Chapter 9 – Nightmares and hot chocolate
She was save. There were strong arms around her, hugging her and pushing her against a warm naked chest. She recognized the smell and felt reassured to drift off again into the darkness. Something in the back of her mind kept nagging her, though. Something was wrong, someone was missing, but she ignored it by cuddling into the embrace. It was her escape from harsh reality.
A hand was stroking her lovingly along her back and the second grabbed her bum. She felt a groan escape her and she tried to get closer to the sexy male, rubbing herself against him. She could feel how much he wanted her poking against her loin. Her hands started to wander down his body, memorizing every naked inch of it. She knew this body, this man, by heart but the name was lost on the tip of her tongue. His hand slipped for her back to her hips and further between her legs. She could feel him probing her gently and his lips teased her, nipping her throat. Heat gathered in her middle as she kissed him hungrily.
Suddenly the arms were torn away from her and a small girl shouted her name. She opened her eyes but there was no light for her to see anything. The cry she had heard before came again but the darkness stayed, wrapping itself around her, making her feel as cold as ice.
"You left her." a man's voice accused her. It sounded hurt and hateful. She knew his voice but couldn't remember who it was from. The knowledge was hidden, just out of her reach.
"No!" Hermione answered weakly. "I would never leave her willingly."
"You left her!" this time he shouted right next to her ear and ...
Hermione woke up in her bed in Hogwarts. Tears were streaming down her face. Yes she had left her behind. Her little girl she had promised him to protect. She alone was to blame for what had happened.
The nightmare had made his skin crawl and Hermione rubbed her face to centre herself to the present.
"No, no, no, no!" she whispered to herself and tried to keep away the panic attack that lingered at bay. Deep breaths through the mouth helped her ease it until she sat sweaty and shivering in her bed. It was still the middle of the night, but she knew she wouldn't fall back asleep anytime soon.
Maybe a trip to the kitchen was just what she needed. Wrapping herself in a warm nightgown that had been in the trunk Ron had sent her, she slipped into her shoes. She didn't want to overthink everything again. When she had gone to bed, she had made herself promise to tackle her problems after a full-sleep night and with a clear head. Now she had neither and it wouldn't help her to add the nightmare into her considerations.
On her way down, she ran into a tall woman whose long hair went down to the floor in soft waves.
"I'm sorry!" Hermione offered and looked up at the professor. At least she supposed the woman was a professor.
"Good evening Minister Granger." offered a deep female voice that didn't sound tired at all, despise the late hour.
"Please call me Hermione. I don't care much for my title at the moment."
Of course she was reminded again that her ambitious self had gone for Minister of Magic to make the world a better place. She could already feel the headache reforming, just thinking about what it would cost her to quit that job again. It would be a nightmare and make things a little more complicated than she had planed. But there was nothing she could do about it now, in the middle of the night on a dark floor in Hogwarts.
Hermione tried to guess which Professor stood in front of her. Minerva had offered her to meet them all but after meeting Ron and his –not their– daughter today, she had been too exhausted to keep herself together in front of a large group.
Since she didn't knew if they had met before Hermione didn't dare to ask for a name, but the woman offered it anyway.
"Then please call me Luna. It's an honour to meet you, but I won't keep you from your task. Tuffle makes a wonderful hot chocolate. Good night Hermione, sleep well."
Blue robes billowed when the professor vanished into the dark corridor within seconds. The thought that Severus would have been proud of this struck Hermione before she realised that this witch knew that she was seeking the kitchen. Hermione didn't know if it was a good guess or if she gave it away somehow, her brain was to muddled to overthink it.
Later that night, she was thankful for the nightly encounter when Tuffle's lovely cup of hot chocolate helped her sleep peacefully.
XxX
Delphini stood next to a broad dark man, hidden by his cloak, her silver hair a stark contrast to his black attire. The house around them was old and rundown with no neighbourhood to speak of.
"These boys are useless. I haven't heard from them in days. Nothing changed. NOTHING!" she seethed. It had taken her years to get this far. Years of planning and involving herself into Diggory Sr.'s life. The prophecy was clear, all they had to do was make sure Cedric stayed alive, that shouldn't be hard.
"Never let others do your work if you want it done." she continued and looked into dark brown eyes.
"Delphi." the man beside her said in a deep, slightly raspy voice. He said nothing more, but there was no need. She became silent and he knew she was planning her next moves. Sometimes he could see her mother's rumoured craziness in her, but he would never call her out on it. Delphini Riddle was a calculating and intelligent but lonely woman. He understood her wish for a family and stood by her side when no other would. It was the least he could do for her, his life debt ensured it.
Finally we meet Delphi, she's to be our Villain after all. There is no fun withou the dark side. I was always told they have the cookies.
Sakura Lisel: I think this chapter told you which way this Hermione inclines, but you'll see. Can't tell you before you read it after all :)
Dreiana: Thank you, this makes me work extra hard on the next chapters.
