Chapter 4
She walked quickly down the road, completely intent on her destination. She knew she had to hurry or all would be for naught. She could feel the air growing cooler and she pulled her cloak tighter around herself after checking that her bag was secure at her waist.
She looked up and stopped on the road as a sound hit her ears from the distance, it sounded like horse's hooves. She moved to the side of the road as the sounds grew closer. She could see dust rising in the distance and hear the sounds of men calling to one another from house back as they rode forward. She watched as they rode over the hill, progressing ever closer to her position, she had no way of knowing whether they were noble men who wouldn't hurt her or bandits, who would attack her.
As they drew almost abreast with her, she reached her hand into her bag, prepared to defend herself if the need should arise. The first one spotted her standing at the side of the road and pulled his horse to a stop, the other five men followed after him. They called down to her and made a few disgusting comments about her and then surrounded her. They rode their horses in a circle and spoke to each other, each boasting about who was deserving of her more.
"Yur a pretty little thing, aren't ya." The closest one peered down at her. She simply pulled her cloak tighter around herself, hiding her body and bag from view. They laughed at her attempts to hide herself and one man reached out to grab her when...
"Leave her be!" A seventh man rode over the hill, the sun shining off silver blond hair. She looked up at her saviour and was shocked and disappointed to see he wore the same colours as the men surrounding her. The six men grumbled a bit and backed off. The nearest one leered at her before turning his horse. Then the seventh man rode over and dismounted. He motioned the other six to leave and then turned to face her. It was then she whipped out her wand and prepared to protect herself. He simply laughed at her; "You expect to hold be off with a useless piece of wood?!"
Her hand was shaking and she was thoroughly frightened now. "Stay away, or I will attack you." Her voice was steady but her knees were weak.
He grinned at her before replying; "I have no intention of hurting you, I just wanted to see that my men had not hurt you in anyway. Besides, do you really expect to hold a man of my size off with a simply twig." She shook with anger now, that simple twig was a very powerful wand. "Where are you going fair lady, you seem to be going in my direction, may I offer you a ride?"
"No thank you sir, I am fine on my own. You may continue on your way with your men." With that she turned and marched determinedly away. He cursed under his breath and mounted his horse to catch up to her. When he reached her, he reached down and swung her up in front of him. She froze in shock and then turned and tried to hit him but he held her arms at her sides as he prodded the horse forward into a canter.
"I could not let an unaccompanied lady travel this road alone. I will take you to the village where you will be safe." She just turned and glared at him, she was concentrating to hard on making sure the bottles and vials in her bag remained intact. In no time, they reached the village and she slide from the horses back and set off to the edge of the village as if leaving for the country road again. He swore once more and followed her but stopped when he saw her stop outside a hut near the edge of the village. She called something out and he watched as a small woman with fire red hair ran from the hut, clutching a piece of wood in her hands. The two women spoke and she quickly moved into the hut.
His men came galloping up behind him and he sent them away with a wave of his hand before dismounting. Taking the reins, he led his horse slowly toward the hut, trying to determine what was happening when the smaller red head ran out the door and towards him. She stopped short when she saw him; she was panting and was obviously in a hurry.
"Where are you running off to in such a hurry maid?" She ignored him and dashed away toward the center of the village. He dropped his horse's reins and moved quickly toward the door and peered in. There he saw her kneeled next to a pallet on the floor dribbling a green fluid into a young boy's mouth. She looked up in surprise as he entered.
"What are you doing in here?" She asked with an impatient, irritated voice before returning to her task.
"Finding out why an unknown woman is here in my village and what she is giving my serfs." He looked down in disgust at the filth that covered the floor and wrinkled his nose at the smell.
"Your village, your serfs!" She called out with surprise, "Its nice to know how well you treat those who keep you feed and clothed lord." She put her emphases on the last word.
He was silent at her last words and looked at her with an offended look on his face. He stormed over to her and pulled her to her feet causing the vial she held to drop and shatter at her feet. Without thinking, she grabbed her wand and pointed, causing the vial to reappear in her hand, unbroken and filled with the spilled medicine. He didn't react, but looked at her with a puzzling expression.
"My lady, I found what you nee..." The small red head burst into the hut with a pot of something. She gasped when she saw the raised wand and....
"Hermione, your gonna be late for class!" A voice told her in her ear as someone shook her violently. She opened her eyes to find the face of Lavender Brown right in front of hers. "Hermione, move! Lets go!" Lavender dashed out of the room and Hermione scrambled out of bed. Lavender had left a piece of toast for her on the nightstand and she shoved it in her mouth as she pulled her robes on. She was thankful she had put everything into her bag last night and ran from the room, still chewing her toast. She reached Defense against the Dark arts just after the bell rang.
"Nice to see you this morning Hermione." Remus Lupin said with a smile. He had returned to teach once more to help defend the school since it was rumoured Voldemort was amassing an army and that his target was the school. "I was just saying that we will be studying the origin of curses, dark potions and how each were constructed. Please open your books to page 724 and we will begin our discussion with information you all possess on this topic."
Hermione began to think back to her dream and the class discussion fell into the background. Why was Ginny Weasley in my dream now? It was the first time someone other than herself and Harry and Draco had appeared in her dreams. She began to jot down on her parchment, all the different people, smells, scenes, and situations from her dream. She stilled her quill and pondered while fiddling with the pendent around her neck. Now there are four distinct people in my dreams. I wonder if she was a one time only thing, or will she appear again?
She closed her eyes and drifted back to the dream, the sounds filled her mind and the scene took focus. "Ginny" had just run in as she had used magic to fix the vial of potion. "Draco" didn't appear shocked or surprised but intrigued. She tried to make the dream progress after the point she had woken up and slowly it began to. She watched as if in a pensieve as the scene started up again in her mind.
She turned in shock at the sound of the young girl's voice. She lowered her wand and looked at him with fear in her eyes. He watched her with interest for a moment before speaking.
"I never dreamed that one of my kind lived and existed right on my lands and so near my home. I also would never have dreamed that he or she was keeping my peasants alive through all the disease that seems to invade this land." She looked at him with a shocked expression before remembering the vial in her hand and turning back to the child asleep on the pallet...
"Ms. Granger, Hermione?" She snapped out of the daydream to find Professor Lupin looking at her with an amused expression. "I'm glad you could join us Hermione. Now as I was saying, I have been given the headmasters permission to start a special Defense against the Dark arts class for my most advanced students. It would be made up of students I choose from all four houses and would only have up to 12 people in it. I will discuss my choices with the headmaster and you will be notified if you have been given the opportunity to join. You may refuse if you wish, of course."
Then the bell rang and the students scrambled to collect their things and rush to their next classes. Hermione sorted her books slowly and placed them in her bag. Ron waited next to the desk for her but Harry had bolted out the door immediately after the bell. He watched her with a worried and puzzled expression and a couple of times tried to say something to her but stopped.
"Hermione, may I have a word with you before you leave?" Lupin said as he arranged the books on his desk.
"Ok professor," Ron gave her one last look and left the classroom while she made her way to the desk. "What did you want to see me about?"
"I wanted to talk to you about the essay you wrote for my class last week. It clearly is nowhere near your normal standard of work. Is anything wrong Hermione?" He searched her eyes from across the desk and waited for her reply.
"Hermione worried her pendent as she tried to think up an answer. When she didn't reply, he sighed and she looked down at her lap ashamed.
"That's a beautiful pendent you have their Hermione, may I see it." She looked up in surprise.
"But, professor, it's silver!" She exclaimed and he nodded his acknowledgement. She handed it over reluctantly, unsure of what would happen and she watched as he pulled a dragon hide glove on before taking it. He examined it for a minute before returning it to her.
"There are ways, as you can see, for me to handle silver Hermione. It's a very nice pendent, how long have you had it?"
"Not long professor.... I really should be getting to class." He looked at her suspiciously but let her go.
"Hermione, if you ever need anyone to talk to, I'm always here for you ok." She nodded and ran out of the room. He sighed and sat back down as his other students trickled in and said quietly to himself, "I hope you know what you are involved in Hermione."
* * * * *
Harry sat silently brooding in an armchair by the fire that night in the Gryffindor common room. Ron was at a nearby table discussing quidditch strategy with Seamus and Ginny, both who played for the team. Ron had been made both keeper and captain in the last year and was very determined that Gryffindor would win again this year. Finally he got frustrated at Harry's grunt from the chair at his every suggestion and stalked over to the chair to tell Harry off.
"Harry, common on, your supposed to be helping me tonight. Now stop your stupid sulking over what ever is bothering you and get over here." Harry just snarled a response and Ron swore at him, calling him a few unpleasant names before returning to the table.
Why did I kiss her, now she's avoiding me. I'm such a stupid...Harry's thought were interrupted by a quiet voice.
"Uh, Harry, could I talk to you for a moment?" A quiet voice asked. He looked up and saw Hermione watching him with anxious eyes.
"I guess..." Hermione walked away and he got up and followed her to her dorm, which was blissfully empty at the moment. "What did you wan to talk about? If it's about the other night, I'm sorry, I had no right to do that."
"No Harry, its not about the other night, its about my dreams. I had another one last night and it was odd." She stopped to collect herself, "Harry, I know who the people in my dream are. I have known since the beginning of the year. I just didn't want to tell you."
"Well, who are they then?" Harry asked, slightly impatiently.
"They are Draco Malfoy, you and just recently, Ginny Weasley. I don't know why I'm dreaming these dreams, or why these people are included. I wish I knew though." Hermione looked at Harry who seemed to be stunned to silence.
"Why didn't you tell me Hermione? Did you not trust me or something?" He appeared hurt by her lack of forthcomingness.
"I was afraid of how you would react. I don't really know why I chose not to tell you." She looked down ashamed at the quilt on her bed. His face softened and he hugged her close.
"You don't need to be afraid Hermione, you can always tell me anything, you know that." He cuddled her close and again, for some reason she felt safe in his arms. "I want to apologize about the other night Hermione." When she would have protested, he silenced her with a motion of his hand. "I had no right to do what I did and I'm sorry."
"It's ok Harry, I didn't mind, it just startled me that's all. But I'm not saying I would like you to do it again anytime soon ok." She smiled up at his face and he almost kissed her again but he restrained himself and just hugged her close.
"Ok Hermione, no more secretes if something is bothering you. Don't bottle it up anymore." He let her go and left the room. She watched him go with an apprehensive expression on her face. Then she turned and lay down pondering what he had said to her and before long she was asleep.
She walked quickly down the road, completely intent on her destination. She knew she had to hurry or all would be for naught. She could feel the air growing cooler and she pulled her cloak tighter around herself after checking that her bag was secure at her waist.
She looked up and stopped on the road as a sound hit her ears from the distance, it sounded like horse's hooves. She moved to the side of the road as the sounds grew closer. She could see dust rising in the distance and hear the sounds of men calling to one another from house back as they rode forward. She watched as they rode over the hill, progressing ever closer to her position, she had no way of knowing whether they were noble men who wouldn't hurt her or bandits, who would attack her.
As they drew almost abreast with her, she reached her hand into her bag, prepared to defend herself if the need should arise. The first one spotted her standing at the side of the road and pulled his horse to a stop, the other five men followed after him. They called down to her and made a few disgusting comments about her and then surrounded her. They rode their horses in a circle and spoke to each other, each boasting about who was deserving of her more.
"Yur a pretty little thing, aren't ya." The closest one peered down at her. She simply pulled her cloak tighter around herself, hiding her body and bag from view. They laughed at her attempts to hide herself and one man reached out to grab her when...
"Leave her be!" A seventh man rode over the hill, the sun shining off silver blond hair. She looked up at her saviour and was shocked and disappointed to see he wore the same colours as the men surrounding her. The six men grumbled a bit and backed off. The nearest one leered at her before turning his horse. Then the seventh man rode over and dismounted. He motioned the other six to leave and then turned to face her. It was then she whipped out her wand and prepared to protect herself. He simply laughed at her; "You expect to hold be off with a useless piece of wood?!"
Her hand was shaking and she was thoroughly frightened now. "Stay away, or I will attack you." Her voice was steady but her knees were weak.
He grinned at her before replying; "I have no intention of hurting you, I just wanted to see that my men had not hurt you in anyway. Besides, do you really expect to hold a man of my size off with a simply twig." She shook with anger now, that simple twig was a very powerful wand. "Where are you going fair lady, you seem to be going in my direction, may I offer you a ride?"
"No thank you sir, I am fine on my own. You may continue on your way with your men." With that she turned and marched determinedly away. He cursed under his breath and mounted his horse to catch up to her. When he reached her, he reached down and swung her up in front of him. She froze in shock and then turned and tried to hit him but he held her arms at her sides as he prodded the horse forward into a canter.
"I could not let an unaccompanied lady travel this road alone. I will take you to the village where you will be safe." She just turned and glared at him, she was concentrating to hard on making sure the bottles and vials in her bag remained intact. In no time, they reached the village and she slide from the horses back and set off to the edge of the village as if leaving for the country road again. He swore once more and followed her but stopped when he saw her stop outside a hut near the edge of the village. She called something out and he watched as a small woman with fire red hair ran from the hut, clutching a piece of wood in her hands. The two women spoke and she quickly moved into the hut.
His men came galloping up behind him and he sent them away with a wave of his hand before dismounting. Taking the reins, he led his horse slowly toward the hut, trying to determine what was happening when the smaller red head ran out the door and towards him. She stopped short when she saw him; she was panting and was obviously in a hurry.
"Where are you running off to in such a hurry maid?" She ignored him and dashed away toward the center of the village. He dropped his horse's reins and moved quickly toward the door and peered in. There he saw her kneeled next to a pallet on the floor dribbling a green fluid into a young boy's mouth. She looked up in surprise as he entered.
"What are you doing in here?" She asked with an impatient, irritated voice before returning to her task.
"Finding out why an unknown woman is here in my village and what she is giving my serfs." He looked down in disgust at the filth that covered the floor and wrinkled his nose at the smell.
"Your village, your serfs!" She called out with surprise, "Its nice to know how well you treat those who keep you feed and clothed lord." She put her emphases on the last word.
He was silent at her last words and looked at her with an offended look on his face. He stormed over to her and pulled her to her feet causing the vial she held to drop and shatter at her feet. Without thinking, she grabbed her wand and pointed, causing the vial to reappear in her hand, unbroken and filled with the spilled medicine. He didn't react, but looked at her with a puzzling expression.
"My lady, I found what you nee..." The small red head burst into the hut with a pot of something. She gasped when she saw the raised wand and....
"Hermione, your gonna be late for class!" A voice told her in her ear as someone shook her violently. She opened her eyes to find the face of Lavender Brown right in front of hers. "Hermione, move! Lets go!" Lavender dashed out of the room and Hermione scrambled out of bed. Lavender had left a piece of toast for her on the nightstand and she shoved it in her mouth as she pulled her robes on. She was thankful she had put everything into her bag last night and ran from the room, still chewing her toast. She reached Defense against the Dark arts just after the bell rang.
"Nice to see you this morning Hermione." Remus Lupin said with a smile. He had returned to teach once more to help defend the school since it was rumoured Voldemort was amassing an army and that his target was the school. "I was just saying that we will be studying the origin of curses, dark potions and how each were constructed. Please open your books to page 724 and we will begin our discussion with information you all possess on this topic."
Hermione began to think back to her dream and the class discussion fell into the background. Why was Ginny Weasley in my dream now? It was the first time someone other than herself and Harry and Draco had appeared in her dreams. She began to jot down on her parchment, all the different people, smells, scenes, and situations from her dream. She stilled her quill and pondered while fiddling with the pendent around her neck. Now there are four distinct people in my dreams. I wonder if she was a one time only thing, or will she appear again?
She closed her eyes and drifted back to the dream, the sounds filled her mind and the scene took focus. "Ginny" had just run in as she had used magic to fix the vial of potion. "Draco" didn't appear shocked or surprised but intrigued. She tried to make the dream progress after the point she had woken up and slowly it began to. She watched as if in a pensieve as the scene started up again in her mind.
She turned in shock at the sound of the young girl's voice. She lowered her wand and looked at him with fear in her eyes. He watched her with interest for a moment before speaking.
"I never dreamed that one of my kind lived and existed right on my lands and so near my home. I also would never have dreamed that he or she was keeping my peasants alive through all the disease that seems to invade this land." She looked at him with a shocked expression before remembering the vial in her hand and turning back to the child asleep on the pallet...
"Ms. Granger, Hermione?" She snapped out of the daydream to find Professor Lupin looking at her with an amused expression. "I'm glad you could join us Hermione. Now as I was saying, I have been given the headmasters permission to start a special Defense against the Dark arts class for my most advanced students. It would be made up of students I choose from all four houses and would only have up to 12 people in it. I will discuss my choices with the headmaster and you will be notified if you have been given the opportunity to join. You may refuse if you wish, of course."
Then the bell rang and the students scrambled to collect their things and rush to their next classes. Hermione sorted her books slowly and placed them in her bag. Ron waited next to the desk for her but Harry had bolted out the door immediately after the bell. He watched her with a worried and puzzled expression and a couple of times tried to say something to her but stopped.
"Hermione, may I have a word with you before you leave?" Lupin said as he arranged the books on his desk.
"Ok professor," Ron gave her one last look and left the classroom while she made her way to the desk. "What did you want to see me about?"
"I wanted to talk to you about the essay you wrote for my class last week. It clearly is nowhere near your normal standard of work. Is anything wrong Hermione?" He searched her eyes from across the desk and waited for her reply.
"Hermione worried her pendent as she tried to think up an answer. When she didn't reply, he sighed and she looked down at her lap ashamed.
"That's a beautiful pendent you have their Hermione, may I see it." She looked up in surprise.
"But, professor, it's silver!" She exclaimed and he nodded his acknowledgement. She handed it over reluctantly, unsure of what would happen and she watched as he pulled a dragon hide glove on before taking it. He examined it for a minute before returning it to her.
"There are ways, as you can see, for me to handle silver Hermione. It's a very nice pendent, how long have you had it?"
"Not long professor.... I really should be getting to class." He looked at her suspiciously but let her go.
"Hermione, if you ever need anyone to talk to, I'm always here for you ok." She nodded and ran out of the room. He sighed and sat back down as his other students trickled in and said quietly to himself, "I hope you know what you are involved in Hermione."
* * * * *
Harry sat silently brooding in an armchair by the fire that night in the Gryffindor common room. Ron was at a nearby table discussing quidditch strategy with Seamus and Ginny, both who played for the team. Ron had been made both keeper and captain in the last year and was very determined that Gryffindor would win again this year. Finally he got frustrated at Harry's grunt from the chair at his every suggestion and stalked over to the chair to tell Harry off.
"Harry, common on, your supposed to be helping me tonight. Now stop your stupid sulking over what ever is bothering you and get over here." Harry just snarled a response and Ron swore at him, calling him a few unpleasant names before returning to the table.
Why did I kiss her, now she's avoiding me. I'm such a stupid...Harry's thought were interrupted by a quiet voice.
"Uh, Harry, could I talk to you for a moment?" A quiet voice asked. He looked up and saw Hermione watching him with anxious eyes.
"I guess..." Hermione walked away and he got up and followed her to her dorm, which was blissfully empty at the moment. "What did you wan to talk about? If it's about the other night, I'm sorry, I had no right to do that."
"No Harry, its not about the other night, its about my dreams. I had another one last night and it was odd." She stopped to collect herself, "Harry, I know who the people in my dream are. I have known since the beginning of the year. I just didn't want to tell you."
"Well, who are they then?" Harry asked, slightly impatiently.
"They are Draco Malfoy, you and just recently, Ginny Weasley. I don't know why I'm dreaming these dreams, or why these people are included. I wish I knew though." Hermione looked at Harry who seemed to be stunned to silence.
"Why didn't you tell me Hermione? Did you not trust me or something?" He appeared hurt by her lack of forthcomingness.
"I was afraid of how you would react. I don't really know why I chose not to tell you." She looked down ashamed at the quilt on her bed. His face softened and he hugged her close.
"You don't need to be afraid Hermione, you can always tell me anything, you know that." He cuddled her close and again, for some reason she felt safe in his arms. "I want to apologize about the other night Hermione." When she would have protested, he silenced her with a motion of his hand. "I had no right to do what I did and I'm sorry."
"It's ok Harry, I didn't mind, it just startled me that's all. But I'm not saying I would like you to do it again anytime soon ok." She smiled up at his face and he almost kissed her again but he restrained himself and just hugged her close.
"Ok Hermione, no more secretes if something is bothering you. Don't bottle it up anymore." He let her go and left the room. She watched him go with an apprehensive expression on her face. Then she turned and lay down pondering what he had said to her and before long she was asleep.