Nightmares
An old mansion. Rather extravagant decorations and high class furniture. That was the first thing Billy noticed at a glance. His first impression was that it was one of those normal old mansions, nothing too impressive, and certainly not as breathtaking as Harry's, with all the magic that surrounded it.
The place was completely empty, with no one in sight. Even so, the electric lights were on in one of the rooms not too far away, letting the light slip through the narrow opening of a half-open door.
For a few seconds, the silence of the place made him uncomfortable.
Billy, with a slightly confused expression, looked around before heading in that direction. The closer he got, the more he noticed sounds coming from that room. The sound of cutlery against porcelain. Billy imagined that the place was a dining room and that, conveniently, it must be dinner time or something like that.
When he was about to open the door with his hand, Billy stopped upon hearing words coming from inside.
"Mmmm… a delight. It's been so long since I've eaten something this incredible. Are you sure you don't want to try a little?" said a raspy voice, something straight out of hell.
Billy's hand froze before pushing the door. That voice seeped into his bones and sent a chill running down his spine.
"I'm fine. Besides, it looks disgusting," replied another voice, a bit more familiar.
Curiosity ended up winning over instinct. Billy did not want to go in, but at the same time he wanted to know who those voices belonged to, so he leaned slightly toward the crack of the half-open door.
There, he could see two people sitting across from each other at a long table, filled with all kinds of food of the highest class. One of them was a blond man, quite handsome, and just by looking at him Billy felt like he recognized him from somewhere. The other one could not be seen well, since he was facing away, but what could be seen was his plate. Instead of holding any of the spectacular foods that covered the table, it contained a kind of amorphous black mass that shrieked every time it was pierced by the fork and writhed in pain when it was cut with the knife.
The man took a piece and brought it to his mouth. The only thing Billy could see of him was his hair. Long, red… no, not red. That was a mistake. It was completely covered in a thick red liquid and, even from there, the metallic smell of blood lingered in the air, clinging to him entirely.
Billy felt a knot form in his stomach, and for a second he had to swallow hard to avoid vomiting.
"So, have you thought about the deal I proposed to you? You will finally have your revenge and, perhaps, a better way to achieve immortality," said the man covered in blood, as he pointed toward a painting hanging above the nearby fireplace, which was completely covered in crusts and black stains that made it impossible to see anything of the original image.
"Even though you found an interesting way to improve the horcruxes… how long does each body you possess last?" he added in a mocking tone.
The other man, who felt more and more familiar to Billy, stared seriously at the painting for a moment. His expression showed annoyance and a faint hatred toward the man sitting across from him. He did not answer the question. Instead, he asked another.
"What do you gain from all this?" he asked.
"Revenge," the man replied simply. "And you, my dear friend, will be able to obtain the power you desire so much," he added with a tone that seemed capable of tempting anyone.
"That woman is too…"
Before he could say anything else, the man covered in blood stopped him by raising his hand. Then he slowly turned his gaze toward the place where Billy was standing, listening to the conversation.
For an instant, Billy managed to see part of that man's face.
A shiver ran down his spine, and he felt an uncomfortable pressure in his chest, as if the air had suddenly grown heavier. When his eyes settled on him, one of his eyes, completely red, like the gaze of the devil himself, watched him with something close to amusement. His face was full of scars, as if he had faced the worst creatures imaginable, almost disfigured. His appearance, somehow, felt familiar.
"The witch's son," the man said.
The air became almost impossible to breathe. The place began to tremble, as if it were about to collapse on top of Billy.
…
Billy jolted awake, gasping for air. He looked around and noticed that he was lying in his bed, in his room, the one he shared with his Ravenclaw roommates. He turned his head and saw Terra sleeping inside her small castle, resting on the nightstand. That was enough for Billy to understand that everything had been some kind of dream.
A rather strange dream, to be honest.
He sat on the bed for a moment, with little desire to fall back asleep, so he simply got up and headed out toward the common room.
Normally, late at night, the Ravenclaw common room was empty. Except, of course, when some student became so absorbed in their reading that they lost track of time, until one of their classmates brought them back to reality and sent them off to bed.
In this case, when Billy came down from the boys' dormitories, there was someone sitting there, attentively reading a book that looked as though it were made of gold.
Draco. His brother's best friend.
As soon as Billy entered the common room, Draco lifted his gaze with that serious air he always had, even though Billy knew very well that every one of his brother's friends was just as chaotic as he was.
"Can't sleep?" Draco asked, nodding as a quick greeting.
"Ah, no… I had a small nightmare," Billy replied.
"Mmm… welcome to the club," Draco said calmly, shifting his attention back to the book. "If you want, I can wake Harry up so he can give you a calming potion. That usually helps me," he added as he turned the page.
"Ah, no. I'm fine," Billy said gratefully. Harry's friends always treated him well, and that was something he appreciated, even if sometimes he did not fully understand them.
"You… do you usually have nightmares?" Billy asked, focusing on Draco's words.
"More than I'd like. And many of them have to do with my father," Draco replied calmly, as if it truly did not bother him.
Billy did not know the story of Draco's father. He only knew that Draco lived solely with his mother and with the elf named Dobby. After that, they did not get along with their relatives, aside from Sirius, of course. And obviously, Billy was not going to ask something that might be uncomfortable to answer. Even so, upon hearing the word father come from Draco's mouth, Billy stared at him for a moment.
Draco felt his gaze and slightly lifted his eyes from the book.
"We more or less know your father's story because of a problem with Aunt Wanda in the past. And I think your father is pretty great," Draco said, as if explaining it to himself. "But you should know that not all fathers are like that," he added. "At least, mine wasn't."
"Then… you don't miss him at all?" Billy asked.
Draco went still for a moment. His gaze remained fixed on the book, though it no longer seemed like he was actually reading it.
"If I were to run into my father right now," he said calmly, "I'm sure that, without hesitation, he would try to kill me for breaking the codes he believed in. And I would do the same."
A small, amused smile appeared on his face.
Billy watched that smile for an instant, slightly confused. He did not know whether it was humor, resignation, or something much darker.
The silence in the room stretched on for a few seconds.
"I see," Billy said, feeling that brief silence as something uncomfortable. "Then… I'll try to go back to sleep," he added.
Draco raised a hand in greeting before returning to his golden book. Billy left, and only then did Draco close the book, his gaze distant, trapped in his own thoughts.
Meanwhile, behind the sofa where he had been sitting, a head peeked out slightly.
"Don't go telling my brother stupid things," a voice said suddenly.
Draco jumped, bringing a hand to his chest.
"Idiot, what are you doing?" he exclaimed when he saw Harry.
Harry had an amused smile on his face, clearly satisfied to see that his scare had worked, before shifting his gaze toward the direction Billy had gone, with a hint of seriousness.