Stormy Weather

Hermione entered the ballroom after she'd touched up her make up a little, trying not to pay too much attention to anyone from Slytherin. Draco was somewhere there, she knew it, just not exactly where.

She did everything she could to keep her mind off of him for the moment, and off of his father. What Lucius had said kept echoing around in her mind, and she wanted to think about it: just not right now. She danced with her father and with all the available Weasley males who would dance with her, and avoided anyone and everyone else.

"So, you're dating Cho Chang now?" Hermione talked to George as the two of them danced around the ballroom. He nodded, a sparkle of love in his eyes at the mere mention of her.

"I wish she could've made it here, but she had to make an emergency trip to London for a meeting." George shrugged a little. "But I'll see her again soon."

"Excuse me." They both turned to see a familiar blonde head there. "May I cut in?"

George and Hermione looked at each other, then George stepped back as his current dancing partner nodded. Draco took hold of Hermione's hands and the two of them began to dance together. It was quiet for several moments, until Hermione asked tentatively, "How are you?"

"All right."

She winced slightly at the terseness of the words, but kept on. "I'd heard you weren't coming tonight. So why did you?"

"My father can be very persuasive when he wants to be." There was a definite flicker of distaste in Draco's eyes, and she was reminded of what he'd said back at the Manor. She didn't really think Lucius abused Draco, but fatherly firmness might well be taken a few steps too far at times.

"He's also full of surprises." She told him of what had transpired outside. Her suspicion that he'd overheard them was confirmed, as he didn't seem surprised at all by anything she said. Since things were going so well, she decided to try something else. "Can I explain something to you?"

Draco danced quietly for a few more moments, then nodded quickly. "But make it fast. I have to dance with my mother soon, or she'll be owling me for weeks about not doing it."

The two of them headed outside, sitting on the same bench Hermione had been on before. "I do want to be with you. I just need a little time to myself first. I care a lot about you. Probably more than I should, but I do."

He nodded slowly, letting it all sink in, then, "I care about you, too, Hermione." He looked away, watching the stars for a few moments, then looked back. "Who did you see in the potion?"

"You." She looked him right in the eyes, letting not one hint of doubt appear. A small smile curved his lips.

"I saw you." He was just as honest as she was in this. The two of them stared into each other's eyes, then leaned closer, lips brushing softly and warmly.

When they pulled apart, Hermione murmured, "I need time away from this. Will you give it to me?" She watched as he thought it over, or at least she hoped that's what he was doing, then he nodded.

"I don't quite understand why, and I really don't want to," Draco said before she could tell him how happy she was. "But we probably both should think this over a lot, and be sure." A very twisted grin appeared on his face. "This isn't exactly your usual romance, you know."

"I noticed." She chuckled a little as she dropped a kiss on his nose. "I love you. Let's go enjoy the rest of the ball."

Hand in hand, the two of them headed back inside, separating once they got there. Hermione saw her parents still chatting with the Weasleys, and various sets of Weasley eyes shot over towards her once she showed up. Her mother looked up at the same time, and smiled a little as she saw Draco not too far from her.

"Is everything all right now?" The older woman asked. Hermione nodded, a warm light visible in her eyes. "Good. You look happier, too."

Fred shook his head in disbelief. "I still can't believe you two are dating!" That seemed to be the usual Weasley response.

"It's certainly something I wouldn't have expected." Percy put in. Hermione shrugged.

"Not many did, but we're happy." That was what really counted in the long run...well, one of the things.

Ron grinned at her. "You're probably the only one who could have gotten him, Hermione." He snickered softly as she turned bright red and swatted his arm hard.

"Well, I don't know about that, Ron. But I'm glad I did it anyway. I really love him." Her eyes sparkled at him sharply. "And admit it, it wasn't me you saw!"

The redhead groaned, closing his eyes and posing dramatically with one hand over his forehead. "Fine, fine, it wasn't. But how was I supposed to know that? Even when you showed me that picture, it still looked like you! Besides, it didn't move! How was I supposed to know it was two different people?"

Hermione smacked him again. "You could've just asked who I thought you saw, you know."

"Hey, I never claimed to be as smart as you are!"

Sam squeezed him from the other side, grinning widely. "But you're so cute it doesn't matter!"

"Just don't screw this one up, Ron!" Hermione warned him. "I've already told you what would happen if you did."

Ron stuck his tongue out at him, looking more like seven than seventeen. "How can I? We're as meant to be as you and Draco!" He paused for a moment and shook his head. "I never thought I'd say that!"

"Part of me wishes that I didn't need some time alone," Hermione murmured, glancing over to see where Draco was chatting with his parents animatedly. "He asked me to marry him, you know." She glanced instinctively back at them, and saw various Weasleys looking quite surprised. "I hear that Ron blabbed about my current condition?" She waited until they nodded. "That's part of it. The other is that we genuinely care for each other."

Molly Weasley nodded in approval. "Good. I'd have something to say to him if he didn't." Hermione didn't doubt that, either.

"If he asks again, I have a good feeling that I'm going to accept." Hermione decided. Molly turned to look at the Malfoys, then back at her.

"I think he will ask again." She frowned a bit, leaning in closer towards Hermione. "You look as if you need some rest, actually."

Hermione just shrugged, trying not to look towards the Malfoys again. She wasn't entirely certain if her resolve could stand up to seeing Draco too much at the moment. I guess I really do love him. Who would have imagined that. Certainly not her, even a year earlier.

"Everyone, I am afraid it is time to say farewell to your children." Dumbledore's enhanced voice was heard all over the ballroom. "We are glad for your visit, the first of such to Hogwarts for some of you of the Muggle persuasion, and we hope this is just the beginning to a long and glorious future between us all!"

Cheers and applause rose from various parts of the ballroom, Hermione joining in. She heard Petunia asking Harry to keep in touch more, and making him promise to spend more time at home that summer, and was not that surprised when he agreed. She's not really going to be a nice person ever, I think, but she's nicer. Kind of like Draco in a way. He'll always be a jerk, but sometimes he can be a nice jerk. I guess losing Vernon made her think a little more about things. That was always to the good.

She inched a little closer to where the Weasleys and her own parents were making their farewells and held her hand out to Petunia. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Dursley. We're still all sorry for your loss."

The thin woman flicked her light black dress a little and sniffed. "I'm certain you are." She said nothing else as she started away briskly, her features resuming some of the thin and pinched look they'd had those few times Hermione had caught a glimpse of her at King's Cross Station. I wonder if she does that just so she won't get hurt. That was something to think about.

"Well, then we'll be on our way," Arthur Weasley started to hurry his brood away just as he had when they were still children instead of mostly semi-responsible adults and near-adults. Hermione wouldn't have been that surprised if it was because the Malfoys were coming over to them just then as well.

"Farewell." Lucius' eyes followed Arthur briefly, then looked back at Hermione. "And remember what I told you."

Hermione nodded; it was unlikely she'd ever forget it. "It was nice to see you both again." She hugged Narcissa gently, feeling the other witch's arms around her warmly in return. "And thank you."

As the adults filed out of the castle and down to the carriages waiting to take them away, Hermione felt a very familiar squirming in her stomach and darted out to the nearest lavatory. Sam shook her head as she went.

"Morning sickness striking a little early." The American witch looked just a little amused at the condition, if not also a little concerned.

Ron shoved himself away from the wall he'd been leaning on. "Well, we have N.E.W.T.s tomorrow so we should get to bed." Groans rose from every person there who was going to take them the next day, with Ginny looking a trifle smug at still having another year to go before then.

Sam glowered at her boyfriend irritably. "You sounded just like Mi!"

"Why do you call her 'Mi'?" Draco wondered, voicing something that had been on his mind for a while. Sam glanced over at him, a faint smile tugging at her lips. Part of her had been wondering who was going to be the first one to ask her that.

"When we were little, I couldn't pronounce Hermione, so I called her 'Mi'." Sam explained. "Now, good luck tomorrow!"

Ron grinned a little, preening at that. "Thanks!"

"I was wishing that to Draco."

Draco snickered softly in amusement. "I don't need luck." He'd been studying with every spare moment he had; he had talent and that was all he needed. Sam just grinned at him, though.

"If you're going to beat out Hermione for the first time, you'll need it," she reminded him. Draco ignored her, instead looking over at Hermione herself as she came back in.

"Are you feeling better?" He asked, starting over towards her. She nodded a trifle curtly, then looked over at the others.

"I'm going to get some rest. You should do the same thing. Those N.E.W.T.s won't be easy." All of them could recognize the light of anticipation in her eyes from the thought of taking their final trials at Hogwarts. This was what she'd been aiming towards ever since she'd first heard of them, and she obviously planned on getting full marks.

Hermione changed into her nightclothes, rubbing Crookshanks' head as he purred softly at her. He seemed to know something big was in the works, or so she assumed from the way he kept hovering around her. He'd done that before her O.W.L.s too, and she'd done so well on those. Maybe he's good luck. That would be good. The N.E.W.T.s had been over with for almost two weeks, though they wouldn't get the results for a while yet, the school year itself was a very short time from being over, and the dreams hadn't really ceased in all that time. She turned towards the window, wanting to make sure it was open to let in a breeze...

And then she jumped a good foot in the air as she realized there was someone out there! Her hand on her rapidly thumping heart, fully aware of how silly that looked, she glared so nastily that she seemed to be the living definition of 'if looks could kill'. "Don't scare me like that!"

"My apologies," Draco told her with a cocky grin. She wished she had her wand; there were several interesting hexes she knew and could gladly put on him right now. She stalked over to the window, the long tee-shirt she was wearing as a nightgown flapping about her ankles, and practically melted as he smiled at her. "You look beautiful. How are you feeling?"

"Good. Better." Hermione peered out the window, not at all surprised to see him seated on his broomstick. It was the easiest way he could talk to her and not be seen. "What about you?"

He shrugged. "As well as can be expected."

"Still having the dreams?"

The blond teen looked away slightly, then looked back, his cocky gray eyes full of that irritating Malfoy arrogance. "Yeah. But I can live with it. They're just dreams, you know."

Hermione nodded a little. "The Headmaster said that he was close to breaking the curse. There was some kind of subsidiary spell involved, but it was in technical details." Draco shuddered at the thought of technical details Hermione couldn't understand. "He should be able to break it. Getting over it just can't be done. That kind of thing could take years, if ever. I won't let anyone have to see that over and over if there's a way around it." She trembled lightly, and he could tell that she wasn't holding up as much as she wanted everyone to think.

Draco motioned her closer to the window and hugged her gently. "I love you, Hermione. I know we're officially still 'apart' but I love you anyway."

"I'm a wreck," she whispered softly. "I'm scared of those dreams, Draco. I know they're just dreams, but I can't help myself." He couldn't remember hearing her so disgusted about anything, much less herself. Part of her charm was her acerbic, stubborn, amazingly annoying nature, and the dreams were wearing on that part of her.

Draco held her to him quietly, murmuring in her ear, "If you're a wreck, we'll work to make sure you're not one."

"Get the dreams to stop. That's all I need." Hermione told him, stepping back a little against her will. "I should get some rest, if I can. I hope you sleep well. And don't dream."

Draco smiled mischievously at her. "I hope you do dream: about me." She smiled back at him, feeling just a little bit better with the good wish.

"I hope so. Good night." She started towards the small nightstand by the bed, picking up the new dosage of the potion bottle that had been delivered earlier, and started to uncork it. Before she'd gotten it more than a little open, the sharp crack of a familiar whip zipped through the air. What the...

Memory flooded her every sense, her room fading away to be replaced by the stone cold walls of a sickeningly familiar prison.

Draco carefully backed away from the window, keeping an eye on his surroundings as he did. He was about to begin to spiral down to the ground when he heard something crashing inside of Hermione's room and whirled back around.

Hermione lay on her bedroom floor, eyes glazed and unseeing, the potion bottle shattered just a few inches from her hand. Draco didn't bother thinking; he simply flew closer to the window, scrambled through it as quickly as he could, and was over by her in seconds. "Hermione! Hermione!"

Try as he might, though, she didn't so much as twitch. She was still breathing, and a quick check assured him that her heart was beating, but other than that, she might as well have been dead. He gathered her up in his arms; this was more than he could deal with.

The trip to the Hospital Wing was virtually engrained into his feet by now, and Madam Pomfrey came hustling out as soon as he opened the door. These days, the only people likely to come wandering in here at this hour were one of the two of them. "We were talking, and she was about to go to bed when she collapsed." That was the quick and dirty version of what had happened; Pomfrey didn't need to know that he'd been hovering outside her window in direct defiance of the usual school rules. He'd just been lucky no one had seen him dashing through the halls with her in his arms.

"The dreams must be too much for her," Pomfrey decided, pulling out potions from her store. "I thought she looked a little peaked."

"How can they be too much when they haven't been going on that long?" Draco wondered. "I've been having them as long as she has and it hasn't been that bad for me."

The mediwitch shot him an amused look. "You're also not carrying a child that could kill you, and she is the focus of the spell. You're just feeling side effects." She carefully administered the potion to Hermione and leaned back. "There's not much that can be done for her right now. Go to bed, Mr. Malfoy."

Draco shot a look right back at her. "I'm not leaving here until she wakes up." He sat down firmly in the chair beside her. "This is my girlfriend and she's carrying my child, and I'm not leaving."

Pomfrey shook her head; seventh years were always the most difficult to deal with. "If you really want it that way." Once he fell asleep, it would be easy to get him back to where he belonged. For now, she just had to keep an eye on her patient.

Hermione screamed at the top of her lungs, pain wracking her body. I'm not going to stay alive! I can feel it! She gasped for breath the best she could, trying with all her might to escape from this dream. She knew that was what it was, but that did nothing to stop her from feeling all the pain as the dream-image of her tormentor unleashed his wrath on her once again.

"Hermione."

She looked up and around, trying to figure out where the voice had come from. It had been Draco, she knew his voice anywhere, but he wasn't there. She didn't want him to be, but just hearing him was something.

"Hermione, you're dreaming."

That had to be Draco, no doubt about it. No one else would say something that inane. Except maybe Ron. "I can't wake up!" The scream would've quite possibly shattered her lungs if she'd actually been awake to scream it.

"You can beat this, 'mione, I know you can."

Hermione rolled her eyes; optimism was all well and good but when you were getting the crap beaten out of you, something a little more was due! Something deep inside swore to her that if they didn't figure out a way out, she was worse off than dead.

Draco wasn't finished, though, it seemed. "You're dreaming. It's your mind there, you can make the rules, and only you. You're a witch, the best witch I've ever known. You can beat this."

His voice was so full of compassion and confidence that she began to wonder if that really was Draco, or just some twisted imagery in her own mind. He'd never sounded like that before.

The dream-version of the whip and her captor's boots slammed into her just as harshly as they had when it happened the first time around, if not more so. Hermione squirmed, bucked, and fought, doing all she could to get away, but to no avail. She didn't think she was tied down, but no matter which way she turned, he was always there, hurting her.

"You've faced worse than this! This is only a memory!" Draco reminded her. "We got out of it then, you can do it now."

She managed to get barely onto her knees, but before she could rise any farther, a powerful foot slammed into her ribs, sending her rolling into the hard wall. It didn't happen like this...it wasn't like this at all...

Draco's next words seemed to indicate he could hear her, if it wasn't a coincidence. "You know what really happened. You told me about those Muggles who can 'lucid dream' and take control of it. You're a witch, you certainly can do it!" His voice took a slightly nastier tone. "Or are you really just a stupid Mudblood?"

There was no doubt about it. That was Draco. When the chips were down, he didn't just encourage her, he insulted her. The desire to smack him into the nearest wall sent a surge of strength through her briefly, just enough to get her starting to her feet once more. She swayed a little, her legs wobbly and unsteady as if she were a colt who hadn't figured out how to walk yet, but she kept on. She wasn't going to give up.

"You're not going to let them beat you, are you?" What was Ron doing there? Were the others there too? That must make one interesting picture. It was something she had to see. "We've had worse than this, Hermione! Remember Fluffy? And Norbert? You helped us figure out what the basilisk was doing, and..." He continued to rattle on about the adventures they'd shared in seven years. "You aren't going to quit now, Hermione! We haven't done enough together! You still haven't freed the house-elves, remember?"

"Fight it, Hermione!" Ginny joined in. "You've always been there when I needed someone to talk to, and that's not going to stop now! Remember when the Dementors showed up on the Hogwarts Express in my second year? You were the one who kept me going then. You talked to me about what happened with the diary all that year, and you kept me from losing it whenever I got too near one of those things." Her voice was just a little shaky in memory, but she didn't falter. "You can't give up! You won't give up!"

"They call me a hero, Hermione, but I wouldn't be anything without all of you." Harry's encouragement joined his girlfriend. "You always stuck by me, and you didn't let me give up on myself or anything else. We dealt with Voldemort together, and we'll deal with this with you!"

Hermione closed her eyes briefly, then opened them, looking at the monster facing her. For monster was what he was, no matter how human he looked. He just sneered at her. "Do you seriously think that you can hurt me? There's nothing you can do but die, little girl!"

Answers were unnecessary. Only actions mattered right now. She glanced down to her hand, a memory of something she'd read once on lucid dreaming flicking through her mind. A long bladed knife appeared there, perfectly balanced, and she knew in the way of dreams she could use it in any way she needed to.

"This is the end, little girl." The whipstock crunched into her cheek and she staggered back a little before regaining her balancing, the knife still ready in her hand. "Ready to die?"

"You're right about something. This is the end, and I am ready," Hermione declared. "But I have too much to live for to die. I have my friends, I have my family, I have this child, and I have all the things I want to do in my life! And no one's going to take any of that away from me, least of all you!"

With a quick flick of her hand the knife flew straight and true into the man's chest, the blade penetrating deep inside of him. It stood as if it were a splinter of some kind, no blood at all leaking out, further proof he wasn't even remotely human. Hermione mustered all her strength, channelling all of her power and magic into one shout. Get out of my head!! Satisfaction filled her as he slowly faded away, the knife clattering to the ground once he existed no longer, then all of her strength faded away.

She collapsed bonelessly to the floor, the dream-version of her prison fading around her into something else altogether, something much sweeter and softer, a memory of herself and Draco, in his room, so very close to each other...

Draco watched as Hermione stiffened suddenly, then relaxed, a smile touching her lips. He grabbed for her wrist, searching for her pulse quickly. Had she died? He couldn't find the pulse, where was it?

"Relax, Mr. Malfoy." He looked up to see Dumbledore standing there. "She's just asleep. It's over and the spell is broken." He smiled gently at them all, one of the most unlikely groups ever gather in Hogwarts: Draco, Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Sam. "Congratulations, all of you."