Labyrinth of Life

Chapter 5: Dreams

By coeurnoir

A/N: G'day guys! Sorry it took so long to update! I went rock climbing with uni and got stuck with that many assignments when I got back that I was swamped! I'll have you know though that rock climbing is the best sport in the world! …Oh yeah, sorry bout the cliffhanger, that was kinda evil huh… I got told off for that one…!

The Great hall was crowded with excited students at the welcome feast. Everyone was telling everyone what he or she did in the loudest possible voice. Ron was stuffing his face with food while Harry tried to tell him about the visit to the Chudley Cannons that he won in a chocolate frog box. They both ignored Hermione who was sitting there quietly, barely touching her food.

Would life ever be the same again? She wondered. No more trips to the owlery almost every day with a letter for Connor, the boys had found new entertainments in life so she supposed the only time she would see them was when they needed help with Snape's potions essays. She looked around the Great Hall, familiarising herself with the new faces at Hogwarts this year. There weren't that many new first years. The numbers had steadily dropped since the return of Voldemort. Not many wizarding families were willing to let their kids out of their sights, let alone off to boarding school.

Hermione's eyes were caught when she saw Malfoy. He like her had barely touched his food. His expression was very guarded, merely listening to Crabbe and Goyle gasbag about something that no doubt wasn't in need of intelligence to understand. His eyes rose to meet hers, his steel grey eyes that gave away nothing of what he was thinking. She gave him a small smile, hoping that he would remember the way they seemed to get on during the holidays. She had begun to think that maybe he wasn't a bad sport after all, even though he abandoned her.

He didn't smile back. He just nodded, his expression unchanged, before looking back at the no doubt riveting conversation before him.

In what seemed like hours later, Dumbledore stood up dismissing the students and bade the prefects to escort them to their dormitories. The heads had been informed on the train where to go and what their password was. They had been told separately so Hermione still hadn't been told whom the Head Boy was, it was partly due to the fact that she holed herself up in a small cabin and didn't talk to anyone the whole trip too. It wasn't to be announced to the school who the Heads were until tomorrow so as to let them settle in a little more and learn their duties first.

Hermione dawdled to her dormitory. The door was hidden behind a portrait of an old wizard in blue robes that introduced himself as Alistair Watkins. Alistair was a famous astronomer and professor of Divination who had taught at Hogwarts hundreds of years ago.

" Good evening, I must assume that you are Miss Granger? It's a pleasure to meet you and I hope that you had a pleasant first evening back!" Granger just stared at him for a moment before remembering her manners and thanking him.

"Uh, Cobalt?" She stammered out. Alistair smiled and the portrait swung open.

The common room was beautiful. It was decorated in maroon and emerald, soft looking armchairs sitting in front of a fire. There was a kitchenette off to one side as well as another room with a table and chairs that Hermione assumed would be the study/ dining room. She wandered back into the sitting area and flopped down on the couch and sighed. Wherever the Head Boy was, she was glad he wasn't here right now; it would be great to get some peace and quiet.

But, to her luck, the portrait swung open again and in stepped the Head Boy.

Hermione looked into his grey eyes, the colour of clouds on a stormy day and sat up straighter.

"Hullo, didn't know you were going to be head boy!" Hermione greeted him, tension in her voice. She wasn't sure if he was going to even talk to her. She tensed up, expecting one of his scathing remarks that would cut her down like grass.

Malfoy looked at her expressionlessly again. She wasn't sure what was going on but it was weird. He was talking to her fine over the holidays. But then people could act differently when things were going on in their lives.

Draco looked at Hermione. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to say to her. In his mind it screamed out that it was her fault that his father's men had caught him, but at the same time he didn't feel right blaming her. He still shuddered thinking back to that night after he was caught, the day that ruined his life forever. But Hermione's face looked so innocent, so hopeful that he would talk to her, he felt soft thinking it and cursed himself for a dumb arse but he thought that she was a nice chick really.

Draco sighed eventually and lost the stony expression, "Hi Hermione, yeah I got Head Boy. Fancy putting up with me for a year?" he noticed her shoulders relax after he started to talk to her. Hermione looked up at him, a worried expression on her face.

"Are you okay, Draco? You never came to my uncle's house. I saw those men take you." She looked a little ashamed as she admitted to him that she had followed him against his orders. Draco's expression shuttered again.

"I'm fine. I got back here okay."

Hermione stood up then. Pleading tiredness and leaving to explore her bedroom.

Draco on the other hand, sat in front of the fireplace for a while. He had barely slept since he'd been caught. He hadn't been able to sleep ever since he had seen those evil red eyes, felt the fear in his heart when he approached him.

Draco stood abruptly walking up the stairs to his room next to Hermione's. He couldn't tell her what had happened. He could tell she felt scared still about what had happened. Upon entering the room with his name on a silver plaque, he found a richly furnished room, full of emerald green. His belongings had been unpacked by the house elves, there was a little fire burning in a small fireplace and a door that lead off the side of his room appeared to head into a bathroom. He supposed that the door on the other side led into Hermione's room. He didn't mind sharing it; he didn't think she'd be the kind to hog it all morning.

He flopped down on the bed, cringing as he stretched his almost healed scars on his back that were mingled with fresh ones, compliments of Lucius Malfoy. As he sat there contemplating his position in life he supposed he could be glad for one thing, his father had called off the marriage to Pansy, most probably because Draco had told his father that he would kill himself before going through one day married to that whore. He could feel a twinge of a burning sensation in his forearm, but when it didn't get worse he ignored it, he was good at ignoring pain. Almost too good.

Draco relaxed for the first time since Diagon Alley, knowing that his father couldn't get to him here. He closed his eyes and welcomed sleep with open arms.

Screams woke Draco in the night, a girl was calling out a name, he didn't know what. He ran out of his room and into Hermione's, finding her thrashing around on the bed. There were tears in her eyes and she was calling out a name. He remembered that name, she had told him about her brother at the Leaky Cauldron.

"Hermione!" He called put to her as she thrashed in her sleep. He shook her shoulder, she still wouldn't wake up, she was too deep in the dream. If she didn't stop thrashing though she was going to hurt herself, or him!

He jumped on the bed and pinned her down, yelling her name loud. Her thrashing stopped suddenly and she woke with a start.

It was dark, Hermione woke with a start and didn't know what was going on but there was someone pinning her down, and it was a guy. Without thinking she brought her knee up, hard. The figure grunted in pain and rolled off her onto the floor. He rolled into a patch of moonlight and she saw who it was.

"Draco! What in Merlin's name are you doing in my room? And even more, what were you doing on top of me!" She had her wand pointed at him, her voice shaking with shock.

"You were having a bad dream!" he managed to grunt out, "I couldn't wake you up, so I had to stop you thrashing around before you hurt yourself!"

Hermione was shocked. The details of her dream came back to her like an avalanche, her brother had been there, then he had died, and it was her fault.

She rushed over and pulled Draco onto the bed, apologising profusely. Draco shushed her. "Are you okay? You sounded pretty stressed out in your dream there; I couldn't even wake you up! Do you get them often?" Hermione drew her knees to her chin, sitting on the bed. Draco took a seat next to her, gingerly putting an arm around her.

"Almost every night. The only time I haven't is when we were in Diagon Alley. I keep dreaming about Connor, like there was someway I could've stopped it. If I'd been there, or if he'd not gone, or- " Draco put his hand over her mouth. "There was nothing that you could've done. It wasn't your fault. And I bet if he heard you talking like that he would never let you hear the end of it." he held her tight as her lips trembled. "Now how about you try and get some sleep? You look like you could use some." It was true; she looked like she'd lost a lot of weight, besides the bags under her eyes gave evidence enough that she hadn't been sleeping. He couldn't believe golden boy and weasel hadn't picked up on it.

Her eyes looked like a frightened rabbits at the idea of going back to sleep. So Draco lay down next to her and held her, she snuggled down under the blankets while Draco lay a couple of layers up under one of the top blankets, conscious of the fact that he was only in his boxers and her in a pair of short shorts and singlet. They lay there, Draco quickly going back to sleep, careful though not to think about the girl that lay next to him that much.

It took Hermione a little over half an hour to get back to sleep, but the feeling of Draco next to her helped, knowing that she wasn't alone, and it wasn't her fault.

A/N: okay guys! What did you think? C'mon with those reviews:P