Salt in your wounds
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry potter or any of the other characters or the places or anything this plot is mine but that's about it anything that you recognise is not mine either, although I'm pretty sure there isn't much.
I don't own the story in it 'the stone maiden, I heard it off a friend who heard it sum where else so who ever made it in the beginning owns it.
CHAPTER
Stories of soldiers and love
Hermione stared up at the large manor as the carriage pulled them closer to it. It was about half the size of Hogwarts but was still rather large. It had an almost welcoming ora to it, but Hermione couldn't put the feel of dread away, why was she feeling like this? It was stupid; all she was doing is having dinner with some well known officials.
She let out a sigh as the carriage came to a stop at the front of the large manor, almost immediately the door swung open and draco stepped out graciously. Giving a look around before slowly heading up the large stone steps to the front door.
He paused at the last step and turned around to face the carriage, with Hermione still in it.
"Come on, what's the worst that could happen? The food be poisoned?" Hermione got out of the carriage and slowly walked up the steps.
"That's really comforting of you" she said sarcastically before knocking on the old wooden door.
Moments later a tall man wearing sapphire blue robes opened the door giving each of them a cheerful smile and ushered them into the house.
"Welcome, welcome. You must be the Hogwarts head students." He continued to chatter happily as he walked them down a long corridor, ending with a large wooden door. "Well mister Dumbledore is right through this door, he'll fill you in on what's happening here" then he grinned happily and bid them goodbye, before apperating away.
Professor Dumbledore was seated behind a large oak desk wearing a deep purple robe. He sat on a large leather high backed chair. The room itself was grandly decorated and with large deep blue curtains that covered the huge window that sat behind the headmaster. The walls were lined with books large and small. The room was all in all quite impressive.
Dumbledore gestured for them to sit down in front of him.
"I'm so glade you're here, well as you know this evening you will be eating dinner with many different people. But before that, you have the whole afternoon to yourselves, but I would like to ask you to be civil towards each other" he paused and waited for any disputes but smiled when none came. "You will be sleeping here tonight and will be going back to Hogwarts in the morning, you have all afternoon for recreation, but you must be ready for dinner by five this evening, there will be school robes for you to wear in your wardrobes..." he continued to talk but both Draco and Hermione had tuned out. Hermione's eyes wandered around the volumes sitting innocently on the large shelves that lined the walls. Draco concentrated on the view from out the window, it was a nice day, the sun shone down into the gardens below, deep greens surrounded by bright reds and yellows and oranges. It reminded him so much of Natasha's garden back in the muggle world, she had spent hours gardening, making it perfect, and then they would sit out there admiring her work. The sun always shone on those days, just simple memories that many people would forget, but not Draco, he had felt perfectly at home on those few occasions.
He rested his head back on the high back of his own chair, he closed his eyes and pictured Natasha surrounded by her beautiful garden, with the sun shining down on her, like an angel or a goddess, a small smile crept to the corners of his lips
They were both snapped out of there trance's when Dumbledore gave a light clap and a smile, signalling the end of his talk. "Come now, I will show you to your sleeping quarters." And with that the old man rose from his chair and walked towards the door, quickly followed by Draco and Hermione.
The room was small, and painted in a creamy colour, their beds were matching single beds, placed on either end of the room, to Draco's dislike both had lovely pink covers on them. He looked questionably up at the headmaster. Who smiled and clapped his hands once more, it was immediately changed to a light baby blue.
"You're free to roam around the estate. But remember be at the dining hall at five." With that he left leaving Hermione and Draco alone.
"Weird place" Draco stated as he looked at a photograph that had been seated next to his bed, it was of a man and a woman, dancing happily singing and laughing. Hermione rolled her eyes.
"What makes it so weird?" Draco looked up from the picture and faced Hermione.
"Well the fact that it's a muggle building full of wizards and witches. That usually grants for weird" Hermione looked around, and then realised that everything in the room, was in fact, muggle, including the photograph Draco was holding before.
"That is a bit odd" she said before turning to the door. "I want to go outside, want to come with me?" Draco thought briefly of the beautiful garden outside, and shrugged.
"Yeah, might as well, nothing better to do in this dump."
The two students walked in silence around the vast estate grounds. A small conversation started, but both knew it was meaningless words; the ironic thing was that they were talking about the weather. Meaningless words and phrases spouted out to answer others.
"ah, I'm so glade you made it, we were thinking of sending transportation for you, but then you insisted that you were alright" a loud airy voice flooded to the two students from the front of the manor. A huskier voice replied.
"I had no trouble getting here, tell me, am I the last to arrive?" Both voices were light and carefree, Draco sensed Hermione tense up when the second man replied, but ignored it and listened for what happened next.
"No, not at all, the two students only arrived half an hour ago. Tell me how is the orphanage going, I heard that some poor child ran away" Hermione's body tensed even more and she found herself slowly falling to her knees on the path.
"Yes, the poor dear child had a deranged belief that she could find her parents again." The voices drifted off and Hermione let out a small whimper as she heard the voices fading away, she knew that voice anywhere, the husky cruelty she couldn't mistake it if she tried, it was the same voice that haunted her dreams, or to be more precise, memories. She felt a warm tear slip down her faces, and felt Draco lean down and sit near her.
"What happened?" he asked in his own husky voice, but in a way, his was calmer, warmer, and the care and worry was evident. She felt another warm tear roll down her cheek Draco reached out and wiped away the tear before it reached her lips.
"It's him... I thought I had escaped... why is he here... why wont he leave me alone?" Hermione's breath became uneven and forced, the tears continued to flow down her face.
"Who's here? What are you talking about?" she let out another shuddering breath and crumpled into a smaller pile and slowly began rocking back and forward. Draco pulled her up and wiped away a few stray tears.
"Hey, shh... It's ok" slowly Hermione relaxed and leaned back onto Draco's chest. "What happened?" he asked running his fingers through her hair.
"I... I..." Hermione's voice cracked and she closed her eyes. Soon she was seated in the middle of the small path telling draco about her summer, she left out the details but told him how she was abused each night, along with other girls, her age and younger. Draco nodded his head slowly as she finished.
"Looks like you've been through hell" he said and she slowly wiped the fresh tears from her eyes.
"Yeah I guess you could say that" Draco got up and pulled Hermione's exhausted body off the ground.
"Come, you need some sleep" and he carried Hermione up to their bedroom.
Hermione lay silently on her bed. How could she sleep when that horrible man was some where near here? Draco seemed to sense this and walked over to the bed where she lay from the open window where he sat.
"you alright?' he asked sitting down gently on the edge of her bed.
"Yeah, but I just keep thinking that, he's here, right now, he could do anything" Draco stood up again with a reassuring smile.
"Don't think that, he's in a house full of fully grown wizards and witches, he won't dare touch you." Hermione smiled and stood up following him to the open window.
"What's it like to fly?" Hermione asked quietly as she looked out the window.
"You mean like on a broom?" she shook her head.
"No, I've always wanted to just fly, not having to worry about anything, just fly away and be safe" Draco sighed as he sat on the window sill on the fifth story of the large house.
"Where would you go?" he asked lightly, she sighed and joined him sitting on the edge.
"Away, anywhere but the places I know" Draco didn't look away
"What about Hogwarts? I thought you loved it there" Hermione shrugged
"I did, but now there's to many memories, good and bad. I just want to be away from everyone that knows me" she closed her eyes quickly picturing the view bellow her with nothing around her but the clouds and the air.
"Like to the moon?" Draco said, a tinge of dreaminess lingered in his voice, as he too imagined flying away from everything.
"To the moon, Iceland, hell even Australia, I don't care, as long as its not here" she let out a laugh, and opened her eyes. "But I should stop dreaming, it's not going too happed, I'm stuck here whether I want to be or not" the two sat in silence again for a while, both taking in the comfort from the silence.
"Have you ever heard the story of the stone maiden?" Draco asked as he remembered one of Natasha's favourite stories that her grandmother had told her when she was younger. Hermione shook her head and looked quizzically at him.
"a long time ago in a small town near the beach, a young woman fell madly in love with a soldier, her parents and her friends told her it wasn't wise to love a soldier, but she didn't listen to them, all she listened to was her heart. The two lovers fell deeper in love with each other with every passing day. Until one day, a message came for her soldier telling him he would have to go into battle, he promised his lover that he would return to her no matter what and in return she promised him she would always wait for his return. And she did. She stood on the cliff facing out to see, she watched as the boats took her love away from her.
She continued to wait; she stood on the same place, waiting for her lover to return. Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, months turned into years, and she continued to wait.
Soon the war ended and the boats returned, but her soldier didn't. And yet she continued to wait. A friend of her soldier told her he died in battle, but she waved him away and continued to wait, and there she remained looking out over the ocean waiting for her soldier to return." Draco didn't look away from the horizon as he told the story that he had heard so many times.
"That's sad" Hermione stated. It was what he had said the first time he had heard it, but then Natasha had told him to think about it, it wasn't sad, it was romantic.
"It's not really, think about it, it doesn't have to be sad, its romantic and strangely happy" Hermione looked up at him.
"How is that?" a small smile tugged at his lips, the same conversation was had between himself and Natasha when she told him the story, and once he thought about it, it was true.
"Because she never stopped waiting, she didn't just run off with the next man dressed in a uniform, she waited for her lover." Hermione nodded slowly.
"I guess your right, but why couldn't she wait somewhere else? Why just stay in the same place forever?" Draco let the small smile spread to his lips.
"Would you? Would you just throw away your promise to the man you loved just because he died? She felt like she would be betraying him, and didn't want to just let her promise go away. She loved him more then she loved herself" Hermione nodded.
"I've never loved" she said calmly before looking down at the gardens bellow.
"I've only ever loved someone as a friend. But not how she loved her soldier" Hermione nodded and her eyes clouded with sorrow.
"I'm beginning to think I haven't ever loved as a friend either" Draco looked up, with slight shock.
"What about potter and Weasley?" Hermione looked sadly at Draco.
"Well people make mistakes, I guess mine was being blind to the obvious" she tried to smile but failed.
"There dickheads anyway" Hermione let out a true laugh
"Guess your right; you have said it for six years." Draco nodded and leaned forward on the window ledge, looking down. Hermione did as well.
"I wonder what would happen if we jumped" Hermione said as she gazed at the ground bellow her.
"We'd fly" Draco said before slowly getting up. And heading towards the wardrobe. "Come on, we should start heading down for dinner" Hermione nodded giving one last look at the scenery below. Before whispering a 'yeah' and getting down off the ledge.
A/N I'm so sorry! That chapter was horrible! Terrible! Awful! But don't worry the next is going to be WAY better... in fact ANYTHING could be better then that chapter. Thanks to my reviewers.
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DarkRaven-04- yeah I noticed the signes when I read it online to see if it was alright, sorry it makes it really hard to read.