"Mister Malfoy, you are at the crossroads of your life."
The last thing Draco Malfoy could remember was being hit in the back by a curse in the middle of the battlefield. He couldn't even tell what kind of curse it had been, because he'd crashed into the collapsed walls of Hogwarts and had been instantly unconscious.
Until he had woken up here again. Or rather, it seemed he had been right here, he hadn't woken up.
"What exactly does that mean?" his voice rang out nervously and he looked around the huge hall. There were many reception desks, in front of just such a one he stood. People were waiting everywhere.
"This is where they decide what happens to you after you die. Heaven or hell. But with you it's a bit more complicated. You're not completely dead, but you're not really alive either."
The small-framed woman with a strange shimmering aura flicked through her papers and finally turned her gaze back to Draco.
"It's been six months since you were hit by the curse and you inconveniently suffered a rather bad head injury from your fall. You are still in a coma and now you must prove if you are worthy to continue living."
The woman put the papers away and Draco frowned.
It seemed to him like he was in a dream, so unreal, yet terribly real.
"How can I prove it then?" he asked after the woman stopped talking.
"Oh, you have to help the person you hurt the most."
The person he had hurt the most? He had dueled with a few people and hurt a few of them too. The woman pulled papers towards her again, apparently looking for the person he had hurt the most.
"Ah, a Miss Hermione Granger," she said then and Draco's eyes widened in surprise. Apart from a few jibes, nothing had actually happened between them after all. He had even insulted Longbottom more than that.
"Ah, okay, and how do you want this to go down? I can't help her if I'm supposed to be in a coma, can I?" he snarled and propped himself up on the counter. He was tired of this kindergarten of a dream and just wanted to wake up.
"You will walk the earth as Miss Granger's ghost. No one will be able to see or hear you and you won't be able to touch anything. You will not be able to move five metres away from her. Besides, you will only get exactly one month to prove yourself," the woman explained boredly, as if she had done it a thousand times before.
"If no one sees me, no one hears me and I can't touch anything, how am I supposed to prove anything?" he angrily slammed a fist on the counter and breathed in and out frantically.
"You'll see. I assume you'll accept our generous offer? Otherwise, you can go straight to hell."
She pointed to a black door behind her and Draco winced.
"Of course I accept that offer."
And already his eyes went black again.
Confused, Draco opened his eyes.
Man had he had a weird dream!
He sat up and he knew immediately that he was not in his bed and certainly not in his room.
He was at Hogwarts. But the four-poster beds had red curtains.
Slowly he let his gaze wander to the side of the bed beside him and froze.
Hermione Granger lay peacefully asleep beside him.
First he dreamt of Granger, at least of her name, and now he was suddenly lying next to her? How much had he drunk last night? What had he even done last night?
He wanted to run a hand through his hair, but froze when he saw his hand in view.
It was white, snow-white, and strangely glowing.
No, it couldn't be.
He jumped up from the bed and stumbled through the drawn curtain, which he did not touch, he slipped through just like that.
No, it couldn't be.
He ran to the first mirror he saw and stood in front of it.
But he saw nothing. He no longer had a reflection.
Swallowing, he reached out for the glass of the mirror, but his fingers slipped through.
Shit, he hadn't been dreaming.
Slowly, he turned back to the Granger bed. The woman had said he should help her.
But she hadn't said what, and more importantly, how.
So he would be Granger's personal and invisible ghost for now.
And if he couldn't help her somehow, he would die.
Day 1
Draco had sat down cross-legged next to Granger and was watching her. He couldn't sleep, he had already tried that, apparently ghosts didn't need to sleep.
Her bushy brown hair was scattered all over her pillow despite being in a ponytail. She must have had to brush the mess on her head for over an hour, or she knew a good hairdressing spell.
Dazed, Draco ran his fingers through his platinum blonde hair.
He only had a month.
But in the meantime he had come up with a rough plan.
He would first observe her for a few days and find out what she was unhappy with, what he might be able to help her with.
And after that ... he had no idea.
He sighed and could see Granger beginning to stir.
Her alarm went off and Draco quickly disappeared from her bed. He walked over to the large window, where he had stood a few times now, and thought. He had already pondered far too much and in the end it had come to nothing.
His gaze slid over the Hogwarts grounds. Nothing reminded him of the terrible war.
Briefly he wondered what had become of his parents. Had they been given a trial? Was his father perhaps even in Azkaban?
He bit his lip and then was carried away by something.
Granger went into the bathroom and Draco had to follow her because it must have been past the five metres. He didn't put one foot in front of the other, but still he followed her like a lapdog until the distance was probably finally reached again. Since this had happened outside the bathroom door, he was really relieved.
Guaranteed he didn't want to watch Granger pee. Briefly, he wanted to turn around and lean against the door until he remembered that he would then just slide through.
Sighing, he just settled down on the floor and stared at the nearest four-poster bed, where something was moving. Granger, of course, was sharing the room with other Gryffindor girls from her year.
I wonder if he should have been allowed to finish school as well?
And then suddenly Ginevra Weasley was standing in front of him. Or rather, in front of the bathroom.
But she didn't stop, she just walked right through him and he didn't feel a damn thing. Grimly, he glanced over his shoulder. Only to quickly look ahead again, for he had seen Granger dressed only in a towel. It was a sight he would probably never forget.
A little later Granger came out of the bathroom dressed in her school uniform. Only her hair still looked like a bird's nest.
She sighed and walked to her bed. On the bedside cabinet she had a brush.
With his arms folded and his eyebrow raised, he watched in disbelief as Granger combed strand after strand. So she wasn't using a spell after all.
Shaking his head, he settled down on her bed and looked at the other two beds in the room. One clearly belonged to Little Weasley and from the third Parvati Patil was just getting up.
"I'll go downstairs."
Startled, Draco turned to Granger, who had finished brushing her hair.
He didn't have time to look around the common room any more as Granger immediately disappeared through a portrait and he was simply pulled after her.
Disgruntled, he walked beside her rather than just be pulled along and her path led him to the library. What else could it have been.
Granger walked straight towards the librarian and Draco screwed up his face. He would also like to read when Granger was here, but he couldn't hold a book, so he would only be able to read along over her shoulder.
"Here are the books they ordered."
Granger got two books, which she slid into her bag. Then she thanked him and disappeared from the library again.
He hadn't been able to read any of the book titles, unfortunately, but surely it was something boring about school.
He walked beside her until they reached the Great Hall.
Granger went straight to the Gryffindor table and sat down opposite Harry Potter.
Draco thought about it for a moment and then just sat down in Potter's seat. At least that way he didn't have to look at him.
It did look creepy, the way Potter's hand reached through his glowing body for his glass of pumpkin juice, but he would probably get used to it.
Granger had made herself a jam roll and grabbed one of the two books from her bag. Crashing, she let it crash onto the table.
"Head Injuries and Their Consequences," was the title. Draco furrowed his brow. Why would Granger read a book like that?
"Hermione, you're still blaming yourself?" Potter's voice made him wince.
"Harry, how many times, it's my fault he's in a coma, so I want to at least TRY to help him. To ease my conscience." Granger took a bite of her bun.
"It wasn't your intention to hit him. And it wasn't your fault he fell so badly."
"But still, it's my fault. Because I fired my stupor too uncontrollably." Granger glared crossly in his direction and it took Draco a moment before he understood why she was looking at Potter so crossly.
"Well, it's not really bad about Malfoy."
Draco froze. They had been talking about him.
Hermione Granger had hit him with the curse!
She was to blame for his situation!
Furious, he jumped up from the bench and tried to run away. But as soon as he had moved away a little, he was pulled back in her direction and stood next to her again.
This couldn't be happening.
He had to help the person who had almost killed him!
"Harry do understand. I don't want him to die. That would make me a murderer." Draco looked back at Granger and bit his lip.
He had something he could help her with. She wouldn't be a murderer and he could wake up again.
"He's been in a coma for six months, after all. What are the chances of him even waking up then?" Since Draco was standing next to Hermione, he could look at Potter. He hated him, but he was right. His chances were probably slim.
"Surely nothing has changed in his condition since he's been in that Muggle hospital?" Potter looked at Granger sympathetically and reached for her hand. Draco, on the other hand, thought he had misheard.
What the hell was he doing in a Muggle hospital? Why wasn't he at St. Mungo's Hospital?
Little Weasley was going through him and Draco had already regained his composure somewhat. Whatever he was doing in a Muggle hospital, he was sure his parents had provided the best care for him.
Draco settled back into Potter's seat and wondered where Ronald Weasley actually was. Apparently not there.
One less caustic person he had to put up with.
Hey there,
You might wondern why I came up with antoher Harry Potter fanfiction when I haven´t finished the once in Azkaban one yet? So I had an Idea for a new short story, more focusing on Draco this time. This is just the first chapter, because I dont have much time to write something down here. I will update this story when I get at least 5 reviews about what you guys think so far about it. So lets go:)