Draco shot up in his bed, panting and drenched in sweat. He heard whimpering to his right, and to his left someone fell out of their four-poster bed and onto the floor with a thump.
The nightmares came once a week. Some were worse than others, but they were always about the same thing. And they all had them. They tried to expect it, to lessen the blow, but you could never get used to the nightmares they had. The Mornings After were getting easier.
Any second the door would open and-
The heavy old door creaked open. A small dark blur not-so-quietly crept inside. Pansy passed his bed, brushing it softly with her side, and continued on her way to Blaise's bed. She pulled back the curtain, climbed into his bed and closed the curtain behind her. Blaise's whimpers soon ceased, and Draco was sure Pansy was fine, too.
Draco's eyes scanned the room. The shadows seemed to call him. Theo's sheets rustled as he climbed back into his bed, having spent a few minutes on the cold floor that seemed to calm him. Draco's eyes landed on his wrist. The time on his watch said 12:04.
I have to get out of here.
Ten minutes later, Draco was sitting on the grassy shore of the Black Lake. The full moon seemed to control the water, pushing it to and fro. He was mesmerized. The full moon seemed to control him, too. He came down to the lake to clear his mind. He never could think after a nightmare. Thinking thoughts he wished not to think killed him slowly. It was his way to deal after the nightmares.
Theo, Blaise, and Pansy had their own ways. Pansy and Blaise comforted each other. Theo drew; often he revisited his nightmares with his drawing, and then he would fall into deep depressions. Only Draco knew that he drew. Theo was nervous that people would find out that The Brain had an artistic side.
Draco sighed. The nightmares were the worst for Pansy. Last year changed all of them . . . but last year ruined Pansy.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Hermione blinked twice before she became fully aware. She sat up, wide-eyed and ready.
6 A.M. Wednesday morning. October 3rd.
She did not have to be in the Great Hall for breakfast for another hour and a half, and classes didn't start until 8. Hermione was always an early riser. She quietly made her way out of the dormitory she shared with Lavender and Parvati, and with her bathroom basket in hand, she crept to the prefects' bath.
Forty-five minutes later, Hermione was sitting on the grassy shore of the Black Lake, mentally scolding herself for taking so long in the bathroom; too often, she let the soothing hot water distract her from the time.
Sighing contently, she looked beyond to the lake, letting herself decompress mentally. She was on Watch for the Head Girl position. Everything she did, every homework she turned in, every exam she took was being reviewed. She had no idea who else was being Watched, though she had heard Justin was being Watched from his House. She was just happy Ernie wasn't being Watched. She had heard him ranting about it. His temper would have made him an impatient and unpleasant Head Boy.
Hermione skipped a stone on the water's surface. It didn't go far-it wasn't even close to hitting the Slytherin dormitories. The Slytherin common room was located under the lake, and usually the dorms were too, but early in the mornings the low tide revealed what Hermione assumed was the top floor of the dormitories.
She suspected Nott was being Watched from Slytherin. Though Zabini was made Prefect after Malfoy was stripped of his badge, Nott was Hermione's greatest competitor for top of the class. They had switched back and forth between first and second place every year since first year. So far, Nott was ahead of her this year, but then again, they were only a month in. Plenty could change in eight months. Her Advanced classes were going smoothly enough. She didn't expect them to be easy. No, of course not. She was pleasantly surprised with the work load. It was enough that she wasn't ahead in every class, and wasn't so much that she had no time to keep Harry and Ron happy.
Hermione shivered as a breeze passed, the trees tilted for the wind and Hermione's hair went everywhere. It was 7 o'clock-time for her to go in and wake Harry and Ron. She sighed. What would they do without her?
"Rosie, please prepare my school bag." Pansy whispered. It was 7 o'clock. Rosie nodded, and made her exit. Draco, Blaise and Pansy were sitting in the common room. Students slowed down as they passed, sensing something off about the three of the four most influential Slytherins. Theo was still holed up in the dorm. In a few minutes, Draco would go get him, force him to bathe, dress, then eat.
"I can't do this anymore," Draco muttered. Blaise looked at him. The Morning After was always the worst, but he'll snap back, Blaise reasoned. Draco stood quickly, then disappeared in a way that reminded Blaise of Theo. Minutes passed before Blaise's attention snapped to Pansy, when she exhaled and shivered. She turned to him, then smiled.
"Never let anyone see you down, Blaise. Remember? Nothing's wrong."
"For how long can we pretend that nothing is wrong, love?" he whispered. He always fell into a sort of depression the Morning After. Blaise was going to sigh, but he stopped himself. Then it was his turn to smile. "Your birthday is on Friday."
"Yes…" Pansy brightened. "Yes! Yes, it is! Have you got me a present yet?" Blaise scoffed.
"We had your presents ready months ago." Pansy grinned wider, which in turn made Blaise grin. Smiles from Pansy were rare these days. Usually, smiles were fake, laughs were forced, and the ice in her eyes was a show. Blaise hated to say it, but sometimes he felt as if his best friend was dead inside.
The mood lifted. Blaise's happiness made him more approachable. Underclassmen began coming up to him, asking him questions, advice, as usual. A usual day. Draco and Theo came down, looking in brighter moods, too. The Morning After always hit them hard. Usually it took them until lunch to get back to their normal selves.
Draco and Theo sat down across from Blaise. "You will never believe what I found." Draco threw an old photo on the table, faced down. On the back the words "Antsy, Ace, Drake, and Teddy" were written in childish handwriting. Blaise picked it up, turned it over, and couldn't hold back a chuckle. Pansy leaned over, curious to see the photo.
From left to right, there was a little girl whose face was half-hidden because she'd pulled up her dress the moment the photo was taken, revealing her pink-flowered underwear. Next to her stood two boys with identical, wide-toothed grins, their arms draped across each other's shoulders. One boy had white blond hair, grey eyes, and pale skin while the other had dark skin and warm hazel eyes. The last boy, to the far right, was sitting on the floor, his finger lodged into his nose.
"Oh Merlin!" Pansy exclaimed, her hand flying to her mouth to prevent herself from laughing out loud. "I can't believe that was us!"
"I know. If it wasn't for the fact that Draco looks the exact same, I would doubt that was us." Blaise flipped the picture around to see the back. "And our nicknames. I forgot all about them."
Draco smirked, "How could you forget about our nicknames, Ace?" Blaise sighed loudly and looked down at the picture again.
"Oh, Drake, I almost forgot you could smile before looking at this picture," Blaise said jokingly. "All you seem to do these days are smirk, sneer, or frown."
Draco sneered, rolling his eyes at his best friend.
"Ah fink 'Agrid pects uh oo' go ow funder t'ay," Ron said with his mouth full of breakfast. Hermione grimaced.
Hermione wasn't tired when the time came to go to breakfast. Waking up early made her well–rested for the day to come. Though Harry and Ron wouldn't understand, Hermione said to herself. If only they knew a well-rested mind is a ready mind. She stared pointedly at Harry, who yawned, before turning her attention to Ron.
"Really Ron? Would it be impossible for you to wait to speak until you finish chewing?" she said. Ron smiled, showing the world what he was having for breakfast, purposely to annoy Hermione, who gave an unladylike disgusted grunt. Ginny sighed.
"He said that Hagrid expects us to go see him today. Its Wednesday." She translated. Hermione and Harry exchanged looks. In less than a week they had to act as witnesses on the Death Eater trial; we should spend less time sitting around with Hagrid and more time preparing, Hermione thought.
"Hermione and I have things to do. The trial is next week. We have to be ready so that those Death Eaters never see daylight again." Harry stabbed his sausage with his fork. Ron nodded violently, before shoving another spoonful of food in his mouth.
"You guys will do fine. I wish Ron and I could help, but we barely remember anything." Ginny looked down, as did Ron. They were angry at themselves for not being about to remember anything useful. Harry placed a comforting arm around Ginny's shoulders, who immediately smiled up at him.
"That night was hard on all of us," Hermione whispered. "Don't blame yourself just because you don't remember." One thing they always agreed on was the fact that nothing was going to be the same after last year. The war had finally started, and everyone was waiting for Voldemort to strike.
Harry breathed in deeply, tightening his hold on Ginny. "We have to make sure our story is solid, Hermione. We can't let them slip out of our hands just because their lawyers outsmart us into saying something we don't mean. We can do this. We are going to put those Death Eaters away, or my name isn't Harry James Potter. I swear on the graves of my parents and everyone else who died because of Voldemort and those damned Death Eaters. I'll make sure each and every one of them ends up in Azkaban, if it's the last thing I do!" Harry slammed his fist on the table, and several heads looked their away. Particularly, a few heads from the Slytherin table.
Malfoy glared at them with a look so deadly that even Hermione looked away. The hate in his eyes was so strong and so narrowly directed at Harry, Hermione almost feared that Harry would explode on the spot.
Harry held Malfoy's stare. Neither boy backed down, and it wasn't until the 8 o'clock bell rang that they looked away simultaneously.
"Harry," Hermione whispered sharply, noticing that Harry was heading toward the Slytherin table, his eyes back on Malfoy, instead of the door. "Don't. Please, just let it go. Let's just go." she grabbed onto his sleeve and dragged him away just as Malfoy caught on and made his way toward Harry.
The tension between Malfoy and Harry had been climbing ever since the day after the battle at the Ministry. One day they were just going to go off on each other, Hermione feared. Malfoy Sr.'s lawyers were looking for anything to get Mr. Malfoy free, and Harry attacking his son would definitely be good for the defense. Hermione knew begging Harry to remain nonchalant towards Malfoy and his comments could only last so long.
"What if they win?" Harry asked her quietly as they walked to class. Hermione looked at him. The fear in his eyes was obvious. If Voldemort got reunited with his inner circle of Death Eaters, it would make the war much harder than it already was.
She didn't answer.
"Just ignore Potter," Blaise said, synchronizing his steps with his best friend. He didn't see Theo and Pansy share a look behind them before Theo gave them a nod goodbye.
"My father was-is a great man," Draco said through gritted teeth. Blaise nodded. He knew how much Draco admired his father. "Potter has no right to insult him whenever he gets the chance. Those snide comments that he thinks are witty!" Draco threw his things on the table he and Blaise shared.
Transfiguration was one of the few classes he and Blaise had together. Blaise had many Advanced classes this year, along with Theo, and Advanced classes were not separated by House. In fact, one Advanced class could have students from all four Houses.
"I came in this year completely expecting to ignore Potter," Draco continued, "but, as you can see, he wouldn't have that. He just has to provoke me every chance he gets. One more comment about my father, and I will-"
"I know, Draco!" Blaise whispered harshly. "But don't you think we, I'm speaking for Pansy and Theo, too, are tired of hearing how unfair the world is for you? Ranting and raving isn't going to solve anything, but whenever something remotely unsatisfying happens to you, you blame everyone except for yourself! And I'm tired of it."
Draco stared his friend down. Though they were best friends, Blaise and he often fought. This time, Blaise had really hit home. Without a word, Draco picked up his things and sat across the room, next to a Hufflepuff girl. When she gawked at him, Draco sneered at her, causing her to sit upright in her chair, looking straight up towards the front of the classroom, not daring to cast a glance at the mean-spirited Slytherin next to her.
"You really did it this time, Blaise," Pansy said, taking a seat next to Blaise instead of sitting behind him, where she usually sat next to Tracey. "You know Draco's been sensitive, for lack of a better word, about his father. You could have had any other to pick an argument-"
"I was not picking an argu-"
"It doesn't matter. To Draco, it seems like you're taking Potter's side-"
"Potter's side? I would never-"
"It does not matter!" Pansy whispered bitterly. "Draco lost his father, Blaise! You need to understand that."
"So did Theo, and Theo's not throwing bitch fits left and right!"
"You know Theo never loved his father. At least not like Draco did. Draco loves his father. Imagine how this summer must have been for him. With his mother never leaving her room and having to take care of Logan. It must have been torture for him. So just let him be-as his best friend, just accept the rants and raving, and just let him be."
Professor McGonagall apologized briskly for being late and class begun, leaving Blaise to his thoughts.