Hey everyone! I finally managed to finish the second chapter! Thank you to everyone who alerted or favorited this story, it means so much to me! :D
Disclaimer: The only way I will ever be J.K Rowling is if a genie granted me three wishes. And even then I'm pretty sure I STILL wouldn't be J.K Rowling, or own Harry Potter.
Enjoy the chapter! 3
"Scream/'Til you feel it/Scream/'Til you believe it/Scream/And when it hurts you/Scream it out loud" Tokio Hotel, Scream
Chapter 2 – Nightmares and Starvation
"My dear Draco," Voldemort said silkily, his snake-like face twisted even more grotesquely than normal, "what did you think of our little show?"
"You mean, My Lord, when you took care of Charity Burbage?" Draco tried not to gulp too much, at the memory of Charity Burbage's body crumbling to the floor, bathed in bright green light.
"Yes. I was thinking that since you are in – how shall we put this? – in training, then perhaps you should be there more often when we take care of the undesirables."
Draco was now shaking violently, and trying to pretend that he wasn't at the same time. "O-of course My Lord, whatever you say."
"Good. We have one right now, in our holdings. A young woman, a muggle-born, who worked in the Muggle Relations at the Ministry. She is being brought up to the drawing room now. Come."
Feeling like he was going to hurl at any moment, Draco followed Voldemort out of the dining room and to the drawing room, where sure enough, a pretty young woman with long, curly blond hair, was lying on the floor, writhing in pain, from Bellatrix Lestrange's curse. Blood dripped down her face into her hair, and bruises ran up her neck.
Fenrir Greyback was kneeling on the floor beside her, running his finger over her throat. "…Smells so delicious," he was saying in a husky voice. "So luscious…When can I have a taste?"
Voldemort smiled coldly. "Soon, Fenrir, very soon. But first, let's allow young Draco to witness how we punish others for faking our true status. Continue on, Bellatrix, you are doing an excellent job."
Bellatrix smirked at him. "Only for you, My Lord."
And that was when Draco woke up. He was sweating and shivering and his entire body was quaking. He remembered that day all too well. Luckily he awoke before the worst had happened, but what he had witnessed…He had seen Fenrir Greyback rip the woman's throat out. He had heard her begging for Voldemort to kill her, to just get it over with. He had taunted her, and allowed Bellatrix to work the very worst curses on her, until finally he had given in.
The memory still made him feel like vomiting, and that was just what he did, once he reached the security of the bathroom. He puked until he could no longer puke, until there was nothing left in his stomach.
It wasn't until he sat back on his heels, gasping for breath, his mouth and throat burning with the taste of bile, that he glanced at the wall clock, and saw it was three in the morning, on August 31st. The next day he would be on the train, heading off to Hogwarts for his last year.
He got to his feet heavily, and managed to stumble over to the sink weakly to rinse out his mouth. Once he had finished, he walked back out and headed downstairs. He was much too awake now, how the hell was he supposed to go sleep after that dream? He was trying to wean himself off of the sleeping potion, so that he wouldn't end up like his mother, but whenever he went a night without taking it, the nightmares would return. And truth be told, all he really wanted was to forget about the pain, forget about the suffering, forget about the misery that he had witnessed day after day after day when Voldemort had used the Malfoy Manor as a headquarters for his twisted evil plots.
Once downstairs, he went to the kitchen, and from one of the top shelves extracted a bottle of firewhiskey. There was an entire cabinet of alcohol in the kitchen, and he was sure his mother wouldn't notice if he borrowed one or two for the night. And even if she did, in her current state, she'd probably applaud him. Then there was the fact that he was eighteen, and was of age, and had been for over a year.
He uncorked the bottle and took a long swig from it, before heading back up to his room.
And that's how he awoke the next morning, lying on the covers with a headache and an aching body, with three empty firewhiskey bottles next to him. On the upside, he had forgotten for a few hours just what he had meant to forget, and had managed to sleep without nightmares. On the downside, he felt like total shit.
With a groan, he managed to hoist himself off of the bed, brushed his teeth, showered, and dressed, before grabbing his trunk and heading downstairs to say goodbye to his mother.
He apparated just outside of Kings Cross station, in a crowd of people, and walked in with them, dragging his trunk all the way and ignoring the looks of raised eyebrows at the sight of the odd luggage.
He pushed through the barrier between platforms nine and ten, managed to find an empty compartment, and boarded the train, plopping down on the seat to wait until it was time to go to the prefect's compartment and meet the new head girl.
The burrow was loud and completely alive with people running around, but Hermione Granger was not one of them. She was in a shower so hot she could almost feel her skin beginning to blister. She had awoken with a jolt from a terrible nightmare – a memory in truth, the same memory that had haunted her since March. It seemed like every time she closed her eyes and had nothing to think about, nothing to occupy her trouble brain, she would relive the episode at Malfoy Manor, when Bellatrix Lestrange had tortured her, threatening to kill her, Harry, and Ron the entire time. It was enough to shake anyone up, but it was twice as bad for Hermione, because she had other terrible moments to go along with that particular memory. Seeing Fred dead, and Tonks and Lupin, and Colin Creevy…Thinking that Harry was dead…They haunted her, and often entwined in with the recurring nightmare of the horror show at Malfoy Manor.
At last, she stepped out of the shower, and wrapped the towel around her tiny body. As she did so, she caught a reflection of herself in the mirror. Malfoy had been right – she was very thin, almost too thin. But the truth was, she just wasn't able to eat. She had absolutely no appetite, and what little food she did put in her mouth she had to force herself to swallow. But the ironic thing was, he was the only one who seemed to have noticed. Harry and Ginny were too wrapped up with each other doing whatever it was they did (Hermione really didn't want to think about it) and Ron was, well, Ron. He would never win a prize in perception, and he was particularly stupid about her. As long as he was getting twice what he would normally have gotten when it came to food, he was happy and didn't ask questions.
There was a pounding on the door. "Hermione!" Ron called through the barrier. "Hurry up, Mum wants to make sure you eat something before we leave!"
"I'll be out in a moment," she yelled back at him.
She glanced at the clock on the wall as the sounds of Ron's footsteps on the hall floor faded away. It was eight-thirty; they had to be at Kings Cross station by a quarter to eleven, or else risk missing the train.
She finished drying off, and wandered back to Ginny's room where she got dressed and double-checked to make sure everything was packed and neat in her trunk. She took a moment to compose herself, before leaving the room and walking down the stairs to the kitchen, and into the tornado of chaos and commotion.
Mrs. Weasley was fussing over everyone, forcing toast ladled thickly with jam on anyone who came within five feet of her, and straightening out their clothes or using her fingers to comb through their hair. Harry in particular was getting this exact treatment, due to his hair never laying flat. Ginny was leaning against the counter, chewing on the remains of her toast and watching her mum coo over her boyfriend, an expression of both annoyance and amusement on her face.
"Mum!" Ginny finally intervened. "Do you remember a time when his hair ever stuck down?"
Mrs. Weasley took a step back from Harry, blushing a bit. "Of course dear, you're right."
Hermione had to smile at that. Mrs. Weasley was like the mother that Harry never had. She was pretty much everyone's second mother, once you got to know her.
Just as she was moving through the traffic jam in the kitchen, she felt someone grab her from behind, their arms squeezing her tightly.
"Ron!" she squealed, giggling a bit as he lifted her up and twirled her around. He kissed her on the cheek, directly under her ear. "Ron! There are people watching, for heaven's sakes!"
"I don't give a damn," Ron growled in her ear. "I won't be seeing you for – "
"For a whole week, easily," George called to them, smirking a bit. "That's like an eternity, isn't it?"
Ron glared at George. "You can laugh, but for us it is."
"Oh, of course, I forgot – young love."
"Hey, don't knock it 'til you've tried it," Harry told George from where he was now holding Ginny, both facing the rest of the room. Harry's chin was resting on Ginny's head and his arms were around her stomach, Ginny's hands covering his. They looked like the ultimate couple, so comfortable with each other, and so deeply in love.
George scowled. "I have tried it, thanks, and frankly, it didn't do a damn thing for me."
Ron tightened his arms around Hermione. "I'm not letting you go until you get on the train."
Percy rolled his eyes. "That'll make Mum's day. She'll be just thrilled with you two entangled in the backseat of Dad's new Range Rover; after all, it's every mother's dream, isn't it?"
George's eyebrows shot up to his hairline. "Did I just hear correctly? Did Percy Weasley just use sarcasm? For real?"
"Yes George. I, Percy Weasley, did in fact just use sarcasm for real."
"So what're you all doing here anyway?" Hermione broke in. "Aren't you guys supposed to be at work or something?"
"Didn't Mum tell you?" George said.
"Judging by the fact that I'm asking, I would say the possibility of that is negative."
"Okay, okay, don't get all Miss High-and-Mighty on me, Miss Granger. We're coming with you guys to the train station, to see you off. We all took the morning off from work. Plus we'll use any excuse to ride in the Range Rover."
"Thanks for caring so much," Ginny deadpanned, rolling her eyes.
"Hey, I'm coming with you because I love you so much," Harry insisted, brushing her long red hair back away from her eyes.
Ginny smiled and tilted her head back so that he could kiss her.
"Blech. Young love. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth. If you'll excuse me, I need to go and brush my teeth." George left the room, still grumbling.
Forty-five minutes later they were all sitting, rather comfortably, in the back of the Range Rover that Mr. Weasley had bought with his raise at the Ministry of Magic, when he got promoted to the head of the Muggle Communications department two weeks before. He had placed an extension charm on the car, just as he had on the old Ford Anglia (currently running wild in the forest at Hogwarts).
The car was loud with chatter, whispers, and giggles as they drove down the road, in the direction of London.
It was 10:30 by the time they arrived at Kings Cross station. They fought through the crowds, finally reaching the barrier between platforms nine and ten.
"All right," Mrs. Weasley began, "since Hermione and Ginny are the only ones who are going back to Hogwarts, they should go through the barrier first."
Hermione and Ginny nodded at each other before steering the carts that held their trunks (and a wickerwork basket for Hermione's cat, Crookshanks) towards the metal barrier and pushing through onto Platform 9 ¾.
Hermione inhaled the familiar smell of the steam and exhaust that came from the train. The exhaust fog was so thick that she had to squint just to make out the familiar faces of Luna Lovegood and Neville Longbottom.
"Hello Hermione, hello Ginny," Luna greeted them in that airy, dreamy voice she had.
"Hey," Neville smiled at them.
"Hi Neville, hi Luna," Hermione replied.
"So did you make head girl?" Luna asked as she unwrapped a large blue and red lollipop and stuck it in her mouth.
Hermione gaped at her. "How – how did you – ?"
Luna shrugged as she sucked some of the color off her lollipop. "Who else would make head girl after a year like last? It had to be you."
Hermione felt the corners of her mouth turn up into a grateful smile. "Thanks Luna."
"So you did?"
"Yeah, I made head girl."
"And Ron? Did he – ?"
"Did I what?" Ron interrupted them. "There you two are, we lost you in the fug. So what were you saying Luna?"
"I was just asking Hermione if you made head boy?"
"Nope, I'm not going back to Hogwarts this year, I'm just here to see Hermione and Ginny off."
"Oh, that's nice of you," Luna commented vaguely. "Hello Harry."
Hermione twisted around to see Harry join them, slipping his arms around Ginny again, rocking her a little from side to side.
"Hey Luna, hey Neville. How're you guys doing?"
"Oh, you know, as good as can be expected I suppose," Luna told him. "I stayed with Neville over the summer because I'm not really speaking to my father right now."
"Why not?" Hermione asked with a frown.
Fire seemed to light up Luna's round silvery eyes, and for the first time ever, a hint of something besides complacency and vagueness entered her voice: Rage. "Because he tried to turn you three in!"
"But it was to save your life," Ginny reasoned out.
"He should have known I'd rather die than have you Harry, Ron, and Hermione be killed. If you three had died, then all hope for the world would have been lost. Daddy should never have contacted the death eaters."
"All right Ginny, Hermione – oh, hello Luna, hello Neville." The rest of the Weasleys had joined them.
"Hello Mrs. Weasley, hello Mr. Weasley, hello Percy, hello George."
"Hey Luna," George said with a smile in her direction.
"Hey, we should probably go get on the train. Ginny, we'll save you a seat, okay?" Neville said as he tugged Luna away.
"Sure, thanks."
Mrs. Weasley rummaged through her purse. "Ginny, here's your sandwich…and here's yours Hermione."
"Thanks Mrs. Weasley," Hermione said as she took the plastic wrapped sandwich from Mrs. Weasley.
"Yeah, thanks Mum," Ginny agreed.
"You're very welcome dears." Mrs. Weasley smiled sweetly at both girls, just as the train whistle went off. She kissed both girls on the cheek and hugged them. "Now you're both coming back for the Christmas holidays, right?"
"Of course Mrs. Weasley," Hermione told her. "I don't think Mum and Dad will be talking to me yet."
"Well dear, if they are, then they are more than welcome to stay with us."
"Thanks Mrs. Weasley."
The whistle sounded again, and Mrs. Weasley began shepherding the two girls towards the train, the
others following them at top speed.
"Now, don't forget to write! We want to hear from you both at least once a week," Mr. Weasley reminded them.
"Ginny, Hermione, we'll see you both really soon," Harry promised before hugging Hermione as Ron embraced Ginny.
"Yeah, see you guys soon," Hermione said as Harry pulled away to kiss Ginny goodbye.
Ron in turn enfolded Hermione in his arms. He pressed his lips to hers briefly before resting his forehead against hers. "I love you, and I'll see you as soon as I can, okay?"
Hermione smiled. "I love you too. I miss you already."
The train whistled one more time, and Hermione and Ginny were forced to get on the train with their luggage. They waved as the train began to move. It slowly picked up momentum until it was going at full speed.
Hermione glanced at her watch. "I should head to the prefect's compartment. I might catch up with you and the others later though," she told Ginny, who nodded.
"Okay. If nothing else we'll see each other at the feast tonight."
"Yes, definitely."
Hermione dragged her trunk down the train's corridor to the prefect's compartment. With a deep breath, she slid the door back and stepped in. To her shock, someone had already arrived before her.
He had short blond hair that had once been sleek, but was now a bit messy; cool gray eyes; and a thin, pale face; and he wore the head boy's badge:
Draco Malfoy.
So did you guys like it? How did I do on their personalities? Let me know! PLEASE REVIEW! I really, really, REALLY want to know what everyone thinks of this story so far! I want to know that people are reading it and are enjoying it! And if you have any questions, I'll be more than happy to answer them...within reason of course ;)
midnightbynight 3