Harry Potter and the Arch of Hades

By: Merusa

Chapter 6: Dreamwalking

Draco Malfoy was insane.

Harry's breath caught in his throat when he began to understand what Malfoy was saying.

"Get me Harry, GET ME HARRY!" Draco was pushing up against nothing- Harry realized that there had to be an invisible barrier around the boy. Harry immediately started forward, ignoring protests.

"I'm here, Draco."

Draco's eyes focused on a section of wall a few feet from Harry's head. His blonde hair was tangled and matted, he looked malnourished and even paler than usual and, with a start, Harry realized that there were purple scars crisscrossing over the exposed skin of the boy.

"Harry?"

For the first time, Harry pitied his old enemy.

"What is it, Draco?"

The rest of the group stood back, allowing the exchange to happen.

"Harry, its coming! It'll be here soon!" Draco pointed at Dumbledore. "You'll think that it was fulfilled- but it won't be! Two will die! Two! And there's nothing you can do to stop it!" His eyes slid out of focus, and he fell to the floor, once again screaming wordlessly. He curled up into a ball. Harry was unable to tell if the boy was in pain or not.

"Poppy, put him down. Now." Harry turned, surprised, at the sound of the Headmaster's voice. It sounded harsh and unforgiving, and Harry couldn't read the expression on Dumbledore's face.

Harry watched as Madame Pomfrey moved and began waving her wand over Malfoy's prone form. One of the first things she cast was a Silencing charm, and once Draco's screams were quieted, Harry rounded on the Headmaster.

"What happened to him?"

Dumbledore stared Harry straight in the eye. "He was tortured by the Cruciatus," he said softly, "for passing information to the Order. His own father used the spell on him until he was insane." He paused, and then continued. "He would not rest until he spoke with you, Harry. Perhaps now, he can get some peace." Wordlessly, he opened the door and beckoned them all out. The trio walked out in silence, and started down the hallway.

Harry wondered at it. Draco had been one of the good guys. He wasn't sure what to make of it. It had all been an act, he realized, Draco's teasing. He wondered for how long.

He realized with a start that last year, when Draco had questioned him about the Prophecy, he was just doing his job...and Harry had beaten him up. He felt a slight lurch of guilt when his mind inevitably flowed over to the image of the tortured boy in the Hospital Wing.

Hermione stopped. "Harry, we have to do rounds. Head duties."

Harry nodded. "Right."

Ron looked back and forth between them. "I don't like you two walking around this castle by yourselves."

Harry shook his head. "Go with Hermione, then, I'm fine on my own." The look he gave them left no room for argument. His two friends nodded and set off in the opposite direction. He kept walking.

By the time he reached the bowels of the castle, his mind was carefully blank. He was very good at doing that, he had discovered. After making the decision to lock away painful emotions at the beginning of his sixth year, he had became rather good at it. He knew he would explode one day....but that day was too far off to worry about.

He saw a glimpse of black robe, trimmed in yellow, swirling around the corner. A Hufflepuff. Adjusting his Head Boy badge so that it could not be missed, he briskly turned the corner. It was a boy, a very tall one. "Excuse me."

The boy turned and Harry's breath caught in his throat when green eyes met grey.

It was Cedric. Not ghost Cedric, but real, solid, living, breathing, smiling Cedric.

"Hello, Harry," said the boy sadly.

Harry blinked, and Cedric was gone.

Harry started. He pulled out his wand and turned in a circle. It was a mostly unused hallway; there were no classrooms or other rooms in it.

He was alone.

He told himself that he had dreamed it. However, he was unable to shake the uneasy feeling that someone else was there, and he headed quickly back to Gryffindor Tower.

"Holy Crap!"

"Sirius, language."

Sirius rolled his eyes at Lily. "I didn't swear, Lils." He shuddered when he saw that Lily was sitting on James' lap again.

James shook his head. "That was freaky."

Percy was looking at the basin, uncomfortable. "I'm never going to get used to this." He waved his hand over the water, and Sirius could tell by the small smile that blossomed on his face that while they still saw Harry, he was watching his wife and children sleep.

"Uhm, excuse me?" Sirius, Lily, and James turned to see Cedric Diggory. Lily smiled. "Hello, Cedric."

Cedric looked surprised. "You know who I am?"

Lily nodded. "Of course. We've seen you with Harry," she motioned to the basin, "and you know things when you're dead. Here, have a seat."

Cedric nodded and appeared to sit down on thin air, but actually was resting on a chair that appeared from nowhere. "Could I see the basin?"

James nodded. "Go ahead. Don't worry, you won't disturb what we see. As a matter of fact, we shouldn't be able to interact like this- but I suppose it's because we're linked by the same group of people...."

Cedric leaned forward and passed his hand over the water. "Cho," he murmured, so softly that the rest of the group barely heard it. His eyes immediately became fixed on something, and he smiled a small smile.

Lily leaned back against James. She leaned forward again, however, quickly. "Oh my....Percy, you should see this, it's your sister as well."

The whole group, now including Cedric, saw what Lily saw.

Sirius paled. "So, it begins," he muttered.

"Harry!" Harry smiled as Ginny caught up with him. It was days after The Incident, as Harry had labeled his first night of rounds, and he had all but forgotten it. "Hey, Ginny, where are you headed to?"

She smiled back. "I'm meeting Dean. You?"

"Padma. Where you meeting him?"

"That empty room across from the statue of Morgan Le Fay."

Harry stopped dead in his tracks. He gave her an odd look. "That's where I'm meeting Padma."

She shrugged, and kept walking. "Maybe they want to plan a double date?"

Harry suppressed a groan. Not like that'd be the mother of all awkward situations, or anything.....

Some discomfited moments later, they arrived at the room. When Harry saw Ginny reach for the doorknob, he felt an unexplainable thrill of foreboding- but he was unable to stop her, and she opened it and stepped fully into the room.

When he saw the look of abject horror on her face, his first instinct was to go to her. He moved forward and touched her shoulder. "Gin?"

He turned and looked at the rest of the room.

Padma and Dean were kissing. No, they were more than kissing- from the look of it, they were about to christen the classroom.

Harry felt a sort of hot, swooping anger he'd never quite experienced. Sure, they'd been having problems, but Padma had no right to be kissing another man.

"Padma!" he said sharply. She pulled away from Dean and saw him. "Harry! I can explain-"

"Yeah, go ahead," he interrupted, "explain to me why Ginny and I just found the people we're dating snogging each other after both being invited into the room! Explain to me why you're sucking face with my former roommate! And, while you're at it, explain why; if you were in love with another guy, you couldn't just break it off with me?"

Padma gaped at him for a moment. Harry locked eyes with her, and waited.

"Dean...."

Harry suddenly remembered that Ginny was there. He looked over his shoulder at her, and felt his heart drop.

Her face was impassive, but her eyes were overflowing with emotion....the chocolate color had darkened with her anger, and stubborn tears were brimming along her lashes. She looked like she didn't know whether to laugh, cry, or hit something, and she seemed unable to decide.

"Dean..." she said again. He was looking at her, at a loss for words. She grabbed her wand and pointed it at him shakily. Harry held his breath. Something passed over her face, and she fled the room. With a last glare at Padma, Harry followed her. "Ginny!"

Padma took a deep breath. "Oh, he's going to hate me....he hates me....I shouldn't have done that...."

Dean walked over to her. "Remember, Padma, you had to do it."

She nodded. "Right, I had to do it. Because I'm going to die, and Harry would feel like he couldn't date if we were dating when I died."

Dean nodded back. "Right. Because...."

"...he's so noble. And this way, he'll pity me so much that I'll still be a fond memory to him."

"...And he'll pity you because you weren't strong enough to just break it off."

Padma nodded. "I'm going to Hell. I cheated, and I dragged you into it and made you cheat too-"

Dean pulled her into a hug. "Shh. When you asked me for help, Ginny and I were still broken up. We just got back together."

"But-"

"No. I'm not letting you go to hell. I promise."

She relaxed in his arms. She didn't think about how good it felt- that would have made things even worse.

Harry finally caught up with Ginny a ways away from that room. She was standing in the Astronomy Tower, leaning against the balcony. Her hair was blowing around softly, and she looked very vulnerable.

Harry didn't know what made him do it, but he came up behind her and slipped his arms around her waist. She stiffened for a moment, but leaned back against him, breathing in deeply and laying her hands over his. It was a very intimate position, and he'd never held anyone like that before, not even Padma- but it felt so right that he didn't dare let go.

She turned her head slightly and laid it on his shoulder. Harry felt a slight wetness that must have meant she was crying. She was silent, though, and Harry never would have guessed that she was happy.

They stood there for a long time.

When Harry arrived back at the dorm, it was nighttime. Wordlessly, Harry and Ginny separated.

Harry had never been more grateful for Head Boy rooms when he passed by the regular staircases.

"Harry." He stopped in his tracks. He turned to see Dean.

"Thomas, I don't want to talk to you." He made to turn again.

"Harry-"

"Dean, you stole my girlfriend!" He glared at his former roommate.

The common room fell silent.

Harry turned and headed up the stairs.

A/N: Review Responses next chapter!