From Dreams to Reality

Chapter 14______________________________________________________________

Draco walked through the shelves, looking at the thousands upon thousands of books that lined them, as he waited for Hermione to arrive. He entered a new section of the shelves and stopped at a shelf, which had a sign saying "Clairvoyance" hanging above it. He ran his forefinger along a line of books about visions and then to some dedicated to the subject of dreams.

He pulled several of the books off the shelves and randomly flicked through them, thinking of Hermione. He didn't find anything of great interest, though, until he opened From Dreams to Reality, a book that looked virtually new, its cover and pages well-kept and undamaged. Interested, he placed the other books back on the shelf and exited out into the open area of the large library, the book in his hands.

He took a seat at the table he and Hermione usually sat at and opened the book once more, scanning the contents page before proceeding to the first chapter: Of Clairvoyance.

The power of clairvoyance is a gift that can be either gained or learnt. Clairvoyance in dreams, however, is a gift that can only be gained naturally and can not be gained through study or practice. It is a rare power that is often passed down through bloodlines, or passed on through what they call Enchanted Inheritance (turn to page 156 for more details), or spells/curses.

Draco stopped there, becoming quickly bored. He didn't want to know how Hermione had gained this gift; he wanted to know more about its growth. Turning back to the Contents page, he ran a finger down the page and came to a stop at Chapter 5: The Growth. He flipped quickly to the page and began to read.

The power of Dream Clairvoyance can grow at varying paces. For some, the effects of the power can begin at the moment of their birth and develop slowly or come to effect later on in life (i.e. their teenage years) and develop more quickly. Either way, the effects of the gift usually begins with the occasional "Dream of Reality" which takes place either after or at the same time as the real thing. As the gift develops, the dreams become more regular and soon begin to take place before the event takes place in reality.

At times of questioning during the development of the gift of Dream Clairvoyance, you can be told through a vision if you are making the wrong choice, whether awake or asleep. Some side effects of this occurring can include unconsciousness, in which you may see your vision more elaborately and full; as well as vomiting, fits, and the highly rare and unfortunate death.

As time moves on, the development of this wonderful gift can continue in all different ways and sometimes can even just stop due to lack of power and confidence. Some find they are able to see visions and premonitions while awake as well as when they're asleep and they become able to control them better. Others find that their gift has developed to its full state in which you are able to use everything that makes up Divination: Reading tea leaves, the orb, Tarot cards etc., to a full and easy state. Others find that their gift stops developing all together at the first and main effects of Dream Clairvoyance, though they are usually able to control them...

Draco frowned. This was all very confusing and he wondered whether the book in his hands was truly reliable. He felt kind of sorry for Hermione, as she couldn't really know exactly when her gift would stop growing or where it would stop growing, for all she knew, for all Draco knew, she may very well be one of the world's greatest Diviners in years to come.

But what he'd read still hadn't answered one of his questions. Could a vision perhaps come out to be false somewhere? Could she perhaps see things that may not happen and yet the rest of the dream come out as real?

Suddenly, Draco jumped slightly. It seemed that the book could read minds or something similar, because as soon as that thought crossed his mind, the books pages began to fly quickly until it reached page 224: False Occurrences in Clairvoyant Dreams.

On the odd occasion, the "Seer", as you may call them, will see an odd occurrence in a dream. For example, you may be walking through a large rose garden and sit down to talk to the one you fold intimate feelings for and end up kissing. When it happens in reality, you may be doing exactly the same, but you never end up kissing the person. This occurs because your mind, feelings and heart can have an effect on your dreams - vision or not. You might want to kiss them, but then, when it does really happen, you don't, because you either don't feel its right, or your scared, or you feel the other doesn't want it. Ordinary dreams and wishes can co-inside with clairvoyant dreams, so the vision is not entirely real.

Draco raised an eyebrow and nodded to himself. That made sense. Closing the book, he looked down at his wristwatch and sighed. Hermione was nearly ten minutes late. Where was she? His question was answered almost immediately as the doors of the library swung open and Hermione entered, looking slightly flushed in the cheeks and breathing deeply as though she had ran here. She hurried over to his table and sat down.

"I'm really sorry I'm late. I would've been here much earlier if Professor Dumbledore hadn't interjected me," she said, catching her breath. "He took me to his office so we could talk about all the precautions he's put into place because of your father. He's informed the Ministry of Magic about the whole situations and they're organising a whole bunch of things. Professor Flitwick has enchanted the doors to recognise your father, like they did with Sirius back in our third year, so he won't be able to get in through there. Dumbledore also said something about security trolls and alarm pixies. They've also fixed spells and charms on the windows and the suits of armour have been enchanted to attack him if he does enter the castle."

Draco nodded and began to pull out all the things they needed to work on their Potions assignment, which was only half done and due in less than a week. Almost immediately Hermione set to work on the poster. Draco highly admired her enthusiasm when it came to her schoolwork and watched her for a couple of minutes before starting to do some as well. They hardly ever spoke and by the time the clock at the far side of the library said five to nine, they were nearly almost finished the theory part of the project.

"I think we only need to meet here again tomorrow afternoon for an hour or so and we'll have it done," Hermione said, as they walked out of the library and headed in the direction of the staircase.

They stopped when the reached the marble landing and faced each other. "What time do you reckon, then?" Draco asked with a sigh. Hermione smiled.

"How about straight after lunch?" she suggested, looking up at him. "That'll give us plenty of time." Draco nodded, staring down into her brown eyes.

"What does Pot-" He stopped in mid-word and looked around at the corridor behind them, frowning. He could've sworn he had head footsteps. Turning back to Hermione, a frown on his face, he looked into her eyes again. "What does Potter think about us spending so much time together?" he asked, curious.

Hermione bit her lip. She had yet to tell him about what she had realised and told Harry and what was going on with the two of them now in an attempt to make everything slow down a notch. Draco, however, kept bringing him up, as though he wanted her to say something along the same lines as she had said to Harry. She couldn't bare it, though. She wasn't ready to discuss her newly found prophecy to him.

"Oh, he's - errr - acting the same as he has been all the time, lately," she lied with a shrug. "Extremely jealous."

Draco frowned and nodded. He could tell she didn't want to talk much on the subject of Harry Potter, and inwardly and very vaguely wondered why. "Well, anyway, I should be -" He stopped again as he heard the same, slow footsteps heading down the corridor. He turned his head around again and looked around, just in time to see a door some fifty metres down the corridor close.

Looking around at Hermione, who was watching the scene closely, Draco began to edge towards the door, curious as to know who had entered the room. He heard Hermione following close behind him, but didn't care. Coming to a stop in front of the door, he noticed that it was no more then a deserted classroom. Frowning deeply, he turned the doorknob and slowly and carefully opened the door, Hermione now standing right behind him.

The room was silent and empty, nothing but dust within it.

Frowning even deeper, Draco turned to look at Hermione, who was breathing slightly deeper than usual, her eyes scanning the room carefully as she bit on her lower lip. She didn't express the thought that was running through her mind to Draco, but as they moved away from the door, she wondered if Harry had in fact been spying on her and Draco under his Invisibility Cloak and decided to hide in a classroom before they left. Or perhaps it was someone other than Harry...

> * <

Charmina Vane, a young woman in her mid-twenties, walked slowly through the eerily dark and quiet graveyard. The only sound that could be heard was the sound of her sobs as she had just visited the graves of her dead twin daughters Lyarlee and Hannah. She rounded a corner into a different isle, towards a large, stone angel at the end of it. She wiped her eyes on a flowery handkerchief, trying to rid them of her tears and blew her nose.

She froze in the one place as she heard the shuffle of feet and the dragging of a cloak along dirt. Looking ahead in the dark, she pulled her wand from the inside of her scarlet robes and raised it with a shaking hand. She took slow steps forward to where she had heard the sounds, willing herself to be as calm as it was possible to be in a situation like this. She neared the stone angel, her eyes and ears alert, though it was hard to see through the darkness.

"Lumos," she whispered. The end of her wand lit, sending a narrow beam of light over the dry, dusty dirt, the yellowing grass and the old, cracked gravestones, her heart beating three times faster than its usual pace.

Suddenly, her breath caught in her chest, as a tall, dark, cloaked figure casually walked out from behind the stone angel, a cruel, evil smile on his shapeless mouth. His eyes glowed bright red in the dim light and Charmina froze where she stood.

Voldemort raised his wand with a chillingly steady hand and pointed it at Charmina's chest. "Avada Kedavra!" he shouted into the strangled and eerie silence. Charmina Vane fell to the ground, her limp body causing an odd thump on the dusty ground. She lay there dead, with her eyes wide with shock, fright and fear.

Voldemort stood, his wand still raised, looking both satisfied and triumphant. After a moment, his face split into an evil grin and the numb silence was filled with his heartless, selfish and highly cruel and evil laugh, as horrible as it was.

Hermione sat bolt upright on the couch, a cold sweat trickling down her forehead and her breathing heavy and harsh. She looked around her, making sure that she truly wasn't in a deserted graveyard, with no Voldemort laughing with an innocent young woman dead at his feet and saw, to her relief, the dark surroundings of the Gryffindor common room.

She ran her hand through her messy hair and looked down at herself. She was still wearing the pale blue skirt and white top she had worn during the day, not having had the chance to go upstairs to her dormitory to change into her night things before she had fallen asleep. She looked up into the dying fire and sighed. She had to tell someone about her dream. That woman - Charmina Vane - was in danger. But whom should she tell? She knew Dumbledore should be her first choice, but he was probably asleep and she didn't feel confident enough to wake him.

Draco, she told herself. She'd tell Draco and then, maybe, see Dumbledore in the morning.

Standing up, she headed straight to the portrait and climbed on through and out into the corridors, fortunately not waking the Fat Lady in her process. She crept along the corridors and down the stairs, keeping well into the shadows as a precaution not to be seen by anyone taking a midnight walk. She successfully descended the last marble step of the staircase into the Entrance Hall and hurried off towards the entrance to the dungeons. She walked quietly through the dimly lit and cold corridors until she came to the familiar silver and green torches. Standing in front of the wall between them, she greatly hoped the password hadn't been changed.

"Schlange," she whispered. Almost immediately, the wall before her split in two and she entered the cold, stone dungeon that was the Slytherin common room. She headed across it to the staircase on the left and headed up it. She came to a halt in front of the door with the plaque that read "Seventh year" and turned the doorknob. She entered the dark room with caution, only to hear the sound of shuffling feet coming from a far corner. Looking over carefully, she saw a head of silver-blonde hair shimmering with the light from the moon coming in from the open window close by.

She smiled weakly, glad that Draco was the one awake, not one of his dorm-mates. He was sitting on the edge of his bed, still in his day clothes. She entered the room fully, closing the door quietly behind her. She headed quietly over to Draco, who, noticing that something was wrong, stood up immediately and stood directly in front of her.

She suddenly became aware that she was trembling on the spot as she looked up into Draco caring and worried eyes. He bent down slightly and let his lips rest on hers for a moment in an attempt to calm her. "Another dream?" he asked quietly.

Hermione froze ever so slightly as these words exited his mouth, struck with the sudden feeling of déjàvu. This was much too familiar to her...

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Author Notes: Chapter 14 for you, my wonderful readers!!! I really hope you enjoyed and please, please REVIEW!!!

HUMMUNGONORMUS thanks to my beta-readers Samantha and stephanie!!! Your help and time is greatly appreciated! Also, big thanks to my helpful friend Orla-Destiny, whoakes time off her Net Surfing to put up the review forums for me as I'm much too lazy to do it my self! Check out her fic When Enemies Interact - it's a wonderful D/Hr fic that makes you just want MORE at the end of the final chapter! Brilliant, though!

Next chapter: A boy, a girl, a bed, a whole bunch of feelings, a realisation, an evil father and some very evident excitement! I won't give away too much, but fluff awaits!!! It's not far away!!!

> Fiery Punk Princess <