Bitten

Obelisk of Nightmare

Draco stifled a yawn. The professor's voice droned on like a machine. Draco closed his eyes. He was so tired. Every time he would sleep, Riley would appear in his dreams. It was always the destroyed field. But as of late, small grasses and plants were growing everywhere. The last time he had visited Riley there was an obsidian obelisk hat had been erected.

The obelisk was no more than four feet tall. It was shaped much like an old grandfather clock, coming to a point at the top. The smooth surface of the sides was riddled with strange markings. They were very similar to the runes Draco had studied in Ancient Runes. But—while maintaining a certain delicacy—they seemed more primal.

"What are these symbols?" He'd asked once. Riley turned away from a Perseid tree and walked over to him.

"They're called Ancients." She said. Draco gave her a confused look.

"I've never heard of them."

"Well, they aren't commonly practiced." She chuckled, "In fact, they're only studied by Oneiromancers and Occlumens, and a few of those at that." Draco glanced at the Ancients.

"You call them ancients, so they must be based off Latin. Which I can see some Latin roots in them." Riley giggled.

"You've got it backwards. The Ancients are the original language."

"You must be joking." He sneered, "The original language is Egyptian and the oldest written word is Latin."

"And you were completely and unbreakably bound to You-Know-Who." She retorted. Draco sighed.

"Fine. You may have a point." He murmured. Riley smiled sweetly.

"Do you want to know what it says?" She asked softly. Draco looked at the structure then shook his head.

"Somehow, I don't think I want to know." He turned away from the obelisk. Riley hadn't followed after him.

Draco sighed, coming back to Professor Binns' droll lesson. He felt almost bad about the way he had treated Riley. He'd blatantly rejected wanting to learn anything about Riley's world. He remembered vaguely Riley mentioned that dreams were the world she controlled best. Other than their conversation about the Ancients, he'd never shown even a remote interest in what Riley did.

The bell rang and students nearly fell over themselves trying to leave. Draco collected his things and rose from his chair. He turned to leave and was stopped in his tracks. Stephanie Cradey was staring him down. She looked like she was going to blow a gasket.

"What do you want?" He hissed. She opened her mouth then closed it, then opened it once again.

"It's all your fault!" Draco blinked.

"What in the world are you going on about?" Stephanie let out a frustrated breath.

"Riley can't wake up because of you!" Draco was silent for a minute.

"She can't wake up?" He asked slowly. She made an incredulous noise.

"Isn't that obvious? Or are you really that self-absorbed?" Neither of them spoke for a moment. They both seemed to be absorbing the new information. Stephanie sighed and looked down. Her left arm came up and rubbed her right arm.

"She visits me in my dreams," she said softly, "That's how I know." She shook her head.

"I don't know what to do. I can't help her because I have no idea what exactly is going on. Harry doesn't know either and I feel like I can't turn to anyone. But, even though she can't return to the waking world, all she is worried about is you." Draco blinked again.