She woke up screaming. Grabbing for the light, she found it and violently flicked it on. Her grey eyes rapidly searched the room, finding comfort as the light bounced around to fill the corners. She sighed with relief as the light illuminated the familiar surroundings: her desk, books, pictures, and closet. Just that stupid dream, she thought, untangling herself slowly from her blue bed sheets. That stupid, stupid dream.
Ellen had been having the same, yet ever-changing nightmare off and on for the past month. It always began as a perfectly normal dream about a day in the park or something. But then things would start going wrong: the sky would grow darker; the images of family and friends would become twisted and distorted. She would reach for her family, her friend, whomever was in the dream, but was enveloped in the darkness, all alone.
She could be in that darkness for what seemed like days, turning around and around, trying to find a way out. And she could feel another presence there with her. Other people, perhaps. She would see movement in the darkness, out of the corner of her eye, and it never failed to creep her out. Each time she would spin around to see what moved, and be greeted with nothing. And then she would turn around again to find herself staring into cold, red eyes, on a bone-white face. This part was always the same. Always the same.
“I’ll find you. I’ll find you, and I’ll kill you,” Voldemort would whisper.
Ellen shuddered as the image came up in her mind again. “Just a dream,” she said, trying to calm herself. “I have nothing to do with him.”
Her owl, Penn, hooted softly from Ellen’s desk where she was perched in her cage. Penn was used to Ellen waking up screaming, but it still unnerved her. Ellen gave Penn a small smile.
“Sorry, Penn. I know: I’m sixteen years old and afraid of a dream,” Ellen smiled, trying to laugh it off. Even so, she briskly pulled the covers back over herself and made sure none of her limbs were anywhere near the edge of the bed. She turned the light on low and waited, with her grey eyes open, to fall into an uneasy sleep.
*
Hogwarts was slightly less cheerful that year; the feeling of the war was ever present. Students bustled through the Great Hall slower, chatting about the latest in the Daily Prophet. The Wizarding community had, of course, been alerted that a dark wizard named “Lord Voldemort’ was gaining power, but that didn’t make the deaths or disappearances in the papers any less frightening.
The Wizarding world seemed to be walking on eggshells; people turning against people who used to be counted as friends, the imperious cure around ever corner, and the constant fear of death. The community was spinning around in circles, becoming hastier and more chaotic with every turn. Just how he wants it to be, Ellen thought bitterly. He wants us all confused and scared. But he won’t get away with it. They’ll catch him.
Ellen and her friend Molly walked through the corridors together, making their way to the Great Hall for breakfast. The morning noise was the same, the house tables the same, and the food was the same. But everyone knew that one glace at the Daily Prophet or a letter could change all that.
When the two Ravenclaws were seated at their house table, Molly picked up a Daily Prophet, and sighed. “Great. Wonderful,” she muttered sarcastically. “Did you see the news?”
“No,” answered Ellen, dreading what was coming. She gathered her shoulder length brown hair into a ponytail. “What happened this time?”
Molly glanced round, lowering her voice. “Five more Muggles and wizards were killed, and three more disappearances.” Both girls shuddered involuntarily.
“He is one sick, twisted man,” spat Molly, glaring at the paper. Her brown eyes, usually warm and joyful, were full of hate and viciousness.
“I don’t even believe he’s fully human,” pondered Ellen softly, playing with her eggs on her plate. Molly looked up sharply.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, you know,” continued Ellen slowly, keeping her voice down. She shifted more food around. “If someone was still all human, they- they would mind killing people more, don’t you think? I mean, the way he goes about it, one person is no different from the next.”
Molly just shook her head. “I don’t know, Ellen. I just think he has problems.” Molly took another glance at the paper, the front page featuring a motion picture of Voldemort. “Serious problems.”
~*~
After breakfast, Molly and Ellen had an hour before their first class. They spent it finishing their Charms homework out on the grounds, with three other Ravenclaw girls: Cassie, Mary, and Joanne.
Ellen listened as the four of them talked and joked with each other, enjoying the fresh air, and watching as leaves spun down from the sky, landing in sun-soaked patches of grass. She didn’t say much, but just absorbed the laughter of her friends, reminding herself that even while a war was going on, normal life could continue. Even if she was having weird dreams, that didn’t mean she had to push herself away from the world, and forever ponder and worry about the darkness that enclosed her in the night. “They’re just dreams,” she said to herself softly.
“And then Brian asked why he was so afraid to teach us that charm.” Joanne’s cheerful voice broke through Ellen’s thoughts, brining her back to reality. “He said it was because he had had bad experiences with fire in his class.” The four girls were oblivious to what Ellen had just whispered, too absorbed in Joanne's story.
“What did he mean, ‘bad experiences’?” asked Molly curiously. Joanna shook her head, trying not to laugh.
“Well, that was what Brian asked next,” answered Joanne slyly, flicking her brown hair out of her face. The others waited in suspense; even Ellen was paying attention now. “One of his students from the past had had a fire problem, and”-she was having a hard time trying to keep a straight face-“set his hair on fire,” she finished. There was a second’s silence, before all of them burst out laughing.
This is my reality, Ellen thought happily, as she laughed along with her friends. This is mine.
Demons and Dream People by Trivia Camlee
Story Notes:
All comments and critiques are welcomed!
I hope you enjoy it, and thank you for reading :)Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns Harry Potter's world; I don't. Anything, or anyone, you recognize is hers. Anyone you don't is probably a character I made up (like Ellen). So please don't sue me.
Chapter Notes: A huge hug to my amazingly awesome and wonderful beta, Zackie :) *Squishes, and then breaks out into random song and dance, ending with a "Catch me, Zackie!" "Trivia, what are you doi-" "Omph!"**Ahem* Without you and your superb beta-ing skills, this first chapter would be a mess. Seriously. And you also managed to brighten up the task of re-editing, because you always wrote in the funniest comments! Thank you :)