A Dragon's Heart

A Dragon's Heart

By: Lilie Blaze

Chapter 6: Innocent Surprises

Walking down the empty Charms corridor with her arms wrapped tightly around her small frame, Hermione allowed her mind to drift as she reflected on the day´s events. It had definitely been a long day, and she had a sneaking suspicion that it was far from over.

First, there was Ron and his temper. She had known he would be upset and maybe a bit shocked, but she had never in her wildest dreams imagined him to be so cruel and cold-hearted. He had thrown their friendship away like a piece of used parchment over something as silly her newfound involvement with Draco. Every time she closed her eyes, she could still see the look of pure hatred on his face as he told her how he truly felt. He hated her and she knew it.

Then, of course, there was Draco. Now that was another story. She knew she owed him an apology and intended to present him with one as soon as she could, but what troubled her was the fact that she would soon be forced to explain her dreams. That thought bothered her beyond belief. She knew she should have been honest with him from the beginning, which made it that much harder to tell him all the painful details now.

And last, but not least, there were those awful dreams. What did they mean? What did those people want from her? Just going to sleep had become frightening lately. She had already known about Lady and Lord Saige, but now there was someone new: Nicholas Saige. Why hadn´t Draco told her about him? Why did the Headmaster prevent him from doing so? Was he afraid she would try and contact him?

`Oh, yes,´ she thought. `Great idea, Hermione! Just send him an owl telling him you´ve had dreams about him and his family. That would definitely land you in St. Mungo´s in record time.´

Occupied with her thoughts, Hermione suddenly felt herself run into something tall and soft. Looking up, a feeling of dread spread through her body as brown eyes locked with green.

"Harry."

"Can we talk?"

~*~*~*~

"Butterbeer," he said while standing before the headmaster´s office, waiting to be let in.

"Come in, Mister Malfoy, come in!" the headmaster said cheerfully. "I´ve been expecting you."

"Hello, Headmaster," Draco replied, sitting down in one of the large chairs.

"So, what exactly may I do for you today?" asked Dumbledore, with a twinkle in his eye.

"Hermione knows about Nicholas," Draco said simply.

"Ah, well, I figured she would find out eventually," the older man replied. "Do not worry too much about it now, Mister Malfoy. Oh, I almost forgot; please give this letter to Miss Granger. It is from her parents. I suspect they want her home for Christmas," Albus finished, handing Draco a neat roll of parchment.

"Christmas? But it´s only October," Draco said, slightly confused.

"Yes, but the Grangers are very organized people. Perhaps they just wanted to make sure she hadn´t made any plans before she got their letter. Now, I must get back to my work. Feel free to visit at any time, Draco," the headmaster said, smiling at the young man before him.

~*~*~*~

Reaching the lake, the pair sat down in awkward silence, keeping their eyes on the landscape. The lake was calm and reflected the slowly descending sun. It was a beautiful view, but if asked later on, neither would remember a thing about its current beauty.

"So, you and Malfoy, huh?" the green-eyed boy asked, looking over at the girl.

"It´s Draco," she began, turning to face him. "And to answer your question, yes."

"Well, I never would have predicted this," Harry said, laughing slightly.

"Do you hate me now?" she asked, her brown eyes full of anticipation.

"No, I could never hate you," he answered, putting a comforting arm around her slim shoulders. "We don´t choose who we fall in love with, do we?"

"No, I don´t think we do," she whispered. "I think we just end up with someone in front of us who seems to wrong and yet so.... so right at the same time. And then it´s like we know that if we aren´t with that person, we´ll never be with anyone else."

"I know exactly how you feel," Harry answered, his eyes filling with emotion as he looked at the sweet girl beside him.

"Do you?"

"Yes, Hermione," he replied. "Except sometimes, no matter how hard you try, that love turns out unrequited."

"Harry," she asked, smiling slyly, "do you have a crush on someone you haven´t told me about?"

"Maybe," he answered, grinning cheekily. "But if I haven´t told you yet, I won´t be telling you now. Come on; let´s go back to the castle. You and Draco need to talk things out."

"Ok," she answered, getting up slowly. "And Harry? Thank you for being so understanding.

"No need to thank me, Hermione. That´s what friends are supposed to be."

"True, except not all `friends´ seem to know that," she said, her voice full of sadness, before turning and walking back up to the castle.

~*~*~*~

*He sees her dancing in a field of flowers; from where he stands she looks so young, so fragile. He looks at the blond boy with her. They smile and laugh together as he chases her through the flowers. They look content just being together. He watches as the boy pulls her closer and wraps his arms around her petite torso, his fingers entwine in her dark curls as he lowers his lips to hers. He can´t take this anymore, he just can´t. Standing so close and still being unable to touch her just kills him.

"Angelique!" he calls, stepping closer.

The girl turns to him, fear evident in her expression. She doesn´t recognize him, doesn´t trust him, and why should she? He wasn´t there for her like a brother should be. He was off living his life while she was here, alone.

Suddenly, she lets out a heartbreaking sound; a scream of pain and sorrow breaks through the silence and she falls. She falls to her knees and cries, letting the blonde-haired boy embrace her trembling body.

"Angelique, don´t cry, it´s just me.... please don´t cry," he says, walking over to the girl.

"No! Don´t touch her!" the boy screams, getting in his way. "She isn´t Angelique! Can´t you leave her alone?" *

"Angelique!" he cried, sitting straight up in his large bed. "Just a dream...just another dream," he repeated, running his hands through his golden curls. `I can´t take this much longer,´ he thought. `I have to see her.´

Getting out of bed, he pulled on a pair of black slacks, a navy blue button-up and his black robes before rushing to his closet. Quickly, he packed a small suitcase and grabbed his wand. Casting a hurried spell, he changed his light curls into jet-black ringlets. He threw a handful of Floo powder into the fireplace before shouting, "Hogwarts, Severus Snape´s office."

~*~*~*~

Landing perfectly, he brushed his robes clean and stepped into the small office. The door into Snape´s classroom was ajar, letting him know that Snape was in the middle of a lesson.

Setting his suitcase down, he walked over to the door, trying not to make much noise. Peeking into the room, he noticed the students were working on some kind of a potion. Taking advantage of the situation, he stepped into the classroom and cleared his throat softly.

Hearing this, Snape turned around quickly with a shocked expression on his face.

"Hello!" he exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"Hello, Uncle Severus," the young man answered, grinning widely. "I happened to have a few days off and decided it was the perfect opportunity to visit my favorite uncle here at Hogwarts.

"Well, that´s very kind of you," Snape answered with a genuinely happy expression on his face. He glanced quickly toward a pretty girl in the front row before continuing, "I take it you would like a tour of Hogwarts, then?"

"Yes, Uncle, that would be fantastic," Nick answered, still looking at the pretty girl. She was about a foot shorter than him, with a petite figure. Her chocolate-brown hair fell in soft ringlets down her back, with a few strands pulled back and held in place with a scarlet ribbon. She was quite absorbed in her work, but suddenly looked up, feeling his eyes on her. For a second he thought he saw something in her eyes that resembled recognition, but it was quickly hidden by a look of confusion and curiosity.

"Well, then I guess Miss Granger will have to be your guide, since she is the only one done with her potion and it does fit in with her duties as Head Girl," Snape said, looking at Nick meaningfully as though to let him know he wasn´t fooled by Nick´s sudden visit. "Miss Granger, this is my nephew N- Nathan Snape; Nathan, this is Hermione Granger. You two may go now. Enjoy your tour."

The girl made her way to the door as he followed, closing it behind them.

"So, Hermione, tell me a little bit about yourself," he said, smiling warmly.

"Well, there isn´t really much to say," she answered shyly. "I´m a sixteen-year-old Muggleborn witch who happens to be Head Girl."

"Not much to say?" he asked, grinning. "Oh, come on, there has to be more to you than that. Tell me about your friends. Do you have a boyfriend? Tell me about him."

"Um, alright. My best friends are Ronald Weasley and Harry Potter," she said, noticing the small smirk forming on his lips. "And my boyfriend´s name is Draco Malfoy."

"Draco Malfoy?! Lucius´ son?!" Nick exclaimed, obviously shocked.