Disclaimer: I do not own the song or the characters that will reside in this story.
Author Note This is a one-shot song fic challenge. Well actually it was more of a suggestion and I decided I would do it anyway because I thought it would be interesting to try. Aimee the beginning is for you!! :o)
Yearbook
To all who are reading this tale of the day a young man's life changed forever then I shall warn you that if you continue reading from this point.. -- Yes that one right there, then you might experience loss of something loved. So I will pause for a short moment to give those who want to leave a chance to do so................. Okay, that seems long enough don't you think? Now that you have all decided whether you want to read it or not, I will continue.
The day started out like any other at Hogwarts, the school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It was a sunny day, which didn't make what was about to come any lighter on the people involved. Young mister Malfoy was now just waking from his precious slumber as the sound of a large and rather oddly shaped ball of fat hit the ground with a resounding THUMP!
Draco Malfoy, stirred in his large four-poster bed before sitting up right and staring curiously at the lump of tangled blankets on the floor. Draco rolled his eyes in disbelief on how stupid his house- mates could be. He looked over to Goyle's bed and noticing that he was still sleeping or rather snoring, he figured that the tangled ball of fat on the ground must be Crabbe. He was about to get up and help his older crony out, but thought against it. Draco was a learner; he tried hard to figure things out on his own and prided himself with the fact that he was one of the smartest people in this school if not the most smart. So Draco figured he'd let Crabbe find his own way out of the twisted white blanket so that way he not only got to fight his own battle but also is apt to learn something in the process. Draco smirked despite himself. He really did need to find friends that knew something other then how much food one could stuff in their if they only used pieces the size of a pea.
"Blaise are you up?" Draco asked from the front of the room next to the door. Blaise was another of Draco's so called friends, though Blaise was much smarter than the two goons he walked around with. The problem with Blaise was that he was constantly found with one girl on each arm. Not that that was bad thing to Draco, he liked girls just as much as the next guy, but he found that all the girls in Slytherin, no matter how cunning they might have been, were either looking as if they were one of the slytherin guys or just didn't have a brain to tell them that blue cheese dressing was not a new form of clothing. Draco chuckled at the thought.
"Draco, what are you doing up?" Blaise didn't have to wait long for an answer because Crabbe twisted and turned, trying to find some opening to free him from his captor. His yelling and distress calls were muffled by the large white blanket. Both Blaise and Draco laughed as Crabbe rolled himself next to the bottom of his bed and got the blanket stuck on the wire hook.
"Ummody helm mmme!!" He called from inside the blanket. Draco smirked and walked over to his crony and leaned over.
"What was that mate?" Draco shook his head and walked past the trapped boy on the floor to the lo were he was going to take a shower and get dressed. After about a half hour of bathing himself in the warm water of the shower he decided he should probably get out and go to breakfast. He got out of the shower and dressed himself in the black robes of Slytherin house and headed down to the common room without looking into the 7th year boys dormitory. Draco had just reached the bottom of the stairs when Blaise's voice rang throughout the Slytherin House common room.
"Bloody hell Draco!!" He squealed as the cold water reached his skin. Draco just smirked and left the common room. The halls of Hogwarts were never very warm even in the summer weather. They were always dark and somewhat moist, at least they were down in the dungeons where Slytherin resided. Even though Draco lived down in the dark for most of the year for the past seven years he did enjoy sunlight at least some times. In fact, despite what everyone thought Malfoy Manor looked like, it was a large white house with beautiful gardens and fields. Sure his father was not much of a nice guy, but he did know that living with a very unhappy woman nagging at him if the house didn't look some what livable would have been hell for both parties. Narcissa liked pretty things so when she saw this house she insisted that Draco's father bought it at once so their up and coming baby, which would have been Draco at the time, would have a nice place to live at.
Draco didn't mind his house in the least bit; he liked how it was pretty and nice so unlike the way he and the rest of the family acted towards everyone else. Yes even Draco was willing to admit he was a mean boy. A very mean boy, but that was how he liked it.
Now even though I have made this beginning part seem somewhat nice and normal the rest that is about to come is nothing like this. I know, I had to live through it. Please bare with me, it's been a year or so since I have told anyone this story and I am trying to bide my time before I have to talk about what happened. It's not something I like to thank about, but it's also something I can never forget. I can't help but think that someone knows more than they are putting out, but I have still come no closer to solving this mystery. I also know that some of you are wondering who I am, that will all come in good time.
The great hall was filled with laughter and the owls that were currently coming in to bring their owners mails were hooting excitedly, especially one overly excited ball of feathers bouncing up and down on the Gryffindor table, which happened to be only a few feat away from where Draco was now sitting.
"Ron will you make your bird be quiet for once. You've had for four years and you still can't make it stop hooting!" Draco heard Granger whisper dangerously to the red headed boy next to her.
"I am sorry 'Mione, but Pig never shuts up." He, too, had been trying to get that tiny bird to shut its beak. Draco turned around quickly and swatted at the bird, only trying to get it to be scared enough of him to fly away, but he had managed to hit it. It fell to the table hard, knocking over Granger's Goblet.
"Malfoy you killed him!" Draco had just thought Ron was being over dramatic, but it in fact turned out that Draco had hit the bird hard enough that it had died when it had hit the table. Hermione was staring angrly at him as she stood up and walked over to him.
"I can't believe I even thought that someone like you could have consideration for a living thing. But you, Malfoy, are an evil bit of scum that will die alone and sad." She finished with a glare before walking back over to Ron to comfort him.
Draco shook his head in disbelief at what just had happened. He had apparently killed the bloody bird, but he hadn't even really hit it. He had barely felt the soft feathers touch his knuckle as he swatted it away from him. This could not have been happening. This day was not starting out very well for only being up for not even an hour. Draco, though, was pulled out of his thoughts as a soft chirp was heard from behind him. He turned around to see the tiny round owl get up and hop over to Ron unsteadily.
"Next time you feel like yelling at someone Granger maybe you should look and see if that person has done what you are accusing of." Draco smirked and went back to eating his breakfast, which consisted of jam on toast and eggs. He had always enjoyed eating toast because his mum had always made it for him and made sure it was ready for him when he woke up in the morning when he was little.
"You probably would have enjoyed killing it, Malfoy. I stand by what I said when I said you had no consideration for a living things life!" She said with a huff. Draco just rolled his eyes at her and finished his wonderful breakfast. Draco was now just about to stand up when he realized he couldn't. Something was holding onto him with a death grip.
"Pansy? What the bloody hell do you think you are doing holding onto my shirt like that?" He said with a small glare. She looked up at him and smiled.
"Draco just sat back down. I have something to tell you." Draco frowned at this.
"Pansy I need to go to the lo and I do not think you want to follow me there." Pansy just shook her head and pulled him back down so he was sitting next to her.
"Did you not notice Potter's absence from the Gryffindor table, Draco?" She asked, leaning a bit closer to him.
"I noted it Pansy, but I don't really care." Pansy frowned at him then let go of his shirt. He got up and brushed his shirt off while walking out of the Great hall to Charms class, which was going to start in ten minutes. Draco didn't want to be late, but he also didn't want to rush up four flights of stairs just to be on time either so he opted to leave early and take his time. That way he could think and he would alone because he knew very well that no one else left early for classes except Granger, who was still sitting in the great hall with her lover boy Ronald Weasley.
Draco noted that the corridors up stairs were much warmer than the dungeon ones. They were also very bright and much more cheerful. He didn't much like the cheerful part, but he could deal with the warmth and brightness. He stopped just before the end of the corridor to look out the window. The grounds outside were green and welcoming. The lake was just the same, with the small waves crashing up against the line of rocks as the light breeze blew by. The whole sight made Draco want to ditch his next class to just sit out there and not have to worry about anything in the world. He needed a chance to be able to just let his mind wonder while his body enjoyed a well- deserved rest.
Unfortunately for Draco that was not going to happen any time soon, especially not with what was about to happen, but Draco was clueless about what was to come.
Have you ever heard the saying 'Ignorance is Bliss'? Well in this case it would have been better to know what was to come than to not. I know I would have appreciated it if I had known. Draco is a person much like you or me and I know for a fact that he would have rather known as well. People deal with grief and pain in many different ways, some people will gladly take it with open arms and those are the people that would be best to be kept away from. They cannot be very right in the mind if you ask me. Anyway as I was saying, there are also those who ignore it. Those are the people that end up growing up and killing people because they claim they hear voices in their heads. To be honest it would be best to keep from them as well. There are many different groups and the one that I had meant to tell you all about are those that are affected, not by their own grief or pain, but that of others. Draco, I know you are thinking, is the boy that just doesn't care, am I right? Well I would have to tell you that you are wrong. Draco does care, but in a very different way. He would be one to fall into the category of being affected by what others feel caused mainly by the fact that he ignores what he feels.
Draco decided best not to linger too long on thoughts that would never happen and turned left before heading down to the end of the corridor to the Charms classroom. By the time he had gotten in there, there were about ten others getting situated. He knew exactly where he wanted to sit, but once again fate decided that it was not going to be on his side today. Someone else had already taken it which left one spot left if he did not want to sit with the bloody Hufflepuffs and that was right in front. He hated sitting in the front of a room. It made him way to easy to spot if he was doing something he shouldn't have been doing or of course the main reason, he was right there to pick on if there was a question to be answered. Yes he much rather have sat in the back of the room.
Draco began nodding off to what his tiny white haired professor was saying. He was doing very well in the class despite the fact he never actually paid much attention to what his tired little professor said. Charms had come more naturally to Draco than anything else. Sure he did have a little trouble with Wingardium Leviosa but everyone other than Granger had trouble with that one, some more than others.
"Mr. Malfoy would you please pay attention?" Said the somewhat high voice of his Charms' professor. Draco sat back in his chair and watched the short little man return to his stack of books and continue with his class. Draco pretends as if he were paying attention but let his mind reel with the thoughts that had suddenly floated into his head. He wondered if he could get out of the room without anyone noticing or if it were possible to somehow rob a vault at Gringotts back. He smirked at the thought of stealing from a vault at Gringotts. Seems really impossible so he thought better of it. It had only crossed his mind because of what he had read in the Daily Prophet earlier. Some bloke had tried to rob Gringotts in hope to get enough to pay for his daughter who desperately needed medical care. It was a sweet thing to do, but Draco hated sweet and knew the man should have thought better of it. Stupid bloke, Draco thought.
Charms class was almost over when McGonagall had walked in and requested his presence in the corridor. When he had gotten out of his seat he could feel the other students watching him as he left. Bloody hell can't they mind their own bloody business. It's not like I am walking to my deathbed, he thought.
"Mr. Malfoy I need you to go down this corridor informing all the teachers that they need to bring their students down to the Great Hall as soon as possible. Miss Granger is already working on it. There are study halls going on and in that case you need to inform the prefect if there is one. If not then you will usher them down to the Great Hall with you. Most of the school is informed, but I need your help for I have to go talk to your Headmaster." Her voice was strict and secretive, but her eyes were sad and shocked.
"Professor may I ask what is going on?" Draco asked curiously.
"You will find out when we all get to Great Hall." She walked away mumbling to herself. Draco didn't exactly know what to expect from this all. It couldn't have been good because he'd never once since something get to his professor like that had, whatever it was.
Draco figured it would be best for him to do what his professor had asked from him before she came back to him and got angry. He had seen her angry before and it wasn't a pretty sight, so Draco headed down the corridor walking into classroom as every so often when he could find a room with people in them telling them what McGonagall had told him to. He was letting his mind wonder, trying to figure out what was possibly going on.
Even Draco couldn't help but notice the heavy feeling that was settling in the pit of his stomach. He had felt it earlier, but now, after what his teacher had said, it had gotten worse. He didn't know exactly what to think of it because he had never had this feeling, except for the time he found out his father had hit his mother. It had only happened once, but even once is too many. He was not willing to see that happen again though and he was glad when he noticed it hadn't.
As Draco made his way to the Great Hall, followed by a group of twelve first years, he watched the weather outside change drastically. The wind started to blow and the trees hung. The clouds grew dark and dangerous as if nature knew what was about to come for the students of Hogwarts' school of witchcraft and wizardry.
"Look at the sky!" One of the first years yelled.
"Will you shut your traps I am trying to think!?" Draco snapped, his voice low.
"Yes, sir." One of the little first years piped up. Draco loved the power he had over kids, it was something he got pleasure in. "Sir?" The little boy said again.
"What!?" He snapped.
"We are here at the Great Hall." Draco looked up and sure enough, they were at the Great Hall doors. He pushed them open and he noticed that they were all waiting for him and the rest of the group behind him. He told the first years to scram and they all went to their appropriate spots as Draco sat down at his.
The Headmaster stood up, his eyes no longer held that twinkle they always had, but rather now they held his years, the years that had gone by so quickly for him. "We've had a tragedy here at our school. Before I continue I would like the Heads to come up here." Draco felt eyes bore into the back of his head and when he looked back he saw Granger staring at him. Without a word to her he stood up and walked swiftly to the front of the hall where all the teachers were now standing, not sitting, but fidgeting uncomfortably. "It's been a long while since Hogwart's has experienced a loss of something. This school has prided itself on being one of the safest places to reside in and we are still unsure of what actually happened. A few of you may have already noticed that something has not been right in this school and it seems that the world outside has as well." He spoke slowly for everyone to keep hold of what he was saying. It was then that Draco stole a glance at Hermione. She was rigid and she had gone somewhat paler than normal. She normally had this sun kissed skin, even Draco had noticed, but now she had gone awfully blue. "This morning a young lady was delivered a Daily Prophet that had some upsetting news in it." Draco rolled his eyes; Granger could not have gotten all these people here because of some man trying to steal from Gringotts. That would be insane. Even Granger wouldn't do something like that.
Dumbledore pulled up the Daily Prophet and what the front page said shocked everyone in the room. Draco took the chance again to look at Granger. Her eyes were staring at nothing, but they were welling up with tears and before anyone had time to think her knees buckled from underneath her and she would have come tumbling down to the ground if Draco hadn't have been standing directly in front of her. He caught her and gently brought her to the ground. Weasley had stood up quickly and raced up the isle to Hermione. Draco had felt him push him away and before Draco could think about what was going on he was on his butt while Ron was rocking Hermione back and forth.
"Hermione it's going to be okay." It sounded as if Weasley was trying to keep himself from crying and Granger had now started bawling. Her tear stained cheeks were almost too much to see. Draco looked around the Great Hall and was hit with so many different emotions it scared him.
The Slytherins were smirking and laughing and from the rest of the inhibitors of the Great Hall there was a mix of shock and tears like, but no reaction was quite like Hermione's. She happened to now be lying on Ron's lap and he hugged her, both comforting each other.
Draco, on the other hand, didn't know what to think. Today was one of the last days of the year and he had never expected that it would end up like this. No one would have expected this. Draco sat there, on his arse, trying to sort out the thoughts in his head. He couldn't be sure of what he was feeling, he couldn't be sure if he was feeling. All he knew is that he had to leave the sight of Granger crying out for god, wanting to know why this was happening to her. He again looked around and noted that a lot of people were jut staring silently. It made Draco wonder if they were silent because they knew about this, it seemed like they were lying to themselves about this whole thing, so Draco did the only thing he could think of, he got up and ran out of the hall. He couldn't take the whispering that was going on; each person trying to figure out their own variation of what possibly could have happened.
This is a safe place so this had to be a dream, right? He thought. I am just dreaming. He looked down at his rain soaked pants and couldn't deny that this was really happening. Granger looked as if her world was falling apart, but I don't doubt that it probably would feel like her world was falling apart… Draco was pulled out of his thoughts at the sound of someone walking up behind him. He looked up to see Dumbedore standing behind him.
"You know there are different ways to deal with problems and you shouldn't be alone." He said wisely.
"I am fine." He said simply even though he knew he was lying. Dumbledore looked at him knowingly and left. That was the last time Draco had seen Dumbledore, but it had not been the last time he had seen everyone.
It had been a few months later, September the sixth to be exact, when he had seen none other than Hermione Granger. She had a smile on her face and she was waking around with Ronald Weasley. He was glad to see a smile on her face after the last time he'd seen her which happened to be on the verge of tears.
"Granger." Draco said without really knowing why. She turned around with the smile still on her face, even at the sight of him.
"Malfoy… hi, how are you?" She asked friendly, but still notably uncomfortably.
"I am okay, yourself?"
"Just fine." They stood in silence for a little while before Ron came back over. "Just for the note Malfoy." Hermione had started before Ron started to pull her away. "We have noticed your change." She smiled and walked off with him. He had run into Weasley's little sister a few months after that. She never spoke anymore, she hadn't since it had happened. It was rumored that she couldn't take it and she shut herself deep inside. It was news to know that she had been dating the boy before it happened. Draco knew she would never be the same. None of them would be the same.
That was the last time he saw Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley. He had read about her in the Daily Prophet awhile later after she became head of the Department of the treatment of magical creatures. So now I sit here telling y'all this story for the first time. It feels pretty good to have told somebody this story when it's been haunting me for the last year. As I sit here I can almost hear the wind around me trying to answer my questions, trying to help me figure out what everyone wants to know, but no one has seemed to figure it out. I sit here by myself reading the Headlines to the Daily prophet from today and a year ago wondering if it will ever be the same. I can still see his face when I close my eyes. He's haunting me, forever making me wonder where he went. Somebody knows and I know that someone out there is trying to help me solve his mystery. Sometimes I think I hear him, like all of those days he would yell at me for being the way I was. But even now I keep pulling out the papers, reading the stories I should know by heart. I can't get it off of my mind. I can't let it go. Something is missing and I can't stop wondering if I was partly to blame.
X Augustus, D.M
Harry Potter disappears from Dormitory at Hogwarts
March 14th, 1999
Potter mystery yet to be solved
March 22nd, 2000
Based after:
Yearbook
By Hanson
Dear Amy, see you in September
Hope you remember me next year
Hey Jamie, you've been a great friend to me
Hope that I'll still see you around here
Cause I'm looking through the yearbook then I find that empty space
There's a name without a picture, but I can't forget his face
Tell me where did he go, I want to know
Where did Johnny go?
It says, Picture unavailable right here
More than sad it makes me mad to know somebody knows
There's a lying in your silence, tell me where did Johnny go?
Poor Katie, she won't even speak his name
None of us will ever be the same
It's quiet in the halls, but I hear echoing off the walls
The rumors of Johnny's mystery
Cause I'm looking through the yearbook then I find that empty space
No he never wrote me nothing, but I can't forget his face
Tell me where did he go, I want to know
Where did Johnny go?
It says, "Picture unavailable" right here
More than sad it makes me mad to know somebody knows
There's a lying in your silence, tell me where did Johnny go?
Ohhhhh. There's a lying in your silence, tell me where did Johnny go?
Ohhhhh. There's a lying in your silence, tell me where did Johnny go?
Sometimes I think I hear him calling out my name
Sometimes I wonder if maybe we're to blame
It's been a year now and a lot of things have changed
But I keep thinking about Johnny, I keep turning to that page
Where did he go, I want to know. Where did he go I want to know?
Ohhhhh. There's a lying in your silence tell me where did Johnny go?
Ohhhhh. There's a lying in your silence tell me where did Johnny go?