Harry Potter and the Fortunate Queen-Chapter 469: Just a Dream

Chris was on her knees.

Completely defenceless.

She was sweating and panting.

And a bloodied hand was pointing a wand at her.

Chris desperately tried to think of a way to get out of that situation but found none. Panic grew in her chest.

But she knew panicking wouldn't help, so she tried to calm her mind. She stared at the tip of the wand in front of her and tried to look up at the face of her attacker.

But only darkness met her eyes. Her attacker's face remained cloaked in darkness even when the attacker laughed out loud.

"No need to pretend, Christina Norton, I know you are afraid and for the right reasons. You should be afraid of me," The attacker said with a hoarse, lifeless voice. "Because I am going to destroy everything and everyone you love. Starting with your . . . old, stupid, muggle father."

A green light burst out of the attacker's wand, and Chris screamed.

"NO!"

Chris woke up with a start. She sat up straight in her bed, breathing heavily. She looked around frantically, only to realize she was in her room, on her bed.

It was a dream.

But her body refused to calm down. The events of the dream felt so real. Yes, Chris often had nightmares after the Battle of Hogwarts, but it had never felt so real before. Still, Chris breathed in and out multiple times and repeated,

"It was just a dream. A nightmare. That's it. Just a nightmare."

Chris looked over at the clock to distract herself and saw it was about to be midnight. An unknown sense of dread washed over her as she stared at the dark night sky outside her window.

There was a soft knock on the door, but Chris was so wounded up, she jumped. The door slowly opened, and Mr. Norton, her father, poked his head in.

"You awake, Eagle? I thought I heard –" Mr. Norton stopped short, seeing the panicked look on Chris's face. She quickly tried to look calm and collected, but Mr. Norton had already seen it and hurried inside the room. "What happened?"

"Nothing, Dad," Chris forced a smile. "Just a night–"

Chris saw Harry coming in with a cake in his hand and with a concerned look on his face similar to her father's.

"What's going on?" Harry asked, putting down the cake on the table.

"I could ask you the same," Chris tried to change the subject, and only then, judging by her father's and Harry's expression, she realized.

"We were going to surprise you for your birthday," Harry said sheepishly.

"Yes, I was hoping you were awake, but I didn't realize you were having a nightmare," Chris's father said, worry still etched on his face.

"I'm fine, Dad." Chris genuinely smiled this time and hugged her father. "Thank you for the cake. You are the best."

Mr. Norton relaxed a little bit, wrapped in his daughter's hug.

"Happy 18th, my little Eagle," Mr. Norton smiled.

"Thank you and love you." Chris stepped back and looked over at Harry, who gave a wide smile back.

"Happy Birthday, Chris," Harry said as he lit the candle on the chocolate cake with his wand.

Chris tried to keep the smile on her face, but seeing the wand reminded her of the nightmare, and a small frown appeared on her face. Harry immediately caught the frown, and his eyebrows knit, but he said nothing.

Chris tried to shake off the dread inside her and blew out the candle as Harry held the cake in front of her.

"Happy birthday!" Harry and Mr. Norton repeated with joy.

"Love you both," Chris kissed Harry's cheek and then her father's cheek.

"Do you want to eat the cake now?" Mr. Norton asked, as he did every year on her birthday. Like every year, she refused and told him she would eat it tomorrow morning because she didn't like brushing her teeth so late.

Mr. Norton told Chris to go back to sleep and rest, and he started to leave but stopped when he noticed that Harry was lingering behind. Chris immediately caught on and spoke up,

"Can he stay for a bit?"

"You know the rules, Eagle," Her father said, trying to look stern, but she just smiled more sweetly.

"Please, Dad?"

Mr. Norton looked at Chris's pleading face to Harry, whose face was getting redder by the minute, and finally sighed.

"Just a few more minutes and then back to your room, Harry," Mr. Norton ordered very seriously, and Harry instantly nodded.

"Yes, sir," Harry said and stayed frozen in his place until Mr. Norton left the room, but her father intentionally left the door a bit open.

Chris chuckled seeing that and turned to Harry, who was now looking at her with the previous concern back in his eyes. Without saying a word, Chris just opened her arms, and Harry walked up to her, sat on the bed and pulled her into his arms.

Chris let a sigh of relief, and Harry's grip on her tightened.

"What were you dreaming about?" Harry asked.

"Nothing good," Chris replied, and after a long moment, she broke the hug.

"Chris, just tell me." Harry searched her face for any sort of sign but found none.

"Just stay here for a while. I will be fine." Chris smiled before kissing him.

His presence calmed Chris's nerves, and she briefly told him about her dream. Harry got worried, but Chris reassured him that it was nothing but a dream. Harry just held her closer, and Chris instantly felt better. Harry listened to her father's words and stayed there for 15 more minutes before leaving the room. However, sleep didn't come to Chris as it used to; now, she usually lay awake in her bed for hours. Sometimes, she wondered, was this how it felt like to grow up, or was it simply because she was scared to fall asleep and relive the battle again and again in her nightmare? Or was her body scared of that new attacker from her dream? She couldn't decide but tried her best to go back to sleep.

Leon, her owl, poked his head from his cage as if reassuring her that she wasn't alone, and under his watchful gaze, with a smile, she closed her eyes.

It had been one year and two months since the Battle of Hogwarts. Almost everyone had gone back to their previous lives before the war began. Even the Nortons bought a new house a little distance from London (since their old one was destroyed by Maligno's minions). Initially, Harry was supposed to live with Sirius, but after Aurelia and Sirius got married, Harry felt awkward living with them, so he wanted to move out on his own, which he did at first. But he was miserable in a small apartment alone in the city, and Chris immediately knew it and told her father. At first, Harry refused to move into Chris's house, but eventually, Mr. Norton convinced him. This arrangement also helped Teddy, Remus and Tonks's son, since he was bouncing from one home to another. Now, he only lived half of the time with Sirius and Aurelia and the other half with Harry, Chris and Mr. Norton.

When the alarm went off the next morning, Chris had barely slept for two hours, but she got up and dragged herself out of bed. She freshened up and got ready for the day. However, as soon as Chris walked down the stairs, her worries and tiredness slowly slipped away, and a smile took hold of her face.

In the kitchen of Norton house, three people were smiling and laughing. Mr. Norton was carrying Teddy (who was now almost a three-year-old toddler) in his arm, while flipping a pan on the stove with his free hand, and beside him was Harry, chopping vegetables and telling them a story which made all of them laugh. Chris's smile automatically got brighter. Her nightmares and worries felt unfounded in front of their smiles. This was real.

"What are you all laughing about?" Chris asked, joining them.

As soon as little Teddy saw Chris, he reached for her, extending both of his arms.

"Chrissy!" Teddy giggled as Chris took him in her arms.

"Yes, Teddy?" Chris chuckled and nuzzled close to him, and his hair turned bright blue, which happened when he was very happy.

"Teddy, what did you wanna tell Chris?" Harry prompted.

"Tell?" Teddy looked at Harry for a moment, completely forgetting what he was supposed to say until Harry whispered.

"Happy . . ."

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHRISSY!" Teddy yelled, and Chris, Mr. Norton and Harry started laughing.

"Thank you, darling," Chris kissed Teddy on the cheek.

"Happy birthday again, Eagle," Mr. Norton said, putting her omlet on the kitchen table. "Here's your breakfast."

"Thanks, Dad," Chris grinned before sitting down with Teddy on her lap.

"Happy Birthday," Harry whispered and kissed Chris's cheek and tried to take Teddy away. "C'mon, buddy, let Chrissy eat."

"No," Teddy pouted and clung to Chris.

"It's fine," Chris chuckled and started eating as her father put more bacon, toast and juice in front of her.

"Do you have to go today?" Her father asked.

"Yeah, sorry about that but I've a very important class today. I can't miss it," Chris said apologetically. "But I'll be home soon. I promise."

After things settled down in the wizarding world, Chris decided to take the muggle high school exams after studying for a few months, and after passing high school, she decided to enroll in a college. For now, she was studying business, hoping that maybe her father's business acumen would help her build a company as well, but that was just her future plan for now.

"Do you want me to drop you off?" Harry asked as he sat down beside her and started playing with Teddy. There was a small, worried frown on his face, and Chris knew why. He was worried about her dream last night.

"No, I'll be fine, Harry." Chris squeezed his hand, and after her father had turned away from them, she whispered. "And if I sense any danger, which I'm sure won't be the case, I can still call on Fawkes, remember?"

The Phoenix was the only thing left from the magical world for her. Chris didn't know why but she could still call out to her. They were truly loyal creatures, and Chris was very grateful for it.

Harry also trusted Fawkes, but today, he still looked a bit hesitant.

"I'm fine, Harry," Chris whispered. "It was just a dream."

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Harry finally nodded. After finishing breakfast, Chris handed over a rather reluctant Teddy to Harry, kissed Teddy on the head, kissed Mr. Norton on the cheek and quickly gave Harry a peak on the lips and, grabbing her bag, hurried out the door.

Chris needed to walk a little to get to the nearest bus stop, so she waved and smiled at her father, Harry and Teddy as long as she could see them. But as soon as the house disappeared from the view, Chris couldn't feel the dread creeping in again.

And the fear that if someone really attacked her, would she be able to save herself?

[To be continued]