Fate of Awakening Love

Fate of Awakening Love

Chapter Five - David Wenham is shexy.

by: Éowyn, Lady of Rohan

Confusion never stops

Closing walls and ticking clocks

Gonna come back and take you home

I could not stop that you now know

-Coldplay, "Clocks"

Hermione's eyes widened and she clasped a hand over her mouth.

"I really...really didn't mean to say that. I think I just...I don't know..." She looked like she was about to cry even more or worse, faint, and Draco didn't know if he could handle that. He took her hand and led her out of the Great Hall. Her hands were trembling and she felt as if she were going to be sick all over herself, which, as we all know, isn't that good of a feeling. Kind of like the sort of feeling she was having when they were traveling back to...

Hermione's knees didn't support her any longer, and she collapsed to the ground, falling on her aforementioned knees, her hands supported her from falling face-forward on the cold stone. Draco was leaning against a wall, obviously feeling like Hermione did, his hand clutched to his chest, he breathing hard. Fortunately no one was coming to or from the Great Hall. Suddenly everything went black, and Hermione saw no more.

...:::*:::...

"Hermione...wake up, Hermione. You've got to see yourself, and me." Draco's voice was far...so far away, yet surrounding her, she was slowly surfacing...coming to the top...getting breaths of air.

She shot up into a sitting position and found she'd fainted after all on the floor. Her eyes wide, she looked up to find not Farieni, but Draco there, his gray-blue eyes staring back at her. She swallowed, lifting a hand to her head. Her hair was still in the design, but frizzier and wavy, and further inspection revealed it was back to its mahogany color and original length. She shakily got to her feet. Since was as tall as Rowena and had the same curvaceous figure, the dress fit her perfectly. She looked at Draco.

Of course he was still wearing Farieni's outfit, which fit him perfectly as well. However, his hair was silver-blonde again...strangely it was still the length of Farieni's hair. Hermione groaned and made her way over to a stone bench, sitting and putting her face in her hands.

"This is just perfect," she said in her palms. "We get transferred back to the Middle Ages, live a few days in two peoples' shoes and then turn somehow back to ourselves, yet we're still here. How messed up is that?" She lifted her hands and looked up at Draco, who was frowning at her.

"Don't just look at me. What's your say in this matter?" He raked a hand through his hair.

"I don't know, Hermione. I just don't know. We can't very well go on teaching, or groundkeeping, or whatever. That woman must've known something...Malice or something?"

"Malise," Hermione corrected, feeling quite miserable. "You're right. But if Rowena hid the sword somewhere in hers and Farieni's chamber..."

"Well, don't just stop there. What?"

"We'll have to stay in the room the whole time, right? So that'll give us more time to look for it. I could keep teaching, I could say Rowena had to tend to something...?" Draco bit down on his lower lip, his arms folded across his chest. He doesn't look half bad in that tunic, either...NO. This is NOT the time, Hermione. Draco sighed.

"All right, fine, but if you're sure. How precious, McGonagall, Dumbledore and Snape forgot to mention this little bit, not to mention the matter of how do we get back once we have the sword!" He kicked the wall forcefully. Hermione just ignored him. By this time she'd gotten up and was pacing, her hands planted on her hips, the wheels of her mind spinning.

"Do you still have your Time-Turner?" Hermione asked, looking over at him. He lifted his eyes to hers and shook his head.

"No. I didn't have it when we got here. I remember because I reached for it, but I figured it'd gotten lost since we came back this far." He lowered his eyes to the floor again.

"Well, come on," Hermione walked over and grabbed his arm, dragging him to the stairs, "you can't mope around all night without someone seeing. We've got to get back to the room, and start looking for that bloody stupid sword." He sighed and had no choice but to follow her up the stairs. This might well be a very long 'trip.'

...:::*:::...

Hermione sighed in frustration. She couldn't think of anywhere else the sword could be. Night had fallen and she'd changed into her simple white woolen nightdress, lying in bed with Draco by her side. She still hadn't a clue as to why he'd started sleeping beside her in the same bed...which was why she didn't meet him by the lake at midnight like she'd promised. She'd been afraid of what he might say, or do. She laughed softly. I really do contradict myself, she thought. She made sure Draco was still fast asleep, slipped out of bed and quietly made her way over to the area her dresses were kept. As she searched for the deep-blue one she'd arrived in, her foot wobbled and the sound of stone rubbing on stone sounded. The bed shifted, but she ignored it and lowered herself to her knees, set down the candle, and tried to grasp the stone with her fingertips. When that failed, she whispered "Wingardium Leviosa" and the stone lifted free, landing quietly. The faint glimmer of something gold caught her eyes and she reached down, lifting from the small, cool space...

"A sword," she whispered in amazement. It was unusually light, and long...obviously two-handed, but Hermione could hold it with only one hand. The handgrip was blue, feeling slightly of leather, and had nine golden rings set into it, winding around it, which helped Hermione keep the grip of it. The pommel was large, but it helped keep the sword perfectly balanced. The sheath of the sword was wooden, but covered in blue leather, plain, with no engravings. The chape of the sheath was simple as well, a silver V-shape. Hermione was breathless as she pulled the sword out from its scabbard. The blade was an elongated leaf shape, and had engravings of dragons and eagles. The cross guard had a single sapphire set into the tip of it and was inscribed with Potens ibidem quae affero is ae id ensis.

Hermione slowly slid the sword back in its sheath and set it down on the floor, walking over to the bed. She sat down and shook Draco's shoulder countless times to try and get him up. He rolled onto his side so he was facing Hermione, his eyelids fluttering, and his arm stretched outward, his fingers traveling around to the back of her waist, and lower. She gasped and leapt back from him, right off the bed, landing flat on her back. She gasped for breath--it hurt to even take one--and Draco started awake, his eyes flying open. He sat up and leaned over the edge of the bed.

"What are you--I thought you were asleep," he said confusedly.

"I was--trying--to wake you." Hermione gasped, sitting up into a less painful position. "I found it."

"Found what? A Time-Turner?" he said somewhat excitedly. She glared up at him.

"Unfortunately, no. The sword."

"That'd be great," Draco said, "if there wasn't one little problem. We don't know how to get back!" Hermione stood shakily to her feet, pushing her annoying curls out of her eyes.

"If you'd shut up for a while maybe we could find out!"

"If you wouldn't boss me around like I'm some insolent p--" By this point both were yelling so loudly Hermione began to grow afraid the entire castle would wake to their shouting.

"OKAY! Shush. We're going to wake some people I don't feel like dealing with if we keep this up. Especially that Malise wench." Draco fell silent, sighing, as he knew Hermione was right.

"Right, so what do you suggest we do?"

"I'm going to go to the library first thing in the morning," said Hermione, glancing over at the sword. Draco got up off the bed, walking over to the sword, which he lifted.

"Jesus Christ, this thing's heavy. How is anyone supposed to hold it?"

"It's not that heavy." She took it from his hands and unsheathed it once more, holding it in the moonlight, which glimmered off of it, nearly as bright as the afternoon sun.

"Yeah, because Rowena probably made it so only her heir or reincarnate or whatever could hold it." Draco said, his pale silver eyes holding something Hermione couldn't read. She frowned and recognized that look. It was the look he'd given her that night in the library.

"Er...right, you're right." She looked away, putting the sword back in the scabbard and replacing it back under the stone, carefully sliding the heavy stone back over it. "Well, I say we get to bed now that we know where the sword is." She looked at Draco again, hoping the look was gone from his eyes.

It wasn't.

"What?" she shakily asked, hoping he wasn't going to go and snog her again--she didn't know what it might lead to, and she didn't know what she might do, for when he kissed her or vice versa, her mind was not her own anymore.

"Did you really...not...mean it? What you said tonight?" She sighed and raked a hand through her hair.

"I don't know."

"Hermione, either you love me or you don't. It's as simple as that."

"And what would you do if I said yes? I'm not saying I do, I'm just asking what you'd do."

"I don't know," said Draco, "I might say I loved you back."

"But you don't, do you?"

"No," he sighed, "I'm sorry."

"Well you shouldn't be." She laughed then but it sounded fake, and cold, and not her. And she hated it. "For I don't love you either. I think it was just the moment."

"Of course," said Draco. "The moment," he added distantly. "Well, er, off to bed now."

"Yes." And as she crawled beneath the covers again, she longed for the feel of Draco's arms around her waist again, his breath warm on her face, his mouth on hers. She closed her eyes tightly, trying to erase the images from her mind. As she drifted off to sleep she thought she felt the faint ghost of his arms around her waist. When she opened her eyes, they were gone.

They had never been there.

To fall so deeply into you

lose myself completely

in your sweet embrace

all my pain's erased

From your mouth it's all that I wish

the mercy of your lips just one kiss

until I can breathe again

until I can sing again.

-Sarah McLachlan, "Train Wreck"