Coniectura Insomnium

Coniectura Insomnium

***

The room was dark and unfamiliar to him. Shadows laid upon the walls, flickering once every so often to the light of candles. Something that Draco guessed was a table stood blurred in the dim illumination.

Stepping closer, he saw that it not a table, but actually a bed. A simple and small bed on which lay a girl. Her eyes were closed and she remained disturbingly still.

Auburn red hair settled loosely around her face - the hue of which seemed to strangely fascinate him. The shade appeared almost intolerably vivid.

It reminded him of something. Something sad and indistinct.

Blood.

Bugger, Draco woke up and found himself to be breathing quickly. Nightmares like the one he had just awakened from had proven to occur frequently during the past few weeks.

To the best of his memory, they had all been of the same red-haired girl and blood. He didn't understand why - or how. Draco rarely dreamed and when he did, it was always of women surrounding him, praising his looks.

These nightmares had certainly put a damper on things.

-.-

"Can anyone tell me exactly why is it that a combination of Wolf's Bane and Fernseed is dangerous?"

Of course Draco knew; he always did. Glancing around the Potions classroom, he saw that no one was raising their hand.

Humph, what else would you expect having Double Potions with Hufflepuffs?

Lazily leaning back in his chair, Draco answered simply, "Because, the chemical properties of the ingredients tend to react violently towards each other."

"Glad to know that at least one of you isn't a brainless fool," Professor Snape sneered at a particular Hufflepuff. "Ten points to Slytherin."

Blaise Zabini gave him a lopsided grin from the other side of the classroom - Draco had always wondered how he managed to do that. "Count on Malfoy to get us the points."

Draco smirked, "That's not the only thing I can get." Blaise raised an eyebrow at him and then the corner of his mouth tugged upwards,

"Glad to know that, Malfoy, really. Made my day."

"Anytime, Zabini," he replied casually, "Anytime."

Then, he focused his attention to taking down notes. He sometimes wondered if he was perhaps, the only one who ever bothered to take notes.

The lazy scribbling of his quill against the parchment slowly relaxed his mind. Monotonous noises always had that effect on him and sometimes left him to daydreaming.

And this time, he did.

His mind thought about random things - Quidditch, his reputation as a sex god, his naturally amazing looks, and, his regular nightmares.

Well, the nightmares included a girl, which in his mind, did not really count as a real nightmare. Though he had never gotten a good look at her in his dreams, he could make out that she probably wasn't half-bad looking.

Her pale skin seemed creamy and he even imagined that it would feel silky sometimes, and her red, full, lips always made him think of the wrong things. She seemed to be his temptation - drenched in blood.

It was clear now, as if he could actually see her, long eyelashes over her face, and feminine nose tilted slightly upwards. It scared him in an odd way though, besides the blood. He couldn't quite figure out what but then -

"Mr. Malfoy, are you with us?"

His vision seemed to swirl and then slowly focus back on the classroom. "What?"

"You appeared to be elsewhere. I asked you a question." Professor Snape shot him an irritated look.

"I'm fine. I just, got lost for a moment," he hastily replied.

Snape narrowed his eyes at Draco, scrutinizing him. "Mr. Malfoy, please see me after class."

Draco involuntarily snorted. "Yes, professor." After all, it was only a bit of daydreaming, wasn't it?

-.-

"What did you see?" Professor Snape demanded of him.

Well, this man certainly got right to the point, didn't he?

"I don't know what you mean, Professor," Draco answered innocently.

The potions master glared. "I'm serious, Mr. Malfoy. Tell me what you saw."

Draco shrugged. "I saw nothing. I was just spaced out during class."

"Then tell me, Malfoy, do you usually mumble when you 'space out'?"

Caught in a lie. Well, sort of. "Mumble? I did no such thing," he replied indignantly. Always resort back to lying to cover up original lies.

Snape shot him a somewhat impossible sort of look. "I want you to go to Dumbledore's office."

"Right now?"

"No, after classes." He stared at the boy. "And I would suggest that you stop with your dishonesty - it won't help you at all."

Help him? With what? Well, perhaps, Snape had finally cracked. Draco looked amused, "Have you been taking your medication, Professor?"

-.-

The office was not unfamiliar to him - he had been here many times before due to ... circumstances involving Professor Flitwick and a pair of stolen pink knickers.

The same old mahogany desk lay before him, papers askew all over. Probably love letters to McGonagall. Further from the desk, Fawkes, the phoenix stood balanced on a perch - his large, unblinking eyes staring down at Draco's gray ones. Bloody staring chicken, he thought, irritated.

Finally, the door of the office swung open and Dumbledore stepped in, box of Muggle candies in hand. "Lemonhead?" he offered, while sitting down behind his desk.

Draco scowled. "No thank-you Headmaster, and I must say, if you've called me here only to discuss sugary sweets, I'd like to remind you that I have homework yet to be done."

"You've always had such a sharp tongue, just like your father. And not to mention, your grand-"

"I get the idea, Headmaster," Draco cut in, "Malfoys are witty. I already knew that."

Dumbledore chuckled. "Very well then, I'll get to the more important matters at hand." The old man picked up a coin-shaped object and without warning, stuck it on Draco's forehead. "This is a Dream-Reader. I assume that you probably know what it does."

Suddenly, images projected from the object on his forehead, visible in front of his eyes. The pale girl with enticing hair, splotches of blood upon the white bed...

"What's the point of this?" Draco glared. "They're just my dreams."

Dumbledore glanced at the boy and removed the Dream-Reader from his head. "Mr. Malfoy, do you have any idea what you are?"

Draco thought for a moment and then suggested, "Sexy?"

The Headmaster heaved a sigh. "Try to be serious about this, Draco. You are a Diviner."

His mind thought back. "A Diviner? Like as in Divinations? As in the fraud Professor Trelawney? I'm a bloody fortune-teller?"

"Rest assured, Draco, your powers as a Diviner far surpass those of Professor Trelawney. While she can only divine prophesies, you seem to be able to divine the past, the present and near future, as well as prophesies."

Draco was not convinced. "How do you know? Just because I had dreams about some girl?"

"No, in your first year, when you were sorted, the Sorting Hat picked it up. The Sorting Hat can detect traits such as this."

Draco thought for a moment and then smirked. "I always knew I was special." Then, after a moment, "Does my father know?"

Dumbledore averted the boy's gaze. "Draco, let's not jump around the subject. It is evident what your father deals in. If Voldemort got his hands on your sort of power, dire consequences could arise. I thought it better not to tell your father, and hopefully, you will not either."

Draco nodded. Contrary to popular belief, he despised his father and everything he stood for.

"Now," Dumbledore began, "Instead of your regular Divinations class, you will go to a different class on the third floor. Go in the first room you come to on your left as you get off the floating stairway."

A pause. "Am I the only one?"

"No, there are two other students such as yourself."

"Goody," he replied unenthusiastically.

"And Mr. Malfoy?"

"Yes?"

Dumbledore gave him a careful look. "Control your emotions."

Draco looked confused. Control his emotions? He had no idea what that meant. Shrugging, he said, "Sure," and walked out the door.

-.-

The floating staircase proved to be rather violent. It would shake from side to side, nearly knocking Draco off his feet. But besides that, he got to his destination smoothly.

Pushing open the door, he stepped in a musty classroom. There were several plain tables and wooden chairs. There was a chalkboard at the front of the room. The classroom was rather small and bare to the regular ones. In addition, by the chalkboard he saw...Mad-eyed Moody? What was that git doing here? He certainly was not a Hogwarts student.

"Mister Malfoy," he snarled. "You're late." Then, gesturing roughly to the desks, "Take a seat."

Draco scowled and did as he was told. However, as he walked towards a desk, "Potter?" he asked in disbelief. "Hell, I should've known you'd be here. Scars and skills at surviving the Dark Lord not enough for you?"

Harry turned his head up to look at him. "Shut up, Malfoy."

Draco shot him a glare and saw a girl sitting in the seat next to Harry. "Great. Just my luck that Weaslette would be here as well." Then his look turned nasty. "You must be excited, being so close to Potter."

"That's enough!" barked Moody. "I asked you to take a seat, Malfoy. Now, either you do so or leave."

Draco narrowed his eyes and then reluctantly took a seat far away from Harry and Ginny.

Moody looked intently at Draco for a moment and then started. "You are all here because of your unexplored abilities as Diviners."

Draco audibly yawned.

"Other than divining powers, there are other abilities that you all posses as Diviners."

Such as this, a voice spoke in Draco's head. He jumped in surprise, heard Ginny shriek, and saw Harry flinch out of the corner of his eye. Moody had talked inside his head.

"The capability of communicating telepathically is called Occlumency," Moody continued, without pausing. "I expect you all to be taking notes on this."

Draco heard the rustle of parchment and quills as he went to get his own.

"Occlumency is an ancient art that Diviners have been practicing since the very beginning. In addition to being able to communicate telepathically, you are also able to read thoughts."

Harry raised his hand. "Do you mean we can expose everyone's secrets? Isn't that dangerous?"

Alastor shook his head. "No, you are only able to read free and open thoughts. Secrets deal with a different and darker part of the mind."

Damn, Draco thought, he had been hoping to spread vicious rumors about Harry.

"Mister Malfoy, Diviner powers are never to be used for the wrong reasons," Moody barked, reading his mind.

That certainly was creepy; to have someone read his thoughts. Draco involuntarily shuddered.

"At this point," Moody began, "We will pair up and try simple mind reading exercises."

Draco lazily raised his hand. "Professor, if you didn't realize, there are three of us."

"I know," Alastor said, "You will be paired up with me."

Draco grimaced and then walked up to the front of the classroom as Harry and Ginny turned, facing each other.

"First, focus on a spot on the other person's head."

Draco narrowed his eyes and looked intently at a scar on Moody's cheek.

"Next, think of a trait, or something that reminds you of the person."

Draco mentally formed a picture of Moody's mad eye in his head.

Almost instantly, a rush of images went through Draco's mind, swirling and blurring until they settled on an object. At first, it was blurry and the image seemed to be moving. Then slowly, the image developed on a wand. "A wand?" he asked aloud. "You're thinking of wands?"

Alastor nodded and reluctantly said, "Good job, Malfoy."

In his ear, Draco could hear Ginny shout, "Quidditch!" and Harry congratulate her.

"Now, we'll switch roles. Malfoy, focus your thoughts."

Draco nodded and thought about...hmm...

An unappreciative growl soon came from Moody. "Malfoy!" he barked, "What the hell?"

Draco smirked as the heavenly vision of him clad only in boxers ran through Moody's mind.

-.-

Overall, Diviner lessons had not been all that bad. But, what was bad was that Mad-Eyed Moody had called for a night meeting. Draco had a life that did not include night Diviner classes.

Or so he'd like to think.

Approaching the classroom, he found that he was the first one there. The room instantly lit up as he stepped inside. Draco pulled his cloak closer around him, noting how cold the classroom was.

Suddenly, there were soft footsteps coming towards the classroom. Only moments later, Ginny Weasley stepped in, surprised to find Draco already there.

"Quit staring," he snapped. "It's rude."

"Quit snapping," she mimicked. "It's rude."

Draco scowled. "That was terribly mature of you," he said sarcastically.

She set down her cloak on a chair. "You're really one to talk."

"What I supposedly lack in maturity I make up in irresistible charm and something the size of Russia inside my pants," he said calmly, taking a seat.

"Must be your knickers," Ginny replied casually, taking a seat as well.

Draco looked offended and then amused. "As if you would know." A smirk lazily rose upon his mouth. "Have you ever even seen one? Your brother doesn't count."

Ginny's face flushed. "No, but I'm sure you've seen loads."

He grinned wryly, "And is there something wrong with that?"

"For the sake of PG-13-ness I won't say," she replied and then stuck her tongue out at him.

"Again," Draco started, "Terribly mature."

Then, the sound of several rushed footsteps approached the classroom. First came Harry and then Moody not too shortly after. Harry quickly took a seat next to Ginny and Moody went up to his place in front of the board. "Sorry to be late," he apologized roughly.

"Just don't do it again," said Draco, fiddling with the clasp of his cloak.

Alastor growled, and then started the lesson. "Tonight, we will be exploring more areas of Occlumency," he said and then stared at Harry.

Instantly, Harry heard a voice in his head. I can't stand that Malfoy - always hated his father as well. Harry awkwardly stifled a laugh and then glanced over at Draco.

This resulted in Draco snapping, "What? Have I got something beautiful on my face that you don't?"

"Partner up, whoever's left over will be with me."

Draco had learned from last time that he was most certainly not on Moody's good side. Immediately, he reached out to Ginny. "Weasley?"

Ginny quickly glanced at Harry and when he simply nodded, she turned back to Draco. "I guess so, then."

Harry got out of his seat and went up to Moody while Draco walked over and faced Ginny. "Take a good look, Weasley, this face is paradise," he said.

She raised an eyebrow and replied, "I thought it was rude to stare."

"There are exceptions."

"I want you to think about what you want to say," Moody barked from across the room, interrupting whatever Ginny was about to say.

Draco thought this over. What to say to Weaslette? It didn't really matter now, did it? Quickly, he thought of something random.

"Then, I want you to imagine saying it verbally inside your mind."

He could do that.

Ginny's eyes were confused as a voice spoke, Sloody Veasel inside her head. Draco growled impatiently and tried again, Bloody Weasel. Ginny's eyes grew furious.

Only a moment later, Draco heard Fo to hell, Palfoy inside his mind.

-.-

Diviner lessons started to become the only part of the day that Draco looked forward to. They had been working on transmitting images mentally, and so far, Draco was the only one of the three that had managed to successfully transmit a whole, lengthy, scene.

In his regular classes, Draco found himself constantly bored. Sometimes, he would get visions, other times, he found himself being able to read people's thoughts. After reading Goyle's mind only once and finding that the idiot constantly thought of Millicent Bulstrode in her knickers - Draco started being more careful about whose minds he read.

All three of them had been told to keep their Diviner abilities a secret. Draco didn't care about this, which one of his dear friends could he tell that would actually care? Slytherins tended to be an independent lot. However, he had a suspicion that Potter might have let something slip to Ron and Hermione for they always covered their heads around him - as if they were trying to protect their thoughts.

He quickly glanced at his WizRolex. Shit, he thought. He had Diviner lessons in less than ten minutes. As fast as he could, he ran towards the floating staircase. However, as soon as he got off the staircase, he ran into something - or rather someone.

"Watch it," he heard a voice grumble.

Draco stopped and stared at the person. Well, what do you know? It's Ronald -fucking- Weasley. "Watch it yourself, Weasel."

"Ferret," the redhead boy equaled.

"Get out of my way," Draco said, irritated. "I'm trying to get to my classroom, but you seem to be standing in front of the door."

"Hell no," Ron glared. "Not until you apologize."

Draco looked at him coldly. "Apologize? For what? No matter what I say, it can't make up for your lack of money."

Ron growled, famous Weasley temper rising. "Take it back."

Draco smirked. "Or what? Are you going to make me? 'Because I'd like to see you try."

Before another word was said, a square punch landed on Draco's jaw, taking him by surprise. Recovering quickly, Draco's fist flew out to meet Ron's stomach, causing the boy to lurch backwards.

Then, everything happened at once.

Ron, in a moment of madness, went and jumped on Draco, landing a series of hits. Draco, taken by surprise yet again, quickly felt himself get angry and blindly punched Ron to the best of his ability - getting quite carried away.

But then, suddenly, loud noises were heard. The marble floor started to crack, lightning bolts struck everywhere, shattering everything breakable. Oddly enough, a thunderstorm was rising in the hallway. Both boys ducked as hail started to fly.

Luckily, just in time, Professor Moody appeared on the scene, waving his wand and stopping the uncontrollable weather. He quickly turned to glare at Draco. "Malfoy! Inside the classroom, now!"

Draco didn't need to be told twice. Without a word of protest, he ducked inside and took a seat. Harry and Ginny exchanged identical startled looks.

Not too long later, Mad-Eyed Moody came as in, and fixed Draco a dangerous look. "Today, I'll be teaching you all something new. It's called: 'The Dangers of Not Controlling Your Emotions'."

So that's what Dumbledore was talking about, Draco thought. He wore an amused look. "Should we take notes?"

The old man shot him a glare. "Just shut up and listen. Now, as Diviners, it is critically important that you control your tempers. If you don't, a similar thing will happen as it did outside with Malfoy and Ron."

"What happened?" Ginny asked.

Alastor seemed to ignore her question and started to explain. "Emotions help release Diviner powers. When a Diviner experiences too much of a certain emotion, some of your magic will be pushed out in large amounts. When you experience too much anger," he paused to stare intently at Draco, "Negative energy surrounds your magic. And, Diviner magic tends to result in drastic climate changes."

"What happened?" Ginny asked again, impatiently.

Draco grinned playfully. "I broke things."

"Enough, Malfoy," Alastor interrupted. "And, I don't want that happening again, so watch your temper."

Draco nodded carelessly.

"Well then," Moody started, brightening a bit, "Today, I'll be discussing the history of a certain ..."

-.-

Harry stared at the empty parchment, not having the faintest clue what to write. They had been given a three-foot assignment on the history of a famous Diviner, Rowena Ravenclaw.

Truthfully, it had surprised him that the Ravenclaw founder was a Diviner - and it surprised him even more when he learned that all four of the Founders were Diviners.

His parchment remained blank as he raked his mind for things to write.

Suddenly, the door to his dormitory opened and Ron and Hermione entered. "Having trouble with Diviner homework?" she asked.

Harry nodded. Even though Moody had told all three of them not to say anything about their Diviner powers, he felt that he could trust his two best friends. "What do you know about Rowena Ravenclaw?"

Ron shrugged. "Who's that?"

Hermione shot him a glare. "Honestly, Ron! She's the Ravenclaw founder! She was considered the cleverest of the four - which is more than can be said about you." Then, she turned to Harry, "If it helps, I know she was involved in putting down the Goblin rebellion in the 1540's," she offered.

Harry nodded as he scribbled it down. "Thanks. How was regular Divinations?"

Ron lazily fell onto his bed. "Same old, same old. Trelawney told me, yet again, that I was to face inevitable doom tomorrow morning. To be honest, I don't think the school's breakfast food is all that dangerous."

Harry laughed. "You never know."

Hermione smoothed down the wrinkles on her robes as she sat down next to Ron. "We did more tea-leaf readings. I am, apparently, and I quote, 'a rebellious one'."

"Oooh," Ron commented playfully. "Dangerous food and rebel friends. Could it get any better?"

At that moment, the door swung open and Ginny stepped in. "It could. Your baby sister could've discovered that you've been stealing from her stash of Chocolate Frogs."

"And you said you weren't going to get caught," Harry grinned.

Ron frowned, "So maybe I was wrong. Sorry, Gin. I was hungry and I'm only human."

Ginny raised an eyebrow. "Sometimes I wonder about that," and proceeded to throw a lethal pillow at her brother.

-.-

Draco groaned in frustration, trying to will an essay to magically appear on his parchment.

Pansy noticed and looked up from what she was doing and got up to walk over. "What's wrong, Draco?" she asked, gently massaging his shoulders.

"Nothing," he replied quickly and sat up.

"Oh Draco," she cooed, "You're so tense. Wouldn't you like to loosen up?" she asked, softly kissing him on the lips.

He smirked and drew her onto his lap. "That would be...nice."

Pansy smiled and led him into a kiss, hands running around on his back. She felt his lips turn away from her lips and lead a trail of kisses down to her neck. She shuddered softly; his kisses always had that effect.

"Ahem," a voice said.

Draco stopped in mid-action and quickly pushed Pansy off his lap. "Blaise, what do you want?"

The boy looked amused as he watched Pansy brush herself off and mouth the words "how rude" at Draco. "Nothing much, just wanted to tell you that you two are giving the first-years quite a show." He motioned towards the other side of the Slytherin Common Room as a group of little kids scattered around the couch, eyes wide.

Draco scowled. "Well, it's over. I need to get back to this essay anyways."

Blaise nodded and quietly walked away. After a while of failed attempts of seduction, Pansy gave up and left as well. Again, Draco was left to stare at his blank piece of parchment. He had no idea what to write - he hadn't been taking notes. For a moment, he wondered how Potter was doing with his essay. Then, he thought about sneaking a peak at Weasley's essay. He clearly remembered that she had been taking notes, furiously scribbling down every word that Moody had said. Her red hair seemed to cover her face like a curtain whenever she wrote. And the way that her-

Suddenly, a voice in his head said, Malfoy?

Draco almost jumped in his chair. Was that...? Yes, he was almost sure it was. Ginny had spoken in his head. What, Weasley?

You were sending images of myself taking notes to my mind.

He faltered. Well, that's what he got for thinking too much about Ginny. He quickly thought of an excuse. Oh, well...I...was just you know...practicing my abilities and I didn't exactly feel like mentally connecting with my archenemy or my professor.

A pause. I see.

He wasn't exactly sure how to respond to that, but then, Weasley?

Hmm...yes?

Could you...help me with my essay? He winced. Malfoys never asked for help. It was pathetic.

Weren't you paying attention?

He smirked a little to himself. If I were, then we wouldn't be having this conversation.

Well...she hesitated. Fine.

He grinned. All right. Tell me everything you know about Rowena Ravenclaw.

Draco heard something that sounded like faint sighing and then a rustle of parchment being taken out. Got a quill?

Yes.

Okay, Rowena's Diviner capabilities were first discovered at an early age; 11. Throughout her entire life, she worked hard to perfect them.

Draco quickly scribbled down everything. "-to perfect them."

Then, in her early twenties, she met three other people with similar Diviner abilities, and together, they formed a school called; Hogwarts: School of Knickers and Big Wands.

"-School of Kn-" WHAT THE HELL, WEASLEY?!

A laugh from the other end of the connection. Sorry, just testing if you were still listening.

He scowled. Well, I am, just don't do that again.

Ginny ignored him. Five years later, she fell in love with Godric Gryffindor and they started seeing each other shortly after.

Godric Gryffindor, Draco scoffed as he wrote it down. I bet Slytherin was better looking.

And, I bet it's not your place to judge. Besides, it goes beyond that. Her and Godric had a complex but empty relationship and -

Okay, that's enough, he interrupted. I've got three feet.

Alright.

He paused for a moment. Weasley?

Yeah?

Another pause. Thanks.

-.-

Ginny laid on her bed, confused. There was a whole hour before dinner and she had already finished all her homework. If she remembered correctly, Draco Malfoy had asked her for help and then thanked her.

What was this world coming to?

Sighing, she rolled over to her side. She guessed, well maybe, once you got to know the guy...maybe he wasn't that bad. It was obvious that his looks weren't. His hair had this way of sweeping over his eyes when he furrowed his brow. In addition, his hair was extremely beguiling with its silvery shade of blonde.

Thinking about me, Weasley?

Ginny quickly sat up on her bed and blushed furiously. She needed to learn to control her thoughts better. I just took your advice from before to practice my abilities.

There was a moment of silence from the other side. I am sexy, aren't I?

She scowled, As sexy as Goyle is.

Draco shuddered involuntarily as the image of Goyle in all his glory appeared in his head. Thank you for that lovely image, Weasley.

Hey, I suffered just as much.

Draco slowly smirked as an idea rose in his head. Well, I was reading Goyle's mind the other day and this is what I saw.

He laughed to himself as he heard her shriek and swear colorfully at him. Malfoy, you arsehole! I think I could've done well enough without that!

He smiled pleasantly to himself. He had sent her the image of Millicent Bulstrode in her knickers.

-.-

Ginny came down to dinner fifteen minutes late. Her conversation with Malfoy had proven time rather time-consuming. Mainly, it was an exchange of sarcastic comments and once in awhile, images of what they were seeing. One in image in particular surprised her, he kept on unknowingly sent her the image of herself writing notes down in Diviner class. She had seen it pop up in her head a many number of times.

Did that mean he was thinking of her?