* Draco's Angel II: Amor Aeturna *
* Chapter 3: The Calm Before the Storm *
* By Cyber Gal *
When you're weary, feeling small
When tears are in your eyes, I will dry them all;
I'm on your side. When times get rough
And friends just can't be found,
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down
~Eva Cassidy, Bridge Over Troubled Waters
Hermione Granger tossed and turned in her bed that night, unable to sleep peacefully. Visions kept invading her mind, not letting her go. She saw a tall man looking sad, a woman with strawberry colored hair sobbing, and a little boy looking around curiously, unaware of what was going on. Her nightmare flashed to a forest landscape with tall mountains toped with snow. There were two men in the distance fighting, and then all of a sudden there was a flash of bright blue light.
Hermione woke from her dream, breathing heavily. The room was rather warm, so she opened one of the window's letting the cool, night air in. Feeling restless, she got out of bed and crept down the hallway, trying to be as quiet as possible. She paused at Draco's room however, and opened the door a bit. As she peered through, Hermione smiled. Draco looks so peaceful, so innocent, Hermione thought. She loved watching him sleep and hearing his steady breathing. There was nothing more in the world that she wanted to do then to be in his arms right now. To take in his smell and feel the rise and fall of his chest.
But she shut the door instead and walked down the stairs, letting her hunger get the best of her. When Hermione was finished she climbed back up the stairs and tip toed into her room. But as she lay down in her bed and pulled the warm covers around her, she couldn't fall back asleep. There was something unsettled in her brain, something that was bothering her.
Hermione reached over to her nightstand and turned on the light. And there, on the nightstand was the odd book she had gotten from the library. She picked it up cautiously and opened to the page where she had left off.
At the beginning of time, when Earth was first young, three forces where made and sent out to rule over the land. A source of Good, a source of Evil, and a source of Equality to retain a balance over the land. Equality was the first to rule, and did it well. The world was at peace. It had its Good and its Evil. But as all good things do, that time of peace wouldn't last long.
As Equality ruled, both magical and non magical folk lived together peacefully. That time was known as the period of Great Learning. Many things were accomplished and new inventions were created in that period. Equality's ruling lasted for ten year. But after the turn of the century, tragic things started to occur.
Hermione paused. She didn't know whether to believe what she was reading, or regard it as some kind of joke. But still, the words seemed so real, and it was all very believing. The whole thing was very strange.
As the new century began, the people became tired of their ordinary lives, and craved something new, something exciting and dangerous. Their Earth lacked a certain feel of adventure, the type of adventure that people need. And so came forth the rebels, a group of men calling themselves the Sons of Evil. These men and all of their doings would be the first sign of the Dark Side.
The men came upon a source of power, a power different then wizardry. Instead this power was darker and more evil. It could give you everything you wanted, but in order to use the power, it required you signing a contract. In other words, it meant selling your sole.
With this new power, then men over ran Equality's Empire and ruined everything the people had tried to accomplish in the last century. The Son's of Evil banished Equality and Good to lifetime of being looked up, and set out their master, Evil.
Hermione yawned, and looked over at her clock, realizing how late it was. She flipped through the rest of the book quickly, looking at some of the pictures. As she flipped to the last page, Hermione noticed three brass keys, each with a different word on them. A smooth silver one read Bonum, the dark black one said Malum, and a third, copper key read Aequalitas.
Keys? Hermione asked herself. But for what? She sighed closing the book. Hermione lay down in her bed, thinking it all over. Finally, she drifted off to sleep feeling very, very confused.
* * *
Ron Weasley sat in the small wooden desk in his room, tapping his quill impatiently, try to think of what to write to Hermione. But as he sat there, debating over his choice of words, the only thing he could come up with was, Dear Hermione. It was hard to put together the words to describe the summer he had been having. In fact, Ron's summer had been horrible. Harry and him used to have so much fun together. But this year, it was different. Ron felt nervous around Harry; after what had happened in their previous school year, anybody would be. When the two did talk in was never of Quidditch or any of old things they loved to talk about, it was darker: things about Voldemort, and things about their future.
Dear Hermione,
My summer has been, well, I'll just say it hasn't been one of my favorites. I guess it's because eof everything that happened last year. Harry's been so different lately, I just don't feel comfortable around him. Harry's really changed, he's just not the person he used to be. But it's not just Harry, Ginny's been acting strange too. She's been so…angry lately, and she won't tell anyone what's wrong.
Ron stopped to re-read his letter. It sounded all right, just very depressing.
Anyway, I won't bore you any longer with my summer. How's your summer been? I can't believe it's going to be our last year of Hogwarts. It seemed only last year that we were entering Hogwarts for the first time. Time flew by fast; I can hardly believe it.
Sincerely,
Ron
PS: If you'd like to come up and stay for the last week of summer vacation, mum said it would be all right. I would appreciate someone else to talk to.
Ron put down his quill and started to fold up the letter. He tied it tightly around Pig's leg and she flew off into the night. Ron yawned and glanced at his watch quickly. 11:37, it read. He had totally lost track of time.
The summer was almost over, and yet Ron felt that he hadn't done anything. Every year before summer had gone so fast, but this year it seemed to drag on and never end. For the first time in his life he wanted to go back to school. It would be a lot better then staying at home.
* * *
Pansy Parkinson starred into her full-length mirror, looking over her features. Her long blond hair reached down to her waist now and her pale face looked almost perfect with not even a freckle to be seen. Pansy was indeed a very pretty girl. She smiled slightly trying to bring out the sparkle in her bright blue eyes.
At a time when she was younger she had been beautiful. She used to be such a cheery girl, who always wore a smile on her face. And her eyes had always shown brightly, sparkling at every possible opportunity. But when the era of Voldemort had risen and her family was forced to turn to him, that sparkle had died, and the cheery part of Pansy had fled along with it. With the influence of Voldemort, her smile had been replaced with an ugly frown. Her eyes had turned to a misty pool of ice, a force impenetrable.
Pansy hated Voldemort more then ever. She hated him for what he had done to her family and to other families. He had ruined people's lives. She had once had a happy life. A life filled with laugher and fun. But that was gone. It was all a memory now.
Pansy sighed. Being put in Slytherin hadn't helped a bit. It was always so dark there, so cold. More and more she found herself being placed in situations where her smile and sparkle were not welcome. And so she did not use them. But unfortunately in Pansy's case, remembering how to smile was not as easy as remembering how to ride a bike.
Pansy sat down on her bed, flipping through an album of pictures she had collected over the years. She flipped through pictures of her childhood, and through pictures of Hogwarts. In one she saw herself and Draco dancing at the Yule Ball two years ago.
That was nice, Pansy thought to herself. She had been in love with Draco since she had first met him. But she had always known that love was only one sided. He had never loved her back. His heart had always been elsewhere. Although Pansy knew that, she didn't want to admit it. Now he was with someone else, although Pansy had know idea who. She couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy towards the girl who had stolen his heart.
But maybe it was for the better, Pansy debated with herself. Perhaps it was not meant to be. She was a strong believer in destiny and fate; Divination had always been her favorite subject. But as she thought it over, she liked being with Draco for his companionship. He may had not loved her, but the two could really relate. Pansy needed that companionship, it added a spark to her dull life. She was, after all, a hopeless romantic.
[A/N: Pansy, a hopeless romantic? Who would have thought…]
Pansy closed her album and slid it back onto it's spot on her shelf. Outside the sun was starting to set. Pansy walked to her window and peered outside. The sky was a mixture of blues and pinks and purples. All the rights signs of a beautiful day for tomorrow. And for the first time in a very long time, Pansy smiled. She had always enjoyed looking at the sunsets, and this one gave her a sign of hope. A sign that maybe better days were coming. For an instant, the sparkle returned to her eyes.
And for that instant, Pansy knew. Maybe her life wasn't that bad after all. She saw a quick glimpse of the future. She saw herself, a little older, and she was smiling and laughing. There was someone else there too. A boy, the same age as her. The two were laughing and having fun. Pansy began to see the boy more clearer. He had messy black hair, and funny little glasses. And right on his forehead was a slender scar…
* * *
Ariel Malfoy awoke slowly to the sound of her young son crying. She picked him up and gently rocked him back to sleep, humming a little lullaby. She laid him back down carefully and made her way into the kitchen, the tip of her ling nightgown trailing along the floor. But she stopped suddenly, for a small gleaming object stood on the table in front of her. It was the infamous box that Nathan had never let out of his site. But here it was, in the broad of daylight, alone on the table open for anyone to touch.
The box looked quite odd among the Malfoy's plain furniture. Their furniture consisted of only a plain wooden pattern, while the box stood out with its precise details and bright silver snakes. In fact it looked quite alien, like it wasn't meant to be there.
From the moment she had she had walked into the kitchen, Ariel knew there was something wrong. Every inch of her body was screaming 'DANGER!' at the top its lungs. But she ignored the voices and ran to the box hurriedly.
"If this box is here, so is Nathan," Ariel muttered to herself talking very fast. She searched the whole house from bedroom to bathroom, but Nathan was no where to be seen. She ran to his office, but it was locked. She banged her fists hard on the door until her hands became red. But he wasn't there, and she knew it.
Ariel ran back into the kitchen, tears welling up in her eyes, not knowing of anything else to do. As she walked to the table, she noticed that the box was open. And as she stared inside it, she could see a cloud of dark blue magic swirling around. Ariel became fascinated with the cloud, and couldn't take her eyes away from it. As she lifted a hand to touch it, everything went black.
Draco woke up from his dream feeling dizzy. Having these dreams was taking a lot of energy out of him. It was like in his dreams, he was living some one else's life. He could see everything that Ariel did. He could feel her emotions, her pain, and see every thought inside her head. It was something that Draco had never felt before, and it was rather overwhelming.
Draco made his way out of the house and into the Granger's back yard. It was a cool summer night and the only light visible was that of the moon. All around him it was quite. Draco sat down on a piece of lawn furniture and looked up at the sky. Never before had he realized that he was but one person on this large spinning world. Being with Hermione had made him realize things like that. Before, Draco had taken everything for granted. But now, it was like he was given a second chance, and this time, he wasn't going to waste it. Now he noticed the small things, rather then the larger ones.
Draco leaned back on his chair and breathed in deeply. Everything around him was so peaceful, so calm. Or at least, it was…
* * *
Harry Potter stood at the foot of Ginny's door, debating whether or not to go inside. A Part of him wanted to run in there, apologize to her and make everything right again. But yet, another part of him wanted to never be bothered by anything again. To be able to forget and never have another worry or care. But that was impossible, and Harry knew it. He made mistakes but now was the time to fix them, and move on.
"Ginny," Harry said knocking lightly on the door.
"What do you want," came her voice from behind the door sounding irritated.
"Can I come in?" Harry asked apologetically.
"No," she replied. "Just go away Harry. I don't want to talk to any one, let alone you."
"Ginny please," Harry begged opening the door a bit. Ginny sat on her bed leaning over a pile of papers. "What are you doing?" he asked trying to make some conversation.
"None of your business," she scowled putting her papers away.
"For whatever I did wrong, I'm sorry," Harry said sitting down on the bed next to her. "It's been a really rough summer, and I don't want you to be mad at me. You're one of my closest friends Gin."
Friend? Ginny asked herself scowling. God Harry, is that all I'll ever be to you? Ever since Ginny had first seen Harry, she had loved him. All these years she had loved him, but he had never loved her back. He only saw her as Ron's little sister, or just a close friend. Ginny had tried so hard to move on. To stop loving him the way she did. But it was useless. She couldn't stop loving him.
She saw the way he looked at Hermione. The way he obsessed about her, the hunger in his eyes. All Ginny wanted was to be at the end of the line to which Harry wanted to peruse. She was jealous of Hermione, very jealous. Hermione never once realized what she had, nor did she care. The Harry Potter was in love with her, and all she did was prance around with that Malfoy boy like she didn't have a care in the world.
"Harry just leave, please," Ginny said a little less harshly then before.
"If you say so," Harry replied sounding defeated. "But Ginny, I'm sorry for whatever I said. I didn't mean to hurt you. You know I'd never hurt you." With that he walked out into the hallway and shut the door behind him.
I know you'll never hurt me Harry, Ginny though to herself. But you'll never love me either.
* * *
The End (until Chapter 4 is done!)
Let me first start off with my most sincere apology. I am very sorry that I took so long in getting this chapter out. But before you all start to get out your weapons and throw them at me, let me just tell you this. I have a policy in everything I do. That policy is that I only do things that are fun to be, and if they are not fun, then I see no point in doing them. Writing, all though this may seem pathetic to some of you, is fun to me. I write because I enjoy doing so. But last month I did not so I put the story off to a hold. Plus, with the recent tragedies going on in my country, America, it just didn't feel right. Anyway, I'm back now, and I have tons of new ideas. And so the story goes on. If I don't get a chapter out exactly when I say I will, don't worry. I will never give up this story. I promise. But with school and everything, it just might take me a little longer.
Anyway, how was this chapter? I hope you all enjoyed it. Finally some Pansy for those of you Pansy lovers. Who was the boy in Pansy's little glimpse…? (I bet you all can guess that) I'm sorry about the seriousness in these past chapters, but it is needed. I will fluff it up a bit as the series goes along. I personally like serious fics, but that's just me. Don't like how the story is turning out? Then tell me, and I'll see what I can do to make it better.
Words in Latin:
Bonum = Good, Malum = Evil, and Aequalitas = Equality
In future chapters: More visits from Ariel Malfoy, more dreams with hidden meanings, Mr. Granger blows his top, Voldemort and Lucius return, and we all go to the burrow!
Forever your devoted writer,
.:cyber gal:.
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~*~Thanks Section~*~
(Long Reviews are always appreciated)
Thanks Claire for beta reading!
Silveray (I haven't heard you screaming! No just kidding. Don't worry, I will write more.) Indiana jones (HEY! I love your reviews. I'm sorry about the chapter taking so long, really I am. But I will always continue this story, I promise. Where do I live? Well in New Jersey. And now that I'm in 8th grade and close to turning 14, next summer I can get a job. Get what I'm saying…anyway, thanks for reviewing!) Rei, Elizabeth (don't worry, I'll continue. Your questions will be answered in the next chapters. I'm glad you like my story!) Draco's Lil Angel, Trance, Arime Setta (Ah, a faithful reviewer! Yes, Ginny is pissed off…very pissed) magical*little*me (Yes, the two boxes are the same. Harry is thoughtless, your right. But he'll get better. Ginny and Harry together? Well…we'll see…) sanna
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