Chapter 27: On Dreams and Wishes
Thank you for the reviews.
My eyesight is going. I'm having a hard time reading the screen. It's the bright lights. I even have the blue light on. I think it's cataracts. Oh, the woes of getting old.
My eye doctor has been threatening surgery for years now. So, there is that. He said when it got too much for me to read, then it would be time. Well… I will endeavor to go as long as I can, but… My appointment is in a few months. I think I can hold out until then.
If you know how to dim the screen more than the blue light, let me know. I am at a loss.
Hphphp
The first thing Millie did was go to Sirius' house. She banged on the door and woke him up. She was still in her nightwear. But she was completely covered, so she didn't care. She did have her bathrobe and slippers on, though.
"Sirius, we have a major problem," she said as soon as he opened the door. It was warm out and she was overdressed for the weather, but she didn't care.
"What happened?" he said, leaning against the doorway. He looked at her frazzled state and wondered what could possibly have her in such hysterics. Her hair was a complete mess, and her pajama top was misbuttoned. She was wringing her hands to death. She was bouncing from one foot to the other like she had drunk too much coffee.
"Harry had a dream that Voldemort has been revived," she said, worrying her hands something fierce. She was whispering this to him and looking around frantically.
"What? How could he be revived? Never mind, I already know the answer to that question. How does he know that?" he said lowly, standing up straight, looking around the street is if Voldemort was going to pop up from the corner any minute now.
"He had a dream. I just told you that, yeah," Millie said, looking at him clearly like he wasn't paying attention to what she was saying. Then again, the news was quite shocking.
"Okay, come in. Have a seat, calm down and tell me everything he told you," Sirius said, taking her arm and leading her into the house and sitting her down in a chair where she would be comfortable.
So, Millie came in, sat in the chair, and told him everything Harry had told her over the mirror. "What do you think we should do?" she asked, running her hands down her face in a weary fashion.
"Okay, the first thing we should do is contact the Department of Mysteries," he said, getting up and pacing as he was wont to do. This was something he was prepared for but wasn't exactly prepared for. In other words, it was something he was anticipating but he didn't want.
"Why do we need to contact them?" she asked, confused at the non-sequester. She was expecting him to say the Minister or Dumbledore. The last place she was expecting him to say was the Department of Mysteries.
"Because they took something from the school during Harry's second year that I think is important to what's going on with Voldemort," he explained, still pacing about the room as if he were a caged animal.
"How do you know that?" she asked, leaning forward a little bit in anticipation. This was exciting information. It sounded like something that could end the war before it even started.
"Because I've been keeping in contact with them over some research that I've been doing," he said, glancing in her direction with a cautious eye.
"Oh, okay, why don't I let you do that, and you tell me what I need to do, yeah" she said, moving back a little bit, seeing as how he wasn't going to tell her any more than that.
"Your job is to keep Harry calm. Keep him out of trouble. And just be there for him," he said in short, chopped distracted sentences.
"I can do that, yeah," she said, watching him pace and think at the same time. Obviously, there were things going on in his side that she was not privy to, and she really hoped that he was able to handle it. He still wasn't long out of Azkaban, so…
"You let me handle this side of things," he said, giving her his most winning smile.
"Should we tell Dumbledore?" she asked, reluctantly.
"Oh, dear Merlin, no," he said, throwing his hands in the air as if that were the worst idea, he had heard all year.
"Why not?" she asked, knowing her answer but wanting to know his.
"He'll want to reestablish the Order of the Phoenix and I don't want to do that," Sirius said, finally taking a seat and looking at her while he talked to her.
"What's the Order of the Phoenix?" she asked, having never heard of that organization.
"It's the anti-Voldemort group that Dumbledore started during the last war," He explained. "They really didn't do much but gather information and occasionally go out and stop raids. Of course, they didn't have Snape on their side last time, so I don't know if they'd be more proactive this time."
"You think Snape is on our side?" she questioned, though she had her doubts.
"I think Dumbledore thinks so," he said, he had his doubts too.
"I guess that's good enough," she said with a sigh.
"But I think we should keep this from Dumbledore for now. Get on the mirror with Harry and tell him to keep this to himself for now. If Voldemort wants it to be known that he's back in the world, then let him tell them," Sirius said, trying to stress how important he thought that was.
"Okay, I'll get back on the mirror and let him know, yeah," she said, stretching and getting up.
"I'm going to get dressed and go down to the ministry," he said, then he looked at the clock. It was four in the morning. "First thing in the morning," he amended. "But I'm going to get some notes in order and see what they've got going down there. I've got some spells that I've been working on, and they've got some things that they've been working on. Together we should be able to nip this in the bud before it even gets started."
"Did Harry tell you about his blood being taken?" she asked as she made her way towards the door. She was going slowly because she wanted to get this out before she got there.
"No, he didn't. When did that happen?" he asked, concerned that his godson had gotten hurt, and he didn't know about it.
"The night of the task, somehow his arm got cut while he was asleep," she explained, having stopped walking at the doorway of the living room. She turned to face him.
"Wormtail," was all he said.
"Do you think Peter Pettigrew snuck into the boy's dormitory and cut his arm?" Millie asked aghast. The man was a rat animagus and could do that. They may never know without a confession; this was all conjecture.
"That's probably how Voldemort came back to life. There's plenty of rituals that require the blood of the enemy to do so," he explained, rubbing his hands through his hair in frustration.
"How do you even know these things?" she asked, staring at him with wide eyes.
"I come from a long line of necromancers," he said, waving her concerns away. To him it was just one of those things. He hated it, but there it was.
"The Blacks were necromancers?" she asked, her eyes going even wider. She knew they were a Dark family, but she didn't know there were necromancers among them. Those were rare.
"Plenty of them were," He confirmed with a nod of his head.
"I didn't know that."
"Well, you get back to Harry before he gets into trouble and starts telling his friends," he said, shooing her away. He had stuff he had to do, and he needed to get it done tonight, or rather, this morning before things started to get heated up.
"Right. I'll let you get back to what you need to do, yeah," she said, turning back around and heading towards the door again.
"Yeah."
With that, Millie went back to her flat, got on the mirror and told Harry to keep everything to himself for now. Then she went and got ready for her day, even though it was an hour or two before she even had to open the shop.
Hphphp
Later that morning at breakfast a tired and jumpy Harry was confronted by his friends, after spilling another glass of pumpkin juice. It was his third one this morning. He was all thumbs today.
"Harry, what's got you so jumpy?" said Hermione as she used her wand to clean up his mess one more time.
"I just had a really bad dream," said Harry, giving her a sheepish grin. He also let out a big yawn. That dream had come in the middle of the night, and he had not been able to get back to sleep. Every time he closed his eyes, all he could see was the scaly face of Voldemort, looking at him and saying, 'I'm coming for you, Harry Potter.'
"It must have been a real nightmare," said Dean, giving him a sympathetic look. "You've practically been jumping like a Mexican jumping bean all morning." He poured another glass of pumpkin juice and handed it to Harry. "Don't spill this one, okay?"
"It was a real doozy," said Harry, taking the glass of pumpkin juice and putting it carefully on the table next to his plate of eggs and bacon. Very glad that he did not spill it.
"Did you dream of Voldemort or something?" said Ron with all the couth of a rock.
"Now that you've asked, yes, yes, I did," Harry said, giving the guy a hairy eyeball. And then he rubbed his eyes and gave another yawn. He was very tired.
"Blimey. I'd be jumping around if I dreamed of him too," said Ron, clapping Harry on the shoulder in a commiserated fashion.
"It was one hell of a nightmare and I'm sorry if I've been jumping around, you lot. It's just got me all out of sorts. I apologize," Harry said, looking at the faces of all his friends. They all just gave him a look, that said it was fine.
"That's alright, Harry, sometimes we just have dreams that seem so real that they just bother us the next day," said Hermione. She spooned some eggs on his plate and patted his hand in sympathy.
"I'll try and be better," said Harry, giving her a weak smile.
Luna came over and joined them and sat next to Harry and put her head on his shoulder. "It's okay, Harry. It's gonna be alright," she said, in that airy fashion of hers. Just her presence alone helped.
"I don't know about that, Luna. Sometimes it feels like the whole world is just going to fall apart all around me," he said, putting his head on top of hers and closing his eyes as if just to shut the world out for just a moment. It helped.
"That's just the wrackspurts talking," she said, placing her hand on his cheek. "I'd get you some radish earrings, but I still don't think you pull them off." that caused him to chuckle. "What you need is to laugh some more. How about we go outside and see what the sun is going to bring us today?" she said, looking around at the group as if to include them in their conversation.
"Well, it is Saturday. We could go see if Millie's not doing anything," Harry said. Always one to go and see what Millie was doing.
"I have a feeling she's going to be rather busy today and so is Sirius. How about we go and see the joke shop or the candy store today?" Luna said as if it was a given.
"Sounds like a plan. Sounds better than sticking around here jumping at shadows," said Neville, who did not understand the underlying byplay of the two that were talking, but just wanted to get out of the castle for a while.
"I'm almost out of money," said Ron, looking at Harry expectedly.
"I don't know what to tell you about that. I told you not to spend it all on candy last time," said Harry, ignoring the look.
"Spot a fellow a couple of sickles, won't you?" the redhead said, holding his hand out.
"I can't. I promised Millie I'd save my money for the summertime," Harry said, shaking his head in a negative fashion.
"Why do you listen to that woman? She's not your mum," Ron once again questioned. He just did not understand the Harry/Millie dynamic.
"I've told you over and over and over again that I listen to her because I like her. She's a very close friend of mine and she's been there for me when I needed her. I don't know why I have to repeat myself to you on this," Harry said, getting frustrated. It wasn't up to him to explain what was going on between him and Millie.
"Still…"
"No, I'm not saying it again. I'm not going to lend you any money. You shouldn't have spent it all the last time you were in Hogsmeade," Harry said, making a slashing motion with his hand and ending the conversation there.
"Fine, be that way then," Ron said as he stormed away.
"I don't know what his problem is. He knew he was gonna run out of money before the end of the year. I told him not to spend it all the last time we were in Hogsmeade," Hermione said, throwing her napkin down on her empty plate.
"He just seems to think because I have extra money, that I'm going to give it to him every time he runs out," Harry said, putting his fork on his empty plate. He stood up and got ready to exit the Great Hall.
"That's not right," said Neville, getting up with Dean and Seamus. "He should always be conscious of what his money issue is." To him it was a simple thing. You either had the money or you did not.
"There are just some people who think they're entitled to other people's money because others have more than they do. I don't know how it works in their mind, but it does," Harry said, frustration clear in his voice because he didn't understand people's thinking that way.
"Well, he'll learn his lesson when he gets older, when he can't pay his bills, and nobody will pay them for him," Hermione said, getting up and following Harry and the others out of the Great Hall.
"Anyway, let me go get my money bag and I'll meet you guys down at the gates," Harry said and gave Luna a one-armed hug. He then rushed to go get his money bag. He ran up to the Gryffindor common room and up into his dorm room, got his money bag out of his trunk and hurried back down the stairs. "Thanks for waiting," he said, and they made their way down to Hogsmeade.
Their trip was uneventful. Nobody tried to jump out of the woods and take Harry this time. Though, they were extra cautious. They would have taken the carriages, but all the carriages had already left. They went to the candy store, Honeydukes. And then went to the joke shop, Zonko's. They didn't spend much because, like Harry said, they were saving money for the summer.
And even though Luna said Millie was supposed to be busy, this time of the day, they did stop by Millie store to see if she was doing okay. It was a quick visit.
"Hey, Millie, are you okay?" Harry asked as they walked into the store. They could tell it's just between classes because one class was walking out, and another class was walking in. There were more women than men in these classes, but there were still a few men in there.
"Hello, you lot. I'm good, yeah. How are you doing?" Millie asked, wiping the sweat off her face with the towel, and stretching a bit.
"We're good. We just dropped by to see if you were doing alright. Luna said you might be busy right now," Harry said, indicating the people milling about the store.
"She's right. It's been a very busy day," Millie agreed with a laugh.
"Alright then. We'll just give you a quick hug and leave then," Harry said with an impish grin.
"Alright, line up, get your hug. Yeah," Millie said.
With that, they all got in the line, got a quick hug from Millie, and then left.
"Well, that was fun," said Harry.
"I like your Millie," said Luna, from her place at Harry's side. "She's ever so kind."
"She really is," said Harry, 100% agreement with that statement.
"She's going to be there for you when you need her the most. Trust her," said Luna with a detached air of somebody making a prediction.
"I already do," said Harry, giving her a queer look.
"Trust Sirius, too," said Luna.
"Whatever are you two talking about?" asked Hermione, from Harry's other side.
"Just dreams and wishes," said Luna, looking at Hermione with faraway eyes.
"Dreams and wishes. What nonsense is that?" the bushy-haired girl demanded. She never understood what Luna was talking about. She always talked in nonsense.
"Dreams and wishes are never nonsense," said Luna in all seriousness.
"Everything is dreams and nonsense with you," Hermione mumbled under her breath.
"Here, now, that's not nice," said Harry, reprimand clear in his tone.
"I apologize," said Hermione though she didn't sound like it.
"You two are going to have to learn to get along," said Harry, though it was clear he was talking to Hermione more than he was talking to Luna. "Hermione, you're my best friend, but Luna is also a friend of mine. I'm not going to choose one over the other."
"I know. We're just so complete opposite personalities. It's just so hard sometimes," said Hermione as she pushed her hair away from her face.
"Can't you at least try for me?" asked Harry, looking her in the eye, showing her how serious he was about this.
"For you, I will try harder," Hermione said, giving him a weak smile.
"Thank you, that's all I ask," said Harry, smiling back at her.
And with that, the group of friends decided to go back to Hogwarts. And they laughed and played the entire way, and Harry's infestation of wrackspurts got less the more he laughed.
Hphphp
That night, Millie and Sirius had a serious talk. They were in Millie's kitchen this time.
"What did you find out from the Department of Mysteries?" Millie asked as she served him up some coffee. It had been a long day, and she figured coffee would be better than tea today.
"That they're looking into the same thing I was looking at, but I already knew that," Sirius said, taking a drink of the bitter brew. He sighed. Because that was just what he needed. Well, maybe if it had some fire whiskey in it, it would be better, but this would do for now.
"Oh, and what was that?" she asked, taking a seat next to him at the bar in the kitchen.
"Horcruxes."
"Do I want to know what those are?" she asked because it sounded from the tone of his voice that they were something that she didn't want to deal with.
"I thought I already told you what these were," he said with a bit of surprise. He was sure he had told her.
"You might have. I've forgotten, uh, something to do with the soul, I think," Millie said, taking a drink of her coffee, trying to remember anything she might know about Horcruxes.
"Yes, it's when you split your soul and put it into an object. It's vile black magic," Sirius stated, all but spitting the words. "I know Voldemort has made some. I know there's one in Harry's scar, and that's one that I've been researching. I'm close to figuring out how to remove it," he assured her.
"And the Department of Mysteries?" Millie asked, drinking more of her coffee. She was very alarmed over the fact that there was a soul piece in Harry. And was reassured that Sirius knew how to get it out.
"The Department of Mysteries knows that he's made at least five more," he stated, going over what he knew. "And that's what they've been researching. Together we have come up with a way to try and consolidate all of them into one. And get rid of them at one time. That's what we're going to do together. We need at least a month to do it."
"So, we're going to have to wait a month while Voldemort reins terror on the Wizarding world, yeah," she said, twisting her coffee cup in her hands, fretting a bit. She was envisioning dead bodies everywhere.
"I have a feeling he's not going to be doing much of anything for a while," he said, looking at her calmly. He reached over and stopped her hands from their fretting.
"Why do you say that?" she asked, tilting her head at him questioningly. She let go of her cup and steadied her hands.
"I don't think he's going to want anybody to know that he's back," he explained, a bit smugly. As if he held a secret that she didn't know.
"Why do you think that?" she asked, still looking at him queerly.
"He would have announced himself as soon as possible if he wanted people to know he was back," he stated, waving his hand around the air as if to show that Voldemort hadn't done anything.
"I guess you're right. So, what do we do?" she asked, puzzled as to why Voldemort was trying to keep quiet. Did he have a plan that he was brewing that they didn't know about? Well, obviously he did, but what was it? And was it going to come back and bite them in the arse?
"We keep quiet, and we keep watch," Sirius said, taking a drink of his coffee. Maybe if you put chocolate in it, it would taste better. He really wasn't a coffee drinker.
"Are we still not telling Dumbledore?" Millie asked one final time. Not that she wanted to tell Dumbledore, but he was supposed to be the only wizard that Voldemort feared.
"No, what we're going to do is we're going to tell Amelia Bones," Sirius said with a devious grin. Like he had another secret that she didn't know.
"Isn't she the head of the DMLE?" Millie asked, though she was pretty sure she knew who she was. After Harry's second year, she remembered hearing about her.
"Yes, and she is going to be the only person we're going to tell. And if she believes us, she'll beef up the Aurors. And she'll do it subtly," the dogman said, winking at her. "They won't even know why they're doing extra patrols. They'd just know that something's going on. That they'd need to be extra vigilant. Probably only old Mad-eye will think there's something wrong."
"If you think that's what's best, then that's what we'll do. Are you going to talk to her?" Millie asked, getting a playful look in her eyes. She was always one for matchmaking.
"Yes, I'll talk to her in the morning. She and I have a good repartee," Sirius said with a barely there tint of pink on his cheek.
"Oh, do I spell romance?" the young woman teased. She was young and romantic, so sue her.
"Possibly," Sirius confessed that tint of pink getting a little darker. That's what he wanted anyway. He wasn't sure what Amelia wanted. He was an ex-con after all. She had her reputation to think about.
"Oh, la, la," Millie said, making fanning gestures with their hands.
"Hush you," the older man said, smacking her gently on the arm.
"Alright, I'll leave you alone," she said with a good-natured laugh.
"I'd better get back. Uh, have you talked to Harry tonight?" Sirius asked, getting serious for a minute.
"No, I haven't talked to him yet. He was here earlier today. He'll probably call me in about half an hour," she said, glancing at the clock and seeing it was about that amount of time before he normally called.
"When you talk to him, don't tell him yet about his scar, or the Department of Mysteries. We're going to talk to him right before it happens and let him know what's going on," he said with a slight pleading in his tone.
"I don't like withholding information from Harry, Sirius, yeah," she said with firmness in her eyes.
"I know, but it's important. I don't want him to fret, fuss and worry about what's going on until it's absolutely necessary. That and there might be a connection between him and Voldemort. One that the Dark Lord could use to get information on what we're doing," Sirius said, this time with a very serious tone.
"Alright, but I don't like it," she said. But she could understand why they wouldn't want Voldemort to know what's going on. And if Harry could see Voldemort in his dreams, then it stood to reason that Voldemort could see Harry in his.
"Thank you," Sirius said, his tone heartfelt.
"Get on with yourself, yeah," Millie said, taking the coffee cups to the sink. Sirius' was still half full.
"Goodnight, Millie."
"I'll see you in the morning, Sirius."
That night, on their mirror call, Millie and Harry talked about many things, but they did not talk about the Horcruxes or the scar on his head or nightmares. Just best wishes and goodwill. They said goodnight to one another. And each had their own good dreams. With Sirius on the job, and the Department of Mysteries taking care of the Horcruxes, hopefully Harry wouldn't have anything to do with this soon-to-be war. Except for the dreams he had. Which might turn out to be vital information, or not.