Lauralie Black and the Dragons of Yorkshire (YEAR 2)

Chapter 10: Of Dreams and Dragons

DISCLAIMER: Many apologies if this chapter has too much touchy-feely or frilliness as it was originally written in pink pen. 

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When Lauralie regained consciousness, she wasn't entirely sure where she was. Part of her expected to be in the hospital wing, tucked into one of the pristine white beds, with Madam Pomfrey hovering over her with a stern expression which only partially hides her worry. 

But when she opened her eyes, she did not see a line of empty hospital beds, instead she found herself staring into the tangled roots of the trees at the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

She used her arms to push herself into a sitting position, curling her legs around so that she was kneeling. There was a throbbing pain on the back of her head, her hand moved to the area reflexively. 

She could feel a fairly large bump there, and touching it caused a shock of pain to shoot through her body.  She stood and looked down at the roots where her head had been resting. A wave of dizziness came over her, and it took her a moment to steady herself. Her mind was working swiftly to put the pieces of the puzzle together. 

I must have tried to run and fell. No, I was on my back, so I didn't turn to run. I must have stepped back and tripped.  And when I hit my head on the roots I lost consciousness. But what happened to the dragon? 

Lauralie whirled around to where she'd seen it, but there was nothing there. Her head was swimming as she walked around on the same area it had been standing on and found nothing.

No prints. No broken roots or sticks. Nothing. Lauralie held her head as a headache began to bloom. There was no dragon...

Lauralie was suddenly beginning to question her sanity. She clutched a hand to her chest, her breath had become ragged and her pulse was racing.

She was starting to panic. She took one last forlorn look where the dragon had been standing before fleeing back to the Slytherin dorms.

Lauralie met no resistance in the halls. She remained invisible but she was making no effort to hide her presence otherwise. Her footfalls echoed through the dungeons as she ran full tilt to the Slytherin Common room's entrance. The snake that guarded it looked mildly amused as it let her in.

She threw herself into her bed, cloak and all, ignoring the fact that she had dirt and grass caked on her from the fall. A single thought graced her mind before sleep overcame her. 

I'm losing my mind.

*    *    *

It was a fairly dull Saturday afternoon in the Gryffindor common room. They had fallen back into their protective seating arrangement without a second thought.

There was little to no conversation, everyone was well absorbed into whatever task they had at hand. No one, except maybe Magdalene, noticed that Sirius' eyes were drifting over to Remus far more than normal.
Remus was so involved in the book he was reading he paid this no mind whatsoever. Sirius turned to Magdalene as if silently asking for encouragement. He had told her the night before of what Lauralie had requested of him.

Magdalene had agreed whole-heartedly and was now nodding and urging him to go with her eyes.

Finally, he nodded and stood up quietly. The ever-observant Lily was the first to realize what was going on, she elbowed James gently so that he would look up. Peter looked up also; he looked worried. In fact, they all looked as if they were preparing to jump up and pry Sirius off of Remus should they need to. Sirius leaned on the table where James, Lily, and Lindsay were working, running his hand almost nervously through his hair before speaking. 

"Remus, I could really use your help on that Defense against the Dark Arts essay on Vampires," he said in a casual tone.

Remus looked up, surprised. But even from afar, Magdalene could see the relief spread across his face. 

"I'll help you," Remus said. "Just let me go get my book."

It was one of those infamous guy apologies. Remus would never say 'I'm sorry I kissed your sister', nor would Sirius say 'I shouldn't have over-reacted', but that underlying meaning was discerned in a matter of moments. 

And as Magdalene moved over to allow room for Remus to take a seat on Sirius' other side, all those present could not help but feel things were finally starting to get back to normal.

Well, as normal as things ever could be at Hogwarts.

*    *    *

"What do you suppose is keeping Lauralie?" Severus asked.

He, Lucius, and Narcissa were sitting at a table in the Slytherin Common room. Lauralie had yet to descend from her dormitory.

"I think she was having problems sleeping last night," Narcissa said, not looking up from the homework she was working on. "I heard her moving around late last night."

"Maybe I should go check on her," he said.

"You are not allowed in the girls' dormitory," Narcissa said, indignantly tossing some of her shiny, stick-straight blond hair over her shoulder.

"Its not like it would be the first time I've been in there." Severus allowed a sly smile to cross his face.

"I'm going to pretend I never heard that!"

"Good morning, Sleepy Head," Lucius said to a figure that had just descended the steps.

Lauralie, Slytherin mask of stone in place, trudged over and collapsed into the chair next to Severus.

"We were starting to wonder if you were going to sleep all day," Severus said. His underlying tone said more: I was worried you weren't feeling well. Are you all right?

"And miss lunch?" she asked lightly.

"Mmm. I could definitely use some lunch," Narcissa said.

"I second that," Lucius agreed. "Vampire Essays can wait till later." He closed his Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook with trademark Malfoy flare.

Severus didn't say anything as they packed up their things and headed to the Great Hall. He was watching Lauralie closely. Something was wrong, he just couldn't quite put his finger on what just yet.

They sat down at the Slytherin table in their usual array, with Lucius and Narcissa on one side and then Severus and Lauralie across from them. Severus waited for Lucius to launch into a monologue about how little he enjoyed History of Magic before turning to Lauralie.

"Is something wrong?" Severus asked in a low voice.

"No. I've just been having problems falling asleep," she answered. "The tiredness is just starting to catch up to me I suppose."

Lauralie was trying to sound nonchalant but he could see right through her. He leaned closer. "You know you can talk to me if you need to."

"I'm okay," she insisted. "I'll look into making a Dreamless Sleep potion, it can't be that difficult I'm sure. I'll be fine."

Severus let the subject drop, but his brain was still working. Why not make a regular sleeping potion? Why Dreamless Sleep? What exactly has she been dreaming about that now she doesn't want to dream at all?

The Gryffindor Gang turned up about half way through their meal, and even the sight of Remus and Sirius walking together couldn't raise Lauralie's spirits more than a tiny bit. 

They were talking and laughing as if the brawl in the Library had never even occurred. The others looked almost relieved. And Remus was smiling for the first time in weeks.

Things in Gryffindor seemed to be falling back into place.

Lauralie felt practically envious. For the first time since she had been sorted, Lauralie wanted to be a Gryffindor. She didn't want a powerful Cloak of Destiny. She didn't want to have strange visions and dreams. She didn't want to be the Heir of Slytherin.

Lauralie wanted, in that moment, to be 'normal'. She wanted to sit with Magdalene and talk about poetry. Or talk Quidditch with her brother. Or even debate Dark Arts defense theories with Remus. She wanted the biggest thing on her mind to be the History of Magic homework, or practices for the next Quidditch match. 

But that wasn't who she was, and deep down she realized that.

Remus glanced over and their eyes met briefly. He frowned before turning back to his friends. He'd seen what Severus had seen.

Something was wrong.

*    *    *

The long drag from mid-November to the beginning of the Christmas holidays was uneventful. Worries about strange visions and insomnia were replaced with end-of-term cramming. 

Lauralie signed the list to remain at school for the holidays without a second thought. Once the shock of her encounter near the Forbidden Forest faded, her life had returned to a fairly normal state. She didn't mention the event to anyone, and Severus had the presence mind not to ask her just yet. 

On the last day of term, Sirius, Magdalene and Lily braved a visit to the Slytherin table to say goodbye to Lauralie.

"Are you sure you don't want to come home?" Sirius asked.

Severus looked as if he might answer for her for a moment, but she calmed him with a glance. As touching as it was that Sirius had asked, Lauralie was still set on staying at Hogwarts. 

"I'm sure," she answered. "I like it here during Christmas, I could use the peace and quiet."

Sirius had the common sense not to push the issue. He surprised all the Slytherins by hugging his sister goodbye before the three Gryffindors returned to their own house table.

Finally, after two days of students frantically packing and returning borrowed possessions, the Slytherin quarters emptied.

This left Severus, Lauralie, and, unfortunately, Rita Skeeter.

Rita stayed separate from them, off in her own little corner of the Common Room with a book open in her lap.

Severus and Lauralie had quickly fallen into their Holiday habit from the previous year. They were perched on the hearth playing chess and occasionally sharing a bit of casual chat.

Rita was doing a fairly bad job of pretending they weren't there. She'd throw them annoyed looks and roll her eyes at them. Eventually she realized that they weren't going to pay her any mind and trudged rather loudly up the stairs to her dormitory.  .

"I thought she'd never leave," Severus said. "Checkmate." 

"How long have you been holding off on that?" Lauralie asked, giving him an appreciative grin. 

"Ten minutes," he said. He sat up, crossing his legs beneath him. "I didn't want to start another game, and we couldn't really talk with her here, so I postponed my checkmate just long enough." 

"How crafty of you," she said. She was putting her chess pieces gently back into their box.

Severus watched with quizzical eyes. All month he'd seen small signs that something was bothering his best friend. But whatever it was, she had yet to make the issue public.

"Are you ready to tell me what's going on?" he asked. She had the presence of mind to look mildly bewildered, but Severus was not fooled for a second. 

He fixed Lauralie with his cool, concerned gaze, his expression clearly indicated that he didn't buy her front of ignorance. 

She sighed. "Its nothing," she said. "Really."

"Brewing a month's worth of Dreamless Sleep potion for yourself is not 'nothing'," Severus said. "You can become dependent on that stuff, you know?" 

"I'm not going to become dependent on Dreamless Sleep potion." 

"Oh, are you immune to its addictive properties now?" he asked.

"Jeez, why do you care?" she asked, her voice conveyed her annoyance.

Severus fell silent a moment, his eyes distant. He finally turned and focused his eyes on her once more. "Because you are my best friend, LB," he said. "And I care about you, and I'm worried."

She turned away, her hair fell in front of her shoulder, shielding her face from his view. She slumped back so that she was resting against the dragon hide armchair closest to the fire, the rough pebbly texture of the dragon leather contrasted nicely with her soft flowing hair.

After a moment, she turned back to him, her eyes glassy. "I'm sorry to worry you, Sev. I just don't know what to say… it's really hard to explain."

He moved next to her, taking one of her hands into his. "Try." There, sitting on the floor next to her, leaning against the legs of the armchair, Severus could not help but marvel at how delicate her hand felt in his. He ran his thumb gently over her fingers as he waited for her to speak.

She took a deep breath and he squeezed her hand encouragingly. "I've been having dreams…"

"About?"

"Dragons. And at first I thought it was just because of all the talk about Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy going after those migrating dragons, but the dreams have become progressively more vivid."

"What was the dream about that night after the Quidditch match? When you slept in till lunch time?"

"That night I didn't have a dream," she answered. "See, when I can't sleep I tend to go out and walk on the grounds. I used to go to the Astronomy tower, but ever since that thing with Remus up there I haven't gone back.  Sev, that night I saw one when I was awake . IT was standing on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. When it tried to attack me I fell and hit my head…" 

Severus gripped her hand tighter and looked as if he was considering giving her head a close examination for a bump, even though this had occurred nearly a month ago.

"And then it vanished."

"It vanished as in it flew away? Or it was never there to begin with?" He asked this although he was quite sure he already knew the answer.

"It wasn't real," she said. "I'd hallucinated the whole thing. Do you think I'm losing my mind?"

Severus shook his head. "You aren't losing your mind. It's all happening for some specific reason. I'll help you figure it out."

Lauralie felt a surge of relief and gratitude. She leaned to her left, resting some of her weight on him and placed her head gently on his shoulder.

"Thank you, Severus," she said quietly. "I don't know what I'd do without you." 

In that moment Severus had to fight off the urge to take her in his arms. He wanted to tell her she would never have to be without him as long as he could help it. He wanted to promise her eternity. But in the end he just ran one of his hands along the length of her hair and rested his head gently on hers. I don't know what I would do without you, Lauralie.

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Author's End Notes: *runs and hides in her flame  proof hut calling over her shoulder "Please review, but be nice!"*