Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.

A/N: Thanks to littledhampir13 and Princess-Lazy-Chan for the reviews!

Does anybody know where this story is going? They tend to trail away from my original plan as I work, and now I'm lost. Even though I have some ideas for later, I still don't have enough planned.

Has anybody seen Deathly Hallows Part 2? Well, I've already seen it twice. IT'S AMAZING!

Chapter 16

I couldn't stop staring at myself in the fancy body-mirror on the wall. What was going on? I didn't recognize the mirror. I didn't recognize this room. I didn't recognize the situation. And I most definitely didn't recognize myself.

I was in this crazy-ass wedding dress. The top was all lacy, with laced, see-through sleeves. The lace went down to my pants-line where it abruptly stopped in a completely straight line around my hips. The bottom half of the dress was this messed up puffy satin material that bunched in random places, and a long train trailed behind it. Around the spot where the top and bottom half met a dark maroon, satin sash was tied around my waist. My hair was pulled up into a twisted, fancy bun on the top of my head and my face was plastered with makeup.

This wasn't right. I didn't want this on my wedding day. I wanted it to be in someplace I was used to. I pictured myself in a flowing and strapless dress, preferably chiffon, with a small train (if any), and maybe a flower or some lace on the top. And definitely wanted my hair down, and my face natural...at least a little natural.

Obviously, though, I hadn't given it too much thought.

The door on the other side of the room opened, and I saw James enter through the mirror. I looked over my shoulder and smiled at him, when in reality I wanted to scream and ask him what was going on. I didn't want this!

"It's time," he said quietly, smiling back. "Ready?" I sighed, looked back at myself in the mirror for a brief moment, and then turned – slowly, since I was wearing crazy high heels that I wasn't used to – and walked over to him. He handed me my bouquet of maroon and ivory lilies, took my arm in his, and led me out the door and down a long hallway to a pair of huge double doors. I could hear music coming from the room inside, it sounded like a trumpet, or clarinet of some sort.

I wanted a flute and/or harp. And why were my colors maroon and ivory?

Suddenly, the doors opened.

I found myself standing at the end of a long aisle in what looked like a huge, Muggle church, with both the whole upper and lower floor filled with people that I didn't recognize. Outside the huge stain-glass windows I could see snow falling.

I wanted to have a small wedding somewhere outdoors, and Regulus and I had already agreed to get married sometime in August of 1999 – we wanted to wait a bit. We had wanted to get married on the ninth or 16th, since we had met on August 9th and got engaged on the same day and on the 16th we had actually gotten together, but both of them were on a Monday, and we agreed that either a Friday or Saturday would be best.

Other than that, however, we hadn't decided much.

As James and I started up the aisle, the one good thing I noticed was that Regulus was standing at the end, smiling widely at me. To his left stood Sirius and Severus and to his right stood Astoria and Ginny.

I wondered why Harry and Draco weren't in it. But as I approached Regulus, I realized that they were the ushers.

When James and I had nearly reached the front, things started to change. First off, it seemed that Regulus was getting taller. And it wasn't because I was getting closer.

It happened all of a sudden, the lights flashed, and when they came back on, everything was different.

Everybody in the audience were suddenly wearing Death Eater robes with their masks on. It was no longer James walking me down the aisle. It was now Voldemort – the creepy one from my other time. The ushers were now Wormtail and Rosier. The bridesmaids had changed to Bellatrix and Narcissa, and the groomsmen had switched to Lucius and...

Harry.

What was Harry doing here? Everybody else seemed to be Death Eaters. Harry wasn't a Death Eater! Was he?

However, I didn't have time to think about it because I realized who Regulus had changed to.

It was Tom Riddle. The very one who had come out of the cauldron.

I wanted to scream. I wanted to cry. I wanted to fuss, and pout, and hex everybody within reach...except maybe Harry. I wanted to get out of there as soon as I could, I wanted to find Regulus and hold him tight, knowing he would never really turn into Riddle, and never let him go again.

But for some reason, I didn't. Instead, I continued walking with Voldemort until he gave me away to Riddle and the strange priest-type thing who happened to appear out of nowhere.

I held Riddle's hands in mine as Bellatrix and Narcissa fixed my train, and the priest-dude started the ceremony.

Everything seemed to go fine. Riddle and I said our vows right, and we each said "I do," even though I was screaming in agony inside.

I would prefer the Cruciatus curse. Any day.

The priest pronounced us husband and wife, and then told Riddle he could kiss the bride.

We were leaning in, I could feel his breath on mine, when I woke up sharply with a scream.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Nicole?" Regulus' voice called out from nearby. It was dark. Pitch. The only light came from the small cracks around the door. "Are you okay?" I took several deep breaths before I answered.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said quietly in a small voice.

"If you were fine," Regulus said, sitting up slowly, "you wouldn't have screamed, nor would you have said that in that voice." He turned the lamp next to him on and took in my horrified expression. I was still breathing deeply. "Okay, now I'm really worried. What's wrong?" I shook my head.

"No, it's nothing, I'm fine," I repeated.

"You know, I'm not going to leave you alone until you tell me – "

"Fine," I said, annoyed. "I just...I had a nightmare. A horrible nightmare." I shook my head slowly. "It sounds even stupider when I say it. I'm too old for this. I shouldn't be afraid of nightmares. I'm not even afraid of Voldemort. It's stupid – "

"No, that's not stupid," Regulus said quietly, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me closer to him. "You're not too old for nightmares. You're never too old for them. Everybody has them, and you've been through a lot tonight, don't think it's not worth getting worked up over." He paused, rubbing my back in soothing circles. "What was it about?" he asked softly after a moment. I looked up at him and swallowed before launching into the full story.

By the time I finished, I wanted to cry but I held it in. I was being so stupid – it was just a dream, why was I letting it bother me so much? That shouldn't, couldn't and, wouldn't happened. But it still alarmed and scared me, no matter how stupid it seemed.

"Well no wonder it scares you," Regulus said quietly when I had finished. "If I had a dream where I was marrying...Bellatrix or something, I would be freaked out too."

"Is that because she's horrible, or because she's your cousin?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.

"Damn I forgot about that," he said quietly. "Either way, if I dreamt I was marrying the person I hate most, I would be freaked out too. But don't let it bother you too much, alright? That's never going to happen, alright? I won't let it, no matter what. When you walk down that aisle, I promise it'll be me standing at the end of it, alright?" I nodded slowly.

"Alright. I'll try not to let it bother me." I paused. "You don't think it means anything, do you?"

"Well of course not. Why would it?"

"Well remember, the night the Death Eaters escaped from Azkaban, I had that dream about Bellatrix, and it was actually happening? And I remember in the other time, Harry used to have these crazy dreams when he was about 11 or 12 and they usually ended up meaning something." Regulus sighed, taking my hands in his.

"It didn't mean anything," he promised. "How could it? What could it mean?"

"I don't know," I said, furrowing my eyebrows. "Maybe it means that – that the Death Eaters will attack our wedding like they attacked Bill and Fleur's or something."

"I'm sure by August of next year, we'll have caught them," Regulus said.

"That gives us a year and five months," I said, doubtful. "I don't think the war will be over by then."

"Well why wouldn't it?"

"Regulus, the last war lasted for more than three years," I pointed out. "And in the other time, it also lasted for three years. Wars aren't won in months." Regulus sighed.

"Well, it can't hurt to hope."

"Do you think that Harry and Draco ever got back?" I asked, deciding to change the subject. Regulus shrugged.

"Let's check," he suggested.

Together we climbed out of the bed and walked over to the door. Regulus opened it quietly, in case somebody had fallen asleep on the couch, and we found ourselves face-to-face with Harry.

"Hey, I was just coming to get you," he said. He was directing his words at the both of us, but he was staring at me, his eyes cautious. I knew why – last he had seen me, I had just been tortured by the Cruciatus Curse. It bothered me, that he thought I was as fragile as a porcelain doll, but I didn't show it.

"Did you just get in?" Regulus asked, pushing me lightly out the door. I saw Draco in the room as well, but it was otherwise deserted. Draco nodded to us in greeting, but said nothing. I'm glad that at least he didn't stare at me like I was frail. Harry nodded in response to Regulus' question. "Right. And what time is it?"

"Nearly two in the morning," Harry responded as Regulus and I sat down on a couch near the fireplace. Harry sat across from us, but Draco stayed standing nearby. "How're you?" he added to me. I shrugged.

"Alright."

"You were gone for quite some time," Regulus said, obviously trying to change the topic of discussion.

"Yeah, well, there's a lot to discuss when Voldemort comes back seventeen years after he's been killed," Harry pointed out. At least Harry and Regulus were making conversation, because honestly Draco and I either didn't feel like it or were preoccupied with something else. I know for me it was the latter (I was still worrying about the dream), but I wasn't sure about Draco. He looked upset about something, but I didn't know what.

"Have you seen Dumbledore yet?"

"Yeah, we went straight there and then came here. We're supposed to tell you two everything that happened. And Snape, but I figured you could tell him considering we still can't really stand each other," Harry replied. After a moment of silence, I felt the need to break it and said,

"Well? Are you going to tell us what happened or not?" Harry sighed, looked to Draco for support, but got none. All he got was Draco turning to look at me instead of Harry.

"They're going to lay low for a bit," he said quietly. "But only for a few weeks. Voldemort figures he can go out without masks or anything since nobody would recognize him, and even said he was going to come to enroll at Hogwarts in a few days. Sixth year transfer, I think he said."

"But what about the staff that would recognize him?" I asked, finally interested in the conversation. "I mean, he should know at least Dumbledore would realize it's him."

"He says the only one that should recognize him would be Dumbledore, and we were supposed to put a strong Confundus charm on him today. We didn't, obviously, but were supposed to."

"Why does he want to enroll at Hogwarts, though?" Regulus asked.

"I think he's going to try to get as many kids on his side as he can," Harry replied. "But he doesn't want anybody to know that he's come back. Not yet."

"Obviously," I stated. "He thinks he'll have the element of surprise, even though he doesn't."

"Exactly," Harry said. "He's not even having the Death Eaters attack villages, even all-Muggle ones, before it's known he's back. He wants to blow his cover by trying to attack the Ministry and gain control of it on March 31st."

"After only a month?" I asked, shocked. "I don't really see the point of him coming to Hogwarts if he's only going to stay for a month. Besides, will they have enough people to attack in a month?"

"Probably," Harry said. "They have a lot of people on their side already. Just think of how many people they can gain in a month, especially if those people think they will have some of the power when Voldemort gets it all. We all know he'll keep it for himself, but he convinces them he'll give some to them."

"So they think they can have control of the entire of Britain in one month?" Regulus asked, sounding skeptical. "I know they're all very strong and good at magic, but times are different now."

"Are they really?" Draco asked, joining the conversation finally. "The Ministry is still corrupt. Father and witches and wizards like him still get what they want by threatening and bribing people who have power. There are still huge arguments in the Wizengamot over things like werewolf and house-elf and goblin rights, and people still despise those who had been in different houses than them at Hogwarts, especially Slytherin and Gryffindor. Maybe we, as the Order and those close to it, have been able to put aside our differences, but the rest of the world hasn't."

"Well the rest of the world is a lot closer to putting those differences aside than they were," Regulus pointed out. "All of that progress won't make any difference?"

"Maybe a little," I said, frowning. "It might take a bit more effort on the Death Eaters' parts, but they can probably still pull it off easily."

"What are we supposed to do, then?" Regulus asked. "Sit around and wait for them to attack?"

"You have to be sure to not give them any reason to suspect that you know," Harry said. "You can't tell all of the Aurors, only the most trusted ones. Sirius, Dad, Frank, Alice, you get the idea. And you have to be sure to stress to them and Snape how important it is that they act as though everything is normal."

"Don't worry, we will," I said. Harry sighed.

"Yeah, well, I best be going." He stood up, stretched, and headed for the door. "I'll see you guys later, alright?"

"Goodnight," I said quietly, watching Draco. He was still there, staring at the still hot wood in the fireplace with a distant look in his eyes. When Harry was gone completely, I stood up and walked up to his side, stopping beside him.

"Find the wood interesting?" I asked after a moment. He shook his head slowly.

"No, I'm just...thinking."

"About?" I pressured. Draco looked over his shoulder at Regulus, who smiled slightly and rose his eyebrows.

"If you want me to leave, just say so." Draco smiled apologetically as Regulus headed back to the room. "Don't be too long, alright?" I nodded and watched him go. When I was certain he was gone, I turned back to Draco.

"What's up?" I asked softly. He turned to me.

"Before we left, Voldemort – or Riddle, or whatever he is now – pulled me away from the rest for a moment."

"Did he...try to take advantage of you?" I asked, my eyes wide. "He did that to me too, back in the seventies! I never knew he could be such a man-whore."

"No, no, that's not it," Draco said, looking disgusted. "That's almost as bad as you implying that I would fall in love with your brother. Actually, it's worse."

"Well then why did he pull you aside?" I asked, confused.

"He wanted to...to tell me something."

"What?" I knew he was avoiding the question. I could tell. But what I didn't know was why he was avoiding the question. "What did he tell you?"

"Well, he...he said he's annoyed with having to give you orders through me," he said slowly. And it hit me. No wonder he had been avoiding the question.

"He wants to give me the potion so I have to listen to him instead," I said quietly.

"What – no, that's not it," Draco said quickly. "He just...he told me to tell you that you have to obey him now, too." He put on a horrible expression that I could actually see Riddle having and said in a mock, although very good, imitation of his voice and said, "'It'd be too much of a bother to have to deal with her all the time, so I'll just deal with her whenever I want to or need to and you get her the rest of the time.'"

Despite the fact that this was a serious topic, we both bust up laughing. By the time we had finished several minutes later, my abs hurt and I was wiping away tears. Finally, when we had finished, Draco continued.

"And also, you're supposed to meet him tomorrow night, the 'usual spot,' I'm thinking it's the drawing room, at midnight." I sighed. Here we go. I should've known this was bound to happen soon. On the bright side, Dumbledore had said he would be telling me things he wouldn't tell anybody else soon, so at least I would be of some use.

When I didn't reply, Draco reached out his hand and set it on my shoulder gently in a soothing manner.

"You okay?" he asked softly. I nodded slowly, smiling slightly in reassurance.

"Yeah, it's just...I didn't miss this. At all." I sighed again, looking toward the fire. "You don't know what's it's like, when he gets more power. It's horrible. Even in the last war he wasn't nearly as close to taking the Ministry. It's going to be like the war in my other time. And that's exactly what I went back to prevent!" I turned away, knocking his hand off my shoulder. "It's like...everything I did was for nothing."

"For nothing?" Draco asked gently, sounding incredulous. "I don't understand how you can say that." I looked back toward him, confused. "Regulus is alive. James and Lily are alive. Sirius and Dumbledore and Mad-Eye didn't die like they would've by now in your other life. Even you're alive. And Alice and Frank...well, Johnny and Daniela wouldn't be here. Neither would Leah or Parker, or Amanda and Miles. Maybe you think it didn't make any difference, but it made all the difference in the world."

I couldn't help but smile at him.

"Yeah...I guess you're right..."

"Now you better go get some sleep," he said, giving me a slight push in the direction of our room. "You've had a long day. Not to mention, I'm tired of talking to you."

"Oh, thanks."

"You know I'm kidding." I smiled and nodded, admitting that I knew he was.

"I'll see you soon, then, Draco."

A/N: Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want. Please review!