Hey Lazy-anji! Yay! You've caught up! I'm not sure where rockbaby67 went...hopefully she'll return soon. Glad you're still enjoying the story.

Chapter 29:

The next morning Michelle could feel everyone's eyes on her as she made her way down to the common room. Word of her nightmare had made its way thru Gryffindor house and she heard whispers as she passed many students.

Neville approached her cautiously, "I heard about what happened last night."

"Just a really bad dream. I don't even remember it."

"I usually have nightmares before a big test."

Michelle thought about how approriate his comment was, and he didn't even know it. "That's probably it. I have a Magical Creatures test coming up. Maybe I dreamt one of the creatures ate me or something."

"That would make me scream." Neville and Michelle continued talking for a few minutes. Michelle felt guilty that she hadn't been spending a lot of time with Neville since she'd begun to prepare for the Aquiesence. It was nice to find out how he was doing and not think so much about her own problems. Harry joined them and Neville excused himself to go walk to breakfast with Ginny.

"How are you doing this morning?"

"I'm alright. Sorta wish I could take a poll of my fellow students."

Harry gave her an odd look. "What sort of poll?"

"I wonder how many of them think I'm completely nuts and how many think I'm just really tense."

"I'm going for nuts myself. Any guesses on what you think the vision means?"

Michelle sighed, she wasn't ready to tell him yet. "I'm going to look something up in the library during my free hour today. Maybe I'll have an educated guess by dinner." She was fibbing, but she hoped it would buy her some time. Harry seemed okay with her answer and he changed the topic as they went down to breakfast.

Instead of going to the library, Michelle went to see Dumbledore. She rode the moving staircase up to his office to find him sitting at his desk.

"Excuse me, Professor? Do you have a moment?"

Dumbledore looked up and smiled, "Yes, please come in..."

"I just wanted to ask a couple of questions about Professor Trelawny if that was okay..."

"Sit down...what would you like to know?"

"When you hired Prof. Trelawny, did you know she had once been a Seer?"

"Yes. I remembered her from when she was a student here."

"Did she ever tell you why she gave up her powers?"

"I believe she feared for her life while Voldermort was using Seers for his own dark ends."

Michelle nodded, "That's what she told me."

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow, "But, you don't believe her?"

"It's not that I think she is lying to me so much as I'm not sure she is telling me the whole story."

He studied her face. "Why do you think she is leaving parts of her story out?"

"I had a vision. A new one, competely different from the one I've been having for the last year."

Dumbledore looked surprised. "That is indeed very strange. It is rare to have more than one vision at a time so close to the ceremony."

"What's even more strange, I got a sense that I wasn't seeing an upcoming event. It felt like I was seeing something that had happened long ago...like I was seeing someone else's memory."

"What did you see?"

"I'm afraid to say."

"Can you tell me who you saw in the vision?"

"Prof. Trelawny."

"Can you tell me anything more?"

"I want to, but if I'm wrong..."

"You said it felt like you were seeing the past...why?"

"Trelawny looked younger and the whole mood of the vision made me believe everything had happened already."

"Without more to go on, I can't really offer much assistance."

"I know. I feel bad asking for your help."

He smiled kindly, "It's alright Michelle. I can tell you this...trust your instincts. As a Seer, you have been given the ability to perceive more than most wizards. Use this strength and believe in it."

Michelle relaxed in her chair, "Thank you professor. I couldn't go to Prof. Trelawny with my questions and Harry and I can only discuss so much before we run out of ideas."

"How are things going with Harry? I see you together quite often."

Michelle squirmed, she supposed this is what it felt like when your grandfather asked you how your boyfriend was. "It's going pretty well. He's been more than understanding when it comes to all this vision and ceremony stuff."

"I'm sure he's as anxious as you to find out what your vision means."

"I hope I won't let him down."

"I'm sure you won't. I trust you. He trusts you. Trust yourself."

Michelle wanted to hug him, instead she thanked him for all his advice and kind words. As she went down the staircase, Dumbledore had to admit to himself he was worried about the questions she had asked him. He quickly wrote a note to a friend and sent it out immediately by owl.

When Michelle met up with Harry again at dinner, she found out he'd told Ron and Hermione the truth about what had happened the night before. Michelle explained she'd been thrown by the new vision. She was confused by the possiblity that she was seeing something that had happened in the past.

Hermione spoke up, "I didn't think Seers really saw the past."

"I didn't think so either. There isn't anything written about these sorts of visions in any of the books I've read."

"It's not like you have a lot of books to choose from..." Ron pointed out.

"True, but you'd think if it was a common occurance at least one book would have mentioned it."

"Is it possible you really did have a nightmare and it wasn't a vision?" Harry offered.

"I think anything is possible. The big test will be if I have the same vision again. If I don't, maybe it was just a dream." She looked at Harry, and again her answer seemed to calm him. She just hoped she wasn't lying to him unknowingly.