Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the other characters or
settings in this fanfiction. Unfortunately that also includes Draco
Malfoy...but I own the plot (.
The feast was winding down and the plates were slowly vanishing from the tables. Hermione felt at ease and very full. She was leaning on her good hand smiling and casually flicking the leftover peas on her plate. She was listening to the murmur of students talking about their summers. She felt like she would drift off into a doze any moment. Just then Ginny looking extremely awake sat down next to her brother.
"Ron can you do me a favor..." she stopped talking; she had caught a glimpse of Hermione's wrist, "Oh! Hermione, whatever happened to your wrist?"
"She got it caught in a fence," Ron answered for her looking quite bored.
"Well, in a fence...um...it looks like a very colorful bruise you got there 'Mione, you should go ask Madame Pomfrey for this bruise solution, it works instantly," Ginny said then tapped her wrist playfully.
The tap caused Hermione's wrist to jerk. It still hurt. She smiled at how Ginny was such an expert at cosmetic charms. Ginny was your typical girly girl and it made Hermione chuckle to see Ron looking so irritated at Ginny jittery requests.
Dumbledore rose from his seat and hush fell upon the students. Like usual he stood silent twinkling for a few moments, "I hope you have all enjoyed the feast but I am afraid it is quite late. First years please follow your house prefects; they will show you to your commons rooms. You will all receive your schedules tomorrow at lunch but for now goodnight and get as much rest tomorrow for the start of classes on Monday," he rose his hands, motioning the students to exit the Great Hall.
The trio had bustled their way through the crowd and through the doors, they were just about to mount the steps but Hermione looked at the opposite direction.
"'Mione, aren't you coming?" Harry tugged at her robe. Ron was by his side looking half asleep.
"No, actually I was thinking I would take Ginny's advice, I'm just going to ask Madame Pomfrey for some of that solution. Don't wait up for me, I'll only take a couple of minutes," she told him.
"Alright we'll see you in the morning then, goodnight. Come on, Ron," he shook Ron's shoulder.
"Stupid fence," he mumbled back and they both continued walking up the steps.
She entered the hospital and found Madame Pomfrey sorting out bottles in a cabinet. She cleared her throat to acknowledge her presence.
Madame Pomfrey turned around adjusting her apron, "Ms. Granger, what are you doing up here? Is there something you need?"
"Well, I've got this bruise..." Hermione started but before she could finish Madame Pomfrey pulled out her wrist and began examining it. Hermione gasped, 'Bloody bruise, it still hurts.' All of a sudden she thought about Harry's scar. 'I guess I know how it feels like now, always having a mark...a reminder.' She remembered looking into 'his' icy grey eyes.
"This is a very nasty bruise you got here, Ms. Granger. How on earth did you get it?" Hermione was snapped out of her thoughts. She looked up at Madame Pomfrey and then made an irritated noise, 'Here we go again.'
"Oh, quite interesting actually...you see...I got it stuck in a fence," she giggled and smiled widely and as convincing as possible.
Madame Pomfrey lifted an eyebrow, "Are you quite sure Ms. Granger? These are definitely fingerprints encircling you wrist."
"Oh, really? How strange," Hermione tried to act clueless about it.
"Well however you got this bruise, I'm sure this will heal it," Madame Pomfrey pulled out a glass vile from the cabinet and handed it to Hermione, "Just rub this over your wrist before you go to bed. Your wrist should be clear by tomorrow morning. Now get off to bed, and mind those fences Ms. Granger," she said while pushing Hermione out of the hospital wing.
Hermione headed off towards the common room. Sleep was all she wanted right now. She looked at her vile, it was a sick yellow. She lifted the cap then brought the vile to her nose. 'Ergh! This smells horrid!' she dabbed a bit on her finger. As she began walking up a flight of stairs she started gently rubbing the solution on her wrist. She was just about to read the inscriptions on the vile when her foot got stuck in one of the enchanted steps. She tripped and landed on one knee and watched the vile fly up into the air and land at the top of the staircase. The sound of a rolling vile echoed around her. 'This just really isn't my day,' she thought and walked up the rest of the stairs. It was pitch black and she see couldn't the vile anywhere. She pulled her wand out of her robe.
"Lumos."
A faint light appeared around the tip of her wand and she brought it close to the floor slowly walking around the hall looking for the vile. She felt like she was heading towards the end of the hall when a shiny black corner of an object appeared under the light. She approached the object only to find a pair of black shoes. Her heart stopped beating and stood up and brought her wand up to her face.
There he was again. His blonde hair was disheveled and his tie loose around his neck. Hermione took a deep breathe and looked upon the eyes of Draco Malfoy.
"Is this yours, Granger?" he asked with a smug smile.
She reached out and tried to grab for her vile but he quickly pulled it out of her reach.
"Tsk, tsk, mind your manners Granger," he said mockingly then read the inscriptions, "BruiseBeGone?" he looked at her face then switched his gaze to her wrist. He once again grabbed her in the same stop and she flinched viciously in pain. He immediately dropped her arm and held the vile in front of her face and she snatched it back. "I guess the fierce Granger is quite the delicate one, am I right Mudblood?" he said then leaned in towards her face. She felt his hot breath against her neck, it sent electrical shocks throughout her body when he whispered in her ear, "Do accept my apologies."
He smirked and she scowled at him, "Goodnight, Malfoy," she said and he nodded and walked in the opposite direction. She watched him leave and she ran the rest of the way to her common room.
She was out of breath when she reached the portrait of The Fat Lady who was snoozing soundly but she awoke abruptly when she heard Hermione approach.
"Password, please," she said quite annoyed for being awoken from her beauty sleep.
Hermione smacked her forehead. "Oh, the password! I don't know the password!"
"No password, no entrance," responded The Fat Lady.
Hermione leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes. "The password... how could I have been so irresponsible?"
"Hermione, is that you?" said a voice coming up behind her.
She turned around and came face to face with Neville for the second time that day. "Neville, what are you doing up so late?"
"I had to visit the owlery. I needed to send my grandmother the list of things I forgot," even in the almost darkness of the hall you could tell he was blushing. He walked up to the painting. "Flibbertigibbet," which Hermione took a note of and the door swung open.
She walked into the common room and she suddenly felt at home. There was a warm fire prickling and the warm red colors made it look cozy and welcoming. She was over swept with drowsiness and all she wanted to do was snuggle up in her covers. She turned to Neville, "I'm going to bed, and I'll see you in the morning," she felt quite comfortable with him again so she smiled sleepily and patted him on the shoulder, "Goodnight."
Stairs and stairs, dark endless stairs but she still went on climbing forward. Her heart started to beat faster as she saw the steps ahead of her illuminated by a ghostly pale moonlight. The light beckoned her to move on and she followed its spell. The platform in which the steps reached was a balcony. 'I must be at the astronomy tower,' she thought to herself. But she wasn't alone, to her left; he was leaning over the balcony's edge supporting himself with his arms breathing heavily. Hermione was drawn to him; he looked almost unreal with the moonlight shining on the skin of his bare back. She approached him cautiously then slowly placed her fingers between his shoulder blades, "Malfoy?"
He lifted his head and slowly began to turn around. Hermione backed away and watched him turn towards her, but when he did she threw her hand over her mouth to prevent her from screaming. His eyes...they were almost snake- like shining silvery green. They were staring into hers and she started backing away but soon all she saw was red. She fell down and rubbed her hands frantically over her eyes but she when pulled her hands away, to her horror she realized the redness that covering her eyes was now also on her fingers. She was bleeding. She looked up and saw him approaching her and she started screaming, screaming endlessly as her blood covered her eyes and blinded her completely.
"Hermione! Hermione!"
She sat up in her bed gasping for air. She ran her fingers through her damp hair and wiped the sweat off her forehead.
"Hermione? Are you ok? Pavarti get some water for her," it was Lavender Brown, she was sitting at the edge of Hermione's bed deeply concerned. Pavarti was standing up hesitating whether she should get some water.
"I'm fine, I'm ok, it was just a bad dream, go back to bed," Hermione said calmly then rested her head back on the pillow and pulled the covers back over her shoulders with her back to the girls. They nodded at each other and returned to their own beds without a word.
Hermione turned over and stared outside the window at the moon, glowing so brightly just like the one in her dream. She remained in the same position staring at it what felt like for hours. She threw the covers off of her and got out of bed. She walked over to her trunk and pulled out a book, 'I'm not going to get any more sleep tonight from the looks of it.' She crept out of the dormitory and tip toed down the stairs to the common. She sat on one of the couches and opened her book. Everything was quiet.
The feast was winding down and the plates were slowly vanishing from the tables. Hermione felt at ease and very full. She was leaning on her good hand smiling and casually flicking the leftover peas on her plate. She was listening to the murmur of students talking about their summers. She felt like she would drift off into a doze any moment. Just then Ginny looking extremely awake sat down next to her brother.
"Ron can you do me a favor..." she stopped talking; she had caught a glimpse of Hermione's wrist, "Oh! Hermione, whatever happened to your wrist?"
"She got it caught in a fence," Ron answered for her looking quite bored.
"Well, in a fence...um...it looks like a very colorful bruise you got there 'Mione, you should go ask Madame Pomfrey for this bruise solution, it works instantly," Ginny said then tapped her wrist playfully.
The tap caused Hermione's wrist to jerk. It still hurt. She smiled at how Ginny was such an expert at cosmetic charms. Ginny was your typical girly girl and it made Hermione chuckle to see Ron looking so irritated at Ginny jittery requests.
Dumbledore rose from his seat and hush fell upon the students. Like usual he stood silent twinkling for a few moments, "I hope you have all enjoyed the feast but I am afraid it is quite late. First years please follow your house prefects; they will show you to your commons rooms. You will all receive your schedules tomorrow at lunch but for now goodnight and get as much rest tomorrow for the start of classes on Monday," he rose his hands, motioning the students to exit the Great Hall.
The trio had bustled their way through the crowd and through the doors, they were just about to mount the steps but Hermione looked at the opposite direction.
"'Mione, aren't you coming?" Harry tugged at her robe. Ron was by his side looking half asleep.
"No, actually I was thinking I would take Ginny's advice, I'm just going to ask Madame Pomfrey for some of that solution. Don't wait up for me, I'll only take a couple of minutes," she told him.
"Alright we'll see you in the morning then, goodnight. Come on, Ron," he shook Ron's shoulder.
"Stupid fence," he mumbled back and they both continued walking up the steps.
She entered the hospital and found Madame Pomfrey sorting out bottles in a cabinet. She cleared her throat to acknowledge her presence.
Madame Pomfrey turned around adjusting her apron, "Ms. Granger, what are you doing up here? Is there something you need?"
"Well, I've got this bruise..." Hermione started but before she could finish Madame Pomfrey pulled out her wrist and began examining it. Hermione gasped, 'Bloody bruise, it still hurts.' All of a sudden she thought about Harry's scar. 'I guess I know how it feels like now, always having a mark...a reminder.' She remembered looking into 'his' icy grey eyes.
"This is a very nasty bruise you got here, Ms. Granger. How on earth did you get it?" Hermione was snapped out of her thoughts. She looked up at Madame Pomfrey and then made an irritated noise, 'Here we go again.'
"Oh, quite interesting actually...you see...I got it stuck in a fence," she giggled and smiled widely and as convincing as possible.
Madame Pomfrey lifted an eyebrow, "Are you quite sure Ms. Granger? These are definitely fingerprints encircling you wrist."
"Oh, really? How strange," Hermione tried to act clueless about it.
"Well however you got this bruise, I'm sure this will heal it," Madame Pomfrey pulled out a glass vile from the cabinet and handed it to Hermione, "Just rub this over your wrist before you go to bed. Your wrist should be clear by tomorrow morning. Now get off to bed, and mind those fences Ms. Granger," she said while pushing Hermione out of the hospital wing.
Hermione headed off towards the common room. Sleep was all she wanted right now. She looked at her vile, it was a sick yellow. She lifted the cap then brought the vile to her nose. 'Ergh! This smells horrid!' she dabbed a bit on her finger. As she began walking up a flight of stairs she started gently rubbing the solution on her wrist. She was just about to read the inscriptions on the vile when her foot got stuck in one of the enchanted steps. She tripped and landed on one knee and watched the vile fly up into the air and land at the top of the staircase. The sound of a rolling vile echoed around her. 'This just really isn't my day,' she thought and walked up the rest of the stairs. It was pitch black and she see couldn't the vile anywhere. She pulled her wand out of her robe.
"Lumos."
A faint light appeared around the tip of her wand and she brought it close to the floor slowly walking around the hall looking for the vile. She felt like she was heading towards the end of the hall when a shiny black corner of an object appeared under the light. She approached the object only to find a pair of black shoes. Her heart stopped beating and stood up and brought her wand up to her face.
There he was again. His blonde hair was disheveled and his tie loose around his neck. Hermione took a deep breathe and looked upon the eyes of Draco Malfoy.
"Is this yours, Granger?" he asked with a smug smile.
She reached out and tried to grab for her vile but he quickly pulled it out of her reach.
"Tsk, tsk, mind your manners Granger," he said mockingly then read the inscriptions, "BruiseBeGone?" he looked at her face then switched his gaze to her wrist. He once again grabbed her in the same stop and she flinched viciously in pain. He immediately dropped her arm and held the vile in front of her face and she snatched it back. "I guess the fierce Granger is quite the delicate one, am I right Mudblood?" he said then leaned in towards her face. She felt his hot breath against her neck, it sent electrical shocks throughout her body when he whispered in her ear, "Do accept my apologies."
He smirked and she scowled at him, "Goodnight, Malfoy," she said and he nodded and walked in the opposite direction. She watched him leave and she ran the rest of the way to her common room.
She was out of breath when she reached the portrait of The Fat Lady who was snoozing soundly but she awoke abruptly when she heard Hermione approach.
"Password, please," she said quite annoyed for being awoken from her beauty sleep.
Hermione smacked her forehead. "Oh, the password! I don't know the password!"
"No password, no entrance," responded The Fat Lady.
Hermione leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes. "The password... how could I have been so irresponsible?"
"Hermione, is that you?" said a voice coming up behind her.
She turned around and came face to face with Neville for the second time that day. "Neville, what are you doing up so late?"
"I had to visit the owlery. I needed to send my grandmother the list of things I forgot," even in the almost darkness of the hall you could tell he was blushing. He walked up to the painting. "Flibbertigibbet," which Hermione took a note of and the door swung open.
She walked into the common room and she suddenly felt at home. There was a warm fire prickling and the warm red colors made it look cozy and welcoming. She was over swept with drowsiness and all she wanted to do was snuggle up in her covers. She turned to Neville, "I'm going to bed, and I'll see you in the morning," she felt quite comfortable with him again so she smiled sleepily and patted him on the shoulder, "Goodnight."
Stairs and stairs, dark endless stairs but she still went on climbing forward. Her heart started to beat faster as she saw the steps ahead of her illuminated by a ghostly pale moonlight. The light beckoned her to move on and she followed its spell. The platform in which the steps reached was a balcony. 'I must be at the astronomy tower,' she thought to herself. But she wasn't alone, to her left; he was leaning over the balcony's edge supporting himself with his arms breathing heavily. Hermione was drawn to him; he looked almost unreal with the moonlight shining on the skin of his bare back. She approached him cautiously then slowly placed her fingers between his shoulder blades, "Malfoy?"
He lifted his head and slowly began to turn around. Hermione backed away and watched him turn towards her, but when he did she threw her hand over her mouth to prevent her from screaming. His eyes...they were almost snake- like shining silvery green. They were staring into hers and she started backing away but soon all she saw was red. She fell down and rubbed her hands frantically over her eyes but she when pulled her hands away, to her horror she realized the redness that covering her eyes was now also on her fingers. She was bleeding. She looked up and saw him approaching her and she started screaming, screaming endlessly as her blood covered her eyes and blinded her completely.
"Hermione! Hermione!"
She sat up in her bed gasping for air. She ran her fingers through her damp hair and wiped the sweat off her forehead.
"Hermione? Are you ok? Pavarti get some water for her," it was Lavender Brown, she was sitting at the edge of Hermione's bed deeply concerned. Pavarti was standing up hesitating whether she should get some water.
"I'm fine, I'm ok, it was just a bad dream, go back to bed," Hermione said calmly then rested her head back on the pillow and pulled the covers back over her shoulders with her back to the girls. They nodded at each other and returned to their own beds without a word.
Hermione turned over and stared outside the window at the moon, glowing so brightly just like the one in her dream. She remained in the same position staring at it what felt like for hours. She threw the covers off of her and got out of bed. She walked over to her trunk and pulled out a book, 'I'm not going to get any more sleep tonight from the looks of it.' She crept out of the dormitory and tip toed down the stairs to the common. She sat on one of the couches and opened her book. Everything was quiet.