was two in the morning and Snape would probably hear. But that wasn't keeping Malfoy worried. He still hadn't come up with a plan to get Hermione all to himself. He wanted to tell his friends about his secret fantasies but there just wasn't a way. He, even though in Slytherin, was as clever as the Ravenclaws and a bright florescent light bulb turned on.
"Crabbe, Goyle, feel up to playing a prank on the Gryffie's?"
"Hell yeah," Crabbe replied.
"We haven't done anything in quite some time," Goyle added.
"Good, lets pull the prank on let me think," Malfoy responded. In his mind however, he was thinking, "What jackasses".
"How about Weasel," Goyle said after lots of extraneous thought done to his tyrannosaurus rex size brain.
"You read my mind," Malfoy said. He didn't want to sound too excited. "Now what should we do to him?".
"What if we put some itchy powder down his pants," Crabbe said.
"No it has to be something better than that," Malfoy responded. He was hoping anything he did would be fatal. They group went through lots of possibilities. None of them were as lethal as he wanted them to be. He started to pace the room. He was stroking his invisible beard. The other two followed his lead. After enough time had passed, Malfoy thought that it was time to let them know the plan he had formulated even before asking them.
"Hey remember that time when Weasel had to leave Potions?". After no response he was said, "You know with the firecrab." The other two had the same blank faces.
"Oh well, I'll just have to tell them. What a bunch of fuckwits," he said to himself.
"Okay remember that time we were making a really complicated Love Potion."
The two boys nodded with some sort of understanding.
Malfoy continued. "Well Weasel had to leave the room early. Any of you remember why?".
Another pause that made Malfoy sure that his friends were absolutely positively mentally handicapped. (A/N: Not to make fun of the mentally challenged but I mean we all know Goyle and Crabbe aren't the brightest crayons in the coloring box).
"HE WAS ALLERGIC TO AN INGREDIANT!!". Malfoy's pale skin had turned red.
"Whoa dude no need to have a hernia," Goyle replied.
"Oh yeah I remember what he was allergic to. It was a firecrab," Crabbe added.
"Ugh, good job since I said that two minutes ago." Malfoy wanted to slap him upside the head but since Crabbe had grown a lot faster than him, he didn't want to take a chance.
The firecrab, which looked a lot more like a tortoise, would be hard to get. Then again, it was a ingredient in the potion's kit. Malfoy remembered a time when he was burned by one of those suckers. The thing shoots flames out of its butt when its bothered.
The three huddled over a table talking in whispers. They each were coordinating what each would have to do. Feeling deeply satisfied, Malfoy went to his dorm and slept.
**Thursday**
"Harry, hon wake up," Lily Potter yelled. She was in the kitchen and according to Harry's nose, making oatmeal.
Harry quickly fixed his bed. He wanted to make his parents so proud of him. They had given up their lives for him, it was the least he could do.
"Hey, buddy," James called out before making a trip to the bathroom fairy.
"Any trouble sleeping," Lily asked.
"No, not at …"
Harry was awake in Hogwarts. His alarm clock was ringing and Ron was punching him.
"What are you doing, Ron?!?"
"Your alarm clock is annoying so I give you physical punishment. That way you won't forget your clock."
Ron's logic made sense but Harry still scowled. He got out of bed and went to the showers. He was late. He gave himself a quick but squeaky-clean wash. Pulling on his robes, he hurried downstairs to meet Hermione and Ron. He expected them to be cuddling or whispering sweet nothings into each others ear. But for them to be snogging so early, he knew it couldn't have been healthy.
As he tapped them both on the shoulder he said, "Now now kiddies, do I need to write a memo? Snogging hours are from lunch till midnight."
A mini pillow fight started. It was abruptly stopped when McGonagall walked into the common room.
"Professor Dumbledore wishes to see you Prefect Potter. Please follow me…"
"Yes, Professor McGonagall."
The halls were silent except for the constant swishing of their robes. Soon enough Harry was at Dumbledore's bed. He wasn't in the hospital but what looked like his own private room.
"Minerva, you may go now."
"Yes Headmaster." Without a word more, she left.
"Harry, have you found out what attacked me yet?"
"Not yet Professor. I talked to my parents and they mentioned the tropics and an animal." Harry added, "I was going to ask Hermione to help me. I was going to have to tell her."
"Don't worry about it, if she thinks your going nuts just send her over here." Dumbledore had the same comforting voice of his mother. They had the same comforting voice of a phoenix song.
"Harry, tell her soon. I need to know what's around here. I have a loss of memory since that thing attacked me. Good day, Prefect Potter."
"Okay Professor Dumbledore. Good day."
Ron and Hermione didn't ask what Dumbledore wanted. They knew that: 1)Harry didn't want to tell them or 2) Harry couldn't tell them. They couple tried to keep the conversations as normal as possible. Funny enough, Harry was eating oatmeal for breakfast.
After some awkward silence, Ron finally said, "At least we have Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid…"
"Yeah but we have it with the Slytherins," Harry added. Hermione was sticking out her tongue to a Slytherin girl. It had perfect timing.
After making some more insults to the Slytherins, Hermione said, "Aren't those Mackled Malaclaw interesting?"
The couple got into a heated argument about Malaclaws and how dangerous they were. At one point, Ron accused her of turning into Hagrid. The squabble was put to a rest when the bell rang.
"Come on guys, we've gotta deal with those Malaclaws," Harry said. After no response Harry could see the pair making out. "Looks like I'm going to have to send that memo again," Harry muttered under his breath.
The group got to Hagrid's hut with five minutes to spare. They drank some tea but refused his croissants. No one needed to say why. At last class started. The Gryffindors were seated to the left of the field while the Slytherins were all the way to the right of the field. There was nobody in the middle. The class took barrelfuls of notes. Hagrid thought that they deserved a present for working so hard. He sent one of the Gryffindors to the kitchens to ask the house elves for some pumpkin juice. Malfoy say this as his perfect chance.
"Hagrid, you mind letting me pass the drinks around?"
"Why no, that's mighty nice of yer," Hagrid replied. (A/N: I'm not good with Hagrid's accent so if it doesn't look like the books, a million sorrys. Anyway onto the story).
Malfoy took three goblets off the trays. In one, he carefully put vile of crushed up firecrab. He handed it to the Gryffindors of course.
"Here you go my lady," Malfoy said in the most gentlemanly voice he could muster.
Ron jumped up and growled.
"Hermione, could you please tell Fido to sit," Malfoy said coolly.
Moments later, Hermione's juice ended up on Malfoy's face.
"Go to hell you. Scum of the earth," Hermione yelled.
Malfoy was hurt by this and didn't do a very good job in hiding it. He moped back to his side of the field. He kept watching Ron. He watched until Ron drank the last drop of the mix. Patiently, he sat. Ten minutes and still nothing.
"God what if it wasn't enough firecrab," Malfoy thought to himself. Another five minutes passed. Malfoy had given his hopes up. "I guess me and Hermione aren't meant to be," he muttered to himself.
"Oh my god," Hermione shrieked. "Harry what's wrong with him?"
Ron looked like he was having a seizure. He was trembling on the ground and generally spazzing out.
"I'll get Madame Pomfrey," Harry said. As he brushed by Malfoy he said, "I don't know how but I know you did it…AND YOU WILL PAY."
"OoO Potty, I am shaking in my boots."
Harry was about to kick his ass but his best friend needed him more right now. He ran and got Madam Pomfrey. She conjured a stretcher and rushed Ron to the hospital wing. Harry stayed with Hermione and comforted her. He kept glaring at Malfoy while he was consoling his other best friend.
**Hours Later**
Harry and Hermione thought it was time to visit Ron. Hermione kept talking about him and wanting to be there for him. He thought the best medicine for this ranting was doing what she wanted. She wanted to see him. When they got to Ron's hospital bed, Hermione rushed to his side. Just like Ron did for her, she sat in a chair and held his hand. Harry went to Madam Pomfrey.
"Madam Pomfrey, what's wrong with Ron? Why was he having a seizure?"
"Someone gave him a rather large dosage of firecrab."
"But, but," Harry stuttered, "he's really allergic to that stuff." His mind went back to the potions class. Snape didn't want to let Ron out, even though he showed him a note. Ron finally gave up his fighting with Snape and walked out. He got a detention but after talking to Dumbledore, the detention was no more.
"Thank you Madam Pomfrey, thanks a lot."
Harry went to Hermione and explained what was happening.
"So is he going to be okay?"
*END OF CHAPTER NINE*
A/N: So how's that? Tell me what you think with reviews please. Tell me if you like long chapters like this one or shorter ones. Thanks.
A/N2: Teachers suck so I'll be posting less often these six weeks. They have sheer determination to screw the freshman these last few weeks. Sorry in advance.
A/N3: Going back to the school stuff, I am studying to take some SAT II test. Its supposed to be taken when you're a junior of senior and I'm taking it as a freshman. So I need to study stuff I've never learn. Yippee for me, huh?
