Green Eyed Monster | Draco Malfoy

100. Tip of the Tongue

Chapter 100 - Tip of the Tongue

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches...born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies...and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but there will be a power the Dark Lord knows not...and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives...the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..." I wanted to call out to Dumbledore, I wanted to scream, but I knew he could not hear me. I knew he would not respond. Still, when he appeared in front of me gaunt, horrifying, dead...I couldn't help but scream. "He is coming, Audrey..."

I jolted awake, sitting straight up in my bunk as I gasped wildly for breath that my lungs would not allow. This was all familiar if not habit by now. My back felt chilled from the cool air on my sweaty spine, my brow felt heavy under the weight of what I had seen in my dreams. I couldn't keep having these dreams. My nights were so restless they may as well not have been considered rests at all...

"Are you okay?" Harry asked from across the tent. I could not see him from where I was - everything was so bright, and I hadn't had the time for my eyes to yet adjust to the daylight. I waved my hand dismissively in his direction, even while my chest heaved to grasp the air that kept slipping away from me. This reaction was not new to the group of us now - these dreams had now been dogging me for weeks.

"I'm fine," I managed to force out when my eyes began to adjust, and I could see that he was still staring. He moved towards my bunk, daring to sit by my feet. Brave bloody Gryffindors...

"Liar," he accused in a quiet voice. "Was it the dream again? Was it Dumbledore?"

Of course it was. It always was.

Ever since we had escaped from Lovegood's Loony-bin, these dreams had haunted my nights. I had become so out of my mind with sleep deprivation it was hard for me to stay engaged, or to tell how much time had passed because there was no end to my days. There was no end to my panic...Dumbledore was always there to ensure I knew just how little time we had.

At first, I had assumed these were normal nightmares, brought on thanks to stress, or the large explosion I'd lived through thanks to the Erumpent horn. I even thought that it may have had something to do with escaping from the Death Eaters that essentially held my best friend captive...but after the first month I knew I was wrong.

Now I attributed this to my lack of visions. I had tried, endlessly, to push visions through in my regular ways. Forcing myself to separate my body, mind, and spirit; trying to reach the Astral plane, meditating, stealing a Moonstone from some Muggle's pebble garden...but nothing was helping push the headache away. Nothing was triggering that 'eureka' moment that I needed to understand what was happening to me. It seemed that nothing would be able to clear the fog from around my inner-eye and that left me blind and made me feel more vulnerable than I ever had. It was like being unable to defend myself, with my insults at the tip of my tongue, but not the front of my mind...

At least before I could force my visions; now I felt like I was living as a bloody muggle.

And nothing in the world was worse than living as a muggle.

Needless to say, all this made me more irritable than normal. This frustrated the Gryffindors around me, which in turn annoyed me that they were frustrated with me. Tensions had been running high ever since we had been to that Crackpot's home and they had ignored my numerous warnings concerning our safety. And now with the nightmares, things had only gotten worse...which was exactly why I was scrubbing my non-existent nails through my hair as I tried to keep myself awake.