Dream Lover

A/N: As always, thank you to my lovely snookems for the fantastic beta. Snape never sounded so good! :-* Also, to all my TRA buddies who helped me with this whole mad process, especially Ali for helping me get into an insane person’s head (hehehe), my eternal love and karma!

This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoat Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.


Ginny Weasley watched Draco Malfoy saunter across the Great Hall from the Slytherin table, her insides clenching in anger. She hated Malfoy, hated him with a passion that exceeded nearly everything else in her life. Everything, that is, except her love for Harry.

She turned to look upon the face of the boy with whom she’d been in love since the first time she laid eyes on him. They were destined to be together, fated one for the other. She knew this with every fibre of her being. She knew, deep down in her soul, that Harry returned her feelings. She knew that the only thing standing in the way of him confessing his love to her was his fear that she would once again be hurt because of him.

She smiled softly at him, her devotion shining in her eyes for all to see, as she remembered the many times he had put himself in danger to protect her. He had nearly died trying to save her in the Chamber of Secrets, and then had bravely faced a dozen armed Death Eaters, placing himself between her and them. He had even gone so far as to separate from her and draw the wrath of the Death Eaters, led by Lucius Malfoy, upon himself, giving her time to flee.

Her dorm mates had commented a few times that her love for Harry bordered on obsession, but really, who could blame her? He was perfect. He was the only man she’d ever known who was totally without flaw. The beauty that shone on the outside was rivalled only by the unequalled purity of his soul, the soul that was mated to hers.

The conversation at the table pulled her from her reverent thoughts. What was this? What were they talking about? Harry was going to go somewhere with Draco Malfoy? Malfoy, the sickeningly evil git, whose one goal in life was to bring heartache and suffering to her love, her Harry? No, no, she smiled softly to herself in relief. Harry wouldn’t go with him.

But then, Harry stood up and followed Draco from the Great Hall. Ginny looked around in confusion. Most of the students at the Gryffindor table seemed angry at this, nearly as angry as Ginny was. Well, she wasn’t really angry. Who could be angry with Harry, after all? Perfect Harry. She smilingly chided herself for her wayward thoughts of her love.

He was trying to save them all again, that’s all it was. He was trying to make the anger and insults stop. He should really be commended. Why was everyone being so mean? Why was Seamus snarling something about Harry being queer? Harry wouldn’t really do any of this. He loved her! He wouldn’t betray her in that way! She sat for a while, growing steadily angrier at the horrific things that people were saying. Finally, near the end of the dinner hour, she had enough.

She cast an angry glance on the rest of the diners at the Gryffindor table and stood up, her food untouched as she left to follow Harry. She knew where he was at all times now. She could find him wherever he went. George had given her an excellent tracking spell, and she had always been good with spells. Well, all but that one spell…

She sighed. No reason to think of that now, was there? It had obviously been an incomplete spell she’d found in the Half Blood Prince’s Potions book, one that didn’t work. Otherwise, Harry wouldn’t have been able to deny their bond any longer, even if it meant placing her in harm’s way. She smiled fondly again, thinking of his extreme sweetness in wanting to protect her, the one he loved above all others.

She walked slowly, feeling no real need to rush. She knew Harry was in the Room of Requirement, knew that he was probably trying in his sweet, heroic way, to convince Malfoy that Voldemort was evil. She shook her head as she thought of Harry’s naivety. He could never believe that some people were just inherently evil, that there was nothing he could do to save them. Merlin knew she would have to shield him from the harsher realities of life when they were married.

He was simply too innocent to understand, but she loved that about him. Even when he was saving everyone from evil, he was never touched by that evil himself. He was simply everything that was pure and perfect, and she would safeguard him forever if need be.

As she approached the Room, she heard muffled noises coming from within…

~*~

Hermione woke with a start, the sound of breaking glass jerking her from her dreams. She hurriedly threw on her dressing gown and ran lightly down the stairwell to the common room, where she found Ginny Weasley ranting like a madwoman.

“That bastard!” she screamed, picking up a book and hurling it into the fireplace. “I’ll make him pay. I’ll make him PAY! He can’t do this to me! He was supposed to love me! How dare he tell Malfoy that he loves him! He’s mine!”

Hermione slowly approached the raving teen, slightly scared at the look of pure madness that radiated from her twisted features. “Ginny?” she asked softly, hesitantly. “Ginny, sweetheart, what’s the matter?”

“He betrayed me! Harry…Harry is up there, right now, and he’s fucking Malfoy!” she screeched. “He’s fucking him! He’s mine, and he’s fucking him!”

“Ginny…” Hermione trailed off as Ginny went into a fit, swinging her arms wildly about, flinging items from various tables onto the floor, some of them close enough to the stone walls to shatter brilliantly.

“Do you know what he said?? Do you?! He said, ‘Gods, Draco, fuck me! Fuck me! Please!’ He was begging for it, Hermione! Taking what was mine and giving it to that smarmy bastard!”

“But I’ll show him,” Ginny said, straightening, and calming almost instantly. The switch was so sudden, so unexpected, that Hermione was momentarily stunned. The other girl’s voice took on a dreamy quality, reminding Hermione uncomfortably of Luna Lovegood. “He’s mine, Hermione. I’ll have him back. If I can’t have him, no one will.”

It hit Hermione then, hit her like a bolt from the blue. She’d been wrong, so very wrong, when she told Professor Snape that Ginny couldn’t have been the one to cast the spell on Harry. They’d all obviously missed this hidden madness in the girl…

Hermione turned suddenly as she saw Ron coming down the stairs leading to the boy’s dorm, his face still lined from sleep, trying to tug his dressing gown on. He was obviously investigating the noises that had woken Hermione, but she’d always been easier to wake than him.

Walking over to her boyfriend, she put her arms around him and whispered in his ear about what was going on. She watched his face as he took in the devastation of the common room caused by his little sister, and felt her heart twist in sympathy for him when he turned a stunned glance on his sister. Ginny was still standing in the middle of the room, speaking in that strange voice as she described her “punishment” for Harry.

Ron shook his head, obviously not wanting to believe his sister capable of this level of violence. Hermione touched his arm and pointed to his wand, then back to the stairs to the girl’s dormitory. She had left her wand up there. He nodded and cast a soft, “Accio Hermione’s wand,” handing it to her when it arrived.

Hermione turned back toward the girl who she had always thought of as a sister, and cast a quick series of binding and levitation charms on her, knowing that she needed to bring this matter to Professor Snape’s attention immediately.

~*~

When Hermione entered the infirmary, followed by the floating body of Ginny Weasley, everyone in the room, including Professors Dumbledore and Snape, Madam Pomfrey, Blaise Zabini, and Harry Potter, started in surprise. It was well after midnight by this time, and the story the Gryffindor Head Girl told was nearly unbelievable.

Professor Snape and the Headmaster took Ginny into an isolated room and locked the door behind them, pausing only long enough for Snape to collect a vial of Veritaserum from the mediwitch.

It was a long while later before anyone left that room…

~*~

When Professor Snape came back into the main wing of the infirmary, he was met with three concerned students, though not the trio he would have thought. Granger, Weasley, and Zabini stood there, looking at him like he had all the answers. He ran a weary hand down his face as he realised he had none to offer them.

He turned and sent a questioning glance at the Headmaster; after receiving his nod, he went to speak with Potter. Dumbledore took the other students to the side to explain to them what had transpired with the youngest Weasley, and to let her brother know of her eminent transferral to St. Mungo’s for a mental evaluation.

“What’s going on, sir?” Potter asked him when he approached. The boy was still sitting on Draco’s bed, stroking the pale hair with a gentle hand.

“Miss Weasley is quite insane, Mr Potter, but she has given us sufficient information to know how to proceed.”

“What do you mean?”

“The Headmaster and I have devised a plan. We are going to recast the spell Miss Weasley used on you.”

“What?! But that’s what started this whole mess in the first place! Her casting that damn spell on me!”

Snape scowled darkly at Potter, irritated at the boy’s tendency to interrupt him at every turn. “Potter, when Miss Weasley cast the spell the first time, it worked exactly as it was meant to. Which is surprising in itself, considering her mental state and usual ineptitude,” he sneered.

Potter glared at him and said harshly, “Part of your problem, Professor, is that you refuse to acknowledge when a student is capable, especially if said student is not a Slytherin. Ginny has always been excellent with hexes and charms. I’m not surprised at all that she was able to perform the spell; I am simply astounded that she used it on me. I never gave her any indication I thought of her as anything other than a friend.”

“Well, she’s quite delusional Potter. She was ranting in there about how you were meant for each other. When I told her that was quite unlikely, as you were as gay as a double headed Knut, she started screeching that Malfoy had obviously used a love potion, or some other such nonsense to take you away from her. She had definite plans for the two of you and went quite round the bend when she heard you…ahhh…well, shall we say she heard you expressing yourself to Mr. Malfoy this evening, and leave it at that.”

Harry lowered his head in despair. “How did we all miss it? Surely there would have been signs of her…instability…before now. I just don’t understand how we, all of us, those who were supposed to love her and watch out for her, could have failed her so completely.”

Snape sighed irritably. “Save your bitter recriminations for a more appropriate time, Potter! This is no time for Gryffindor sentimentality, with the weeping and wailing! Or, do you not wish to help Mr. Malfoy?”

Harry’s head snapped up and a look of desperate hope flashed across his face. “You can help him?”

“If you were capable of holding your tongue for more than five seconds, you might have noticed that I have been attempting to explain. The altered Morpheus Charm will be recast. The first time this Charm opened the portal for your soul mate, Mr. Malfoy.”

Harry held up a hand to stop him, sending an apologetic look at his Professor as he did so. “Sir, I’m sorry to interrupt again, but do you think you could call him Draco? Just, it makes me slightly ill when you call my soul mate ‘Mr. Malfoy.’ I will always think of Draco’s father when I hear that name, and needless to say, he’s as far from being my soul mate as a person could be, with the possible exception of Voldemort himself.”

Snape sighed and nodded before continuing with his explanation. “The first spell opened a portal for Draco, then. The second spell merely opened a portal in your subconscious, which anyone with the ability to do so could access. That is how the Dark Lord gained entrance to your shared dreams with Mr—Draco. What the Headmaster and I are proposing is to open yet another portal.”

“Sir, shouldn’t my Occlumency have prevented this? I mean, I’ve been successful in holding him out up ‘til now, how is he getting past my shields?”

“The portals bypass your Occlumency.”

Harry felt a chill go through him at the fact that his mind was once again wide open to Voldemort.

Sensing Harry’s thoughts, Snape reassured him with a gruff, “We are fairly certain that the Dark Lord would have closed down his connection to you when he took…Draco, but you have another connection to him that we are hoping he would not have thought of. Your connection through your scar.

“When we open the third portal, I am going to access your dreams, your subconscious, and follow that connection. Hopefully, I will be able to find Draco and basically guide him back. Before you ask a stupid question, there is no way of ‘grabbing’ another consciousness.”

Harry still looked distrustful. “But sir, I was able to touch him in my dreams, and he was able to touch me! I mean, we could affect each other’s physical beings through them, much less our subconscious!”

“Mr. Potter, the Morpheus Charm did not make you and Draco soul mates. It merely showed you who your soul mate was. You and Draco are bonded, your souls are basically one. I am not a part of that bond. Therefore, I cannot affect his subconscious like you can.”

“Then let me do this,” Harry pleaded.

“Teaching you to become as skilled a Legilimens as is needed for this task would take decades. Draco does not have that long. Now, do you trust me to do this?”

Harry drew in a shaky breath and looked down at Draco’s still form. “We’ve wasted enough time on explanations. Do what you need to do to help him. Please.”

Snape felt a twinge of pity at the lost look in Potter’s expressive eyes. He nodded once and said, “I need you to go to sleep. I do not want to take a chance on putting you into a false slumber. That might interfere with the Charm.”

Harry swallowed hard and looked up with a touch of fear in his eyes. “Sir, I don’t know if I’ll be able to fall asleep. I’m so worried about Draco…”

“Use the techniques you learned in your Occlumency lessons. Empty your mind, block out all thought, and relax. With your…activities of this evening as well as the mental stresses you’ve been through and the lateness of the hour, you should find yourself asleep rather quickly.”

Harry nodded and reluctantly left Draco’s bed, lingering long enough to brush a gentle kiss across his forehead. “I love you,” he whispered softly, before padding over to an available cot and settling onto it.

Folding his hands over his chest, he concentrated on his breathing, listening to the steady in and out of it, using that sound to chase all conscious thought from his mind. He’d been doing this for so long that instinct kicked in, and within ten minutes, he had slipped into a restful sleep.

Snape stood watching, and when he saw Harry’s features relax, he lifted his wand and began the intonation…

~*~

Snape felt his essence travel along the thin thread that connected Potter’s mind to the Dark Lord’s. Even here, he would not think the creature’s name. Especially not here. It was dangerous enough that he was attempting this.

There would be no more spying from this moment on. He was not foolish enough to believe that the Dark Lord would not sense his presence, but he vowed to do everything in his power to bring Draco back. The boy was his to protect and protect him, he would.

He felt it the moment he entered the Dark Lord’s mind. The aching emptiness, the lack of anything other than a cold evil that permeated Snape’s consciousness, made him long to forget himself and simply give over to the all encompassing darkness. He steadied himself, though it required great effort. He had to hold on to his sense of self if he was going to accomplish his goal.

He sent out his essence, casting about for Draco. He could only hope that the boy was strong enough to have survived this long in the Dark Lord’s mind. He knew that hope was probably for naught, but he held on to it.

As he drifted closer to the core of the Dark Lord’s consciousness, to where his latent memories were buried, he sensed a lessening of the darkness in one contained area. He moved toward that, hoping against hope that it was Draco, that he had found him. It seemed he’d been here for an eternity already, and as he moved to surround Draco’s consciousness for the return journey back to Potter, Snape heard voices, whisperings of something he would never have believed if he hadn’t been here to experience it.

The hope he’d been struggling to hold on to surged as he realised that the secret, the key, had been buried here the entire time…

~*~

Harry woke with a start as he felt a hand on his arm. Turning to Draco’s bed, he saw no change, the rise and fall of his chest still steady and even. He looked up, into Snape’s eyes, feeling his hope die. It hadn’t worked. He swallowed a sob as his Professor began speaking.

“I know the answer, Potter. I know how you can defeat the Dark Lord!”


TBC