More to Life

~+~

Chapter Fourteen - Christmas surprises and Library visits.

Harry Potter was tired.

He kept having the same reoccurring dream. Maybe it would vary slightly from time to time, but the same type of thing would happen. Harry would be trapped somewhere, half the time he didn't know where he just knew he was trapped. Voldemort would appear, but he didn't look like how Harry remembered him from the meeting in the Forbidden Forest.

He was human. Voldemort wasn't stuck on the back of somebody's head, he had his own body. Granted his face looked slightly skeleton-like, but he was still human. Thin black hair framed his face, which only served to give him more of a creep look. Dressed in black robes as if it was the middle of winter, he would look upon Harry with a smirk on his face, draw his wand, murmur a few words then a green light would engulf Harry's vision. That's when he would wake up.

He couldn't understand why he was dreaming of him now, a month after he had even seen Voldemort. Maybe it was just his paranoia kicking in after not hearing anything from Voldemort or his Death Eaters for the past month. Maybe Voldemort was somehow trying to get to him through dreams. Harry really had absolutely no idea.

After a week of the same dream he was really starting to get annoyed more than anything else. He'd snap at anyone who tried to ask him if he was alright. Everyone around him could tell something was wrong because Harry looked as tired as he felt.

Harry could see Draco glancing at him from the corner of his eye. He sighed. He really didn't want to keep shouting at his friends, but he couldn't help it. He couldn't snap himself out of the bad mood he seemed to be stuck in.

It didn't help that the night before he'd had another dream on top of the one he was already having.

This dream wasn't very long. All Harry saw was a shadow of something moving through the corridor at the very bottom of the changing staircases. The same corridor Dumbledore had warned everyone away from at the beginning of term. Something would shriek loudly making Harry jump awake.

Harry didn't notice that his head seemed to be getting closer and closer to the table top and his dinner plate. He felt someone jab him in the side so he shot up, blinking tiredly.

"Harry," he heard Millicent begin, "did you even sleep last night?"

"A bit," Harry mumbled.

"And a bit is?" the Slytherin girl asked.

Harry couldn't be bothered to work it out even though it wasn't much. "Went to sleep at like eleven and woke up at three. I couldn't get back to sleep after that."

"So that's four hours. No wonder you're so bloody tired," Draco remarked.

"Are you going to tell us what's keeping you awake?" Blaise asked. Somehow, Harry thought that Blaise only asked to keep himself in the conversation, but he could hear a faint interest in the words that were spoken.

"No," Harry mumbled, his head slipping from the hand he had used to prop himself up.

Draco looked at him with a 'you-will-tell-me-soon-or-later' look. "Fair enough," were the words that actually came out of his mouth.

Harry sighed once more. "I'd rather not tell the whole world about my nightmares thanks. I'll tell you later."

"Why not now?" Blaise asked.

"Because all of Hogwarts would know in the morning," Harry snapped. He groaned as his rubbed his face with his hands. "Sorry Blaise. I'm just tired."

"S'ok," Blaise mumbled as he went back to his food.

"Maybe I can steal a sleeping potion out the Hospital Wing or something?" Harry mused more to himself than anyone else.

"She'd notice," Millicent piped up. "I heard about a third year Gryffindor that tried and got caught."

"That's a Gryffindor," Draco added. "I bet a first year Slytherin could do better than a seventh year Gryffindor ever could."

"I'd like to see you try," Millicent dared with a glint in her eye.

Draco shifted in his seat. "Maybe next week sometime," he mumbled.

Millicent grinned in triumph and ate the last piece of her pie.

Harry accidentally looked at the head table and noticed Severus looking at him, a small trace of concern in his eyes. Harry dropped his fork onto his plate and stood up. His friends stared at him. "Want to find out or not?" he asked.

Draco seemed to notice why Harry had stood up so fast and rose from his seat as well, motioning Blaise and Millicent. They seemed to catch on pretty quickly. They all walked out the Great Hall and back to the Common Room.

Harry had pretty much gotten used to the seventh year Slytherins glaring at him by now. It seemed to rely up Millicent more than it did Harry himself. She'd always mutter things like 'they don't know him,' or 'they shouldn't judge before they know what it's like'. Harry had never asked what she meant because he was under the impression that he shouldn't really be listening to Millicent mumbling.

Since the boys couldn't sneak Millicent into the boy's dormitory, they settled for sitting themselves in a corner of the Common Room, away from anyone who might be eavesdropping.

Harry's friends all looked at him with expecting eyes, so Harry just sighed and told them about his dreams. How he had been having the same one all week, how he was always trapped with Voldemort and how he always saw a green light.

"Avada Kedavra," Blaise whispered. "The killing curse, you know the thing he hit you with the first time."

"That's what it's called then?" Harry asked.

Blaise nodded. "It's an unforgivable. You can get looked up in Azkaban before you blink if you use one. I suppose the Dark Lord isn't too bothered about that though."

"Maybe you keep having them because you feel trapped," Millicent suggested. "I mean, sorry to point this out to you, but he's after killing you isn't he? Maybe you feel trapped by it or something. I can't say I'm not surprised."

Harry blinked. A slow smile appeared on his face. "Thanks Millie, you've just made me feel a hell of a lot better."

Millicent looked puzzled. "I did?"

"She did?" Draco asked. "I'd have been depressed if she had said that to me."

"At least it's not Voldemort planting dreams in my mind or something like that," Harry said.

"He's got a point," Blaise added. "I'd be happier if that were me."

"What do you think Dumbledore is making the corridor at the bottom of the staircases forbidden for?" Harry asked abruptly.

Draco raised an eyebrow. "Why? You've never been bothered about what was there before, why now?"

So Harry told them about the dream he'd had the night before. "I'm just stood in this corridor. I don't know how I know but it's 'that' corridor and then I hear this shrieking from a shadow in a corner, then I wake up."

Draco's other eyebrow rose to join the other. "What kind of shrieking?"

"Horrible, really high pitched. Any louder I'd probably burst an eardrum."

"Maybe that's paranoia?" Millicent questioned.

"I dunno," Harry said with a sigh. "What if there is something down there?"

"Why do we care exactly?" Blaise said. "I mean, I don't."

"All you care about is what you're gonna wear in the morning," Harry said smugly.

"Hey! Draco is worse than me!" Blaise protested, pointing at the said boy.

"True," Harry muttered.

"Hey!" the blonde Slytherin yelled with a glare.

"Oh do shut up," Millicent said in a bored tone, looking at her fingernail like Pansy always seemed to do. "We don't need another argument about clothes."

Blaise and Draco sat in a huff while Harry tapped his chin with his index finger, thinking hard about what could be so secret, or dangerous, that Dumbledore would keep from the rest of the school.

"Maybe Sev knows?" Draco asked seeing his friend still thinking about the subject.

"Doubt it. Dumbledore doesn't tell him much. He said so himself." Harry said moodily.

Surprisingly, the subject was left alone after that, but not forgotten.

*~*~*

The Christmas holidays crept up upon Hogwarts soon enough. Harry and Draco were stopping at school, but as Draco said she would, Narcissa was coming to Hogwarts on Christmas Eve.

"Something about not leaving Sev on his own. As if he'd be on his own, he has us," Draco had said the first day of the holidays.

"Maybe she's lonely herself. I mean, it'd be her first Christmas on her own, wouldn't it?" Harry said.

Draco nodded.

Millicent had gone home to her parents, who were stopping with her grandparents. She had said several times that she really didn't want to go, but she still went anyway. Blaise had also gone but to his older brother's house, saying he really couldn't stand being around his Mother all holiday.

Of course, the two boys would miss their friends, but they had other things to think about. Harry was planning to all but raid the restricted section to see what type of potion could bring Voldemort back to his original state. He'd been waiting since Halloween, but could search any sooner because he didn't want to be caught. The less people in the castle, the easier it would be to search undetected.

They both decided to wait until after Christmas Day. Narcissa would probably be hovering around for a good portion of that day and was going home that night. Harry only hoped that there was a Christmas present that would make searching the restricted section of the library easier.

He got his wish.

On Christmas morning, Harry found himself holding up the half transparent cloak up in the air. He cocked an eyebrow towards Severus, who seemed to be restraining a scowl.

"It's an invisibility cloak!" Draco practically screamed. "Who's it from?"

"Doesn't say," Harry said with a slight frown.

"Dumbledore," Severus supplied. "You're Father had one, it's probably his and the Headmaster was probably holding it for you." Harry could tell that the Potions Master didn't really like the idea of Harry having the cloak.

"Suppose it'll be good for hiding if Death Eaters storm the castle," Harry said, hopefully giving Severus a reason not to take the cloak away.

The Head of Slytherin seemed to accept the idea.

"They're really rare, aren't they Mother?" Draco asked.

Narcissa seemed rather amused with the present. "Hmm, a very well made one at that."

Draco leaned over to Harry and whispered in his ear. "We can use this instead of that stupid invisibility spell we used near the beginning of term."

Harry nearly grinned. Anything was better than walking around naked, even if they were invisible at the time.

The rest of Christmas day went quickly. The two Slytherins parted ways with Draco's Mother and all but ran back to the Slytherin dorms to retrieve the cloak before disappearing off to the library.

The cloak was big enough to easily fit both Harry and Draco underneath it, although it dragged along the floor. Draco had a hard time trying not to stand on the fabric. Harry seemed to have enough common sense to pick it up off the floor, making sure it was still covering his feet. He was biting back laughter as Draco tripped up for the third time. The blonde Slytherin looked at Harry, saw what he was doing with the cloak and glared.

"You could have told me," he spat.

"More fun not to," Harry grinned.

Eventually, they both made it to the library. Madam Pince thankfully wasn't there. It was well past curfew anyway.

Harry clicked open the latch of the restricted section door and peered in. The restricted section of the Hogwarts library looked ten times gloomier than the rest of it. Harry noticed that some of the books were even moving on the shelves. He made a specially note to keep away from them.

Draco poked at one of them. It began shaking more rapidly. He pulled his hand away from it. After that it completely stopped.

The raven haired Slytherin raised an eyebrow. "Why do you always go for the moving books?" he asked.

Draco grinned wryly. "They're always better than the still ones."

"Says you," Harry mumbled as he pulled a book of the shelf and began giving it a quick scan. Draco soon followed suit picking up a book of his own.

For hours they searched the restricted section with little difficulty. That was until Harry picked up a large black and silver book from the bottom shelf. He carefully placed it on the floor and opened it.

It let out the loudest blood-curdling scream Harry had ever heard. Both of the boys jumped at the noise. Finally snapping out of his stupor a few seconds later, Harry slammed the book closed, but it kept on screaming.

Hearing footsteps, Harry grabbed the invisibility cloak, grasped hold of Draco's wrist and threw the cloak over them both just as Filch walked into the library, Mrs. Norris walking in front of him.

The cat came to a stop a few feet in front of the two boys and stared straight at Harry. The raven haired boy gulped. It was as if the cat could see straight through the cloak. At least Filch couldn't. The caretaker took a quick glance down the isle they were hiding down and carried on walking.

Harry let out a breath he didn't know he was holding until then. The latch on the restricted section clicked shut as Filch left the library, thinking that the culprit had already done so. Harry removed the cloak from himself and Draco.

Draco sighed. "We're never gonna find what we're looking for," he said in a defeated tone.

"Not with that kinda attitude we're not," Harry said in a bit of a huff. He was fed up with looking too, but he really wanted to know what kind of spell Voldemort was planning to use to bring him back to his original form that would require Harry's own blood.

"But Harry!" Draco began to whine. "It's two in the morning and I need beauty sleep."

"You'd need to sleep for the rest of your life then," Harry said jokingly. The only response he got from Draco was a glare. "Go if you want, I'm not."

Draco grudgingly said back down on the floor and began flicking through the books once more. Harry soon followed.

It was around an hour later when Harry eventually found a paragraph that was relevant to what he was looking for.

'Returning a banished person back to life is one of the most demanding spells in the history of Dark Magic. Requires three of the following:

The blood of the one responsible for the banishing, whether the banishing itself was intentional or not. (This ingredient is essential)

The bone of the deceased parent of the banished.

The flesh of the person willing to bring back the banished. It would require this person to perform the spell.

A precious item that belongs to the banished or someone close to them.

The birth charm of the banished. (A cherished stone charmed at a person's birth that keeps that person's identity. Is usually kept by the person's parents until the person's marriage ceremony)'

"I found something!" Harry said in an excited voice.

Draco dropped the book he was looking at and walked over to look over Harry's shoulder. After Draco had read the paragraph, he spoke. "The killing curse must have banished him instead of killing him. I mean, it rebound off you, so it probably wasn't at full power when it hit him."

"Makes sense," Harry said slowly. "So as long as he doesn't get my blood, he won't be able to come back."

Draco grinned. "That's the best news I've heard all day."

The two boys all but stumbled off to bed after that, being long after three in the morning. Since it was the school holidays, no one would miss them much the next morning.

Draco didn't say anything to Harry as they both entered the dorm. He just changed himself into his pyjamas, fell on the bed and fell to sleep straight away. Harry however, wasn't that tired anymore.

The words from the book kept echoing in his head. He knew, without a doubt, that Voldemort was planning to use that spell. He'd probably get someone as wimpy as Pettigrew to give up his flesh. Harry shuddered. He could just imagine Pettigrew whimpering as he cut off a finger or a toe or something like that, Voldemort laughing the entire time.

That was an image that could put someone off sleep for quite a while.

Harry sighed. He really felt like having a temper tantrum, screaming 'what the hell did I do to him in the first place?' until he was raw in the throat. Why couldn't he be after Malkin or someone equally annoying? Life just wasn't fair in the slightest.

He really would give anything to have no Voldemort in the world. Sometimes he wished that his parents had never been killed. He soon squashed that thought down when he realised he'd probably have never known Severus like he did if his parents were still alive. He might not even been in Slytherin. He could do the Gryffindor courage thing pretty well if he said so himself. He shuddered at the thought of being best friends with Stuart Malkin, of all people. Sure, Draco could be a little arrogant at times, a little self centred, but he was still his best friend.

Life still wasn't fair though. Eleven year olds didn't normally have Dark Lords after them, but Harry Potter would never be just a normal eleven year old.

Harry hated that. At least he could get peace when he was at Muggle School. So everyone looked at him like he had some disease or something, at least he wasn't goggled at. He hated that more than anything.

Harry still couldn't sleep. He finally gave up any hope of sleeping that night at all and grabbed his invisibility cloak and sneaked out the dorm, being careful not to wake anyone up. He found himself walking nearer and nearer to where the changing staircases were. He supposed that it couldn't hurt to see if he could see anything down the corridor that Dumbledore had forbidden all students to go down. The Forbidden forest wasn't that scary and students weren't supposed to go their either.

He made his way to the banister that looked over that very corridor. Everything was incredible quiet. Harry couldn't even hear the torches flickering along the walls. All of a sudden, Harry saw a pair of deep red eyes glaring at him from a shadow in the corridor. The thing's eyes seemed to widen a little. As it did, it let out the loudest, ear-piecing wail Harry had ever heard from a creature.

Harry then saw a club come out of nowhere. He tried to jump out of the way, but the club came crashing down on the banister where Harry was stood. It destroyed the banister and Harry found himself hanging off the ledge. Harry had never been so scared in his life, even when staring Voldemort straight in the face, even though that came a close second. He really should have listened to Blaise about not caring what was down the corridor. He could feel his grip slipping from the ledge he was holding on to. He tried to get a better grip, but couldn't. Soon enough, Harry felt his fingertips slip from the edge.

Then the raven haired Slytherin fell.

~+~

Needed a cliffhanger. *grins* Haven't had one of them for a while, have I? I'll try not to keep you all hanging for long.

~Leatrix Malfoy - 11^th January 2004