Twisted Fate

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Chapter 4: FOUR

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After 2 years...

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"-and now I pronounce you, man and-"

BANG!

Flashes of light shot through the evening air, coming from all directions. Screams filled the evening air as the mysterious light hit every person, every piece of furniture, everything around them. He grabbed his wife and ducked, and she fell helplessly beside him. He looked at her and his mouth fell with horror: she was pale, cold as ice, eyes wide with shock. She was dead.

"NO!"

I opened my eyes, staring wildly around, then sat up. I wiped the cold sweat formed on my brow. 'What was that?' I tried to remember what happened in my dream; unfortunately, it leaked out of my mind like water from a half-closed fist. I sighed and grazed my eyes over the room: my pillows were on the floor, bed sheets in disarray, and my expensive lamp shade lay broken on the floor.

"Dammit."

I rolled my eyes and repaired it in an instant. I lied down on my bed once more, gazing up at the ceiling of my four-poster bed. 'This is the fourth night I've had this crazy dream.' It was always the same: I would be standing at the end of this long aisle, waiting for my bride to come. She appears on the other side of the aisle, looking magnificently radiant in her pure white wedding dress. She stops in front of me, beaming widely, looking marvelous. I take her hand and guide her to the altar, where the priest would say, "-and now I pronounce you man and-". Then, chaos breaks; a bright light ensues from my "wife", and spells shoot out of nowhere and lots of shouts and screams burst from the crowd. I duck, tugging my wife with me, and she falls. I look at her and see her pale, immobile, leaving me unable to believe she's dead. Then, I wake up.

I got up and walked towards the huge window at the corner of the room. Goyle's loud snores filled the room and irritated me a lot, but deep inside I was thankful. 'This way I can't sleep, so I can't have that nightmare.' I leaned on the cold window sill and blankly looked up at the moon, marveling at the yellowish ring around it. A tiny sparkle caught my eye. I looked at my right hand and stared at the ring on my finger. It was made of pure silver, with a huge emerald on the center, which glowed eerily, then resumed its sparkly state. And as I gazed at it, I thought of her.

"Hannah..."

She had one too, but her emerald was slightly smaller. I gave it to her for our anniversary last year. I had the rings charmed so they acted like mood rings: one will know when the other feels a strong negative emotion like fear and danger. They also served as tracking devices; they wouldn't know the exact location of the other but it will be easy to find the other if they concentrate enough. 'By now, she would have known that I had another nightmare.' Suddenly, my "wife-to-be" came to my mind. I closed my eyes and tried hard to remember her face, but I couldn't. All I could remember was she wore this silver necklace with a small, blood-red gem as a pendant. I shook my head, defeated, then dismissed the lot. 'I already know who I'm going to marry,' I told myself as I absent-mindedly stroked the ring on my finger.

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"What's with you?"

I snapped out of my thoughts and my eyes focused on a heart-shaped face that was smiling at me.

After clearing my throat, I replied, "Nothing. Was just thinking of something."

Hannah Arden raised her eyebrow at me and poked me hard on the chest. "Ow!" "Don't lie to me, Draco Malfoy. Spill."

I looked at her, and I still couldn't believe up to now that she really is my girlfriend. Not that I don't want it - I mean, I really feel that I love her. It's just... weird, in a sense that somehow my head was deflated a bit, my pride crumbled a little, and, well, let's face it: who would have thought Draco Malfoy would fall in love?

Yet I'm here, and she's here, and we've been together for almost two years now. It has been troublesome and very difficult, particularly because she's Gryffindor and I'm Slytherin, and I have a reputation to live up to. In addition to that, I still felt uncomfortable with the boyfriend-girlfriend part; but, as Hannah had always told me, "I love you for who you are, who you were, and who you will be", and this had always soothed whatever doubts I had about what we have. And, weird enough, I really love her, and I really think that'll be enough to get us through.

"Well, if you hadn't felt the ring last night-"

"I did, and it woke me up. Nightmare?"

I nodded my head. "The same one. Fourth time this week."

Hannah frowned. "I really don't like these nightmares of yours... Maybe you're stressed or something... Do you want to go to Madam Pomfrey-"

"Of course not!" I snapped. Then, I felt my cheeks burn as she glared at me. "I meant, well, I... I just can't go-" "I know, I know! Your reputation." She stressed the last word, making me feel more uncomfortable. I looked away from her, head held high, and diverted my eyes to the lake. We eat breakfast really early so we can meet up here at the lake to talk. We rarely have time to see each other, but we try to meet everyday, like between breaks and before and after my prefect duties.

After what seemed like a very long silence, I felt Hannah stand up. "We better get going. Classes are gonna start soon." I was alarmed by the coldness in her voice. I stood up as well and held her arm. "Wait." She turned and looked at me indifferently. Panic crept up to me a little. What the hell am I supposed to say? Should I apologize? "A-Are you mad at me?" She yanked her arm and said a loud "Tuh!" Dammit, I hate it when we're like this... "If you've nothing to say, I need to get to my Arithmancy class." She started to walk away again, and then, gulping down my huge pride, I gripped her arm again. "I'm sorry."

This stopped her. She turned around and I was relieved to see her eyes soften. Sighing deeply, she said, "Is it really that hard for you to apologize? Even to me?" "I... You know me, Hannah. I've always been... I never was..." I wanted to tell her that apologizing was really not in my character list, that I just wasn't used to feeling guilty, but the look in her face was enough to stop me. Her eyes looked tired, and fear gripped me. Is she getting tired of this? Of me?

"Listen," I held her other arm to make her face me completely and started to speak very quickly. "I'm sorry, ok? I'm sorry for shouting at you, for being so uncomfortable, and for making you feel like, well, you're not important. But you are, Hannah. I... I need you more than I could show. And I'm sorry for how poorly I show my feelings... I-"

She placed a finger over my lips. "I'm not getting tired of this, if that's what you're thinking." She smiled a little, and moved in closer. "I won't let go of this, of you, Draco Malfoy, because I love you. I'm just a little... A little upset because, well, I was expecting you to have loosened up a bit around me. Sometimes I feel it, and see it, but most of the time..."

Seeing the sadness in her eyes felt like a thousand anvils inside of me. Somehow, I felt more resolute to change a bit. If it's the only way to make her happy... Suddenly, I really didn't care what the other Slytherins would say. Feeling resolute, I said, "From now on, I'll change. I'll change for you. I'll do anything... To make you happy... To make you feel that I love you. Cause I really do, Hannah. I really, really do."

Smiling softly, she leaned in and kissed me. I pulled her closer and deepened the kiss, hoping that if I couldn't show it in my actions, at least I can put it in this kiss. It felt like a long time before we broke off. Chuckling softly and a little out of breath, she punched my chest playfully. "Dunder head. We're late."

I smiled and aimed another kiss, which she dodged. "Seriously! We're late, and just because you kiss well doesn't mean I'm not upset with you anymore."

"You just want another one," I replied. She rolled her eyes at me and ran away. "See you later!" I watched her run from me, and I felt inside me that even if I had a dozen of those nightmares, and with Potter hanging around, it couldn't bring me down today.

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I was worried that morning while I ate breakfast. Earlier I had been woken up by a sharp pain in my hand, which came from the ring Draco gave me during our anniversary. Judging by the pain, I assumed Draco had that recurring nightmare of his again. I wolfed down my breakfast so I could meet up with him sooner, but when we met at the lake, he just snapped at me when I suggested that he should go to Madam Pomfrey for his nightmares. But then, maybe I should not have said that, because I knew his pride was bigger that Hogwarts, and he thinks running to the hospital wing just because of a nightmare is downright silly and pathetic and might seriously ruin his reputation.

I never imagined in my life that I would fall in love with a Slytherin, and it just had to be Draco Malfoy. Besides from being completely horrible to my Housemates, he was always detested because of his smugness and attitude. But, I think that's just the way love goes - sometimes, we hardly feel it coming, and just when we thought it's loathing we feel towards a person, we realize that we've already fallen in love.

The spat we had today was the usual - him refusing to let down his pride. The only difference today was the expression in his eyes I rarely see: it's when he told me he will change to make me happy. That look, amidst all the fights we had, all the persecution we went through, was worth every hurt and tear I felt for the past 18 months. Loving Draco Malfoy was tough, but the moments like this morning made it all bearable. I still held on to the fact that somewhere, inside that stone-cold heart of his, is a soft spot, and that spot was responsible for what we have right now. I just wish I could expand it a little, and help him with his feelings.

The whole day seemed perfectly ok for me, even though Ron was still being horrible. The other Gryffindors had grown tired of making me miserable by hushing insults as I pass by because I was Draco Malfoy's girlfriend, and had stopped doing it about four months ago. Ron, however, thought my relationship with Draco was "treachery" and an insult to the entire House, still glared at me and made loud, rude remarks on me, even though Hermione had always told him off. Anyway, I was much too happy today to even look at him while he shot angry glances at me during Transfiguration. The real surprise I got came in the afternoon, in the form of Hermione Granger.

Hermione and I got along quite well, until I started going out with Draco. She had always been so nice to me, but her loathing for Draco seemed large enough to stop her. She was civil, but she never spoke to me longer than three, short sentences. After several attempts to revive our friendship and failing miserably, I thought maybe it was better for me to let her go. Reluctant as I was, I stopped making any effort in patching up with her. So that afternoon, when I passed Ron, who made another rude comment about me, I was really surprised to hear Hermione's voice.

"Oh, when will you leave her alone, Ronald?"

Raising his voice to make sure I heard him, he said, "When she knocks in some sense in her head and stops this insanity she has. Wait a minute, since when did you start standing up for her?"

"I just feel that... that it's time we just leave her be. We really can't control how she feels, and if she really loves-" "Even if it's Malfoy?" "Yes, Ronald," she answered defiantly. "Even if it is Malfoy. Just leave her alone."

"But Hermione-"

"Ron, if you don't stop this I'll tell Professor McGonagall."

This seemed to shut Ron up, but I know it wouldn't stop him from glaring at me. Still, I felt a pang of guilt - here was Hermione, defending me against her best friend, and I wasn't even doing anything to patch things up between us. I sat on my four-poster bed and waited for her to come up to the dormitory. Sure enough, after a while, the door opened and in came Hermione. I stood up suddenly, which made her glance at me. It was a while before I could start speaking.

"Er... Hermione, I... Thank you. F-for what you did down at the common room."

Another surprise was her smile. "Don't mention it." Then she looked a little embarrassed, but she didn't take her eyes off me. "And I'm sorry, by the way, for the way I've been acting..." "It's quite alright," I replied, smiling a little. "I quite understand it. You really don't need to apologize-" "But I do!" she replied quickly. "I mean, we're sharing the same room, and my being - indifferent - isn't really, well, right, is it?" I shrugged. "It's really alright, Hermione. Really." She smiled at me. "So... So this means we're ok now?" I gave her a big smile. "We've always been ok." She then sat down on my bed and we started talking about Ron (mainly she was apologizing for Ron's attitude), then she suddenly straightened up, as though she remembered something. "Wait." She stood up and went to her desk, opened the top drawer in it and pulled out a box. She walked back to me and gave me the box. "I've been meaning to return this for some time now, because, well, I really feel I don't deserve it..." I looked at her, questioning, but I took the box. I opened it and felt another jolt of surprise. "I almost forgot about this," I said.

Inside the box was a silver necklace, with a rather large-cut, blood-red pendant. This necklace was from my mother. She was an Auror, and that gem was no ordinary rock. It was a source of great power: an Ancestry Gem. On each generation of our family, one gets the great privilege of carrying the Ancestry Gem. Why? Because we were known to be a family where magic blood runs weakly: we were almost like Squibs. When I was a child, my mother gave it to me as my source of power. It ignites the magic in our blood, which gives us magic enough to perform spells. I really didn't want to depend on it forever, so even as a child, I trained hard to "let the magic out". By my eleventh birthday, I have discovered that I had strengthened my magic blood enough for me to be independent on the Gem. My mother was so proud of me, and even more when I received my letter from Hogwarts. I was the only child, so I kept the Gem, carrying it around my neck. Sometimes when I felt sad it would glow and spread a warm, happy feeling all over me, then I wouldn't be lonely anymore. It was really handy during my first years in Hogwarts, as it was hell...

I gave it to Hermione when we were in our fourth year, just a few days before she was hit by that spell from Draco. I felt that I owed something to her, as she saved my life twice.

The first time was in our second year. I was at the library when she grabbed me and told me to hold out my mirror and leave the library immediately. At first, I was confused. But still, as a daughter of an Auror and being taught that danger lies everywhere, I ran out of the library. The next day, I found out she was petrified. I cried the whole day, thinking of how lucky I was that she was there to warn me. I visited her every moment that I could, until she was well. But then, I never got the chance to thank her.

The second one was during our third year. I strayed towards the gates, looking for a Tentrailed Grasshopper for my Transfiguration exercise; I completely forgot that dementors guarded those gates. I went towards the gate, until I felt the cold that pierced my insides. Dementors suddenly swooped down on me and fed on me. Luckily, I didn't exactly have what you ordinarily call a happy childhood, so they didn't get too much on me; I escaped. However, I felt madness coming over me as the nightmares haunted me for the next few days, until I felt the sudden urge to end my life. I went to the girl's bathroom with a pocket knife I borrowed and cut my wrist. I felt the bitter sweet pain searing from my bleeding wrists; I was satisfied. I went up to the North Tower, but before I got there, Hermione passed me by and saw the blood gushing out of my open wrists. She closed the wound right away, then called for help. I was in the hospital wing for a week. She visited me everyday, and everyday the madness slipped away until I was back to my normal thinking. I didn't get to thank her again because she suddenly had another "adventure" with her pals.

But, during our fourth year, the chance I had been waiting for had arrived. We were alone in the common room, chatting about Potions when she noticed the necklace. She said it was beautiful, and I told her that it was a gift from my mom. Without any second thought, I took it off and gave it to her. She refused to take it, insisting that she doesn't deserve it.

"Oh, but I owe you so much, Hermione. You've saved my life twice, remember? This is just a way of thanking you for the chances you gave me."

She finally accepted it, teary-eyed and all. That was two years ago, and it felt funny that she was returning it to me. I closed the box and handed it to her. "I won't take this - I gave it to you, and I have no intention of taking it back. You saved my life, Hermione, and this is the least I could give you." She looked at me, looking flattered and embarrassed at the same time, and took my hand. "Alright. We're square."

I felt my grin grow wide. "Hey, why don't you wear it? I bet it looks good on you." Hermione blushed. "Oh no... I really don't think-" "Aw come on, Hermione. Please? For me? Will you wear it?" Hermione looked flustered, but she nodded. Excitedly, I reached for the box, took the necklace out and put it on her. The gem glittered innocently against her black robes. Hermione stood up, and as she admired it, I barely heard her. Somewhere, in the back of my mind, I felt like I lost something. Hastily putting the thoughts away, I smiled at her. "It's yours now, alright? Will you wear it everyday?" She nodded and whipped around, grinning at me. "Everyday."