Chapter 2 – The Dream
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Janus all sat in anticipation as the Hogwarts castle slowly came into view. Its massive towers and many lights grew larger as the train pulled into Hogsmeade station and came to a full stop.
"You three better change into your robes, and fast." Hermione said, giving them a slightly arrogant look.
"Well, she's still bossy." Muttered Harry as he got up and left the compartment with Janus and Ron.
Janus gave him an odd look, and then shrugged. The three boys moved through the corridor, avoiding various students, waving hello to fellow Gryffindors, and finally made it to their luggage. Each one pulled out their robes and vanished into different compartments to change, only to return a few minutes later.
"Ready?" Janus asked the two, now sporting the normal black Hogwarts robes.
Harry and Ron nodded, and they returned to their compartment where Hermione was impatiently waiting. She beamed at them as they returned to their seats, picking up whatever they had brought onto the train. The four friends ambled out of their compartment and pushed their way through the vast crowd of Hogwarts students making their way out of the train. After around ten minutes of squeezing their way through students who apparently had forgotten to change as well, they reached the now open doors of the train, and stepped out into the starless, cloudy day.
"Looks like it's going to rain." Harry spoke out randomly, looking up at the sky.
"Harry, this is Britain, it always rains here." Ron said jokingly.
Harry chuckled. "Yea, I guess you're right."
And as if Harry was asking for it, the heavens opened up, a loud boom of thunder cracked across the sky, and it began to rain heavily.
"Thanks a lot Harry!" Ron muttered sarcastically.
Harry grunted, knowing that Ron was joking with him, but was more interested in getting out of the rain. Janus was holding the side of his robes over Hermione, shielding her from the ever increasing downpour, and the two of them were hurrying up to the carriages that would bring them to the school. Harry used his own arm to shelter his face and he and Ron followed their two friends quickly. After what seemed to be eternity in the rain (even though they weren't traveling that far) they finally reached the (as Harry once believed to be horseless) Thestral pulled carriages. Even though Harry had spent a lot of time with the Thestrals in his previous year, he still couldn't get over the fact that they were horrid looking beasts. Thestrals are huge winged horses with white shining eyes, dragonish faces and necks, and skeletal black bodies, and are invisible to anyone who has not seen death, which means that most of the students Hogwarts don't have the ability to see them. Harry however had to watch Cedric Diggory (A sixth year Hufflepuff at the time) be killed by one of the worst spells in wizarding knowledge: Avada Kedavra. One of the Unforgivable Curses, and said to be unblockable with no counter-curse, Avada Kedavra produces a jet of green light, and it's target is killed instantly leaving only a mark of sheer terror on their faces. Cedric was killed by Wormtail (Voldemort's servant) when both he and Harry had grabbed a hold of the TriWizard cup, which had been bewitched into a PortKey (an item that is used to teleport wizards to specific places.)
Harry hurried himself into the carriage with Janus, Ron, and Hermione, trying dearly to ignore the Thestrals; the thought of death was reminding him of Sirius.
Sirius is dead. There is nothing you can do about it, just let it go, you can't spend the rest of your life mourning over him. Harry told himself repeatedly.
Harry shut the idea of Sirius and the Thestrals out of his mind. He climbed quickly into the black carriage, and seated himself in the worn out leather bench that had long lost its cushion through the many years of Hogwarts usage. Harry had sat himself next to Ron, who was peering out the window, squinting very hard at the front of the carriages, obviously hoping he'll somehow see the Thestrals.
"Ron, we've told you at least a hundred times. You cannot see them unless you've witnessed death." Hermione uttered, her teeth chattering.
Janus had wrapped his robes around Hermione tightly, and they were huddled very close together trying to keep warm, but Hermione was still shaking from the rain, despite Janus' considerate attempts to keep her warm.
"Oh, I know that." Ron said, trying to make himself not look stupid, "But I just don't get it, how can they just not be there?" Ron kept looking hopelessly.
Hermione sighed, completely lost for words. She whimpered in the cold and wrapped her arms tightly around Janus, trying desperately to stop shivering. She rested her head on his shoulder and sighed deeply, somewhat overcoming the cold, however she was still shaking. Janus gave her an affectionate look, and rested his head lightly on the top of hers, humming a tranquil tune that Harry didn't recognize. Harry wondered if there was some magic involved in Janus' song however, for even he was intoxicated by it's calming bliss, he sat back feeling very warm. Hermione let out another deep sigh and smiled, blissfully unaware of the world around her. Janus' melody echoed through the tiny carriage, giving a serene feel of warmth and carelessness. Harry drifted off into a world of peace, a place he never wanted to leave, a place where nothing could ever go wrong, and sadness was unheard of. However, his exploits in this world came to a short, as the Thestral drawn carriages came to a halt, just outside the Hogwarts grounds. At this moment, Janus stopped humming and the carriage's passengers were all thrown back into reality. Harry and Ron got up and prepared to leave the carriage, but Hermione and Janus stayed seated. She seemed to still be in her own little world, wrapped carefully in Janus' arms. He kissed the top of her head gently, and spoke a soft voice.
"It's time to leave, Hermione."
She let out a sort of confused noise, like she had just been woken up. The beautiful girl looked up, staring affectionately into Janus' eyes. She smiled brightly, which caused Janus to smile as well. Their love for each other was unparalleled; Harry could see that now, and despite his earlier lust for Hermione, he knew that she would never leave Janus. He could see the overwhelming love in her eyes, and in his.
Harry found himself feeling incredibly happy for them, they were a perfect pair, and he smiled at the thought. "Come on you two, or we're going to miss the sorting."
Janus and Hermione nodded, and both stood up, shortly afterwards following Ron and Harry out of the coach. It had stopped raining, and the sun was shining brightly (which was out of the ordinary because they normally arrived at night), and in the distance an incandescent rainbow filled the sky. It was like no other rainbow Harry had ever seen; it was full of light, not the normal translucent one's you'd see, but appeared almost solid. Its vivid colors spread throughout the sky, waving slightly in the arising summer heat. Harry had a strange feeling that Janus had something to do with this, for the reason that it gave off the same warm, calm feeling his song had.
"Come on Harry, why are you just standing there?"
The young wizard was abruptly brought back to reality, realizing he had fallen behind his friends, and was now being addressed by Neville Longbottom, a forgetful Gryffindor in the same year as Harry.
"Oh hello Neville, how are you?" Harry inquired the boy as they hurried up to catch the rest of the Gryffindors.
Neville let out a confirming grunt that Harry assumed meant "I'm okay." Neville didn't seem to want to talk, so Harry dropped trying to converse and walked quietly up into the Entrance way.
Harry hurried himself into the Great Hall, which was filled with its normal Start of Term feast decorations; hundreds of candles hovered silently above the tables, illuminating the room with a dull flickering light. The bewitched ceiling today reflected the current condition outside; so naturally it showed the beautiful rainbow and bright sun. It was a rare moment to see something like that in Britain. (This still confused Harry, for he had never arrived at Hogwarts during the day before.)
He walked over to the Gryffindor table, feeling extremely out of place. This was the first time at Hogwarts that nobody was staring at him, nobody was gawking at him, and even Malfoy seemed to be ignorant to his presence.
This is good, I can be myself. He thought. But why do I feel so odd? Do I miss the attention? That can't be, I always hated it. It's gone though…
"Hey Harry, over here!"
Harry turned to see Janus waving at him happily, beckoning him to join them at the table. He sat down next to Ron anxiously awaiting the Sorting. The first years were now making their way up to the Staff table where Professor McGonagall awaited them, standing cheerfully next to the Sorting Hat. Harry could remember his Sorting and how nervous he had felt, and he felt a surge of sympathy for the first years who were now listening intently to the Sorting Hat's song. Harry had given up bothering to listen to the song, for it wasn't at all important. He sat there, zoned out, twiddling his thumbs needlessly. His eyes wandered, eventually stopping on Cho Chang, a pretty 7th year girl in Ravenclaw. Harry had liked Cho for a very long time, and even dated her for a short period of time, but had acted like an idiot, ruining his chances.
There are plenty of girls out there. He told himself.
And he was right. As Harry's eyes wandered around the Great Hall, he noticed that there were a lot of girls at Hogwarts, and many of them had grown into very pretty teenagers. Harry had only noticed this once before during the Yule Ball his fourth year. Harry, however, still couldn't get over the fact how much Hermione had changed, and he kept flicking his eyes over at her. She was so pretty, chatting happily with Janus. Harry felt another surge of jealousy for Janus, wanting to be the one with his arms around her.
No no no. She's my friend. That's it. Harry kept telling himself every time he looked at Hermione. But I'm a teenager, it's normal for me to look at girls. He shook his head vigorously, getting rid of the idea of him and Hermione. But Hermione has to be the prettiest girl in school right now…Gah! NO! Harry grabbed his head, trying desperately to clear his mind.
"Harry, you OK?" It was Hermione, her soft, tantalizing voice echoed through Harry's mind.
"Yea, I'm fine," he lied.
"You don't look too good Harry." Janus barged his way into the conversation.
"I said I'm fine, just leave me alone." Harry shot back, immediately regretting taking such a tone.
"Ooh, touchy. Okay, we'll leave you be." Janus replied with a relative joking tone.
Harry sat there, very angry with himself. Why had he gotten so angry over thinking about Hermione in that way? It was normal for people his age. She is a girl, and she is very pretty. Why is it that he got so furious? Harry, again, shook the thought of Hermione as more than his best friend out of his head.
"RAVENCLAW!" shouted the Sorting Hat, and the last of the students filtered their way to the tables they had just been sorted in. Most of them had a very pale look at their faces, which made sense; they had just gone through a very nerve-racking experience.
Harry and his fellow Gryffindors waved merrily at their newcomers, who seemed to lighten up a bit at the welcoming they were receiving. After a few minutes, and after all the first years settles themselves at their respected tables, Dumbledore stood up, ready to make his speech. This brought Harry's attention to the staff table which, to him, seemed to be missing something. After pondering on it for a short while it came to him.
"Hey, where's the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?" Harry whispered, getting the attention of Ron, Hermione, and Janus.
"I don't know, do you reckon they couldn't find somebody to take the job?"
"Don't be silly Ron; they can't just not have a Defense Against the Dark Arts class." Hermione said, looking quite bewildered at the lack of the teacher.
"Maybe they he hasn't arrived yet, like Professor Moody. He was late fourth year. Remember?" Janus added, hoping to resolve the issue.
"I guess, but it just seems so unlikely. Mayb---Oh Dumbledore is starting his speech."
Dumbledore had cleared his throat loudly and waved his hands calling for silence from the students.
"Welcome, welcome, and welcome to another year at Hogwarts. It's another year of learning, teaching, and fun. Another year of pranks, jokes, and detention too. (A few students laughed.) I'd like to welcome our new first years with a few new things, and some old ones too. As usual, the Forbidden Forest is off limits to any student, unless brought there by an able bodied teacher." He glanced over at Hagrid quickly, giving him a slight smirk. "The Inter House Cup and the Inter House Quidditch Cup will presume as normally this year, although the teachers have planned a few surprises for later in the year."
The students looked around anxiously, whispered their own ideas to what was going to happen quietly.
"I am also pleased to announce that Firenze, the centaur, has gladly accepted to take over the job of Divination again this year. Sadly, he could not be here today." He looked over to an empty seat where Professor Trelawney normally sat. "Furthermore, we will be reinstating the Dueling Club that was started four years ago, and they will coincide with your Defense Against the Dark Arts classes. Professor Snape and Professor Flitwick will be teaching these classes, both of which are very knowledgeable in the art of Dueling."
A slight uproar of questions came from the students, but Dumbledore quickly shut it out.
"Quiet now, all your questions will be answered in due time. Now…I believe that's all. Well then, let's start the feast."
The once empty plates on the tables were now full of all kinds of food. The students happy picked what they wanted, and ate while talking about various things.
Harry leaned in close to his friends, hoping nobody else would hear him. "Dumbledore didn't mention a new teacher, but he mentioned the class. You don't think Snape finally got the job do you?" Harry glanced up at Snape who was sitting at the staff table looking smugger than he usually did. "He seems to be happy about something."
"But if Snape took over Defense Against the Dark Arts, then who took over Potions?"
"I hope nobody, maybe they got rid of the class." Ron said looking hopeful.
"Come on now Ron, Potions is an integral part of the wizarding world, they just wouldn't get rid of it." Hermione glared at Ron, obviously annoyed with him. "Oh look here's McGonagall with our schedules now. It'll say who the teacher is on there."
Professor McGonagall handed each of them their schedules for the year and trotted off continuing her duties.
"Let's see." Hermione muttered off the different classes as she read through the list. "Ah here, Defense Against the Dark Arts."
"Hermione, there's no teacher listed."
"I noticed that Ron." She scowled him.
"Well, I guess we'll find out when we have the class, now won't we?" Janus said again trying to resolve the issue.
"I guess you're right." Hermione smiled brightly at him.
Janus put his arm around her and held her close as they ate, talking more about what was going on. There was still no mention of Voldemort or Sirius, or anything that happened the previous year for that matter. Harry was still happy about this, but the fact that there was no mention at all started to prick at the back of his mind. It was severely strange that something so important, an event that was so essential in their lives would be completely neglected, especially since Harry hadn't talked to any of them over the summer holidays.
It seemed like only a minute had passed, when the food vanished from the plates, and the students began to sift their way out heading to the common rooms. Harry, Ron, Janus, and Hermione all stood up and followed the rest of the students.
"Hermione, shouldn't you and Ron be doing your prefect duties?" Harry again noticed that they should be elsewhere.
"We were told not to. I don't know." She shrugged him off and jogged up to Janus, throwing her arms around him.
""Ello there, pretty lady." Janus smiled at her. Hermione blushed at the compliment, and the two of them walked to the common room alone, holding hands.
Harry moved his way through the students, ending up next to Ron. "Um…hey Ron, have you noticed anything, well, different about Hermione?"
"What, the fact that she's an absolutely gorgeous girl, and practically every guy in the school is overly jealous of Janus?"
Harry let out a little "Yea" noise, but turned his head again to ask another question. "I did notice that, but she acts different."
"Janus seems to be having a bad effect on her, which ultimately seems to be turning out very good. I mean, look at her!"
"I had enough looking on the train." Harry said, sounding rather embarrassed.
"Gawking at her chest?" Harry looked surprised at what Ron had just said. "Yeah, I did too when I first saw her like that. Damn Janus, why didn't I think to like her when I first met her?"
Ron was sounding more jealous the Harry, but it wasn't all that surprising. He had always shown some interest in Hermione, but never really acted on it.
"Oh come on Ron, there are plenty of girls in the school. Did you see Parvarti? She looks stunning." Harry stopped himself for a second. Were he and Ron talking about girls? Harry couldn't remember ever doing that with him. They always talked about Quidditch or school, but never about girls.
"Oh I know there are pretty girls Harry, but none of the look as good as Hermione."
Harry quietly nodded. He was right; none of the girls looked as good as she did.
They arrived at the Fat Lady portrait, which was actually the door that leads to the Gryffindor common room.
"What's the password Ron?" Harry assumed Ron knew, being a prefect.
"Cockroach Cluster." He said; the door sliding open at the confirmation of the password.
"Cockroach Cluster?" Harry muttered. It wouldn't have been so odd if it weren't for the fact that it had been used as Dumbledore's password before. Generally, passwords weren't used more than once.
They walked into the common room, which had many cushy red chairs and a roaring fire that gave them light. Most of the Gryffindors had gone up into their dormitories, except for a scattered few that lingered on, and Janus and Hermione who were sitting very close together, looking through their new books.
"Over here Harry." Hermione had looked up, seeing Ron and Harry walk into the room.
"No thanks Hermione, I think I'm going to sleep."
"Me too, I'm kind of worn out."
"Suit yourself." Janus waved goodbye to the two boys as they marched up into the dormitories. He put his arms around Hermione and rested his head on her shoulder, continuing the conversion they were having about the book before Ron and Harry had arrived.
Harry and Ron disappeared into the dormitories, making more noise than they probably should have.
"Do they seem different to you?" Hermione closed the book and turned to Janus with a very questioning looking on her face.
"They seem very angry, if that's what you mean." He replied softly.
"Yah, they don't seem to want to be around me." She sounded hurt.
Janus rubbed her arms sympathetically, and replied in a very comforting tone. "Don't be silly Hermione; of course they want to be around you. It's probably just teenage hormones. I mean, I don't see how anybody couldn't want to be around you. You're just so great."
"Now you're just patronizing me." She sounded even more hurt.
"I would never do that, you know that." His voice was very serious.
"I know, but…" She was on the brink of tears.
"Hermione, what's wrong?" Janus was very surprised at her actions. He didn't think how Harry and Ron acted was all that bad, but apparently Hermione felt different.
She shook her head. "Nothing. Nothing's wrong."
"Hermione, you know you can't lie to me. If it's about Harry and Ron, I can talk to them if you'd like." Janus was getting more concerned.
Hermione gave an awkward smile. "I guess."
"I'll talk to them tomorrow then." Janus knew there was something else that was wrong, but if she wasn't going to tell him there wasn't much he could do. So, he hugged her, wrapping his arms around her and soothingly saying, "Everything will be OK, no matter the problem."
Hermione was slightly taken aback at his actions, but it wasn't long before she felt very calm in his grasp. She felt as if there was nothing wrong. She cooed quietly and closed her eyes, drifting off into a light sleep.
Janus let out a compassionate sigh. "I will always be here for you Hermione Granger. Always."
Harry laid awake in his four poster bed, listening quietly to the sounds of his roommate's slumber, quite furious with himself for acting the way he did earlier that day. Why had he gotten so angry for that matter? Why had he acted so distant? Was he that jealous of Janus over Hermione? He rolled over. It looked like it was going to be another rather sleepless night.
Harry didn't like the night; for ever since Voldemort's return he hardly got any sleep. Once the lights went out and he was left alone with himself his mind began to wonder, thinking. All the horrible events in his life began to plague his mind, dancing through his thoughts, and mocking his very existence. During the day these ideas seem to vanish into the nadir of his psyche, only to return each night, haunting him. It was perhaps why he was so frustrated all the time; he didn't sleep, he couldn't sleep. Even if he did manage to fall asleep, he was inundated with dreams of death and despair. Countless nights he would lose his friends, who to him were family, to a looming force he couldn't stop, and he began to fear that these dreams were not merely reveries, but premonitions of the future. He feared his dreams would come true, and he would lose the only people he held so dearly.
Is that why I'm acting like this? I'm afraid I'll lose them? He asked himself.
Can't be, they're only dreams, why would I be so afraid of them? A small voice replied.
Maybe I should talk to them. Yes, that may help. Deciding to talk to his friends seemed to facilitate, because it wasn't long before he was dead to the world, drifting off into a, with any luck, dreamless slumber.
Harry was suddenly no longer in his bed, but standing in a large open field, which was horrifically filled with bodies, each one devoid of life, and each one with the same warped horror-struck image etched on their faces. Harry walked through the field, passing withered trees whose trunks twist up in rotting decay. The sky was completely black, but the thick mist that hovered silently above the ground emitted a dull white light providing enough luminosity to guide Harry's aimless wandering; for he did not know where he was nor where to go. He kept walking forcing himself not to look at the gruesome bodies, many of which were beginning to fester, and a rancid stench was fuming out of them. He wandered passed broken gravestones, abandoned shacks, and more bodies. Then, a small white light begin to shimmer, in the distance. Its peaceful beauty called to Harry and he burst into a run, trying to reach it. As he tore across the field, dodging the limb bodies and other obtruding objects, the light began to grow larger, and slowly started to change in hue. Once shining white, it was now a light green becoming ever more opaque as Harry approached it. Harry kept running, determined to reach the light for unknown reasons, and it wasn't until it was nearly covering his entire field of vision that he realized what it was.
"Avada Kedarva" The voice was cold and snakelike, the voice of Voldemort.
Harry stopped his run and fell backwards; trying to run away, but his fear prevented him. But the spell's target wasn't Harry, and he watched as a shadowy figure slumped to the ground. Harry looked around desperately, but Voldemort was no longer in sight. He slowly crept his way to where the body had dropped, his heart pulsing loudly, almost deafening only to him. He stood over the body and peered through the mist, hoping to unveil the figure Voldemort had killed. He bent over closer, and saw something he didn't want to see. Lying there dead, was a beautiful girl with shiny brown hair and now-dull brown eyes. It was Hermione.
Harry wanted to scream, but he couldn't. He fell backwards, his hands landing on another object. He turned around to see what it was, and there lay Ron, dead too. He jumped back, whimpering frantically. There was Janus, his face cold, no longer containing its peaceful warmth. He stood up; he wanted to run. But where? There was no where to run.
And then he heard laughing; the sly, cold laugh of his most hated enemy. Harry spun around, trying to find him, but only saw more darkness. The mist's light was going out, leaving Harry in a pit of darkness. He continued turning around, looking for some sort of escape point, but there was none, he was alone, in the darkness, his best friends dead. Then he heard the snake voice again, and a burst of green light shot at him.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" He screamed, tearing out of his dream, sitting up violently. His scar burned more painful than it had ever done before, even worse than when Voldemort had touched him. The pain began to overtake and he slumped over, crumpling with a loud thump on the floor; the pain causing him to violently convulse. He heard the dormitory door slam open, and the cry of his friends.
"Harry. HARRY!" It was Hermione. Harry's screams had alerted Janus, who ran up into the dormitory. Hermione followed him, dreadfully worried about Harry. "We need to get him to the hospital wing! Now!"
"Right. I'll take him." It was Janus. He lifted Harry up, and ran out of the room as fast as he could.
The last thing Harry heard before blacking was Hermione crying in fright as she followed Janus as fast as she could.
Hermione…