What Dreams May Come
SUMMARY: AU (with magic). In this sentimental, metaphysical love story, the afterlife journey of a man through his idea of heaven will do anything to be reunited with his wife on earth. Love is too strong to let go of. DMHG. A tear-jerker.
AUTHORS SAY: Why is this not a supernatural or sci-fi fiction? Because this is romance, and it is drama, dealing with some fantasy and I don't want it to be tagged as some over-the-top story dealing with Ghosts and the phenomenal world. It's not. This story will be THREE chapters long, coming in three parts. Then, there will be a short epilogue. To let you all know, this story is an adaptation of both the movie and the book "What Dreams May Come" but HP style. I hope you all enjoy it, and enjoy the book/movie because they are completely amazing. You will love it.
Here are the titles:Part I: What They Have
Built
Part II: Heaven and
Hell
Part III: Saving Her
Epilogue: Rebirth
"To be or not to be, for in that sleep of death what dreams may come when we have shuffled off this mortal coil."
—Hamlet
PART I
What They Have Built
July 14, 2007
..-.-.-.-..
"Do I know you?"
The day was gorgeous, the sun shining beautifully across the lake as the mountains gleamed from a distance. It was mid-summer, and the breeze was graceful and ever so often fluttered Draco's newly trimmed hair across his forehead. He was dressed in a white collared shirt with a baby blue v-neck sweater to keep him warm in case he decided to travel closer to the mountains that day, with denim jeans. He had been staying at the manor his late parents owned in Switzerland. He was twenty-six and had finally made his way to Switzerland, having been on a trip around the world for the last three years. Seeing that the weather was just perfect, Draco had decided to take out the one-man sailboat and cruise about the lake. He was enjoying the sun's gentle rays when he felt something nudge at the side of his boat. A voice called out to him, and he had turned to answer.
"I…I don't think so…" Draco stuttered, squinting. Another person had decided to sail today, and had accidentally bumped into his boat.
He sat stiffly in the small sail boat as he turned to see the beautiful woman dressed in all white, a long silky red scarf tied around her hips. She had a white beanie on top of her wild, curly brown hair that reached her waist almost, and her gentle-looking lips curled upward into a smile. She giggled.
"You look familiar!" she exclaimed.
"You're British?" Draco asked the girl. She pushed her wild curls from her face, the breeze coming in steadily, whipping her billowy white skirt about her, exposing her warm tanned thighs.
"Oh, but I am in Switzerland," she said sweetly. "We are in Switzerland, so I am Swedish." The girl grabbed hold of the handle on her small sailboat, carefully guiding it aside Draco's boat.
"I know…but you sound British," Draco said gently. The mysterious girl smiled.
"I am British."
"Oh…" Draco laughed at the quiet look on the girl's face.
"I'm Hermione," she called out, the winding carrying her away. "Hermione Granger…" she laughed, her hair was once again in her face and she pushed it back.
"Hermione…!" he called out. He knew this girl. "I think I know you…I know you!" Hermione whirled around in her boat.
"You do?" she asked, grinning. "I knew you were familiar! What's your name?"
"Draco! Draco Malfoy!"
-----
Hermione pulled the white cap off of her head, lying flat onto her back as Draco sat beside her in the grass. She smiled softly as her skirt moved in the breeze. He smiled back at her.
"It's simply beautiful here," she said, untying her red scarf and pulling it about her shoulders. Draco nodded in agreement. He was smitten by Hermione. He hadn't seen her since graduation. That was almost nine years ago. The scrawny bookworm that he had met then was no more a scrawny girl, but a woman.
"What have been doing these last nine years? I thought you married Ronald Weasley?" Draco asked. Hermione gave a throaty laugh and pulled herself onto her side to stare up at Draco. After getting over their initial shock of seeing each other in the most random of places, they had decided to sit down and talk for awhile.
"I was engaged to Ron for three years after graduation," she started. "But we couldn't deal with it, he wanted to party and be young, and I wanted to travel and study. We were too young to play house. I left him." Draco nodded in understanding.
"And what happened to Harry Potter?" Draco asked softly. He hadn't thought about Hogwarts, his old friends, or his enemies in years. He had fought in the last battle, proving an allegiance with the Light, and together, everyone had helped Harry Potter bring down Voldemort. He had left Hogwarts with some reassurance to his existence, and he was appreciating every minute of it. He had forgiven them, and they had forgiven him.
"He's married to Ginny Weasley," she answered. "They have…um…" Hermione closed her eyes, as if trying to remember. "They have three kids."
"Wow," Draco started, shaking his head. "What have you been doing?"
"Me? Oh, I've been traveling, studying in every country I've been in…I just came back from India," she proudly said. "I taught a group of beautiful kids how to read in Bombay. It was fabulous. I've also been painting, a new love of mine," she whispered. Draco gave her an admiring smile. "What about yourself?"
"I've been traveling also, I actually have a manor here in Switzerland, I've been here for about three weeks now…I can't seem to leave this place," Draco said happily.
"I know, I've only been here for a week or so and I can't even imagine leaving."
There was a comfortable silence between the two as they looked out over the mountains. Hermione sighed happily.
"Would you like to go get lunch with me?" Draco asked. Hermione nodded.
"That would be lovely, actually. We could catch up on things and such, nine years is a long time." She then stretched, gracefully picking herself up from the grass and waited for Draco to do the same. He stood with her, and all they could do was smile at each other.
"I don't live too far from here," he said. Hermione raised an eyebrow.
"Are you inviting me over?"
"Well, you might as well come with me instead of meeting up with me later for lunch. We could go together."
"Fine, sounds like a plan," she said sweetly. "Lead the way." Draco grinned and took hold of Hermione's hand.
Suddenly, Hermione's red scarf flew from off her shoulders and drifted with away with the wind.
"Oh!" she exclaimed, trying to grab it before it fluttered down the mountain to the lake. Draco released her hand and ran after it, neatly grabbing it from the sky before it fluttered too far down the mountain. It collided against his head, covering his blushing face as Hermione doubled over in laughter. "My hero!" she cried out.
July 14, 2020
13 Years Later
"Lynn," Hermione said warningly. "I don't want you waving your wand about, do you hear me? Accidental magic is a huge offence in the Wizarding world."
"Mummy, I know! I was just kidding with Dominic," eleven year old Lynn said. She placed a plate of kippers and toast in front of her daughter. The girl was the spitting image of Hermione, with long unruly brown hair, with the same intense, quizzical brow. The only thing that didn't belong to Hermione was the girl's expressive silvery-gray eyes. Those were her dads.
Dominic snorted. "She wasn't kidding Mum…she said she would hex me into oblivion if I touched her stuffed owl again."
"You shouldn't be touching her owl in the first place, Dom," said a voice. A very sleepy Draco entered the beautifully lit kitchen, his bare feet slapping against the brown tile. He went over to Hermione and kissed her lovingly on the lips, then kissed Lynn on the cheek before sitting beside Dom and ruffling his platinum blonde locks and kissed the top of his head. His son narrowed his warm gray eyes that were flecked with gold as he endured his father's sentimental display of affection.
"Well, it's just a stupid owl," Dom muttered. Draco gave him a look.
"Don't touch what isn't yours sweetheart," Hermione said, sitting next to Lynn with her own plate and Draco's.
"Then I won't hex you," Lynn said sweetly.
Draco and Hermione had married only two months after their random meet in Switzerland. Soon after their marriage, Hermione had fallen pregnant with their first child, Dominic Alexander Malfoy, and two years later with Lynn Jane Malfoy. Dom was in his third year at Hogwarts, but was home for the summer holidays, and Lynn had just finished her first year. Draco had sold Malfoy Manor and bought a beautiful Victorian-style house in Manchester. Draco had taken up a job in the Wizarding world as a Healer for St. Mungos, and Hermione had stayed in the Muggle world and owned a famous art gallery, where she brought through many well-known artists, and sold some of her own beautiful paintings.
"Oh, if Headmaster Potter heard you right now, Lynn," Dom said angrily. "He would be so mad at you. He always said you needed anger management."
"Uncle Harry said that about Lynn, Dom?" Hermione inquired with an incredulous look. Hermione knew that Lynn thought very strongly of Harry, finding him as one of her role models, only second to her dad.
"Who cares if he did? She needs it."
"C'mon guys…it's too early in the morning," Draco groaned, conjuring a cup of coffee. Lynn giggled.
"I love when you do magic daddy…" she started. "You always have these little red patches appear on your cheeks, and your hair flutters a bit." Draco grinned.
"I am quite funny looking when I do magic, right baby?" with that said, he flicked his wand and a large, red cotton ball appeared on his nose. "Like a clown." Lynn broke into a fit of giggles, and even Dom laughed.
"You're very cute, honey," Hermione said, making the red nose on her husbands face disappear. "Don't forget that, too."
"I am funny and cute," Draco confirmed. Dom cleared his throat.
"What are we doing today?" he asked, changing the subject.
"Well, you two are going to visit Uncle Ron and Aunt Luna while I go to work and your dad runs errands."
"I want to go with Dad," Lynn said, frowning.
"Honey, I promised Aunt Luna that you would play with Ron jr. and his sister Amy."
"I don't want to play with them."
"And what will I do there? I'm too old!" Dom exclaimed.
"Bring your ipod or something," Draco answered, eggs swirling around in his mouth. He swallowed. "You guys will only be there for a few hours, I'll come and get you, and then I'll buy you both a huge cone of ice cream, how about that?" Draco asked. Dom shifted in his seat, looking as if he was seriously thinking about it.
"I like your plan dad…I think I can deal with the three brats for a few hours for mint choc ice cream," he said happily. "But only if you hold your end of the deal, though."
Hermione shook her head, "this planning and deal agreements is what made our son into a Slytherin," Hermione said sadly, but smiled nonetheless.
"A very proud and popular Slytherin," Dom corrected. Draco grinned and clapped him on the back.
"You can be all that Dom, but maybe you could also put a little bit of that energy into your studying?" Hermione answered back. Draco shot her a look that was pleading for her not to go that route with Dom. The boy flushed.
"I'm your Gryffindor, Mummy," Lynn said proudly, dismissing Dom's discomfort.
"Yes you are, and I love having both of you, my snake and my lion," she said sweetly. "Why don't you two go get ready? Nancy has offered to drive you two to Ron and Luna's house." Nancy was Hermione's best mate in the neighborhood. She was a muggleborn widow with no children, who lived on the edge of the block in a rather large, empty house. They had been friends for nearly a decade.
"Whatever," Dom said standing from his seat and heading out of the kitchen to his room. Lynn gracefully dabbed her lips with her napkin, etiquette learned from Draco and stood from her chair.
"Thank you mummy for breakfast, I'll just go change out of my pyjamas now," she announced before leaving the room also. This just left Hermione and Draco alone. Draco stood from his seat and walked around the large cherry wood table to sit beside Hermione, pulling her into his arms. He kissed the side of her neck, and then her cheek, finally to rest on her lips. Hermione breathed in his scent, and moaned into the kiss. "Today's the day we met once again, that faithful day in Switzerland," Draco sang, making Hermione laugh into his mouth.
"I love you, my little lion," Draco murmured against her lips. She giggled.
"I love you too, snake."
-----
After about half an hour, Nancy was standing on their porch, waiting for the two Malfoy children to come out. Lynn had pulled her hair back into a bun, accentuating her similar features with her mother even more, and wore jeans and a baby blue sweater. Dom, with his headphones blaring came out in black jeans with a black t-shirt, a metal chain dangling about his neck with what suspiciously looked like a werewolf fang. His long blonde hair was tied back into a ponytail, and he had shades covering his gray eyes.
"Oh, Dom…" Hermione groaned in annoyance. "It's too hot to go outside in an all black outfit…go change!" he ignored her. "DOM!" she bellowed. Draco, who had been walking by, snatched the headphones from off of Dom's head.
"What? What is it, damn!" the boy exclaimed, looking around. Draco glared.
"Your mother is talking to you!" he snapped. "Go change out of that ridiculously gothic outfit and wear something that will not make you sweat excessively in Ms. Nancy's car!" Draco pushed the large headphones into Dom's hands, the boy grumbling as he made his way back up the stairs. He turned to Hermione, who walked over to him and sighed.
"Draco," she started. "We're going to have to do something about Dom's attitude. He's so disrespectful to us at times."
"I know, we'll do something about it, don't worry. If he doesn't shape up, we'll ship him away," Draco answered half-heartedly with a smirk. Lynn had pulled Nancy into the sitting room and was chatting the poor woman up when Draco and Hermione found them.
"Thank you for driving them," Draco said.
"It's not a problem Draco," the older woman replied. "I love your children very much, and I don't mind taking them around." They were interrupted by Dom's loud clomping of his feet against the hallway's wooden floor. He entered the sitting room, dressed in a green t-shirt and denim shorts with brown flip-flops.
"Better?" Dom asked. Hermione smiled at him.
"Very, honey."
Nancy stood from her seat and walked to the front door with Draco beside her, his arm looped around Lynn's petite shoulders. Dom turned to Hermione.
"Mum…" he started. "I'm really sorry about my attitude. I heard you and Dad talking about me, and I just wanted to say I'm sorry…I love you!" Dom said, throwing his arms around her. "Please don't send me away!" Hermione began to laugh.
"We're not going to send you away, Dominic…" Hermione said, hugging her son back. "We just want you to be a little more respectful towards us. We love you very much, and we don't like being mad at you, honey. We'll talk about it later tonight, okay?"
Hermione kissed him on the cheek and led him to the door. "Okay? Bye sweetheart!" She watched as Dom exited the house, walking towards Nancy's blue Nissan. Draco was leaning into the passenger widow, talking to Lynn. He placed a large bag filled with some of her recreational items onto her lap, patting her on the head briefly before turning to Dom and opening the door for him.
"Be good," she heard Draco say. He then winked at him and waited for him to sit back comfortably until he closed the door. "Love you son, I'll get see you in a wee bit, okay?" his son nodded.
The car took off, and Draco stood in the middle of the street, waving cheerfully as he watched the car drive off. Hermione had left the door frame to answer her ringing phone.
It would be the last time they saw their children.
July 14, 2021
..-.-.-.-..
"HERMIONE! OH GOD!" Draco screamed. He entered the bathroom, blood spilling onto the ground from where Hermione had slit her wrist open. "BABY!" he whimpered, pulling her to his chest, "Please wake up," he cried into her hair. "Please…" Draco's white Healer robe was being stained as his wife bled to death. He pulled out his wand and performed a healing charm on her, crying harder as she took in a large gulp of air through her mouth. Draco kissed her cheeks. He wanted all her pain to go away. Hermione began sobbing against Draco's chest as Draco ran a hand through her short locks. After the kids' deaths, Hermione had cut off her hair, just to the bottom of her ears, exposing her long neck.
"My babies…" Hermione cried. "My babies…"
"Hermione, sweetheart, why?"
"I want my babies, I want my children back!" she roared. Draco flicked his wand to clean the blood stains that were on the floor and picked her up to carry her into their office, which was the nearest room with a bed. He kicked the door open and sat her on it. Hermione's paintings were filled within the room. One painting that Hermione had been working on for a year was for Draco. It was a painting of where the two first met, their Switzerland. Hermione was pale and shaking as she gripped hold of his robe.
"I want to die," she whimpered. "I want to die…"
Draco had pulled out his cellular phone and dialed St. Mungos.
"Lou? We need assistance," Draco sobbed out. "I know, you were right, I knew she was ill like this…yes, I remember what we agreed on. She'll be admitted for a year…Oh Lou, my wife tried to…slit her wrists."
"Draco…" Hermione whispered as he hung up the phone.
"Love, please…" Draco started. "Please tell me you're okay." Hermione screamed. Suddenly, three robed figures appeared in the room, a straightjacket in one of their hands. Draco sank to the floor sobbing as Hermione thrashed against the men, who were yanking the jacket onto her and tying her up.
"Draco, don't let them take me away…" she screamed.
"They'll help you Hermione, they'll help you."
"No…" she whimpered. They grabbed her up and nodded to the weeping Draco.
"You can see her within the week, Mr. Malfoy…" and with that, they apparated.
August 8, 2024
..-.-.-.-..
"Healer Malfoy! Healer Malfoy!" cried a young little girl. She was about six, with long blonde hair and dark green eyes.
"Lizzie," Draco smiled at his favorite patient. "How have you been, darling? You haven't been drawing on the paintings again with your crayons again, have you?" Draco inquired, picking the young girl up and leading her into a room. She shook her head, but gave him a mischievous smile that told Draco otherwise of her actions. The young girl's mother was already there.
"Elizabeth Winter Paige Madison!" she snapped. "I told you not to leave this room when I stepped out to take my call!" the little girl stared shamefully at the ground as her mother scowled her.
"I was just looking for Healer Malfoy."
"You could have gotten lost!" her mother cried. "Then what?"
"Well, I found him mummy…"
"But Healer Malfoy might've been busy darling, you can't interrupt him…"
"It's quite all right Ms. Madison," Draco said quickly, trying to dismiss the unfurling conflict. "I have your daughters results right here…seems like Lizzie has the flu," he said. Ms. Madison sighed.
"Oh, what should we do?"
Before Draco could answer, the room's phone began to ring. "Oh, hold on." He walked over to the desk and grabbed up the phone.
"Healer Draco Malfoy speaking."
"Draco…"
"Hermione?"
"Yes, I'm sorry, but I don't think I'll be able to make it for our anniversary dinner tonight." Draco paled.
"What's happened?" She sighed.
"The paintings I've been waiting for are late, and my secretary told me that it will take nearly an hour for me to receive them…I'm so sorry sweetheart."
"Wait…" Draco started. "I have a suggestion. Why don't I bring the party to you? Why don't I, eh?" Draco could hear Hermione smiling over the phone.
"Really? Love, that would be amazing…I would love it so much."
"Consider it done; I'll be there soon, okay?"
"Yes," she said sweetly. "Bye baby."
"Bye love." He hung up the phone and turned to face Lizzie and her mother. "My wife, sorry. Shall we carry on?"
-----
Draco was driving towards Hermione's art gallery in central London. He always knew the distance was great, but he liked driving very much. He couldn't believe that they would be celebrating their second D-Day anniversary. It would be the second year that Hermione had agreed not to have a divorce, and they promised to work through their situation while Hermione had stayed in the psychiatric ward in St. Mungos. Beside him sat a dozen of roses, a box of Hermione's favorite toffee, and a beautiful card he had picked out for her. He swore under his breath at the oncoming traffic, frustrated as he stared at the time. It was nearing eight in the evening.
He was slowly approaching a tunnel when he realized what was causing the traffic. There was a horrible car pile up ahead, and in the distance he could hear screaming. "WE NEED HELP! PLEASE!"
Draco pushed open his car door and quickly ran towards the collision. A car was turned upside-down, and a young olive-skinned woman was suspended upside down, tears leaking from her face. He could hear a baby crying.
"Please…save my baby."
"I will…I promise," Draco said. He broke open the back window, and carefully removed the child from the back seat. The other person who had been calling for a doctor was a young female teenager, no older than eighteen. Her car was also horribly smashed up, but she was able to escape the mess with just a busted lip and bruised collarbone. Draco handed her the baby. "Please, move away from the rubble…as far as you can, can you do that for me?" Draco asked. The girl nodded and took off running. Draco pulled out his wand. "I need you to relax. Okay?" Draco whispered to the crying woman. "Shhh…" he whispered. "It'll be okay, just relax…" Draco flicked his wand, and soon the woman was free from her restraints.
"I smell gas…" she whimpered, touching her bleeding forehead. She was so confused; she didn't even question Draco about his wand.
"It's important that we leave as fast as we can from here…" he said. The woman threw her arms around Draco's neck, hugging him.
"Thank you so much, thank you." She turned and took off running in the direction of her baby's crying. Draco smiled weakly, sighing. Draco was just about to make his way back to his car, when he heard a loud bang from behind. He turned and saw a car spinning out of control flip over another car, heading towards him, flying high above.
Then he saw nothing.
-----
"Draco, do you know what has happened?" said a voice. Draco's wand lay broken beside him as two men carefully pulled a cover over his body.
"Yeah," he laughed. "I ate some bad fish before I went to bed…" Draco joked. The two men were carrying him away.
"Draco…Draco…you're dead."
"What?" he asked. The voice was echoing in his head.
"You're dead Draco. You're no longer alive."
"Who are you…?"
"Just call me Professor."
-
Before Draco knew, he was floating beside a tall image of a man dressed in long robes with a long beard. Draco could only see Hermione sitting on their couch, crying in the arms of her mother. All her friends were around her, and his friends were standing about the room crying also.
"Why are you guys still here?" Hermione asked weakly.
"We're here for you, Hermione," Harry said, sitting beside her and wrapping an arm about her shoulders. She cried harder.
"Oh, Draco…my sweetheart, my love…"
"Why can't she see me?" Draco asked the image. The blur shook his head.
"You're dead, Draco."
"You're kidding!" Draco growled, pushing the blur away from him. Draco reached out for Hermione, but the scene changed once again.
He was standing in a Cathedral, the light spilling in from the stain glass windows. An image of Saint Peter glared back at him. He recognized the church as the same church he had married Hermione in, and his heart sank to see all the rows in the church filled, a black coffin sitting in the front of the room.
"Where are we, Professor?" Draco asked, afraid of the answer. The image moved towards the center of the church.
"We're at your funeral, Draco."
"No…" Draco shook his head, feeling tears push up against his eyelids. "You're lying!"
"Look…" the image pointed to a small huddle of black robes sitting in the very front row alone. Draco walked over to the huddle and saw that Hermione was sitting stock-still, her face pale had dark shadows under her eyes. Draco cried out in shock, and began to gently touch her face. Hermione closed her eyes, allowing tears to slide down her cheeks. He stepped away from her.
"Professor…" Draco started, tears falling down his own face. "This can't be happening…"
-
Draco found himself in Hermione's office. She was sitting in her chair, dressed in a baggy gray sweater with black pants. She had her diary out, and was writing quickly in it.
"Why are we still here? I already had the funeral…" Draco muttered. The Professor came from behind him.
"You refuse to let go, Draco," he said softly. Draco peered over Hermione shoulder.
"Dear Diary, I'm writing in this bullshit diary, on these bullshit pages because my shrink is crazier than I am," she wrote. "I miss him so much. I've lost both my babies, and now I've lost my husband…my pride and joy. The Shrink thought he had cured my breakdown, but it was all Draco's doing. Without him, I would have drowned a long time ago, but he saved me. Now the love of my life is gone. My life is gone…"
"Hermione," Draco sobbed, placing his hand slightly above her hand. "I still exist, baby…" he whispered in her ear. Hermione's eyes fluttered shut as if she could hear Draco's voice. "I still exist," he said with much more power. "Write it. Write love, write it." Hermione's hand began to shake as she drew in a shaky breath and wrote:
THIS IS DRACO—I STILL EXIST.
"Read it," Draco whispered fiercely, "Hermione, baby, read it." She looked down at it, and immediately her body began convulsing with sobs. She gripped the page and ripped it from out of the diary, throwing it across the room as she began screaming. She fell to the floor, curling into a tight ball as Draco took several steps back, colliding against the wall, where he slid to the floor and cried into his hands. "I love you," he whispered repeatedly. Her screaming, however, did not cease, and soon Draco began to regret having her write that. He wiped the tears from his face and looked up at the image that had been following him around.
"I'm ready to leave," Draco sobbed. "I-I-I—can't stand this. Please, I'm ready to go." The professor held out his hand, and with one last look at the love of his life, he accepted the hand and left.
Hermione's screaming quieted, and she occasionally sniffed as she lifted herself by the arms to look around the room. It felt completely empty now. There was no warmth, no reassurance in the air anymore. She laid back onto the floor, curling into a ball as she hugged her legs to her chest. She fell asleep there.
Okay, thank you for reading Part I of "What Dreams May Come." Please leave your reviews of constructive criticism and general comments, they're all appreciated. I hope there were no errors in this chapter. It's four in the morning, and my eyes hurt. Thank you for your time, and look forward to PART II. Do any of you guys have a guess as to who the "Professor" is?
Thank you!
-Pat.
