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Wake The Darkness
By Jewel
A Harry Potter Fanfiction.
Revised Version.
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Disclaimer: the talented JK Rowling created Harry Potter and its characters. They are copyrighted (©) to the rightful owners. No copyright infringement intended.

Summary: Following Voldemort's final demise, Dumbledore asks Draco and Hermione to marry and prove to the wizarding world that not all purebloods and muggle-borns were set against each other. And although the two agree reluctantly to the match, the marriage is anything but peaceful. Both remember too clearly the events leading up to the union, and the unresolved factors that took a backseat to the defeat of the Dark Lord.

Standard spoilers apply for books 1 through 5. Set in Seventh Year to Post-Hogwarts.

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Wake The Darkness
Prologue

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[Post-Hogwarts: 5 months after graduation.]

"This doesn't change anything," she said, her voice hoarse from screaming. First in anger and then in pleasure.

"I did not dare to hope so," he replied, pinning her with an angry glare. Her words had brought reality crashing back around him, and he hated reality. Though in that instant he wasn't sure who he was more upset with, her or himself.

She, however, knew exactly who to blame. Herself. Absolutely furious for having given in, she pushed at his broad shoulders. "Get off of me!"

Silently he withdrew from her and rolled over onto his back, an arm flung across his eyes.

"Well? Get dressed and get out!" She snarled, anxious to be left alone with her thoughts.

"I must be demented," he muttered, groping in the dark for his clothing. "I shouldn't have come. I should have just stayed the hell away from you to being with."

She pulled the sheets over herself just as a cold wind swept through the chamber. "I never asked you to come. And if you remember correctly, I never wanted any of this in the first place! I warned you, if you would deign to think back to a year ago, that complicating things would only breed trouble!"

He paused in getting dressed, one arm in his shirt and the other bare but for a dark tattoo. "Your memory is flawed if you don't remember that you kissed me back then! But you're also right, you didn't ask me to come. You would rather die that ask for my help."

"I don't need your help!"

"He betrayed you! Betrayed everyone who trusted him! He almost got you killed! Almost cost us the war. And still you'd rather have him than me!" She recoiled at the fury and venom she heard in his voice. She opened her mouth to say something, anything, but for once words failed her. Anything she could have said in her defense or in retaliation was lost when he continued.

"You're horribly mistaken if you think I will let you go, Hermione." Without saying anything else he turned away from her and strode to the door. When he closed the door the resounding slam echoed through the silent room.

She stared at the door for several long minutes before lying back in bed and looking out the window on the wall opposite the door. She was still contemplating what to do when the first streaks of purple heralded dawn. And by the time the sin was almost fully in the sky, she still didn't know what to do.

Draco was her husband, and the one she loved in the darkest parts of her heart. But Ron had been her bestfriend and her first love. And if he was going to die at the end of the week, she wanted to see him.

End of Prologue
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AUTHOR'S NOTES:
- I sincerely hope that this prologue isn't too different from the original one. The situation in this scene is still mostly the same with one minor (okay, okay, major) difference. But everything will be explained as the story goes on.
- Music I listened to while typing this: "Take A Picture" by Filter.

Jewel
[7.20.2004]