And Dream I Do

She couldn't see well when they all came in. She heard the screams, but they were far away.

"Oh my god, Hermione!"

She would've laughed, but she couldn't. She could hardly breathe. Everything was fading away.

"Someone, get help!"

"There's blood all over the place, oh my god..."

She expected the cries of horror. She knew they'd all be talking about it. But she didn't care. It was finally all over.

"Hermione, stay with us!"

She didn't want to stay. She felt so calm, so... free. She couldn't see anymore. The voices were fading out.

"Hermione!..."

~~~~~

Hermione was standing in the shadows, watching her own funeral. It was an odd feeling. Everyone was crying. She wondered briefly if this should pain her. It was her fault that her friends were crying.

'Some friends they were,' she thought to herself bitterly. 'They never noticed anything was wrong. I tried to show them, but I wasn't important enough.'

She scanned the crowds. Much to her surprise, she saw Draco Malfoy. He was the last person she expected to see at her funeral. She approached him and watched. She was shocked to see tears in his eyes. Draco Malfoy, crying over her death? It was intriguing.

After a moment, she returned to watching people cry over her pathetic life.

~~~~~

The school was buzzing about Hermione's suicide. It irritated her. They were all so stupid.

Hermione noted with interest that Draco never seemed to talk about it. He seemed distracted a lot. The evening after the funeral, when everyone else was talking about it over dinner, Draco wasn't talking, or eating for that matter. He looked sick. After a while, he excused himself and rushed out. Hermione followed, curious.

Draco sat down in a chair by the fire in the Slytherin common room, looking lost in thought. He went in his bag, pulled out a small book, and started writing in it.

I don't understand why the Granger girl's suicide is bothering me so much. Maybe it's because I'm realizing just how short life can be. And, for some people, I suppose the short amount of time we're here is just too much to bear. Maybe I'm also realizing just how pathetic my own life is. I couldn't kill myself if I wanted to. And maybe I do... I don't think I can take this life anymore. All along, I've only been following what father believes, what father does. I never thought much of it when I was younger, but now that I'm starting to see how horrible it is, I don't think this is what I want at all. Yet...I don't think there's anything I can do to change it. I don't know how to be different. I can't even off myself. I'm screwed.

God, I hate this.

Hermione frowned. She had never seen this side of Malfoy... of Draco... before.

She heard voices approaching the common room. Draco must've heard them too; he put the little book back in his bag. He hesitated for a second, and then went up to his room and went to sleep.

~~~~~

Over time, Hermione watched Draco more often, nearly as often as she watched her friends. She watched him cry himself to sleep sometimes, write in his diary... watched him suffer. She had never seen this side of Draco Malfoy before, and it intrigued her.

One night, she sat watching him, when she heard a voice.

"Some would call what you're doing stalking."

She looked for the source of the voice and saw the Bloody Baron. She frowned. "What do you mean?"

"You watched him constantly. One might say you're obsessed."

"I don't have much else to do, you know," Hermione replied.

"Why not watch your friends?" the Bloody Baron asked.

Hermione was silent for a moment. "I don't know," she said quietly. "I... I suppose I'm just trying to get to know him. I've never seen this side of him. I already know my friends."

"Maybe you're in love with him," the Bloody Baron suggested.

Hermione frowned thoughtfully. In love? How could she be in love when she was dead, let alone in love with Draco Malfoy?

"It's possible," the Bloody Baron said softly, as though reading her thoughts. "I would know."

"You fell in love before?" Hermione queried.

The Bloody Baron nodded. "It was a long time ago... but I'd rather not think about it."

They were silent for a long while. Then Hermione thought of a question. "How come you can be seen, but I can't?" she asked.

"You could be seen, if you really wanted to. But do you really think that would be best right now?" he said seriously.

Hermione frowned, then nodded. "I see what you mean."

"Alright then, I have to go find Peeves, he's off causing more mischief. I hope I've helped some."

Hermione nodded. "Yes, thank you."

And she was left alone to her thoughts.