Disclaimer: All characters pertaining to Harry Potter are not my creation (though I wish they were!). The story line and other unfamiliar characters are, I'm proud to say, mine, but only them. Sigh.
Summary:
Annabelle had never been a believer of dreams. She never believed that magic existed, or that the strange things that always happen to her are manifestations of her suppressed powers. But then she met Draco Malfoy, whose haunted silver eyes touched her soul, and made her want to believe that fairy tales do exist.
But Draco Malfoy is a prisoner of the past.
Although Lord Voldemort is now irrevocably gone, Draco still carries the scars from the Great War that ended ten years ago. He's trapped in a dark abyss, where light cannot penetrate nor help him.
But maybe, if he let himself hope again, and believe in Dreams, Annie and her love could prove to be his salvation. His only salvation.
Chapter One
"Dinner, Nagini," said a high cold voice. The snake slithered menacingly onto the lifeless body spread-eagled on the floor.
Draco closed his eyes in terror, not wanting to see the scene stretched out before him. Slowly he stood up, wanting to get out of the room as quickly as he can. Wanting to get out of the horror of it all. He couldn't even remember why he had ever been compelled to be here in the first place.
"Sit, Draco," said that cold voice again, the voice of Lord Voldemort.
Draco looked at his father, but Lucius' face was inscrutable. Then he looked at his mother, and Narcissa gave him an imperceptible nod.
Draco sat.
The Dark Lord, not missing this insubordination, and angry because of it, smiled cruelly. "And do not close your eyes."
Nagini is right in front of Draco, its thick scaly body wrapped around the woman whose eyes are unseeing. The snake's coiling suffocation of the woman was unnecessary -- Charity Burbage, ex-Muggle Studies professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry -- was already dead. Draco swallowed. He was afraid he would vomit in front of the Dark Lord and the Death Eaters, more afraid still of the Dark Lord's punishment if he did.
However, Voldemort was not yet through tormenting him. With a feral glint in his red eyes, he bade the snake to stop. The snake, angry that its dinner has been interrupted, hissed, but stopped nonetheless. He looked directly at Draco and said, "Dispose of the body."
Draco looked at the dilapidated body of the woman before them all. Her torso was twisted, the limbs almost undistinguishable. Her legs were limp and lifeless. And her head -- her head was nowhere to be seen, ripped from her neck, and gulped down into Nagini's stomach.
There was blood everywhere.
Unable to move his feet, terror gripping his whole body, Draco made the second mistake: he looked at his parents again. Voldemort's eyes narrowed as he watched this arrogance. Lucius' mouth was set in a straight line, his eyes downcast. Narcissa looked at her son with horror in her eyes, her heart beating rapidly at the base of her throat.
With his whole body shaking, Draco moved towards the body, and hesitantly, he raised his wand. Voldemort spoke in an instant, his words were void of emotion, but this just made what he spoke of crueler. "Without magic, Draco," he sneered.
Draco's knees were buckling as he walked slowly to the cadaver, his eyes seeing nothing but the dilapidated, twisted, and wasted body before him. He crouched and took her bloody hands, and then he awoke with a start.