||Rain's Storm||The Chamber of Secrets||Year 2||

Chapter Three: Dreams

'She was running through a forest. It was night, and the forest was dark. No light from the moon or stars could reach the forest floor. It was only cold, very cold, and her breath created little puffs of mist. The only sound was her breathing and the crunching of leaves and twigs beneath her feet. But, she knew somewhere out there in the blackness, the monster was watching.

Suddenly, she was falling. She landed upright, standing on something like stone or wood in nearly complete darkness. At her feet was a child, a boy who was badly bruised and bloody. His pale skin was covered in red from numerous wounds, and his cloths were hardly more than rags. He had proven to be useless.

  "Avada Kedavra!" a cold voice shouted, and a green light temporally blinded her. When her vision returned, the boy was motionless, dead. Cold laughter echoed around her as she began to fall once more.

This time, she was in complete darkness. She could hear arguing, but could not tell where it was coming from.

"He's dead because of him yet you still serve him!" a man's voice shouted.

"You can't exactly just walk up to him and say you're done! You have no idea what he's truly like!" a woman shouted back. She heard no more as she began falling, falling, unbearable pain scorning her entire body. She screamed in agony....'

Rain was awaken by the sound of her own screaming. Terrified, and not knowing where she was, she bolted from the bed and into the nearest corner. Closing her eyes tightly, she clenched her knees to her chest, rocking herself back and forth. The monster was coming. She knew the monster was coming....

Rain screamed again out of pure terror as the door was thrown open, and three figures entered the room with her. She felt someone drop down beside her, but she dared not to look. She couldn't bare to see those red eyes....

"I can help her!" a far too cheery voice declared. It wasn't him....It wasn't the monster.

Rain peaked an eye open. It was a young man with pretty skin, a full head of blond hair, and small blue eyes. He had a big nose, and a hand reaching straight towards her. Unable to stop herself out of fear, she whimpered and shrank away from him. He stopped, looking stunned.

"Get out of here you fool!" a familiar voice snarled. Severus Snape pushed the stranger away from Rain. A moment later, there was the sound of a door opening and closing. Rain hunkered closer to the wall.

"Rain, what happened?" Dumbledore asked gently, appearing at the edge of her vision. Rain shook her head violently, refusing to look at him or speak. 

"Tell us Rain," Snape insisted. Both of them were crouched down beside her, leaving her no where to run. She began to shake once more, and once again shook her head.

"Rain, we have to know what happened to help you," Dumbledore argued. Rain rested her head against the wall, closing her eyes. She didn't respond to their repeated questions, pretending they were not even there. 

"Come along Dumbledore. She's not going to tell us anything," Snape hissed, standing up. Dumbledore slowly and reluctantly followed him out of the dorm. Rain waited until she was sure they were gone before crawling back to the bed. She hid under the covers, and began to weep.

*

The dungeon seemed colder that day than it ever had before. Despite wearing a thick coat, Rain was still left shivering violently. Not even the warmth from the cauldrons lite all around the room helped. No matter how close she stayed to one and its flame, she was still freezing. Despite his focus on the potions he was making, this did not escape Snape's notice.

"You are being awfully quiet Rain," he said suddenly, not looking up from the roots he was cutting. Rain was sitting on a stool beside him, her head down. When she didn't answer, he finally did look at her, lowering his blade. "Your episode from last night, it's still on your mind?"

Rain nodded slowly, uneasy. She wasn't sure how much she should say, or if she should say anything at all.

"What was the it about?" Snape demanded gently.

"It was a nightmare. Several nightmares combined into one. But they...they were like memories. Not mine. Not my memories, but someone else's," she whispered, terrified of speaking the truth any louder.

Snape was silent for a long time. "What do you mean?" he finally asked.

"I can't explain it. It has never made sense to me," Rain confessed. She then jumped up, nearly knocking the stool over. Snape grabbed it, preventing its crash to the ground. "I need to use the restroom," she muttered to his annoyed expression as she hurried out the door.

Rain wandered through the castle, her mind swirling with memories that made no sense to her. She didn't pay attention to where she was going, and suddenly she was outside. She glanced around, sniffing. She rubbed her eyes, trying to clear away the tears. She began to head towards the road leading to Hogsmead.

Reaching it, she sat down. She stared ahead, too heavy to move. Every part of her body ached with grief, and her mind felt sluggish. She cried silently, no longer bothering to hide it. There was no one to see it. Not even a bird sang in the sky.

She wasn't sure how long she sat there, but her mind kept returning to the Shrieking Shake. Something about the place called to her. It stirred her to the very core of who she was. Resolve finally entered her thoughts; she would go the Shrieking Shake. She wasn't sure what she would find there, but there had to be something. Anything would be better than the pain she was currently feeling.

Rain stood up, deciding she needed to get back inside before Snape came hunting her. "Hello there!" the same cheery voice from last night called. Rain rolled her eyes as the man came prancing up the road from Hogsmead. "I'm afraid I haven't introduced myself. I'm your new Defensive against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Lockhart." He stuck out his hand for her to shake.

"Rain," she muttered, crossing her arms. He lowered his hand, but was not put off for long.

"You're the girl who came with Professor Snape, are you not? I bet it's interesting, being around that man so much."

Rain rolled her eyes, and didn't justify the statement with a reply as she headed back inside. She could hear Lockhart talking right behind her. Slipping right inside the door, she ran. She didn't stop until she reached the Slytherin corridor.