Hey Guys this is my first fanfic so let me know what you think, constructive criticism is always appreciated! Enjoy!!!

Dancing bears, painted wings,

Things I almost remember,

And a song, some one sings,

Once upon a December.

Chapter 1:

She awoke with a start, sweat pouring down her face. Where am I? She wondered to herself. She tried to push herself up into a sitting position, but fell quickly onto her back. She groaned. Her entire body ached. She opened her eyes and was temporarily blinded by the bright light streaming down on her from the sky. The late afternoon sun. She groaned again and rolled over. She blinked a few times, her eyes adjusting, before she tried once again to push herself into a sitting position. She slowly looked around, taking in her surroundings. She was outside. Surrounded by tall trees, and the sound of a trickling stream not far away. How did I get here? She asked herself. She slowly got to her feet and once again looked around. Her knees began to buckle and she grabbed onto a tree for support. She could feel her pulse pounding in her head, and she tentatively reached a hand up to the side of her throbbing head. Something sticky ran between her fingers. She quickly pulled her hand away and felt dizzy by what she saw, blood, dark, thick, red, blood. For a moment she thought she was going to vomit. She began to walk, or really more like stumble, towards the sound of the stream. After not five minutes she came to a beautiful clearing, with a small stream running right though the middle. She let out a sigh and made her way over to the edge. She sat down and caught a glimpse of her reflection. She didn't even recognize her own face. Her chocolate brown hair was caked with blood and her right eye was almost swollen shut and was surrounded by a dark bruise. What happened to me? She struggled to think, but her mind was blank. She slowly immersed herself into the water, not bothering to undress. The day was hot and the sun was beating down on her with a vengeance. She submerged herself entirely before pushing herself back up to the surface. She sighed. The water eased the pain in her limbs and it was cool and refreshing. She almost managed a smile. She cupped some water in her hands and moved it up to her face and began to wash away the dried blood that resided there. She winced at the stinging sensation she felt when the cool water made contact with her tender skin, but continued to wash away the blood anyway. She ran her hands through her hair, trying to free it from the tangles. She saw red beginning to spread, before disappearing into the water. The blood from the side of her head, and once again she began to feel woozy at the sight. She pulled herself out of the stream and onto the bank where she lay for a while, quietly listening to the sounds of the forests around her. She could hear birds singing their beautiful songs from the tops of the trees and this made her smile, for she had always found that the sounds of the birds soothed her. She began to shiver, despite the heat of the afternoon. She soon realized it was because of her wet clothes. She quickly stripped herself from her jeans and her singlet top, her shoes and socks, keeping on her bra and knickers, incase anyone else should come along. But I am in the middle of no where. Who would find me out here? She lay her wet clothes out on a near by rock to dry, before resuming her place on the soft grass of the bank, she stared up at the sky, watching the clouds move and form shapes. She felt confused. She had no idea where she was, no idea of how she got there. What day was it? She screwed up her face in concentration, but nothing came to her, it was all void, empty, an empty blackness.

It was growing dark, and the chill of night was beginning to set in. she pulled on her clothes and looked around the clearing. Why didn't I even think of finding somewhere to sleep tonight? Why did I not think to signal for help? Why did I not even try to search for other people? She wondered to herself. She sighed. It was too dark to do anything about it now anyway.

At the edge of the clearing there was a pile of rocks, and it almost formed a kind of shelter. It would have to do. She could sleep there for the night, and then try finding some help in the morning. She lay her head down and closed her eyes, preparing herself for sleep. But sleep did not come for a very long time.

When it did come, it was not peaceful and quiet. Rather it was filled with blood, and vivid images that frightened her to the core. She once again awoke with a start, her heart pounding so hard in her chest she was surprised it didn't echo throughout the forest. She could feel her pulse in her throat and for a moment she struggled to breathe. A tear ran down her cheek and she pulled her legs into her chest, resting her chin on her knees. The first sight of dawn was beginning to show above the trees. What happened? How did I get here? She wondered to herself, and not for the first time. She struggled to think but her mind stayed blank, she could not remember a thing. It was a strange and terrifying feeling, and she had a hollow, sinking feeling in her stomach. What happens if I die out here? Will any one ever notice?

---::---

Not too far away, a young, blonde man awoke too from a startling dream. Draco Malfoy sat up straight in his bed, his chest heaving, and his breathing deep. He ran a hand through his blonde hair and groaned. He looked over to beside his bed and saw the time, 5:56am. He lay back down, his head sinking into his soft pillow and pulled up his blankets. He was suddenly cold. He shivered as he remembered that fateful night only three weeks ago. The final battle. Voldermort had finally been defeated. But there had been so much blood, so much death. His Father… killed by the hand of Voldermort for his betrayal. He was still haunted by terrible nightmares of his Father, dying in his arms. Draco had believed, up until two years ago, that he would always follow in his father's footsteps and he would become a Death Eater as soon as his eighteenth birthday arrived, and would be so subjected to a life of serving Lord Voldermort. It was only a few weeks before the ceremony would take place that Lucius Malfoy had come to Draco and told him the truth about his involvement with Voldermort, and it certainly was not what Draco was expecting. Lucius had revealed to him what he had been really up to the past 5 years, since Voldermort's return. He told Draco that it was true, he was a Death Eater, as Draco well knew, from all the Death Eater's coming's and goings when he had been home from school during the holidays. But what he didn't know was that Lucius had somehow found out about the Order of the Phoenix, and, instead of telling Voldermort about the society secretly plotting against him, he went to Dumbledore and struck a deal. Lucius would be free of all charges against him, if he would be allowed to become a member of The Order of the Phoenix and he would help them to work against Voldermort and bring about his downfall. Draco was shocked, he had never known.

"But Father, surely Lord Voldermort would have known?" Draco had asked incredulously.

"There were times my son when he was not certain of where my loyalties lie. But if he had of known, I would have been dead before I saw him next."

"So will the ceremony still take place then?"

"Of course. If it doesn't it will seem suspicious. Voldermort has been waiting for many years for you to become one of his Death Eaters, he believes you can do great things. And so do I, but just not for his side. I know that I have always brought you up Draco, to believe in the ways of The Dark Lord, we must hate all mudbloods, they are beneath us, but it is wrong, and that is not what I want from you. Please Draco, I am sorry that I have misguided you, I only hope that it is not too late, that you will-"

Draco cut him off. "You don't have to say anything. I know what I must do. I must admit I never wanted to be one of Voldermort's followers, the only reason I would is to please you, as I have tried to do my entire life. If this is what you want me to do, then I will do it."

"You are brave; I can not think of another that I would rather call my son."

And with that Lucius had embraced his son. He had never felt prouder of him.

A tear ran down Draco's cheek as he remembered his father. And his poor mother, she was like a ghost that wondered about the house day after day. She was still alive, but she may as well have been dead. Draco knew she was lonely. Narcissa had loved her husband very much. It was as though her soul had died along with Lucius and now she was but an empty shell. She spoke only when spoken to, and it was usually in monosyllabic words, hardly distinguishable from rambling. Draco felt sorry for her. This feeling of compassion was strange to him. Something he had never felt before. Even though Draco had joined The Order of the Phoenix, that didn't mean he changed dramatically from the person he was before he learned the truth about his father. True, the spiteful and malicious comments thrown Potter's way had lessened, and he had ceased making fun of Weasley's second hand robes, and he had even stopped calling that annoying bookworm, Granger, a 'mudblood', well, at least to her face. The thought of Hermione Granger made him crease his forehead. It was believed that she had been killed in the battle, although no one had found her body. For the first week, she had been named as just 'missing', but now, she was being referred to as 'missing, feared dead'. Not that it was of much importance to Draco, just because he had gone over to 'the good side', that didn't by any means mean that Draco had become friends with the Golden Trio, as he sometimes liked to call them. Draco would forever despise the Gryffindor friends out of anger, pride, and most strangely, envy. Draco Malfoy was not one people would normally assume to get jealous. But in this case, regarding Harry Potter, The-boy-who-lived-to-annoy-the-hell-out-of-him, and his two sidekicks, Draco had always been jealous with their close friendship and obvious ease with each other. Not that he would ever admit it to anyone; he would die before that would ever happen, and most of the time, he could barely handle admitting this to himself.

---::---

She didn't know how long she had been sitting there. She sat staring at the stream 50 meters away. She had thought of nothing but the disturbing dreams she had had the night before.

There was a man and woman, standing side by side, their arms around one another, large smiles covering their faces; they must have been her parents. She called out to them and held her hand up above her head and gave them a big wave. They waved eagerly back and she began to run towards them, she could feel the happiness in seeing them surging through her heart. But suddenly, their happy, smiling faces changed to horror, they began shouting at her, but she could not understand what they were saying. She continued to run towards them, feeling confused by the sudden change in them. Surely they were happy to see her? They kept screaming and suddenly a huge fire blocked her path, so she was unable to get to the couple on the other side of this burning wall. She screamed out in frustration. Everything was so hot now. She heard someone laughing behind her and she whipped her head around. "Who is there?" she yelled, but there came no reply. Then two boys appeared, they seemed familiar, but she could not remember who they were. One had the reddest hair she could ever remember seeing and blue eyes. "You have to get out of here… you must run!" he shouted to her. She turned to the other boy. He had jet black hair, and startling green eyes, and he bore a scare the shape of a lightening Bolt on his forehead. His eyes pleaded with her to listen. But then suddenly she could feel the fire growing closer and she could hear the boys begin to frantically scream at her, telling her to run. But her legs were rooted to the ground, she could not move. Tears began to pour down her cheeks and she could feel the heat getting closer and closer. She looked down to her feet and let out a scream of horror. Dead bodies lay everywhere around her, bloodied and mangled from war. What had happened here? But before she knew, the fire was upon her and she let out one final scream before her body was lost.

She felt so frustrated. Why was it that she could not remember what had happened? She let out an aggravated scream and could hear it echoing in the forest around her. Her body began to shake with sobs, she began to rock backwards and forwards, backwards and forwards, it almost began a hypnotic rhythm, which she found herself unable to break. There was a dull ache in her stomach, and it growled audibly and she felt her cheeks flush red in embarrassment, even though there was no one around to hear it. She laughed quietly to herself at her foolishness. Her mood considerably lightened a bit at this. She was so hungry; now that her attention had been drawn to it, it was hard to stop thinking about it. I have to find some food. She made her way over to her stream to wash the sleep from her face. Once again she did not recognize the reflection starring back at her. The swelling had gone down but she was still beaten and bruised. What is happening to me? She wondered to herself as she shook her head, as if trying to clear away cobwebs that were residing in her brain, blocking her vision of what was reality. She sighed as another tear ran down her cheek. Why was it that she could not remember? She had cried so many tears since she had awoken the day before to find herself lost with no idea where she was or how she got there, but it seemed as though there was more left in her to cry. She lay down on the bank of the stream and let the tears flow. Exhausted by the traumatic events of the past 24 hours, it wasn't long before she cried herself to sleep… again.

---::---

Draco looked out one of the huge glass windows of the library. It really was a beautiful day. The sun was shining down on the patch of forest behind his property, making it look like a place where mystical creatures would be hiding. But he knew the thought was absurd, his father had cast a charm on it many years ago so that no creature could be found lurking in there. He didn't want nosy hunters coming to snoop around.

Draco sighed and pushed himself back from the desk at which he was sitting.

"Mother, I'm just going for a walk." He called out.

He was twenty-one, a young adult, but he still informed his parents of every move he made. Draco smiled to himself at this thought.

Of course he got no reply.

Draco sighed again, he hated to have to see his mother like this, it was like she may as well be dead. Her soul and her heart had died along with Lucius.

Draco let himself out the back gate and began to stroll casually towards the forest. His mind was blank, he thought of nothing. There was a track which lead deep into the forest and he followed it, with absolutely no desire to get lost again. This forest was like a maze of trees, but then again aren't all forests? When he was younger his father had brought him out here to teach him some useful spells that Narcissa had forbidden them to practice inside the house. They had come to a small clearing and Lucius was tired and so he decided to take a nap. But when he woke up, Draco was long gone. It took him just on two hours to find him, crying and huddled up in a ball beside a large tree.

After about an hour, the trees had become thicker and it was getting darker, the sunlight being cut off by the thick canopy. The clearing was getting close, he could already hear the sound of a small stream. Draco stumbled suddenly and had to grab onto a tree for support. He stood for a moment, head down, eyes closed, trying to regain his breath. He opened his eyes and was horrified by what he saw. There was blood, covering the ground. Draco thought he might be sick. Whatever was bleeding this badly could not have gotten far. Draco once again felt that strange compassionate feeling. His heart pounded; fear rippling through his body and he shivered. Apprehension filled his mind. What possibly could have bled so much? He thought to himself. No creatures are supposed to live in here. He was confused to say the least. He decided to continue heading towards the clearing. If something, or someone, was badly hurt, then surely they would have made their way to the clearing, it was the most logical thing to do Draco concurred. What if it was a person? He wondered, although the fact that someone would ever enter the forest here was highly unlikely. And, if they had come into the woods, how had they been so badly hurt. How had they managed that… unless… Draco shivered again at the thought that there might be something dangerous lurking in the hidden corners of the forest, waiting for unsuspecting victims to prey upon. With that disturbing thought he quickened his pace. Finally he burst into the clearing. He looked around and at first he saw nothing. But then his eyes fell on something beside the riverbank. "Merlin" Draco said under his breathe as he carefully and quietly approached.

Once he got closer he was able to tell that it was a young girl. He called out to her. "Uhh… excuse me?"

But she did not stir.

He took a step closer. He could see the slight rise and fall of her chest and he was relieved to see she was still breathing. Her clothes were tattered and torn and stained with blood. Her chocolate colored hair was messy and it covered her face.

"Hello?" he asked again.

Not that Draco would ever admit it, but he was a little bit anxious and was unsure of what he should do. He had never been in such a situation, and this whole feeling of being on "The Good Side" was completely new to him as well.

The girl moaned in her sleep but then settled again. Draco shrugged to himself; if she was just sleeping she must be fine. She probably just got drunk and somehow wound up here. And the blood? Some sort of alcohol, Draco guessed. He shook his head, disgusted. But as he began to walk away he was stopped dead in his tracks. The girl behind him let out an ear piercingly loud shriek, Draco himself almost screamed himself. He quickly ripped around to see what had startled this girl so. But the girl was only sitting upright, her hand on her chest her head facing down to her lap. Should I just leave? How could you even think of leaving? Draco admonished himself. This girl obviously needs your help, how can you even consider not going over there to help her out? But it was too late now anyway if Draco was planning on just walking away, because at that moment the girl looked up and saw him, their eyes met, and Draco reeled back in shock. He would know those mocha eyes anywhere. Hermione Granger. He glared at her angrily, but she just looked up at him curiously.

"Hello." She said innocently and… friendly?

Draco just rolled his eyes at her, and started to walk away.

"Wait!" she called out after him, but he ignored her and kept walking.

"Wait!" she called out again and Draco could hear her scramble to her feet to hurry after him.

Draco did not quicken his pace, but remained at his usual saunter, as much as he didn't want her to catch up with him. What in Merlin's name was Hermione Granger doing in his forest?

"Please wait!" she called out again; slightly short of breath.

Draco rolled his eyes, sighed loudly, and stopped suddenly, but he did not turn around.

When she caught up she was panting. "Please sir, I need your help." She pleaded.

Draco turned around now, his eyebrows raised. Had she just asked him for help? Had Hermione Granger, insufferable know-it-all, Harry Potter's best friend, just asked him for help? Perhaps it wasn't her after all, she was missing… presumed dead. But then, if it was her, that would explain where she would have been. And why was she calling him sir? Was she trying to be annoying?

"What do you want this time Granger?" he asked her in his usual drawl.

"Excuse me?" she asked, and by the look of confusion on her face the thought that she might not actually be Hermione Granger popped into Draco's mind once more.

"I said what do you want?"

"Please… I don't know how I got here… I can't-" but she was cut of by her sobs.

"Uhh…" said Draco, not really knowing how to deal with a girl falling to pieces in front of him. He was used to girls crying over him, not in front of him.

"Granger, cut the crap, I'm not in the mood." He snapped, annoyed at her slightly, not understanding why she was being so civil to him, even if she had been stuck out here for three weeks, seven years of hatred between them could not be overrun that easily.

She looked at him, staring into his eyes. "Why do you keep calling me Granger?" she asked.

"Well that's your name isn't it?" he asked sarcastically.

"No." she said uncertainly.

Draco relaxed; it wasn't Hermione Granger after all. "I'm sorry if I was being rude," Draco apologized, turning on the Malfoy charm. "You merely reminded me of someone who… I am not very friendly with. What is your name?"

"That is alright." She replied. "My name is… my name is… I… I can't remember."

She burst into tears as she sank to the ground.

Draco stood, growing increasingly more and more uncomfortable; he was not used to comforting people when they were upset. If this girl didn't know who she was, then there still was a great possibility that this was Hermione Granger, and there was no way he was going to be nice to Hermione Granger, even if he had turned to the light side and all that crap. In fact, the more she cried, the more convinced he became that it was the insufferable bookworm. The war had been fought not far away from here, she had been named missing, and no body was yet to be found.

"Well… uhh… good luck with that." Draco finished somewhat rudely as he began once again to walk back towards the manor. I knew I should have stayed at home today.

---::---

She stopped her crying instantly and looked up at this stranger that was walking away. Why was he so cold, so angry? He was a handsome man. He was tall, muscular with light blonde hair and silver eyes that seemed as though they held pools of knowledge beyond his years.

"Please wait!" she called out after him. "Please, can't you help me?"

The man continued walking, showing no sign of acknowledgement or that he had even heard her at all. What is his problem? She thought to herself. Couldn't he see she was in need of help? No one could be that heartless… could they? In her thoughts she had not noticed the blonde man stop and she crashed into him.

"I'm so sorry." She mumbled apologetically.

"Well if you paid more attention to where you were going-" but he never got to finish that sentence.

"Well if you weren't so busy being a prat." She yelled. "What is your problem?"

Something registered in his eyes, something like recognition.

"Fine, you know what, if it gets you to shut the hell up. You can follow me to my home where you can call St. Mungos and you can find out what is wrong with you."

"Thank-you." She replied curtly.

"Whatever." Draco mumbled as he continued walking towards the manor.

"St Who's?" she asked as she quickly followed him.

"…"

"Fine." She muttered under her breath.

What is his problem? He acts as though he knows me. She thought to herself. He is so angry, he seems so lonely. Oh well, that's not my problem.

Well what did you think? Please review so i know if i should continue on. untill next time. madame tinkerbell xoxo