Now it's time for things to really get interesting with this story ;). This is time for the Dramione goodness to really kick in so I hope you guys enjoy it.
Despite realising that Draco was in fact Anonymous, it actually took Hermione a few moments to take it all in. She just stood there, completely gobsmacked at what she had just discovered. Out of all the possibilities, Hermione would have never considered Draco Malfoy to be Anonymous. One thing for sure was that Hermione didn't know what to think or what to feel about this new development.
What am I supposed to do now?
It was almost humorous to Hermione how she had discovered his identity through a simple game of I Spy. Hermione would've thought that someone like Draco would've picked up on what she was trying to achieve with their little game. But the fact that he does seem to be so paranoid about whatever is troubling him might be why he wasn't paranoid enough to think about what she was doing.
Hermione could certainly spy Draco Malfoy with her little eye, but she wasn't sure if she was bold enough to say that. It would certainly leave room for an interesting conversation, one that she didn't know that she was prepared to have. Now probably wasn't even the best of times to make a move on Draco. Hermione figured that she'd be better off letting the situation simmer, no matter how desperate she was to figure out just what was going on with him.
So with that in mind, Hermione gathered herself and left the Sundial Garden, completely stumped with what she was supposed to do now.
~*•°•*~
In the following days, Hermione paid very close attention to Draco. She wasn't as obvious as Harry was with his stalking tendencies, since Hermione was pretty sure that he probably knew that Harry was watching him because of how obvious Harry was. Hermione used the time that she spent watching Draco to really think about how she was going to handle this situation.
There was no doubt in her mind that if she revealed her identity to him that Draco would lose it. He didn't even tolerate her as he knew her so why on earth would that change just because she was who he had been talking to? One thing that Hermione considered was if she was really that desperate to help Anonymous that she would be willing to get involved with Draco Malfoy's mess? Draco had always been up to no good, and if his words were anything to go by, whatever he was involved with now certainly wasn't good either.
Could she even do anything to help him? Hermione knew that Draco Malfoy was no idiot, and that if he actually was in serious trouble that he would know where to go. So did he even want to be helped? The way that he had communicated her certainly implied that he didn't want anything to do with anyone. Should she even help him at all? There was no doubt in Hermione's mind that he wouldn't offer the same help to her. So was it even worth helping someone that wouldn't give her the same in return?
Then there was the fact that over the past six years, Draco had been nothing but horrid to her. He always seemed determined to minimise her self-worth with the degrading ways that he spoke about her and her blood status. Draco Malfoy was a flat-out bully, and he had shown no redeeming qualities to Hermione over the time that they had known each other. He probably didn't even want to be redeemed, because if he did, he would've done so by now.
"Draco Malfoy is not worth my time," Hermione muttered.
That was what Hermione had to convince herself, though she was seriously doubting if she actually meant what she was trying to say. Why would she even care about Draco when he has never once cared about her? He's certainly made that clear with the amount of times that he's bullied her and mocked who she was. The only reason that Hermione could even think of as to why she would want to bother with him is because he was Anonymous. Hermione certainly didn't care about Draco, but she did care about Anonymous. That much she could say.
But it was impossible to separate them when they were literally the same person. As much as Hermione wanted to think of Anonymous as someone other than Draco, all she could think about was the fact that Draco was Anonymous. Watching Draco didn't really give Hermione anything to go on. All she could see was that he was clearly miserable, but a small vindictive part of Hermione was thinking that perhaps he deserved it for trying to make her life miserable on a daily basis.
With that in mind, Hermione didn't want to give him any help. Why should she, when he sure as hell wouldn't do the same for her? But despite that, Hermione still wanted to see where a small conversation would take them. So against her better judgement, she managed to steal a moment with Draco when it was just the two of them alone after she had come up with an excuse to speak to him.
"Hello, Malfoy," she greeted him.
"What do you want, Granger?" he growled.
"I wanted to ask why you have been neglecting your prefect duties," Hermione said.
"That's none of your business," Draco snarled.
"Actually, as a fellow prefect, it is," Hermione said as she put her hands on her hips and stood face to face with him. "All prefects are required to follow their rostered schedule and you have been neglecting your duties for the entire year, leaving the rest of us to pick up your slack so I demand to know what else has you otherwise occupied."
"If you must know," Draco drawled. "I have far more important things to do than to waste my time with such activities. Why don't you ask Potter, since he seems to be following my every move."
Hermione rolled her eyes, "You have no right to abandon your duties because of whatever else you are wasting your time with."
"I am not wasting my time," Draco seethed.
"Well then, what could be more important than being a role model student that has you being a complete dunce?" Hermione asked.
"Typical Granger, always trying to insert yourself into other peoples business," Draco jeered. "Why don't you insert yourself up Weasleys arse? I heard that Brown got tired of him. You should shoot your shot now, but you'd probably miss it. Weasley wouldn't even want you anyways. He and Potter only keep you around for your brains."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Hermione snarled.
Draco shrugged, "I'm just saying that anyone would have to be pretty desperate to want anything from you. I never would've guessed that Weasley would have standards, but I guess they must be pretty low since he settled for Brown anyways."
"I don't care about what you have to say, Malfoy," Hermione stated, even though she secretly had to admit that she kind of did.
"Then why ask for it?" Draco remarked.
"Because I-" Hermione stammered. "You know what, screw you, Malfoy."
Draco snorted, "I could get anyone to do that for me. You, on the other hand, would have to find a pretty desperate sod to drop your knickers for. Maybe Longbottom doesn't have any standards?"
"You know what, Draco Malfoy, you are nothing but a big, insufferable bully!" Hermione scowled.
"You flatter me, Granger," Draco smirked.
Giving him one last glare, Hermione turned on her heels and walked away with a newly formed burning hatred inside of her. Hermione didn't know what she had been thinking when she thought that she could've gotten somewhere with Draco in just one conversation. They've been rivals for the better part of six years now, and he had been nothing but a bully to her. Even in that one conversation, he had been a bully by insulting her at least three times. How dare he imply that anyone would have to be desperate to want something from her? If only he knew that she was the one who he had been communicating with for the better part of the year.
All things considered; one thing had been made clear to Hermione after that conversation. Draco Malfoy was most definitely not worth her time.
~*•°•*~
That night, sleep eluded Hermione. She tossed and turned in her bed, desperate to get an ounce of sleep. Her actual conversation with Draco seemed to be plaguing on her mind. When she did get some sleep, it plagued her dreams too.
Hermione didn't know where she was. All she could see was darkness. She knew it was a dream, but everything was so clear to her, even if it was just darkness. Then Hermione heard evil cackling and cries of pain that sent shivers down her spine.
"Hello? Who's there?" she asked.
The darkness turned bright and Hermione was given a clear picture view of what she was seeing. Hermione recoiled in horror as she saw Draco being brutally tortured by Voldemort. Voldemort was relentless as he used curse after curse on Draco. He was covered in blood – his own blood. The sight sickened Hermione.
In a desperate attempt to help, Hermione lunged forward, only to be blocked by some sort of force field. Voldemort's evil cackle haunted Hermione, but what struck her more were Draco's cries of pain.
"Stop it! Let him go!" she tried pleading, only the force field seemed to be prohibiting any sort of contact.
"You could have saved him from this fate. Now look at him," a booming voice echoed from nowhere.
"Let me save him now then!" Hermione pleaded.
"Foolish girl!" Voldemort bellowed as he faced her. "There is nothing you can do now. People call me a monster for what I have done, yet you showed that same amount of evil when you refused to help him!"
"No! I am nothing like you!" Hermione screamed.
All she could do was stand there and watch helplessly as Voldemort continued to torture Draco until it looked like he was on the brink of death. It was truly a horrific sight that made Hermione's blood boil, but there was nothing she could do. Only once Draco looked like he was about to fade away did Voldemort hold himself back from torturing Draco as he turned to look at Hermione.
"Why Granger? Why wasn't I worth your time? You could have saved me," Draco's broken voice said.
"I'm sorry! I didn't think it would come to this!" Hermione sobbed.
"But it did. And now, I am to die because of you," Draco declared.
And just like that, Draco laid dead on the floor as Voldemort cackled around him. Hermione screeched out a sob as she fell to the ground, feeling an overwhelming sense of guilt consume her. When Hermione looked back up again, Voldemort was pointing his wand at her with a sinister look on his face as he sent a blast at her that caused Hermione to go tumbling backwards.
It was unlike anything that Hermione had ever experienced as she felt like she was falling next. The sensation ended when Hermione landed on the surface with a loud thump. Groaning as she looked up, Hermione gasped as she saw Draco crouched beside her with a twisted smirk on his face.
"Hello, Granger," Draco sneered.
"B-but… y-you were dead," Hermione stuttered.
"You'll wish that I was!" Draco bellowed as he raised his wand at her. "Crucio!"
Pain instantly surged through Hermione, and it was unlike anything that she had ever experienced in a dream before. Hermione had to believed that it was a dream despite the fact that everything felt so real. It was agonising as Hermione writhed on the floor as a result of Draco's continuous use of the Cruciatus Curse. Finally, the pain stopped as Draco withdrew his attacks and Hermione managed to look him in the eye, which he returned with a burning look of hatred.
"You didn't help him, so how can he help you now? He will be your end," the familiar voice echoed again.
"P-please, Malfoy. S-stop. You d-don't want to do t-this," Hermione pleaded, coughing up blood.
"I've never wanted to do anything more than to make you suffer, you filthy little mudblood," Draco spat.
"It's what she deserves, Draco," came Voldemort's familiar voice as he appeared next to Draco. "If she refused to help you without even giving you a chance, why should you waste your time with her?"
"She is not worth my time," Draco proclaimed.
"You silly, silly, little girl," Voldemort mocked her as he and Draco circled around. "To think that you might have actually succeeded in saving him if you had the decency to give him a chance. Now, he will be your end."
"Get ready to turn the lights out, Granger," Draco snarled.
What came next were the two twin cries of 'Avada Kedavra' and a blinding green light.
After that, Hermione bolted upwards in her bed, sweating and panting as she recoiled from the nightmare that she had woken up from. It had truly been a nightmare like none other. Never before had Hermione experienced a nightmare that she could remember with such detail. Most of the time, she would wake up knowing that she'd just experienced a nightmare but could never remember what it exactly entailed. Only this one was clear and fresh in memory.
It was hard to describe it, but Hermione felt an instant pang of guilt knowing that she had just abandoned Draco like that when he clearly needed help. She hated to think that by refusing to offer her help, she would be sealing their fates to end with pain and suffering. Hermione figured that her nightmare was just a reminder that she should still try, even if he wouldn't let her in. For all she knew, Hermione could end up changing the fate of the whole world if she just extended her help to Draco. So with that in mind, Hermione knew what she needed to do now no matter how much she was dreading it.
And since she had managed to get in through their journals, she would just have to get in as Hermione if it would help her conscience sleep at night.
So we finally got a Dramione interaction in here, even if it wasn't the best of ones. You really didn't think that it would be so easy for Hermione to just want to help her bully and rival like that, huh? Now prepare yourselves for some fireworks, and I'll see you guys next year with the rest of the story.
