Author's Notes: A little foreboding of what's to come following the holidays. Lucius Malfoy is up to no good, and Harry has a disturbing dream.

Disclaimers: If it's recognizable from the books or movies, it's not mine.

Chapter 45: Hints of Things to Come

Harry and Ron were sitting in the café, drinking cocoa with large, light-as- air marshmallows, and playing a game of wizarding chess. While waiting for Ron to make his next move, Harry stared out the window, daydreaming. He saw his godfather walking down the street with a woman. They got closer and Harry realized who the woman on Sirius' arm was.

"Oh no! I don't believe this!"

Ron looked up, puzzled.

"What? What don't you believe Harry?"

"It's Sirius. He's gone completely around the bend. Look who he's with."

Ron peered out the window, and his eyes got big with recognition.

"Bloody Hell Harry! What in Merlin's name is Sirius up to, walking with her?"

"I don't know, but whatever he's up to, it's definitely not good. I told you what happened at the Leaky Cauldron, didn't I?"

"Yeah, you said Snape actually had a vein bulging out in his forehead. I've never seen him that cross before, not even with Neville blew up his cauldron and splashed the entire class with hair raising potion."

"Well, I don't like this Ron. It's like Sirius was taunting him back in Diagon Alley. I know their history together, but you'd think it'd all be water under the bridge now, especially since they had to fight alongside each other in the battles."

Ron shrugged his shoulders and took a drink of his cocoa.

"No sense getting too upset about it Harry. I mean, from what you've said, he kissed her hand, and he's just walking with her now. I wouldn't be worried. He flirts with all the women in the village, right?"

"Yeah, but I sure hope he knows when enough is enough."

Sirius and Mira arrived at the tailor shop; he let go of her arm, and opened the door. He smiled impishly and held out his hand for her. She took it and gave it a friendly shake, not giving him a chance to try and kiss it. Mira bid him a curt "good day and Happy Christmas". She entered the store and closed the door firmly behind her. Sirius laughed and headed across the street to meet up with the boys.

Maddie ran to the window, to get a closer look at the wizard who had walked Mira home.

"Mira! That's Sirius Black! You know about him don't you? He got cleared of all that wrong-doing but Lucy says that you know he must have had something to do with it or he wouldn't have even been there when it happened, would he?"

"Maddie! Stop! I'm not in any mood to listen to Lucy's conspiracy theories. I've had a long morning in London, Susan and I had a row, and this Sirius Black is playing games with me. I just want to go back into my office, have a cup of tea, and catch up on my paperwork. Is that okay with you?"

"Well, pardon me for breathing. Oh, I need to tell you, I've got plans for tomorrow evening, so I need to be out of here by four."

"That's fine, we're closing at two. If you can work from ten 'till two, I would very much appreciate it. After tomorrow, you'll be working on call. Can you manage that?"

"Whatever you say."

Mira went into the back room, filled a cup with water, and dropped a muggle style teabag into it. She took her wand out and gave the cup a stir. Within seconds, steam started rising as the tea steeped. She sat down and rested her head in her hands. She was very relieved to be spending Christmas at Hogwarts. If the professor had not invited her to spend the holiday with him, she would have made her excuses to Eloise and taken off to New Orleans for the weekend.

She pulled a large book off of the shelf above her desk, and flipped through it while sipping her tea. It was a sample book of very exotic textiles. Each page held a sample piece of fabric, a description of its properties, and a price per meter. She had hoped to get ideas for ball- robes from the book, but found herself not in the right frame of mind at the moment. She finished her tea, and started in on a stack of paperwork. At seven o' clock, Maddie came into the back room, and told Mira that there hadn't been any customers since five, and she would like to leave before eight. Mira dismissed her and filed the paperwork away for another day. She went up front and locked the door and turned the sign over to read "closed".

Mira looked up out the window, at the sight of motion, and recognized Susan and Albert's owl circling overhead. She opened the owl window, and the bird dove in for a landing on Swiftfeather's perch. It sat obediently still while Mira untied a large scroll from its leg. Relieved of its burden, the owl hooted, flapped its wings, and took off into the night sky. Mira recognized Susan's handwriting on the scroll, and pocketed it, guessing it would probably be a nasty letter, continuing their argument from earlier in the day. She closed the floo fireplace, locked the day's earnings in the small safe, and cast all the usual protective charms and wards around the building. The wards cast, only Swiftfeather could enter and leave through his owl window. No witch, wizard, or other magical creature could gain entry.

Mira went upstairs to her apartment, and fixed a simple supper. After she finished eating, she sat at the table looking at the book from Hermione and the scroll from Susan. She decided to get Susan's letter out of the way, and opened it. Inside she found not a nasty letter, but several clippings from the Daily Prophet and Witch Weekly, showing the best-dressed witches and wizards in attendance at the last Hogwarts Ball. The robes being modeled in the photographs were utterly stunning. A handful of very high born witches and wizards preened and posed for the camera, light glinting off of magnificent jewels and elaborate themed robes. Mira recognized Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy. Narcissa was wearing a Winter themed robe. Dozens of jeweled snowflakes twinkled on and off, and gave the illusion of falling across the surface of her ice blue robe. She had an elaborate platinum and diamond snowflake necklace and earrings. A matching diamond tiara sparkled atop her sleek corn-silk blonde hair. Lucius was dressed in a robe that alluded to Winter as well. But his robe was midnight blue velvet, edged in embroidered silver icicles. He carried a staff carved from what looked like rock crystal, in the shape of a long thin icicle. Other robe themes included: The Gryffindor Lion, a couple robes styled after the era of the school founders, and even a fair approximation of a robe from Merlin's era. A very distinguished older woman wore a gray robe, which was embroidered with heavy cording spider webs. A jeweled spider brooch had been enchanted to crawl up and around her shoulders. Guests in less spectacular robes were visible in the backgrounds of the photographs. A few had hand held masquerade masks as part of their ensembles, but most did not. A couple had what appeared to be painted and bejeweled faces. All the robes visible in the photographs were stunning, even those not chosen to be on the best-dressed list were more impressive than Mira had imagined.

Mira read the note enclosed with the clippings.

"Of course you and your professor won't be able to come up with anything this grand, but this is an idea of the caliber of dress which will be expected of you. If you can't come up with anything on your own, Albert and I have fancy dress robes that you can borrow. They're not quite up to these standards, but they'll do. You won't be woefully outclassed in them. If you need them, please send the owl and let me know so that I can get them out of storage and have them pressed."

Mira sighed and rolled the photographs up in the scroll. She would do her best to come up with something on her own, but in a pinch, she'd take Susan up on her offer to use the robes. She picked up the textbook and went to the sofa to read. After an hour, the words on the pages ceased making much sense, so Mira put the book down on the tea table and went to bed.

As soon as the lights were out, the little glass orb began to glow dimly, and rose from its resting place downstairs in the shop. It floated up the stairs, and bobbed around the little apartment, seeking out every nook and cranny. It hovered over a sleeping Mira for a few minutes, and dropped down within inches of her face, where it lingered for some time. The orb then darted back down the stairs to its resting place on the shelf.

At the Malfoy's country estate, Lucius sat hunched over a crystal ball, watching with great interest the view afforded him by the floating sphere. He picked up a small silver box, from the corner of his desk. He opened it, removed a little bundle of reddish hair, and stroked it between his thumb and forefinger as he stared into the crystal. A knock at the doors of his study brought him back to the here and now. Hastily, he deactivated the far-seer crystal, and replaced the lock of hair back in its silver box.

"I am quite busy at the moment, and do not wish to be disturbed!"

He heard his wife's voice from the other side of the door. She sounded very strained, as if she had been crying or trying not to cry.

"Lucius! Are you going to be in there all night? I received an owl from Draco, and I would hope that you are interested in hearing how your son is managing away from home during the holidays!"

Lucius threw a black velvet cloth over the crystal ball, and made an angry snarling noise. He pulled himself to his feet, and reached for the silver box. He limped across the room to a large heavy cabinet, pulled a key out of his waistcoat pocket, and unlocked the door. He replaced the silver box next to a smaller one. He picked up the smaller box and sneered, returning it to it's resting place. Next to the silver boxes were two quills and a large bottle of a vile viscous green liquid. He ran his fingers over the surface of the bottle and exhaled. He re-locked the cabinet, and pocketed the key. Then he straightened his collar and limped across the room to the large double doors. Lucius unlocked them, threw them open, and stood glowering over his wife.

"Why must you insist on annoying me when I am working! Have you forgotten just how important of a task we have been entrusted with? And you disturb me to read a letter from a homesick schoolboy! What is the matter with you woman? I have told you that once Master is reborn, and I am restored to health, we will send for Draco and you can play happy families again. But for now, there are other things on my mind! You best not waste your energy brooding over the boy and start preparing for your role in this task. Have you been taking the potion I brewed for you? Every night?"

Narcissa bit her lip to fight back tears. She nodded yes, she had been taking the fertility enhancing potion that would ensure she conceived a healthy son. She looked down at her hands, as Lucius' valet approached the study.

"Will you be taking your brandy in your study, or in the sitting room this evening Master Malfoy?"

Lucius brushed past Narcissa, and called back over his shoulder.

"I will be taking it in the sitting room, alone. Please see that the doors to my study are properly secured before you serve. Lady Malfoy will not be joining me this evening, I'm afraid she needs her rest."

Tears began to stream down Narcissa's face. She fled down the hallway and up the stairs to her chambers.

Harry slept fitfully in his bed at the Millwright's cabin. The scar on his forehead tingled with warmth, and he had a strange and disturbing dream. In his dream he was in a graveyard, the graveyard he had been transported to during the Triwizard Tournament. But he was alone. There were no Death Eaters, no portkey, no Voldemort. He heard what at first sounded like a cat, but the sound became clearer and Harry recognized it as a baby crying. He tossed and turned, and in his dream he walked from headstone to headstone, looking behind each one to try and find the crying baby. He finally came upon a giant cauldron, and inside was a bundle of filthy rags. This was where the crying was coming from; the baby was wrapped in the rags. In the dream, Harry lifted the crying infant out of the cauldron and laid it on top of a low crypt. He unwrapped the rags, and uncovered a tiny flailing fist. Terrified that the baby might suffocate inside the wrappings, he hurried to free it. As he removed the wrapping from the baby's face, he stumbled back in horror, it was the same face as was hidden under Quirrell's turban. Harry woke with a start, sweat pouring down his face; his scar burning, and gasping for breath. He reached for his wand and illuminated the lantern on his bedside table. This was definitely not good. He heard Sirius snoring softly in the room next to his, and heard the soft crackle of the fire in the main fireplace. He thought of waking Sirius and telling him about the dream, but figured it could wait until morning, no sense in disturbing Sirius' sleep. Shaken and unable to get back to sleep, Harry sat on the edge of his bed and stared out the window at the flickering lights in the windows of the upper levels of the school castle, off in the distance. A fine snow started to fall, the snowflakes glinting in the moonlight. He sat and stared at the scene for nearly an hour before he felt well enough at ease to lie back down and try to sleep some more. The remainder of his sleep was mercifully dreamless.