To Be Purified

The castle had an ominous feel to it on nights such as this.

It had been a humid day turned cold. It was dark and the only light came from the illuminated wand tip of a blonde haired 7th year. He was Head Boy, but he wasn't patrolling the halls. No, definitely not this late.

He glanced around slowly, hearing in the distance the clock chiming its' midnight chimes. The Head Boy moved slowly, not really knowing where he was going. He was tired but restless (a terrible combination). He had laid in his bed tossing and turning, his mind unwilling to relax and dream. So this is where you found him.

Quietly he made his way past portraits, suits of armor, and a mirror. You'd notice in the mirror, the quite unmistakable reflection of Draco Malfoy.

Sleepily, he walked on, carefully moving.

"Nox." He murmured suddenly, hiding behind a suit of armor. He held his breath, watching as Filch, the Hogwart's Caretaker, walked past. When the Caretaker's footsteps were no longer heard, Draco stepped out form behind the armor.

"Lumos." He whispered, watching as the wand tip lit up.

Taking a deep breath, he ran a hand through his hair, looking at the silver armor, as it glinted from the light of his wand. With a tug on his cloak, he began walking once more.

The crackling of thunder and lightning was heard in the distance, as he glanced out one of the windows, the lightning struck across the lake illuminating the area surrounding it. To his surprise, the glimpse of a red blur was seen standing in the rain.

He came closer, climbing to the window seat, kneeling on the stone ledge, waiting for another whip of lightning to shatter the dark. He didn't wait long, for minutes later, lightning cracked down over the lake, lighting it once more. Shown yet again, was a figure at the lake's edge, dressed in red. Lightning flashed down again, following it were two more whip-like flashes. Blinking slowly, he crawled down, beginning to walk briskly over to the staircase, and descended down it.

As he walked, he looked out every window he passed, watching as the lightning lit up the figure. He strided down the last staircase and made it to the window near the castle entrance. He slipped over to it, climbing up the edge. Realizing it was already opened, he pushed it out more before sliding his body out. He moved silently towards the red clad figure, brushing back his hair, as he began to get wet. Reaching the figure he smirked.

"You're out past curfew, privileged of being Head Boy, I have the right to give you a detention." Draco watched as the figure slowly turned around. His eyes widened at what stood before him.

"You know as well as I," Stated Hermione Granger. "That if you said anything, you'd be questioned too, so don't be stupid." She was wearing a blood red, sleeved cloak. It reached her ankles and was buttoned in the front all the way to her waist. Underneath it, he could see she wore a black dress that flowed to the ground. Her neck was noticeable as its creamy pale color clashed perfectly with her cloak. She was soaked to the bone. Her cloak and skirts were clinging to her body, marking her curves flatteringly. Her hair was plastered to her skull, looking almost black. It continued to pour relentlessly as he took her in.

"I suppose you're right." He said watching as she lifted a hand to brush back her wet hair. The sleeve of her cloak slid down minimally showing off a delicate wrist. Draco looked around at the lake, the forbidden forest, and behind him at the castle. He looked over at Hermione who had her face turned to the sky, her arms spread wide. "What are you doing out here?" He asked. Without even looking at him she answered.

"I'm being purified." He furrowed his eyebrows at her.

"For what?" With an annoyed look on her face, she lowered her head to look at him.

"For everything." She stated. He raised an eyebrow at her.

"You're a Gryffindor." He said simply. She laughed, a sound which spewed from her lips with a mystery he never expected.

"Being a Gryffindor does not make me sinless. I make mistakes. I make decisions. I wish to turn back the time to fix most, but I can't. So I atone my sins by washing them away." He smirked slightly.

"And what sins do you commit?" He asked her.

"I lie to my friends, I steal the answers to other peoples problems, I give Ron false hope, and I'm talking to you." He looked her over, taking in her thoughtful expression.

"That's not that bad."

"Yes I suppose not." She whispered, almost to the point where he couldn't hear her. "Every sin must be washed away by the purifying, forgiving rain."

"How long until their all purified?" He asked, trying to sound serious.

"Too long." She confessed. "I have one more sin to be purified and I'm afraid it will take me forever."

"How can one sin take forever if each downpour purifies a sin?" She laughed hollowly.

"I've committed the worst act ever." She admitted softly, her voice just as hallow.

"What?" He asked wondering what could be so bad.

"Treason." She stated. Coming closer, he furrowed his eyebrows at her.

"You have to purify treason?" She nodded her head slowly. "I don't get it, how can you?" She looked out over to the lake.

"By standing in the rain every time it pours, to freeze all my pain, to hide my sins away until the end of my time." She whispered.

"What treason did you commit though?" He asked sincerely. She froze, but minutes later turned her whole body to him. She gave him a wicked smile, before Avada Kedavra fast, reached out with her right hand, grabbed the collar of his cloak, and pulled him closer. She kissed him lightly on the lips and too startled, he said nothing about it. Lifting her left arm, she put it in front of his face. Glaring menacingly at him she spoke.

"Pull down my sleeve." She said venomously. Slightly afraid, he rolled down her sleeve. She turned her arm to him. He looked at her smooth wrist all the way down to the place it stood. It was set darkly against her beautiful pale skin. A skull eating a snake. The Dark Mark.

Authoress Corner:

EDIT: This was originally posted on 05-08-07. I took it off for a day to edit some mistakes and re-write some parts but over-all it's the same. There was so many spelling/word misuse errors, it was kind of hard to not notice so I just had to fix it. I hope I corrected everything that was wrong...

05-08-07~~~

I thought this up about two days ago, it was raining and I just thought of it. It took me all night that night for me to finish and today I'm posting it. Hope you like it, review please.

Person Of A Strange Origin