I hadn't even felt myself slipping out of consciousness, but when I looked around I found myself in the same dark corridor, with the same crack in the door to look through.
Confused, I pressed my eye against the door. It was the same scene as I had seen the night before, only this time Wilder and Draco's mother were also present.
I could see tears falling slowly from Mrs Malfoy's eyes, although Lucius seemed entirely unmoved by the proceedings.
Wilder was standing before the hunched in form of Draco's body, his wand at the ready. My eyes widened as he began to utter the Cruciatus curse.
"Cruci-"
"Stop!"
Draco's mother had flung herself between her son and Wilder. She was shaking.
"I will not let you touch him!"
Lucius ran over to his wife, and began to pull her away.
"Narcissa! Please!"
Wilder's upper lip began to curl.
"You clearly have no control over your own family, Lucius!"
Lucius rounded on Wilder, his eyes blazing.
"Don't you dare tell me that I-"
"I see no control here! Your son is about to be punished for his disobeying your direct order, and here is your wife defying you to protect him! What kind of order is this?"
Before I knew it, Lucius had launched himself at Wilder, his wand at the ready. Wilder, however, was ready for him.
"Expelliarmus!"
Lucius' wand flew out of his hand. He glared at his opponent, and a low growl escaped him. I was still acutely aware of Draco and his mother in the corner, Narcissa sobbing quietly, and Draco apparently out cold.
"I should not have spared you, Lucius! First, your son disobeys our orders and now this! You attack a superior!"
Narcissa had risen from the corner, and had her wand pointing directly at Wilder's chest. She opened her mouth to utter a spell, but he was too quick for her.
He pointed his wand directly at Lucius and shouted;
"Imperio!"
A scream erupted from Lucius' mouth, but it was soon muffled by the effects of the spell.
"Kill the boy!"
Wilder's voice rang out across the entire dungeon, and Lucius, I knew, had no choice but to obey him.
He began to walk, jerkily, towards where his wand had fallen. Wilder was laughing at him openly, and Narcissa was screaming and trying to pull her husband back.
Lucius lashed out, pushing his wife back onto the stone floor. His fingers closed around his wand, and he pointed it at his son.
Draco remained unconscious, and as his father advanced on him, he did not move.
In a move so quick I hadn't seen it coming, Narcissa had grabbed her husband's wand, and was trying to pull it out of his hand.
They struggled, and I heard Wilder muttering orders under his breath. After a moment, he took matters into his own hands and pointed his wand at Narcissa.
At that moment, I saw Draco open one eye. He let out a deep groan, loud enough to distract all three of the adults from the scene at hand. They all turned as one, and Narcissa threw herself in front of her son.
"I will not let you have him!"
The room suddenly filled with light, and I saw the door bulge and explode open. Shards of wood showered all over the room, and about fifteen men, in Ministry of Magic uniforms, and with wands at the ready, jumped into the room. All at once, they each pointed their wands at separate people in the room and yelled;
"Expelliarmus!"
---
"Ah, Miss Granger. Good to see you are awake."
For the second time that day, I found myself greeted with the sight of Dumbledore's warm smile when I opened my eyes. My head was aching, and I had a suspicion that I had landed on it when my dream had taken over my consciousness.
I glanced around the room, and was surprised to find myself in the hospital wing. Dumbledore was sitting on a stool beside my bed, his hands rested in his lap. I opened my mouth to speak but he shushed me.
"I cannot stay long, Miss Granger, or Madame Pomfrey may just burst something" he spoke in an undertone, and I could see Madame Pomfrey standing a few meters away, tapping her foot.
"What happened?"
"You were talking to Professor Snape, and seemed to suddenly pass out on the stone floor. I believe you may have hit your head when you landed, so you're staying in the hospital wing over night for observation."
"Oh. Okay."
As much as I knew my dream would probably be of interest to Dumbledore, I decided it was best to wait for him to hear it from Malfoy himself. I didn't want to say anything Malfoy didn't want people to know.
Madame Pomfrey ushered the headmaster out of the room, saying that I needed rest. I looked over to the stool that he had just vacated, and noticed that Malfoy was lying in the bed on the other side of it. His one eye, that wasn't entirely black and blue, was open and was regarding me with interest.
"Interesting way to get in to see me, Granger."
I smiled, the pain in my head momentarily forgotten.
"Trust me, I could have thought of less painful ways."
"I'm sure you could."
An awkward silence stretched between us. I fiddled absently with my bedspread until Malfoy spoke.
"It was a vision, wasn't it? The reason you passed out?"
I looked over at him, and his one eye met with mine. I spoke quietly.
"Yes."
One of his hands came out from underneath his blankets. I saw that it was bandaged slightly, and felt another wash of pity for him. His hand reached across to my bed, but could only reach halfway.
I pulled my own hand out from the covers and reached for his. He gave my hand a reassuring squeeze, and closed his eye.
---
I don't know how long I lay there, watching Malfoy sleep. By rights, I should have been exhausted, and I was, but my relief that he was okay overruled my fatigue.
Madame Pomfrey came by a few times, but thankfully said nothing about his bandaged hand wrapped around mine. I'm sure that she was worried that the strain would be bad for his injured hand, but never once did she mention it.
I must have fallen asleep eventually, because the next thing I knew I was being awoken by Madame Pomfrey with my afternoon tea. She said that she had tried to wake me for lunch, but I had been dead to the world.
"Thanks" I said, gratefully taking the tray from her.
I noticed, as I was eating, that my hand was free from Malfoy's grasp. I glanced over at him, but he was asleep again.
After I had eaten, Madame Pomfrey told me that I was allowed a couple of visitors, provided that they didn't wake Malfoy. I requested Harry and Ron, and they came within five minutes.
"Hermione! Nobody'll tell us what happened-"
Ron stopped dead when he saw Malfoy lying in the bed next to me, bruised and broken. He looked from him to me and back again before Harry spoke.
"So ... they got him?"
I shook my head.
"No. Well, they almost did. Almost killed him."
Ron sat down heavily in the stool beside me, and Harry carefully sat on the end of my bed. They were both at a loss for words. I sighed.
"Look, I'll explain it all later, okay? And don't worry about me, I'm not hurt or anything. I just had one of my dreams at a kind of weird time and passed out. Hit my head. But I'm okay, really."
Harry jerked a thumb at Malfoy.
"Well, he sure isn't."
I looked at Malfoy. He really wasn't okay. His face was riddled with scabs and bruises, and the hand that was still out of the covers was heavily bandaged. His breathing was uneven and sounded painful. I looked away, not wanting to show Harry and Ron how much it concerned me to see him like that.
"No. He's not."
At that moment, Madame Pomfrey returned with a vial of dark liquid. I stared at it in horror. It was giving off a thoroughly disgusting odor. Did she want me to drink that? My nose wrinkled on impulse.
"Don't worry, Miss Granger, this isn't for you. It's a simple potion to help Mr Malfoy's ribs knit faster."
Ribs knit faster? My stomach did a flip-flop. Broken ribs. I remembered in the third year, when I had slapped Malfoy and he had been scratched by a Hippogriff . I had thought he was the biggest wuss I had ever met, but evidently not. He could be strong, when he wanted to.
I watched as Madame Pomfrey gently shook Malfoy's shoulder. He winced, and opened both of his eyes. His swollen eye automatically closed again, and he squinted up at her with his one good eye. It took a moment for his eye to settle on the vial of foul-smelling potion she was offering him.
Much to my annoyance, Harry started grinning, and Ron had to turn towards me so that his quiet laughter wouldn't be heard.
Malfoy looked like he was going to be sick.
"It's just a little potion Mr Malfoy, it'll stop your ribs from hurting so much."
He swallowed, hard, and for a moment his eye left the potion and settled on Harry, who wasn't even trying to suppress his amusement. Malfoy glared at him, took the potion, and downed it with one swallow.
"Good boy, you can go back to resting now. Let me know if Mr Potter or Mr Weasley are being too noisy."
With that, she bustled out. I flicked my eyes between Malfoy, Ron and Harry. They were all glaring at each other. I sighed, heavily.
"Uh, guys? I'm really tired. I had ... kind of a long night. Do you mind?"
They both looked at me, confused, but obediently stood up and made for the door. Ron cast one last, disappointed look at me, and they were gone.
Malfoy closed his eye and leaned back, a smirk on his face.
"Oh, thank God for that. I was going to call Madame Pomfrey to get rid of them but you saved me the trouble."
I said nothing. I felt guilty for sending Harry and Ron away, without even a full explanation of what had happened the night before. Malfoy opened his eye again and looked at me.
"Come off it Granger" he said, with an uncharacteristic smile. "You know you want to be alone with me."
My cheeks started burning, which made his smile grow even wider.
"I'll take that as a 'yes, Draco, I really do want to be alone with you..."
He didn't get to finish his sentence, though, because Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy Parkinson entered at that exact moment. He stopped in mid-sentence, and the playful smile vanished from his face. Not fast enough, though. It soon became clear that they had heard every word of his last statement.
"D-Draco? What was that?"
Pansy was looking at him in horror. Her jaw was sagging open, making her look even more like a pug who's tongue was hanging out. Malfoy's eyes darted quickly from me to her and back again, and then he did something so uncharacteristic that I felt my jaw drop, too.
He burst out laughing.
Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy and I all stared at him for what seemed like an age as he just laughed and laughed and laughed. Dimly, I realised that it must be hurting his ribs to laugh so hard for so long, but my train of thought was distracted when he finally managed to speak.
"That, Pansy, was something that I pray to God you never say to me. Ever. And if you do, then I will run as fast as I can in the other direction."
Pansy's pug-like eyes began to fill immediately with tears, and she automatically turned on her heel and fled from the room. Crabbe and Goyle looked questioningly Malfoy, before he motioned for them to leave. They followed Pansy out of the room, their dopey expressions illustrating that they did not understand a word of what had just happened.
I looked over at Malfoy, who wasn't smiling anymore. It was as though the reality of what he had just done had sunk in. I cleared my throat.
"Uh. Well, I don't think she's going to be coming back anytime soon."
He looked over at me, with one eyebrow raised.
"I guess not."
Confused, I pressed my eye against the door. It was the same scene as I had seen the night before, only this time Wilder and Draco's mother were also present.
I could see tears falling slowly from Mrs Malfoy's eyes, although Lucius seemed entirely unmoved by the proceedings.
Wilder was standing before the hunched in form of Draco's body, his wand at the ready. My eyes widened as he began to utter the Cruciatus curse.
"Cruci-"
"Stop!"
Draco's mother had flung herself between her son and Wilder. She was shaking.
"I will not let you touch him!"
Lucius ran over to his wife, and began to pull her away.
"Narcissa! Please!"
Wilder's upper lip began to curl.
"You clearly have no control over your own family, Lucius!"
Lucius rounded on Wilder, his eyes blazing.
"Don't you dare tell me that I-"
"I see no control here! Your son is about to be punished for his disobeying your direct order, and here is your wife defying you to protect him! What kind of order is this?"
Before I knew it, Lucius had launched himself at Wilder, his wand at the ready. Wilder, however, was ready for him.
"Expelliarmus!"
Lucius' wand flew out of his hand. He glared at his opponent, and a low growl escaped him. I was still acutely aware of Draco and his mother in the corner, Narcissa sobbing quietly, and Draco apparently out cold.
"I should not have spared you, Lucius! First, your son disobeys our orders and now this! You attack a superior!"
Narcissa had risen from the corner, and had her wand pointing directly at Wilder's chest. She opened her mouth to utter a spell, but he was too quick for her.
He pointed his wand directly at Lucius and shouted;
"Imperio!"
A scream erupted from Lucius' mouth, but it was soon muffled by the effects of the spell.
"Kill the boy!"
Wilder's voice rang out across the entire dungeon, and Lucius, I knew, had no choice but to obey him.
He began to walk, jerkily, towards where his wand had fallen. Wilder was laughing at him openly, and Narcissa was screaming and trying to pull her husband back.
Lucius lashed out, pushing his wife back onto the stone floor. His fingers closed around his wand, and he pointed it at his son.
Draco remained unconscious, and as his father advanced on him, he did not move.
In a move so quick I hadn't seen it coming, Narcissa had grabbed her husband's wand, and was trying to pull it out of his hand.
They struggled, and I heard Wilder muttering orders under his breath. After a moment, he took matters into his own hands and pointed his wand at Narcissa.
At that moment, I saw Draco open one eye. He let out a deep groan, loud enough to distract all three of the adults from the scene at hand. They all turned as one, and Narcissa threw herself in front of her son.
"I will not let you have him!"
The room suddenly filled with light, and I saw the door bulge and explode open. Shards of wood showered all over the room, and about fifteen men, in Ministry of Magic uniforms, and with wands at the ready, jumped into the room. All at once, they each pointed their wands at separate people in the room and yelled;
"Expelliarmus!"
---
"Ah, Miss Granger. Good to see you are awake."
For the second time that day, I found myself greeted with the sight of Dumbledore's warm smile when I opened my eyes. My head was aching, and I had a suspicion that I had landed on it when my dream had taken over my consciousness.
I glanced around the room, and was surprised to find myself in the hospital wing. Dumbledore was sitting on a stool beside my bed, his hands rested in his lap. I opened my mouth to speak but he shushed me.
"I cannot stay long, Miss Granger, or Madame Pomfrey may just burst something" he spoke in an undertone, and I could see Madame Pomfrey standing a few meters away, tapping her foot.
"What happened?"
"You were talking to Professor Snape, and seemed to suddenly pass out on the stone floor. I believe you may have hit your head when you landed, so you're staying in the hospital wing over night for observation."
"Oh. Okay."
As much as I knew my dream would probably be of interest to Dumbledore, I decided it was best to wait for him to hear it from Malfoy himself. I didn't want to say anything Malfoy didn't want people to know.
Madame Pomfrey ushered the headmaster out of the room, saying that I needed rest. I looked over to the stool that he had just vacated, and noticed that Malfoy was lying in the bed on the other side of it. His one eye, that wasn't entirely black and blue, was open and was regarding me with interest.
"Interesting way to get in to see me, Granger."
I smiled, the pain in my head momentarily forgotten.
"Trust me, I could have thought of less painful ways."
"I'm sure you could."
An awkward silence stretched between us. I fiddled absently with my bedspread until Malfoy spoke.
"It was a vision, wasn't it? The reason you passed out?"
I looked over at him, and his one eye met with mine. I spoke quietly.
"Yes."
One of his hands came out from underneath his blankets. I saw that it was bandaged slightly, and felt another wash of pity for him. His hand reached across to my bed, but could only reach halfway.
I pulled my own hand out from the covers and reached for his. He gave my hand a reassuring squeeze, and closed his eye.
---
I don't know how long I lay there, watching Malfoy sleep. By rights, I should have been exhausted, and I was, but my relief that he was okay overruled my fatigue.
Madame Pomfrey came by a few times, but thankfully said nothing about his bandaged hand wrapped around mine. I'm sure that she was worried that the strain would be bad for his injured hand, but never once did she mention it.
I must have fallen asleep eventually, because the next thing I knew I was being awoken by Madame Pomfrey with my afternoon tea. She said that she had tried to wake me for lunch, but I had been dead to the world.
"Thanks" I said, gratefully taking the tray from her.
I noticed, as I was eating, that my hand was free from Malfoy's grasp. I glanced over at him, but he was asleep again.
After I had eaten, Madame Pomfrey told me that I was allowed a couple of visitors, provided that they didn't wake Malfoy. I requested Harry and Ron, and they came within five minutes.
"Hermione! Nobody'll tell us what happened-"
Ron stopped dead when he saw Malfoy lying in the bed next to me, bruised and broken. He looked from him to me and back again before Harry spoke.
"So ... they got him?"
I shook my head.
"No. Well, they almost did. Almost killed him."
Ron sat down heavily in the stool beside me, and Harry carefully sat on the end of my bed. They were both at a loss for words. I sighed.
"Look, I'll explain it all later, okay? And don't worry about me, I'm not hurt or anything. I just had one of my dreams at a kind of weird time and passed out. Hit my head. But I'm okay, really."
Harry jerked a thumb at Malfoy.
"Well, he sure isn't."
I looked at Malfoy. He really wasn't okay. His face was riddled with scabs and bruises, and the hand that was still out of the covers was heavily bandaged. His breathing was uneven and sounded painful. I looked away, not wanting to show Harry and Ron how much it concerned me to see him like that.
"No. He's not."
At that moment, Madame Pomfrey returned with a vial of dark liquid. I stared at it in horror. It was giving off a thoroughly disgusting odor. Did she want me to drink that? My nose wrinkled on impulse.
"Don't worry, Miss Granger, this isn't for you. It's a simple potion to help Mr Malfoy's ribs knit faster."
Ribs knit faster? My stomach did a flip-flop. Broken ribs. I remembered in the third year, when I had slapped Malfoy and he had been scratched by a Hippogriff . I had thought he was the biggest wuss I had ever met, but evidently not. He could be strong, when he wanted to.
I watched as Madame Pomfrey gently shook Malfoy's shoulder. He winced, and opened both of his eyes. His swollen eye automatically closed again, and he squinted up at her with his one good eye. It took a moment for his eye to settle on the vial of foul-smelling potion she was offering him.
Much to my annoyance, Harry started grinning, and Ron had to turn towards me so that his quiet laughter wouldn't be heard.
Malfoy looked like he was going to be sick.
"It's just a little potion Mr Malfoy, it'll stop your ribs from hurting so much."
He swallowed, hard, and for a moment his eye left the potion and settled on Harry, who wasn't even trying to suppress his amusement. Malfoy glared at him, took the potion, and downed it with one swallow.
"Good boy, you can go back to resting now. Let me know if Mr Potter or Mr Weasley are being too noisy."
With that, she bustled out. I flicked my eyes between Malfoy, Ron and Harry. They were all glaring at each other. I sighed, heavily.
"Uh, guys? I'm really tired. I had ... kind of a long night. Do you mind?"
They both looked at me, confused, but obediently stood up and made for the door. Ron cast one last, disappointed look at me, and they were gone.
Malfoy closed his eye and leaned back, a smirk on his face.
"Oh, thank God for that. I was going to call Madame Pomfrey to get rid of them but you saved me the trouble."
I said nothing. I felt guilty for sending Harry and Ron away, without even a full explanation of what had happened the night before. Malfoy opened his eye again and looked at me.
"Come off it Granger" he said, with an uncharacteristic smile. "You know you want to be alone with me."
My cheeks started burning, which made his smile grow even wider.
"I'll take that as a 'yes, Draco, I really do want to be alone with you..."
He didn't get to finish his sentence, though, because Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy Parkinson entered at that exact moment. He stopped in mid-sentence, and the playful smile vanished from his face. Not fast enough, though. It soon became clear that they had heard every word of his last statement.
"D-Draco? What was that?"
Pansy was looking at him in horror. Her jaw was sagging open, making her look even more like a pug who's tongue was hanging out. Malfoy's eyes darted quickly from me to her and back again, and then he did something so uncharacteristic that I felt my jaw drop, too.
He burst out laughing.
Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy and I all stared at him for what seemed like an age as he just laughed and laughed and laughed. Dimly, I realised that it must be hurting his ribs to laugh so hard for so long, but my train of thought was distracted when he finally managed to speak.
"That, Pansy, was something that I pray to God you never say to me. Ever. And if you do, then I will run as fast as I can in the other direction."
Pansy's pug-like eyes began to fill immediately with tears, and she automatically turned on her heel and fled from the room. Crabbe and Goyle looked questioningly Malfoy, before he motioned for them to leave. They followed Pansy out of the room, their dopey expressions illustrating that they did not understand a word of what had just happened.
I looked over at Malfoy, who wasn't smiling anymore. It was as though the reality of what he had just done had sunk in. I cleared my throat.
"Uh. Well, I don't think she's going to be coming back anytime soon."
He looked over at me, with one eyebrow raised.
"I guess not."