Dear Diary,

I don't know what I'm trying to accomplish here with this entry, but I'm hoping by writing it down that I'll be successful in stopping it haunting me. Every night now for the past week, I've been having the same dream and it's effects are spilling over into my waking hours, wreaking havoc in my mind.

Hmm… let me go back to where it all started (I think) and work from there.

This summer I went with my parents to visit my Aunt Eliza, Uncle Vaughn and cousins, Greg and Kathryn. I don't know them very well as they live in Portsmouth and we live north of London, so we only see each other on the rare occasion. It was a three week holiday and I was dreading it. On past visits Greg (who is a couple of years older than me) and I always butted heads--he can be a real wanker when he wants to and when we were younger he'd always steal my books and I'd have to chase after him to get them back, jumping up to try and snatch them from his extended reach. He'd eventually give the book back and mess up my already bushy hair as he ruffled it affectionately. I'd snarl and smack his hand away as he laughed at me.

Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised to find things were different this time. It rained a lot, so, while Mum and Aunt Eliza were off doing sisterly things and Dad and Uncle Vaughn played darts down at the pub, I spent quite a bit of time with Greg and Kathy on the sofa in front of their home entertainment system. You see, they have this little obsession called anime, and I got swept up in it too. I loved watching shows like Rurouni Kenshin, Fushigi Yuugi, Inu Yasha, and I also loved the stand alone anime movies, such as Akira, Mononoke Hime, Ghost in the Shell and Vampire Hunter D. It was fun to join in their brother/sister arguments on the virtues of shonen versus shoujo and which one was really best. And I didn't even mind that I never had a chance to crack open a book and study.

So, back to how all this is related to my dream… Well, when I returned to Hogwarts at the beginning of the year, I was still seeing things through anime-coloured glasses. I never told anyone because I didn't want them to make fun of me, serious and studious Hermione Granger, for being 18 and loving cartoons. Last week, while I was sitting in potions, I had a sudden image of Professor Snape as an anime character. I've no idea why it popped into my head, but there it was and things just snowballed from there so that now I'm dreaming about it.

In my dream, he's a vampire, but he's not like the other vampires. He's kind of like Angel or Blade - a pariah among his race. He hunts down demons and other monsters and keeps the world a safe place for the innocent. He wears the requisite black leather duster and sunglasses at night and looks like one extremely cool character indeed. Now this is where it gets strange. He's got a sidekick and guess who it is. That's right, me! But it's not Head Girl Hermione Granger, Hogwarts student. No, it's vixen Hermione, succubus extrordinaire, in all her glory. First of all, I've got horns that would make a bighorn ram jealous. Then I've got the most outrageous costume which is more like a tattoo, there's so little of it--just thin strips of strategically placed black leather that cling to me through magic (and it has to be magic to keep that get-up in place, believe me). Couple that with a pair of come-fuck-me thigh high boots and I'm sure you get the picture. Part of my job is to distract the enemy. Get them checking out the old assets so the boss can do his worst. And boy does he ever. We make a great team, the pair of us.

In potions today, I stared at Snape from under my fringe the whole time I worked, superimposing my dream version over the classroom version and smiling at the result. I could have sworn he knew I was watching him, though he didn't acknowledge it. Somehow that's added fuel to the fire of my imagination and tonight's dream went even further than the previous ones. Tonight's monster hunt was for Lord Voldemort himself. Can you see why I had to write this down?

We were tracking him down, taking out his Death Eaters one at a time as we fought our way to his lair. The combat was glorious and I was having a great time kicking and hexing alongside old S (that's his name in my dreams, silly isn't it?). And the sexual tension between us was amazing. I swear I was trembling from it--come to think of it, I still am. We found Voldemort's lair finally and he swept me up and swung me around, he was so happy we had. Well, dreams being the unpredictable things they are, I melted into his embrace and we kissed.

And then I woke up, feeling like I could still taste his mouth. I wonder if he kisses like that in real life? Like I'd ever get the chance to find out. Blasted anime, it's all your fault!

***

The amazing picture that inspired this story is by Emperors Sis.

Karen