Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.
Fate.
The rest of the day passed without incident. Between the trio, they managed to cover up the lack of knowledge of their fellow Gryffindors, but it had come to the price to making themselves look foolish in front of most of the teachers, a fact that had irritated them to no end. After the bell had rung, indicating the ending of the lessons, Harry stood up calmly, gathered his things in his bag and looked as Phoenix and Griffin did the same. When they finally walked to the door, they saw the other teens waiting for them, apologetic looks in their eyes. Before they could say anything, they were joined by Lupin and Snape. The werewolf smiled gently at them, but the trio was too annoyed and tired to smile back. They just pushed past them, bidding them goodbye and walked down the hall, leaving a few startled people behind them.
Dragon knocked on the headmistress' office door and when she called out for him to enter, walked into the room followed closely by his friends. The woman looked up with a smile that was quickly replaced with a concerned look when they slumped into their usual chairs. Putting down the pen with which she had been writing she looked at them in turn. "Are you feeling ok? You look tired."
Ron sank deeper in his chair. "We are tired, and we have had to make fools of ourselves more times than I care to remember to cover up for our former classmates. Honestly, I'm going to hurt Dumbledore when I see him. Neville didn't even have a clue about what a tangent was, how are we supposed to keep it up for two weeks? And why do we even care? It's not like they did care about what happened to us!"
Ron stood up and began pacing around the office. Daleila sighed, she had already heard that from the other teachers but she could hardly tell them the true reason their praised students had began to ask whatever question came to mind, specially things they had known for a while. With a deep sigh, she gathered her papers and stood up. "Lets go home, children. I'm sure you can use a few hours of rest."
All three of them nodded and rose from their seats, but when they walked out they saw Remus waiting for them, leaning against a wall. The teens sighed but before the man could address them, Professor Villjé stepped in front of them, a forced smile on her face. "Can I help you with something, Professor Lupin?"
The man looked mildly amused from the children to the woman but answered nonetheless. "Yes, headmistress. I wanted to talk to the children, but I see they are tired and will probably want to go to bed." Remus shot them a concerned look. "Furthermore, I would appreciate it if one of you could tell me where to find Sirius, I assume he has already contacted you."
Harry stepped forward and nodded. "He came by yesterday. You can come with us, if you want. Sirius is going to come home this evening."
Remus shifted his gaze from Harry to Professor Villjé. "I wouldn't want to intrude."
The woman looked back at the other children and finally nodded. "It's ok, you can come with us."
They arrived home nearly half an hour later. Professor Villjé immediately ushered them upstairs and to their rooms so they could have some rest. The teens didn't put up much a fight, basically because they knew it was no use. On the other hand, Harry had to give to that he was feeling more tired than he had in a long time, not physically but mentally. With a sigh, he entered his room and threw his book bag to the ground, using a bit of magic to make it land next to his desk. Then he collapsed into his bed and closed his eyes.
Without meaning to, he felt asleep almost immediately and he was pulled into a dream, something that hadn't happened in quite a while.
Dream
Bodies.
Lost of Bodies.
Dead.
All of them.
Blood.
Lots of it.
A big room.
A throne made of human bones.
A man sitting in the throne.
A man with bright red eyes.
A man with a face like that of a snake.
Voldemort.
An old man lying in front of him.
Dead.
Lifeless blue eyes.
Dumbledore.
A big room.
The great Hall.
HOGWARTS!
Harry woke up with a piercing scream, soon matched by cries coming from other rooms. The dark-haired boy curled up on his side, pulling his legs as close to his chest as possible. He could feel himself trembling from head to toe, his eyes were tightly closed, trying to drive away the images that were haunting his mind. He barely noticed when someone opened the door and ran into the room. Warm arms came around him, startling him out of his terrified thoughts. Harry's first reaction was to fight against the arms that were now hugging him tightly so he began to struggle, still too confused to use wandless magic.
"Harry, Harry! Stop it, it's me!"
After a few minutes of struggling, the words finally registered in the teen's mind and he opened his eyes to see Sirius trying to calm him down, all the while holding him as closely to his chest as Harry's struggling limbs allowed.
Sirius was very relieved when Harry finally stopped fighting him and lay limp in his arms. He had been downstairs talking with Daleila and Remus about his plans to buy the house next to the one Daleila lived in, when screams coming from the bedrooms startled them. Sirius had been the first on his feet and raced out of the living room and up to his godson's room, only to see him curled up in his bed rocking slightly. Quickly he had rushed to the bed and had embraced the kid. He had been surprised when Harry began to move against him, trying to get him to let go of him. Seeing the terrified look in his godson's face, Sirius had refused to let go and finally he had managed to make him stop struggling.
Once Harry had recognized his godfather, he curled up against him, tightening the grip he had on his godfather's waist. Sirius sat down more comfortably, pulling the boy's head on his lap and began to run a hand over his godson's back, trying to stop his trembling. Finally, after a few minutes, the man broke the silence.
"Harry? Are you ok?"
The boy refused to look up, instead he snuggled closer to Sirius's side. His mind was a mess of thoughts. What had the dream meant? Was it a warning? Could Voldemort be already powerful enough to break into Hogwarts?
If that was the case, Ron, Hermione and him would have to do some serious thinking. As much as they had hated the memories that Hogwarts brought them for the past few months, they still loved the place and letting Voldemort take over their old school was not really an option. Sighing, he finally sat up from his place next to his godfather and tried to smile reassuringly at the worried man. Sirius immediately wrapped an arm around his shoulders, still looking very worried. "What happened, Harry?"
The boy shrugged lightly, he wanted to talk to Ron and Hermione before telling anyone about his dream. "I had a nightmare, nothing to worry about."
Harry saw that Sirius was worried despite his words but not wanting to elaborate, he stood up from the bed and stretched out. "When did you arrive, Sirius? Have you seen Remus?"
His godfather looked at him for a while, debating if he should try to force Harry to tell him what was wrong, but finally decided against it and answered his godson's questions. "I came nearly half an hour ago, I would have come up to greet you but Daleila said you were probably sleeping. And yes, I saw Remus, he was with her."
Harry nodded and looked towards the door when it opened. Standing there was Daleila, a concerned look etched upon her face. She immediately came in and hugged him. "Are you ok, Dragon?"
The boy nodded, returning the hug. "I'm fine, Professor. How are Phoenix and Griffin? I remember hearing them scream."
Daleila nodded. "Phoenix is fine, she was a bit shaken up from a nightmare. Professor Lupin is with Ron, but I guess he's doing ok, I'll check on him in a moment." She looked at him intently for a moment and then she asked, "Would it do any good if I asked what the nightmare was about?"
Harry shook his head. "I prefer not to talk about it, if it's the same to you, Professor."
The woman looked at him for a while longer before nodding, and then walked to the door. "You better change your clothes, Dragon." When the boy stared at her in confusion she added, "remember you have an appointment with Doctor Matt."
Harry's eyes widened. "Damn, I had forgotten!"
"Language!"
Harry rolled his eyes at the departing woman. "Sorry Professor."
After the door had closed behind her, the boy turned to Sirius, who was looking a bit confused. "Er… do you mind going out of the room for a moment? I need to change."
Sirius nodded but made no movement to leave. "Who is Doctor Matt? You're not ill, are you?"
Harry bit his lip a bit embarrassed. "No, I'm fine, Doctor Matt is our psychologist, I'm sure I mentioned we still visited him."
Sirius's face fell, he had nearly forgotten what his godson had gone through because he had been too blind to notice that Harry would never turn on them. Seeing the look in the other man's face, Harry quickly embraced him. "It wasn't your fault Sirius."
The man didn't return the hug. "Yes it was."
Harry tightened his grip on the man's waist. "No it was not. Look we have gone over this before and I'm not really in the mood to get through this again. Haven't we fought enough?"
Sirius finally sighed and returned the hug, knowing Harry was right. He felt his godson relax in his arms and tightened the hug. "I'm sorry, Harry, I can't help it. No matter what you say and how right you are, there's no denying the fact that I let you down when you needed me the most. Maybe I couldn't have known, but I should at least have listened to what you had to say."
Without saying anything else, Sirius let go of him and walked out of the bedroom.
Harry thought about continuing the discussion but finally decided to leave it for another day. He could understand what Sirius was going through, he had gone through a similar situation not that long ago and had learned that the rational mind often had no influence on the feelings of guilt. Sighing he turned around and went to get dressed, he really wasn't looking forward to today's session, he was sure the doctor would say they were stressed out. Harry smirked. Of course they were, ex-classmates and ex-professors showed up, they had to make fools of themselves so no muggle would suspect anything, then they faced dreams about doom and destruction. Well, as far as he was concerned, that was more than enough to get anyone stressed.
To be continued…
A/N: Thanks for all reviews.
Fate.
The rest of the day passed without incident. Between the trio, they managed to cover up the lack of knowledge of their fellow Gryffindors, but it had come to the price to making themselves look foolish in front of most of the teachers, a fact that had irritated them to no end. After the bell had rung, indicating the ending of the lessons, Harry stood up calmly, gathered his things in his bag and looked as Phoenix and Griffin did the same. When they finally walked to the door, they saw the other teens waiting for them, apologetic looks in their eyes. Before they could say anything, they were joined by Lupin and Snape. The werewolf smiled gently at them, but the trio was too annoyed and tired to smile back. They just pushed past them, bidding them goodbye and walked down the hall, leaving a few startled people behind them.
Dragon knocked on the headmistress' office door and when she called out for him to enter, walked into the room followed closely by his friends. The woman looked up with a smile that was quickly replaced with a concerned look when they slumped into their usual chairs. Putting down the pen with which she had been writing she looked at them in turn. "Are you feeling ok? You look tired."
Ron sank deeper in his chair. "We are tired, and we have had to make fools of ourselves more times than I care to remember to cover up for our former classmates. Honestly, I'm going to hurt Dumbledore when I see him. Neville didn't even have a clue about what a tangent was, how are we supposed to keep it up for two weeks? And why do we even care? It's not like they did care about what happened to us!"
Ron stood up and began pacing around the office. Daleila sighed, she had already heard that from the other teachers but she could hardly tell them the true reason their praised students had began to ask whatever question came to mind, specially things they had known for a while. With a deep sigh, she gathered her papers and stood up. "Lets go home, children. I'm sure you can use a few hours of rest."
All three of them nodded and rose from their seats, but when they walked out they saw Remus waiting for them, leaning against a wall. The teens sighed but before the man could address them, Professor Villjé stepped in front of them, a forced smile on her face. "Can I help you with something, Professor Lupin?"
The man looked mildly amused from the children to the woman but answered nonetheless. "Yes, headmistress. I wanted to talk to the children, but I see they are tired and will probably want to go to bed." Remus shot them a concerned look. "Furthermore, I would appreciate it if one of you could tell me where to find Sirius, I assume he has already contacted you."
Harry stepped forward and nodded. "He came by yesterday. You can come with us, if you want. Sirius is going to come home this evening."
Remus shifted his gaze from Harry to Professor Villjé. "I wouldn't want to intrude."
The woman looked back at the other children and finally nodded. "It's ok, you can come with us."
They arrived home nearly half an hour later. Professor Villjé immediately ushered them upstairs and to their rooms so they could have some rest. The teens didn't put up much a fight, basically because they knew it was no use. On the other hand, Harry had to give to that he was feeling more tired than he had in a long time, not physically but mentally. With a sigh, he entered his room and threw his book bag to the ground, using a bit of magic to make it land next to his desk. Then he collapsed into his bed and closed his eyes.
Without meaning to, he felt asleep almost immediately and he was pulled into a dream, something that hadn't happened in quite a while.
Dream
Bodies.
Lost of Bodies.
Dead.
All of them.
Blood.
Lots of it.
A big room.
A throne made of human bones.
A man sitting in the throne.
A man with bright red eyes.
A man with a face like that of a snake.
Voldemort.
An old man lying in front of him.
Dead.
Lifeless blue eyes.
Dumbledore.
A big room.
The great Hall.
HOGWARTS!
Harry woke up with a piercing scream, soon matched by cries coming from other rooms. The dark-haired boy curled up on his side, pulling his legs as close to his chest as possible. He could feel himself trembling from head to toe, his eyes were tightly closed, trying to drive away the images that were haunting his mind. He barely noticed when someone opened the door and ran into the room. Warm arms came around him, startling him out of his terrified thoughts. Harry's first reaction was to fight against the arms that were now hugging him tightly so he began to struggle, still too confused to use wandless magic.
"Harry, Harry! Stop it, it's me!"
After a few minutes of struggling, the words finally registered in the teen's mind and he opened his eyes to see Sirius trying to calm him down, all the while holding him as closely to his chest as Harry's struggling limbs allowed.
Sirius was very relieved when Harry finally stopped fighting him and lay limp in his arms. He had been downstairs talking with Daleila and Remus about his plans to buy the house next to the one Daleila lived in, when screams coming from the bedrooms startled them. Sirius had been the first on his feet and raced out of the living room and up to his godson's room, only to see him curled up in his bed rocking slightly. Quickly he had rushed to the bed and had embraced the kid. He had been surprised when Harry began to move against him, trying to get him to let go of him. Seeing the terrified look in his godson's face, Sirius had refused to let go and finally he had managed to make him stop struggling.
Once Harry had recognized his godfather, he curled up against him, tightening the grip he had on his godfather's waist. Sirius sat down more comfortably, pulling the boy's head on his lap and began to run a hand over his godson's back, trying to stop his trembling. Finally, after a few minutes, the man broke the silence.
"Harry? Are you ok?"
The boy refused to look up, instead he snuggled closer to Sirius's side. His mind was a mess of thoughts. What had the dream meant? Was it a warning? Could Voldemort be already powerful enough to break into Hogwarts?
If that was the case, Ron, Hermione and him would have to do some serious thinking. As much as they had hated the memories that Hogwarts brought them for the past few months, they still loved the place and letting Voldemort take over their old school was not really an option. Sighing, he finally sat up from his place next to his godfather and tried to smile reassuringly at the worried man. Sirius immediately wrapped an arm around his shoulders, still looking very worried. "What happened, Harry?"
The boy shrugged lightly, he wanted to talk to Ron and Hermione before telling anyone about his dream. "I had a nightmare, nothing to worry about."
Harry saw that Sirius was worried despite his words but not wanting to elaborate, he stood up from the bed and stretched out. "When did you arrive, Sirius? Have you seen Remus?"
His godfather looked at him for a while, debating if he should try to force Harry to tell him what was wrong, but finally decided against it and answered his godson's questions. "I came nearly half an hour ago, I would have come up to greet you but Daleila said you were probably sleeping. And yes, I saw Remus, he was with her."
Harry nodded and looked towards the door when it opened. Standing there was Daleila, a concerned look etched upon her face. She immediately came in and hugged him. "Are you ok, Dragon?"
The boy nodded, returning the hug. "I'm fine, Professor. How are Phoenix and Griffin? I remember hearing them scream."
Daleila nodded. "Phoenix is fine, she was a bit shaken up from a nightmare. Professor Lupin is with Ron, but I guess he's doing ok, I'll check on him in a moment." She looked at him intently for a moment and then she asked, "Would it do any good if I asked what the nightmare was about?"
Harry shook his head. "I prefer not to talk about it, if it's the same to you, Professor."
The woman looked at him for a while longer before nodding, and then walked to the door. "You better change your clothes, Dragon." When the boy stared at her in confusion she added, "remember you have an appointment with Doctor Matt."
Harry's eyes widened. "Damn, I had forgotten!"
"Language!"
Harry rolled his eyes at the departing woman. "Sorry Professor."
After the door had closed behind her, the boy turned to Sirius, who was looking a bit confused. "Er… do you mind going out of the room for a moment? I need to change."
Sirius nodded but made no movement to leave. "Who is Doctor Matt? You're not ill, are you?"
Harry bit his lip a bit embarrassed. "No, I'm fine, Doctor Matt is our psychologist, I'm sure I mentioned we still visited him."
Sirius's face fell, he had nearly forgotten what his godson had gone through because he had been too blind to notice that Harry would never turn on them. Seeing the look in the other man's face, Harry quickly embraced him. "It wasn't your fault Sirius."
The man didn't return the hug. "Yes it was."
Harry tightened his grip on the man's waist. "No it was not. Look we have gone over this before and I'm not really in the mood to get through this again. Haven't we fought enough?"
Sirius finally sighed and returned the hug, knowing Harry was right. He felt his godson relax in his arms and tightened the hug. "I'm sorry, Harry, I can't help it. No matter what you say and how right you are, there's no denying the fact that I let you down when you needed me the most. Maybe I couldn't have known, but I should at least have listened to what you had to say."
Without saying anything else, Sirius let go of him and walked out of the bedroom.
Harry thought about continuing the discussion but finally decided to leave it for another day. He could understand what Sirius was going through, he had gone through a similar situation not that long ago and had learned that the rational mind often had no influence on the feelings of guilt. Sighing he turned around and went to get dressed, he really wasn't looking forward to today's session, he was sure the doctor would say they were stressed out. Harry smirked. Of course they were, ex-classmates and ex-professors showed up, they had to make fools of themselves so no muggle would suspect anything, then they faced dreams about doom and destruction. Well, as far as he was concerned, that was more than enough to get anyone stressed.
To be continued…
A/N: Thanks for all reviews.
