A Dragon's Heart

A Dragon´s Heart

By: Lilie Blaze

Chapter 2: A Dragon's Kiss

*Ring!*

Hermione sat up at the sound of her alarm clock. Feeling the sweat on her face, she looked around the room and breathed a sigh of relief.

"It was just a dream," she told herself.

Looking out the window, she noticed the light drizzle settling on the panes. She got up slowly and made her way to the bathroom to shower. She chose to wear one of her new fitted robes over her Hogwarts uniform. She pulled her long hair back into a bun at the nape of her neck and, after applying a quick makeup charm, hurried to the Great Hall for breakfast.

Walking into the hall, Hermione could feel Draco´s eyes follow her all the way to her seat. `I won´t look his way, I won´t,´ she vowed, `I will not give into the likes of Draco Malfoy!´ She sat down across from Harry and Ron, smiling pleasantly. She hadn´t seen them all summer and had really missed the two. After a brief hello, the boys returned to their previous conversation: Quidditch. Oh, how she hated their obsession with that stupid sport! As she looked around the hall, her eyes caught Draco´s. For a second, she thought she saw what looked like remorse in his eyes. `I must be crazy, Malfoy? Feel remorse?´ she thought, as she glared in his direction before standing up and walking out of the hall.

~*~*~*~

Hermione walked into the common room which she had to share with Malfoy, the stupid git, and made her way towards her bedroom. Stopping suddenly, she noticed the painting, which lead to her room. Recognizing the woman, she gasped. Lady Saige was the woman in her dream who had called her Angelique! She was about to turn around and make her way to Dumbledore´s office to ask him about her dream when she heard a familiar voice behind her.

"Beautiful, isn´t she?" Draco said, "Kind of reminds me of you."

"What are you doing here? Came to insult me more? Wasn´t last night enough?" she asked, the pain obvious in her voice and more so in her eyes when she turned to face him.

"I just gave you a compliment, you stupid Mudblood!" he sneered, angry at the pain he knew he´d caused her last night.

Suddenly, she walked past him and out the door, without even so much as a rude remark. This aggravated him deeply. Sighing in frustration, he walked into his room and slammed the door.

~*~*~*~

*knock, knock*

Hermione waited for an answer in front of the Headmaster´s office.

"Come in, Miss Granger," said the soft voice of Professor Dumbledore through the thick wooden door.

Pushing it open, she walked in and sat down once the Headmaster motioned toward a chair.

"Hello Professor Dumbledore," she said politely.

"What may I help you with, Miss Granger? A strange dream, perhaps?" he asked, a knowing look in his eyes.

"How did you know, Professor?" she asked in amazement.

"Lucky guess," he answered, but the twinkle in his eyes told Hermione differently.

"Professor, about the painting that leads to my room, the one of Lady Saige; can you tell me about it?" she asked slowly.

"Ah, the painting...I´m afraid that I am not the one to tell you about that....and books will not tell you much, either," he went on, sensing her next question, "However, if you are really interested in its history, I may suggest that you ask our Head Boy, Mr. Malfoy. I have heard he knows quite a bit on the subject." The look in his eyes told Hermione not to push any further. After saying her good-byes, she walked out of Dumbledore´s office and groaned.

"In order to decipher the meaning of this dream, I have to ask Malfoy for help!" she cried softly, "This is worse than the dream itself!"

~*~*~*~

Walking into their common room, Hermione stopped in front of Draco´s room. Sighing softly, she knocked on his door. Examining the painting, which led into Draco´s room, she noticed it contained a large green and silver dragon with the star-crossed pendent behind it. Hearing the door open, she snapped out of her thoughts, not thinking much of the pendent.

"What do you want?" Draco growled, looking her over quickly.

"Oh, hi...um yeah, I uh..." she stumbled, trying to find the right words; actually, any words would do at that point.

"Haven´t learned to speak properly, have you, Granger?" he smirked, surprised by her loss of self-control.

Regaining her poise, Hermione glared before remembering her purpose and softening the look on her face.

"Actually, I do know how to speak, you just caught me by surprise," she stated in a matter-of-fact tone. "But I´m not here to bicker with you. I´m uh...doing a project on Lady Saige but I haven´t been able to find anything on her in the library, so Professor Dumbledore advised me to speak with you. Apparently, you are quite familiar with the subject." She let her voice trail off slightly, as she waited for Draco´s response. She just hoped that it would work and he wouldn´t see through her lies. Luckily, Malfoy took the bait.

"You want ME to help YOU, Granger?" he asked, as a sly smile played on his lips, "Ok, fine, I´ll help you, but what´s in it for me?"

`Oh no...Here we go...´ thought Hermione, as dread filled her body, `Should have known it wasn´t going to be that easy.´

"I don´t know; what exactly do you want, Malfoy?" she asked, slightly harshly.

"What do you have to offer?" he asked, letting his eyes wander down her perfect figure.

"Just tell me what you want!" she snapped, crossing her arms across her chest, hoping he´d stop staring at her like she was one of his playthings.

"Ok, Granger, if you want to do it that way," he answered, taking note of her obvious embarrassment, "I´ll take anything, or rather everything, you are willing to give me," he smirked.

"Fine," she stated, dryly, "but believe me, it will not be much."

"Whatever you say, Granger." He smiled. "Now, shall we use the common room or my room?"

"The common room," she answered, a little too quickly.

Walking into the common room, the pair each took a seat on the couch.

"Ok, so how much can you tell me about Lady Saige?" Hermione asked, suddenly breaking the uncomfortable silence surrounding them both.

"Before I tell you anything, why don´t you start by telling me the real reason you are so curious? I know you are not doing a project, seeing as I am in every one of your classes..." he said, slyly looking at her reaction.

"You´re right, it isn´t a project, but until I find out what I need to know, I would much rather not share it with you," Hermione replied, looking calmly at Draco.

"Alright, that´s fair, I guess," he sighed, "I´ll tell you as much as I can, but don´t count on much."

Nodding, Hermione leaned slightly forward, prepared to listen.

"Lord and Lady Saige were close friends of my parents´ before I was born. They were as Pureblood as could be. The entire Saige family tree consisted of nothing but the greatest wizards and witches ever. They were also all on the Light side. The Saige family was as good as anyone could possibly be. They were practically saints, so when they had a daughter, she became their little Angel. Her name was Angelique Saige." He stopped, suddenly seeing the horrified look on Hermione´s face, "What´s wrong?" he asked, looking worried.

"Nothing," she lied, quickly hiding her shock. "What happened to Angelique?"

"Well, that´s the interesting part," he continued, studying her face for any reaction. "Angelique was born to save the life of another, but in order for this to happen, she could not be kept in our world. Therefore, Lord and Lady Saige were forced to give their daughter over to a Muggle couple."

"So where is she now? What happened to her?" Hermione asked, trying to keep her voice steady.

"I´m not sure. No one is, but seeing as she was born only a few months after myself, she is most likely here at Hogwarts with us..." he said looking up to meet her eyes. "Except she doesn´t have any idea as to who she is."

"Do you know who she is?" she asked, slightly suspicious.

"No, I don´t," he answered, truthfully. "Now tell me, why are you so bloody interested?"

"Probably for the same reasons as you," she said, getting up quickly. "Well, um, I have to go. Thanks for helping me."

"Wait!" Draco said, grabbing her wrist before she could open the door to her room, "You owe me something," he sneered.

"What do you want?" she asked quietly, looking down at her wrist, which was still captured in his hand.

"This," he said, pulling her closer and pressing his lips gently against hers. As she cupped her face in his hands, his kiss became more passionate but still just as gentle as ever.

Pulling away slowly, he smiled at the flustered look on her face. Her eyes were full of emotions. He could tell she was angry and confused, but at the same time she looked slightly pleased...and scared? He didn´t want her to be scared. He wanted her to be...well, he didn´t know exactly how he wanted her to be; anything but scared would do.

"I have to go," she whispered, looking away.

`Beauty within...virtuous are her eyes
Blessed being...pure fragile angel eyes.´

~*~*~*~

Closing the door softly, Hermione leaned against it and sighed. `What the hell is wrong with me?!´ she thought. `Why do I feel this way? It´s Malfoy! I´m supposed to feel repulsed and disgusted! Instead I feel so...confused and scared!" she sank to the floor as the tears filled her big eyes and slid down her cheeks.

~*~*~*~

Slamming the door to his own room, Draco paced back and forth around the large room.

"Draco, you idiot!" he cursed. "How could you be so dumb?! What the hell possessed you to kiss her?! Ugh!" He sat down, feeling exasperated. `Why did she look so scared and confused?´ he thought. `Ugh, who the hell cares?! She´s just a stupid Mudblood!´