Harry's Dream

Harry Potter and the Gang of Girls

By Shannon Dempsey and Megan McSHea

Harry's eyes closed before he hit the pillow. Feeling a strange, satisfying euphoria take hold of him, he fell into a deep slumber. Ron, who stumbled in a few seconds later, could not wake him. He cocked his head to the side, and whispered Harry's name several times in vain. Shrugging groggily, Ron climbed into his own bed and fell promptly asleep.

The Gryffindor common room was completely silent, save the occasional hooting of an owl or magic spell gone awry. Fred and George Weasley snickered in the corner as they planned an elaborate trick to play during the next day's Transfiguration lesson.

Meanwhile, in the active mind of Mr. Harry Potter...

Harry was lying in bed. Two girls stood before him, staring at him intently. The first was about medium-height, with dark brown hair, a tan complexion, and deep brown eyes. Her friend had hazel eyes, light complexion, and a skeptical look on her face. She brushed her brown hair to the side and sat down in a chair next to the bed. The first began to move forward slowly, her eyes still completely fixated on the young wizard before her.

"I think this is the one," she said to the other girl. The girl in the chair didn't appear to have heard her; she began to fiddle with something in her pocket. Suddenly, the girl standing turned to the bed. She then commenced speaking to Harry in a thin, airy voice, her eyes turned upwards as if she were in a trance. "Harrrrrry Potterrrrr," she wailed. Harry shot awake, putting his glasses on instantly.

"What? What's goin' on?" he murmured. The girl opened her eyes, smiling with satisfaction.

"Nothing, nothing. Just listen." She cleared her throat, and prepared herself again. Her eyes rolled back and her voice became ghost-like, "Harrrrrry Potterrrrrrr," she whispered mysteriously.

"Who are you?" Harry asked, fully awake and looking around the room. No one else had been awoken by this foreign girl. The girl opened her eyes.

"I'm Shannon." She looked at him. "You are Harry Potter, right?" she asked, taking a good look at him.

"Yeah I am," he said. She smirked.

"You're a lot cuter than I expected." The girl sitting on the chair rolled her eyes, coughing deliberately. "Right...well, back to business!" She opened her mouth to start once more with the eerie chanting.

"Well who's she?" Harry asked quizzically, motioning to the girl sitting on the chair, as she inspected her nails indifferently.

Shannon's eyes popped open, and glared at both Harry and her friend.

"Megan," she said, exasperated. The girl's head popped up as she heard her name spoken.

"What? It wasn't me, I swear!" It was Shannon's turn to roll her eyes.

"OK, this is Megan, this is Harry, I'm Shannon--are we ready yet?" she asked, gesticulating. "OK..." This time she didn't bother with the odd facial expression. Only the voice remained out of the ordinary. "Harrrry--" but before she could continue, the boy's dormitory door opened, and a third girl entered.

"Hey guys! What's up?" she asked, perkily. She had thin brown hair, and slightly resembled a mouse. She placed her hand on her slim waist, and tossed her hair out of her brown eyes.

Megan looked up just long enough to reply, "Not sure," then went back to braiding her hair with excruciating care.

"I am trying to tell Harry something very important," Shannon almost yelled, "So if you'd all--"

"Wait," Harry interrupted, sending Shannon into a fit of rage. "Who's that?" he said, pointing his finger to the newest member of the group. Shannon sighed deeply.

"Angie...now hush it!" She took a deep breath to calm herself, and started her strange message again. "Harrrry Potterrrr..."

"I think I have an aunt named Angie," Harry said to himself, with a look of deep contemplation on his face. He placed his right index finger on his chin and tilted his head up slightly.

"Oh, yes. And we all care so much about your Aunt," Megan responded sarcastically.

Shannon sat down heavily, and started to rub her forehead as if to relieve herself from a pounding headache. "Just breathe," she mumbled to herself, "that's what the psychiatrist said: just breathe."

"I think she died, though," Harry said to no one in particular.

"She died?" Angie said, worry on her face. "What if I die?"

"Break out the champagne, Angie's gonna die!" Megan called, jumping to her feet. She started to dance around the room as Shannon turned around abruptly, her finger extended threateningly.

"Correction," she exclaimed menacingly, and yet everyone couldn't help laughing internally, "You're all gonna die if you don't shut up!" she hollered. She pointed her finger at each of them individually, daring them to speak. Megan sunk back into the chair. As she opened her mouth to speak, Megan interrupted without a trace of fear or hesitation.

"Shannon, I thought I told you just to breathe."

Shannon glared at her briefly, before taking a deep breath, and starting again. However, during all of this, Harry had slumped back onto the pillow apparently asleep.

"Harrrrrry Potterrrrr..." Shannon tried one more time. Harry mumbled something under his breath that sounded vaguely like 'I don't really care'. Megan burst out laughing, which in turn, made Angie go into an uncontrollable fit of giggles. Shannon's mouth opened in an amazed gape. After a few seconds she responded.

"Well, you're gonna care, mister!" The door opened silently and another girl entered the room. Shannon threw up her arms in exasperation.

"What are you guys up to? It looks suspicious." The girl had short curly brown hair, and glasses rested on the slightly tanned nose. She looked quizzically at Megan, who in turn stared back. For a few moments, everyone stood motionless, wondering which would break the gaze first.

"Who are you?" Harry asked, pulling Fallon's attention from Megan. A 'Yes!' of triumph could be heard from the armchair next to Harry's bed.

"I'm Fallon," the girl said. She glanced around the room. "Nice dream you got goin' here." Harry gave her a crooked grin.

"Thanks," he replied. His eyes traveled over the new girl. "I like her..." he whispered to Megan.

"What?!" Megan yelled into Harry's ear. "She gives you one lousy compliment and you go all crazy over her??? Well...I like your shirt!" Everyone was silent, and looked at Harry intently.

"What?" he asked, shrugging his shoulders.

"Guys are weird," Angie whispered to no one in particular. Megan nodded in agreement. Fallon blushed and took a seat next to Neville Longbottom's bed. Meanwhile, Shannon had been trying to restrain herself from strangling them all.

"Have all of you lost your minds?!" Shannon yelled. In the bed next to Harry, Ron stirred. "We're here to tell Harry something important, not flirt with Hogwarts' hunks," she said, giving Harry the eye. Harry blushed a furious red and sunk deeper into his bed. Ron shot straight up in his bed. Megan moved to the chair next to him [not so] discreetly. Angie then took the vacant chair next to Harry. Shannon let out a long sigh, and moved to the corner.

"Hey!" Ron said happily, "Girls!" A half-smile spread across his face.

"Nice observation," Megan replied, dragging the chair closer to the bed.

"She seems to have perked up quite a bit," Harry whispered to Angie.

"This is nothing," Fallon replied from across the room, "you should see her on sugar."

At the moment that Angie started laughing, the door flew open, and a worried-looking girl burst in. She was a bit taller than the rest of them, and wore a knitted sweater-jacket. Her strawberry-blonde hair with natural streaks of brown was pulled up in a messy ponytail. Upon arrival, she bared her teeth and growled under her breath.

"Whoa, who's this?" Ron asked, pudgy-cheeked. He had begun to dig into his supply of chocolate frogs, and was eating them happily. While his attention was distracted by the new girl, Megan reached a out stealthy hand and grabbed a few frogs for herself.

"I don't know, but this is getting quite weird," Harry said, looking around the room suspiciously. Angie's laughter pierced the air as she screeched something about how cute their British accents were. At the sound of her laughter, Seamus Finnigan rolled over.

"This is Kat," Fallon said matter-of-factly. Fallon was, of course, the only normal being in the room at the moment; or at least the only one closest to being truly normal. Kat, at hearing the sound of her name, jumped up conspicuously and shrieked, "Life is like sugar-coated candy!" At this, Seamus Finnigan awoke abruptly and looked around the room. The sight that met him was quite unusual.

Shannon was in the corner, rocking back and forth, mumbling to herself. Megan was running her hand through Ron's hair, making him blush a bright red. He tried to appear unfazed, continuing to eat his chocolate frogs. Fallon leaned against the dormitory wall, picking out a lip-gloss to apply. Angie was giggling uncontrollably in the chair next to Harry's bed. And Kat was jumping around the room yelling random things like: "Harry Potter", "Let's go play Quidditch!" and the occasional "Strength and Honor!" Seamus quickly closed his eyes and lay back down. However, Kat had noticed him, and she quickly started jumping on his bed.

"Who are you?" Seamus cried in his thick Irish accent. The look on his face was so full of confusion and fear that the rest of the room (excluding Shannon, who covered her ears, and sank more deeply into the corner) burst out laughing.

"I'm Katrina. But you can call me Kat." She smiled and settled down on the bed. Seamus, an uneasy look on his face, scooted away from her.

For a few minutes it was quiet. Shannon stood, hesitantly. She made her way next to the foot of Harry's bed, and then sighed. A calming peace came over her.

"OK, I'm just going to skip all of the strange hokey-pokey chantings. Harry, it is absolutely imperative that you-"

"Hi guys!" A new girl had entered. She was about the same height as the rest of them, had dark brown hair, which was pulled up into a ponytail, and a tan complexion.

"Emily!" a chorus of voices rang out. Shannon sat down heavily, not even going through her orchestrations of distress. She picked up a chocolate frog and bit off its head. Ron looked at her happily.

"Good, aren't they?" he asked. Shannon nodded silently. He handed her a chocolate. "Here, take another one." She obliged, and then turned to see Megan glaring at her. Megan's mouth formed the silent words: 'he's mine'.

"We haven't seen you in a while," Angie said happily to Emily. "How's it been going?"

"Good..." Emily responded. She was looking around the boys' dormitory. She noticed Kat talking quietly to a smiling Seamus. Her eyes then fell on Megan, who had her head resting on Ron's shoulder. She followed Harry's longing gaze to Fallon, who had pulled out a book, and was reading by a sleeping Neville. Angie was also looking in that direction, but not at Fallon. After a few seconds, she noticed Shannon, and brightened. "I have a surprise for you, Shannon. Oliver...."

Just then, Oliver Wood entered the room. Shannon perked up immediately. She shot to her feet, and ran over.

"Oh...my...gosh, it can't be!" she said, genuinely surprised and pleased. "Oliver Wood!" she cried dreamily.

"Shannon Dempsey," he said in the same wistful tone, his Scottish accent very apparent. She jumped up and folded her arms around him, and giggled as he sweeped her into the air, swinging her around.

"Oh, please," Megan said, rolling her eyes. Ron showed no expression as he reached for a new batch of chocolate frogs. There was a crash as Oliver accidentally swung Shannon into a vase. The blue porcelain object shattered into a million pieces on the hard, cold wooden floor.

"Cripes!" Shannon cursed loudly. Neville jumped awake, causing Fallon to drop her book, and Angie to cheer up greatly.

* * * * * *

It was twenty minute after the vase-breaking incident. The group sat in a circle on the common-room floor. The fire blazed warmly, and smiles adorned every person. Shannon sat closest to the fire, to her left sat Oliver, and to her right sat Harry. On Harry's right Fallon had laid down her book to join the fun. Neville sat on her other side, blushing and stuttering nervously as Angie tried to talk to him. Ron was on Angie's other side, but he was not paying attention to the girl to his left. Instead, his focus was on Megan, who sat to his right. Seamus was talking happily to Katrina on his right. Emily sat on Kat's right, bringing the circle back to Oliver. Shannon put her hand protectively on Oliver's shoulder. He sheltered her with his Quidditch jacket. The Common room was far from quiet.

"So, Ron.... I've always like red-heads."

"You know, Neville, you're a lot sweeter then I imagined."

"You are right, the world is like sugar-coated candy. Especially when you're here, Kat."

And,

"Will you teach me to play Quidditch?"

All of these sentences mingled together to form a bustle of noise rising to the sky. Suddenly, Katrina noticed that Emily was being unusually quiet.

"What's wrong Phippy?" Kat asked. Emily looked over pleasantly.

"Nothing, I'm just tired," she admitted. Kat gave her a half-smile. Fallon had been listening the whole time, and turned to Harry.

"Harry, do you think you could do something for Emily?" she asked. Harry nodded.

"Yeah! Well...depends what it is..."

"Conjure up Malfoy. He can sit with Emily." Harry frowned. Emily had overheard Fallon's wish, and looked at Harry hopefully.

"I guess I could, but..." he hesitated," Malfoy isn't my favorite person.."

"He's not any of ours, either...well...actually...I, um..." Megan dropped off, not wanting to finish what she had begun to say. Ron looked at her, close to the point of being mad. Even Shannon looked on with puppy-dog eyes, to which Oliver removed his coat from her shoulders. All the girls were looking at Harry pleadingly.

"OK, fine, " Harry agreed reluctantly. A few seconds later, Draco Malfoy was standing in the middle of the Gryffindor common room. He had a confused look on his face, and when he realized there were eleven people staring at him (six of them girls) he tried to cover up his cowboy pajamas. His hand moved up to his hair, to try to slick it back, but to no avail. As he looked around more, he noticed (to his disgust) that the colors of gold and maroon surrounded him.

"What am I doing here?" he asked, glaring at Harry.

"Hey," Harry said defensively, "it wasn't my idea." It was then that Draco saw five girls standing up and walking towards him, broad smiles plastered on their beaming faces. He backed up slightly, only to hit another.

"Hi!" Megan said, sounding suddenly very perky. "Say something evil," she demanded airily.

"Umm..." Draco mumbled unsurely.

"Ohhh he's so good at being bad!" Megan said to Fallon, who nodded vigorously.

"I love what you've done with your hair," Angie said, running her fingers through the gelled strands, and then wiping the gel on Katrina's pajama pants.

"Wait a bloody minute," Ron's voice came from behind. "We brought you here for Emily, so you stay away from our girls!!!"

"Yeah!" a chorus of agreement came from all around him.

"Sit back down, Shannon," Oliver demanded. She had begun to stand up and walk, but Oliver reached out and yanked her back down. She sat, but reluctantly. So did the rest of the girls. They were met with stern faces.

"Sorry," a few mumbled.

"I'm sorry, but I can't help it...he's just so evil..." could be heard from Megan's direction.

"So," Draco said haughtily, obviously pleased that he had attracted so much attention, "who's this Emily person?"

"That would be me," a happy voice said from behind him. Draco turned, looked her over and nodded, smirking.

* * * * * *

The boys watched as the girls flew away from Hogwarts. As they reached the Forbidden Forest, Shannon stopped abruptly.

"I forgot to tell Harry to tell Ron the he's his father!" she wheeled around and was heading back when Fallon stopped her.

"That's what you wanted to tell him?" Megan said, snickering into her hand.

"Well, yeah...I thought it would be funny to tell him that..."

"Well then why didn't you tell him before??" Fallon asked.

"I was trying to tell him, but some people, who will remain nameless," she glared at each in turn, "kept interrupting me!"

"I wonder if Ron has any more chocolate frogs," Megan wondered absent-mindedly. All the girls looked at each other, thinking the same thought.

"Surprise party at Finnigan's!" Kat yelled. Immediately she was overrun by Megan yelling, "No, chatty party at Ron's!"

From the castle, phrases like "Quidditch party at Oliver's!" (Of which Shannon was definitely in favor), "You-Know-Who party at Harry's!" "Costume party at Draco's!", "Bowling party at Neville's!", and other such ideas could be heard. The boys smiled and started to set up for the party.

THE END

BUT PERHAPS IT WAS ONLY

THE BEGINNING...

(cue Harry Potter Theme Song)