By James Milamber
A/N: Blasted computer ate the first version of this chapter (the dream sequence was so much better the first time around) so I had to re-write it all. Grrr.
Lord Voldemort stood in the middle of a huge stone room, surrounded by a ring of Death Eaters. Another was sprawled on the floor in front of him, his head bowed.
Voldemort stared at the cringing figure with cold disdain, his serpentine eyes narrowed to slits.
'I had thought of all my Death Eaters, you at least were competent, Severus,' he hissed, and several of the Death Eaters visibly shivered. 'It would appear that I was wrong.'
The figure raised its head slowly, climbing painfully to its feet. A voice that unmistakably belonged to the Potion's Master of Hogwarts emanated from behind the stark white mask.
'Forgive me, My Lord,' Snape said, bowing slightly. 'Dumbledore is not as foolish as I once assumed. He does not tell me everything as he once did. I am truly sorry for not bringing this matter to your attention sooner.'
Voldemort looked at Snape with a mirthless smile. 'Do you truly think me so foolish, Severus? Do you expect me to believe that Dumbledore would not inform you of a new staff member?'
'Forgive me, My Lord,' Snape said again. 'I had not left my rooms for some days until this morning, and I was unaware of his presence at the castle until a few hours ago.'
Voldemort hissed in annoyance. 'Very well,' he said finally. 'What of the Potter boy?'
'He and his friends were brought to the castle yesterday, My Lord,' Snape replied, his eyes downcast.
Voldemort hissed again. 'I am most displeased with Bella,' he said, his voice like the dry hiss of snake's scales. 'She has ruined all my plans with her reckless attack.' Voldemort's gaze roamed the room, resting on each Death Eater in turn. 'She was, however, the most loyal of my followers,' he continued, his eyes again resting on Snape. 'Not like some others I could mention.' Snape remained silent.
'Very well then,' Voldemort said eventually. 'You shall return to Hogwarts and watch that fool Dumbledore carefully. I want to know what he has planned for the Mind Mage.'
'As you wish, My Lord.' Snape bowed again, wincing visibly as he did so, and his hand twitched almost involuntarily to his side. Voldemort smiled cruelly.
'Mr. Milton will come to regret his hasty decision,' he said, his slitted eyes burning bright red, almost the colour of blood. 'But first, you must be punished for your failure.'
'Crucio!'
Snape screamed; and many miles away, his scream was echoed through Gryffindor Tower.
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'Harry!'
Harry's scar felt like it was on fire; black spots danced before his eyes and his ears were ringing, making it hard for him to recognise the voice.
A cool hand rested on his scar, and the pain began to dull, although it was some moments before it faded entirely. He opened his eyes and flinched from the bright light. Screwing them shut again, he concentrated on getting his breathing to its normal rate.
He opened his eyes again to find Ginny's blurry face hovering above his own, her eyes filled with concern. He was lying on the floor in front of the fire; behind her, Hermione was forcibly restraining Ron from running to his side as he attempted to slap her hands away. Neville's face was white, his lips pressed tightly together as he stared at Harry in horror, and Luna looked oddly thoughtful.
'I'm alright,' Harry said weakly, allowing Ginny to help him into a seated position and replace his glasses. The details of his vision came back to him suddenly, and he would have fallen backwards if Ginny hadn't been supporting him.
'Snape…being tortured,' he muttered, as Ginny helped him to stand and take a seat on the couch again.
'Serves him right,' Ron said, sinking back into his chair as he saw that Harry was alright. 'Greasy git.'
Harry didn't have the strength to argue. Privately, he couldn't help but feel sorry for Snape. He angrily pushed those thoughts down; after all Snape had done, he didn't deserve pity.
'James,' Harry said suddenly, sitting up straighter.
'What about him?' Tonks asked. She had been so quiet since Harry's vision he had forgotten she was there.
Harry's face screwed up, this time not from pain but from the effort to remember. 'Something about a hasty decision,' he said finally. 'Voldemort wasn't happy.'
'He wouldn't be,' Tonks said absently, then started suddenly as if she had said the wrong thing. Hermione and Luna were both staring at her expectantly.
'Oops?' she offered weakly, then sighed as their expressions remained the same. 'Okay, fine. James – that's Professor Milton to you, by the way – was approached by Voldemort some weeks ago, wanting him to join the Death Eaters.'
'He called James a Mind Mage,' Harry said, 'then told Snape to watch him, and that he'd pay for turning down their offer.'
Tonks looked thoughtful. 'I'm not really surprised,' she said finally.
'What's a Mind Mage?' Ginny asked curiously.
'It's a wizard who doesn't need to use a wand,' Hermione supplied. 'They're usually really powerful, but there are some things they can't do.'
'Like what?'
'I expect Professor Milton will cover this in your first lesson,' Tonks said pointedly.
Harry sighed, running his hands through his sweaty hair. The pain in his scar was down to a dull ache, but he still felt as if he had run a fifty mile marathon. He tuned out the others as their conversation continued. He yawned, his eyes drifting shut. He lay down, his head on something soft, and promptly went to sleep.
Ginny was somewhat surprised when Harry lay down with his head on her lap. She could feel her face burning as she watched the raven-haired head resting across her legs, and knew from the lack of talking that the others were looking at her. Absently she ran a hand through his messy hair, as he himself had done moments ago, then glanced up. Ron was smirking at her, Hermione gave her a wink, Luna was gazing dreamily out the window, and Neville was trying hard to disguise his jealousy of Harry. Tonks, on the other hand, was staring at them in shock. Suddenly she smiled.
'Just wait till Molly hears about this!' she rubbed her hands together in glee.
Ginny laughed nervously as Ron went into a coughing fit and Hermione rubbed his back. She glanced down at Harry again to see a peaceful smile across his face, and she couldn't help but smile as well.
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It was later than night when Harry awoke. The fire had burned down to embers, and by it's dim light he could see he was still in the common room. Across from him, Ron and Hermione were once again sharing a couch, although this time it was Hermione who was being used as a pillow; suprisingly, Neville and Luna shared the third couch. Tonks was no-where in sight.
He briefly wondered where Ginny was, until he looked up to find himself resting on her lap. She had gone to sleep sitting up, and her head was lolling to the side in what looked to be a very uncomfortable position. Obviously she had decided to endure the discomfort rather than wake him, and he was touched by her gesture.
Gently, so as not to wake her, he lay down lengthways and repositioned her so she was laying with her head once again on his chest. He smiled, gently tracing the line of her jaw with one finger, then drifted off to sleep again.
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Ginny awoke to bright sunlight streaming through the windows of Gryffindor Tower. It took her a while to notice that she was not in the same position as she had been when she went to sleep. She raised her head slightly to see Harry's eyes open and watching her.
'That looked uncomfortable,' he remarked quietly, as the others were still asleep.
'It wasn't that bad,' Ginny lied, but her neck betrayed her as she moved it; it cracked loudly. Ginny winced, rubbing her neck with one hand. 'Okay, maybe it was.'
'Here,' Harry said, repositioning her until she was facing away from him. He raised his hands and began to rub her neck and back, his fingertips probing between the joints in her neck. There were several cracks as vertebra snapped back into position, followed by muffled gasps from Ginny.
When he finished her neck, he started to rub her shoulders. Ginny sighed, resting back against him as he continued to rub gently, relaxing her shoulder muscles. He continued to rub for a few minutes until he heard the unmistakable sounds of someone stirring from sleep, and stopped abruptly.
'There we go,' he said lamely, blushing furiously as Hermione looked around the room in a daze.
'Hi Hermione!' Ginny said brightly as if nothing had happened, simultaneously grasping Harry's hand and giving it a squeeze.
Hermione yawned, blinking at the bright light. 'Hi yourself,' she grumbled, poking Ron in the shoulder.
'Whazzamatta?' Ron mumbled sleepily, his eyes screwed shut.
'Get off me, Ron!' Hermione said impatiently, but Harry had known her long enough to see that she wasn't really annoyed.
Ron sat up quickly. 'Sorry,' he said, shaking his head to clear it and blinking rapidly.
'It's alright,' she said, smiling and surprising all present by kissing him on the cheek. 'What?' she asked calmly as she saw Harry and Ginny's face.
'Nothing,' Harry said quickly, trying to conceal his smile.
Soon Neville and Luna were stirring as well. Neville looked extremely embarrassed by the fact that Luna had slept with her head in the crook of his arm, but Luna looked completely unbothered by the fact.
'It's not as if we're going out or anything,' she said calmly, causing Neville to blush even harder and Ron to snort in amusement, which in turn earned him a jab in the ribs from Hermione's elbow.
As the girls and Neville disappeared to shower, Harry sat back on the couch with a broad smile on his face. Ron watched him from the other side of the room. They were silent for a few moments until Ron suddenly spoke.
'Don't hurt her.'
Harry blinked, the smile disappearing in an instant.
'I'm serious,' Ron said, sitting up straight on his couch. 'If you hurt her, I'll kill you.'
His face was deadly serious, and Harry couldn't help but feel a little nervous.
'Take it easy, Ron,' he said hastily. 'We're not going out, you know. We're just friends.'
Ron stared at him intensely for several minutes, until Harry could feel his face flaming. He didn't look down, however, but kept his eyes locked on Ron's. Emerald green met sapphire blue, and Harry wondered who would be the first to look away.
Finally, Ron spoke again. 'I won't bring this up again, but I am serious. If you hurt her, I will kill you. Best friend or not.'
'Fair enough,' Harry nodded. 'And since Hermione doesn't have any brothers to do the honours, I give you the same warning.' Ron looked startled, so Harry shrugged. 'She's a sister to me in everything but blood, you know that.'
Ron nodded slowly, imitating Harry's previous movements. 'Fair enough,' he echoed Harry. Suddenly he grinned. 'We'd best be careful then,' he said. 'I know you could beat me in a duel, but the whole Weasley family is another matter, Mr. Potter.'
Harry laughed, and the two headed off to the showers.
