Disclaimer - I have one hundred dollars to my name and you think I wrote
Harry Potter? HA!
-=-=-=-
"And then in the sixth century Cobert the Crass led the goblins to revolt again the evil king Hennag. They overcame their leader and that is why the Goblins are now governed using a democracy." Professor Binns droned on about different goblin revolts and troll uprisings.
Hermione slowly surveyed the room and saw that most of her classmates were silently sleeping with their heads down on the desks. Parvati snorted a little bit to the right of her.
'If she doesn't want anyone to know she snores she should stop falling asleep in class.' She thought and jabbed her to make her stop. The girl nodded thanks to her and shifted into a different position.
Hermione always tried to pay attention but all the goblins had begun sounding the same and it was starting to make her head throb. Professor Binns didn't help either. If he wanted his students to stay awake he could try to be at least a tad more exciting than wet chalk.
The Slytherins across the room were busy throwing small objects through Binns to see if he noticed. He had his head buried in one of his many books and was reading in a monotonous voice, taking no notice of the quills and parchment being tossed through his lower half.
Directly across the classroom from Hermione sat Draco. He had his arms crossed in front of him and was leaning back in his chair at a dangerous angle. His eyes were shut and he was slowly drifting off into his own personal dreamland. As Hermione watched him she came to a realization.
She quickly scribbled a note down on a spare piece of parchment and wrapped it around one of her empty inkbottles. Making sure the Professor was still engrossed in his reading she pitched the bundle across the room.
Draco was hit squarely between the eyes and fell backwards out of his chair. Binns glanced up from his book, looked over the bridge of his eyeglasses, and stared at the young Slytherin.
"Mr. Maldry," he said, drawing out every word to be longer than it had to be, "will you please refrain from disrupting my class in the future?" He didn't wait for his answer but instead went back to his book.
Draco glanced around on the ground for what had hit him. He grasped the inkbottle in his hand and smoothed out the wrinkles in the piece of parchment.
"Why were you on the pitch?" was written in Hermione's delicate script.
His mind whirled as he tried to recollect what she was talking about. Bits and pieces began to come together until the memory dawned on him.
He caught her eyes from across the classroom and threw his reply back at her.
"I'll tell you after class. Pitch: 7:00. Don't be late." The _expression on her face fell. She had hoped he would tell her now; she needed something to keep her occupied for the next forty-five minutes.
She sent him an exasperated look and he just smirked back at her, glad he could make her life a little more despondent. She sighed and put her head down on the desk like the majority of her classmates and went into a deep slumber for the remainder of class.
-=-=-=-
An icy breeze swept through the Quidditch Pitch and over Hermione. Her already red cheeks burned from the bitter contact of the air. Fall was moving in and kicking summer out earlier than usual. She glanced around once more and let out a very loud and aggravated sigh.
'He's fifteen minutes late.' She thought to herself. 'He's not coming. Once again he's made me look like a fool. He's probably telling his entire house how Hermione Granger is out waiting in the cold for him. Stupid git.'
She kicked the ground hard with the toe of her boot. A shiver ran up her spine and she started the long trek back to the castle.
"Where are you going Granger?" Draco drawled from the opposite side of the field. She spun around and sent him a fierce look.
"Malfoy you kept me waiting out in the freezing cold for nearly twenty minutes. Now just tell me why you were here so I can go." Her words came out full of irritation and faltered a bit since she was shivering so hard.
"What's the matter Granger? Cold?" She stood there shaking and didn't answer him.
"Why were you there?" She said slowly through clenched teeth. Her eyes locked onto his and narrowed.
"You really want to know?" He asked. She nodded her head in response and he closed some of the distance between them so he was but five feet from her. 'Are you sure?"
"For Merlin's sake Malfoy, just tell me so I can go!" She shouted. He had the nerve to smile at her.
"Alright fine. I was. . ." he paused to see if he would get a reaction from the Gryffindor. He saw the fire in her eyes and decided not to push it if he valued his life. "I was hiding. Goodnight Granger." He started to walk back to the school.
"Hiding?" She called after him. "Hiding from what?" He turned to face her again.
"Pansy, who else?" He laughed at the memory. She had invented her very own love potion and wanted to try it out on him so they could go flying. By the time he had gotten back she had accidentally dropped the vial which held her precious potion and wasn't able to remember the formula. "Goodnight Granger."
Hermione was speechless as she watched his retreating form make its way back to the school. He had made her wait all this time for this? She had spent countless hours burning brain cells pondering over all the possible things he might have been doing. She had expected something secretive and dark from the Slytherin prince and instead she had learned what she already knew, Draco hated Pansy.
It wasn't until she saw him enter the castle that she began to walk back.
-=-=-=-
Draco smiled to himself as he made his way to the doors of the castle. He knew that Granger was furious at him for his little stunt but it had been worth it to him to see her reaction.
He hadn't lied to her though. He had been hiding from Pansy the night they ran into each other on the pitch, and she had made a love potion for him. What he didn't tell her was that he had been hiding from someone else that night, his father.
His father happened to be a very hard person to hide from. He had known where his son was but let Draco think he was in control. It wasn't until he had returned to the school after his encounter with Hermione that he had learned otherwise.
Lucius had come to explain to Draco his duties when Voldemort passed out of existence. The Dark Lord's reign of terror was coming to an end. He was dying from fatigue and old age. By the time Draco was twenty he would most likely have to take over and rule Voldemort's empire.
Draco, of course, had never been too thrilled about this. He and his father had argued throughout the night, resulting in Draco being given several cuts and bruises on his chest and back.
That had been almost one month ago. But while the cuts may be gone, the scars still remained to remind him of his responsibilities. Draco had become accustomed to these quarrels with his father. He had been beaten since he was old enough to know what they meant, and he always lost.
The memory of his father wiped the smile from Draco's face. He solemnly returned to his common room. Pansy sat in one of the many high-backed chairs waiting for him. When she saw him she immediately ran towards him and so began the daily routine of her throwing herself at him and him insulting her in return.
-=-=-=-
Hermione sat next to Harry and Ron in the common room going over their Potions essay for the week.
"No Ron, you're supposed to add four pinches of powdered newt, not five. If you add too much it will turn green and-" Hermione surprised both boys by stopping her lecture mid-sentence.
"Hermione?" Harry said and prodded her in the arm with his quill. She didn't respond. "Hermione?" He said again.
He looked at Ron but he didn't know what to do either. Suddenly their friend began to convulse and fell from the couch.
They watched as her eyes rolled back into her skull and her mouth fell open in a silent scream.
'It's happening again.' She thought while wildly trying to regain control of her body. 'Why won't they leave me alone?'
She saw Harry and Ron hovering over her before the common room vanished. She found herself in a large marble hallway. She was surrounded by crystal chandeliers and golden vases filled with white roses. She leaned against one of the walls and took everything in.
'Where am I?' She thought. 'I've never left Hogwarts in my visions and this is definitely not Hogwarts.'
Her curiosity taking over her she decided to explore a bit. At the end of the long hallway was a large set of doors.
'If I'm not really here I wonder if I have to open them.' She tentatively put her hand up to the door and pushed. She was still solid and couldn't go through it. 'Damn. Now I have to open it.'
She opened the door and slid her slim frame through the opening. She found herself inside a large study, filled with books and spare pieces of parchment strewn everywhere.
Standing in the middle of everything was Draco and his father.
"Please, no." Draco pleaded quietly. His father hovered over him with a malicious sneer on his face.
"Let this teach you a lesson in obedience, boy." He said and raised his hand. He held a long leather whip over his son. Hermione noted that there were several long tears in the back of Draco's white dress shirt where he had already been whipped. Dried blood had stained the garment and dripped onto the floor where it streamed together in a pool at Lucius' feet.
Hermione shrieked along with Draco; her out of fear and him out of pain; as the whip was brought down over and over again onto his pale skin, the shirt now clinging to his torso in bloody shreds, torn and stained in a deep crimson, tiny rivulets of blood dripping down his back, seeping into the dark fabric of his pants, almost as if they were trying to escape the wrath of Lucius. She sighed in relief when Lucius finally let the whip fall from his hands. Draco collapsed onto the floor in a terrified heap, lying dismally in his own blood.
As much as she wanted to look away she found her eyes drawn to her classmate in front of her and found it impossible to avert her eyes from the heartbreaking sight.
The older man reached over and gripped his wand in one of his pale, bony hands. He brought the stick of wood up so that it was level with his face.
"Crucio." He said in a voice just above a whisper. Draco jerked around on the floor. His entire body shook with pain, contorting and bending in ways that just didn't come naturally. Hermione heard the joints in his body fall out of socket with loud 'Pop's and he released a scream like Hermione had never heard before.
It was a heart wrenching scream filled with such pain and suffering that it at once reminded Hermione of a book she had read about Muggle torturing during the medieval times when people performed barbaric punishments such as stretching a prisoner until all the bones in their body snapped, when the muscles ripped off the bone at the tendons. She closed her eyes at the sound, willing it with all her might to stop, she wanted the torture to be over, she wanted Draco to be okay. After several minutes Lucius finally released his son from the curse. The boy lay crumpled on the floor and didn't move.
"Merry Christmas." He said before he left the room.
Hermione immediately ran to Draco's side. He wasn't breathing, wasn't moving; he looked so much smaller than he really was. Before she could check to see that he was even still alive she found herself sprawled on the floor of the Gryffindor common room covered in sweat.
Her vision cleared and she saw her friends leaning over her.
"Hermione? Hermione! You're back!" Harry shouted and helped her to her feet. Her knees went weak and she crumpled to the ground again. Together, Harry and Ron lifted her up and placed her on the couch. Her breath came in rapid gasps as she tried to take in all that she had just seen.
"Hermione what did you see?" Ron said gently and stroked her hair reassuringly.
"You and Harry were buying sweets in Hogsmeade." She lied quickly, not quite sure if she should tell everyone what she had really seen. It was, after all, very personal. "You know, I'm really tired. I think I'll go to bed early."
She wished her classmates goodnight and made her way up the spiral staircase. She shut the door and leaned up against the back of it. The intensity of what she had witnessed finally took her over. She slid down and sat on the floor, gazing off into oblivion, unable to keep her mind on anything but what she had just seen.
'What do I do? What do I do?' Her mind played the question over and over like a broken record player. "I can't change the future. I know that. I should just try to ignore it and let what happens happen. But I can't do that. He could die. This isn't a few broken ribs. If I felt bad about being able to prevent his injury before I won't be able to live with myself if he dies.'
'I can't change the future. Then what am I going to do if he dies?' She argued the situation over and over in her head. 'You can't alter the future. It's destined to happen. What would I do if he died and I was left with that guilt? I can't deal with that. I can't let this vision come true.'
She banged a fist against the door. 'This is too much pressure to put on too small a person.' She decided as she climbed into bed. 'I can't tell Harry and Ron about this one though. They just wouldn't understand.'
-=-=-=-
And that is the extent of this chapter. I'm trying to make all my chapters a little bit longer. I'm doing a little better with it. Be proud of me. I'm trying really hard!
REVIEW!
-=-=-=-
"And then in the sixth century Cobert the Crass led the goblins to revolt again the evil king Hennag. They overcame their leader and that is why the Goblins are now governed using a democracy." Professor Binns droned on about different goblin revolts and troll uprisings.
Hermione slowly surveyed the room and saw that most of her classmates were silently sleeping with their heads down on the desks. Parvati snorted a little bit to the right of her.
'If she doesn't want anyone to know she snores she should stop falling asleep in class.' She thought and jabbed her to make her stop. The girl nodded thanks to her and shifted into a different position.
Hermione always tried to pay attention but all the goblins had begun sounding the same and it was starting to make her head throb. Professor Binns didn't help either. If he wanted his students to stay awake he could try to be at least a tad more exciting than wet chalk.
The Slytherins across the room were busy throwing small objects through Binns to see if he noticed. He had his head buried in one of his many books and was reading in a monotonous voice, taking no notice of the quills and parchment being tossed through his lower half.
Directly across the classroom from Hermione sat Draco. He had his arms crossed in front of him and was leaning back in his chair at a dangerous angle. His eyes were shut and he was slowly drifting off into his own personal dreamland. As Hermione watched him she came to a realization.
She quickly scribbled a note down on a spare piece of parchment and wrapped it around one of her empty inkbottles. Making sure the Professor was still engrossed in his reading she pitched the bundle across the room.
Draco was hit squarely between the eyes and fell backwards out of his chair. Binns glanced up from his book, looked over the bridge of his eyeglasses, and stared at the young Slytherin.
"Mr. Maldry," he said, drawing out every word to be longer than it had to be, "will you please refrain from disrupting my class in the future?" He didn't wait for his answer but instead went back to his book.
Draco glanced around on the ground for what had hit him. He grasped the inkbottle in his hand and smoothed out the wrinkles in the piece of parchment.
"Why were you on the pitch?" was written in Hermione's delicate script.
His mind whirled as he tried to recollect what she was talking about. Bits and pieces began to come together until the memory dawned on him.
He caught her eyes from across the classroom and threw his reply back at her.
"I'll tell you after class. Pitch: 7:00. Don't be late." The _expression on her face fell. She had hoped he would tell her now; she needed something to keep her occupied for the next forty-five minutes.
She sent him an exasperated look and he just smirked back at her, glad he could make her life a little more despondent. She sighed and put her head down on the desk like the majority of her classmates and went into a deep slumber for the remainder of class.
-=-=-=-
An icy breeze swept through the Quidditch Pitch and over Hermione. Her already red cheeks burned from the bitter contact of the air. Fall was moving in and kicking summer out earlier than usual. She glanced around once more and let out a very loud and aggravated sigh.
'He's fifteen minutes late.' She thought to herself. 'He's not coming. Once again he's made me look like a fool. He's probably telling his entire house how Hermione Granger is out waiting in the cold for him. Stupid git.'
She kicked the ground hard with the toe of her boot. A shiver ran up her spine and she started the long trek back to the castle.
"Where are you going Granger?" Draco drawled from the opposite side of the field. She spun around and sent him a fierce look.
"Malfoy you kept me waiting out in the freezing cold for nearly twenty minutes. Now just tell me why you were here so I can go." Her words came out full of irritation and faltered a bit since she was shivering so hard.
"What's the matter Granger? Cold?" She stood there shaking and didn't answer him.
"Why were you there?" She said slowly through clenched teeth. Her eyes locked onto his and narrowed.
"You really want to know?" He asked. She nodded her head in response and he closed some of the distance between them so he was but five feet from her. 'Are you sure?"
"For Merlin's sake Malfoy, just tell me so I can go!" She shouted. He had the nerve to smile at her.
"Alright fine. I was. . ." he paused to see if he would get a reaction from the Gryffindor. He saw the fire in her eyes and decided not to push it if he valued his life. "I was hiding. Goodnight Granger." He started to walk back to the school.
"Hiding?" She called after him. "Hiding from what?" He turned to face her again.
"Pansy, who else?" He laughed at the memory. She had invented her very own love potion and wanted to try it out on him so they could go flying. By the time he had gotten back she had accidentally dropped the vial which held her precious potion and wasn't able to remember the formula. "Goodnight Granger."
Hermione was speechless as she watched his retreating form make its way back to the school. He had made her wait all this time for this? She had spent countless hours burning brain cells pondering over all the possible things he might have been doing. She had expected something secretive and dark from the Slytherin prince and instead she had learned what she already knew, Draco hated Pansy.
It wasn't until she saw him enter the castle that she began to walk back.
-=-=-=-
Draco smiled to himself as he made his way to the doors of the castle. He knew that Granger was furious at him for his little stunt but it had been worth it to him to see her reaction.
He hadn't lied to her though. He had been hiding from Pansy the night they ran into each other on the pitch, and she had made a love potion for him. What he didn't tell her was that he had been hiding from someone else that night, his father.
His father happened to be a very hard person to hide from. He had known where his son was but let Draco think he was in control. It wasn't until he had returned to the school after his encounter with Hermione that he had learned otherwise.
Lucius had come to explain to Draco his duties when Voldemort passed out of existence. The Dark Lord's reign of terror was coming to an end. He was dying from fatigue and old age. By the time Draco was twenty he would most likely have to take over and rule Voldemort's empire.
Draco, of course, had never been too thrilled about this. He and his father had argued throughout the night, resulting in Draco being given several cuts and bruises on his chest and back.
That had been almost one month ago. But while the cuts may be gone, the scars still remained to remind him of his responsibilities. Draco had become accustomed to these quarrels with his father. He had been beaten since he was old enough to know what they meant, and he always lost.
The memory of his father wiped the smile from Draco's face. He solemnly returned to his common room. Pansy sat in one of the many high-backed chairs waiting for him. When she saw him she immediately ran towards him and so began the daily routine of her throwing herself at him and him insulting her in return.
-=-=-=-
Hermione sat next to Harry and Ron in the common room going over their Potions essay for the week.
"No Ron, you're supposed to add four pinches of powdered newt, not five. If you add too much it will turn green and-" Hermione surprised both boys by stopping her lecture mid-sentence.
"Hermione?" Harry said and prodded her in the arm with his quill. She didn't respond. "Hermione?" He said again.
He looked at Ron but he didn't know what to do either. Suddenly their friend began to convulse and fell from the couch.
They watched as her eyes rolled back into her skull and her mouth fell open in a silent scream.
'It's happening again.' She thought while wildly trying to regain control of her body. 'Why won't they leave me alone?'
She saw Harry and Ron hovering over her before the common room vanished. She found herself in a large marble hallway. She was surrounded by crystal chandeliers and golden vases filled with white roses. She leaned against one of the walls and took everything in.
'Where am I?' She thought. 'I've never left Hogwarts in my visions and this is definitely not Hogwarts.'
Her curiosity taking over her she decided to explore a bit. At the end of the long hallway was a large set of doors.
'If I'm not really here I wonder if I have to open them.' She tentatively put her hand up to the door and pushed. She was still solid and couldn't go through it. 'Damn. Now I have to open it.'
She opened the door and slid her slim frame through the opening. She found herself inside a large study, filled with books and spare pieces of parchment strewn everywhere.
Standing in the middle of everything was Draco and his father.
"Please, no." Draco pleaded quietly. His father hovered over him with a malicious sneer on his face.
"Let this teach you a lesson in obedience, boy." He said and raised his hand. He held a long leather whip over his son. Hermione noted that there were several long tears in the back of Draco's white dress shirt where he had already been whipped. Dried blood had stained the garment and dripped onto the floor where it streamed together in a pool at Lucius' feet.
Hermione shrieked along with Draco; her out of fear and him out of pain; as the whip was brought down over and over again onto his pale skin, the shirt now clinging to his torso in bloody shreds, torn and stained in a deep crimson, tiny rivulets of blood dripping down his back, seeping into the dark fabric of his pants, almost as if they were trying to escape the wrath of Lucius. She sighed in relief when Lucius finally let the whip fall from his hands. Draco collapsed onto the floor in a terrified heap, lying dismally in his own blood.
As much as she wanted to look away she found her eyes drawn to her classmate in front of her and found it impossible to avert her eyes from the heartbreaking sight.
The older man reached over and gripped his wand in one of his pale, bony hands. He brought the stick of wood up so that it was level with his face.
"Crucio." He said in a voice just above a whisper. Draco jerked around on the floor. His entire body shook with pain, contorting and bending in ways that just didn't come naturally. Hermione heard the joints in his body fall out of socket with loud 'Pop's and he released a scream like Hermione had never heard before.
It was a heart wrenching scream filled with such pain and suffering that it at once reminded Hermione of a book she had read about Muggle torturing during the medieval times when people performed barbaric punishments such as stretching a prisoner until all the bones in their body snapped, when the muscles ripped off the bone at the tendons. She closed her eyes at the sound, willing it with all her might to stop, she wanted the torture to be over, she wanted Draco to be okay. After several minutes Lucius finally released his son from the curse. The boy lay crumpled on the floor and didn't move.
"Merry Christmas." He said before he left the room.
Hermione immediately ran to Draco's side. He wasn't breathing, wasn't moving; he looked so much smaller than he really was. Before she could check to see that he was even still alive she found herself sprawled on the floor of the Gryffindor common room covered in sweat.
Her vision cleared and she saw her friends leaning over her.
"Hermione? Hermione! You're back!" Harry shouted and helped her to her feet. Her knees went weak and she crumpled to the ground again. Together, Harry and Ron lifted her up and placed her on the couch. Her breath came in rapid gasps as she tried to take in all that she had just seen.
"Hermione what did you see?" Ron said gently and stroked her hair reassuringly.
"You and Harry were buying sweets in Hogsmeade." She lied quickly, not quite sure if she should tell everyone what she had really seen. It was, after all, very personal. "You know, I'm really tired. I think I'll go to bed early."
She wished her classmates goodnight and made her way up the spiral staircase. She shut the door and leaned up against the back of it. The intensity of what she had witnessed finally took her over. She slid down and sat on the floor, gazing off into oblivion, unable to keep her mind on anything but what she had just seen.
'What do I do? What do I do?' Her mind played the question over and over like a broken record player. "I can't change the future. I know that. I should just try to ignore it and let what happens happen. But I can't do that. He could die. This isn't a few broken ribs. If I felt bad about being able to prevent his injury before I won't be able to live with myself if he dies.'
'I can't change the future. Then what am I going to do if he dies?' She argued the situation over and over in her head. 'You can't alter the future. It's destined to happen. What would I do if he died and I was left with that guilt? I can't deal with that. I can't let this vision come true.'
She banged a fist against the door. 'This is too much pressure to put on too small a person.' She decided as she climbed into bed. 'I can't tell Harry and Ron about this one though. They just wouldn't understand.'
-=-=-=-
And that is the extent of this chapter. I'm trying to make all my chapters a little bit longer. I'm doing a little better with it. Be proud of me. I'm trying really hard!
REVIEW!