Lucky

Bad Dreams

        After returning to Hogwarts the week after the Battle at Malfoy Manor, Halloween passed in the blink of an eye. The festivities included, as usual, a grand feast. The Great Hall was decked out with enormous carved pumpkins, streamers, silvery woven threads which resembled cobwebs and live bats. The students dined for what felt like hours, before trooping back to their common rooms, absolutely stuffed.

       In the early hours of the next morning, Morgana Black was in a deep sleep, her mind flickering into action. She found herself in the cellar of the manor. She could almost have reached out and touched the cold, slimy walls. "It's a dream," she told herself. But there were the Death Eaters, and Rodolphus Lestrange was shouting unforgivable curses at the top of his voice. "Imperio!" The word shot through Morgana like ice to her heart. Suddenly Harry was standing in the middle of the cellar, and Morgana was holding her wand, and there was a flash of green light. And suddenly dementors were floating into the room, and it was cold, and dark, and empty. Morgana could see her worst memories flickering through her brain. She could hear the pleading scream of her mother, the evil, cold laughter of Bellatrix Lestrange, and then the sound of her own voice, shouting the killing curse ... Morgana started screaming.

          Suddenly a hand was on her shoulder, shaking her gently. "Morgana, come on, wake up!" Morgana sat up hurriedly, gasping for air and drenched with sweat. Emma Fortis was sitting on her bed, a look of concern on her face.

       Morgana tried to pull herself together. "Bad dream," she panted, swiping beads of sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand. "Go back to bed, Em, I'm fine." Emma shook her head. "Come on, Morgana. You need to go to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey might be able to give you a sleeping draught." Morgana sighed and shook her head. "Thank you, Em, but I need to talk to Teddy."

       Emma looked exasperated. "But Morgana, it's very late. He's most likely asleep. And he's in Hufflepuff, not to mention in the boys' dorm. How on earth do you plan on getting to him?" Morgana smirked. "Emma Fortis, I'm a witch, an unregistered illegal animagus and a marauder. I can do anything." Emma raised her eyebrows. "That's the most Gryffindorish thing you've said since you got back. Good to see you getting back to normal."

      Morgana grinned.

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         Twenty minutes later, a black dog slunk along through the corridors, blending into the shadows. Lucky slipped past the kitchens and scampered up to the stacked barrels which lay beside the portrait entrance to the kitchen. The dog morphed quickly into a girl, and the girl rapped the barrel in he middle of the second row five times - in the rhythm of "Hel-ga-huff-le-puff".

           The girl turned back into a dog and scrambled through the earthy passage into the round, cosy common room. Every time Morgana had visited the room with Teddy, she had been reminded of a badger's set. The room was entirely round and low-ceilinged, warm and comfortable. The furniture was sparse and simplistic, consisting of simply a few honey-coloured wooden tables and chairs, a couple of worn, black leather sofas with fluffy yellow cushions on them, a fluffy yellow rug and a fireplace, in which embers glowed peacefully. Plants were everywhere, draping from the ceiling, standing on shelves, potted on the little tables. They brightened the place up and it felt like daytime even in the middle of the night.

         The dog trotted upstairs and pushed its nose through the door to the fourth year boys' dorm. Lucky crept to the bed containing Teddy Lupin. It was a simple, wooden bed frame, topped with a soft, feathery mattress. On top of the mattress lay the sleeping figure of the now brown-haired boy, snuggling into his patchwork quilt, an arm dangling over the edge of the bed.

   If dogs could grin evilly, this one did.

   Teddy Lupin woke with a start as he felt a slobbery, wet tongue lick his hand. He looked down to see the familiar black dog, grinning at him. Grinning. The average person would believe that a dog couldn't smile. But Teddy Lupin was not the average person. Teddy Lupin had been going out with Morgana Black for nearly a year. And as he looked at that dog, he could see the way its teeth bared in a mischievous grin, the way its eyes twinkled exactly the same way as Morgana's did.

Teddy sat up, his hair turning turquoise. "Morgana!" He hissed, glancing nervously at the other beds. "What're you doing?" He slipped out of bed as the dog nodded towards the door. Quickly pulling on a pair of jeans and a woolly jumper which lay discarded on the floor beneath his bed, he crept out after the dog, shutting the door gently behind him.

"Right, what do you want?" He demanded, running a hand through his hair as he sat down heavily on the sofa with an exasperated sigh. The dog leapt up onto his lap, baring her teeth at him in another cheeky grin. Suddenly, the black dog had vanished, and his girlfriend was sitting there, her legs draped over his knees, her arms around his neck. She grinned up at him. "Evening, Lupin," she whispered. He rolled his eyes, smiling. "Morgana, it's two in the morning. What do you want?" She shrugged, slipping off his lap and sitting beside him, leaning her head on his shoulder. "To talk to you."

So they talked. They talked about everything, and nothing. And she told him about her nightmares, and she told him about her fears. And he told her that he loved her. Morgana would always treasure that moment in her heart. As she sat there, slumped against him, half asleep, and he told her that he loved her. She leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. "I love you too, Lupin."

For the first time in over a week, Morgana Black slept right through until morning.

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The next morning at breakfast, Professor McGonagall approached the Gryffindor table, her eyes scanning up and down. She strode down the hall and stopped behind Morgana Black and Emma Fortis. Emma looked up slightly nervously, while Morgana grinned cheekily up at the Headmistress. "Hey, Minnie," she greeted her. "What's up?"

McGonagall raised her eyebrows disapprovingly, but didn't comment. "Miss Black, Miss Fortis. I just wanted to wish you good luck for Saturday." Morgana's brow furrowed in confusion. "Saturday?" Emma looked at her with concern, as did McGonagall. "Yeaaahh.." Em explained. "You know, it's our first match as captains, it's against Slytherin."

The match had completely slipped from Morgana's mind the last couple of days. The instant Em reminded her, she sat up straight, almost knocking over her pumpkin juice in her haste. "Why Merlin's wonky left eyebrow, it is, isn't it!"

A/N:

Hellooooo everyone! Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I've been very busy with exams in school, but I'm baaaack!

MorganaBlack394 🐾