Somnio Salvus DRARRY

Chapter 20

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Draco woke with a start, the dream still vivid in his mind. He sat up and tried desperately to analyse what had just happened. Could that really have been Harry, using the Somnio Salvus potion? Or was it just an ordinary dream? He'd only ever been the user of the potion before, never the recipient, so he had no idea what it would feel like if someone invaded his dreams.

He lay back down, facing the window, and stared at the stars glittering above the silhouette of a jagged hill. It had certainly seemed like the real Harry, and everything he had said indicated that he'd been using the potion. But even if that were the case, Draco hadn't had time to respond properly. Would Harry be able to work out where he was from one blurted word, if he had even heard it?

The flicker of hope was quickly extinguished as Draco remembered that the building was magically concealed. He wasn't at all sure that one word, shouted incoherently in a dream, would count as an invitation. Even if that had been the real Harry, it was unlikely that he would find him.

He sighed and turned on to his side. There were muffled cries coming from the other bedroom. Evidently, Bellatrix was receiving her punishment for the failed abduction. He pulled a pillow over his head to block the sound, then closed his eyes and thought about Harry. The remnants of the sleeping potion in his blood relaxed him, and he soon dozed off again.

***

Harry was mystified. Draco had only had time to say one word before he woke up, but instead of saying the name of a town or even a country, he had shouted the name of an astronomer who had been dead for hundreds of years.

Harry clambered out of bed and wondered what to do next. He caught sight of a pile of books on one of the large tables near the fireplace. Most of the boys had taken to working on their essays in the dorm because there was less noise than in the common room.

On top of the pile was Hermione's Muggle text book, 'How to be an Astronomer.' Harry picked it up and flicked through it by wand light until he found a chapter on the early astronomers, but the section about Copernicus told him nothing he didn't already know. He had known since his first year Astronomy classes what Copernicus had discovered. Until his work was published, everyone had thought that the Earth stood still, while the Sun, stars and planets revolved around it.

Harry slammed the book shut and sat down on his bed. What was Draco trying to tell him? Okay...so Copernicus revolutionised the way we look at our own position in the universe simply by changing perspective. He grabbed a quill and searched for something to write on.

He found a scrap of parchment in the pocket of a discarded robe and scrawled notes on it as he began to construct a theory.

Draco was trying to give me a clue; I just need to think laterally. Maybe I shouldn't be thinking "Where is Draco?" but "Where am I in relation to Draco?" He hastily scribbled down the query and stared at it. I need a formula...

He rummaged through the pile of books again until he found 'Applied Arithmancy, Level One.' He flicked through it with one hand, absently stroking his chin with the quill. It was the swan feather that Draco had given him, and somehow it made him feel closer to Draco as he searched.

Finding an equation that looked promising, he turned his parchment over to write on the other side. He made an exasperated sound as he noticed that there was already something written on it, but then he blinked twice, and dropped his quill with a short giggle of disbelief. It was the flier that Hermione had forced on him at dinner, weeks ago. He had stuffed it into his pocket and forgotten all about it. Now he read it for the first time, mentally thanking Hermione for being such a swot.