*Revised*
Alcestis Draconis
Chapter II~Aculeus
Chapter II
Last time:
With that everything went black and swirled down into an abyss. Ginny felt herself screaming, and Harry did as well, but both were frozen to the spot. They sat straight up in their beds, and found themselves still screaming, much to the dismay of the Gryffindor house.
In the boys' corridor, everyone had been awakened save the first and second years. The boys not in Harry's room were still groggy, and a few even fell back to sleep right away. Ron and Seamus however, woke up as suddenly as Harry did at the sound of his scream. Ron looked half irked and half genuinely concerned. He said, his voice slightly raised, "Harry, what IS the matter?!"
Harry's breath was coming ragged and he still seemed to be in a frightful state. "So . . real . . you don't even know. I THOUGHT it was REAL, RON!" He just shook his head disgustedly and threw off his covers. Quickly he made his way downstairs, his head a debate of whether to go to Ginny or Dumbledore first.
"Harry! Harry POTTER! You wait up for me this instant!" Ron was putting on some slippers and a muggle T-shirt, and at the same time was running to try and catch up with his friend. Harry did not turn around, and did not stop until he reached the downstairs fireplace, which was still barely kindled, even at two o'clock in the morning. Harry stared into the fireplace, his eyes seeing nothing but the dying embers.
Meanwhile, in Ginny's chambers . . .
Ginny's scream had been softer, and more of a whimper, thus she had only woken up Hermione, who's bed was right next to hers, and Hermione was quite a light sleeper anyways. Ginny had managed, through attending Hogwarts all the previous summer, and taking extra classes for the past two years, to skip a year at Hogwarts. Hermione was of course quite jealous of Ginny in this aspect, not knowing that it was possible. Dumbledore, had of course only let Ginny do that, because he felt she needed to graduate with her friends and the rest of the 'allies'.
"Never, in all of Hogwarts a History!" Hermione would rant when thinking about Ginny's early graduation.
Ginny's eyes were open and wide as saucers, just as they had been in the dream. Her eyes were frozen to the ceiling, and she shuddered with fright. Hermione quickly kneeled beside Ginny's bed. "Ginny, dear? What, what happened? It was just a dream, a nightmare?"
Ginny shook her head, her caramel eyes still frozen. "NOT just a dream, 'Mione. NOT just a nightmare." Her voice was small and scared. 'Hermione didn't dream the same?' She thought. 'But it had been so real, so horribly clear.'
The fiery haired girl threw off her covers, at once springing to life, and made her way down to the common room. It was not yet so cold, but Hermione slowly put on her robe over her pajamas, and her slippers on her feet, and brought Ginny's robe with her. She muttered to herself, "Poor girl, ever since last year, she hasn't been quite the same. Nightmares every other eve, but not like this."
Upon reaching the stairs, and seeing Harry on the couch, Ron standing beside it, and Ginny next to Harry, Hermione rushed down the staircase, pink slippers softly hitting the marble staircase. When she walked up next to Ron, she dared not to speak, but her and Ron shared a look of mutual fear for their friends. Ginny was still shaking, and Harry's breath was still ragged, though he was beginning to calm down.
It seemed that in those moments no one dared to speak. But inside their minds each was thinking, 'What to do?' except for Ginny, who was still held in her trance of fear. When Ginny's fearful, brown eyes looked up to Harry's concerned, green ones, and they came to a mutual understanding. Ginny whispered to him, "Why, why didn't he kill me?"
'So,' Harry thought, 'She didn't hear our words outside the compartment.' He debated whether or not to tell her what had happened. Harry figured that he had better go and seek out Dumbledore before worrying Ginny for no reason. Lamely, he lied, "I, I don't know, Ginny." Ron and Hermione were looking on at the two as if they had gone completely mad, but neither had the heart to ask what had happened just yet.
Ginny eyed him curiously and whispered, "Does your scar hurt, Harry?"
He shook his head softly, "No. The scar only hurts when Voldemort had been near, even in dreams. The scar will not warn me of his successor."
Finally fed up with being left in the dark, Hermione walked over to the portrait and said, "You two are going to Dumbledore's office immediately; and if you don't, Ron and I are. Right Ron?" Hermione folded her arms and rested on the wall, her nose a bit up in the air. After silence befalling at the end of her little speech, Hermione surveyed them, a little shakily, and cleared her throat. "Uh, right, Ron?"
Ron just shook his head and remained torn on whether to stay or to go. Harry's voice started softly, "Hermione, Dumbledore has grown weak, and if this dream is right, then we must not go telling him about it. I love the old man as much and maybe more as any of us, but he is in no state to worry about this. All we have to find out, now anyways, is who brought the horrible dream to me and Ginny, and if they meant to. My first guess would be Malfoy, of course. But why would he warn us like that? Just to give us a scare?"
Looking up from picking at his nails, Ron asked quickly, "Malfoy? What's he got to do with this? A successor? I think you two have got some explaining to do before we go any further."
In reply, Harry just shook his head. "It was just so clear. Malfoy killed both you and Hermione, Ron. He Avada Kedavra'd you both right on the Express. He told me . . . some things, and then, he was going to kill Ginny, but he didn't. He just kissed her on the cheek, and then the dream vanished."
Both Hermione and Ron looked horrified at the description of the dream, their eyes wide. Ron started angrily, "He kissed you?!" But then he soon calmed himself as the thought over the rest of the dream, and the kiss seemed a tad unimportant. Hermione dully and numbly walked away from the exit, and stood next to Ron, intertwining her fingers with his. Harry and Ginny noticed this and both of their eyebrows raised, the current danger of Draco Malfoy forgotten. 'Just like in the dream' Ginny mouthed to Harry, who nodded.
Harry coughed and said, "Is there something that you're, uh, not telling us?" Ron and Hermione suddenly jumped back from each other like they'd been hit by lightning. Both became flushed and shook their heads.
Hermione, seeming to be the most distressed started pathetically, "Harry, you really should go to Dumbledore even though there may be little that he can do. As I see it, if Malfoy can learn from his weaker mentor, so can you."
Harry chuckled grimly, and then settled for smiling as such. "Perhaps you are right. But myself and Draco, the heirs of light and darkness in the world, coming into our time by the very minute? It doesn't seem right, it doesn't seem me."
Ginny nodded and said meekly, "I always knew he was annoying, and rude, and everything a spoiled brat can be; but, I never really considered him as true evil."
All three nodded in solemn reply. Hermione flicked her wand at the fireplace, "Accendus," and a roaring fire lit up the common room. It seemed indeed that the boys who had awoken had found their ways back to the realm of blissful sleep, and knew nothing anymore of the tumult that had taken place.
Hermione and Ron walked over to the little sofa perpendicular from Harry and Ginny's. Hermione laid down as Ginny was, and looked up at Ron questioningly, asking if it was 'okay' to hold hands in front of their two friends. Ron shrugged, and said rather loudly, "Well, I guess they know now. I don't see the harm." He said the last sentence more quietly and with a wink. Hermione nodded and the two lay down innocently on the sofa, Ron still partially sitting up, both hands locked.
Ginny looked over at them with a slight jealousy. She had wanted that with Harry a long time since, even since she had read about him as a child. Virginia just sighed and rested her head on his lap, ready to spend the rest of the night sleepless. Harry had his chin rested on his hand, the fire reflecting on his glasses, he too preparing for the sleepless night ahead.
A few hours later, after all his friends had fallen asleep; even Ginny, into a restless one, he dared to take his free hand a comb it lightly through her smooth, red hair. At his touch she calmed down a little and stopped stirring so.
Since Cho Chang's tragic suicide had happened the summer after Cedric Diggory's death, Harry had sworn never to have a 'crush' again. It had taken him years to recover from the events of their fourth year, and seeing that dreadful article in the Daily Prophet, but Harry had lived on, and in the meantime, Ginny had taken care of him, always being devoted.
After seeing her braveness the previous year, Harry began to give Ginny a bit of that devotion back, and had come to be quite fond of her, and to care for her more than as his best friends little sister. He smiled to himself, and watched her sleep like an angel.
Alcestis Draconis
Chapter II~Aculeus
Chapter II
Last time:
With that everything went black and swirled down into an abyss. Ginny felt herself screaming, and Harry did as well, but both were frozen to the spot. They sat straight up in their beds, and found themselves still screaming, much to the dismay of the Gryffindor house.
In the boys' corridor, everyone had been awakened save the first and second years. The boys not in Harry's room were still groggy, and a few even fell back to sleep right away. Ron and Seamus however, woke up as suddenly as Harry did at the sound of his scream. Ron looked half irked and half genuinely concerned. He said, his voice slightly raised, "Harry, what IS the matter?!"
Harry's breath was coming ragged and he still seemed to be in a frightful state. "So . . real . . you don't even know. I THOUGHT it was REAL, RON!" He just shook his head disgustedly and threw off his covers. Quickly he made his way downstairs, his head a debate of whether to go to Ginny or Dumbledore first.
"Harry! Harry POTTER! You wait up for me this instant!" Ron was putting on some slippers and a muggle T-shirt, and at the same time was running to try and catch up with his friend. Harry did not turn around, and did not stop until he reached the downstairs fireplace, which was still barely kindled, even at two o'clock in the morning. Harry stared into the fireplace, his eyes seeing nothing but the dying embers.
Meanwhile, in Ginny's chambers . . .
Ginny's scream had been softer, and more of a whimper, thus she had only woken up Hermione, who's bed was right next to hers, and Hermione was quite a light sleeper anyways. Ginny had managed, through attending Hogwarts all the previous summer, and taking extra classes for the past two years, to skip a year at Hogwarts. Hermione was of course quite jealous of Ginny in this aspect, not knowing that it was possible. Dumbledore, had of course only let Ginny do that, because he felt she needed to graduate with her friends and the rest of the 'allies'.
"Never, in all of Hogwarts a History!" Hermione would rant when thinking about Ginny's early graduation.
Ginny's eyes were open and wide as saucers, just as they had been in the dream. Her eyes were frozen to the ceiling, and she shuddered with fright. Hermione quickly kneeled beside Ginny's bed. "Ginny, dear? What, what happened? It was just a dream, a nightmare?"
Ginny shook her head, her caramel eyes still frozen. "NOT just a dream, 'Mione. NOT just a nightmare." Her voice was small and scared. 'Hermione didn't dream the same?' She thought. 'But it had been so real, so horribly clear.'
The fiery haired girl threw off her covers, at once springing to life, and made her way down to the common room. It was not yet so cold, but Hermione slowly put on her robe over her pajamas, and her slippers on her feet, and brought Ginny's robe with her. She muttered to herself, "Poor girl, ever since last year, she hasn't been quite the same. Nightmares every other eve, but not like this."
Upon reaching the stairs, and seeing Harry on the couch, Ron standing beside it, and Ginny next to Harry, Hermione rushed down the staircase, pink slippers softly hitting the marble staircase. When she walked up next to Ron, she dared not to speak, but her and Ron shared a look of mutual fear for their friends. Ginny was still shaking, and Harry's breath was still ragged, though he was beginning to calm down.
It seemed that in those moments no one dared to speak. But inside their minds each was thinking, 'What to do?' except for Ginny, who was still held in her trance of fear. When Ginny's fearful, brown eyes looked up to Harry's concerned, green ones, and they came to a mutual understanding. Ginny whispered to him, "Why, why didn't he kill me?"
'So,' Harry thought, 'She didn't hear our words outside the compartment.' He debated whether or not to tell her what had happened. Harry figured that he had better go and seek out Dumbledore before worrying Ginny for no reason. Lamely, he lied, "I, I don't know, Ginny." Ron and Hermione were looking on at the two as if they had gone completely mad, but neither had the heart to ask what had happened just yet.
Ginny eyed him curiously and whispered, "Does your scar hurt, Harry?"
He shook his head softly, "No. The scar only hurts when Voldemort had been near, even in dreams. The scar will not warn me of his successor."
Finally fed up with being left in the dark, Hermione walked over to the portrait and said, "You two are going to Dumbledore's office immediately; and if you don't, Ron and I are. Right Ron?" Hermione folded her arms and rested on the wall, her nose a bit up in the air. After silence befalling at the end of her little speech, Hermione surveyed them, a little shakily, and cleared her throat. "Uh, right, Ron?"
Ron just shook his head and remained torn on whether to stay or to go. Harry's voice started softly, "Hermione, Dumbledore has grown weak, and if this dream is right, then we must not go telling him about it. I love the old man as much and maybe more as any of us, but he is in no state to worry about this. All we have to find out, now anyways, is who brought the horrible dream to me and Ginny, and if they meant to. My first guess would be Malfoy, of course. But why would he warn us like that? Just to give us a scare?"
Looking up from picking at his nails, Ron asked quickly, "Malfoy? What's he got to do with this? A successor? I think you two have got some explaining to do before we go any further."
In reply, Harry just shook his head. "It was just so clear. Malfoy killed both you and Hermione, Ron. He Avada Kedavra'd you both right on the Express. He told me . . . some things, and then, he was going to kill Ginny, but he didn't. He just kissed her on the cheek, and then the dream vanished."
Both Hermione and Ron looked horrified at the description of the dream, their eyes wide. Ron started angrily, "He kissed you?!" But then he soon calmed himself as the thought over the rest of the dream, and the kiss seemed a tad unimportant. Hermione dully and numbly walked away from the exit, and stood next to Ron, intertwining her fingers with his. Harry and Ginny noticed this and both of their eyebrows raised, the current danger of Draco Malfoy forgotten. 'Just like in the dream' Ginny mouthed to Harry, who nodded.
Harry coughed and said, "Is there something that you're, uh, not telling us?" Ron and Hermione suddenly jumped back from each other like they'd been hit by lightning. Both became flushed and shook their heads.
Hermione, seeming to be the most distressed started pathetically, "Harry, you really should go to Dumbledore even though there may be little that he can do. As I see it, if Malfoy can learn from his weaker mentor, so can you."
Harry chuckled grimly, and then settled for smiling as such. "Perhaps you are right. But myself and Draco, the heirs of light and darkness in the world, coming into our time by the very minute? It doesn't seem right, it doesn't seem me."
Ginny nodded and said meekly, "I always knew he was annoying, and rude, and everything a spoiled brat can be; but, I never really considered him as true evil."
All three nodded in solemn reply. Hermione flicked her wand at the fireplace, "Accendus," and a roaring fire lit up the common room. It seemed indeed that the boys who had awoken had found their ways back to the realm of blissful sleep, and knew nothing anymore of the tumult that had taken place.
Hermione and Ron walked over to the little sofa perpendicular from Harry and Ginny's. Hermione laid down as Ginny was, and looked up at Ron questioningly, asking if it was 'okay' to hold hands in front of their two friends. Ron shrugged, and said rather loudly, "Well, I guess they know now. I don't see the harm." He said the last sentence more quietly and with a wink. Hermione nodded and the two lay down innocently on the sofa, Ron still partially sitting up, both hands locked.
Ginny looked over at them with a slight jealousy. She had wanted that with Harry a long time since, even since she had read about him as a child. Virginia just sighed and rested her head on his lap, ready to spend the rest of the night sleepless. Harry had his chin rested on his hand, the fire reflecting on his glasses, he too preparing for the sleepless night ahead.
A few hours later, after all his friends had fallen asleep; even Ginny, into a restless one, he dared to take his free hand a comb it lightly through her smooth, red hair. At his touch she calmed down a little and stopped stirring so.
Since Cho Chang's tragic suicide had happened the summer after Cedric Diggory's death, Harry had sworn never to have a 'crush' again. It had taken him years to recover from the events of their fourth year, and seeing that dreadful article in the Daily Prophet, but Harry had lived on, and in the meantime, Ginny had taken care of him, always being devoted.
After seeing her braveness the previous year, Harry began to give Ginny a bit of that devotion back, and had come to be quite fond of her, and to care for her more than as his best friends little sister. He smiled to himself, and watched her sleep like an angel.