Ugh. I'm so glad this chapter is done. It just means that it's another chapter closer to my favorite chapters at this point in the story. :)

So yeah, this is late. I know. Problems came up. I apologize profusely. But I hope you all enjoy!

Disclaimer: as always, I don't own the HP universe. It is just my sandbox to play in.

Chapter 7

I woke up with a gasp and shot up in bed. My heart raced and my mind was still reeling with panic.

I threw off the covers and bolted to the bathroom, the door closing behind me more loudly than I normally would have liked, but that wasn't my main concern. Nausea churned in my stomach. I gripped the edge of the sink and tried not to heave.

It had been the same dream, the one that had haunted me for over a year. The dream of the day Lily lost Ian and all I could do was stand and watch.

But this time… I could feel his pain.

Well, not really. I saw everything through his eyes, and I thought I could feel his pain. It was the kind of dream where you feel some kind of pain, but when you wake up you realize it was all in your imagination, and that you were never hurt at all.

Even in my imagination, the pain was excruciating.

The dreams had come back with a vengeance in the last couple weeks, ever since that lesson Bishop gave us on skiakyns. It was like the paranoia had seized my mind even in sleep. But this was the first time I'd seen it a different way, and felt their pain, in a way.

I couldn't imagine it getting any worse, but if it turned out that I was a skiakyn like Lily feared… there would be even more hell to come.

I splashed cold water on my face and took a glance at the mirror. The candlelight reflected off the water droplets on my face, giving my skin a sort of glow, but even then I looked pale and drawn. The paleness accentuated my bloodshot eyes and the dark circles underneath.

Finally having calmed myself down (at least enough that I could think clearly), I tiptoed out of the bathroom and back to my bed. But there was no way I would be going back to sleep, not after that nightmare. So I grabbed my journal and a quill and made my way down to the common room.

I sat down on the couch by the dwindling fire and flicked through the pages of the journal. I'm not usually the type to keep a diary, but since beginning her research on skiakyns, Lily had suggested keeping a dream journal to compare each dream and notice any prominent details. So far, there hadn't been anything out of the ordinary or anything to suggest that it was more than a simple nightmare. Except for tonight.

It felt like ages that I sat there and wrote, describing every smell, touch, and sound. Even recalling the details had my heart thundering. It wasn't something that I wanted to relive, but I had to know if this problem was what we thought, and Lily seemed to think this would help.

My hand was cramping by the time I stopped. I blinked, lines moving across my vision. The common room was almost completely dark.

I heard the creak of the Fat Lady's portrait swinging open, and the shuffling of limbs crawling through the hole. I frowned. Who would be up and about at this hour? Other than me, of course.

Because of the deep shadows, I couldn't see the person who entered as well as they could see me. "Alyssa?" they said.

I recognized that voice. "Remus?"

He walked into the light, the dim firelight illuminating the scars marring his face. "Are you all right?"

I closed the journal and hugged it to my chest. "I'm fine."

Remus drew closer and sat next to me. He studied me for a moment, and I couldn't meet his eyes. He'd always had an innate ability to make people feel like he knew everything. It was like he could see right through me.

"You know, I'm not quite sure what it is about you and Brooke," he began. "You're so similar, and so different at the same time."

"What do you mean?"

"You both seem to think that you need to lie to everyone so that they think you're okay… when you're not."

I narrowed my eyes at him, but jumped at the chance to move the attention away from me. "What's wrong with Brooke?"

But Remus wasn't falling for it. "She's fine," he said, mimicking my earlier tone. He sighed heavily. "Good night, Alyssa." He walked all the way to the stairs before he turned to face me. "That thing that's bothering you? You should at least talk to Lily about it." Then he was gone.

And as irritating as it was, I knew he was right.

o0o0o0o

By the next morning, I had decided against talking to Lily. I'd had plenty of time to mull it over since sleep had not come readily to my adrenaline pumped body. I shouldn't tell her.

But with everything going on, maybe she should know.

But was it worth drudging up the pain of the past?

But I needed her help figuring this out.

But she didn't need to hear about Ian anymore.

But-

"ALYSSA NOELLE JONES!" At the sound of my shouted name, I jumped so violently I dropped the cup I was holding. Pumpkin juice splattered all over my chest and– assuming by her squeal of displeasure– on Marlene's sleeve. Lily was glaring at me from the other side of the table, obviously the one who had yelled.

"What, Lily?" I asked in frustration.

"Are you going to tell me or not? Because I swear you're turning blue holding it in." Her green eyes flashed, showing her irritation with my clear evasiveness.

I glanced sideways at Marlene and Alice, seated beside us. What I had to say, if I was even going to say it, was not for them to hear. Marlene looked up from cleaning her sleeve and gasped.

"Did Adam ask you to the ball?" she asked excitedly.

I blinked. "Uh, no, I-"

"But he will, won't he?" she gushed.

"Uh-I-maybe-I-" Marlene's hand crashed over my mouth.

"Shh!" she commanded, still bubbling. "He's coming!"

Sure enough, Adam was heading our way from the Ravenclaw table. His eyes locked on mine, and I barely had time to blush before he was next to me.

"Alyssa, could I talk to you?" he asked. God, his voice is sexy.

"Uh, yeah, sure, is something wrong?" I babbled.

He shook his head. "No." He took my hand and led me out of the hall. I could feel Marlene's eyes on me the whole way.

"Where are we going?" I asked as we walked further away.

"You don't exactly strike me as a romantic, am I right?" he asked, glancing over.

"Definitely not." I rolled my eyes as I nearly ran to keep up with is long strides. We were still holding hands and he was practically dragging me behind him.

"Excellent." He sounded breathless as well– from excitement?

My stomach was tightening in nervousness and anticipation. After another turn of the corner, I realized where we were headed and that anticipation turned to dread.

The Owlery.

Oh God, no.

I hated that place. Owls hated me. They enjoyed attacking me. I avoided it at all cost, but with Adam pulling me in, I had no time to protest. The smell of feathers immediately hit me, and I clenched my jaw.

"So, since you're not a romantic…" Adam let go of my hand and walked to the other side. He reached his hand into a nest and pulled it out with an owl perched on it. "I thought I'd keep it simple."

The owl flew off his arm–

And straight into my face. I screamed in horror. Both wings slapped me in the face as its claws dug into my shoulder. I screwed my eyes shut and put my arms up in front of my face. The owl screeched as a pair of hands pulled it away, and those hands suddenly pushed me out the door. I heard the heavy wooden door slam shut behind me.

"Alyssa!" Adam held my face in his hands. I cautiously opened my eyes.

"Owls– don't– no– owls– bad," I stammered.

Adam looked a little pale. "You're afraid of owls?" I was blushing from embarrassment and panic.

Damn it.

I couldn't look him in the eye.

"They have a tendency to… attack me," I mumbled.

Adam moved his hands down to hold mine. Were his hands shaking? Or was that tremor coming from my own hands? "Well, that did not go as planned... and it may change your answer... but I was going to have Jensen ask you something for me."

He was pressed a piece of paper into my hand. I tore my eyes away from his and unfolded the slip.

Will you go to the ball with me?

When I looked up, Adam was red from the roots of his hair down to his neck. "Uh, that's from me, not the bird," he mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck. "So… what do you say?"

And in spite of it all, I laughed. Looking back on it later, it was a really embarrassing moment, but I couldn't help it. I laughed harder than I'd laughed in a long time, and it felt good. Given everything that had happened in the last couple days, and especially this morning, I somehow found it in myself to laugh at my own expense. I had pumpkin juice on my clothes, feathers in my hair, and I was obviously exhausted, but still Adam wanted to ask me to the ball.

He was staring at me strangely. "Um… Is that a… no?"

I gasped for air, my eyes watering. "No– no, that's not it at all!" I giggled again and but my lip. "I'm sorry– I'm sorry."

"So, uh…"

"Yes," I answered quickly, still grinning. "Yes, I'll go to the ball with you."

Then he grinned. He pulled a feather out of my hair, and we both laughed.

As we walked away, I guessed that it was time to tell Marlene the news.

I had a date.

Yessssssss. Excellent. (That wasn't ominous at all. Completely unintentional, by the way.)

ANNOUNCEMENT: Updates will now be moved to Tuesdays! This allows me to have the entire weekend to work on the last stages of a chapter and most of Monday afternoon to do the same. It just works out better. So I will post again a week from today! :)

~AMQ