PART TWENTY THREE
The Fifth and Sixth Visions
"We are so ready to run over those freaks like roadkill!"
Malfoy immediately pulled down his right sleeve and started strapping on his shoulder pads the moment he heard his teammate's voice. He shut the door to his locker and looked up to see who was talking.
His Chaser Lenalia Wang was leaning by the doorway to the exit of the locker room, grinning at him. "C'mon out, Captain. The team's waiting for you." She jerked her head towards the Quidditch stands. "We all can't wait to make Gryffindor bite our dust."
Malfoy smirked. "They'll be biting more than our dust," he replied, walking towards her. "Trust me; I've got something else planned that I'd like to shove down their goody-goody throats."
They both grinned and stepped out of the locker rooms towards the Slytherin team, who were all prepped up and were just waiting for Terry Boot to call out their House name.
The moment the teams were called and they all zoomed out on the dark, wet grounds, Malfoy looked up and around the stadium and had never seen a bigger and more intense crowd. The Quidditch Final sure is a big deal, he thought, and it should be. At a flash of lightning he caught a glimpse of Hermione at the Gryffindor side, rubbing her arms to keep herself warm because even though the audience's seats were bewitched to repel the rain, it still couldn't take away the chill that the winds brought. For a moment Malfoy wanted to head by her side and wrap his arms around her just to keep her warm, but then he shook his head and looked instead at the Gryffindor team, lined up across from his own.
"I want this Quidditch Final to be smooth, got it?" Madam Hooch shouted over the noise of the excited crowd and the heavy pouring of the rain. Malfoy caught Harry's eye and they both glared menacingly at each other, almost as if to send out a silent challenge. "Now let's make this a match to remember!!!"
Malfoy and Harry both sped upwards at the sound of Madam Hooch's whistle, and the crowd went wild as the players got into action. Both teams were so intense on the battle that they were all acting so fast; all the audience could see were green and red blurs here and there.
"Ten points to Slytherin! Ten points to Gryffindor! Another ten to Gryffindor! Another; and another one!!! My god, ladies and gentlemen!!! What a fast-paced and action-packed game we have tonight!!!" came Terry Boot's excited and obviously delighted commentary.
Malfoy frowned and gripped the handle of his broomstick tightly. This was not going well. Harry flew across the field and stopped in front of him, smirking.
"What happened to your three-minute record now, Malfoy?" Harry taunted, and Malfoy noticed that his glasses were most probably given an "impervious" by Hermione again.
"Oh, I've got something else in mind, Potter," he replied spitefully. "Something that will definitely make you hate me even more." And at this, he pulled out his wand and pointed at the Gryffindor Keeper. "Expelliarmus!"
With Harry's "What the--?" and the crowd's loud gasp, Malfoy watched as the Gryffindor Keeper fell down, unconscious, to the ground.
Madam Hooch whistled loudly and began mounting her broomstick towards Malfoy. Terry Boot expressed his outrage openly and Harry glared at Malfoy, but he simply winked at Harry and sped off, pointing this time at one of the Gryffindor Chasers. "Impedimenta!"
The Slytherin team started scoring so much more, and the crowd rampaged with anger. The commotion was nerve-racking as Malfoy darted here and there to avoid Madam Hooch, who was furiously on his tail. He laughed and took down another Chaser, but stopped dead when he saw another spell hit a Slytherin Beater.
"WHAT IS THIS??? GRYFFINDOR CAPTAIN HARRY POTTER HAS DECIDED TO FIGHT DRACO MALFOY BACK!!! THE FIELD IS TEEMING WITH HEXES AND CURSES, FOLKS!!!"
"Damn you, Potter!" Malfoy shouted to Harry as Lenalia Wang went down next. Harry sped past him and he saw the sparkle in Harry's eyes. Malfoy frowned and sped towards the remaining Gryffindor players, just as Harry did the same to the Slytherin team. All thoughts of the Snitch flew from both Seekers' minds as the audience began screaming, Madam Hooch had veins that almost looked like they would pop anytime soon, and Terry Boot began shouting his disbelief.
"Rictusempra!"
"Stupefy!"
"Tarantallegra!"
"Fernunculus!"
"DRACO MALFOY AND HARRY POTTER!!! STOP THESE HEXES THIS INSTANT!!!" came a different voice on the commentary, and Malfoy recognized it to be McGonagall's. They both ignored her and started pointing their wands at each other now, and at that moment Malfoy almost forgot all about the game. They both stared at each other heatedly, shooting out curses and mortally injuring each other. It was getting personal now, all the boiling pent up hatred for each other letting loose out in the pouring rain.
It was when Harry almost slipped from his broomstick that another calmer yet very intimidating tone spoke from the commentaries. "Mr. Potter, Mr. Malfoy, you both are to stop this now."
Dumbledore's voice had an indescribable touch to it that Malfoy actually shoved his wand back into his pockets, though reluctantly. He watched in resentment as Harry did the same across from him, but then all of a sudden, as if waiting for this exact moment, the Golden Snitch hovered between them both, and when it sped off, both Seekers zoomed after it. All the adrenaline coursed through Malfoy's veins, and everything about the match came back: the roaring audience, the fuming teachers, the disabled teammates, the deafening thunder, the thrilled commentary, the angry referee.
And most importantly, the competition on the Snitch.
Malfoy raced across the fields and flew higher and higher towards the dark sky, squinting against the rain to keep an eye on the small gold glint flying away from him. He grinned triumphantly as he felt Harry fall farther and farther behind him. This was it. He would prove to the whole school that Slytherin was the best. His final year at Hogwarts was going to bring glory back to Slytherin which Gryffindor so irritatingly snagged since Harry had arrived. Victory was near.
But it was when he was just a few meters away from the Snitch that Malfoy started to feel something…a sharp pain on the upper part of his right arm…
Hermione watched in unexpected worry as she saw Malfoy grab his right arm and slow down on his Light Year Twenty Ten, and a flash of lightning made her see that his face was contorted in pain. The crowd around her whispered in curiosity at each other, and so did Terry Boot.
And then, when Harry finally caught up with Malfoy and paused in front of him, Hermione screamed.
Malfoy's body jerked involuntarily and his blood splashed out from every part of him, and all sound was removed from Hermione's senses because all she could hear was Malfoy, out there in the rain, crying out in extreme pain.
She caught a glimpse of Harry's stunned expression as Malfoy's blood splattered all over him, and then it happened. What Hermione was fearing the most. Malfoy lost all consciousness and started to fall, a hundred feet above the ground.
Hermione's sense of reason went numb and she ran like hell, past the horrified crowds and down the stands. Tears welled up in her eyes and her heart pounded a thousand miles per hour, her hands shaking in fear and her knees almost giving way. The moment she reached the grounds, she looked up to see that Malfoy's fall began to slow down and knew that Dumbledore was once again at work just like what had happened to Harry in his third year, but all of a sudden Dumbledore's spell broke and Malfoy started falling again, this time even faster than before.
Hermione ran…she ran her lungs out towards the center of the field, her reasoning clawing its way desperately out of her mind but her own will not letting it do so. She knew what she was doing was controversial, but right now she didn't really give a damn.
She still loved Malfoy, that much was obvious now, and she would do anything to keep him safe.
Finally, she slid against the ground and caught his unconscious form, the two of them tumbling down the wet puddles in the heavy downpour. She worriedly sat up, ignored the pain her stumble had caused her, and laid Malfoy's head on her lap, and once she saw him up-close, she gasped.
His blood was oozing out on the puddles and was soaking her own robes, and she saw that he had huge gashes all over his body, which seemed to have just appeared when he'd screamed up in the air a while back. More blood was trickling out of the side of his partly open mouth, and Hermione swore that her heart died right then. The tears welling up flew down her cheeks uncontrollably, and she cupped his cheek lovingly, as students, players, and professors began to gather around them both.
"D-Draco…?" she whimpered, sobbing because of the conclusion fast forming in her mind. "C'mon, Draco; stop joking around…" Her trembling and blood-soaked hand moved down to his chest, and she sobbed even more.
Why? Why did this have to happen? Why now…? Why him…? How did he get all these cuts…and why did he fall so fast…it was almost as if he was being pushed down the ground…oh god, Draco…please wake up…don't do this to me…
"It's not funny, Draco…" She was crying hysterically now, finally realizing that his chest wasn't moving.
He was no longer breathing.
Hermione buried her face in the crook of his neck, crying and crying for all it's worth.
It's not funny…
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It was supposed to be horrible. I was supposed to be mortified. Malfoy's blood that poured out on me was supposed to make me sick, knowing that I probably had a hand in shedding some of it because of the hexes I had put on him before his unexplained cuts appeared. But I didn't even feel a thing…not an ounce of compassion…not an iota of guilt. In fact…it felt…really good…
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Hey guys!!! Fujingrl here with another short update…I know, I know, it's a real cliffhanger and all…you guys are probably getting your torches ready to burn my house down as an angry mob because of how this chappie ended. I'm really sorry! But don't worry, I'm definitely going to get Malfoy and Hermione back together real soon :D Once again for the umpth time, THANK YOU VERY MUCH TO ALL THE READERS AND REVIEWERS!!! My heart is all swollen because of your compliments and support and encouragement :D All the credit goes to you people!!! I'm updating a lot quicker now compared to how often I used to update. You guys keep me going!!! I hope this was a good update for you! I'm going to write another reply to the reviewers soon. Thanks again and more power to you all!!! :D
PS
sorry about the "..."s up there, i just did that to make some spacings...i noticed that ff.net is having trouble putting up the spacings between paragraphs, so it's getting harder to separate the paragraph of Harry's narrations and to separate my 'author's comments' from the main story. :D
Up next: Now that everyone knows about Hermione's feelings for dear Draco, how will everyone react? Most especially, how will Harry and Ron react? What's up with Harry and his visions and all these weird feelings inside of him? Is Hermione ever going to return Ron's affection? What will happen when Hermione finds out about Draco's Dark Mark? And most importantly, when will Hermione and Draco ever going to get back together??? Wow, I hate myself for prolonging this too much….