| The Dream Harry walks along the dark forest path, listening to the terrified gasps of his quarry. He was keeping up with the running figure even though he was only walking. Suddenly the person in of him stumbles and falls to the ground. Coldly he looks down at the sobbing woman in front of him. She looks up at his face. “Mercy, Harry please!” she chokes out clutching a bundle of blankets to her chest. The light from the moon illuminates her face and throws his own into shadow. At the word mercy he laughs, a low chilling sound. “”Mercy?” he asks “there is no mercy for you.” The woman’s face shows surprise then hardens. “I don’t know you anymore” she says, “go to hell you bastard!” she spits out through her fear. “After you,” Harry replies and raises his wand to perform the killing curse. Her eyes are afraid again and plead for the life of the child. Harry only laughs again. “Harry, don’t do this to your daughter,” the woman says. Harry’s arm stops and he looks down at her with narrowed eyes. “Liar!” he hisses, “She’s not mine!” There is a flash of sickly green light and Harry stands over the lifeless bodies of Hermione and the baby, Luna. Suddenly the bundle stirs and a small fist pokes through the cloth. Harry sucks in his breath and reaches down. Slowly he peels back the blanket and the babe stirs. “It lives,” he breathes. Suddenly the child rolls over and opens its eyes. Emerald green eyes exactly like his own. “Noooooooo!” screamed Harry as he awoke shaking and sweating from his dream. He held his head in his hands to calm himself. “I’ll just go over to Ron and Hermione’s house,” he muttered to himself. He hurried to his desk and grabbed his wand. He muttered the words and in the blink of an eye, found himself Apparating outside of Ron and Hermione’s home in Englewood. He knocked on the door and waited for one of them to come answer it. The house was strangely silent and Harry felt nervous and pushed gently on the door. It opened easily and swung inward without a sound. Harry, on guard now, concealed his wand and crept quietly into the house. He felt himself being drawn to the nursery and didn’t fight the urge. He stepped up to the open door and what he saw made his heart leap into his throat. “Ah, Harry, I knew you’d come” said Voldemort. He sat in a chair cradling Luna in one arm and one insanely long fingernail of his other hand was against Hermione’s throat where she was kneeling in front of him. She gave a strangled sob at the site of him and her eyes pleaded with him to help them. Ron had his wand out and a desperate look on his face but could do nothing for fear of hitting his wife or daughter. Voldemort pressed a bit harder on Hermione’s neck and a trickle of blood ran down. Harry knew this was for his benefit so that he knew Voldemort could and would kill Hermione at any time. “What do you want?” asked Harry through clenched teeth. Voldemort looked down at little Luna, who was wide awake but quiet as if she knew the danger. “She really is a dear,” he said, “I think I’ll keep her for my own.” Harry clenched his jaw and he saw Ron tensing as if to spring. Harry shook his head the tiniest bit to tell Ron no, not yet. “The only problem of course is that she still has parents, and I can’t adopt her if she has parents still now can I” he inclined his head at Ron and Hermione as he said this. “But that is easily fixed,” said Voldemort and before anyone could stop him, he slit Hermione’s throat open. Ron let out a howl that was only half human and leaped at Voldemort. Calmly he raised his hand and held it out, stopping Ron mid-flight and held him in place. He looked down at the corpse that had been Hermione. It was still oozing blood across the soft carpet of the nursery. “Blood really is beautiful, isn’t it?” he asked of no one in particular. “But what is even more beautiful” he said turning to Harry, “is betrayal of loved ones, don’t you agree Harry?” “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Harry fiercely. Voldemort laughed. “Oh but you do! Why else would this child look like you?” said Voldemort holding the child up. Ron was looking at Harry with confusion and distrust in his eyes that quickly turned to rage and denial. He struggled against the bonds that held him and Voldemort laughed again and threw Ron backwards. Harry could see and hear the bones in his neck break as he slammed against the wall. “Ron!” Harry cried and ran to him. Voldemort watched with something like merriment on his face. “How could you, Harry? You and Hermione, I loved her Harry!” said Ron sadly and coughed up blood. “But then, you always had to have everything for yourself didn’t you?” he asked bitterly. “No! Ron, no, it wasn’t that at all! It…” Harry sobbed holding his arms. “Save it, Harry” Ron said harshly, “it’s to late for excuses,” “Ron!” Harry cried, but Ron’s eyes had rolled back in his head and he was no longer breathing. Harry set his body down. Slowly he stood up and turned to face the cruel demon behind him. “You ruined their lives, and now you’ve ruined their deaths,” Harry whispered dangerously. “They will never rest easy now!” he shouted startling Luna, but still she didn’t cry, just stared with knowing eyes at everything happening. “My revenge is almost complete now Harry,” said Voldemort, “everyone close to you has been eliminated, all except this tiny child and as a final twist, I’ll be keeping her to raise as my own, take that with you to hell!” laughed Voldemort and raised his wand. Harry leapt forward at the same moment Voldemort shot the curse. It struck Harry full on and he felt himself separate from his body. He reached out with one ghostly hand and latched onto Voldemort’s. “If I’m going, then you’re coming with me,” he whispered in his ear and dragged Voldemort down with him into the abyss he was sinking into. Anyone in the room would only see Voldemort’s form twisting and disintegrating as he shouted curses at the man he had just killed. Harry’s ghost held on grimly and felt satisfaction when Voldemort’s whole form was pulled with him into the blackness. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Luna sat up strait in bed and blinked her emerald eyes. “What a horrible dream,” she whispered to herself. She swung her feet over the side of the bed and padded to the mirror. She stared at the girl looking back at her. A short, tom-boyish hairstyle and her large green eyes gave the peaked face a pixie-like look. She wiped away the tears that were threatening to spill over and when she looked back up she gasped in shock. Behind her stood a man wearing round, black spectacles and had her same eyes. Whipping her head around she searched for the man, but he wasn’t there and when she turned back around, the man had disappeared from the mirror. “He was the man from my dream,” she whispered again and tried to recall the details of it. But the dream was slowly fading and try as she might, before long the dream was gone and the only thing Luna could remember was a sense of loss and terror. She shivered and hugged herself and went back to her bed. As her eyes fluttered shut again she felt something cold brush her cheek and heard what might have been a whisper saying “good night”. Before she could think about it though, she fell asleep and remembered nothing in the morning. |