A/N: Hello everyone! Especially to my new readers. There seem to be quite a few of you this week. So welcome, and enjoy. Had a good week? Mine was... interesting enough. Lots of work to do.

Did you all see DH2? I loved it! Let me know.

Thank you as always to my reviewers: Jade2099, HP0247, semantics, weirdgiraffe, Divin L'eau, pardonnez, xenaz3 and Alexybath.

Chapter 33: The Dead Don't Sleep

Hermione:

Things just progressively got worse.

It came to a point where Draco could not sit still without looking over his shoulder. He was frazzled and I was calm. Well, calm on the exterior for Draco's sake. On the inside, I was freaked the hell out. There wasn't a moment that passed where I wasn't completely consumed with the idea that my family was in danger.

In the first few months that this whole "stalking" ordeal had commenced, Draco and I couldn't figure out what the sick son of a bitch wanted. Neither could the auror department or Harry for that matter. At first, it had seemed that it was just a sick, perverted Peeping Tom that wanted to give us a rise. We were, after all, high profile people. Maybe he just enjoyed that kind of thing.

For after all, no matter how much damage he inflicted to the people around us, to our guards and to our defences, he hadn't ever harmed us. And the harm that he had inflicted had only been to show us that he could get past anything we put up against him.

He was invincible and we were flailing.

Harry thought whoever it was behind these acts enjoyed the feeling of power he had over us, and that it was important we not aggravate him or push him too far. Not that this advice mattered anyways. Nothing we did ever hindered him from his goals. Whether that was taking inappropriate pictures of me, or leaving us messages on our walls.

Then, things began to slowly change.

It started with the disappearance of the head guard who was in charge of the patrolling schedules. The man had been working at the ministry for 35 years. He was reliable, he was old, and he was more than trustworthy. You honestly couldn't meet a sweeter man.

One day, he just stopped coming to work. Things without him were difficult. The aurors were a bunch of freaking sheep. They couldn't organize themselves. They had issues coming up with new patrolling schedules. All in all, without the old man, we were bumbling about, attempting to scramble the pieces. I had stopped caring. So what? It'd just be less of a challenge for the pervert to get into our house. Great big fucking deal.

That was, of course, until we were mailed a box dripping blood. When Draco opened the box, we had found the head of the poor old guard severed brutally and presented on a silk cloth.

I had cried for hours.

The next day the message written on our wall was just as shocking.

You're Next.

Harry took it upon himself to move us into his own house and make Ginny the secret keeper. He felt it was safer that way. He would not allow someone to rampage into his friends' lives. He wouldn't deign to lose another friend. Not after all he had been through.

It was good for us. There were no more messages to be woken up to, there were no more pictures taken. Draco felt relaxed. I felt a little calm creep into my mind. We had had to sacrifice our lives to get a little peace. We couldn't leave No. 12 Grimmauld place. Not for the spell to be effective. So as it was, Draco couldn't go to work and I couldn't get out of this house. At least I could spend time with our son.

But, all of this didn't mean we didn't get disgusting mail delivered to us.

Disembowelled pigs, human fingers, vials of shimmering blood, curses of all kinds – you name it. But, at the very least, we were safe for the time being.

Harry and Draco worked through everyone who could possibly hold such a grudge against us. It was an all consuming task. They talked of nothing else, they thought of nothing else. It was as if a cloud had settled over our lives. Though of course, when you're trapped in a house with a madman trying to kill you and your family, there isn't much else to think about.

But that cloud consumed me and I was grim. It was a hopeless existence. I had nothing else to turn to, no one else to confide in. Everyone, especially Draco, would tell me it'd all be alright. I just couldn't believe that. Someone with that much power would eventually find a way to destroy us.

I could feel it in my bones.

But still, I had to pretend. If not for myself then for Draco and Scorpius. They were counting on me to show them that everything was going to be alright. And I'm sure I was doing a shitty act, but it was going to have to be enough.

But it was goddamn infuriating to be told that my intuition was wrong over and over again. I could feel that this person was dangerous and that there was something we were missing. I knew they were looking at the issue from all the wrong angles. There was a hole in their logic and they weren't even willing to look at it! No. So long as they were told everything was going to be alright, it was fine and dandy.

No one was willing to accept the fact that something was dreadfully wrong here and it was something that really couldn't be fixed.

Not even Riddle managed to pass the test.

Since I knew I was protected at Grimmauld place, protected enough to deeply sleep, I felt safe enough to visit the dream world again. Fat lot of good that did to me.

/

Riddle had been completely surprised to see me. I could tell he was attempting to hide the fact, but I had caught his eyes widening and the expression on his face before he had managed to school his features to impassive once more.

"What are you doing here?" he asked carefully.

"I'm here to see you, what else would I be doing here?" I responded.

I was tired of people treating me like I was going to explode any second. Granted, it was true that I was going to explode at any second, but they didn't have to acknowledge it every second of the day! Jesus! Treat me like a normal person, goddamnit! I had hoped Riddle would be the one to break the pattern, but so far I was extremely disappointed.

"Is it particularly...safe?"

He seemed uncertain of his words, or maybe he had picked up on my discontented reaction to his earlier question. Well. At least the man was perceptive. Can't say that about much of the male species. Then again, this man was a sociopath, after all.

"We finally decided to get a secret keeper," I supplied. "You'll understand if I don't tell you exactly where we're staying."

At this, he wrinkled his nose. "Who do you think I'll tell? I'm dead, for Merlin's sake!" I laughed, but he still seemed displeased I hadn't trusted him. Well, he'd have to get over it. It was a necessary security precaution, even if he was dead.

When he continued to stare at me expectantly, I sighed and sat down in front of the door to the astronomy tower. "How've you been, anyways?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Oh, you know, chilling like dead people do."

My first reaction was astounded shock, though perhaps not to a deathly degree. Just when I thought absolutely nothing could faze me, Riddle came along ad said some... very bad slang. My next reaction was to laugh like a hyena. I laughed until there was a stitch in my side and I could barely breathe, and still showed no sign of stopping. It felt good after all of these days to finally laugh.

The conditions at home didn't allow for much laughter these days.

"What is wrong with you, Grange- Malfoy, I mean?" he finally snapped. "Is it funny to you that I'm perpetually cold? I tell you it's not a pleasant experience."

That really through me for a bender. "I thought you were, um..."

"Yes?" he said, after a moment, tapping his foot expectantly.

"Oh. Well, I thought you were using bad slang to make me laugh... you know, because I hadn't laughed in months and such," I said very fast because I knew he wouldn't rest until I'd told him the inner workings of my crazy mind. Riddle's face actually softened and I blushed. I, a mother and a wife, actually found it in myself to blush after all I've seen. "Anyways, I'm rather worried."

That's right. In times of awkward conversation, quickly change the subject and hope that the other person doesn't know what you're doing. And even if they do, who gives a damn?

I gave him a moment to compose himself, turning to watch the Hogwarts grounds instead. It was a gloomy day, all shadows and shades of grey. The skies were overcast, so much so that they looked physically burdened. It was as if they were holding up all of my pent up worries and sorrows. I heard Riddle sigh behind me.

"Yes, it does look like it's going to rain..." he said, as if reading my thoughts. He was close. So close I could almost feel him breathe against my ear. "Perhaps we ought to take this conversation back into the castle?"

I shook my head, no. "I like it out here."

I didn't have to turn around to know he was rolling his eyes and pretending to strangle me. In fact, if I turned around now, I knew his arms would be mimicking wringing my neck just inches away from me. In the past, when I'd caught him taking part in such a childish act – a man nearly 90 years old being so childish! – it would really make me laugh.

But today, I didn't turn around. I suddenly wasn't in the mood to laugh.

"You know, it's going to be alright," Riddle finally said when I failed to produce a reaction. A violent flash of lightning forked through the sky followed by rumbling thunder. "It doesn't seem to be lasting, this dilemma of yours."

And then it began to rain in earnest.

"Do not tell me it's going to be alright!" I hissed. "You don't know the first thing!" He seemed taken aback at my outburst. "You aren't there, Riddle. You don't have a spouse and a CHILD to take care of, so don't you tell me it's going to be alright when they can die any day now!" I shouted right at his face.

He composed himself and addressed me like I was a crazy person. Which, in his opinion, I probably was. And now I don't even blame him. I was almost hysterical, snapped to the point of irreparable brokenness.

The stress and strain of forcing myself to remain calm, or at least hold up a strong exterior had finally gotten to me. For months I had held myself together for my family, for my friends so that they could worry and frantically exclaim – it had all finally caught up with me. And poor Tom Riddle received the worst of it.

"Hermione," he began slowly. "I'm merely speaking of what information I was able to gather. It shows that you don't have to go through any of this for much longer –"

I cut him off. How dare he try to be a voice of reason when I'm clearly having a bitch fit?

"Much longer? Much longer! Rather than throwing useless bits of information at me, you could do something USEFUL for once! It takes a second to kill, Riddle! A second! I don't care how long this lasts. I don't fucking care what you have to say!"

Riddle honestly looked affronted. He stood there with that furious, evil expression on his face. It was his trademark look – The I'm Fucking Tom Riddle and "I'm murderous so I'm going to kill you now", kind of look.

Nothing new there.

What was new was his ability to calm himself and remain under cool control. And not just as a front so he could stab me in the back at a later time – actual calm consideration. If I had been in my right mind, I probably would have praised him. As it was, I just haughtily stared back at him, challenging him to make a move. We stood there with the rain pouring over us.

"Hermione –"

"No!" I shouted back at him, rather childishly.

Before I knew it I was pinned against a wet stone wall, trapped against Tom Riddle Jr. of all people. The life nearly went out of me and I finally began to sob against his shoulder for all I was worth. I couldn't stem the flow, not even if I wanted to. Not that I tried, or anything. It was a relief to cry. To finally let it all out.

"Let me go!" I shouted, but my voice was muffled from the din of the growing storm. "Let me go!"

But he didn't. He didn't let go, not even when I began to pound my fists against his chest. Instead, he trapped my wrists between us. The action was so familiar, so reminiscent of Draco that I only sobbed harder.

It was too much for me to handle.

I stopped fighting and let Riddle lead me inside. He led me down the staircase, the long winding famous Hogwarts staircases that are much more trouble than they're worth. We walked down corridor after corridor, through passageway after passageway. Soon, it all became a blur and I was no longer aware of it all, simply letting my body carry me where it would.

Eventually, I found myself sitting in front of a warm blazing fire with a blanket wrapped securely around me. I couldn't remember how I had gotten there or how long I had been sitting there in my stupor.

Looking around, I found Riddle had fallen asleep in his bed, his blankets loosely draped over his legs. He almost looked peaceful, almost angelic. I was tempted to push his hair back off of his forehead like I would for Scorpius when he suffered nightmares, but I refrained.

"You're leaving now?" he finally muttered, peaking at me from under one lid. I mutely nodded. He sighed. "Ah well, I had almost gotten the hang of dozing..."

"Sorry," I offered. "I forgot the dead don't sleep."

/

I woke up with the first rays of dawn and found myself tangled in a mess of blankets and limbs. Draco had somehow managed to trap me within the blankets along with his arms and legs throughout the course of the night. His head was tucked gently under mine and I could hear him breathing gently.

Trying desperately hard not to wake up, but failing miserably, I attempted to escape. Naturally, because he's such a light sleeper, Draco was startled awake. He stared around the room, clearly disoriented.

He mumbled something like "chocolate fucking zombies", but I wasn't too sure.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"Mm... five more minutes..." he muttered, moving into a more comfortable position against my neck. I was glad. Draco barely ever slept these days. So when five minutes turned to twenty and twenty into two hours, I allowed it, staying still beneath him so he could catch up on some much needed rest.

I had a lot to think about, anyways.

When Draco finally got out of bed to shower, I couldn't find the energy to do the same. So I continued to lay there, feeling absolutely dead inside. I was still tired and worn from all the emotional and psychological bombardment. It's really a lot to handle.

Finally, Scorpius bounced in like a little ray of sunshine to come get me. "Papa's looking for you," he informed me secretively under the blankets. "But if you want to sleep, I won't tell. I'll tell him you're taking a long, hot bubble bath."

He was so sweet and earnest that it made me melt. I picked him up and sat him on my lap, kissing his cheek and forehead. "That's okay, sweetheart. How about I make you some brunch, hm? We can have chocolate pancakes with lots and lots of syrup, okay?" He grinned and nodded. Kissing him again I sent him off.

"Tell papa I'm coming," I called after him.

His little head bobbed through the door and somehow I found the energy to get dressed, brush my teeth and tie my hair up into a bun so that I looked somewhat presentable. I found Ginny in the kitchen talking quietly with Draco. They both immediately stopped when I entered the room, but when they realized it was just me, they continued.

I could hear snippets of their conversation from where I was teaching Scorpius how to make pancake batter.

"Found another box, yes –"

"...Sending it down to the Department of Mysteries..."

"...Couldn't have waited, rounding up suspects –"

"Draco, sweetheart, would you mind terribly getting me some more milk from the pantry?" I loudly interrupted. I was tired of this. Wasn't it bad enough that we were stuck here with a mad psychopath trying to get in? Draco looked startled but both he and Ginny knew what my intentions were.

When he came back with the requested milk he held me gently from behind, massaging circles into my sides. "Is everything okay?" he asked gently.

"Yes," I replied, stiffly. "Perhaps you can get Scorpius ready for lunch? He has batter all over his hands." Draco nodded, recognizing the dismissal. Ginny stared worriedly at me, but I just ignored her. Couldn't they understand that I was just tired and needed to be left alone? I would be their strong picture of perfection in a little while. I just needed a little bit of time to recharge, that's all.

We had an awkward, silent lunch, made more awkward by the fact that the children were the only ones excitedly talking. For the most part, I stared out the window watching the rain pour down gently. It was almost soothing, the way it fell, the sound of it...

After the meal, I stood by the window not paying attention to anything but my thoughts, which were blank mostly. Somehow, miraculously, no one bothered me for a whole ten minutes. Draco came by eventually, of course, as was usual.

"Is something –"

"No, I'm just going out in the back garden for a little bit, alright?" He looked at me worriedly. "It's just stifling in here," I offered as an excuse. "I think I'll have a bad migraine later if I don't get some fresh air now."

He bought it. "Here, take a coat or something with you then..." he made to go get me one, but I was out the door before he had even moved.

Ah, the blessed rain. It poured against my overheated skin and with it went a little bit of my sanity. Only sane people think about their issues, after all, and I don't want to be sane anymore. I just want to be normal. So, in those few moments, I let the rain soak me to the bone and deluded myself into thinking that this is what I wanted. That this was something good. I almost thought I was feeling better.

Until I realized I was cold – freezing actually – and absolutely alone.

In just a second all feelings of liberation, of insanity, of feeling somewhat better all just disappeared into thin air. And in its place reality swept in. I was in a horrible situation and I really did not want to be alone. Who wants to be normal if you're going to be without someone like Draco and your own son Scorpius?

I felt alone, completely and totally void of all determination. Falling to my knees, I began to weep.

But then suddenly, I was warmer. I had a pair of arms wrapped around me and I was being carried away. I suppose Draco had been watching me from the window to make sure I didn't do something self destructive (or if someone did something destructive for me). And I was grateful for him, for his sweetness.

But I wasn't ready to leave the rain, yet.

"Stop, Draco. Stay here." He hesitated, but put me down nonetheless. He forced my arms through a coat and followed me when I lay down in the grass. We lay there holding hands.

And then suddenly a memory flashed into my head.

Laying in the rain, holding hands with Draco and drifting...

After all these years, after all these goddamn years, another vision had finally come true. And then I knew. I knew that it was my time to go. It was finally my time to die. I had somehow completed my purpose in life and it was time to go now.

Fate was a really cruel bitch. Couldn't it just hit me with a car or something? A quick death as opposed to some psychopath raging after me? I almost wanted to laugh. In fact, I was almost relieved. Finally the question had been answered. I would do what I had to do.

And if that meant fighting against a freak and dying – well so be it. And if that meant I had to pretend to stay strong for everyone, then I would do that too. I felt courage flow through my veins.

That's right, Hermione, I coached myself, there's the Gryffindor courage everyone's been waiting for! Now that you know what has to happen, just play along like fate wants you to.

For the first time in a long time, I truly smiled. Sending Draco in ahead of me, I checked on the wards protecting the garden. It was a relief to be free of worry. They were all safe. It was just me who would be sacrificed.

And that was a just cause.

I would never be sure what exactly fate had planned for me, but there is always a reason for everything, I realized. I would play my part bravely, for what else can you do in a situation like this? I'd fight to the very bitter end for my two loves. Resolved, I finally stood up from the wet ground and walked in smiling sadly at an overly worried Draco and a little chocolate haired boy who was dejected that he hadn't been allowed to play in the rain with mummy.

A/N: See you next week!

Unsigned Reviews:

Jade2099: I love twists, don't you?

Alexybath: I hope your nails have survived, or at least sufficiently regrown for this chapter. :D You'll just have to guess at who it is, though. I shan't ruin it for you.