"Blessed Hell Rhia," exclaimed a muffled voice. "It's," there was a flicker of light in the darkness as Rose looked at the clock with a flaming fingertip. "Two o'clock in the bloody morning!" Rhia snuck a candle towards that flicker and lit it. Through a spell in the candle, every other one in the room burst into flame at the same time, bringing brilliant light to the room. "For Merlin's sake!" Rose sat up, her eyes shooting green sparks at her sister.
The former supply closet was actually quite elegantly appointed in scarlet and gold. It was large enough for two full sized beds, two oak armoires and two bookshelves. "Shannon is in trouble Rose." Rhia said firmly.
"Shannon? What? How do you know?" The green faded to gray.
"Harry dreamt of her," Rhia began. "She was speaking to Voldemort about Desiree."
"And what did they say?" Rose asked. "Sit down." She pulled her feet up and Rhia sat on the bed.
"She's managed to become his favorite. I don't know how. She was actually complaining to him about Lucius and Desiree. Apparently, her attack on the school and the twins a month ago was not a planned one," Rhia said.
"That puts us in trouble, not her. If they're doing things without her knowledge, then she can't warn Moira." Rose said.
"That's not all. Before I managed to wake Harry, Voldemort was using Unforgivable Curses on everyone," Rhia continued. "If he does that sort of thing around her or to her often… then we are in trouble. You know how she is."
"Yes. I know." Rose paused. "However, there is nothing we can do about that at the moment. Even if there was, I wouldn't."
"You must be joking. Our sister is in pain and in danger and you will do nothing!" Rhia exclaimed. Her eyes glimmered with a silver light.
Green crept back into Rose's eyes. She glared at Rhia. "Anything we do now would only make the situation worse for her and for us. If she is discovered before we are ready… I don't want to think about what could happen." Rose stopped and closed her eyes a moment. When she opened them again, they were a solid steely gray. "You should go back to sleep Rhia. Tomorrow is a busy day. You've got the Dueling Club as well as your other classes."
"Then there really is nothing we can do?" Rhia asked softly.
They sat in silence for a moment. "There might, I stress the word might, be something we can attempt. But not until after breakfast at the very least… and even then we have to speak with Dumbledore about it first. Now get to bed."
"I can't. The door is shut and a girl cannot open it." Rhia replied.
"So sleep in your own bed for once. It's such a lovely one to go to waste like it is." Rose said with a smile and a wave towards the other bed.
But what about Harry?" Rhia asked. "I had to scratch his chest horribly to wake him from that dream."
"Ka'lina is smart. She knows what to do." Rose said. "Besides, isn't Starlight with Ron?"
"Actually, no. I'm not sure where she is." Rhia said.
"Wonderful. We have one sister under threat and the other M.I.A." Rose sighed. "Don't worry. Harry will be fine. Get some sleep." Rhia stood up and paced the room a couple of times before heading for the other bed. Rose grinned suddenly. "Are you wearing his robe?"
"What? Oh. Yes. I forgot to give it back to him." Rhia said as she pulled back the bedclothes.
"He lent you his robe?" Rose asked, a hint of laughter in her voice.
"It was cold in the Common Room," Rhia muttered.
"What exactly did you two do in the Common Room?" Rose's laughter was obvious now. Her eyes were a curious mix of gray and blue.
Rhia carefully hung Harry's robe on the bedpost. "He was telling me his dream while I tended to his scratches."
"And you had scratched him on the chest, right?" Rose laughed. "So of course he had his shirt off…" Rhia was blushing furiously as she blew out the candle beside her bed. The others went out as well. "I wonder what else you two talked about?" Rose said, still chuckling. Rhia squeaked. "What was that sister dear?"
"I said, 'Goodnight Rose,'" Rhia managed. Rose giggled, but didn't say anything else. Her breathing soon evened into sleep. Rhia however spent quite some time tossing and turning. Until, during one of those turns, her flung out arm touched flannel. She gave the cloth a tug and Harry's robe fell onto the bed beside her. She fell asleep with the soft cloth pressed to her cheek.
*
Harry came awake in an instant. He stared at the canopy above the bed, remembering. Ka'lina was practically wrapped around his head. Her front paws rested on his scar. There was no pain in it now. He looked over at his clock. He'd awoken about two minutes before the alarm was set to go off. He stretched out a hand and canceled the alarm. Then reached up and picked up Ka'lina. She whirred happily as he placed her on his chest. "Morning sweetie," He whispered, stroking her. "I've got a job for you now." The kit whirred as he murmured his command. With a trill and a swish of her tail, she leaped through the drapes around the bed. A moment later there was an answering trill, followed shortly thereafter by a muffled oath. Harry grinned.
Ron pushed aside Harry's drapes. "All right what's up mate?" he asked, only slightly exasperated.
Harry grinned again. It still amazed him that no matter what was going on, be it going into the forest after giant spiders, competing in a dangerous tournament, or on the Quidditch pitch, Ron was there for him. "I wanted to talk to you before the others woke up."
"Shoot," Ron said. "Wait, do I need to sit down for this?"
"I don't know. I dreamed of Voldemort last night," Harry said.
Ron shuddered. "Sitting down it is then." He sat on the edge of the bed. "All right. And?"
"Well he was speaking with a woman about Desiree's storm, and how it wasn't planned correctly. Then he started cursing everyone." Harry said.
"Cursing his own people. Boy he's a cheerful fellow." Ron muttered.
"That wasn't all. When he started cursing them, the woman looked at me. She saw me Ron. I know she did." Harry said.
"I thought you said it was a dream." Ron said, frowning.
"It was. There's more. She was crying, or was about to. He hadn't even gotten to her yet." Harry said. "He was pointing his wand at her when I woke up with a searing pain in my scar and chest."
Ron looked at his chest. "Are you all right?" He paused. Squinted. "Bloody birds of menace. What happened there?" He pointed to Harry's torn shirt.
"Shadow woke me up by scratching me. I'm fine though. Rhia took care of the scratches." Harry said.
"You talked to her before you talked to me? I'm offended mate." Ron said with a grin. Fianna climbed, whirring onto his lap. He scratched her chin.
"Would you rather I had woken you up at 1:30 in the morning to tell you about a weird dream I had?" Harry asked.
"Ugh no. Thanks for letting me sleep. So when did you see Rhia?" Ron asked.
"Well I kind of tossed Shadow off the bed after she woke me up, so I went to look for her to make sure she was okay. I went down to the Common Room, no Shadow, but Rhia was sitting on the couch watching the fire. So we talked. I told her about my dream and she took care of the scratches." Harry explained. "Then I came back to bed. I forgot to change my shirt obviously, before falling back to sleep."
"So, what does Rhia sleep in?" Ron asked flippantly. Harry narrowed his eyes. "I know you noticed man."
Before Harry could reply, Andra trilled from across the room, joined shortly by the other dannikits. The other boys started to stir, shushing their kits and getting out of bed. Harry looked at the clock. "Breakfast is in forty minutes." He and Ron quickly joined the morning rush.
*
"Are you ready to go yet?" Rose asked. "We've got to get to the Headmaster before breakfast if we want time to eat and speak with Snape."
"I can't believe we're going to ask Snape for help." Rhia muttered, running her fingers through her damp hair.
"We're only going to do that if Dumbledore says we may, even then he may have to do it himself since, well, we are sort of students." Rose said.
"What are you taking about? I am a student. How is he going to help us exactly?" Rhia asked. She spritzed on some peach body spray, and picked up her bag.
"That's another thing we have to discuss with Dumbledore. I can't believe you can do nothing with your hair and it looks fine." Rose said.
"Fine? My hair looks great. Want some help?" Rhia asked. She put her bag back down.
"I've been braiding my own hair for quite some time Rhiannon," Rose muttered.
"Sure you have, but isn't it nice when someone else does it?" Rhia asked as she slapped Rose's hands away from the braid. "Why do you have it in a braid all the time anyway?'
"Because I'm a student teacher and I have to look respectable." Rose said as she waited for Rhia to finish braiding her hair. "What are you doing? That doesn't feel like a braid."
"You don't have to look like Mother to be respectable." Rhia said. "It's a braid. I promise you'll like it." They sat in silence for a moment. "Cora doesn't even wear her hair in a braid and she [I] is [/I]] a teacher."
"Cora doesn't have hair like mine. I leave my hair down and it goes wild," Rose said.
"Has George ever seen your hair down?" Rhia asked.
"No he hasn't," Rose said, "and what does that have to do with anything?"
"Not a thing," Rhia said. "There, I'm done."
"Great, let's go," Rose said.
"Don't you want a look at it first?" Rhia asked.
"I trust that you would never do anything awful to me right before we see the Headmaster, so let's go already." Rose said. She picked up her bag and Vestan's carry box. Rhia picked up her bag again and they headed into the empty Common Room.
*
Hermione gave Crookshanks one last pat, picked up her bag, as well as Nildur's box, and headed for the doorway. She'd spent most of the night in her little parlor, trying to decipher the Book. She'd gotten a bit of it, maybe, but not enough to be able to give any new information to the group. She hadn't even found a remedy for Draco's malady. That really bothered her. His Memories came less frequently now then they had a month ago, but they still came, with little or no warning. Hermione knew that both Monica and Rhia could read the signs of one fairly well though, and could either distract the other students, or get him away from them before he disclosed too much.
Nildur trilled at her. She smiled and swept passed the beds of her sleeping roommates, her kit following closely. She knew they only had forty minutes until breakfast, but it wasn't her fault if they didn't set an alarm. On second thought… At the doorway, Hermione turned and with her free hand, she pointed her wand at the clock beside Parvati's bed, and muttered something under her breath. A green spark flew from her wand to the clock. The loudest, most obnoxious beeping filled the air, like the ringing of a thousand pagers going off at once. Hermione smiled at that decidedly Muggle observation and disappeared out the door before she got any pillows thrown at her by the waking girls.