AN: Hey everyone!
So, here it is, the first chapter of the sequel of "Jar of Hearts".
I want to add totalhpfan347 to my list of thank you's of "Jar of Hearts, thank you for your nice review! :)
I hope you'll enjoy the first chapter :).
A race for love
Chapter one
Over the past weeks it had seemed as if England had suddenly moved to the middle of the desert. For a long heat wave was sweeping across the country.
It made flower beds wither and sent the roots of the trees desperately searching for a drop of water.
It was a warm, calm evening in July and the moon was climbing high in the midnight sky. Crickets were chirping peacefully in the lawns and now and then you could hear a lonely owl's cry.
In a nice, clean neighbourhood in London one single car drove by and here and there you could see the flashing images of a television. But most of the inhabitants were already asleep for curtains had been pulled across the windows.
Almost every single bedroom window was open in an attempt to cool down the boiling temperature inside.
Everything seemed quiet with people slumbering deep.
But there was one particular house in which this wasn't the case.
A girl was tossing and turning in her bed; her eyelids were fluttering and her head was moving restlessly. Her forehead was creased and covered with little drops of sweat. But that wasn't a result of the heat.
No, Hermione Granger was stuck in a terrible nightmare.
It was dark and a white fog came rolling in from the evergreen trees surrounding her. Hermione knew that she was standing in the middle of a forest; she had been here before, several times. She wrapped her arms around her when a cold breeze swept by.
Peering in front of her she could just see the outlines of a small path. But through the thick fog it was impossible to see where the trail was going.
Hermione gathered her courage and started walking, wondering where her feet would carry her.
Even though she had followed this path previous times, at this moment she always forgot what happened next.
She kept walking and walking and sounds started to fill up the night; a clattering stream, a small breeze moving the branches of the trees.
Then as quick as it had come the fog went away; Hermione frowned: now that was a new twist on the dream.
She looked around and her eye caught a flickering yellow- orange glow. She set her jaw and searched for the source of the light.
Soon, she found herself standing in a clearing and noticed that the glow was caused by a burning fire. Its flames were reaching very high; it seemed as if they were licking the evening sky.
A tent was set up next to it and Hermione decided to take a closer look.
She froze when the tent flap opened and a person stepped out of it. She squinted her eyes and when she saw the boy's face she put her hand to her mouth to suppress a gasp.
Draco Malfoy was sitting beside the fire, warming his hands.
Hermione couldn't believe it! It really was him!
A smile appeared on her face and all the fear that had been in her heart before melted away by joy.
She ran towards Draco and looked at him from across the fire. Her eyes widened when she saw his face more clearly; his cheeks had fallen in a little bit and there were dark circles underneath his eyes. He looked tired; as if he hadn't been sleeping for days.
His grey shirt was dirty, but still accentuated his eyes, and the hems of his faded blue jeans were frayed. He must have been out here for weeks. But to her he still looked handsome; she had never seen him in Muggle wear and she had to say that the outfit suited him well.
Hermione stepped forward and laid her hand on his cheek. But just inches before it could touch his face her hand came to a hold.
She tried it again, but still she couldn't touch him; it was as if a small, invisible barrier or energy had popped up out of nowhere and had placed itself between them. She couldn't touch him and clearly he couldn't see her.
Hermione opened her mouth to say his name but no sound came over her lips. She tried again, but alas, again no sound could be heard.
Well, at least she was glad to see him alive and well; if it was real. Maybe it just was nothing more but a dream.
It didn't feel like one though. And Hermione couldn't ignore how happy it made her feel.
How wonderful it was to see his face again!
She seated herself next to him, still hoping that at some point he would be aware of her presence.
As if her prayers had been answered she saw him twitch and he looked straight at her with a frown on his face. Hermione felt her cheeks burning under the intensity of his stare. But then Draco just shook his head and focused back on the fire.
He really couldn't see her could he? Her own eyes travelled to the flames but she looked back at him when he mumbled something:
'I really thought she was here, but that's impossible.'
A spark of hope shot through her heart and she moved a little closer to him. Again he looked in her direction:
'Hermione? Are you here?' He asked doubtfully.
She wanted to yell out that yes indeed she was here, but again the sound of her voice did not travel through the air.
All of a sudden the fire died, the smoke of its smouldering ambers filled the air like pale white ghosts. She could hear Draco hold his breath and a terrible high- pitched voice sounded from behind them:
'Have a second guess dear nephew…'
At the same time as Draco, Hermione flung her head around; Bellatrix was standing on the left side of the tent and behind her black clouds shot from the sky to the ground. Before she realised it Draco was surrounded by other Death Eaters. Hermione started panicking and tried to get Draco to stand up and run.
He must have felt something for he immediately got up and raced towards the forest, leaving everything behind. He ran as if his life depended on it, which was probably the case, and she tried hard to keep up.
Bramble bushes scratched his face and shins, his breathing became heavier and heavier with the second. Draco started to slow down and came to a hold; completely out of breath. But then the insane cackling laughter filled up the forest and he started running again.
The Death Eaters didn't give up the chase but got bored and started to fire spell after spell at Draco's back. All of them nearly missed until a red, paralysing beam shot straight through his right arm. He yelped and fell down upon the forest floor. Voldmort's followers slowed down their pace to what could have been a relaxing jog.
They came closer and closer and eventually they were standing around Draco in a small circle.
A wicked smirk appeared on Bellatrix's face and with a satisfying nod she said:
'it looks as if we finally got him, the Dark Lord will be pleased.'
At hearing that name the hairs of Hermione's neck stood up; she had to do something, she couldn't let Draco be captured by them.'
She put one foot forward but right at that moment it felt as if she was being pulled away.
'O no!' She was waking up!
No, not now!
But Hermione left the scene in the woods and the last thing she heard was a loud laughter rising up from the Death Eaters while Bellatrix, smiling satisfactory, looked down at Draco.
Hermione woke up with a loud scream. She shot up in her bed; tears streaming down her face, her heart pounding in her chest. Her breathing sounded heavy in her moonlit bedroom.
Hermione tried to control her gasping breaths and pushed her face in her hands, wiping the tears and loose strands of hair away.
A horrible, sad feeling went through her and she started to cry a little harder when an image of Draco lying on the earth flashed through her mind.
Over the past four months horrifying dreams and thoughts involving Draco had been haunting her. Each time she closed her eyes they had become worse and worse.
They had started ever since Draco had left Hogwarts to protect her from Voldemort. Since Draco hadn't wanted to fulfil an assignment given by him, Voldemort had taken the decision to kill Draco for his betrayal. He wouldn't stop until he had finished him off.
Her boyfriend had thought it was better to leave her side, so the Dark Lord would only focus on him and not her.
The goodbye had been dreadful and Hermione remembered nothing from the weeks following his depart. Her mind had been blank and she had been walking around the school like a zombie.
Then one day, the emotions had broken through the surface, followed by long nights of crying her heart out.
Her friends didn't understand how she could be in love with someone she once hated and in trying to comfort her had told her to try and forget him.
But how could she when these dreams came to her every single night?
How could she when every time she closed her eyes images of Draco's face kept flashing by?
How could she when at this very moment the person she loved the most could be chased down like a wild animal, until the predators caught him with their claws and killed him.