Chapter 17

The Dream Whisperer

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Ginny arrived at Advanced Potions early hoping that Malfoy would be there. She was disappointed to see that he hadn’t arrived yet. She sat at their usual table and pulled her Advanced Potions book out of her satchel in preparation for the day’s lesson. She opened it and the poem that Malfoy had written was lying before her for the hundredth time that day. She knew she was being ridiculous, but no one had ever written a poem for her before.

She had been studying during lunch and must have slipped it into her Potions book before she left for the dungeons (she must have read over it at least two dozen times while she was studying). Malfoy had given her his typical smirk during lunch when she had glanced in his direction. She couldn’t approach him then, however, as she had been sitting with the trio again. By the time they left for their class, Malfoy had already gone.

She still blushed slightly as she read over the poem again before she was determined to put it away for good, or at least until she was alone in her room.

“Didn’t know I was poetic, did you?” a voice purred into her ear. She trembled slightly at his nearness, but promptly recovered.

“You probably write this stuff all the time,” she commented, hoping he hadn’t seen her blush. “I’m sure that’s probably part of the standard Malfoy plan of seduction: send exotic flowers, buy expensive gifts, write romantic poetry. I told you I’m not interested,” she lied. She didn’t look into his eyes for fear he would see right through her. Instead she focused on appearing as if she were browsing her text book.

He took his seat next to her. “Romantic, eh?” he smiled. “I think I’ll take that as a compliment. Would you believe that’s actually my first attempt at poetry?”

“No,” she replied still unable to look him in the eyes.

“You’re right, that’s actually my second attempt. My first attempt was ‘There once was a man from Nantucket - ”

“I believe I’ve heard that one before,” she interrupted before he could complete the well-known lyric.

“Yes, well, imagine my disappointment when I discovered I couldn’t take the credit for that clever rhyme,” he grinned. “Therefore, you have the very first Malfoy original. You should frame it, someday it may be worth a lot of money.”

Ginny couldn’t help but crack a small smile. His conceit never ceased to amaze her. “Alright, oh, poetic one, now that I know that you’re the one who sent it perhaps you can explain how I get this off,” she said as rolled up her sleeve revealing the sleeping liondragon bracelet.

“First of all, I think you knew I sent it when you received it this morning. I doubt Potter would have quite the poetic abilities or taste in jewelry that I do,” he answered with a trace of resentment at speaking Harry’s name. She bit her lip to keep from laughing. So he had heard the rumor about Harry being her supposed secret admirer.

He reached for her hand and carefully examined the bracelet on her wrist. The moment his fingers touched hers she felt that vaguely familiar jolt of exhilaration. It was far too distracting. She needed him to tell her how to get the bracelet off, even if she did fancy the way dragon looked spiraled around her arm.

“Second of all,” he continued silkily, “it looks good on you. I want you to wear it, so I’m not going to tell you how to get it off, yet.”

Ginny pulled her hand back. “I already told you, I-I’m not interested,” she repeated. Unfortunately, it didn’t sound as convincing this time.

“Then why did you kiss me?” he asked with a wry smile.
Fortunately, Professor Snape entered the classroom at that very moment, preventing Ginny from answering the one question she didn’t really have a suitable answer for. The class was informed that they would be spending next week’s class periods in the Forbidden Forest taking a look at various potion elements in their natural environment.

“We will be meeting at the edge of the forest instead of here,” he told them. “Bring only your wands, books will not be necessary. I trust none of you will forget.”


He proceeded to give them a lecture on the variety of ingredients they would be finding in the Forbidden Forest. They needed to be able to survey their surroundings and gather the necessary components to create a potion of their choosing.

“You will find that some ingredients found in the same environment have a tendency to be the basis for some very interesting potions. Additionally, at the right concentration in their natural environment, you will find that those ingredients collaborate to create a rather intriguing phenomenon,” he finished just as the bell rang. Ginny gathered her things quickly and left before Malfoy had the chance to speak with her again.

After Quidditch practice, Draco took a quick shower and headed to his room. He was anxious to see if he could get the bracelet to work.

It was part of a Dream Whisperer.

He had come across a smooth, oval slab of obsidian mounted on a flat piece of black marble in Hoodwink’s Detection Devices, a shop in Knockturn Alley that specialized in apparatuses used for spying. A dream transmitter simply needed to be placed on someone and he’d be able to receive images from the subject on the obsidian piece. He was intrigued by the possible mischief he could make using the magical item and purchased it over the summer on a whim.

He owled Decippio Hoodwink, the proprietor of the Hoodwink’s, and ordered the dream transmitter to be placed in the Fiery Goddess bracelet. The eyes of the dragon would normally be made of dark tinted glass, but he had them replaced with the enchanted volcanic glass that was magically linked to the obsidian viewer. Draco was actually quite amazed that he had received it in only three days, though it probably helped that he ordered the bracelet from Enchanting Embellishments, a jeweler his mother was quite fond of, and had it delivered directly to Hoodwink for the alteration.

He pulled the viewer out of his trunk and sat on his bed preparing to chant the incantation to establish the link. It was a clever device, however, it still required a good bit of magic from the user to get any images. According to Hoodwink’s instructions, he needed to concentrate on his subject (which wouldn’t be difficult, as he was thinking about Ginny constantly) and then cast the spell that would enable the Dream Whisperer. In order to avoid too much mind-clutter, his subject needed to be asleep for the best reading.


Draco knew that she would be awake for a while, but he thought he’d practice a little. He aimed his wand at the piece of obsidian and said, “Aspicium Specto Somniosus!”

The viewer started to emit a greenish glow and then faded into a deep purple. He saw extremely blurry figures emerge from the purple background. He could make out a few objects such as a Bludger and a pile of books, but he couldn’t recognize any of the shapes that represented people. The viewer became full of hazy images. It wasn’t any wonder that it was practically useless while someone was awake. He never realized the conscious mind was capable of so many thoughts at once. He raised his wand to say the spell to disengage the link, quite satisfied the Dream Whisperer worked, then he caught a glimpse of one of the blurry faces that clearly had a familiar lightning bolt mark on his forehead.

“Quieso Specto!” he murmured and the viewer went black again.

There wasn’t a logical reason for it, but he still felt the pang of jealousy at Potter’s image. Ginny was supposed to be thinking about him, not Potter. The Firelilies were supposed to ensure that she couldn’t stop thinking about him, at least while she was inhaling their sweet aroma, anyway.

He wondered how long it would take her to figure out that the Firelily was classified as an aestusamori passiflora, otherwise known as a passionflower. Passionflower pollen was the principal ingredient in many love potions.

~*~*~


Four hours later, well past midnight, Draco decided to try the Dream Whisperer again. He was still a little vexed about seeing Potter’s image earlier in the evening and so his first attempt at making the link failed. The volcanic glass only flickered a dull green before going black again.

He cleared his mind and focused on Ginny again.

“Aspicium Specto Somniosus!” he chanted, waving the wand at the obsidian. This time it went from bottle green to bright white, illuminating the entire room. Goyle stirred slightly and Blaise rolled over. Draco quickly drew the curtains around his four-poster so as not to disturb them any further. His earlier effort didn’t bring this type of reaction from the viewer. He gazed down at the whiteness and saw a very clear image this time.

The white appeared to be caused by huge, billowing clouds. It was like looking into a room stuffed full of cotton. He watched as the image shifted slightly as if he was peering through some else’s eyes. Then he realized that was exactly what he was doing. He was seeing the dream though Ginny’s eyes. In the distance he could see a snakelike object slithering gracefully through the clouds. It was the fireball red. As it approached he saw that it was a liondragon, and it had a rider.

The liondragon hovered in the air for a moment and then landed softly, folding its wings back and resting its head on the surface of the clouds. Its mane flowed gently as if there was a breeze and sitting amidst the flaming red fur was the rider. Draco saw that it was an image of himself holding one of the Giant Firelilies.

It was a very odd feeling watching himself offer the flower and then extend his hand to assist the dreamer in mounting the dragon, but he was elated to see that she was dreaming of him.

Now he knew the flowers were working.

He watched from Ginny’s point of view as the red sky serpent took off and soared into the night sky, a stark contrast from the clouds they were in before. He couldn’t feel the dream as Ginny could, but just watching was a thrill of its own. The liondragon would dive into the puffy white clouds and then emerge into the starry heavens above again. It did loops and twists and figure eights and then it took another dive and began spinning. Suddenly the viewer went dark. It hadn’t gone off, it was just dark. The image of spinning clouds came back again for a moment and then the darkness returned. He realized that she must have been closing her eyes in her dream, just taking in the sensation. He almost wished he could experience it with her.

The next image he saw was a set of grey eyes. It took a moment for Draco to register that they were his own and then realized that her gaze had switched to his lips. He was grateful that the image went dark again as she closed her eyes once more as it was very strange seeing himself from the other end of the kiss, as he assumed that is what had happened.

The viewer stayed dark for another minute or two and Draco was about ready to speak the spell to stop the link when the viewer returned to the dark purple color he had seen the first time he tried it.

She was awake.

The blurry images came back, but this time they weren’t so out of focus he couldn’t tell what they were. Only three images entered the screen this time. The bracelet, some lines from the poem, and an almost clear image (oddly from a third person point of view) of him snogging her.

He smiled and whispered, “Quieso Specto!” The obsidian went completely black again.

He was glad no one had a Dream Whisperer attached to him, as he was sure that his dreams were quite inappropriate for anyone to be watching.

~*~*~


“You just mind your own business or I will tell Hermione about the toilet incident, Ronald Bilius Weasley!” Ginny never usually would have stooped to taunt him about the toilet incident (especially in front of a girl she was almost positive he liked) or called him by his full name, except she was furious.

He had seen the bracelet during Quidditch practice and demanded to know who was sending her the gifts.

"If it’s a bloody Slytherin I’ll hex him!” he said, wringing his wand in his hands.

“You’ll do nothing of the sort!” she yelled.

“So he is a Slytherin!” His face flushed red and his eyes grew large.

“I didn’t say that,” she said coldly.

“It’s that Zabini prat, isn’t it? You’ve been awfully chummy with him lately. I see you two studying in the library.”

“Oh! For Godric’s sake, I’m not seeing Blaise! He’s g-” she started to say gay but caught herself before revealing the secret, “good at Potions is all. Snape says I have to study with him to make sure I get an Outstanding Potions OWL.”

“I don’t believe you. You’re not telling me something.”

“I don’t tell you a lot of things, dear brother,” she retorted. She knew he was trying to be good older brother and protect her from all things slimy or Slytherin, but it was really getting old.

“I’m going to owl Mum.”
Ginny’s eyes narrowed at this threat. “Then I’m going to go find Hermione.” She threw her clenched fists down at her sides and turned on her heel with the full intention of embarrassing her brother.


“Wait!”

She stopped. She knew he’d see things her way.

“Don’t tell Hermione anything. Please?” he begged.

“Are you going to owl Mum?”

“Gin, it’s not right! These expensive gifts only mean one thing-”

“Ron, I am perfectly aware of what you think it means and I can’t believe you would insinuate that I would ever let myself get into that situation. Maybe if you sent Hermione a romantic gift or two you’d be a lot further along than you are.”

“What makes you think I should send her a romantic gift?” He tried hiding the fact that he had a crush on his best friend.

Ginny rolled her eyes. “Okay, then you won’t mind if I tell her about that little incident -”

“Alright, I won’t owl Mum. Happy?”

“No, I want you to quit being such a git. I have, and always will, choose whomever I wish to date and it’s none of your business which house I choose from, got it?”

“Fine. I’ll stay out of your love life as long as it doesn’t include a Slytherin.”

“I think Hermione would be in the library at this hour,” she said turning to leave again. She heard a groan.

“Okay. But I don’t have to like it,” he said through gritted teeth.

“I’m not saying you do.”

“But if he does anything to hurt you I will jinx him into the next millennium!”

Ginny smiled. Sometimes the overprotective brother syndrome was helpful.

“I will give you express permission to do just that should that particular situation ever occur.”

Ron gave her a sheepish grin. “Hey, Gin?”

“Hm?”

“Do you suppose Hermione would really like it if I got her something?” Pink tinged his cheeks once again.

“She would adore it, I’m sure,” she replied with a saucy grin.

She could see the excitement spread over his face. “I suppose I really shouldn’t worry about you too much. I mean, you can do a brilliant Bat-Bogey Hex and with that Chastity Charm Mum put on you I doubt any guy would survive trying anything with you.” He laughed.

“Mum did what?”

“See ya, Gin!” he said heading out the portrait leaving her in a state of disbelief.

~*~*~
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