Never Say Never
Chapter 11 - The Dreaming
Disclaimer: Who started this disclaimer stuff anyway?! Oh well whoever it is, I'm gonna get you some day!! Hehe, well I don't own any of the characters, but I own the plot. All clear? Alright, on with the story! =)
Hermione's POV
"I'm sorry." His voiced echoed in my mind and I could honestly say that I was having immense trouble getting that one little phrase out of my memory. God, it's already been two days and I'm still reliving that moment every once in awhile when I think of going to the library or whenever I see the Slytherin table in the Great Hall.
The amazing thing was though, that I hadn't seen hide or hair of him since that fateful day in the Prefect's Bathroom and that was starting to scare me since I had grown accustomed to seeing him pop up in unexpected places. But other than that 'little' distraction I was doing all right and I was quite pleased to see that my dark nightmares had finally disappeared and that I was getting very peaceful nights of sleep.
I smiled faintly as I heard Malfoy, no Draco's unusually bright voice yelling after me as I began to stride away from him to call him by his first name in my mind. Well, this was certainly an improvement from our usually insults at each other, I thought amusedly to myself.
Suddenly I was wrenched rather rudely out of my dreamy state by Ron was happened to be seated next to me in History of Magic, he shook my arm roughly in an attempt to get my attention. I blearily looked at him and then he smiled and motioned at where Harry was sitting next to Parvati. My eyes widened again and my lips curled into a huge grin.
It seemed that for the few brief moments that Professor Binns had left the room to retrieve one of his reference books Parvati had proceeded to plant wet kisses all over Harry's face and the pink lipstick stains were highly visible to anyone who wished to have a good look at Harry. He turned to face us and I couldn't suppress a hearty laugh at the sight of his face.
I continued to break out in little fits of laughter and I really couldn't control this giddiness. I didn't even know why I was giddy in the first place, it just wasn't like me. Ron was looking strangely at me as was Harry and I didn't even notice that Professor Binns had returned to classroom until -
"Miss Grain! Please tell me what is so hilarious that you must disrupt my class with your laughter?" He asked angrily as he narrowed his eyes at me. When I failed to reply to him as I couldn't really say that I was laughing at Harry, he snapped quickly, "That's detention for you this lunchtime Miss Grant."
Then he looked around the classroom as if to enforce his point but when his eyes landed on Harry, amusement was evident in his expression.
"- And detention for you as well Mr. Potter. Please control yourself in my lesson." He said blandly before starting to read aloud from one of his books. I caught Harry's eye and shrugged my shoulders whilst rolling my eyes, sending him a commiserating look.
I settled down and as much as I tried to concentrate on what Binns was saying, I couldn't resist tuning out to my much more interesting thoughts about - No I wasn't going to think about him again, I firmly told myself. I struggled to concentrate again but the shrill ringing of the bell sounding for lunchtime broke my concentration.
I got up from my table and gathered all my books, slipping them into my bag before telling Ron to wait for us outside the room. I walked over to where Harry was and I smiled at Parvati who returned my smile deviously.
"So sorry Harry. . ." she whispered before kissing him again soundly on the lips, "Don't worry, I'll be outside waiting."
She left the room and Harry and I cautiously made our way to the front of the room where Professor Binns sat stiffly in his chair behind his large desk.
"Professor - " I began to say but he cut me off gruffly.
"Miss Grant, did Mr. Potter provoke you into laughing?" he asked giving Harry a sidelong look that made him squirm uncomfortably.
"Erm. . .well. . .yes he did. . .sort of. . ." I mumbled biting my lips after finishing.
"Indeed? Well in that case both of you are to stay in this classroom for the whole of lunchtime, I will be sending Professor McGonagall up to speak to you both about your outrageous behaviour in my class in a moment. I hope that it will not happen again." He said in a wheezy voice.
Harry and I looked at each other and went to sit down at a desk near the back of the room, putting down our bags defeatedly. Professor Binns left the room silently and as soon as he did Harry turned to me and blushed immediately.
"I'm sorry Hermione. I didn't know that you would laugh so much. . . I mean I couldn't exactly stop her from doing it, you know it's kind of hard to resist when your girlfriend is kissing you all over your face and . . . " he trailed off at the mock pained expression on my face, "Sorry again Mione."
"Don't worry about it, Harry. It's a perfectly normal thing to do when you're going out with someone and I really couldn't control myself either. It just looked so hilarious! Your face was completely covered with lipstick marks and. . ." This time it was my turn to trail off as Professor McGonagall strode briskly into the classroom.
"I have received the knowledge that both of you have been disrupting Professor Binns' class. Would you like to explain your childish behaviour?" she said sharply in a strict voice.
"Professor, all that happened was that Hermione just lost control after I told her a joke of mine. She couldn't stop laughing and when Professor Binns came back into the classroom he found her laughing very loudly. That's all." Said Harry airily, struggling to maintain an innocent face.
"Very well, that is a reasonable explanation. But I am not finished yet, Mr. Potter please explain the lipstick marks covering your face?" she said in a level voice, looking calmly at Harry. He squirmed again and fidgeted with his robes, slowly turning a very interesting shade of pink.
"Parvati - "
"Miss Patil is involved as well is she?" interrupted Professor McGonagall raising her eyebrows at Harry.
"Er. . ."
"Alright. I quite understand what is going on now. Though I do not tolerate this type of behaviour, both of you are allowed to go now without punishment. But never let this happen again because you will not be let off lightly if there is a next time." With another one of her stern looks, she exited the room with a grand sweep of her robes.
I let out the breath that I had been holding and I turned to beam at Harry. He rolled his eyes this time and went to pick up his bag and mine from the desk that we were sitting at before. We left the classroom together and looking up and down the corridor there was no trace of Ron or Parvati.
"He better not be messing around with my girlfriend." Mumbled Harry absently as he saw the disappearance of his dearly beloved.
"I don't think so, Harry. Parvati's very in love with you, you know that!" I replied and he looked at me disbelievingly. I began to walk towards the end of the hallway and Harry followed, taking long strides.
"You really think so, Mione?" he asked softly, drawing level with me so that we were walking next to each other.
"It's obvious, Harry. You don't have to be a genius to figure that out." I replied in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Hmm." Harry's eyes became slightly glazed and a dreamy expression came over his face and I raised my eyebrows at this and gave him a pinch on his forearm, "Ouch! What was that for, Mione?!"
"To make sure that your daydreams don't get too dirty." I shot back, dodging the playful punch that was coming my way. Then I looked up at Harry and realized that he was looking seriously back at me. Immediately, I got the feeling of déjà vu again, only this time it was with Harry, not Draco. . .
"Hermione, what do you think about Ron?" he asked suddenly, fixing me with a soft gaze.
"What?!" I was totally taken aback by that and I didn't know what to say, but I replied slowly, "Well. . .he's a very good friend of ours isn't he? One of the closest friends that I have, apart from you, Lavender and Parvati. . ."
"Yes, I know that. But I mean, do you think of him in any other way. . .apart from just friends?" Harry said in a very somber tone of voice.
"Harry! Give it a break will you?! I don't think of Ron in any other way other than the normal way!" I exclaimed furiously. How thick could he get?!
"What normal way?"
"Ugh!"
I turned back in the opposite direction to where we were going and began to stomp angrily away from my incredibly pigheaded best friend who was getting on my nerves in a very bad way.
After a few minutes of stomping I looked back to see if Harry was still following me and to my relief he had gotten the message [how he understood my actions, I will never know] and decided to leave me alone with my rage.
I looked around where I had gotten myself to and to my surprise it was somewhere in the school that I hadn't been to and that was definitely a first. It was dark and only a few small white candles hung on the wall that seemed to stretch infinitely on, it gave out a sense of foreboding and I didn't like it at all.
Where on earth was I?! I just hoped that I hadn't gotten myself lost, otherwise I would never get to Potions on time and I knew how hard Snape would be on me if he found out that I was just wandering aimlessly around the school instead of boiling something foul in a big cauldron in that ugly dank dungeon of his.
I began to panic and I wheeled around to try and get my directions straight. 'Gryffindor Tower should be that way so maybe if I tried to walk down that corridor I should end up where I would be able to find my way to Potions. . .'
Suddenly I rammed into something hard and I cursed as I realized it was a wall that I hadn't seen due to the twilight like darkness in this hallway. Damn, I had forgotten to light my wand, smart one Hermione, I thought to myself.
"Lumos." I whispered before creeping towards to the corridor that marked my way back to sanity but before I could get halfway a familiar, but icy voice hissed behind me.
"What are you doing here?"
Draco's POV [the secret common room]
I reclined comfortably back into my chair and gently stroked the thing that lay in the centre of my palm, yes it was the angel necklace. I really couldn't take my eyes off it, it strangely reminded me of Hermione in the way that it was flawlessly made, without a scratch or oddity to it.
It seemed that these days my thoughts were filled with her, the girl that made me feel so intense whenever I was near her. . .but now I had figured that this was only mere infatuation. Sure, I was definitely attracted to her [who wouldn't be? She was beautiful, amazingly smart and witty.]
But she was a Mudblood, I kept repeating that to myself in an effort to get back my old feelings for her, the loathing of her cleverness and of her goody-two-shoes attitude.
Still it didn't do anything to deter the raging feelings that I had for her and all I could do was try and keep them under control so that it didn't become too apparent. Who knows, maybe I could get through this whole 'crush' thing without anyone noticing. Chances were slim, but I could try couldn't I?
I thought back to what I had seen in that nightmare that I had when I first got this chain, the one that told me that Voldemort was after Hermione. But then again, it was probably just a dream, nothing more. I mean I had never been known to be a Seer or anything remotely like that, it couldn't possibly be real; how would the Dark Lord even know her?
The thoughts went round and round in my head, each topic chasing another until it finally ended up on the topic that I hated most, the prospect of being a Death Eater. It was looming ever closer, and it was becoming inevitable, Father definitely wasn't going to back me up on my new decision to not become part of Voldemort's innermost circle.
As far as I was concerned in the eyes of my Father, I was to become a Death Eater or die, I mean basically I was only existing because I was 'born to serve the Dark Lord' or so Father says. He had told me so when he had last sent me an owl, it clearly stated that on my 18th birthday, I was to attend the induction ceremony and receive the Dark Mark.
Now, I was only 17 but a year would pass me by in no time and I didn't want to turn to the Dark side in order to get power. No matter what people say, I don't take after my Father completely, don't forget my mother's genes. She was definitely the gentlest yet intimidating woman that I knew, she could be incredibly warm and caring when it came to those that she loved but also very influencing when she exerted her charm on the people that she needed to overpower.
Overall, I believe that my parents made a formidable pair, highly esteemed by all of those who knew them, except for perhaps the Weasleys, those redheads just didn't seem to accept the fact that we were above them on the social ladder. I wanted to follow in my parents' footsteps, to become admired by those who were below me and to become a powerful wizard, I mean why else would I be working this hard to achieve the high marks that I get?
As I looked down at the precious gem set in the centre of the silver angel, I remembered the words that Hermione had said to me:
'You don't have to be like your father and be on the dark side you know. You can be powerful, wealthy and respected as a normal wizard.'
Those words played and replayed themselves in my head and I honestly believed in that philosophy, to not go to the Dark side. Father wouldn't be pleased at all though, I had let him down. . .not just that, I had dishonoured him by defying his wishes and refused to be in his Master's service.
I sighed, the exhaustion of these thoughts settling in on my eyes and me suddenly drooped and I was on my way to a fitful sleep.
Hey everyone,
I'm so sorry for not making this chapter very interesting, but you have to understand that in order for the story to be more. . .hmmm complex, then you need this type of detail. . .right?
Well those who don't like that, better stop reading right now! But I promise that in a chapter or two there will be something special happening! I won't break the promise alright? I swear!!!!!!!!
Anyhow, thank you to all the reviewers who have been sending in very positive stuff, it really motivates me, so keep it coming! [hmph, I only got 2 reviews for the last chapter. . . =(] Special thanks to FoxyChic4u who has been continuously leaving comments =P I love you for it! =)
Anyway, happy [after] Valentines Day to everyone!
Enjoy and review!
psychohart
Chapter 11 - The Dreaming
Disclaimer: Who started this disclaimer stuff anyway?! Oh well whoever it is, I'm gonna get you some day!! Hehe, well I don't own any of the characters, but I own the plot. All clear? Alright, on with the story! =)
Hermione's POV
"I'm sorry." His voiced echoed in my mind and I could honestly say that I was having immense trouble getting that one little phrase out of my memory. God, it's already been two days and I'm still reliving that moment every once in awhile when I think of going to the library or whenever I see the Slytherin table in the Great Hall.
The amazing thing was though, that I hadn't seen hide or hair of him since that fateful day in the Prefect's Bathroom and that was starting to scare me since I had grown accustomed to seeing him pop up in unexpected places. But other than that 'little' distraction I was doing all right and I was quite pleased to see that my dark nightmares had finally disappeared and that I was getting very peaceful nights of sleep.
I smiled faintly as I heard Malfoy, no Draco's unusually bright voice yelling after me as I began to stride away from him to call him by his first name in my mind. Well, this was certainly an improvement from our usually insults at each other, I thought amusedly to myself.
Suddenly I was wrenched rather rudely out of my dreamy state by Ron was happened to be seated next to me in History of Magic, he shook my arm roughly in an attempt to get my attention. I blearily looked at him and then he smiled and motioned at where Harry was sitting next to Parvati. My eyes widened again and my lips curled into a huge grin.
It seemed that for the few brief moments that Professor Binns had left the room to retrieve one of his reference books Parvati had proceeded to plant wet kisses all over Harry's face and the pink lipstick stains were highly visible to anyone who wished to have a good look at Harry. He turned to face us and I couldn't suppress a hearty laugh at the sight of his face.
I continued to break out in little fits of laughter and I really couldn't control this giddiness. I didn't even know why I was giddy in the first place, it just wasn't like me. Ron was looking strangely at me as was Harry and I didn't even notice that Professor Binns had returned to classroom until -
"Miss Grain! Please tell me what is so hilarious that you must disrupt my class with your laughter?" He asked angrily as he narrowed his eyes at me. When I failed to reply to him as I couldn't really say that I was laughing at Harry, he snapped quickly, "That's detention for you this lunchtime Miss Grant."
Then he looked around the classroom as if to enforce his point but when his eyes landed on Harry, amusement was evident in his expression.
"- And detention for you as well Mr. Potter. Please control yourself in my lesson." He said blandly before starting to read aloud from one of his books. I caught Harry's eye and shrugged my shoulders whilst rolling my eyes, sending him a commiserating look.
I settled down and as much as I tried to concentrate on what Binns was saying, I couldn't resist tuning out to my much more interesting thoughts about - No I wasn't going to think about him again, I firmly told myself. I struggled to concentrate again but the shrill ringing of the bell sounding for lunchtime broke my concentration.
I got up from my table and gathered all my books, slipping them into my bag before telling Ron to wait for us outside the room. I walked over to where Harry was and I smiled at Parvati who returned my smile deviously.
"So sorry Harry. . ." she whispered before kissing him again soundly on the lips, "Don't worry, I'll be outside waiting."
She left the room and Harry and I cautiously made our way to the front of the room where Professor Binns sat stiffly in his chair behind his large desk.
"Professor - " I began to say but he cut me off gruffly.
"Miss Grant, did Mr. Potter provoke you into laughing?" he asked giving Harry a sidelong look that made him squirm uncomfortably.
"Erm. . .well. . .yes he did. . .sort of. . ." I mumbled biting my lips after finishing.
"Indeed? Well in that case both of you are to stay in this classroom for the whole of lunchtime, I will be sending Professor McGonagall up to speak to you both about your outrageous behaviour in my class in a moment. I hope that it will not happen again." He said in a wheezy voice.
Harry and I looked at each other and went to sit down at a desk near the back of the room, putting down our bags defeatedly. Professor Binns left the room silently and as soon as he did Harry turned to me and blushed immediately.
"I'm sorry Hermione. I didn't know that you would laugh so much. . . I mean I couldn't exactly stop her from doing it, you know it's kind of hard to resist when your girlfriend is kissing you all over your face and . . . " he trailed off at the mock pained expression on my face, "Sorry again Mione."
"Don't worry about it, Harry. It's a perfectly normal thing to do when you're going out with someone and I really couldn't control myself either. It just looked so hilarious! Your face was completely covered with lipstick marks and. . ." This time it was my turn to trail off as Professor McGonagall strode briskly into the classroom.
"I have received the knowledge that both of you have been disrupting Professor Binns' class. Would you like to explain your childish behaviour?" she said sharply in a strict voice.
"Professor, all that happened was that Hermione just lost control after I told her a joke of mine. She couldn't stop laughing and when Professor Binns came back into the classroom he found her laughing very loudly. That's all." Said Harry airily, struggling to maintain an innocent face.
"Very well, that is a reasonable explanation. But I am not finished yet, Mr. Potter please explain the lipstick marks covering your face?" she said in a level voice, looking calmly at Harry. He squirmed again and fidgeted with his robes, slowly turning a very interesting shade of pink.
"Parvati - "
"Miss Patil is involved as well is she?" interrupted Professor McGonagall raising her eyebrows at Harry.
"Er. . ."
"Alright. I quite understand what is going on now. Though I do not tolerate this type of behaviour, both of you are allowed to go now without punishment. But never let this happen again because you will not be let off lightly if there is a next time." With another one of her stern looks, she exited the room with a grand sweep of her robes.
I let out the breath that I had been holding and I turned to beam at Harry. He rolled his eyes this time and went to pick up his bag and mine from the desk that we were sitting at before. We left the classroom together and looking up and down the corridor there was no trace of Ron or Parvati.
"He better not be messing around with my girlfriend." Mumbled Harry absently as he saw the disappearance of his dearly beloved.
"I don't think so, Harry. Parvati's very in love with you, you know that!" I replied and he looked at me disbelievingly. I began to walk towards the end of the hallway and Harry followed, taking long strides.
"You really think so, Mione?" he asked softly, drawing level with me so that we were walking next to each other.
"It's obvious, Harry. You don't have to be a genius to figure that out." I replied in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Hmm." Harry's eyes became slightly glazed and a dreamy expression came over his face and I raised my eyebrows at this and gave him a pinch on his forearm, "Ouch! What was that for, Mione?!"
"To make sure that your daydreams don't get too dirty." I shot back, dodging the playful punch that was coming my way. Then I looked up at Harry and realized that he was looking seriously back at me. Immediately, I got the feeling of déjà vu again, only this time it was with Harry, not Draco. . .
"Hermione, what do you think about Ron?" he asked suddenly, fixing me with a soft gaze.
"What?!" I was totally taken aback by that and I didn't know what to say, but I replied slowly, "Well. . .he's a very good friend of ours isn't he? One of the closest friends that I have, apart from you, Lavender and Parvati. . ."
"Yes, I know that. But I mean, do you think of him in any other way. . .apart from just friends?" Harry said in a very somber tone of voice.
"Harry! Give it a break will you?! I don't think of Ron in any other way other than the normal way!" I exclaimed furiously. How thick could he get?!
"What normal way?"
"Ugh!"
I turned back in the opposite direction to where we were going and began to stomp angrily away from my incredibly pigheaded best friend who was getting on my nerves in a very bad way.
After a few minutes of stomping I looked back to see if Harry was still following me and to my relief he had gotten the message [how he understood my actions, I will never know] and decided to leave me alone with my rage.
I looked around where I had gotten myself to and to my surprise it was somewhere in the school that I hadn't been to and that was definitely a first. It was dark and only a few small white candles hung on the wall that seemed to stretch infinitely on, it gave out a sense of foreboding and I didn't like it at all.
Where on earth was I?! I just hoped that I hadn't gotten myself lost, otherwise I would never get to Potions on time and I knew how hard Snape would be on me if he found out that I was just wandering aimlessly around the school instead of boiling something foul in a big cauldron in that ugly dank dungeon of his.
I began to panic and I wheeled around to try and get my directions straight. 'Gryffindor Tower should be that way so maybe if I tried to walk down that corridor I should end up where I would be able to find my way to Potions. . .'
Suddenly I rammed into something hard and I cursed as I realized it was a wall that I hadn't seen due to the twilight like darkness in this hallway. Damn, I had forgotten to light my wand, smart one Hermione, I thought to myself.
"Lumos." I whispered before creeping towards to the corridor that marked my way back to sanity but before I could get halfway a familiar, but icy voice hissed behind me.
"What are you doing here?"
Draco's POV [the secret common room]
I reclined comfortably back into my chair and gently stroked the thing that lay in the centre of my palm, yes it was the angel necklace. I really couldn't take my eyes off it, it strangely reminded me of Hermione in the way that it was flawlessly made, without a scratch or oddity to it.
It seemed that these days my thoughts were filled with her, the girl that made me feel so intense whenever I was near her. . .but now I had figured that this was only mere infatuation. Sure, I was definitely attracted to her [who wouldn't be? She was beautiful, amazingly smart and witty.]
But she was a Mudblood, I kept repeating that to myself in an effort to get back my old feelings for her, the loathing of her cleverness and of her goody-two-shoes attitude.
Still it didn't do anything to deter the raging feelings that I had for her and all I could do was try and keep them under control so that it didn't become too apparent. Who knows, maybe I could get through this whole 'crush' thing without anyone noticing. Chances were slim, but I could try couldn't I?
I thought back to what I had seen in that nightmare that I had when I first got this chain, the one that told me that Voldemort was after Hermione. But then again, it was probably just a dream, nothing more. I mean I had never been known to be a Seer or anything remotely like that, it couldn't possibly be real; how would the Dark Lord even know her?
The thoughts went round and round in my head, each topic chasing another until it finally ended up on the topic that I hated most, the prospect of being a Death Eater. It was looming ever closer, and it was becoming inevitable, Father definitely wasn't going to back me up on my new decision to not become part of Voldemort's innermost circle.
As far as I was concerned in the eyes of my Father, I was to become a Death Eater or die, I mean basically I was only existing because I was 'born to serve the Dark Lord' or so Father says. He had told me so when he had last sent me an owl, it clearly stated that on my 18th birthday, I was to attend the induction ceremony and receive the Dark Mark.
Now, I was only 17 but a year would pass me by in no time and I didn't want to turn to the Dark side in order to get power. No matter what people say, I don't take after my Father completely, don't forget my mother's genes. She was definitely the gentlest yet intimidating woman that I knew, she could be incredibly warm and caring when it came to those that she loved but also very influencing when she exerted her charm on the people that she needed to overpower.
Overall, I believe that my parents made a formidable pair, highly esteemed by all of those who knew them, except for perhaps the Weasleys, those redheads just didn't seem to accept the fact that we were above them on the social ladder. I wanted to follow in my parents' footsteps, to become admired by those who were below me and to become a powerful wizard, I mean why else would I be working this hard to achieve the high marks that I get?
As I looked down at the precious gem set in the centre of the silver angel, I remembered the words that Hermione had said to me:
'You don't have to be like your father and be on the dark side you know. You can be powerful, wealthy and respected as a normal wizard.'
Those words played and replayed themselves in my head and I honestly believed in that philosophy, to not go to the Dark side. Father wouldn't be pleased at all though, I had let him down. . .not just that, I had dishonoured him by defying his wishes and refused to be in his Master's service.
I sighed, the exhaustion of these thoughts settling in on my eyes and me suddenly drooped and I was on my way to a fitful sleep.
Hey everyone,
I'm so sorry for not making this chapter very interesting, but you have to understand that in order for the story to be more. . .hmmm complex, then you need this type of detail. . .right?
Well those who don't like that, better stop reading right now! But I promise that in a chapter or two there will be something special happening! I won't break the promise alright? I swear!!!!!!!!
Anyhow, thank you to all the reviewers who have been sending in very positive stuff, it really motivates me, so keep it coming! [hmph, I only got 2 reviews for the last chapter. . . =(] Special thanks to FoxyChic4u who has been continuously leaving comments =P I love you for it! =)
Anyway, happy [after] Valentines Day to everyone!
Enjoy and review!
psychohart