The Approaching Storm

Chapter 2: Dreams Can Be Clues

The hallway was long and vast. Candles floated in the air as the flames flickered, giving a warm glowing light. The walls were a shimmering pearl color with gold and blue etching around the borders. The ceiling was enchanted, like the sky, a glorious blue with wispy clouds moving by.

There were paintings of men and women wearing gowns and robes with marvelous intricate detail moving from picture to picture, gossiping softly. Some of them curtsied, some bowed, and some danced about. Many pictures looked to be family portraits. A Kneazle was present in a couple of these portraits. The Kneazle growled at anybody who dared to walk past its master. In another portrait a Crup was running around, chasing a Billywig. After the Crup caught his prey, he proceeded to eat it. The Crup was of course levitating due to the Billywig stinger. There was also a portrait of the annual broom race in Sweden, from Kopparberg to Arjeplog. The wizards raced around in the portrait as the crowd of people cheered. Then they went straight out of the portrait and invaded other paintings, zooming in and out of them, making people in the paintings upset. Ladies dresses would fly up, revealing their knickers. Men's top hats would blow of their heads. One particular older man was making rude hand gestures at the flying wizards zooming through his painting.

One painting stood out from the rest. It was quite the eye catcher, striking in its beauty. The intricate detail was far better than the other paintings. The life likeness was incredible.

The picture was of an extremely wealthy family, probably of royalty. There were seven family members, one elder woman, two men, two women, and two children, and a ginger colored Kneazle type cat.

The robes they each wore were spectacular. The men were dressed in white robes with blue sashes. The robes had gold trimming on the shoulders, neck, cuffs, sides, and bottom. The sash was a glittering dark blue that had a phoenix made of rubies and a lion made of yellow gemstones. The women wore gowns of deep sapphire blue. Diamonds were weaved throughout the gowns. They made a wonderful swirling pattern, which gave a marvelous sparkling effect. The women's sashes were white and had the same pattern as the men's blue sashes. The young boy wore a white robe, similar to the men's. The tiny little girl wore a gold robe. Each had a sash as the others had, but it was a smaller version.

The older woman was sat on a chair that looked like a throne. All the other family members were placed on either side of her, except the children. The boy was running through the picture as the tiny girl tried to catch him. The older woman had a smile on her face as she watched the children play. She had light gray hair dressed in an elegant style, with a crown resting on her head. The crown looked to be of diamonds and crystal. She had dark blue eyes that looked like the depths of an ocean. Her face was oval shaped, with high cheekbones.

The man to her right was younger. He had golden brown hair with the same dark blue eyes and face shape, but a chubbier nose. His smile was bright as he laughed at the children's antics. He had a strong build and was a very handsome man.

The woman beside him appeared to be his wife. She looked to be around the same age. She was trying to grab the young boy every time he ran by, with no success. The boy seemed to be their son. The mother had light blond hair and pale blue eyes. Her face was narrow and she had a petite body shape. She had creamy skin and red lips. Her hair was pulled up with a tiara placed on top. She kept adjusting the tiara after she would try and grab the boy.

On the other side of the throne stood a young woman. She was breathtaking. Her hair was a lustrous brown, with stunning golden highlights. They shimmered in the glowing light. Her eyes were the same marvelous ocean blue eyes as the older woman she stood beside. They sparkled like diamonds. Her hair was done to have curls on top of her head. She wore a crown much like the older woman's but a little smaller. She had an oval face and aquiline nose. Her smile was beautiful and inviting. She giggled at the girl trying to catch the boy. Her smile brightened every time the little girl looked up at her and laughed.

The man beside her could be assumed to be her husband. He was very attractive. He had dark brown hair and deep chocolate brown colored eyes. He looked to be the same age as his wife. He looked strong and powerful, but he held himself in a gracious manner. He would encourage the little girl to not give up on catching the boy. He smiled when the child grew a determined look in her eyes and chased the boy again.

The boy had the same sandy blond hair and ocean blue eyes like his father. He wore a small crown that kept falling off his head. He would run by and pick it up, dodging out of the path of the little girl. Then he would put it back on his head, only to have it fall off again. He was a cute boy and looked to be around five years old. As he ran he would occasionally stick his tongue out at the little girl and then laugh, running backwards way from her.

The little girl was adorable. Her face was angelic. She had brown curly hair and a tiara on her head. She would try to hold the tiara onto her head as she ran after the boy. Her eyes were a deep brown like her father's. She looked like she was only about two years old, but still gave the boy a run for his money. She would make a grumpy face at him when he would run backwards, sticking his tongue out at her. She would look up to her father who would give her encouragement and she would chase the boy again, determined to catch him. The whole time her ginger colored Kneazle-cat would follow her, meowing every now and then. He would hiss at the boy and try to stop him so the girl could catch him. The boy escaped from the Kneazle too.

They looked to be a very happy and loving family.

Traveling down the hallway, a voice could be heard, coming from the far corridor. The voices was male, definitely a man not a boy.

At the end of the hallway, there was a well-lit room.

The room was that of a young child's, a girl. The room was enchanted looking. Fairy pictures were painted on the walls. The fairies moved and flew around, dancing and waving merrily as they moved in and out of beautiful flowers painted on the surrounding wall.

The little bed had sheer material that sparkled like stars hung from the ceiling and spread to the floor as sort of make shift curtains.

The colors in the room were rich lilacs, pinks, and blues.

In the far corner of the room sat a man with a young child in his lap. They looked like two of the people in the elegant picture. One was the man with dark hair. The other was the little girl. They wore the same outfits that they did in the painting, but their expressions were far from the portrait's smiles. The Kneazle-cat laid by the child's feet.

The man had tears that threatened to spill from his eyes as he gazed at the child. He was struggling with a very difficult decision. Finally they spoke.

"Why dada sad?" the child asked, looking up to the man.

"Oh my little princess, do you know how much I love you?" the father said, wiping a lone tear that had leaked from his eye.

She nodded her head vigorously and smiled. "I love you Dada," the child replied

"I know you do. I want you to know your Daddy and Mommy will always love you and always be with you," the father said, in a very strained, heart broken voice.

The child looked upset at seeing her father's tears. Her previous happy smile had now turned into a frown. She started to get her own tears in her eyes. "No cry Dada. I be good," the little child said, with sad eyes and scared voice.

"Shhh my dear. You are perfect, and a very good girl," he said, looking at his daughter with pride, patting her head.

The man looked of into the distance and took in a deep breath.

"There is a very bad man that wants to hurt Mommy and Daddy," he continued, as he looked back down at the child, "remember, I told you about him?" he asked, rubbing his daughter's cheek.

The girl looked at her father and just nodded. "The snake man," she said, trying to remember.

"Yes, that's right. The evil snake man," the father said.

"After the Gala tonight we are going to have to send you away," the child got upset at this remark and started to cry, "just for a little while sweetie. So the bad man cannot find you," he continued, trying to comfort the child.

"He must not find you. Do you understand?" the father said slowly, now with conviction in his voice.

The child was so sad, but she actually seemed to understand what her father was trying to tell her. She looked at her father with tears still in her eyes and hugged him tightly. The father cradled his daughter close to his chest, in near desperation. He held her like a father would if he was leaving on a long trip, crushing her to him softly and kissing her hair. The child allowed her father to keep cradling her.

"Dada, will you dance with me?" the child asked her father.

"I will always dance with you, my darling," he said, with a smile, hugging the child again.

The child giggled in her father's embrace.

Draco awoke in a sweat, panting. He felt very drained.

What the bloody hell was that? Was that just a dream? It seemed so real? Who were those people? I've never seen them before, yet they looked somewhat familiar. It's almost like I should remember who they are, he thought, putting his hand on his forehead.

Ahh! I'm losing it! He pulled on his hair and continued his thought,

Probably a side affect from one of Mudblood Granger's pranks. Stupid Granger! I swear she has plucked my last nerve. When I get my hands on that little.., his thought was interrupted by sleepy voice.

"Oy' Draco, you up?" Draco's lackey Crabbe asked, sitting up and putting a hand to his mouth yawning.

"No, go back to sleep," he replied, in an agitated tone.

"Ok," Crabbe said, as he lay back down.

Draco snorted and then drifted back to his thoughts. He was still thinking of how many ways he could destroy Hermione Granger's life. He lay back down and drifted into pleasant dreams about changing Hermione into a house elf, without a voice.

Across the castle, up in a tower, a boy awoke the same way Draco had.

Harry awoke suddenly, foul sweat beading off of his body. He took a couple of deep breaths and put his hand to his forehead, wincing in pain. His scar was burning, causing him to have a throbbing headache. All he could remember of the dream was of a little girl with her father, and her big brown eyes. He heard everything they said to each other, an intruder on a very private moment. The father reminded him of someone, but he just couldn't place who it was. His face, it reminded Harry of someone, but for some reason he couldn't remember. The voice of the father sounded familiar to Harry. The little girl also looked like someone he should know, but he just couldn't quite place who she was. The weird thing about this dream was Voldemort was nowhere to be seen, yet his scare ached and his head pounded. The only thing Harry could think that connected Voldemort to this dream was, 'the evil snake man' part. Maybe Voldemort was the snake man. Harry was quite confused. The dream seemed so real. Almost like a memory.

*****

Morning greeted the Great Hall with students walking to breakfast. Some were chipper and chatty. Most were groggy, with sleep still trying to call them back to their beds. This was a typical morning in Hogwarts Castle. One of these chatty students was Hermione. She interrogated Harry and Ron on their homework. The boys made groggy replies, with simple yes and no answers.

"Did you two work at all on your Potions assignment?" she asked, looking at the book she was carrying.

"Yes," they both said, moving as slow as snails, barely staying awake.

"That means besides just staring at the assignment. You actually need to read and write notes. Today is a very complicated potion, one little mistake could be a disaster. You two are really impossible, some effort wouldn't hurt you once in a while," Hermione lectured on, walking beside the boys.

"Yes," they replied again, in the same monotone voice.

"Do you even know what you are saying 'yes' to?" she questioned, giving them an annoyed look.

"Yes," they said once again. They sounded remarkably similar to Professor Binns.

"Really you two are so..." but her statement was cut short, as she turned the corner and bumped into someone. This caused her book to fall out of her hands and onto the floor.

"Watch it, you Mudblood. Now I'm going to have to change my robes because of you," drawled a slimy voice, as he stepped on Hermione's fallen book.

"Shut your mouth, Malfoy, or I will permanently shut it for you!" Ron snarled at him.

Amazingly his sleepy trance had been broken by Malfoy's arrival.

"Sticking up for your girlfriend yet again, Weasley, how sweet," he said kicking the book to the corner. He gave Hermione a nasty smirk.

"I wish I had time to play this game but I have more important places to be. Seeing as how you three," he said pointing at Harry, Ron, and Hermione, "are nothing of importance, I'll be leaving," he finished, as he strolled past the trio, kicking her book even further away.

Hermione snorted, giving him a deadly glare. "What would that be? You in a hurry to a Death Eater meeting?" Hermione said to him with venom.

Malfoy turned quickly around with hateful look, facing Hermione. He stomped up to Hermione and grabbed her arm, as she was trying to back away from him. He pulled her roughly to him and whispered harshly in her ear, "Granger, you are not going to like what happens when you push too far one time. I assure you, the consequences could be fatal," he stared at Hermione, an extremely cold and hateful glare marking his face.

Hermione regained her balance and looked directly at Malfoy. "Are you trying to threaten me? I'm not scared of you or anyone else. You and your kind will not intimidate me!" Hermione said harshly, giving him her own hateful glare.

Ron and Harry had both grabbed their wands, ready to curse Malfoy.

"My kind?" Malfoy said, with a slight snort in amusement, and a grin, "That's funny. What are you trying to imply? If you mean my kind being pure bloods, then someone as inferior as you should be intimidated," Malfoy said, with a touch of triumph in his voice, letting go of her arm and backing away slightly.

Harry and Ron dropped their wands a little after Malfoy let go of Hermione. He was still too close to her for them to do anything. They might accidentally hit Hermione with a curse.

"Your kind," Hermione said, as she stalked up to Malfoy, "as in being the slimy Death Eater kind. Like your father, who is so spineless, he's always a follower, never the leader. Funny how you and your kind value purebloods so much when you so willing follow a disgusting man, that had a muggle for a father," Hermione spat back at him.

"You, little girl! You know nothing of my family, especially my father. You do not know everything. You live in your little isolated world to what you think is good and evil, while in reality you have no clue. Nor will you ever," Malfoy grabbed her arm again and said forcefully into her ear, "Now run back to your safe circle of friends, Granger, playtime is over," he finished, giving her a push, as he turned around and walked down the hall, kicking her book again as he passed.

Hermione starred at Malfoy's retreating back, loathing in her eyes. She couldn't stand that evil prick. She went to pick up her book as Harry and Ron approached her. She started replaying what Malfoy had said to her. She had one question.

'What did he mean, that I don't know what's good and evil,' she wondered in irritation, grabbing her book.

"Hermione are you ok? What did that arse say to you?" Harry said, coming up beside Hermione.

"Yeah Hermione, do you want us to go curse that pillock into the next millennium?" Ron added, also coming beside her.

"No, I'm fine. Malfoy is just being his typical self," she replied back.

"Come on I'm hungry, arguing with Malfoy works up a appetite," she added, as she headed to the Great Hall.

The trio walked into the Great Hall, falling back into their routine, ignoring the confrontation that had just happened. Back in a corner, eyes starred at them as they walked by. Wondering if they had a clue on what was rapidly approaching.

"I must warn them somehow. They must see my presence. They must understand the truth. The dreams aren't good enough," a ghostly voice said.

The apparition turned and glided back into the dark. The ghost had missed the red haired girl that had caught a glimpse of it.

The girl looked on in shock into the shadows.

"That looked like the picture Harry showed me. The picture of his mother, his dead mother," Ginny said out loud, barely in a whisper.