The Sleepless Night Of Nightmares

*Drip drip drip*

From her curled up position on the stone bench Eve heard a nearby cell door creak open, it’s hinges rusty with damp, rain water and mould.
“No! Please no!” The witch screamed. Evangeline could hear the fear in the voice, the despair that three months locked in a cell with dementors for company did to you. Eve herself was empty. Her stomach was empty, her body skin and bone, hair a dog-eared wet mess and face and skin filthy, wet and cold beneath ripped clothing and a scratchy blanket.

The screaming grew louder accompanied by the wind gushing at the cell walls, blowing the rain water in and down Eve’s back.

It went silent.
*drip drip drip*
All could be heard was the rain dripping down to the stone floor of the cell.
*drip drip drip*
Eve’s breath stalled in her throat. Was she next? Would she be kissed? Would she lose everything of herself?
*drip drip drip*
The lock clicked. Eve’s body remained still, petrified as the heavy metal door started to swing open. Blocking the doorway was the black hooded figure, barely hovering above the damp ground. It started to advance and Eve tried to move.

Something was holding her still; wrapped around her were the magical chains preventing any escape.
“Bitte..." She tried, beginning to fight the constraints.
The hooded figure drew closer. Clawed fingers reached out from the robes to the top of the hood, pulling it up to reveal the black hole

Eve let out a piercing scream and made one last fight against the chains holding her body in place.

---

She slammed onto the floor, bashing her head off the wooden bedside table. Blue eyes flashed open to reveal the room, lit by twilight. Her breathing was sharp, a cold sweat dripping down her forehead.

She was in his flat. The warm carpet beneath her legs confirmed the Azkaban cell was a memory, a recurring nightmare. But the heavy rain pummelling against the closed window proved too similar to provide the comfort of safety.

A scream followed by a sharp pain in his shin had pulled Dante back into the world of the conscious.  He shot up in bed just in time to hear a loud thud from the opposite side of the room.  It didn't take him long to figure out what had happened...Eve had been in the grips of another nightmare.

In the past he had been able to simple ignore her nightmares...they had never resulted in injury before.  He had always figured her past was her own.  He had already developed a vague conclusion as to what haunted her dreams.  If she wanted to talk about it, she would bring it up.  It was the way he felt about his own past...he didn't take kindly to others trying to bring up ghosts from another life time.

"Bloody hell, Eve," he said, pushing aside the covers.  "I think my heart nearly stopped when you..."

He stopped short when he finally looked over at her and noticed the angry red welt on the side of her head.  It only took a moment to make the connection between the welt, the thud, and his bedside table.  The mild throbbing pain in his shin was forgotten for a moment as he slid across the bed and knelt next to her on the floor so he could take a better look. Trying to be as gentle as possible, he reached out to brush her blonde hair away to examine the welt.

"Are you alright?" he asked, trying to remember what little he knew about basic healing.  "Do you know where you are?"

Ward’s voice barely broke through to Eva’s mind.

“So close….” She breathed, cold hands lifting to her face which she covered. “I didn’t want to be kissed.” The bang to her head had barely registered and she only noticed it when Dante was in front of her, reaching out to touch her. She flinched yet there was nowhere to move away to, the bed directly behind her back. So instead she pulled her hands down from her face to look at him in the moonlight. He appeared groggy but somewhat concerned. She’d woken him in the night before but he’d never got up to check on her. He never asked questions. It was normally appreciated.

As she stared at him the pain started to overcome her. It throbbed unpleasantly but nothing she couldn’t handle. She was in his bedroom. She wasn’t in the Azkaban cell. She hadn’t been there for over a decade and never would be again. But it didn’t make her nightmare any less real. It was as if the dementors had had a permanent effect on her, forever tormenting her sleep.

“Of course I know where I am.” Evangeline quickly responded, her breathing having calmed. “I’m in Barbados.” A small faked smile was offered to her…wizard friend and she lifted her hand to his, pulling it from her sore head. “I’m fine, Dante. Too much wine before bed.” He’d no doubt found out about Azkaban. It wasn’t like the whole thing was a secret, Eva just never spoke of it with anyone. It was a time she’d really rather forget forever.

“I’m sorry I woke you.” Merlin knew the wizard was grumpy enough with his regular amount of unbroken sleep.

Never the type to coddle anyone, he was rather at a loss for what to do.  It wasn't like Evangeline had ever come across as a woman who appreciated babying either.  This wasn't exactly familiar territory for either of them, but instinct had said he needed to check on her and now the bridge was crossed.

Her bit of snark wasn't entirely unappreciated, although he couldn't help but sigh.  He didn't exactly expect her to take his attempt at showing a bit of concern seriously, nor did he think it would lead to some late night heart to heart.  However, he couldn't help feeling like a few words beyond 'too much wine' might be in order.  He kept that thought to himself though, doubting there was any ground to be gained by pushing.

"I'm more concerned about being put in an early grave," he mumbled.

The sound of Conner pawing at the door drew his attention away and he stood, crossing the room.  No doubt the dog had heard the commotion and was following his instinct to investigate.  Opening the door slowly, he blocked the mutt from simply bounding into the room, forcing the whining dog to sit and calm down before allowing him entrance.  Having a disobedient dog had never been an option in his mind.

After a moment, when Conner had finally settled, Dante allowed him entrance into the room.  The dog, much as Dante had suspected he would, went immediately to check on Evangeline.

Ward moaned something ridiculous about going to an early grave, not that Eva understood the point of it, and he got up to see to the starching and whining at the bedroom door. With him not watching her Eva lifted an arm to her eyes, wiped them completely dry and pulled her knees up to her chest, hugging them close in the protective position she’d spent most of her time in at Azkaban. She put her head down, resting it against her knees as long blonde wavy hair tickled her bare pale legs.

It was a few moments of her blocking out the world before Conner approached, panting through an open mouth and nudging her legs with his nose. Kuester didn’t mind dogs. She’d grown up with them at home. It was quite customary for a muggle family to have dogs. The Kuesters had had two dogs, a cat, a gerbil and six children. Dogs were affectionate and had never cared that Eva was different to her siblings. They’d still loved her. Conner was also very affectionate; probably more so than his master. Not that she minded.

“Did I wake you up as well as Mister Grumpy?” The strangely accented witch asked the dog, giving him a quick fuss before he made to lick her face. She pulled her head back. “Oh no no, petit chien! You lick Daddy’s face. He really likes your slobber dripping down his cheeks.” Conner provided a good distraction from the reason she’d woken up. He didn’t seem to give in and lapped his tongue against her previously dry and clean cheek, trying to climb onto her as he did.

“Argh no boy! Not me!” She laughed, trying to push the dog off before giving in. “Conner! Get Dante! Attack, boy!”

Crossing the room and settling on the edge of the bed, he watched Conner and Evangeline curiously.  The dog was unassuming, trusting, and gave affection freely...quite different from his master.  Conner was able to bring the blonde witch back to the present.  As the dog tried to practically climb into Evangeline's lap a ghost of a smile formed on his lips for a fleeting moment before it was replaced by his usual stern expression.

“Conner! Get Dante! Attack, boy!”

The dog only paused for a second, as if he was capable of weighing the consequences, before leaping up on the bed and trying to lick Dante's face.  Conner was usually an obedient dog, except for when it came to Evangeline's occasional playfulness. He gave him for a moment, silently allowing her to have a moment to find a bit of a humor.

"Alright, enough," he said, to Conner.  "Down, boy."  The dog immediately complied, bounding down off the bed.  Shaking his head at Evangeline he said, "You're quite the bad influence with him."

With Connor now off her lap, Eva didn’t really look up to Dante and the dog. She frowned and looked up towards the window, ignoring the goings on behind her on the bed. Ward wouldn’t let his dog be crazy and have fun for long. He never did. Soon Connor would be reprimanded and ordered to get out of the bedroom. The moment of laughing had ended as quickly as it had begun and Eva was suddenly drawn back into reality, realising that her dream was a distant nightmare. A recurring, terrifying nightmare of truths past.

"You're quite the bad influence with him." Dante’s voice drew the blonde’s gaze from the window with the rain pummelling down upon the glass. Her blue eyes looked up to him and a ghost of a smile twisted her lips.

“Not necessarily bad.” She muttered as the smile faded and she looked distracted again. “Even dogs need a bit of frivolous fun and freedom.” They didn’t need to holed in, obedient and lifeless. Another glance was cast at the window before Kuester pushed herself to her bare feet. She reached under her pillow and pulled her wand from under the pillow, a fairly useless object for a witch that had only recently started trying to use it after over a decade but still something to keep just in case it was really needed.

“I need air,” she told Dante quietly, distracted. “I’ll take him for a walk so you can sleep.” Dante could join her but he anticipated he wouldn’t. He was too grumpy to go without sleep for a walk with a witch that simply shared his bed and a few bottles of wine.

Apparently the break in her mood was not to last and Dante couldn't help but give a small sigh.  He chose to ignore the minor commentary on what dogs needed.  He spent more time playing with Conner than she knew, he just tended to do it when she wasn't around.  Games of fetch and trips of the local Muggle Dog park were not foreign concepts to him, but he didn't bring it up.

“I need air.  I’ll take him for a walk so you can sleep.”

"Are you mad?  It's the middle of the bloody night," he said.  "Even with Conner I don't think it's wise to go walking alone..."

Was Evangeline a smart and capable woman, yes.  However he was quite certain that if she encountered any problems on her walk there would be little she could do, with or without a wand.  Common sense told him it was not a good idea to let her walk out of the flat alone.  At this point he wouldn't be immediately falling back into a peaceful sleep anyway, so it seemed the air might do them both some good.

Without stating his intentions outright he rose from the bed and went to the dresser on the opposite side of the room.  If he was going to be dragged out in the middle of the night at least he was going to stay warm.

“I know.” Eva’s response to being informed it was the middle of the night was simple. She knew perfectly when it was and she didn’t care. She needed air, needed to stop feeling trapped inside and suffocated by nightmares and warmth and the false safety of his flat. She needed to feel ground beneath her bare feet, gravel catching between toes and cold wind on her pale skin, blowing through her messy blonde hair and empowered tiny goosebumps to cover her skin, sending shivers up her spine, reminding her she was still living, free, no longer at the mercy of the dementors that filled her nightmares with fear.

Like she’d been told many a time never to do, Eva lifted her wand, pushing wavy hair back from her face and tucked the wand behind her ear.

“You think much is unwise, Dante.” The foreign accented witch told her male friend as she started to the open bedroom door and gestured for the dog to follow. “Live a little. You may be surprised.” If Azkaban had taught her one thing, it was the fragility and shortness of life. Who wanted to spend their life worrying for every last thing and never letting go? It was why Eva had forced herself to return to the wizarding world in London regardless of her fears.

The wizard had already moved from the bed and was rifling in his closet seemingly for warm clothes to join her. Apparently he didn’t aspire to going out in a state of undress in the middle of January. Did he know what it was like to feel the cold down to your bones? She knew so very little about him.

“Come, hund.” Without waiting for Dante, Eva was out of the bedroom and within moments out of his flat, walking down the stairs to the entrance of the building barefoot and in her night dress.

“You think much is unwise, Dante.  Live a little. You may be surprised.”

He turned back to face her for a moment, pausing in his search.  Living a little and doing things that were unwise had never brought about much that was good in his life.  His mother had been a fan of the unwise and it had put her in an early grave.  She had left behind a helpless newborn and a young boy who had blamed himself for her death for the majority of his life despite what those close to him might have said.

"Living cautiously has kept me alive all these years," he muttered, returning to his task and pulling a dark sweater over his head before searching for warmer pants.  "I haven't had much experience with surprises being pleasant."

A moment later, as he was trying to finish dressing she moved past him with Conner on her heels.  He blinked for a moment processing the fact that she had just walked out of his flat wearing practically nothing.  With a muttered, "Bloody impossible witch," he quickly finished dressing, trying to not be slightly amused by her antics, and scrambled after her.  Along the way he managed to retrieve a pair of slippers and a coat for her as well as Conner's leash.

When he finally caught up to her, he held out the coat and slippers, saying in an exasperated tone, "As fetching as you look in that nightie, would you please put these on?  I don't mean to state the obvious, but it is January in London!"

The rain[1] pummelled down onto the tarmac outside of the now open door and Eva stepped out, placing her bare foot onto the wet ground beneath her. The ground was cold and sent a shiver up her spine as she fully stepped out. The air was freezing, windy and the rain fell down on her skin, her nightdress and started dampening her hair. Eva lifted her face up to the sky and closed her eyes, feeling it on her skin.

Connor seemed more reluctant than his master’s companion to leave the warmth and dry shelter that the building provided. He stood at the door, sniffing the ground with curiosity. Apparently he was quite similar to his master.

"As fetching as you look in that nightie, would you please put these on?  I don't mean to state the obvious, but it is January in London!"

Eva opened her eyes and turned to look at Dante, water dripping down her face. He held out one of his coats and a pair of oversized slippers. Her brow rose and a smile brightened her features, revealing bright white teeth. It was as if the cold wasn’t affecting her as it should.

“But wouldn’t you rather warm me up yourself when we go back inside?” Trust her grumpy wizard to bring a coat out with him. And men’s slippers! But after a moment’s thought, Eva decided to at least half oblige. She stepped back up to the entrance of his building and took the coat off him, slipping it on over her wet shoulders. Then she reached up onto her tiptoes and slowly kissed his warm lips with her cold ones. Her hands slid down his arms to find his hands which she clutched and started to pull him out under the rain.

1.	Weather Almanac

Women were put on the earth to be the death of the men they were with, he was feeling rather certain of that.  To him it was a rather frigid evening, but she seemed completely unaware of that fact.  Hearing her suggestion of how they might go about getting warm, he felt a slight smirk form on his lips.  That was a much more appealing thought than standing out in the rain, but apparently it would only come as a reward for his cooperation.

At least she had seen enough sense to take the coat, and he put the slippers on the ground in hopes she would put them on.  As ridiculous as they might look at least she would have a bit of protection should she step on something sharp.  The slippers and coat were forgotten though when her lips met his.

He could have stopped her from pulling him out in the rain if he had tried.  But, he allowed her to lead him out into the night, trying to resist the urge to grumble about the rain,  and vaguely aware that Conner tentatively followed behind them.  He felt the cold drops hit his skin, but he kept his eyes focused on Evangeline.  The water droplets on her skin and hair reflected a bit of the light from the street lamps.  There was something hauntingly beautiful about her in her current state.   This was a glimpse at who she really was.

"Alright, I'm standing with you in the rain," he said finally, trying to maintain his usual bored tone.  "If you expect me to dance next you'll be disappointed."  Unclasping their hands he reached up to brush a stray, damp lock of hair away from her face, seeing the welt that was starting to bruise once more.

He frowned, knowing there was probably little he could do to help her with the things that haunted her.  He had a suspicion that suggesting a potion for a dreamless sleep might not be received well.  Yet it seemed the only thing he might be able to do.

"So, what now?" he asked, stepping closer and leaning in to trail his lips down her neck.

Dante had stepped foot outside and into the rain, willing to allow the cold and wet witch to guide him towards a similar fate.For him the rain probably had a negative effect, cooling him down and he’d soon grumble about getting wet. To Eva it was calming, reassuring. It was a reminder that she was still alive, in the present. The cold wet tarmac beneath bare feet served to give her a sense of being grounded and Dante’s touch stopped her feeling quite as alone as she perhaps may have before.

He grumbled about refusing to dance and this caused a laugh to escape from Eva’s lips as she squeezed his wet hands. He released her and pushed from damp hair back. She knew what his eyes were dancing over. It still throbbed but the ache was dull, ignorable. The concert in Dante eyes wasn’t so easy to disregard. She didn’t want him looking concerned. That would mean questions asked about a private past she wanted to forget; a past that continued to haunt her.

Fortunately the wizard’s attention changed and he questioned her before letting his lips brush against her neck. Eva closed her eyes and tilted her head back, opening herself to him and the rain to fall against her face, dripping through her long hair.

What now? She hadn’t thought that far ahead.
“You will not dance with me Dante?” Kuester asked quietly. She pulled back, stepping into the empty street and throwing her arms in the air. “Will not dance in the rain with this huge audience of streetlights?” With a grin, the 40 year old witch span on her bare feet, looking up into the rain. Connor began to bark, running out into the road to join her. She stopped mid spin and looked down at the dog. It was evident thoughts raced through her head before she looked back up at Dante and held her hand out for him to join her and take it. Her other hand took the wand from behind her ear.

“London is too quiet. You cannot hear the ferocity of nature.”

He stood on the sidewalk watching her spin in the rain.  The ever excitable Conner had joined her, and he smirked a bit, the only sign of any amusement he seemed capable of.  He kept a careful eye out for any headlights, making sure the street stayed empty.  All it would take was one unaware drive on the wet road for the laughter to come to an abrupt halt.

"I haven't danced since I was just a lad," he informed her.  "It's going to take more than hauling me into the rain in the middle of the night for that to happen now.  Contrary to popular belief, not all the Irish are natural performers."  The memories of the brief part of his childhood that might have been considered joyful were buried so deep they little effect on him after all these years.

“London is too quiet. You cannot hear the ferocity of nature.”

He regarded her for a moment.  He hand was outstretched and the other held a wand.  He was relatively certain he knew what she was suggesting, but her behavior was a bit unpredictable.  Looking at her, meeting her eyes, he did something a bit unexpected from him and threw caution to the wind.  Stepping out into the street without a word he crossed to her, fastening Conner's leash before taking hold of her hand.  It seemed the three of them were about to have that walk elsewhere.