MMM: Hello there, everyone. It's me again! I thought it would be a good time to do a little updating on my sequel story 'When Two Worlds Collide'.

AC: Cool!

MMM: Well, I could be incredibly cheesy and go 'it is rather somewhat cold outside' and all, but I'll spare you all of that.

DM: Thank Merlin for that!

MMM: Anyway, on with the story, shall we?

Ch. 4 Nightmares

August 7th, 1999

"No… Stop it, please," a voice mumbled in the dead of night. The person beside him began to toss around in bed, bringing Draco out of sleep. "No! Stop! Don't!" Draco turned on the light on his bedside table and turned back to see Anya frantically thrashing around in her sleep, fighting off some imaginary enemy, tears slipping out from behind her closed eyes.

"Anya. Anya, wake up!" Draco said. He caught her wrist as she turned in her sleep and began to hit and claw at him. This only seemed to fuel her unconscious fear and desperation and she began to fight him even harder. Her nails scratched at his face but Draco ignored it and pinned her arms down at her sides whilst avoiding hurting her. "Anya, wake up!"

At that, violet eyes snapped open wide with fright. She eventually calmed down when she saw that there was no danger and Draco was the one holding her. Draco released her wrists and pulled back to allow her to sit up, wrapping the throw blanket at the foot of the bed around her quivering frame. "Are you alright? Did you have another nightmare of Bellatrix?" Anya's arm instinctively curled in so that the inside of her forearm was cradled against her chest. "I'll take that as a yes."

"It's been over a year," she sighed after a few minutes of silence. "You'd think I'd be over it by now. I mean, she's dead- she can never hurt me again. And yet…" She let out a huff of self-annoyance. "I'm sorry."

"No!" Draco pressed his hand against the side of her face, feeling the cool tears drip down from her eyes. "You have nothing to be sorry for. It's a perfectly normal reaction to something like what you've been through. A year isn't long enough for a person to get over something like that."

Anya gave a weak chuckle. "You'd think that after everything else I've faced in the last decade, I'd have nightmares about them rather than Bellatrix, huh?" She gave another meek chuckle and rubbed at her arm before pulling it away from her chest. "You can hardly see it anymore, not unless you look really closely."

Draco looked down at the exposed skin of her forearm and he felt that usual loathing he always felt whenever he thought of his late aunt, not to mention the guilt he felt for not having done something at the time. The healers at St. Mungo's hospital had done their best to eliminate as much of the scar as possible, but Draco knew that no matter how hard they tried, Anya would always see the word 'MUDBLOOD' fresh and bold on her skin. Anya would pretend like they didn't exist, but Draco saw her apply make-up over the markings whenever she couldn't get away with long sleeves.

Careful as to not startle her, he gently placed his hand on her arm, blocking her view of the scar. Violet eyes looked away from the cuts to Draco's face, and he reached up with his other hand to cradle the side of her face. "You're still perfect to me," he told her sincerely.

Anya scoffed. "You know you're a terrible liar," she commented.

"And what about me?" Draco shot back. When she gave him a confused look, he let go of her so that he could roll up the left sleeve of his shirt. Like Anya, Draco had his own scars, so to speak. When he had been- unwillingly- recruited by Voldemort just before the beginning of his sixth year at Hogwarts, his father had forced Draco into accepting the Dark Mark. Though the black ink of the snake and skull tattoo had faded next to nothing the day Voldemort was defeated, there was still the faintest trace left. And whenever people noticed on the streets, they'd all give him a glare as though he were some bug they wished to crush under their foot. "Do you think any less of me when you see this?" he asked.

Anya rolled her eyes as she cupped the back of his neck, pulling him towards her. Draco felt his blood heat up as her soft lips pressed firmly against his, her other hand coming up to twist through his hair. Draco wrapped one arm around her upper back, pulling her even tighter against his chest while his other hand braced him as he lowered the two of them back onto the bed so that he knelt over her.

It never ceased to amaze Draco that out of all the blokes on the planet, Anya chose him. Him- Draco Malfoy, the wizard with the most damaged past. That past pushed her away once, but she found it in herself to accept it and love him. Why this woman- this angel- would ever choose someone like him was a mystery, but Draco wasn't going to question it. He was just going to make sure that he'd never lose her again.

Eventually, the need for air became strong and they pulled away panting. "Does that answer your question?" Anya gasped as she sucked in oxygen.

Draco simply laughed in response and allowed himself to flop back into the mattress, Anya tucked snuggly into his side. He felt her smile through the fabric of his shirt and head the light chuckle bubble out past her lips. "What's so funny?" he chuckled.

Anya gave another chuckle and squeezed her arm where it sat over his chest. "I'm just thinking just how far we've come from. A Gryffindor and Slytherin- a muggleborn and pureblood. We're such polar opposites of each other and yet, we seem to fit so perfectly together. It's a little out of the ordinary."

Draco smiled as he skimmed his fingers up and down along the length of her back. "And since when exactly have we ever been 'ordinary'?" he teased. When Anya playfully swatted at his chest, her light giggling became a squeal of laughter as he rolled back on top of her and began to tickle mercilessly at her sides. When he stopped his assault, he leaned down again and whispered against her lips, "It's a good think that I don't like ordinary."

Anya sighed as she nestled back into his side when he flopped back onto the bed. "So… are you coming with me and Cathy to Diagon Alley next week?" she asked. Looking at him through her lashes, she gave him an adorable pout. "You know that kid looks up to you and simply adores you to bits. And I know that she'd love to have you with us."

Draco smiled. "Absolutely." He then squeezed his arm affectionately around her waist. "You know I love you, right?"

Anya smiled up at him. "I love you too."

"Forever?" he asked.

"Forever and for always."

MMM: Now, I'm not sure if everyone will really understand this particular chapter, so I'll just take a quick moment here and explain. With everything Anya has dealt with in the past, she has quite the material to work with for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. I may not have any personal experience with that sort of thing, but when you've read different stories with characters experiencing it or reading about the subject in general, you can get an understanding.
Now why did I write this kind of story? Well, there is one thing I DO know about and that's how the stress of starting a new school- especially college- can be on a person. I had quite a few random dreams in the day. And when you have PTSD and you become very stressed with something, your mind works too hard during the time your conscious and it can't help protect you when you asleep. So Anya could still have the occasional nightmare. And I thought that showing an exceptionally tender, caring side of Draco would be nice.

Don't forget to review!

Nancy (aka megamatchmaker)