Disclaimer: I don't own anything that has to do with Harry Potter, except the lame spells, the plot, the weird owl, the dagger, and the name "Pauline" haha. I wasn't inspired by lyrics this time, but I did use a quote from Paradise Kiss #4. I give thanks to my sis, Vanessa, who thought of most of the "Pauline" thing. I also give thanks to my BFF, Meeny, who inspired me to put DS in here. Special thanks to Steve Irwin, who I always make fun of (he's the crock hunter hehehe.)

         A/N: I'm presently working on chapter 6, but it may take longer than usual to post it up because I need to look up more spells for fights. There's not much action in this chapter, but I promise more in the next one. This chapter has a little romance and a little humor. Enjoy and please review!

                  Chapter 5: Dreams, Deaths, and Drag Queens

Once Harry and Ginny escaped the fire, they placed Draco down on the floor gently. Ginny was in a state of panic. She kept calling his name, hoping and praying that he would answer. Harry had a more sensible idea. He decided to check his pulse.

"I've got a pulse!" Harry said in disbelief.

"Yay! That's wonderful, Harry," Ginny said while obviously pleased.

Ginny put her ear next to Draco's chest to listen to his heartbeat. With the wide smile on her face, Harry knew that it was probably the best sound she ever heard and she must really like him a lot. As Ginny let out a sigh, Draco's gray eyes snapped open to look at her and he gave a lopsided smile. She didn't see him do that, but Harry did. Then, Draco closed his eyes again, pretending to be unconscious. He must have been enjoying the attention. I shouldn't spoil it for him.

"I'll go look for herbs to mend his wounds," Harry said as Ginny touched Draco's soft blond hair affectionately.

Harry searched the clearing for plants that could be used for medicine. He found nothing. He was never good at herbology anyway. Healing Draco with his wand wouldn't help either, because neither he nor Ginny were professional healers. After Harry spent ten minutes looking for herbs, he gave up. Draco would just have to use his shirt to stop the blood. When he returned, Ginny was still giving Draco attention. So, he decided not to stop pretending? Now I must spoil his fun. He shouldn't make Ginny worry like that.

"Ginny, he's awake, you know," Harry said while Ginny was leaning on him.

"No he's not, Harry. I'm worried about him. What if he stays unconscious forever?"

Then Harry thought of a great plan to make him admit that he was awake. "Hmm….well Ginny, do you think we should take all of his clothes off to search for more wounds?" Ginny nodded her head eagerly. She clearly fancies him, he thought.

"Hold on a minute!" Draco exclaimed.

"I knew you were awake, Malfoy," Harry said coolly.

Ginny looked confused. He knew she didn't understand why he pretended to be unconscious.

Draco looked at Ginny and said, "Get off of me, little weasel. I told you I don't want any physical contact with you."

Ginny looked hurt. Harry said slyly, "Well you didn't seem to mind when she was all over you when you were 'unconscious.'"

Draco gave Harry a cold stare while still laying down. Then Ginny did something that seemed odd to both boys. She sat on Draco and started taking off his shirt.

"You're undressing me in front of Potter? You naughty little weasel!" Draco said to her, grinning. "I know you want me, but can't it wait till later?"

"Don't be stupid, Draco. I'm checking to see how big your wounds are and making sure that they're not still bleeding." It sounded weird to Harry to hear her use his first name.

"Oh…" Draco sounded disappointed. He changed his attitude quickly and said, "Well make it quick. I don't like you touching me."

She finished taking off his shirt to reveal his chest. She started gently rubbing him there.

"My cuts aren't there. Quit fooling around," he said while annoyed.

"You're no fun," Ginny replied while looking at the gashes on his stomach. The cuts formed a jagged line across his stomach that made it look like he was severed in half. "Well, at least the bleeding stopped," she commented. "Does it hurt?"

"Of course it hurts!" Draco replied while yelling. "Now will you get off of me?"

"Fine," Ginny said.

Meanwhile, Harry was laughing at them again. It was so obvious that they liked each other. Draco was just trying to maintain his reputation of being a git. Harry looked up at the sky. The moon was about to come out.

"Maybe its best if we get some sleep. We've been through a rough day today," Harry said.

"Really? I thought it was rather amusing."

"Draco," Harry paused. "You're an ass."  Draco frowned at him and Ginny laughed.

"Yeah I'm pretty tired," Ginny said sleepily.

They all said good night to each other. Harry watched Draco and Ginny as they fell asleep on the soft green grass. His thoughts kept him awake again. I'm still wondering why I woke up in the alley. How did I get there? Was it intentional? Remembering the scolding Lucius gave the one called, "Number Five," he asked himself if that person was ordered to kill him. After thinking for what seemed like hours, he finally fell asleep.

Harry woke up the next morning startled and gasping for air. His dreams even taunted him. He remembered everything clearly, as if it actually happened. The silent Death Eater took Harry while he was sleeping and put a silent charm on him. He woke up in intense pain. Why was he in so much pain? Number Five put a magnet charm on him as well, so his hands and feet were bonded together. He couldn't fight back. He couldn't reach for his wand. He couldn't even struggle. Oh yes, this one is definitely intelligent, he thought while fearing for his life. Number Five took him out of his dorm bed at 'Ogwats and ran while carrying him and stealing Harry's invisibility cloak. Number Five ran so far, even past the familiar woods and both of the clearings. Harry could see every twist and every turn that they made. He could hear Number Five talking to him and laughing menacingly. The voice sounded so familiar, but he couldn't place the face to the voice. Number Five ran with him. They ran with great speed until they reached the dark alley he woke up in a few days ago. Number Five threw him down there, while laughing victoriously. Then the world went blank.

Well, that was weird, Harry thought. Did it actually mean something or was it just my overactive imagination? Harry decided to just ignore it and continue on with his life. He checked to see if Draco and Ginny were still sleeping and sure enough, they were. The sun had just started to rise. It must have been about six o'clock. He sat there for a few minutes, while pondering. It hurt to think right now. He wanted to stop thinking, but he couldn't. He was never good at meditation, so that was out of the question. He needed a distraction and immediately found one. He saw a small rabbit running along the field. He started to follow it, eager to escape his thoughts and his boredom. It spotted him. It ran away from him swiftly and Harry charged after it. The creature ran in circles and Harry followed.

Harry pretended to be a crocodile hunter when he said, "Ah, that's a crock, mate. Blimey! Look at him run! I gots to preserve it in my pocket and save it for later."

"What in the world are you doing? You really do have the attention span of an avocado," Draco snickered while sitting up straight.

Harry felt his cheeks flush. How could he explain this? He couldn't just tell Draco about his dream like it was something ordinary. He had a feeling that it really was accurate. If Harry told Draco, he feared that the latter would question his sanity. Although, he's probably doing that this minute.

"I'm err…hunting," Harry lied.

"Why bother hunting when you have your wand? And what are you doing up this early anyway? You woke me up with your…well with whatever you're doing," Draco said annoyed as usual.

Ginny woke up at the sound of Draco's voice. "What's going on?" she asked unsurely. Nobody answered her.

"See what you did, Potter? You woke everybody up. I hope you're happy, you selfish prat."

Harry shrugged and said, "Sorry" in a quiet voice. At least my thoughts were gone for a few minutes.

"Well, as long as we're all awake, we should start walking to 'Ogwats," Ginny suggested.

"Okay," Harry said eagerly. Perhaps his companions could distract him from his nagging thoughts. Draco responded with a grunt. Clearly, he would rather be sleeping. Typical Malfoy, Harry thought.

They continued walking down the clearing after having breakfast. It seemed to last forever. Harry thought he was going to die of exhaustion. Finally, the trio came to a road. (Wow, an actual road! I haven't seen one in days, Harry thought excitedly.) They followed the road without speaking much until they went past the lake that the first years crossed and soon enough, they reached the large oak doors that lead into 'Ogwats.

The outside of the building looked the same that they had left it (save for the overgrown grass), but the inside of it looked completely different. It looked like someone had been living in it for a while without bothering to clean. The floors were all dusty and random plates were lying around the former school. It looked completely deserted. They traveled past Dumbledore's office, where the stone gargoyle that guarded it was chipped and moldy. The hallways smelled so horrible that all three of them had to cover their noses to avoid breathing in the foul air. The pictures on the wall had no people in them. They must have fled when they heard the news about Voldemort as well, he thought. There was graffiti on some of the common rooms. The owlry was completely deserted. They checked all of the common rooms, except for Slytherin. Nobody was in sight.

Just as they were about to give up hope of finding some people, Draco said, "Why don't we check out the Slytherin common room? That's the only place we haven't checked. There might be someone…"

"No, Draco. I think that would be a waste of time. The house elves aren't even here. If they left, then everyone else must have," Harry replied.

"Look, Potter," Draco said angrily. "I need to find my friends, too."

"You had friends? Who knew?" Harry joked. 

Draco ignored him while saying, "Crabbe and Goyle are the only ones stupid enough to hang around here. I know they're here."

"If you insist, then I guess we could look…" Harry's voice trailed off.

They proceeded down the corridor that lead to the Slytherin common room. Draco pushed the forsaken picture aside and went into the portrait hole. What they saw made them all gasp.

Crabbe and Goyle were lying on the floor dead. Their faces were ghastly pale and their bodies limp from what Harry recognized as the killing curse. Either the dementors or the Death Eaters have gotten to them before we did, Harry thought with sympathy. He truly did feel bad for Draco at this moment. He glanced over to him and saw a sad face. Draco noticed that Harry was watching and he quickly changed his emotional expression into a cold glare at Harry. I know he's really hurt right now. He's just trying to conceal it with the glare. I understand, Harry thought as he remembered what it felt like to have loved ones die. There was a short silence after this. Ginny stood still with her mouth hung open in disbelief.

"Those idiots," Draco said coldly, while breaking the silence.

"I'm sorry," Ginny said to Draco.

"Yeah so am I," Harry admitted.

"Don't be," Draco responded in a calm voice. "They had it coming."

How can anyone think that way about his friends? Then Harry remembered that it was Draco, after all. He was always mean and inconsiderate, even if he was just using at as a cover-up to hide his true feelings of depression.

Suddenly, they heard a voice coming from the hallway. Harry's first instinct was to hide, but he immediately forgot about it as he recognized the familiar voice. He couldn't remember whose it was, though.

As if answering Harry's thought, Ginny said in disbelief, "Harry! It's professor Snape!" The two of them rushed out to greet him, even if they didn't like him. Maybe he has some valuable information, Harry thought with interest. Harry noticed that Draco hesitated to join them. He knew that Draco wanted a moment of peace with his friend's corpses, as if pleading to say one final goodbye to them. He left Draco alone and followed Ginny.

"Merlin's beard!" Harry said while extremely surprised at Snape's appearance. He was wearing a pink frilly dress with matching high heels. He wore gold hoop earrings and put his newly dyed blond hair in pigtails as if he was a little schoolgirl. On his face was a ton of makeup that included blush, mascara, lipstick, foundation, etc. His nails matched his hot pink dress. Harry glanced over towards Ginny to see what her expression was like. She looked surprised, but excited as well. Harry thought that was rather peculiar.

"Uh…Professor Snape?" Harry asked.

"What? Who is this Snape character?" He responded while perplexing Harry even more. "I am known as Pauline."

"Err…okaaaay," Harry said while raising his eyebrows. Ginny giggled.

Draco entered into the hallway. "What…the…HELL?!" he said while pausing in-between words.

"This is Pauline," Harry said to Draco, while still bewildered.

"Riiiight," Draco said. "And I'm Jesus from Dream Street."

"Pleased to meet you, Jesus," Pauline said kindly.

"Err…yeah…sure…" Draco replied.

"Who's Jesus from Dream Street?" Harry asked curiously.

"Its this queer 12 year old from a boy band I think," Draco replied while unsure of himself.

"Oh yeah now I remember who they are!"

"His name is Jesse," Ginny stated matter-of-factly. "And I happen to like Dream Street." Both boys roared with laughter. They apparently thought this was much more funnier than Snape dressed in drag. "And he's not 12! He's 16!" They laughed even harder now.

"They're so horrible. I thought my ears were bleeding when I listened to them," Harry said while still laughing. "That's the kind of music the Death Eaters should play to torture their victims."

"Why didn't they name themselves 'Dream Avenue' or 'Dream Lane'? Or even better… 'Dream Circle'?"  Draco asked while mocking the band.

Ginny's temper was rising. "Because they're Dream Street! The name sounds cuter that way."

"Wow my stomach hurts even more now with laughing so much," Draco said while ignoring her.

Harry looked at Pauline's face. She was obviously confused. Eager to change the subject, Ginny said, "I'm so proud that you transformed from such a timid, young boy into such an elegant lady!"

"Oh thank you, young miss. But I was never a boy," Pauline replied.

"Yeah I remember the time that you used to flaunt your panties around school," Harry said with laughter. (A/N: refer to the 5th book. "Snape's Worst Memory")

"You weren't supposed to tell anyone about that," Pauline said.

"Oh yeah I remember that!" Ginny said with recognition. They all turned to stare at her. "What?" she asked them. Harry shook his head and thought of a question to ask Pauline.

"Now, erm.. Pauline. Do you have any information about the Dark Lord or where the students from 'Ogwats went?"

"No, sorry. But I do have frilly white socks. Would you like to buy some?"

"Uh, no thanks," Harry declined.

"How about you, miss?" Pauline asked Ginny. "Would you like any, Jesus?"

"I'll take some!" Ginny said eagerly. "How much are they?"

"They cost five air pellets." By now, Harry thought he would loose his mind if he stayed any longer. Ginny, however, seemed to be enjoying herself. She gave Pauline five fists full of air and she gave Ginny white frilly socks.

"Thanks, Pauline!"

"No problem, miss," she replied.

Pauline insisted that she should go to have her four o'clock tea, even though it was only one o'clock. She skipped down the hallway and vanished into another corridor.

"What in the world was that about?" Harry asked.

"I don't know. But it seems like the little weasel over here made a new friend," Draco glanced over at Ginny, who was admiring the frilly socks.

"What? They're cute!" she said.

"Snape is a weirdo. I always knew he was hiding something from us…" Harry said.

"He wasn't hiding anything. I came to the conclusion a while ago that he was placed under a memory charm and it made him unaware of his identity," Ginny replied.

"But his gender too? Come on. I don't buy that," Harry said while Draco didn't seem to have an opinion. He was silent again. He must be thinking about his friends still.

"Don't you remember what happened to Lockheart? This must have been a very powerful witch or wizard who committed this crime. With a powerful spell caster, anything is possible."

"I guess…" Harry's voice trailed off. She does have a point, he thought. "But wouldn't someone have taken him to St. Mungo's to get help?"

"Don't forget that people were trying to save themselves at this time, Harry. They were too busy to help poor Snape," Ginny said sadly.

Together, they left 'Ogwats disappointed (well except for Ginny because she liked the frilly socks a lot). They marched down the stone steps and walked past the lake to travel on the road again. As they left, Harry realized that their journey has only just begun.