A/N: I will never be able to explain how nice it felt to write something that wasn't related to essays for once. Very refreshing. I should probably do it more often if I wasn't so lazy. Anyhow. Hope you enjoy this chapter. Took me a while. Before anyone complains about the chapter length. I decided to cut it into three parts because it was way too long. The good news; this is the shortest part. Next part WILL be up in no more than two days.
Oh yeah, fun fact… when I do the dates at the top, I actually tend to go back into that year on the calendar just to make sure my story makes sense xD
Chapter 40: The Dream
17th October 1998
The sun was slowly rising in the horizon, illuminating the east side of the castle grounds. In the very top of the Gryffindor tower, Hermione opened her eyes. This was the earliest she's woken up since May. It must've been the cold of the morning which she felt on her uncovered leg. She also felt hands, very warm hands and strong arms around her waist. Harry's head was resting on her chest. Sometimes he slept like a complete baby, but she loved that. His eyes were closed shut, and she doubted they would open any time soon. He was never a morning person.
A part of her wanted to get up. Get started with the day. But then another part just couldn't be bothered. Especially with such lovely unconscious company. Hermione continued to focus on what she was feeling. And that's when she realised that she was completely bare underneath the covers. She could feel her naked bum against the sheets and how strange that was. It seemed like she would never get used to sleeping naked. But because of her boyfriend, it seemed like pyjamas were out of the question. She then smiled to herself and dwelled on how good her life has become.
That was when Harry's eyes opened. The grip on her waist got tighter and then relaxed again. His hand went up from under the covers as he grabbed his glasses from the nightstand and looked up at her.
"Good morning."
"Hey," Harry answered, still looking up at her. She could see it in his eyes. His dream wasn't pleasant.
"What's up?"
A tiny smile showed on Harry's face. "I love how easy it is for you to see through me."
"And the fact that you never were a good lier," Hermione added. She waited for him to speak, but he was clearly reluctant. "You know I won't leave you alone until you tell me what your dream was."
Harry gave out a slow, deep breath. "I had that weird one again."
"The one in the house?" It's been bothering him for a while now. She remembered the first time he had one. How he ran into the kitchen. She never saw that much fear in his eyes.
Harry nodded. "It's strange, isn't it? Having the same dream over and over again…"
"It is, but it's not like you haven't had weird dreams before, Harry," Hermione answered, trying to calculate a pattern.
"Right. But that was when Voldemort was still alive. I was kind of expecting stuff like that to go away now. The connection is broken, and Voldemort turned to ashes." Harry was right. This continuous dream was not making any sense what so ever.
"Well… I have two options for you." Hermione offered, as she played with her necklace.
He looked up at her again, waiting for an answer.
"First off… we could go and speak with McGonagall. I'm sure she could help us out. Or at least just to tell her. I think someone else should know about this. Your dreams always told us something was coming. And I fear this might be something of that kind." It was hard for Hermione to get that sentence out. After everything they've been through, she hated the idea of another conflict coming their way.
"And the other option?"
"We'll speak with Professor Trelawney."
Harry's eyes shot wide open. His eyebrows raised. "You want to go speak with Trelawney?"
Hermione nodded, "Listen. I never really believed in all that prophecy gibberish. You know how I've always felt about it. But her prophecy on you and Voldemort did kind of turn out to be true. So maybe it's not all complete gibberish. Or at least only partly." She couldn't help but chuckle at her own words. "So, which option do you prefer?"
"I say both," Harry answered.
She straightened up slightly, looking down at him. If he accepted both options just like that, this dream must be really bothering him at this point. "Are you sure it was the exact same dream?"
Harry took a pause but then nodded.
"And you didn't see anything else?"
He didn't respond. Just kept lying down, looking ahead.
"Harry-"
"I get closer every time."
She didn't understand at first, but then she realised what he meant. "You mean every time you dream it?"
He nodded again. "It's like every time I walk up that staircase, and every time I enter that room. The dream allows me to get closer bit by bit. Every time, that… body in the middle… it becomes clearer."
"… Can you make out who it might be?"
Harry took a long time to answer. She was looking right into his eyes. Trying to see if he was hiding anything from her. "No… I can't recognise it." The look he wore at that moment. It was as if he didn't want to recognise the body. Hermione decided not to push it any further.
"Alright well. I'm going to get dressed, and then we can head out to McGonagall's office. We're lucky it's the weekend."
After getting dressed and having breakfast, Harry and Hermione both headed up to the Headmistress' office. As always, McGonagall was behind her desk, a large pile of papers waiting to be read and sorted. The thing about being a new headteacher of Hogwarts was that the first year always took it out of you. Or at least that's what Dumbledore told Harry once.
"Miss Granger, Mister Potter. What can I do for you on this pleasant morning?"
Harry allowed Hermione to do all the talking. She always did.
"We hope we're not disturbing you too much, professor. It's just that, Harry has been having these dreams."
McGonagall's eyes shot from her desk straight to Hermione, then to Harry. She stood up and walked over to them. "What did you see, Potter?"
"I've been seeing this dream multiple times now. I can't tell if it's real or if it's the past or present."
"What happens?" She urged them both to a seat and sat down opposite them. Back behind her desk.
"I'm walking up a staircase. It's an old house, a mansion, actually. It's huge, grey and every step I take creaks. It feels like the house is about to fall apart. I get to the top floor and there's a closed door in front of me." Harry explains.
"Does the house remind you of anywhere in particular?"
Harry shakes his head. "I open the door. And the room inside is completely empty. Apart from a large open wardrobe. In front of it a… I think it's a corpse."
"A corpse? How can you tell?"
"It isn't moving. I can't see it breathe. Everything feels so vague but the one thing I'm certain about is that it's not breathing."
"I see." McGonagall studied Harry's face for a couple of moments. She seemed lost in thought and worried too. "Is there anything else?"
"That's it. I take a couple of steps towards the body… I can almost see…" His voice cuts off. He closes his eyes. Opens them again and looks back at the headmistress "but then I wake up."
"Well… if you see anything else. Please let me know the moment you do. Unfortunately, we don't have any proper leads which would let me take this to the Aurors. I'm sure they could carry out some sort of investigation if you gave them any specific leads." She informed.
Harry nodded, "We'll let you know."
McGonagall sat back, "Alright. I don't think it's anything to be worried about just yet. Wizards always have slightly different dreams when compared to muggles. Our magic tends to interfere a lot with our everyday lives. I'm sure Miss Granger would agree with me." She smiled politely to Hermione who nodded.
"And we all know, Mister Potter, that your magic has always been a bit more extraordinary when compared to the average wizard. I'd like to think of your visions and power a gift. But I don't think you would agree with me."
"I don't think I ever will, professor," Harry answered.
"Well, you have devoted just as much to our magical world as anyone else. You may not agree with that, however, I think you may be slightly outnumbered on this one. So please, if there is anything else you might see or experience, don't hesitate to let me know. Or anyone in our staff for that matter."
Harry nodded this time, not saying anything.
"Speaking of. We were thinking of paying Professor Trelawney a visit. We think she might help on the matter." Hermione informed.
McGonagall thought for a while, then she nodded to Hermione, "That sounds like a good idea, Miss Granger. I never fully encouraged myself with Divination, but it is definitely worth a try."
"Thank you, Professor," Hermione answered.
"Is there anything else I can help you with?"
Harry was about to stand up when Hermione reached for her bag and pulled out a book. He's already seen it before. "Yes, there is actually." She placed the book on McGonagall's desk.
It was the Animagi book which belonged to Sirius. The one Hermione showed Harry on the train.
McGonagall picked the book up and read the front cover. "Miss Granger, how exactly did you gain possession over this?"
"It was in Sirius Black's library. At Grimmauld Place."
The headmistress smiled, "Well… I think you'll be surprised to hear that this book actually belongs to me."
Harry and Hermione both looked at each other, then back at McGonagall. "But how?" Hermione asked.
McGonagall chuckled to herself, "This book was stolen from my office by none other than Sirius himself along with his partner in crime, James."
