The Dream Trilogy Book Two: Tread On My Dreams (A Harry Potter FanFiction)

Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

After a while Draco thought maybe he should go to the library. Hermione had suggested some books that would help him with their current assignment in Charms, so he bid adieu to the Zabini siblings. But no sooner as he'd set his feet inside the cool walls of the school, they were taking him in a different direction. He hadn't decided if he should be worried about this behaviour yet. True, it had brought him to Hermione last night, but what if it was some kind of curse? What if it was a mild form of an Imperius Curse? He still felt like he had control of his mind though, it was just like his feet kept suggesting it might be a nice idea to go this way. 

He wasn't surprised to find himself outside the door of one of the old classrooms again. He'd been here a couple of times. But for the second time in twenty-four hours he was startled to find there was someone waiting for him on the other side. 

"Hi," said Sarah Potter brightly but sleepily, as if he'd just woken her up. She yawned and shielded her eyes to look at him from her perch on the large window sill. "How you doing?" 

He smiled at her and let the door close. This was the classroom with all the rude words on the blackboard; it obviously hadn't been used in a long time and Dean had told him he'd heard rumours it was cursed. Between his feet and this room Draco was resigned to thinking something was probably afoot, but at that moment he was just happy to see a friendly face. 

"Oh look at that grin," the younger girl laughed, rubbing her eyes and tossing back her choppy black hair. Unusually it was all black today, no steaks of colour. "You are in a good mood aren't you." She pulled a face as he leant against the wall by her window, and he tried to frown. 

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said, in mock seriousness, which just made her laugh again. 

"Draco and Hermione," she began to sing, "sittin' in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-ow!" He whacked her arm in an embarrassed attempt to get her to stop singing. 

It felt nice to talk with Sarah again, she'd been a good friend to him at the house the past few months, but with school starting again they'd hardly been able to spend any time together.  

"How've you been?" he asked. She shrugged.  

"Okay," she said, looking back out the window. Draco waited, not saying anything. "Some people...some of the other kids say stuff sometimes, but there's no point in getting angry is there?" 

Draco folded his arms. "What kids," he asked. "What stuff?" She shrugged again, not meeting his eyes. "Sarah-"  

"A couple of girls keep making fun of my hair and stuff. They call me bolt girl and do magnetic spells to tug at things whilst we're in class." She ran her tongue bar across her teeth to illustrate the point. She was still staring out the window, hands placed calmly on her lap, but Draco could set she was upset. "And another boy's started telling everyone that we made it all up, what happened in Germany, Harry and I. Even you and Hermione and Parvati...they said we probably killed Seamus, then came up with a stupid story to cover it up." 

Draco knew firsthand how ignorant and cruel kids could be, but Sarah Potter had been through more than enough crap without dealing with this nonsense too. 

"Give me names," he said calmly, but she still didn't move. He gave her a few minutes before pressing again. "Trust me, just tell me their names and I promise you they'll all have mysterious accidents-" 

"NO!" she flared, jolting her body around to face him. She took a few breaths to steady herself. "I can look after myself," she spat.  

Draco held up his hands. "Of course you can." 

She went back to staring out the window, but Draco had a feeling her eyes weren't really seeing. "Thank you though," she mumbled. Draco shrugged. 

"If you were my sister I wouldn't let anyone talk to you like that." 

Sarah stiffened. "Harry's got his own issues." 

"You can say that again." 

"I don't want to talk about him," she said curtly, flicking her short ponytail back again. "So you finally worked up the guts to snog Hermione?" 

Draco tried to remain cool. "What do you mean 'finally'," he said, his voice only squeaking slightly.  

"Duh," said Sarah, half a smile creeping back onto her face. It vanished again in an instant. "What on Earth is that?" she said, alarmed, looking out the window. Draco had been aware that the light levels had dropped during their conversation, but when he levered himself off the wall and looked outside he was shocked to see that a storm had brewed in what must have only been minutes; rumbling black clouds swirled overhead, and as he and Sarah stared thunder clapped loudly then lightning flickered like a gnarly electric hand, snatching for the trees. Students, including Blaise and Armand were running back to the safely of the school as tumultuous rain began to fall, and the thunder and lightning shook the building again. 

"It must be right over the building," said Sarah in awe, eagerly looking out over the horizon.  

"Hmm," muttered Draco, and the thunder struck again and the building felt like it actually moved. "I think we should get away from the window," he told Sarah, who pouted. 

"Oh it's fine, I bet it's going to be spectacular." 

Draco took hold of her arm as the stonework shook again. Something was seriously wrong. "No really, I don't think it's safe." 

Something in his tone must have reached Sarah, because the humour instantly dropped from her face and she whipped out her wand. "It's a just a storm," she called out, uncertain as the wind raised to a terrible howl. The upturned chairs stacked around the edges of the classroom began to shift as forceful gusts ripped through the room. Draco's eyes never left the window. 

"Let's just go-" he began, but he didn't get a chance to finish. The window shattered and the two of them yelled out as glass rained down on them. They fell to the ground as it rocked, the rain pelting down on them and the thunder crashing above their heads. 

Before he even knew what was happening, Draco's world was plunged into darkness, the noise ripped from his ears, the ground pulled from underneath him. 

And then there was nothing.