A/N: Hello people. I would like to thank omnipotent otaku, Mariana and Natasha2014 for reviewing.
I know this chapter is quite short but I was having serious writer's block. I hope you enjoy it anyway.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter (duh!).
When Hermione awoke the next morning, she was surprised to find Draco Malfoy slumped over the bed, and silently sleeping on her stomach. The head girl smiled as it dawned on her that he had stayed with her all night. She carefully moved a strand of his blonde hair away from his eyes, letting it frame his face as it fell gently to the side. He looked so peaceful.
The blonde boy stirred, snuggling deeper into Hermione's stomach, making her giggle. "Draco," she whispered prodding him gently, "Draco." He opened his eyes, and upon realising he was in Hermione's room, almost fell off his chair. Eventually recollections of the previous night came back to him, and he gave a sigh of relief, leaning back onto the chair.
"Thank you for last night," the girl smiled "It was, well... thanks." Draco shrugged in reply, and then smiled back.
"Did you have a… was it…a premonition?" he asked, curious as to what she had seen in her dream which had frightened her so much. Before the girl could answer there was a loud tapping noise on the window. She was thankful for the intervention; she knew she wouldn't be able to put off telling him about his mother forever, she just couldn't yet. But, apparently the choice was not hers to make, as a large owl flew in from the window and perched itself on Draco's shoulder. It dropped a black envelope on the boy's lap, and swooped out the window again, back to wherever it came from.
Ignoring the ominous feeling which had settled in his stomach, Draco lifted the envelope carefully, it was damp, and as he made to open it, Draco noticed his fingers were stained with a red substance. He dropped the envelope onto the bed. Hermione gasped in horror, as she noticed the red stain, which was steadily expanding around the envelope, streaking her bed cover, recognising the substance, she jumped out of bed horrified. The red glow could not be mistaken for anything but what it was. Blood.
The boy had acknowledged the owl to be his father's, and that's all he needed, to know that nothing good could come from opening the envelope; none the less, unable to fight curiosity, he once again lifted the black envelope, and opened it, with a trembling hand. He reached inside the packet, and retrieved a blood soaked ring. After wiping the blood from it onto his robes, he immediately recognised it, to be his mother's wedding ring. He remembered his father's words 'I'm going to take away everything you have, kill everyone you love.'
"She's dead," Draco mumbled, Hermione stepped closer to him, putting a comforting hand on his arm. "SHE NEVER DID ANYTHING TO HIM!" He banged his fist on the wall, unable to control his anger, and scaring Hermione. "She was a good person," he whispered, falling to his knees, "you dreamt it didn't you?" he asked looking at her accusingly. Hermione nodded sadly. "She was a good person," he repeated again, in a barley audible whisper.
"I'm so sorry," the head girl mumbled.
All Hermione wanted to do was comfort Draco, however he had insisted that he be alone, and this is how the head girl found herself sat in the library, her two friends opposite her, talking in hushed voices, and every now and then, taking notes from a book for their homework. "But that's exactly what Voldemort wants!" Muttered Harry annoyed, when Hermione revealed to them that the head master was gone.
"This is all down to Lucius," added Ron, "that whole family is rotten to the core!"
"That's not true!" argued Hermione without hesitation.
"Not true?" mimicked Ron, "are you crazy?!"
"Draco has really changed this year," she insisted.
"Draco? Since when do you call him Draco?" Joined in Harry, further annoying Hermione.
"Oh seriously, grow up you two," the head girl glared at the two boys before bending back over her parchment, scribbling down notes furiously, hoping the boys would drop the subject of Draco.
Eventually Harry said in a quiet voice "My scar's been hurting more and more lately, and that's never a good sign," Ron looked terrified but Hermione, who was still thinking about the head boy, made no gesture to prove she had even heard what Harry had said.
"Dumbledore will be back," the ginger boy insisted, trying to sound confident, but failing.
The girl, who was now oblivious to her two friends, was deep in thought; she was not quite sure why she could not get the blonde boy out of her head, but she eventually decided it was because, had it been her mother who had been murdered, she would have taken it very badly. Just the thought of it made her skin crawl and her stomach tighten. She hated to think what Draco must have been going through, a sudden rush of sympathy towards the Slytherin boy took her by surprise.
"Hermione!" Asked Ron attempting to get her attention for the fourth time and getting a glare from the librarian for raising his voice in the process.
"What?" She asked trying not to sound guilty.
"You seem very distracted, what's wrong? You can tell us," Harry asked gently and Ron nodded. They were her best friends and Hermione felt bad for not telling them about her premonitions; it just never seemed to be the right time, now being a fine example. She had to go see if Draco was okay.
"Nothing," she lied, "I just have to go see McGonagall about a piece of ...er...homework." She stood up, shoving her books in her bag, grateful that the boys seemed to have accepted her lie with no questions. As she was leaving Ron called after her,
"It's not healthy to work so hard you know!" She turned around and grinned before waving goodbye one last time and walking out of the library door. Once she was out of view, both boys' smiles instantly disappeared,
"I don't believe her for a second," muttered Harry darkly.
"Something is definitely up with her," added Ron, shaking his head.
The head girl, oblivious to her friend's suspicions, almost ran back to the common room, and jumped through the portrait expecting to find Draco sitting in front of the fire where he had been when she left; however the common room was empty. Deciding he must be in his room, Hermione climbed up the staircase and knocked on his door. There was no reply however, as he was not in there.
"I have a job for you," snarled Lucius Malfoy at the boy in front of him. The boy nodded eager to please the older death eater; he had only recently joined the ranks of the Dark Lord himself, and was keen to show them how trustworthy he was.
"Yes sir?" he asked.
"My son, though I am ashamed to admit it, Draco Malfoy had disgraced me. He will suffer for turning his back on the Dark Lord and his family. You are to find out who he is close to, understand?" The boy nodded and Lucius continued, "His friends, who he cares for, any girlfriends. Make sure you are not seen and report any information back to me." He demanded, looking down his nose at the younger boy.
"Leave. NOW!" Shouted Lucius, scaring the boy. The teenager nodded, attempting to mask his fear, and fled the room without a backwards glance, to do as the blonde man had ordered.
The older Malfoy was left in the room alone. He looked at the gold wedding band on his finger smirking; he eased it off his finger gently and threw it into the flames of the fire, is thoughts with his dead wife. He had finally found a use for the woman, cold laughter filled the room and he pictured Draco's face opening the envelope. He had every intention of following through with his threats, by the time he was finished with Draco, he would be begging for his own death.
Draco Malfoy sat by the lake; the pregnant clouds were spilling their water to the ground soaking the Slytherin head boy. The sun had set and large clouds obstructed the light from the moon, making the darkness almost suffocating. He had lost count of the hours he had been sitting here, all he knew was what he felt, and what he felt was anger and immense sadness.
He clutched onto his mother's ring, the blood had been washed away by the rain. It was engraved, and although it was too dark to see the words printed on the ring now, Draco knew them from memory, 'nostrum diligo mos permaneo intemporaliter'. It meant 'our love will last eternally'. The ring had been past down through the Malfoy family, given in turn to each new bride. Draco wondered if Lucius had ever loved her.
Draco retreated further inside himself, locking himself inside his head, away from the harsh reality of the world. Every one needs someone, but Draco felt he had no one. His heart still burned with anger for his mother, and his soul cried in fear of the troubles still to come. Lucius would not stop until he had reduced Draco to nothingness within. The boy was not sure which of these he hated more, knowing Lucius had killed his mother, or knowing the worse was still to come.
His heart raced as lightening illuminated the castle, and thunder shook the grounds. The numbness settled in shortly, and so did the feeling of loneliness, like a dark endless pit in his stomach. Draco Malfoy felt alone. He did not know a girl with large brown eyes was staring out the window, into the never ending darkness, biting her lower lip and wondering where he could be.
The boy looked up at the sky, feeling the rain falling onto his face, each cold drop sending shivers down his spine. Bitter thoughts ran through his mind, he quickly wiped the tears away, refusing to give Lucius the satisfaction. The rain soaked through his robes down to his skin. In a strange way it comforted him, the steady sound of falling rain soothed his angry soul.
Draco felt he could sit there forever, letting the cold penetrate his skin, the rain soak through him, and the darkness envelope him. But forever is such a long time.