Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters nor do I own the song "One Of Those Nights"; it belongs to Joe Brooks and is from the musical "Metropolis" starring Judy Kuhn. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I sat up in bed, a scream in the back of my throat. My hand instantly flew to my neck and a cold chill went up my spine as my nightmare replayed in my head. I felt a lump in my throat.
Oh God… what a nightmare!
I tried to summon a glass of water but the words just wouldn't come out.
Great, now I've lost my voice. I then remembered Voldemort's icy grip on my throat, strangling me.
I dreamed that the earth turned to stone
And we walked alone-- we were cold.
Dust- we had all turned to dust,
The machines gone to rust- we were old.
Why this strange sad dream?
Why this ugly nightmare?
Is this how it ends, this bleak and lonely hour.
There was not one chance- they could right the wrong here
Or at least pretend…
Why kill every flower - just for power?
Looks like one of those nights that has no beginning,
One of those nights that has no end.
You search for the truth, you dream of a lover,
They take all your youth, they take all your friends.
Rain… in my dream there was rain
And the tears of my brothers in pain.
There was hope-- with the first ray of light
We would all be all right in the dawn.
How did we begin when we stood together?
Will we find again what we've known forever?
We still have the power, we can right the wrong here.
There is one more chance- no more time to fight - we need light!
No more time for the nights that have no beginning…
Gone are the nights that have no end.
Calm is the force that looks to the future,
Strong is the cause: the love of my friends.
Strong is the force- strong to the end
In my state of horror, I shook you violently until you woke up. A few seconds later, you woke up.
"Yes, Minerva?"
Uh-oh. You looked mad.
I said nothing. Actually, even if I'd wanted to say anything, I wouldn't have been able to.
"Minerva, it's 3 o'clock in the morning… no offense my dear, but what do you want?".
I looked up at you and smiled sweetly.
"Cat got your tongue?"
In a way…"All right Minerva, why aren't you saying anything?"
"Because I can't", I tried to say. Nothing came out though, which didn't surprise me. It surprised you though.
"Good God, what in Merlin's name happened to you?"
I shrugged.
"All right, this is getting annoying…"
You're telling me….
You got up and handed me a piece of parchment and a quill. I looked up at you in surprise.
"Write it".
I rolled my eyes but complied.
Albus, I wrote, do you know any counter-curses for my condition?
"Your condition? What condition is that?"
I've lost my voice, in case you haven't noticed…"Why don't you go to Poppy?"
Because Poppy can't cure me….
"And I can?"
Probably…
"All right… what happened?"
It was You-Know-Who… he came to me in a dream…
"Say what?"
In a nightmare, actually… he was strangling me… and I woke up and I had no voice… and I doubt Poppy could help me with this….
"Hold on. Let me see what I can do".
You left me in bed for a few minutes and came back with a goblet full of some warm liquid.
"Drink this".
What is it? Last time you gave me something I got a hangover, Albus…"And I apologized for that…. now drink".
I drank the concoction and my voice returned minutes later.
"Thank you… what was that?"
'This and that:".
I stared at you.
"Albus, what did you give me?"
"More important, what was Voldemort doing in your dreams?"
"Beats the hell out of me… but it was awful… dead people everywhere… it was as if he had come back to power".
You looked at me when I said that and I suddenly realized that my hair was hanging loose all over the place; in my haste to come find you, I hadn't remembered to tie it up. Ugh, how horrible I must have seemed.
"You know that's not true", you said.
I looked up. Did you read my mind? No… you must have been referring to my comment about Voldemort being back in power.
"No, I meant the thing about you being a mess:"
"Albus, you know I hate it when you read my mind…"
"No matter, you're not a mess… you're beautiful".
I could feel myself blush.
"Minerva, there's no need to worry yourself over Voldemort coming back to power… I'm sure it was just a random nightmare… as for that voice of yours, I woke up like that this very morning… seems there's a nasty bug floating around the castle…. It was a mere coincidence… but it's nothing a hot cup of tea with honey and lemon won't cure… and if that won't do it…."
With that, you pulled me close and gave me a deep kiss that I'd been hungering for since dinner. That was enough to melt me and make all remnants of the nightmare go away.
As soon as our kiss ended, you climbed back into bed.
"Come on Minerva… go back to sleep."
I lay back down again and you wrapped your arms around me. Now I was sure to have pleasant dreams.
THE END