Harry Potter and the Dreamer of Fears

Chapter 9 – Tears of Meetings

Harry came home from his trip to Hogsmeade full of Butterbeer and lots of candy.  Dumping some of the leftover candy on his bed, that he hadn’t finished on his way back while sharing with the other students that didn’t buy as much, he turned to Ron who looked as about full as he did.

"I think I ate too much," Ron groaned slightly, rubbing his stomach as he blinked a bit sleepily, coming down from all the sugar that had been introduced into his bloodstream – a classic sugar rush.  He sat down hard onto his bed and yawned, covering his mouth with the back of his hand.  "Gonna be taking a nap, Harry…what’ll you be doing?"  He mumbled as he curled up on his bed.

"I guess I’ll be checking with Sirius and Lupin, maybe talk to Morgan about America…" Harry shrugged but saw that his friend was nodding while his eyes were closed, already asleep.

He slipped out of the dorm rooms quietly and headed downstairs to the Common Room where it was still full of bustling noise of Third year kids back from their first trip to Hogsmeade, regaling stories to the First years and Second years who were listening with rapport attention.  Passing the kids, he opened the portrait door and stepped out…nearly bowling over Cho Chang who was waiting outside.

"Oh…er…" Harry felt a wash of heat erupt on his face and the back of his neck as he slid over to the side of the portrait as it closed, "sorry, Cho…didn’t see you there."  He hastily wiped his hands on the inside of his black robe then offered it to Cho who took it and picked herself up.

She brushed herself off and then gave him a smile, "It's okay, Harry.  I shouldn’t have stood there.  Stupid of me to think that I wouldn’t be knocked over."  She tucked a strand of her jet-black hair behind her ear then glanced at the portrait of the Fat Lady again.

Harry noticed that the Fat Lady was grinning down at them, making, to his horror, kissing faces, and was looking at them like it was a romantic scene.  The heat on the back of his neck seemed to get a bit hotter and he felt like melting into a puddle at the moment, to disappear into the cracks of the school, never to be seen again.

"Where is she?" Cho took her eyes off of the portrait then turned to Harry, "did you see Morgan in there?"

"Uh…" Harry swallowed a bit, "not that I know of…  I don’t remember.  Sorry," he added a bit weakly.

"Oh, don’t worry about it," Cho smiled again, "so where are you going, if I might be inclined to ask?"

"Probably check with Professor Sadow about an assignment that I’m not too sure on, and maybe then see if I can wake Ron up for dinner," he told her the half truth, not too sure if she would be trusting enough for him to mention Sirius or Lupin.

"Cool," she replied, "mind if I tag along just to check and see if Morgan is with Professor Sadow?  She spends her time between those two and Professor Trelawney, so she might be there…"

"Um…sure," he seemed thrilled at the prospect of Cho walking with him, yet butterflies clouded his stomach and he felt embarrassed and a bit shy.  Heading off, he glanced back to see the Fat Lady winking at him and giving him a thumbs-up gesture.  Turning back around, he shook his head and felt another rush of heat creep up in the back of his neck.

* * * * *

By the time they got to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom door, Harry had found that he had relaxed somewhat in the presence of Cho, since she talked most of the time and he only added his thoughts maybe once or twice.

"If Morgan’s not here, then I guess I’ll have to check Trelawney’s sleepy-perfumed room," Cho commented mostly to herself as he reached out a hand to knock on the closed door.

"No!  We can’t do things like that way!  You might have been brought up like that, but no…I will not have that stain on my conscience," an angry voice burst through the door, muffled by it, and Harry recognized it as Sirius’.

"You must understand, Sirius-" Marius’ voice was trying to plead, but was cut off by another.

"Marius, you can be so dense at times!  You’re a freelancer, not a killer!" Marion’s voice was also raised and Harry hesitated from knocking.

"So, then you have the privilege to kill others, then," Marius’ cold voice was brought to full volume as the door slammed open and both he and Cho jumped back as Sirius stalked through, his face pinched with anger and rage burned in his eyes.

"Uh…" Cho was at a lost for words and Harry watched his godfather walk past them without even acknowledging them, his black wizard’s robe billowing behind him as he swept past them then turned a corner and was out of their view.

There was another slamming of a door and Harry jumped then peeked in to see Marius alone, sitting at his desk, rubbing his temples and muttering something under his breath.

"Maybe we should go," Cho whispered in his ear and he blinked then nodded and started to creep away as quietly as possible.

"Who’s there?" Marius’ voice boomed at them and he turned back around then peered into the classroom to see that the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was a bit haggard looking.

"Um…just me and Cho Chang," Harry winced, wondering if it was a good time to be bothering him after what he had just heard.

"Oh," Marius’ face lost all of its tiredness a few seconds before and he smiled at them then waved them in, "come in.  Its okay; Marion, Sirius, and I were having a small talk…I supposed you heard some of the things we discussed…"

"Uh, nothing Professor Sadow," Cho looked embarrassed as she walked in behind Harry, "I was just wondering if you’ve seen Morgan around.  I know she hangs around here a lot since you’re her guardian for her crossing over to England to study here."

Harry blinked a bit at the new information and glanced back at the Asian girl then to Marius who had a smile that looked kind of creepy in his own opinion.

"Yes," Marius stood up from his chair and rounded the table, "and no, I haven’t seen her here.  She might be with Professor Trelawney.  If you want my opinion, I don’t know why she hangs around that perfumed airy fairy old hag so much…" he muttered slightly, rubbing his chin then turned his gaze towards Harry, "and what about you, young man?"

"I, um, wanted to talk to Professor Marion, but I guess she isn’t here…" Harry had a feeling that Marius was hiding something, but couldn’t place it.

"Well, is it anything that I can help you with?  School work, perhaps?" Marius fiddled with a large marble-like object on his desk.

"Um…not really, Professor," Harry shrugged, "just something about the two-weeks before school thing."  He didn’t want to say anything out loud in front of Cho as not to worry her or to have her start to spread rumors.  Not that he knew that she wouldn’t spread rumors about anyone…it was just a precaution that he felt like taking.

"Oh," Marius put down the marble-like object and his eyes seemed to show understanding, "well, then, I think she might be available either tomorrow or after dinner tonight."

"Thanks, Professor.  If you see Morgan, can you tell her that I’m looking for her?" Cho asked to which Marius nodded and then she turned and headed for the door.  Before she went out she turned back around, "see you later Harry."

Harry felt another jolt of warmth spread on the back of his neck and he rubbed it, then glanced at Marius who wore a smirk on his face.

"Friends?" he asked.

"I…guess," Harry replied, but he didn’t really know if Cho considered him a friend or not…  "Thanks Professor Sadow," Harry didn’t bother waiting for a reply from the Professor as he dashed out of the classroom, willing to get away as fast as he could.  Why do I keep going red and clammy whenever Cho is mentioned or around? He wondered as he walked back to Gryffindor Tower, hoping to wake Ron up from his sugar-rush induced nap.

* * * * *

The next few weeks past by in a flurry of school and activities; Angelina held Quidditch practices almost three times every week, leaving Harry little time to complete homework, but he was used to that.  However, he noticed that Ron seemed to be faltering slightly and had to help him adjust to the practice schedule and fitting in homework at the same time.  But that also meant more projects from various teachers, and he never found the time to ask Sirius or Marion what was going on during that day of their first Hogsmeade trip.

Professor Trelawney started them on advanced crystal ball readings, teaching them some spells to cast without a word on the crystal ball to read the images that appear.  He had gotten a hippogriff and what looked like a giant dog, but Trelawney had interpret them as a hippogriff being a bad omen that would appear to be ferocious, and the giant dog as a Grim, emphasizing what he had happened to him in his Third year…

But in light of Trelawney’s dark predictions, there were the times where in Divination class they did group work together, choosing different group members and Harry had ended up with Lina on more than one occasion.  He had found out that she was of Irish descent, and was actually at the Quidditch World Cup last year to support the Irish team and she also was very friendly with everyone, including Malfoy, showing no grudge or hurtful feelings whenever he made a nasty comment to her.

He also noticed that her attitude towards Malfoy had stunned the blonde haired boy into an off kilter position, and noticed on more than one occasion that Malfoy was at a loss of words to see that his taunting did not produce any reactions like he thought they would.

Potions, however, was another story.  Harry had noticed that Snape, at times, seemed to be missing from class or would step out for a few minutes just to walk back in sour than ever before.  He was also very harsh to all the students, even being marginally forgiving to the Slytherins.  It seemed that Snape was preoccupied with something, but kept it at a distance and the curiosity within him wanted to know what was going on with Snape…  Did it have to do with the order Dumbledore gave to the Potions Master while he was recovering from his duel with Voldemort that fateful day a few months ago?  It seemed that way…

But Snape wasn’t the only one acting oddly.  Harry noticed a certain off-kilter type of feeling with Hagrid as he taught them Care of Magical Creatures every Friday.  He had given them Acromantulas to take care of for the fall semester, to record their habits, what types of food they ate, how they behaved with each other, and other information that they deemed knowable since before Christmas break rolled by, Hagrid had said that each of them will demonstrate some semblance of what they knew about Acromantulas.

That’s why near the end of one of the classes, he approached Hagrid who was tending to his pumpkins (all growing at a rapid rate for Halloween which was coming in a few weeks), with Hermione and a pale-faced Ron following behind him.  Ron was still holding his Acromantula’s cage, but it shook slightly as he kept staring at the small creature like it was going to suddenly pop out of its cage and jump at him.  Harry didn’t blame his best friend, after all, he also felt the same way at first when Hagrid handed him his Acromantula…it wasn’t a pleasant experience in their Second year after encountering Aragog and his gigantic family.

"Hagrid?" Harry approached him while looking at the huge pumpkins, which were only getting their orange color after being green.

"Harry," Hagrid greeted after giving a poke to a pumpkin with his pink umbrella then turning around, "Ron, Hermione.  What can I do fer ya?  Ron, you can put yer Acromantula back with the others."

Ron gulped slightly and started to turn even paler, "Oi…I, uh, okay."

"Oh if you’re so scared, let me hold your Acromantula," Hermione shook her head and smiled slightly as she took the handle of the makeshift cage from Ron’s hands and then held it for him.

"Er…thanks," Ron replied, wiping his sweaty hands on the side of his dress robe.

Harry noted the exchange with raised eyebrows.  He could see that something was happening between his two best friends, but both didn’t really seem to notice it.  Turning back, he cleared his throat slightly, "Um…Hagrid, I was wondering…well…I was thinking…" He closed his mouth as he realized that he didn’t know how to word his question in a way that Hagrid wouldn’t get too offended or just clamp up and not tell them anything on why he was in a distracted mood.

"The giants, Harry, giants," Hagrid’s gaze was in the far distance, his eyes not focusing on anything, just looking.  "It’s the giants that’s Dumbledore worried ‘bout…" he muttered mostly to himself.

Just then yelps of fear erupted back where all the Acromantulas were placed, some Ravenclaws and Gryffindors jumping away from the pen where all of the little creatures were kept, bringing Hagrid’s gaze back down to where the students were once crowded now backing away.

Hagrid made a small noise that sounded like a rumble of thunder and nodded to the three of them as he past them, his pink umbrella clutched in his hand as he walked over to see the commotion.  Harry shrugged then glanced at both Ron and Hermione who both looked puzzled.

"You think it has something to do with what Dumbledore said before school ended last year?" Ron asked and Harry nodded.

"I guess," he replied then took another look at Hagrid who was taking some of the Acromantula babies that had escaped from their cages and putting them back in, just as the far distant bell rang signaling the end of all classes for the day.

* * * * *

Passing by chatting students on the second floor on their way up to the seventh floor where Gryffindor Tower was located Harry didn’t really pay attention to his surroundings.  Everyone in the past few weeks since their first trip to Hogsmeade seemed tenser than usual, tenser than in the beginning of the year.  Even Rita Skeeter’s articles, however scathing they could be, were also being published with a sense of urgency and fear.  There were more recent attacks on Muggles and some wizarding families, and even more reports of Dark Mark sightings in the most obscure places where magic never existed for centuries, were reporting Dark Marks appearing in their area.

"Hey, look!" Ron pulled at the sleeve of his dress robe and he looked up, just in time to see Morgan running past them, books in her arms.  As she passed by, he noticed that tears were streaming down her face, her nose red and her eyes puffy.

"Morgan!  Wait!" Hermione called after her and then she ran after the Asian girl.

"Hermione-" Ron started to call after her when Harry put his arm out to stop him from chasing after her.

"I think Hermione knows something about why Morgan’s crying.  We’ll leave them alone for now," Harry said then glanced at the door in which Morgan came running out of.  It was the Defense Against the Dark Arts door.  Did someone tease her in her class?  Or maybe something else?  Maybe Cho knows something about it…  By now he was quite good friends with the Ravenclaw Prefect, his initial shyness about her fading away, but something of his crush towards her still lingered…

When they got the Gryffindor Common Room there were a few chatty students lounging on the chairs in the room, some staring at the fire while others were talking with each other.  But there wasn’t any sign of Morgan or Hermione and he figured that they were in the girls’ dormitory.

Throughout dinner, Hermione didn’t even show up, and neither did a few of the other Gryffindor girls that normally sat next to Morgan, Ginny included.  As soon as dinner was done, he and Ron headed back up towards the tower.

"Butterbeer," Ron said the password and the Fat Lady swung open the door to the Common Room while giving Harry a wink, reminding him of the day that he had almost ran over Cho.

"-if he is like that, then you shouldn’t let him be so," one of the Fourth Year Gryffindor girls spoke up from the fireplace.

"Morgan, you have to learn how to express your feelings and stand up to him," Ginny’s voice spoke up from the group and Harry frowned then motioned to Ron to hide near the fireplace where no one would be able to see them.  He kind of figured that they would shut up as soon as the two of them walked in, but he also wanted to know what happened in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom that made the spunky, slightly sarcastic Morgan break down into tears.

"He shouldn’t be able to push you around so," Hermione’s voice was full of anger and hurt.

"I’ll talk to him to see what’s going on, Morgan.  Even though I’m Ravenclaw’s Prefect, I’m still your cousin, so I should know why he’s acting this way," Cho’s voice was something that Harry didn’t expect to hear.  Nor did he expect to hear her normally bright tone go so dark and bitter.  Then the situation with Morgan was very serious indeed.

"I hate that man," Morgan replied after a few minutes of silence that was broken with her sniffles and hiccups.

"No, Morgan," Cho interrupted, "never say you hate anyone.  Hate isn’t a good thing to carry around…it can corrupt you, make you bitter…never say hate, okay?"

There was a sniffle then a small cough of laughter, "Okay, Cho…I promise…"

"Good, now get some sleep," Cho sounded like a stern mother putting a child to bed.

"Yes, mom," the sarcasm that was usually present in Morgan’s voice was back and Harry saw her get up from the chairs centered around the fireplace and walk towards the stairs leading up the girls dormitory.  Suddenly she turned around and Harry could swear that she was looking directly at them, and then gave them a wink before turning back around and jogging the rest of the way.

"Thanks for your help, Cho," Hermione and Ginny were leading Cho towards where he and Ron were hiding, but also where the entrance to the main hall was.  Harry immediately scrunched into his hiding place, hoping that the three girls would not be able to see him and Ron.

"I can’t breathe," Ron hissed at him and he moved slightly to let his best friend move a bit away, just as the three girls walked past them.

"Lets go," he motioned to Ron to creep away and they ducked past the fireplace, avoiding Hermione, Ginny, and Cho.  Just as they made it to the staircase-

"Harry, Ron, when did you guys come in?" Hermione asked them, her tone was full of suspicion and Harry turned around.

"Er…just now?" he replied lamely then without further words, dashed up the stairs with Ron at his heels.

"Oi, I think she knows," Ron huffed as he sat on his bed.

* * * * *

The hooting of a wild owl floating near the tower didn’t bring Harry’s head up as he kept staring at the ceiling of his four-poster bed.  It was already late into the evening, probably in the early morning hours and he still couldn’t get to sleep.  The event with Morgan crying over something in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom had been on his mind ever since he heard the conversation between her and some of the other girls.  He was also curious as to what had happened during the day he and Cho went to see Professor Sadow…and ended up hearing the tail end of an argument between Marius, Sirius, and Marion.

He heaved a soft sigh then rolled out of his covers and crouched down to open his trunk which contained his invisibility cloak, one of his most prized possessions, given to him by Dumbledore, from his father.  Pulling the cloak on he slipped downstairs and out of the tower quietly.  He had to be careful, as he knew that there were patrols of the various Aurors wandering around to safe guard the schools.

He hoped that he didn’t encounter Mad-Eye Moody, as he knew that Moody’s magical eye could see through invisibility cloaks.  Even worse was encountering Filch’s cat, Mrs. Norris.  During his last year, the cat had almost caught him as she had somehow started sniffing him when he was figuring out the Triwizard Tournament’s Second Task clue.

He walked all the way down to the second floor, hiding at times when Aurors passed close to him, hoping that they wouldn’t have any magic that would be able to spot him.  As soon as he got to the second floor, he glanced around and saw that no one was in the darkened hallway.

Approaching the door to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, he heard two voices talking from it.

"I know you have you doubts Severus, but Dumbledore said that it can’t wait too long or else we won’t get another opportunity.  Voldemort is growing stronger, and we don’t have much time," Marion’s deep voice filtered through the wooden door that Harry pressed his ear against.

"The precautions that you and your brother installed along with some of the High Courts officials, they’re safe, am I correct?" Snape’s voice was different.  Instead of its usual disdain, it was full of respect and grimness.

"You have the word of an Auror," Marion replied.

"Good.  I’ll be leaving after Halloween.  You will be filling in for my classes, I presume?" Snape’s respectful voice was a whole new light on Harry’s perspective on his Potions professor.

"Don’t worry your head off Severus.  You’re students will be in good hands.  And I think I’ll give some of the other houses points during class and maybe take some from Slytherin…"

There was a sniff of contempt and Harry tried to stifle a laugh that was threatening to come out of him.

"Do as you wish, Sadow, but when I get back things will be different," Snape’s voice was back to its usual cold, unnerving manner, not the respectful one anymore.

"Be very careful Severus.  If you are caught, I don’t need to remind you of what happened to Avery, as he fell prostrate to the ground to beg Voldemort forgiveness.  Do not be captured Severus, you are very valuable to us as an ally.  Even though Fudge might not think it, to the Aurors that have seen the truth, we know you can help us," Marion’s voice was full of compassion, but then suddenly turned icy again, "go now.  Before anyone else knows.  Dumbledore knows what you are to do and what to expect."

"To think that you’ve became one of Crouch’s Aurors-"

"If you are trying to woo me, Snape, then tough luck.  My heart has been belonged to someone else.  I respect you as what you were, are, and what you might be Snape.  You will keep that in mind for the future."

"The feeling of respect is mutual, Marion Sadow."

"Excellent," her intonations were precise, cold, not like the professor she was during class Harry noticed, "then allies we shall be."

Harry backed away just as Snape’s footsteps walked towards the door and he walked quickly away just in case Marion was able to spot him since she was an Auror.  He pressed himself against the wall as Snape passed by, his black cloak billowing behind him, him heading towards his dungeon classroom without even looking around.  Have to tell Ron and Hermione this…  Pushing himself off the wall, he made his way back to Gryffindor Tower.

As soon as he got back, Harry threw off his cloak and tossed it into his trunk before going over to his best friend’s bed.

"Wake up!" he hissed as he shook his friend.

"W-What?" Ron muttered sleepily.

"Something’s going on with Snape," he whispered and watched as Ron’s eyes suddenly snapped open at his words.

"The mission?" Ron asked, now fully awake and he nodded.

As he told him everything, he heard he silently wondered what was Marion getting at and why was everyone being so secretive during within the last few weeks.  It was as if something was building up that everyone wanted to keep it secret.  He knew that it wasn’t just coincidence that Marion and her brother showed up to teach the new school year…they were up to something, especially planning with Dumbledore and Snape even.  Something was going on, he concluded…and he wanted to know what it was.