Second Chapter! Read and Review please
The moon shined onto the porch brightly. The silence was growing as the wind died down, and all the children in the neighborhood went inside as the street lights flickered on. The stars were brighter than ever when the tiny community went to sleep.
A little girl with flaming red pigtails full of bouncy curls ran up the steps to her front porch and jumped on her mother's lap.
"Hi Rose." Hermione said smiling down at her daughter as she rested on her lap.
"Hi mum." Rose said quietly and muffled as she tried to get the right sounds out of her mouth being a beginner at speech.
Rose was Hermione's daughter. She was two years old and full of life. She had Ron Weasley's flaming red hair and eyes. She also had Hermione's curls of hair. Rose looked a lot like her father, and acted a lot like her mother.
"It's time for bed and bath" Rose's mother said lifting her into the air and on her hip.
Unlike most children her age Rose just shook her head yes and let her mother bathe her peacefully.
Hermione carried the tired little girl to her room and picked out a cute pink, one piece, footie ensemble for pajamas. Rose was laid in her bed full of stuffed animals and blankets.
"Mommyy, tell me a stowy. Peas." Rose whispered underneath her pink bed sheet.
"About what?" Hermione asked tucking in her daughter gently and snugly.
"Daddy" the little girl said yawning at the same time.
Before Hermione could even start to tell her daughter about her father Rose was already sound asleep. Hermione kissed the little one on the forehead and turned out the light.
She felt relieved in a way to not tell about Ron. Some days it was just to hard to talk about let alone to her own daughter. Hermione sometimes felt that Ron would just come running through the door to greet the two girls after a long day at work.
"Hermione?!" Ron yelled out as he walked through the front door. He looked around at the bright colored walls, and looked up the staircase that greeted you when you walked through the front door.
Hermione peeked her head through the kitchen door and smiled big. She dropped everything and ran to greet her husband.
"Hello! Long day at work?" Hermione said grabbing Ron into a warm embrace.
"Yes, but now I'm home. Where's Rosie?" Ron said letting go of his wife and looked everywhere to find his one year old daughter.
"She is in the kitchen Ron." Hermione pointed toward the big wooden, swinging door that separated the kitchen and the dining room. Then, before Hermione could say anything else Ron was gone.
"Hi Rosie." Ron said smiling so bright the moon was jealous.
Rose just sat in her blue and pink high chair smiling and laughing, playing with her cereal. Ron lifted her out of her chair and spun with her around the room.
Ron loved his little daughter with everything he had. He loved his wife with all his heart. He loved his life period. Nothing would take him away from it.
Hermione snapped out of the memory when she heard a loud knocking at the door. She rushed over to answer it scared it would wake up the sleeping child upstairs.
"Yes what is it?!" Hermione shouted in a whisper as she opened the door slowly. "Oh, Harry!" Hermione said surprised and apologetic. "Sorry, I thought you were someone else." She said taking him into a big, tight hug.
"Who did you think it was?" Harry said as the two let go.
"I don't know. Not you." she said softly.
"Where's Rose?" He said looking around the room as if he had never set foot in it.
"Upstairs sleeping. She was worn out from playing all day. Uhm, what are you doing here?" Hermione asked.
"Ginny told me you went to the cemetary today and I was just coming to see if you were alright."
"Harry, you and Ginny worry too much. I'm fine. Ron needed some new flowers and I gave him some." Hermione said defensively. "I'm fine. Really." There was a long pause. "Uhm, do want something to drink, eat, anything?"
"Oh, no I should be getting home James must be driving Ginny mad." He smiled at his friend and headed for the door. He stopped as his hand touched the door knob. "You have no idea how sorry I still am. I only wish I could take it back. I want you to forgive me, I know you said it would take a while but I just want to say that I still am sorry. Everyday I think of him and that night." Harry said repently "I'm sorry." He was gone.
Hermione strongly hated those visits.
Hermione tried not to hate anything. She tried but couldn't do it.
ooo
Draco Malfoy's flat.
The fire dimmed, the room grew darker, and Malfoy sleeping on the leather couch, drink in hand. His snores were soft and were drowned out by the cracking of the tiny flames. Malfoy's face contorted as his right foot twitched.
"Son, I have never been more ashamed of you, or anyone else, in my entire life. You're nothing, worthless, and don't let your mother tell you otherwise." Lucius Malfoy drew his wand, and a bloodthirsty look in his cold, dead eyes. "If I shall die, then you shall too." He whispered in Draco's ear.
It gave Draco a chill down his spine. His father's voice made his eardrum's want to shatter so he wouldn't have to hear it anymore. His father's touch made him want to go numb. The hate he had for his father engulfed Draco.
Draco searched his pockets for his own wand but found nothing except a snake. His left forearm burned with agonizing pain. He wrenched up his shirt sleeve and fell over. The dark mark was showing jet black. "What the-"
"Yes, Draco go and make me proud or stay and continue to shame the Malfoy name and DIE." Lucius pointed his wand at the door that appeared behind Draco. The only thing Draco could think to do was spit. He spit right on his father's feet.
"No. You're dead!"
"AVADA KEDAVRA!" The intense green light shot from the tip of the wand and hit Draco right in between the eyes.
"NO!" Draco screamed as he jolted upright. He threw his drink straight in the air and it landed on his lap. "Crap!" He shouted to himself. He wiped the cold sweat off of his forehead and got off the couch. Dreams feel real to Draco. No matter how many times he says they aren't real life he still believes he will get hurt. Draco's psychologist, Charles Callidus, tells him to let go of all the negative feelings before he goes to sleep by writing it down, but Draco thinks his therapist is mad. Psycology: Study of the soul. Draco scoffed at the thought. He only goes to make his mother and Pansy happy.
"Damn!" Draco whispered to himself. He looked at his watch on his left wrist and saw that it was already nine o'clock. He had an appointment with his psychologist at nine. "Every day I'm late!" Not that he actually cared about being late.
Draco brushed his teeth, changed his clothes and flooed to the office.
"Good morning Mr. Malfoy." a ginger witch smiled as he stepped into the large waiting room. "Dr. Callidus will see you in a moment." The witch sat at her desk and waved her hand to a chair beside her desk.
"Thank you." Draco said cooly looking around at the four sea foam green walls. There was a rectangular desk by the fireplace, eight chairs evenly spread out through the room, and a sad looking plant on the floor. It was anything but encouraging.
"Is there anything I can get you?" The receptionist asked eagerly. She had the most pathetic crush on Draco. Every appointment she would have him wait a few minutes, no matter how late he was, just to get a few words in to him hoping he would show some type of interest. He didn't.
"No. Nothing." Draco said leaning back in his chair.
"Okay. Well the Dr. will see you now." She pointed to the door.
"Thanks." He said getting up. He walked slowly to the brown door and pushed through.
"Ah. Mr. Malfoy late again. But I presume that Piper kept you busy though." Charles Callidus was a tall, dark haired man with glasses that stayed on the edge of his nose. He smiled most of the time and carried a note pad that was always being written in. Draco thought that he just doodled because he never flipped the page or he wrote terribly small.
"Yes. I also woke up late." Draco said taking a seat in a brown leather chair that looked comfortable but was as hard as a rock.
"Hmm, I see" Callidus scribbled something down. "Why did you wake up late?"
"I fell asleep on the couch, uhm reading and I just didn't wake up okay." Draco lied. He never woke up on time when he had horrible dreams the night before. It was like the dreams kept him asleep for as long as they could. They trapped him in his mind.
"Right." More scribbling. "Any dreams?"
"Yes." Draco wanted to lie and say no, but he knew that it would just cause the session to be longer and Charles Callidus would get it out of him anyway.
"About what?"
"My father."
"What happened?"
"Nothing." He lied.
"That is not true." Callidus said dully. He didn't have to fight with Draco to get the truth.
"Fine. Something happened. But I don't want to talk about it."
"Why not?" Dr. Callidus said leaning forward.
"Because it is personal."
"Yes, i suppose so but it doesn't help to keep things bottled up inside."
How cliche Draco thought. The way Callidus stayed calm all the time drove him insane! He wouldn't fight back. Draco wanted to make him angry just to start a fight, but every time he tried, nothing. Nothing at all except a caring look and pen writing away. So if he wouldn't fight with Draco, Draco would give in and tell him.
"Fine. He KILLED ME! Okay?" Draco shouted pulling on his blond hair.
"Now we are getting somewhere."
"Why?"
"Why what?" Draco snapped back maliciously
"Why did he kill you?"
"Because I-I-I shame him. I wouldn't go when the mark burned."
"Could you feel the burning in your forearm?" Callidus wrote something down quickly.
"Yes, I think so. Well in my dream I could."
"But you don't know if there was real burning sensation?"
More writing.
"I don't know."
More writing in the yellow note pad.
"How were you when you woke up?"
"I was fine." Draco shrugged
"Is it hard to deal with? Your father. Your mother is grieving but you don't shed a single tear."
"I'm fine with it all. I console my mother of course. She loved my father, but I don't think I could grieve for someone who wouldn't grieve for me if our roles were switched." Draco felt strange relief saying that.
"Now we are really getting somewhere!" Charles Callidus said as he clapped his hands together. "Draco, I think you are lying to yourself. If you felt nothing then you wouldn't be having these dreams. You are still yearning for your father's approval."
"No. I'm not." Draco said leaning back in his chair and looked out the window.
"Draco our time is up, but I want you to go to the bookstore and find this book." Callidus scribbled down on a little torn piece of the note pad. "It's called Dealing with the lost. Read it it'll do you some good." He handed the piece of paper to Draco.
"Right. Goodbye." Draco rose quickly and walked to the door.
"Goodbye Mr. Malfoy!" Piper said leaning in her desk as he rushed by her.
Draco Malfoy looked down at the little scrap and in the top corner of it, as he walked, there was a small picture of a beetle, maybe a star, it was some sort of doodle, Draco couldn't tell.
Then he was gone.
ooo
Draco Malfoy stepped out of his own fireplace and was greeted by his mother.
"Draco! I've been wondering where you have been then I remember you had to see Charles today." Narcissa Malfoy jumped from the couch and wrapped her arms around her son. Finally after a few minutes his mother let go. "How was it?"
"Fine." He was still holding the torn piece of paper and gave it to his mother. "He told me to go read this book. It's a load of rubbish."
"Perfect! I was going to Diagon Alley anyways. Now we can go together." Narcissa told her son as she grabbed his arm.
"Mother, I really do have a lot to do. I don't have time-"
"Oh poo. Today you're spending the day with your mum!" She pulled him close and with a bang they were gone.
ooo
To say that Diagon Alley was busy was the understatement of the year. Voices were everywhere, people were everywhere. Witches and Wizards were bumping into each other with their shopping bags saying "Sorry" or "Get out of my way! There is a sale going on!" Children ran in and out of the bright shops beggin their parents for useless items, couples emerged from a dim lit restaurant down the cobbled street, and frazzled parents chased after their children. Everyone went on with their business until they saw Hermione Granger. They all smiled with a smile that said: "I'm sorry for your losses." Yet another thing she hated.
Hermione came out of the Leaky Cauldron a little surprised to see so many people in the morning. That didn't phase her though, she just had one thing on her mind: get to the book store without getting trampled on.
The book store was her safe haven besides the library, but she was in the area.
"Good morning Hermione!" Daniel the book store clerk said to her stressed out by all the people.
"Morning!" Hermione tried to say over all the voices
She walked around the shop for a while until she finally found an area not many people were in. She pulled a thick book from the shelf and slid down the wall setting her bag on the floor.
"Mum I really don't need to read this book. The guy is a quack and doesn't know what he is doing!" Hermione heard a familiar cold voice. Sure enough the one person she never missed came around the corner with his mother.
"Draco hun, this is good for you."
"No moth- Granger?" Draco said in mid sentence.
"Granger? Draco I- Oh Hermione Granger!" She said just as surprised as Draco.
"Uh. Hello." Hermione said reluctantly as she slid back up the wall. Her knees buckled as she turned to leave.
"Strange running into you twice in two, three days?"
"Sure." She kept her eyes down and tried to leave again.
"Wait!"
"What Malfoy?!"
"Don't get your pants in a knot. You have the book I need." Draco pointed to the book under Hermione's arm.
"There is more on the shelf right there." She nodded her head toward the section. "Why do you need this book?"
"No reason that is any of your business." Draco replied flippantly
Hermione handed the book over to Draco so she could just leave.
"Thanks." He said sharply. Draco looked down at a few pages noticing a few wet marks. He slammed it shut and saw a bright bag where Hermione had been sitting. "Wait! You left.." His voice faded as she walked through the door.
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