Draco, in a drunken haze, made his way back to his flat. He stumbled into his apartment and fell onto his couch where he quickly passed out. He was awoken the next morning by a throbbing in his head equal to that in his heart. Not able to withstand the pain he crawled towards the toilet and proceeded to vomit up his stomach lining as he had nothing else in there. He lay on the bathroom floor with the tile cooling his face and thought. He thought about last night and all the nights before. He though about the way that she smelled, kissed, tasted and how he would never get to feel her again.

He slowly moved into the shower and let the warm water rush down upon him as he sat in the tub. His tears mixed with the droplets, and only because he could taste the salt on his lip, did he know that he was crying. Hopelessness consumed him and he no longer had any will to fight it back. The water turned cold but he didn't even notice until his body started to shiver. Draco stayed on the floor of his bathtub for a little while longer, teeth chattering, until he finally found enough energy to shut the water off and wrap himself in a towel.

His head still throbbing in tune with his heart he went to his bedroom where he surrounded himself up in his feather comforter and fell into a deep sleep.

**

He was engulfed in darkness, suffocating him from all sides. His arms reached out, grasping for anything to hold on to. He could feel his legs getting weaker, so weak that he could no longer hold himself upright. He fell to his knees and groped the ground, trying to hold on as if his life depended on it. He sprawled out on the floor of the dark room, wanting every inch of his body to be touching the ground, it was the only thing that made him feel the slightest bit safe. He crawled forward on his belly, hoping to bump into something but never finding anything.

He must have been crawling for hours, his muscles ached and his throat was dry, when he saw in the distance a faint glow. It was far away from the look of it, but the pinprick of light guided him forward. The light was so bright in the darkness that it hurt to look at it so he turned his head to the side, only checking back to make sure it was still there every so often

The light came upon him faster than he would have expected and he was on the floor in front of it in mere moments. Afraid to look up but more afraid not to he lifted his weary head and took in the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. It was her, surrounded in a white glow, hair flowing freely around her, her eyes full of sadness. She reached down to him and grazed his cheek with her luminescent fingers; he could feel the trail of her fingers long after they had left his face. A lone tear fell down her cheek and landed on his nose; spreading warmth throughout his entire body.

She grabbed his hands and her fingers intertwined with his own. When he looked at their joined hands he noticed that his hand was glowing as well. She raised him up from the floor and they stood face to face. The darkness fell from around them and was replaced with what he could only describe as hope. She leaned her face in to his, their lips mere centimeters apart and with a jolt that ran through his entire body, they kissed.

**
Draco shot up in bed, savoring the kiss from his dream. It had felt so real, more like a vision than a dream. Hope beat through his veins, beating out all sense of despair. He would win her, no matter who he was against. He couldn't just give up, he was Draco Malfoy, and he would prevail.


A fresh new wave of guilt engulfed Hermione after the red head left; along with a desperate desire for Malfoy to come back, but he didn't. After her surprise visit she stayed in seclusion. It didn't take much to convince her boss that she needed some time off, in fact he seemed relieved that she had suggested it.

She remained locked in her room, curled up on her bed, getting up only to pee and for an occasional biscuit. Her hair was greasy, her legs hairy and she could even smell her own stink, had she been in any other state of mind she would have been disgusted by herself.

There was a light knock on her door, and not even thinking about her appearance she went to answer it, still wearing the sweats that she had donned two nights before.

Hermione opened the door a crack, just enough to see who her visitor might be, there was no one there. She pulled the door open a little more and noticed a package wrapped in brown paper lying on her doormat.

There was a note scrawled on the top in unfamiliar handwriting:

For your new collection
'For my new collection of what?' She wasn't collecting anything. She went to her room and grabbed her wand from her nightstand. A few spells later and she felt safe enough to bring the package inside. She unwrapped it slowly, careful not to tear the paper.

Hermione pulled out a leather bound copy of Hogwarts: A History and thumbed the spine. It had gold filigree writing, and a drawing etched into the leather. When she opened it she saw that there was a handwritten introduction. It was definitely much more money than anyone had ever spent on her, but she smiled as her fingers traced the etching on the cover.

She started reading it immediately, not even waiting to get to her couch. She immersed herself in the ever memorized history of her alma mater. Every page brought her new joy and memories of her childhood. It was such an innocent time in her life when she first picked up a copy of this book and took it to memory.

When she had finished reading the book in its entirety a cold chill went through her and it felt like an icy hand had just grabbed a hold of her ever aching heart. It was wonderful to lose herself in such happy memories, but all that it did would bring back the other kind; the memories that haunted her every hour of every day. As the hand squeezed tighter the ache folded in on her, crushing her from all angles.

She rubbed her small hands over her belly, trying desperately to feel the bump that she knew would be growing. He looked at her with pure joy in his eyes as his hands followed hers down her front and she giggled at his touch.

"Does that tickle?" He asked playfully as he continued to run his hands over her belly moving them to her sides.

"No, please stop," she insisted as she squirmed on their bed, trying to push his hands away.

"Why? It's fun to watch you wriggle," his hands groping now as she tried hard to stifle her laughter. They rolled around and she maneuvered her way on top of him. Now it was her turn and she knew just the spot. Her fingers worked their way diligently to under his arm as he squealed beneath her.

"How do you like that, huh?"

"No, no, please stop." His legs jerked wildly underneath her as his face turned a familiar crimson. She relaxed her fingers and brushed them slowly down his chest, brushing one underneath the hem of his shirt. It grazed his skin ever so slightly and he shivered beneath her, this time from desire.

She moved her head down to place a gentle kiss on his lips. He pulled her closer and whispered softly in her ear, "you are going to make one hell of a sexy mum."


Hermione placed Hogwarts: A History on the mantle of her fire place, as she had no bookshelves, and went back to her hideaway, curled under her blankets, and fell back into her usual dreamless, joyless, sleep.

She was jerked awake by knocking on her door. "What now?" she groaned as she stomped to the front door. Not even caring about who it might be she opened the door fully and took in another package wrapped in the same brown paper. The same note as before inked on it in that precise penmanship of yesterday.

Hermione was less careful with the opening of the package this time and ripped right through the paper. It was The Art of Arithmancy by Griselda Numerino, only ten were known to be in print, she had heard about this book in school, but never in her dreams would she ever think that she could own it, Hogwarts didn't even have a copy. There would be no memories attached to this book, nothing to awaken the darkness that forever threatened to take over her entirely.

With a much lighter heart she again immersed herself in the joys of reading.