The Approaching Storm

Chapter 8: Signs of the Storm

Green Light, the room was surrounded in a green light and it was blinding. People were screaming in fear and pain. Shadows of figures could be seen lying upon the ground, so many lives gone. Then falling, the never ending falling as the little light that was left turned to darkness. Pain, unbearable pain as the darkness overpowered. No light just darkness. It was cold, so very cold. Loud, pounding, rushing water was all around. No bottom or top could be seen, just the cold dark rushing water. Nowhere to go. The current was too powerful. The air was gone! Nothing was there to breath. Panic set in, no air left, you were going to die! A woman, there was a woman in the water reaching out a hand. She was pale, extremely pale. Her eyes, they weren't normal, they were dead. She was dead! A dead woman was reaching for you!

Hermione screamed waking up suddenly, sweating profusely. She was shaking with fear.

That dream, that woman, it's always the same woman. She is the one I saw with the Boggart in third year. Those eyes, those horribly dead eyes. Who was she, what does she want? Why won't this dream go away? Hermione thought, as she put her head in her hands and sobbed.

"Hermione? Are you ok?" Lavender asked.

Hermione wiped away some tears and tried to compose herself.

"Yes, I'm fine. Just a bad dream," she told Lavender.

Lavender got up from her bed and walked over to Hermione's. She opened the curtains and sat down on her bed. She put her hand on Hermione's shoulder.

"You've been having bad dreams for almost two weeks now. This is almost as bad as third year when you had that other bad dream. Do you want to talk about?" Lavender asked, trying to comfort Hermione.

"Same dream. I don't understand it. Why do I keep having it?" she asked Lavender, as she looked up at her.

"I know you don't believe in Divination. It isn't logical nor does it have any proof in your view. But no matter what your view is, Hermione, dreams are very powerful things. The can be links to the past, or showing events in the present. They can be clues to help you out with choices to make. Most of all, they can be warnings of things to come. Harry, for example, has dreams of 'he who must not be named'. He sees things happening. It's not a precise or a logical thing, it just is," Lavender tried to explain to Hermione.

Hermione thought his over for a moment.

"So you think my dream can be a warning of something to come?" she asked Lavender.

"Perhaps, you never know. Maybe you should be a little more cautious, just in case," Lavender said, as she patted Hermione's shoulder and stood up.

"Thanks. I'm ok now. Lavender, don't tell anyone about the dream, especially Harry or Ron. I don't want to worry them," Hermione said, giving Lavender a grateful look.

"Ok, I won't. Try to get some sleep then." Lavender said, as she walked back to her bed.

"I will, goodnight," Hermione said, as she lay back down.

"Night," Lavender said.

Hermione lay in her bed. She knew she couldn't go back to sleep. Those eyes kept haunting her mind. If Lavender was right, then what did this dream mean? She lay in her bed the rest of the night, awake, thinking about the dream representation.

Many things had happened since the students returned from Christmas break.

The story of the "Worst disaster in Ministry History" was in the newspaper for a straight month. All sorts of implications were being made. The ministry denied profusely that it had anything to do with 'you know who.'

"The building was not structurally safe," was all they would comment.

Harry received a letter from Sirius about Amelie.

Sirius told Harry he really didn't know what happened. He was not James and Lily's Secret Keeper, so he didn't know their whereabouts or what was going on with them. James did have an older brother named John. He married a girl named Claire who was a Royal of France. He did know they had a daughter named Amelie. For some reason Voldemort developed a keen interest in John, just like he had with James. He was set on killing them, but only by his own hands. One night at the beginning of October 1981, the French Majestic Providence had a huge ball. Voldemort attacked killing many, including the Crowned Prince of France, John, and his wife Claire. Amelie was never seen again. As far as Sirius knew, he thought she was dead.

This made no sense to Harry. He had the adoption certificate. They must have found her, but she vanished again? Things were so chaotic during this time period. Harry wondered if he would ever find out the truth. He finally came to a decision to talk to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore was very surprised, to say the least, about Harry having this information.

"You end up in the most peculiar situations Harry. I'm amazed," he had told Harry.

Dumbledore asked Harry about everything he had seen and what exactly he knew. Harry told him everything. Dumbledore told him the same story as Sirius, to an extent. He also said that he knew Amelie was placed with a Muggle family somewhere, but he didn't know where they lived. Harry was happy about this. At least he knew she was alive. Dumbledore warned him not to look for her because it would put her life in grave danger, and maybe Harry's also. If things needed to be known they would present themselves. Harry wondered about this, but didn't linger upon it. Dumbledore also told him to be careful whom he involved. It could put their lives in jeopardy. He told Harry to be strong, have courage, and believe in faith. He told Harry a story, a bit of his infinite wisdom.

Courage is not found in the heat of battle.

Courage is found the next day, facing the repercussions.

Benevolence is not giving what you will not miss.

Benevolence is giving when the cost is dear to you.

Love is not without pain.

Love is pain's most excruciating incarnation.

Dying is not hard.

Living on is.

The legacy of a hero is not made on foundation of invulnerability.

The true testament of a hero is born of tears and sadness.

Dumbledore told Harry to remember this in the months to come. He also reminded him of something he had told him once before, the easy way isn't always the right way. Harry didn't know exactly what he had gained by this conversation, but he felt strangely more enlightened. Harry wondered about Dumbledore's advice. The hero seemed to lose so much. He wondered if it would end up being his story. For the first time in his life, Harry Potter had doubts about being a hero. Harry left Dumbledore's office. He did not tell Ron or Hermione, nor anyone else, what Dumbledore or Sirius had told him. When they asked him questions about the search, he would just say he was happy with what he knew. They all left it at that, for the time being.

Draco Malfoy, on the other hand, was not content with what he knew of the situation. Draco knew that Amelie Potter was a key character in some gigantic mystery. Finding out who she was became his personal challenge. She could be his key to fame and glory. Draco had the Malfoy name, but he wanted to be known for something else besides being a Malfoy. Amelie could be that 'something'. Plus Draco could not stand the fact that Potter was now even more famous. It made him sick. Why did Potter have all the luck? Draco was on a mission. He was determined to find out who Amelie Potter was before Harry Potter.

That should burst Potter's bubble, Draco thought.

Draco had done some research when he got home form the Christmas incident. He searched the Malfoy family's resources for any information. He told no one what he was doing. Even the vast Malfoy library had no real information. He only found the story that Harry already knew. He figured Amelie must still be alive since Potter was so content. She must be living with Muggles. That is what the memory said, but where? His search was proving to be very tedious. He had been keeping tabs on the wonder trio. He didn't see them sneaking off anywhere or searching for anything. He came to the conclusion that Potter must know something he isn't sharing with the Weasel or Granger. Why though? Potter always had his sidekicks involved in everything, unless, maybe it put their lives in danger somehow. This was the only conclusion Draco could come to. He knew one thing for sure. He was going to find out who Amelie Potter was, no matter what the consequence.

************

The winter season was turning to spring. The snow had melted and the sun's rays shone upon the ground below. The giant squid splashed around in the lake, free of ice. A few Plimpy's were on the shore trying to unite their legs that the Merpeople had tied into knots. Kelpies invaded the Hogwarts water well. Birds were starting to return, including the Diricawl who just ran around on the ground and vanished into a burst of feathers if danger approached. You could even spot a Jobberknoll or two. Of course the only sound they made was a loud scream at death. The unicorns came out to eat in the greening pastures. The Jarvey's chased the Gnomes, who were collecting Horklumps, spluttering rude phrases and insults throughout the chase. Springtime brought new life and new growth, but most of all it brought,

"Quidditch! Lets go, Harry, I want to practice for tryouts," Ron said, dragging Harry out of the Gryffindor Tower.

"All right! Don't pull so hard," Harry said, yanking his arm away from Ron.

"What about me? I'm coming too! I want to tryout this year," Ginny said, following the pair out of the door.

"Ginny, don't be silly. There are only a two spots open, I wouldn't want to get your hopes up, and you be upset if you didn't make it," Ron said, walking quickly down the hallway.

"I don't know about that, oh brother of mine. What do you think Fred? Gin is a pretty good Keeper, I think she's probably going to make the team," George said, walking up to the trio, winking at Fred.

"That is true, George. She would also be a good Chaser. This could be an all at battle between the Weasley family, no positions are safe, except Harry's of course," Fred said, walking along side George.

Harry gave a smile at how Fred had included him as part of the Weasley family.

"Yeah, well we will see who gets that Keeper position," Ron said, with a determined attitude.

"Yes, we will," Ginny said to Ron, giving him her own determined attitude.

Quidditch. It's such a wonderful way to bring a family closer together.

The week passed and so did practice. Ron and Ginny both fought ferociously for the Keeper position. They were both good at the position. They were also decent at being Chasers. The problem was they both wanted the Keeper position. There was no doubt that both of them would make the team, but only one would be Keeper. Who would it be?

"I can't believe Ginny. She knows how bad I want to be Keeper! She just wants to try to show me up because she's a girl," Ron said grumpy, sitting beside Hermione, waiting for History of Magic class to start.

"Maybe she really wants the position too. I don't think it has anything to do with showing you up," Hermione said, getting her quill and parchment ready.

"Who's side are you on anyway, Hermione? You're my friend, start acting like it!" Ron snapped, very upset at Hermione.

Hermione gave him a surprised look. "Ronald Weasley, I'm surprised at you! I'm both of your friends and she is your sister, not enemy. If you don't want my opinion, then don't involve me in your family feud!" Hermione said, picking up her things and moving to an empty desk.

"Feh! Who needs you," Ron mumbled, putting his head on his folded arms.

"Does it really matter that much? I mean your both going to be on the team?" Harry asked, as he sat in Hermione's vacated seat.

"Of course it matters! I do have my pride!" Ron said, getting very annoyed with the whole situation.

Harry just shook his head as Professor Binns appeared in the front of the room.

"Today we will be revisiting the Goblin Rebellions," he said in his monotone voice.

The whole class whined, what else could there be to know about that topic? Hermione prepared herself for note taking, listening intently.

Draco Malfoy walked into class, looking flustered.

"Mr. Malfoy, you are late. Please take a seat beside Ms. Granger," Binns said in the same monotone voice.

Draco sat beside Hermione, unpacking his things.

"The Goblin Rebellion of 1608 was a pivotal point in history," Binns continued in a monotone voice.

"Bloody Hell, not this again, doesn't that man know other events have happened besides the Goblin Rebellions? Why is he so obsessed?" Draco said, glaring at Professor Binns.

"I guess he just likes the topic," Hermione said, while writing notes.

"What are you doing? You of all people should have all of this memorized. Why are you still taking notes?" Draco asked, giving Hermione a dumbfounded look.

"He might say something new," she replied, trying to defend her note taking.

"Ok, and Millicent has a nice arse," Draco said sarcastically.

Hermione gave him an annoyed look and sighed, returning to her note writing.

"What?" he said, giving her a sly grin, "I have noticed many girls bottoms, Hermione, including yours," he concluded. She punched him in the arm.

"Ouch. Feisty today, aren't you?" he said, rubbing his arm, still grinning.

"So why aren't you sitting with Weasley and Potter? Have they finally declared love for one another and want private time?" he said, looking at Harry and Ron.

"No. Ron is just being a jerk. He's mad that Ginny is competing for the same Quidditch spot as him, Keeper. He keeps trying to put me in the middle of it, so I'm just avoiding him," she said, giving Ron a snotty look.

"Ah, I see. That would be funny if his sister beats him for the spot. I think I will be rooting for Ginny," he said, with a smirk.

"I shouldn't have told you. Now you're just going to start something with him," Hermione said annoyed.

"I have better things to do than torment Weasley. Our team is already set up. I'm Seeker of course," he said, proudly saying the Seeker part.

"Of course you are," she said sarcastically, still taking notes.

"How come you don't play? The rest of your pathetic friends do," Draco asked, peering over at Hermione.

Hermione mumbled something.

"What was that? Didn't quite hear you," he said, now giving her his full attention.

Hermione sighed and put her quill down. She turned to look at Draco.

"I don't like to fly on brooms," she said, turning her head back to her notes. A red tint showed on her cheeks.

"What! You're a witch, well a Muggleborn witch. How can you not like to fly on brooms? That is a witches trademark," he said, chuckling.

Hermione gave a grumpy look. "I just don't, ok. I only did the necessities in Flying class. It scares me," Hermione said, wondering if she should be telling Draco Malfoy any of this.

"Maybe you just haven't had the right teacher," he said sincerely, looking to the front of the classroom.

"Oh, and is that an offer? Do you think that you, the great Draco Malfoy, can conquer my fear of flying on a broom?" she asked, giving him a doubtful look.

"Maybe I do," he said smugly.

"I bet you can't," she said smugly to him.

"I bet I can," he said, rising to the challenge.

"Are we making another bet? Remember how the last one turned out," she said, giving him a questionable look.

"No Spell-A-Bet Keepers, no stakes, no nothing. I just say I can get you to conquer your fear," he said, in a matter of fact tone.

Hermione thought about this for a few moments. She continued taking notes and thinking about the situation. She had always been scared to fly on brooms. She was scared to death of falling. It would be nice to fly with her friends. Draco was a very good flyer. They were on better terms, most of the time. She wouldn't classify him as her enemy anymore, just a prick.

"Ok. Deal," she said out of nowhere, "Lets see if you are as good as you think you are," she said sticking out her hand.

Draco gave her a quick questioning look, wondering if she had been thinking about this the whole time.

"Deal," he said, as he shook her hand.

"One thing, Granger. Try not to fall in love with me. I know how irresistible I already am. Being in a coaching position will just make me even more desirable. Not that I can get much more," he said, grinning like a Chester Cheetah.

"How can anyone be so pompous?" Hermione questioned him.

"I don't know, I just am," he said, sticking his nose in the air.

"You are dismissed," Binns said as he concluded the class.

"You make classes fly by, Granger," Draco said jokingly.

"Yes, you too," she said, as she stood to walk out with Harry and Ron.

"Ta-Ta," he said, as he stood to head back to the Slytherin Dungeon.

The trio left the classroom and made their way back to Gryffindor Tower. As they entered the common room, they saw a group of people holding a parchment. They walked up to them.

"What's that," Ron asked, eyeing the parchment.

"It's the Quidditch position results," Seamus said, giving Ron a weird look.

"Well let me see it," Ron said, trying to grab the parchment.

He succeeded and read the results.

Harry Potter: Seeker; Fred and George Weasley: Beaters; Angelina Johnson: Chaser; Ron Weasley: Chaser.

Wait. Ron looked over the parchment over and over. There it was, his name said Chaser and Ginny's said,

"Keeper? Ginny is the Keeper? How can that happen? Who decided this?" Ron said, looking at everyone in the room.

Everyone was silent, trying to avoid eye contact with him, looking at imaginary spots of interest on the walls.

Angelina spoke up, "Well," she said, giving glares to her other team members who were saying nothing, "it was the teams decision. We thought you were a really good Chaser," she finished.

"But not good at Keeper," Ron said miserably.

Harry walked up to his friend.

"I know we will win with you as a Chaser, you are really good at it," Harry said, trying to cheer his friend up.

"Yeah, I guess I am," Ron said, as he took in a breath. "Well at least she is my sister, I know Quidditch blood runs in the family. Plus now the Weasleys cover every position on the team, including you as part of the family, Harry," Ron said, as he smiled to Harry.

Harry smiled back.

Ginny walked from downstairs, with a couple of other girls. She was smiling and talking animatedly. She saw Ron and froze.

Ron walked up to her. He smiled slightly and then hugged her.

"Congratulations, I'm so proud of you," Ron said, hugging his sister.

Ginny hugged him back and grew a huge smile.

Everyone in the common room clapped and cheered.

**********

Hermione was on her way out to the empty field. Her nerves were so bad she thought she was going to vomit. Draco was teaching her how to fly today and she was scared senseless. What had she gotten herself into? She didn't tell Harry and Ron where she was going or what she was doing. They would be upset that she is getting lessons from Malfoy and not them.

Why was I getting lessons from him again? Hermione thought, walking to the clearing.

Oh yeah, it was to show everyone I can fly, plus he made it out to be challenge. Stupid Malfoy. If I get hurt then it would all be his fault. Would he care if I actually did get hurt? Maybe this was all a scheme to make me fall off the broom, her rambled thoughts were interrupted.

"Boo!" someone said, as they tapped her head from above.

"Ahh!" she screamed and jumped.

"Calm down, Granger, you won't even make it off the ground being that jumpy," Draco said, giving her a disapproving look.

"You scarred me, you idiot!" she yelled at him.

He just ignored her and landed. He walked over to her and handed her a broom. She looked at him with a questioning look.

"Well, take it. To fly on a broom you first must have the broom," he said, pushing the broom into her hand.

"This isn't jinxed is it?" she asked, giving him a suspicious look.

"I know this might be hard for you, Granger, but if I'm going to teach you to fly, you're going to have to trust me," he said, looking directly in her eyes.

"Not likely," she said, looking away.

He sighed and put a hand to his head. "Ok, you only have to trust me for these flying lessons and not at other times. Does that sound ok to you? Your worse than a Kneazle," he said, mounting his broom.

"Hey, my cat is part Kneazle, he's a very good cat," she said, looking at the floating Draco.

Draco just gave her a look that said 'I don't care'.

"Mount your broom," he ordered, from his floating position.

Hermione hesitated at first, but then did as she was told.

"Now float up to my height," he said, waiting for her to float to his level.

Hermione gave a nervous look. She sucked in a breath and made the broom float up.

"See that's not to bad, is it," he said, trying to coach her along.

"Flying is not what I'm afraid of, its falling," she said, still very nervous.

"I won't let you fall. Now come on lets move forward," he said, as his broom went forward.

Hermione followed.

The lesson was going fairly well. Hermione was getting up higher and higher. She was feeling more comfortable with the broom. Malfoy was a very good coach. He saw all of her flaws and made her correct them right away. Hermione was starting to like the feeling of flying on a broom. She wondered why she was so scared in the first place. She looked around and noticed they where really high up now, about forty feet off the ground.

"See you can fly. We need to work on your technique some more, but besides that you're not doing to bad, thanks to me," he said, proud of his coaching.

Hermione snorted and took in her surroundings. The sun was setting. It was quite beautiful. Who would have ever thought she would be watching a sunset with Malfoy.

She snickered at the thought.

"What are you laughing at over there," he asked, looking towards her.

"Nothing. Well, its kind of funny, don't you think? You, watching a sunset with me, talk about the impossible," she said, still looking at the sunset.

Malfoy flew towards her and stopped near her.

"I told you before, the impossible is for those who don't try. Besides I like sunsets. I can admire beauty you know," he said, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

Hermione swatted at him.

He chuckled slightly.

"Follow me if you can," he said, as he took off.

Hermione got determination in her eyes and followed suit. They were going faster than she ever had gone before on a broom. Up and down, in and out, all over the place and she was actually having fun. That is she was having fun until the broom jumped a little.

She had a sinking feeling. She looked down and saw that they were right over the lake. Fear took over. This felt familiar. She remembered why. The dream. She lost her balance for a split second but that was all it took as the broom slipped away. She began to fall, faster and faster. She screamed and remembered the pain, darkness, and cold water in her dream. Then those eyes, those dead eyes. She waited for the impact, waited for the dream to turn to reality, waited for death.

Draco was soaring.

Who would have thought he could have a somewhat pleasant time with Granger, his thought was interrupted by a scream.

He turned around quickly and saw Granger falling rapidly towards the lake. He grabbed his broom tightly and quickly flew to her.

He was gaining.

She had her eyes closed.

He was almost there.

Reaching out he finally caught her.

His skill in Quidditch did prove to be useful after all.

He saw that Granger still had her eyes closed tightly, tears leaking out of the side. He said the first thing that came to mind.

"I told you I wouldn't let you fall," he said softly.

Hermione peeked one of her eyes open. She was in Malfoy's arms, on his broom, slowly flying to the ground. She calmed her rapid breathing, taking in a deep breath of relief.

They landed and he put her down.

Hermione looked deep into his eyes. For the first time in her life she saw no malice, no hatred, or any loathing coming from his gray orbs.

His eyes mirrored the eyes that she looked upon everyday, Harry and Ron, her friends. His held, at this moment, the same compassion that their eyes did. The eyes are suppose to be a window to the soul. For all the times that Malfoy's soul seemed to be pure evil, this one glimpse, looking into his eyes, showed it wasn't.

"Well I guess you have my trust now," she said, as she looked thankfully up to him, "But only for flying lessons," she added, with a smile.

He smiled one of his rare smiles back and said, "Of course."

He looked at her and gave a curious face. "Do you want to tell me what happened?" he asked.

Hermione shuffled her feet some and looked down to the ground, almost how a little child would react.

"I keep having this dream. It scares me. I have had it for so long now. There is this blinding green light. People are dead on the ground. Then I fall into darkness. It turns into cold rushing water. There is no way out and I can't breath. Finally this woman is coming towards me. She is dead with awful dead eyes. She is reaching out a hand towards me. Then I wake up," Hermione finished, looking at Draco, with disturbed eyes.

Draco gave her a questioning look.

"Lavender said it might be a premonition of something to come. I really don't believe in that, but falling towards the lake made me think of the dream," she continued, looking back to the ground.

"Dreams are powerful things, they can be links to the future or the past," he said, walking up to her.

"But you can't let them interfere or make you scared of the present," he said, as he handed her broom back to her that had just flew into his hand.

"Put this away for now, but you are going to practice again, ok?" he told her more than asked.

She nodded her head and smiled a little.

"Thanks. You saved me from harm twice you know," she said, as she started walking to the broom shed with him.

"Yes, but three times is the charm," he said, opening the shed door and putting their brooms in.

"I guess this makes you my hero, huh?" she asked, in a playful manner.

"Now, Ms. Granger. I expect you not to spread such vicious rumors. You of all people should know there is no such thing as a Slytherin hero. Such blasphemy could ruining my reputation," he said, in his own playful manner.

She laughed and swatted him. He of course faked injury, holding his arm in mock pain, as the two walked back to the castle.