PART THREE

To See Through a New Light

In the wee hours of the night, when the last bits of consciousness began to fade away, I saw it. The beginning of the premonitions. I felt pain whenever something flashed before my eyes, but I saw them nonetheless. They were clear and distinct, yet weird and difficult to understand and decipher. There were people everywhere, people wearing black cloaks. House crests were speeding before me here and there, and suddenly the Gryffindor crest stopped right in front of me. I stared at it, and it instantly disappeared, along with everything else. And then a green light shone out of nowhere, accompanied by screams…multiple…distorted screams…and then a voice towered over it all, saying, "After the sixth downfall of the serpent…" and then it all faded away. Every night would be the same. And I would be staring back again at the ceiling, unable to move, unable to scream, unable to feel, unable to think. The vision would haunt me all throughout the night.

***

Malfoy woke up the next day panting wildly again, as he looked around and realized he'd fallen asleep inside the study. He put away the book he was still holding and held up his right hand. Fresh blood was oozing out of the bandage again, and he carefully removed it to inspect the cut. The pain had worsened overnight and the cut seemed to have grown a teeny bit bigger. Why was he always having nightmares about being punished because of defiance? And why was the cut on his hand growing bigger and more painful with each passing night?

He dismissed the thought and threw the soaking bandage away. He had to get to his room to replace it and get ready for breakfast. He stood up and headed for the entrance, thinking it was a good thing that Granger left when she did.

"Are you okay, Draco? You look like needles were pricking you the whole night," Pansy Parkinson commented worriedly at the breakfast table a little while later.

It's more than needles, he thought, as he took a sip of his drink. "I'm fine. Potter's brownnosing just haunted me all throughout my sleep."

The Slytherins who were listening in giggled, and Pansy leaned close to him and smiled. "I just want you to know that I'm here when you need anything, okay Draco?"

"Sure, baby," he replied monotonously, as Pansy beamed and went back to her seat and the Slytherins 'ooooohed' and 'aaaaahed'. This was, at least, a routine every morning since their fourth year. And even though Malfoy was slightly getting tired of always getting Pansy's hopes up for nothing, it was nice to know that he was still the center of attention at his House and was still the lifelong catch of all the other Slytherin girls. Although he never laid eyes on any of them, he found it quite amusing.

He stood up and gathered his things as Crabbe and Goyle followed him out of the Great Hall, and passing by the Gryffindor table, the two prepared to back up his daily Gryffindor bashing. But he wasn't quite in the mood right now, and Granger's glaring was adding up to it. The Gryffindors then quieted down as he approached, expecting him to swoop down on Potter and his friends, but he simply passed by, leaving them all staring curiously at him.

To hell with all of you, he shook his head as instant whispering came up right away after he had left. Goyle was just about to tell him something when he held up his hand. "Don't ask." And the three of them made their way down the dungeons to Potions.

"Aagh," he grimaced as he accidentally dropped his rat-tails into the cauldron a few minutes later, holding up his right hand again. It was throbbing unusually, and it was definitely ruining his concentration all throughout the period. He was thankful he didn't have Potions with the Gryffindors this year, or else Potter and his weasel sidekick would've been rolling on the floor, laughing at him already.

Another wave of pain shot through his hand and he dropped his stirring rod as well with a clunk. "Damn it," he cursed, and the Hufflepuffs all turned to look at him. The Slytherins, however, all looked worried. Yes, he usually wasn't a klutz like this.

Snape glided past the other tables and approached him. "Having trouble, Mr. Malfoy?" He cocked his eyebrow. Malfoy looked up at him and read his expression. Somehow, he knew that Snape was asking about the tutorials as well.  

"No sir," he replied.

"Then stop making a pathetic attempt to imitate the old Longbottom," Snape said, and then walked past him. The Hufflepuffs all turned back to their cauldrons, snickering. Malfoy cursed to himself again. Even Snape was giving him a hard time now?

This day was not off to a good start at all.

Malfoy sighed after class as he made his way out the door, motioning for Crabbe and Goyle to go on ahead. Just great. Another History session was coming up to brighten his day.

He stopped just outside the entrance to the secret study, feeling the worst he ever could. Good ol' Granger was probably already inside, waiting to drill on him again. He rolled his eyes and made up his mind. The session wasn't worth his time right now.

He turned and headed back down the corridors. The empty common room would be perfect to give him a little peace of mind.

But just as he went down the staircases, another wave of pain shot through him, this time even worse. He flinched and paused outside an empty classroom, clutching his right hand. And he noticed that blood was oozing out once again.

Trying to bear the pain, he stumbled into the classroom and closed the door, leaning against the wall. He closed his eyes but was forced to open them right away, because something deathly cold just brushed past his face.

"Peeves!" he shouted angrily. And Peeves the Poltergeist popped out of nowhere, tumbling merrily in front of him.

"Ooooh, playing hooky, Mr. Drakie? Naughty, naughty Slytherin!" Peeves pounced on him and flicked his ear. "Should tell Professor Snape, I should!"

Malfoy took out his wand abruptly and Peeves instantly moved away. "Aaaah, Mr. Drakie is rumored for his Dark magic, yes he is! Should tell Professor Dumbledore that you decided to use it on me, I should!"

"Get the hell out of here, Peeves, before I really use my magic on you!" He glared, and Peeves flew through the door, laughing.

He slid down the floor and tried to breathe for a while to forget the growing pain. He knew Peeves would send for a teacher right away and he'd best get out of there as soon as possible.

Slowly he stood up and was just about to open the door, but it burst open on its own, making him stumble back.

Hermione was in the doorway.

"Malfoy! What are you doing here?" she asked, panting.

He quickly hid the bleeding wound behind him and frowned. "That's none of your damn business! What are you doing here? You ought to be at the study being the good little teacher's pet that you are."

She ignored the comment. "That's where you should be, too! I'd been waiting and waiting and when you didn't show up, I decided to actually look for you! I never thought I'd say this, but it was a good thing I ran into Peeves; he told me you were here, crying—"

"I was not crying, for goodness' sake!" he gritted his teeth. "Now why don't you scurry along out of here and leave me alone?"

"I'm not leaving you alone until you come back to the study with me!" Hermione said forcefully. "Heaven only knows what Professor McGonagall might do to us if she found us here—"

"Oh, you'll know soon enough," said a voice behind them. And true enough, Professor McGonagall was looking down menacingly at them, with Peeves dancing happily in the background.

***

"Congratulations, Granger."

"What?"

"You've just successfully gotten us into this stupid hell of a detention."

Hermione's anger flared at Malfoy's words later that night, as she shoved her shovel into the muddy ground and placed her soiled hands on her hips. "Oh, I got us into detention? Who was running amok when he was supposed to be in the study?"

"Who was nosing around when she should've stayed and waited?" Malfoy retorted without looking at her, digging deeper and removing the topsoil. "If you had just stayed put, I would've returned just in time."

She snorted. "Oh right, like that's possible."

"It should've been," he said. "That way McGonagall would've seen you in the study when she checked up and she wouldn't have freaked out and met Peeves down the hall. You could simply say I went to the bathroom or something if she asked you where I was. I swear Granger, for the so-called Head Girl that you are, you can be really dense."

"Oh shut up, Malfoy."

And there was silence again as the two of them dug and shoveled and got covered in mud, trying to harvest Hagrid's crops and replant the new ones. Which was, considering Hagrid's choice of plants, not that easy. The crops would scratch and cry out and some would even go out of their way and bite if they were pulled too early or uprooted in the wrong manner. The new ones, moreover, would kick and scream and refuse to be planted to the ground. Which was why they were to do this task every night until every crop was harvested and every new one was replanted.

Apparently, this disturbing thought came across Malfoy's mind again. "Damn it," he cursed, as one of the crops bit him and he immediately let it go. "You've really done it this time, Mudblood."

Hermione dropped the one she was holding and exhaled loudly in exasperation. "What is your problem, Malfoy? Can't you call me by my name, for crying out loud? And will you quit whining already? We're already in detention and your constant complaints aren't going to change that!"

"Well, at least I'll be able to get on your nerves."

"How childish can you get?"

"How bigheaded can you get?"

"Will you stop being such a complete jerk and just do your work?"

"I would if you'd stop being such a disgusting pain of a Mudblood."

"Shut up with the 'Mudblood' already!"

"I won't because you are and you'll never stop being one."

"Ugh, you're impossible, Malfoy!!!"

"And you're intolerable."

"Whoa! Hold yer horses!" Hagrid emerged from his hut and made his way towards the two of them, who were glaring at each other like it was World War II. "Get back ter work, all righ'?"

Malfoy rolled his eyes and returned to his shovel, while Hermione stomped her foot (splashing mud all over her but pretending not to notice) and stalked off to the other end of the field.

And this was how things went every single night they were out at Hagrid's fields, doing detention.

They would meet up outside Hagrid's hut with their shovels every night to gather the other things they'd need, then walk to the field without speaking to each other. They would start working in one place for a while in silence, but this usually lasted for about ten minutes. Then the fireworks would start and they'd end up working at opposite ends of the field.

It was pretty much the same during the day. Malfoy would start his daily pick-on-Harry-and-Ron routine and when it came to Hermione, he'd act all cold and everyone within a five-mile radius would feel the heat of hatred flowing between the two. During second period History sessions, they would stay in the study on separate couches, doing their own businesses, and would gather at the desk only when they'd hear Professor McGonagall utter the password outside for the check-up. They'd leave separately when the session was over, and had no intentions of meeting up voluntarily during breaks or before lights out. Surprisingly, Lucius Malfoy hadn't found this worth reprimanding his son for. Perhaps he thought one session a day was already enough.

Conflict between the two would especially rise up whenever the Gryffindors and the Slytherins had classes together, often resulting in an insult-war between the two Houses, especially among Harry, Ron, Neville and Hermione; and Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy. Once, they had even gone as far as to disarm each other during Charms class. Luckily, Professor Flitwick was too busy adding more books to the pile he was standing on at that time to notice.

To conclude, Hermione and Malfoy's way of treating each other really hadn't improved, but rather, had worsened.

And it stayed that way, until the last night of their detention.

Malfoy spat angrily on the ground and wiped his soaking blond hair away from his face with his forearm, as the heavy downpour continued to drench his clothes. He let go of his shovel and tugged at his robes, rolling up the sleeves to prevent them from sticking to his arms because of the water. He then bent down and grabbed one of the crops by its neck, flinching as it flailed its tiny arms, obviously refusing to be stuck to the ground.

And just as he was about to successfully plant it, a roll of thunder boomed across the sky and it went wild again, kicking the muddy soil all over his already drenched robes. To top it off, Hermione's shovel came out of nowhere and hit the crop, making it scream and bite Malfoy's right hand as hard as it could.

"Ugh, crap!" He threw the crop in frustration and clutched his right hand in pain. He glared up at Hermione. "Why the hell can't you keep that thing to yourself, Mudblood? Don't you know how to operate a shovel? God, you are so worthless!"

Hermione's eyes flickered in anger for a while, before she replied sarcastically, "Ooops, my bad." And she bent down to plant one of the crops as well. She heard Malfoy swear beside her and grab another crop to start planting all over again. She grinned in spite of herself.

They went on in silence for the next couple of minutes, hearing only the sound of the thick raindrops falling heavier and heavier onto them, the crackling sound of thunder, and the squishy splash of mud whenever they moved. There were only a few more crops left to plant, and Hermione knew that this was going to be the final night of their detention. Thank heavens for that.

She pushed her hands into the soil, trying to cover the heads of the crops completely. But just as she cupped some more soil into her hands, she noticed a tinge of redness covering a part of the soil around the crop she just planted. She frowned and glanced at the soil around her, beside her, and her eyes widened in horror as she spotted where the reddish hue was coming from.

"Malfoy!" she suddenly cried out.

"What now?" He shouted back in annoyance, turning to look at her. Then he saw her moving towards him, her face all scrunched up. What was up with her? He stood up as she approached and was just about to say something when she reached out and grabbed his right hand.

"Oh god, Malfoy; I'm so sorry," she said, still holding his hand and staring at it.

He frowned and withdrew his hand hastily. "What's your freakin' problem?"

"Your hand. It's bleeding. I reckon the crop bit your wound."

"What are you—" he trailed off as he looked at his own hand. Blood was soaking the bandage on it and dripping down the ground with the rain. The bite must've opened the cut again.

Oddly though, he couldn't feel any pain.

He stared at his wound for a while, until he noticed Hermione reaching for his hand again. "C'mon, I'm sure Hagrid has some bandages up in his hut—"

He took a step back and glared at her. "I can take care of this myself, thank you very much. The last thing I need is sympathy from a foul Mudblood."

The comment hurt her, but still she felt responsible for hitting the crop on purpose and causing it to bite his injury. She moved closer. "Set your pride aside for once in your life and let me see it!"

He stepped back again. "Get off my case!"

"Let me see it! Maybe there's something I can do—"

"It's just a damn cut, for heaven's sake—"

"It's bleeding heavily!"

"It's not!"

"It is!"

"What the hell do you care!"

"Just let me see the stupid wound! Don't be so—"

Hermione got cut off as she tripped over Malfoy's shovel on the ground, losing her balance and splashing more mud all over her. She fell forward and Malfoy, by instinct, caught her arms just in time.

"Damn it, Granger! What the hell do you think you're doing?" he shouted at her in irritation. "It's one thing to fuss over something that's none of your bloody business, but it's another thing to perform your stupid circus act in the middle of this damn thunderstorm out here in detention! Your dirty blood is finally getting to your brain for once—"

He broke off as she angrily pushed him away from her and clenched her fists. "What is wrong with you, Malfoy? Is that all you know? Insult other people? Here I was, actually feeling guilty for harming you and I was actually trying to help you with your injury! And all you can think about is your stupid pride and your stupid pure blood and your ruddy insults!!! How can you be so thick and insensitive??? And to think that I was actually worried about you for one damn minute!!!"

Malfoy was speechless at her sudden outburst, as he stared at her fuming figure, her hands balled and her whole body covered in mud. He could've sworn, when he peered at her muddy face, that she was actually crying. Silent tears were trickling down her face, and from her rapid, shallow breathing, he could tell she was really hurt.

But seeing her soiled hands, her browned arms, her soaking robes, her slimy face, and the pieces of mud stuck to her hair, made something inside him stir. And all of a sudden he snorted, and the next thing he knew was that he was laughing.

Hermione stared at him in silence for a while, and then she was laughing, too.

Malfoy clutched his stomach and his shoulders shook as he struggled to speak. "…god, Granger, now you really are a 'mud' blood!"

And somehow, that didn't affect her at all. She laughed even more and bent down to roll a clump of mud into her hand. "Oh yeah? Let's see who the real 'mud' blood is!" And she threw the ball of mud at him.

It hit him right in the face and the two of them laughed even more. "Hey!" he whined, grabbing some mud as well and throwing it back at her.

Soon, the two of them were in a muddy fight, throwing and dodging and crying out "take that" and "missed me" amidst their laughter.

It wasn't until Hagrid heard all the commotion above the storm that he ran down from his hut towards them. "Hold it, hold it! Stop the war!"

Hermione threw one last mud ball at Malfoy before they both stopped, dripping with brown goo, and stared at Hagrid in silence.

Hagrid sighed and smiled at them, looking somewhat amused. And Hermione realized that it wasn't every day that anyone would see her socializing and goofing off with the Draco Malfoy.

"All righ', that's enough now; I think yeh've had enough fun an' messin' around fer tonight," Hagrid said, and she found herself unusually blushing. "Detention's over; run along up the castle."

Without another word, Malfoy took his shovel, shook some of the mud out of his hair, swung the shovel over his shoulder, and turned around to walk away. Hermione still couldn't figure out what came over her, but she cleared her throat and called out to him, "Malfoy?"

He stopped walking and paused for a while, before he turned his head to the side. "Yeah?"

She hesitated, and then finally blurted out for no reason at all, "See you at the session tomorrow?"

He didn't say anything, but after a few seconds the corners of his mouth tugged a bit. "Sure, Granger." And he continued to walk away. Hermione's eyes followed him, as she watched his soaking figure disappear out into the darkness, his robes dripping, a few streaks of dried blood on his right hand, his disheveled blond hair not held back for once, and his arms exposed because he'd rolled up his sleeves. She noticed that there were a few muscles on them, probably from Quidditch practice, and found herself grinning like crazy.

"Like what yeh see?" asked Hagrid.

"Yeah…" she replied automatically, but then realized what she'd just said. "I-I mean, what are you talking about, Hagrid?"

Hagrid grinned knowingly, but pointed to the crops that they had planted. "The plants. Like 'em?"

Hermione swallowed heavily and nodded. "Er—yes Hagrid; they're nice, I guess."

"You did a good job." Hagrid motioned for her to go up the castle as well. "G'night, Hermione."

"Good night, Hagrid." And she took her shovel, too and started up the castle, hearing him distinctively say to himself, "teenagers".

She reddened once more, glad that nobody could see her face in the dark. She had a very, very strong feeling that things between her and Malfoy were never going to be the same again.

And she was right.

***

That night, Hermione couldn't sleep. All she could think about was how much she'd enjoyed Malfoy's company for once and whenever she'd try to close her eyes, all she could see was his face when he was laughing and the way he moved when they were throwing mud balls at each other. She would clump her pillow over her head but all she could hear was his laughter, ringing in her ears.

And then there was the fact that when she'd tripped on his shovel trying to get a clear view of his cut, he'd instantly caught her and helped her keep her balance. That was definitely something Draco Malfoy did not do. And somehow, knowing that he did do that tonight just for her got her all tingly.

Disgustingly tingly.

She sat up and rubbed her face with her hands, glancing out the window. The sun was beginning to rise now; the sky was slowly welcoming the trace of orange into its darkness. The rain had stopped at around midnight a while ago, and now it was already dawn, yet still she couldn't sleep. His image would always pop into her mind and her heart would skip for a reason she simply couldn't understand.

And couldn't accept.

She knew these simple symptoms. Sleepless nights, jittery gut feelings, butterflies and heart-skipping, and all those I-can't-stop-thinking-about-so-so things. They were signs of attraction to someone; there was no point denying it. Everybody knew that.

But what she couldn't understand was that, why so sudden? Why now? And why, of all people, Malfoy? That, she couldn't accept.

Malfoy was their enemy, Harry's rival, Ron's prosecutor. He was one of the main reasons why Hogwarts wasn't all that great. Just the sight of him and the sound of his drawling voice used to make her blood boil, and he'd teased her, insulted her, offended her, and hurt her millions of times, and long ago she'd sworn she'd never forgive him and that someday, somehow, she'd get back at him. He'd played nasty tricks on almost all the Gryffindors, especially on her and her two best friends, and on Neville. He'd gotten them into lots of trouble and loads of detentions, and their hatred for him couldn't be topped by anything else in the world.

He'd cheated and deceived and bought his way into a lot of things, and he'd tricked them all with his no good pranks with the former Daily Prophet reporter, Rita Skeeter, or even at Quidditch. And it was known to everyone, although not yet proven openly, that he was very deeply involved in the Dark Arts, considering his father was once a Death Eater before You-Know-Who fell. And now that the Dark Lord had risen again, who knew if he was already a Death Eater as well, just like his father?

All this she knew perfectly well in her heart. For her past six years here at Hogwarts, Malfoy had always been against them, and vice versa. But now, after all that had happened, after all the times he'd hurt her worse than if a knife had stabbed her right through the heart, how could a simple act of laughing together and getting into a mud fight change everything she'd ever felt about him? How could all her hatred disappear just like that? And, with a snap of a finger, how could she actually be attracted to him? Draco Malfoy, the nastiest Slytherin alive? What would her friends say?

It was madness. They were merely in detention. They were supposed to hate each other's guts. They were complete opposites and just breathing the same air with him was supposed to make her puke.

But somehow, even after he'd hurt her with his words again, she found his laughter amusing. And she found him attractive.

Oh god…she thought, rubbing her temples, as flashes of his face, his hair, his voice, his laughter, his body…came flooding through her mind. She shook her head exasperatedly and looked out the window again. It was already morning.

She sighed and got out of bed, finally giving up all hopes of trying to sleep.

Hey it's me again! I've finally uploaded the next two chapters:D Maybe I'll upload two chapters at a time or something:D So…what did you guys think? Is the narration getting confusing yet…? I'm really sorry, please bear with me, I promise it'll be clearer as the story goes on:D And again, please review!!! I really need your opinions:D Thanks so much!!