A/N: I would just like to say that if anything is really confusing and you really don't understand you can email me on: . I would be glad to help sort out any queries!
It's too late
Seven Days. What's going to happen in seven days? That's all that was going through Hermione's mind on Friday. She was tired, it seemed that her dreams did not refresh her, it was almost like when she first started getting into trouble and having weird things happen to her. No. She didn't want to think about that. She couldn't. It would remind her of him.
Harry and Ron were still at lessons. She yearned to be with them again, laughing and joking, she wanted everything to be the way it was before all the terrible things started happening she wanted her old life back. Without noticing Hermione was just itching her back. No, not her back . . . her shoulder blade. Her tattoo! She'd completely forgotten about it. She quickly took off her top to examine it more. Yep. It was defiantly the mark of the prophesy, but if only she could remember what it was all about.
Hermione put her top back on and walked to the library. She'd be able to find out what the prophesy was about in no time. But it would be hard to find, she would have to ask Madam Pince, of course she would leave out the bit that it was actually on her.
10 minutes later a very disappointed Hermione left the library. Madam Pince knew that they did have the book, but it wasn't there anymore. She couldn't even remember who had looked at it last. Madam Pince was angry that the book had gone missing, but she assured Hermione it would turn up some time. Until then Hermione vowed she would go to the library everyday to check.
Draco's heart was in tatters. His heart broke when he heard her say those three vital words. His face was a picture of pain. Misery was etched into every feature of his face. He watched as Hermione left the common room. He had hoped that she would never tell him that she loved him, he also hoped he would never have to hear that she hated him either.
After about 20 minutes of staring at the wall in front of him, he wondered if he had done the right thing. No, he had to tell her the truth – no he couldn't, had he done the right thing? He knew he had. He gave himself a little mental shake to help him remember. He HAD done the right thing, he had done the right thing. He kept repeating those words in his head. He had done the right thing.
He could have sworn that he had heard laughter when he had said no. Was it his imagination? What did it mean? It didn't matter, he could worry about that later, at that moment all he wanted to do was go to bed and forget about what had happened . . . although . . . he didn't know he was going to be that harsh, he couldn't believe that he had managed to sound that way. But it was convincing . . . even if it had been a bit sudden.
Draco woke up in the morning feeling worse than he had the night before. She had been in his dreams. It was horrible, he couldn't even escape in his dreams, he still had to be ruthless and mean. He didn't like it. Why did it have to happen? All he had to do was get through the day without thinking about her. He could do it.
Surprisingly he did manage. He hadn't thought of her once, but he kept seeing her face in his mind's eye as she said those three heart wrenching words. He smiled grimly . . . a few years ago he would have been happy if she had said it . . . but now? He had to be happy. Things were going to plan.
He dreamt of her again, and the meeting was the same, except perhaps a little childish, he hadn't expected her to be like that, she had changed. When he woke up he heard a voice say: seven days. And then a mental laughter. Oh great. Now he was hearing voices. Brilliant. He was going insane. Brilliant. But then again . . . he kept having a little nagging voice at the back of his mind telling him he had forgotten to think of something, but what was it?
There was one problem he had a solution to. To make sure he wouldn't dream of her he would not sleep. Simple as that. He would start right now.
It was Wednesday evening. Hermione was starting to look extremely tired. She barely slept at night for fear that she would see him in her dreams. They had barely spoken. If Malfoy was sorry about it then he showed no signs. He barely glanced her way. They never talked to one another, and Hermione stayed out of the common room as much as possible. It was a needless gesture, since Malfoy spent all of his time in the Slytherin common room. Hermione meanwhile had spent Saturday and Sunday in Harry and Ron's company. They never asked her if she had talked to him, or even what was going on. They just left things alone.
They had spent their time in the common room, and everyone seeing that Harry and Ron were being nice to Hermione, were nice to her to. They spent their days either reading (in Hermione's case) or talking about quidditch and doing childish things (in Harry and Ron's case). Harry and Ron noticed their friend looking more tired everyday and began to worry about her. When they asked what was wrong though, she simply shook her head and said that she was fine.
Hermione went to lessons on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Everything was the same and she felt a fierce joy at working again. Although, her only worry was in potions. She still had to sit with Malfoy and this time they were literally silent, they did not talk unless it was vital and they barely even acknowledged each other. It was like it had always been though . . . apart from now their attitude to each other wasn't forced. Apart from those down points Hermione's days went by smoothly.
Every evening she would go to the Gryffindor common room and there get beaten at Wizards chess by Ron, help Harry and Ron with their homework, watch Harry and Ron testing Fred and George's merchandise and then finally get bored to death by their talk of quidditch. It was back to the normal routine. Sure, it was boring and the same thing happened everyday but Hermione loved it. She loved the way she could sit and talk to her friends, the way she could still be herself, but most of all she found their companionship comforting.
When she was with Dra – Malfoy it was only him and her, but now there was noise everywhere, people laughing, people talking, people just making noise. Hermione loved it.
She didn't want to bother Harry and Ron with her problems when they looked so happy. She would tackle them on her own. It was true that she was tired but then she had slept, not for long and only in little naps. It wasn't enough though. She had found a spell to help her keep awake and she made coffee every night to help her stay awake. You couldn't rely on magic all the time! She was really tired, but perhaps if she was in such a deep enough sleep she wouldn't dream. It was worth a shot. She would sleep properly, when she felt she really couldn't go on staying awake any longer.
Hermione had been to the library every day and each day was the same result. The book still couldn't be found. She knew she should try and stop checking everyday, other wise Madam Pince would start getting suspicious. She wouldn't go the next day then, but she would go on Friday.
Hermione looked at the books around her on the table. She had finished all her assignments set, and all the homework. She was up to date and on top again. She began thinking about how she was top of everything even in potions, but then that would be because she was working with . . . Malfoy. She felt her thoughts turning towards him, but then she was saved by Harry and Ron. They had tried some product of Fred and George's and they were now hopping round the room pretending to be frogs. Everyone in the whole room was roaring in laughter at the sight of them both squatting like frogs and jumping every few seconds, with the occasional croak thrown in. Hermione was drawn in and began laughing along with everyone else.
It was even more hilarious when the effects wore off and Harry and Ron came to themselves, wondering what they were doing squatting on the floor. They remembered and just as they came over to sit back next to Hermione she heard Ron say "Not enough frog" He caught Hermione giving him a look and explained, "They're trying to make a product that will make a person into a frog, like green and stuff." Hermione raised her eyebrows and gave a small smile and muttered "Boys"
It was Thursday night and Hermione was sitting on her bed trying desperately not to fall asleep. Why did everything have to happen to her? What did she do wrong to deserve all the pain she had been caused? It was a mystery to her. Thursday had passed the same as most days had: completely boring. She was getting to a point that she was almost falling asleep in classes. She was yawning constantly and spent more and more time in a doze. She knew what she had to do. Tonight she would sleep, she knew she couldn't fight it any longer. It was . . . (Hermione had difficulty focusing on her watch) 19:30. No one would go to sleep at this time. Suddenly she remembered that tomorrow would mark the end of the 'seven days'. . . whatever that was.
Due to her tiredness she suddenly began to think of Malfoy. Stupid thing to do really when you are trying to get over them. She began thinking about how nice he smelt and how good he looked. Just as she fell back onto her bed she was thinking how nice his lips were and how good at kissing he was, and the way he had looked at her and the good times they had shared together. That was when she fell asleep.
Draco had spent the last 6 days in a kind of trance. He was so tired. He just couldn't do it anymore. He would have to sleep. He would do it that night. It was all HER fault that he was tired. It was HER fault that he wasn't sleeping. But he was surprised to see that she was looking just as tired as he was. Was she doing the same thing? If she was then she was stupid because he done it first and that meant that he was losing precious sleep for nothing.
It was strange but Draco knew that his thoughts were jumbled and nothing made sense but he kept thinking about that laugh and the voice stating seven days. What did it all mean? Draco was sure that he knew . . . but if only he could remember where he had heard that voice before and what was happening the next day. He couldn't remember. Just as he was flopping down onto his bed and closing his eyes letting sleep take him, he suddenly wondered if it had anything to do with his tattoo, but sleep gave him an irresistible tug and he slipped slowly into his dreams.
Draco felt as if he was falling. He had nothing to grab onto. He didn't know whether he was falling up or down. Then suddenly it stopped and he fell with a thud onto the ground. Where was he? He got up shakily. There was nothing around him. Everything was blackness, utter dark. A light appeared to the side of him, and someone appeared with a pop. He thought: please don't let it be Granger.
It wasn't. It was someone far worse. Andre. Draco stiffened. His whole body was tense. He hadn't met with Andre for a couple of weeks, he was glad about that, but he regretted that that was not the last time he would ever have to meet him.
"What do you want?" He spat. His fists were clenched in an attempted to keep himself under control.
"Now, now. Is that the way to treat an old friend?" Andre asked. Laughter dancing in his eyes. Amusement was engraved into every feature on his face.
"Friends don't usually cause harm every time they meet!" Draco retorted.
"Well you have me there. I don't deny that I haven't caused you pain, but, well, I'm not here to discuss that with you." Andre paused letting Draco let this statement pass through his brain.
"What do you want to talk about now? There is nothing you can hurt me with. I don't fear dying. You can't touch me. I don't care about anyone. You . . . can't . . . hurt . . . me." Draco informed him.
That statement only made Andre's insane smile grow wider and there was a wicked look shining out of his eyes.
"Yes. You're right about that. It would seem that there is nothing I could hurt you with. I already knew that you were not afraid to die. But the other things. I don't think you're being honest with me . . . or with yourself for that matter."
Draco stared at Andre in shock. He had done everything to keep her safe. He had. Andre was bluffing. Just as if he was reading Draco's thoughts, Andre waved his hand and an image of Hermione appeared asleep in her bed. Draco stared at her. No . . . Andre couldn't know. Look at the way he had acted. No matter what he did though, Andre still wouldn't be able to hurt him . . . if he showed that he still didn't care. So he put on his usual drawl.
"What's this supposed to be?" He glared at Andre. Andre however just glared back at him. An unpleasant smile had settled on his face and he was looking triumphant.
"Don't you realise what you've done?" He whispered. Still staring unpleasantly at Draco. Draco was confused.
"You have delivered her right into my hands! You've started off a chain of events that even I thought you weren't stupid enough to do . . . but clearly I was wrong. I thought I could get you easier, make you realise you loved her . . . kill her . . . boo hoo . . . I win. But then . . . things turned out differently. It turned out for the better . . . for me, not you. You woke up to find a strange tattoo on your arm. You didn't know what it was . . . I did. I began to put an even better plan into action. Especially after you realised you did love her, then you saved her. Things were going according to plan . . . I decided to hurry things on a bit. Get things moving. I told you what I was going to do to get back at you . . . hurt the thing you loved most . . . hurt your precious Hermione . . . and you did the most obvious thing . . . the only thing you could think of to save her from me . . . you denied her love . . . made it seem like you didn't care . . . perfect. You were playing right into my hands"
"No . . . I wasn't. I told her I didn't love her to save her. Yes you're right about that. So that you would see that I didn't love her. So that you would leave her alone . . . and what does my tattoo have anything to do with this . . . ? Unless . . . Unless . . ." Draco's eyes widened in horror.
"No . . . no!" He stuttered. Andre watched him gleefully. Draco was looking at the image of Hermione. A thought struck him. "But she hasn't got the other half of the tattoo . . . she would have told me."
"She tried" Andre said giving a huge fake sigh. "She was going to tell you right after she said she loved you. Lucky that you kept yours secret other wise things might have gone wrong. Anyway let's see . . . how does it go? Oh yeah . . ." Andre cleared his throat and recited: 'this mark that is of a devil carrying an angel is a symbolic picture and is in two parts the first part is of the devil carrying an angel which is usually put on the male. There is another half to the drawing which is put on the female and the drawing is of the devil and the angel embracing each other. The only way the mark appears is when someone begins to change. After that the other half of the mark will appear on the other person who is also changing but does not know it yet but you will not know who it is until you have saved that other persons life whether in the past, present or future. Then that person is known as your soul mate and also you will spend eternity together unless one person refuses the love of the other then the person whose love has been denied will forever be in limbo once they have died which will be on the first full moon after their love was declared. To stop this, the person who denied the other persons love has to . . . Then the lovers will be bound together. The male will be from Slytherin . . . this is a prophesy that was made and will happen when a person from the past will. . .'
"That's what you read in the book wasn't it?" Andre continued, "I took a few bits out, so you wouldn't get suspicious . . . and then like the bad little boy you are, you stole the book. Lucky, really, otherwise little miss smarty pants over there (he jerked his head over to Hermione's sleeping form) would have managed to solve it all and work out what you have not!"
"And what's that?" Draco asked, his whole body shaking with anger.
"That you two are what the prophesy is talking about. That you saved her on a full moon, that both of you are going through changes, I am the person that is from your past that will meddle in your lives (I think I've done a pretty good job), and that finally when you denied her love she would die on her next full moon! Have I made it idiot proof enough for you?" Andre asked smirking. "Oh and what do you know . . . it's Friday tomorrow and it's the first full moon that night!" He went into a fit of manic laughter.
Draco meanwhile was looking at Hermione's sleeping form. "What have I done?" He whispered. "What have I done?" He looked back at Andre and lunged for him. "I'm going to kill you!" He yelled.
"Not before I kill her!" Andre retorted. Draco stopped dead in his tracks. "The prophesy has to be fulfilled! It's too late!" He laughed again before whispering "Revenge is sweet" and disappearing.
"NO!" Draco shouted. He turned around to find that Hermione was gone as well.
"Hermione!" He screamed. "Hermione!" He kept screaming her name over and over in anguish, he caused her pain when he thought it was for the best and now he had caused her pain just so that she could die. How could he have been so stupid?
Draco woke up with a shudder and sat up straight. He drew air into his lungs and screamed into the bright sunlight that lit his room.
"HERMIONE!"
A/N: Wow! That took a lot of energy to do! But I really enjoyed writing this chapter! It was so fun! I felt right in there with the characters! Any way I would like to thank all my reviews because you keep me going and I would like to say I will get the next one up as soon as possible! Oh and every one go and read Daunting Darkness's story: A tangled Web. Fab story!