I deeply apologize for the extremely long wait, but I must let you know now that examinations have come to date. But here it is... the next chapter. Maybe now you'll realize Atara's secret character...

Chapter 9- The Scent of a Nightmare

Pansy shivered with the biting cold that surrounded the common room. She frowned as she scanned the dimly lit area for her night robe.

Trust those two idiots to go and hide it somewhere here, thought Pansy angrily. Honestly, Tempestt and Adel-what's-her-name are so childish.

She lifted up the small lamp she held, and gasped when its glow fell on a white-blond head leaning against one of the velvet armchairs facing the empty fireplace.

'Why, Pansy,' said Draco, casually getting up, 'it's almost midnight. What are you doing here so late at night?' His eyes travelled down her thin nightgown, and he grinned slyly.

Pansy flashed him a bright smile, delighted at his presence. 'I'm looking for my robe. It was stolen from me.' She walked up to him and whispered, 'Can you help me find it?'

Draco gave a single laugh. 'I know where it is. I saw your two friends run away with it a few hours ago. I think they went to the Owlery. Say we run there? I'm feeling numb; the run will warm me, and the sooner you get your robe back' – he slipped an arm round Pansy's shoulders –'the sooner you can get warm as well. I'd give you mine, but it wouldn't do any good... the stupid thing doesn't serve its purpose well.'

Pansy giggled automatically and placed the lamp on the ground. Too bad Little Miss Perfect isn't here to see this... 'Sure! Let's go!'

As soon as they were out of the common room, they ran as fast and as quietly as they could towards the Owlery. Outside it was bitterly cold, and a thick mist hung in the air like a suffocating blanket. It was beginning to occur to Pansy to look for her robe the next day, but the thought of being with Draco excited her, and so they finally reached the tall tower.

The Owlery was noisy with frequent hoots and fluttering, and a portion of the mist floated through the several wide windows along the stone walls. Pansy withdrew her wand from her nightgown pocket and whispered, 'Lumos.' A radiant beam emitted from the tip of her wand, making the white mist seem brighter and more complete. None of the owls seemed disturbed by the change though.

Looking around, Pansy noticed a small wooden door opposite her, hardly visible through the mist and the several owls that perched on jutting edges around it, but she could see it was slightly open. She motioned for Draco to follow her, and they waded through the sea of hay and droppings across the room.

There was a faded piece of parchment pinned onto the door's chipped surface, and upon closer inspection Pansy found blotted words written on it: 'Not to be released until next Halloween'. She frowned, then looked down at a broken padlock that hung loosely from the door's rusted handle, and it fell onto the soft ground quietly as Pansy pushed it open. She ignored the piercing stares of the owls, and slipped inside, Draco at her heels.

They entered a dark, window-less room, but there were several small apertures that led to the blanketed sky outside, although none of the mist passed through. Despite the pale light from these holes, they were in complete and empty darkness. The light from Pansy's wand didn't serve much either.

'I never knew there was another part of the Owlery,' whispered Draco, staring at the black space above them. 'Hey, is that your robe up there? On that pole, over there...'

Pansy looked up and saw a green cloth draped on a wooden board that stretched across the room, and she held up her wand to see it clearly. Then she noticed several black objects that seemed to be handing underneath the board. Just before she could make out what the objects were, Draco cleared his throat.

'Accio robe!' he said loudly, and the echo of his words, along with a soft breeze from the tip of his wand, passed by Pansy's head and towards the cloth.

Suddenly there was a shrieking noise, and several of the black objects that hung below the board merged together in their evident movement towards the two. Pansy screamed as the bats began clawing at her head, and she frantically waved her wand to curse them away, but stumbled in her effort. She heard Draco yell, and then a loud slam. Panicked, she turned her head around and through the wild curtain of bats she saw Draco gone, and the door leading outside closed.

'Draco, you coward!' cried Pansy in terror, as the bats smothered her. 'REDUCTO!'

The spell only managed to hit some of the bats; the rest continued to attack Pansy, and in her panic she dropped her wand. Screaming yet again, she hid her head below her scratched arms.

'Parkinson...' a soft voice spoke.

Pansy looked up in sudden relief, thinking Draco had returned to save her. A chill colder than the air ran along Pansy's spine when she saw Atara Lilith. Her pale face, clearly visible amidst the hundreds of bats, was smiling mysteriously.

Pansy winced as a she felt a particularly painful bite. 'Help me!' she cried in desperation.

'They're just bats, Parkinson,' whispered Lilith icily. 'Besides, they're only doing what they think is right. You disturbed them, after all.'

Although Pansy's ears rang with the shrill shrieks of the bats, she vividly heard distant, harsh laughter, which sounded familiarly like those Tempestt and Adelheid would make.

'You set me up!' yelled Pansy, struggling to stand up. Suddenly Atara's face was just inches from her own.

'Obviously,' Atara said simply, and disappeared. Instantly Pansy felt a searing pain on her neck. She screamed, feeling as though her neck was being torn open. The cold laughter grew louder. Pansy could hardly see the bats anymore; her vision was fading as agony began to numb her. She looked down, horrified at the pool of thick blood forming around her, feeling it gushing out from her neck...

oOo

'PANSY, WAKE UP!'

Pansy's eyes shot open, and she screamed. Horrified, she grabbed her neck, and hysterically looked around for the bats that had surrounded her just a split-second ago. It took her a long while to realize that they were gone, that her neck wasn't bleeding, and that she was in her bed in the girls' dormitory. It had all been a dream.

Her pillow and blanket was damp with sweat, and she wiped her forehead with her sleeve, relieved it wasn't blood that covered her wet face. She looked up at the several faces staring down at her, most of them she didn't know at all, and her heartbeat began slowing to its normal rate.

'Are you okay?' asked Millicent Bulstrode, one hand on Pansy's arm.

'Some dream,' murmured Maria Tempestt, who was sitting on the small bedside table next to Pansy. 'Man, you were screaming like anything and waving your arms all over the place. We thought you were possessed or something! Well, that would've been interesting...'

'What was the dream about?' interrupted Bulstrode eagerly. Pansy groaned, and got out of bed. More like a nightmare, she thought grimly. She didn't feel like narrating what she saw, least of all going back to sleep. She felt that once she closed her eyes, she would see blood, bats, and Lilith. Shuddering, she pushed past the crowd surrounding her four-poster bed and grabbed her robe from the top of her trunk. She stared at the green robe for a moment, feeling anger brewing up, then looked up.

'Don't you two dare steal my robe, understand?' she snapped at Tempestt and Adelheid. They stared back at her in confusion.

'What?' asked Tempestt, standing up. 'We would never do such a thing! Now come on, tell us your dream, or I may be tempted to steal your robe then.'

'Come on, Parkinson,' whined Dawn Adelheid. 'I know you don't like us, but at least tell us the dream! Then we'll leave you alone, I promise!'

'Yeah right...' muttered Pansy. They sure didn't do that in the dream... She paused when she felt something fall from the robe and hit her bare foot. Looking down, she saw it was the heart-shaped bottle she had taken from the Potions class. Then a thought struck her. Lilith! She's the one who gave me that dream, I'm sure of it! Why that...

'Hey, I know that bottle,' piped up Adelheid. 'Maria, isn't that one of Atara's bottles?'

Pansy felt an instant burst of anger. 'I knew it!' she cried, grabbing the bottle. 'I KNEW IT! SHE CURSED ME! SHE GAVE ME THAT DREAM! SHE DID IT, I TELL YOU! WHERE IS SHE?'

'Um, I think she's still in the hospital wing...' replied Tempestt with a shrug. 'But that would be unfair, to attack her when she's unconscious? That's so low... and how are you even sure that she, uh, gave you that dream?' She glanced at Adelheid. 'It's probably your fault anyway. I'm guessing that since it's only about ten thirty, you skipped dinner and went straight to bed. And trust me, that's never good for the mind. You gave yourself the dream, honey. How could it possibly be Atara? Well, in any case, if it was she, then you deserved it because it may have been you in the first place who made her unconscious! We all know you hate her, so you did something to make her act all weird during the match, and in so doing sacrificing Slytherin's chances of winning! Now after an accusation like that, tell me how you can think it's Atara's fault you had that dream?'

'Because she's the only one smart enough to do so,' replied Pansy angrily, a little miffed by Tempestt's words. It must have been that potion. 'And I don't care if I'm wrong. She's going to pay for it.'

She turned around and headed out of the dormitory.

oOo

Maria sniggered as Pansy slammed the door of the dormitory closed. She waited until the crowd dispersed, then she whispered to Dawn, 'You know, in my opinion, she really did deserve that dream! The times when Atara's little Scent of a Nightmare comes in handy.'

'Ah yes,' agreed Dawn with a grin. 'By the way, nice speech.'

Maria winked slyly. 'I know. And that was an amazing nightmare Atara brewed up! I'm so glad we know at least a little about penetrating minds, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to see what the dream was about! Pansy should have been on guard. Still, can't say I blame her; she was sleeping after all, so I don't think Occlumency was possible. But it sure was hard looking into Pansy's mind without the others knowing!'

'I wonder when Atara let her smell the potion...' said Dawn thoughtfully. 'We should visit her tomorrow after classes, see if she's awake already. But I can't wait until the side effects of the potion are executed! Pansy's going to be so terrified...'

oOo

Draco stared at Atara's closed eyes and sighed. It had already been a day since Professor Snape had found her in the dungeons, unconscious.

Draco examined her face; it seemed paler than usual, almost deathlike. She was still wearing her Quidditch robes, and her hair lay thrown across the pillow that gave Atara a complete lifeless impression.

Falling back on the wooden chair, Draco stretched his arms and yawned. Suddenly he heard a slight groan, and was delighted to see that it came from Atara, whose eyes were fluttering in their attempt to open.

'D- Draco?' murmured Atara, her eyelids finally lifting to reveal confused eyes. 'Where am I?'

'In the hospital wing,' replied Draco with a smirk. He leaned closer and planted a long kiss on Atara's lips. He drew back in satisfaction. 'Didn't actually think you could end up here. Snape found you passed out down in the dungeons yesterday. Are you all right?'

Atara rested a hand on her forehead. 'I think so... wha- I passed out? How come?'

'You're asking me? You were the one acting all strange during the Quidditch match. Oh, by the way, Gryffindor won.' Draco spat out the last word with disgust.

'Sorry...' whispered Atara weakly. 'It's my fault we lost. I don't know what came over me really. But, actually, I don't remember much. What exactly happened to me?'

'I don't know, you were quite far away,' answered Draco, stroking her arm. 'But you were looking all around you, and something was obviously wrong, because your expression was like one Granger would make when a teacher contradicts her, only you do it much better.' Atara chuckled. 'I'm serious... you looked absolutely terrified for some reason. But what was strange was your eyes... they were changing colour.'

'Changing... colour?' repeated Atara, frowning.

'Yeah, and that's something, 'cause my eyesight isn't that good, and you were miles away from me... but it was very clear; it was like they were going from blue to red, then red to blue, like that. Jumping between blue and red, I don't know why.'

Atara bit her lip. 'And did I do anything else... strange?'

'Well, you left the pitch that's all. But Madam Hooch had to disqualify us because we lost you, and also Adelheid and Tempestt were too tired to play... by the way, amazing strategy, that whole tornado thing... where'd you learn how to play like that?'

'Just a little something the three of us made up,' said Atara with small smile. 'With a little help from Viktor Krum, of course. Hey, don't you have a class now?' she added curiously.

Draco shook his head. 'Free period... I'm supposed to be studying right now, but the O.W.Ls are still next year. Something wrong with the teachers' thinking, it's like they want us to study every second of our life, when we can do other interesting things like not study every second of our life!'

Atara giggled, and closed her eyes wearily. Then, after a moment, she opened them again and whispered, 'Why do even like me, Draco? Tell me honestly, and don't you dare mention anything about my looks.'

Draco stared at her, taken aback at her question. His mind raced for a proper answer, but the only words that could form on his tongue was about her external appearance. But before he could say anything, Atara let out a loud moan.

'What's wrong?' demanded Draco.

Atara stared at him with a peculiarly odd expression, as if he was a complete stranger. Then she blinked hard and shook her head. 'Oh no...' she whispered, her voice shaky. 'It's starting again...'

'What's starting again?' Draco stood up in concerned panic. 'Are you feeling what you felt yesterday? Atara, tell me what's wrong!'

Suddenly Atara's eyes burst into a glaring shade of red. She sat up rapidly, then hurled herself out of the bed. Before Draco could stop her, she stood up and ran out of the hospital wing. He hesitated, then rushed after her.

oOo

Maria yawned and struggled to go back to sleep, as Professor Binns lectured them on the Giant Revolution. She and Dawn had been taught this in their second year at Durmstrang, and it had seemed interesting then, but Professor Binns' adaptation of the historical event made it almost impossible for anyone to be interested in. She tried as hard as she could to fall asleep, but Professor Binns jolted her awake with frequent sneezes and hoarse coughs.

'This is so boring!' she muttered to Dawn beside her. 'I think it would do us all a favor if we taught the lesson instead of this disgusting old coot!'

Dawn nodded sleepily. 'You go do that then. While you're at it, can you tell him to hush up a little?' With a yawn, she dropped her head onto her open book, her hair covering her face completely.

Maria shook her head in amusement, and then she too slumped onto the desk wearily. But a sudden yell from outside the classroom made her sit up in alarm: 'ATARA!'

The class erupted in puzzled murmurs. Professor Binns, however, looked as if he didn't hear anything, and continued his lecture. Nevertheless, Maria and Dawn stood up and rapidly made their way to the door. Opening it, they saw Draco Malfoy run past.

'HOY, MALFOY!' cried Dawn, as she and Maria tore after him. He looked over his shoulder at them and halted.

'Who are you chasing?' demanded Maria as soon as they caught up with him.

'Atara,' he replied, clutching his sides. 'Ouch... did you see her pass by here? I lost sight of her somewhere around this area.'

'Why are you chasing her?' asked Dawn, waving her hands to emphasize her question.

'Something weird started happening to her back at the hospital wing. I don't know what exactly, but then her eyes went red all of a sudden-'

'Red?' interrupted Maria, raising an eyebrow in disbelief.

'Yes red, wait, let me finish,' snapped Malfoy, bending to one side to ease the evident pain at his side. 'Well, she took off without saying anything, and I went after her, but then I lost sight of her back there... and now I'm looking for her! Something wrong is obviously happening to her so if you're the loyal friends I doubt you are you'll come and help me look for her!'

'There's no need for insults, Malfoy!' said Maria indignantly. 'We ARE going to look for her, but for her sake, not yours!'

'We better get started,' said Dawn, biting her lip. She looked at a nearby window. 'It'll be dark in a few hours, and I know for a fact that it's never good when a person's lost in the dark.'

oOo

A small, wooden hut embedded in snow came into view, and she could see thin wisps of smoke floating out from the chimney. She looked up the starry sky and gulped. It was happening to her again.

The moon hung low in the night, and its soft glow illuminated the path towards the hut. She quickly but cautiously tore across the frozen plain until she reached the steps of the hut. Then she noticed the fencing attached to its side, the fencing she knew that held several animals captive.

She crept around the hut, but then stopped when she saw a giant black dog, sleeping in front of the gate leading to the other side of the fence. She slowly walked towards it, then hesitated when it moved a hind leg. Then a thought occurred to her, but she shook her head to remove it.

'No, I mustn't,' she whispered hoarsely. But temptation drove her eyes to the dog's thick flesh. She turned away, trying to fight the impulse, but finally it grew too strong for her to resist. She looked back at the dog, feeling her throat dry, her body empty. She drew nearer to it.

The inhabitant of the hut was too busy cooking to hear the low, painful howl of his dog.