Different

dreams

"I don't know. I just want to wake up."

"So wake up."

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Claire wanted to skip all her classes and stay in bed all day, but she also didn't want to sleep ever again. Her throat was sore from how much she had tried to scream the night before, and she somehow had bruises on her neck. She kept feeling Remus' tears on her face whenever she thought about her bruises or moved her head too fast.

Leo didn't look any better. Claire figured it was because of the approaching full moon, which had her feeling as if she was about to get a nasty cold.

"You look like shit," Leo said darkly as he sat next to her at breakfast. The boy had managed to avoid the sorting hat and instead ate wherever he wanted and went to whatever classes he wanted. Claire didn't know where he slept, but obviously he needed to go back there because his eyes were bloodshot and he had dark circles.

"You don't look much better," Claire mumbled, only able to eat a single slice of toast and drink warm tea.

"How did you see me last night?" Leo asked, jumping right to the point.

"That was real?" Claire asked softly, her hands going to her throat. She thought that she had only imagined dreaming of the boy next to her.

"Of course it was," Leo said angrily. "You need to control your emotions. Dreams like that are dangerous. They can kill you. You're lucky I was watching and could help."

"Why did you let me see all that?" Claire questioned, tears filling her eyes. Leo's eyes hardened as he stood up.

"Sometimes we have to have nightmares to grow."

Leo didn't say anything else as he hurried out of the Great Hall, and Claire assumed that she wouldn't be seeing much of him. Draco didn't waste any time before he was sitting next to her.

"Did he do this?" Draco accused angrily, his hands gently caressing Claire's throat in a way that was so strikingly different to his voice and demeanor that she took a shaky breath before hurriedly pushing his hands away.

"Don't worry about it," Claire whispered, pulling up the collar of her turtleneck higher.

"Claire, don't lie to me," Draco growled. "I know you too well."

"Do you?" Claire asked, but not unkindly. Draco's eyes widened for a second but he didn't interrupt. "I bet you don't know my favorite color or my favorite food or my favorite class. Much less my favorite muggle music."

"You wear dark colors most of the time, but when you don't, you tend to wear the colors of the night sky. You prefer blue, especially dark blue or a color almost grey," Draco started and it was time for Claire's eyes to widen. "You eat the chocolate croissants almost every morning with tea that has way too much sugar to even be considered tea anymore. Your favorite class is transfiguration, and it's also your best class. And your favorite muggle music is Abba, which I know because you one time came down to the common room humming one of their songs and I heard you."

"How did you know it was Abba?" Claire questioned, her eyebrows furrowed. Draco chuckled, his cheeks forming a light pink.

"I also enjoy the occasional Abba song, Draco admitted. He turned his eyes accusingly to her. "Do you know all that stuff about me?"

"Well, you wear Slytherin colors the most, but I know you like red the most, which must irritate you," Claire began. Draco was smirking at her in a way that made her almost forget her dream. "You almost always have a green apple with you for some reason, but your favorite food is probably also chocolate croissants. And you just told me your favorite muggle band."