Dream a Little Dream

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Friday flew by, and before anyone could saw Bertie Bots, Wood was yelling “TEAM! BED!”

And before Harry Potter knew it, he was dreaming.

He dreamt of a warm house with a big fire going, and a big bowl of candy in front of him. The home was so familiar, but he could have sworn he’d never been there before.

“Big game tomorrow, ay, Son?”

Harry looked up, and nearly jumped straight through the ceiling.

“D-Dad?”

James Potter smirked. “That would be me.”

“B-but… you… and…”

James shook his head. “Don’t worry about it right now.”

They stood in silence until a tall red-head rushed in. “What’s all this silence? James, you haven’t been this quiet since you found out Sirius was getting married.”

“What happened when Sirius got married?” Harry asked, his attention grabbed.

Lily Potter smiled. “You’re father fainted right in the middle of the Leaky Cauldron.”

Harry snickered.

“It’s not funny!” James cried indignantly. “I was in shock. You’re Uncle Sirius prided himself on his bachelor status, and then he up and decided to pop the question to his Hogwarts sweetheart of all people. And then Remus followed suit… I started a trend, you know.”

“James, love, you’re rambling,” Lily informed her husband, patting his cheek lightly. She turned to Harry and smiled. “I hear someone’s got a big game tomorrow.”

“First of the season,” Harry replied. “Against Slytherin.”

“Oh,” James said excitedly. “Kick their arse!”

“James!” Lily cried. “Do you mind not teaching your son bad language?!”

“Sorry, Lils.”

Harry had no idea what was going on. While he was fairly certain he was dreaming, he really loved seeing his parents. They seemed so silly together, and they smiled at him like he really mattered.

Lily’s expression became serious. “Harry, I know you really want to see Sirius. Please be careful.”

James raised an eyebrow. “I thought we were going to ease into the subject.”

Lily shrugged. “Oops.”

James sighed. “She’s right though. Be careful. You’re not meant to join us yet. It’ll be a long time, thank Merlin.”

Harry sighed. “I really want to know you guys.”

Lily had the “he’s so cute” look in her eyes. She walked over and sat next to her son, pulling him into a tight hug. “All you need to know, for now, is that we love you. We always have. And we’re so proud. You’re turning out so well.”

“Lils, you’re gushing over the boy.”

“Yeah, I am,” Lily admitted. “But it’s the truth. You’re father has too much testosterone to admit it.”

“Do not.”

“Shut it, James.”

“I wish you guys could come to the game tomorrow,” Harry admitted. “And to Azkaban with us.”

James sighed and sat on Harry’s other side. He picked up the bowl of candy. “Have a great game, Harry. We'll be watching.”


Harry woke with a start, and looked around the dim room. The clock read three in the morning. Harry sat up, and a small piece of parchment crumpled in his lap. He picked it up. The hand writing was unmistakably Ron’s, but shakier.


Harry,

Gone out. Be back in time for Quidditch.

Ron


Across from him, Ron’s bed was empty.

Harry scrambled out of bed. “Bloody hell.”


It occurred to him that she was very pretty… in an insane psycho-killer kind of way.

“Pretty, pretty baby boy… all mine,” she hissed.

It didn’t matter that Ron didn’t like the ferret-y git, or that his head felt as if it were being ripped to shreds. All that mattered was that Drusilla was going to bite the hell into Draco Malfoy.

Rain in the early hour almost didn’t register to Ron, nor did the fact that he might fall over at any second. He only shoved Malfoy out of the vampire’s grasp, knocking him to the muddy ground.

Drusilla pouted. “You spoiled my dinner!” She took a long knife from her coat pocket, and advanced towards Ron, who stumbled back. Another dizzy spell hit him and he was on the ground next to Malfoy.

“Oh… tea and cake,” Drusilla said lightly. “How lovely.”

At that moment, a large axe flew out of nowhere, and just missed Drusilla’s head. “Back away from the kids, Dru,” Professor O’Brien’s voice called through the heavy rain.

“Weasley?”

Ron’s eyes were squeezed shut. He didn’t answer.

Draco got onto his knees in front of Ron, and smacked his face lightly. Ron’s eyes opened weakly.

“Betcher havin’ fun slappin me, aye, Draco?”

“Dammit, Weasley, what’d you have to do that for?”
“Vision.”

“Aren’t you supposed to tell Potter?”

“He’s sleeping.”

“Not anymore,” Harry’s voice said sharply. He came through the rain. “I got Professor O’Brien as soon as I got your note.”

Ron nodded heavily. “S’nice.”

“Ron?” Professor O’Brien called. Drusilla was gone. How or why, none of the boys care. “You okay?”

“Hurts lots,” he replied.

O’Brien nodded. “We gotta get outta this rain! Let’s head for Hagrid’s!”


“Professor?”

Angel rushed in, half-carrying Ron, with Draco and Harry behind him.

“Merlin’s beard!” Hagrid cried. “What happened?”

“Another vampire attack. Ron had another vision.”

“Saved my arse,” Malfoy muttered, shaking his head. “Dunno why, but he did.” He seemed in shock.

“Sit, Malfoy,” Angel ordered.

Surprisingly enough, he did.

“I’ll be back,” Hagrid said. “I’m goin t’ get Poppy.” He walked out, leaving Angel to sit Ron next to Malfoy. Harry stood, staring at the unreal scene before him.

“He can’t do this,” Malfoy muttered. “He can’t save my life and die.”

“Malfoy-”

“He can’t make me feel guilty and then just kick the bucket!” He got to his feet and shook Ron, who was half asleep. “You hear me, you red-haired, Mudblood-loving freak?! You can’t die!!!”

“MALFOY!”

Angel’s voice was so loud, and so angry, it made Draco sit back down, and Harry nearly jumped five feet in the air.

Ron’s eyes opened slightly. “You call my girlfriend a Mudblood again, and next time I let you get bitten.”

Hagrid showed up with reinforcements. Charlie hovered over Ron as Madame Pomfrey looked him over and gave him a potion to help the headache.

An hour later, the teachers escorted them back to the castle, Harry helping Ron move along when he got to tired.

“You gonna be able to play Quidditch?” Harry asked.

Ron nodded. “Yeah. I’ll be fine.”


To Harry’s complete shock, by the time ten am rolled around, Ron was awake, and ready to play Quidditch, despite the pale color his skin had turned.

The rain had, for the most part, stopped, but it was still a bit cold out.

“You’re sure?”

Ron rolled his eyes. “Yes, Mummy.”

Harry swatted him. “You know I’m just worried about you.”

Ron sighed. “You don’t have to.”

“Shut up, Ron.”


“Y’know? I didn’t think I’d be excited about this,” Buffy said, sitting next to Angel in the stands. “But I really am.”

“You hate sports,” Willow pointed out. “Even though you were a cheerleader, you hate sports.”

Buffy shrugged. “But… they’re on brooms, and they throw things, and the goals are all colorful. And Harry and Ron and the twins are playing. A-and I had a jumbo cup of super-coffee this morning.”

Angel sighed. “Shoulda guessed.”

“I feel like I should have pom-poms,” Buffy pointed out. She turned to Wesley and Giles. “Can I have pom-poms?”

Giles sighed. “Perhaps next time.” He looked around him. “Where’s Faith?”

Angel sighed. “She said she was going to go scout out the dark forest. See if she couldn’t find Drusilla and or Spike. They weren’t together this morning.”

“They probably broke up again,” Buffy said. “He has the worst luck with women. Drusilla… Harmony…”

“You,” Willow added.

Angel raised an eyebrow high. “You never did tell me the full extent of your relationship with Spike.”

“Oh,” Buffy squeaked. “That’s not important. I don’t like blonds, anyways.”

“You’re blond,” Charlie pointed out, sitting in the row above them. “Where the devil is Faith?”

“She’ll be here soon,” Angel replied. “So… you’re introducing her to your mother.”

Charlie nodded. “She told you?”

“She tells me lots of stuff,” Angel nodded. “Don’t be surprised if your mother hates Faith with a passion. I know my mother would.”

“You’re mother is ridiculously old-fashioned,” Buffy reminded him. “She would have hated any woman you brought home. She lived in the-”

Angel covered his girlfriend’s mouth with his hand. “Remind me to hide any and all coffee from you in the future.”


The game started as any normal game would. Madame Hooch let everything loose, and signaled for the go.

Buffy, Willow and Tara were incredibly baffled by the whole thing, completely confused by what a quaffle was, as apposed to a bludger, or why the snitch was worth so many points. Angel caught on fast, listening to Lee Jordan’s commentary closely (“They didn‘t have Quidditch back in my day,” he told them). Wesley was well on his way down nostalgia avenue, and Giles sat, occasionally looking up from the papers he was grading, to cheer with the crowd.

Ron had no visions, and worked well with Katie and Torianna as Chasers. Fred and George displayed their usual amounts of beater-ness (Or, so Willow put it. She liked the word.) Angelina made for an excellent keeper, and Wood sat in the stands next to Hermione and Evelyn, looking happier than a pig in mud. Harry had found the snitch.

And incidentally, so had Malfoy.

They were now trying to outdo each other for the “little golden wing-y thing-y.”

“Buffy, it’s a snitch,” Wesley corrected her.

“That’s what I said. A little golden wing-y thing-y.”

“Oh,” Tara said worriedly. “What if they knock each other off the brooms. T-they could be hurt!”

“They’ll be fine,” Lee reassured his professor. “They’re two of the best!”

An hour into the game, after two goals had been scored by Slytherin, and three by Gryffindor, Harry managed to grab the snitch. Cheers rang out in the stands as the team engulfed Harry in a massive group hug.

“Yay!” Willow called. “Go Gryffindor!!”

Charlie looked around curiously. “Where the hell is Faith?”


The potions dungeon was nothing but creepy. Faith sat at a student desk, glaring at Snape.

“I don’t blame you for hating me,” Snape told her suddenly.

“Good. Neither do I.”

He growled. “Do you have to be so trying all the time?”

“Yep.”

Snape mixed the thick potion in front of him. “You’re just like your mother.”

There was a cold silence.

“Don’t talk about my mother.”

“Right. Fine. Sorry.”

“You should be.” She sighed and paused again. “I’m going to the Weasleys’ with Charlie and Ron. We‘re leaving tonight.”

Snape gave her a strange look. “Why?”

“Because Charlie and I have been making out in broom closets all over the school, and he wants me to meet his parents.”

“You… and a Weasley?”

“Yeah. He’s hot, too. Can’t wait to get him nekkid.”

Snape glared. “You’re telling me this to make me angry and uncomfortable.”

“Yep.”

“Well, I’ll be taking leave this weekend, myself,” Snape told her.

“Oh, yeah? What’re you gonna do? Go terrorize some poor helpless Gryffindors in Hogsmeade?”

“No.”

“Than what?”

Snape sighed. “I’ll be going to the Little Hangleton Cemetery.”

“What’s there?”

“Voldemort.”

Faith glared and to her feet. “You bastard.”

“I’m going under-cover, you silly twit.”

“You call me a twit again, and you’re really gonna wish you didn’t have a stick up your ass. Because I’m gonna-”

“Empty threats, little girl. Always empty threats.”

She slugged him in the stomach, and stared at him.

“I ain’t no little girl anymore, Uncle Severus,” she snapped. “You don’t wanna take me on. I warned you.”

With that, she stalked out.

Dumbledore watched her pass him, and sighed.

“Family trouble, Severus?”

Snape groaned. “Only a little, headmaster. Only a little.”


Hermione hugged Harry.

“Be safe. Be really, really safe.”

He nodded. “Yeah. Don‘t go crazy with homework while we‘re gone.”

She smiled. “Right.”

Harry turned to Ron, and they hugged each other.

“Great game, Ron. You were really something.”

Ron smirked. “Nice seeking, Mate.”

Harry snickered. “Yeah, well, Malfoy wasn’t really at his best today. Still can’t believe you saved him, of all people.”

“Me, neither,” Ron replied. “This place just keeps getting crazier and crazier.”

“Oh, Harry,” Hermione interrupted. “Before you leave, have you ever heard of someone called The Scourge of Europe?”

Harry shook his head. “Not ever. Why?”

Hermione shrugged. “No reason.”

“Harry! C’mon! My Dad’s about ready to spontaneously combust!” Torianna called. “We gotta go.”

Harry sighed. “See you guys later. Good luck, Ron.”

“You, too.”

Harry jogged off to meet up with Torianna.

Hermione sighed and turned to Ron. “So… two days apart.”

Ron shrugged. “I’ve got to get this all sorted out,” he told her. “It’s not that much time apart, is it?”

“No,” Hermione replied. “I suppose not. I will miss you, though. And I’m worried. You looked awful after your vision.”

Ron raised an eyebrow. “How did you know what I looked like after my vision? I was in the hospital wing at five in the morning?”

“I…” Hermione began. “I may have borrowed the invisibility cloak for a quick peek… Chuddly Cannon boxers?”

Her turned red. “I like them! They‘re bright orange!”

She got on her toes and kissed him. “I’ll see you in a few nights.”

He nodded. “Yeah.”

“You will be alright, won’t you?” she asked, wrapping her arms around him.

He nodded. “Yeah. Don’t worry about me.” He hugged her back.

“Weasley?”

The couple pulled apart, and turned around to see Draco Malfoy standing.

“What?” Ron asked.

Hermione was surprised. He didn’t sound annoyed or anything. It was just a simple “What?” No rage.

Draco cleared his throat. “I… uhm… thanks… fer earlier… y’know, the save… and… and… I’m sorry about what I said a last week… about you dying. It was stupid.”

Ron nodded, and Draco rushed off away from them.

“That was… that was weird,” Ron muttered. “Really bloody weird.”

Hermione kissed him again. “You’d better get going. Charlie and the twins will be livid.”

Ron nodded. “Yeah. I am really gonna miss you, though.”

She smiled. “You’d better.”


Draco sighed. “I did it. Happy?”

Evelyn turned from the bag she was about to lug out the door. “Did what?”

“I apologized to Weasley.”

Evelyn blinked in shock. “No way.”

“I did.”

Evelyn grabbed him by his green shirt collar and kissed him hard.

Harry walked up with his own bag and rolled his eyes. “Didn’t I already say I didn’t want to see that?”

Draco smirked at Harry when the kiss had ended. He held onto Evelyn. “Jealous?”

“No,” Harry replied. “I never, ever want to kiss you, you prat.”

Torianna walked up behind them. “What’s up?”

“They were kissing,” Harry said, wrinkling his nose.

“Aw,” Torianna said, her accent, very thick. “So cute!”

Remus cleared his throat as he entered the front hall. “Come along, you three. We’ve got to get a move on. Evelyn, please detach yourself from Mr. Malfoy before Harry throws up on the floor.”

Evelyn rolled her eyes and let go of Draco. She sighed. “Gotta go.”

“Be careful,” Draco told her. “My dad says it really sucks there.”

“Yeah,” Evelyn nodded.

She kissed him on the cheek, and then led the way out.

Draco stared after the group as they walked down the from steps of Hogwarts.

“Bloody hell.”

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