Chapter 5: Dreaming and Knitting
Her eyelids shot back. "Oh dear Merlin", Hermione whimpered, as she pushed herself into a sitting position, the bedclothes crumpling around her form. Realisation struck and she screamed, "Harry", before grabbing her wand and making a frantic dash for the door. The thing she feared most had come to pass.
Harry was sitting on his bed, having just woken up. His cotton nightclothes clung to him, making him feel rather uncomfortable. He mopped his brow on his sleeve, although this did little good. Shaking his head, he unbuttoned his shirt and peeled it off, discarding it on the floor in a heap. Now, he proceeded to undo his trouser ties, before removing them as well. The air cooled him as the perspiration evaporated off his muscular body.
He had started to pace the room in his boxers, when the door was flung open. Harry dived for his wand, before realising that a tousled haired Hermione was standing there in front of him. She flung her arms around him and started sobbing into his shoulder in a most distraught manner.
Ten minutes later, Hermione had calmed down enough to be intelligible. She lifted her head off Harry's, once again, damp shoulder and looked up into his eyes. This seemed to give her the strength to relay what was troubling her.
"I thought he had got you when I heard you screamed", she whispered, her voice shaking.
"It's alright, I'm perfectly safe. Remember what Dumbledore did?, he replied in a soothing tone.
She pulled him to her again, whilst he said, "I'm so sorry I scared you, it was just a bad dream I had, just a bad dream", as if trying to reassure himself as much as her.
They stood like that for a long time, before Hermione broke away from him. She blushed, muttered something about getting dressed, before heading back to the girl's dormitory.
Harry was left standing there, more worried and puzzled than ever. Why had Hermione been so distraught? Why had he been woken up at two in the morning by a searing pain in his scar? Why had he dreamed the circle of hooded circle of figures that he had seen after the third task? Why had he seen the grass snake wishing him "good luck" earlier that summer? Why had he seen Voldemort holding the letter that he had sent to Harry, whilst saying sweet dreams and laughing manically? Why had he seen Hermione being kidnapped? These dreams were getting more and more disturbing.
Harry rubbed his temples with his fingertips, trying to make sense of all that had happened, before going to the bathroom, removing his boxers and getting into the shower. Warm water flowed over him, and he started to wash, still trying to find answers to his questions.
Hermione had gone up to her dormitory and got dressed. She had decided that she had too much on her mind to get back to sleep, even though it was only half two. She picked up her book, a romantic novel that she had been given towards the end of last year by Ginny, and descended the steps to the common room. She curled up into a foetal position in an armchair in front of the fire and started to read her book.
Her mind kept drifting back to the dreams she had been having since the start of the summer. They always contained the same thing. Voldemort coming for Harry. She shuddered involuntarily and stared at the fire in the hearth. The tendrils of flame danced and flickered in darkened common room. Shadows played on the walls, mirroring the actions of the flames in the grate.
She had been looking at the fire for some time, when the fire turned green and the head of Professor Dumbledore appeared in the hearth. Hermione squeaked and recoiled into the armchair in shock.
"Sorry to frighten you, my dear, but I understand that there has been a small disturbance."
Hermione nodded.
"Is Mr Potter alright", the headmaster asked kindly.
"Yes, he is up in his dormitory at the moment", Hermione replied, now recovered from the shock of having Dumbledore appear in the fire.
"Good, I am afraid that there is a matter that we have to talk about. Could you and Mr Potter come to see me after breakfast?"
Hermione said that they would and Dumbledore thanked her, before disappearing from the fireplace. Hermione settled back into her attempt at reading.
She was joined five minutes later by a rather more clothed Harry. He seemed rather serious, as he walked over to her and sat down in an adjacent chair. Saying nothing, he stared at her intently with an analysing look on his face, until she looked up and met his eyes.
"Why were you so upset, when you ran in earlier? I only screamed due to a bad dream and you looked like someone had died."
She looked apprehensive and paused, before replying quietly, "Since the start of the summer, I have been having dreams about Voldemort coming for you. When you screamed and woke me up, I was terrified that something had happened and that you were hurt."
She looked down into her lap.
"Why didn't you tell me", Harry asked, "You could have talked to me, or don't you trust me." He sounded hurt.
"No, no", she responded quickly, "I do trust you. I trust you completely. It's just that, Sirius died and Voldemort has shown himself again. I didn't want to worry you. I was scared that you would do something that put you in danger."
She had tears in her eyes now, and Harry got up and walked over to her. He sat next to her on the armchair and held her to him, apologising. It was in that position that they slowly drifted off to sleep again.
They were woken suddenly, hours later, by a "crack" and Harry sprung out of the armchair, ready to defend himself. He was greeted by the smiling face of Dobby the house elf. He was carrying a tray, upon which, was a rack of toast, a dish of butter, as well as two steaming mug of hot chocolate. Dobby placed the tray down on a nearby coffee table and turned to Harry.
"Professor Dumbledore said that I should bring you breakfast Harry Potter, Sir", Dobby said.
"Thank you Dobby", Harry replied. Dobby disappeared with the customary "crack". Harry turned and saw that Hermione had gotten out of the chair and was standing just behind him.
"You alright now", he asked.
"Yes. Thanks for comforting me. Come on let's eat this toast before it gets cold."
They tucked in and before long, the toast rack was lying empty, along with the two mugs. The pair sat there contentedly with full stomachs, before Hermione looked at her watch. Seeing that it was just past ten o'clock, she elected that they take the tray back down to the kitchen and then go and see Dumbledore. Harry agreed, so they headed out of the portrait hole and down the stairs, Harry carrying the tray.
When Dobby appeared back in the kitchen, he was greeted by Winky.
"Were they up Dobby?"
"I is afraid that I was a bad elf and woke them up by appearing. They were sleeping in a chair in their common room. They looked rather comfortable"
At this point, Winky looked rather pensive. She voiced her thoughts.
"I think that they is falling in love Dobby. I is having an idea, but I will need you to help."
Twenty minutes after Dobby had appeared with the tray of toast; Harry and Hermione were outside the kitchens with the same tray. Hermione reached up and tickled the pear on the picture of the fruit bowl. It giggled and shuddered before the whole picture swung away, leaving the entrance to the kitchen. They walked through and Harry was relieved of his tray by a nearby house elf, who had previously been doing washing up. Soon afterwards, Winky and Dobby appeared.
"Can Winky have a private word with Miss please", Winky asked Hermione. Hermione agreed, but wore a puzzled look on her face, and the two females walked to a corner of the kitchen and began talking conspiratorially. Harry wondered what was being said, but he was too far away to hear. Instead, he was led away by Dobby, out of the kitchen and into what looked like the house elf sleeping quarters. Harry was shown into a small room with a window overlooking the grounds and two beds. He assumed that the window was enchanted, because they were down in the dungeons and there was no way that it was possible for them to be looking down at the grounds as a result.
Dobby had entered after Harry and beaming. "Do you like Dobby's new room Sir", he asked. "Professor Dumbledore is saying that me and Winky is allowed to share this room."
"It's excellent Dobby", Harry said enthusiastically, though he secretly wondered why he was being shown this. Dobby then spent the next half an hour discussing every conceivable aspect of his room. What he would like to buy for it. How he would decorate it with his days off using his wages, and so on. By the end of this, Harry was extremely bored. He wondered if he was being kept here away from Hermione for some reason and voiced the opinion that he had better be getting back because she would be wondering where he was. Dobby showed Harry back to the kitchens, where he saw Winky break off a discussion with Hermione and bring her over.
Harry and Hermione bid goodbye to Dobby and Winky and left them. Once outside, Harry recounted Dobby's strange behaviour and asked what Winky had wanted. Hermione said that Dobby was probably just excited about getting a new room, because house elves have very little, and that Winky had wanted her advice about some arrangements for her wedding. Harry answered that she was probably right and together they set off towards the gargoyle below Dumbledore's office.
They arrived just as Snape was exiting. He shot them a disdainful look and said, "Potter, if you have completed that essay I set you, I would like it. If not, I suggest that you finish it quickly. Bring it to me as soon as possible." With that, he swept away, leaving Harry and Hermione to climb the spiral stone staircase up to the circular office above. At the top of the stairs, Hermione knocked three times on the door.
"Come in", Professor Dumbledore called out. They opened the door and crossed the threshold. The room was the same as always, with strange gold coloured instruments and soft furnishings being dominant features.
"Please sit", the headmaster asked. Doing as they were told, they looked at him expectantly.
"Dobby came to me just after two o'clock this morning, reporting that you, Harry, had a nightmare and screamed out. It seems that both you and Miss Granger were rather traumatised as a result. I need you to both tell me about the dreams that you have been having. Please don't leave anything out, every little detail is important", Dumbledore finished.
Harry started to explain, "I have been having nightmares about what happened to Sirius and everyone else in the Department of Mysteries since it happened. Then, last night, it started with the usual. Sirius dying, Hermione kidnapped, Cedric dead and all the rest. Then it changed and I was dreaming about a circle of death eaters, Voldemort laughing and saying sweet dreams, his letter, a grass snake that spoke to me when I was at the Dursleys' and then I was woken by a pain in my scar and I screamed. That has been the only case of my scar hurting."
Dumbledore looked interested. "The snake spoke to you? What did it say?"
"It said good luck."
"Interesting. Most interesting. Miss Granger, would you please tell me what you have been experiencing."
"Since the start of the summer, I have been having dreams about Harry being murdered or tortured by Voldemort or being involved in accidents. I have been worried about Harry's safety before, but I have never dreamed about bad things happening to him."
"That seems to be consistent with a few facts. Firstly, it could be that you are just more aware and appreciative of Harry's safety, possibly as a result of being more mature than previously. This could be being expressed by your subconscious in your dreams. Another possibility is that it is what you fear happening most and thus it is a recurring nightmare. The final possibility is that Voldemort is trying to influence you or scare you in a similar way to how he did Harry last year. If this is what he is doing, I don't know how he is doing it, because there is no connection between you and Voldemort like there is with Harry and his scar. It might therefore be prudent for you to master occlumency. This would not have any negative effects, so could only be a useful new skill, even if it is not necessary."
"Harry, I also think that you should continue to study occlumency as this should help stop Voldemort influencing you again. Also, if you are willing, I would like to help you master legimancy. This would enable you to tell if people are lying to you and if necessary, read their thoughts to a degree that varies from wizard to wizard. This could prove a useful defence and even a weapon. What do both of you say about my proposals?"
Both Harry and Hermione agreed with Dumbledore and said that they would be happy to learn occlumency and legimancy.
"Excellent", Dumbledore said with a pleased expression. "I will teach you the basics of occlumency this summer if there is time, but I insist that legimancy waits until the next school year. I think that you both deserve an enjoyable summer. Especially you Harry. Now off you go and enjoy your summer. I will contact you with the times of your lessons."
They said goodbye and exited the office. Neither spoke, as they were both lost in their thoughts, until they got back to Gryffindor Tower.
"I have a question", Harry stated as he and Hermione sat on the scarlet coloured couch by the fire in the common room.
"Go ahead"
"Why are we sitting by the fire in the middle of a heat wave", Harry asked.
"Well, for starters, the castle is well insulated so it is a lot cooler in here than outside. Secondly, that fire isn't giving out heat, if you haven't noticed. It's there for comfort."
"Intriguing"
The silence that they had been sitting in before, descended again as they both watched the flames, lost to the world.
"I have a second question", Harry said.
"Again, be my guest"
"I haven't heard anything from Ron all summer. Is he alright? Have you heard from him?"
Hermione didn't meet his eyes, looked pensive, but didn't answer.
"Hermione, are you all right."
She slowly turned to look at him, an upset expression on her face.
"We had a fight. He said he didn't want anything to do with me for a while. Then I told him that you and I would be coming here for the summer without him and he flipped. I haven't heard from him since. I assume that's why he's not talking to me or you."
"What did you fight about?"
"You'll have to ask him when you next see him or you could write to him."
Harry didn't push the matter, as Hermione was already on the brink of tears.
"I'm going to the library, I'll see you later. You might want to give your essay to Snape soon if you wish to live to see your next year at Hogwarts." With that, Hermione left, with a sorrowful look clouding her usually attractive features. Harry watched her go and exhaled loudly. Why had they fought? He pondered this for a while before giving up.
Walking up to his dormitory, he rummaged around in his trunk and dug out his essay for Snape. Harry didn't really feel like going and having a conversation with Snape, so he elected to pay Hedwig a visit. He would take her some owl treats, as he hadn't seen her in a while, he decided. Picking a couple out of a bag in his trunk, he placed them, with the essay, on the table by his bed. Seeing the note from Jennifer there, he determined that he should write a letter to her. After all, it would be rude not to and as Hermione was always saying, "Promoting international cooperation and making new friends", or something along those lines.
He reached, once more into his trunk and withdrew his writing stuff. First, he wrote a letter to Ron as follows:
Dear Ron,
I'm fine. I escaped the Dursleys' and am spending some time at Hogwarts. It seems that Voldemort can get me at Privet Drive now. Speaking of that, has anything happened? Hermione's here too. Hope you are enjoying yourself. Give my love to your family. Oh yeah, I got given a phone number by a girl in a petrol station on the way up here. She gave me a note saying call me, or I'm sure that your owl can find me. What do I do?
Hope to see you soon.
Your best friend
Harry
P.S Why did you fight with Hermione? She got upset when I asked.
Harry rolled this piece of parchment up and placed it next to his essay and his owl treats. Turning back to his writing kit, he wrote a letter to Jennifer as follows:
Hi Jennifer,
My name is Harry Potter. You gave me your number and said my owl could find you, so I thought I would write you a letter. I don't really know what to say, so I'll tell you a bit about myself.
I'm sixteen and go to school at Hogwarts in Scotland. It's a boarding school. My parents are dead and I have only got an aunt, an uncle and a cousin. We don't get along very well. My two best friends are called Ron and Hermione. We always get into lots of mischief. I am a wizard about to take my sixth year and am staying at the school for part of the summer, as I have nowhere else to go. While I write this, I am assuming that you are a witch, because how else would you know about my owl being able to find you? (If you are not a witch, ignore this and assume that I am totally insane) If you are a witch, how come I haven't seen you at Hogwarts? Please write back and tell me about yourself. I tell you what, if you are able, why don't we meet up in the three broomsticks in Hogsmead on the second of August. Write back with Hedwig (my owl) with your reply.
Bye
Harry
Having finished writing all his letters for today, Harry picked up the three roles of parchment and his owl treats and set off for the owlery.
He reached the owlery feeling rather hot and sweaty, having just had to run to escape before Peeves could get him with his water gun. If he hadn't been carrying his essay and his letters, he wouldn't have minded getting wet due to the high temperatures. It also gave him an idea that he stored away for future reference.
With a beating of wings, Hedwig took flight and soared over to him to end up perching on his shoulder. He fed her the owl treats and she nipped his fingers, expressing her thanks. Harry spoke to Hedwig, "I've got three things I need delivered, do you think you can take all of them. She lifted her leg as an invitation and Harry gently tied the three rolls of parchment to it. He ruffled her feathers before she took off and flew gracefully out of the window, despite her large load. Harry watched her flap her wings hard to gain altitude, and then soar off into the distance. That was when he had his second idea. He would ask if he could fly his firebolt again. Although he had been given his broomstick back at the end of last year, he wasn't sure if his lifetime ban had been lifted yet. He decided to ask Dumbledore. With that thought in his mind, he set off to find Hermione in the library.
Harry found Hermione in her usual seat by the window, unsurprisingly, engrossed in a book. She looked up and saw him, now looking a lot happier than she had earlier.
"Hi", she greeted him. He responded in the same fashion.
"Are you hungry? Its one o'clock. I was thinking of going and getting some sandwiches from the kitchens."
"Sure", she replied and together they set off.
Upon entering the kitchens, Harry was surprised to find that he wasn't greeted by Dobby or Winky. Instead a small house elf with a squeaky voice and small ears (for a house elf) greeted him.
"Sir, Dobby and Winky is busy. I'm Pinkie. Is you wanting some food? If you is, I will fetch you some."
"Is it possible to have some sandwiches and some pumpkin juice please", Harry asked.
The house elf bowed and scurried off to fetch the food. Pinkie returned quickly with a basket containing a couple of bottles of pumpkin juice and a pack of sandwiches. Both Harry and Hermione thanked Pinkie for her help and departed after trying, but failing, to stop Pinkie bowing to them.
"I'm going to have to work harder at S.P.E.W", Hermione said, sounding quite disappointed.
"Don't worry, I'll help you", Harry offered, "I'll even help you knit clothes."
Hermione looked delighted. She took his hand and dragged him all the way to the Gryffindor common room where she said, "Wait here."
She returned after a few minutes with a sewing basket. Out of it she took a piece of paper with clothes patterns on it. It showed a design for knitting socks.
"I thought we might have more luck with getting the house elves to take socks. Dobby seems to like them a lot, doesn't he?"
Harry agreed, before tucking into the lunch given to them by Pinkie. He handed half of the sandwiches and one of the bottles of pumpkin juice to Hermione and then continued to eat his bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich. After taking a swig of his pumpkin juice and putting down his sandwich, he said, "Hermione, you're going to have to teach me to knit. I'm afraid I don't know how."
"That's alright, I already anticipated this", she said, "I'll teach you after lunch."
And so it was, they spent that afternoon knitting, Hermione with rather more success than Harry, although he was progressing well. By the time it was seven o'clock, Harry had got almost half way through the hat that he was knitting and Hermione had knitted two pairs of socks.
When it was time for dinner, Dobby appeared and gave them a pizza to share. They sat in front of the fire eating it and talking about their day.
"You've done really well", Hermione said, smiling happily. "This morning, you'd never tried knitting before and now you're almost half way through your hat. Even if it is a little lumpy", she added as an after thought. Harry beamed at her, loving that she was enjoying herself teaching him this.
"Do you think that it will be Snape or Dumbledore who takes us for occlumency", Harry questioned Hermione.
"I think that it will probably be Dumbledore, as Snape refused to teach you last year."
"Yeah, you're probably right", Harry agreed cheerfully. At least he wouldn't have to endure Snape during the holidays as well.
"Why are you at Hogwarts, Hermione, and Ron isn't?" Harry asked.
"Ron lives with a wizarding family, who are able to protect him to some extent from dark wizards. I live with my parents during the holidays and am not allowed to use magic. Therefore I have no protection at home and Dumbledore thought I would be safer here. They think that I will be a priority target for dark wizards due to my closeness to you and the fact that I am muggle born."
"Oh", was Harry's only response, before the pair finished off the pizza. The rest of the evening was spent listening to a wizarding wireless network radio, that Hermione had bought, and playing games of wizarding chess. Hermione turned out to be rather good at chess, though this perhaps wasn't surprising.
At about ten o'clock Hermione decided to turn in for the night. The two of them cleared away everything in the common room and went up to their separate dormitories, bidding each other a good night.
Hermione woke up at 11:32, according to her wrist watch. She was woken by another of those dreams. This time Harry had crashed into the quiditch pitch at high speed and broken his neck. Then Ron had pointed at her and told her it was all her fault for loving Harry and getting him killed. Although she knew that these dreams weren't true, this didn't stop the tears running down her face. She got out of bed and made her way over to the boys' dormitory.
Harry was asleep in bed when she got there, but the hangings around his bed were closed. Hermione drew them apart and settled herself down upon his bed, crawling under the covers. Her movement caused Harry to roll over, and she snuggled against him, seeking comfort in the warmth of his body. Soon she had fallen fast asleep again, but this time she didn't have any nightmares.
A.N. Thanks for all the reviews. They help me to finalise the storyline for the next chapters. I have the main storyline worked out, but the details are open to debate. I would especially like to thank all the reviewers that included comments about what they liked or what they want to see. This story is written for its readers, so I can be influenced as to its contents, within reason. I would also like to say that I have exams coming up, so probably will take a couple of weeks away from writing, although if I get enough reviews, I might be persuaded otherwise - HINT, HINT! After that I should be able to post a couple of chapters a week, depending on my workload. I would also be able to post more chapters more quickly if I had a beta reader. If anyone is interested, they don't have to have any experience, but just a basic grasp of the English language. If anyone is willing to help, please email me. I would be very grateful.
Toodles!
Hand of God