AN: This is a Dramione fanfic but it does take a while for the romance to start so stick with it, I promise you it will come. I hope you like it and please please review. Reviews are very much appreciated.
I do not own Harry Potter. J.k owns ALL!
Draco leaned back heavily into the red velvet couch and sighed. The girl on his left started kissing his jaw line and mumbling sweet nothings into his ear. Draco didn't give her any response but this didn't seem to annoy her. He closed his eyes but just as quickly opened them. He could still see her, he could not forget. He turned to the girl and whispered.
"Do you want to come back to my place?" The girl smiled triumphantly, before nodding coyly. She stood up and allowed Draco to put his arm around her and lead her out of the thunderous and stifling club. They exited onto a cold, drizzly London street. Draco escorted her down the street and waited until it was empty. He pulled out his wand and pointed it at her face. Her eyes widened in confusion but before she had time to shout he whispered
"Tempus somni" At once her eyes began to droop, her body crumpled and fell into Draco's waiting arms. He twisted into the darkness and appeared on a small country lane. A large manor loomed out of the darkness, as ostentatious and apposing as possible. Draco frowned when his gaze fell on it. To most people home was a welcoming sight. A view that provoked a tranquil sentiment and contentment in most but to Draco when he saw his home he remembered the atrocities that had happened there, to him and to others. When he came home he would sense a small shiver trickle down his spine and he would feel on edge. He shook his head as though trying to rid these thoughts from his mind. Again he pulled out his wan and pointed at his companions sleeping face.
"Vigilans tempus." The girl stirred and opened her eyes. At first she was dazed and groggy but as she looked around she quickly became alert and focused.
"Where am I?" Her voice was high and panicky.
"You're at my house. I thought you wanted to come." Draco replied, feigning confusion.
"I did. I do, I just. . . We were at the club. How did we get here.?" Draco let his eyebrows shoot up in fake surprise and consternation.
"You mean you don't remember the taxi drive?" He paused for a moment before continuing, "Maybe I should take you home."
"NO! I mean, no thanks. I'm fine. Really!" She looked around and spotted the stately home set far up a manicured lawn. "Is that your house?" She continued.
"Yes. Do you like it?" The girl nodded and Draco took her hand. He led her to the large iron fence and rubbed his Mark against it on the pretence of pushing them open. The walk up the drive took almost five minutes and the couple never spoke. When they reached the great doorway Draco pulled the girl closer and lightly pressed his lips against hers. He pushed upon the left door and held it open allowing the girl to enter first. He entered close behind and shut the oak door behind him. He turned around and groaned. Pansy Parkinson was sitting on one of the benches that lined the walls of the entrance hall. She smirked when she saw his partner for the evening and stood up with an malicious grin framing her face.
"Tut tut, Draco. You sure have sunk low. Muggle girls." She shook her head and grinned wickedly. The girl beside Draco stirred with annoyance. She hadn't understood the insult but she could tell Pansy meant harm as every word dripped with malice. When Draco didn't speak the girl spoke up.
"You know what? I'm just going to go. Leave you and your girlfriend alone." She spun round and headed for the door. Draco grabbed her hand.
"No. Stacey! I want you here. Really." He softened his eyes and smiled warmly at her. It gave the opposite of the desired effect. The girl wrenched her hand from his grip and shouted.
"My name's Sophie." She ran out of the house, slamming the door behind her. Pansy began to giggle.
"Well. Well. That was sure fun. Thwarting another one of your plans to conquest a new girl every night. It never gets old." She smiled at Draco who never smiled back.
"Why is it that you can't get over me?" Asked Draco, the antagonism evident in his voice. Pansy drew a sharp breath obviously affronted.
"How dare you! Suggest that I still . . . I am over you. Course I am. I don't even care that you've been with hundreds of girls since me. I don't care for you. Ok?" Draco laughed at her insistent baffling and asked,
"Oh really? You don't love me at all anymore."
"Exactly. I couldn't care less about you." In one swift motion Draco stepped closer to her and grabbed her head. He pulled her lips to his. Very soon he heard her moan and felt her arms snake round his neck. Her hands were in his hair and he could feel her tongue darting into his mouth. He pulled back.
"Really? It looks like you still like me." Her mouth shout open in outrage as she realised she had been tricked. She pulled her arms away from him and stepped back.
"I hate you!" She screamed.
"No. You still love me. We just clarified that. Remember?" She opened her mouth wide and wailed. She dropped to the floor and lay down on the ground, like a toddler having a temper tantrum. Draco waited for her to fall silent. When her wails had subsided he headed toward the grand staircase and started to climb it. He noticed on the eighth step that Pansy wasn't following.
"Aren't you coming?" Pansy lifted her head. Her eyes were red and bloodshot.
"Do you think that after you embarrass me and dismiss my love for you like that I'll just follow you up the stairs like some sad little puppy and spend the night with you? " She asked with no real conviction.
"Yes. I do actually." Was the reply from Draco. Without another look he resumed his ascent of the stairs. Confident that she would follow. Sure enough after watching Draco climb the steps Pansy pulled herself up and sighed. She followed him up the stairs.
Draco could hear Pansy's breathe as she slept peacefully beside him. For the first time he was envious of her. At that moment Draco would've given anything to be asleep and unable to see the things that haunted him. For Draco it was worse in the dark. In the dark he could see her. Everywhere. Standing in the corner with an accusatory glare. At the end of the bed her blue eyes filled with pain and sorrow. Standing at the window watching the world she wouldn't be a part of again. And the worst, her lying on the floor, her body still and cold, her eyes blank and unseeing and her heart motionless. Draco could see her everywhere and he couldn't forget. He couldn't escape from the things he had done.
Hermione sprinted into the ward as quickly as humanely possible. She glanced at the clock. Good. She was right on time. She paused and adjusted her white healers pinafore before heading up the ward. She halted at every bedside and checked up on the patient before moving onto the next. She listened patiently to the grumblings and complaints and, occasionally, made notes on the chart at the bottom of the bed. After checking their health she would spend a moment chatting to each patient. Hearing their news and sharing her own. Hermione prided herself on being not only a great Healer medically but as a confidante, friend or supporter, whatever the patient needed the most. This made her very successful. All of her patients loved her and felt calmed by her presence. Often they would write her letters of thank you or praise her to her superiors once they were healed. She was moving on up in the hospital and she wasn't going to stop until she was the boss. Until nobody could look down on her because she was muggle born. She reached the end of the ward and opened a door that held a plaque inscribed with
"Hermione Granger. Head Healer of Elphias Doge Ward." A scene of total devastation met her eyes.
Luna was reclining in a chair facing Hermione's desk, a cup of tea balanced on her swollen belly. A blonde girl of about five years of age was emptying the drawers of their contents and another blonde girl, this one just a toddler, was squishing Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans onto the carpet. Hermione cleared her throat and sat down behind the desk so she was facing Luna. Tallulah scampered away from her drawers when she sat down. Her hair was loose and was now so long it hung about her waist. It fell in loose curls and complemented her dress very well. Unfortunately the same couldn't be said about the orange tights that looked odd under the purple dress. Hermione looked across at Athena and saw that her hair had been pulled back into lopsided bunches. One bunch sat at about the same level as her ear the other was almost on top of her head. Her dungarees had paint splodges as did her hands. Hermione focused her gaze on Luna and asked.
"How's the bump?" Luna grimaced.
"It's kicking. A lot. This one's going to make a great explorer when it's older." Hermione smiled and decided it was best not to question Luna's logic.
"How's Dean?" Luna's face lit up as she told Hermione how ,since Dean had overhauled the Quibbler's image, sales had gone up by fifty percent.
Luna and Dean had surprised everybody when they became a couple just after the War had ended. They started a whirlwind courtship that resulted in an elopement to America and a spontaneous wedding ceremony in the middle of Times Square after Luna found out her American Aunt Nelly could officiate at wedding ceremonies. And so they were married after only just eight months together. Two years later they had Tallulah, then after a further two years and a half they had Athena and nearly nine months ago Luna became pregnant with her third child.
". . . two weeks left now. Only two weeks. Just imagine, in two weeks I'll be a mum of three not two. Can you believe it?" Hermione was just about to answer when Luna shrieked.
"NO! Tallulah, no! Put that down." Hermione turned round just in time to see Tallulah push the ear end of the stethoscope up Athena's nose. Hermione quickly leaned over and plucked it out. She turned to Luna who was shaking her head but smiling at her daughters at the same time. Hermione opened her mouth but before she could speak a voice rang out across the room.
"Hermione Granger to go to Miss O'Reilly's office as soon as possible. Hermione Granger to go to Miss O'Reilly's office."
I stood up and hugged both Tallulah and Athena. I turned to Luna.
"You look after yourself." She nodded and promised she would. I patted her stomach and squeezed her as close as I could with her engorged belly in the way. I walked them out of the ward and then headed to my bosses office.
Fiona O'Reilly was uncomfortable. She knew what she had to say to Hermione and she wasn't looking forward to it. She tried frantically to think of some way out of it but when her mind drew a blank she resolved to tell Hermione the truth. Faced with Hermione's earnest face she knew she had to say something. She took a deep breathe and began.
"Look, Hermione, you know that Claire is leaving us in two months to go to Australia?" Hermione nodded and tried not to smile at how high Fiona's Irish accent had went. Then she realised it had to be high for a reason and all of a sudden Hermione wasn't so confident about her Healer ability.
"Well, ummm, someone is going to get a promotion to Head of your floor and, of course, I suggested you to the Board. The only thing is the Board aren't sure if someone of your . . . Ummm, background is up to the job. They, well, they want a pureblood, or at least a half blood." Fiona stopped talking and looked worriedly at Hermione's face. When Hermione never spoke she continued.
"I'm so sorry. I truly believe you are best off the job but I can't do anything to change their minds. I'm so sorry! Please, I'll try to make it up to you. I'll. . ."
"It's okay. It's not your fault." Hermione tried to act as though her world had not just shattered around her, as though all her hopes and dreams had not just been pulled from her grasp but even to her own ears she sounded funny, wooden . Like she wasn't really there. Which is exactly how she felt. She felt as though she were looking down at somebody who looked like her but wasn't her. A lesser version of herself. She felt as though she was freefalling from the edge of a cliff deeper and deeper down into the uncertain and vague future. Down there it was dark and cold and she felt as though she were suffocating. Surrounded on all sides by the people who had jeered at her and knocked her down because of her birth status. Right at the front, taunting louder than anybody else was Malfoy. His pale face lit by the delight that hurting others brought to him. She felt a jolt of fury and repulsion flash through her body and right then she resolved to hate him for the rest of her days.