Unraveled
Chapter 13: Dream Girl
"He's an Animagus?" asked Harry after a moment's silence. Harry knew for a fact that there were lots of animagi that weren't registered like Sirius. Hermione nodded.
"You mean that he actually registered himself like McGonagall?" asked Ron.
"Of course, why shouldn't they? Anyway, Ryu Ran turns into a hawk," said Hermione.
"But, why is he registered in England? Shouldn't he be registered in America?" asked Harry.
"Just because his name sounds Asian and he's living in America, doesn't mean he's not British," said Hermione.
"That's true," admitted Harry. "Come to think of it, Snuffles doesn't seem to know much about him. He doesn't know enough to trust him either."
Harry was also thinking about the strange way Remus and Sirius looked at each other when he mentioned that Draco Malfoy was gone. They didn't seem that concerned about it. Harry knew enough about them to know that they knew exactly what had happened to Draco Malfoy. He knew that they were hiding something. Harry looked around him.
Everyone was celebrating and being happy. He wondered why he was holding back. Suddenly, Harry had a vision. It was the girl. She was crying. All he wanted to do was go and comfort her, but suddenly a sharp, burning pain came from his scar. He saw him. He saw Voldemort coming towards her as she sobbed. Harry opened his mouth to tell Voldemort to get away from her…
"Harry? Harry?" asked Neville, snapping Harry out of his trance. Harry looked at Neville in surprise. "Are you alright? You're holding your head like you have a headache," he said.
Harry realized that his hand was clutching the part of his forehead where his scar was. Ron and Hermione were looking at him with concern. "It's nothing," said Harry quietly.
"Why don't you go to Madame Pomfrey?" suggested Hermione.
"Yeah, we'll go with you," agreed Ron.
Before Harry could say anything else, Hermione and Ron dragged him out of the common room. He soon noticed that they weren't walking towards the infirmary, but towards Professor Dumbledore's office. "I'm fine," insisted Harry.
"No, you were clutching your skull. Instead of wasting time, it's best we go and see him now," said Hermione.
"I told Hermione we should wait until tomorrow, but she's not listening to me. Do you have any idea how long you stood there without blinking?" asked Ron. Harry shook his head. "Five minutes, Harry. That's a long time considering all that's going on around you."
Harry didn't say anything else until they got to the stone gargoyle in front of the Headmaster's office. "Did either of you realize that you didn't know the password?" asked Harry, wanting so much to turn back. He was hoping to go to sleep and see the girl again in his dreams.
A moment later the gargoyle moved aside and Harry was pulled in by Hermione and Ron. Professor Dumbledore smiled at them. Remus and Severus were sitting. The two younger professors looked surprised at the sudden arrival of the trio.
"What brings you three here?" asked Professor Dumbledore.
"Harry's scar hurts," said Hermione.
"And he blanked out for more than five minutes," added Ron.
"'Blanked out?'" asked Remus with more concern than any of the other men in the room.
"I was just staring into space. That's all. Can't I just do that for no reason?" asked Harry exasperatedly. He didn't like all the attention he was getting. He didn't want to tell them about the girl in his vision. He wanted to keep her to himself for the time being.
"But, you were clutching your scar," said Hermione.
Harry looked at all the pairs of eyes on him. Even Snape wore an unfamiliar look of concern on his face. "What did you see, Harry?" asked Professor Dumbledore gently.
"Voldemort," admitted Harry. "He was coming towards me, then my scar started hurting." He was lying, but who's to say that Voldemort wouldn't have gone after him after he was done with the girl. He felt like he was the only one who could help her.
"Did you see anything else?" asked Professor Dumbledore. Harry shook his head. "Any news from Sirius?" he asked, changing the subject.
"He's still looking for Fiona," said Snape quietly.
"Why would he look for Fiona Black?" asked Ron. Hermione and Ron didn't know about Fiona's relationship to Voldemort.
Remus pursed his lips because he knew at once that Harry hadn't told them that small fact. "Fiona's mother, Thalia, was Voldemort's only child," said Snape.
Ron's jaw dropped at the news. Hermione cast a look at Harry who looked a little guilty for not telling them. "But…he killed Thalia Black," whispered Hermione as she looked back at the three teachers.
"Voldemort killed his own daughter," said Ron. Growing up, Ron knew that Voldemort was evil, but it was still an abstract idea to him. He wasn't the one who had to face off with him like Harry. The idea of a parent murdering his own child was unfathomable to Ron. No matter how many times he saw his mum and dad mad at him or his siblings, Ron still knew that he was loved and that they wouldn't hurt him.
"How long did you know, Harry?" asked Hermione.
"Since Sirius told me about Fiona," admitted Harry sheepishly. "I didn't want to you to get over excited about her being Voldemort's granddaughter."
He wasn't sure why he was protecting someone who was a stranger to him. He was sure that he was doing it for Sirius' sake. He didn't even know Fiona. Why should he even care about her, if not just for Sirius' sake?
"So, Voldemort attacked, but Fiona wasn't there was she? That's why she's still alive," said Ron thoughtfully.
"That's why you've been trying to get her to Hogwarts," said Hermione.
"Yes, we tried to get both to come to Hogwarts," said Snape. "Unfortunately, Thalia hid herself too well from us. Voldemort was able to find Thalia because of the strong blood connection they have, but Fiona only has one-fourth of him in her. It's harder for him to find her. However, he's very resourceful."
"He's getting closer and gaining more ground. I would feel more comfortable if she was brought to Hogwarts soon. However, Ryu feels that she should have some magical training first," said Professor Dumbledore.
"Is he really an Animagus?" asked Hermione.
"Yes, he wasn't trained in England, but his mother is English. His father is Hawaiian, but raised in Japan and China. Ryu has spent many years in England," said Professor Dumbledore in a strange tone. It sounded like he was hiding his pride towards Ryu Ran.
"So, he's a teacher. She's lucky to get the attention of just one teacher to train her," said Hermione.
"How is that good?" asked Ron.
"That means that he'll be more able to directly help her. It's individual attention," said Hermione.
"Oh, please," snapped Ron. "Some of us could do with less attention."
"Your bickering aside," said Snape who was getting annoyed with them, "You are to keep that piece of information a secret."
"Wait…there's the Chamber of Secrets," said Ron.
"The Basilisk is gone, so it doesn't matter if she opens it. She's doesn't know anything about Slytherin," said Harry.
"Will she attend the school with us?" asked Hermione. "I'd be more than happy to show her around. I mean she was raised with Muggles like me and Harry."
"One thing at a time. Sirius is still trying to get her to speak to him," said Remus.
"She has more sense than her mother. She can see through him," said Snape bitterly. Harry clutched his hands into fists.
"Please Severus," said Dumbledore.
Snape didn't look at the students. He should have held his tongue. He still didn't think that Thalia was good enough for Sirius Black. Fiona wasn't good enough for him either. Snape had to keep reminding himself that Fiona was a part of Sirius Black just as much as she was a part of Thalia. He shouldn't have insulted Thalia, especially in front of others. However, Severus still believed that Thalia was too good for Sirius, and so was Fiona.
"What we were discussing involves you, Harry," said Professor Dumbledore, thinking it was best to change topic.
"What about?" asked Harry.
"The Order of the Phoenix," said Professor Dumbledore. "We are organizing to meet with another group that is against Voldemort. It just so happens that Ryu Ran is the representative selected to do negotiations with us. He would like to meet with you when he arrives."
"Me? He wants to talk to me, but why?" asked Harry.
"I don't know why exactly, but he will explain when he arrives," assured Professor Dumbledore.
*
Fiona pulled her jacket tighter around her body. Fall was obliviously in the air now in San Francisco. She felt colder. The one thing she hated about private schools were the uniforms. Wearing skirts in cold weather was never one of Fiona's favorite things. She had called Nell before the last class of the day to avoid standing outside in the chilly weather longer than necessary.
She was so happy to see Nell drive up to pick her up that she didn't notice the dog in the backseat. He was happy to see her. His tail was wagging. He resisted the urge to lick her cheeks. "It's cold out there," said Fiona as she closed the door.
"I figured when you were standing like that," said Nell with a laugh.
"What's he doing here?" asked Fiona, finally acknowledging Sirius' presence.
"He's said he wanted to come with us," said Nell.
Fiona didn't even turn to look at him. Sirius just lowered his head down to his paws. He had never thought that a girl would give him such a hard time. Sirius had never had trouble with females before. This was no ordinary female. This female had his flesh and his blood. She was a living, breathing part of him. There was no way he could really negotiate his way into her heart. He just wished that she'd smile like she had before.
"What's going to happen today?" asked Fiona.
"Your training will begin today," replied Nell with a happy smile.
"Do you know what will happen?" asked Fiona nervously.
"You'll do fine. Master Ran will know what you need to work on," said Nell.
"That's easy. Everything," said Fiona gloomily.
Sirius lifted his head. Now, like most fathers, he thought that his child was certainly exceptional from all other children. After all, Fiona was an exceptional student in the Muggle schools and an accomplished musician. He was sure that she was not only going to do well, but she was going to be a strong witch like her mother. Sirius could smell her. She smelled like peppermints and roses. A strange scent. Her mother had smelled like gardenias and roses.
Nell pulled up to the flat and let Sirius out of the car. Sirius walked up to Fiona and walked next to her, but he was careful to keep some space between them. Fiona thought that he made a handsome dog as well as a handsome man. She had always liked dogs. Now, she sort of understood why she had wanted a dog so much when she was little.
"Welcome to your first magic lesson," said Ryu as they entered his flat. Fiona noticed that he was wearing his karate gi. Draco Malfoy was sporting bruises on his arms, but he looked almost happy.
"What did you two do?" asked Fiona.
"I've been showing Draco some martial arts," said Ryu. "He is under independent study while I'm training you. And I've decided that he could benefit with a little more exercise. He needs to learn how to block."
Draco scowled slightly at Ryu's comments. How was he supposed to block someone that fast? Draco still thought that the man had to have used magic to be that fast, despite Ryu denying had.
"Let me look at that," said Nell Lawson. She was used to seeing bruises like thoses. Fiona used to get them a lot. Nell suspected that Draco's skin bruised as easily as Fiona and Thalia's. Nell recalled Thalia having a fit when Fiona came home with bruises after her martial arts practice.
"I'm fine," insisted Draco in a tried voice. "I don't need any help. I have some time off right now for the next hour. Enjoy." He said with a final sneer towards Fiona as he walked off. She could have the crazy teacher to herself. And he had thought Dumbledore was a crackpot.
"Come back here and let me look at your arms," demanded Nell as she followed Draco. He looked like he was going to start running any second.
Sirius changed back to his normal form without anyone noticing. "Come," said Ryu, gesturing for Fiona to follow him to the library.
"I'm going to see if Nell has caught Draco yet. I might help her by holding him down," said Sirius as he attempted to leave the two of them so that Fiona could start.
Fiona threw him a look that appeared to be a plea for him not to leave. Sirius raised his eyebrow, but Fiona turned her pretty head before he could really tell. He sighed and went to go see what had happened with Draco and Nell.
Fiona had never set foot in the library before. Before, she had to learn her martial arts outside or in the den. Ryu was careful to keep her out of the library until she had permission to train. He smiled to her gently and said, "Fiona, breathe."
Fiona let out a sigh of relief. "What's going to happen?" she asked as she bit her lip nervously. Ryu noticed that she stood with her arms behind her back, twisting her hands. He almost laughed at her nervousness.
"I'm going to see what you can do. It's fairly obvious that we need to work on everything. However, I want to see if you have any natural aptitudes towards this form of magic," said Ryu.
He sounded like a science teacher. At least that's what Fiona thought. The biology teacher, Mr. Grant, hated Fiona for being so damn smart. She didn't listen to his instructions and class, and he was the only teacher who thought that Fiona may have caused the incident in the zoo. Fiona wasn't about to give Mr. Grant the satisfaction of being right. She liked annoying him even more after he had forced her to go into the reptile house at the zoo. It was fast becoming one of her favorite hobbies, but she had to be careful not to annoy Mr. Grant to the point where he could give her detention or send her to the principal's office.
"I'm only good at causing accidents, Sensei," said Fiona.
"You seem to have a talent in Charms," mused Ryu.
"What's that, Sensei?" asked Fiona.
"It's one of the main branches. With Charms, you can make things come to you, make them disappear, and do things with objects. Transfiguration is the science of changing objects into a completely different form. Herebology is like botany, the study of plants. Potions is pretty self explanatory, and so is Defense Against the Dark Arts," explained Ryu.
"How do you figure I'm good at Charms, Sensei?" asked Fiona.
"Your little 'accidents', making papers float and making reptiles vanish and reappear, tells me that's where your strengths lie," replied Ryu. He started pacing. He was rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he walked up to one of the shelves of books. He pulled a few out. "These are the basic beginners' texts that Hogwarts uses. These are the first and second years' books," he continued.
Fiona looked at them with a mixture of apprehension and interest. He placed the books on the table next to another stack that Draco was working out of. She noticed that there were rolls of parchment paper. If she took the time to look, Fiona would find the Potions essay that Draco was writing for Ryu.
"These are just a few to get you started," said Ryu.
A few. Is he insane?, thought Fiona as she looked at stack. There were about twenty books. She watched as he put more books on the table. Fiona liked to read, and she was fast learner, but not a speed reader.
"I have almost everything you need right here. The only other thing you need is a wand," said Ryu.
"What does a wand do exactly, Sensei?" asked Fiona.
"It's used to focus magical energy outward, but there are some spells that can be done, that wizards can use without wands. It usually requires a good amount of concentration and power, like the Animagus spell," said Ryu.
"You mean what my father does," said Fiona. There was no denying that she was impressed with her father. The man was not only handsome, but intelligent and an extremely skilled wizard. Fiona wanted to be able to do at least half of what her father could do. She was sure he could do more than he let on.
"Yes, and what a couple of more wizards can do," said Ryu knowingly.
"I don't know if I can do this and go to normal school at the same time," admitted Fiona finally. Fiona was in all the gifted classes in the Muggle school, so there was lots of extra work that was assigned to her.
"I've been thinking about that. Most of the children who learn magic move on to magical school completely because they already know how to read and write. Also, it's unnecessary for them to know how to do things like Calculus or any of the Muggle sciences," said Ryu.
"Are you saying I should quit my studies at the Muggle school, Sensei?" asked Fiona.
"They're not going to do you a lot of good, Fiona. This is the world that you were born into. This is the world you belong to," said Ryu solemnly.
Fiona needed to sit down and think about it.
*
"Let me go!" shouted Draco as he struggled to get away from Nell, who was busy trying to apply some magical salve on his bruised arms.
Sirius was watching with a lot of amusement. He was trying not to laugh. Draco was trying to read his DADA book and avoid Nell at the same time. He didn't need help. He felt fine. His pride was more sore than anything else. Draco was trying to figure out how to beat Master Ran the next time they practiced, but he knew that he lacked experience in the martial arts. He was going to have to wait.
"I'm fine!" insisted Draco.
"You know, I've dealt with children younger than five who are more well behaved than him," Nell told Sirius who was now smiling.
Draco opened his mouth to fire back something at the doctor, but Master Ran and Fiona came through the doors. They had been talking for about an hour. Sirius looked concerned. "Well, we've gauged as much as we could. Fiona seems to have a natural aptitude towards Charms, everything else will require some work. However, we've discussed it and it seems the best thing we can do is devote more time to Fiona's magical training," announced Ryu Ran as he focused on Nell.
Nell raised an eyebrow. She was the only legal guardian that Fiona had, and the only person who could legally pull Fiona out of the Muggle school. "What do you mean?" asked Nell.
"Aunt Nell, we talked about it and there's no way I can learn magic and stay in my school at the same time," said Fiona.
Nell didn't look surprise. She knew that Fiona wasn't joking. Fiona knew what she could handle, and if it she said couldn't handle it, then she couldn't. Nell sighed. "I was thinking of pulling you out of the school anyway. Ever since the trip at the zoo, I knew that you had to learn how to control yourself. And it would have been disastrous. As it stands, we're lucky the Agency of Magic hasn't been breathing down our necks," she said.
"Is the American agency that incompetent, not to notice someone using magic in front of that many Muggles?" asked Draco incredulously.
"In Britain, the system is so much smaller. The United States is a huge country. The larger an institution gets, the more incompetent it gets," answered Ryu.
"What do you think?" Fiona asked Sirius. She bit her lip anxiously. Why do I even care what he thinks?, thought Fiona.
"I think it's a good idea. We'll have to intensify the lessons more, and I'll have to contact Professor Dumbledore," said Sirius thoughtfully.
"Um…I've got twenty books to read," said Fiona.
"Twenty-three," corrected Ryu.
"I feel so sorry for you," remarked Draco as he continued his work. Fiona shot him a glare. She looked like was going to smack him upside the head. Draco's arms were feeling better. He had wasted his hour off trying to fight of Nell off. She was worse than Madame Pomfrey.
"I'll call the school tomorrow. The sooner the better," said Nell.
"Darn. I won't be able to annoy Mr. Grant any more," said Fiona with a snap of her fingers.
"Who's Mr. Grant?" asked Sirius.
"He's a prick. He hates me just because I'm smarter than him. He's the biology teacher in the school. I swear he's out to get me expelled," explained Fiona.
"Wait, you were annoying him?" asked Nell.
She looked at the eyes around the room. Her father wore a look of amusement, Master Ran looked calm, Draco wore a smirk, and Nell had an exasperated look on her face. "Don't look at me like that Aunt Nell. He's mean. He's horrible. He was the one who forced me into the reptile house. He keeps calling on me in class, trying to stump me, so that I look stupid. He's an idiot," continued Fiona.
"Fiona!" scolded Nell.
"I'm only telling you the truth," said Fiona stubbornly.
Sirius was smiling. Nell shot him a look that told him she wanted him to do something about this. "Well, you'll have to annoy Draco now," he said with his eyes twinkling.
Draco looked at him with a raised eyebrow. I left Hogwarts for this? I'm surrounded by strange people. Let's see: an escaped convict, an obsessive doctor, a teacher who's crazier than Dumbledore, and the granddaughter of the Dark Lord. Great. I really should have thought this over more. What have I gotten myself into?
*
Back in Hogwarts, Harry was in his room, in bed, waiting to fall asleep. He had turned in early. Ron and Hermione thought that he did it because he was tired and his scar hurt. He wanted to dream again. He wanted to see if he could help the girl in his dream.
Why was he so eager to help her? He didn't even know who she was. Why did he care so much for a stranger? For a person whose face he had never seen before? He closed his eyes and began to dream again.
He could hear her humming softly. Her hair still hung around her face, and he could only see her side profile. She wore a cloak over a set of wizarding robes, but she didn't have a wand with her. Around her neck hung the black crystal. Harry stood not far from her, and he stood still. He waited for her to speak, but all she did was hum.
"Who are you?" asked Harry in a whisper.
"Who are you?" she asked without turning her head.
Harry opened his mouth to answer, but he woke up instead. Harry lay still in his bed. Her voice sounded strange. Almost musical, but soft. He noticed that she wasn't very tall, but she was just about the same height as Hermione. Ginny Weasley had had a recent growth spurt during the summer. Harry was growing, but he wasn't really all that tall compared to Ron. Harry was five feet, nine inches tall. Ron was already six feet, and it didn't look like was going to stop growing any time soon. Harry realized that the girl in his dream was just the right height for him.
He thought of what he saw in his dreams. This girl was involved somehow with Voldemort. He wasn't sure if he was seeing the future or not. Maybe, he should've told Professor Dumbledore about the danger the girl was in, but he couldn't help her anymore than Harry could. He tossed and turned. He had to help her. Harry had never felt so helpless in his whole life. She was in danger and he couldn't help her.
AN: Any errors done on the magical lessons should be corrected. Sheesh, another weird chapter. Is it possible for someone to fall in love with someone he or she has only seen a dream? Harry sees Fiona in his dreams. She's engaged to Draco by her grandfather, but I have a feeling that Draco will let Harry have her. She's going to be getting on Draco's last nerve. ^_~
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. This is for the umpteenth time. I only own the original characters here.