I don't own Harry Potter
Chapter Nine — Trapped in a Nightmare
It was cold. Almost too cold to imagine. He couldn't see anything but three stonewalls and the metal bars in front of him. There were no windows, no people. He could feel fear behind the cold and within it. It was almost as if he was trapped, he hated that feeling. He could sense that a creature was coming closer since the cold was intensifying. He wanted out. But that was impossible. He screamed in fear as his memories of his horrific past clouded his mind. No, I'm innocent! On the main land, a young boy with unruly black hair screamed as well.
Ron and Neville were the first to react and reach Harry's bed and tried to wake him but to no avail. Harry's eyes opened and were glowing a bright green. He wasn't moving but for the heavy heaving of his chest. He was panicking. He couldn't hear the voices around him.
"Ron, go get Percy. We need to get him help," said Dean Thomas.
Ron ran out of the room in a hurry and returned with not only an irritated Percy but with Fred and George who were very confused. Percy's irritation ceased when he saw the state that Harry was in, in fact, he froze in fear. He never had seen anything like it. The twins took charge.
"He's freezing gather all of your blankets on him. We'll go get our as well. Try to get him warm. After that Fred and I will go find McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey."
They both ran out of the room and out of Gryffindor Tower. They had an unfortunate encounter with Mr. Flitch, the grounds keeper. He led them both to McGonagall for them. She wasn't too pleased to see them.
"What's the meaning of this? Even you two aren't thick enough to pull a prank on the first day back."
"We weren't Professor. It's Harry Potter; we think he's sick."
"And why didn't your older brother come with you. He is the Prefect."
"He's in shock, ma'am. Harry's eyes were glowing and he was freezing. We were coming to find you. We didn't know what was wrong with him so we didn't use magic on him in case it made him worse."
"I'm sorry for yelling. Twenty points each for your quick thinking. One you go to Madam Pomfrey and the other to Professor Dumbledore. The password is Lemon Drop. Now hurry up."
Ten minutes after Harry started screaming everyone was up in Harry's dorm. The whole House was awake and was surprised when there Head of House ran up to Harry's room. They were even more surprised when Fred entered with the Headmaster. They took off all the blankets that were covering to find that he was in a cold sweat.
They raced him to the Hospital Wing. Harry had fortunately had stopped screaming while he was in the halls. But that doesn't mean he wasn't in some sort of a trance. They questioned Fred, George, and Harry's roommates what he did before he went to bed. When George told the adults that they were talking about Peter Pettigrew and Sirius Black the room went quiet except for Harry's thrashing.
Madam Pomfrey tried everything that she knew on the boy to make Harry calm down. Nothing worked. Professor McGonagall spoke into Dumbledore's ear.
"We have to call Remus. Maybe he'll know is happening."
Dumbledore went to the fireplace, threw in the glittering powder, and called out Remus' address.
"Headmaster, it's almost one o'clock in the morning. Is something wrong? Is Harry in trouble?"
"Harry is in some sort of a trance. We can't get him to wake up. His eyes are glowing and he is extremely cold. We thought that you might know what's wrong with him."
"I'm on my way." Remus step into the Floo and a moment later he was beside Harry's bed. "How long has he been like this?"
"For about an hour. I've never seen anything like it before. Do you have any idea what could be causing this?"
"No... you said that he was cold. It can't be. It's impossible." He muttered this to himself.
"What is it Remus? Do you have an idea?"
"It's just a hunch. You wouldn't happen to have any chocolate on you by any chance?"
"Now is not the time to feed your sweet tooth," McGonagall scolded him.
"Not for me but for Harry. I think he might be intercepting someone else's feelings. It has happened before but not on this scale."
Harry began screaming again and only proved Remus' theory. This time his screams were mixed with words that couldn't have been his own.
"No, get away. I'm innocent. I didn't do it. Get away from me." Tears were running down Harry's face.
"Poppy, get Harry chocolate and lots of it. Do you think he could be empathetic?"
"I don't see what else it could be. Harry once told me he could feel that I was nervous about something. But I think that who ever have him in this trance is not willing to let him go until his message is sent."
"And who is that person? I know that you know."
"I believe it could be Sirius Black. That would explain why he was so cold. Sirius would be feeling that cold as well. He would want the Dementors to get away from him. Though I have no idea why he would be saying that he was innocent."
The creatures were hovering outside of the cell. The man inside was showing more signs of life than what was considered normal. His eyes were glowing, not that the creatures could see. More and more were getting closer to find out what was causing this anomaly. He tried to close his mind to the creatures' presence.
"Stop!"
Harry sat up in the bed breathing heavily. He looked around the room in confusion. His eyes had stopped glowing but he was still shivering. He had no idea where he was. A piece of chocolate was shoved into his hand. A familiar voice was telling him to eat it. He took a bite, everything began to come into focus, and he felt the warmth in his fingertips as the chocolate to effect. His eyes were still wide with torment. He relaxed when he saw Remus.
"Cub, can you tell me what you saw? I know it will be hard but I must know so I can help you."
"It was dark. Please don't make me go back to sleep. I don't like those things. Why did they want to hurt me like that?"
"It's okay Harry. They won't hurt you anymore; I promise. Do you remember anything else, any emotions?"
"Fear and desire. I wanted to get out. I felt trapped and I couldn't do anything about it. Why did this happen to me?"
"Harry, do you know what it means to be empathetic?" Harry shook his head no. "It means that sometimes you can feel what others are feeling. It's not a bad thing but your empathy was so strong tonight that you were able to feel the emotions of Sirius Black. The Weasley twins told me that you were talking about him before you went to sleep. That caused you to be on the same emotional wavelength as Black. Having Black being around Dementors only made the connection stronger. You don't have to go to sleep but you should get your rest; you have a busy day tomorrow."
Madam Pomfrey gave Harry a potion that helped him to relax but not put him to sleep, and for that, Harry was grateful.
Remus climbed into Harry's bed and held on to the small eleven-year-old. He buried his face into Harry's hair trying to hide the tears that were threatening to escape. He was so confused. Why did Sirius do that to Harry and why now? He took in Harry's scent that was so much like James'. But now wasn't the time to grieve for his fallen friends. He needed to help Harry through this as best as he could. He could feel Harry's breathing slowing as he fell into a normal, dreamless sleep. With these thoughts in his mind, Remus fell asleep as well but he couldn't help but worry about the child in his arms.
Harry woke the next morning still in Remus' arms. After the events of last night, Harry had become even more attuned with the emotions of those around him. These emotions were coming at him so fast that it was giving him a headache. He did the only thing he could; he woke Remus.
"Hey, Cub. Is something wrong? Are you still feeling the effects of last night?" He gave Harry another worried glance. This new emotion caused Harry to wince in pain.
"I'm okay about last night except that it caused me to be even more aware of other peoples' emotions and it's giving me a headache. And I am personally feeling confused about why this all happened. You think I could have a headache potion before I began classes today."
"That shouldn't be a problem. So your empathy is causing you pain. Is there a way to stop it so that you don't have to rely on potions for the rest of your life?"
"It's not the empathy itself that is causing pain; it's the lack of knowledge as to how to control it. He can't simply turn it off with a single thought. With time that should change." Harry and Remus looked up to see that Professor Dumbledore had just entered the room."
"How can you be so certain? Have you ever encounter another empath before me? I read somewhere that the ability is extremely rare."
"I have met only one empath before you, Harry. But he didn't come into his powers until he was a little older than you were. He lacked control at first but that changed after a few months."
"Who was it sir?"
"Your father, Harry. Yes, in his Sixth Year he was forever going to the Hospital Wing for a pain-reducing potion. I confronted him about and he confessed to being an empath.
"There very little know about empathy. All that is really known about is that its' hereditary. The reason that you came upon your ability so early may because you are extremely powerful or that you were forced into it. My hope is the former, though James had been able to pick up stronger emotions when he was younger. It could also be a combination of the two."
"James never told us that he was empathetic. Why would he hid something like this from his best friends?"
"He may not have been comfortable knowing that you would know what that he knew how you felt, including your pain." Everyone was surprised when Harry answered the question. It made perfect sense once you thought about it. "Going off the topic, what are we going to tell the others Gryffindors when they ask what happened? You can't deny that they will ask questions."
"You don't have to tell them anything. Tell them that you don't know why you went into that trance. In a way, that is the truth. We don't know why. We don't even know if Black somehow forced you into the trance, if it was an accident, or even if he knows what he did to you and that is most likely what happened.
"Now the hour is getting late and you have yet eaten any breakfast. I suggest that you change and go down to the Great hall. Professor McGonagall will be passing out time tables soon."