Chapter 2: Sweet Dreams

            Thwack!  Harry slammed his bedroom door before landing on his bed.  He had escaped the imminent headache for arriving late.  Apparently Petunia was too busy spreading gossip about some neighbors three doors down that they didn't even notice him come in.

            A sigh escaped the boy as he picked his head up and looked toward his open window.  Strange... he could have sworn he had seen an owl earlier.  Too tired to care, he allowed himself to drift off to sleep.

 ~~ 

            Harry was at Hogwarts.  He had his friends with him, and he felt more relaxed than he had in days.  There was a care-free moon all about them.  Then something happened.  The scene seemed to disappear; being replaced with another. Harry saw he was now standing in some clearing in a forest.  His gaze wandered around his surroundings.  Noticing all of the bodies, it looked as if he had been placed in the middle of the leftovers of some battle.  After observing the carnage, he spotted someone still standing.

               After trying to call out to the figure, Harry realized that he couldn't make a sound.  It was like his vocal cords were stuck.  He started moving towards the person.  From a closer view, he could tell it was a girl around his age.  It was weird. She had on a long white blouse and her long ebony hair nearly reached the green skirt she wore.  It almost looked like a school uniform.  She seemed very out of place.  But there she was, standing right in the middle of it all, almost like she couldn't move.

            Harry was now standing beside her.  He struggled to move closer, but it was like his body couldn't respond.  He couldn't see her face and she kept his back to him.  Then, almost as if sensing he was there, she began to turn... 

~~ 

            Harry's eyes sprang open.  He lied there in the dark, not realizing he was already awake.  Then he brought up a hand and rubbed his eyes, trying to recall the strange dream.  The last thing he remembered was a brief flash of tears and eyes that were colored an impossible shade of blue.

            Shaking his head as if to clear it of the weird thoughts, he snuggled back down into his pillow trying to return to the dream.  And to return to the raven-haired girl he had seen within it.

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            Kagome cried out in her sleep, tossing and turning beneath the sheets.  Her black hair fanned out on her pillow and her chest rising quickly with every shallow breath she took.

 ~~

             She was forced to relive it all.  She was frozen in place, watching as one by one all of her friends fell.  And she could do nothing to help it.

              Kagome was all by herself now, staring down at the remains of their struggle...

             And then suddenly, she was not alone.  She felt someone coming up behind her.  Kagome slowly began to gain control of her own body, willing it to move.  She felt the person's gaze on her back and it made her shiver.

             When she got herself to turn, all she saw was a quick view of a boy's messy black hair and a pair of concerned and curious green eyes.  But before she could really see what was before her, he was gone.  Leaving her to herself once more.

             "Lonely, Miko?" A voice rang out in her mind, so cold and familiar... 

            Realization dawned on her and blue eyes widened.  "No..." She cried out in a small voice.  It can't be.  No!  He's dead.  I saw it, there's no way.  He is dead!

             A dark chuckle was heard, "Not as dead as you'd like to think, my dear."

             Darkness surrounded her as she screamed out with all of her being. ~~ 

            Kagome's own screaming had awoken her from teh nightmare.  She took deep, uneasy breaths.  Pressing as hand to her chest she willed her heart to slow down as its beating pounded in her ears.

            "'nee-chan?" A tired voice called from her bedroom doorway.

            She sat up and saw her little brother standing at the foot of her bed.  Brown, sleepy eyes filled with worry.  "Mmn...  Sorry, Souta.  It's nothing, go back to bed."

            Souta sent her a look of disbelief and shuffled forward to stand next to her head.  "Really?" He leaned against her windowsill before letting out a yawn.

            Kagome nodded to the nine year old.  "Go catch up on some sleep and I'll do the same."  She spared him a toothless smile when suddenly she was struck with the memory of her dream.  Her mind caught up with her awakened body and she remembered just why she had been screaming.

            It can't be real...  It felt real...  I saw him die, there's no way he could be alive.  It's not true.  Kagome argued back and forth with herself. 

            At the beginning it was the same dream she has had since the battle.  The only difference was the appearance of her arch enemy.  She never dreamt of Naraku and it disturbed to her to think that he would become a part of her bedtime story.

            Caught up in her thoughts, Kagome didn't even see her brother leave the room.  Nor did she notice a strange letter held between his hands behind his back as Souta scurried back into his own room.

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