After Hermione left, Draco drifted into fitful dreams.
He could still feel the flames of his curse licking at his limbs. He felt as though he were being pursued further and further down into the depths of a burning building. Smoke billowed around him, fire roared in his ears.
Against his will he was returned to the castle on that fateful day of battle. He wanted to run and hide. He wanted to scream, or cry. He wanted to do anything that had been his own choice. He wanted to save his mother. He wanted to damn his father. He wanted to see her...
The fire burning around him began to take shape, and unbidden he was in the Room of Requirement once more. Flames began to chase him like living lava, out to touch him and scorch his very soul. He trembled and ran, but he knew he could not outrun this fate. All his plotting, scheming, planning, and dreaming had led him to the worst possible ending. But a hand reached out to him.
He knew that the hand should belong to Potter. That was how he escaped, Saint Potter. But that wasn't who lay before him. The hand was petite, fingernails kept purposely short but shapely, cuticles cracked from all the paper in all the books. He grasped her hand, and suddenly everything was okay. The world was still burning, but he knew he was safe.
"Draco, just hold on. I'll figure it out." Hermione told him.
"I know you will, Granger. You wouldn't ever let a problem outwit you." He replied. He marvelled at how soft her hand was.
"You're in danger Draco Malfoy."
"It's not new, Granger. I've been in danger my whole life..." He replied, his normal snark beginning to seep back in.
"Someone wants you dead." Hermione asked.
Draco began to look around, taking in his new dream surroundings. They were sitting out by the Black Lake, one of his favorite spots to toil away the time. At least, it had been when he felt free. He couldn't remember the last time he had been able to sit out there and relax.
"Thank you for the update, Dream Granger. That was pretty clear when I started burning to death..." He turned to look at her, and her eyes were watery as though she were going to cry. He flinched because the only time he'd ever seen her tear up was when she was angry enough to hit him.
"If I'm helping you, what if they come after me?"
It wasn't what he thought she would say, and it cemented her as a dream. His own selfish dreams, more concerned with self-preservation than others. She would never be so selfish. She had never been selfish.
He could feel the flames again, but this time it was the flames of anger threatening to overwhelm him. She wouldn't deserve to suffer anymore because of him. Hadn't she suffered enough at his hands? At the hands of his family? From childhood bullying, to the days where he couldn't admit his own feelings, and then when he would have died if anyone had known the truth- she had suffered more than enough on account of Draco Malfoy.
He stood up and paced nervously.
"What do I do?"
But she was gone, and he was alone. He turned around, looking for any last signs of her, then did the only thing that seemed to make any sense. He jumped into the lake.
His eyes burst open, and he began to sputter and scream.
Author's Note: Thank you guys so much for the feedback. Your encouragement is so valuable. I am sorry for the short chapter. I have been plotting out where I want this to go next, but I wanted to be able to put something down before too long had passed. We will return to Hermione in the next chapter and begin to tease out this mystery a bit!
Thank you! Next update will be soon!