From Dreams to Reality

Chapter 10______________________________________________________________

Hermione slowly walked along the narrow corridor and came to a stop in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady, who looked down at her with a blank expression.

"Password?" she asked.

"Draco volans," Hermione replied wearily. The portrait swung forward on its hinges and Hermione clambered on through the portrait hole to the common room. She ignored Ron, who was standing there waiting for her, and made her way up the staircase, which led to the girls' dormitories.

She entered her dormitory and thankfully found it silent and empty. She headed over to her bed and stripped out of her robes and into her nightgown, before climbing into bed. She had only just finished drawing the curtains of her four-poster closed and fallen back onto her pillows when sleep took began to take her over...

*

Lucius Malfoy's cold, grey eyes glistened slightly with the light of the distant moon sparkling off the lake and into them. His hand remained steady as he raised his wand and pointed it at his only child, who whimpered slightly in fear.

Draco's face was ghostly pale as he looked up at his murderous father with pleading eyes and pain. He sat slumped on the wet shore of the lake, wishing with both fear and hatred that someone would come along and catch his father in his deadly act. He knew there was little hope, though. It was barely two o'clock in the morning and everyone in the castle would be fast asleep, having peaceful dreams, and not worrying about a thing.

"Betraying me isn't going to get you far, Draco," Lucius hissed maliciously. "That act killed your mother and I am not afraid of it doing the same to you."

Draco glared up at his father at the mention of his mother. He felt his hatred and loathing for his father to, if possible, rise several inches.

"I hear from some useful sources that you have been interacting, in a rather friendly manner, with that Granger Mudblood," Lucius continued. "Dear Miss Parkinson even informed me of a certain kiss in Potions. This does not impress me at all. My own son - the shame I feel. You should have known better."

Draco swallowed thickly as his father's grip on the wand tightened and pointed straight at his chest.

"Do you regret your actions, Draco?" Lucius asked, his eyes now blazing. He didn't give Draco a chance to answer. His grip tightened even more. "Unlike the Dark Lord, I am not afraid of Dumbledore. I am willing to kill you under his crooked nose..."

"Father, please..." Draco pleaded.

"Avada Kedavra!" Lucius hissed. Draco fell, slumped on the ground, his cold, grey eyes, identical to his fathers, wide open and petrified. Draco Malfoy was dead...

Hermione's eyes snapped open, her breathing coming out unevenly. She sat up and looked around at the blood red curtains surrounding her. She pulled one of them open and looked over to the window, which was dark, the only light being from the many stars that hung in the sky.

She hardly even thought before pulling the covers off her and climbing out. She grabbed a piece of parchment off her bedside table and looked down at it, the writing only just visible in the little light that filled the room.

Wall between silver and green torches in dungeon hallway. Password's "schlange". Take the left staircase. Dormitory at very top (has "Seventh year" on door).

She let out a small whimper. What if he wasn't there when she got there? What is her dream had been another vision? She pushed her thoughts away quickly before they got out of hand. She hurriedly pulled on her dressing gown, grabbed her wand and rushed from her dormitory, the piece of parchment still held tightly in her hand. She dashed down the stairs, and into the dark, deserted common room. She hurried on through the portrait hole and managed to exit without waking the Fat Lady, who sat snoring in her frame.

She ran most of the way down to the Entrance Hall, her heart beating fast and the piece of parchment clutched in her hand. She headed down to the dungeons silently and looked around for any sign of a silver and green torch, as she had never seen one down there before.

And then she saw both of them, the flame extinguished and in the middle of the wall Hermione remembered seeing Draco exit on their first day of classes. Walking up to it, she looked around, making sure no one was around.

"Schlange," she said quietly. She took a small step back as the wall parted in two, revealing a stone passage with green oil lamps hanging from the ceiling. She entered and headed down the passage, looking around cautiously. She felt very uneasy being in the Slytherin quarters. She came to a stop at a pair of staircases. She looked down at the piece of paper in her now-trembling hand briefly before taking the left one.

She headed up the creaky stairs, still looking around cautiously, and finally came to a stop at the head of the staircase, in front of a door with a plaque that read "Seventh year". She opened the door as quietly as she could and looked around at the four-poster beds that sat around the rectangle-shaped room. Each bed except for one sat with the curtains closed as the occupants snored through their peaceful sleeps. The bed in the far, right-hand corner near the window, however, sat with the curtains on one side drawn wide, revealing a messy, empty mattress.

Hermione's heartbeat quickened even more as she headed over. She only needed to glance at the brand new trunk that sat at the foot of the bed to know whom was missing from the dormitory. The initials D.M. shined silver with the moonlight shimmering through the window.

Hermione stared at the letters, wondering what she could possibly do, as images from her dream flashed before her. She didn't allow a great amount of time to think before she dashed from the room, heading for the grounds at break-neck speed.

She arrived at the edge of the lake and looked around, her breath coming out in small gasps. As she headed around the edge, staying well in the shadows, her breath slowing and becoming quieter, the deadly cold voice of Lucius Malfoy grew louder with every slow step she took. She came to a halt as he and Draco came into view.

"Do you regret your actions, Draco?" Lucius asked, causing Hermione to become very, very scared. She didn't know what to do. How could she, a seventeen-year-old witch, possibly stop a full grown man from killing his own son? How? Hermione's thoughts were cut short as Lucius continued. "Unlike the Dark Lord, I am not afraid of Dumbledore. I am willing to kill you under his crooked nose..."

She had to do something. She just had to! She had to stop Lucius from killing Draco, or at least try... She pulled out her wand.

"Father, please..." Draco pleaded.

Lucius gripped his wand tightly. "Avada Ke-!"

"Stupfy!" Hermione yelled, pointing her wand at Lucius with a shaky hand. She watched as Lucius' eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fell to the ground, stunned and unconscious. She stared down at him with both fear and hatred in her eyes, before looking around at Draco, who sat there, staring at her in shock and appreciation.

"Thank-you," he crocked, his stomach giving an odd flip. She had saved his life ... again.

Hermione headed over and knelt down in front of him. She placed a trembling hand on his icy-cold cheek. "Are you alright?" she asked. Draco moved slightly to get more comfortable and winced.

"I'm in a lot of pain," he said. He looked into her brown eyes. "Another dream?" he asked, knowing there couldn't be any other explanation as to how she knew he was there. Hermione nodded. "What did you see?"

"I saw - I saw him killing you," she answered.

"Is that all?" he asked. Hermione looked down at him meaningfully.

"We have to get out of here, Draco," she said. "Before he wakes up." She nodded her head at Lucius' unconscious body.

"He used Cruciatus on me again, Hermione," Draco said weakly.

Hermione let out a small sigh and sat down next to him. She knew he wasn't ready to go back to the castle she knew. She looked sideways at him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Are you sure you're alright, Draco?" she asked.

He didn't reply and just looked sideways at her. "Thank-you," he said again. Hermione smiled and wiped away a tear that had formed in his eye. "And I think I'll be fine."

"Draco -" Hermione started, but she stopped as Draco's arm wrapped around her waist.

"Thank-you," he said yet again. Hermione looked sideways to find him looking at her with an expression filled with a mixture of different emotions. Looking into his eyes, she felt the wave of feelings and emotions that had been growing within her over the last month or so sweep through her. Draco stared at her lips with content as she licked them nervously. "Hermione -"

Hermione didn't give him a chance to say anything more. She lent forward and softly placed her lips on his in a soft, tender kiss. She slowly pulled away to look at him, only to have his lips glide down to rest on hers again. He kissed her softly and slowly, enjoying the sweetness of her mouth. Her response welcomed him to glide his arms around her and pull her closer.

He didn't understand why, but this kiss seemed to relieve all the pain in his body and allow him to feel all new and unexpected feelings to flood through his burning veins. It seemed as though this had been the exact cure to the downside of his life at this very moment. All thoughts of his father, the death of his mother and his worries about Hermione's dreams had left his mind and they had been replaced with positive things, such as the way he felt for Hermione.

Hermione, on the other hand, had a mixture of different thoughts sweeping through her barely conscious mind. She wondered how they were sitting here with their lips locked together in this slow, meaningful kiss. It didn't seem possible at this moment that they had once, and not so long ago, been no more than enemies.

Slowly, Hermione pulled away and looked him in the eye. "Draco, I think we should go back to the castle now and get you to the hospital wing. You need to clean up a bit and get a good, peaceful sleep." Draco gave a light sigh as she pulled out of his arms and stood up before him. "Here, I'll help you."

She lent down, grabbed his hand and slowly and very carefully pulled him to his feet, where he swayed slightly, gripping Hermione's hand. "Thanks," he murmured quietly as she reached her arm around his shoulders in an attempt to steady him.

Slowly, they made their way towards the castle, unaware of the icy grey stare that was following them...

Author Notes: I took the password into Gryffindor Tower, "draco volans" from my good friend Orla-Destiny, who used it in her fic When Enemies Interact (brilliant fic - read it if you haven't already!) and it means "flying dragon" in Latin, apparently.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter!!! Please review!!!

Big thanks to my beta-readers Samantha and stephanie, you guys are great!!! Also to Orla-Destiny (mentioned above) for bringing me into the world of D/Hr, as well as putting up my review forums!!!

Next chapter: Hermione goes to see Dumbledore about both Lucius and her dreams. She also has an odd sort of vision... Warning: H/Hr in it, not D/Hr, but it'll probably be the only dose of H/Hr that you get!!!

> Fiery Punk Princess <