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The Unicorn Prince

chapter 3: Dreams Are Where the Heart Resides

Draco walked through the empty halls of Hogwarts with the grace and surety of a pureblooded Malfoy.

The corridors ahead were dark, but as he strode forward candles on either side of the young man lit, and the previously lit candles were swallowed by the darkness behind him.

The only sound in the silence was that of the heels of his boots clicking on the stone floor.

It was as it was every night, every dream was identical and Draco had memorized it months ago when it had first started.

Next would be the scent, a rich floral aroma would permeate the air, wrapping around Draco's senses even as a thin mist twined about his feet.

Once this happened it would be mere moments before he stood before the glass door leading into the gardens.

Draco never hesitated; even as his heart beat sped up and his eyes practically glowed in anticipation. The door gave way before him with ease, letting him into the magical garden.

Always Draco stepped out into a strange, mystical mix of the seasons. Large fluffy snowflakes floated carelessly onto the summer grass beneath Draco's suddenly bare feet. Flowers paining the landscape under a patchwork of green, red, and gold leaves that clung desperately to the branches reaching out above Draco's head.

Draco paid the fairy-tale scene no more then a passing glance, as he had seen it all before. His mind was focused solely on the centerpiece of the garden.

There lay his very reason for breathing. A strange combination of sunlight and moonlight bathed the ethereal figure making them appear to glow.

Never taking his eyes from the heavenly figure slumbering in the midst of this strange paradise, Draco padded softly to their side sinking into the grass beside his heart.

Even with the strange light surrounding the sleeping body, Draco found it impossible to make out their features. He couldn't even be sure if the holder of his soul was male or female.

In this strange dream state Draco couldn't bring himself to care. So long as he could be beside them, touch them, it didn't matter.

Draco reached out and gently brushed a strand of hair from the strangers face (the part of his mind that would usually protest such actions as being un-Malfoyish was conveniently closed down for these dreams).

This all happened every night, and every night he'd lightly kiss the person's forehead before waking up feeling confused and a little disturbed.

This time, though, something changed. Before Draco could bestow the customary kiss, the figures eyes fluttered open and Draco was caught in a swirl of spring green; bright and beautiful.

The dreamscape rabidly evaporated around him; all except for those eyes and a lilting voice that whispered in the air around him sending chills down his spine, "Our Prince has finally awakened!"

Draco woke up, that strangely alluring voice still echoing through his mind, 'Find him' it urged, 'Find him.'

"Well, that was different." The young man murmured to himself. Trying not to dwell on the confusing feelings the dream often provoked within him. He was a Malfoy and Malfoy's were not effected by their dreams. If it was up to his father, Malfoy's wouldn't dream at all. Dreaming, in Lucius' eyes, was a weakness.

Draco had been having that particular Dream, since halfway through the last summer. It wasn't a normal dream either. It had a distinctly different feel to it then a normal dream.

It also didn't fit in with Draco's other Dreams. Those Dreams usually left him shaky, weak, and with the need to well…empty his stomach. Perhaps that was what had caused his father to see dreams as such a weakness.

These new set of Dreams weren't followed by any of those symptoms, though. Instead, Draco always woke up with a strange sort of longing, a yearning in his very soul.

Draco was sure his father would be even more convinced of Draco's weakness if he discovered these new Dreams. So, Draco kept them under lock on key; ignoring them during the daylight hours. It wasn't as hard as it could have been, especially since the Dreams didn't seem to have any real meaning behind them.

Of course he'd spent long hours in the Manor library after they had first started, searching for answers. There was nothing.

This lack of answers only encouraged him to ignore the Dreams, as it led him to believe this Dream was somehow connected to his Gift. Though how he couldn't be certain.

His father had made it painfully clear what he thought of Draco's Gift. He'd cleaned out the library of any book even remotely related to the subject and forbade Draco to speak about it at such a young age that it had become second nature to Draco.

Curious as Draco was about this unique talent, he had carefully avoided mention of it and deliberately stayed away from that subject in Hogwarts library. His father had also forbidden him to take any classes that could cultivate his Gift, no surprise there.

But all that was before this dream. No matter what his father had to say about it, Draco needed to know.

With the change in the dream Draco fully intended to find out what was going on. Something in him needed these answers. Even if he had to go to her, he would. This was too important to let his father control his actions, Draco could feel it as surely as he could hear the strangely echoing voice.

'Find him' It murmured repeatedly. Even now Draco felt compelled to drop everything and search the castle top to bottom for this so called 'Prince'. If he was even at Hogwarts at all.

Luckily for Draco, he was a Malfoy, and Malfoy's were raised to have complete self control. There would be no random goose-chases in his immediate future, especially without first having breakfast.

Draco sauntered from his room into the Slytherin common room. There he collected a small group of followers. This group included his self appointed body guards, Crabbe and Goyle; as well as the two closest friends he had: Blaise Zabini and Pansy Parkinson (who doubled as his betrothed).

The betrothal was not a situation Draco particularly favored, but there was nothing he could do about it.

Pansy, on the other hand, seemed delighted to be engaged to him. And why shouldn't she? He was quite the catch.

The only heir to the Malfoy fortune. Young, handsome, athletic, intellectual…Draco was an all around God, if he did say so himself. Who wouldn't want him? His only real…flaw…was his Gift Besides there really wasn't anything he could do about that other than ignore it, exactly as he had for the last thirteen years.

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The day went by relatively quickly and Draco was just heading to the great hall for a late dinner. He'd just turned down a corridor when the strangest sight had met his eyes, catching him completely off guard.

Standing on the far end of the corridor was the last thing Draco had ever expected to see within Hogwarts walls. A beautiful ebony creature with sparkly emerald eyes, identical in color to those from his dream, stared at him for an eternity of two seconds before vanishing around the corner. Draco had no doubt as to what type of creature it was. The horse-like creature stood about as high as his chest and a long, deadly black horn spiraled from the center of it's forehead.

Draco was almost positive that he'd just seen a unicorn. But, whoever heard of a black unicorn? And what was it doing in Hogwarts?

Mind swirling with questions, Draco sped up his pace and turned the corner. The hall ahead was completely empty.

Draco blinked, his only sign of surprise. Maybe this was also an effect of his Gift: seeing things. It would make sense; as disturbing as that was to the young man.

"Draco? Are you alright? You look a bit pale." Pansy's voice broke into his thoughts. Her hand was on his upper arm and her eyes were filled with as much concern as a Slytherin was permitted to feel-which wasn't much.

Draco sneered at her, shaking her hand loose, "I'm perfectly fine, Parkinson." He snapped automatically.

Despite his words, Draco Malfoy was more then a little shaken as the words were repeated once again, "Our Prince, find him!" What in the name of Merlin was wrong with him?

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"Come on Harry. Dinner's starting soon, and I doubt you've eaten all day." Ron implored from the other side of the curtain Harry was currently hiding behind.

Harry would have liked nothing more then to continue hiding all day, but Ron was correct, he hadn't eaten all day and he was ravenous. Sighing in resignation, and steeling himself for his friend's reaction, Harry reached out to move the curtains.

Ron wasn't the only person waiting for him on the other side of the curtain, his whole dorm seemed to have gathered around his bed to wait for him to come out. Harry looked at the group nervously before casting his eyes downward, preparing himself for the inevitable.

His life at Hogwarts was officially over; Dumbledore would never let an animal study there, and even if he did, the ministry would surely have something to say.

Silence reined for a few minutes as the boy's watched they're friend, while Harry waited with baited breath for the biting comments sure to be hurled his way.

They never came.

Ron looked back at the others with a confused look on his face before reaching out to his best friend, "Hey, you alright? If your still sick we'll leave you alone."

"Yeah, if you want, we'll even bring you back something from dinner." Neville agreed.

Harry looked up, confused about this reaction. Sick? He wasn't sick. Harry studied the faces of his friends, searching for a hint of disgust or pity.

He found none; it was as if he was still normal. Was it possible they couldn't see the changes? Could he have imagined what he saw in the mirror?

A quick glance at his hands assured him that, no, he had not imagined it. His stomach grumbled again and he looked sheepishly at his amused friends, "Well, I am kinda hungry, and I do feel better." He said tentatively, still nervous about his new look.

"Well, come on then." Ron said loudly, turning on his heel and heading for the door, "I'm hungry, and I can hear the Great Hall calling my name."

Harry stood up and went to follow Ron when Dean caught his attention, "Hey, Harry, what about your glasses?"

Harry glanced over at his curious friend before his eyes darted back to his bedside table where his glasses usually sat. His hand automatically moved to his face, but they weren't there. A frown made it's way onto his face as he stared at the empty bedside table. Strangely enough, he could see it as if his glasses were on. Actually, he could see better then he ever had while wearing his glasses.

He glanced back at his friend's, who were watching him intently.

" I can't remember what I did with them." He lied. Oh, he knew exactly what had happened to his glasses, those stupid unicorns had them.

It was Ron's turn to frown, "Are you gonna be alright without them?" He asked, worried. Everyone knew Harry was as blind as a bat without his glasses, therefore it was a surprise when Harry just shrugged it off.

"I can see fine without them." He admitted softly.

His peers gaped at him, "Are you serious?"

Harry looked at them, "Of course I'm serious; I don't know why, but I can see just fine right now."

"Okay," Ron said slowly, before following Harry out the door.

"Hey Harry, you feeling better?" Hermione asked as they came down the staircase, "I got all your homework and you can copy my class notes. I told all the teachers you were feeling sick, and they expect you back in classes by tomorrow so if you still feel sick you better go to Madam Pomfery."

Harry grinned at his friend, relieved she too was acting normal. In fact, everyone was acting as if nothing was wrong. As odd as it was, Harry was greatly releaved, "I do feel better Hermione, Thanks."

She beamed back at him before frowning slightly, "Harry, where are your glasses?"

Harry glanced down, "I lost them." He muttered, looking embarrassed.

Her frown deepened, "How do you expect to do your homework without your glasses Harry? That was very irresponsible of you, we'll have to see if we can find them. Will you be alright till after dinner, or should we look for them now?"

Harry looked back up at her, "I'll be fine, Hermione, I can see just fine without them."

"Since when?" She asked skeptically.

Harry gulped, "Well…" He said uneasily, "I didn't even notice I wasn't wearing them when Ron woke me up just now." It was only half a lie, he really hadn't noticed he wasn't wearing his glasses. Now that Ron and Hermione had brought it up, he felt weird. Like he was naked. His fingers were itching to push up his glasses, but there were no glasses to push up.

Hermione was still frowning, though now she was frowning thoughtfully instead of worriedly, "Maybe this has something to do with your feeling sick this morning." She pondered aloud.

Harry shifted nervously; Hermione really was too smart for her own good.

"We can ponder all the mysteries of the world later, Mione, right now I would like to eat." Ron interrupted and Hermione sighed in exasperation.

"Oh, fine. Come on then." She huffed, leading the way out of the common room.

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After dinner Harry trailed after his friends down the corridors back to Gryffindor territory. He was exhausted, and couldn't wait to slip into bed.

Dinner had been trying, though none of his peers seemed to suspect a thing. Snape kept sending him evil looks, and Dumbledore watched him with a strangely closed off look; all hint of sparkly eyes gone.

To be honest, Dumbledore's reaction worried Harry. Dumbledore could see through invisibility cloaks; so, did that mean he could see Harry's new attributes? He dearly hoped not; he wasn't sure he wanted anyone to find out.

As he reached the end of the hallway he heard something behind him and glanced over his shoulder automatically. Green eyes locked with mercury for a moment before Harry sped up, slipping into the secret passage before it could close all the way behind his friends.

Now Harry was more confused then ever. He was used to seeing disgust and hatred in those silvery eyes, not surprise. Yet, Harry was sure Malfoy's eyes had widened and his eyebrows had both raised in complete shock.

This worried Harry more then the possibility that Dumbledore knew what happened. If Draco found out, life as Harry knew it would be over.

"Hurry up Harry!" Hermione called back at him and Harry glanced up; noticing his friends were almost out of sight.

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That night Harry was asleep almost as soon as his head hit his pillow. His curtains were pulled closed for privacy, and all the other boy's were still in the common room socializing, otherwise someone might have seen the silvery glow surround the boy for a split second before he was carried off into his dreams:

Harry sat in his garden on a low stone bench, staring up at the snowflakes that were falling between the colorful array of leaves. A soft smile curved his lips slightly as he held out a hand to catch the falling snow. The feathery crystals were, surprisingly, warm to the touch and didn't melt right away.

The air was thick with a floral perfume thanks to the many flowers scattered around his sanctuary, and as a gentle wind swept through the garden a new scent greeted the young man. This scent was just as rich as the first, only better. A mix of heady spice and sweet vanilla swirled around him urging him to look up.

He did so and saw, framed in the doorway, a shadowy figure, "there you are." He said softly, "I've been waiting for you." It was true, though Harry didn't know it until that moment.

The other figure, who was taller then him by about a head or so, stealthily swept towards him. This person had the grace of a dancer with an underlining strength and agility. "I know you have," a silky voice murmured as the stranger moved closer, "and I've been searching for you for a what could be an eternity." This caused Harry to smile as the other man settled beside him on the bench their body's turned to face each other.

Slowly Harry reached out and took the strangers hand in his own, smiling up at him adoringly. The dream faded around them and Harry happily slipped into a different dream, though this one was far less enjoyable.

In some dark corner of the earth, in a old dusty mansion the Dark Lord woke, a cruel smile curling his lips. Finally, something he could work with.

Well, I brought Draco into the picture and added a real plot, all in one shot. I must admit I'm rather proud of myself at the moment...I just hope this chapter made sence to someone other then myself, please tell me if you are confused about something.

Now, feel free to

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