Betrothal

Narcissa Malfoy was curled up in big, soft, magically heated bed, and was reading one of her romance novels, when Lucius entered the room. He stood tall and firm near the doorway, yet he was obviously weary from that night´s Death Eater activities. She looked up and smiled at her husband, before he disappeared into their luxurious bathroom to change out of his dirty, black robes.

Once her husband had thoroughly rinsed himself and had come back into the bedroom, Narcissa put her book aside and welcomed him with a hug after he had climbed into bed next to her. They sat like this in a comforting silence, as the memories of that day began to fade from Lucius´ mind. The Death Eaters and their nightly activities were the farthest thing from his mind as he felt tranquility radiate in him from his wife´s loving arms.

As it was their usual nightly ritual, they sat in bed and began to talk.

"Draco will be coming home tomorrow," Narcissa said, a smile evident in her voice. She closed her eyes with happiness. They had shifted positions, and her head was now leaned against Lucius´ chest, his strong arms around her possessively, and she began to imagine how wonderful the holidays would be. Her family would be complete once more.

A small smile formed on Lucius´ lips at the mention of his son. He had always been proud of his son. Second highest in his class, a fine upstanding citizen, and of course, was in no danger of the Dark Lord. Lucius had taught him to be rude to muggles and muggle-borns, therefore allowing the Dark Lord to think he would soon be one of his followers. He chuckled to himself. If he only knew...

"I wonder if he´s made progress with the Magnar girl," Narcissa pondered out loud.

Lucius scoffed. "Hardly. Before he left for the school year, all he could do was rant about her and her friends. He was upset at how she could still be at the top of their year and how she was the favorite of Dumbledore and the other professors." Lucius paused. "He was especially irritated because she `was a muggle-born.´"

Narcissa laughed lightly and gave her husband a slight shove.

"Well, that´s your doing, so you can´t really blame him for being aggravated over that detail."

"I know. Appearances must be kept up, after all. And Draco was just too young to understand my "service" to the Dark Lord. He was so impressionable, and he picked up his dislike of muggles and muggle-borns from the times I would have to act in front of the Dark Lord and the Death Eaters."

"Don´t worry about it," Narcissa said, stroking her husband´s hair soothingly. "Professor Dumbledore and the others are working on them. The passion they use to fuel their anger will soon be used in another way, just you wait and see." she said with an encouraging smile. Lucius smiled back at her and tenderly placed a kiss on her forehead.

"Still, I think the boy needs a little push. Time is running out." They sat there in silence for a moment. "It´s been years, but I believe that it is time to tell him a bedtime story once more."

Narcissa looked up at Lucius, puzzled. And then understanding dawned on her face.

"Okay," she agreed. "The curse?"

"Yes, and if he can handle it, you can inform him about the betrothal as well."

Burying her face in her husband´s chest, Narcissa began to think and imagine what Draco´s retort would be like. He could take it well and accept his responsibility...or he could throw it back in their faces and refuse. Narcissa didn´t think she would be able to bare it if he turned away from them.

She looked up at her husband, and saw he looked very troubled.

"What are you thinking about, dear?" She placed her hand over his tenderly.

He looked down at his wife and stroked her hand absentmindedly.

"I´m just worried about the Dark Lord finding out about our plans. What we´re doing is very dangerous. I don´t know what I´d do if I lost you and Draco."

"You´re not going to lose us," Narcissa vowed, half to convince him, but also to persuade herself. "We have a very loyal Secret Keeper. He would die before he told the Dark Lord what we´re doing. Not even the Unforgivable Curses could force someone to divulge a secret put under the Secret Keeper spell."

"I suppose so...I just can´t help but be anxious from time to time. But you´re right. Our Secret Keeper also takes good care of Draco. I have plenty of faith in him." He gave his wife one last kiss before turning off the light and settling in for the night.

~*~*~*~*~*~

It was early in the morning, much too early, Hermione thought to herself. She could hear banging on her door.

"Go away," she mumbled to the pounding behind her door. It was so cold; she just wanted a few more minutes of blissful sleep. She snuggled down further beneath her warm comforter, trying to go back to sleep. It felt so nice...

"Wake up, Hermione!" Ron yelled behind the door. "It´s Christmas morning!"

At those words, Hermione sat up with a start. Of course! She scurried out of bed, wrapping around herself a furry robe, and after barely getting her slippers on, she raced out of her room, almost crashing into Ron.

"Merry Christmas!" she greeted him, with a wide smile and smiling eyes.

"Merry Christmas, Hermione! Come on, Harry is waiting for us in the common room. Let´s go so that we can start opening presents together!" The two rushed to the Gryffindor common room, where Harry greeted them both.

"Merry Christmas!" he greeted his two best friends, enveloping them in a big group hug. "Gifts!" was all he said, making Hermione mirthfully imagine a little boy full of excitement.

At seven o´clock in the morning, the few Gryffindors that had actually stayed behind for the holidays were still in bed, leaving the three with the common room all to themselves. Apparently, it was only the trio who had been able to get enough sleep after the Christmas Eve party the night before. Harry shook his head as he remembered all the eggnog they had skipped in order to head to the common room early to have their own little celebration. He wasn´t sure what time the others had come in, but he was sure that he, Ron and Hermione had gone to bed way before the others had. And now, the mood was light, and many jokes were exchanged, as the opening of gifts began. They each picked up brightly colored packages addressed to each of them, and started to open them with excitement.

Harry gave Hermione the newest edition of Hogwarts, A History. Hermione squealed with delight as she unwrapped it. Ron gave Harry a kit containing several items from Fred and George´s newest line of mischief-makers, which Harry had received with a roguish smile. Hermione gave Ron a box of chocolates, which he happily started to devour at the mere sight of them.

Ron gave Hermione a bracelet with little bells attached to it. It was charmed to play her favorite tune, Pachebel´s Canon in D. Harry gave Ron an autographed Quaffle, signed by all of the members of the Chudley Cannons, and Hermione gave Harry a Deleto-quill. It was special because it could erase any spelling or grammatical mistake he were to make while writing with it.

Ron and Harry received their annual sweaters from the Weasley´s. Ron was slightly happy that for the first time, his actually looked decent. If it wasn´t for the unfortunate fact that it was green, he might not have said, "There is no way I am wearing this during school!" to Harry and Hermione after carefully, and secretly admiring his mother´s work.

The Dursley´s hadn´t even bothered to give Harry a gift this year.

"I´ve gotten too brave and outspoken at home for them to tolerate me," Harry said with a grin.

While the boys talked, Hermione began to open her gift from her parents. She gasped contentedly, catching the attention of the boys. It was an exquisite picture frame, decorated in shades of royal purple and trimmed with gold and silver, and her mother and father had already put a picture in it. The picture had been taken during the previous summer, at the Granger Family Grand Reunion. Hermione smiled as she looked at it and fondly began to remember the events that had occurred that cheerful day.

Harry and Ron looked over her shoulder.

"Wow, and I thought I had a big family," Ron mused, though he knew that Hermione had no brothers or sisters.

Hermione laughed.

"No silly, those aren´t my siblings. Those are all the Grangers, all that we know of. From my grandparents, to my numerous aunts and uncles, to cousins of all sorts, from first, to second and third-cousins."

Harry gazed at the picture thoughtfully.

"It´s strange, Hermione, all of your relatives look so much alike...but you sort of stand out." When Hermione turned to look at him funny, Harry continued. "Sure you all have brown hair, but theirs is all straight, while yours is kind of...wavy. They also have that funny nose which one notices right away, but yours is just fine." Hermione smiled slightly at his last comment, though she was just a little upset about his other comments.

"Yeah, Harry´s right." Ron agreed. "I can´t exactly place it, but there is something about your cousin. I can just immediately tell she´s related to your uncle. It isn´t something obvious, but at second glance, you really don´t look much like your relatives."

Hermione pursed her lips at their words. She supposed that to a certain degree they were right, but who likes to be told that they don´t look like the members of their family? She just gave her best friends a shrug.

"I don´t know, but remind me to mention that to my parents when summer break comes along."

Just then, the other Gryffindors began to come out of their rooms, most of them were heading to the Great Hall for breakfast. The trio began to head for the Great Hall as well, until Hermione noticed one more package underneath the tree. It was addressed to her. Strange, there was no sender´s name.

"Go ahead," she told the two, as she began to wonder about the strange gift. Why hadn´t she noticed it earlier?

The two boys nodded, and raced to the Great Hall, as they were already very famished. Hermione stared at the package for the longest time, wondering what could be in it. Should she open it, she wondered. What were the chances of it being unsafe? Hesitantly, she began to tear at the wrapping.

It was a book, however, not just any book. Hermione traced a finger down the delicate cover. The Most Powerful Light-Sided Wizards of All Time, the title read. Intrigued, she began to flip through the pages, merely browsing. She turned the page and found the Aetherinore family. It was a picture of a small family. A woman, and man, and their son. She flipped the page. The next picture was of a family called the Magnar Family. There was a picture of an elegant couple, and Hermione tilted her head, wondering why she couldn´t stop staring at that page. She felt drawn to it strangely.

She shook her head and laughed. If the boys could only see her now, what a bookworm she must be. After closing the book, she carefully put it inside her room with her other presents. She hesitated, not exactly wanting to leave it, but then she quickly pushed it out of her mind as she felt a growling noise in her stomach. She needed to eat.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Surveying his room, Draco decided with fulfillment that it had been a good day. He had gotten his usual vast heap of gifts, and he was very pleased that most of them were extremely satisfactory. That evening´s feast had been a perfect way to end his Christmas day in the Malfoy Mansion. The exotic foods created by house-elves from all over, lots of wine passed around, and of course his family, made it complete.

Draco changed into his green and black silk pajamas and climbed into bed. But he didn´t go to sleep right away. He put on his reading glasses, and on the desk next to his bed, was a book, Transi de Froid, which he opened up and began to read. He was already at an intense moment in chapter six, when a light knock was heard on his door. He looked up and saw the beauty that was Narcissa Malfoy. He smiled. "Mother," he said, acknowledging her presence.

She smiled back, laughing lightly when she saw that he was reading in bed.

"It seems you´ve picked up one of my habits, Draco." She made her way to the edge of Draco´s bed and sat down. Draco moved aside to give her more room. The polite gesture was unnecessary, as his bed was big enough for three people, but that didn´t stop Draco. "I always have to read a book before I sleep," she confessed to her son.

"It became a habit when I grew too old for your bedtime stories and still needed one to help me sleep," he told his mother as he fondly remembered his childhood.

Narcissa´s smile grew even wider. He had just given her an ideal opening.

"You´re never too old for bedtime stories. Would you like me to tell you one tonight?"

Draco hesitated, thinking it over. It couldn´t hurt. He had loved his mother´s stories.

"Okay, but just this once," he said, which had prompted an enchanting laugh on his mother´s part. When Narcissa had fully gotten onto the bed, Draco had scooted over next to her, leaning his head on her shoulder like he used to, as he waited for her to begin her tale.

"Once upon a time, there were two handsome young wizards. One was a poor pureblood, while the other was an orphaned half-blood. Both had grown up bitter at life´s cruelty and with a desire for revenge and power on those who had what they could not. They met, became best friends, and began to plot out their future by beginning to dabble in the Dark Arts."

Draco knew he was way too old for bedtime stories, but there was something about his mother´s calming voice, and vivid words; he didn´t seem to mind going back in time, feeling like he was six once more. He watched his mother as she spun her tale and felt himself being drawn into the story, able to picture every single detail.

"But one thing stood between the two friends. One wanted to kill all muggles, muggle-borns and muggle-lovers, while the other, merely wanted to eliminate the muggle-borns in school. This caused a rift between the two wizards, and soon they began to distrust each other."

Narcissa tried to tell the story to Draco as calmly as possible, trying to give no indication that it was a true story, so close to their family. As she saw the fascinated look in his eyes, Narcissa couldn´t help but wonder once more what his reaction would be once she finished her tale.

"They had reached their separate goals soon after their schooling. Through the Dark Arts, the poor pureblood had obtained the wealth he had desired, and the orphaned half-blood had received the power he had craved for so long. But the issue on killing muggles and muggle-lovers still stood between them." Narcissa paused dramatically for effect. "One day, the pureblood turned away from the half-blood. The latter had already obtained much power. He cursed the pureblood and all of his descendants. They were to forever serve him."

Draco made a face, "This half-blood didn´t turn them into goblins or whatever, right? Like the one that has to serve Uncle Pheus for the rest of eternity?"

His mother laughed nervously.

"No, the pureblood and his family still remained wizards. They still had the wealth they rightfully had obtained, they were just doomed to serve the other wizard for the rest of eternity."

"Purebloods were not meant to work for half bloods," Draco said snootily in reply.

Biting her lip, Narcissa said gently, "Draco, I know you´ve been following your father´s way of thinking, but you mustn´t judge the muggle-borns and half-bloods due to their blood and upbringing. If they were intelligent and had a high enough magical proportion, they must be decent wizards and witches. Don´t judge a book by its cover, as cliché as it sounds. The half-blood you insult could become the greatest wizard in the world, or the muggle-born you despise could become the most important person in your life later on." Narcissa knew she was very close to telling Draco the whole truth now.

Draco raised an eyebrow, and then shrugged. He then saw the serious look on his mother´s face. He then became solemn, waiting for her to continue.

"Draco, that half-blood, his name was Tom Riddle." After looking at her son realizing all that she was getting was a bewildered look, she proceeded. "He changed his name when he became the most powerful Dark wizard around. He is now known and feared as Lord Voldemort."

Although Draco was used to both his parents calling the Dark Lord by his chosen name, a chill still ran down Draco´s spine all the same.

"The Dark Lord? He´s the one in this story?" Draco normally never panicked, but here was his mother, telling him this out-of-this-world bedtime story, and now she was telling him it was real! "A half-blood who wants to kill muggle-borns and muggle-lovers? He´s insane!"

"Before you freak out son, there is more to this story," Narcissa said, then took a deep breath. "The pureblood´s name was Auctor." Draco´s eyes shot up in recognition. "Auctor Malfoy."

"No! It can´t be! We really do serve the Dark Lord? But father said otherwise! The Malfoy´s were poor? Grandfather was stupid enough to mess with that screwed up half-blood? I will have to serve the Dark Lord?" Draco then started to mutter obscenities underneath his breath. His life was fine, he had money, he had talent, he had brains, and of course, he had the looks. Draco Malfoy had a promising future. But now...now it seemed like he had nothing.

Narcissa nodded slightly.

"There is, however, one way to break the curse," Narcissa said tentatively.

Draco looked at his mother, trying to read her expression.

"How?"

"Every curse comes with a counter-curse, surely you must have learned that in school. When the Dark Lord was cursing his former best friend, your grandfather could hear voices in his head. He couldn´t understand what it meant at the time, but your father found his journal soon after his father died and after he had come under the service of the Dark Lord. He was able to figure out what it meant and what we needed to do to break the curse."

"What did Auctor Malfoy hear?"

"At the time, he thought he was going crazy, and afterwards, he was too grieved to give it much thought. But he had heard the strangest voice. It was as if the voices were condemning him to a fate worse than death, and yet, they were giving him a shard of hope." Narcissa paused. "Your grandfather had heard:

`Friend turned traitor,
must forever serve,
the Lord now known as Voldemort.
Heir after heir,
Malfoy´s shall obey,
until the day, the Queen of the Light,
shall bow down,
and love the dragon of Malfoy.
Only then,
shall the Dark Lord be defenseless,
and the Heirs of the Founding Four,
shall bring down the Master of the Dark.´"

Draco didn´t think he had ever heard anything as cryptic as that. He noticed his mother staring at him intently.

"What?" he asked.

"Draco, did you ever wonder why we gave you your name?"

Draco stammered, knowing fully well that his name was Latin for the word `Dragon.´

"Father once said you two had been traveling in Romania looking at dragons right before you conceived me."

Narcissa thought for a moment.

"No, we did travel to Romania once, but that wasn´t where you were conceived. While you were in my stomach, and even after you were born, you had such a temper, the name seemed so fitting. But the main reason we gave you that name, was because we had so much hope in you. We wanted you to save us from this misery. You are our dragon, Draco."

Draco backed away a bit, as far as he could from his mother without falling off the bed. This was just too much for him to handle. First he had been dumped the responsibility of having to serve the Dark Lord. Now he had been given the responsibility of having to love some witch, or whatever the Queen of Light was. He wasn´t sure.

"I- I can´t just love some witch, mother. What if it´s Pansy? Or worse, what if she´s not even a witch? What if I don´t find that queen? I could make some mistake and--"

"Draco...you are already betrothed to her."

~*~*~*~*~*~

Two weeks later, Draco was preparing to depart once more for Hogwarts. Ever since his mother had told him about the family curse and his pending betrothal, Draco had been extremely quiet. Anytime his parents had asked him a question, Draco gave them short replies and then he would quickly fall back into his own world.

His parents were worried, and he knew it. But he couldn´t quite bring himself to caring at the moment. They had given him too much to think about. Too many decisions to make, or rather, no choices left but what they wanted for him.

My choices, he thought to himself bitterly. To marry someone I don´t know or to serve the Dark Lord. Father never told me he was in his service; when Potter had accused him, I had believed father when he had said Potter was lying. And now he tells me he and grandfather were forced to serve him. Ha!

Draco had so many questions, but he didn´t want to ask his parents. He felt too betrayed to do so. What would it be like to serve the Dark Lord? Is my betrothed pretty? Is she nice? Will she be controlling or demanding? What happens after we marry? Why me?

The house elves had packed most of Draco´s belongings, from his beautiful clothes to expensive and numerous toiletries. But Draco was packing the more personal belongings into a bag he could bring with him on the train, like his books and other meaningful things. He looked up at his enchanted clock. It told him that it was time to leave for Hogwarts.

He put his backpack on one shoulder, and carried his school robes in his other hand. Draco left his room, and found his father waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs. Narcissa was unavailable and could not accompany him to the train station. Draco didn´t care for once; his father was the less talkative one in the pair, and the less words said, the better.

They had only been sitting in the finely furnished carriage in silence for five minutes, when Lucius finally spoke.

"Son, I know your mother and I have given you a lot to think about, it is a very huge responsibility. I just hope you would consider your options before you decide on...well, which ever path you choose." He looked at his son carefully. "Draco, I´m very proud of you, and even if you choose...to turn us down, you will still be my son, and that will never stop me from loving you." Lucius felt a tightening across his chest, unaware that Draco was feeling it too. "Don´t hesitate to ask me anything, especially regarding the betrothal...anything to help you decide."

"Who is she?" Draco croaked, trying to keep his emotions in check.

Lucius tensed. "That, I am afraid, I cannot tell you." Draco´s face then hardened, and Lucius was afraid that it would make Draco turn away from them. "I will, however, tell you which amazing wizarding family she comes from."

Draco looked up at his father inquiringly, preparing himself. He wasn´t quite sure what he was preparing himself for actually. He didn´t know if it were to be a name he would recognize and dislike, or a name that would bring shivers down his spine. He just wasn´t sure.

"Your betrothed comes from the family called Magnar."

~*~*~*~*~*~

Careful not to make any noise, Draco silently slipped out of the Slytherin common room. Moving slower than he normally would, Draco didn´t want to bump into anything that would make a sound and attract unwanted attention, and at the same time, he didn´t dare light his wand, for fear someone would see him.

Ever since his father had given him his betrothed´s name, Draco couldn´t get the thought out of his head. He had some crazy idea, which he couldn´t get rid of: find out about the family, trace the whereabouts of the daughter, and figure out what to do from there. If she was ugly, well...he wasn´t quite sure what he´d do about that. He´d have to give it some more thought and consideration.

As soon as the train had arrived at Hogwarts, he had left his luggage for the house elves to put away and raced to the Library. Unfortunately, even after spending hours of searching, Draco still hadn´t found what he was looking for and was feeling very frustrated. And everyone knew that a frustrated Draco wasn´t a good thing.

It was strange that a "Queen of Light" wouldn´t be mentioned in any of the books he could get his hands on here at Hogwarts. Her family wasn´t even mentioned at all anywhere. Draco was beginning to wonder if his parents had made up the whole story for their amusement. But then he realized that if she was indeed a way to help save them all, she and her family were probably kept hidden from almost everyone. If they were well known, the Dark Lord probably would have killed her by now.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, he thought to himself as he made his way to the Library for the second time that day. He realized that what he was looking for must be in the Restricted Section of the Library, and he waited until everyone was sound asleep before he made his way there. Being a prefect had its advantages, for he knew certain schedules and such. Also, there was no prefect duty that night, no one waiting to catch him, but that didn´t stop him from being cautious. He was just more determined now.

"Finally," he muttered underneath his breath as he arrived at his destination. Checking to make sure no one was following him, Draco entered, and was about to head over to the Restricted Section, when, from the corner of his eye, he saw a light coming from one of the Library lounges. Curiously, he decided to check it out.

Draco soundlessly opened the door and saw Hermione sprawled across one of the couches reading from a book intently.

"Granger," he couldn´t help but drawl. "What a...surprise." At that moment, Draco temporarily forgot his mission and was distracted by Hermione´s presence.

Startled, Hermione jumped up, knocking her book down to the ground. When she saw realized whom the voice had come from, she glared.

"Malfoy. What are you doing here?"

"I could ask the same of you," he retorted, casually strolling in her direction. "I suppose Dumbledore knows of your late night activities...the way he lets you Gryffindors get away with it, disgusting," he scowled.

"He presumably knows, but doesn´t allow it," she shot back, angry that he was insulting the Headmaster without reason. "Remember what he said to me during that one Prefect duty?"

Draco pursed his lips.

"And you still disobey? My, my, aren´t we the little rule-breaker?" he hissed, his face moving closer and closer towards hers.

Hermione´s glare faltered.

"I- I just couldn´t concentrate in the Gryffindor common room, what with everyone catching up after the holidays and all. Forget my room, having both Lavender and Parvati as roommates, I´m surprised I get any sleep at all."

"A likely story," Draco smirked. He then bent down and picked up her book. He froze as he read the title. The Most Powerful Light-Sided Wizards of All Time. This might be the exact book that he needed. He looked back up at her and glared, as he flipped through the pages, trying to act as casual as possible as he searched for the Magnar family. Found it, he thought to himself. His hands started to shake a bit, as he saw the page, not knowing that it was the same page Hermione had been reading before he entered.

Hermione placed her hands on her hips angrily.

"Hello? Earth to Malfoy! Answer my question!"

Draco´s head snapped up, unaware that Hermione had been talking to him while he had been searching.

"Huh? What?" he stuttered, as he closed the book, somewhat quickly.

"What are you doing up this late? And could you please give me back my book?" she asked, extending her right hand, while still giving him a pointed look.

Draco thought for a while, trying to figure out the best way to borrow the book from her. He certainly couldn´t ask her for it nicely, that just wasn´t him. He couldn´t just take the book and run, sooner or later, she´d catch up to him, and she´d do her best to find out why he wanted it. The more he thought, the more he felt her growing impatience. Best to get it over with already.

"Could I borrow this book for a while, Granger?"

This caught Hermione by surprise.

"Why?"

Draco stumbled for a moment as he tried to figure out what to say.

"I need it for some research. An assignment I wasn´t able to complete over the holidays because I lacked certain pieces of information."

Hermione stared at him skeptically. Somehow she doubted that that was his real reason, but she had seen a flash of need on his face and knew that he wasn´t just playing with her.

"Fine, but return it to me tomorrow...before lunch. And don´t you dare try hexing it, Draco Malfoy!"

He smirked in reply.

"Don´t worry, I´ll take good care of your precious book." He was about to put it in his bag when she stopped him.

"Um, Malfoy? Could I just see it for a moment? I´ll give it back." He handed it to her curiously. She opened it up and flipped to a page he couldn´t see. She stared at it intently, and then handed it back to him. She just wanted one more looked at the family she hadn´t been able to get put of her head since she came across the book.

Draco slid it into his backpack, giving her a weird look.

A yawn came from Hermione, and she realized just how tired she was.

"I´ll head off to the Gryffindor tower to sleep now, Malfoy," she said, as she brushed past him when she headed for the door.

"To sleep, perchance to dream?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

This time, Hermione knew he was playing with her. He had just quoted one of Shakespeare´s lines from Hamlet, which implied death. As they left the lounge, she whispered the spell to turn off the lights. She would show him she was up to his verbal competition.

"No, I hate dreaming. I don´t get any rest when I do," she answered, taking the statement literally to confuse him.

Hermione started to make her way out of the Library, when she heard him say, Draco smirked, clearly pleased that Hermione was up to his challenge. "Then dream not, Granger. You will merely be a slave to your sleep if you do."

Although he wasn´t making any sense at all, Hermione didn´t dare let him have the last word. She had too much pride in her to let herself look like a fool in front of him.

"We aren´t slaves, Malfoy. We will always have a choice." She wasn´t making any sense either, but Hermione tried her best to sound as if she did, hoping she was confusing him as much as he was confusing her.

"How can you choose not to dream, when sleep you must?" he asked in reply, as he followed her out the door. They stood once more, face to face, as Draco shut the door behind them. He could feel the tension radiate between them, and at the same time, he hadn´t felt this calm in a long time.

"Answer me!" he said, after she remained silent for a few moments.

Hermione sighed as she turned away from him. "Malfoy, I don´t see what you´re getting at, but let me say this. I choose to be free from your demand for me to reply to you. Goodnight," she added shortly, as she turned and walked away.

To her surprise, she heard Draco chuckle behind her.

"Then you owe your freedom to me, for I made you choose. Goodnight, Granger. Dream well, rest not." With another chuckle, he disappeared into the shadows, leaving Hermione puzzled as she made her way to the Gryffindor tower. It was just one of those nights, she supposed, where nothing made sense.