CHAPTER TWO: WHAT DREAMS ARE
Annapolis, Maryland
7 Shipwright Street
Hermione satin her room gently rocking Adrian. He was a just under five years old and had been having terrible dreams recently that she couldn't figure out. They weren't nightmares, as they didn't scare him. He'd wake up and talk about a magical world with witches and wizards that had wands and cast spells. She's read that children his age had extremely well devleoped imaginations, but this went above and beyond the normal. He told detailed storied with talking animals and centuars. They were outlandish yet eerily not at the same time.
"Is he asleep yet?" A voice called from the doorway. Hermione looked over and smiled at her boyfriend of a year and a half, Evan. He was the perfect man for her. He was sweet, kind, and never judged her for getting confused. She had moments where she didn't have a clue who she was or where she was. No doctor had ever been able to find anything wrong with her, and no one had ever heard of cases quite like hers.
"Just about." Hermione responded, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. They had gotten into the habit of being there with Adrian when he went to sleep by the advice of a psychiatrist who wanted to analyze Adrian's dreams, and they just never stopped. Evan had asked Hermione to move into his much bigger house in a different part of downtown Annapolis about a six months ago, and had quickly become a part of the tradition.
"Well lets put him to bed then." Evan said, gently taking Adrian from her arms and holding him as Hermione pulled down his sheets that were decorated with 'Transformers', his favorite cartoons. He was placed just as gently into the bed as Hermione pulled the sheets up around him. She kissed him gently on the head and walked to the door with Evan, hugging him.
"I have to go clean up the dinner mess." She said softly, walking past him after giving him a peck on the cheek.
"Let me help." He said, wrapping an arm around her waist and guiding her over the the intercom at the top of the stairs. "Anna, could you please handle the dishes in the kitchen, thank you."
Anna was the polish housekeeper that Evan had hired before Hermione got there, but kept on now because she was a close friend. She was Adrian's unofficial godmother. Ana was older and had long brown hair that she kept swept up and pulled tightly back into a bun. She wore glasses and looked slightly frail. but everyone knew she was anything but. She was someone even Evan was afriad to cross.
"Evan..." Hermione started but he just hugged her
"Just relax." He said, smiling "There's a movie and popcorn waiting for us in the living room." Hermione smiled and hugged him back. Evan was always surprising her with little things like movie nights. He was always so sweet and gently, esecially when it came to Adrian. As much as it pained Hermione to say it, she had no idea who Adrian's real father was. It wasn't that she had slept around or anything, quite the opposite. She remembered vague things, and doctors had told her she'd been the victim of a brutal attack while she was pregnant and lost her memory. She didn't have much chance of getting it back, but she remembered enough that it didn't bother her. She knew her parents were dead, that Adrian's father was never coming for them, and that she had no family or friends besides those in Annapolis, even though she was British.
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
The Fifth Floor Charms Classroom
Kym sat in her charms class, completely ignoring her aunt as she taught them the now required curriculem of defensive charms like 'expelliarmus'. She knew that her aunt had noticed but hadn't said anything to her yet. It was five years. Five years ago today she'd come home to find her father, who had supposedly died, crying into the arms of her aunt. It was the only time she'd ever seen him cry. He'd completely broken down. Kym wanted more than anything to go floo him. The longer she sat in the classroom he more stiffled and trapped she felt. It soon became too much for her so she shot out of her seat and ran for the door, not even bothering to grab her bags.
She didn't know where she was heading, just that she had to get out of there. It was horrible. She finally composed herself and collapsed against the wall of whichever corridor she'd managed to run to. She looked around and realialized she had never really been through this corridor before.
That's odd Kymberly thought, walking through the small hallway. She reached a door that looked as if it had been knocked almost completely off it's hinges, leaving it hanging awkwardly. She pushed passed it and walked into a giant room that was completely bare. No lights were shinging in the room so Kym tok her wand from her pocket and cast a lumos so she could see. The room really was completely empty. There were no chairs or desks or anything. Not even a single window.
"Who's there?" A voice called from the doorway. Kym spun around and put the light from her wand out. She quickly ran for a wall, thinking it would be harder to find her where it was darker. She pressed herself up against the wall and was careful not to make a sound.
"I know someone's in here." The voice called again. It was deep, obviously male, but smooth. She heard the footsteps approaching and held her breath. Her heart almost stopped when the footsteps stopped right in front of her. "Who are you?" The question was barely a whisper and it made the hairs tingle on the back of Kym's neck. He was less than a foot away from her, obviously freaked out as well from the sounds of it. The sent of an expensive cologne invaded her nostrils and suddenly she made the connection.
"Bugger off, Nott" Kym said shoving him backwards and walking forward.
"Ah, the little She-Weasel." Amusement flooded into the voice in place of the worry. "and I thought it was someone to be afriad of."
"Tarantellegra" Kym shouted, angry. "I really don't need to be delaing with you right now, so I'll repeat myself: bugger off." Watching the worried Slytherin dance like an idiot almost cheered Kym up, but she soon flet guilty and muttered the counter charm, cursing her conscience under her breath. Jason Nott took a few angry breaths and started stalking towards her. Right as she was about to turn and run or fight back, he disappeared from her view with a shout. She looked around frantically, but with her wand light ot it was pitch black and she couldn't see very far in front of her face.
"Where'd you go, Nott?" She shouted "Lumos." Kym walked forward with her light until she saw it. It being a medium sized trap door that had obviously been left open. "Are you down there, Nott?"
"What do you think, She-Weasel?" A sneer called from below.
"Why am I not surprised you are still capable of being a complete ass in any situation?" Kym sighed. "Are you hurt? Should I get Pomfrey?"
"I'll be fine, Weasley." His voice sounded much less mocking and she heard him sigh. "Any ideas on how to get me out of here? HOLY SH-" The rest of the words were muted, as if something covered his mouth.
"Nott!" Kym shouted, getting nervous. "Bloody hell, Nott. What's going on down there." SHe heard more muffled shouts before he managed to get a reply.
"There's some kind of plant down here" He shouted, obviously nervous and out of breath. "It keeps squeezing me." Kym sat there trying to remember her Herbology (probably her least favorite class). Suddenly something hit her from behind and Kym fell right onto an indignant Jason Nott.
"I somehow doubt you coming down here is going to help get me out." He sneered as he fought against the green vines she could now see surrounding him. Suddenly she felt something creeping against her leg and soon she too was being squeezed by the plant.
"Not really something I meant to do, Nott." She growled, almost regretting that the plant had a hold of her arms so she couldn't smack him. "You are such and arrogant prick."
"No need to be jealous-" He began but Kym suddenly shouted.
"That's it" moments later she felt the plant release she started laughing. "It's Devil's Snare, Nott. Just relax and it'll let you go."
"Because relaxing is so easy right now." He shouted down to her, and she could see he was still fighting.
"Just don't fight, you idiot. Stop being such a stubborn prick and just do it." She saw him slowly stop fighting and then he fell through the plant with a grunt, landing a few feet from her. "There has to be a way out around her somewhere." Kym said, walking past him without even glancing at him. (a/n: if you haven't figured out where they are by now, I'm kind of worried about your IQ level)
"Where are we going?" Jason asked, appearing at her side. Even the way he carried himself reeked of a percieved self-importance that made Kym want to hurt him. She groaned and sped up. "Are you going to answer me, Weasel?" Suddenly Kym had enough. She spun around and grabbed his arm.
"Let's get one thing straight, Nott." She hissed at him. "I don't like you. I never will like you. The only reason I'm down here is because I was pushed and would probably give my wand arm to be anywhere else." She turned and kept walking, not even caring if he started following her or not. She came to a stop at a small wooden door which, luckily, opened easily when she tried it. She did give into her conscience and look behind her, only to see that Jason had apparently turned and gone a different way, as she didn't see him. She walked into the room to find it empty, minus a few keys that lay randomly across the floor. She gave a curious glance but kept walking, finding the door on the other side of the room alrady had the key in it and was unlocked.
"Weasley?" Kym spun around quickly to see Jason Nott standing there. "Didn't want to get lost." He shrugged. Kym rolled her eyes and softly pushed on the door, it opened with a loud creak, and only enough that Kym had to squeeze through. She continued forward and saw an open hallway with potion bottles arranged or cracked along the side. She glanced at them warily before quickly hurrying on. After walking down another long corridor, Kym and Nott, who were now walking closer to each other to combat the creepiness of the place, came to an open room. It was circular, almost like a stadium in the way the steps went in a giant circle, leading down to an open area at the bottom. In this open area was a plain looking mirror. It stood almost regally, but seemed dwarfed by te space, making it look exceedingly ordinary.
"What is this doing here?" Nott asked, obviously excited, running forward. Kym was completely confused, but continued to walk nervously towards the mirror. Jason was standing there lookin absolutely dumbfounded in front of the mirror. Kym walked forward and tried to see what had him so amazed, only to see nothing but his reflection.
"You may not be butt ugly, Nott." Kym sneered "But you are by no means the stunning." Jason loked shocked and spun around.
"You don't know what this is?" He asked, shocked. kym raised an eyebrow at him and he waved her off. "Of course not, you're a mudblood. Sorry, muggle born." This shocked Kym more than when she was pushed thorugh the trap door.
"Something you saw make you pull the stick from your ass?" Jason looked guilty but annoyed. Instead of saying anything he stood aside, pushing Kym so she was in front of the mirror. For a moment Kym didn't notice anything strange but then she saw other people. She spun around but didn't see anyone but Nott, who was standing over to the side, waiting. She looked back at her reflection. The people were clearer now. It was her father and her mother, arms aorund each other, on one side of her. They both looked happy and in love. At their feet was a toddler, a little girl who held onto her fathers pant leg like a security blanket. At first there was no one else in the picture, but then someone else walked in. Vincent Malfoy. He rushed over to her and gave her a passionate kiss and hug, spinning her around, making the mirror image of her giggle and shreik in surprise. She thought she would be repulsed by the image, but found herself feeling entranced and elated. Before long she felt herself being pulled away from the mirror and, for a quick moment, she was sad about it and wanted to go back.
"What was that?" Kym asked breathily, shocked from what she had seen.
"That is the Mirror of Erised." Nott said softly and, surprisingly, not arrogantly "It shows you what in life will make you most happy."
"Like...if I really wanted a milkshake, it would show me with a milkshake?" Kym asked, not really grapsing the concept because of what she had seen.
"Kind of." He paused for a moment, trying to find a way to phrase it properly. "It's closer to something like this. If you feel like you can't do something, but really want to, it will show you succeeding. Whatever would make you truly happy, not momentarily." Kym nodded, well that threw a wrench in what she thought about her life. So she wanted her mother back, and the little sister she never had to be here, and she wanted them all to be happy. And she wanted Vincent Malfoy, apparently.
"What did you see?" Kym asked before she could stop herself, her hands instantly flew to her mouth. "You don't have to answer that."
"I saw Dana." He said plainly, almost dejectedly. "We were alone and happy. Married, obviously, and she was pregnant." Kym was shocked, and her look most have said so. "I did actually like her. And I'm not evil."
"That's good to know." Kym said with a small laugh. it had become obvious in the last couple minutes that he was anything but.
"That's how we got to talking." Nott continued. "In the beginning of the summer she refused to talk to me beause she thought I was evil, I made it my mission to prove her wrong. Me and my friends aren't nice, we know, but we arne't evil."
"Really could've fooled me." Kym said, giving him a small smile to show she wasn't completely serious. it felt so weird having a civil conversation with him, considering they hadn't managed that in the entire seven years that they'd been at the same school.
"Really." He said, laughing a little. "We may say rude things, but we don't really feel the same as most Slytherins. That's why we're all friends."
"Even Goyle?"
"Especially Goyle." He added, looking her dead in the eye. "We approached her because she's in the same position we are."
"What position is that exactly?" Kym asked, starting to get somewhat concerned by the seriousness of the conversation.
"You know better than anyone the situation we are in here." He said, looking kym straight in the eyes. She shifted uncomfortabley under his stare, but he pressed on. "Your mother and father were captured and most likely tortured, your mother was supposedly mur-"
"What do you mean "supposedly"? I would know if there was any "supposedly" about it, okay?" Kym shout, standing up abruptly and beginning to walk away. She didn't get far because Jason grabbed her arm and spun her around.
"You never thought about it? You never felt like it wasn't real?" He looked her in the eye, but she avoided it. They sat in silence for a few minutes before they both sighed and sat back down.
"Are we planning on leaving here anytime soon, or are we just going to sit here until some other idiot falls down the trap door and finds us?" Kym asked, Jason looked over to the mirror longing to look into again.
"We should probably go." He said, still not looking away from the mirror. He sighed and they began to try and find a way out. "What did you see in the mirror anyway?" Kym felt herself blush and looked at the floor, thinking of seeing his best friend in her reflection.
"Just my family."
"The entire Weasley clan fit in that mirror?" Nott asked, smiling. Kym just giggled.
"Stop that." Kym said, hitting him softly "Not all of them, just my mom, dad, and baby sister." Jason stopped where he was and looked at her weirdly.
"Baby sister?"
"Yeah." Kym said, nodding softly "My mom was pregnant when...yeah, and I always told myself it was a little girl." He gave her a small smile.
"That's a nice thought."
"Why are you being nice to me?" Kym asked. They reached a dead end and sighed.
"Seriously?" Kym nodded "Because I figured knowing the girl who's in love with my best friend would be a plus, espiecially if her best friend is the girl I'm in love with."
"Excuse me?" Kym asked, shocked. Jason just laughed. "We have a while, I'll explain. But you'll soon learn I know everything."
Annapolis, Maryland, USA
7 Shipwright Street (Evan's House)
Hermione walked from the room softly, trying not to wake Evan. She was having trouble sleeping and needed to find her way to the kitchen for some tea, the only thing that ever seemed to soothe her. She'd been having weird feelings lately. Just feelings like there was something bad happening, but she couldn't determine exactly what. She entered the kitchen only to find the lights already on. She looked around to see if someone was there, but couldn't see anyone. Suddenly she heard voices from the living room. She walked around the corner and saw Ana sitting in front of the fireplace talking into it animatedly.
"...shown no signs of remembering anything?" A male voice said softly. Hemione jumped a foot, not seeing anyone. She ducked behind a wall, waiting to hear more.
"Not at all. She's still happy, though. She hasn't discovered anything." That was Anna. Hermione had been around long enough to know that voice anywhere, except it was different. It was softer somehow.
"That's always good. You musn't rush her, let her move at her own pace, Minerva. I know she was close to you, she was a bright witch."
Witch? Hermione felt herslef getting short of breath, as if she'd run miles.
"She was the brightest witch we'd ever taught, Remus, you know that as well as I. It's been five years, any person who has any chance of recovering their memories has done so. It's just sad to have lost such a talented young woman." Hermione tugged at the coller of her t-shirt, the room was suddenly stiffling to her. Her head was spinning uncontrolably, and the room was spinning like a top in front of her. She leaned against the wall behind her for support, listening to Anna and the strange man talk about the young witch, which Hermione was feeling uncomfortable about. She decided to make her presence known because she needed help making the room stand still.
"Anna?" Hermione said, walking slowly into the room. Anna spun around quickly, the fire going out suddenly. Hermione's head began to spin faster, and suddenly things were popping into her mind. It wasn't the most pleasant experience in the entire world. She didn't understand why images she didn't remember ever seeing were popping into her head.
"Hermione." Anna said, walking over, and Hermione realized that it didn't look like her very much. Her face looked more drawn, and her face looked much more haggard and sharp. Her hair was the same as always, pulled into a tight, impeccable bun. "I know this is going to be confusing, but I need to you to stay calm for a few moments while I bring someone here to help you." Hermione opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off. "It will be easier if you wait until we've sorted you out to ask questions." Hermione just nodded and watched as Anna walked over to the fire and through dirt from one of the potted plants into it. She spoke to the fire softly and moments later the room filled with people. Almost all of the with red hair. Remembering Adrian's dreams, Hermione let out a short scream, curling into a small ball on the couch. Moments later there was a small sound from upstiars and someone came barreling into the room.
"What's going on here." Evan shouted, holding a candle stick holder. Hermione almost laughed he looked so ridiculous in his pajama pants, groggy eyes, and swinging blindly with a candle stick holder.
It's not like it will do anything against their wands Hermione put her head in her hands, thinking she was going crazy.
"Someone needs to start explaining now." Evan shouted, moving so he was standing in between the group and Hermione.
"Who are you?" One of the red haired men asked. Evan paled visibly, looking wary. The man had long-ish red hair that was ties back, matched with a weathered look and a few scars. The others didn't look much more promissing. Except for the smallest, who looked weak, but Evan was pretty sure he'd be more dangerous, considering the pompous way he carried himself. He finally managed to remember to speak and drew himself up.
"I'm Evan Ganlid. This is my house. Now why are you threatening my girlfriend?" The entire gorup of invading wizards, minus Anna, who was standing with them, looked shocked, almost hurt. Immediately two of the group disappeared in thin air, making Hermione's head start spinning again. Anna looked pissed.
"Stupid twins, I told them no magic just yet."
"Now, Minerva." An older man said. He was the only man present without red hair, and looked about twenty years older, at least. "What did you exect. No warning or anything?" The spinning in Hermione's head increased, getting almost as bad as it was before.
"Someone better bloody well tell me why in Merlin's name I have almost the entire Weasley clan in my living room." Hermione shouted suddenly, surprising herself. She knew them? Suddenly, as she looked at them, she realized she did recognize them. There was another sound on the stairs and all of a sudden Hermione felt a pull on her leg.
"I told you theys was real, Mommy" Adrian said, giggling happily.
(a/n: I only have one spot remaining for my OCs, anyone interested PM me your favorite scene from the first section (10 Years From Then)
okay, people, I'm in college. i'm not going to have time to update frequently, and i have two stories i'm working on, so please be patient :-) i'm going to update whichever story I think is getting the most interest (fyi: my other story Heart Break is in fairy tales section, check it out :-)) )