Stuck in Love
Summary: Draco tries the potion, but doesn't see memories. He sees the future.
Disclaimer: These characters I do not own. These characters I do not own. These characters I do not own. These characters I do not own. These characters I do not own.
I'm walking into this with a clear mind and fresh ideas. It's gonna be long (I hope), but I hope you all don't feel like I'm dragging it out. I'll try to keep it to the point.
Oh yeah, you guys won't find out what happened to Hermione until the next chapter. This one is simply Draco-centric.
I want to see if I can hit 300 reviews. So tell all of your friends about this fic!
This was finished the same day I finished and posted Chapter 14, but I thought I'd wait to post this chapter.
Chapter Fifteen:
Draco had decided to skip dinner altogether and sit in his room, staring at the vial he still held in his hand. Did he want his memories back? Everything was going great. Hermione and him were happy, as far as he was concerned, and his father was off the radar. So why bother?
If he was to do this, he was going to do it for the sake of his relationship with Hermione. He hated not knowing what they were like before. He saw it in her eyes, the pain each time she brought up something he couldn't remember. It wasn't fair to her.
But he was going to do this alone. If his dreams were bad, he didn't want her there to see.
He laid down on his bed, staring up toward the ceiling. He wanted to take it now, but he wasn't very tired and he didn't know if that would affect the potion or not. He stared at the vial in the moonlight streaming in through the window. Draco didn't even know what color it was. He just...knew it was in there.
Draco sat up on his elbows and took the cork out from the top of the small bottle. It was either now or never, he told himself, putting the rim of the vial to his lips and downing the contents of it.
He immediately fell into a deep sleep.
0000
Draco slowly woke up and found himself in Malfoy Manor. Did I sleep to the weekend, he asked himself as he sat up in bed.
"Drakey! You're awake!" Pansy Parkinson's face was instantly in front of his, making him cry out.
"What the...Bloody hell woman get away from me!" He yelled, scrambling off the bed. He felt a cold draft and looked down. A blush crept into his cheeks and he fumbled for a pillow to cover his naked body. "What did you do to me!" He screamed at Pansy, making her jump.
"Drakey, just calm down..."
"I WILL NOT CALM DOWN!" Forgetting that he was in the nude, he dropped the pillow and grabbed Pansy by the shoulders. "What did you do with Hermione! Where is she!" He asked, shaking her roughly.
"Draco, that's enough." His mother said from the doorway. Narcissa walked inside and motioned for Pansy to leave. "Put some clothes on, dear, and we'll talk."
Draco blushed again and quickly threw on some robes. "Mother, what is going on?"
"Draco, you and Pansy are married. Don't you remember?"
He tried to search his memory for any recollection of his marriage to Pansy, but couldn't find any. He shook his head. "I don't remember. I can't be married to her, I'm in love with Hermione."
Narcissa let out an airy laugh. "Oh Draco, stop being so silly. You're in love with Pansy, not some mudblood."
Draco gritted his teeth and clenched his hands into fists. "Mother..."
"Now get properly dressed and meet us downstairs for breakfast. In love with a mudblood...silly boy." She mumbled, leaving Draco alone.
Draco began to pace about his room. This wasn't a memory. This was an altered universe. He stopped pacing. "Snape." He growled. The stupid potions professor must have done this. Which means he was helping his father. Which means...
"Hermione..." He whispered as he looked for some clothes to change into. "I've got to find her and those two wankers she calls best friends."
He finished changing and sighed. "But first, breakfast." Draco shuddered a bit before leaving the room.
0000
Breakfast was far from fun. Draco remained silent through most of it. His mother and Pansy were chatting on and on about random gossip they had heard. It was enough to make Draco want to hex them both into oblivion.
"Drakey, are you okay?" Pansy's annoying voice interrupted his thought process.
"Yeah I'm fine." He murmured into his cup of coffee. He figured that he would go to Diagon Alley and ask around for Potter and Weasley. Something told him that asking about Hermione wouldn't help him find her any quicker.
"Well I'm off." He announced, standing up.
"But Drakey--"
"Pansy, I have work to do. I'm sure you'll manage to entertain yourself while I'm gone." Forever, actually, he told himself as he walked out. Now, all he had to do was apparate to Diagon Alley...
"Draco, I demand that you stay here with Pansy." Narcissa interrupted, making Draco sigh.
"Mother," He began, turning toward her. "Go to hell." He finished before apparating with a pop.
0000
"I hate this place." Draco snarled under his breath after he was bumped into for the tenth time in thirty minutes. He had looked around everywhere, but couldn't seem to find anyone who could tell him where Potter and Weasley were.
Draco found himself in front of The Leaky Cauldron. They have to know where Potter is, he thought as he stepped inside. He walked over toward the bartender and started to make small talk.
Eventually he asked, "Hey, do you know where I could find Harry Potter?"
The bartender stopped cleaning the bar top and shot Draco a quizzical look. "Harry Potter is dead."
"What about Ron Weasley?"
"All of the Weasleys are dead. Except for the girl."
"Ginny? Where can I find her?"
"The Burrow. She lives there with her husband. Why?"
"I'm looking for someone. She might know where that someone is." Draco gave the bartender a few galleons. "Thanks." Draco turned and headed for the exit. Potter dead...Weasley dead...Ginny was the only one alive. That hit Draco pretty hard. Potter and Weasley were starting to grow on him.
Draco wasn't sure if he could apparate to the Burrow, so he decided to use Floo powder. Thank god The Leaky Cauldron had a fireplace.
"The Burrow!" He yelled when he threw the Floo powder and jumped in. He stumbled out of the fireplace at the Burrow and coughed. "I hate Floo powder."
"Who's there?" A male's voice called out.
"It's me, Draco Malfoy." Draco saw Neville feel his way into the room he was in. Good lord, he's blind, Draco thought as he stepped forward to help him. "I came to talk to Ginny."
A silly grin appeared on Neville's face. "She's sleeping."
Draco frowned a bit. It was the middle of the day. Why would she be sleeping?
His answer came in the shrill cry of a baby.
Oh.
"Here, let me help you." Draco said as he led Neville to the sound of the crying baby.
"Thanks. Still getting used to being blind." They reached the cradle and Draco gasped softly at the beautiful baby girl he saw lying there.
He heard Neville chuckle. "Yeah I know, she looks like her mother, thank God."
Draco laughed and shook his head. "Let's hope she doesn't inherit her attitude. What's her name?"
"Hermione Molly Weasley Longbottom."
Hearing Hermione's name caused Draco to remember why he was there in the first place. "Oh...where is Hermione?"
Neville frowned. "She disappeared in our 7th year, don't you remember?"
"No, I don't. I don't remember anything except taking that damn potion and then waking up in this hell hole of a place. What the hell happened, Neville!" Draco's increase in volume startled little Hermione, making her begin to cry again.
Neville picked her up and comforted her until she quieted. "Your father was suspected in her disappearance, but no one could prove a thing. Everyone was devastated. Then, Voldemort started attacking places. It got bad, Draco. Everyone pretty much died. Ginny and I managed to escape with just a few scrapes and bruises."
"When did you..."
"Lose my sight? A few days after the war ended. It was a side effect on a curse that was cast on me."
"Then how did you know..."
"That Hermione Molly is beautiful? By reactions. And because Ginny told me so."
Draco smiled and patted Neville's shoulder. "Well, take care Neville. Send Ginny my congratulations. I'll come and see you two soon."
He saw the quick look of hesitation on Neville's face and sighed a bit. "Do you want me to stay?"
"Only if you have the time." Neville replied quickly. "It's just...when Ginny's asleep I have a hard time trying to feed and change Hermione."
"I don't have anywhere important to be."
Neville smiled and somehow managed to put little Hermione back in her crib. "Thanks Draco."
"You're welcome, Neville."
So this wasn't an altered universe. This was the future. Which meant Hermione is probably in danger and I have no way of helping her...unless someone comes and wakes me up...Draco sighed at the thought. He was probably going to be here for a long time. A very long time.
Stayed tuned for the next chapter. Will anyone wake up Draco? And what about Hermione? Will she be saved in time?