Harry Potter and the Dream of Fate

Chapter Six

*The Dream*

Harry walked into the room soundly. He figured that Ron would be in here, so he wasn’t surprised when he saw Ron sitting upright on his four poster. He looked too upright, however.

“Hey, Ron, what’s up?” he said casually.

“Nothing, nothing, have you gone for lunch yet?” Ron replied quickly.

“No,” Harry said smoothly, “you want to go now?”

“Yeah, alright.” Ron and Harry left the dormitory and quickly entered the common room. Hermione was there sitting at a table, a sandwich in one hand and her quill in another. She was completely absorbed in her arithmancy homework that she didn’t even notice Ron and Harry come down the stairs. Ron stood still a while when he reached the bottom and just stared at her, but was quickly brought back to the world when Harry made themselves known.

“Hey Hermione,” he greeted her, “what are you up to?”

“Homework, I completely forgot about it,” she said scribbling down complicated equations on the paper.

“Homework?” Ron asked, “We haven’t even started classes yet!”

“Yes, well, I forgot about something over the summer, and it’s due tomorrow!”

“You forgot?” Ron kept on pestering, “But you never forget, you,”

“Will you please stop bothering me Ron!” Hermione said hotly as she gathered her things and shoved them into her book bag, leaving her sandwich forgotten on the table.

“Hermione, wait, where are you going?” Ron asked her concerned.

“Somewhere other than here,” she responded.

“No, don’t leave, I’m sorry, I won’t bother you,” he pleaded. She gave him a surprised look.

“You’re sorry?” she asked him, apparently confused. “Since when have you ever been sorry?” she said this trying to be nice, but the attitude showed up just the same.

“Since now,” he said quietly.

“Okay, you’re forgiven.” Hermione said politely. Harry was just off watching from a distance. He glanced around the room, and noticed that something was missing. He decided to approach Ron and Hermione after all.

“Hey Hermione,” Harry began, “where’s Persephone?”

“Oh, she went straight to the dormitories when she came in, said something about a headache or something, I think she’s taking a nap,” Hermione explained.

“Oh, okay, then I have to tell you guys about the Dark Arts teacher,” Harry said.

“Dark Arts teacher?” Ron questioned, “You’ve already seen them?”

“Yes, me and Persephone,” Harry replied, “and for some reason my scar started burning, I felt like it was some Death-Eater or something.”

“But that’s impossible, right?” Hermione piped in, “Dumbledore would know, of course he would know,”

“Not necessarily, Hermione,” Harry advised. “Remember Moody? He was practically a Death-Eater.” Hermione’s eyes widened, and he could tell she was worrying. “Hermione, come on,” Harry put a hand on her shoulder, “I can handle whatever it is, and you’re right, Dumbledore would know.”

Hermione nodded, but her expression hardly changed. Ron and Harry went down for lunch and she stayed in the common room, insisting that she still had homework to do. Homework, Ron had been right, she never forgets about homework. If they only knew what she was up to, if they only knew.

* * * * * * * * * *

Persephone laid there, on her own bed. Hermione had shown her when they came back and it was absolutely lovely. She used to sleep on the floor, maybe a bench. She had considered herself royalty when she found a lump of hay in Hagrid’s hut. Now she had an actual mattress, something real solid, and dangerously warm. She would live in there if she could, too bad someone had just walked in to ruin the moment.

“Persephone?” Hermione’s voice sounded. Persephone thought she sounded a bit miffed.

“Yeah, I’m here,” she said casually.

“Oh, hi.” Hermione spotted her, “enjoying?”

“Immensely.” she said loudly.

“Okay, well it’s time to get up!” Hermione motioned, pulling on Persephone’s robes.

“Get up for what?” Persephone protested, “There’s no classes.”

“Yes, well you have to get ready for them, come on!” Hermione took Persephone’s hand and tossed her out of bed. Then, she led her to dormitories’ bathroom and shoved her in. “You see,” she said mildly, “you’re going to take a long, hot bath to wash away all of that grime,”

“Grime!” Persephone objected, “I am not grimy!”

“Well, then, you need it for stress. Along the side there you’ll find all of the scented oils. There’s a bathrobe in the corner there, when your finished. I’ll be right outside the door when your ready.” Hermione finished her sentence, and before another word could be muttered, she opened the double doors, and left. Persephone just stood there, flabbergasted. She then turned herself to the oils and twisted one of the handles of the massive gold faucet. She grabbed about 5 different bottles and tested each one in the water, until she found an absolutely mesmerizing combination.

Soon after, when the bath tub was practically overflowing with bubbles, Persephone lowered herself in. It was so comfortable. She soaked there for about 20 minutes, and then completely dunked her head into the water, in order to give her hair a proper scrub. After about an hour, the water was still steaming, she decided to let herself out. She pulled out the bathrobe, and put it on, and wrapped her hair in a velvety soft towel. She then knocked on the door twice to signal Hermione that she was ready and stepped out. To her satisfaction, no one but Hermione was there.

“Ah, that is much better!” Hermione exclaimed, “Now let’s get you dressed.” They headed up to the dormitories once again, and picked out a stellar new outfit for Persephone to wear. It was a new pair of blue jeans and a pink turtleneck sweater that complimented her dark black hair very well.

“Can I wear this to dinner? I mean, don’t I have to wear robes?” Persephone asked.

“Well, classes haven’t started yet, so I’m sure you can wear this. Harry and Ron wear regular clothes too.”

“Oh, ok.”

“Now, for your hair,” Hermione mentioned, and pulled the towel off of it. “it’s already straight, it just needs to dry.” She took out her wand and muttered a few magical words and a whirlwind of warm air surrounded Persephone’s head. It stopped afterward, and Persephone’s hair was completely dry.

“Oh, wow!” Persephone said to Hermione, as she saw her lovely hair.

After getting Persephone pressed and dressed and properly groomed, it was quite a sight. Her hair was very shiny and soft, and her figure was flattering. She did clean up quite well. Hermione stood back, after the final touch of lip gloss and smiled. “Well?” Persephone asked her.

“Absolutely perfect! Draco Malfoy will have to eat his tongue!” she squealed, and the two girls headed to the common room.

* * * * * * * * * *

The common room was abuzz, since it was the last day before classes began. Fred and George Weasley were testing out new pranks, Collin and Dennis Creevey were busy finding new ways to change wizard pictures, and two first year girls were having a fascinating conversation.

“Hey Michelle,” Sarah said slyly, “you wanna know what I did over the summer?”

“What?” Michelle said nonchalantly.

“I got myself a boyfriend!”

“No way!” Michelle squealed.

“Yeah, wanna see his picture?” Sarah said rummaging through her book bag.

“Of course! Is he a wizard?”

“No, I don’t think so, here,” she said brightly holding out a small picture of a tall blonde man with spiky hair and blue eyes. “His name is Ingo, isn’t he gorgeous!”

“Yes, but he looks familiar..” Michelle inquired looking at the picture.

“Yeah, well, he’s got one of those faces, ya know,” Sarah said.

“I know who this is! It’s that guy from the soap opera! No way he’s your boyfriend!” Michelle bellowed, waving the picture around.

“Yeah, alright, so he is, but you know what?” Sarah admitted.

“What?”

“I still love Ingo!” The two girls broke out into laughter as Ron conquered Harry at wizard’s chess once again.

“Too bad, mate, you almost had me that time,” Ron said sarcastically.

“I’ll beat you one day, you watch!” Harry retorted, glancing down at his watch. Ron caught eye at his watch too.

“Whoa,” he breathed, “Harry, where’d you get that watch?”

“Oh, Hermione gave it to me,” Harry said as the snitch paused at 6 O’ Clock.

“She did? She gave you that?” Ron said half-heartedly.

“Yeah, for my birthday, didn’t I tell you?”

“Oh, for your birthday, no you didn’t tell me, but that’s awesome!” he said a bit more excitedly.

“Harry, Ron, hey you guys,” Hermione rushed past the crowd to their table.

“What?” They both said in unison.

“I present to you, the new and improved, Persephone!” she shoved Persephone towards them and both their jaws dropped. She gave a nervous sort of laugh because Ron and Harry weren’t the only ones that spotted her. The whole common room had gone silent.

“Um, hi,” she said softly, “I’m the new student, Persephone.” she waved at them, and cheers broke out as people patted her on the back and welcomed her to Gryffindor. When all the chaos died down, she finally concentrated on the trio. They had all collected themselves as well.

“You look really nice,” was all Harry could manage, at this complete transformation.

Ron just nodded and said “yeah,” then turned to Hermione. “You did this?” he said choking on his words.

“Yes,” Hermione said confidently, “but it wouldn’t work if she was a total hag or something.” Persephone raised an eyebrow at her, “which your not of course!” Hermione added to the ended of her sentence. They both left the common room to supper at quarter of 7.

* * * * * * * * * *

Harry laid in his bed with one of his severe cases of insomnia. He had tried to sleep several times already, but every time failed. He wasn’t scared, or nervous, or worried. “I’m just a prat.” he said to himself quietly, as not to wake the others. After a while of playing stare-at-the-ceiling, Harry’s eyelids grew heavy and sleep came to him as a blessing.

Suddenly he found himself on the Quidditch field, broom outstretched before him, a perfectly blue sky above him. Perfect for flying.

He was dreaming.

Dream-Harry mounted the broom and soared into the cloudless atmosphere above him. The wonderful sensation filled his stomach and he couldn’t help but grin from ear to ear. He decided that the Quidditch field was too small for him. He wanted to fly more, he wanted to fly everywhere. So, with one quick movement of his Firebolt he was soaring. He must have been flying for a while now, because Hogwarts was no longer in sight. No trace of familiar land was below him. He was in a strange, Technicolor world and he loved it. Zooming through trees, and tall grass and strange magical plants that you needed to dodge every once and a while, he noticed something. He heard something. It was enchanting.

It was a song, too beautiful to put to words, and all he knew was that he wanted to know where it was coming from. He felt as if he was under the Imperius curse, but he didn’t mind. He noticed he was hovering now, straining his ears to find out where it was coming from. All he wanted was to get closer, so he did.

He listened for a moment, them quickly zoomed toward the direction where the sound was coming from. Since he couldn’t hear while he was flying, due to the sound of the air whipping past his ears, he had to stop every once in a while to make sure he was on the right path. After a while of this, however, he needed not direct his broom. It was as if the sound was guiding it, perfectly, and he was just there for the ride. Slowly the broom lowered itself into the heart of a forest, and when Harry got off, he could hear the full impact of the sweet symphony. No, it was no instrument. It was a voice. Someone was singing.

He ran through the woods, crashing branches and grasses, and unsuspecting little bugs. He found a clearing, covered by a group of bushes incredibly tall. He pushed himself through the tangled stems of the plants and found himself in some sort of meadow. In the center of the meadow was a tall lilac tree, harboring a rather large rock. The tree and rock were surrounded by pink wildflowers. Sitting atop the rock, however, was a person. A girl. She was singing.

Harry ran towards her. She had her back towards him, her long, silky, black hair streaming down her back, making a puddle of what seemed like ink on the gray rock. She was wearing a lavender-colored gown, the same color as the lilacs, and the gown flowed down the sides of the rock she was perched on. Harry stopped for air, and as he gasped, the music stopped. She turned to face him.

Her face was so pale, it was glowing. Her eyes seemed as black as her hair, but Harry could tell there was brown in them. She had such a delicate face, it was as if she was made of porcelain, and her smile was the most gracious thing Harry had ever seen.

“Veela,” Harry muttered in his sleep.

She looked at him with anticipation as he approached her. Once he got close enough, he heard her voice. It was ghostly and soft, almost a whisper.

“Be you my rescuer?” she said never taking her eyes off of him.

“Your what?” Harry heard his voice say, it broke the soft tone of the atmosphere.

“Have you come to rescue me, fair sir?” she said hopefully. She then lifted the hem of her gown to reveal dark black shackles that dug deep into the rock. Her ankles were caught in them, Harry thought the shackles seemed so out of place.

“No..” Harry whispered, “I heard your song,” . She looked upon him kindly and frowned.

“Yes, it calls out to my rescuer,” she said and touched his cheek with the tips of her fingers. A shiver ran through Harry’s spine. “you heard it, you are here for me?”

Dream-Harry remembered this was a dream, perhaps it really was he who came to rescue her.

“What do I do?” he found himself asking.

“My name,” she said anxiously, “you must speak my name,”

Harry felt very stupid, for at that very moment any word that could possibly resemble a name escaped his mind, even his.

“Can I guess?” he said and thought of the first girl’s name he could think of, “perhaps, Her..”

“No!” she cried, which startled Harry for it didn’t suit her gentle nature, “You cannot guess, only one try you have. If you are truly my rescuer, you will know it.” She placed a finger on his lips, “If you do not know it, please do not speak of names.” she said softly.

Slowly Harry felt himself break away from dream-land and back to reality.

“I will come again,” he cried to her as he saw her in and out of focus, “I will come again and I will save you!”

Harry felt a slap across his face. “If you’re going to save anything, it will have to be your ass! McGonagall is going to kill you if you’re late, Harry, come on!” He felt Ron pushing him out of his bed, and he felt the fall even more.

“Alright, alright, I’m up!” he said painfully, trying to keep his dream documented in his mind. But part of it was already gone, he couldn’t even remember the girl very well, only her voice, her song. “What time is it?”

“It doesn’t matter, Harry, we’re already late for class!” Ron shouted as Harry pulled over his robes and they ran out of the room.

* * * * * * * * * *

McGonagall was truly disappointed with the boys, but she didn’t punish them, only gave them a warning. Persephone and Hermione had found their way there alright, and saved them both seats.

“Alright class, I understand this is the first day of classes, but I have already put together a quiz to test the things you have learned over the summer.” she put a button in front of each student. “You all have 10 minutes to change that button into a lock and a key, starting, now.” She took an hourglass of her desk and turned it and placed it on the table. Everyone quickly got started.

Hermione had hers done in about 20 seconds, but Harry had no idea what he was doing. However, he felt truly sorry for Persephone, she was just throwing her wand around and muttering nonsense words.

“Alakazam!” she shouted at it, and swung her wand madly. But the button didn’t even move. “This is too complicated, “ she said putting her wand down, and picked up the button in her hands. “lock, a lock and key, come on, a lock and key...” Ron stared at her absentmindedly.

“That’s not going to work you know,” he said shortly, but she just flashed a smile.

“Of course it’s going to work, I’ve seen plenty of them before,” she said happily and dropped the contents of her hands onto the table. Which turned out to be a ‘master’ lock, and matching key.

“Incredible!” Ron shouted and Harry did a double take. That was truly incredible.

“Thank you, thank you!” she said playfully, “I’ll be doing autographs in the dining hall at lunch!”

Just then she swung her head to the side, shifting her hair with it. Her neck was exposed and Harry saw something that made his jaw drop.

There was a thin lightning shape scar on the back of her neck.