Chapter XIV

A Nightmare Reborn

"Harry is my boyfriend," Draco declared to their friends in the common room.

Pansy looked between the two and said, "Finally! Do you know how annoying it was watching the two of you!?"

"Don't be like that Pansy, you're just jealous," Daphnis chuckled. He placed a gloved hand on Harry's shoulder and smiled, "I'm glad the two of you finally talked things through." The two shared a smile and Daphnis stepped back, kissing his boyfriend, and looked at Pansy, "I'm heading to bed," he said.

"We should go to sleep too," Harry agreed.

"Don't get into any late-night snogging," Blaise snickered. "I don't want to smell anything strange when I wake up." He laughed at the looks Harry and Draco gave him and he went to bed, the others all following shortly.

Harry and Draco dressed for bed and shared a soft smile, "Good night Draco," Harry said shyly.

"No good night kiss?" Draco smirked, their faces turning red. Harry took a step and lightly pressed his lips on Draco's before getting bolder and kissing him more. Draco kissed him back, his hands moving to Harry's butt again as Harry's hands went towards his ass too. "That's more like it," Draco smirked.

"N-Night," Harry muttered and he went to his bed, closing the curtains around it.

He dreamed of kissing Draco again. They were in the Chamber again kissing, and once again they were both wearing skirts for some reason. Their bodies pressed together and they groped and squeezed everything they could get a hold of. "You're addicting," Draco breathed. "I love kissing you."

They continued to kiss, the floor of the Chamber was wet and cold as the boys rolled around, ruining their skirts as they kissed. Draco started to assault his chest, kissing and biting everywhere as Harry gasped, looking at the basilisk as he moaned loudly.

Then the dream changed.

His body felt smooth, powerful, and flexible. He was gliding between shining metal bars, across dark, cold stone… He was flat against the floor, sliding along on his belly. It was dark, yet he could see objects around him shimmering in strange, vibrant colors. … He was turning his head … At first glance, the corridor was empty, but no, a man was sitting on the floor ahead, his chin drooping onto his chest, his outline gleaming in the dark.

Harry put out his tongue … He tasted the man's scent in the air … he was alive but drowsing, sitting in front of a door at the end of the corridor.

Harry longed to bite the man… but he must master the impulse. He had more important work to do…

But the man was stirring a silvery cloak fell from his legs as he jumped to his feet; and Harry saw his vibrant, blurred outline towering above him, saw a wand withdrawn from a belt … He had no choice! He reared high from the floor and struck once, twice, three times, plunging his fangs deeply into the man's flesh, feeling his ribs splinter beneath his jaws, feeling the warm gush of blood.

The man was yelling in pain, then he fell silent. He slumped backward against the wall. Blood was splattering onto the floor.

His forehead hurt terribly. It was aching fit to burst.

"HARRY! HARRY!"

He opened his eyes. Every inch of his body was covered in icy sweat; his bedcovers were twisted all around him like a straitjacket; he felt as though a white-hot poker was being applied to his forehead.

"Harry!"

"Go get Snape! GO!"

"Harry wake up, please!"

Draco was standing over him looking extremely frightened. He clutched his head in his hands; the pain was blinding him. He rolled over and vomited over the edge of the mattress.

"Everything will be okay, Blaise went to get Snape," Draco said, his hands on Harry's shoulders. "Relax, everything will be fine."

Everything is not fine. He had to tell Snape something important. He had to tell anyone! It was very important. Taking great gulps of air, harry pushed himself up in bed, willing himself not to throw up again, the pain half-blinding him.

"Ron—Ron's dad," he panted, his chest heaving. "He's been attacked."

"What?"

"Ron's dad! He's been attacked! Bitten! It's serious, there's blood everywhere!" Harry screamed.

"Where is Zabini with Snape?" Theo demanded.

"It was a dream Harry, a nightmare," Draco said, trying to calm Harry.

"NO! You don't understand! It wasn't a dream! It was real—a snake attacked Mr. Weasley—I attacked Mr. Weasley!"

"Calm yourself, Harry! Professor Snape is almost here," Theo said strictly. "Tell him everything. Just rest."

Harry refused to rest but Draco pushed him back into bed. Whether one minute passed or ten, Harry did not know; he simply sat there shaking, feeling the pain recede very slowly from his scar. Then there were hurried footsteps and he heard Blaise say, "Over here, Professor."

Snape appeared and hurried towards Harry's bed. "What happened?" he demanded.

"It's Ron's dad!" Harry said, sitting up again. "He's been attacked by a snake and it's serious. I saw it happen."

"What do you mean you saw it happen, Potter?" Snape demanded.

"I don't know! I saw it happen and then my scar started to hurt, it felt like my head was going to be split in two!" Harry said.

Snape was silent for a second before stepping away, "Get up, Potter! Now! We are going to the headmaster."

"I'm not mad! You have to believe me," Harry said.

"I do, not get up! And boys, not a word," Snape ordered.

The Fifth years all nodded, and before he knew it, Harry was taken to Dumbledore's office. Snape barked the password at the gargoyle and the two climbed the staircase before it even finished rotating out of the floor. Though it was past midnight, Harry heard voices behind the door before Snape opened it. The room was in half darkness; the strange silver instruments standing on tables were silent and still rather than whirling and emitting puffs of smoke. The portraits of old headmasters covering the walls were all snoozing in their frames.

"Ah, Severus and… ah."

Dumbledore was sitting in a high-backed chair behind his desk; he leaned forward into a pool of candlelight illuminating the papers laid out before him. He seemed wide awake, despite wearing a nightrobe, and his stare was fixed intently on Professor Snape.

"Professor Dumbledore, Potter had a vision in his dream, a nightmare," Snape said.

"It wasn't a nightmare," Harry said quickly.

"Then you tell the headmaster, boy," Snape said shortly.

"Fine," Harry said. "I was asleep, having a completely different dream," through his terror of trying to make Dumbledore understand his desperation, he felt slightly irritated that the headmaster was not looking at him, but examining his own interlocked fingers, "it changed into this other dream but it wasn't a dream. It was real, it felt so real, and I saw it happen. Mr. Weasley has been attacked by a giant snake."

The words seemed to reverberate in the air after he had said them, slightly ridiculous, even comic. There was a pause in which Dumbledore leaned back and stared meditatively at the ceiling. "How did you see this?" Dumbledore asked quietly, still not looking at Harry.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked a little too shortly.

Still not looking at Harry, Dumbledore said, "Can you remember where you were positioned as you watched the attack happen? Were you perhaps standing beside the victim or else looking down on the scene from above?"

This was such a curious question that Harry gaped at Dumbledore, it was almost as if he knew.

"I was the snake," Harry said. "I saw it all from the snake's perspective."

Nobody spoke for a moment, then Dumbledore looked at Snape and said in a new, sharper voice, "Is Arthur seriously injured?"

"Yes," Harry said emphatically—why was Dumbledore so slow on the uptake, did he not realize how much a person bled when fangs that long pierced their side? And why couldn't Dumbledore do him the courtesy of looking at him?

Dumbledore sprang to action. He started to address the portraits, sending them off here or there for a task, all while ignoring Harry. He noticed that the other portraits were awake now, watching intently, though some faking snoring. Dumbledore swept past Harry and Snape to a magnificent sleeping bird on his perch beside the door. "We will need… a signal," he said quietly to the bird, stroking Fawkes' plumed golden head with one finger. There was a flash of fire and the phoenix was gone.

Dumbledore now swooped down upon one of the fragile silver instruments whose functions Harry had never known, carried it over to his desk, sat down facing them again, and tapped it gently with his wand.

The instrument tinkled into life at once with rhythmic clinking noises—tiny puffs of pale green smoke issued from the minuscule silver tube at the top. Dumbledore watched the smoke closely, his brow furrowed, and after a few seconds, the tiny puffs became a steady stream of smoke that thickened and coiled in the air. …A serpent head grew out of the end of it, opening its mouth wide. Harry wondered if the instrument was confirming his story; he looked at Dumbledore for a sign that he was right, but Dumbledore did not look up.

"Naturally, naturally," Dumbledore murmured apparently to himself. "But in essence divided?"

Harry couldn't make either head or tail of this question. The smoke serpent, however, split itself instantly into two snakes, both coiling and undulating in the dark air. With a look of grim satisfaction, Dumbledore gave the instrument another gentle tap with his wand and the instrument slowly died away, the smoke vanishing.

The portraits came back, and Dumbledore gave them his attention again. Mr. Weasley was found and on his way to St. Mungos. Dumbledore turned to Snape and said, "Get the Weasley children."

Snape scowled but left without comment, leaving Harry and Dumbledore alone. Once again Dumbledore ignored him, rummaging in a cupboard behind Harry. He emerged from it carrying a blackened old kettle, which he placed carefully on his desk.

"Dumbledore—"

Dumbledore ignored him once more, turning from the kettle, which glowed blue before turning black, to another portrait calling for a man named Phineas. The man Dumbledore was yelling at was ignoring him until he finally couldn't ignore Dumbledore any longer. "You are to give Sirius the message that Arthur Weasley has been gravely injured and that his wife, children, and Harry Potter will be arriving at his house shortly. Do you understand?"

"Arthur Weasley, injured, wife and children, and Harry Potter coming to stay," Phineas recited with a bored voice. "Yes, yes, very well…"

He sloped away into the frame of a portrait and disappeared from view at the very moment that the study door opened again, and the Weasley children were ushered in by Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall.

"What did you do!?" Ron immediately yelled at Harry. "What did you do to my dad!?"

"Tactful as always Weasley," Snape said boredly.

"What do you mean that I'm leaving with them to Sirius's?" Harry asked Dumbledore. "My friends don't know! The semester isn't over I have to tell them!"

"What did you do Potter!?" Ron screamed.

Ignoring Harry once again, Dumbledore looked directly at the Weasleys, "Your father has been injured in the course of his work for the Order of the Phoenix. He has been taken to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. I am sending you back to Sirius's house, which is much more convenient for the hospital than the Burrow. You will meet your mother there."

"How are we going?" Fred asked, looking shaken.

"Portkey, the Floo Network is not safe it is being watched," Dumbledore said, indicating to the old kettle lying innocently on his desk. "We are just waiting for Phineas Nigellus to report back."

Why wouldn't Dumbledore look at him? Irritation grew into hatred inside Harry as he watched Dumbledore run about. There was a flash of fire, and Dumbledore called that a warning, apparently Umbridge knew that they were out of bed, though he did not name her. He sent McGonagall to stop her while still ignoring Harry. He talked with the Weasleys and reassured them as they waited for Phineas until Harry couldn't have enough.

"LOOK AT ME!" he screamed at Dumbledore. The Weasleys all jumped and looked at him, but Dumbledore was still ignoring him. "What is happening to me!? Why did I see it?" He demanded.

"This isn't about you," Ron spat angrily.

Phineas appeared at that moment, "He says he'll be delighted," he said in a bored voice behind Dumbledore.

"Come here then," Dumbledore said to the Weasleys and Harry, "And quickly, before anyone else joins us."

"What is happening to me, sir?" Harry stressed angrily as he was ushered closer.

"You have all used a Portkey before?" Dumbledore asked and the Weasleys all nodded, Harry too busy glaring at him. He just has the thought to grab the kettle, squished between Fred and George. "Good. On the count of three then. One... two..."

"Look at me you old fool!" Harry yelled angrily just as Dumbledore said three, and the portkey activated. He felt a powerful jerk behind his navel, the ground vanished from under him; his hand was glued to the kettle; he was banging into the others as all sped forward in a swirl of colors and a rush of wind, the kettle pulling them onward.

His feet hit the ground so hard that his knees buckled, the kettle clattered to the ground, and somehow close at hand, a voice said, "The blood traitors back again? Is it true the father's dying?"

"OUT!" roared a second voice. Harry scrambled to his feet and looked around, they have arrived at the gloomy kitchen of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place. Sirius was hurrying toward them all, looking anxious. He was unshaven and still in his day clothes.

What's going on?" he said, but before anyone could answer, Ron screamed and tackled Harry, punching him in his jaw. "Your fault! All your fault!" Ron yelled, hitting him twice more before Fred and George pulled Ron away, the younger Weasley struggling against them. "Let me go! It's his fault! He killed him! He killed dad!"

"Shut up Ron!" Fred said through gritted teeth.

"STOP THIS!" Sirius roared, "What's going on!?"

"Ask him," Ginny said bitterly, nodding towards Harry. "He's the one who did it."

"I didn't do anything!" Harry argued.

"Sit him down, now!" Sirius yelled at the twins, "you too!" he added, looking at Ginny. The twins pulled Ron to the nearest chair, restraining him in it. Ginny moved to sit down as well, glaring openly at Harry while the twins just looked apologetically. "Sorry," George whispered to Harry.

"Harry?" Sirius said in a much more calmer voice, "What happened?"

Harry told Sirius about his vision in a dream, alternating the story to sound as though he had witnessed it from the sidelines instead of from the snake. Ron did not speak, the four Weasleys staring at Harry speechless. When he was done, he was left sitting at the table as the Weasleys argued with Sirius. The Weasleys wanted to go to St. Mungo's now while Sirius tried to keep them calm and stay in Grimmauld Place. Harry couldn't deal with it and he moved from them, taking the bottle of butterbeer Sirius offered with him.

Harry found himself in the room with the Black Family tapestry. He sat against it, leaning his head and looking to see that he picked the spot next to Sirius's brother, Regulus. He gave the tapestry a silent salute before drinking his butterbeer in solitude. He did not know how long he was sitting there, he was lost in his thoughts, drifting from empty thoughts to anger towards Dumbledore, nodding off as he switched between when the door opened.

Fred and George walked in, looking hesitant. "Hiya Harry," George said cautiously. "Can we sit with you?"

"Are you going to punch me like Ronald?" Harry asked.

"No!" Fred said immediately. "No! We would never! We wanted to apologize, actually, for Ron's behavior… and ours. We've neglected our littlest brother." They moved to sit on either side of Harry, who barely looked up at them. "Our dad is safe," Fred continued. "Mum's with him at St. Mungos. He's going to be fine."

"That's good," Harry muttered, staring at his bottle. "Ron and Ginny going to go after me again? Pretty sure I have some spots on my faces Ronald missed."

George winced and glanced at Fred. "We're sorry," he said. "Ron's… it's hard on him, but he's dealing with it all wrong."

"What exactly is he dealing with wrong?" Harry asked with a dry laugh. "Your dad? My gayness? Me being a Slytherin now? What is it about my life that Ronald finds so appalling to accept?"

The twins flinched again at the bitterness of Harry's tone. "He was wrong with everything," Fred said. "Everything he's done since this summer, everything that we've done, was wrong. We Gryffindors shouldn't have cheered Longbottom while booing you. George and I tried but we couldn't convince anyone."

"And it hurt a little bit seeing you so happy with them," George muttered. "We never saw you smile like that." Harry gave a dry laugh, rolling his eyes.

"We're not abandoning you, Harry," Fred said. "You are our friend, our little bro, even if Ron and Ginny are being stupid, you know you still have us, right?"

Harry sighed and leaned against Fred, who wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "I missed you two," Harry said softly.

"We missed you too," George said, putting his arms around Harry as well. "So… those Slytherins treating you good?"

"Yeah, they're treating me amazingly actually," Harry said, smiling slightly as his cheeks tinted pink. "He seems like a prat at first, but Draco is amazing! Blaise is super helpful along with Theo, Daphnis always seems to have an answer for anything you ask him, and Pansy—Pansy is scary but at least I have clothes that fit now because of her." He finished chuckling. "We've been doing something similar to what Ronald and Granger are doing with you guys, and it's been fun. Really fun. I guess that stupid hat was right in the end, I really do belong in Slytherin." He was smiling more easily now and looked between the twins, "Though, then I wouldn't have you two," he added. "I like this happy middle."

The twins smiled back and gave Harry room to pull his wand out, "I need to write to Draco," he said. "The night we finally become boyfriends and this happens!" he muttered to himself as he summoned paper, quill, and ink.

"Boyfriend?" George repeated, sharing a smirk with Fred. "Our Harry has a boyfriend and we didn't know!? That won't do now!"

"Even if it's Malfoy we still demand details, Harry," Fred said.

"Especially if you two are rolling in the hey," George added.

"George!" Harry shrieked, his cheeks blushing deeply. "We're just kissing right now!" The twins laughed at Harry's embarrassment, and he tried to control himself as he wrote a letter to Draco, detailing vaguely that he had a 'family emergency' and will see him at his parents' party. He debated for minutes on how to end it before picking 'From your boyfriend, Harry.'

He was about to get up to get an owl before stopping himself. Somehow, Umbridge knew about his talk with Sirius as well as their getting out of bed. It would be easy then to assume she was watching the mail at least. He needed the letter to get to Draco, but he needed an unconventional method of delivering it.

He looked at his letter deep in thought when he heard grumbling, "Blood traitors over for Christmas, celebrating in my mistress's home. What would Mistress think of this insult?"

"Kreacher," Harry whispered. "Kreacher!" he yelled loudly.

"It's the half-blood one with the ugly scar. Kreacher wonders what he wants with Kreacher, nothing good obviously," Kreacher muttered.

"Kreacher, shut up," Harry ordered. "Listen, Sirius is your master and I'm his godson, so you have to listen to me about this." He held the letter up and said, "This is for Draco Malfoy. You know the Malfoy family. Purebloods, old, rich, proper. Draco Malfoy is in Hogwarts. Make sure he gets this letter immediately, and perhaps the Malfoys will be grateful."

"The half-blood thinks he can order Kreacher, mistress! But Kreacher remembers the Malfoys. They are a proper family while master is stupid. Perhaps Kreacher can use this to show Master what a proper pureblood looks like, even if Kreacher has to work for a half-blood.…" Kreacher muttered to himself. "Give Kreacher the letter, half-blood! Kreacher will deliver."

"Thank you," Harry said shortly and handed Kreacher the letter. Kreacher disappeared with a crack and the twins frowned.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Fred asked. "Dumbledore doesn't want Kreacher to leave the house, he knows too much."

"I honestly don't care, I just want Draco to know where I am," Harry said. The twins shared a shocked look, their mouths hanging open, as Kreacher appeared in front of Harry letterless. "Master Malfoy is a proper pureblood," Kreacher said. "Much more than the blood-traitors and half-bloods Kreacher is forced to serve."

"So he has my letter?" Harry asked.

"Yes, Kreacher gave Master Malfoy the half-blood's letter," Kreacher said.

"Good. Thank you, Kreacher," Harry said. The old house-elf just huffed and returned to grumbling to himself. The events of the night caught up with Harry as he sighed and leaned against the tapestry. Mr. Weasley was safe, the twins were his friends again, and Draco knew what happened. Smiling with himself, Harry allowed his eyes to droop closed, leaning against the twins as he quickly fell asleep.