Hello all my faithful reviewers! Before we begin, let me just say that I am REALLY REALLY sorry for the inexcusably late update! However, on a happier note it is EXTRA EXTRA long to make up for its lateness! [Extra long by my standards anyway.] However don't expect every chapter to be this long; this one was a special case. Let me just also say that I think I am particularly bad at writing things from Malfoy's perspective so even though I'll try to keep them to a bare minimum, could you please tell me what you think? Any suggestions would be very welcome! Anyway, enough blabbing, please enjoy and don't forget to review!!! ( :
Chapter 2: Sometimes Nightmares Do Come True
That night she dreamed.
She was running, hard and fast, through a maze of corridors. A feeling a dread was hanging over her, distorting the picture in black. She stumbled and cursed as she stabbed her toe. She could hear footsteps behind her, building up to a crescendo as they rounded the corner. She looked up, around, and panicked as she realised the corridor had turned into a dead end. And walking towards her, smirking, was Malfoy. She crawled backwards until she felt her back hit the cold stone wall. She closed her eyes as she felt him grip her upper elbows and pull her to her feet.
Her eyelids opened on their own accord and she gasped as she realised that they were now standing on a platform suspended high above the ground. Overhead the deep black sky was scattered with a million stars. Directly in front of her were Malfoy's pale grey eyes. Something was wrong with them. They were glowing, turning red, brighter and brighter. His face slowly drew closer to hers. She struggled uselessly; his hands had pinned her arms to her sides. His mouth opened and he whispered. "You're mine now."
Hermione screamed and shot upright in bed, fighting with the sheets tangled around her body. Gasping for breath, she forcibly calmed herself, and let her arms slowly drop to her sides. Reaching for the glass on her bedside table, she took a steadying gulp of water.
"Stupid ferret."
It was 1:00am.
Malfoy was sitting in his favourite chair in the Slytherin common room, involved in his favourite pastime; thinking. Or to be politically correct, planning the humiliation of others. It was too perfect, he mused to himself. He had been hanging around in the astronomy tower after an extended snogging session with Pansy Parkinson. Actually, what he was really doing was recovering from being the sole recipicant of Pansy's animal urges. He winced, recalling the feeling of her lethal two inch nails tearing through the soft sensitive skin on his back. She really needed to learn some self restraint. He had no plans of going into an arranged marriage with a psychopathic slut.
He had been about to step into the main hallway and making his way back to the Slytherin common room, to drink away the memory of losing the Quidditch match to pothead, [Bloody Gryffindor], when he heard quick agitated footsteps coming towards him. Thinking it was Pansy back for another round, he had ducked behind the door again. Peering through a crack he had then received one of the biggest shocks of his life. It was Granger. What in hell was goody goody two shoes mudblood doing in the Astronomy tower during the renowned snogging hour, alone? She was handing herself to him on a silver, not make that gold, platter, he thought smirking. All he needed to do was ambush her and then he could stuff some of the more creative curses she had used on him over the years back into her big bushy head. He chuckled silently at the mental image of the mudblood lying on the ground at his feet, begging him for mercy.
But then, although he hadn't shown it, he had been intensely curious too. It was so out of character for Granger to be up there at all that it filled him with an overpowering urge to follow her and find out what she was doing. There was no possible way that bushy haired bucktoothed, [although you couldn't exactly call her bucktoothed nowadays], Granger could be up there to enjoy a long recreational snog. In that area of expertise, know it all Granger was completely clueless. He grinned, recalling a 'conversation' they had had three days ago...
"I bet that's not the only thing you do with Potter and Weasley in their dormitory."
The twin knuckleheads had growled furiously and stared forward, thinking with their biceps rather than their brains as usual, but Granger had only looked slightly puzzled.
"What, play wizarding chess or something? Honestly Malfoy, after all these years I would have expected a better comeback from you."
That was Granger for you.
So having nothing better to do, or at least that's what he told himself, he had followed Granger, out into what could best be described as a roaring hurricane. At that point Malfoy had decided that Granger had officially lost it, and wasn't particularly surprised. After all, it would take an insane person to actually choose to be friends with Potty and the Weasel. Then he had saved her life. Malfoy shook his head in disgust at himself. He didn't know what he had been thinking; in fact it had happened so suddenly that he hadn't had time to think at all. One minute she was falling, and the next she was in his arms, being pulled away from the edge. She had felt so light, so insubstantial...
What was Granger now, a fairy? Malfoy mentally reprimanded himself. What a bloody stupid thought!
He stood up and started pacing around the common room, his feet following the familiar depression in the worn green carpet. For a moment he had been overcome with disgust at himself. What did he care if the mudblood died? That would have made one less mudblood in the world to worry about. Heck, his father wouldn't have thought twice about letting her plunge to her doom!But then, suddenly, it had come to him. Possibly the best idea he had ever come up with at all his years at Hogwarts. All it relied on was the pathetic Gryffindor code of honour, and Granger would not let him down in that aspect. Boy, the mudblood was in for one hell of a surprise!
Malfoy laughed out loud.
It was too perfect.
"SHUT THE FUCK UP MALFOY, CAN'T YOU SEE WE'RE TRYING TO SLEEP UP HERE!!!"
Zambini.
Malfoy groaned and stomped up the stairs to his dorm room, stripping as he went.
Operation Granger would commence first thing tomorrow morning...
Hermione woke to the sound of her high pitched alarm clock tearing at her eardrums. Groaning, she rolled over, reached out a hand, and switched it off with a satisfying click. She climbed out of bed and began her morning ritual by folding over her bedclothes and neatly tucking her sheets under her mattress. However for some reason, she didn't experience the expected feeling of satisfaction. Rather, all she could feel was a faint sense of dread.
Hermione frowned. "OY, HERMIONE!!!!!"
Parvati was up.
"HAVE YOU SEEN MY PURPLE PARADICE NAIL POLISH?! IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE SITTING BETWEEN MY SUCCULENT STRAWBERRY NAIL POLISH AND MY BOOBALISHIOUS BLACK NAIL POLISH BUT I CAN'T FIND IT!!!!!" She wailed.
Hermione sighed. "I'm coming Parvati!"
Walking into the bathroom, she bent over to assist Parvati, who was wildly rummaging through the drawers under the sink.
"Thank goodness you're here Hermione, I don't know what I'd do without you in a time of crisis!"
Parvarti's idea of a 'crisis' often differed to other people's.
"By the way, I heard you scream last night, what happened?"
A bottle of Dancing Daisies perfume slipped out from between Hermione's fingers, but she made a grab for it, caught it, and carefully placed it on the tiled bathroom floor.
"It was nothing. Just a bad dream."
At once Parvati was intensely curious.
"Oooh! What did you dream about?" "Here."
Hermione passed Parvati the Purple Paradise nail polish and stood up to leave, brushing down her pyjama pants.
The look on Parvati's face was a mixture of happiness and annoyance.
"Thanks. Hey! Wait a minute, you still haven't told me what you dreamed about!"
Hermione froze in the act of opening the door.
Damn.
"Look, it was just about this ..er... giant pumpkin! Yes, and it ...er.... tried to eat me! Yeah, it was really scary so I screamed," Hermione said lamely. "Sorry Parvati, I've got to go, I promised I'd meet Harry and Ron downstairs in ten minutes, bye." Hermione practically ran out the door and into her dormitory, then collapsed against the side of her bed, panting.
In her opinion, the entire female population in her year had quite suddenly gone mad. Parvati and Lavender, the ringleaders, had comprised a list of the 'hottest' guys in the school in alphabetical order and had proceeded to show it to Hermione, who had firmly resolved not to get caught up in this madness. She had rolled her eyes, but decided to humour them and quickly scrolled down the list. However, she only made it half way down before almost dropping it in shock. In neatly printed letters was written; Draco Malfoy. Hermione had pointed out what she had thought was the blindingly obvious fact that Draco Malfoy was an evil arrogant Slytherin prick, but Parvati and Lavender wouldn't be swayed. Goodness knows what they would say if they knew she had been dreaming about the basted!
Parvati applied one last coat of shimmering lip gloss to her already luminescent lips, before packing away her makeup and making her way out of the bathroom. The fact that Hermione had been hiding something was obvious.
The question was what.
Hermione flung her school robe over her jeans and top and hurried downstairs to meet Harry and Ron. She still had a faint feeling of foreboding but she put it down to lack of sleep.
Stupid Malfoy.
As usual, Harry and Ron were sitting by the window playing Wizarding Chess with Ron's rather battered old set.
Hermione collapsed into one of the familiar worn armchairs close by while noting the haggard looks on their faces plus the black circles around their eyes, and watched one of Ron's knights decapitate Harry's king.
"I swear, that was uncalled for brutality." Harry muttered under his breath as he packed away the chess set.
"So, did you two finally take my advice and get up early this morning so you could catch up on all the homework you have due in tomorrow?"
"No, Harry and I decided to have a Chess Tournament!" Ron said brightly.
Hermione sighed.
"Yeah, and Ron won again." Said Harry looking slightly disgruntled.
"I should have thought the outcome would be obvious," Ron said condescendingly.
"What do you mean 'obvious'? For all you know Ron, I could have been about to unleash a genius strategy and wipe all your pieces off the board!"
"We're talking about you Harry, not me."
"Thanks for that confidence booster Ron."
Ron opened his mouth to reply...
"Come on you guys! We're going to be late for breakfast and I'm starving!"
Hermione grabbed Ron's arm and started dragging him out of the portrait hole, followed by Harry who was still grumbling about losing the Chess Tournament.
When Hermione stepped into the Great hall midway though a conversation with Harry and Ron, she faltered as the feeling of foreboding intensified. If that wasn't bad enough, it was now coupled with the feeling of being watched. Quickly she glanced around the hall, but seeing nothing suspicious she mentally reprimanded herself for being so ridiculously jumpy. It was just because of that episode with Malfoy the night before, and that was over now, she told herself. There was nothing to be jumpy about.
"Um...Hermione?"
Hermione snapped back to the present.
"Sorry Ron, I just lost track there for a minute."
"One minute you were talking to us, and the next you were suddenly looking like you were about to jump out of your skin. Not to mention the crazy darting eyes and violent twitching. Is there something you're not telling us?" Said Harry jokingly.
She smiled reassuringly. "Of course not, I'm just a bit tired. I had a late night."
"Haven't we all," Ron mumbled, rubbing his head.
Harry laughed. "You obviously drank far too much butterbeer last night!" Talking and laughing the three sat down together at the Gryffindor table. Hermione couldn't shake off the feeling of being watched, but she ignored it and joined in the fun.
Malfoy watched Granger enter the great hall and sit at the house table with her friends. Though his face was devoid of any emotion, inside he was excited because stage one of his operation was about to commence. Granger was in for one hell of a surprise.
Hermione took a bite of her toast, a gulp of orange juice and a spoonful of cereal, somehow reading her Tricks in Transfiguration textbook at the same time. Ron stared at her in disbelief.
"How on earth do you do it Hermione?"
"Its called multitasking Ron," Hermione said through a mouthful of cereal and orange juice.
Ron made a sickened face and opened his mouth to say something, but Hermione interrupted him.
"Don't go all hypocritical on me Ron, its far too early for that sort of rubbish."
Ron threw his hands in the air. "I give up. How on earth does she continue to think up all those brilliant comebacks before I've even said anything!?" Harry?"
Harry shrugged. "Don't forget, this is Hermione we're talking about."
"It's..." Ron was interrupted by one of the school owls landing in front of Hermione and splattering orange juice all over her Tricks in Transfiguration textbook.
Hermione furiously ripped the letter off the owl's leg and grabbed a serviette. After doing her best to remove the orange stains off her brand new textbook, she shoved it into her bag, sighed and turned to the letter in her hand.
On the front was simply written, 'For Hermione Granger's eyes only', in an unfamiliar hand. Curiously, she flipped the letter over to find the back blank. "Who's that from Hermione?" Harry asked.
She quickly stuffed the letter back into her pocket.
"It's just another one from my parents."
Harry turned back to Ron to continue the animated conversation they had been having about Quidditch.
She stood up and pushed her chair back from the table.
"I'm going to the library, I've got some research to do. I'll see you guys in Potions."
Harry grunted, immersed in a detailed analysis on the tactics of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team.
Hermione walked out of the hall and collapsed against the wall a few corridors away. Figuring that everyone else was still in breakfast and she wouldn't be seen, she pulled the slightly crumpled letter out of her pocket and examined it carefully.
Unnoticed by anyone except Pansy, Malfoy quietly exited the Great Hall.
The letter read;
Don't forget Granger, you owe me. Meet me in the old Charms classroom at 9:00am today and I'll consider the debt repaid.
Also, if you tell either Potter of Weasly about any of this I'll make you very sorry.
D.M.
Hermione groaned and rolled her eyes. Everything about the letter was typical of Malfoy. 'Make you very sorry' indeed! It was far more likely that he would be the sorry one if he tried to pull anything on her. However despite her first impulse to chuck the letter in the bin and tell Harry and Ron everything, she felt a sudden surge of guilt. Evil scum of the earth or not, Malfoy had after all saved her, and she had completely forgotten. She hadn't even thanked him!
Her guilt was quickly replaced by resolve. No matter how much she wanted to deny it, she did owe it to Malfoy to at least return a favour, if not something more. Sighing, she stuffed the letter back into her pocket and checked her watch. 8:50am She stood up, brushed herself down, and headed for the classroom. It was strange of Malfoy to simply set up a meeting and nothing else. She knew Malfoy well, and therefore knew that he never did anything unless he personally profited from it. However, it seemed likely he was just trying to get her alone so he could ask a favour of her without her friends interfering. Yes that was probably it. She stepped up the pace.
Unseen, Malfoy stepped out from behind a pillar and followed her.
Inside the charms classroom Hermione watched Malfoy open the door, step through it, and close it, muttering a locking spell in the process.
"Look Malfoy, I don't know what you want..."
Suddenly Malfoy spun around, wand raised, and shouted, "ESPRIT AUTORITE!"
She was caught entirely by surprise and had her wand out too late to preform any kind of counter spell.
"Why you little!!!" In fury, Hermione charged at Malfoy. How dare he! The bastard!
/STOP!/
The word seemed to come from inside her head. Suddenly Hermione was in searing pain. She felt like she was being stabbed, over and over, with red hot knives. Unable to even think, she stopped, and almost instantly the pain disappeared.
She stared at Malfoy, eyes wide in shock and horror.
"What did you do?" She hissed, her voice haggard.
"I cast a little spell I should have used long ago," Malfoy said, his eyes alight with glee and triumph. "Guess what Granger? You are now completely under my control."
"But first things first."
/ Do not tell anyone about this spell. We wouldn't want Potter and Weasly to know now, would we? /
I know I don't deserve them, but I'd really appreciate any reviews. I used to often be lazy with reviewing but now I never read a story without reviewing it. Not only does it make the author feel appreciated, but it also tells them how many people read their story and how they feel about it. Don't leave the author, [a.k.a me] in the dark. Please review!
