A/N: Still poor, and still without ownership of Harry Potter. Pity.
Chapter title and song lyrics belong to K's Choice Only Dreaming. I highly suggest this song, it's haunting and beautiful. I keep telling myself I'm only going to use one song per artist but some of the bands I'm obsessed with might get some multiple chapters. I just can't help it.
And I apologize profusely for the numerous errors I found when reading back the last chapter. Hopefully you still got what I was getting at since it wasn't anything too major, and I'll do my best to be more careful.
Any-who, I have some quick shout outs before we begin!
Yankeerose and Hermione Voldemort Riddle: You guys rock! I appreciate your multiple reviews and that you seem to be sticking with the story!
Dayannight: I'm glad you seem to be getting the feel I wanted through my description and I appreciate your feedback!
And Last (sorry I'm so rambly, I'm a talker if you couldn't tell :)), I'm kind of excited because some details of the story have finally struck me and I have a better idea of where this is going to end up! Hooray!
Enjoy.
"I'm sure you're only dreaming. You're only juggling with my mind.
While I feel more and more like screaming.
For the scar you left behind "
Hermione woke the next morning after quite possibly the worst nights sleep she'd ever had.
And she'd had some bad nights.
She groaned as she opened her eyes, not feeling as though she'd gotten even a wink of sleep. She threw the covers off haphazardly, and sat up. The clock on the wall across from her told her it was 5:42.
'Honestly!' she thought exasperatedly.
After climbing into bed, she'd found that even the slightest noise woke her. Not very convenient when even the clock gave off innocent little 'ticks' every minute.
Innocent ticks that kept her tossing and turning.
At exactly 11:05 the sound of rain thudding violently against the window startled her so much she jerked up in bed instantly, peering around for the source of the noise. At 11:59 she heard what she thought had been creaking floorboards. She covered her head in her blankets, willing the noise to stop.
'Is this real or imagined?' she asked herself, starting to question her sanity.
At 1:02 she rolled over, unable to fall into the depths of sleep since her last disturbance. She finally fell into an uneasy sleep before being woken at 2:35 by a series of terrifying nightmares, all of which included Malfoy torturing her in one way or another. She was startled to feel the damp tracks of tears streaming down her cheeks as she jerked awake, sweat covering almost every inch of her body. The last time she'd seen the numbers on the clock it had been 2:42.
And now it was approaching six in the morning, and she found herself with the distinct knowledge that her mind and body would not find any more sleep that night.
She walked in a daze to her closet and furiously wiped sleep from her eyes with the backs of her hands as she willed her eyes to focus. It was to no avail as everything seemed fuzzy. She was unbelievably furious at herself for letting Malfoy unsettle her this much. But however furious she was at herself, she was ten times more at him. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't stop replaying his last words to her.
'Let me know how it works trying to keep up that shield while sleeping.'
Ugh.
She finally settled on a pair of soft gray muggle sweats, and a black camisole. She definitely didn't feel like dressing in anything form fitting. They arrived at Hogwarts on a Saturday in order to give the students one full day in between to prepare to return to classes. Almost any other day she would have needed to be awake by this time. During the week breakfast was put out at 7 and away at 8, with classes starting at 8:30. But seeing as today was only Sunday, she needn't appear in the great hall for breakfast until 11am. This was typical Sunday Brunch at Hogwarts. She was supposed to have this day before classes, to sleep in until the last possible second, eat breakfast with Harry and Ron, and lounge about for the day gathering books, retrieving her schedule, and unpacking. She suddenly wish she'd used her insomnia to finish unpacking as she looked around the room at the mess. This was certainly going to be more miserable in her sleep deprived state.
'Perhaps a shower?...' she wondered, grabbing a towel, a fresh pair of knickers, and a bra from her trunk and heading towards her door. When she reached it she stopped and took in a deep breath. 'He's in your head Hermione, but it's just a game.' she told herself. 'Where is that Gryffindor bravery?'
With one last deep breath she opened the door. Slowly she peered out across the landing. Malfoy's door was shut. She crept out as quietly as she could manage, her bare feet making no noise as they tip toed across the marble floor and down the staircase. She gave a cautionary glance around the common room making sure he was nowhere to be seen. Every noise seemed much louder to Hermione, and she winced as the turn of the bathroom handle sounded like a cannon in her head. Finally she slipped inside and set her things down on the immaculate counter-top. It was to the right and made of marble as was the tub to the left which held a waterfall style faucet in the center. It sat on four goblin made gold claw feet. The towel rack was straight across the room and was made of pure gold. Upon it hung two sets of towels, one green, one crimson. In the center of the floor lay a huge fluffy white rug.
Hermione turned on the tap and went to lock the door. When she returned the tub had already filled. 'Must be magically sped up' she noted. She tapped her wand against the tub which instantly filled with a sea of cloud-like bubbles. Slowly and carefully she stripped off her clothing. She grimaced, noting how sore her body was. She gave it no other thought however, when her body sank into the bliss filled tub. She lay her head back against the head of the tub which felt plush and comfortable against her fragile skull. Sometimes she really really loved magic. Before she knew it, she sank into a deep, blissful, sleep.
Draco Malfoy slept like a baby.
When his eyes finally popped open, it was the sound of running water that brought him from his slumber. He rolled onto his side and propped himself up on one elbow, willing himself to overcome the urge to fall back asleep. He rose and walked over to the door, peering out. He smiled sleepily as he realized Granger's door was cracked just slightly. He crossed the small landing and opened the door as quiet as he could.
No Granger.
He used that opportunity to take in his surroundings. Unlike his own room, hers had not been cleaned or unpacked. Items were strewn about, a few stacks of books covered part of the floor,and there were un-hung clothes spilling from her closet and trunk. The bed had been torn apart as though she'd been flailing about in her sleep. He smirked wondering what ever could have been the cause for such an uneasy slumber. He thought he might have a few ideas.
He decided to have a more thorough look of the room, when he suddenly remembered what woke him. 'The shower.'
He backed from the room and returned the door to its cracked position. He turned and followed the sound of running water down the stairs and to his right. He raised a hand hesitantly to the door, when he realized it was locked.
'Obviously' he chided himself. This would never work... but just maybe.
'Alohomora' he muttered. To his genuine surprise, the door gave a small 'click' to allow him entrance. This was almost too easy. It was barely six in the morning and already he could have a little fun at Granger's expense. He was sure on the list of ways to have a good day, starting it by provoking Granger so early, landed high up on the list. But he wasn't prepared for what he saw.
She was... sleeping?
He allowed himself to go farther into the room. He found her lying peacefully in the tub, her mess of curls spread out around her head. She had filled the water with a thick froth of bubbles, preventing him from viewing much of anything. This was unfortunate for him, as he thought seeing her naked would probably be good ammo to tease her with. Something in the back of his head prodded at him, telling him perhaps that wasn't the only reason, but he shoved the notion aside as quickly as it had come.
He realized as he observed the sleeping girl, he'd never taken the time to really look at her. Sure, he'd used her buck teeth and bushy hair as material for torture in the past. In fact, he'd been so used to making fun of her for her more obnoxious features, that he completely failed to realize when they'd disappeared altogether.
Her long chocolate and caramel colored hair was still very curly but it had lost some of its initial frizzyness, leaving it looking like one of those girls who was impossibly cool and carefree. She had a delicate slightly upturned nose, deep set mocha colored eyes, and plush looking lips. He noted that she had a slightly fuller bottom lip which gave her the perfect amount of pout and made her look incredibly kissable.
'Stop!' he growled internally, determined to put an end to these thoughts that kept trying to creep into his brain.
The bubbles in the tub kept him from being able to take notice of her body, but the skin he could see looked soft and warm. She had an odd complexion. She had olive undertones, yet remained very fair skinned at the same time. He could see the tops of her shoulders and chest, and he couldn't help but admire the hollow of her neck, which looked so feminine and fragile.
He briefly ran his mind through ways to wake and torment her. But something inside told him not to alert her to his presence. He couldn't place it, but he knew without a doubt that leaving her unaware of his prying eyes, would be a good start to his mission. He turned and slipped from the room as quietly as he'd entered.
Hermione loved how peaceful it was here.
She lay on a beach, the warm sand against her back, cool waves lapping across her legs. She couldn't remember the last time she felt this alive. Her senses were aware of every grain of sand and each ray of warm sun that covered her body. The sound of the crashing waves filled her ears and she turned her head. There were Harry and Ron. Her Harry and Ron. Her best friends. Their eyes were as alight as she'd ever seen them, reflecting the sunshine as they splashed around in the water a short distance from her, laughing and smiling.
She missed this. Their laughs had the power to fill her whole soul with joy. And it had been sometime since she felt full.
Before she knew it was happening, they turned towards her and charged, falling on top of her and covering her with sand. She laughed so hard it hurt as they rolled off and a sand fight ensued. She had no concept of how much time they spent there, rolling in the sand like children, crying from laughing so hard. All she knew was complete happiness and utter contentment. Suddenly she looked down, realizing the waves had crawled up her body quite a ways. All at once they had reached her chest and she felt weighted down underneath the cool ocean water. Which abruptly began to warm like bathwater.
'Bathwater?'
Hermione woke in an instant and looked around. She groaned, wishing she were back in her dreamland. She felt so at ease there, and now the world around her looked harsh as she realized it was not the state of perpetual bliss she knew from her dream. This was the real world, and it felt cold and hopeless. She silently thanked Merlin for the magic that prevented the tap from spilling over, or the water from growing cold. It was indeed as warm as it was before her slumber.
'Of course, I took a bath hoping it would wake me up and end up falling asleep and making myself even more exhausted.' she muttered to the empty bathroom.
Finally she braced herself, one hand on each side of the tub, to stand. 'Owe!' she was so sore. She grimaced and pulled herself up, turning off the tap and reaching for her towel. She wrung out her long hair and shook off a bit before wrapping the fluffy fabric around her middle. She glanced down at the swirling water as it disappeared down the drain, and stepped out of the tub, giving each leg a quick flick to avoid soaking the fluffy carpet.
Hermione made her way to the mirror where she gasped at her reflection. Her hair clung to her back, weighted down with moisture just as she expected it to be. Her hair being the only thing that looked as she'd expected.
Dark circles formed under her eyes portraying every bit of sleep her insomnia managed to deprive her of. And for the first time, she noticed the reason for some of her soreness. Her wrists began to purple, bruises mangling them from where Malfoy had grabbed them. She slowly dropped her towel and turned away from the mirror, twisting her upper body around and examining her backside in the reflection. She also had a particularly nasty bruise the size of a bludger on her hip from when he had thrown her to the ground and rolled on top of her when she tried to help him. She rolled her eyes at the thought of the two altercations she had already had with the Head Boy. 'It hasn't even been 24 hours.' she thought with disdain.
She couldn't believe how a mere moment ago she'd been in her comforting dream. She could only hope that it would happen again, as an awareness flooded over her.
'This year will be nothing like that dream.'
"You're only dreaming, I think I can hear you talk.
You're only dreaming, I think I can hear you say, 'shut up'.
You're only dreaming, I hope your dream is in me.
You're only dreaming you're free"
I'm not sure this was my strongest chapter so I'm eager to see what you think. I know not a whole lot happened as it was kind of a filler, but I felt it was necessary. But maybe that's just me :) I wanted to make it longer so there could be some interaction, but it didn't fit with the way the song was driving me to go. Again, you really should have a listen. It's quite good.
