AN: Here's my new story. I wanted it to be a one-shot but let me know what you think, maybe I'll change my mind :) review please! GREAT THANKS TO MY BETA ESRELDA SNAPE!
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."
― Martin Luther King Jr., A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches
"Expecto Patronum", Hermione whispered while laying on her bed preparing herself for some light reading before sleep. She saw a shimmering blue otter emerge from the tip of her wand. He did a couple of backflips in the air and playfully nudged at her side. Hermione chuckled slightly at this sight. She didn't like being alone at night so she often summoned her patronus just to have the feeling that there's some other being with her.
She really hated being alone especially when someone who willingly took the dark mark was sitting just a few steps away from her, under the same roof, with one thin wall separating them. She shrugged. Draco Malfoy being the Head Boy. Professor McGonagall told her that she wanted the blonde to redeem himself while giving him the opportunity to do so.
She also insisted on her opinion that Malfoy became a Deatheater only to protect his family from Lord Voldemort. Hermione once thought so too. She argued with Harry and Ron for months about that, but once she saw him in the Malfoy manor simply standing there, while she was screaming for him to help her when Bellatrix tortured her she saw his grey cold eyes staring at her without a drop of sympathy or human compassion she promised herself to never forgive him.
Right now they silently agreed to simply avoid any contact. Well she didn't know about him because from the start of the term she was avoiding him like a plague. She only wished her friends could be with her but Harry and Ron didn't want to finish their last year at Hogwarts. They started their Auror Program in September and that was the time the Golden Trio had to separate and focus on their career choices.
She still sent them a lot of letters and they always answer her with wonderful and funny replies. Hermione closed her book and started to watch her joyful guardian. Every time she started thinking about the boys she became nostalgic. They were like two really irritating brothers of hers, but she loved them dearly.
Suddenly the otter looked at her with wide eyes filled with panic and his form flickered. Once, twice. He was still looking at her as if he were trying to tell her something, but with the loud sound of the thunder he vanished just as all of the magical lights in her room extinguished themselves.
The darkness overtook her and Hermione's heart began to beat like crazy and her whole body froze. The fear of being alone wasn't exactly the only thing that Hermione was scared of. She also had the fear of the dark, medically called 'nyctophobia'. Being tortured in the dark while at Malfoy's manor worsened her disease.
Hermione felt the blood pulsating in her ears as she jumped from her bed with only one thing on her mind. To run away from her dark room to find a human being. She grabbed her wand and sprinted through her doors with a high-pitched scream. At the time she reached the Head's common room she bumped hard into something warm and firm. She landed with all force on the floor and looked up only to see the darkness.
"What the hell are you doing Granger, running like this with your wand? You could have poked out my eyeball with it, and what was that silly scream about anyway?" He half snorted clearly amused, but she didn't care. Trembling she stood up and did the only thing she was able to in her condition. To solve her nerves she grabbed a handful of Malfoy's robes and buried a head in his muscular chest.
"P-please, please Malfoy just be quiet. Just be quiet and let me calm down. I'm so scared, so scared." She mumbled so quietly that he had to really focus to hear what she was saying. He felt her hot tears seep through his school shirt. Hermione took two deep calming breaths and asked him about the thing that bothered her the most.
"W-why is my magic not working?"
"Maybe it's because you're not worthy of having it?" She heard his answer and immediately got angry. She pushed him away from her with force and landed on the couch. Malfoy had no luck like her, he landed on the floor with a loud grunt.
"What the fuck is wrong with you Granger! I was only trying to get you a bit angry to help you with your panic attack you clearly had! Jeez!" He hissed and Hermione suddenly felt angrier.
"So you decided that calling me unworthy of my magic was the best approach. You're nothing but a slimy, pathetic ferret boy!" She shouted and wanted to continue but Malfoy interrupted her.
"It worked, didn't it?" He quietly stated and got up to sit on the very far end of the couch. Hermione felt like an idiot when realization came to her. It was the only thing that could have made her angry and she really wasn't that scared anymore, but as the seconds passed in silence, she looked around her and started panicking again. She couldn't help it. The phobia took control over her mind. She heard her blood rushing through her veins again.
The silence was broken by Malfoy's voice, which surprisingly sooth her so she leaned forward toward the sound. "No magic is working in Hogwart's right now. Haven't you heard the storm outside? Sometimes the big electrostatic discharge can cause this. We simply have to wait for the magic to gather here again. Stop panicking." He explained and after a while mumbled, "I thought you're supposed to be the smart one."
"I'm smart Malfoy. I just wasn't raised in a magical house. Muggles only have power cuts, nothing this spectacular." She said and circled her waist with her arms, still trembling.
"I get it, you're still a M-Muggleborn." He faltered but Hermione appreciated the effort.
"So what was with that panic attack? Are you scared of a little bit of darkness?" He asked teasingly.
"I'm not just scared okay?" She tried to defend herself. "It's a phobia caused by my stupid cousin and her friends. When I was six, they locked me in the bathroom, turned off the lights and screamed about the monsters coming out of the mirror. I was so scared that I sat in the corner and cried hopelessly. They forgot about me for half an hour so I sat there until my uncle found me when he wanted to use the bathroom himself. It had a huge impact on my young mind." She shrugged and after a few seconds of silence she added, "Being tortured in the dark room in a huge manor isn't really helping me either." She sighed and rubbed her 'mudblood' scar by her thumb.
Hermione heard Malfoy draw a deep breath of air into his lungs and hesitated before saying, "Granger I'm so sorry that I couldn't help you then. I really wanted to, but if I would have even flinched, my bitch of an aunt would have killed me or try to harm my mother. The tortures weren't only for getting the information out of you. It was a test of sorts for me. She wanted to know where my loyalties lay. I-If I could turned back time I would have done something." He sighed. "Maybe then I wouldn't see you in pain every night in my nightmares." He added but immediately cleared his throat sounding embarrassed.
Hermione's eyes opened wide and she was glad that he couldn't see the look on her face. "I hated you for a long time Malfoy. I sometimes half blamed you for what happened. I can't say that I'll forget about it but I can try to forgive you." She generously said and imagined the small sad smile that should appear on Malfoy's face after her speech.
They sat like that for a couple of minutes and the silence made Hermione uneasy again. There was nothing to distract her from focusing on her fear. "Malfoy?" She asked shyly and after his faint, "What Granger?" She continued, "Will you talk to me? I don't want you to fall asleep now, I need some distraction, please." She pleaded.
"I'm not your babysitter Granger." He answered angrily and Hermione suspected it was because he opened up to her too much a couple of minutes ago. She heard him chuckle. "Okay we can talk. Tell me about that monster you were so scared of." He demanded and Hermione froze.
"Don't you dare say THAT Malfoy!" She shouted and started panicking.
"You mean that you don't want to hear the words 'Bloody Mary'?" He asked with a smile, but to her it sounded cruel.
"Stop it! Stop it! Don't say the rest!" She begged and tears started to fill her eyes.
"Oh you thought that I don't know this silly story about 'Bloody Mary' coming out of the mirror at midnight?" He chuckled and Hermione's hot tears flew down her cheeks and she was trembling. Suddenly because of her increased senses or just her imagination she heard the rain outside and the crash of thunder.
Hermione grabbed Malfoy's hand that layed on the couch next to her and squeezing it she started begging him to stop. She even moved closer to him. "I beg you Malfoy, don't say it. You don't understand how scared I am. You probably don't understand how the phobia works. Please I'll do anything Malfoy." She sobbed.
"Call me by my first name." He demanded suddenly.
"Will you stop your cruel joke then?" She asked hopefully.
"Only then, yes." He answered.
"Thank you, Draco…" She whispered with relief and felt him flinch a little after his name rolled off her tongue. They became quiet after that for a while and Hermione realized that she was still holding Malfoy's hand so she dropped it fast.
"Granger?"
"Yeah?"
"Are you really that scared or are you just pretending?" He asked seriously like he couldn't understand that someone could be almost having a heart attack just because of the darkness. Hermione just took his hand again and brought it to her wet face so that he could feel her tears, and Malfoy sighed.
"Come here Granger." He said and lifted his arm so she could snuggle to his side. You can pretend that I'll protect you now. I'm a strong man after all." He smirked.
Hermione chuckled and asked with disbelief. "Would you protect me?"
"Naah. You know that I rather save my own skin, leave you to the monster and run away." He chuckled.
"I suspected that." She smiled and yawned. "You know it's the first time we have ever had a proper conversation?"
"It's also the first time that you willingly touched me Granger." He smiled and added, "Except for the time you punched me in the face."
"You deserved that punch." She answered with another yawn.
"Okay Granger I think its time for you to go to sleep." He stated but only deep breaths answered him. He knew that it wasn't possible for them to sleep in that position on the small couch so he gently wrapped his arms around Hermione's small waist and pulled her up with him. He expected her to be heavier so her light body felt just right for him and it was no effort at all for him to walk with her in his arms to her bedroom.
He layed her down on her bed and that caused her to stir and wake up. She sat up straight and called for him with a panicked voice. He was extremely flattered that instead of calling him Malfoy she screamed his name.
"Still here Granger." He assured her.
"Will you… stay with me tonight?" She asked with hesitation. "I don't mean anything perverse, but if you could just hold me like you did on the couch?" She was glad that he couldn't see her burning cheeks and she was mentally slapping herself for even mentioning a sexually related theme.
He was clearly amused by her discomfort. "You have no idea how to encourage a guy to spend a night with you, do you? He chuckled but mounted her bed beside her and lifted his arm once more to give her space to snuggle. She layed her head on his arm and placed her hand on his chest.
They looked like a couple of lovers, so not their style but he didn't want it to be anything else. He looked down at her relaxing form and even if he couldn't see her, he imagined a small content smile on her lips. Those kissable full plump lips he thought.
Hermione didn't know that Malfoy's views had changed. He was not only no longer biased but also on his way to falling in love with the Head Girl. He wasn't stupid and knew that she was avoiding him for the past two months so he didn't dare approach her even when his whole soul was telling him to apologize and explain his behavior that foul night in his manor.
He wanted to thank whatever force that made this perfect opportunity for him to show Hermione that he's no longer the monster she thought he was. He took a deep breath and smelled Hermione's hair; it smelled divine, like vanilla and jasmine. He couldn't restrain himself from not kissing her forehead gently.
He froze when he felt her raising her head in his direction. "Draco what are you… Why?" She asked puzzled and he felt her sweet hot breath on his cheek.
"Because," he answered simply and kissed her gently but passionately on the lips. He put into this kiss all of his affection and prayed that she wouldn't punch him after what he had done.
To his amazement she returned his kiss with almost equal passion. They brushed their tongues and fought for dominance. She bit his lower lip and smiled when she heard his quiet purr. After a few minutes they separated, both out of breath and panting. He rested his forehead on hers and with a smile rubbed her nose with his in affectionate motion.
"That changes something, doesn't it?" Hermione asked him quietly.
"That changes everything Hermione." He answered her and wrapped his arms around her waist snuggling to her like his life depended on it.
When Draco was sure Hermione was asleep he whispered making a promise to her. "I will protect you from everything Hermione. Even some monster Bloody Mary witch." And with that he inhaled her sweet scent and drifted off to sleep.
The old curse was awoken that night and the two future lovers couldn't see the deformed face of Bloody Mary staring at them with an insane look in her eyes from the small mirror on Hermione's nightstand. "Oh, what fun I'm going to have with these two lovers." whispered Bloody Marry from within the mirror as she slipped from the frame of the mirror and into the larger mirror on the inside of the closet door.
As they slept in each others arms the closet door silently opened as if it were blown by an invisible wind. Bloody Marry stood silently in the tall door length mirror and waited the midnight hour to arrive. As the moon rose high over the storm drenched castle grounds and the clock ticked to midnight, Bloody Marry stepped from the mirror and silently stepped over to the foot of the bed and watched the two debating on what she should do next with a wicked smile on her twisted lips.