Reality in a Dream? ~Closed~

[Bridget Ashford]

“Okay, class dismissed,” Bridget said monotonously to her seventh year class. Her eyes fell to the empty seat on the last row. It was a seat that would never again be warmed by its owner. A seat that would forever be etched into her mind. Feeling her knees buckle underneath her, she leaned against the desk to keep herself from falling. As her fingers pressed against the cold smooth wood, old images flooded her head. They were abstract pictures of him caressing her cheek….of him holding her. Of the way his hot kisses made her blood pulse. The pain ripped though her thin paper body as the memories continued to storm. She pounded her fists into the hard surface, trying to release some of the torment inside. Unable to tolerate the ache, Bridget relaxed and her muscles went limp. Her small frame thudded to the floor, and she laid there immobilized on the cool tile. The light of her world was distinguished, and there was nothing left for her.

Suddenly, brilliant, neon swirls of light shaded her view of the classroom. She felt the floor disappear beneath her, and fell into a vortex of color. As she sped downward, the spirals melted together to form walls of smudged rainbows. The colors grew darker as she descended, until the blackness had consumed her. It was there, surrounded by a blanket of midnight, when Bridget heard the voice that she had grown to love and need like a drug. She stretched her arms, trying to reach out into the abyss and soak up the familiar murmur. His presence almost tangible, she whispered, “Jonnie…is that you?”



Bridget awoke from her nightmare with a jolt. Her t-shirt was soaked with sweat, and stuck to her chest like a damp glove. She clutched the blanket in her palms, and tried relentlessly to calm her breathing. “It was just a dream,” she reassured herself, though her clobbering heart begged to differ.

Shortly after Regulus had told her about Jonnie’s death, Bridget had been visited by nightmares. Knowing that she wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep, she pulled herself out of bed and dressed. After she was presentable, she crept into the corridor. Her mind needed to clear itself, and she hoped a late-night tour of the school would do the trick. Bridget wandered aimlessly through the halls until she came upon the astronomy tower. She had never bothered to explore anything up here, and was surprised to discover how beautiful the sky appeared from there. As she gazed up at the endless constellation of stars, she couldn’t help but think of Jonnie and how much she would give to see him again. She glided over to the wall and slid downward so that she could rest her tired limbs on the stone. Her eyelids dropped closed before she drifted to sleep under the stars.

[jonringo]

His body shifted form, moving easily from place to place as he danced over the floor to his own amazement. He blinked down at the small form he had come to visit. His long talk with Dumbledore was hours behind him at the moment. He had witnessed various strange things in the pensieve, and now knew what he was, and what he was doomed to do. He smiled softly to himself, his deep dark eyes swirling with a soft white glow, almost like parts of him could tendril out, and touch the girl he looked at. She was no girl, she was Bridget. She was the Professor Jonnie had spent one memorable moment with, in his life, when he had a life. His glowing eyes looked down at her, and a soft look of sadness creep-ed over his body. He sighed, his body flowing, transparent as he moved to wards her.

"Do not be alarmed, I am no dream." His voice was a whisper, a hint of sound in the frosty air that fell off his body in a cool wave. He took form, looking like he did when he wondered the halls of the large school in life. He touched down on the floor, and made as if he was walking to her. His eyes locked on her, his form still transparent. A large cloud of glowing mist surrounded him, floating in the air as if he wore a transparent, and glistening cape. He titled his head, his long dark hair falling into his eyes as he awaited her reaction. Hoping she did not go mad from the appearance of a ghost she had known, and loved in life.

It was not uncommon for ghosts to be at Hogwarts, but Jonnie had never recalled in his years at the school, a time when someone had passed over, yet returned to the lonely halls. Peeves had done his job, and told Jonnie all he needed to know about life and what to expect. He would never have imagined that Peeves was deeper than what he appeared to be. Jonnie titled his head in the other direction, his soft glance falling on Bridget. He wondered if she would react to him.