A Wedding Story

Chapter 6

by: Jaded Angel8


Helga Hufflepuff was happily plotting the demise of the current Headmaster's plans. She waited until he went to bed that evening to put her plan into action. She was pleased with what she came up with, happy even. There were few who knew the devious nature of the Hufflepuff Founder, and they were long dead. Even the other three Founders, though they were on what seemed to be a different plane of existence, they were still all dead. But now, as the castle Herself, Helga got to put her deviousness to work.

~@~


Albus Dumbledore was preparing for bed in a blissfully ignorant mood. If Helga has her way, he will remain ignorant, blissfully or otherwise. But back to the issue at hand.

Albus was laying down for sleep, staring at the Hogwarts Crest above the fireplace opposite his bed. He was running the motto through his mind:

'Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus' Never Tickle a Sleeping Dragon.

Never...

His eyelids closed.


Tickle...

His limbs grew heavy.

Sleeping...

His breathing evened out.

Dragon...

His heart rate slowed. He fell into the realm of dreams, soon to plague him.

Albus stood before Hogwarts Castle, staring up into gleaming gold eyes that were once the windows of the Transfigurations classroom. The great oak doors that once led into the Entrance Hall were no more. Instead there was a great, gaping maw filled with razor sharp teeth, a veritable carpet of red tongue flicking out at him. The tongue curled around him, pulling him, taking him deep within the cavernous innards of the dragon he faced. He struggled to no avail. He was helpless, completely at the mercy of the castle he loved so much. He found himself running, climbing staircase after staircase, trying to escape. But everywhere he looked, everywhere he went reminded him of the dragon he occupied. The staircases moved, changed. Shifted. Two came together in a point, with him in the center, standing amidst chomping teeth in another mouth. Another dragon. It was, in his mind, like those Muggle nesting boxes. A dragon within a dragon within a dragon.

Suddenly he was carrying a candle, wearing a nightcap and gown. He was running again, trying to elude the ever charging dragons. He tried to get to his office, to his peace. But found himself in the dungeons instead. Torches lined the walls, tongues of flame leaping out at him. The candle in his hand sputtered then rose higher than before, licking at his clothes, trying to eat him. More dragons. Always dragons. Trying to eat him. Trying to taste him.

Helga was having a grand old time weaving dreams and nightmares out of four little words. Now to get to the point. The meddling old fool was already afraid, now to pass the message.

Albus paused in one of the unused classrooms in the dungeons. There were people there, though none saw him. It was as if he were invisible. A wedding was taking place. He could not see the faces of the couple, but he knew that he himself was presiding over the ceremony. He saw his own blue eyes twinkling as he spoke words his watching self could not hear. But wait. One half of the couple was trying to move, to break away from the one they are bonding to. Marrying. He saw himself speak to the young person, sternly dictating them back into position. Saw the old man's smug smile as the young one obeyed. Saw him continue with the final ritual that would bound one to the other. Knew the old man had, in some way, arranged this final outcome. And knew that neither he nor the old man would like what happened next. He saw the couple bound, then combust. Burst into flame. Saw tatters of dress robes flitter to the floor at his feet. Felt himself falling. Falling...

Albus awoke on the floor beside his bed, covers twisted around him, restraining him. His heart was beating fast, thundering in his ears and through his veins. But as the rush slowed, the thundering receded, and he could hear. Hear the voice that he had always associated with the Castle. With Hogwarts.

'Never meddle in the affairs of Dragons, for thou art crunchy, and good to eat.'

He understood then. For now, he would let things go as they will. For now.

~tbc~

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