Dreaming of You
Author's Note: Part three. Yep. Part three.
Part 3 - Hazel
Chapter 4
Those who have seen
your face
Draw back in fear.
I am the mask you
wear…
It's me they hear.
Your spirit and my
voice
In one combined.
The Phantom of the
Opera is there…
Inside your mind.
~*~ flashback to the previous night ~*~
"What in the world…" Hazel stared around the room in disbelief. It looked vaguely like a classroom, with the rows of desks and all, but the dark stone walls and the distinct underground feeling she was getting didn't feel at all like any classroom she'd ever been in before. How did I get here? she wondered. I could've sworn I was in bed…
Then she realized what had to be going on. Oh. I see. This is a dream. Well, that made sense. Somewhat. She was dreaming about being in an underground room with desks and stone walls. And light. It never occurred to her that she shouldn't have been able to see. ("It's not the sort of thing you think of. You just sort of assume you will be able to see, even though it's dark.")
Then, "Who are you?"
Hazel turned hastily, eyes widening in shock. ("It was that voice. I'd never heard it before, but I knew it. Just… perfect.") "Harry Potter!"
The boy sighed, rubbing wearily at his messy black bangs with the hand that wasn't holding his lit wand. "Yes, that's right, Harry Potter. Let's all gawk like three-year-olds. Go right ahead. I'm too tired to care."
"Sorry." Hazel blushed, looking down. She realized with a jolt of horror that she was wearing her nightdress. ("I just thank my lucky stars I hadn't been sleeping in a Hogwarts shirt, or something!")
Harry shrugged. "Don't worry about it. Sorry to intrude on you, I guess I must've been sleepwalking."
"Beg pardon?" Hazel blinked. ("Beg pardon? I can't believe you said that. No one says that." "I do." "Well, you're weird.")
"I honestly didn't mean to come down here right now." Harry grinned in a puzzled sort of way. "I assume I was sleepwalking, since that's the only reason I can think of for my coming down here without remembering how I got here."
"Where's 'here'?" Hazel asked warily. She wasn't at all sure she trusted this dream. Dreaming about Harry was usually nice, but this was getting confusing.
"The Potions dungeon." Harry frowned. "Aren't you down here to raid Snape's stores, or something? That's what I'd figured."
Hazel shook her head slowly. ("I honestly hadn't the faintest idea what he was talking about. Why would I want to steal potion ingredients? What would I have done with them?") "Um… no… I rather thought I was dreaming."
"Oh. A fellow sleepwalker." Harry gave her a friendly grin, and her heart nearly stopped. Dream or not, his effects on her were certainly real enough. "We should probably get back to our respective dormitories before Snape decides to make a surprise midnight inspection of his classrooms, or something. Which House are you in?"
"Um…" ("Well, how do you answer that? I don't know, I'm not in a House?") "It doesn't matter. We'd better go. I think I heard someone." ("Oh, great bluff. I'm sure he believed that.")
"Really?" Harry glanced worriedly towards the door. "You must have great ears." All of a sudden, he was awake, alert, and ready for action. "Our best chance would be to hide in here, then. Whoever it is will probably just walk on by." He pulled Hazel down behind one of the rows of desks, hissing, "Nox" to shut off his wand's glow.
Hazel wasn't sure how long he made them stay hidden that way, crouched on the hard, damp floor in a pitch-black dungeon, but finally Harry stood up with a sigh of relief. ("I can't believe you let a moment with that romantic potential go!" "Was I allowed to interrupt your story? Shush!") "Whoever it was must've gone past. Unless you might've misheard?"
"Maybe," Hazel agreed hesitantly, squinting to see in the darkness.
"Lumos," Harry whispered, his wand lighting again. "I hate not being able to see. How did you stand it down here without your wand lit?"
"Um…" Hazel thought fast. "I… don't have my wand with me… just now." ("Well, it was technically true.")
"Don't you?" Harry gave her a look of concern. "You'll never find your way back to your Common Room in the dark. I'll walk you back."
"Oh, you needn't!" Hazel protested, alarmed. "Really, I'm fine!" ("Dreaming about going to Hogwarts is all well and good, sure, but how do you explain being there when you don't belong there? What do you do when someone asks what your House is, and you haven't a clue?")
Harry gave her a look of disbelief. "You've got to be kidding. I still have trouble finding my way around in the full light of day. No way can you do it without any light at all."
"But…" Hazel cast around frantically for something to keep him from realizing she didn't belong. ("Why did you care? It was a dream." "Well… because it felt so real, I suppose. Like it wasn't really a dream at all.") Then it came to her. "I'm not supposed to tell other people where our Common Room is!"
"Ohhh." Harry nodded in understanding. "I see. Yeah, the Gryffindors don't like people from other Houses knowing too much about our Common Room, either. I think a lot of them are afraid someone might manage to sneak in, somehow."
"Exactly." Hazel nodded in relieved agreement.
"Still… I don't like the idea of anyone stumbling around in the dark." Harry frowned thoughtfully. "Why don't I take you to somewhere near your Common Room? Close enough that you don't need light to get there, but far enough away that I won't know too much?"
"Um… well…" Hazel swallowed a sigh, and cast about for a landmark she could name without looking stupid. "I can… uh… find my way there from the Astronomy Tower."
Harry looked blank. ("I could've kicked myself. I was sure I'd said something inadvertently impossible.") "Which one?"
"The tallest one?" Hazel suggested tentatively. Please let it be right, please let it be right…
"Ah. A Ravenclaw." Harry nodded, his face clearing. "I thought your Common Room was near there."
"Yes," Hazel agreed in relief. This dream was altogether too nerve-wracking for her. Why couldn't she ever have dreams about flying or something, like normal people?
Mercifully, Harry took the lead to the Tower. Hazel hadn't any idea what she would have done if he'd asked her to go first. Lose her mind, possibly. ("Haven't you already lost it?" "Quiet, you. Let her talk." "Thank you.")
After a time that was far too long - what if she said something that showed she wasn't really part of this world? - and also far too short - this was Harry, actually Harry, or as close as she was likely to ever get to him - they reached a staircase that apparently led up to the Astronomy Tower.
"So, this is where I leave you," Harry said, smiling. "Why don't you track me down at breakfast, let me know that you get back to your dorm without any more difficulties? And you never did give me a name."
"Hazel Randel," she told him, never thinking to make up a name. She had to give him her real name. She couldn't not do so.
"So I'll see you tomorrow, Hazel?" Harry asked her. Then his smile faded, and turned to a grimace. "Oh, damn."
"What?" Hazel twisted, to see a skinny cat with eyes like lamps glaring at them. ("It had to be Mrs. Norris. And no way is that cat an Animagus gone wrong. Only a real cat can look that accusing.")
Before either of them had time to do anything, there was the huffing of heavy breathing in the distance, and the pounding of running feet. Harry and Hazel tried to scramble high enough up the steps to get out of sight, but they knew it was a lost cause. Mrs. Norris would see wherever they went, and would tell Filch. Just as Hazel saw him turn the corner -
"And you conveniently woke up?" Lianne sighed in annoyance. "It was just getting good!"
Hazel gave her a look of disbelief. "You would think so. I was scared out of my wits!"
"Why? It was only a dream, you know." Autumn laughed lightly. "Crazy phone calls, insane dreams, I think we've all just been spending way too much time around Lianne."
While the younger girl gasped in mock-outrage, Erin grinned. "You know, I'm starting to feel kind of left out. I mean, Hazel and Lianne get cool dreams, Autumn gets interesting phone calls… what about me? Doesn't Remus want to make contact with me somehow?"
"You do understand everything that's happening now is just the product of our overactive imaginations?" Autumn asked, eyeing Erin warily.
"Yes, of course." Erin nodded, then sighed. "But it would be interesting if my imagination would overact a bit, too."
Author's Note: We've all heard the phrase "be careful what you wish for," haven't we? Good. Then with that and your amazing psychic abilities, you will have divined that the next part will be entitled "Erin" and will focus on… well, you get the idea. Anyway, I hope it will be done soon, but I'm not sure. My grandmother is coming to visit (yay!) but that means I don't get to spend all my free time writing. And I want to post more of my other story first. Well, thanks to the people following this, I really love you, and double thanks to the wonderfully nice authors who allowed me to put them in this story. Oh, disclaimer. Um… author-based characters belong to the authors they were based on, JK Rowling owns her characters and her world, and I belong either to myself or to my muse, depending on her attitude at any given time. Song lyrics - still from the Phantom. Rather obvious, I feel, but… Well, anyway. Zhai'helleva!
Love,
Mystica