Falling Out Of Reach

FALLING OUT OF REACH (1/?)

Hermione woke to the rough proddings of her roommates, Lavender and Parvati. Groaning and rolling over on her side, Hermione lifted the blankets up over her head in an attempt to remain asleep.

"Come on Hermione! You already missed the first thirty minutes of breakfast, and so have we by trying to wake you up! You're going to be late for class if you don't get up!" Lavender whined.

That did it. If anything could get Hermione Granger up and out of bed, it was the prospect of missing class.

Grumpily, she kicked off her blankets and sat up. Rubbing her hands over her face, Hermione attempted to wipe the sleep from her eyes. It felt too early to be getting up. She was so tired.

"What time is it?" she asked in a soft, sleepy voice.

Lavender frowned and looked over at Parvati in concern. "Seven-forty, Hermione, are you feeling well? I mean, no offense, but you don't look that good."

Hermione yawned accompanied by a stretch for good measure. Why did she feel so tired this morning? A frown crossed her brow. Hadn't she slept well? She had, the best night's sleep in awhile, in fact. Then why did her limbs feel weighted down?

Not answering her roommate's question, Hermione proceeded to move about their dorm in a sluggish manner, pulling on the first thing she saw. With a few, precise muttered words, Hermione's hair flew up into a sloppy French twist, held in place with a Muggle pencil.

Not even glancing at her reflection, Hermione made her way out of the seventh year girls' dormitory and down to the Great Hall to meet Harry and Ron.

"Morning, 'Mione," Ron greeted good-naturedly as Hermione took her rightful seat in between himself and Harry.

Hermione didn't seem to hear him as she only distractedly poured her goblet to the rim with orange juice. Absentmindedly, she nibbled on a piece of toast, trying to keep her eyes from drooping shut.

"'Mione? Hello... Anybody home?" Ron waved his hand in front of his best friend's face, attempting to get her attention. It wasn't really like Hermione to not be paying attention.

"Hermione," Harry gently placed a concerned hand on her shoulder.

"Oh, hello Harry. Sleep well?" she acknowledged distractedly.

Harry met Ron's worried gaze above their best friend's head, but shrugged it off. Hermione was right when she had told them that they were both too overprotective of her. Just last year, Ron and Harry had threatened half of the male generation of Hogwarts, making it crystal clear that they would not tolerate any mistreatment of their best friend.

Hermione continued to eat in her distracted manner, not really noticing what it was she ate, or that Ron and Harry kept glancing worriedly at her out of the corner of their eyes.

Hermione shivered quite suddenly. Someone was watching her. It was a strange thought to have, but unmistakable nonetheless. Frowning over the hall, Hermione's confused eyes met a pair of steely silver ones.

Draco Malfoy was openly staring at her with such intensity; it was a little more than disconcerting. She wanted to look away, but to her utter bemusement found that she couldn't. She was all too awake now, under his intimidating, steady gaze. His eyes held nothing, which was what alarmed her the most. The Egyptians believed that the eyes were the windows to the soul, and if Draco Malfoy's eyes held nothing, did that mean he had no soul?

Shaking the thought, Hermione heaved a sigh of relief when he mercifully broke the stare.

Almost immediately, her initial drowsiness returned. Sighing, she left with Harry and Ron to their first class of the day, Potions.

Students entered the dungeon classroom, talking animatedly from anything from Quidditch to the members of the opposite sex. Hermione dropped heavily into her seat, tuning out the chatter to the point where it seemed as if the classroom was on mute.

It was then that the door swung open to admit a very apathetic Draco Malfoy. He swept the Gryffindor side with a frigid glare, stopping on Hermione who sat with her elbow on her desk and her head resting in her hand. Her eyes were closed and for a moment, he thought she might have been asleep, but then she stirred to life and opened her eyes to meet his.

Draco found himself rooted to the floor, blocking the doorway. She openly met him glare for glare. Her eyes were direct, opened wide as she drank him in. Her head was still sitting against her right hand, her caramel brown hair, spilling over her right shoulder in a wealth of curls. He had the sudden urge to run one of his hands through it; it looked so soft, but held himself in check. He couldn't think like this. He knew what was to be done with her; he should not be entertaining such thoughts.

Blushing slightly, Hermione finally looked down at her desk. Draco, finding his ability of movement restored now that he wasn't under her gaze, moved to take his seat.

Draco was really acting strangely, Hermione thought. No! Malfoy was acting strangely! What was wrong with her? With a soul weary sigh, Hermione's eyes fell shut again. And what was this? Why was she so tired? She had had the best night's sleep of all that week; so why did she feel so drained? She had only awakened once that night from the nightmare she couldn't seem to remember. It usually woke her up to about three times a night, and every time she tried to recall it, all she could evoke was that damnable phrase, 'Jupiter is awful bright tonight.'

The doors slammed open to admit Professor Snape. He stormed through the classroom to the front. Sweeping the class as a whole with a disdainful glare, that day's lesson began.

"Today, we are going to learn about Dreamless Sleeping potions. They are fairly simple to make, and very useful if one finds them constantly plagued with frivolous dreams. Now, before you make them by yourselves, I want to test one I have already prepared. This way, you can all see how it is supposed to be," he sneered at the class, smiling to himself in satisfaction when he saw the worried expressions over who he would use as his guinea pig.

His gaze immediately went to the stubborn Gryffindors, and happened to land upon a napping Granger.

"Miss Granger, since you apparently are ready for naptime, why don't you come up here and test the potion for us?" he scoffed.

Hermione's eyes snapped open. What had she been thinking? She knew what she was thinking. She was only going to 'rest' her eyes for a moment until Snape arrived. Come to think of it, when did Snape get there? Well, if she were herself she would have volunteered anyway, so it really made no difference.

Scraping her chair back, Hermione made her way to the front of the class in a manner of indifference.

"And now, I only need one more person," his eyes scanned the apprehensive Gryffindors for another sitting duck, but he snapped his head to the left when he saw a hand rise into the air to volunteer. A Slytherin hand. Draco Malfoy's hand.

His mouth twisted in what was a very odd smile. "Yes, Mr. Malfoy, please come up here and ten points to Slytherin for your eagerness to help out in class."

The Slytherins smirked at the Gryffindors, who were currently rolling their eyes to the heavens, praying for patience.

However, Hermione's eyes went wide as Draco came up in front of her, regarding her with an unreadable gaze. All of the other students seemed intent on glaring at each other that no one noticed the charged stare between them.

'Wow, Draco is really tall, and buff, and handsome, and- And MALFOY is really annoying, but still pretty cute, ARGH!'

Hermione's mind raged.

"Now," all attention focused to the professor. "Miss Granger, take this and drink it when I tell you to." He handed her a small vile filled with a foggy, cloudy substance. "Mr. Malfoy, take this please," he addressed, handing a slightly frowning Draco a pillow.

"What am I to do with this?" he asked.

Professor Snape grinned in anticipation. "You will see. Now, Miss Granger, if you will please drink every drop of the potion now."

Hermione uncorked the vile a sniffed it worriedly. It smelled all right, but then again, she didn't know how a Dreamless Sleeping potion was supposed to smell, so that didn't do much to reassure her.

Her eyes caught Harry and Ron's, who were slightly frowning in concern.

'Oh, honestly. Like the Potions Master would really poison me in front of the whole class,'

Hermione thought to herself over their anxious expressions, and yet she could not help but to smile fondly at their protectiveness.

Raising the vile to the Slytherins in mock salute, Hermione brought the vile to her lips and gulped down the potion. It was freezing cold all the way down, chilling her to her very bone. She shivered and bent over slightly. Once the lightheadedness passed over, she straightened. Her insides were chilled, but she felt wide awake.

"I don't think it worked," Ron said as Hermione only stood there, slightly frowning.

And then it hit her. A wave of drowsiness, very potent, flooded over her. She swayed slightly, her eyelids growing very heavy. She blinked to try to clear her muddled mind, but found she could not reopen her eyes. Slowly, she slumped towards the floor.

Draco caught her before she could hit the cold stones, however. His left arm snaked around her waist, and his right arm raised the pillow to her lolling head. 'Oh, so that's what I'm to do,' he realized as he gently placed the sleeping girl on the floor, kneeling beside her. Instinctively, he swept a strand of her caramel brown hair out of her pale face. She sighed blissfully, causing Draco to frown.

"Now, I will cast a Dreamscape over her," he waved his wand over Hermione's sleeping form and a light azure ball of light came out to drift above her head. "This," he indicated towards the blue ball of light. "Is a Dreamscape. It will monitor her sleep stasis. The ball will turn a dark indigo if she begins to dream, and then it will either turn yellow if she is having a pleasant dream, or a deep crimson red if she is having a nightmare. If the potion was brewed correctly, which it was," he added in haughtily. "The ball will remain the same light azure color. The potion should wear off in a few minutes."

Everyone stared intently at Hermione's sleeping form, mostly Draco. He stared hard at her face, trying to memorize its state of peacefulness, for it was wont to last for long. Minutes ticked by, and yet there was no change.

Professor Snape glanced at the hourglass on his desk and announced as the last grain of sand ran out, "She should be awaking now."

But Hermione did not awaken, she did not even stir. Harry and Ron frowned, leaning forward to stare fixedly at Hermione.

When a few more minutes passed by, the class as a whole began to stir with worry. Professor Snape began to shift his weight from foot to foot. He knew he had brewed the potion correctly; it was a relatively easy potion for him, after all. He had made it countless times and they had all worked before. He was positive that he could brew this potion with his eyes closed and one hand tied behind his back. But still, she should have awakened by now.

Just when Harry and Ron were beginning to get restless in their concern, something happened. The ball of azure light hovering above Hermione's brow began to turn colors. It went a dark indigo, to indicate she had entered the dream state.

Snape frowned. "That is not possible. I added in the mugwort; she should not be dreaming."

Even so, she was. The ball of light specified it so. Before the class could fully take in Professor Snape's statement, the ball of light began to turn colors once again. It shimmered out of its indigo color to take on a light red.

"Is she having a nightmare, Professor Snape?" Harry asked, not taking his eyes off of the ball of light.

Snape frowned, so concerned that he forgot he never answered questions, especially from Gryffindors. "It would appear so, but a very mild one at that."

But even as he said this, the ball darkened a shade, then another, and then another. Before anyone knew it, Hermione had begun to stir in her sleep, mumbling and twitching dangerously.

Professor Snape paled. The Dreamscape had turned a violent crimson, the darkest he had ever seen. This was not a good sign.

"I didn't even know it could turn that dark," he remarked darkly under his breath, but everyone heard him anyway. The Dreamscape was now as dark as it could be, a deep blood red color.

"This has gone far enough," Snape announced, striding forth to lean over Hermione's trembling form. With surprising gentleness, the professor shook the student. This did nothing.

The class began muttering to each other when Hermione started whimpering.

A wide-eyed Draco began to back away from the shuddering girl. He shook his head in denial when he heard her call out something muffled. He had done this to her. He had reduced the proud, brilliant young woman to a small, pitiful child; and he didn't like it one bit.

The wall came up to his back to cutoff his escape. As Draco stared in horror, Hermione screamed and Harry and Ron went beside her. There was no escaping the fear in her shout. Her cries seemed to echo in his head. It had a terrible sound, pleading and frightened.

"Hermione, we're here. Please wake up, Hermione! Wake up!" Ron pleaded hysterically while shaking her.

This, too, had no effect, much to their chagrin.

Professor Snape had withdrawn his wand. Pointing it at the distressed girl he muttered, "Enervate."

The class as a whole held their breaths, but nothing happened. If anything, this attempt had a negative affect. Hermione lurched more violently, muttering nonsense in a stifled frightened voice.

Professor Snape's eyes widened. Purposefully he strode to his fireplace, grabbing a handful of silvery dust and throwing it into the fireplace. The flames roared and turned a metallic blue. "Professor Dumbledore, there is a matter of grave importance that you must see to. Please come to the potions room, I fear Miss Granger's health is at stake."

"Of course, Severus," Dumbledore's voice came from the pit in high prestige. "I am on my way," with that, the flames died.

"What does that mean? What is wrong with her?" Harry beseeched with eyes as wide as saucers.

Before Professor Snape could respond, the class doors swung open to admit a concerned Dumbledore. How he got there so soon, no one seemed to ponder.

"What seems to be the problem here?" he asked mildly, coming up to Severus.

Snape cleared his throat and began to relay the current events; Hermione squirming all the while in the back ground.

"I see," the Headmaster muttered once Professor Snape had finished. He went to kneel by the dreaming girl.

"Is she going to be alright, Professor Dumbledore?" Harry asked, a tone of urgency creeping into his voice.

Dumbledore frowned down at Hermione. The truth was, he really didn't know. A powerful magic was radiating from the girl. A powerful, dark magic.

He met Harry's eyes. "I'm afraid I do not know the answer to that," he relied truthfully. Albus Dumbledore was not one to lie, even if it was for the benefit of others.

Dumbledore began to let his right hand hover an inch above Hermione's body. No one was quite sure of what he was doing; they all just held their breath as he did so. Suddenly, his hand stopped and hovered an inch above her heart.

"Ah-ha," he began. "And herein lays the problem."

Taking out his wand, Dumbledore cleared his throat. Placing the wand tip against

Hermione's heart, he muttered a few words under his breath.

Harry frowned. The words were spoken confidently and clearly, but Harry didn't understand them. They sounded foreign, maybe Latin, or possibly Greek. Whatever they were, they seemed to do the trick.

Quite suddenly, Hermione's eyes shot wide open. She launched herself into a sitting position, shocking the student body back, and looked directly into Dumbledore's eyes. He frowned as he met the steady gaze. She seemed unfeeling, cold as if she were sleepwalking.

Everyone held their breath as she opened her mouth to proclaim, "Jupiter is awful bright tonight," and then promptly fall back onto the pillow in a dead faint.

The Dreamscape flitted above her, a light azure color.

"Enervate,"

Dumbledore muttered with an expert flick of the wrist. Hermione's eyes blinked open and she cautiously raised herself to her elbows.

"Professor Dumbledore, what are you doing here?" she asked in weak voice she could not recognize as her own.

She frowned at her Headmaster. He appeared tired, his age clearly showing on his strained face. When he made no move to answer her, Hermione looked up at her Potions Master.

She smiled uncertainly. "I, um, think your potion worked, Professor. I don't recall dreaming," she offered timidly into the dead silence.

"Miss Granger," Professor Dumbledore finally began speaking, drawing her confused gaze back to him. "Am I correct when saying that you have no recollection of dreaming whatsoever?"

"Y-yes," she conceded worriedly.

Hermione looked around the Potions room. Harry and Ron were sheet white, gazing at her in open disbelief. Her fellow Gryffindors looked at her, then at each other in anxiety. Even the Slytherins seemed concerned, as they looked at her in what Hermione perceived as pity. And then, her eyes fell on Draco Malfoy, standing up against the wall to her right.

He was pressed up against it, staring intently at her. He seemed a bit paler than normal, not his healthy pallor color. His eyes were a little wider than usual, but it was his expression that really got her worried. He looked at her in what she would take for as concern or compassion if it were either Harry or Ron looking back at her. The fact that it was Draco Malfoy meeting her gaze with worry for her wellbeing drove the point straight home. Something terrible had almost happened to her.

Tentatively, Draco took a step from the wall and towards Hermione. When she had met his gaze, he could see all of the emotions she was feeling reflected in her deep, brown eyes. First he was met with confusion, then concern, and then comprehension and then finally, fear. He found that he didn't want her to be afraid; even though he was to blame for causing her to be frightened.

He never broke the intimate connection of their eyes, even when he knelt beside her small form. Draco had to suppress the urge to grab her into his arms and rock her back and forward while whispering false assurances into her beautiful, rich, caramel brown hair.

She jumped slightly when he took her hands in his. His hands were freezing cold, but when he held them, she melted inside. How can someone so cold warm her insides so?

"What happened?" her question was addressed to him and no other.

Draco met her steady gaze, answering, "When you took the potion, you did not wake up when you were supposed to. The Dreamscape indicated that you had entered the dream stasis and that you were having a nightmare. No one could awaken you, not even when Professor Snape used Enervate. He had to call Professor Dumbledore here to wake you up. You should not have dreamed."

Silence pursued his explanation. Hermione took in a rattling breath, trying to let it all sink in. She had had the nightmare again, of that she was sure. Furrowing her brow, she tried in vain to recall her dream.

Flashes of trees running by her and a night sky filled her head. She raised a hand to gingerly massage her temple, keeping her other tight in Draco's grasp. And then it came to her. It echoed throughout the recesses of her head, causing the pain of her headache to increase.

"Jupiter is awful bright tonight,"

she whispered.

The Headmaster frowned as she said this. "Miss Granger, I think it would be wise for you accompany me to my office. I feel we should have a little talk."

Hermione nodded distractedly. "Yes, of course, Professor."

"Very good. Severus, you may continue with your lesson, Miss Granger will come with me now. This matter cannot wait," with that, Professor Dumbledore rose gracefully to his feet.

Hermione attempted to rise, but was overcome with a wave of nausea, almost collapsing back down to the floor. Draco put the hand that wasn't holding hers out to steady her. When she stopped swaying, she met his silver eyes.

"Thank you," she whispered for him alone. She turned and took small steps, following the Headmaster with a bowed head.

When the door closed, Draco continued to stare after her and finally replied in a soft undertone, "You're welcome," even though he knew she could not hear him.

'This isn't good. I can't keep helping her like that. Not when I'm the one responsible for her distress in the first place,'

he mentally scolded himself. But it was to no avail. Hermione's comforting eyes flashed inside his head; he found them a little too comforting. And this was only the beginning. First the dreams, then her heart and then her health. It was going to be far worse from here on in.

Draco shook his head, unsuccessfully trying to rid himself of the look of fear on Hermione's beautiful face. 'No mercy, Draco. No pity or understanding. She will be sacrificed, and that's all there is to it. Why are you so upset? She's only a Mudblood,' he told himself, but deep down inside, Draco knew she wasn't only a Mudblood. No, she was so much more than that.

Hermione was intelligent, beautiful, kind, caring, sweet, innocent and pure. Basically, she was everything that he was not.

Taking his seat in the last row, class resumed in a somewhat deflated, blasé manner for the rest of the hour.

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

(A/N): Sorry this took me a while to post, I've been really busy with my other fics...

Just so ya know, I'm going on vacation in two days and will be gone for about two weeks...I'll try to add chapter two before I leave, but it might not be able to do so. Just because I can't post, doesn't mean I'll stop writing! I'll post ASAP!

Thanks to all of the fabu reviewers...you all rock!