When I awoke, I was completely bathed in sweat. I was panting so loudly I was surprised that I hadn't woken anybody else.
A quick scan of the dormitory told me that I was in luck, and that everybody else was still sleeping soundly. Without hesitation, I pushed back my sweaty covers and tiptoed out of the dormitory and down into the common room.
To my surprise, Harry was still awake and sitting by the fire, writing.
"Harry?"
He started, and turned to look at me.
"Oh. Hey, Hermione. What are you up for?"
"I was about to ask you the same question" I looked down at his writing page, and rolled my eyes. "Don't tell me. Snape's two roll essay on bloodstones?"
Harry grinned at me, wryly.
"I don't know why I bother. He's gonna fail me anyway."
"Oh, come off it Harry. He can't do that."
"Like hell he can't."
I rolled my eyes again. On the outside, I was trying to act normally, while my insides were churning. Malfoy could be in grave danger as we spoke.
"What time is it?" I asked.
"It was two, last time I checked."
"Okay." I hesitated. "Um, look, I'm going to ask you kind of a weird favor."
Harry took of his glasses and rubbed his eyes. He still had them closed when he spoke.
"Okay, shoot."
I swallowed, trying to ignore how dry my mouth had gone.
"Right. Well, can I borrow your invisibility cloak?"
He opened his eyes again, and squinted at me.
"At two o'clock in the morning? What for?"
"Um. Just, you know ..."
"Wait, don't tell me. You've had this ground-breaking thought about that History of Magic essay and you have to run to the library right now and look it up."
I smiled, relieved. Joking though he may be, he had come up with a better excuse for me to use the cloak than my frazzled mind could have.
"You know me too well."
Harry pushed his glasses back up his nose and regarded me suspiciously.
"Are you serious? Hermione, I didn't think even you were that obsessed with-"
"I know. But, I really can't sleep. I might as well go and look up some things for Professor Binns."
"Well ..."
He looked doubtful, but I forced a smile.
"You know, the more time I have to research, the more information I will have to help you and Ron."
---
With Harry's cloak pulled tightly around me, I made my way down to the Slytherin dungeons. The closer I got, the more voices I could hear. The first voice I heard was that of Professor Snape.
"Missing? How could he have gone missing? Mr. Goyle, it is a well-known fact that it is near impossible to set foot on Hogwarts grounds without being detected. How you expect Mr. Malfoy to simply have 'gone missing' ..."
Blood started to rush in my ears, and I found that I couldn't hear anything more. My heart was pounding so loudly I was surprised that Snape couldn't hear me.
Malfoy was missing.
My mind raced. What if my dream hadn't been the future? What if it had been the present? What if it was too late?
I mentally played back the dream I had just had. It had taken place in the same room that Lucius had first told his son the task. I had assumed at the time that the room had been in the Malfoy's house. Was Draco a captive in his own home?
It was then that it hit me. I was probably the only one who had any idea where Malfoy was, and why he was there. He certainly hadn't told anybody else what was going on.
I ducked around the corner, so that Snape and the Slytherins gathered around him wouldn't see me, and took off the cloak. I took a deep breath, and ran around the corner again.
"Professor Snape! I think I might be able to help you."
---
"So, you knew all along that Mr. Malfoy was in life-threatening danger, and yet you told nobody."
I was standing in Snape's office, and it was clear that he didn't believe what I was telling him. Far from being interested in the information I was giving him, he seemed only interested in deducting points from Gryffindor for my being out of bed so late, and trying to prove to the few other teachers present that I was lying.
"I promised I wouldn't tell anybody, professor, he made me promise."
"I understand that you and Mr. Malfoy were never the best of friends, Miss Granger. It seems quite a co-incidence that you should start-"
"Look, I know it's not believable. I know it's not. But you have to believe me, I think Malfoy is in deep trouble, and I'm trying to help him and-"
"Trying to help him, are you? Or are you just trying to prevent him from being rescued? I understand you two are rivals more than anything else."
I felt tiny pin-pricks behind my eyes, alerting me that I was about to cry. I swallowed and felt the tell-tale lump in my throat.
"Professor, I am not lying to you. I don't know how to convince you that I'm not!"
To my horror, my voice was breaking. I could feel the first couple of tears slowly making their way down my cheeks. I remembered how the last time I had cried I had been with Malfoy, and that made the lump in my throat grow bigger.
"I honestly want to help you find him. But I don't know how I can convince you I'm telling the truth!"
At that moment, Dumbledore entered the room with a small vial of clear liquid in his hand.
"Drink this, Miss Granger."
I didn't question what it was, I just swallowed it. I felt it burn its way down my throat, and looked questioningly at Dumbledore. He pointed his wand at my chest, and said;
"Enervate."
I could feel my eyes unfocus, and soon everything was dark.
---
When I opened my eyes again, I could see that I was dreaming once more. I wondered vaguely if this was a result of the potion that Dumbledore had given me, or just a strange co-incidence, but as soon as I looked through the gap in the door all my other thoughts fled.
I could see Malfoy, curled up in a fetal ball on the floor of a rotten dungeon. He was shaking. His father was standing over him, yelling.
"How could you do this to me, Draco? You have ruined me!"
Draco looked up for a brief moment, and I could see that his face was bruised and swollen. His voice sounded strained.
"I couldn't father! I'm sorry, I-"
To my shock, Lucius kicked his son roughly in the gut, causing him to groan horribly.
"To hell you couldn't! You are a shame to your name, Draco!"
Draco's voice was muffled, and I could barely hear him.
"But you've always thought that."
"And what if I have? Is that what this is about? Because you could have made me proud, Draco! It was not a difficult task!"
Malfoy's head rose again, and I could see him glaring painfully up at his father.
"I've given up on making you proud."
My eyes widened as Lucius sank his foot into his son's gut once more. I felt I could no longer stand and watch. For the first time since my dreams had started, I pushed as hard as I could on the door, and forced it open.
A quick scan of the dormitory told me that I was in luck, and that everybody else was still sleeping soundly. Without hesitation, I pushed back my sweaty covers and tiptoed out of the dormitory and down into the common room.
To my surprise, Harry was still awake and sitting by the fire, writing.
"Harry?"
He started, and turned to look at me.
"Oh. Hey, Hermione. What are you up for?"
"I was about to ask you the same question" I looked down at his writing page, and rolled my eyes. "Don't tell me. Snape's two roll essay on bloodstones?"
Harry grinned at me, wryly.
"I don't know why I bother. He's gonna fail me anyway."
"Oh, come off it Harry. He can't do that."
"Like hell he can't."
I rolled my eyes again. On the outside, I was trying to act normally, while my insides were churning. Malfoy could be in grave danger as we spoke.
"What time is it?" I asked.
"It was two, last time I checked."
"Okay." I hesitated. "Um, look, I'm going to ask you kind of a weird favor."
Harry took of his glasses and rubbed his eyes. He still had them closed when he spoke.
"Okay, shoot."
I swallowed, trying to ignore how dry my mouth had gone.
"Right. Well, can I borrow your invisibility cloak?"
He opened his eyes again, and squinted at me.
"At two o'clock in the morning? What for?"
"Um. Just, you know ..."
"Wait, don't tell me. You've had this ground-breaking thought about that History of Magic essay and you have to run to the library right now and look it up."
I smiled, relieved. Joking though he may be, he had come up with a better excuse for me to use the cloak than my frazzled mind could have.
"You know me too well."
Harry pushed his glasses back up his nose and regarded me suspiciously.
"Are you serious? Hermione, I didn't think even you were that obsessed with-"
"I know. But, I really can't sleep. I might as well go and look up some things for Professor Binns."
"Well ..."
He looked doubtful, but I forced a smile.
"You know, the more time I have to research, the more information I will have to help you and Ron."
---
With Harry's cloak pulled tightly around me, I made my way down to the Slytherin dungeons. The closer I got, the more voices I could hear. The first voice I heard was that of Professor Snape.
"Missing? How could he have gone missing? Mr. Goyle, it is a well-known fact that it is near impossible to set foot on Hogwarts grounds without being detected. How you expect Mr. Malfoy to simply have 'gone missing' ..."
Blood started to rush in my ears, and I found that I couldn't hear anything more. My heart was pounding so loudly I was surprised that Snape couldn't hear me.
Malfoy was missing.
My mind raced. What if my dream hadn't been the future? What if it had been the present? What if it was too late?
I mentally played back the dream I had just had. It had taken place in the same room that Lucius had first told his son the task. I had assumed at the time that the room had been in the Malfoy's house. Was Draco a captive in his own home?
It was then that it hit me. I was probably the only one who had any idea where Malfoy was, and why he was there. He certainly hadn't told anybody else what was going on.
I ducked around the corner, so that Snape and the Slytherins gathered around him wouldn't see me, and took off the cloak. I took a deep breath, and ran around the corner again.
"Professor Snape! I think I might be able to help you."
---
"So, you knew all along that Mr. Malfoy was in life-threatening danger, and yet you told nobody."
I was standing in Snape's office, and it was clear that he didn't believe what I was telling him. Far from being interested in the information I was giving him, he seemed only interested in deducting points from Gryffindor for my being out of bed so late, and trying to prove to the few other teachers present that I was lying.
"I promised I wouldn't tell anybody, professor, he made me promise."
"I understand that you and Mr. Malfoy were never the best of friends, Miss Granger. It seems quite a co-incidence that you should start-"
"Look, I know it's not believable. I know it's not. But you have to believe me, I think Malfoy is in deep trouble, and I'm trying to help him and-"
"Trying to help him, are you? Or are you just trying to prevent him from being rescued? I understand you two are rivals more than anything else."
I felt tiny pin-pricks behind my eyes, alerting me that I was about to cry. I swallowed and felt the tell-tale lump in my throat.
"Professor, I am not lying to you. I don't know how to convince you that I'm not!"
To my horror, my voice was breaking. I could feel the first couple of tears slowly making their way down my cheeks. I remembered how the last time I had cried I had been with Malfoy, and that made the lump in my throat grow bigger.
"I honestly want to help you find him. But I don't know how I can convince you I'm telling the truth!"
At that moment, Dumbledore entered the room with a small vial of clear liquid in his hand.
"Drink this, Miss Granger."
I didn't question what it was, I just swallowed it. I felt it burn its way down my throat, and looked questioningly at Dumbledore. He pointed his wand at my chest, and said;
"Enervate."
I could feel my eyes unfocus, and soon everything was dark.
---
When I opened my eyes again, I could see that I was dreaming once more. I wondered vaguely if this was a result of the potion that Dumbledore had given me, or just a strange co-incidence, but as soon as I looked through the gap in the door all my other thoughts fled.
I could see Malfoy, curled up in a fetal ball on the floor of a rotten dungeon. He was shaking. His father was standing over him, yelling.
"How could you do this to me, Draco? You have ruined me!"
Draco looked up for a brief moment, and I could see that his face was bruised and swollen. His voice sounded strained.
"I couldn't father! I'm sorry, I-"
To my shock, Lucius kicked his son roughly in the gut, causing him to groan horribly.
"To hell you couldn't! You are a shame to your name, Draco!"
Draco's voice was muffled, and I could barely hear him.
"But you've always thought that."
"And what if I have? Is that what this is about? Because you could have made me proud, Draco! It was not a difficult task!"
Malfoy's head rose again, and I could see him glaring painfully up at his father.
"I've given up on making you proud."
My eyes widened as Lucius sank his foot into his son's gut once more. I felt I could no longer stand and watch. For the first time since my dreams had started, I pushed as hard as I could on the door, and forced it open.