A Different Type of Dream

Chapter One : Hands

Harry stumped to the couch, dragging a very angry looking Cordelia with him. He was silently praying that her anger wasn't directed towards him.

"What're you doing here, Corner? Chang? Don't you two have some corner to be snogging in?" Harry asked acidly. He didn't particular care if they were knocking booties on Madame Pince's desk - he wanted them gone. Cordelia was getting whiter by the second, and that was never a good sign.

"Really, Potter, I thought you might have matured a bit," replied Corner smoothly. Cho smoothed her hair back and gave Harry and Cordelia's flat a searching look. Her lip curled in distaste at the clutter everywhere. "We're here because Minister Fudge sent us looking for you. We've been searching for a year and a half.. you led on us on quite a hunt," stated Corner. "But we found you, and now you're coming back."

"Like hell he is," muttered Cordelia. She squeezed his hand once, then let go and went toe-to-toe with Corner. He smiled with a smile that had disarmed - and -disrobed - many a girl at Hogwarts. "Yes, pet?" he asked sweetly.

The next sounds out of his mouth were something along the lines of "ahruimplebaaahh" as Cordelia punched him full force in the gut. He keeled over, out of breath, as Cho stood there, horrified. Harry summoned all of his will to not laugh. Wolfish and wild, indeed. The breeze was coming in steadily now, blowing Cordelia's mad, sleep-wavy hair all over her face. The she-wolf was out for blood. She was now as white as a sheet, ready and willing to pounce and kill the next person who approached her.

"Cordy.. Cordy..CORDY!" Harry yelled. Cordelia whipped her head to look at him, breathing deeply and raggedly. Harry was unnerved, but continued. "Calm down, Cordy. Sit down." She obeyed, still fierce-eyed and wild haired. Cho gingerly scooped Corner up, shooting looks of rage that would have killed an elephant in its tracks. Cordelia just glared right back.

Harry cleared his throat. "I repeat, Corner, why are you here? And just for clarification, why did destroy the door to my flat at three - " Harry looked at the clock on the side table - "23 in the morning? I assume that it wasn't to borrow a cup of sugar for tea." Corner had the good grace to turn red, but Cho had no such ideas of tact.

"As Micheal was saying, Minister Fudge is tracking you down. He only told us it was important. We need to leave ASAP." She flipped her hair. Cordelia rolled her eyes. Harry suppressed another snigger. He yawned and rubbed his sandy eyes. Cordelia was still shooting angry looks at Corner and Cho, but Harry could tell that she was starting to nod off again. After pulling out his wand again and repairing the door, he turned to tell Corner and Cho that he was bloody well not leaving right this instant, as he had class and work tomorrow, and anyways, that he wasn't interested in re-joining the Wizarding World just yet. He also wanted a chance to privately talk to Cordy, tell her what was going on. He felt so guilty about putting her in this situation, and all she had done was jump to his defense.

"Come on Potter," groused Corner, "we have to go. Fudge is waiting for us, and - "

"I DON'T CARE!!" screamed Harry. "I DON'T CARE TWO KNUTS ABOUT WHAT FUDGE WANTS! HE CAN'T MAKE ME GO ANYWHERE WHEN I HAVEN'T DONE ONE BLOODY THING WRONG! I'M NOT GOING! I'M NOT - " Harry realized that he had potentially woken up half of the apartment complex. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Cordelia start to fall out of her chair as she dozed off. He ran over and caught her on her way down. He continued his attempts to Avada Kedavra Corner using sheer willpower while pulling up Cordelia, who murmured, "No, Ma, I don't like spaghetti," while rolling around in her sleep.

"Fudge can make you come there, Harry. You're still part of the Wizarding World, and he has the right to recall any Wizard or Witch in Britannia. Come on, Harry, don't make this any harder that it is. Do you think I like doing this?" queried Cho. Harry had the feeling that she did.

Harry simply shook his head. "I can leave on Saturday, as long as my boss lets me off of work. I need time to explain this to Cordelia, and I need time to think," and maybe get out of this mess, he thought to himself. He had no idea how he was going to explain this to Cordy, or what he would tell his boss in order to get the weekend free.

"We can take care of that, Harry," smirked Cho. "We've permission to use Obliviate on anyone - " Harry cut her off loudly. "NO, Cho. No obliviating. I will leave Friday Night, and not ONE SECOND BEFOREHAND."

"To hell with this," snarled Michael. He raised his wand to cast the Obliviation spell on Cordelia. Without thinking, Harry shot a rope out of his wand, which wrapped itself around Corner's left leg. Corner yelled as Harry flung him across the room. Harry really did try to place him on the couch; unfortunately, he missed by about a foot and slammed Corner into the wall, where he fell with a splat. Harry winced when he heard the cracking noise that accompanied Corner's fall; Michael had most definitely broken his leg. Harry wondered if he should feel bad about breaking his leg. He decided he didn't at all.

"What the hell, Harry! You don't just turn on your fellow Wizard like that!" screeched Cho, jumping over a fallen chair to Corner's side.

"Well, you also don't blast half of a flat and scare the living daylights out of your fellow Wizards either, you dumb Lady Muck!"

"Why do you care about the pikey?" she yelled. "She's just a bloody muggle! Oh, bloody hell, Harry, you really like to push it, don't you? We're under strict orders to Obliviate anyone you have close contact with." She raised her wand and cried "Obliviate!"

Harry ran across the room, ready to cast the Protego spell, hoping that he could extend it to Cordelia. Cordy's eyes opened as wide as they could go, and she automatically put her hands out to fend off the hex. What happened next was something Harry had never seen, much less anything he thought could happen.

The hex hit her hands and stopped dead. Obliviate spells are invisible, but in the way Disillusionment spells are; it's like looking through clear jelly. It strained against her hands for a few seconds, trying to reach her, before she flung her arms out as hard she could. The hex rebounded against Cordy's map of Sumeria and zoomed into the face of a groaning Michael Corner. His eyes rolled back into his head; Cho's spell would have wiped out half a year's worth of a Muggle's memory. Harry just stared at Cordelia, open mouthed.

Harry hurried over to the now rigid Cordelia. She was stiff, half hidden under her lavender blanket and oversized teddy bear. She looked at Harry , her eyes shuttered. Harry closed his eyes; Cordy's eyes reminded his of Sirius' when they clouded over like that.

"Connor?" asked Cordelia tentatively. "Connor, are you okay?" Harry's head jerked up. The tightness of her mouth showed how worried she was. She was the one who was facing two strangers with magical sticks of wood and a flatmate with one of his own, and she was worried about him. He sighed and wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

"I'll be there Friday night, Cho. And not before. But if I hear so much as a BOO from anyone in the Wizarding World, someone will have their leg sticking through their spleen. You tell Fudge that I will be there, as long as he keeps silent. Understand me?"

Cho just nodded curtly. She left, dragging a sore Michael Corner with her. Harry's shoulder's slumped, and he dragged a now limp Cordelia to the couch. He ran his hands through his hair and over his neck repeatedly. How in the name of Merlin do you explain that your best friend and flatmate is actually a wizard that saved England from total destruction and enslavement? he thought to himself.

How would he explain to her that he had lied to her from the moment he met her? And how could he tell her how sorry he was? He wasn't afraid of Cordy's wrath - he was afraid of losing his only friend left. Technically, he still had Ron and the Weasleys and all the Gryffindors, but only Hermione still owled him on a regular basis and fretted over him. Ron was too busy getting laid, Ginny was wrapped up in school.. the list went on and on. Cordy was his rock. He was hers. He didn't want to lose her.

He sat on the ground and studied her face. He knew it perfectly, but there was something different about it... it was her eyes. He had always admired her eyes. They were big, but slightly slanted, with green-grey irises. They were disconcerting, but then again, everything about Cordelia Doran Amon was disconcerting. As she drifted off, he thought about the first time they had ever revealed then stories about the families.

Cordelia's father was half-Egyptian, half Scottish, and her mother had been half-Korean, half Irish. The resulting mix was a tall girl with the palest gold skin, big eyes, and red-brown hair. She wasn't exactly pretty, but she could be entrancing. She had an odd air about her. The only thing he could think of was the way a room felt after a particularly strong spell had been cast. She always got her way; with Harry , they'd argue until she threatened to smash his skull in; in other places, a mere look from her could freeze the sun into submission. Or melt Charon. It all depended on what she needed.

Her night habits in and of themselves were weird too. She hated to sleep at night, staying up at odd hours and never getting more than three or four hours worth of sleep. Consequently, she was usually unconscious by 10 pm on Fridays and Saturdays and comatose until 10 or 11 the next morning. Harry always heard strange noises from her room; Whisperings, soft cries, Ari mewing in a worried fashion...

ARI!

Harry scrambled into the kitchen, looking for Cordelia's orange and white Tabby kitten. He found her huddled under a small step-stool in the corner, scared shitless. He picked her up, softly petting her. He walked back to the main room, placing Ari on Cordelia's stomach. Cordelia was quickly falling asleep again, but she caught Harry's arm as he stood up. She looked up at him, green gray meeting deep emerald. "Why?" she asked sadly, as if she feared his answer. just shook his head. He tentatively touched her shoulder, and she gathered him into her arms for a fierce hug. When she released him, he drew the blankets up to her chin and went to the kitchen. He needed a drink. Preferably, a strong one.

As he sat there, nursing a bottle of Grey Goose, the events of his life seemed to rush at him. He shut his eyes against the images. Padma Patil rushing a limp and bloody Rose Zeller into Madame Pomprey's infirmary, only to watch her die painfully on the table. Neville struggling to bring an unconscious Snape back into Hogwarts, only to have the earth beneath him ripped up. Hagrid howling in pain as he watched his brother Grawp be beaten to death. Himself being carried, bloody and broken, by a frantic Hermione. She screamed for anyone to save him, but so many in the Wizarding World were afraid to cross Voldemort that even St. Mungo's wouldn't take him. It had been by Hermione's grace alone that he had survived the Last Battle; she rented a room in the Leaky Cauldron and nursed him back to health for a week.

He remembered meeting Cordelia for the first time. Cordy sitting there, as he stared into the distance, the ghosts of his past haunting him, telling him that it was over and done with. As he sat there, feeling his soul crumple into mere ashes, she had shaken him roughly, whispering that no one would ever be able to break him. "The only person who can break a man," she said, "is himself." Cordy playing his favorite songs on the piano when his head was ready to burst. Her rosemary mint shampoo that he would secretly steal in hopes that it would actually tame his hair. Cordelia catching him filching her shampoo dressed only in boxers and teasing his chicken legs.

Ari jumped up onto the table, breaking out of his trance. He rubbed Ari's soft back. "How do I explain this to her, mate?" he asked the kitten softly. Ari just purred in sympathy. Harry's nose started to hurt, and his eyes started to burn. Why were they trying to destroy his life? He loved his life; it was perfect the way it was now. He had done everything they wanted, all they had every wanted. And now the Ministry of Magic wanted to take away his peace. Hadn't he done enough? He just wanted to be left alone; he hated being the Hero, he hated his blasted scar. He covered it every day with a concealment charm, just in case. He got contacts. He wore Muggles clothes. He had left it all behind, 17 years of hurting and loneliness. He hated it. He gripped the bottle of vodka.

Harry spluttered as he found a pair of blanket covered arms encircling his throat. Cordelia hugged his back and neck tightly. "Whatever it is, whatever happened, it's okay, Connor. It doesn't matter. It's not important."

Harry felt his tears burning across his face. He just let it go. Cordelia led him back to the couch, settling themselves in a small heap. "Tomorrow, Connor. Tomorrow, we'll talk," Cordelia mumbled, falling asleep even as she spoke the last words. Harry settled his face against hers, letting his hot tears splash down his face. He never notched that hers joined his.

A bright ray of sunshine hit Harry's face, burning his eyes. He disentangled himself from the blankets and found a bleary eyed Cordelia burning eggs on the stove top.

"Mornin', Conny. How's about some bacon?" she muttered sleepily. Harry took the pan of eggs away from her and sat her in a chair, binning the scorched eggs and placing the pan into the sink. He looked her straight in the eyes.

"Cordy, we need to talk."

Cordelia sipped her morning tea. "So talk already. And what the hell is that thing on your forehead?"

Harry was confused. Then it struck him; he'd forgotten to conceal his scar that morning! "Holy mother of pearl! Is that a scar?"

"Yeah," he mumbled. "My bloody fucking scar."

She raised an eyebrow. "So, are you going to explain just why two assholes in evening gowns and pointy hats destroyed our apartment last night? And what -" she picked up 's much battered wand and twirled it in her fingers" is this thing? What was that thing you said last night? Ak-se-o or something?"

"It's Accio, Cordy." He sighed heavily. "Cho Chang is a witch, and Michael Corner is a wizard. I am a wizard."

He waited for her shudder of revulsion, or a shriek of fear. Instead, she merely blinked, then asked, "A wizard? Like Merlin, or like that nutter on the street who claims he can raise the dead?" Harry choked on his juice. He wasn't expecting her to take this so calmly!

"Like Merlin, Cordy. Actually, Merlin's one of our most famous Wizards, if not the most famous. It's almost like a genetic thing. Most wizards have at least one wizard parent. Both of mine were wizards, but my mother had "normal" parents and my father came from a long line of wizards and witches. They passed away when I was young.. but that's neither here nor there. Essentially, we're magical people."

Cordy took a sip from her mug. Harry could see the questions flashing in her eyes, running through them. She absentmindedly swirled her drink before starting a string questions. She wanted to know exactly what a wand was, and what Obliviate was; who was Fudge? How did he know the girl? and dozens of other questions. Harry attempted to answer them all.

"So, when do you see this Fudge person?" asked Cordelia. Harry frowned; he certainly was not looking forward to that. "I'll be leaving later tonight. I'm going to call Mr. Gintaras and tell him there's been an emergency with one of my mates."

"Well, then," said Cordelia briskly, "I'd better get ready to go. I'll have to shower.. I'm sure Mary wouldn't mind watching Ari over the weekend.."

Harry spit out his juice yet again. Soon, he’d have a sticky orange table instead of a smooth plastic white one. "What? Cordy! You're not coming with me! It's too dangerous! You're a Muggles, and.."

Cordelia's eyes narrowed. "I'm a WHAT now? Hmm?"

Harry hesitated, but continued. "A Muggles. It means a non-magical person. I'm going to have to put up wards to make sure no one tries to obliviate you while I'm away. Damn.. this is going to take a while..."

"Connor James Michlam, I am going with you. No! But me no buts, Connor. No, Harry." She took a deep breath. "Harry, I am going with you. You owe me that much. I promise on a higher power that I will not tell a soul, Harry . You know I'll keep my word."

Harry slumped in his chair. He knew he wasn't going to win this battle. He nodded in acquiescence. "Alright, Cordy. You win."

"I know, dear," laughed Cordy. She started towards the bathroom, then stopped and looked back into the kitchen.

"Harry?"

No answer.

"Harry?!"

No answer.

"CONNOR!!"

"Ah, what?"

Cordelia looked immensely irritated.

"I just wanted to let you know something."

Harry knitted his brows in confusion. "What's that, Cordy?"

Cordelia rolled her eyes, muttering "Never mind," under her breath and walking into the bathroom. Two showers, one shopping trip and one cat sitter later, Harry and Cordelia stepped outside. He threw his wand arm out, summoning the Knight Bus.

"Where exactly are we going?" queried Cordelia. "The Ministry of Magic," Harry responded . "The Knight Bus is fast, but it'll still be a few hours before we get there, so you might want to take a nap." Cordelia nodded. Harry helped her onto the bus, ducking his head low and giving Cordelia the money to give to the extremely annoying bus boy. "Oh, my," muttered Cordelia as the bus lurched forward. She rested her head on 's shoulder, the both of them wondering just what in hell they had gotten themselves into.

They stepped off the bus a few hours later, arms linked. Harry escorted Cordelia into the phone booth. Just as was about to follow her, he felt something stick into his back.

"Good Lord, Potter; you've had one of the most powerful Dark Wizards in existence chasing you since birth and his followers are still out to get you, and you still leave yourself exposed? You're a bigger fool than I thought..."

Harry froze. It had been over three years since he heard that voice. Without turning around, he said, "What in the name of Merlin are you are doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing, Potter." Everything turned white, and Harry knew no more.