It Just Takes Some Time

Chapter 4: Dreams and Nightmares

The Great Hall remained silent once Ron and Ginny departed, leaving the rest of the breakfasters to their confusion. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny had just joined the Order that summer, along with Fred and George. After much pleading and debating, Mrs. Weasley had finally agreed to lower the age quota. But right now, Hermione was not so sure she still wanted to be a part of it. If what she suspected had happened, she was not so sure she would be able to handle the news on top of everything else going on in her life. But then she looked across the table at the expression on Harry's face and remembered why she had joined in the first place--to support Harry and help him save the world, like they had countless times.

Harry had similar thoughts running through his head. Before he could dwell on how afraid, confused, lost and out of place he felt, his mind drifted off, and he began daydreaming. He was sitting in Advanced Transfiguration, staring at the board while the rest of the class was talking. Harry's eyes were transfixed on McGonagall as she wrote the day's assignment. Ron and Hermione were sitting in their respective seats, both ignoring the other and trying to hide their affections. But Harry was not paying attention to them; was watching the way McGonagall's hand moved across the chalkboard. It was odd; she usually used waved her wand and the words would appear. But today was different. Today was always different. When she called for the class' attention, Harry blinked his eyes and adjusted his glasses. She told them to read the board as she sat down in her chair, pushed herself under her desk and began grading papers. Harry and the rest of the class looked up at the board and read it.

Today's assignment is as follows. You are all to decide what your most prized possession is and write it down on a slip of parchment. It can be a person or an object, but it has to be the most important thing to you. Once you have written it down, bring the parchment up to my desk, and then you can exit the classroom and prepare for your next class.

Harry was instantly reminded of the Triwizard Tournament which he had participated in two years ago. Looking at his side where Ron was already scribbling something on his parchment, Harry wondered if Ron was still his prized possession. He did not think so and wondered if his other best friend, Hermione, was. Turning to his other side, Harry saw her cover her parchment and begin writing. He never had feelings for her, the way he knew she did for Ron, but she did look beautiful at the Yule Ball back in their fourth year, and he could not pretend not to notice how attractive she had become over the years. But she was Ron's and always would be. So he bent down and took a piece of parchment out of his bag and placed in on his desk. Sighing, he sat back in his chair and closed his eyes, trying to think of what his most prized possession was. McGonagall did say it did not have to be a person and that it could be an item, so was it his firebolt? No, he cared more about Ron and Hermione than he did about his firebolt, and if they were not his prized possessions, then his firebolt definitely was not. He did have that moving picture of him and his parents that Hagrid had given him; was that his most prized possession--his parents, well, their memory that is? Or was it Hagrid, the first wizard to befriend him? Maybe it was Dumbledore? Or was it the Weasleys? Yes, that's it. The Weasleys, the family who treated him like one of their own. But he could not write all of them down; he would have to choose one. And then it hit him. Opening his eyes, Harry grabbed his quill, put it in the ink bottle and began writing. Ginevra Weasley.

After Harry brought the piece of parchment up to McGonagall's desk, smiling, he exited the classroom, but instead of entering the hallway, he found himself at the Burrow. Looking around his surroundings, Harry was getting very confused. Mrs. Weasley had her head in her hands and was hysterical on the beat-up couch in their living room, being held by Arthur Weasley, who looked like he would break down any second. But he did not know why they were so upset. Moving farther into the room, Harry saw it. There was a girl lying on the floor, very pale and motionless. She was dead. And her name was Ginny.

***

"Lemon drop," said Dumbledore when he, Ginny and Ron reached the stone gargoyles leading to the Headmaster's Office. Seeing the worried looks on Ginny's and Ron's faces, Dumbledore tried to lighten the mood by saying, "I just love those muggle candies. Would either of you like one?" Both teenagers looked at each other and nodded. Maybe the taste of something sweet would cheer them up. Unfortunately, that was not the way things turned out.

When they climbed up the stairs, Fawkes was standing on her perch, old and withering. Dumbledore sighed at her and rubbed her back. "He has been looking glum all week and should burn up soon. It is nice having him around at times like these, and he has not been very supportive."

Dumbledore had danced around the subject long enough, and Ron was getting anxious. Like Hermione, he could not wait any longer. He always felt like rubbish, especially lately, but he hated to see his cheery sister looking so down. They all sat down; Dumbledore in his seat behind his desk, and the Weasley children in the chairs conjured up in front of the desk. After they were all seated, Dumbledore handed out lemon drops, and Ron cleared his throat and began talking. "Sir, why did you ask us here? And why didn't Harry and Hermione come as well? Is someone ill?"

Again, Dumbledore sighed, but he knew he could not ignore the unfortunate news any longer. He asked Ron and Ginny there for a reason, and they deserved to know why. Even if it would kill them to know, they deserved and had to learn the truth. So he took in a deep breath and let it out. "As I'm sure you guessed, I did not ask you here so that we could chat over a couple of lemon drops. There is a real reason as to why I did not ask your friends to join you. This is because there has been a death in your family..."

Ron could not believe what he was hearing. He felt his blood turn cold and his heart race. The lemon drop in his mouth tasted even sourer. Someone in his family died? How could this happen? Pitter patter First, Hermione broke up with him, and now this? Why was all of this happening to him? Pitter patter Shouldn't Harry be the one with the problems? Before Ron could continue with his nervous breakdown, Professor McGonagall burst into the Office looking extremely concerned and spoke with urgency. "Albus, something has happened to Mr. Potter. We need you in the Great Hall immediately." Professor Dumbledore stood up very quickly and motioned for Ron and Ginny to follow him out of the Tower. When they reached the door, Fawkes turned to ash, just like the mystery Weasley.

***

"Harry! Harry! Please, get up, Harry! HARRY!" Hermione and the rest of the professors were standing over Harry, and Hermione was shaking him over and over to try and bring him back to consciousness. When her efforts seemed fruitless, Madam Pomfrey took out her wand and said the Enervate spell to revive him. Harry began shaking and vomited all over the floor of the Great Hall. Hermione cried out his name and began crying as Professor McGonagall, Headmaster Dumbledore, Ron and Ginny rushed over to Harry's side.

Thankfully, Dumbledore knew just what to do, and Harry was awakened. When he opened his eyes, Hermione threw her arms around him and gave him a great big hug. It was a nice gesture, but it made him feel sort of uncomfortable, what with the rancid taste in his mouth. So he just lay there until Hermione let go of him, blushing. Harry looked around at the people staring over him, and his eyes scanned the crowd. They went from Professor Snape to Madam Pomfrey, Hermione, Ginny, Ron, Professfor McGonagall and Headmaster Dumbledore, where they stopped. Dumbledore and Harry met each other's gaze for a very long moment where their eyes spoke in a language that only the two of them understood. But the rest of them deserved to hear what they were communicating, so Dumbledore spoke up. "Harry, what happened? Did you have another vision?"

Harry was afraid to answer. Even after everything that happened with Sirius, he did not really take Occlumency seriously. Whenever he did sleep, closing his mind was not something he remembered to do, so there was always the chance that Voldemort would make a guest appearance, like he had two times the year before and had that morning. But he could not avoid Dumbledore, especially with him staring at him like that. So he closed his eyes and nodded.

"I thought that you've been practicing Occlumency." Dumbledore's patients were running low. It seemed like Harry did not care about shielding his mind, fulfilling the prophecy or fighting this war anymore. "With everything that happened last June, I would expect you to take this more seriously. I thought that if Professor Snape and I helped you with Occlumency that you would get it. So why are you not putting in the effort and closing your mind every night before you fall asleep?"

This was the edge, and Harry had been pushed over. For so long, he had withdrawn from his friends and the people who cared about him because he was afraid that they would be killed like Sirius. But he had to talk, and this was as good a time as any. "You don't understand! No one understands! I try to sleep, and most of the time, I can't because of the nightmares I have. This was the first time they were caused by Voldemort in a long time, but the nightmares I dream are just as terrible. They make Ron stay up, and then he has dreams of his own. None of us can sleep, not even Hermione, and I am sure that Ginny is not sleeping like a baby. So when I actually do get some sleep, closing my mind is not the first thing that I think to do, even if it should be. But I usually just try to sleep, and if I do, I think of how lucky I am to escape this screwed up world for however long I get, not about practicing Occlumency. I am sorry, but that is the truth."

Snape looked away and scoffed so quiet that no one could hear. He did not understand why Potter always had to attract so much attention. He was such a drama queen, making him hate Harry even more. But the rest of the staff did not seem to agree. Madam Pomfrey stroked his sweat-covered forehead and sighed. Even strong Professor McGonagall grew tears in her eyes. And Professor Dumbledore finally understood. He knew about the sleeping patterns of the four children, no matter how hard Hermione tried to hide her sleep deprivation, he sensed it. And Harry and Ron were not capable of fooling anyone into believing that they slept normally. They got close to no sleep every night. This is why the potion was made special for the three of them, but Albus Dumbledore never really comprehended this, that is, until now. "Don't be sorry, Harry. And I do understand. I did not before, but I do now. But we need to make some sort of compromise. Why don't the three of you, Professor Snape and I work on a special potion that won't be damaging to take every night so that you can sleep normally? And I am sorry for not realizing sooner that Occlumency is not the first thing you think of when you fall asleep. But I would like to increase our sessions to daily until it become a natural habit for you because it is extremely important that you close your mind upon sleeping, especially this late in the game." Harry nodded and made a weak smile.

"Now that we have that taken care of, can you tell us what happened in your dream?"

Harry was afraid that Dumbledore would ask this. He knew it was an inevitable question, but he was not sure how comfortable he was about recounting it in front of this specific company. Then again, now was as good a time as any to tell Ginny how he felt about her, and Ron would be unhappy no matter when he found out, so he might as well get it over with. If Harry was lucky, maybe Ron would be easy on him, given the situation and circumstances. So Harry took a deep breath and began telling the seven people what had happened during his dream...slash nightmare.

"Thank you, Harry," said Professor Dumbledore once Harry finished retelling the details of his dream. "I have a better grip on Voldemort's intentions now, but I will still need to decipher the vision in its entirety. So I will get back to you once I have finished." He looked at all of their nodding faces and continued. "We have all been through a lot this morning, so the four of you can take off for the day. I am going to go to my Office and get ready for my first Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson; I begin my day with First Years. Good day. And I will see you at all lunch." Tipping his hat, Dumbledore started towards the door but turned around and addressed Ron and Ginny. "We will finish our discussion after lunch, if that is alright with you. I do not wish to overwhelm all of you at once. You have been through enough for one morning." Before waiting for an answer, he tipped his hat again and exited the Great Hall.

One by one, the remaining professors departed from the Hall, leaving the four teenagers alone. No one said a word or looked at anyone else. The silence was deafening, and they all had so many things to ask each other. What had Dumbledore told Ron and Ginny? Did Harry really fancy Ginny? Did Ginny still feel the same? How would Ron react to this? Was Hermione really hiding her true feelings from Ron, or was she actually over him? Why was she was hiding her lack of sleep from Ron and Harry? Would Hermione ever tell Ron and Harry why she broke up with Ron? Before Harry, Ron or Hermione had a chance to ask their questions, Ginny piped up.

She made firm eye contact with Harry and asked, "Tell me the truth, Harry, because there have been enough lies going around this place. Do you really fancy me?"

Like he said before, there is no time like the present. Nodding, Harry said, "Yes, Ginny, I do."

Her face lit up, and she threw her arms around him and grinned. On any given day, Ron would have yanked her off of him, but he did not have the heart to do to them what Hermione had done to him. One heart broken was more than enough, as far as he was concerned.

But he did not have to enjoy it. "Despite how lovely this is, I think I'll go back to the Tower and get drunk," he said, kicking over his chair and marching all the way up to Gryffindor Tower.

Ginny kept her arms around Harry's neck but looked over at Hermione and motioned for her to follow Ron. Hermione wanted to go after him, but she was afraid of what would happen if she did, so she crossed her arms and looked the other way.

Turning to Harry, Ginny smiled. "Could you excuse me for one moment, Harry? I just need to tell Hermione something before she leaves." Before allowing him to answer, Ginny jumped up and walked over to Hermione and grabbed her arm without stopping until they were out in the hallway.

"What do you think you're doing, Ginny?" asked Hermione, shaking Ginny off of her arm and attempting to open the door separating her from the Great Hall with it's white and comforting walls.

"What do you think you're doing, Hermione?" rebutted Ginny. "How can you watch Ron leave without going after him? I know you want to follow him, so why won't you? Why do you always run from love? Why don't you embrace it? Everything happens for a reason, Hermione, everything. So why don't you follow him?"

Did she always have to do this to her? Why couldn't she just get off her back for once? Just this once, why couldn't Ginny forget about Hermione and go on with her own life. Then again, that wasn't what she wanted either. The truth was that she didn't know what she wanted. And that was the whole problem. It was like she was living a nightmare. Starting out like a nice dream but quickly transforming into a full-blown nightmare that she knew she couldn't get out of. Again, that wasn't the truth either. There were two roads in front of her. She could storm through those doors and forget about what Ginny said. Of course, Ginny would probably murder her if she did not follow him, but Hermione was stubborn too. Or she could do what Ginny instructed and follow Ron up to Gryffindor Tower and meet her fate.

Sighing, she nodded and walked all the way up to Gryffindor Tower. On her way up to the Tower, Hermione tried to picture the next chapter in her nightmare. What would happen? Would Ron be drinking like he had been for the past couple of weeks? Would he be rude like he was this morning? Had he no intention to say a word to her? That's right. She would walk past him and ignore him. In some respect, she was successful. But she did not have the chance to ignore him since he wasn't even there.