The Jazz Singer

Authors Notes: Hey everyone! A big thankyou goes out to my beta, Melissa, for reading this. Thanks heaps! You're a legend!

"I've had enough trouble for a lifetime."

The young woman standing next to the speaker silently agreed with this assessment. She was exhausted. She was only half-listening as the man finished his conversation with the portrait on the wall, and barely suppressed a yawn behind her hand.

Finally, the young man finished his conversation and the three of them - her, the boy with the black hair, and a tall boy with red hair and freckles - moved out of the room.

As the door swung shut behind them, she turned to her companions.

"I'm exhausted. I think I'm going to turn in."

"Me too," said the boy with the red hair. He leant over and kissed her on the cheek. She felt her cheek burn, and saw the black-haired boy look away in embarrassment. She smiled and, with a sudden compulsion, threw her arms around both of the boys, who immediately choked and began to babble incoherently.

"I'm so proud," she whispered. "Of all of us."

The boys stopped resisting, and she felt two pairs of arms encircle her as their impromptu hug persisted.

"We made it," she continued. "We've really done it. It's all over."

"It's all over," the black-haired boy agreed, breaking their hug, his startlingly green eyes over-bright.

She nodded, feeling choked up herself, and wiped away the moisture at the corner of her eyes.

"Uh - well..." The boy with the fiery hair cleared his throat. "Should we get to bed, then? It's pretty late...or early, depending on how you look at it."

The other boy nodded, and the trio began to make their way down the deserted passageways and to an old portrait of a very large lady in a frilly pink dress. She beamed down at them.

"Oh, excellent work! Excellent!" And the portrait swung forwards to reveal a hole in the wall.

"Aren't you going to ask us the password?" asked the red-haired boy incredulously. She nudged him.

"Ron! Don't look a gift-horse in the mouth!"

He just grinned at her as, one by one, they clambered through the hole and into a large common room. She noted that it was mercifully empty.

"Well," said the boy with the jet-black hair, turning to them. "I'm off. Night."

With that, he turned and moved away towards a set of stairs, but not before she swore she saw him give the red-haired boy a quick wink. She turned to him.

"Well." The copper-headed boy cleared him throat. "Well, then..."

But his words were cut short as she launched herself at him, pressing her lips over his own. He caught her weight, startled. He soon recovered his senses, though, and began to kiss her back.

It was wonderful. She was able to lose herself in the moment, and everything that had happened before just seemed to disappear as she took in the sensation of his lips on hers, his hands around her waist, and the smell of his cologne made her slightly light-headed.

Things would have gone much farther than she had intended had someone not decided to clear their throat at that exact moment. The two of them broke apart quickly and looked around.

A tall man was standing at the opening to the portrait hole, looking extremely amused.

"Bill!" said the red-haired boy. "I - uh - I..."

"Mum sent me to check on you," said Bill, whose hair was as red as the boy she'd just been kissing. "But, obviously, you two are fine."

His smirk widened, and the boy next to her blushed deeply, his face turning a deep pink. She herself felt rather hot, and looked down at her shoes.

"Look at the time!" Her eyes darted around the room and then quickly to her watch. "I'm exhausted. I think I'm going to go to..." She gestured to another set of stairs at the other end of the room, and the redheaded boy nodded.

"All right. 'Night." He leaned over and pecked her on her cheek, and she gave him a brilliant smile. In the corner, Bill sniggered, and the red-haired boy shot him a filthy look.

"Goodnight. 'Night, Bill."

Bill waved in farewell as she made her way to the stairs at the far end of the room and began to climb them.

Her thoughts were tumbling around her head as she stepped into her dorm room. It looked just the same as it had before she'd left. It, too, was empty, save a lone figure standing in the middle of the room.

She stopped dead in her tracks as the person surveyed her. It was difficult to tell if it was a male or a female as they wore a long, hooded cloak. She felt a slight panic well in her chest as she took in the person standing before her.

"Who are you?" she demanded loudly.

The person didn't respond, and she reached for her wand, pointing it at the intruder.

"I said - who are you?"

The figure was silent for a moment more, and then, with a speed she didn't think was possible, pulled out their own wand.

She had no time to react. She was thrown across the room as the person flicked their wand. She crashed into the wardrobe and slid to the floor with a thud.

Feeling dazed and as if she'd broken more than a few bones, she sat stunned for a moment before coming to her senses. Grabbing her wand, she aimed it at the intruder.

"Protego!"

The intruder's spell bounced harmlessly off the shield she'd just erected. She raised her wand again.

"Expelliarmus!"

The intruder flicked their own wand, and the spell rebounded, narrowly missing her as she ducked.

"Expelliarmus!"

Again, she had no time to react. Her own wand flew out of her hands and she barely had time to register that it was a female's voice that had issued from under the hood, before the intruder was upon her. The wand was raised again, and she struck out blindly with her foot, connecting with the intruders shin. The intruder gave a grunt of pain and fell to the floor, clutching their leg.

"HELP!" she yelled at the top of her lungs as her opponent tried to recover. "HELP! I'm being attacked!"

The intruder finally struggled to their feet and pointed their wand at her again.

She tried to open her mouth to call out again, but found that her voice was gone. Scrambling desperately for the exit, she tried to find her wand with a non-verbal spell, but it was useless. The intruder's own non-verbal spells were just coming at her too quickly.

She made a lunge for the door, but suddenly felt her feet leave the floor as she was sent flying across the room again, landing painfully on her back in the middle of the room. She lay stunned, the wind knocked out of her and quite unable to move as the intruder approached her again, their wand raised, their eyes glittering with malice.

She stared up into the eyes, her own heart pounding painfully against her ribs, her breathing coming in great gasps, and watched silently as the intruder raised the wand one last time.

The flash of light that emanated from the end of the wand was so blinding that she lost sight of her opponent, the room, and everything else.

And then it was dark.

As she lost consciousness, she heard a high-pitched laughing that echoed around the room, reverberating against the cold walls as she fell downwards into nothingness. She heard someone calling, as if from far away.

"Hermione! Hermione!"

**********

Her eyes snapped open and she sat bolt upright, her heart beating furiously.

Looking down at herself, she realised she was drenched in a cold sweat. After a few heart stopping seconds, she let out a big breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding.

She'd been dreaming again.

"Damn," she muttered.

She kicked off the tangled sheets of her bed wiped the sweat from her brow. The sun shone weakly through the window and fell in rays onto her bedspread as dawn broke across the horizon. She stared through the frosted panes for a moment, taking in the sounds of bustling traffic and the sights of a landscape she still wasn't entirely used to.

Taking a deep, shuddering breath, she looked around the room. Everything seemed to be in order. Across the room, a little girl with white-blonde hair slept on soundly, unaware that the co-occupant of the bedroom had just had a horrible - and very strange - nightmare.

Slowly and carefully, she climbed out of bed and padded out of the room. Heading down the hallway, she followed the sound of clanging pots and pans into the kitchen, where a tall woman with messy brown hair was cooking something at the stove. As if sensing a presence, she turned.

"Hello!" the woman said brightly. "What're you doin' up? You only got home a few hours ago!"

She shrugged. "I had another nightmare," she admitted, taking a seat at the kitchen table. The woman frowned.

"Again?"

She nodded. "Again," she said, sighing. "I don't even understand what they're about. All of it's nonsense. I'm with two boys in a big room, and then we go to some sort of common room. Then I decide to go to bed, and find someone in my room. We battle, and then they manage to knock me unconscious. And then I wake up."

The woman's frown deepened as she tipped the bacon she was cooking from the frypan onto a plate. The girl at the table started suddenly, her eyes widening.

"Wait," she said. "There was something else this time...something extra..." She quickly got up from the table and approached the mirror hanging over the side table. She examined her reflection in the mirror critically. Two large eyes stared back at her under a mane of unruly and untameable bushy brown hair.

"What?" the woman asked, approaching behind her. "What is it?"

"There was an extra bit in my dream this time," said the girl, still watching her reflection. "I - I think I know what my name is."

"What?" The woman looked startled. "You know your name?"

Slowly the girl nodded.

"Well - what is it?"

The girl turned to face her gradually, face pale. "Hermione."

Authors Notes: Okay, what did you think? Please, let me know! And, if you do, I'll do a big happy-dance! *Does a little happy dance* Seriously, though - please take the time to review! It means a lot to me!