Chapter 12
Hermione heard Draco's breath even out, his movements still, and finally, he was asleep. She crept out of bed and pulled on a pair of jeans, as well as a tank top.
She gently opened the door of the bedroom, and walked down the creaking grand staircase. A faint light glowed from one of the servant doors that led to the kitchen, and Hermione walked steadily toward the flickering candle light. She warily pushed the door open, and found Sirius sitting on a bench eating a bacon and lettuce sandwich, staring at a candle with his dark eyes fixed upon the flame. He looked up when she entered, and smiled in a fatherly way.
"Hello Hermione," he said, motioning for her to sit beside him. "Would you like a bacon lettuce sandwich as well?"
"Why not?" Hermione said with a grin, helping herself to a piece of bread and a couple slices of bacon. "I can see I am not the only one who cannot sleep."
Sirius smiled tiredly. "I'm trying to enjoy the Earth while I remain here. After all, I did not enjoy my time here when I was young. I began to appreciate it more after Azkaban, I must admit."
Hermione nodded, and took a deep bite of her sandwich. The rich taste of yellow mustard filled her mouth and nostrils, and she breathed in delightedly.
Sirius continued, "But I must ask you, why are you hanging around that scum?"
Hermione winced as his derogatory tone, her insides squishing together as she thought of her beautiful Draco, sleeping soundly upstairs. "He's changed," she replied, knowing that Sirius had every reason to hate a Malfoy.
"Ron said that he's 'changed' as well, but I don't know," Sirius said, staring at his lettuce as if it would come to life and bite him. "Yeah, the whole Voldemort thing seemed to prove his merit, but how do you know that he's not just a spy for the other side?"
"He's not," Hermione said. "Did Ron tell you what happened?"
"No," Sirius said, with a shrug.
She elaborated on her encounter with Draco's doppelganger, her journey to the underworld, the flying Furies, Hades, rescuing Draco from death, etc.
After she was finished, Sirius looked at her with a great deal of respect. "You faced Hades for a Malfoy?"
"Sirius,
you just don't understand," Hermione sighed. "I love him, and
Hades wasn't all that bad. Persephone helped us out a great deal,
and she's sent me dreams."
"Well, Persephone would know
about forbidden love," Sirius said with conviction. "And if she
approves of Draco, he must be okay."
Hermione smiled, wiping the crumbs off of her hands onto her paper plate.
"Anyhow, since I've found my true love," Hermione said, "Who's your's?" Sirius frowned and waved her away.
"Don't have one," he replied gruffly.
Hermione
changed the subject. "Sirius, have you ever heard of someone named
Natalya Malfoy?"
Sirius froze, and then looked at her with
shock. "Where did you hear that name?"
"Just in passing somewhere," Hermione said, lying blatantly.
"Lying doesn't befit you Hermione," Sirius said.
Hermione wondered how he knew she was lying.
"A picture, Draco found it in an old desk," Hermione said stiffly. "She was talking to him."
Sirius looked down at his half-eaten sandwich, and then placed it on his plate slowly, as if he was afraid of dropping it.
"Natalya Malfoy was the most beautiful girl to spawn from that family. She was talented, gorgeous, and most of all, she was raised apart from her parents. As a result, she wasn't as a fanatical pure-blood as her brother. However, family legend goes that she fell in love with Lucius Malfoy, and had a child to him."
"Did he love her back?" Hermione asked.
Sirius shrugged. "Lucius Malfoy cannot love. He thought she was beautiful, never mind that she was his little sister. Lucius can be amazingly charming when he puts his mind to it. A perfectly good girl threw her life away for a man who did not love her, and was married."
Hermione shook her head. "That's so sad. Why did she allow that to happen to her?"
Sirius stared at her straight in the eye, his golden eyes locking on hers. "Hermione, some of us fall in love with the wrong people. We cannot help who we love, but if someone had held any influence over Natalya Malfoy, she would have not died in some back alleyway, forgotten to the world, and found by a muggle bum."
Hermione looked away. "It's so horrible…"
"Yes Hermione," Sirius said, his gaze never wavering. "Don't let that happen to you. Remember this, blood is thicker than love."
Hermione pulled off her jeans and tank top and climbed back into bed. Her hand gently brushed across Draco's head, and she pulled back warily, remembering Sirius' warning.
"What am I doing?" she whispered. She lay down again, feeling the warmth radiating from Draco across her back.
She was standing in the middle of a field. Golden grain swirled about her, rich amber the color of Sirius' eyes. The yellow sun streamed across her skin, and she could feel the gentle whisper of the wind across her.
Suddenly the ethereal Queen Persephone was standing before her, her beautiful face draped with sorrow and confusion, her hands stretched out to Hermione.
"Hermione, is it not known that when one falters, they will fall?" she said, her voice joining with winds….
Hermione awoke with a start, rivulets of sweat dripping down her bare back. What did Persephone mean by her dire warning? She looked over at Draco, and her heart twinged. His pale hair was fluttering as a gentle breeze came through the open window, his cheeks flushed with dreams and hopes. She traced her finger across his brow lightly, and knew what the Queen of the Dead meant.
A/N: Sigh... Well, that was chapter twelve. More to come. Expect a visit from the Furies in the next few chapters, or at least Hades. And don't worry, Natalya comes back. As well as Gaelen and Cho. Everyone comes back! That's great for most characters, except Voldemort. Sigh. We can't have everything tho. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE leave a review. Esp. if you haven't before. Thanks everyone!
