Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, I wouldn't be here.
I knocked three times on Draco's bedroom door.
"Draco, can I use your owl?" I asked nicely when Draco opened it. If I was gonna have any chance of getting what I wanted, I needed to push my feelings of dislike aside and be polite. "And see, this is how a nice polite person asks for entrance to another's room."
Draco seemed to ignore my addition as he was still solely focused and slightly confused at the first part of my sentence. "You don't have an owl?"
I sighed impatiently. "Did you see me come here with an owl? No, I don't."
"Why?" he asked, still not answering my question.
"Well, after I had saved up all my money, it was either a broom or an owl. And I chose the broom, because without it I would have to use the school brooms and they suuuuuuuck," I emphasized. "So, can I use it?"
"Who are you sending a letter to?" Draco didn't stop his inquiry.
"My friend."
"Who?"
"My friend."
"Who?"
"Hermione!" I admitted with exasperation. "Please?"
Draco scrunched his face up, "Granger?" He looked like he was going to decline.
"Please. I'll do whatever you want," I said in my desperation. Oh no too much, too much! "That's within reason," I added quietly for good measure.
"Like you could give me something worthwhile," he snarled, but nonetheless stroked his chin thoughtfully for a few moments. "Fine," he finally agreed, however annoyed. "First and last time, Christina. Don't ask again."
"Thanks Draco!" I almost jumped with exuberance. "Let me get the letter, be right back!" I dodged back down the hall and into my room. Hurriedly, before Draco could change his mind, I took out a quill and a piece of parchment.
Dear Hermione,
Hey Herms! It's Christina. Can you guess where my parents shipped me off to this summer? No not Azkaban, though I don't think they'll ever stop trying that. Malfoy Manor! I could almost see your look of shock right now. Malfoy let me use his owl to send you this letter, and believe me, I'm surprised he did too. I just wanted to see how you were, since I haven't talked to you in months! I bet you're all done with your summer work and already starting on this year's lesson plan. Some things never change, right? Before you ask, no, I didn't start my work. But I'll get to it; there really isn't much to do here. There's also another reason I'm writing you. With your endless knowledge, do you know of a potion or natural remedy that can suppress dreams, or rather, nightmares? Thanks Herms, hope all is well. Send my love to your parents, too.
Love, Christina
Yeah, it's been a week, and I still haven't forgotten that nightmare. I haven't had another one, but the fear of it coming back made me resort to asking Hermione for help. I contemplated asking Draco, but I didn't want to chance it. He'd probably just laugh.
Pushing my thoughts aside, I picked up another parchment paper and decided to write Ron as well. Hopefully Draco would let me send two letters.
I didn't chance writing Harry because of the Dursleys; they never liked receiving mail via owl since the great owl debacle of first year, Harry had told me.
Dear Ron,
Hey Weasley, it's Christina. Guess where I am? If you said Malfoy Manor, you'd be right. Now, before you get as red as your hair and start shouting, this is not my choice. My stupid parents decided to take a second honeymoon and leave pitiful me with the Malfoys. Shipped from one cold family to the next, eh? Sometimes I wish I had a family like yours, and I'm very thankful that you Weasleys treat me like such. Anyway, how are you? Have you heard from Harry or Hermione? I'm sending Herms a letter too, but I'm not gonna chance it with Harry and get him into more trouble than he probably already is (because let's face it, Harry is somehow always in trouble with the Dursleys). I'm using Malfoy's owl, so write back as quick as you can. Send my love to the family. Hope to hear from you soon.
Love, Christina
I packed the letters away and raced back into Draco's room to find him sitting at his desk, writing patiently. "Here!" I said, tossing him the two letters before he changed his mind. "Thanks again."
He looked curiously at the letters in his arms, "There are two letters here...I thought you were only writing to the mudblood?"
"Her name is Hermione," I snapped. "And I would even appreciate Granger, but not that name."
"Who's the other letter to?" Draco ignored my previous sentiments.
"Ron."
"Weasel?"
"Weasley."
"Same thing," Draco shrugged. "Why aren't you writing to Potter?"
None of your business, I wanted to retort, but I held my tongue. I really needed those letters delivered. "His guardians don't appreciate anything particularly magical."
"Muggles?" Draco questioned, disdain clear in his voice.
I nodded in affirmation.
Draco didn't say anything else as he stood up and walked to a silver cage in the corner of his room. Inside was a beautiful light gray owl, with tinges of white on the span of its wings. It had transparent brown eyes, almost a caramel color.
"Is it a girl?" I couldn't help but ask, transfixed on the beautiful animal before me.
"He's a boy."
"What's his name?"
"Fane."
"He's beautiful," I unconsciously got closer and closer to the cage, until Draco snatched my hand away quickly.
"He doesn't really like anyone but me...he bites, too."
"Oh," I murmured, still admiring Fane. Draco slowly ducked his arm into the cage and I watched with great interest as Fane perched on his arm. Draco took him towards the window, held up the letters, and whispered the instructions.
You could almost see a glint in Fane's eye as if he was conversing with Draco, and a few moments later, Fane took off into the sky. I continued to stare out the window in awe, even as Draco passed me and went back to his seat.
"You want an owl," I heard him say, and it was more of a statement than a question.
"Yeah," I agreed. "I guess I just gotta keep saving...although, I still think I'll be short even after we finish school," I shrugged, trying not to think of the bad things. I noticed the papers on Draco's desk and pointed slowly. "Schoolwork?"
Draco looked down at his desk for a moment before meeting my eyes. "Yeah, might as well get it over with."
"I haven't even started," I admitted. "Potions is gonna be tough, though. Snape is well...Snape."
"I can imagine so. He doesn't like you very much."
"What's the matter with me?" I asked, but scowled when Draco raised his eyebrows. Oh yeah, definitely shouldn't ask questions like that with him.
"Do you want the short list, or can you wait until I've written it up in correct form with bullet points and a detailed explanation of various points?" Draco asked, quite seriously too.
I glared at him. "I haven't done anything particularly awful to Snape, though. Is it because I'm a Gryffindor? Seriously, people need to get over that. It's starting to become an overused excuse."
"I think it has more to do with that fact that you're friends with Potter, personally," Draco suggested, but then shrugged. "If you need help with your Potions work, you could ask me. I guess I could help you, if I have nothing better to do."
"You're good at Potions?"
"It's my best class...and don't say it's because Snape favored me. I actually enjoyed the class and produced good work."
I went to respond, but suddenly my nightmare came rushing into my head. Maybe he could give me some advice on a dream suppressant?
"Okay, if you're so good at Potions...do you know a potion that can suppress nightmares?" I asked quickly.
"Nightmares?" he repeated, frowning slightly. "Why?"
"Just...hypothetically..."
"Are you having nightmares?" He seemed amused.
"You ask way too many questions, Malfoy."
"Well, are you?"
"Uh – yes. But not just random silly ones. It's...just...never mind. Forget I asked," I sighed, regretting bringing it up.
"Off the top of my head, I don't know of any potion that suppresses nightmares, or even dreams. You'd have to ask Snape that. But, why? Can you tell me about your nightmare?"
I hesitated. Draco's tone was concerned, which was a whole world different than what I was used to. "Just promise you won't poke fun at it, okay? It really shook me up."
Draco sighed with annoyance. "Whatever, I promise."
"Alright..." I sighed, rubbing my hands over my face. "Well, it started with me waking up in this room. It had gray stone walls, cracked and damp. And I was in the dark, except this little lamp above my head, but even that didn't give me much light. I barely could see a foot in front of me. I mean, every time I tried to walk I felt like I was falling into the Twilight Zone," I paused, realizing I was rambling. "Anyway, once I reached out to touch one of the walls, I felt a big iron door...and then a latch. But no matter how hard I pulled on the latch, the door wouldn't open. And then the light went out above my head, leaving me in complete darkness. And I tried harder to open the door...I kept hoping and hoping the door would open...but it didn't. And then I heard his voice."
I stopped and looked at Draco for a moment, who was sitting patiently and listening to my story.
"He said...there was no escape...and then...he..." I had to shut my eyes and focus on my breathing. My heart was racing at extreme speeds, and I could feel my hands shivering. "I felt pain. Lots of pain. And I was shouting and crying...and I saw these narrow red eyes...and then I woke up."
Draco sat there for a few seconds, appearing to be digesting the information. "You mentioned a 'he'. Do you know who he is?" he finally asked.
I nodded, but didn't say any more.
"Well, who is he?" Draco pressed.
I bit my lip, but eventually said softly, "He said his name was, well, Lord Voldemort."
Draco abruptly stood up from his desk, knocking over his ink bottle in the process. He didn't seem to notice or care, however, as his intense gaze never left my face.
"Voldemort?" His voice was a whisper.
"He just said his name was Lord Voldemort...maybe he was lying?"
Draco continued to look at me until he nodded slowly nearly a minute later. "Okay."
We continued to gaze at each other until I stood up and dusted my pants off. "Well, if you find out any potions that would help, let me know."
Draco didn't answer, just nodded his head slightly. I walked out of his room feeling sullen and anxious. Draco didn't take it as well as I thought, and his reaction freaked me out just a little.
That night, I laid in my bed, caught between wanting to fall asleep and hoping it wouldn't be a nightmare. Eventually my tiredness won out, and my eyes closed for the night.
I opened my eyes groggily, thinking it was morning, but instead saw that I was in a familiar circular room.
"This is the place from my dream," I said out loud, to no one in particular.
I dragged my bare feet across the cold rock floor until I saw the iron door at the opposite end of the room. I whimpered slightly, already knowing what was going to come. Instead of frantically trying to pry the door open, this time I examined it closely, looking for a lock or something similar that was causing the door to stay shut. But before I could complete my search, the lights were shut off once again, and I was left in pitch darkness. Turning quickly, I heard heavy breathing could and see the outline of the figure who called himself Lord Voldemort, whether he was or not I didn't know.
"Please don't kill me," I whispered, no longer thinking it was a dream. I briefly wondered how my Gryffindor bravery could abandon me at such a time.
"I'm not going to kill you...yet," Voldemort said in a cold voice. "Crucio!"
Pain like I had never experienced came over my body, making me collapse onto the ground. My limbs flailed and contracted as I hollered in pain. The room began to get blurry and I saw splotches of black invade my vision. I knew I was going to die.
Abruptly I felt someone shaking my shoulders and whispering my name while my pain slowly ebbed away. Once I realized that I was awake, my screams died down and I cracked a tired eye open, confusion clouding my already hazy brain. My vision was blurred with tears, but one thing I could make out was soft blond hair gently brushing against my face.
Too tired to even hold my own body up, I leaned sleepily against Draco. Time passed like a snail, and eventually I felt Draco start to get up.
"Wait!" I gripped onto his arm sharply, and probably painfully. "Please, don't leave me," I said fearfully, pulling him closer to me. That nightmare was worse than the first one, and I was afraid to even be alone in the dark at this moment. I didn't care that this was Malfoy, I didn't care that I hated him. Right now, I just needed the comfort of knowing another human being was there.
"Christina, I need to go, I'm tired."
"No no no, please stay. Please," I knew I was begging and probably sounded completely pathetic, but at that point, I didn't care. I just knew that I couldn't be alone.
"No, I'm going now."
I refused to let go of him, even though he tried to pulled away.
"You're acting foolish," Draco commented.
"I don't care."
"If my parents came in here and saw us like this I would be in a great deal of trouble. If you haven't noticed, they aren't too fond of you."
"I still don't care."
"They wouldn't like the fact that I'd be sharing a bed with a blood traitor. And neither do I."
His words stung my already frail emotions. "You're the one who came here."
"Because your screams were echoing all over the house. I thought you were being killed!"
"You were worried about me?"
"No, I wanted to see if the murderer needed help, or perhaps a treat for a job well done."
I was too drained of energy to fight with him. "Draco please, I'm just...I'm..." I was shaking again, I knew.
Draco closed his eyes, contemplating his options. "Alright, let's just lay down," he finally cajoled as he disentangled himself from my arms and laid me back down onto the mattress. I still refused to let go of him, however, as I knew he would probably try to leave again. Draco hesitantly leaned down next to me, and I rested my head against his chest without a second thought.
Long after Draco had fallen asleep I remained awake, reliving the nightmare over and over. The only thing that managed to soothe me was the steady drumming of Draco's heartbeat against my ear. I didn't know if it was solely due to my fragile state, but I felt safe and secure in Draco's protective hold.
And it confused me so much.
A/N: THREE UPDATES IN ONE DAY. I hope you guys are enjoying this, I'm working extra hard for you. Anyway, R&R (:
