Harry Potter and the Arch of Hades

By: Merusa

Chapter 7 3/4: The Dream

(quick A/N: this picks up right where the first part left off. Review responses and excessive groveling can be found at the end of the story.)

By the time Harry had stumbled into his room, he was nearly dead on his feet. Without bothering to remove his robes, he fell into bed, and slipped into the darkness.....

Harry's Dream

Before him stood the Arch, but there was something different about it. He couldn't put his finger on it. After a few moments of quiet study, it hit him. The Arch, normally imposing, seemed almost friendly....almost inviting. Without making a conscious decision, Harry walked slowly toward the softly swaying curtain, reaching toward the comfortable warmth it could provide...

Abruptly, he found himself standing in the Entrance Hall. Ginny was leaning against the doors to the Great Hall, smiling at him. Something unidentifiable was resting in her fisted hand. He smiled softly and strode up to her. "Hey, Gin."

She continued smiling, but it looked empty. "Hello, Harry."

It was then that Harry noticed what she held in her hand. It was a muggle yo-yo. She tied the string around her finger, and began to play with it.

Harry's eyes watched its progress- up, down, up, down. "Where did you get that?"

She didn't answer.

Up, down, up, down.

Watching it move unsettled him for some reason, and so he swept his gaze up onto her face again. The empty smile was fixed firmly on her face. He looked into her eyes, and his stomach lurched.

Her eyes were filled with fright.

"We've got some...unique people walking around today." The smile remained fixed, but her eyes were urgent. She was trying to tell him something.

He turned and scanned the hall. He turned and looked at the staircase, his eyes sweeping upward until he saw what she was trying to tell him about.

A long line of cloaked figures was walking in single file along the hallway above the staircase. Harry was unable to identify them, although he could see that they weren't Death Eaters.

He turned back. "Gin-" he stopped. She was gone, and the doors had been thrown open.

He strode through them, and looked around. The room was set up rather like it had been when he had taken his O.W.L.'s- empty desks sitting in rows, with larger tables bordering the edge. He saw that a few of the tables were occupied.

He came to the one sitting where the staff table usually resided. Two young women were sitting at it. To his left sat a blonde girl. She was very pale but for the flush in her cheeks. Her eyes seemed to switch from blue to green, depending on the angle of light. The girl to his right was dark haired. Her skin was olive toned, and her eyes were dark. They both had messy, curly hair, and neither could have been older than sixteen. The table in front of them was littered with crumpled parchment and sweets wrappers. He searched his mind, but could identify neither of them.

"Where are your friends?" the blonde asked softly.

He frowned, but didn't respond.

The brunette appeared to be appraising him with curious eyes. He shifted uncomfortably under her gaze.

"Who are you two?"

The blonde smiled, with the brunette continued to appraise them. "Messengers, I suppose."

He nodded, that reason somehow satisfying him.

The brunette finally spoke. "Do you know what you're supposed to do?"

"No."

The blonde's smile faded, but she didn't look angry. "You'll find out."

"Why did I see Sirius and Cedric?"

Neither answered.

He frowned. "I'll just be moving on, then."

He started to turn away, but stopped when the blonde called out to him. "You have to save them, you know."

The brunette spoke. "You're going to lose her."

"And we don't know if she can come back."

"It's not going to be easy."

A clap of thunder interrupted the speaking. Harry looked up to see that the enchanted ceiling was filled to the brim with dark, swirling storm clouds.

When he looked down again, the two girls were gone.

A loud clanging noise made him whirl around. A large grandfather clock now stood behind him. It chimed the hour as the small hand moved to eleven.

He turned away from it to see Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, Luna, Remus, and Tonks. They were standing around what appeared to be the Goblet of Fire, except the flames were a deep orange and were reaching high into the air.

He blinked, and then was surrounded by darkness. He felt something heavy in his hand, and moved his fingers over it. He decided it was a key. He stepped, stumbled, and fell.....

...into bed. He quickly sat up and peered around the room, deeply unsettled by the dream. He glanced at his nightstand and, groaning, got out of bed.

However, the strange dream was far from forgotten.

Harry quickly maneuvered into a seat for 'the show', as the students had taken to calling it. All his classmates arrived early and filtered into the closest seat to the teacher's desk. The bell rang out, and the chatter quickly ceased.

A moment later, Professor Seymour entered the room. She smiled at them and dropped her briefcase on her desk. She came around the front and plopped down next to her suitcase, adjusting her plain black robes and tossing her dark braid over her shoulder as she went.

"Good morning, seventh years!"

"Good morning, Professor Seymour!"

She picked up her lesson plan and studied it.

Harry and Ron immediately became annoyed. Hermione looked bored and appalled. She raised her hand. "Professor, your planner is upside down...."

"Oh, no wonder!" The professor giggled girlishly and turned it right side up. She studied it again for a moment, and then nodded, satisfied.

"Class, today we will be practicing dueling! Partner up and go for it!"

Murmurings broke out. Normally, she would tell them to go to a certain page and immediately digress from the subject into a random story from her youth. She hadn't actually taught them yet.

Harry began dueling Hermione just as Ron partnered Neville. "Really," Harry muttered, "I've enjoyed how easy this class is, but it'd be nice to, you know, actually learn something."

Hermione huffed and rolled her eyes. "Well, Harry, it's not like we're at war or anything." Her tone was positively dripping with sarcasm.

Harry grinned. "Even if we were, it's not like I would be playing a part or anything. I'm just a random kid who fell on his forehead at a young age."

"Of course. And you've never faced evil."

"Who, me? Nah."

They looked at each other, faces straight. The corners of Harry's mouth twitched, and that was enough to send them both into laughter.

"What's going on over- oof!" Professor Seymour tripped. Ron caught her easily and set her on her feet.

"Thank you, Mr. Weasley, five points to Gryffindor. As I was saying, you two shouldn't be laughing, you should be dueling! This is a classroom, you know."

"No, it really isn't." Ron muttered. Harry bit back a snicker.

The professor sighed. "Obviously, you lot can't focus today. The whole class is dismissed."

Silently, the class packed their bags and moved out of the room. Once they spilled into the hallway, chatter broke out about their odd teacher.

Ron shook her head. "We're not learning a thing from that old bag. What was Dumbledore playing at, hiring a teacher like her at a time like this?"

"I don't know, but I don't like it." Harry shoved his hands into his pockets. "Maybe we should start the D.A. again. I'll talk to Dumbledore."

Hermione nodded. "Well, I'm going to send something off at the Owlery."

Ron got a strange look on his face. "Is it for...." he trailed off, and shook his head. "No, it's none of my business."

Hermione nodded at him. "It is." She reached out as if she were going to touch his arm, but stopped herself. "I'll see you two later."

Harry didn't miss the sorrow and longing on Ron's face as the redheaded boy watched Hermione walk away.

Review Responses, Followed With a Hefty Dose of Groveling.

Creative Deficit- You were camping? That's awesome. I like the outdoors, but I couldn't do that. Is Ginny going to die? Hmm.... Thank you for the review. It really means a lot. See below for further groveling. I've killed the whole groveling thing, haven't I?

Ivanna- (flaming blush) Thank you. Comments like yours are rare and prized. When I got your review it made my day.

Pumpkinfrankie- yep, those were your questions. Unless there are two pumpkinfrankies. Which is, of course, entirely possible, especially since the emails are different.....if that's the case, I apologize.

Heathz- Thank you! You don't need to br sorry. I'm glad you like it.

Okay, I want to apologize. I was in a terrible mood, and I took it out on you guys. I hope I didn't loose anyone. I don't regret that I said something about the lack of reviews, but I regret how I said it. I know you guys are just as busy as I am, it's just that if I don't hear from you guys, I'm clueless. I need them.

I'd like to make it clear that I am not obsessive and I understand if you cannot review. I was an ass.

That being said, I'd like to make it clear that reviews would be greatly appreciated. I'm still an ass, but at least now I'm polite.

Your overly groveling author in dire need of a thesaurus,

Merusa

---thanks to Girls' Life Magazine and Dreams (hyperlinks aren't working, email me if you want the address) for acting as references for dream interpretation.

---thanks to Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Princess Leia for kicking so much Evil Empire butt.