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Chapter Two: Sleep of the Just
Amara gazed at the silent man. He hadn't said a word in the hours that she'd been cooped up in her new cell. The guards who had remained with them had darted their eyes between them for a minute before it became obvious that he wouldn't answer. Then they'd fallen into their chairs and started a game of chess.
This silence intrigued her more though. It went without saying that this dark-haired stranger had not said a word to anyone the entire time he'd been trapped here. And just how long had that been? How long did they plan on keeping her?
She let out a yawn, and immediately felt those endless dark eyes on her. Instead of acknowledging them she fiddled with the ties on her clothes. She couldn't believe that old pervert leaving herself and her fellow prisoner without any basic necessaries. That guy had to be cold with nothing on.
She blinked over at him and found him unnervingly staring at her as if waiting for something. She breathed out of her nose in frustration and then rolled her eyes to the ceiling. Waving her hand through the air, her fingers twirling in spirals she visualised what she wanted. Golden sparks flickered between her fingers and grew closer together until some of the black thread of her clothes untangled from her shorts and grew impossibly longer. The thread began to weave itself into a large blanket. Her fingers softly touched her new creation, golden bits of magic trailing where her finger drew. Runes for health, warmth and peace stitching themselves into the blanket.
Pleased with herself she brought the blanked up for a good look over. Biting her lip she critiqued her work, turning her head in order to see if the runes were properly taking root. It looked in good enough order without a wand. She brought the blanket down to see that the guards were still preoccupied with themselves and hadn't noticed her little light show. But when her gaze darted to the other occupant she was met with dark eyes filled with curiosity.
She went back to her own task. It was partly a test of her abilities whilst locked in this cell but also to provide a decency that the others in this place seemed to lack. Brows frowned as she breathed in excelling her breath she brought her dominant hand up and clicked in the stranger's direction. Sparks flew around her fingers and the cloth jerked a little but didn't vanish as she'd hoped.
"Hmmm…" She pondered, tapping a finger against her chin. Thoughts raced through her mind, running through a list of spells she could try. Two fingers raised up this time, she visualised the spell in her mind and swept her fingers in the stranger's direction. The cloth lifted and flew in his direction. But unfortunately, it flew into the glass and struggled to pass it. It flapped against the glass to struggling to follow her magical direction.
Huffing out a breath she blew a curl away from her face. Okay, onto the next option. Tongue between her teeth she reached out a finger and touched the cloth. Spinning the finger into the cloth she poured her magic through her finger and gradually the cloth swirled around and around, creating a whirlpool where the centre began to collapse in on itself. A grin stretched out across her face as the magic became a reality. The next second the cloth vanished underneath her finger.
Her eyes flashed over in the stranger's direction to see a whirlpool of fabric appear above his head. He blinked as he saw her gaze above him, alongside the smug smile and dancing green eyes. As soon as he looked above himself he was met with the fabric dropping down upon him.
A pale hand reached out of the fabric and gently lifted off his head. It tumbled into his lap, dark eyes gazed down at it as pale long finger stroked her creation. Suddenly his eyes darted to her and the weary eyes he wore softened. But his lips refused to open.
Taking in the facial ques, she nodded in his direction inwardly pleased with her experiment and the kindness it could create. He looked back down on the fabric and spread it out before him. He looked over it curiously, studying the runes emblazed into the cloth.
She looked over at their wardens to see them look over in their direction and blink in bewilderment at the unexpected fabric in a prison that should not have been there.
"Impossible!" One of the men stumbled out of his chair and around the desk they sat at.
"What did...? How?" The other one gaped.
"We'd better tell the count." The first one tripped over his own feet and he sped over to the stairs and ran up them. The other one took a step closer and looked around trying to spot if anyone had snuck it into their prisoners' prison.
"Where did you get that?" The man in charge stormed in, narrowed eyes glaring at her fellow capture.
Silence greeted him, dark endless eyes not even bothering to look up at the interruption but continued to study the fabric in front of him. "From me." She spoke up as she watched the man boil, steam practically pouring out of his ears.
"What? How? Why?" He questioned a look of disbelief as he looked at the distance between their two cages.
She scoffed. "Because you're a poor excuse for a human, with no human decency to even provide the ones you kidnap with basic human rights. I'm ashamed of every single person in this house to take and take and not even bother to provide for the people you've taken against their will."
"He's not human!"
"That's no excuse." She gritted her teeth. Though she inwardly wondered what he then was. Didn't the man say he was an endless or something? "You are cruel, cowardly and a lonely bitter old man. And it appears you have surrounded yourself with people of similar morals." She glared over at the guard's direction. "I can see why he refuses to speak to you. But I will give you a frustration in a different magnitude." She felt a weight settle on her shoulders. She didn't need to look, she could already tell from the familiar smell and weight that it was her ancestral cloak. And by the look in the man's eyes she could tell everything that he'd just witnessed both awed him and scared him of what he'd brought into his home. "Now go, I don't want to look upon such an ugly soul." She tilted her chin up and looked down at him. He stood still for a moment before his beady eyes darted over to the cloth in the other cage. Anger laced his stiff shoulders, he snarled in her direction but she remained unfazed and simply raised an eyebrow.
"I will have answers tomorrow!" He spat out and turned around heading for the exit.
"Unlikely." She smirked in amusement. Angering the man was entertaining. She inwardly wondered how else she could mess with him. Well, she needed to do something with her time until she could escape.
Settling down in the glass cage she tapped a finger to the top of her head casting a warming charm on herself. Then she unthreaded a second bit of thread from her clothes and repeated the earlier process, creating a blanket for herself. She could see the guards actually watching this time with slack jaws.
Draping it over herself she reached out a hand to the glass, she tapped against it. "Hmm..." She looked over to see the guards staring at her wearily. She bit into the skin on her finger until blood was drawn. Then she carefully drew a couple of runes onto the glass. Ones that let her know of any interference with her new prison, ones that alerted her when anyone was nearby, a finally one that rang an alarm in her head if anything changed within the cage.
Drawing her bleeding finger up she popped it into her month sucking it clean. Green eyes flashed up to see dark ones studying the runes she'd drawn with her own blood. Giving him a cheeky wink, she lay back and shut her eyes. Ready for the day to be over.
Three pairs of eyes watching her was unsettling, but she tried to find a peace within herself. Reasoning that it was better to get what little rest she could. Thankfully it was dark in the dungeon, but if she'd had instant darkness powder she would put her more at ease that they couldn't see her in such a vulnerable position.
Eyes fluttered and her breathing evened out, as she felt the weightlessness drift in and the cold feeling of the glass on her cheek fade away.
The gloomy library of Hogwarts greeted her, she felt herself drift through the racks of books. Homesickness racing through her blood as she eyed familiar study spots. She sat down at a table with a view of the forbidden forest.
She missed those days, exploring and adventures. Though of course without Voldemort hanging over her head.
Suddenly she felt like someone was watching her. Not letting them know she had caught on she looked at the reflection in the window and spotted a shadow around one of the bookcases. Getting up from her chair she climbed on top of the table and leaned against the glass.
"Come out, come out where ever you are." She smirked and leaned her head back to look at the shadow. The shadow froze in its place for a moment and then the familiar figure of her fellow prisoner stepped out of it.
"You are not of this world." His voice was velvety smooth. She blinked in surprise but then smiled.
"I'm not." She agreed and then jumped off the table and onto the ground as he glided over to her, clothed in a black cloak. "But not in the same way as you." She cocked her head and gazed curiously up at him.
"Who are you?" She asked him.
"Names have power, didn't you know?"
"I do, but I feel like I can trust you. So, I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours."
He looked her over for a couple of seconds of silence, seemly staring right into her soul. "I have many names. I am the keeper of dreams… and nightmares. I am Morpheus, Prince of Stories, Master of Dream, Dreamlord, Lord of the Dreaming, the Sandman, Oneiros, Kai'ckul, Lord L'zoril, World Shaper, King of the Nightmare Realms, Monarch of the Sleeping Marches, Master of the Realm of Sleep. I am Dream of the Endless."
She blinked at him taking a deep breath in before an abrupt cough brought her back. "Well I don't have as an impressive of an introduction but… I am Amaranth Lily Potter, the Girl-Who-Lived and Saviour of the Wizarding World." She introduced herself. "But my friends call me Amara."
"The Everlasting and Immortal." He stepped closer to her. "Unfading."
She looked up at his tall form that was now standing right in front of her. "What?"
"The meaning of your name."
"Oh." She breathed out. "That's a coincidence."
"You were named well."
"I thought it was just a flower name, it's a tradition on my mother's side of the family to be named after flowers." She muttered to herself, staring off at the bookshelves lost in thought. "It's like it was all predestined…"
"Destiny definitely played a hand in your life's thread." She looked back up at him in confusion.
"Destiny?"
"One of my siblings." He answered her.
"How many Endless are there?"
"Seven." His dark eyes shifted away from her finally, glancing around the library. "There is Destiny, Death, Destruction, Desire, Despair, Delirium and myself, Dream." He sighed deeply. "We are the children of Night and Time."
"Wow." She gaped at him. "You've kind of left me wordless." She tucked some curls behind her ear. "Dream…" She licked her lips as her mouth felt dry, she felt his eyes snap back to stare down at her. "So that's how you got here." She gestured around them.
"Yes." His brows frowned. "And you could sense me." He inquired, cocking his head slightly and looking at her with those fathomless eyes.
"I've got experience with dreams." She admitted. "Whether they be prophetic or someone spying on me, or seeing through the eyes of others in the waking world." She pushed a curl behind her ear.
"Interesting." He said as they stood before each other. Then he reached out a hand and hoovered it over where her scar lay on her forehead. "Who marked you?"
"My parents, for my protection." She told him, with a sad smile. "They gave up their lives for mine."
"It's Sowilo if I'm not mistaken. For your victory, to offer guidance, a mastery of wholeness and to protect the seat of your soul. They called upon the protection of Thor. What did you need protection from?"
"A murderer." She simplified Voldemort. "It was prophesied I would defeat him." She smirked. "I did."
"You know my sister." He narrowed his eyes at her as he changed the subject. "You speak as of you are familiar with her, but you live..."
"Death is your sister? Ah yes, you just mentioned that." She quickly caught on. "I've survived two killing curses, and my ancestors have always regarded death as a friend." She explained with a shrug.
"You said your belongings were gifts from my sister?"
"That's a long story."
He smirked. "I have time."
"There were once three brothers..."
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Author's Note: I'm back! It's been a year… But I've come back to my stories and I'm going to uploading weekly to my different stories. So I hope you enjoy and will stay around for future uploads!
Lastly, I just wanted to let everyone know that I've made a Ko-fi page, where you can support me for £3 if you want to. Ko-fi is an easy way to help me out and its sort of like giving me a tip (or paying for a coffee, hence the name). The link is in my profile (or below) if you'd like to donate, you don't have to but I'd really appreciate it.
/emmabell