Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
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Chapter One ~ Black Balloon--ThisDamnedAngel
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As she stood there, like an angel about to take flight, he watched the milk white contrast of her skin against the dark sky. He watched as her wild hair rippled in the wind, and how she stood on the balls of her feet, daring herself to jump. He felt his heart beat increase rapidly. Her arms were now raised like wings. He saw her smile manically.
Stop! He shouted in his mind. She canÕt do this to herself. He mentally slapped himself for all the years heÕd ever been awful to her, wondering if he was the cause of this decent into nothingness. He leapt off the porch and saw her eyes flutter shut. His eyes, those blue pools of ice, opened widely, as he watched her knees bend. She was about to leave her perch and take flight.
ÒHermione!Ó
// Baby's black balloon makes her fly//
She looked into the dark, and saw a glimmer of something white, glistening in the moonlight. The vision became increasingly more vivid as it approached her house rapidly. She stepped back, about to put her coat back on, her safe, warm covering, and she lost her footing. She fell and slid down the rooftop to her doom. She willed herself not to scream. She willed herself to feel no fear.
She was flying, floating, a blissful smile played over her now empty features. She felt a hand brush her forehead and stroke her hair back and away from her face. Her savior was above her, like some sort of a god, and she felt like only bowing down to him for saving her, even if what sheÕd done had been partly intentional. She opened her eyes slightly, looking blearily out at the cold darkness in front of her. A coat covered her top half.
She shivered and felt her savior hug her closer. She felt secure in his warm embrace. She snuggled closer to his form, his body radiated heat. She didnÕt want to be pulled by the strings of wonder and confusion just yet. He patted her back soothingly. She finally asked, ÒWho are you?Ó
ÒDraco Malfoy.Ó
// A thousand other boys could never reach you, how could I have been the one? //
Shit! She leapt from his arm and sprawled onto the ground, her hair, more matted then before, now housed snow and twigs from the cold ground. The coat had slipped off and she struggled to cover herself with it. She crawled away from the monstrosity before her, the one that had taunted her all those years.
ÒYou?!Ó She leapt up, fully aware that heÕd seen her naked. She breathed in the cold night air, letting in fill her lungs. She could feel herself slowly running out of oxygen, even though she hurriedly tried pumping it into her lungs. She was wheezing, spluttering.
ÒHelp.Ó She gasped.
// I saw the world spin beneath you //
He didnÕt know what to do. SheÕd fallen to the floor after yelling. She was pounding it, coughing. She looked so pathetic, almost grotesque. HeÕd never seen such a sight. She now lay on her back, kicking the floor with the sole of her foot. She was having some sort of fit, surely. She continued coughing so much in so little time; he could no longer see the air in front of her turn white from her breath. She bent down, still coughing; now facing the floor once more. On her hands and knees, he saw her cough out blood. The red liquid was trickling out of the corners of her mouth, and it was almost as if he was in some kind of horror story.
ÒOh my God. Hermione? What the. . .Ó He rushed to her side, and held back her hair, not knowing what else to do. His angel was kneeling down, coughing up her life source, the one thing that kept her cold cheeks rosy and alive. The one thing that kept her alive. There was only a small pool of blood, but it was still enough to scare the life out of him. She was just there now, bent over, staring soundly at the ground. Then he heard her sob, and his heart break.
ÒMy God, what the hell happened?Ó He lifted her up; the lifeless angel now looked more like a wild beast. Her entire body was as pale as the moon. It shone brightly against the cold sky. Her hair was a mess, as it housed a number of things it was not supposed to. Her eyes were crying silently, like stars on her moon face. More stars, the tears, appeared, softly falling, dripping, dying on her moon cheeks. Her skin was so blanched that her freckles stood out prominently and he realized she had many more than heÕd noticed before. A small trickle of blood left her mouth. He saw her eyes slowly close.
ÒOh no.Ó He ran towards his house, his key still in the lock. ÒDonÕt do this. YouÕre a strong girl. Hold on.Ó He could still she her chest slowly rise and fall, proof that she was still alive. ÒHold on.Ó
// And I go on as you get colder //
He paced. He never paced. And yet, here he was, his feet lifting, taking him back and forth across a cold room as he watched a now sleeping girl on his sofa. Her hair was neater now, and looked more like a halo to fan around her face. Her lips were pink, a normal healthy color as it looked to him. But he was still worried. Her face was stone cold, and he, as hard as he tried, could not warm his little angel.
He heard a little cough, and then a slight sniffle. The angel had risen. His heart leapt a little in his chest, and then proceeded to thump loudly. He swallowed nervously; not exactly sure what sheÕd say when she realized she was in the home of a Death Eater. He spun on his heel, gracefully turning to view his sleeping beauty with a blank expression on her face.
ÒTake me home.Ó
ÒWhat?Ó He spat, almost too ferociously. She sat there, on his couch, sniffling, and she was demanding he take her home. There was something wrong here. She didnÕt even flinch really when she saw she was in the company of him, her best friendÕs enemy.
ÒLook, Draco. I donÕt do this whole rivalry thing anymore. Though I wonÕt deny youÕre not a very nice person, you did take me in, and for that I thank you.Ó She said, rather promptly. She then stiffened, realizing she had no clothes on her top half. She sighed deeply, ÒCould I borrow a shirt please?Ó
He nodded, and left the room. She was alone, and she felt the walls close in on her as another wave of dizziness struck her mind, clouding her senses. She felt herself slipping farther into a dark abyss of swirling mist. She felt a voice echo softly in her head, Shake me to the core. IÕm slipping. Love me, breathe me. . . She shook her head in an effort to shake the voice out of her already pounding head. He was there, the shirt in hand. He rushed to her side when he saw her swaying dangerously.
ÒThe voiceÓ, she whispered, ÒIt wonÕt leave me alone.Ó You know what you have to do. HeÕs yours. Save the world with your love.
She shook more violently now. He saw pain and sadness in her eyes; despair lingering in the orbs of amber that glittered soundlessly in a world full of noise. He heard the storm grow fiercer as its icy rain cut through the cold air like a knife. He put his arm around her shoulder, and felt her shivering at his touch. She was ice cold, and on his arm, a thousand goose bumps erupted, making him jump slightly in surprise.
ÒDonÕt let her consume me. IÕm already too far in. Help.Ó She choked. She wasnÕt making any sense. Who was she? How was she consuming her? He was beyond confused. The girl lay in his arms, shaking slightly; her mouth parted emitting ragged breaths.
ÒI donÕt know whatÕs wrong with meÓ, she croaked, ÒItÕs not usually this powerful.Ó He looked bewildered at her pained expression. ÒIÕm not sure you understand yet. But you will. . . If what I think is correct. Oh Merlin, this is all far too complicated for me to comprehend. Imagine what this must be like for you.Ó
In all truth, he was completely in the dark. She was wildly blabbing out weird phrases about how some sort of force is consuming her, and how she doesnÕt even understand herself. He shook his blond head and stroked her now calm cheek.
ÒIÕm fine now. Take me home. Please.Ó
He nodded, getting up from his perch on the edge of the dusty couch. She shivered again, and he was about to decline her wish, but it was just from the cold draft coming through an open window. He hurriedly shut it. ÒIÕm taking you home, but IÕm still more mystified than you know.Ó He shook his head, and walked back to her side.
ÒI do know. Really, I do.Ó She said, allowing him to lift her into his arms, an angel broken by voices spinning in her mind, washing over her in a wave of misery and confusion. She coughed again, and he remembered she had been coughing up her blood.
ÒDo you have some sort of disease? You were coughing up your blood earlier.Ó He informed her as they crossed into the hall. She looked down at her hands and shook her head, intertwining her fingers and biting her chapped lips.
ÒMm, not a disease. I donÕt know whatÕs wrong with me. ItÕs all too weird. Everything. My life, and I donÕt know how to rectify any of it. I know this has beenÓ, she swallowed and chose her words carefully, ÒA weird, and perhaps somewhat interesting and enlightening experience for you. IÕm sorry to have caused any disturbance in you life.Ó She finished clearly. She sounded so proper, like she was writing a very important letter to the queen.
He looked into her bright eyes, and saw something there that he recognized in his own eyes: a thirst, a hunger, an ambition for more. He stroked a piece of hair from her eye so he could see the feature even more prominently than before. She looked unblinkingly up at him, letting him walk across the street in the freezing cold with no coat on, and admiring the fact that he did not seem to notice, nor care that the wind was bracing and the rain like ice pellets.
// Coming down the years turn over, And angels fall without you there, And I'll go on to lead you home //
He lay her down on her black bed, watching the darkness engulf her. She smiled up at his pale face. She then patted the place beside her and whispered, ÒI need to explain something to you.Ó He sat obediently, and waited for her to begin. She cleared her throat, ÒIÕm victim of a curse, or maybe a prophesy of sorts. Not only me, another soul. He doesnÕt know it yet, but he and I, weÕre soulmates according to the prophecy. IÕm scared honestly, for him, and for me. WeÕre both blindly entering a world of hate and deceit without asking for it. I donÕt want to drown.
ÒIÕm sad too. This will be difficult to fulfill. The period will be terribly strenuous, and what with school and everything else. . . I donÕt know how weÕll manage it.Ó
ÒBut why are you telling me this?Ó He asked, perplexed. She looked at him for a long while, as if trying to decide whether or not he could handle the truth. His eyes shifted as though they were uncomfortable from being stared at by this girl, so piercingly. He was not one to avert his gaze.
ÒBecause. . . I felt you needed to know.Ó She smiled and in her eyes, he knew what she was talking about.
// All because I'm, And I'll become, What you became to me//