Crystal Clear | REGULUS BLACK //

1.21 Cryptic Dream World

James looked at Sirius with curiosity and then shook his head as if denying something.

Crystal's days were the succession of neverending trouble. And it wasn't her who searched for them - actually, she never truly wanted any commotion. She shifted in her bed, trying to find a comfortable sleeping position. Her day had been too much, all the Balthazar issue had her feeling tired.

She was the last one to enter the dorms earlier when James accompanied her to the common room. She looked around searching for Loretta, but she couldn't see her, so she quietly went to her bed. It would certainly feel like a blessing to finally be able to sleep.

"A loud thud.

And the dorm was nowhere to be seen.

Right.

Crystal was feeling confused, she couldn't make sense of her surroundings and everything seemed blurry. She took a deep, quick breath and closed her eyes hard. When she opened them again she could feel her vision a bit better.

She was standing within the stone circle from outside the castle, it was sunny and the day was warm. She looked around and saw the figure of a small girl, she had the same haircolor as Loretta and Crystal felt compelled to follow her.

The girl entered the forest nearby and so did she. The pace that the girl was walking was slightly fast and Crystal had to jog towards her. She kept her distance and just followed. As both went deeper into the forest, the trees started to form a tunnel and soft whispers came from out of it. She watched as the girl seemed unaffected by it, so she chose to ignore them as well.

After what seemed like eternity, the girl stopped on her tracks. She waited for Crystal to reach her side and held her arm towards the thick trees in front of them, and, as she pointed towards it, the trees started moving away, letting both girls watch a scene that was supposed to be hidden from them by the trees.

"Et vigilate*."

The girl's voice was haunting. Crystal looked over to the place where pointed. She could see two silhouettes walking together - those of a boy and a girl. She tried to focus on it to really see their identities. The girl stopped before the boy, telling him something and laughing nervously. The boy didn't find it weird and just replied something with a smile before going away.

The unknown girl started running towards another place. She ran very slowly, almost jumping with every step. It was clear that she was really happy - maybe a bit euphoric. The girl danced around in the silence and held her hands against her mouth, still smiling. It was like she couldn't believe what was happening.

The girl turned around and Crystal could see that she was watching Loretta. She knew that the blonde hair was familiar. And the boy seemed like... Balthazar. But, maybe, just maybe, it was her mistake and was just replacing the other boy with his face. There were two other Slytherins who could be mistaken for him.

The sweet whispers all around started getting darker, the voices were deeper and demanding now. Loretta's clothes were fully black and she was muttering something along the lines 'I can't believe!' which made Crystal feel uneasy. She looked over to the little girl she followed earlier and to her surprise she was now holding a frail looking flower.

Crystal leaned to see it better and with each step heard from the scene, the flower seemed to lose its color, until the girl finally crushed it inside her hand, letting it fall on the ground. Crystal kneeled, trying to grasp what was left of the fragile flower with no success. The voices and the girl started repeating the same words as the environment became full of mist.

"VIGILATE!*"

Crystal woke up a bit uneasy. She wasn't feeling bad and felt rested, but something about the dream remained and it made her confused. Like Dumbledore said days before, it changed. It was no longer the tormenting death. But it wasn't a beautiful field of roses. It still was unsettling.

She cursed under her breath. The dream wasn't horrifying or extremely sad, but it surely was a bit creepy and apparently full of cryptic messages. She had no idea what those things meant, she just remembered seeing Loretta being all happy. Loretta wasn't in the dorms last night too. Maybe it was something to do with that?

Crystal sighed, thinking about her role as a seer. She brushed the thoughts about the dream away and got up from her bed. She put on her daily clothes, adjusted her hair and looked at her skin to see if any bruises from yesterday still lingered. Her hands had small bruises and her neck still had a faint reddish color.

After getting ready, she looked around the room to see Loretta still sleeping. She smiled at her and gave her a soft pat on her forehead.

"We have classes today. Don't be late." Crystal watched intently to see if she would show any sign of being awake.

Loretta opened her eyes very slowly, she looked exhausted and about to get pissed.

"I'm not waking up now." She replied with a grumpy face.

"Alright. Then good morning." Crystal giggled. "I'm off to class."

Crystal stopped suddenly at the doorway separating their dorm from the corridors leading to the common room, she rested her hand against the doorway and turned her head around to face Loretta.

"Can I ask you something?"

Loretta nodded, still looking sleepy.

"Where were you last night? I had a problem and could only return when it was really late. I didn't see you." Crystal looked a bit concerned about her friend.

Loretta shifted in her bed and kept her eyes closed.

"I was trying to see if some of the rumours of our school were true."

"Did you find out?"

"I don't think they're true anymore."

"Rumours like what?" Crystal raised an eyebrow.

"Like having Voldemort followers here at our school. Like having a super secret chamber and the sword of Godric. That kind of stuff."

Crystal scanned the ground, lost in thoughts.

"Now give me a break." Loretta muttered.

Crystal shrugged and continued. It felt like Loretta was withholding something, but she couldn't pressure her any further and she didn't have the time to do it. She still had classes to attend.

/////

For the latin terms used:

Et vigilate - watch out

Vigilate - watch