Chapter 14: Midnight Chat

"MR. POTTER!!! OF ALL THE-HOW DARE-ATTACKING A STUDENT IN THE LIBRARY!"

Harry had froze after the bright blue light had engulfed Malfoy and thrown him across the room, slamming him into the bookshelf. His wand remained raised and pointed in the direction of Malfoy, as he turned to see who had thrown the powerful curse. He had been ready to jinx Malfoy, sure, because not only had he been causing Nichole quite the amount of trouble lately, but now he had been threatening.

That was when Nichole had crumpled at his feet.

These thoughts had been flashing through Harry's head as Mme. Pince had chastised him. He had been told to levitate Nichole to the hospital wing while Pansy was given the responsibility of Malfoy.

It was while levitating her to the hospital wing that he had noticed the shining, small pendant poking out from her collar.

It was glowing a faint shade of blue….the same shade that the flash of blue light had been. Harry went to tuck it back inside her blouse, lest Pansy see the piece of jewelry and become suspicious. The silver pendant felt oddly cool and pleasant as he tucked it and the chain it hung on under her robes.

His raised wand had condemned him to a month's worth of detentions with McGonagall. He hadn't even bothered to protest even though he knew he hadn't uttered a single word to curse Malfoy. No one had. No one had cursed Malfoy. No one else had even had their wands out…

Questions flooded his mind as he placed her gently on a hospital wing bed and watched as Madame Pomfrey attended to her. He didn't leave her side all afternoon, wanting to speak with her as soon as she was able. Just before the hospital wing was to close that night, he had slipped out into the corridor and put on his invisibility cloak before reentering the hospital wing. In the quiet of the deserted room, Harry had heard Nichole mutter words as she tossed and turned in the bed, her face scrunched up in confusion. She would repeat over and over again the same words, as if lost in her unconscious state, 'Who are you?' 'Where am I?'. She spoke often as well of 'Shami', who he thought was her fluffy white cat. Only late into the night did her muttering stop, which was when he himself finally dozed off, his head hung over the bed.

Nichole awoke what seemed like years later to fins herself not on the ground in the library but in a bed with crisp white sheets in a very silent and very dark room. She sat up suddenly only for her still delicate head to collide with a solid, hard object, followed by a loud crash and a groan that sounded as if it were coming from the ground below her bed. She peered over the side of her bed that appeared to be in some sort of hospital/sick ward, but still within the castle judging by the appearance of the stone walls. Surprisingly, nothing was on the ground where Nichole peered, yet she continued to hear scuffling.

Scared now, she searched for her wand, and, locating it quickly on the nightstand beside her bed, she snatched it up and pointed it in the general direction of the noise.

"Nichole, relax, it's me! Put down your wand!" Instead of calming Nichole, as the voice intended, it served to make her more agitated. She surely recognized the voice…it sounded like Harry. But then, she had heard noises in the middle of the night before that appeared to come from an invisible person. She remembered back to the summer when she had been certain that someone had been in her room…she had thought it had been Harry then. Oddly enough she had never thought to ask him if it was. But no…that would be just too weird…

Skeptical, Nichole questioned, "Why can't I see you?"

"Oh. Sorry, I forgot." Instantly, Harry appeared out of nowhere to be standing beside her bed. Nichole jumped and then stared at the silvery bundle he held in his hands. "What's that?"

"Oh. This is my invisibility cloak."

Comprehension dawned on Nichole. "Oh! Where did you-"

She was interrupted by a groan from a body in the bed beside her. She turned over to see an unconscious Malfoy. She stared at him with wide eyes. The gravity of her recent actions had still not quite sunk in even after the long sleep she had had. For it had been long…she had seen many things. It wasn't as if she had had another of her dreams, it was more of a…collage of random things that she couldn't explain. She saw faces she had never seen before and places she could not recognize. Her train of thought was interrupted by Harry's voice, much quieter now.

"Nichole, look…can you walk? We need to talk, and we can't do it here, Malfoy could wake up any time, or…Madame Pomfrey."

Nichole frowned. That's right. Harry probably wanted to know what the hell had possessed her to attack Malfoy like she had. She herself didn't understand, but if there was anyone she would like to talk to about unexplainable magic…Harry Potter would be one of her first choices. She nodded and climbed out of the hospital bed. He pulled the silvery fabric over both of them as they set out of the ward.

As soon as they were in the corridor, Harry pulled out a rumpled piece of parchment and his wand. As he held his wand to the piece of parchment, Nichole opened her mouth to ask what it was he was doing, but he answered her first.

"This is the Maurader's map, a map of the castle. But you can't tell anyone about it, alright, or the cloak, okay?" Nichole nodded silently. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."

Nichole's eyes grew wide as the parchment filled with ink in the form of all the corridors and rooms in the castle, as well as… "Harry…are those…people?"

"Yeah. It shows everyone in Hogwarts and where they are. Quite handy when you want to avoid Filch, professors, and prefects on patrol. Fred and George gave it to me third year, they nicked it from Filch who confiscated it from my dad and his friends when they were in school."

Nichole nodded again. "Where are we going?"

"I don't know. Anywhere where we won't be interrupted. Come on, quick! Snape's coming!" He pointed his wand to a moving speck on the map. "There's a passage this way that goes up two floors, we can get away from him that way. I don't know about you, but I don't fancy a rendezvous with Snape in the wee hours of the morning."

Nichole shook her head and mumbled a no. She was fairly anxious, sneaking around the castle in the dark. That and the fact that Harry would probably want her to explain everything that had gone on in the library. Her mind stumbled through the events of the past two and a half months as she searched for an explanation for herself. All of this had begun when she got her necklace from her grandmother…oh how she missed her! She had so many questions…

She was jerked out of her reverie when Harry pulled her to a stop outside a heavy door. She turned to him in question and met his green eyes.

Images suddenly flashed through her mind at lightning speed in the second that their gaze was held.

A giant dog with three heads…a chessboard…Ron on the floor bleeding…A flying key…a squirming plant…a harp…a wooden flute…a young girl that looked like Hermione…a man in a turban…a large mirror…a red stone…and-and.

"What are you doing!" Harry snapped.

Nichole shook her head and nearly toppled over. She leaned on the wall for support. "I…I…" Again, Nichole was met with a now familiar emotion of utmost confusion. She didn't have time to think about what she had just seen a short second ago though, because Harry dragged her through the door and quickly shut it behind him. Nichole looked around to find herself in an older-looking part of the school. They were in a hall-way type room. "Where-"

"This is the third-floor corridor. People rarely come in here…not since when we were in first year and-"

"The Philosopher's Stone…" Nichole felt her lips moving but didn't comprehend what she was saying. The Philosopher's Stone…why did she know what that was? Why did it seem so familiar to her? This entire room seemed familiar…she had seen it! She looked around and then…then something clicked. She had just saw it…

She looked at Harry inquisitively, "Where's the harp? It was right here in this corner…I just saw…I don't understand…" She turned to face the trap door. "And there…right there, there was a giant dog with three heads!"

Harry was now looking at her in a very disturbing manner. He had taken a step backwards.

She continued, "I'm not crazy! I just saw it! It was right here in this room! I saw this room! Where did it go?"

She was going hysterical when Harry grabbed her by the shoulders. "Listen to me Nichole…I don't know how or why you saw what you saw. I mean…it's impossible…there was a giant three-headed dog and a harp in this room at one point…but it was nearly four years ago…you can't have possibly actually seen it."

Nichole looked down at the ground then back up at Harry. "I know it's impossible. Just like how it's impossible how you and I saw each other this summer even though we had never met and lived thousands of miles apart. Just like how I saw the dementors attacking you the night before it even happened. Just like…just like what happened in the library today."

Silence. The two teenagers held each other's gaze, unmoving.

Harry finally broke it. "What exactly did happen in the library today? I mean, yeah, I was holding my wand at Malfoy and everything, but I never said a word! Next thing I know he's flown across the room! Whatever magic did that to him was really, really powerful."

Nichole looked down at the floor. "I really wish I knew, you have no idea how much I wish I knew what happened."

Harry continued. "You didn't have your wand out, I saw. But that…that necklace that you hide…I mean, I'm sorry…I saw it when I was carrying you to the hospital wing after you fainted…it was glowing blue a bit…the same colour of the magic that knocked out Malfoy. It has something to do with all this, doesn't it? Your necklace I mean."

"Yes…well…I think it does anyway."

Harry nodded. "I mean, weird stuff happens to me too but…nothing like this…not so many things like that have happened to you before. Like…I'm sorry, but do you know how you possibly could have seen this room as it was four years ago?"

Nichole frowned. She knew she had seen it but the time just wasn't clear…it didn't even seem relevant compared to the fact that she had somehow managed to see this room as it was four years ago.

That's right…it had been just before they entered the room. That's why she had staggered, it had been when she looked into Harry's eyes…

"Harry…before, when you asked me…what I was doing…what did you mean?"

"When?"

"Just now, outside this room. You got this frightened look on your face and asked me what I was doing. You seemed a bit angry too."

"Oh. Um…I don't really know. I mean I remember your eyes…I was looking into them. And I saw…something…I dunno who it was. Then my scar hurt-just for a second. I mean, it was nothing, really this kind of thing happens to me all the time. Sometimes my scar hurts when Voldemort is angry or something…I'm sure that's all it was."

"Harry I saw something too. I mean…well I saw a lot of things…just flashes…but things. That's how I saw this room Harry."

"That's so…weird. It doesn't make any sense."

"But...the weirdest thing is that I'm very sure that this has happened to me before. Or something of the sort…"

"When?"

"When I was in one of my dreams. About you. I was in your room with you, and I somehow made eye contact with you and, again, I saw things that were foreign to me. I mean…they aren't now. Now I know what I saw. But I still don't know how."

"You said you know what you saw now…how?"

Nichole smiled. "Because I met the people I saw. It was Ron and Hermione, but they were much different-looking, I think it was when you guys were younger, about eleven-twelve maybe. And now that I've seen it for myself, I know it was on the Hogwarts Express."

"This happened in the summer, before you came here?"

"It was before I even knew that magic existed. I suppose why that's why I just dismissed it as a part of my insane dreams at the time."

Harry nodded. "So…it seems like it's kind of like mind-reading or something. You can see into my memories…that's kind of…well, to be honest, creepy."

"I know…wait…you said you saw someone. Who was it?"

"I don't know. I've never seem her before."

"Her? It was a woman?"

"Yes. She was an older woman…it looked like she was in a hospital or something."

Nichole paled.

"What's wrong?"

She shook her head. "What else? Do you remember anything else?"

Harry frowned, and screwed up his eyes in thought. "Yes. There was an envelope on a table beside her bed. And a picture of a little girl, I think."

Nichole had a sudden, sharp intake of breath and held it after she asked, "Was the little girl…was she wearing a pink tutu and a flowery-type outfit?"

Harry frowned, but nodded.

"You saw my grandmother."

"Your grandmother? Is she ill?"

Nichole nodded. "Very. I visited her once more in the hospital before I left. She was very distraught, and made a big speech about me being responsible for my own choices and my mother not always knowing what's best for me, despite good intentions. And…"

"And?"

Nichole looked into Harry's eyes. "It's when I got this necklace," she said, pulling it out of the front of her nightgown on its chain. "It's around the same time that all these visions and dreams and things began. The first vision I had…I had it the night before I saw her in the hospital…I saw my mum getting the phone call that she had been admitted again."

"Oh."

"It was horrible. The vision I mean, well, afterwards anyways. I was so sick I thought I was going to die, I nearly passed out. I thought that first one was just a coincidence."

Harry nodded, unable to think of words to say. Nichole continued on.

"I don't quite know how this is working…but I think I understand how you and I are reading each other's minds so to speak. You see, I was thinking of her on our walk up here, and only when we stopped at the door and I made eye contact with you did I jerk back to present. I think…when one…or in this case both of us are feeling strong emotions, we can see what the other is thinking of at the time…the source of those emotions."

Harry now looked very confused. "I don't understand…that sounds kinf of like what Dumbledore told me about Voldemort making my scar hurt…strong emotions and stuff."

"No, what I mean is: You were thinking of your first year and this room at that moment, weren't you?"

"I dunno…I don't really remember what I was thinking about at any given moment…"

"Okay fine then…can you explain what you think you might have been thinking about at all? This room must bring back some scary memories!"

Harry nodded in comprehension. "yeah…I mean…I think I was thinking about Voldemort…because he's back and all." Nichole nodded. "This was this the first time I saw him face to face…I mean not for real or anything…but his ghost. It was the first time I understood what he really was. So I guess this room is linked to me thinking about Voldemort."

"Exactly. See, it all makes sense…well, kind of."

"That's amazing how you figured all this out, you know? I mean, all by yourself. I'm assuming Dumbledore must be keeping you in the dark too if him having me stuck in Privet Drive all summer is any comparison."

"No, really, there's still so many things I don't know…so many things I want answers to! I only wish that my grandmother had left me some kind of clue! She had this thing for all those years, she must know something about it! I know Dumbledore does for sure and I know he's not going to tell me-at least any time soon. I've just been doing my best to try and figure out what's going on with me so I don't go completely insane!"

"So your grandmother gave you this, but didn't leave you any information about it?"

"No! I mean, me and the girls have been pouring over books to try and find out something about it but-wait-oh how could I have forgotten! The letter! Of course!"

"What? What letter? What are you talking about?"

"My grandmother gave me this necklace in an envelope. The envelope you saw on her bedside table. In the envelope was a letter. She said something about…all being explained when the time is right or something-but I'm tired of waiting!"

"What are you-"

Nichole threw herself under the invisibility cloak and dragged Harry out of the room with her. "We're going to find out what's in that letter Harry, or so help me God…"

Less than ten minutes later, the two had quietly snuck into Nichole's dormitory. Harry had been more than reluctant to try going up the stairs and Nichole had had to practically drag him up. She was surprised to find out that the Gryffindor girls' staircase was charmed to not allow any male access to the girls' dormitories. Nichole rummaged through her trunk as quietly as possible trying to find the misplaced letter. When she finally found it she snuck back down to the Ravenclaw common room with Harry to read it.

They removed the cloak and seated themselves on a blue couch in front of the fireplace. The envelope was a yellowed piece of paper sewn together and nearly falling to pieces. The envelope was blank, and the letter inside the envelope appeared to be blank as well. Nichole was not discouraged though. Surely, if there had been secrets surrounding her necklace, her grandmother would have taken some precautions. Nichole tried many muggle methods she had read about in trying to find words on the paper, for her grandmother had been a muggle and couldn't do magic. Finally, Nichole resorted to magic, hoping to get it over with and read the sodding letter already.

"Revelio," she whispered.

Nothing happened. Then, suddenly, words appeared on the page, however, only six. What they said made Nichole more frustrated then she had ever been. She crumpled the paper and threw it on the ground in frustration.

"That's it," she said. "I've had enough. First-thing tomorrow, I'm-no, we're going to Dumbledore and we're going to force him to give us both some answers. He owes both of us explanations an explanation."

"Wait-me? I mean, yeah Dumbledore abandoned me this summer but this really has nothing to do with-"

"Harry. Really, I don't know where I would be without you. I've told you everything about what's happened to me in these past months, and frankly, if Dumbledore told me anything I would tell you anyway-I owe you at least that for what you did for me today."

"Today?"

"In the library. You took the blame for what I did, and thanks to you, no one suspects the horrible thing that I've done, not even Meghan and Sarah. And you're –I just…" Despite how hard she tried, Nichole couldn't stop the tears forming in the corner of her eyes. "I know it's strange, and, don't get me wrong, I love my friends more than anything in the world, but you-sometimes I really think you're the only one that truly understands…"

A/N: Whew. Intense or what? That was quick now, wasn't it. Only a week and a bit between chapters! We're really getting into the thick of it now. After this is all done I hope to revise the first bit…it's just too long and mary-sue-ish at the beginning. But, ah, tis the product of ninth-grade writing lol.