From Dreams to Reality

Chapter 19

The grounds shimmered with frost as a new morning dawned. Gazing out her dormitory window, Hermione shivered as she gazed into the icy depths of the lake. To the east the sun was slowly rising into its position in the sky, the clouds surrounding it dyed red and gold.

Less than an hour ago she had woken abruptly from a dream; the dream being the same one that had haunted her for the past seven nights. Not a single thing differed from the previous, and not a thing settled well in Hermione's head or chest. It was always the same: Draco always died.

An awful feeling settled in the pit on her stomach and she felt her eyes well up with painful tears as she re-lived the events of the dream, over and over again in her mind.

Draco stood by the lake, an angry expression printed on his face and a temple twitching near his jaw. The sun had set and thick, dark clouds had settled above the castle and its grounds, sending no more than darkness around him. And yet, he was completely oblivious to it all.

All around him, there was nothing more than an eerie silence, broken only by the soft ruffle of leaves from the forest in the distance. He ran his right hand through his hair, pushing it out of his eyes and walked over to a large rock nearby and took a seat. He thrust a hand into his robes and pulled out a crumpled piece of parchment and read what was written on it.

As he looked up again and stared across the calm, yet chilly surface of the lake, his hand shook and he screwed the parchment up and threw it to the side, where it landed in a bush. He stared at the place it had disappeared with fury, before burying his face in his hands.

"Crying about it all won't help, Draco," said a cold and extremely familiar voice from behind him. "Tut, tut, tut. Emotions - never something I taught you to show... Absolutely disgraceful!"

Draco looked up; his grey eyes full of helpless tears. He narrowed them as they landed on his father, who stood in the shadow of a small tree, holding his wand in his hand and gazing at Draco with a cruel smile twisting his thin lips.

"You have betrayed me to an extent I will not forgive," Lucius hissed at his son, taking a step forward. "I have warned you - more than once - to not fool around with worthless pieces of filth like that Granger. A Mudblood! I taught you better!"

"Hermione isn't a piece of filth," Draco said in a tone of uncertain calmness. "She's the complete opposite."

"Yes, keep sticking up for your little Mudblood friend ... or should I say lover?" Lucius smirked. "Continue to betray me and your family name. We Malfoys are supposed to be no more, or, rather, less than pure-bloods and I intend to keep it that way."

Lucius let out a cruel, cold laugh, which filled the air and caused a chill to flood through Draco's whole body. He watched as his father raised his wand and made to reach for his own, but it was too late.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" Lucius yelled harshly, a jet of bright green light shooting from the tip of his wand and hitting Draco square in the chest.

Draco Malfoy crumbled silently, almost as though in slow motion, to the ground, his eyes wide open with transfixed shock. He was dead before he hit the ground.

Hermione sniffed and looked away from the window and around at the room surrounding her. She had yet to tell anyone about the dream. She knew she should, what with Dumbledore wanting to know about any dreams or visions she had that could mean harm towards anyone, but she had lost confidence when it came to this one for some reason. She didn't want to worry anyone, but she also didn't want to loose Draco and have Lucius satisfied.

She sat down on her bed and ran a hand through her hair, pushing it out of her wet eyes. What was she to do? Draco was destined to be killed by his father. When? She didn't know, but it had to be somewhere in the near future...

Hesitantly, she stood up and came to an uncertain decision. She had to tell someone. Not Draco, and not Dumbledore just yet. The one person she had confidence in telling would understand what she was going through... Or at least, she hoped...

She hurried out of the dormitory and down the stairs to the common room. Reaching it, she turned and headed to the staircase leading up to the boys' dormitories.

She was going to tell Harry. The thought sounded almost ludicrous in her mind. Ever since fourth- and fifth-year, he had been having dreams about Voldemort, seeing things that may happen in the future, seeing things the Dark Lord had planted in his mind. It wasn't entirely the same as what was happening to her, but he would surely understand it all more than anyone else would ... except perhaps Dumbledore...

Hermione reached the door to the seventh-year boys' dormitory and knocked lightly. When no answer came from within the room, she creaked the door open and gazed into the dormitory. It seemed everyone was asleep. She could hear Neville's loud snores, Seamus's whistling breathing and Ron's occasion grunt as he dreamed. She entered and headed straight over to Harry's bed.

She moved the scarlet curtain aside and looked down at Harry's sleeping form. He let out a tiny moan and turned over, not waking.

"Harry," Hermione whispered quietly, giving him a light shake. He didn't wake, or even move. "Harry," she repeated, slightly louder.

Harry's eyes slowly opened and he looked up at Hermione through blurry eyes. Hermione bit on her lip anxiously as he grabbed his glasses from his bedside table and put them on.

"Hermione?" he croaked. "What are you - What are you doing here?"

"I want to talk to you about..." She trailed off, looking away. "A dream I've been having lately."

Harry frowned at her. "But it's -" He looked at his alarm clock. "- six o'clock," he said. "Can't it wait until I get up?"

"No," Hermione said, shaking her head. "I want to talk to you now; before everyone wakes up and overhears."

Harry yawned and sat up, scratching his head. "Give me five minutes. I'll meet you down in the common room and we can ... talk."

Hermione nodded and retreated out of the dormitory and back down to the common room, where she took a seat on the couch, anxiously waiting for Harry to come down and hoping he would understand and allow her the chance to talk. She knew he wasn't happy with her still, what with her having picked Draco, their old enemy and the fact she had also slept with him...

The sound of footsteps sounded from the stairs and Hermione turned her head slightly to watch Harry descend the last couple of stairs and head silently towards her, now fully dressed. He sighed as he sat down on the couch, some two feet away from here.

"What's up?" he asked in a rather unenthusiastic tone.

Hermione looked at him and took a deep breath. "For the past week, I've been having the same dream - over and over - that shows Draco being killed by his father," Hermione said as calmly and casually as she could manage.

"So?" Harry asked bluntly.

Hermione looked at him seriously. "Harry, I know you're probably still angry and upset with me about what I've been doing lately. What with Draco and I, and I'm sorry for that. I chose him and you have to except that. He's changed -"

"Changed?" Harry repeated. "People don't change over night, even if the change is encouraged by an evil father attempting to kill them, or suddenly meeting or getting to know some girl they had once hated! I thought you, as clever and smart as you are, may have known that, but obviously, with all these recent events, you don't."

"Harry -" Hermione tried desperately.

"I've spent a whole year trying to get you to like me as something more than a best friend. I asked you out, thinking I had managed it, and you turned me down. Weeks later, I see you in the library kissing our worst enemy! That very scene made me feel so small that you couldn't possibly imagine, Hermione. Then I give it all a second chance and after weeks and weeks of your bloody humming and haring, you choose him over me! I still hadn't gotten over you, though. Oh no, if anything, I liked you even more. I like a girl who plays hard to get at times.

"So, I went to desperate measures, trying to make you either show you still have feelings for me, or make you jealous," Harry continued. "I kissed Ginny hoping you would see it, or find out, and then, the next day, I suddenly hear, from Blaise Zabini of all people, that you and Draco bloody Malfoy were found in bed together, taking a nice, intimate romp together!"

Hermione's eyes had welled up with tears over Harry's last few sentences and, as she spoke, her voice was cracked. "I l-love Dr-Draco!" she sobbed. "I'm s-sorry, Ha-Harry for ever h-hurting y-y-you, but I - I love h-him!"

"How can you be so bloody sure?" Harry asked desperately. "How do you know this isn't just some sort of plan Malfoy's formed as an attempt to hurt you? How do you know for sure that he loves you back? Sure, he might like you a lot, Hermione, but I just don't think that Malfoy, of all the people in the world, could change ever so suddenly and fall in love with you. It could be no more than lust for all you know."

Hermione stared at him as he stood up and headed back up to his dormitory. She stared at the doorway he'd disappeared up the stairs through for a moment as she went over everything he'd said in her head.

She didn't want to believe anything he'd said about Draco, but part of her couldn't help but wonder if he had truly changes over such a short space of time and fallen in love with her. Maybe it was lust. Maybe even she had mistaken lust for love as well as Draco. Maybe...

Hermione moved her thoughts to the back of her head as she stood up, deciding to worry about it all later and try to unjumble all of these new possibilities and thoughts later.

For now, she had to talk to Dumbledore about her dream...