Hello everyone!
I'm going on a trip for the next few days (I'm going to Cardiff!), so I won't be able to update until at least next Wednesday...
BUT I'm leaving you with this massive chapter, one of my longest, and I suspect that you guys will like the ending... :)
I hope you like it. I certainly liked writing it.
Thank you for the support, and thank you orlisgirl04 for reviewing! I truly appreciate it.
Enjoy x

wildest dreams
VOLUME I

CHAPTER NINE

The next Tuesday, we had a new DADA class. I felt a little nervous, remembering what had happened the previous week. If that had just been the introduction, what would Moody teach us next ? I took a look at the twins – they seemed quite excited. We all sat down, and Moody appeared from his office, looking as meaning as usual.

"Very well" he started. "Now that we all know all the Unforgivable Curses in theory – the next logical step would be to move on to practical, is it not ?"

I felt the blood drain out of my face. Practical ? I obviously wasn't the only one to be shocked – everyone starting whispering among themselves. Even Montague, who always made it his job to look like he was better than everyone in the room, looked a little pale.

"Practical, sir ?" asked Angelina, her voice a little higher than usual.

"Yes, Miss Johnson, that's exactly what I said. Everyone, make a queue in front of me."

I exchanged a look with George – he looked more curious than worried. I felt quite nervous. Weren't these curses illegal ? But certainly, a teacher wouldn't make us do something dangerous – would he ? I suddenly wondered if Dumbledore had agreed to this.

When everyone was in line, Moody flickered his wand and moved all the desks to the walls, clearing up some space. Then, he gestured to the first person in the queue to move forward. It was Pamela, one of my roommates.

"Dumbledore wants you to know what it feels like to be under the influence of the Imperius Curse – that way, you will be prepared if you ever have to encounter the effects" said Moody.

I frowned. For some reason, I wasn't sure Dumbledore would approve of any of this – but why would Moody lie ? I watched him attentively as he raised his wand in front of Pamela and muttered 'Impero' – her face went from looking a bit worried to looking passive. Then, when Moody moved his wand to the right, she started to walk in that direction. When he moved it back to the left, she turned around and changed directions. Then, Moody slightly moved his wand, and she suddenly started running around the classroom. Her face didn't change during the whole thing – her eyes looked empty.

When Moody lifted the spell, Pamela stared around her, looking slightly disoriented. Everybody was silent.

"Can you tell us how that felt, Miss Mansfield ?" asked Moody.

Pamela hesitated.

"Er – it felt weird. It was like I couldn't control my body anymore."

Moody nodded, a little smirk on his lips. It made me shiver.

"Sit down. Next."

And then, one after the other, everyone had the Imperius curse casted on them – some would jump around, some would start singing the British national anthem, or some would do both at the same time. At some point, it started getting amusing, but I still felt worried as I saw my turn coming up.

"Did you notice how it seems to get worse from student to student ?" muttered Angelina in my ear while Fred went up the stairs to the professor's office and hanged himself upside down from the railing.

I nodded, and wanted to answer, but it was now her turn. Moody casted the spell and at first, I couldn't understand what she was doing – but when I saw her eyes starting to blink quickly, I understood that she was holding her breath. I was about to say something, feeling my heartbeat quicken, when Moody lifted up the curse. Angelina was shaking when she went back to her seat.

"Ready, Miss Harlowe ?"

I jumped, turning back to Moody, who pointed his wand at me. I felt George squeeze my hand, and I took a deep breath, nodding. I just wanted this to be over as quick as possible.

"Impero."

I immediately felt something come over me – a strange sensation of emptiness, like I was floating into space. I could still see and smell everything around me, but it felt odd. Suddenly, I started walking, and I wanted to gasp out of surprise because it wasn't something I was doing, nothing came out. My mind felt blank – I wasn't myself anymore.

I heard a voice in my head, telling me to walk to the window, and so I did. I heard the voice tell me to open the window, and I did. I heard the voice tell me to climb on the railing, and I did, even though I kept thinking, no, no, no. I could feel the wind on my face, my hair dancing behind me, the tears filling up my eyes.

"Hey ! Stop that !" I heard a voice say behind me.

I felt my foot move up – no, no, no – and my whole body shaking, and I saw the ground, so far under me, and I wanted to close my eyes, but I couldn't, and I wanted to scream, but I couldn't.

"Hey, stop it now !" said the voice again.

And just like that, I was back. I immediately steadied myself by grabbing the two sides of the window, my entire body shaking. I couldn't look away from the ground under me.

"Addy. Addy, are you okay ?"

I looked over my shoulder. George was right behind me, with Fred and Angelina close to him. I nodded, unable to speak.

"C'mon, grab my hand."

I shakily took it, and he pulled me back into the classroom. I grabbed onto him, absolutely sure I would collapse if I let go.

"You're sick !" I heard Alicia mutter.

"You had to know what this curse can do" said Moody, staring right at me. "I could have made Miss Harlowe jump, if I had really wanted to. It would have been that easy. And, of course, that jump would have looked like a suicide to everyone."

I held on to George, my legs still shaking as I tried to wrap my mind around what had just happened.

"Excellent control, Miss Harlowe. I could feel you fight against me. But I'm afraid it wasn't enough. CONSTANT VIGILANCE !"

I let out a sigh of relief when Moody ended the class.

"You're all right ?" asked George.

I nodded, and finally let him go.

"Yeah. Fantastic" I replied faintly.

I slowly walked to grab my bag, and silently walked with the others back to the Common Room. I felt sick. I was about to jump. Another second, and I would have jumped. Once we got in the Common Room, I collapsed on one of the couches, pulling my legs up and settling my head on my knees. I was exhausted.

"How are you feeling, Addy ?" asked Angelina, sitting beside me.

"I'll be fine" I muttered.

"I'm not sure of what I think of Moody now" said Lee.

"Definitely mad" said the twins in unison.

"It's not like we're going to get attacked here, at Hogwarts" said Angelina.

"Well, he's right – you can never be too careful" replied Fred. "But that crossed the line."

"Are you sure you're going to be all right, Addy ?" asked Lee.

I nodded, smiling softly, not wanting to worry them too much. I already felt better. I really didn't feel like going to Potions, but I certainly could use the distraction. I didn't want to think about what had happened too much – I needed to change my mind. George sat down beside me in the classroom and we played Hangman the whole time, not listening one minute to Snape's speech about Felix Felicis. That made me feel a lot better. I just didn't want to think about it anymore, and everyone made sure not to bring it up.

The next few weeks flew by quickly. I was really busy with all my classes, and barely had time to do anything because of all the homework and reading I had to do. But, fortunately, I had the twins to drag me out of the library from time to time. We would sometimes work on their products, or just go outside to enjoy the weather while it was still nice, but the vast majority of our time was dedicated to try and figure a way for them to enter the tournament – but we were short of ideas. The twins had tried to ask McGonagall more about the 'new rules' during a Transfiguration class, but she had not been of much help.

On my side, most of the time, I would be sitting in the library or in the Common Room, complaining about all the work I had to do rather than actually work – and one Monday night, near the end of October, George decided he had had enough.

"You're coming with me" he said, standing up and grabbing my arm.

"I can't !" I moaned, trying to push him away. "This essay is due Thursday, and I haven't even bloody started."

"You're not going to do anything anyway ! You're just going to complain all night. C'mon !"

I hesitated, but when he pulled my arm again, I stood up and followed him out the Common Room. He didn't say anything to the others, who just stared at us while we walked out. I didn't know what George had in mind – but I was very curious to find out. And I couldn't say no to spending some time alone with him – I had found myself enjoying that more and more this year.

"Where are we going ?" I said as we walked around the castle.

It was way past curfew – but I was far from worried. George knew the castle very well because of the map he and Fred had discovered in Filch's office during our first year.

"You'll see" he said mysteriously with a smile.

He had let go of my arm – but it was like I could still feel it there. We got on the third floor, and when I saw the Gunhilda statue, I understood where he was taking me.

"George, it's nine o'clock. Honeydukes is closed."

He shrugged, his smile still plastered on his face.

"So what ?" he said.

I watched him as he raised his wand and muttered 'Dissendium'. The statue opened and the small, stone slide appeared.

"And how do you plan on coming back here ? We can't just knock on the front door of the castle ! And I don't even have my coat –"

"Stop being such a wuss – c'mon, let's go."

Without waiting for my answer, he crouched to get in the slide, and disappeared at the end of it. I shook my head, trying very hard not to laugh. A real nutter, he was. But I could never say no to a Weasley. So I went down the slide, meeting him at the other end. It was very dark, so I muttered a 'Lumos', and after we exchanged excited grins, we started walking down the tunnel. I felt like a child again. The walk to Hogsmeade took about an hour – and while we walked, George kept telling me jokes and stories – probably to make me feel better. I couldn't be more grateful, because by the time we got to the other side, I felt a lot more cheerful, like the weight of the past few weeks had been lifted off my shoulders.

When we finally got to the trap-door, my sides were hurting from laughing. George helped me get up into the cellar, and we looked around, making sure to keep the trap-door opened behind us. The place was really quiet, and when we went up into the actual shop, the lights were closed, and there was nobody there. I was surprised that there wasn't any security of any sort – but I wasn't one to complain. George turned to me, his face only lit up by his wand.

"Let's just grab a few things and go back" he said.

I nodded, and started taking my favorite candy from the shelves. I got a few Chocolate Frogs, some Candy Floss and a box of Pumpkin Pasties. I couldn't stop smiling while I was looking around.

"This is so wrong" I whispered.

"That's why it's so great" replied George, grinning from ear to ear.

We bursted out laughing, and after we left some money on the counter – we weren't thieves, after all – we went back down into the cellar, and into the tunnel back to Hogwarts. I thought we were gonna go back to the Common Room, but George sat down in the middle of the path and started eating. I stared at him, a little startled.

"What are you doing ?"

"I'm hungry" he shrugged, his mouth already full of Bertie Bott beans.

"Idiot" I said, shaking my head.

He grinned, and I sat down in front of him. There was no light in that tunnel, except the light from our wands. My heart was still beating fast when I started eating one of the Frogs – but I wasn't exactly sure that it was from the running.

"I can't believe we did that" I said, smiling. "Just imagine McGonagall's face if she discovered us."

"I don't think she'd be really surprised" he replied.

I laughed – that was true. Professor McGonagall was more than used to the twins's pranks and mischief after six years. But she had never punished them very badly – I was sure that it was because she secretly found them funny.

"So, is that better than scowling in front of your books all night ?" asked George with a smirk.

"Definitely better. Thanks, George."

"Anytime."

There was a short silence before he spoke again.

"Hey – can I ask you something ?"

I looked at him – he looked oddly serious.

"Of course" I said.

"It's just – I've been thinking about it a lot, and I was just wondering – you don't have to –"

"Bloody hell, George, just get to the point" I laughed.

"The Imperius Curse. How did it feel ?"

I stared back at him, slightly taken aback. I wasn't expecting this. I hadn't thought about Moody's lesson since – because I had chased it to a corner of my mind, determined not to think about it anymore.

"It's just – I didn't get a chance to do it" said George faintly.

I took a deep breath, trying to find the right words.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to" he added quickly.

"It's okay" I said. "Er – it was scary. Really scary. I just couldn't control my body anymore – and you can feel that someone else is pulling the strings. And you can't really fight against it."

"Sounds intense."

"It was" I nodded slowly.

"Sorry – I shouldn't have brought it up."

"No, it's okay. I think it's good – I should talk about it."

It was true – it felt good to talk about it to someone I trusted, someone I felt safe with.

"It was really scary for us too, you know ?" said George. "You really looked like you were gonna jump – and Moody didn't stop, even when I asked him to."

"That was you ?" I smiled softly.

He nodded.

"Yeah – I couldn't just let him do that."

"Well, I take back what I said – you're not an idiot."

He smiled, and I smiled, and I felt like blushing. Fortunately, he changed the subject, and started telling me about this new product him and Fred were thinking about. The minutes passed, as we talked and laughed, and at one point I had lost all notion of time – I had no idea what time it was. We decided that it was probably best if we went back, and we made our way back. However, when we got the slide, we stopped.

"Er – how are we supposed to go back up ?" I asked.

George was frowning.

"I didn't think about that" he mumbled.

I was as amused as I was discouraged.

"Well, there's only one way to do it" I said, raising an eyebrow.

George eyed me suspiciously, and I crawled into the slide, determined to try and climb it – fortunately, it wasn't very long, and not to steep, so it was doable. I slowly made my way up – not very graciously, I had to admit – by leaning against the stone, moving my feet up one at a time while George was laughing hysterically.

"Why don't you help me instead of laughing at me ?" I told him between my teeth.

"I think you're doing just fine on your own" he replied, still laughing.

"Can't wait to see you try, Weasley !"

I finally got the top, and collapsed on the floor, completely out of breath.

"C'mon, Weasley, get your arse up here" I said.

I peaked inside the slide to see him starting to make his way up. He was still laughing hysterically, though, which made his climb even more challenging. I couldn't help but start laughing too – what a ridiculous night it had been. When George was close to the top, I stretched my hand to help him out, but we were both laughing so hard that when he grabbed it, his feet slipped on the stone and he fell flat on his stomach. I cried out – but he had managed to grab the edge of the slide, and was laying there, his body still shaking from the laughter. It was the funniest thing I had ever seen – and I fell back on the floor, holding my sides.

"Addy, you have to help me" he said, his voice faint.

I kneeled next to the slide, wiping the tears from my eyes.

"Okay, grab my arm" I said, offering it to him.

"Don't let go this time" he groaned.

"I didn't let go, you're the one who slipped" I replied, chuckling.

He grabbed my arm and I started pulling him up. He was quite heavy, but he pulled himself by his feet at the same time, and soon, he was finally out of the slide – and also, on top of me. And for a few seconds, or a few minutes, I wasn't sure – the world had stopped turning. I stared into his eyes, and he stared into mine, and I felt something stir in my stomach. I could see all of him so well – the pale blue of his eyes, the freckles on his cheeks, and his lips – and I suddenly wanted to kiss them.

"Er – sorry" he said, rolling on the floor beside me.

I was so startled, and so flushed – but the only thing I could do was bursting out laughing, and he joined me, and once again it took a few minutes before we were able to calm down. We laid there, on the cold stone floor, next to the statue of Gunhilda, and it felt like we were alone in the world.

After a while, George stood up, and offered me his hand.

"C'mon, let's go back."

I took his hand and he pulled me up. I hoped he couldn't see how hard I was blushing. We walked back to the Common Room in silence, exhausted from our adventure. When we passed the Fat Lady, the room was empty – we realized how late it was, and we both went to bed.

But once I was in bed, I couldn't fall asleep. I couldn't stop thinking about how I had felt, with his lips so close to mine – what was happening to me ? I had never seen George as more than my best friend, or at least I thought so. Was it possible that after all these years, after everything we had been through together, I was starting to develop feelings for him ? Or had they been there along ? I was confused – I had never been very good at this kind of thing. But I couldn't deny that the thought of him kissing me suddenly didn't feel so weird.