One's Nightmare is Another's Dream

Disclaimer: The characters of the Harry Potter Universe are not mine. I only take them out to play and promise to return them when I'm done.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Damage Control - Chapter Seven

One's Nightmare is Another's Dream

Hermione heard the music from far away and strained her ears. It was beautiful, and it came slowly closer.

'Night time sharpens, heightens each sensation

And listen to the music of the night'

She looked around and found herself not in her bed, but in front of a mirror in a room that was typical of Hogwarts. She looked at it and saw the Phantom come closer. 'I must be dreaming. What is the Phantom of the Opera doing at Hogwarts? In a mirror of all places! Am I at Hogwarts at all?' she thought.

He reached towards her with his hand and she took it, completely mesmerized by his singing. He led her down a long staircase, one she had never seen at Hogwarts before, caressing her senses with his singing of "Music of the Night".

'Close your eyes and surrender to your darkest dreams

And you'll live as you've never lived before'

She closed her eyes, treasuring the feeling of her spirit soaring. The sensation she felt was unlike anything she had ever experienced before and she felt as if she were in the centre of the universe. It was an indescribable feeling. She looked forward to living, as she had never lived before, whatever that entailed. At that moment, Hermione was entirely lost in the music and this mysterious stranger, the Phantom, who was effortlessly seducing her with his singing alone.

'Softly, deftly, music shall surround you

The darkness of the music of the night.'

Yes, he was right. She could not fight it, this darkness of the music of the night. As long as the music continued, she would do anything he asked of her. Her whole being was entirely absorbed in the music; like her small hand was absorbed in his large hand, her soul was absorbed in his.

'Let your mind start a journey through a strange new world

Only then can you belong to me'

She sighed contentedly at his words. Yes, she would do anything it took for her to belong to him. With him, it was easy to leave off thoughts of any world she knew before, Muggle or magic, it did not matter. As long as she belonged to him, nothing mattered.

'Floating, falling, sweet intoxication

The power of the music of the night'

She acutely felt the power of the music. No longer did it matter what was light or what was dark. Giving in to the music was all that mattered. She trusted him. She wanted to touch him. Oh, how she longed to feel him.

'You alone can make my song take flight

Help me make the music of the night'

When the last note was sung they reached the bottom of the long, winding staircase. "That was the most beautiful music I've ever heard," Hermione whispered, feeling far too revered to speak in a full voice.

Suddenly, a different music sounded. She recognised it as another song from the show she had seen a mere few hours ago. But when the Phantom's words sank in, she turned to look at him – and any sound she was about to utter died in her throat.

'Why so silent, young lady?

You'll clean cauldrons for me'

The Phantom had at some point changed into Professor Snape and with his last words he waved to an area off to the side. Hermione followed with her eyes and saw cauldrons everywhere. There were thousands of dirty cauldrons. Small ones, large ones, massive ones, silver cauldrons, iron cauldrons, steel cauldrons, gold cauldrons, some blackened with soot, others crusted over with whatever potion had boiled over, yet others displaying the whole spectrum of the rainbow.

"Start right away, Miss Granger, and you might finish in time to sit your NEWTs," Snape sneered, pointing to a large sink in a corner that held sponges, rags and Muggle cleaning solution.

Hermione's eyes filled with tears. "How will I be able to study for the NEWTs if I have to clean thousands of cauldrons?"

"Ah, Miss Granger, maybe you should have considered that when you set fire to my robes in your first year." His chuckle was so dark and sinister, Hermione shivered. She did not dare say anymore and instead walked towards the sink and picked up the first cauldron to clean.

A bell sounded somewhere. 'Strange to hear a bell so far below Hogwarts,' she thought to herself and then concentrated on the task before her again. If she could speed up the cleaning, she might be able to get a few days or even weeks of studying done before the NEWTs. But it would never be sufficient for her to gain top scores. She was devastated. 'I don't know what's worse, not having any time to study and failing my NEWTs, or being entirely banned from the Magic world...' she sighed to herself. Then she felt angry. 'How could I have been so stupid and not recognize him? Oh Merlin, and he made me feel like, I don't know...' Realising with a jolt that he had awakened desires within her that she had not been aware of before, she felt embarrassed and blushed. She looked timidly around to see if Snape was anywhere nearby and blushed even harder when she saw him watching her intently, with a smirk on his face.

The same bell sounded again and she realised with a start that this was unlike the Hogwarts bells that alerted the start and finish of lessons. She felt defeated. 'Great, now I'm stuck here with thousands of dirty cauldrons and I don't even have any clue as to where I am! If only he disappeared now, I can't concentrate...'

"Hermione, are you going to wake up today at all? What have you two girls been up to that you need to sleep that long?" Never before was the sound of Aunt Amelia's voice so welcome.

"Argh... You could have splashed cold water on me hours ago, you know. Might have rescued me," Hermione mumbled and gratefully took the proffered mug of steaming black coffee from her aunt.

"Oh, poor dear! Nightmare? I thought you were a bit preoccupied and worried yesterday. Was it bad?" Aunt Amelia enquired compassionately.

"Hm. I was stuck in a huge room with thousands of pots to clean and didn't have any time for studying," Hermione said glumly. She thought for a moment that there was something else she should remember about the nightmare. It hadn't started off as a nightmare, she was certain of it, but couldn't for the life of her remember any details of the beginning.

Aunt Amelia laughed. "You are so much like your dad, you know. If it hadn't been for him, both your mother and I would have failed all our exams. Ah well, not to worry, it was only a dream. I'm making pancakes for breakfast, come on down when you're ready."

Hermione's mood lightened. Pancakes sounded good.

----------------------------------------------------

Severus Snape stretched luxuriously upon waking up in his dark green, silk sheets. Summer holidays truly were bliss. No hopeless dunderheads to teach, no know-it-alls who asked constant streams of never ending questions, and he could laze around in bed completely undisturbed.

He remembered the dream from which he had awoken and chuckled to himself. He loved the idea of luring Granger into the deepest corners of the dungeons under the disguise of a seductive Phantom of the Opera only to make her clean all the cauldrons that had ever been used in his classroom at Hogwarts. Indeed, she would be busy at least until the NEWTs were due, if not longer, before those cauldrons were cleaned.

She had looked rather attractive in his dream, so aroused by his singing. And then she looked like the stupid little girl she truly was when he showed her all the cauldrons. He snorted. 'Attractive my arse... Am I getting that desperate that I'm lusting after a student? Especially that student...' He shook his head at his own weakness and decided it was time for some diversion.

Maybe he'd venture into Muggle London, it had been years that he indulged in some culture, like a musical. Dreaming of being the Phantom of the Opera made him want to see the performance again.

----------------------------------------------------

Lucius Malfoy was seething. The old codger, Hogwarts' headmaster, had effectively spoiled the grandiose plans he had for his son by inviting him to participate in an Advanced Potions summer class. As much as he loathed Albus Dumbledore, he did not dare cross him. He preferred his plans for Draco to remain unknown to the crowd around Dumbledore. Draco would emerge as the Dark Lord's right hand as soon as he graduated and in order to realize such a plan, he needed to be trained accordingly. Lucius did not see too big a problem with that and he headed to Draco's quarters to inform him.

"Draco, that imbecile of a headmaster has crossed my plans for you. But fear not, I will find a way to continue your training, so all will go well."

"What does the letter say, Father?" Draco asked. He felt relieved beyond belief with the knowledge that he would soon be away from his father's clutches; everything else was not important right now. As long as he could act as if he was as bothered as Lucius about the change of plans, all would be well.

"You've been chosen to participate in a summer class for Advanced Potions," Lucius sighed dramatically. "Oh well, perhaps Severus will be able teach you a dose of Potions that will come in useful; something that will impress our Lord..." He could see it before his eyes; his son, proudly concocting the potion that would guarantee his Lord to gain immortality.

"Oh..." Draco managed to look surprised. "Does it say who else is taking part?"

"No... I'm sure that neither Crabbe nor Goyle are invited," Lucius snickered. "As far as I know, Blaise and Pansy are quite adept at Potions, so maybe they will be there. And I have no doubt that Mudblood has been invited," he continued with a sneer.

Draco watched as his father's eyes took on a familiar gleam, "Draco... I have the most brilliant idea. What if we could present the Mudblood girl to the Dark Lord as a gift? Imagine...the best friend of Harry Potter..." His eyes glittered malevolently, "You will help me by separating the Mudblood from her friends and when the time is right, we'll take her. It should actually be fairly simple, what with the school being mostly empty for the holidays..."

Draco was not sure how to react to Lucius' idea, but decided it would be in his best interest to play along for now. He made a mental note to inform Severus of his father's plans as soon as he arrived safely at the school. "Brilliant, Father," he said, trying to sound confident, "just let me know what you would like me to do."

-----------------------------------------------------

Hermione and Alana spent a relaxing day chatting and reading and Alana laughed when Hermione told her about the nightmare. "Maybe you won't think about it so much now that you've dreamed about it..." she suggested.

Hermione still felt something nagging in the back of her mind, something she should remember, but couldn't. She eventually put it aside as there was no use dwelling on it if she couldn't think of what it was. Whilst Alana checked her e-mail, Hermione decided to write a letter to Harry. She knew Hedwig would turn up at some stage during the day and figured the owl might be pleased if she was not made to wait for once.

With her letter finally finished, Hermione peered over Alana's shoulder to see what her cousin was up to at the computer. Having spent the last few years mainly at Hogwarts where electrical items did not work, she had never had a chance to familiarize herself with computers, let alone the internet.

"So, explain this internet thing, please," she asked Alana.

"Oh, I forgot, you don't have electricity at Hogwarts!" Alana exclaimed. "Well, every Muggle nowadays uses the internet, for communication, for learning, for entertainment, for everything, really. You can write letters that get delivered within seconds to the person you send it to. You can do online courses about any subject; it's like doing a long-distance learning course. You can read e-books; stories, non-fiction, jokes." She showed Hermione her mailbox, and then went to the Google site. "Just give me anything you want to find out about, and let's see what comes up," she suggested.

"Hm, do you think there's anything about Hogwarts?" Hermione asked.

"Let's see..." Alana typed in 'Hogwarts'

There were thousands, no millions of websites that included the word 'Hogwarts'. Alana clicked on a random site, and landed on Mugglenet. She started reading something about the cast of the movie 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone', with Hermione reading over her shoulder. "Oh, wow, they cast Alan Rickman for the movie, I wonder if Mum knows!" Alana exclaimed, delighted. "He's my mum's favourite actor," she added, and then gulped, evidently having read a few more lines. "Oh, goodness, gracious me, he's playing Professor Snape, Hermione, I can't believe it!" She got up to find her mother to tell her the news. Hermione followed her, wondering what could be so exciting about an actor playing a role.

"That doesn't surprise me, love, he's a brilliant actor and he'll do a fantastic job of playing Professor Snape." Aunt Amelia looked flustered. "What else does Mugglenet say about the movie?" she asked.

Alana dragged her to the computer. "Read!"

Aunt Amelia sat down and started reading, blushing every now and then and fidgeting in her chair. Alana rolled her eyes at her mother. "You'd think she is a teenager with a crush," she sighed. Hermione grinned. She didn't know this side of her aunt and found it highly amusing that Aunt Amelia would have a crush on some actor.

"Alana, stop it!" Aunt Amelia chided her daughter. "I don't have a crush on him, I merely appreciate his acting abilities," she insisted.

Alana and Hermione both giggled. "Right, Mom, that's why you've watched every one of his movies a million times. Because his acting is so fantastic. And because you are so interested in acting..." Alana mocked.

"Loud-mouthed teenagers..." Aunt Amelia groused. "Now, stop it! No more of actors, or do I need to remind you of your opinion of Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter books? How many times did you read all the parts with him in it?" she asked her daughter smugly. It was Alana's turn to blush deeply. Hermione's ears perked up at her aunt's words.

"So... you do like Draco then?" Hermione grinned at her cousin.

"Oh, she does, Hermione! She went from someone who hated books to a bookworm who savours every word written about one Draco Malfoy!" Amelia teased, very happy that she had managed to divert the attention of the girls away from her interests and to the subject of her daughter's love interest. "She even admitted that she'd go out of her way to meet him if he was real. Oh how she wishes he was real!" Hermione realized that her aunt had no idea just how real Draco was.

"So, Aunt Amelia, have you read the Harry Potter books?" she asked, more out of the need to say something rather than real interest.

"Yes, of course I have. Who hasn't, besides some religious fanatics?" Aunt Amelia looked fondly at Alana's bookshelf. "They are good books. So realistic, as if all of it really happened..."

"Do tell Hermione who's your favourite character, Mum," Alana chimed in.

"Oh, that has to be Professor Snape! He's such an intriguing personality!" Aunt Amelia stated. Hermione rolled her eyes. 'Like mother, like daughter,' she thought, Alana's analysis of her Potions professor still fresh in her mind.

"See, Hermione, I'm not the only one with that opinion of the Potions master!" Alana laughed upon seeing Hermione's reaction to her mother's revelation.

Hermione groaned. "That's only because you don't know what he's really like," she stated, completely forgetting that her aunt had no idea about the reality of Harry Potter and the Magic world. She realized it almost immediately and looked at Alana, horrified. Luckily, Aunt Amelia mistook her niece's slip and horrified expression as guilt for spending too much time on the Internet.

"You haven't been spending too much time with role playing games and fan fiction, Alana, have you? Don't you corrupt your cousin with such wastes of time!" she chided her daughter sternly.

Alana looked calm and put an innocent expression on. "No, mum. I don't do fan fiction, and there hasn't been much going on with RPG since most people are on holiday now!" Her mother was sufficiently mollified by her daughter's assurances, and her mind drifted elsewhere.

"Oh! I wonder what kind of fan fiction will be written now that Alan Rickman is cast for the movie! I bet there'll be some good ones out there soon!" She exclaimed. Hermione looked at her blankly.

"Fan fiction?"

"Harry Potter fan fiction is huge on the internet! It's the best entertainment if you find one that's well written, and there are some really good authors out there. They're stories about the Harry Potter characters that people invent," Aunt Amelia explained.

"Yes, and mum's favourite ones always involve Professor Snape," Alana snickered. "She spends hours on the internet reading," she added, to her mother's dismay.

Aunt Amelia was clearly uncomfortable. "I do not spend hours reading that stuff," she huffed at her daughter. "I'll have you know that your role playing games take up far more time than my occasional escape into the Harry Potter world!" She added hotly and left the room, not in the least pleased with her daughter.

Hermione was intrigued. "You mean, there are people who write stories about us?" she asked her cousin.

"Yes, lots of them. I've only read a few where Draco pairs up with an Original Character, that is a character made up by the author, who is not in the books, but there are many stories around. Some revolve around Harry and Ginny, Ron and you, Draco and Ginny; some are even about a relationship between Dumbledore and McGonagall," she wrinkled her nose in distaste, "and then of course there are a lot about Professor Snape and an original character."

"About me and Ron?" Hermione asked incredulously. "Eeewww, that's disgusting! We're like brother and sister!" She shook her head at such a distasteful idea.

Alana eyed her cousin with a calculating look. "I agree, I don't find the idea of you and Ron together suitable at all. You definitely need someone older. Ron is such a baby in the books." Then she shot her a mischievous grin. "Hey, how about you and Snape?"

Hermione looked furious. "No thanks! Ugh. He's about twice my age, he's got greasy hair and he acts like a git most of the time!"

Alana looked thoughtful. She had only suggested Snape to infuriate Hermione, but they really did not seem to be so different when she thought about it. "You know, I don't think that idea is so far fetched. I mean, come on, you both love books, neither of you is very social, and I can't imagine either of you to ever get enthusiastic over a Quidditch match!"

"I'd rather live a life in celibacy I'll have you know. And now I'll thank you for changing the subject!" Hermione's tone of voice left no room for negotiation. Alana dropped the subject and silently vowed to find a fan fiction involving Hermione and her Potions master to hold under her cousin's nose, if only to prove that her idea was not that far fetched.

-----------------------------------------------------

Severus Snape let out a long sigh. His godson had just told him about the conversation he had with his father in the morning before coming back to Hogwarts under the guise of an Advanced Potions summer class.

He would have to inform the headmaster of Lucius' latest devious plan. As much as he disliked the Know-it-All, he could not justify being at least partly responsible for her demise should Lucius succeed. The sight of her with her hand trustingly in his, aroused by his seductive singing sprang up unbidden in his mind.

'For crying out loud, get a grip, old man...' he thought, annoyed with himself. 'She is a student, she is a Know-it-All, and not least, she represents one third of the Golden Trio! Get her the fuck out of your mind!'

He was in dire need of a stiff drink before facing the headmaster to inform him of the latest developments. Firewhiskey wouldn't do on this occasion. As much as he despised most things Muggle, he appreciated their knack for making fine liqueurs, such as brandy, as well as their abilities in the Arts. No wizard had ever out-composed Handel's 'Harpsichord concertos', or Sibelius' 'Karelia Suite', or, indeed, Lloyd-Webber's 'Phantom of the Opera'. The same was applicable in his opinion, to literature. There simply was no wizard equivalent to Shakespeare. Had he been more aware of Muggle cultural developments, he would have snortingly compared the latest Bollywood projects with Hollywood Classics.

After carefully choosing one of the finer brandies, he sat down with his tumbler in front of the fireplace to contemplate the events that had transpired over the past few days.

-----------------------------------------------------

A/N

Big thanks to my beta, Tatiana. Blessed be the day I met you!

Reviews gratefully received.