Disclaimer; I do not own Harry Potter.

Author's Note: I just want to apologize for the extreem tardiness of this chapter! Last review said that there hasn't been an update in a year! IRL has made things difficult but I haven't forgotten the story!

Not Worth It

Chapter 14

Sleep It Off

Emily wasn't very keen on Merope's idea but after giving it some thought, she realized that the dreams must be really bad if Merope wanted to sleep them off. She wouldn't be able to get back to her normal life until it was over. Then as Merope sent her letters of the events of the future, Emily became excited about the whole thing. It was like they were on some kind of secret mission to save the world, and she could get some notice as a seer.

As Merope's dreams progressed, she found it hard to write everything that happened so she started sending Emily the actual memories in vials. When Emily poured them into her pensieve to learn what happened, she could understand why Merope wanted to finish the dreams off quickly. It was horrible to see what your possible son would grow up to be. She saw more and more murders. People being forced to join up with him. People betrayed their friends. She hoped for Mereope's sake the dreams would end soon.

But as Merope sent her updates on her dreams, there were more victims than she could keep up with. Not everybody in Merope's dreams were regulars of Madame Trelawney. Others didn't even exist yet. Their secret mission was harder than she thought. It wasn't easy tracking the individuals in question and telling them they'll die or they'll play part in a plot to destroy the world.

The week before Christmas, Emily came to visit Merope. Merope looked haggard.

"Let's go to Diagon Alley," Emily suggested. "They've decorated it for Christmas holidays."

Merope shook her head and pointed her wand at the fireplace. The log in the fireplace erupted in flames and she sat close to it. Watching her made Emily feel chilly.

"You spoke to the Wilkes yet?" Merope asked.

"Finding them would be difficult. He's a halfblood after all, and Wilkes isn't a wizarding name."

"Halfblood, of course. No wonder Voldemort recruited him. You notice that Voldemort prefers to take in halfbloods like him?" Merope said.

"Yeah, suppose that makes sense. But you call your son 'Voldemort?'"

"That's what he calls himself," Merope said dismissively. "And he's not my son. He's a monster. The things he's done..."

"He hasn't done them yet, Merope," Emily said insisted. "He hasn't been born. There's a chance he won't be! Just don't trick this Tom bloke to marry you!"

"These people still need to know what would happen," said Merope. "You spoke to the Lestranges about Rabastan and Rodolphus?"

Emily looked at Merope like she was mad. "They're just as obsessed with pureblood supremacy as the Blacks and Malfoys! They're not going to listen to me! If I tell them that they'll have family join a dark wizard to kill off muggles, they'll probably be proud of it!"

Merope groaned. "I suppose. What about the muggles and muggleborns I've seen die? Were you able to warn their families?"

"That might be difficult," admitted Emily. "I'm seeing descendants of people I don't know."

"You're muggleborn," Merope told her. "You know muggles."

"Still," said Emily, "It'll be hard to find them without knowing all their names."

"You know their faces," Merope said, brushing her hands together and warming them by the fire again. She stood up went to the stove to make a quick meal.

"I'm sure you're tired of making the same things," said Emily, watching her grab a pot. "You sure you don't want to go out? Maybe to The Hanged Man?"

Merope shook her head as the water began boiling. "I've been told not to go back there."

"Since when?"

"Back in October. I asked them for a job and the barman's son told me not to come back."

"You asked them for a job, really?" Emily said excitedly. "Doing what?"

"It doesn't matter," Merope shook her head. "I'm too busy sleeping to do any work."

"Maybe to we can go to the Hales?" Emily suggested. "Looks like they've been trying to get in touch with you." She pointed to a pile of letters on her table.

Merope sighed and rubbed her head. "Oh right, Clover's been bringing in the post for me. I'll have Cover send them a letter." She levitated grain to the steaming pot.

"Why don't you just go see them?"

"I can't," said Merope. "I have to keep sleeping. Want a bowl?"

Emily frowned at the gruel. Was Merope actually eating this every three days? No wonder she was looking thinner than usual.

"I'll pass," said Emily. "I think you should too. You should really eat something more hearty. Let's go to the market and we'll make something together."

"I can go later," said Merope. "Oh, I should give you this while you're here."

Merope pressed her wand tip to her temple and removed the memory of the last three days' dreams. She put it in a vial, corked it and then handed it to Emily. Emily gave a smile. "Well, your magic seems to be improving."

Merope managed a small smile. Emily dawdled by the door. "Merope, you sure you don't want to go out for at least a little while? Get some fresh air?"

"I can't," said Merope. "I'm getting closer. I can feel it."

"You're going to go back to sleep now?" Emily gaped at her.

Merope nodded. "In another hour maybe."

Emily sighed and shook her head. "I'll come back to check on you in three days," said Emily. "These dreams had better be done by then and we'll go Christmas shopping. And there is NO way you're sleeping through Christmas!"

Emily stepped out of the door and Merope sat at the table to eat her gruel. She went over the letters from the constable and from Kevin. Using her tip of snakebites, they were able to find the culprits who vandalized her home. It was Lloyd, the barman's son and names of boys she didn't recognize. They were interrogating Lloyd, trying to connect the vandalism to Mrs. Gaunt's murder. They wanted her to come and sit in on the interrogations and see if anything matched. Merope wanted to find out her mother's killer was, but she couldn't concentrate on anything else besides finishing her dreams and preventing her son from becoming Voldemort. Merope picked up her quill and scribbled her reply to the Hales.

Thank you for all you have done. I cannot come to the station anytime soon.

Merope paused and sighed. She couldn't tell them she was too busy sleeping off bad dreams that were visions. But she had to give them some kind of explanation.

I am too ill to leave my home. -Merope

She shrugged, believing that stating that she was sick would be enough to keep them away. She called to Clover and attached the letter to her leg.

"It's just to the Hales," Merope said softly to her owl as she stroked her feathers. She opened the window and set her off. Merope shut the window then sat back down to finish her gruel with a grimace. She really was sick of eating gruel all the time. The barrels of fruit and vegetables she stored in the cellar had been used up, though she didn't really have much to begin with. She had no meat and she didn't want to go hunting for rabbits or deer for any meat. Prepping, cooking, drying and storing meat was such a hassle. Grain was all she had left. Maybe Emily was right. She could do some food shopping. But she didn't want to walk to town in the cold to buy a few groceries and walk all the way back. Even with all the rest she was getting lately, she was tired. Merope decided she'd just wait until the three days up were up and she'll just spend an hour or two shopping so she could return to her sleeping regimen, if the dreams weren't finished.

Clover could have gone to the station to deliver Merope's letter to the constable, but instead she went to the Hale household and hovered at Kevin's window. She pecked at it with her beak and hooted loudly. Confused at why an owl would be at his window, Keven went to open it. Clover perched on the window sill and held out her leg. At closer inspection, he recognized her as Merope's.

"Wait, you're Merope's pet." He said. "Why you out here?"

Clover hooted again, shaking her leg. He untied the rolled up parchment piece from her leg and unrolled it. "It's from Merope."

Clover hooted once more and she flew out of the window. Kevin glanced at her. Why didn't Merope come see him in person? Why send an owl? He didn't know Merope used her to send post to people. He sat down to read the short message. She was ill. That would explain a little bit why he didn't see her in town. He felt bad for her. It had been a month since he'd seen her. Now was a good time as any to go visit her and take care of any things she needed done. He went down to the kitchen and opened up one of his mother's cookbooks to a chicken soup recipe. Cooking wasn't foreign to him. It may have not been considered masculine for him to cook, but he liked doing it. Soups were his specialty. He also decided to stop by the store and purchase a few supplies that Merope might need.

When he pulled up to her home, he noticed there was something interfering from opening the gate. It was like it had a lock, though he never saw a visible lock. He picked up an ax and a hammer, prepared to break the gate down if needs be. He hated having to resort to this-the constable's son breaking an entry. However he felt that something wasn't right. Merope was sick and there was more to it than that. It has been too long since he had seen her.. Ax in hand, he walked up to the gate and attempted to open it without having to chop it down. To his surprise, it opened right up. He sighed in relief and put the ax away and grabbed the jar of chicken soup.

He strode up to the door and knocked on it. He waited and then knocked several times, louder and louder. He called for her and tried the door. Locked. When no answer came he grew more and more worried. He peeked through the windows. He didn't see her. Then he went to the window where her bedroom was. When he found her sleeping in her bed, he knocked on the window.

"Merope! Merope, wake up!"

She didn't wake up or even move. He tried again, louder. Merope remained just as still. He was worried that she might be dead. Without thinking, he punched the window all his might to break it. The window didn't break but his hand nearly did. He let out a yelp of pain, dropping the jar of soup to the snow to examine his hand. Miraculously it wasn't broken, but it still felt like it. He looked back at Merope's out cold body.

He went back to his wagon to swap out the soup for a hammer. "Sorry Merope," he said as he brought the hammer to the window. "I'll fix it for you later."

The glass didn't break. Not even a crack. He groaned in frustration. He had broken so many things, especially as a young boy so easily. Here he was a grown man and he couldn't even manage to crack a window. Was he getting weaker, or were windows just getting stronger? He felt so helpless. His arm fell at his side and he leaned against the window.

"Merope..." he murmured.

While he stood there feeling like a failure, he remembered the conversation he had with Emily Snow when he took her back to the train station the day he met her. She told him if Merope was ever in trouble to call her. Merope was surely in trouble. He doubted that if a strong man like himself couldn't get in Merope's home, a woman like Emily wouldn't either. But he had to try.

He flew to his wagon and jumped inside and urged his mule to go at top speed. He never drove at this pace before. Going fast scared him and being the constable's son, he had to be a good example. But this was an emergency. When he got back in town he jumped out of the wagon while it was still moving, almost injuring himself further. He ran into the Hanged Man and approached the bar. "Oscar!" he shouted. "I need to use your phone!"

Oscar gave him a look of confusion as he put the phone on the bar. He didn't notice the people staring at him and muttering.

"Emily?" said Kevin. "It's Kevin. Something's wrong with Merope! I think she's dead and I can't get inside her house!"

Some people laughed and hooted with glee. Nobody made any sounds of empathy. Oscar remained silent, staring at Kevin.

"Get here as quick as you can. I'm at The Hanged Man right now but I'll wait for you at the train-"

The doors opened and Emily rushed in. "Kevin, I'm here!" She groaned and grabbed her head. A man moved back, thinking that she was going to be sick. She glared at him.

"How'd you get here so quickly?" Kevin demanded, still holding the phone and staring at her in disbelief. "Oh, nevermind that." He slammed down the phone. "Let's go!"

He drove Emily to the Gaunt household while explaining the issue a million words a minute and driving nearly as fast. They came to a screeching halt at the Gaunt house and Emily was already at the door before he even came down from the wagon. "Allohomora!" Emily whispered, doing a quick flick of her wand before Kevin noticed.

Emily pushed the door open just as Kevin was walking up to her. "How did you do that?"

"Can't explain. Thanks for bringing me here, Kevin," Emily said. "I'll see to Merope—you go on and-,"

"No, I want to make sure Merope's all right," said Kevin, striding past her to Merope's room. "Merope, Merope wake up!"

He shook her but she didn't rise. He grabbed her hands. "She's freezing! I think she has pneumonia. I have to take her to a doctor!" Kevin lifted the frail witch in his arms and proceeded to carry her outside but Emily blocked his path. "Emily, please move."

"She doesn't need a doctor. Just go home. I can handle it from here."

"Doesn't need a doctor?" Kevin bellowed. "Look at her! She looks like she hasn't eaten in days and she's freezing! She won't wake up!"

"A doctor can't help this," Emily said.

"Why not? Do you know why she's like this?"

"Yes, I do."

"Then what is it?"

"I can't explain it."

"I hate feeling all at sea about things," Kevin groaned. "You tell me what is wrong with Merope and what we have to do to make her better right now or I'll forget I am a gentleman and push you aside!"

Emily sighed and stepped back. "Oh very well, I can't tell you everything. Just lay her by the fire."

"But there's no fire going. I'll have to-" Kevin argued but as he stepped in to the front room he saw a fire a blaze. "There wasn't a fire going earlier, was there?"

"Sure there was," said Emily. "Now, you must've known that Merope has had trouble sleeping lately?"

Kevin nodded as he laid her down on the loveseat and put a blanket over her. "Looks like she's sleeping well now, doesn't she?"

"Well she's been taking something to help her sleep," Emily explained, grasping the antidote in her pocket. "But it's very strong. So strong that you can't wake her up until the po—er—medicine wears off or you give her some kind of other medicine to counteract it."

"What in blazes has she been taking?" Kevin demanded. "Chloroform?"

"Can't quite say," said Emily. "But I have the counteractive medicine that would wake her up, in case something like this happened."

"Well what are you waiting for!" Kevin shouted. "Give it to her already!"

Emily bit her lip and sighed. She approached Merope and poured the antidote into her mouth. Within a minute Merope blinked and stirred.

"Em—Emily?" Merope said. "What is it?"

"Merope!" Kevin shouted. "You're all right!"

Merope gasped as Kevin came closer. She didn't know what to say. She looked at Emily who grimaced. Kevin bent down and embraced her.

"I'm glad you're awake. What in God's name were you taking anyway?"

"I—well," Merope mumbled, looking in Emily's direction. "Just some medicine to help me sleep. What are you doing here?"

"I got your letter, about you saying you were ill. I wanted you to bring some soup." He gasped. "Oh, it's in the wagon. I'll go get it."

He rushed out and Emily bent down to Merope, looking furious. "See, I told you we had to go out!" Emily shouted. "When Kevin called me I knew there was something wrong. I just knew! Now he's going to want an explanation!"

"What'd you tell him?" Merope said.

"Just that you couldn't sleep and you've been taking medicine to help you sleep," said Emily. "Explained I had something to wake you up. Nothing about us being," she glanced at the door and lowered her voice. "witches."

"It's all right."

"No it isn't!" Emily said. "What are we going to tell him? What are we going to do? We might have to call the Ministry to send Obliviators over!"

"No," said Merope. "I'm tired of living a lie. I want to tell Kevin the truth."

Emily looked at Merope as if she had to go back to sleep. Just then Kevin walked in. Merope stood to her feet.

"Kevin, there's something I want to tell you," said Merope. "I'm a witch."

TO BE CONTINUED