Chapter Eight

Uncertain of the Dawn

From the moment they got on the train, Andrew knew that his giant-blooded friend had more than surpassed his own astounding six foot three height over the summer. But it was when they got off and stood on the platform that Andrew realized by just how much. Many of the first years boarding the boats stopped to stare at Halbert curiously, craning their necks a bit to look at him.

"Think he plays Rugby?" one of the boys said to another who grinned at him in response.

"What? Hullo! It's Andrew!" said another boy who had overheard them from where he sat on a bench, watching everyone get off the train. Andrew looked over curiously.

"Johnny Martin?" Andrew said incredulously.

"That's right! Guess I'm going to be a wizard too," beamed the former Havener. "Living at Hogsmeade must have rubbed off."

"Welcome to Hogwarts, then!" Andrew said enthusiastically. "Maybe I'll see you at Gryffindor table!"

"Well, he certainly won't make Slytherin," said a pale girl coolly standing beside the other first years. But then Andrew heard the call to the coaches and waved at them, and he and Halbert turned to meet them.

"No doubts where that one is going, is there?" Halbert joked. Andrew only grinned at him as they got on.

In no time Andrew found himself back at the Gryffindor table sitting across from Zoë and Zack, and both of them seemed to be glad to be back in school for a change. Up at the Professors' table, he saw that his parents had taken their places. His mother smiled at him when he looked up, apparently just as happy to have them safely in Hogwarts as he was. Beside her was Professor Sprout, and on the other side of Sprout sat Anna, absorbed in something a Professor Omega was saying. Andrew was also surprised to see sitting by Madame Brittle a pink-haired woman he'd met before; Auror Tonks, who had acted as his grandfather's guard on occasion. So she was the new Transfiguration teacher?

A bit of a commotion at the Slytherin table made him look up to see a scramble as Eigil and several other students were made to move as Aurelius picked his seat; wearing that strange chiseled expression he got anytime he was interacting with his house. Alex appeared to be in deep conversation with Mandria and had a worried look on her face, while Alicia, Phoebe, June and Morfinn at Hufflepuff were laughing at something Ginger Davidson had just said.

Andrew looked up as Dumbledore came in, twirling about the Sorting Hat until it looked dizzy. But instead of setting it down to take his seat, Dumbledore walked in front of the table. He seemed unconcerned about the questioning looks from the staff and he gestured for them to go ahead and sit down. He then glanced around and smiled at the students, his eyes seeming to meet every single pair of theirs. No, of course he couldn't be; Dumbledore must be looking over their heads. Andrew chuckled at himself. But then an amused twinkle came into Dumbledore's eyes and he winked, and somehow that time Andrew was certain it was directed at him. Before he could think about it, Dumbledore had lifted his head to catch Professor Weasley's eye and she left.

The students waited in anticipation until the doors opened again and Professor Weasley led the first years in. The grin on her face was strangely unnerved, but it was obvious why as just a couple steps behind her and side by side walked Joanie and Jamie. One with curly medium brown hair and the other with straight brown hair, but otherwise looking very much alike as they walked down the aisle in their new Hogwarts robes.

Tailing at the end was Johnny Martin, who had made quick friends with the two boys that had been beside him. He stopped when he heard his name called out, then grinned at a surprised Alex and waved at her. He also couldn't resist a wave at Jennifer when they reached the front. She grinned widely at him and said something to Severus, who gave him an appraising look.

"Welcome to all; new, old, and ancient," Dumbledore said mischievously. "I have a feeling this is going to prove a memorable year for all of us at Hogwarts, and I for one cannot wait to get started. I hope you don't mind, but I've decided to help with the Sorting myself this year. And I must say, never in all my years have I seen so much promise and potential present in the Great Hall at any given time. Yes, it's going to be quite exciting," he added cheerfully, placing the Hat on the stool.

Several of the first years blinked as the Sorting Hat seemed to be looking at them, its brim curling as if musing over what to say.

For over eleven centuries, at Gryffindor's command,

The greatest minds of wizard kind have been my Hat stand.

Generations pass through these halls, and every one through me

But time does not stand still, you know, and soon you'll be history.

For the sun will set upon this school and night will soon descend;

It is not for me, the Sorting Hat, to guess what the future portends.

But come along and join the throng, out of your head your House will be drawn;

For the present dictates I read your fate while we wait uncertain of the dawn.

Dumbledore furrowed his brow at the Hat while behind him the students clapped unsurely. None of them missed the looks of alarm and loss of color in the faces of the faculty as they followed their example and applauded, Jennifer glancing at her husband's face before attempting to get a look at the Headmaster's. But the Headmaster had already turned to the scroll before him, his momentary frown soon replaced by an enigmatic smile as he looked down the list of names.

"Agatha Barrister," he said, smiling at the girl Halbert and Andrew had noticed before. She was a thin but pretty girl with pale skin and long, thin dark hair, stepping primly up to take a seat on the stool. The two of them grinned knowingly at each other when the Hat declared, "Slytherin!"

"Mayhew Brown," he continued, who went to Hufflepuff, Cromwell to Ravenclaw, and so on down the list until finally Andrew's patience was rewarded when the Headmaster finally reached the M's.

"John Martin," he said, smiling at the boy before he even stepped up, grinning nervously as he took the stool. Jennifer leaned a bit to try to see his face until Severus tugged on her sleeve, and sheepishly she sat back. "Gryffindor!" the Hat declared, and Jennifer applauded enthusiastically, Severus less so as his eyes squinted at the student who undoubtedly was due to sit upon the stool next.

"Jamie Potter," the Headmaster said with a widening smile. Grinning back at him, the girl stepped up; turning to meet her cousin's eye where Joanie stood among those that remained. It didn't take long for the Hat to shout Gryffindor again, and the entire table broke into a roaring applaud as Jamie beamed brightly, nearly skipping as she headed to the House her parents had both graduated from.

"Edward Porter." Johnny Martin couldn't help but be disappointed when the Muggleborn he had chatted with earlier went into Hufflepuff with his other mate, Stan Hale. Glumly he put his head in his hand, watching to see who the next of his housemates would be.

One by one the R names and S names dwindled, and as Dumbledore went through the T's, Joanie realized that being a W she was very likely to be the last one…and as she realized the last two beside her was Van Kort (Ravenclaw) and Vandenhoff (Slytherin), she was unsurprised to find herself standing alone, waiting for her name to be called. But then he began to roll up the list as if missing her presence, and she cleared her throat quite insistently.

"Oh, my goodness, were you waiting to be Sorted?" Dumbledore said mischievously, several students close enough to overhear grinning at each other.

"If it's not too inconvenient," Joanie said evenly. Looking even more amused, Dumbledore made a play at looking at the scroll again.

"Joan Weasley," he said with a smile as she stepped up, glancing at her mother, who looked even more nervous than she did. In no time, Dumbledore was sitting the Hat on her head, and it immediately began to grumble to itself out loud.

"I really shouldn't do this, you know," the Hat grumbled. "I am well within my rights to put her wherever I like!"

"Well, do so and be done with it, if you don't mind? I myself am getting rather hungry as I'm sure everyone else is."

"Oh, very well! After all, it's hardly her fault, is it?" the Hat sighed. "Gryffindor!"

Sheer relief passed over Hermione's face as Joanie went to join her cousin, looking back as Dumbledore went to take his place, patting the Deputy Headmaster on the back ignoring the fact she looked as if she were going to fall over from the gesture.

"What on earth was all of that about?" Jamie asked as Joanie took her place at the end of the table.

"Who knows with that Hat? There should have been little doubt that I was going to be in Gryffindor," Joanie said so matter-of-factly that several of her fellow first years shrugged at each other before turning their attention to the front as Dumbledore led them in another painful rendition of the school song.

Jennifer rubbed her arms distractedly as she and Severus walked out of the Great Hall, the corridors feeling strangely chill for so early in the fall. Many of the other members of faculty had broken into groups, and an excited murmur could be heard from the staff room.

"Not going in?" Jennifer murmured quietly.

"Dumbledore has very little control over what the Hat chooses to say or not say. You know as well as I that he was just as surprised about what it said as we were," Severus said, leading her towards the back stair.

"What do you suppose it meant, that business about the sun setting on the school?" Jennifer asked, trying to remember it word for word in her mind.

"Whatever it meant, it was contradictory," Severus pointed out, "for it professed it was not its place to say what the future portends, despite the fact it attempted to paint us a bleak future."

"Yes, that is very strange," Jennifer murmured. "Do you suppose whatever is causing Essie and the others' problems may be somehow affecting items as well?"

"Well, it didn't seem to be off on Sorting the students," Severus said tersely, a hint of irritation in his voice. "There wasn't a single first year sorted tonight that I couldn't have predicted exactly where they were going." Jennifer grinned in amusement at that, following him up the stairs.

Jennifer tried to put her concerns about the rhyme behind her, especially since Severus didn't seem to be too troubled by it. He had been distant lately; and although she had trouble reading any detail within his thoughts she could plainly see how Ciardoth's presence was plaguing him. What had happened to Audi and Alastor had hit him much harder than he had let on to anyone but her, and she knew that nothing short of her defeat would end his growing restlessness. But so far, Jennifer found she could still bring him out of it with a touch, or a gesture, or a question about something entirely unrelated; short conversations filled with trivialities of work or family gave their minds temporary relief from what was hanging over them. And although she, like her husband, had little doubt it would not be long before Ciardoth made her next move, she never would have guessed it was going to happen that very night.

It had started as a very normal dream for Jennifer; working at Kingler's Café as it had been before the fire, serving out coffee and talking to some of the locals. A storm whipped up outside, the rain chasing in people off the streets as it often did, and Jennifer found she was bracing himself waiting for Erascus to enter with dry hair and clothes despite the storm. She knew now he had used magic. At the time she had not. A curious sensation of disorientation came over her as the melding of Jacqueline and herself as she was now mingled through her subconscious. But Erascus didn't come in, and she found herself putting down the pot and staring at the glass door in confusion.

Just then, the door shattered into millions of pieces and smoke filled the air, and Jennifer found herself dashing outside despite her fear that her friends would be trapped behind her. The storm pelted down on her from every direction, the wind so fierce and dark that she had to shield her eyes, barely registering the flash of lightning through her eyelids as thunder rumbled all around her. But the thunder never let up. Instead it grew louder and louder. The ground began to shake so violently that Jennifer dared open her eyes again to see the ground rising up, but as she reached for her wand, she realized she was still dressed as Jacqueline. A flash went through her mind…a woman's icy face she recognized at once. Before she could react, the ground beneath her feet opened up and she stumbled, screaming out Severus' name in pure desperation without any true hope that he could reach her.

Severus woke up to find his temples pulsing, a rumble of thunder in his mind and the sensation of someone shaking him awake. But when he looked around he saw nothing out of its place as first, the windows shut tight against the beating rain and nothing out of place. And yet…something had assuredly woken him. He waved the candles as he moved to sit up, but the moment that he did so they suddenly began to flicker wildly in unusually bright pulses and unusually dim ones in unmistakable warning. Immediately he turned to shake Jennifer, but then noticed she was strangely stiff and pale.

"Jennifer… Jennifer, wake up!" Severus said insistently, fear welling in him as he put his trembling hand beneath her nose. Her breathing was quite shallow…in fact it was erratic…struggling. She was in terrible trouble, there could be no doubt about it, and his mind went back to the last time he had struggled to wake her up. Leaping up he grabbed his cloak and frantically grabbed for a Telepathy potion, hoping the small phial would be enough. "Come on, come on, start working already," he snarled at himself as he tried to calm down, touching her head and closing his eyes.

A moment later, Severus found himself digging with his hands in a pile of something strange…something that resembled dirt, but was a magical force of some kind and he forced his hands to go faster than what they couldn't have if he had been awake. Suddenly he found himself grasping an arm and with all his strength he was yanking Jennifer out, pulling her to him while she looked at him both dazed and wary at the same time.

"Are you all right?" Severus asked.

"Are you just a part of this dream?" Jennifer said back.

"I suppose you'll find that out if we can get you to wake up," Severus said, handing out her wand. Having absolutely no idea how he could have possibly gotten something so physical in the dream, Jennifer took it, frowning. "Jennifer, Ciardoth may have control over this dream, but it's still your mind setting the stage. If we're going to get out of here, we must first force a scenery change. Do you understand?" Jennifer frowned but nodded slowly. "Ciardoth! Show yourself, I know you're here!" he shouted, his voice echoing through what now appeared to be a deserted swamp, blackened by the dark clouds above them.

"This looks familiar," Jennifer murmured as she called up a light.

"It should. She's using your subconscious thought to create this trap," Severus said, sweeping the area in front of him warily with his wand. "But I have a feeling she wasn't expecting me."

"Perhaps not," echoed a cold voice that seemed to come from all around them. "But your presence will not change anything that is about to occur. It will not now, it will not in the end!"

"In that case why don't you come out so we can see you," Severus said calmly, but the echo died in the muffled sounds of night creatures within the boggy waters.

"I know this place now," Jennifer said at last, seeing something white in the water. "But it's more of a memory than a…" but she stopped cold as the body below the marsh floated to the surface and realized it was indeed another one of her nightmare's as the corpse revealed Alex's bloated form. In horror she stumbled back only to bump into Severus, and turned to see Aurelius' drowned face under the murky water before him. Severus grabbed her before she could react as Andrew and Alicia's faces also appeared to either side of them.

"It's a dream, it's just a dream…" Severus said for his benefit as well as hers.

"A dream she can hurt us in! She's done it before!" Jennifer shouted back at him.

"But it's still your dream in your sleep and in your mind! Take us somewhere else, Jennifer!" Severus pleaded fervently, and she met her own reflection in his eyes.

Jennifer heard the sound of a woman sobbing then and glanced around, quite surprised to find that they were standing in the corridor before the doors of the Great Hall; the torches dim as they would be late at night. The two of them looked up to see Hermione walking in from the side corridor, her face red and obviously shaken by something.

"What is it? What's happened?" Jennifer said in alarm, unable to keep herself from asking.

"It's Albus, Jennifer. He just… he said there was a student in danger and took off running and then he just…collapsed," she said, tears streaming down her cheeks. "He's in some sort of coma and Sagittari says…he's doesn't think…he may not wake up at all," she finally got out. Unable to bear it anymore, Hermione walked on towards her office. "I need to send out some letters."

"Dumbledore," Jennifer said in terror, Severus catching her arm before she made a move to run to the medical wing.

"It isn't real, Jennifer," Severus said, but Jennifer didn't miss the fear in his own eyes or the loss of color in his face. "Ciardoth is just showing your fears to manipulate you. You must break free from it. You must wake up."

"But Dumbledore…"

"Is fine in his office! Wake up and see for yourself! Try, Jennifer, put all your energy into it! This is a dream… just a dream and you must wake up now!" he ordered, growing more and more insistent.

She had had nightmares before. Many of them. And many times had she forced herself awake to escape them. Why was this any different? Why did she feel so helpless to fight it? Her head pulsed and swam strangely, and somehow she knew it was something outside of her, calling her back. She wanted to wake up…she had to wake up. A sensation much like struggling to reach the surface of water after running out of air overtook her and her eyes opened wide and she gasped awake, Severus doing the same from where he was lying across her.

"Severus?" Jennifer said, immediately reaching for him.

"It's all right, I think we're back," Severus said softly giving her a tight relieved hug. She paused only an instant before grabbing for her charm bracelet to study it. But before Severus could reach for his watch, there was a knock at the door. Leaping out of bed they both scrambled for their robes and were in his sitting room in seconds, opening it to see the worried face of Hermione.

"Sorry to wake you, but we just had a fluctuation of wild magic and Dumbledore wants security checks done," Hermione said.

"Dumbledore's all right?" Jennifer asked anxiously.

"Yes, of course. He was working in his office when it happened," Hermione said, glancing at the torches in the hall. "It seems to have stopped now."

"Perhaps, but it seems that the battle has just begun," Severus said, while Hermione frowned at the haunted expressions on their faces. "Let's go see the Headmaster," he added, Jennifer nodding and following behind him. Severus slowed down long enough to inspect his watch carefully to make doubly sure that the children were snug in their house rooms. But Jennifer found herself preoccupied with her own thoughts, wondering if she'd ever be able to get to sleep again.