Dreaming: Chapter One

All the charcters belong to J.K.Rowlings. NOT ME!

Huge thanks to Madison and §♥§Alice-Apple§♥§ for the help with grammar. They're the best!!!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*


Moonlight shone in through the small windows of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, making pools of light on the floor, lighting the faces of the sleeping portraits. Outside, the leaves stirred as a breeze rustled through the forest, and a solitary centaur walked silently under the trees, stopping every now and then to gaze up at the stars, before shaking his head and walking back into the center of the forest. Inside the school however all was silent, all the students and teachers were asleep (not counting the few up in the Astronomy Tower making out, but we’ll ignore them for the purpose of masterful storytelling). Well, almost all of them.

Hermione walked quietly in and out of the pools of light towards the seventh floor corridor near her Arithmacy class. Her slippered feet made no sound on the cold floor. She was glad that the portraits were asleep; she didn’t want to get into trouble so close to the Mid-year ball- even though she had an excuse: she was looking for a book she’d left in her Arithmacy class earlier in the day.

As she approached the corridor that led to her room, she heard footsteps. She froze in the shadows, praying that it wasn’t Filch. It sounded like the person was limping, and who else in Hogwarts would be limping around at this time of night? 'Unless Fluffy is back,' she thought with a smile. She blinked as the person came into the moonlight farther ahead and breathed a sigh of relief, it was a student.

This opened the door to more questions. Who else would be here at this time? She waited as the student came into a closer patch of light and frowned. It was the last person she’d expected to see: Draco Malfoy.

“What are you doing, Malfoy?” she asked, stepping out of the shadows. 'Even if he does tell, he’ll get in as much trouble as me,' she thought. Draco didn’t reply. He stopped walking, and titled his head towards her, silent and listening. Hermione shrugged. If he was going to just stand there, she’d get her book. She moved forwards and he spoke.

“Hermione...” She looked at him.

“What do you….” She didn’t finish her sentence. Draco was standing half in the moonlight, his normally cold, alert eyes were half open, not focused on anything, like he wasn’t fully awake, but that wasn’t what drew her attention. “What… happened?” she managed to ask. His normally blonde hair was spattered with blood, his face had a huge bruise around his left eye, his lip was split and blood was trickling out of the corner of his mouth. His normally crisp robes were also torn and sprayed with blood. There was blood dripping from his sleeve on to the floor, and if Hermione had looked behind him, she would have seen a smeared trail of blood.

“Is that you, Hermione?” he asked, and the usual sneer in his voice was gone, the arrogance and sureness gone, all replaced by a whisper, the whisper of a scared child, awakening from a nightmare. “I’ve dreamed this dream so often. The two of us alone away from everyone else, away from Potter, Weasley, my father...everyone. I used to dream that you cared about me, that we were friends.”

He gave a hollow laugh, “But then I used to dream for a lot of things. A real family, a mother and father, not a master and a slave. The opportunity to be myself. But those dreams never came true,” he paused to take a breath. It sounded shallow, and the echoes made it sound even worse, “I was always alone at the end. Because there was never any hope. Alone, there can never be any.” He took a step towards her.

“Are you alright?” she asked. 'It’s like he’s asleep or sleepwalking or something,' she thought, but Draco didn’t seem to hear her.

“But you gave me hope. My whole life I wished that I could reach out and take your hand, and that you wouldn’t push me away and that you’d be there for me.” He took another step, and was now nearly beside her. Hermione asked him again if he was alright, but he still didn’t hear her. “I tried to escape my life through my dreams - but my life haunted my dreams, just like my dreams haunt my life. Through you.” --a tear, mingling with blood ran down his cheek as he took another hollow breath-- “I tried to end my pain, but I couldn’t live without you, without the hope that you might love me. But now you mock me in my dreams just as in life.” Draco took one last step towards her, and was now standing beside her. He lifted a shaking, bloodstained hand and touched her face.

“I’ve been wishing that I could live in my dream for so long, that I’m never sure what is and what isn’t real anymore. I wished so hard that I would wake and find that my dreams were real; that you couldn’t be blown away by the wind. That you would love me.”

Hermione was speechless. Draco was....had... She couldn’t get the thought out. 'He loves me,' she thought as she watched him watch her silently in the moonlight, her eyes flicked to the bloodstains and the pool of blood she could see behind him. 'He tried to kill himself. Because I didn’t love him,' The truth washed over her, making her feel strange and dizzy. She’d cried herself to sleep so often over the last seven years because of the things he had said to her. Trembling, she too lifted her hand and took his.

“I don’t hate you,” she whispered, and this time, Draco seemed to hear her. He blinked slowly, and then again, as his eyes focused properly on her face, like he was waking up.

“Hermione...” he whispered “I prayed that this wouldn’t be a dream like all the others, that you wouldn’t leave me.” Hermione smiled.

“I’ll never leave you Draco” she replied, the corner of her eyes brimming with tears. He smiled faintly.

“I...I’ve always loved you Hermione...I’m sorry.” He paused. “Tell...tell them..” He paused, and gazed at Hermione, before falling to the ground.

“Draco...Draco!” she called, kneeling beside him. “Wake up!” she whispered. This can’t be happening. Not now. “Draco...” She shook him, trying to do anything to wake him up. Her tears spilled, and landed over his unmoving body. “Please wake up,” she sniffed “I never meant for this to happen, I didn’t know... I’m sorry.” But there was no reply, and she lay there sobbing over him, calling his name, trying to wake him.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Again, the best and most awesome props that can be given are to be given to Madison and §♥§Alice-Apple§♥§ for helping me sort out the grammar. They're amazing!!!

Since I've only got basic membership, I'm having to post each of my chapters separately. Please bear with me!

CHAPTER TWO: http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/886715

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Please let me know what you think. I might continue this...