A/N: Hi, all! It's been a while. Sorry for not updating soon. Thanks for all the reviews. I've been a bit busy for the past few months so I wasn't able to write anything for a while. I hope this chapter makes up a month's worth of promises. Anyway, I have other stories as well, so please do check it out if you have time! By the way, Draco will be a weeee bit OOC (out of character) so bear with me!

Disclaimer: as always…. I don't own anything! Except of course, the plot!

Summary: Draco is dying… he only has a year left to live and no amount of magic can save him… Now Draco promises to change-to make his few months of living be filled with laughter instead of tears... D/Hr sooner or later…

Chapter 3: Strange Dreams, Pains and trip back to Hogwarts…

The air was cold and misty in the freshly mowed cemetery. Everybody Hermione knew was present and all were condoling her. She eyed herself as people beside her stood up and approached a blackish blue casket. She was wearing a very beautiful white dress that ended right above her knees and a very simple, yet very beautiful silver chain necklace hung on her neck. She looked down on her lap and found herself holding a freshly cut, long-stemmed rose. She couldn't look up, she felt hollow inside as she watched a single tear fall on her lap.

"Hermione," Harry called quietly, "It's almost time. You have to say goodbye."

Harry then helped her up but she didn't budge. She just sat there, broken, unmoving.

"You'll regret it if you won't," Harry whispered, sympathetic. "Come on, let's go" He then held out his arm for support but she pulled away. Hermione looked up at him. "I can't do this." She whispered. "I'm not ready to let him go. It's too soon." Hermione covered her face with her hands and sobbed loudly for the first time since it happened. The weight of it all suddenly crashed down on her, making her unable to do what was needed of her. She could feel her heart breaking, painfully. She felt robbed of everything.

Harry, Ron, Lavender, Parvati, Ginny and many others stood up and approached the casket holding their white roses. Hermione looked up at the sky, tiny drops of rain pelted down her face. "So this is how it's supposed to be, huh?" she thought, questioning the heavens. She felt another tear slid down her face. "In order for you not to suffer anymore, I have to be alone." She slowly looked at the casket, Parvati and Lavender placed their roses inside and went back to their respective seats.

The rain started to pour heavily, but Hermione didn't bother covering herself up. By that time, everyone except Hermione approached the casket. The service was over.

A guy who was carrying the casket earlier stood up and held the handle and started closing it… Hermione saw this and stood up almost immediately. "WAIT! NO! STOP!" Hermione shouted, panicking. "No! PLEASE!" Hermione rushed towards the casket, the guy stopped dead and slowly opened the coffin's top and stood aside. Everyone was staring at Hermione as she stood in front of the casket holding her rose.

She felt her heart breaking as she finally caught sight of him. He looked very peaceful. She was choking back tears; there were just a lot of things to say. "I will miss you everyday." She whispered. She felt her legs give way but Harry and Ron caught her. She covered her face with her hands again; she was now having a hard time breathing. Ron and Harry held Hermione tightly, trying to give her a little bit of strength. "Hermione, it's time. Let him go…" they whispered quietly.

"NO!" Hermione pleaded as Harry and Ron pulled her away from the coffin. "NO! LET ME GO!" Hermione shouted as she saw a regal-looking girl who looked vaguely familiar and the guy who was carrying the casket earlier started closing the lid. "NOOOOOOO! LET ME GO! NOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Hermione screamed as she sat up straight in bed. She was clutching her chest, her heart racing intensely. Hermione started to breathe in and out to calm herself. She touched her cheeks and felt it wet from tears… She was crying… "What was that?" she muttered to herself questioningly, she then got out of bed and opened her window for fresh air. "What was that?" she repeated to herself as she stared outside her window, it was still dark and the moon was gleaming. It's been 2 months since her last encounter with Malfoy and ever since that day, she started having weird dreams.

She took a deep breath and exhaled the air very slowly. She could still feel her heart pounding painfully fast. She glanced at her bedside table and saw her digital clock saying 4:00 a.m. She sighed. "It's only a dream," she said firmly to herself. "But what if it's not?"

She went to her bookshelf, which was near her desk and started rummaging it. "Where is it?" she asked as she searched book after book. " Transfiguration 3… Hogwarts, A History… Oh! Here it is!" she exclaimed as she stood up and sat down her bed. "Let's see if this stupid book can give me answers," Hermione then smoothed the surface of Unfogging the future and opened it into the Table of Contents. "Dreams… Dreams…. Dreams…" she muttered as she scanned the contents piece by piece. Finally, after skimming the index of the book, "There! Page 243 Unraveling dreams!" With shaky hands she turned the book to page 243 and was met with a list of weird symbols. She then tried recalling her dream.

"Blackish blue Casket…" She then searched the list, "white and lilac casket… Bluish marble casket… There! Black-blue casket!" she then read the page:

243
Black-blue Casket – this speaks of an enemy or a rival who is capable of change. Black represents the past and blue represents the future. The Casket represents a tragedy in love. Scholars interpret this as a fated encounter, one representing ones true love.

Hermione stopped reading. Should she believe this rubbish? She slowly looked back to the list and saw another category: 'Friends pulling you away from something important' She closed her eyes and tried to remember her dream. She then recalled a similar occurrence; "Harry and Ron pulled me away from the casket!" She read on…

Friends pulling you away from something important – they appear to be allies but they are walls for progress. Protectors. Be wary though for they may turn against you.

She paused, "Now this is ridiculous!" Hermione thought. "Harry and Ron will never turn against me." She shook her head in disgust. "This book is definitely rubbish!" She tossed the book near her desk but it landed on the floor instead, Unfogging the future still laid open for the whole world to see. Hermione plopped down her bed and stared at her ceiling. She sighed. Her dream felt so real that her heart was still hurting from the pain… "What the hell was that dream about?" she muttered quietly. She quickly glanced at her clock, her dream and everything was still swirling in her head like a foggy cloud. She stayed in that position for a couple more minutes before drifting back to sleep…

What she didn't know, the page where her book laid open was the whole meaning of her dream… and it was true… it was real… and it was happening…

Draco woke up suddenly as he felt an unexplainable pain in his stomach… "Dammit!" He shouted in pain. Beads of sweat started falling down his face. He couldn't move. He felt his whole body numbing. He closed his eyes, hoping… praying that the pain would go away… He just has to fight it or else he couldn't go back to Hogwarts.

He clenched his hands, his nails cutting through his soft palms. The whole room started to spin. "Mum!" he moaned. He felt really sick, again. He then rolled in his bed. "Mum! Help me!" he called helplessly, "Mother!" he shouted once more. The pain started to get worse and even more torturous. "So this is it, then?" he thought as he gritted his teeth in pain. He tried to get up from his bed but fell down.

"Oww…" He moaned. And he started to roll on the floor. Tears he never knew he had burned his eyes. He was alone. Helpless. Pathetic. "I don't want to live," he suddenly said as he tried to crawl back to his bed. "Not like this…"

Then suddenly, when he rolled to his right, the unexplainable pain stopped. Draco stayed still in that position. He felt pitiful. "I can't go back to Hogwarts," he said quietly. "Potter, Granger and Weasley will make fun of me." Another unexpected tear fell down his face. He wiped his face angrily. "And I'm the only Malfoy other than my mum that cries!" He lay flat on his bed now… he stared at the big clock near his door… it was already five in the morning. The Hogwarts express would be leaving at 11. But the question is… would he go back?

"Hermione are you ready?" Her mother called out as Hermione locked Crookshanks cage.

"Yes, Mother! I'm ready!" She shouted as she carried the cage and her things. "I'm coming down!"

She then walked to the door, looked back and made one last glance to her room… She sighed. "Hogwarts… here I come…" she whispered happily as she picked Unfogging the future on the floor, snapped it shut before tossing it in her bed and leaving the room.

A/N: Okay, that's chapter 3. It may not be the best, but at least I updated. Sorry for all grammatical mistakes. I have no time to reread and edit this chapter. As usual, NO FLAMES and pease don't forget to leave a review.

edit: this fanfic was written way before book 5 was released so if things don't mesh with the original, just ignore it.

Thanks to the ff:
Crete, ~trix~, Inspiration, Rina, HermiGranger, Sandy, buttercup09, MydogBelle, akue, mushi!mushi!, fOxyness39, SpilledInk, dkissofa, MeriyA, sparkly-glossy-girl, CrimsonFirebolt, KriNgA... PLS. REVIEW!