Disclaimer: I own nothing. Oh and this is shorter but I wanted another cliffhanger. *lol *
~* 7 *~
Semper Eadem
Hermione dreamed that night, a long and frustrating dream. She often had dreams reflecting on the events of the day. This time, she dreamed of running through a field, bare but a loose frock thrown over herself. She kept looking over her shoulder, expecting something gruesome to apparate from behind the bushes at any second. She kept running, the field rushing by her. Suddenly, her head jerked back.
She saw a fiery Dark Mark burning over a home. She didn't recognize it, but she ran towards it, crying out for any survivors in the house, so that they'd emerge and know it was safe now.
She stopped in front of the house, her eyes scanning around herself, trying to take in what was going on. There were Dark Marks rushing at her from all over. A hot poker stick suddenly was thrown towards her. Her hand snapped out, she saw a laughing figure cloaked in a long robe, a Death Eater. It was pressing the poker down at her hand, the iron red hot and burning her flesh at contact.
" What are you doing?" Hermione shouted.
" What does it look like?" The laughing voice was low and distorted. Suddenly, the laughter changed to a higher one and the hood fell back. It was Draco, Hermione knew it, despite the fact the person's face was blank, nothing but skin, as if she were horribly nearsighted and couldn't tell apart facial features.
The poker changed into a branding stick, pressed down onto her arm, and she felt the Dark Mark burn into her hand. The poker pulled back and she looked at the mark.
She saw Harry's face instead of the Mark, though. It was burned down in thick dirty scarred flesh.
It was sickening to look at. Hermione held her hand up to her mouth to hold back the vomit that rose to her mouth, and she then reached out to grasp the Death Eater, to avenge the mark burned into her hand.
Suddenly, she was inside a house, looking at a crying baby in a cradle. Dark shadows danced around the room, as if something horrible was lurking everywhere. Hermione spun around, the 'Dark Mark' suddenly gone from her hand, and she was facing a deathly pale image of a woman and man. They both held her arms out to her, whispering hoarsely:
" Help."
The crying baby in the cradle suddenly grew silent.
Hermione looked back at it, but it was gone.
The house spun around in circles, it was disappearing, the baby was suddenly in her hands, growing, becoming Harry Potter, older and older.
Hermione sat up in a sweat from her bed, panting.
She looked around the room and then focused on the hologram window. Whatever Lily and James Potter hid in there, they couldn't just scare Hermione Granger away from it. Curiosity was the fuel for invention. Curiosity also killed the cat.
~*~
Hermione felt sick. It was her second day with little but some chocolate in her stomach. Her fingers rubbed the empty, growling hole that was her stomach. She looked up to see Draco immersed in schoolwork. Professor McGonagall's essay did not seem important to him, but now that he had little to do, Draco decided to write his paper. It looked very unorganized, and he rarely double-checked his book to see if he was writing accurate information. He could have just as well been making up his own essay!
What confused her was the fact he didn't seem too upset about being hungry. In fact, he seemed fine with not eating a thing. Hermione's brow creased as she fell silent into deep thought.
A knock came to the door, three quick raps and then a pause as the person behind the door reflected as to whether to barge right in or to wait for a reply. Draco didn't concern himself with replying so Hermione volunteered:
" Who is it?"
" Who else?" Professor McGonagall's voice sounded cheerful. She slowly pushed the door open, struggling a bit for Hermione left a stack of books up against the door when she was trying to clean the room up a bit.
Draco glanced up. His eyebrows raised slightly to see that Minerva McGonagall seemed so overjoyed about something. Professor McGonagall only grinned wider and then exclaimed:
" We have wonderful news for you, Hermione."
Hermione couldn't help but exclaim: "What is it?"
" You did incredibly well on your O.W.L. exams! They flew by with highest honors." Professor McGonagall then looked at Draco. He didn't say anything. " Do you want to know what you received?" Minerva asked.
He shrugged.
" Well, you did exemplary work, too. This year, nearly everyone passed their O.W.L.'s." Professor McGonagall's beaming face then turned downwards at the tray she held in her hands, on which a couple various dishes stood. " Breakfast, anyone?"
Hermione felt her stomach churn as she said: " I'd like to eat now."
They both turned to Draco.
" I'll eat." He said, as if he were making a major sacrifice for them by doing so.
" Well, good, then." Professor McGonagall thumped the tray down and turned to Hermione and then to Draco (both sitting as far away from one another as physically possible). Hermione stood and approached the desk in the center of the room, slumping down on the edge of her cot, which brushed by the desk. Draco did something similar at the other side of the desk.
Hermione's eyes trailed over the meal.
Despite the off-color green beans, the breakfast looked like a dinner. There was a plate with a toast (a tiny tab of butter atop it), then there was a tall glass of white milk, and there was a bowl of green-bean soup. The aromas that filled the room were too tempting to resist.
Both of the two students dug into the meal, and Professor McGonagall smiled. " Enjoy, I'll be here around noon to bring lunch and check on you two."
" Thank you." Hermione said.
Draco reflected for a moment before saying , softly: "Thanks."
Professor McGonagall straightened out the pillows on Hermione's cot with a bit of a serious frown, then she turned on her heels and left the room. Draco and Hermione exchanged quick glances and then they both ate quietly.
Suddenly, Draco asked, his voice piercing the silence: " What was it about?"
" What was what about?" Hermione was taken aback that he was speaking to her.
" Your paper." Draco raised his eyebrows suspiciously. " Forgot so fast?"
She dug her fork through the dab of butter on top of the toast. Thin slits raced through the butter now. With a sigh, Hermione plowed the fork back across it so that the butter now had a tic-tac-toe checkerboard on it. " Wolverines." She said, finally. " The cases in Blackburry."
" Mmm." He stabbed his spoon through the thin blanket that grew over his cooling soup. " The ones that Grizelda Periwinkle helped solve?"
" Yes."
" Oh. Was it… hard?"
" What do you mean by 'hard'?" She asked, finally. With a sudden onrush of bitterness, she retorted: " If you mean, was it difficult to research, then no. I found hundreds of resources, but then again, I knew all about it before I even began."
He was mildly surprised.
" If you mean whether it was strenuous to write, then yes it was. It took me days to get it to a perfected form. I had to simply revise it - - and - - then I'd have a good mark on it." Her voice faltered away. By the time she said 'mark on it', she was speaking just a faint tone above a whisper, and Draco had to tilt his head towards her to hear what she was muttering about.
" Oh." Draco repeated.
" Oh." She said, mimicking. " I suppose that apologies need to be strangled out?"
Draco propped his chin up on his palm and then smirked. " Apologize – for what? Because someone tripped me and I fell on top of you? I believe it should be I demanding the apology. Falling on top of you…" He shook his head, bemused.
" It's not as if I have leprosy." Hermione smashed the butter flat with a single angry movement of her fork.
" No, that's true, you don't." His grin couldn't have been any meaner.
Hermione knew what was coming, and she felt ill at the idea. He hissed:
" You're a Mudblood."
She couldn't help it, she reacted as she would normally do it, and so, with all her strength, she slapped him across the face.
~*~
Author's Note: Like it?
I will update Saturday or Sunday, I'm sorry I didn't update all week, but I was overwhelmed with school work. D'oh!
P.S. Review, or I will literally feel put down.
