1 – Bedtime Stories

"Dreams are today's answers to tomorrow's questions."
― Edgar Cayce

...

„Muuuum, can't I stay here? I don't wanna go back to Hogwarts," Haley Potter groaned over dinner like a five-year-old. It certainly was an unusual sight. For one, the auburn-haired girl wasn't known for behaving like a toddler and for another she loved Hogwarts! She loved learning about magic and spending every day with her friends but… something was definitely bothering her.

"Nonsense," her mother, Lily Potter admonished, "I know for a fact that you love Hogwarts. Why would you want to stay here with your boring old parents when you could learn how to brew the Draught of Peace or Baruffios' Brain Elixir?"

Haley shared an eye-roll with her father, James Potter.

"But mum! I don't know if you remember but I am in fifth year now! Do you know how much homework we get every day? I barely made it to Christmas break without going insane!"

"Don't use that tone with me, Haley Petunia! And stop playing with your food."

"But muuum!"

"If I hear another but mum from you, I'm confiscating your Firebolt!"

"But m– I mean – yes mum."

"Have you started packing yet? You know you won't have much time tomorrow, before we're leaving." Lily said for the fifth time that day.

"I'll start after dinner," Haley murmured, "do I really have to go back?"

Lily gave her a look that clearly said, she was done arguing about this. That look was bad news. But Haley was nothing if not stubborn. There was one last way…

"Dad," she pleaded in her most pitiful voice. She even resorted to pouting which was really stretching it far. James made the mistake of looking at her, so he was hit with her pouting face full force. He was trying hard to resist but Haley could see that he was losing the fight. She tried to look even more innocent and small. 3… 2… 1…

James looked away. "You heard what your mum said."

Damn, when had he learned to resist her kitten eyes? She didn't want to see the triumphant look on her mum's face.

"Fine," Haley spat, getting up from the table, "I might as well start packing then. In case I don't survive the rest of the term, don't blame me, your only daughter!"

With that, she stormed out of the kitchen and up to her room.

…

There was a knock on her door.

"Go away!" Haley called as she continued carelessly throwing things into her suitcase.

The door opened.

"Mum says you should come down for tea," her little brother, Simon said. His hair had almost the same shade of auburn as hers did. But while Haley's long locks had a more reddish copper tint (like their mum's) Simon's hair always reminded her of bronze.

"Where were you at dinner?" She asked, squinting her eyes at him in a searching way.

"At Penny's..." Simon answered slowly.

Haley crossed her arms over her chest. "It's my last night at home and you'd rather spend it playing around than having dinner with your favourite sister?"

"You're my only sister..." He muttered.

"What was that?" Haley asked harshly while she stalked over to her brother slowly.

"I – I mean – you – you won't miss me anyway." Simon admitted, looking at his feet sadly.

Now, that was enough to melt the heart of a big sister.

"Simon," she cooed, crushing the boy in her arms, "Of course I'll miss you, dummy. Who wouldn't miss their cute, annoying baby brother?"

"I'm not a baby," Simon muttered, "I'll be eleven next year. And then I can finally go to Hogwarts, too."

"Presuming you get the letter," Haley couldn't help but add.

"Haley!" Her brother complained from somewhere next to her shoulder. When had he got this tall?

"Just kidding," she relented, "I'm totally looking forward to it." She squeezed him tightly, before letting go completely. "But you know the rules, no calling me sister or 'sis' at school. Everyone will think I'm old, when they see I have a baby brother."

Simon didn't look impressed, "I'm not your ba-"

"I know, I know, let's go downstairs now, shall we? You probably won't be able to sleep, if you miss dessert." As she pulled her brother out of her room and down the stairs, she thought that she wouldn't even mind Simon's complaining if it meant she didn't have to go back to Hogwarts.

...

"Are you still going to eat that?" Simon asked.

"Yes," Haley whispered, even though she didn't have the least bit of an appetite. If she had been in a better mood she might have given her scone to Simon but as it was, her mood was terrible. And on top of that, if her brother ate one more scone, he would surely burst! Haley ignored the pout on Simon's face and stuffed her face with the pastry.

She didn't even have to look up from her plate to know, three pairs of eyes were watching her.

"Haley," her mum said cautiously, like she was a wounded animal or something.

"What?" Haley burst out, spitting food everywhere. She felt so angry all of a sudden.

"Why… why don't you want to go back to Hogwarts?"

"You ask me that now?" Haley shot her mum an angry look. But she wouldn't be her mum if she didn't meet it head on. No wavering. One eyebrow vanishing under her red hair. She didn't say anything, simply waiting for Haley to say what was on her mind. It had always been like that. Haley had always been the hot-headed one, just like her dad.

Haley took a sip of her tea. She was stalling for time.

After what seemed like minutes of her intently watching her lap, she took a deep breath and braced herself for the words, that were already waiting inside her throat.

"I can't go back," she told her lap quietly, "because… there's someone at school who..."

The rest of her words rushed out of her mouth like a tumbling river that had been contained for too long, "who makes my life a living hell! He's always there, tripping me up, calling me names, taunting me, messing up my potions and – and –" There was more, but before she could continue, she had to calm down somewhat or else she was going to bite her tongue off.

"And then there's also the insane amount of homework we have to do every day. Not to forget quidditch! I – I feel like I'm slowly going insane..."

For a while nobody said a word. When Haley finally looked up, she was met with contemplative faces.

She raised her eyebrows. Was that all? No other reaction?

In her mind, she had already heard her dad say something like, 'My daughter doesn't let herself be bullied by some stupid guy! She is a proud Gryffindor for Godric's sake! Who dares lay a finger on my Haley?'

Her dad looked like he was going to say something exactly like that but her mum silenced him with a look.

"Hm," she said thoughtfully. Nothing more.

"Really? That's all you have to say to that? No helpful advice?" Haley asked, puzzled.

"Great," she spat with a snort, "I knew this was pointless."

She stood from her seat and rushed off toward her room for the second time that night.

…

As she was lying inside her bed that night, she couldn't stop herself from worrying.

Maybe it'll be okay! I'll just ignore him or hex him or hit him or – or… why does he even hate me that much? I never did anything to him, did I? Did I…?

Haley's thoughts were rudely interrupted by her bedroom door opening. She caught a glimpse of red hair – of course it was her mum. She didn't want to talk to her, so she quickly turned around, facing the wall and pretended to be asleep.

Is it working?, she thought, as she tried to breathe in a natural way.

Her bed dipped with the weight of somebody sitting down. You're asleep, you're asleep, Haley told herself repeatedly. Then there was a hand combing through her locks softly.

Haley sighed in contentment. She loved when her mum did that.

A chuckle. "So you were awake."

Why did it have to feel so nice? Haley didn't answer. It wasn't necessary. They both knew she was awake.

"You've always enjoyed that far too much," Lily whispered, while she continued to massage her scalp.

"Don't wanna talk," Haley mumbled, still facing away from her mum.

"That's fine, you can just listen." She whispered.

Haley stayed quiet, she was still mad after all.

"I once… was your age, too, you know. I might understand you much better than you think."

The girl scoffed, "Is this the part where you tell me that life is hard but we have to get through anyway?"

Lily chuckled again. "I'm surprised the hat didn't put you into Ravenclaw with that brain of yours."

"Ha ha," Haley retorted.

"That boy you mentioned earlier… do you have an idea why he is giving you so much trouble?"

"No! That's exactly my point! I have not the slightest idea why he's being such a jerk! I have never done anything to bother him or annoy him or – I simply don't know!"

For a moment it seemed like Lily was contemplating her daughter's words.

"Since when?" She finally asked.

"What?"

"Since when does that boy harass you?"

"I," Haley had to think that over for a second, "Actually… I think… we've never really got along but… sometime around Christmas last year it started to get bothersome and since then it only got worse. It's almost like he wants me to constantly remember he's there." Haley shuddered at the thought.

"Around Christmas?" Lily asked, like this fact was particularly interesting.

Haley nodded. "Yeah, everyone was busy preparing for the Yule Ball and the git had nothing better to do but annoy the hell out of me! He almost ruined Neville's dress robes!" Neville had been her date for the Yule Ball.

"I see," her mum concluded.

Haley frowned. She turned around to face her.

"What do you mean, 'you see'? And why are you grinning like that?" The girl asked, sitting up so she could face her mum properly.

Lily shook her head and cupped her daughter's face in her left hand lovingly.

"You're still so innocent," she cooed, stroking the girl's cheek softly, "Don't you see that he – ah, no, I shouldn't."

"What do you mean, mum? Why won't you tell me?" Haley asked, sounding like a four-year-old.

"I think…" Lily began, biting her lips to keep herself from grinning, "I'm going to tell you a story."

"Now?" Haley asked in confusion. Was now really the time for a story?

"Scoot over," her mum instructed, climbing under the covers and leaning against the headboard next to her daughter.

"Back in fifth year," Lily started her story. She reached out toward Haley's hair and parted it into three equal sections.

"Hey – What are you-?" Haley complained.

"Shush, I'll braid them for you. It'll look beautiful in the morning." As her mum began to braid her hair, she tried to suppress a smile. It had been a while since the last time she had let her mum braid her hair. She would never admit how much she actually liked it. She wasn't five anymore after all.

Her mum knew it anyway.

"As I said, back in fifth year, there was a boy at Hogwarts who would always harass me and bother me and – well he was constantly up in my face, announcing he was there. You'd have to be a troll to miss his presence. It really drove me nuts!"

Haley listened intently. This sounded vaguely familiar.

"What did you do?"

"Well, there were times where I wanted to strangle him just to be finally rid of it all!"

"So… are you saying I should just strangle him?"

Lily was halfway done with the braid. She took a break to look up at her daughter with a little smile.

"As appealing as it may seem," her mum continued, "I'm afraid it wouldn't be all that appropriate. I don't know if I'd be able to bail you out if you actually killed someone," she shrugged, "Anyway, in my case I solved it by finding out the boy's deepest secret."

"A secret? What kind of secret?" Haley wondered curiously. Her mum laughed at that.

"Ah, it wouldn't be nice if I told you that… I might tell you one day. But for now I'm going to tell you a different secret."

Haley blinked in anticipation. Was this secret going to help her?

"I found a way to see what other people are dreaming."

Haley frowned. What was she saying?

"So, long story short, I spied on the boy while he was dreaming and found out about his secret. After I told him, he never bothered me again. Well… mostly. Hair tie?"

"On the bedside table," Haley answered absently, while her mum finished up her braid. It was running down the right sight of her face now, almost reaching her waist.

"Just like that?" She asked skeptically. "Wait – did you say you can see what other people are dreaming? How? Can you see any dream? Have you seen my dreams as well?"

"It's really not that complicated," Lily told her, "Mostly you need to somewhat know the person and have something on you that belongs to the one you want to visit."

"Visit?"

"Well, it's not simply watching the dream. If you do it correctly you can actually take part in it."

"What?" Haley wasn't so sure whether she was dreaming at the moment herself.

"Here." Lily reached into her hair, pulled out a tiny clasp, that looked like a flower with a green stone in the middle, and clipped it onto her daughter's braid.

"Now you have something that belongs to me so you'll be able to visit me in my dreams," she smiled.

"I'll just take… that," Lily plucked Haley's favourite owl bracelet from her bedside table and slipped it around her wrist.

"Hey, that's my favourite!" Haley protested.

"I know, I gave it to you," her mum retorted with a grin.

"And now all that's left to do for you is fall asleep. I'll come get you and explain the rest."

"What?" Haley asked, feeling like she had barely understood half of the things her mum had told her. But Lily had already got up from her bed and was standing at the door.

"Sleep," she ordered, before disappearing out of the room.

…

"It was impossible, of course. But when did that ever stop any dreamer from dreaming."
― Laini Taylor, Strange the Dreamer

…

A/N: Hello and welcome to my new Harry Potter AU! If you recognize the concept of visiting people in their dreams, yes, I got that idea from Kerstin Gier's "The Book of Dreams Trilogy". Everything else will be from Harry Potter of course. Oh right and Haley's little brother... Cookies for the people who know from which story I plucked him :) I wonder who that jerk is that torments Haley at school... :D
The title is inspired by the song "Walking on a Dream" from Empire of the Sun.
Thank you for reading! Leave me your thoughts if you want to :)

Till next time, Feather