Harry Potter and the Dream That Be
By Maxwell Coffee House
"I hate night time" murmured a wide-awake 15 year old Harry Potter.
It was one in the morning and the savior of the human race was lying on his back looking up at the black ceiling as he had done so on many other nights.
I should be doing my homework thought Harry as a picture of Hermione lecturing him floated into his head.
He had not touched his work all summer. Harry smiled to himself but of course blew off the idea of actually moving.
This year's summer break had been sorely needed and well deserved. Sure he loved the magical world but the Triwizard tournament, the rise of Voldemort, death of Cedric, and the ignorance of Fudge had driven Harry over the edge. He needed to get away.
The Dursleys had welcomed him home in their usual manner, with glares and piles of work. Harry surprisingly enjoyed this because at Number four Privet Drive he was not special; in fact he was scum to them. He left them alone and they left him alone, and to top it off, Harry loved the work. Yard work, housework what ever it was he did it. When he was busy, he was less likely to let his mind wander back to Hogwarts and all the thoughts that he was trying in vain to wipe from his mind.
But as he laid in the dark they came. Wormtail with his bloody stump, a bundle of rags, the graveyard, and Cedric's cold body. Cedric……. It was entirely my fault thought Harry.
He knew that no one thought it was his fault and that everyone would try to beat it into his head that it wasn't but Harry held this feeling deep in his gut. Cedric could have been a great wizard and because I agreed to share the cup he never got his chance.
Harry rolled over on his side and looked at the pile of letters on his night stand. None of them were open and he didn't want to open them. Soon he would have to face those people in the letters. Probably really pissed of people at that. Today was his Birthday and this time he knew that they would not let him blow them off. I am going to have a lot of explaining to do thought Harry as he started drifting off to sleep. I hate sleep, too many bad memories. As Hedwig shuffled around in her cage, Harry finally fell asleep.
* * * *
Harry suddenly awoke in a cold sweat with his scar aching dully. As Harry stood up rubbing his forehead he looked at the clock and saw that it was 7. "Uggg… I hate my life," mumbled Harry, "Why couldn't I have a nice happy dream."
Harry quickly got dress and stumbled down the stairs. Aunt Petunia was cooking breakfast, Uncle Vernon was reading the newspaper, and Dudley was making a pathetic attempt at a puppy dog face over his slice of grapefruit. The Dursleys still had Dudley on the same diet. From what Harry could see there was no difference in the small whale now sitting across the table from him. Even though Dudley was on a diet, Uncle Vernon had blown up one day over the scraps of food he was given and now everyone besides Dudley was allowed to eat normally. Harry grabbed 4 waffles and stared to scarf them down while Dudley eyed him enviously. Uncle Vernon looked up from his paper and barked, "Boy, I want you to tend to the front yard today. It's getting sloppy."
Harry merely nodded and excused himself from the table. They hadn't remembered his birthday, not that he expected them to but he was hoping that maybe everyone else had forgotten since he hadn't gotten a single owl this morning. Harry opened the door and headed outside.
After hours of mindless work, the yard looked perfect. As Harry started putting away the tools he looked around, everything was normal and in it place. There was something confronting about how normal everything was here. He was beginning to understand why the Dursleys liked it so much; they felt safe with being able to control their surroundings. With a quick wave at Mrs. Figg who was out on her porch with her cats he went inside. After a quick cold shower, Harry set off down stairs and helped his aunt get ready for dinner. It was all routine, breakfast, work, lunch, work, shower, work, dinner and maybe some TV if he was really lucky.
Around the supper table Uncle Vernon was droning on about how his drill business was doing, while Aunt Petunia listened attentively. As Harry poked at his food he realized that Dudley's friend Piers was over. Great thought Harry, I get to spend the night running from them so that my face doesn't collapse in on itself.
Dinner continued like so until the doorbell rang. No one moved but Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia both gave Harry a look that said you better be getting up right now and answering that. So Harry reluctantly heaved his body to the door, wondering who it could be. When he opened the door he was met by a very unhappy Sirius who frowning at him while taping his wand in is hand.
* * * *
Author's note: Just incase a few of you are confused I am going through the whole story and reposting. Some people want me to write a sequel but I need to remember everything I mentioned so I am reading the story and randomly fixing a few things here and there. Then I can organize my very random thoughts. If you would like to offer me some words of encouragement for writing a sequel that would be helpful because you guys are the main ones who keep me going.
