(All characters belong to JK Rowlings)
Part IV:
The Tale Continues -
Classes finally began, and Hermione's nightmares continued, not that she was any closer to remembering them. Her injuries continued as well, and even though it was still warm, she had taken to wearing long sleeves when she did not have on her robes, so that people would not ask questions. She didn't want the students to ask her how she obtained all those bruises and scratches. During that time, the archeology team uncovered only a few other items, some arrowheads, some utensils, and some stone tablets. The stone table was still the biggest and most important find thus far, and that was found two weeks ago. Professor McWhorter and Paul were working on the runes on the table. They were not having much luck uncovering the meaning of the symbols. They wanted Hermione to come help, but Draco asked Hermione to stay away from the site, and she respected his wishes, for once.
Besides, her classes and her wedding plans were keeping her busy. Her mother was persistent in her demands that Hermione start to narrow down some choices, so she forced Draco to help her, and they picked out the venue (picked by Mrs. Malfoy, so that it was easily accessible for Wizards and Muggles) and the invitations. She picked her colors, (purple and silver), and that was about it so far. Her classes were consuming more of her time than she thought.
It was a very warm September. It was September 6, and it was actually hot in her classroom. Draco came sauntering in as she was grading reports. He sat on her desk, on top of the papers she was grading. Hermione looked up at him, irritated, until he smiled at her. Her frown melted, replaced by a smile. He pulled on the front of her robes and forced her to stand, between his legs. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed the side of her neck. "How can you stand to work in here? It's so warm," he said. He moved his lips to her neck, and removed her robes off her shoulders.
"Draco, a student might come in and see us," she warned, as he continued to kiss her neck.
"Classes are over for the day," he chastised, kissing her pulse point. He put his thumbs on each side of her collar, and opened it slightly. He moved his mouth to her collarbone. His hands spread out wide on her back. She was close enough to him that she could feel his want for her. She moved her head to the side, and then moved to kiss his neck. He moaned slightly.
"Let's take this to my room," he spoke against her neck.
"Can't, grading papers," she said breathlessly.
"Please," he moaned.
She bit her bottom lip and grinned. "Let me finish with my papers, and I swear I am all yours, and you can have your evil way with me," she promised.
"Don't make me all happy, to take it away. Keep your promises, Granger," he chided.
"I intend to, Malfoy, wait and see," she laughed, sitting back down to finish her papers, and swatting at his legs to make him move off the parchments. "If you help me, I will get done faster," she said.
He stayed on her desk, took a quill, and started putting a failing grade on every paper. She took her wand and erased his errant marks, and said, "If you can't help me, than just sit there quietly and let me finish."
"How can you stand being cooped up in here, it's so damn warm," he repeated his sentiment from earlier.
"How can you stand to be cooped up in the dungeons, it's so dark and damp?" she remarked.
"At least they are underground, so it's cool. What are you doing?" he moaned, as she was actually reading one of the pieces of parchments, "If you aren't going to fail them all, than pass them all and be done with it," he reprimanded, still sitting on her desk and swinging his legs back and forth. He removed his robe and put it over her head, and laughed.
"I have to be fair in my grading," she said, removing his robe. Aren't you fair when you grade papers?" she asked.
"No," he said quickly, "I give all the best grades to the Slytherins, barely pass the Ravenclaws, fail the Hufflepuffs, and mark all the Gryffindors incomplete."
"You're lying," she said, hopefully.
He picked up a scroll that was on her desk. "What's this?"
"Paul wrote down all the runes and symbols from the table, and wanted to know if I could have a look at them, since I can't seem to actually touch the table without fainting," Hermione said.
Then, Draco saw that the Hufflepuff cup was sitting on the floor, by her desk. "Why is that thing in here?" he asked.
"I might need it, as a point of reference. The cylinder is here, too. They might help me with the table runes," she explained.
Draco said exasperated, "I really don't like the idea of these being in your room."
"Draco," Hermione said, putting her quill down, "I have been having the dreams anyway, so the cup and the cylinder must not have anything to do with my night time happenings. I'll keep them locked up in my desk here in my classroom if you would like, instead of bringing them to my room," she conceded.
"I think you should see a seer. Someone who could help you remember things. Maybe even one of those hypnologist," Draco said.
"That's silly," she said.
"Maybe you should talk to Professor Trelawney, or that Centaur," Draco said, with a grin.
Hermione merely huffed and went back to work.
"What?" Draco asked, "How can you seriously tell me that a girl who grew up a Muggle, and then became a witch, and who has seen the things you've seen, and done the magic you've done, not believe in this one particular branch of magic? Do you know what I think, Granger?"
"Do tell," she smiled up at him, putting her quill down again. He jumped down off her desk and kneeled by her chair.
"I think you are afraid to believe. I also think you have closed yourself off to Divination, because you were offended by a silly professor back when you were 14 years old, and your pride is in your way," Draco concluded. "Yes, your pride and your fear."
Hermione glared at him and stood up. "I'm not afraid! In addition, maybe my pride was wounded back in third year, but that was a long time ago! It is just a bunch of malarkey. Let me prove it to you," and she left the room, returning shortly. She came back in with a young girl of about 15 years old.
"Dorothy, this is Professor Malfoy, Professor, this is Dorothy Bishop," Hermione said. The girl looked half-afraid of Malfoy. He smiled at her, however, and she smiled back. Hermione continued, "Dorothy is going to help us out for a minute."
Hermione turned to the girl and said, "Dorothy, I'm going to attempt to use ESP to read your aura, is that okay with you?" The girl nodded and Hermione carried on, "Dorothy, I see that there is a mother figure looking after you, who's passed on, and she is telling me that she is right beside you, watching out for you. Who might that be?"
The girl's eyes opened wide and she said, "My Nana. She died last March."
"Yes, she was very ill, right?" Hermione asked.
"Yes, she had cancer," the girl said softly.
"She said to tell you she's in a better place, and there's no more pain. Now, she tells me there is something about a picture. Do you have a picture of her on your dresser or night table?"
"Yes," the girl answered excited, "On my bedside table, there is a picture of her and me."
"Is there something special, or different about the picture, or perhaps the frame? Or did you just get a new frame for that picture?" Hermione asked.
"Well, my cat knocked the picture off, and the glass broke, but I haven't gotten a new frame yet," she answered.
"She tells me to tell you that you don't need to get a new frame. She likes the imperfection," Hermione said. The girl smiled.
"That sounds like her. Her favourite quote was 'waste not, want not'," Dorothy answered.
"She tells me she sends you signs that she is with you. Is there some special sign that you two shared?" Hermione asked.
"Yes, Professor! The day she died there was a rainbow, and she said every time I see a rainbow, that means she's with me, and there was a rainbow just last week, after it rained," Dorothy answered, now with a large smile on her face.
"Yes, that's what she told me," Hermione said back, "She has to go now, but she wants you to know she loves you, and is proud of you."
"Oh, Thank you so much, Professor!" the girl said.
Hermione said, "Please, don't tell anyone what we discussed here, okay?"
The girl nodded and ran out of the room, smiling.
Hermione crossed her arms, smirked at Malfoy and said, "See, a load of malarkey. I asked a bunch of leading questions, got her to reveal things to me, and fed off her responses. It's all a load of rubbish."
"What about the rainbow thing? How did you know that?" Draco asked.
"Everyone has something special they share with their love ones," Hermione pointed out, sitting down, "She's the one that revealed the fact that it was a rainbow."
Draco stood up and crossed his arms. "I think that was cruel to do that to that little girl."
"Why? She went away happy, and none the wiser, and I proved my point," Hermione said to him.
"Maybe not," said a voice from the doorway.
The Man at the Door-
"May I help you?" Hermione asked the young man.
"You don't recognize me, do you?" the man asked.
Draco said, "You are another one of the Boot brothers. Nick, I believe."
The man reached out to shake Draco's hand. Hermione had only met this brother at Terry's funeral. Besides the times he had been a wolf in her presence, the funeral was the only time she saw him as a man. He was taller than the other brothers, with dark hair, but not as dark as Paul's. He wore it very long, and had it back in a ponytail. He had brilliant blue eyes, and a very nice smile. He was good-looking, but not as handsome as his brother Paul was. Hermione reached out to take his hand. He looked at her hand, and then reached out and shook it.
"Don't be angry, but I'm here to help you, Miss Granger," the man said.
"Help me? How?" Hermione asked.
"Don asked me to talk to you. I am a clairvoyant. I can see mostly the past, but sometimes the future as well," he said in all sincerity. Hermione eyed him wearily. "I was in the hallway, and I witnessed your little exchange with that young girl. You know, what I do is nothing like that. That's something out of a Muggle Carnival, or something," he said, offended.
Hermione looked at Draco and Draco said, "You're on you own, because he's right."
"What did your brother tell you?" Hermione asked.
"Not a lot, but combined with what Draco told me, I think I have a firm grasp of what's going on here," he said, coming to sit down on top of one of the tables.
Hermione walked up to Draco, and said, "What have you told him?"
"Listen, Granger, I won't apologize for being concerned for you. I talked to Don about your night terrors a couple of weeks ago, and then he suggested I write to his brother, so I did. I am going to leave you two to talk. I'll see you at dinner," and Draco leaned down and kissed the top of her head.
She took a deep breath, shut the door to her classroom, and then took one more breath so that first word out of her mouth would not offend the man. She turned around. "Please, leave," she said. That wasn't too offensive, was it?
He laughed and said, "I remember this side of you, from when we guarded you. I could read you more easily when I was a wolf. Why don't you believe, Hermione?"
She sat down across from him, on the same table. "I don't know, really. I just don't like what I can't explain or understand. Even with magic, there are laws of nature. Things like 'reading minds' and 'divination' seems like they go against the laws of nature."
He said, "It's good to be cynical sometimes, but you must also learn to keep an open mind. There's more to magic than what can be learned in textbooks, or within the walls of this school," he said, with a smile. "May I attempt to read your thoughts? Try to attempt to unravel your dreams?"
Fine, she thought. She would do it for Draco, but that was the only reason. "What do I need to do?"
That next day, Hermione and Draco met Don, Paul, and Nick outside. It was Saturday, and most of the students were outside as well, since it was such a beautiful day. They walked up over the hill, and Nick led them to the stone precipice, where Don and Paul had seen 'Hermione' and the spectral that one night a couple weeks ago. They were far enough from the dig site that they were away from prying eyes. Nick and Hermione, alone, went and sat on the large stone. Draco and the other men sat away from them, in the woods, but still within earshot.
Nick said, "Hermione, I want you to take a deep breath, and clear your mind. Listen to the sound of the breeze in the trees. Concentrate on that sound alone. Clear all other sounds and thoughts out of your mind."
Hermione soon found her self totally relaxed. All she heard was his voice. No other sound could be heard. He asked her, "Do you know where you are?"
"I'm at Hogwarts," she said.
"What's your name?" he said.
She answered, "Hermione Jean Granger."
"Very good. Now, Hermione, I want you to sleep. Take a deep breath. I want to know what you see in your dreams. I want you to be a silence observer of your dreams, instead of a participant. Don't be afraid. Watch them from afar. As your dreams start to come to you, tell me what you see," he suggested. He waited several moments and he said, "Can you see your dreams?"
"Yes," she said, lying back on the hard rock, with his jacket under her head.
"Do you clearly see what you are dreaming?" he asked.
"Yes," she said again.
"Tell me what you see," he asked.
Hermione's vision-
"I see a man, on a horse, coming near me, and I'm afraid. He means to cause me harm," Hermione said.
"No one can hurt you. Remember that. Tell me what else you see," he reminded.
"He has on a black robe, and long back hair. He wants to barter for me. He wants me for the land," she said.
Nick was confused. "Who is he?" he asked.
"One of the Darians," she said, "I think he's the oldest. He's a dark wizard. He's evil, that much I am sure. He told Godric that he would let us build our school here if he gives me to him."
"Who are you?" Nick asked, confused at the mention of the name 'Godric'.
"Helga Hufflepuff," she answered.
"Where's Hermione?" he asked.
"I don't know a Hermione," she said.
Nick looked over at his brother, in concern. Don stood up, but the other men remained where they were. Nick could see that his brother looked scared. He put out his hand, to motion that Don should sit back down. However, he remained standing. He was soon joined by Draco and Paul.
Nick said, "Helga, what year is it?"
"997 AD."
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
"We are here to build a school," she explained.
"No, Helga, we are not in your time. This is a thousand years beyond your time. Your school has already been built. Why are you here in the present?"
"I need to let someone know my secret," she said.
"What is your secret?" he asked.
"No, I can't tell you. I can only tell her," Hermione said.
"Who? Tell who?" Nick asked.
"This girl," she answered.
"Why her?" he asked.
"Because we share a connection, because of my cup. She released my soul, when she pierced the cup. My soul was with another's in that cup, so I can only tell her," she said.
"You have to leave her alone. You are causing her danger. You are hurting her," Nick said.
Suddenly, Hermione stood up and screamed. Nick stood up and the other three ran toward her. Nick motioned at them to leave. Hermione sank back down. Nick came to kneel beside her.
"Hermione?" he asked.
Still in a trance, she said, "Yes."
"Can you hear me?"
"Yes."
"What's your name?" he asked.
"You just said it. It's Hermione," she said, eyes closed.
"Hermione, can you tell me about your dreams?" he asked, now that he had her back again.
Hermione said, "I dreamt of a beautiful lady. She had long strawberry blond hair, and green eyes. She came to this land to build a school. She fell in love with one of her best friends, but he betrayed her. He didn't mean to. He left her and she was kidnapped and tortured. He came back to rescue her. He never forgave himself."
"Why does she show you these dreams?" Nick asked, "These aren't secrets. Everyone knows this story." He was assuming she was talking about Helga's rescue by Salazar.
"No, she doesn't want me to tell you anything else. She is telling me that only I can know. She said that I have to find out the truth. Only I can do that," she said.
"Hermione," Nick said, "Listen to me, not her. Tell me about your dreams."
"No!" Hermione shouted, sitting up, eyes still closed.
"Hermione, I want you to wake up, when I count to three, you will wake up, and remember everything we talked about. You will clearly remember your dreams and repeat them to me. One, Two," before Nick could say three, however, Hermione spoke.
"Why are you preventing me from showing her the truth?"
"Who?" Nick asked.
"This young maiden named Hermione. I need to show her what happened. I can't do it when she's awake, for it might scare her. I can only come to her in her dreams. I need to know the truth. Please, let me show her what I know, so he can find out the truth," Hermione said.
"Helga?" Nick asked. Draco was close enough to hear everything clearly now. He started to walk up to them, but Don held him back.
"Yes, it's me again," she said.
"I told you, you need to leave her. You do not belong in this time. Leave her alone," Nick said, with authority.
"He won't let me. He wants me to find out the truth," she said.
"Who? Who won't let you?" Nick asked.
"Salazar. He wants me to find out the truth. He tried to find out from her himself the other night, but the wolves interfered," she said.
"What does he want to find out from her?" Nick asked.
"He wants to know who murdered me," Hermione said.
"You died a very old lady, of natural causes, nothing killed you," he said.
"No, you are wrong. I was murdered. He was blamed. He did not kill me. I need to find out who did," she said.
Soon, Hermione was crying. Nick stood back up and said, "Hermione, Listen to me, you must wake up now. On the count of three, One, Two, Three, wake up!"
Hermione remained on the stone surface, crying, with her eyes shut. "Please, don't take her away from me. She's my only hope," Hermione cried, although it was Helga speaking.
Nick was at a loss. Hermione should have woken up by now. He yelled, "You will leave her now. You are not to hurt her anymore. You can come back and talk to me, if you want, but leave her dreams. Do not torment her anymore! She is an innocent girl. Helga Hufflepuff would never hurt an innocent girl!"
"I don't want to hurt her," Hermione said. The next thing to happen was unexpected, more than the spirit of one of the founders entering Hermione's body. The forest turned dark. However, it was only shortly after noon, still the sky turned black, and the clouds turned gray. The wind blew harshly, and the limbs fell from the trees.
Don ran up to the precipice and said, "We have to get out of here."
"She won't wake up," Nick yelled to be heard over the sound of the wind. A torrential rain began to fall. Draco went to pick up Hermione. He was thrown away from her body, as if shocked. The same spectral that was with her the night the Boot brothers saw her, came out of nowhere. He sent a fine mist around Hermione's body. Her body glowed. She was lifted straight off the rock face. All four men took several steps back. Then, the male spectral left, followed by a lighter, feminine looking spectral. Hermione was thrown back to earth, unceremoniously.
Draco rushed up to her and took her in his arms. She was awake, and confused, and in a great deal of pain from dropping on a hard rock from such a high distance. She was crying once more. He kissed her head and said, "I'm so sorry. It's my fault."
The rain and darkness subsided, and the bright sun of September returned just as quickly. Nick said, "We must try again. I was very close!"
Draco yelled, "No! It is over. It is all over. Everyone stay away from her. The spirit of Hufflepuff left her. It's all over!" and he lifted her up, bridal style, and walked all the way back to the castle.