(2) Dracarys (D. Malfoy)

Chapter Fifteen

Remus walks into his classroom to set up for the first lesson of the day, he jumps a little when he sees Dani sat on the edge of his desk. He gives her a look and moves closer to her. Her fingers clutching to the crystal ball.

"What are you doing here?" He asks her.

"I figured it out" She whispers, he frowns a little, she looks up at him, her eyes white, she then holds up the crystal ball, the internal mist swirls to produce an image of her dream. The wolf. The dog. The stag. The rat. "I remember a story my mother used to tell me" Remus looks down, already sensing where this is going.  "About how she and the others, they became animagus for you" He lets out a breath. "But..." She looks at the image. "The stag...that's a Patronus charm...this is why I know that spell....but James was also a stag...and dead, that's why he's glowing and........Sirius was a dog.....Peter a rat and the wolf....that's you...this is the Marauders" She holds out the crystal ball. "And I didn't get it...but I do now....the rat...Peter...I think he's important" She whispers. "I think...I think he's Scabbers"

"Scabbers?" He asks.

"Ron's rat" She answers.

"Dani" He moves closer to her. "Peter is dead" He reminds her, she nods a little. She knows that. "Okay?" She nods again, he turns to leave the room.

"I had a vision a couple of nights ago, it....it came true last night" She admits. He stops. "Sirius was in the Gryffindor boys dorm" He turns to her. "He was trying to kill Scabbers" Remus frowns at her. "This is the only thing that makes sense...." She slides off the desk. "I think they were wrong about Sirius" She admits. "I think Peter...faked his death...I think Peter was the death eater and not Sirius" 

"You need to sleep" He scolds her. "Don't worry about this" He takes the crystal ball from her. She sighs and nods a little. "You haven't been sleeping, so your imagination is playing tricks on you"

"People keep brushing off my visions" She scolds him and snatches her ball back from him. "And I keep being right...so that's on you..." She walks away, hugging the crystal ball to her chest. She wishes someone would just listen to her, once, the first time she tells them something bad is going to happen. She hasn't been wrong yet. She knows she is right this time too.

..............

Draco sits on the hallway floor next to Dani but she doesn't seem to take much notice of him, her fingers clutching to a journal with handwritten scribbles covering the page. He knows it's her handwriting, he's seen her taking notes in class.

"No one listens to me" She whispers without prompt. "I know I am right" she looks at him now. "I can feel it...." She sighs and looks away from him. 

"About what?" He asks, she shakes her head.

"It doesn't matter" She closes the book and lets out a breath. "What are you doing down here?"

"Looking for you" He answers, she looks at him in question. "I know we've been back from Christmas break....about a week" He sets a hand in his pocket. "And...this will be late..."

"What are you talking about?" She asks softer.

"Your birthday" he mumbles as he pulls a small box from his pocket. "I...I wanted to get you something" he fumbles with the box slightly. "But I've never....had to pick out anything before" He clears his throat and holds out the box to her.

"You didn't have to get me anything" She assures him, he shrugs and shakes the box, encouraging her to take it. She does and then pulls the lid from it. Inside sits a beautiful necklace with a dragon hanging off the end, the dragon itself curled around a dark green crystal. She smiles and touches the charm, her eyes then moving to Draco.

"Do you like it?" He asks her, she nods. "I assumed anything with a dragon would be a safe bet" He teases, she laughs and looks down.

"It's beautiful" She assures him. "But you didn't have to...."

"I...wanted to" He admits and looks away from her. "It felt...right" He whispers. "Like it is a...friend thing to do" She chuckles softly, proud of him, he wants to learn, he wants to be friends, he is trying to do nice things. It means that he's not all mean. He turns back to her and she is smiling at him. "What?" he asks her, she shakes her head, leans up and hugs him. He hugs her back this time. This time he was ready. His arms wrap around her and she smiles. A hand on her shoulder, the other lower down her back, he closes his eyes.

..............

In Divination, conspicuously, Harry, Ron and Hermione sit apart. Harry sits next to Dani this time. Her crystal ball sat on a stand on the table as Trelawney moves around the room.

"Relax... Let your mind... go...Crystal-gazing requires that you clear the Inner Eye. Only then, will you... See. Oh my, what do we have here...?" As Trelawney eyes Harry's crystal, Hermione rolls her eyes.

"Here we go again. It's the Grim! It's the Grim!" Hermione points out, still a sceptic.

"My dear, from the moment you first arrived in my class, I sensed that you did not possess the proper spirit for the noble art of Divination. You may be young in years, but the heart that beats beneath your bosom is as shrivelled as an old maid's, your soul as dry as the pages of the books to which you so desperately cleave" Stung, Hermione starts to reply, but remarkably, seems incapable of a single word. Rising gracelessly, she exits, knocking her crystal ball to the floor. Harry watches curiously as the ball rolls slowly out the doorway...

"'In late spring, one of our number will leave us forever!' You knew, Professor! You saw." Lavender points out.

"On these occasions, I take no joy in my gift, Miss Brown," Trelawney admits. "As I am sure, Miss Scamader can attest to" Dani looks down a little.