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June Gloom | ||||
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Category: Dream Adventure Challenge (2005-3) Characters:None Genres: General Warnings: None Story is Complete Rating: PG Reviews: 19 Summary: Faced with yet another summer at the Dursleys', Harry's in a gloomy mood as usual. So no wonder he starts dreaming of better summers. Hitcount: Story Total: 4131 |
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Disclaimer: Rowling, not me. Harry stood in front of Hogsmeade Station. He looked up at the train that would transport him to his summer prison. He wished that he could be going anywhere but Privet Drive for the holidays. He tried to imagine all the places in the world that he’d rather be spending his summer, but stopped. Why even bother, he asked himself, when it would all be nothing more than an idle dream? The train began to pull away. Harry was considering not even boarding. After all, it wasn’t as if anyone would miss him if he spent the entire summer at Hogwarts. But then suddenly, as he looked back at the Thestrals that had brought him from the castle to the station, Harry decided that he would board the train after all. By this time, most of the compartments were already full. He was afraid that everyone had taken all of the available seats and thought that he would be forced to stand in the corridors during the entire train ride. “You made it!” came Hermione’s voice as Harry entered the last compartment. “We saved you a seat, mate,” Ron added. Harry looked around the compartment. In addition to his two best friends, Neville, Seamus, Ginny, Luna, and Lavender were already seated in the compartment. Luna was reading the latest issue of the Quibbler and Ginny appeared to be writing something. The others were all engaged in conversation. “Well,” said Hermione, “another year has come and gone. There’s just one year left.” “And this was our best year yet,” Ron added. “How is that?” Neville asked. “I mean,” Ron explained, “we were able to do so many fun things this year.” “Yes,” Seamus agreed as the group began to think about all of the special activities that had taken place at Hogwarts during the year. “It all started with the Halloween Maze,” said Neville. “It was fun setting up all those rooms and even more exciting to go through them, except when I was lost for a while.” “And of course,” Lavender put in, “you forgot the best part -- the dance at the end of the maze.” “Then in December,” Ron continued, “when we were all together for, uh, what’s the day after Christmas called again?” “Boxing Day,” Hermione reminded him. “You know, when we all wrapped up gifts in boxes?” “Oh yeah,” said Ron. “Then Hogsmeade was cancelled in February because of the Death Eater attack,” Neville reminded him, “so they had to have Hogsmeade in the Room of Requirement.” “I didn’t think they’d be able to fit the entire village in such a small room,” said Seamus. “If you had attended more than one DA meeting back in fifth year, you would’ve already known about the powers of the Room of Requirement,” Lavender pointed out. “Then there was the April picnic,” Ron mentioned, “when all of you were so mean to me. You made me cook on that grill thingy, then laughed at me when I jumped into the lake.” Hermione tried to stifle a giggle. “Come on, Ron, it wasn’t that bad there in the lake.” “Are you kidding? I was soaked to the bone. And frozen too.” “Well, that taught you not to jump into a lake in Scotland when it’s only April.” Harry thought to himself, it had been a rather wonderful year for him as well. It wasn’t just because of all the activities that had occurred, but also because he was now together with Ginny. He still couldn’t believe that she had agreed to go out with him when he asked her the previous winter. And he only now realized how much fun it was to have her as a girlfriend. He had almost missed out when she had briefly dated Dean Thomas, but now she was finally going with him. He looked up at Ginny, but she was still looking down at her parchment. He thought about how much he would miss her once he was at the Dursleys. Now suddenly he wished that he could spend the summer with his girlfriend. But once again, he drove all thoughts of Ginny from his mind, for he asked himself, why dwell on dreams that were unlikely to occur? The food trolley passed by, and most of the Gryffindors purchased some Cauldron Cakes and Pumpkin Pasties, while Ron bought some of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans. “Gross!” said Ron as he bit into one of the beans. “All the green ones in here are sardine.” “Oooh, sardine, my favorite!” Luna spoke for the first time. She stood up, took all of Ron’s green beans, then returned to where she was sitting. For the next several minutes, the compartment was silent save for Ginny’s scribbling on parchment. Ron looked at her in disbelief. “What’s this?” he asked. “The summer has barely begun and you’re already doing your homework? Not even Hermione’s doing summer work on the train!” “Well, Ron,” Ginny began, “it’s for Divination, and Firenze told us that he wants us to keep a dream journal, which we must write in every day during the summer.” “But you don’t even know if you’ll even be allowed into N.E.W.T.-level Divination,” Ron pointed out. “So you may be doing all this work for nothing. Besides, what sort of dreams are you talking about?” “Summer dreams, of course,” said Ginny. “Everyone dreams about doing things during the summer.” “We Weasleys don’t dream about doing things in the summer,” Ron grumbled, “because we’re so poor we can’t do anything.” “Forget about money,” said Ginny. “Suppose money didn’t matter. Then what would you do this summer?” “Me first!” Lavender insisted. “In my summer dream, I would --” “Let me guess,” Seamus interrupted. “Go shopping?” “As I was saying,” she continued, “in my dream, I would go shopping --” “Of course!” said Seamus. “And I dream that my girlfriend were at least half as interested in me as she is when it comes to shopping.” “Let me finish,” Lavender looked at him sharply. “I would go shopping for a new pet.” “A new pet?” Seamus asked. “Is that all?” “It isn’t a simple as you think,” she explained with a tear in her eye. “You see, my first pet was a kitten named Snuggles, back when I was eight years old. But she was run over by a Muggle car. The following year my mum bought me another cat, who drowned. The year after that I had another cat, and that cat ending up running away. The year after that was the year I went to Hogwarts, and so my mum decided to buy me an owl. But the following year the owl was killed by a Muggle aeroplane. So the summer after that mum bought me a baby rabbit, thinking that it wouldn’t run away or be killed by Muggle contraptions. But with my bad luck I knew there was something strange happening. The rabbit was eaten by a fox.” “Oh,” Hermione whispered. “So that’s why you were dreading your rabbit’s death.” Lavender nodded. “I haven’t had a pet since. That’s why I dream of buying a new pet, a pet that won’t just die on me.” “That’s good,” said Ginny. “So what sort of pet would you buy?” “A phoenix,” Lavender replied. “They burn up and are reborn, but they never die. But phoenixes are very rare and expensive.” “This is a dream,” Ginny reminded her. “Money doesn’t matter. Now could you describe your phoenix?” “It would be a large as a swan,” she replied, “with feathers that were bright red.” She looked up at Ginny, then added, “Weasley hair red.” “Fascinating,” said Ginny. “Now, who would like to describe a dream summer next?” “I will,” Hermione answered. “Oh, this will be exciting,” said Ron sarcastically. “What’s your dream, to buy every single book inside Flourish & Blotts?” “Of course not,” she replied. “My dream is for me to use a Time Turner --” “What’s wrong, twelve O.W.L.s aren’t good enough?” Ron asked. “So you have to use to use a Time Turner so you can take every class at Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang and you end up with almost twelve gazillion N.E.W.T.s?” “No, that’s not it,” Hermione continued. “You see, I want to use a Time Turner so I can go back and undo all the mistakes I made.” “What’s this? Hermione is actually saying she made a mistake?” “I did make mistakes,” she admitted. “For one thing, I made a huge mistake when I put a hex on that D.A. parchment last year. At first I thought that Marietta deserved what happened to her. But then the marks on her face didn’t disappear, not even a year later. She kept going to the hospital wing, hoping that there would be some sort of medicine or potion to remove the marks. I have great respect for Madam Pomfrey, you know, having to try all sorts of methods to restore her face. If it hadn’t been for my hex, which now I see was more punitive than preventative, Marietta wouldn’t be having the problems she’s had.” “Okay,” Ginny agreed. “And then there was the way I used the centaurs. I didn’t have to use them the way I did in order to throw Umbridge off.” “Okay,” Ginny repeated. “Even S.P.E.W was all wrong,” Hermione continued. “It was Winky who pointed out to me that I claimed to represent the house elves’ interests, yet S.P.E.W has no house elves as members. So how could I know how it feels to be a house elf? I realized that I was just as bad as those who mistreat them. Thus, my dream is to have a Time Turner, so that I could do things differently the second time around.” “Thanks, Hermione,” said Ginny. At that point the train passed through a tunnel, and the compartment became dark. Lavender screamed, and a few seconds later daylight was once again visible. “What happened?” asked Neville. “Did you try to touch my breasts while the train was in the tunnel, Seamus?” Lavender asked angrily. “You knew where my hands were,” Seamus answered. “Well, at least that’s all you did,” Lavender mumbled angrily. Seamus leaned in towards Harry and Ron and began to whisper. “Actually I was trying to do more. But my wand wouldn’t even work.” Ron began to laugh out aloud. Seamus looked confused for a moment, then it suddenly dawned on him. “I didn’t mean that wand! I meant I couldn’t do ‘Lumos’ so I could see where her lips were and snog her.” “Sure you did,” said Ron, apparently not convinced. “Now then,” Ginny interrupted, “anyone else willing to share dreams? How about you, Harry? I’ve noticed that you’ve been silent the entire ride so far.” “No, thank you,” Harry muttered. “Come on,” Ginny insisted. “I’m sure the rest of us would all like to hear what your summer dreams are.” “That’s okay,” Harry began, but then he stared into his girlfriend’s lovely brown eyes and found that he wasn’t able to resist them. “Okay, I’ll tell you. My summer dream is to be anywhere this summer other than the Dursleys’.” “Is that it?” Ginny asked. “No, that’s not it. I dream that Sirius is still alive. And that his name has been cleared. I dream that Sirius can walk on this earth as a free man, even if just for one day. I dream that he can go anywhere he wants, without having to stay in his family’s house, or transform into Padfoot whenever anyone passes by, or having to worry about being caught and sent to Azkaban at all. I dream that the whole world would be able to see Sirius the way I did.” “Thanks, Harry,” Ginny smiled. “That’s not all I dream of,” Harry continued. “I dream that my parents were still alive. That Dad would be able to see his son follow in his footsteps as a Gryffindor Quidditch player. That Mum would be able to see her son stand up for his friends, as I’m sure she would have loved. That I would be able to see them, to talk to them, to know them. That I would be able to love them, that they would be able to love me. That I would have a normal family.” Ginny said nothing, but let Harry continue to pour out his feelings, which he rarely if ever did. “But it’s all just a dream, isn’t it?” Harry asked rhetorically. “It will never happen, so why should I waste time thinking about what will never be? Voldemort killed my parents, and Sirius is dead. And it’s all because of that one prophecy made so many years ago. I’ll never have a normal --” “Prophecy?” Ginny asked suddenly. “You don’t mean the prophecy that Voldemort tried to steal from the Department of Mysteries, do you?” Everyone in the compartment was now staring at Harry. He realized that he had spoken too much. Indeed, he wasn’t sure whether he had ever wanted his friends to know the prophecy that had doomed his life. But now he’d found himself backed into a corner. He sighed, then reluctantly began his explanation. “Okay, I do mean that prophecy,” he confessed. “I know, the prophecy was destroyed, but the person to whom the prophecy was originally made, Dumbledore, knew exactly what it contained.” “What was that?” Ginny asked. Harry recited the prophecy verbatim, ending with the line, “The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies.” “Born as the seventh month dies?” said Neville incredulously. “But I was born on the 30th of July!” “But Voldemort didn’t mark you as his equal,” Harry pointed out. “He gave me this scar. And so I must either kill him, or be killed myself. There is no other way.” The other students in the compartment were stunned into silence. “I am ever in danger,” warned Harry. “And you are in danger just by being near me. I’d understand it if you were to avoid me from now on.” “Are you sure that’s what the prophecy said?” Hermione asked. “Yes, I’m sure. The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies,” Harry repeated. “And that’s all I needed to know!” came a drawling voice. Harry looked up and saw that a group of almost a dozen Slytherins in various years, led by none other than Draco Malfoy, had entered the compartment. “So,” Malfoy continued, “the Dark Lord had tried all last year to figure out what the prophecy contained. The Dark Lord had tried all this year to figure out what the prophecy said. And now, as easy as that, Potter just blabs and gives away the prophecy. And there’s no way he can stop me from going straight to my father’s master, or should I say my master, to give him this information on how to defeat you.” “You can’t do anything until the end of this train ride,” Harry pointed out. “Oh yeah?” asked Malfoy. “Let me remind you that I, unlike you, have already turned seventeen, which means that I can just Apparate directly to the Dark Lord whenever I please. And so, as soon as I finish this sentence, I will be at his hiding place, and I will tell him everyth --” “Stupefy!” Harry called out, and Malfoy fell to the ground. "Obliviate!" Hermione followed, making sure that Malfoy wouldn't be able to inform Voldemort of the prophecy. “Crucio!” said a Slytherin seventh-year. Harry fell to the floor, writhing in pain. He was unable to stand up or move. The other Gryffindors and Luna immediately sprang into action. They started attacking the group of Junior Death Eaters. Even Seamus, who had attended only one D.A. meeting the previous year, had learned enough spells in Defense classes the current year to stand up to the Slytherins. In a matter of minutes the D.A., although slightly outnumbered, had hit all of the Junior Death Eaters. “Way to go!” Ron called out. It was not until the Hogwarts Express had nearly reached its destination before Harry had fully recovered from the Cruciatus. “Are you all right, Harry?” Ginny asked. “Uh, I think I am,” Harry hesitated. “What happened?” “A Slytherin used the Cruciatus Curse against you,” said Neville. “They were about to tell Voldemort the prophecy,” Hermione told them. “But I immediately sent Hedwig to inform Dumbledore of what happened.” “You see what I mean?” asked Harry. “All of you could’ve been hurt just because of me and the prophecy.” “But we chose to fight the Slytherins,” Ginny pointed out. “And you should know that we are your friends and that we will stand by you, no matter what.” He realized that she was right. They were indeed his friends, and come to think of it, he did have people who would miss him if he stayed at Hogwarts all alone. The train pulled into Kings Cross station. The students all left the compartment and returned to meet up with their families. The Dursleys were late. “The Muggles aren’t here,” said Molly Weasley, who was there to gather her own children. “If they don’t come here soon, we will just have to take you to the Burrow with us.” The Dursleys finally arrived, but in an unexpected fashion. First, the car was not the Dursleys’ usual car, but a shiny brand new Porsche. Then Harry saw that the driver wasn’t Vernon, but Dudley. In fact, Vernon and Petunia weren’t even in the car. “So,” Dudley smirked, “look at what Mum and Dad bought me for my birthday!” Harry gaped at the car in surprise. He knew that his aunt and uncle had often bought Dudley expensive gifts, but he’d never imagined that they’d buy him a car, and such a pricey one at that. “I know,” Dudley continued, “you’re jealous because no one would ever buy you a car like this!” “You’re late, Dudley,” Molly pointed out. “I tried to come as fast as I could,” Dudley explained, “but then this police officer pulled me over. He asked me whether I knew I was speeding. I told him that I tried to look at the speedometer, but the gauge was broken so I couldn’t tell. Of course the git didn’t believe me and gave me a ticket.” “Oh,” Molly intervened. “Goodbye, mate,” said Ron. “I know you don’t want to go home with them. Maybe we’ll see each other later this summer.” “Bye, Harry,” Ginny added, and she and Harry embraced in one last farewell kiss. Dudley stared at them. “So,” Harry told his cousin, “you’re just jealous because no one will ever snog you like that!” Dudley said nothing. And so Harry entered the car and heading for Privet Drive, dreaming about seeing his girlfriend again someday. And that was a dream that he knew would come true. A/N: This will be the last fic in this universe, since HBP will have been released by the time of the next challenge. No beta, but what did you expect? |
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