I have decided not to number any of my chapter because I keep loosing
count. Oh well. I was looking this over and realized I had a lot of
mistakes in previous chapters and I want to thank everyone for not berating
me for them. I would also like the time to thank my reviewers (there are
so few!) and my readers (which I hope there are many of) and apologize for
not getting it up earlier. No excuse besides pure laziness. I should also
state another disclaimer because none of this is really mine besides the
plot. I also forgot to give credit to Buffy the Vampire Slayer because
I've stolen a couple lines. That's it! Enjoy and review.
Looking over at Hermione, he noticed his friend was talking to a girl and a guy who were standing over her chair. He assumed they were friends of hers that she made before Hogwarts. She glanced over to his chair and noticed him rubbing his throat and staring at her for a moment.
"Harry! You're awake." He gave a tired smile and waved to her friends who waved back. "Oh! This is Calvin and Bridget. We've been friends since before our boarding school." Harry nodded, it seemed he was right in his guess.
"Hi, I'm Harry. I go to school with Hermione." He said politely while he tried to think of an excuse to leave and talk to Allie about what they saw.
"Hi, Harry." Bridget said. "We've heard so much about you from Hermione. You and Ron are all she ever talks about!" Harry gave an unsure smile, slightly intimated by the girl's loud and excited nature.
"Really. Well, I think I need to be getting back." He made a move to stand but was pulled down by Bridget.
"Oh, Harry." Hermione sighed. "We just got here. Are you sure you can't stay?" She pleaded.
Harry looked around frantically trying to think of an excuse because there was no way he could say that he hopped minds with their house guest and visited some place like Spain and saw his second cousin once removed get strangled. No, that would never work. He briefly considered using his scar as a reason but he didn't want to call attention to it and most likely she would want to owl Dumbledore and he didn't feel like lying again. Plus, he had to make an excuse serious enough for Hermione and feasible for her friends; he didn't want questions to arise from his hasty departure.
"Sure, we can stay." He gave a weak smile and Hermione hugged him. He made sure to keep his inner arm away from her reach and then allowed himself to be dragged to the concession stand. Hermione bought him a soda and he sipped at it as he concentrated on projecting his emotions towards Allie who would hopefully come and find him. However, his mind and telepathy was so shot from that impromptu trip that he had trouble drinking, thinking and listening to Hermione's and her friends' meaningless chatter all at the same time.
As if his prayers had been answered, or his emotions had been read, Allie strode into the pool area and quickly spotted Harry looking happy but giving off waves of unrest.
"Harry." She said promptly and the other three stopped talking. "We need to talk." Without waiting for a response, she dragged him off until they were standing near the corner of the deep end of the pool.
When they were out of hearing distance, he threw his arms around her in a hug. "You're my savior. You've got great timing." She didn't smile and Harry knew it was time to get down to business. "I know what you're thinking, but I can't go and find her again. I'm having trouble getting my feet to walk, separating my mind from my body would be almost suicidal."
"But-" Allie protested. Harry held up a hand to stop her.
"No. I can't do it. It's too much energy on both of our parts and if something's wrong, you'll feel it."
She raised a hand to slap him but he caught it and stared into her hardened eyes. "I can't feel her trouble unless she's close or if she dies. I will not wait around for the latter." He held her hand tightly to his chest and waited for her breathing to even out.
"Then what are you going to do?" She paused for a moment and thought.
"Lend me Hedwig." Harry's eyes widened.
"What? Why? You can't contact her. Besides, she's probably already gone by now." At her wide eyes, Harry thought of what he had said and quickly corrected himself. "I meant out of the country, not dead gone." She was shaking with anger and Harry understood how she felt, if it was Ron in this situation or Hermione, he would have already taken his wand and jinxed the person until they agreed to help. "Look, I understand what you're feeling, but as of now, we have no idea where she is and even if we did, we'd have to floo there and we might not be able to because of the Diviners Council." He felt proud that he got his point across but an even larger part was deeply distressed about not being able to help Andrea. Allie, meanwhile, was in deep thought going over everything that Harry said until something clicked.
In a sly voice she spoke to Harry, making the other boy fidget nervously. "Harry, do you know who falls under the word diviner?" He shook his head and she continued in the same voice. "Well, there are psychics, mediums, mystics, seers, prophecy layers, spiritualists, soothsayers and what am I forgetting? Oh yes, telepaths." He stared at he wide eyes as her grin grew. "And as a telepath, you can floo into the Council headquarters and demand to know where she is." She gave him a pathetic look and, as eager as he was to help, he didn't want to have a whole council of diviners on his tail because he snuck into their headquarters.
"I don't know how good an idea this is." He said hesitantly and this scolded himself. What happened to the confident person who was here just a few minutes ago? Nothing he could do now, especially since she was getting a feral look in her eyes.
"Do it Harry or I'll throw you into the pool." She looked serious though it didn't seem like that big of a threat. She saw his small glimmer of confidence and then added, "White can be very transparent when wet, you know." He blanched but still shook his head. She sighed and then took both hands and pushed them against his chest sending him sprawling into the water on his back.
Harry cleared off the water that was on his glasses, which had somehow managed to stay on, and treaded water while glaring at her. "Bitch." She smirked and Harry looked behind her to see Hermione and her friends running towards the pool. He looked at his arm and he could see the dark lines of the mark clearly against his shirt. Making a hasty decision, he conceded. "Fine, I'll do it." He swam to the other side of the pool and pulled his body up over the edge with ease before grabbing one of the towels in the beach bag Hermione had brought. He peeled off his shirt and quickly wrapped the towel around his shoulders, hiding his inner arm from view.
"Harry!" Hermione said breathlessly as she ran over to him. "Are you okay? What was that fight about?"
"Nothing." He replied while staring only at Allie and fixing his glare on her. "It was just a disagreement. I believe Allie and I need to return home. You should stay Hermione." She looked like she wanted to protest but saw the resolve on Harry's face and agreed. The two black haired teens walked out of the pool and left Hermione to stare at their rapidly retreating backs. She now understood that Harry had changed, for when he was fixing his gaze on Allie, he looked downright dangerous. It scared her.
**********
At the Granger's house, both of them had changed into their robes before leaving. Harry lit their electric fireplace and thanked God that the Granger's were gone and that they had a hefty supply of floo-powder above their fireplace.
"Hold on to me." Allie said as she threw the powder in the fireplace before grabbing a handful for their trip. "Ready?" Harry nodded and briefly considered saying another location but decided not to test his luck in these fireplaces.
She threw down the powder and Harry called out the same destination Andrea had said only a few days before. "Divine Right!" He closed his eyes as they spun out of sight and kept them closed until he felt solid ground rush up to hit his feet and send him sprawling across the floor. He helped Allie up who had fallen under him and glanced around at their surroundings.
It seemed they were in a parlor, an old one at that. Faded tapestries hung on the walls and antique high-back chairs were seated in front of the fireplace they had just come one of. It reminded him of an old-fashioned Gryffindor common room as it was done in gold and red. He stepped across the rug that was black with soot from the fireplace and trekked to a wooden door that he pulled open. Allie and him stepped outside into a stone corridor like the ones in Hogwarts. Only there were no moving pictures, just tapestries that depicted different events on one side of the wall and a lot of windows that overlooked the courtyard on the other. Someone walked passed them, dressed in robes of silver and carrying a large book. She didn't give them a second glance and they quickly darted off towards the direction she came. They entered a row of hallways and Allie surreptitiously opened a door just a peak and glanced around inside. After seeing no one was in, she opened it wider and they walked in for a moment. It appeared to be a bedroom and a rather plain one at that. The rooms here were almost like convents for all they had was a single bed on one end of the room, a writing desk under a window and two bookshelves against the opposite wall. There were only two chairs, one that went to the desk and a comfy sitting chair that was under a torch by the shelves. A small bathroom that was behind one of the two doors in the room only contained only a sink, a toilet and a small shower. Across from the door leading to the bathroom was an armoire that only contained robes of deep blood red.
Harry's eyes widened at this for every piece of clothing was red with the exception of black slacks a white shirt and a white cloak. There were no robes of any other color. Harry grabbed Allie and they ran back out the door but not without coming face to face with the design on the back of the door.
"The eye of Horus." Allie whispered as she stared at the Egyptian eye that was centered in a pyramid. She gently traced it and stepped back. When she did this, the eye closed its lid before snapping open revealing a human eye beneath it that was looking at the two. Harry froze in fear before regaining his wits and pulling Allie out the door. While they ran down the corridor door swung open on their hinges revealing the eyes that had come to life and were now looking at them as they flew down the hallway. Allie screamed as a door swung open right in front of them, almost smacking her in the face. She looked up and saw a blue eye watching her. Harry grabbed her hand and was about to pull her along when a skeletal hand clasped onto their shoulders and turned them around.
**********
Hermione came back to her house with the intention to get ready for the dinner, which was only in about four hours. She had stayed talking to her friends and catching up with them until two o'clock, but it had begun to get cold and she left with the intent on checking on her two houseguests.
She went up to Harry's room and saw his general clutter on the floor but he was nowhere to be seen. Thinking they might both be in Allie's room, she checked the other girls and still found no sign of them other than the wet swim trunks and a shirt she found in the bathroom. She noticed Harry's sandals that he had worn to the pool were in the entry way and the tennis shoes that were their since yesterday were gone. They must have gone somewhere, she concluded and went to search for a note.
Hermione checked the kitchen but it was on her way back to her living room that she noticed there was a fire burning in the grate and small specks of floo powder were on the ground.
"They must have floo-ed out." She said to herself and felt slightly relieved. If they had time to get their shoes and if Harry had time to change out of his swimwear, than they must not of left because of an attack. She sighed and went to the bathroom to take a shower. Hermione's only wish was that they were safe and would make it to this dinner tonight.
**********
Harry was marched down the hallway with the stranger's hand still clasped on his shoulder. He glared at Allie who hadn't said anything since the corridor with the eyes. He looked up at the man that found him and quickly turned his head away, hoping he covered up his shiver for the man could probably feel it under his hand.
When Harry had turned around, and glanced at him, the first thing he noticed was the blood red robes he was wearing. Secretly, he hoped the room they went through wasn't his because he scared Harry just by his appearance. So instead of staring at the face of his captor, he glanced at the pale, bony, and hairless hand that was clamped to his left shoulder. Odd how the limb matched it's owner so perfectly because besides donning red robes, the odd thing about the man was his lack of hair except for the eyebrows which were so fair and thin that it put Draco's light locks to shame. His skin was so pale it seemed almost translucent and made his unusual violet eyes stand out more prominently.
He gestured towards the inside of a room and Harry allowed himself to be guided in where seven people, five women and two men, sat at a table that was raised on a platform about five feet higher than the bench he and Allie sat on.
"You may go now Caleb." A deep voice spoke and the man bowed his head before gliding away. The two teens then turned their attention to the tall and graceful black woman that was watching them from her spot at the table, which was three before the end. Her eyes, like the newly named Caleb's, were strange too except hers were a natural color, green like Harry's only paler, more serene and wiser. She stood and tossed her long black hair over her shoulder before looking down on them. He noticed she was wearing green robes. Before when he complained there was no diversity with the robes, he couldn't help but gawk at the rainbow of colors in front of him. There were the ones he had already seen before, the red, and silver, now green but there was also a sky blue, purple, brown, and a pale yellow. "Hello young ones. I am Kali and we are the Diviner High Council." Allie and Harry just nodded. "We take great care to make sure no one is entering this domain without our permission, however, today, you have gotten past our guards. How did you do this?" She sat down and the man in the red stood up.
"I suggest you tell us for we have ways of finding out." He said scathingly as he resumed his seat.
"Quiet, Malcolm. They will tell us without our probing." The woman in the blue who was seated in the middle said softly. Although she was small and seemed delicate, she carried herself with an air of authority and Harry knew she was a force to be reckoned with.
"We floo-ed here." Allie said simply and her statement was met with raised eyebrows.
"Ah, Allison Caprice Snape. We have not had you here since you were a mere child. What brings you back?" The woman in the yellow said. She seemed friendly to Harry and with that in mind and the color she was wearing, he imagined that if she went to Hogwarts, she would be a Hufflepuff.
"I'm here to find my sister. I know she's in trouble somewhere near Spain."
The man in the brown spoke up next. "Know." He rolled the word around in his mouth as if he was trying to figure it out. "To know, you must possess great confidence in your statement. I myself rarely know; I only think." Harry regarded him oddly, having no idea what he just meant. Allie did however.
"I saw her being held against a wall and strangled by someone."
"But you do not possess the sight." Said the woman in purple as she regarded her curiously.
Allie shook her head. "No I don't. I still only have the gift of empathy, but Harry is telepathic and we combined our powers to find her." There was a hushed conversation after this and Harry felt his face heat up when he noticed all the members taking quick glances at him before returning to their discussion. Finally Kali, or the woman in the green, stood up and walked down the steps over to Harry.
"Hold still, young one." She placed both hands at his temples and closed her eyes. Harry felt like something was probing his mind and figured that this woman must also be a telepath and was trying to see if he was. Trying to move this along, he dropped his mental shields and let her mind enter his. She took a quick scan before she dropped her hands and faced the table. "He has the gift of telepathy."
"What's his strength?" The woman in the blue asked.
"First division, level seven." She said confidently as she reassumed her seat. Harry could barely keep the surprised look of his face at the amount of knowledge she gathered in such a short time.
"Well, as fascinating as Harry is," Allie said, "I'd kind of like to know if my sister's alright."
"I'm fine." Came a voice from the doorway and both teens jumped and turned around.
"Andrea!" Allie cried as she went to hug her sister. "Are you okay?" She said frantically as she looked her over. Truth be told, she looked a right mess to Harry; she had bruises on one side of he cheek and her lower jaw was swelling slightly. When she spoke, her voice was raspy from the abuse she received. She had the bruises in the shape of fingers around her neck and her purple robes were torn slightly and covered in dirt and even a little blood. Her hair and face were not much better and Harry assumed that she had just gotten back with no time to get fixed up.
"Hey, did you just get back?" Harry asked as he gave her a hug.
"Yeah. Actually, I was heading towards the healer's when Caleb found me and made it clear that I should come here. Glad I did." She gave her sister and Harry a smile before going up to the council and producing a folder. "Mission accomplished. Permission to receive treatment?"
"Granted." The woman in blue said as she glanced over the report. "Nice work." She added in a more affable tone. Andrea just nodded her head before heading out the door and grabbing the wrists of Harry and Allie.
Once outside, she didn't stop her furious pace and Harry thought she might be angry with them for some reason so he decided to ask her. She turned around and looked a little surprised but shook her head.
"I'm not angry, Harry. I just want you and Allie to trust me; I don't need a body guard chasing after me because I can take care of myself."
"I know that, but when we get images of you being strangled, we tend to react and want to help you." Allie said pointedly.
"But you shouldn't have been checking up on me. We planned this: once in the morning and again at night. None of this would have even happened if you had abided by those rules." She said as she opened a large wooden door where a woman decked out in white was healing various people around the room.
"What were you doing there anyway?" Harry asked as they sat down on a cot.
"It was a mission of mine. I can't tell you much about it."
"Well, why were you cloaked?" Allie persisted.
Andrea sighed. "The man I was going after was a telepath and if I hadn't of cloaked and shielded my mind he would have found me and the mission would have been all for nothing."
Harry looked a little alarmed at the thought of the Council sending out a young girl for a job that required an older and more learned person. He stated this to Andrea and she just shook her head sadly.
"You don't understand, Harry. I take these missions; I'm not forced into them. And as for the age and experience, no one here gives a shit about that. They only care about your power level and your ability to carry out the tasks. Besides, I've had training, it's not like I'm inexperienced." She opened her mouth to defend her job again but was cut off by a loud metallic sounding clatter coming from the other side of the door. She stood up quickly and rushed over to a fallen Caleb who was shaking in fear and surrounded by a metal tray with spilled medical utensils on the floor.
"Caleb." He didn't look at her while she wrapped her arms around him to steady him. "Caleb, come back to us." Still nothing, but by this time, the woman in green who was at the Council rushed in and Andrea relinquished her hold on the man so Kali could hold him to her chest.
"Caleb, come back to me. Just listen to my voice." She whispered soothingly as she rocked him gently. He stopped trembling and fell into her arms. Kali looked up at Andrea. "He'll be fine but something in here is spooking him. Go get Malcolm." She directed to Andrea who flew out of the room without a second thought to exhaustion or her wounds. Caleb turned around and faced her before winding his arms tightly around her and kissing her cheek gently. Harry heard a loud scuttle of feet and turned to see Andrea and the man in the Council who was dressed in red following behind.
"Caleb, what did you see?" Andrea asked as Malcolm walked into the center of the room and fell to his knees with his eyes closed. He seemed to be in deep concentration and was disturbed by no one, which was strange because by this time, many diviners had gathered around the entrance and were peering into the room. Instead of responding to the questions, he buried his face deeper into Kali's shoulder and was shaking again. Realizing she was getting no answers, she turned to watch Malcolm who was still in the same position and stayed that way for a moment or two. Suddenly, he got up and turned to face everyone.
"There are no harmful spirits in this room and from what I can gather, it seems we have a different matter on our hands." Malcolm said and everyone waited patiently. "We've got a dream-weaver on the premise." This brought cries of shock and outrage and many glances at Harry and Allie, the new comers. "No, it's not these two." Malcolm said as he walked out the door. "I'm alerting Cassandra. Everyone, go about your business and Kali take Caleb to rest. You two have the rest of the day off. Andrea, I want to see you healed and without these tag-alongs." His voice said from down the hallway. Just as he said, everyone scattered to different places and Kali helped Caleb stand and wrapped an arm around his waist. He leaned his head against her shoulder and they walked off, leaving Harry, Andrea and Allie alone in the room.
"What's a dream-weaver?" Harry asked at last.
Andrea motioned for them to follow her and they were back in the healer's wards getting treatment for the various bruises on her face and neck.
"Can't do a thing about the soreness in your throat, dear. Some tea might help, though." One of the healers said after she was cleaned up. "Now go back to your room and rest some." Andrea slid off her cot and the three of them headed towards her room. It was the same as all the other room, the plain white bed, tiny window and writing desk with adjacent bookshelves. However, her armoire held deep purple robes.
"What's a dream-weaver?" Harry repeated as he sat in the empty chair as the twins took the bed.
"A dream-weaver is a telepath whose strength is invading people's minds during dreams. They're rather powerful as they can make dream apparition appear in the real world or the dream world." She coughed a bit from her sore throat and went to the bathroom to grab a glass of water. "With one on the loose, they could make anyone's greatest fears come to life because these aren't just holographic images. The apparition can touch you and it has a brain so it can speak to you. Usually dream-weavers don't last long enough to be powerful as they usually get their mind trapped in the dreamscape and never come out. Those that do have the power are often against the Council, claiming that we want to limit their powers. Having one this close to us, well, it could be anything or anyone as it can often take the shape of the apparition." She took another sip of water and Harry nodded.
"Okay. What do you think Caleb saw?" Andrea looked down at the water in her hands.
"Caleb's a medium; he can talk to the dead and sometimes see them. He confided in me about his parent's reaction to his gifts once when I was younger and had a harder time dealing with the fact that I couldn't save them all. Well, after the Council found him and explained his powers, he told his parents who did not react well to say the least. They called him a devil, disowned him and even tried to burn the evil out by dropping acid down his throat." Harry and Allie sat horrified at what his parents would do. "Yeah, it was awful. The acid burned his throat so badly that it damaged his vocal cords and now they're beyond repair. That was eleven years ago and he hasn't been able to speak a word since. Anyway, that night we talked, and by talked I mean communicated with sign language, he told me that his worse fear was the night he woke up chained to his bed while his parents pried open his mouth and shoved the acid down. It haunted him for three years every night and now it's a rare thing when that nightmare happens."
"You think that's what he saw?" Allie asked as she rubbed her throat unconsciously. Andrea nodded.
"Yeah. Like I've told you, they can actually touch things and when I found him, he had red marks all over his wrist."
"But he didn't get any acid down his throat." Harry said.
"No he didn't." Andrea agreed. "But this wasn't meant to kill him. Dream- weavers thrive off of fear, not pain or death."
"Well, can we help?" Allie said and Harry nodded.
"Yep." The both looked excited and leaned closer. "For starters, you can go home." Their faces fell and she rolled her eyes. "You heard what Malcolm said, we don't need any stragglers. I'll be fine and I'd rather know you two were fine as well."
"Do we have to go now?" Harry asked, dejectedly. Andrea glanced at her watch for a moment.
"You can stay for dinner if you want. Though I must warn you, it'll be all vegetarian. The diviners believe that meat clouds our perceptiveness." Harry snorted and then looked up when he realized something.
"What time is it?" he asked.
"Five thirty." Came the prompt reply that caused Harry to jump out of his chair.
"Shit. We've got that dinner to go to at six." Allie jumped up two and the three of them raced down to the arrival room. "Andrea, do you want to come with us?" She shrugged for a moment and then grabbed them and pulled them off to another door. She stopped in front of an elderly lady was shuffling papers.
"I would like to request a leave for tonight."
"Of course dear." Came the tired reply. "You're not the first. Seems that many are trying to avoid the dream-weaver. Have a nice night."
"And you as well." With that, they headed back towards the arrival room and hopped into the fireplace, floo-ing back to Hermione's.
Looking over at Hermione, he noticed his friend was talking to a girl and a guy who were standing over her chair. He assumed they were friends of hers that she made before Hogwarts. She glanced over to his chair and noticed him rubbing his throat and staring at her for a moment.
"Harry! You're awake." He gave a tired smile and waved to her friends who waved back. "Oh! This is Calvin and Bridget. We've been friends since before our boarding school." Harry nodded, it seemed he was right in his guess.
"Hi, I'm Harry. I go to school with Hermione." He said politely while he tried to think of an excuse to leave and talk to Allie about what they saw.
"Hi, Harry." Bridget said. "We've heard so much about you from Hermione. You and Ron are all she ever talks about!" Harry gave an unsure smile, slightly intimated by the girl's loud and excited nature.
"Really. Well, I think I need to be getting back." He made a move to stand but was pulled down by Bridget.
"Oh, Harry." Hermione sighed. "We just got here. Are you sure you can't stay?" She pleaded.
Harry looked around frantically trying to think of an excuse because there was no way he could say that he hopped minds with their house guest and visited some place like Spain and saw his second cousin once removed get strangled. No, that would never work. He briefly considered using his scar as a reason but he didn't want to call attention to it and most likely she would want to owl Dumbledore and he didn't feel like lying again. Plus, he had to make an excuse serious enough for Hermione and feasible for her friends; he didn't want questions to arise from his hasty departure.
"Sure, we can stay." He gave a weak smile and Hermione hugged him. He made sure to keep his inner arm away from her reach and then allowed himself to be dragged to the concession stand. Hermione bought him a soda and he sipped at it as he concentrated on projecting his emotions towards Allie who would hopefully come and find him. However, his mind and telepathy was so shot from that impromptu trip that he had trouble drinking, thinking and listening to Hermione's and her friends' meaningless chatter all at the same time.
As if his prayers had been answered, or his emotions had been read, Allie strode into the pool area and quickly spotted Harry looking happy but giving off waves of unrest.
"Harry." She said promptly and the other three stopped talking. "We need to talk." Without waiting for a response, she dragged him off until they were standing near the corner of the deep end of the pool.
When they were out of hearing distance, he threw his arms around her in a hug. "You're my savior. You've got great timing." She didn't smile and Harry knew it was time to get down to business. "I know what you're thinking, but I can't go and find her again. I'm having trouble getting my feet to walk, separating my mind from my body would be almost suicidal."
"But-" Allie protested. Harry held up a hand to stop her.
"No. I can't do it. It's too much energy on both of our parts and if something's wrong, you'll feel it."
She raised a hand to slap him but he caught it and stared into her hardened eyes. "I can't feel her trouble unless she's close or if she dies. I will not wait around for the latter." He held her hand tightly to his chest and waited for her breathing to even out.
"Then what are you going to do?" She paused for a moment and thought.
"Lend me Hedwig." Harry's eyes widened.
"What? Why? You can't contact her. Besides, she's probably already gone by now." At her wide eyes, Harry thought of what he had said and quickly corrected himself. "I meant out of the country, not dead gone." She was shaking with anger and Harry understood how she felt, if it was Ron in this situation or Hermione, he would have already taken his wand and jinxed the person until they agreed to help. "Look, I understand what you're feeling, but as of now, we have no idea where she is and even if we did, we'd have to floo there and we might not be able to because of the Diviners Council." He felt proud that he got his point across but an even larger part was deeply distressed about not being able to help Andrea. Allie, meanwhile, was in deep thought going over everything that Harry said until something clicked.
In a sly voice she spoke to Harry, making the other boy fidget nervously. "Harry, do you know who falls under the word diviner?" He shook his head and she continued in the same voice. "Well, there are psychics, mediums, mystics, seers, prophecy layers, spiritualists, soothsayers and what am I forgetting? Oh yes, telepaths." He stared at he wide eyes as her grin grew. "And as a telepath, you can floo into the Council headquarters and demand to know where she is." She gave him a pathetic look and, as eager as he was to help, he didn't want to have a whole council of diviners on his tail because he snuck into their headquarters.
"I don't know how good an idea this is." He said hesitantly and this scolded himself. What happened to the confident person who was here just a few minutes ago? Nothing he could do now, especially since she was getting a feral look in her eyes.
"Do it Harry or I'll throw you into the pool." She looked serious though it didn't seem like that big of a threat. She saw his small glimmer of confidence and then added, "White can be very transparent when wet, you know." He blanched but still shook his head. She sighed and then took both hands and pushed them against his chest sending him sprawling into the water on his back.
Harry cleared off the water that was on his glasses, which had somehow managed to stay on, and treaded water while glaring at her. "Bitch." She smirked and Harry looked behind her to see Hermione and her friends running towards the pool. He looked at his arm and he could see the dark lines of the mark clearly against his shirt. Making a hasty decision, he conceded. "Fine, I'll do it." He swam to the other side of the pool and pulled his body up over the edge with ease before grabbing one of the towels in the beach bag Hermione had brought. He peeled off his shirt and quickly wrapped the towel around his shoulders, hiding his inner arm from view.
"Harry!" Hermione said breathlessly as she ran over to him. "Are you okay? What was that fight about?"
"Nothing." He replied while staring only at Allie and fixing his glare on her. "It was just a disagreement. I believe Allie and I need to return home. You should stay Hermione." She looked like she wanted to protest but saw the resolve on Harry's face and agreed. The two black haired teens walked out of the pool and left Hermione to stare at their rapidly retreating backs. She now understood that Harry had changed, for when he was fixing his gaze on Allie, he looked downright dangerous. It scared her.
**********
At the Granger's house, both of them had changed into their robes before leaving. Harry lit their electric fireplace and thanked God that the Granger's were gone and that they had a hefty supply of floo-powder above their fireplace.
"Hold on to me." Allie said as she threw the powder in the fireplace before grabbing a handful for their trip. "Ready?" Harry nodded and briefly considered saying another location but decided not to test his luck in these fireplaces.
She threw down the powder and Harry called out the same destination Andrea had said only a few days before. "Divine Right!" He closed his eyes as they spun out of sight and kept them closed until he felt solid ground rush up to hit his feet and send him sprawling across the floor. He helped Allie up who had fallen under him and glanced around at their surroundings.
It seemed they were in a parlor, an old one at that. Faded tapestries hung on the walls and antique high-back chairs were seated in front of the fireplace they had just come one of. It reminded him of an old-fashioned Gryffindor common room as it was done in gold and red. He stepped across the rug that was black with soot from the fireplace and trekked to a wooden door that he pulled open. Allie and him stepped outside into a stone corridor like the ones in Hogwarts. Only there were no moving pictures, just tapestries that depicted different events on one side of the wall and a lot of windows that overlooked the courtyard on the other. Someone walked passed them, dressed in robes of silver and carrying a large book. She didn't give them a second glance and they quickly darted off towards the direction she came. They entered a row of hallways and Allie surreptitiously opened a door just a peak and glanced around inside. After seeing no one was in, she opened it wider and they walked in for a moment. It appeared to be a bedroom and a rather plain one at that. The rooms here were almost like convents for all they had was a single bed on one end of the room, a writing desk under a window and two bookshelves against the opposite wall. There were only two chairs, one that went to the desk and a comfy sitting chair that was under a torch by the shelves. A small bathroom that was behind one of the two doors in the room only contained only a sink, a toilet and a small shower. Across from the door leading to the bathroom was an armoire that only contained robes of deep blood red.
Harry's eyes widened at this for every piece of clothing was red with the exception of black slacks a white shirt and a white cloak. There were no robes of any other color. Harry grabbed Allie and they ran back out the door but not without coming face to face with the design on the back of the door.
"The eye of Horus." Allie whispered as she stared at the Egyptian eye that was centered in a pyramid. She gently traced it and stepped back. When she did this, the eye closed its lid before snapping open revealing a human eye beneath it that was looking at the two. Harry froze in fear before regaining his wits and pulling Allie out the door. While they ran down the corridor door swung open on their hinges revealing the eyes that had come to life and were now looking at them as they flew down the hallway. Allie screamed as a door swung open right in front of them, almost smacking her in the face. She looked up and saw a blue eye watching her. Harry grabbed her hand and was about to pull her along when a skeletal hand clasped onto their shoulders and turned them around.
**********
Hermione came back to her house with the intention to get ready for the dinner, which was only in about four hours. She had stayed talking to her friends and catching up with them until two o'clock, but it had begun to get cold and she left with the intent on checking on her two houseguests.
She went up to Harry's room and saw his general clutter on the floor but he was nowhere to be seen. Thinking they might both be in Allie's room, she checked the other girls and still found no sign of them other than the wet swim trunks and a shirt she found in the bathroom. She noticed Harry's sandals that he had worn to the pool were in the entry way and the tennis shoes that were their since yesterday were gone. They must have gone somewhere, she concluded and went to search for a note.
Hermione checked the kitchen but it was on her way back to her living room that she noticed there was a fire burning in the grate and small specks of floo powder were on the ground.
"They must have floo-ed out." She said to herself and felt slightly relieved. If they had time to get their shoes and if Harry had time to change out of his swimwear, than they must not of left because of an attack. She sighed and went to the bathroom to take a shower. Hermione's only wish was that they were safe and would make it to this dinner tonight.
**********
Harry was marched down the hallway with the stranger's hand still clasped on his shoulder. He glared at Allie who hadn't said anything since the corridor with the eyes. He looked up at the man that found him and quickly turned his head away, hoping he covered up his shiver for the man could probably feel it under his hand.
When Harry had turned around, and glanced at him, the first thing he noticed was the blood red robes he was wearing. Secretly, he hoped the room they went through wasn't his because he scared Harry just by his appearance. So instead of staring at the face of his captor, he glanced at the pale, bony, and hairless hand that was clamped to his left shoulder. Odd how the limb matched it's owner so perfectly because besides donning red robes, the odd thing about the man was his lack of hair except for the eyebrows which were so fair and thin that it put Draco's light locks to shame. His skin was so pale it seemed almost translucent and made his unusual violet eyes stand out more prominently.
He gestured towards the inside of a room and Harry allowed himself to be guided in where seven people, five women and two men, sat at a table that was raised on a platform about five feet higher than the bench he and Allie sat on.
"You may go now Caleb." A deep voice spoke and the man bowed his head before gliding away. The two teens then turned their attention to the tall and graceful black woman that was watching them from her spot at the table, which was three before the end. Her eyes, like the newly named Caleb's, were strange too except hers were a natural color, green like Harry's only paler, more serene and wiser. She stood and tossed her long black hair over her shoulder before looking down on them. He noticed she was wearing green robes. Before when he complained there was no diversity with the robes, he couldn't help but gawk at the rainbow of colors in front of him. There were the ones he had already seen before, the red, and silver, now green but there was also a sky blue, purple, brown, and a pale yellow. "Hello young ones. I am Kali and we are the Diviner High Council." Allie and Harry just nodded. "We take great care to make sure no one is entering this domain without our permission, however, today, you have gotten past our guards. How did you do this?" She sat down and the man in the red stood up.
"I suggest you tell us for we have ways of finding out." He said scathingly as he resumed his seat.
"Quiet, Malcolm. They will tell us without our probing." The woman in the blue who was seated in the middle said softly. Although she was small and seemed delicate, she carried herself with an air of authority and Harry knew she was a force to be reckoned with.
"We floo-ed here." Allie said simply and her statement was met with raised eyebrows.
"Ah, Allison Caprice Snape. We have not had you here since you were a mere child. What brings you back?" The woman in the yellow said. She seemed friendly to Harry and with that in mind and the color she was wearing, he imagined that if she went to Hogwarts, she would be a Hufflepuff.
"I'm here to find my sister. I know she's in trouble somewhere near Spain."
The man in the brown spoke up next. "Know." He rolled the word around in his mouth as if he was trying to figure it out. "To know, you must possess great confidence in your statement. I myself rarely know; I only think." Harry regarded him oddly, having no idea what he just meant. Allie did however.
"I saw her being held against a wall and strangled by someone."
"But you do not possess the sight." Said the woman in purple as she regarded her curiously.
Allie shook her head. "No I don't. I still only have the gift of empathy, but Harry is telepathic and we combined our powers to find her." There was a hushed conversation after this and Harry felt his face heat up when he noticed all the members taking quick glances at him before returning to their discussion. Finally Kali, or the woman in the green, stood up and walked down the steps over to Harry.
"Hold still, young one." She placed both hands at his temples and closed her eyes. Harry felt like something was probing his mind and figured that this woman must also be a telepath and was trying to see if he was. Trying to move this along, he dropped his mental shields and let her mind enter his. She took a quick scan before she dropped her hands and faced the table. "He has the gift of telepathy."
"What's his strength?" The woman in the blue asked.
"First division, level seven." She said confidently as she reassumed her seat. Harry could barely keep the surprised look of his face at the amount of knowledge she gathered in such a short time.
"Well, as fascinating as Harry is," Allie said, "I'd kind of like to know if my sister's alright."
"I'm fine." Came a voice from the doorway and both teens jumped and turned around.
"Andrea!" Allie cried as she went to hug her sister. "Are you okay?" She said frantically as she looked her over. Truth be told, she looked a right mess to Harry; she had bruises on one side of he cheek and her lower jaw was swelling slightly. When she spoke, her voice was raspy from the abuse she received. She had the bruises in the shape of fingers around her neck and her purple robes were torn slightly and covered in dirt and even a little blood. Her hair and face were not much better and Harry assumed that she had just gotten back with no time to get fixed up.
"Hey, did you just get back?" Harry asked as he gave her a hug.
"Yeah. Actually, I was heading towards the healer's when Caleb found me and made it clear that I should come here. Glad I did." She gave her sister and Harry a smile before going up to the council and producing a folder. "Mission accomplished. Permission to receive treatment?"
"Granted." The woman in blue said as she glanced over the report. "Nice work." She added in a more affable tone. Andrea just nodded her head before heading out the door and grabbing the wrists of Harry and Allie.
Once outside, she didn't stop her furious pace and Harry thought she might be angry with them for some reason so he decided to ask her. She turned around and looked a little surprised but shook her head.
"I'm not angry, Harry. I just want you and Allie to trust me; I don't need a body guard chasing after me because I can take care of myself."
"I know that, but when we get images of you being strangled, we tend to react and want to help you." Allie said pointedly.
"But you shouldn't have been checking up on me. We planned this: once in the morning and again at night. None of this would have even happened if you had abided by those rules." She said as she opened a large wooden door where a woman decked out in white was healing various people around the room.
"What were you doing there anyway?" Harry asked as they sat down on a cot.
"It was a mission of mine. I can't tell you much about it."
"Well, why were you cloaked?" Allie persisted.
Andrea sighed. "The man I was going after was a telepath and if I hadn't of cloaked and shielded my mind he would have found me and the mission would have been all for nothing."
Harry looked a little alarmed at the thought of the Council sending out a young girl for a job that required an older and more learned person. He stated this to Andrea and she just shook her head sadly.
"You don't understand, Harry. I take these missions; I'm not forced into them. And as for the age and experience, no one here gives a shit about that. They only care about your power level and your ability to carry out the tasks. Besides, I've had training, it's not like I'm inexperienced." She opened her mouth to defend her job again but was cut off by a loud metallic sounding clatter coming from the other side of the door. She stood up quickly and rushed over to a fallen Caleb who was shaking in fear and surrounded by a metal tray with spilled medical utensils on the floor.
"Caleb." He didn't look at her while she wrapped her arms around him to steady him. "Caleb, come back to us." Still nothing, but by this time, the woman in green who was at the Council rushed in and Andrea relinquished her hold on the man so Kali could hold him to her chest.
"Caleb, come back to me. Just listen to my voice." She whispered soothingly as she rocked him gently. He stopped trembling and fell into her arms. Kali looked up at Andrea. "He'll be fine but something in here is spooking him. Go get Malcolm." She directed to Andrea who flew out of the room without a second thought to exhaustion or her wounds. Caleb turned around and faced her before winding his arms tightly around her and kissing her cheek gently. Harry heard a loud scuttle of feet and turned to see Andrea and the man in the Council who was dressed in red following behind.
"Caleb, what did you see?" Andrea asked as Malcolm walked into the center of the room and fell to his knees with his eyes closed. He seemed to be in deep concentration and was disturbed by no one, which was strange because by this time, many diviners had gathered around the entrance and were peering into the room. Instead of responding to the questions, he buried his face deeper into Kali's shoulder and was shaking again. Realizing she was getting no answers, she turned to watch Malcolm who was still in the same position and stayed that way for a moment or two. Suddenly, he got up and turned to face everyone.
"There are no harmful spirits in this room and from what I can gather, it seems we have a different matter on our hands." Malcolm said and everyone waited patiently. "We've got a dream-weaver on the premise." This brought cries of shock and outrage and many glances at Harry and Allie, the new comers. "No, it's not these two." Malcolm said as he walked out the door. "I'm alerting Cassandra. Everyone, go about your business and Kali take Caleb to rest. You two have the rest of the day off. Andrea, I want to see you healed and without these tag-alongs." His voice said from down the hallway. Just as he said, everyone scattered to different places and Kali helped Caleb stand and wrapped an arm around his waist. He leaned his head against her shoulder and they walked off, leaving Harry, Andrea and Allie alone in the room.
"What's a dream-weaver?" Harry asked at last.
Andrea motioned for them to follow her and they were back in the healer's wards getting treatment for the various bruises on her face and neck.
"Can't do a thing about the soreness in your throat, dear. Some tea might help, though." One of the healers said after she was cleaned up. "Now go back to your room and rest some." Andrea slid off her cot and the three of them headed towards her room. It was the same as all the other room, the plain white bed, tiny window and writing desk with adjacent bookshelves. However, her armoire held deep purple robes.
"What's a dream-weaver?" Harry repeated as he sat in the empty chair as the twins took the bed.
"A dream-weaver is a telepath whose strength is invading people's minds during dreams. They're rather powerful as they can make dream apparition appear in the real world or the dream world." She coughed a bit from her sore throat and went to the bathroom to grab a glass of water. "With one on the loose, they could make anyone's greatest fears come to life because these aren't just holographic images. The apparition can touch you and it has a brain so it can speak to you. Usually dream-weavers don't last long enough to be powerful as they usually get their mind trapped in the dreamscape and never come out. Those that do have the power are often against the Council, claiming that we want to limit their powers. Having one this close to us, well, it could be anything or anyone as it can often take the shape of the apparition." She took another sip of water and Harry nodded.
"Okay. What do you think Caleb saw?" Andrea looked down at the water in her hands.
"Caleb's a medium; he can talk to the dead and sometimes see them. He confided in me about his parent's reaction to his gifts once when I was younger and had a harder time dealing with the fact that I couldn't save them all. Well, after the Council found him and explained his powers, he told his parents who did not react well to say the least. They called him a devil, disowned him and even tried to burn the evil out by dropping acid down his throat." Harry and Allie sat horrified at what his parents would do. "Yeah, it was awful. The acid burned his throat so badly that it damaged his vocal cords and now they're beyond repair. That was eleven years ago and he hasn't been able to speak a word since. Anyway, that night we talked, and by talked I mean communicated with sign language, he told me that his worse fear was the night he woke up chained to his bed while his parents pried open his mouth and shoved the acid down. It haunted him for three years every night and now it's a rare thing when that nightmare happens."
"You think that's what he saw?" Allie asked as she rubbed her throat unconsciously. Andrea nodded.
"Yeah. Like I've told you, they can actually touch things and when I found him, he had red marks all over his wrist."
"But he didn't get any acid down his throat." Harry said.
"No he didn't." Andrea agreed. "But this wasn't meant to kill him. Dream- weavers thrive off of fear, not pain or death."
"Well, can we help?" Allie said and Harry nodded.
"Yep." The both looked excited and leaned closer. "For starters, you can go home." Their faces fell and she rolled her eyes. "You heard what Malcolm said, we don't need any stragglers. I'll be fine and I'd rather know you two were fine as well."
"Do we have to go now?" Harry asked, dejectedly. Andrea glanced at her watch for a moment.
"You can stay for dinner if you want. Though I must warn you, it'll be all vegetarian. The diviners believe that meat clouds our perceptiveness." Harry snorted and then looked up when he realized something.
"What time is it?" he asked.
"Five thirty." Came the prompt reply that caused Harry to jump out of his chair.
"Shit. We've got that dinner to go to at six." Allie jumped up two and the three of them raced down to the arrival room. "Andrea, do you want to come with us?" She shrugged for a moment and then grabbed them and pulled them off to another door. She stopped in front of an elderly lady was shuffling papers.
"I would like to request a leave for tonight."
"Of course dear." Came the tired reply. "You're not the first. Seems that many are trying to avoid the dream-weaver. Have a nice night."
"And you as well." With that, they headed back towards the arrival room and hopped into the fireplace, floo-ing back to Hermione's.