(2) Dracarys (D. Malfoy)

Chapter Eight

Dani was supposed to go to Hogsmead with the rest of the students, but oh no, Trelawney has made sure that Dani has an extra lesson and an extra-long one at the same time. So Dani is left behind. Instead, she finds solace in the great hall with her Shadow-Kissed book and Callie who runs up and down the table throwing things at the other students, to both their annoyance and their amusement. Drogon sleeps under the table, curled around her feet as she reads. Turns out she wasn't very far off when she told Draco about going evil. A majority of Shadow-Kissed end up in the hands of dark wizards and witches, essentially become dark themselves because of it or they go mad. Driven that way by their visions. Those are her choices. Darkness or madness. Harry approaches where she is sat, surprised to see her here, assuming she would have gone off to Hogsmead with Neville.

"You didn't go to Hogsmead either" Harry points out as he sits across from her, she looks up and then shakes her head.

"No, I have an extra divination lesson..." She answers. "So..." She shrugs and lets out a breath. "I don't mind being here...." She closes her book and gives him a smile. "Plus someone has to keep you company" She teases, he looks down and nods.

"How are those extra lessons?" He asks, she glances at the book she had been reading.

"Hard" She answers.

"Any luck translating your dream?"

"Oh, you mean the super-specific dream where I am watching weird forest animals circle some dumb rat?" She asks him, he chuckles. "It probably wouldn't be as weird if they seemed like normal animals....but the stag is blue and glowing..." He smiles a little. "And after my dream last year, I just want to find out what they mean before something bad happens..."

"It's not your fault" He is quick to reassure her.

"If I understood what my dream meant, I could have stopped Ginny before she opened the chamber" She looks down. "Of course there is some blame on me.....I don't want that to happen again" He notes that this genuinely upsets her. That she does feel real self-blame for what happened, and likely not just for last year, but for their first year.

"Dani" He whispers and touches her hand on the table, she shrugs a little and keeps her head down.

........

Later, Dani sits against the wall outside of divination, she's early and wanting to get some studying in before, so she has her divination book open in her lap. She's left Callie and Drogon in Harry's care until the end of class, plus she thought he might like the company. Even from two animals. They will keep him busy, she knows that.

"You two seem very close" Draco's voice states behind her, tone laced with something she is not sure of. She frowns a little and then looks at him.

"What?" She asks, he clears his throat and looks away from her.

"You and Potter..."

"He's my friend...." She points out.

"And that means he can hold your hand?" He argues, she frowns at him before realising. He must have seen her and Harry in the great hall.

"I was upset and he was comforting me, that's what friends do" She is quick to tell him as she stands from the floor. "But you wouldn't get that, would you, Malfoy?" She pokes at his chest. "Because you don't have any real friends....and you don't know what compassion is" She cocks her head. "Would you be this upset if it was Hermione's hand I was holding?"

"I'm not upset" He argues with her.

"Clearly" She points out and then shakes her head. "Why does it bother you?" He clenches his jaw and shrugs, turning away from her. He doesn't entirely know, all he knows is that seeing her with Harry, holding his hand, bothered him, enraged him. She sighs and then goes to walk away. He grabs her arm to stop her, he shoves her back against the wall and she glares up at him.

"I don't know" He snaps at her. "I don't know..." He repeats in a whisper. She searches his eyes but he's telling the truth, he doesn't understand what he is feeling.

"Miss Scamander" Trelawney states as she approaches them. "Mr Malfoy," Draco clenches his jaw and looks away. "Please remove yourself" Draco takes a step back from Dani. "And please, refrain from bothering my student" Draco glances at Dani who keeps her eyes away from him. "Professor Lupin informed me that you have had another dream" Dani nods. "Come" Trelawney waves her closer to head into the class. "Let us see what secrets this one holds" Trelawney then notes that Draco is still lingering. "Don't you have somewhere else to be?" She asks Draco who glares back at her before storming away. Dani glances at him. "Dark, dark magic in that family" Trelawney warns. "It is best to distance yourself from that boy...." Dani nods a little and follows her into her classroom. "Before another Shadow-Kissed is lost to the darkness" Dani sighs a little and rubs her arm.

.......

Trelawney is rummaging in her classroom for something, she hasn't told Dani what she is looking for. Dani sits at an empty table, nervous about going over her dreams with her. She lets out a breath.

"Was it the animal council one again?" Trelawney asks, Dani shakes her head. Whilst she is sure that is not what is happening in her dream, it is a shorter way to explain it. And that is sort of what it looks like.

"No" Dani answers.

"Hmmm?" Trelawney offers.

"I've had some new ones.....Dani admits and pulls her sleeve down her arms.

"Let us start with the newest one" Trelawney offers as she picks up a box from the side. "I have this for you" She moves closer and sets the box on the table. "It is rare to come across someone with the sight, rarer still to find a shadow-kissed" She motions to the box, Dani lifts the lid to find a crystal ball inside. It's beautiful, smaller than the usual ones. This one is meant to fit in her pocket. "And one with a power as strong as yours" Trelawney picks up the crystal ball and holds it out to her. "It should be nurtured and honed...." Dani is a little unsure on that. It is a very heavy burden for her to carry. She just wanted to be normal. But she knows that is never going to happen for her. "Close your eyes" Trelawney takes Dani's hands and places them around the crystal ball. "We are going to try projecting" Dani lets out a breath as she closes her eyes. "Talk me through it as you see it...feel it. Push is through your body and to your hands into the crystal..." Dani takes a deep breath and concentrates. "Talk to me" Trelawney pushes.

"There is a figure" Dani recounts. "A man" She lets out a breath. This dream bothered her, because it was the first time she'd had one with a humanoid figure in it. She usually dreams in animals or creatures, she assumed that was because of her love of them, something that was part of her subconscious to help her deal with them. But now it's twisting into humans. She's not sure she likes that more. She wants to go back to the animals. "He's hunting for something.....but it's dark. And quiet...no" She stops herself. "I can hear....talking, laughing, but it's far away...." Trelawney watches the images as they form in the crystal. It is dark. But there is a shadowy figure that moves, sneaking. "There is a....a knife in his hand" Dani lets out a breath. "But it's too dark, I can't see anything else...."

"So brighten it" Trelawney offers. "It's your dream...your vision" She assures Dani. "You can do whatever you want" Dani clenches her jaw and concentrates, trying to brighten the image.

"That's...Hogwarts" Dani offers. "It's the stairway outside of the Gryffindor common room. The Fat Lady's portrait on the wall...." Dani pulls her hands back and lets out a gasp, the image disappearing from the ball, but not before Trelawney sees it, sees the figure.

"I think that's enough," Trelawney tells Dani. "Get some rest" Dani wants to ask why the woman is so flustered but she is already rushing from the room. Dani blinks a little and looks at the crystal ball.