Bitten

The Obelisk of Nightmare

Draco stifled a yawn. The professor's voice droned on like a machine. Draco closed his eyes. He was so tired. Every time he would sleep, Riley would appear in his dreams. It was always the destroyed field. But as of late, small grasses and plants were growing everywhere. The last time he had visited Riley there was an obsidian obelisk hat had been erected.

The obelisk was no more than four feet tall. It was shaped much like an old grandfather clock, coming to a point at the top. The smooth surface of the sides was riddled with strange markings. They were very similar to the runes Draco had studied in Ancient Runes. But—while maintaining a certain delicacy—they seemed more primal.

"What are these symbols?" He'd asked once. Riley turned away from a Perseid tree and walked over to him.

"They're called Ancients." She said. Draco gave her a confused look.

"I've never heard of them."

"Well, they aren't commonly practiced." She chuckled, "In fact, they're only studied by Oneiromancers and Occlumens, and a few of those at that." Draco glanced at the Ancients.

"You call them ancients, so they must be based off Latin. Which I can see some Latin roots in them." Riley giggled.

"You've got it backwards. The Ancients are the original language."

"You must be joking." He sneered, "The original language is Egyptian and the oldest written word is Latin."

"And you were completely and unbreakably bound to You-Know-Who." She retorted. Draco sighed.

"Fine. You may have a point." He murmured. Riley smiled sweetly.

"Do you want to know what it says?" She asked softly. Draco looked at the structure then shook his head.

"Somehow, I don't think I want to know." He turned away from the obelisk. Riley hadn't followed after him.

Draco sighed, coming back to Professor Binns' droll lesson. He felt almost bad about the way he had treated Riley. He'd blatantly rejected wanting to learn anything about Riley's world. He remembered vaguely Riley mentioned that dreams were the world she controlled best. Other than their conversation about the Ancients, he'd never shown even a remote interest in what Riley did.

The bell rang and students nearly fell over themselves trying to leave. Draco collected his things and rose from his chair. He turned to leave and was stopped in his tracks. Stephanie Cradey was staring him down. She looked like she was going to blow a gasket.

"What do you want?" He hissed. She opened her mouth then closed it, then opened it once again.

"It's all your fault!" Draco blinked.

"What in the world are you going on about?" Stephanie let out a frustrated breath.

"Riley can't wake up because of you!" Draco was silent for a minute.

"She can't wake up?" He asked slowly. She made an incredulous noise.

"Isn't that obvious? Or are you really that self-absorbed?" Neither of them spoke for a moment. They both seemed to be absorbing the new information. Stephanie sighed and looked down. Her left arm came up and rubbed her right arm.

"She visits me in my dreams," she said softly, "That's how I know." She shook her head.

"I don't know what to do. I can't help her because I have no idea what exactly is going on. Harry doesn't know either and I feel like I can't turn to anyone. But, even though she can't return to the waking world, all she is worried about is you." Draco blinked again.

"Me?" Stephanie nodded again.

"She always asks how you're doing. I yelled at her the other night and I think I really hurt her."

The construct for dreams with Stephanie were different than the ones with Draco. When Riley was with Stephanie, they were always in the Gryffindor common room. Riley stood by the large fireplace that cracked with life as the flames devoured the wood. Stephanie gazed at her friend.

"You've become thin." Stephanie said. Riley didn't start, but her hands that were clenched behind her back tightened slightly.

"How's Draco? Is he still coming to class?" Riley's voice floated through the air.

"Yes. He's still the arrogant dumb-ass that he usually is."

"Steph."

"Sorry, I'm a lady so I shouldn't curse. But it's true! Anyway, I don't care about him, where have you been? I'm actually starting to learn things because you aren't there to distract me!" Riley didn't answer. Stephanie frowned.

"Riley? Is something wrong?" Riley continued to stare in to the flames.

"Draco," she began softly, "asked me to help him."

Stephanie listened wide-eyed as Riley told her the story of Draco's Dark Mark and how she had manged to remove it.

"Riley! That's amazing!" Stephanie exclaimed as she jumped up from her seat. "Why haven't you been welcomed with a hero's welcome? I mean, you beat out You-Know-Who!" Riley laughed softly.

"Something like that," she whispered. Stephanie's eyebrows came together in a frown.

"What are you saying? Did something go wrong?" Riley turned to face her friend. Stephanie gasped.

Riley's vibrant silvery eyes had become dull and clouded. Her skin was stretched tight across her frame. Stephanie hadn't noticed earlier, but Riley's hair had also lost it's luster.

"Riley, what's happened?" Stephanie breathed. Riley smiled softly.

"When I destroyed Draco's Mark, it turned in to smoke. Some form of final defense I suppose. I ended up inhaling it. Headmaster Dumbledore was able to remove and counter the physical effects of it on my body."

"Then why do you look like this?" Stephanie hissed.

"This isn't my physical body. This is what I would look like if the curse had not been removed. Slowly, the aftereffects are eating away at my soul."

"Riley!" Stephanie grabbed her friend's wrists and looked her directly in the eyes. "How do I fix this? What can I do to help? Come and tell me!" Riley stared back at her friend, heartbroken. She bit the inside of her lip and shifted her gaze to the floor.

"I can't wake up." She whispered. Stephanie's eyes widened and her heart stopped.

"What? What did you just say?" Riley shook her head.

"I can't wake up. My connection to the waking world was severed. The curse infiltrated my being and confined me to this place."

"I won't accept that! There has to be something someone can do! Riley, please!" Stephanie begged, her grip on Riley's thin hands tightening.

"I'm the only one who knows how to create a bond to the waking world. Besides, even if I did explain everything to you, you're not nearly strong enough to perform the spell."

"Then Harry—"

"No. It's too dangerous. Even for BoyWonder." She added with a chuckle. Her eyes flickered back up to Stephanie's.

"Sorry Stephanie. Looks like I lost this time."

Stephanie finished her story. She felt like she was going to fall apart. Tears clutched at her eyes and she had to clench her hands to keep them from shaking.

"Riley has never used my full name." Stephanie whispered. Draco stood there, still as a statue.

Stephanie shook her head and pressed her hands to her eyes.

"I just don't know what to do anymore. I tried researching in the library but they don't have any good textbooks. The only person who seems to have any idea on what's going on is Riley herself and she won't tell me anything!" She took a deep breath.

"I can't tell Harry and I'm not strong enough to do it myself. But even so, I have no idea why I came to you. For some reason, Riley seems to care an awful lot about you, Malfoy." She practically hissed. "She should hate you. Scorn you for being the cause of this. But I just," Her words were choked off by a sob.

"I can't come to hate you. That's just how Riley is. She's always trying to help others, like it's some divine duty bestowed upon her." She wiped at her eyes and Draco saw a ring on the girl's thumb.

"That ring," he breathed. It had the exact same crosschecked sort of pattern as the shackles on Riley's wrists, but instead of an opal there was a small blue gem set in it. The gem was the same colour as the power Riley exerted sometimes. Stephanie blinked and looked at it.

"This? Riley gave it to me. She said it would protect me and help me keep a level head about things." She laughed slightly. "Funny, I teased Riley for giving me it and now it's all I'll have of her."

"Is there anything written on it?" He asked. Stephanie blinked again and took it off. She examined it and shook her head.

"I don't see anything." Draco held out his hand.

"Let me see it." He ordered. Stephanie stared at him, but slowly handed it over to him.

Draco closed his eyes.

"Well, if they're so important, why aren't they used nowadays?" Draco'd asked one time. Riley looked up at him.

"What? The Ancients?" He nodded.

"You spoke so highly of them."

"They're everywhere. You can see them if you just look for them." Draco blinked, and looked around. He was silent for a second, then looked back at Riley.

"I don't see anything." Riley sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Close your eyes and trust me, okay?" Draco made an exasperated noise, but closed his eyes all the same.

"Imagine a half moon. You can only see half of it, but you know the whole thing still exists. Now make it so that you can only see the other side. Again, you can only see half, but you know the moon is still there. Switch back. Once again. Now make it so you can see the entire moon." After a moment, Draco had it.

"Good, now open your eyes." Slowly, the grey orbs opened. He gasped slightly. Rune-like letters and words swirled all around. They made up the trees, the sky, the ground, everything around him. He stared in amazement. Riley smiled softly.

"It's just a matter of how you look at things, Draco."

He imagined his half moon, switched it once, switched it again, and then saw the whole thing. Then he opened his eyes. The Ancients were all around. But he focused his sight on the ring. Sure enough, there was a string of special looking Ancients on the inside of the band.

"That's it." He whispered. Stephanie blinked.

"What? Did you figure something out?" He looked up at her.

"I need to borrow this." He said, holding up the ring. Stephanie was still for a moment, then seemed to snap out of her daze. She nodded her head quickly.

"Sure of course." Leaving his things, he hurried out of the room. He could barely keep his pace at a brisk walk. His fingers were curled tightly around the ring. It burned in his palm.

"Hang on Riley. I'm coming." He whispered.

Draco practically skidded in to the Infirmary wing. A nurse that was changing the bedsheets was startled. Draco hurried to the chair he had become familiar with next to Riley's bed. He sat down and glared up at the nurse. She startled a bit and quickly left the room. Draco let out a breath.

"What am I doing?" He asked himself. But nonetheless, he didn't like owing favors. It was time to repay his debt to Riley.

Draco took Riley's cool hand in his and held it firmly. He held her hand at his forehead and placed his head on the bed. He forced himself to sleep and quickly entered the Dream Realm.