The Dreamer's Curse

Duel With the Devil Incarnate

[Chapter 16]

Draco Malfoy.

How do I begin to describe Draco Malfoy?

He’s a pompous prat, and if I weren’t so awfully terrified of the consequences, I would have bitten his head off at the start of the year.

Oh, and he’d probably taste like cigarettes. Or very bitter coffee. Disgusting.

But I realise, I am getting ahead of myself.

Shall we backtrack?

My summer had been, for the most part, uneventful. Alice and I had come out of hiding, and it was glorious. Professor McGonagall came over every other day for my lessons, and soon enough, demanded that I called her Aunt Minerva. It was the oddest thing.

We had the Weasleys over for dinner before they flew off to Egypt, and since Luna’s father owned the Quibbler (an eccentric Wizarding newspaper that published an edition every month), Alice insisted on having the two over every other weekend.

“I’m very grateful for these dinners,” Xenophilius Lovegood said on their third visit. “Luna looks forward to spending time with Jane, don’t you Luna?”

“Yes,” Luna said in that dreamy voice of hers. “She’s probably the reason not everyone in school calls me Loony.”

“You’re not loony, Luna. Either that, or we both are,” I laughed.

“I think I’d prefer the later.”

The conversation took strange turns after that, from conspiracy theories to cosmic theories to all sorts of interesting ideas. I do wonder why anyone has anything against the Lovegoods when they’re such interesting people.

“But have you heard of Sirius Black?” Xenophilius Lovegood asked Alice.

“Yes, its all anyone ever talks about anymore.”

“Oh, but I don’t think he’s an actual menace.”

“Don’t you?”

“He’s quite the celebrity you know,” Mr Lovegood smiled. “Quite popular, even! But you’ll know all about that in the next Quibbler.”

“Daddy quite likes that edition,” Luna said with enthusiasm.

“And have you come across an interesting muggle book, Alice?” Mr Lovegood asked with enthusiasm.

“Jane and I have been reading all sorts this summer.”

“Oh, do tell,” Mr Lovegood said, leaning his head on his hands.

“We really should get going, though, Daddy,” Luna smiled. “It’s much too late — the Kingsleighs are just too polite to say so.”

“Oh, why yes,” Mr Lovegood glanced at his watch. “We really should, shouldn’t we?”

We said our goodbyes, and went to bed.

It had been much too long since I had gone back to my own realm, and I wondered whether Professor Fiddle’s Cradle had anything to do with it. Maybe I wasn’t to go back before I’d broken the curse. By the looks of it, it would take close to forever.

I awoke the next day to Cato gently nudging my shoulder. A small stack of letters lay piled beside me, and a cool breeze fluttered in through the window.

Right, I thought. It’s my birthday.

Alice and I ate Swedish meatballs before heading over to Diagon Alley for the day. A little bit of shopping was in order, especially since my body had begun to mature. Unlike my other realm self, however, I was much leaner — probably due to the fact that I wasn’t living a sedentary lifestyle. Thankfully, however, I avoided looking like a malnourished doll.