Okay not much to say again, I'm aware that most of you didn't get Chapter alerts for the last chapter due to the stuff ups with chapter 11. The first half of this chapter is something that I've been looking forward to and it has been hinted at before. ;). And as usual please please review.
Chapter 13 - A Dream and A Meeting
GO BACK AND READ CHAPTER 12 CAUSE THE ALERTS WEREN'T SENT OUT.
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When Harry opened his eyes he found himself in a strange dark room that was strangely familiar. The only light source in the room came from a single candle that cast an eerie light on the immediate surroundings. Quickly Harry came to realize that the candle was floating in mid air next to a girl who was curled up on the floor reading a letter.
From what Harry could tell through her black and red robes she had a petit frame and would be about two inches taller then Hermione. She had short straight black hair that seemed full of life and pale skin. Harry could easily tell she was a witch from both the magic that surrounded the candle and the expensive robes she wore. Moving closer Harry could see that the envelope sitting at her feet was addressed in familiar green loopy ink that read:
Jaina Crèsandè
Rm 5
The Leaky Cauldron
London
Quickly the girl… Jaina… looked up and stared straight into Harry's eyes. In that moment Harry had the strangest feeling of dèjavù, as if he had looked into those deep grey eyes before and knew them very well, as is he had grown up with the girl his entire life. Quickly he shook the feeling off it was impossible, he had never seen this girl before and his only friends he had met at Hogwarts. But still there was something strangely familiar about those eyes.
"Who are you?" she asked
For a long time Harry just stood there thinking, when at last he replied his voice was soft and slow, "My name's Harry."
"Oh hello. My name's Jaina, you know you shouldn't be here. If my mum finds out you'll be in big trouble," the girl replied her eyes immediately returning to her letter.
Thinking about what Jaina had said a thought suddenly occurred to Harry, "You said your mum, wouldn't I have to worry about your father more?"
For a moment it seemed that Jaina was going to refuse to answer or she hadn't heard him, when quite suddenly her head snapped up, "I don't know my dad. My mum left him just after I was born; she said he died a year later. I don't know his name and I only have one picture of him, she says it was at his best friends wedding, I think she's right cause they are both in the photo with him, I think that she was in the photo too but didn't want to be seen because he's trying to pull someone into the image. My mum doesn't like photos. What about your parents?"
Harry paused for a moment wondering how this girl could not know his history then deciding that because it was dark she probably couldn't see him or his scar and Harry was a very common name, "They died when I was one, I grew up with my aunt and uncle."
"Oh, do you go to Hogwarts? Cause I'm starting this year except I'll be in my 5th year, my mum's been home schooling me and I'm really nervous about going now cause everyone will already know everyone else." Jaina said rambling in a fashion that reminded Harry so much of Hermione.
"Yeah," Harry said smiling, for some strange reason it felt to be the most natural thing in the world. "I'm a 5th year Gryffindore now."
"Okay, um Harry can I ask you a favor?" Jaina asked slightly hesitant.
For a moment Harry didn't answer unwilling to bind himself, "You can, but I'm not promising anything." He finally replied his voice taking on a suspicious tone.
"Fair enough," Jaina said staring at the floor for several minutes before raising her eyes to meet Harry's, "Can you take off your invisibility cloak, I'd like to see your face."
For a long moment Harry stood in shock but before he could formulate an answer he found himself sitting bolt upright in his bed, Hermione sitting by his side, one hand wrapped firmly around his the other caressing the side of his face.
"What happened?" Harry asked unconsciously tightening his hold of her hand.
"I don't know, I was reading and you didn't get up when you normally do, when I came in here you were thrashing around, it took me ten minutes to wake you." Hermione explained the worry evident in her voice, "I was so scared, and I was about to get Dumbledore when all of a sudden you woke up." She said throwing both her arms around Harry's neck holding him close, "I thought Voldemort was in your dreams."
"I-" Harry began but stopped suddenly as the image of Jaina returned to him, "I had this dream, of a girl called Jaina Crèsandè, she's a witch the same as us and she's coming to Hogwarts this year except as a 5th year. It was strange, she had this straight black hair and deep grey eyes, she looked so familiar and I felt like I have know her my entire life but, I couldn't possible have." Harry explained holding Hermione close both for her comfort and his, "She knew I was there. She asked me questions but I didn't know that she couldn't see me until she asked me to take off my invisibility cloak. That's when I woke up." Sighing Harry pulled Hermione into his lap and held her close for a long time drawing comfort from her in a way he could with no one else.
Pulling back slightly Hermione stared into Harry's emerald orbs getting lost in their depths for a moment before reminding herself of just who's lap she was in, "We should get going it was six when I came up here."
"You're right we don't want to be late. Go on I'll meet you in the study, I need to get changed." Harry said smiling as he gently moved his lap encouraging her to move, returning his smile Hermione quickly leaned over and placed a kiss on his cheek; coming alarmingly close to touching the corner of his lips. Grinning Harry carefully stood and helped Hermione to her feet before he gently pushing her towards the door willing the tingling feeling in his body to go away.
Turning Harry quickly made his way to his wardrobe and pulled out a pair of baggy jeans and his favorite black top that had a silver dragon on the back. After splashing some water on his face and running his hands through his hair a few times Harry quickly grabbed his wand and placed it in the holder he had received for his birthday testing it a few times to make sure it was working.
Smiling Harry quickly made his way to the study to find Hermione curled up on their sofa happily reading a book, //Probably about elements or Animagi// Harry thought to himself walking over to her and removing the book from her hands and despite her incoherent protests marked the page and placed the book aside.
"Come on," Harry commanded as he offered her a hand up. Smiling as she took it with out question, once Hermione was standing Harry pulled her over to the door and opened it smiling at their two guardians who currently appeared to be practicing some form of combat.
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Harry and Hermione had just returned from their morning run which they had changed to 5 laps of the school grounds and now Harry was about to step into the shower when he heard Hermione yelling for him to come down, sighing Harry quickly pulled on some clean cloths wishing he had of had time to shower because he was still drenched with sweat. Deciding it was better then nothing Harry quickly performed a Scourgify charm, happy that it at least removed the grime from his skin.
Slowing walking down the short staircase until he came to the study Harry looked up to find Hermione waiting by the fireplace holding a crimson feather. Sighing Harry looked at the clock to see that it was only 7.30 in the morning.
"Why's he calling us now?" Harry mumbled as he made his way over to Hermione and pulled down the torch holder that was to the side of the fire, smiling slightly as the wall fell back on itself to show a narrow passage that led directly to Dumbledore's office.
Smiling Hermione grabbed Harry's hand and began to pull him along the many curves and stairs until they reached the end of the passage where she reached out and pulled down on a similar torch holder to that in their study. Smiling numbly the two stepped out of the passage into Dumbledore's office.
The group of adults assembled consisted of Dumbledore who was sitting smugly at his desk and Professor McGonagall who was standing at his side, lurking in the shadows there stood Snape, while the two chairs in front of Dumbledore's desk were occupied by none other then Remus Lupin and Sirius Black, who were currently lounging around as they had in their Hogwarts days, broad grins on both their faces as they laughed merrily, Sirius tossing a small silver ball between his hands.
Smiling at the two teenagers Dumbledore greeted them warmly while McGonagall gave a tiny nod while Snape gave them his usual scow. Remus on the other had grinned at the two in greeting while Sirius jumped out of his chair and pulled Harry into a manly embrace before picking Hermione up and swinging her around gleefully.
"Sirius, stop it." Hermione commanded to no avail, "Sirius Black I mean it put me down right now otherwise I will turn your hair permanently pink!" freezing on the spot Sirius put Hermione back on the ground and edged away to hide behind Remus.
"You can do anything just don't touch the hair please don't touch the hair." Sirius pleaded his hands raised in defeat.
"Don't push your luck Padfoot, she can do it." Harry warned laughing as Hermione turned her fiery gaze on him and the two broke down into fits of laughter clutching each other's arms for support.
//That was classic// Harry thought.
//Did you see his face?// Hermione replied
Suddenly their laughter stopped and their eyes met.
"Did you?" Hermione asked.
Harry just nodded his head, "You?"
"Yeah."
"How?"
"I don't know?"
"You don't know- that's not good."
"I think we need to talk."
"Yeah. So… when?"
"Um… Unless it was that night, when we first found out about everything."
"Yeah."
"Well it makes sense."
Slowly Hermione turned to face a smiling Professor Dumbledore while the rest of the adults were looking amongst them selves confusion etched on their faces, "Um Sir when we are finished here can Harry and I talk to you about something?"
Clutching Hermione's hand in support Harry quickly sent her a message, //Don't worry we'll figure this out I promise.//
//I hope so.// Hermione replied resting her head on Harry's shoulder as he conjured another two chairs next to Sirius and led Hermione to them gently helping her to sit down as he took the seat next to Sirius their hands still tightly clasped.
When this was done Harry raised his eyes to meet Dumbledore's to find an uncomfortable silence had fallen, "So um… why did you call us here?" Harry asked.
It was Professor McGonagall who answered their question, "Well as I'm sure you're aware Remus has been on a mission for the order this last month." To this statement both Harry and Hermione nodded their heads.
"But you do not know the details correct." Once again the two nodded.
At this part Remus interrupted, "Minerva I think I can continue the story from here." Smiling he turned to Harry and Hermione, "You see I've been tracking Wormtail, and waiting for an opportunity to capture him so we can prove that Voldemort has indeed come back and that Sirius was innocent."
"Well at 5.30 this morning Wormtail was interrogated, taken to Azkaban and the kiss preformed on him. The information he provided managed to convince the ministry that Voldemort is back and that Sirius was innocent. So now he has been granted a full pardon and been compensated for the last 13 years with the sum of 900 thousand gallons…"
However before Remus could continue Sirius interrupted, "None of which I have kept thank you, half has been given to St Mungos, 200 thousand gallons has been given to the auror department to improve training and the rest has been split between, you two, Ron and Remus."
Harry was about to protest when he found his mouth sealed tight with Sirius's wand pointing at not only himself but also Hermione and Remus who were having similar problems, "And that is non negotiable. You guys were the first to believe me and if it weren't for you then I would never even have had the chance to be free. I don't want the money and I…" Sirius was quickly cut off however as Harry had worked out the counter spell and with a wave of his fingers the spell was removed from all three victims and Sirius was bombarded with protests.
"SHUT UP!" Sirius yelled, "I've already got more money then I know what to do with, and it's not like I'm not going to work now that I can. Now all there of you shut up other I'll go get `the box.'" He said staring Remus in the eye.
Quickly Remus shut up and placed a hand over both Harry and Hermione's mouth, "You wouldn't dare," he whispered, "We made a promise Padfoot."
"That we did Moony but this is defiantly one of those exceptions."
"Fine, but I hope that Prongs has his way with you one day." Remus mumbled, "Okay he wins. Trust me you don't want `the box' to come out."
"But Remus…" Harry started.
"Trust me Harry, it's not worth it." Remus said placing a hand on both Harry and Hermione's shoulders and guiding them back to their seats.
"Okay now that is dealt with we need to deal with your training for the remainder of the holidays." Dumbledore said effectively stopping all current conversations.
When at last everyone was not necessarily happy with the agreed scheduled, which consisted of mastering the Animagi transformations and apparition, a continued study of their individual powers, Defense Against the Dark Arts and at least a start on mind power, which included occumency and legimency but agreed to try and make it work did the adults slowly file out of the room leaving Harry, Hermione and Dumbledore alone.
After a few minutes Dumbledore peered keenly at Hermione through his half moon spectacles his blue eyes twinkling, "So Miss Granger, what exactly was bothering you?"
`Well sir," Hermione began immediately taking on her lecture mode, "I- that is to say we think that something has happened with out powers, because we can talk to each other through our minds and a few times I think I've heard Harry's thoughts."
"Ah yes." Dumbledore said only mildly surprise, "I thought something like this might occur after the wand incident, but I think you two believe that this was cause by a different incident."
This time it was Harry who tried to explain, "Well sir just after we found out about our powers Hermione and I got into a fight and she began to glow with her power, afterwards she couldn't recall any of it so I tried to show her the image from my mind, I don't know how exactly we did it but we ended up seeing glimpses of each others minds."
"Ah now I see," Dumbledore said resting his chin on his fingers, "I think that the best thing we can do is see how your lessons with myself and Severus go. Now on a happier note I have these for you." Dumbledore said pulling two letters addressed in loopy green ink from his draw. Instantly Harry and Hermione recognized the letters.
"Before you open them however I want both of you to know that this decision was extremely difficult to make and this is I see a fall in your work either school, or training then I will remove you from the position." With that said Dumbledore motioned for the envelopes to be opened.
Slowly Harry pulled out his letter, which was thicker then, normal, and was quite surprised when a small badge slipped from the folds in the letter to land in his lap.
Curiously Harry picked up the badge to find the gold and scarlet Gryffindor colour's supporting a stylized P. Slowly Harry bought his eyes up to meet Dumbledore's when suddenly a voice appeared in his head, *It was a difficult decision Harry and it took a lot of time. If at any time I don't think you are copping then I will revoke it. While I think that you have enough to deal with you deserve a chance to prove yourself. *
"You leave for Diagon Ally in and hour so I suggest you get ready. You shouldn't meet to many people there as most letters have not been sent out yet."
This statement caught Harry's attention as his dream came back to him, "Sir what about Jaina Crèsandè?" at Dumbledore's sharp gaze Harry found his eyes lowering, "I had a dream."
"Jaina received her letter last night because she will be joining the 5th years, he mother is a good friend on mine and has been home schooling her," Dumbledore explained in a slow steady voice his eyes not once leaving Harry's, "With Voldemort return I convinced her it would be better for Jaina to attend Hogwarts, she'll be arriving in two weeks so she can familiarize herself with the castle and have a few lessons with the teachers to make sure she is up to date. Now you two need to get ready you leave soon."
Know a dismissal when they heard one Harry and Hermione quickly stood and made their way back to their rooms.
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