A/N: I'm sorry but I can't seem to figure out why the formatting's gone to shit. Please, oh please someone tell me how to fix it!
bAnd I Bleed When I Dream/bbrbr
bDisclaimer:/b I still don't own the wonderful world of Harry Potter, or anything else you may find in this story, minus Alanna. brbr
dnd4ever: Thank you for your review; here is more…brbr
Tamra: Thanks for pointing out things in my not sorting deal. I didn't want to sort her into one house when she could associate with all of them, see. And, are you saying there's something wrong with H/D? I3 H/D. brbr
bSpecial A/N:/b As the Fifth book has put things all in an uproar, assume this story is au to the fifth year. As in, anything that happened in the Fourth book happened, but nothing in the Fifth. This is their fifth year. brbr
bChapter Five: Hogwarts, A Tour/bbrbr A seventh year Slytherin, Imara Sanchis, gave her a general tour of the castle. Imara was a prefect, and despite what Alanna had heard about her house, seemed quite nice. brbr "This is the tower where Professor Trelawney holds her Divination classes," Imara said, pointing to a door on the left. She stopped walking and turned to Alanna. "If you're smart you'll avoid the whole class altogether." brbr "Okay," Alanna answered slowly. "How come?" brbr "Just trust me. The whole class is a joke." brbr They continued walking down the corridor and after awhile came back to the Entrance Hall where they'd started. Professor McGonagall was waiting at the foot of the stairs. brbr "Thank you, Miss Sanchis," McGonagall said, dismissing the girl. Imara walked off down the hall. brbr "This way, Miss Stalmer." She led Alanna up the marble staircase and then down several corridors. She stopped in front of a statue of a wizard in the middle of a bow, looking stately for as much as he had five arms. brbr "The password is 'citadel,'" McGonagall said. At the last word, the statue finished its bow and stepped aside, a door appearing in the wall behind it. brbr Through the door was a large bedroom with a four-poster curtained bed, window seat, and a writing desk. A thick rug sat on the floor in front of the fireplace, which was not lit as of yet due to the warm weather. Asleep on said rug was a little ball of gray fluff, otherwise known as Mo Ghra. Alanna's trunk had been placed at the foot of the bed. The entire affair was decorated in black and silver, complete with a black-and-silver tapestry of a unicorn on the wall. brbr "These are your rooms," Professor McGonagall said, making her look around for the plural, though she didn't see it. "If you wish to change the colors from the neutral we provided, I'm sure one of your classmates can teach you a charm or two." She paused and looked around the room. "Since you have no House, you are permitted to associate with any or all, as long as you remember that the locations and passwords of the common rooms are explicit secrets. If you violate these terms you may lose your privilege to visit any of them." brbr "Of course," Alanna nodded seriously. brbr "Would you like to see the common rooms tonight, or shall I show them to you another time?" brbr "Now, if you don't mind, Professor," she replied. brbr "Not at all. Come with me." brbr They left the room and retraced their steps to the Entrance Hall. From there they continued down a passage leading past what looked suspiciously like dungeons. They passed what she remembered as Professor Snape's Potions classroom. Near the end of the corridor, the Professor suddenly drew short in front of one of the doors, as if she didn't know exactly which one it was. As if she hadn't seen it in some time. brbr "Wormwort," the woman pronounced clearly, and the heavy door swung inward. "This is the Slytherin common room." brbr It was a large, spread-out room decked out in green and silver. Rugs, furniture, lamps, curtains. It was very striking. Several students milled about the room, including Imara, who waved. A boy with very pale hair, though not nearly as colorless as her own, scowled in her direction. brbr After the Ravenclaw common room (Poe) and the Hufflepuff common room (Animagus), Alanna began to despair of the whole place operating on passwords. She didn't think she could remember very many more. brbr Several stories up, at the base of a large tower, Professor McGonagall stopped in front of a portrait of a very large woman in a very pink dress. brbr "Password, Professor?" the woman asked. brbr "Thunderbird," McGonagall stated. Alanna smiled, for she knew she could remember that one. brbr The portrait swung aside to reveal a hole in the wall. The two walked through into the Gryffindor common room. brbr "This is Gryffindor Tower," McGonagall said unnecessarily. brbr Like the other common rooms, it was decorated with its house's colors, in this case red and gold. brbr "I am needed elsewhere, Miss Stalmer. Do you think you can find your way back to your rooms?" brbr "Yes Professor," Alanna said, while making a note to investigate once she got there, as that was the second time the woman had used a plural. brbr McGonagall turned and left, and Alanna was about to do the same when she stopped at her name. She turned around to see Harry waving from across the room. He was sitting with Hermione and Ron. As she walked over to them, the other two greeted her as well. brbr "Hi," she replied to all of them at once. brbr "Have a seat," Hermione said, moving over to give her a patch of the red carpet. Harry and Ron had a chessboard between them, and Alanna jumped when one of the knights jumped over the squares to smash a pawn to pebbles. brbr "Wizard chess," Hermione said without looking up from her book. brbr "Ah," Alanna said nodding. She was glad to have an explanation without asking for it. She watched engrossed for the next half hour as the boys ordered the pieces around and a growing layer of dust and rubble accumulated about the board. brbr When the game was over, and the figures had become whole again, Hermione pointed out that as the next day was their first, they ought to be getting to bed. She put her bookmark in her book and stood to illustrate the point. brbr Halfway to the portrait hole, Alanna turned back at the sound of Harry's voice. "Where is your room?" he asked, halfway across the room in the other direction. She briefly described the statue in the hallway outside her door, and he assured her he knew which one she meant. brbr "Well I'll see you in the morning then," he said. brbr "Goodnight," she replied. They both went their separate ways. Harry turned up a flight of stairs that must lead to the boys' rooms, and Alanna hurried down the corridors to her room, as it was nearly curfew. brbr "Citadel," she murmured to the statue. It promptly moved aside to let her enter. brbr Inside, Mo Ghra was still asleep, but had relocated to the middle of the bed. brbr "Freeloader," Alanna chuckled. At the sound of her voice, the kitten lifted its head and let out a mew. "Yeah that's what I thought." brbr The white-haired girl began to examine her bedroom more closely, and found behind the unicorn tapestry a door. It should have led back out into the hallway, but her bedroom door was the only one out there that she could see. Behind the door was a small bathroom, complete with black and silver towels. She decided it must be for her use. brbr She took a long, hot bath, singing childhood fairy tales to Mo Ghra, who sat a safe distance away from the water on a folded-up towel. Afterwards the two climbed into bed and fell asleep. brbr That night Alanna dreamed of lightning, though she couldn't remember doing so upon waking. She knew only that she had a vague feeling of claustrophobia. brbr She'd dreamed she was lightning. brbrbr
bFiní/bbrbrbr
A/N: If you'd like to be notified by e-mail when I update, either leave your e-mail address in your review, or e-mail me at lainey_marie_03@hotmail.com. My name will show up as Lainey Marie on your e-mail and the subject will be something like "AIBWID chapter (whatever) up." Inside will be a direct link, and any news or whatever that I should feel particularly important. brbr
Constructive criticism and suggestions are welcome. --Lainey
