My submission for the practice round of the Housing Competition
Prompt: Fire (Short Story)
The books in her arms seemed less heavier than the immense weight of her sorrow that sagged her shoulders as she shuffled rather at a snail-pace back to the Head dorms.
It had been merely a few months since the horrifying Wizarding war had ended, at the price of several lives and several heartbreaks. Hogwarts had been reinstated back to order and the wizards and witches who had missed out on their Newts courtesy of the war had been called back again.
Needless to say, Hermione Granger was back.
And that now seemed to be a mistake. None of those who had chosen to come back to Hogwarts had ever fully recovered from the trauma the War had inflicted.
A few months was barely enough time to do so.
Although she had been made Head-Girl, it hardly felt satisfying to her own self. She couldn't walk down the halls without grazing her eyes around her and remembering specific spots littered around the old castle where her fallen batch mates used to chatter about.
It felt rather surreal. To know they were never coming back.
To know that Hogwarts was never gonna feel the same again.
A harrow sigh escaped her lips when she stopped in front of the portrait that guarded the Head dorms. Uttering "Phoenix ashes", she slowly stepped in, balancing the stack of books on her arms as the door shut with a soft click behind her.
She had meant to drown herself in those books tonight instead of twisting and twirling about in her bed.
However as she approached the common room, her steps faltered.
She could feel the warmth of the fire hazily filling up the air before she could even hear it crackling and instantly knew her male counterpart, the Head boy was awake.
Being a victim to sleepless nights herself, she wasn't surprised.
She made a quick visit to her room, dropping her books on the bed carelessly before slipping out again and sneaking back into the Common Room.
She would forever wonder why she was suddenly intrigued to know what the Head boy was doing in the room. The silence was eerily peaceful.
She saw the telltale reflections of the glowing fire across his fair blond head before she could even see his face. His back was turned to hers as he sat across the couch facing the fire, seemingly zoned out.
He could have been mistaken for being paralyzed, such was the stillness in his body.
Cold dread gripped Hermione's heart.
With a new found urgency, she strode over to the couch and without warning, plopped heavily next to him, sensing that probably his close proximity to a Mudblood would zap him back to reality.
Not even a muscle in his jaw ticked.
"Malfoy?"
"..."
"Malfoy...what's wrong?"
The silence was disturbing.
Her hand that rested on her knee twitched.
"Please...tell me"
He never so much as let out even a breath.
Now she was worried.
"Malfoy!" The decibel in her voice went up a notch.
Still no response.
And then involuntarily, that hand that previously lay twitching on her knee shot out and pressed itself against his frigid cheek.
Despite the fire warming the room, he was ice-cold.
"Draco!" She no longer held herself back from screaming.
And just like that, his head snapped towards her and she was forced to meet with lifeless grey eyes that shone with unshed tears in the light of the fire.
Draco Malfoy had never looked so vulnerable.
He blinked a few times and the tears steadily trailed a path down his angled cheeks.
Right then, she knew she was gonna see this face too in her nightmares.
"Granger..." Gone was the husky, arrogant drawl
It sounded more like a cross between a whimper and a croak.
"Malfoy...what's wrong?"
He stared at her for a while, face ashen and eyes void of all emotion except the one Hermione knew all too well. Pain.
He shuddered suddenly, bending his head down and her concern increased tenfold.
"Mal-Draco, please tell me"
The sound of his given name was really the only trigger required.
Before she could ever see it coming, he threw his arms around her and proceeded to bury his platinum head at the place where her neck and shoulder met. The instant wetting of her blouse confirmed all her fears.
He was breaking down before her. He, the emotionless Slytherin Prince who reveled in arrogance and glares was breaking down before the Gryffindor Princess who to him, was a sworn enemy.
"Granger...I can't forget" Even with her wild curls covering the better part of her ears, his hot breaths had somehow traversed their way into her right ear and she felt her spine shiver.
"They made me w-watch it. Watch them torture muggles. Rape them. Kill them."
His arms suddenly tightened around her body as if he was afraid she could pull away any moment.
"They made me do it too" his voice cracked against her ear and Hermione was attacked with an array of emotions that made her heart scream and cry out of sympathy at the same time.
He believed he was a monster. They forced him into believing it.
"I've got the blood of innocents on my hand. They have turned me into a murderer and I've got to live the rest of my life as one"
On her own accord, Hermione's own arms that were hung loosely by her side the whole time slowly came up and lightly wrapped themselves around his lanky frame.
He buried his head further into her curls, almost as if he wished to hide himself away in them.
If anyone was to see a former Death Eater and War heroine hugging on a couch facing a crackling fire that set a dim glow around the room, they'd would look at it as a hallucination.
Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger just didn't go around Hogwarts hugging each other.
"You were never a monster Draco" her voice was tender but firm.. She didn't want him to think she was pitying him. She wanted him to know the truth.
"I am one Granger"
"You aren't" She didn't allow him to talk anymore. "Monsters don't hesitate to murder. Monsters don't feel guilty.
They made you believe you are one but I swear to Merlin and Harry himself, you aren't one."
At this, he pulled away so she could meet the conflict swirling in his grey irises.
"I took the Dark Mark", he whispered, albeit bitterly. "That bloody screams out at anyone who sees it that I'm one of them"
"I don't see it right now. All I see is someone who's sobbing in repentance"
There was a long silence that followed. Only the crackles of fire could be heard and an iridescent glow fell upon them both, simultaneous warming their bodies that still held each other.
Draco slowly pulled away from her then and turned away, bowing his head as he did so. She immediately realized from the stiffening in his shoulders that he was ashamed of having been caught crying, by Mudblood Granger that too.
She never should have mentioned the sobbing.
Things were progressively getting awkward and if she didn't make a move to leave first, they were gonna get worse. She'd leave him alone for now for that's what he seemed to yearn at that very moment.
For her to leave.
But even the Brightest Witch of Her Age could be very wrong.
When she had only started to get up, something latched itself onto her wrist and pulled her back down so she could turn and look back into those piercing greys once more.
She wasn't prepared to see how they had softened incredibly. a mercurial silver now.
"I get nightmares" a mumble escaped his lips.
Hermione only looked on, silently wondering where this was going.
"And from the cries that I hear in your room some nights, I think you do to"
She was now ashamed too that he knew about her nightmares, her thoughts flying and hence never realising how he was cleverly pulling her in closer.
"But tonight, I realized how tired I really am of them. And from those bags under your eyes, I know you are too"
His arms found themselves back around her body and she was surprised at how well she eased into them
The world must be going mad.
"Stay with me" it came out more as a plead than a softly made order from his lips.
Maybe it was the glow of the fire against his white-blond hair or the dance of the embers in his beautiful silver eyes or the fact that fire looked so very comforting in this dreary world but whatever it was, it made her say "Yes"
What scared her more was that it wasn't even a hesitant "Yes". It was a firm one.
Hours later, the fire still crackled amongst the twigs in the fireplace, engulfing the pair that faced it across the room on the couch, locked in an embrace as they slept, in a comfortable sense of calmness and warmth.
Her back was pressed against his chest and she had her face turned towards the fire whilst his face was buried in her brown untamed curls. Their fingers lay loosely entwined.
The fire showed no signs of burning out, even at the crack of dawn.
It made sure to keep the nightmares away that night.
Reviews are most welcome...Hope you enjoyed this one