He Walks in Dreams

Disclaimers: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the other original characters and or places in the Potterverse, which was created by the wonderful JK Rowling. I believe that they are owned by Warner Brothers. However, the plot, new characters and or places are mine, mine, mine! And are subject to copyright by ME!

I do not own any rights to the amazing book The Deed of Paksenarrion, by Elizabeth Moon, or any characters and or places contained therein either, but I highly recommend that everyone read it!


Chapter 1- A Changed World


Hermione Granger was more than happy to be back in school for the beginning of her seventh and final year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. On the first day of classes she rose earlier than everyone else in the entirety of Gryffindor House, which was not atypical of the newly chosen Head-girl. She dressed quickly and pinned the shiny badge to her robes and stopped a moment at the mirror to take in the stranger staring back at her.


How the past few months had changed her; her once bright eyes now grim and the dark circles under her eyes wouldn’t seem to go away no matter how much sleep she’d managed to get. The wizarding community was now on high alert and Voldemort no longer needed to keep his actions, or the actions of his minions sacrosanct. The streets of all wizarding towns such as Hogsmeade were now silent as the grave and no honest or decent citizen with any magic blood dared to wander the streets unaccompanied for fear of Voldemort’s often-deadly retribution.


The sun itself seemed not to dare shine too brightly on days when there were no clouds to be seen in the sky, as if the very earth knew that this was the beginning of dark times for humanity, Muggle or magic. Hermione crossed to the window in order to catch the first light of true dawn come streaming through her window. The sunrise served to remind her that every day was a new beginning and that human life is also cyclical. This was a simple ritual she’d done every day since Snape had murdered Dumbledore in cold blood on the spot just below her window less than three months ago. She let one tear pass down her ivory cheek as she forced herself not to think of the wise and clever wizard who had died to defend one of her closest friends. She would not let her gaze fall to that spot, she could not, lest her fragile emotional shield shatter to bits. She turned and walked resolutely away from the window and out into the corridor.


Her black robes rippled behind her as she walked the empty corridors of the castle; her footsteps echoed off of the thick stone walls and gave her the distinct, but not at all menacing impression, that she was not alone and that a piece of the former Headmaster would always walk these halls that he loved so dearly. She smiled at the thought and made her way to the library, books were good for more than simply earning good grades; she’d try to lose herself in a story for a few hours before her duties as Head-girl would begin for the term. Madam Pince smiled at her as she entered and refrained form giving her the lecture that she’d have given any other student who’d happen into the library at this hour.


Hermione smiled and nodded back at the immaculate little librarian before taking a seat in the section dedicated to Muggle fiction. She was very happy that she’d managed to get Dumbledore to add this section to the library when she’d explained that it would be invaluable to those magic-born witches and wizards who wanted to study Muggle culture. She’d also had an ulterior motive, namely that it would bring her hours of reading pleasure. Hermione knew by the twinkle in the Headmaster’s eye that he’d understood both of her reasons and, not surprisingly, he approved of them.


She went to the shelves that were devoted to science fiction and fantasy and selected a book that she’d read many times, in fact now that she thought about it, it must be her favorite novel by a person of non-magic blood, it was called, The Deed of Paksenarrion, by Elizabeth Moon. The reason that Hermione was so fascinated by the book was because it featured a strong female heroine, which is a rare trait in fantasy, or at least in the fantasy that she’d read. She was well into the sixth chapter by the time she had to get to her duties as Head-girl. She stretched as she closed the book and then she crossed to the shelf to put it back in its proper place.


As Hermione entered the hallway she was a bit surprised to find that it was not empty, a number of students were already heading down to the Great Hall for breakfast, their steps punctuated by yawns. Fortunately for her the mood was subdued and there was little chance that anyone would cause trouble at this hour. There were perhaps two-dozen students sitting at the house tables when she arrived and the staff table was still empty and the House Elves had not yet magicked the food to the tables. She sat directly in the middle of the Gryffindor table and scanned the room for any sign of trouble, though none would present itself. She tried to think of why the school had been so sedate last night, because usually the Great Feasts were enough to cause even the most reserved students to be even a little bit jolly, and the normally boisterous students to be downright mischievous. It couldn’t be just the loss of the headmaster because that would mean little to nothing to the first-years.


Then it came to her; the usual troublemakers were gone from the school, and those who remained were in on mood to make light of the bad situation by causing trouble. Yes, that was it; the children of the Death Eaters were no longer in attendance. She surmised that most of the first year students were too frightened by their unfamiliar surroundings to make mischief just yet.


She almost longed for a fracas to break out so that the world around her would begin to take on some sense of normalcy again, as almost anything was preferable to the stone-dead silence that lay on the collective shoulders of the population of Hogwarts. Hermione was lost to her musings as the Hall began to fill up around her and the low buzz of hushed conversation broke into her thoughts and shook her from her malaise. This was more like the typical morning chatter she’d come to associate with breakfast. As she turned to fill her plate she was greeted by some of her year-mates, much to her chagrin neither Harry, nor Ron was not among them; although she knew that they’d planned not to return to school she was still shocked by their absence, it felt wrong somehow. She shook her head, it was best not to think about either of them she decided, besides she knew that they would be in touch with her as soon as possible.


**
Other than the fact that the general mood of the students was less joyful than usual the days seemed to pass in pretty much as they should, by lunch mid-week Hermione had even begun to hear jokes being traded by some fifth-years. Her classes seemed like they would be interesting enough, but she doubted that any of them would pose her any real challenge. At least that part of her life was perfectly on track!


However it was not very long before she’d come to realize just how much she’d depended on Ron and Harry, it seemed to her that their absence was something that she’d be hard pressed to overcome. Ginny must have felt the same way that Hermione did, her face was expressionless when Hermione saw her in the corridors or at the table during meals. She saw the same torment and worries in the eyes of her redheaded friend and edged closer to her to lean on her shoulder. Surely they were all right, and they would make contact when it was safe to do so. Hermione tried her best to reassure Ginny, but try as she might she could not keep the doubt from creeping into her voice and her eyes.