Draco squinted at the darkness surrounding, trying to pierce the blackness for some shape or form to tell him he wasn’t blind. The full moon appeared briefly from behind ominous clouds, bathing the room around him in pale unearthly light. He looked around at its rickety contents, his heart plummeting sickeningly. They were all too familiar. He fought down the nauseating terror threatening to engulf him. This was where-
Suddenly the door was flung open, bouncing off the wall so hard that the rotting hinges broke, sending it crashing to the floor. A tall figure stood in the doorway, his eyes burning brightly with a vicious fervour. They were visible even in the sickly moonlight.
Draco stumbled backwards, despite the panic that tried to keep him still, like a rabbit caught in a cars headlights. He tripped over something on the floor and fell to the ground. He froze as he heard the figure laugh, in a voice so cold it turned his spine to ice. Mesmerised by terror, he could only watch as the figure drew a wand and pointed it at him.
“CRUCIO!”
“Aaaaghh!” Draco sat up with a throat-ripping scream. Drawing deep lungfuls of the stuffy air, he looked around him. His heart was thumping so hard he was sure it would come out any moment. He was in a small room, lying on the floor. The breeze gently lifted the curtains, revealing the sickle moon, too weak to provide any real light.
“What the bloody hell was that?!” came a voice, sounding drowsy but worried. Draco turned. The redhead- Ron, he thought- was staring at him like he had grown an extra arm.
Potter was sitting up from his camper bed, wand grasped firmly in his hand. They both looked at him.
“I… I had a…a… dream,” he finished finally. Had it been a dream? It had felt so real.
“You were screaming because you had a nightmare?” said Ron sceptically, rolling his eyes at Potter. But Potter was looking at him thoughtfully.
The door banged open suddenly. Draco felt the familiar fear rise up in him. It had been a dream! It wasn’t real! But the people who entered were nearly as bad.
“What happened? We heard screaming,” asked Fred, looking around. George was standing right behind him, peering over his shoulder.
“Nothing. Malfoy just had a nightmare,” said Ron in a disgusted tone of voice. Fred rolled his eyes theatrically and turned to leave. He stopped suddenly and stared at Draco fixedly. Draco glanced at where Fred was looking, and saw only the weird marking on his right arm.
“What?” he asked, a little self-consciously. Fred opened his mouth a few times but nothing came out. Draco wondered if they were making fun of him again, until he saw the real fear in Fred’s eyes. Confused, he looked at his arm again. The faint moonlight made his pale skin seem to glow, and the mark stood out even more clearly than normal. In fact, he thought as he looked more closely, it was much darker and clearer than he’d ever seen before. He glanced back up, and saw Potter whispering something to the twins. He strained his ears, but could hear nothing. The twins nodded and left the room. Draco could here them further down the hall, intercepting another curious visitor.
“Move along, move along! Nothing to see, just a poor baby can’t sleep!”
Draco rolled over on the hard wooden floor. He could feel every grain in the wood. It was typical that while Potter and Ron got proper beds, he had to sleep in a sleeping bag on the floor. His eyelids began to droop, but he fought sleep, dreading another nightmare if such it was. Could you feel pain in dreams? he wondered. Because he had certainly felt pain when the spell hit him. He could vividly remember the agony coursing through him, making him oblivious to everything else. It had been the same last night, several times over. His eyes snapped right open suddenly. He’d just remembered what the pain was like- those shooting pains he’d gotten when he’d first met Hermione. He considered the possibilities of this until he was so exhausted he dropped off to sleep in mid-thought. His nightly terrors once again paid a visit.
* * *
Hermione was finishing her breakfast when Harry and Ron slouched into the kitchen. They both looked utterly exhausted. There were huge black circles around their eyes.
“What’s wrong with you two?” she asked curiously. Harry’s eyes drifted shut, until he forced them open and focused on her blearily.
“Malfoy. He-” Ron began with a growl, but the rest of his sentence was cut off by an enormous, jaw cracking yawn. Hermione looked after them with some amusement as they shuffled off to get their breakfast.
She turned her head as a loud thumping indicated the coming of yet another late sleeper. But as Malfoy entered, she realised that whatever it was he had been doing, it definitely wasn’t sleeping. His blonde hair was messy and tousled, and his face was even paler than usual, emphasising the bruises that were beginning to show from last night. His normally piercing grey eyes were misted over with tiredness, with great dark circles beneath them. Hermione thought, a little unkindly, that he looked a bit like a panda. He hauled out a chair from under the table and sat down.
“Are you okay?” she asked, a little concerned about his miserable appearance. The question seemed to startle him. His eye kept darting about as if he expected an attack any minute and knew he could do nothing about it.
“What? Oh, yeah. I mean no. I don’t know.” He slumped down on the table and cradled his head in his arms. He looked suddenly so vulnerable and helpless that she felt a great urge to help and protect him. Suddenly she realised what she was thinking. Help Malfoy?! The one who’d done his very best to make her years at Hogwarts a misery? She’d sooner help an Acromantula. It was her weakness for pitiful cases acting up again- last time it had seen the foundation of S.P.E.W.
At that moment Harry and Ron staggered over to the table carrying plates heaped with food. Malfoy had lifted his head and was staring hungrily at the loaded plates. Ron sat down and instantly attacked his food ravenously, cramming it into his mouth. Hermione turned her face away distastefully. Even after six years she still hadn’t gotten used to this particular habit.
“There’s food over there if you want,” she told Malfoy. He nodded and pulling himself out of the chair, went over to prepare some food. Hermione eyed Harry and Ron critically.
“The pair of you look absolutely wrecked,” she said. Ron threw her a look that clearly meant ‘you don’t say’. “What happened last night?”
“Well, someone had nightmares about twenty times during the night,” Ron said in a loud voice that was obviously meant to carry, “and woke up screaming every time.” Malfoy’s back stiffened suddenly, and as he turned to come back to the table his hands were gripping his bowl of porridge so tightly it looked as if it would smash any second. Hermione looked puzzled.
“That’s strange,” she said, frowning, “because nothing like that happened in my house.”
“Yes it did,” Malfoy said in a rasping, croaking voice. “The same thing. I don’t think any one heard.” His voice cracked a bit at the end. Hermione could see that he was really distressed and even frightened. She looked at him curiously. What kind of dream could have such a powerful effect on him? An idea struck her suddenly and she exchanged glances with Harry, who had apparently come to the same conclusion.
“Malfoy,” Harry said slowly. “Do these dreams feel real? Like they’re actually happening?” Malfoy turned his large frightened eyes to Harry eagerly.
“Yes, exactly! And it’s always the same. Same place, same time, same… person.” He shuddered as he finished as if even the memory terrified and disturbed him.
“Was this person tall? With a high, cold voice?” asked Harry unsteadily. Hermione gasped as she realised what he was getting at. Malfoy gaped at Harry.
“How did you know? And his eyes are really, I dunno, bright and- and mad. He said something, a spell I think. Whatever it was, it hurt. A lot.”
“Maybe try to get some sleep now, Malfoy. It might only happen at night,” said Harry firmly. Malfoy nodded in a distracted sort of way and headed upstairs. The second he was gone Harry whirled round to Ron and Hermione.
“You know who he’s talking about, don’t you,” Harry said flatly. It was more of a statement than a question, but Hermione and Ron nodded anyway. “Voldemort tortured Malfoy, who presumably apparated. Hermione found him, he tried to wipe her memory, and it backfired.”
“Makes sense,” Ron grunted. “You-Know-Who wouldn’t be too pleased with a Death Eater who wouldn’t kill Dumbledore, and Malfoy was always a coward.”
“Why didn’t Malfoy just kill me?” Hermione said thoughtfully. “It would have been a lot easier for him.” Harry and Ron shrugged.
“Didn’t have the guts?” Ron suggested. Hermione shook her head, dissatisfied.
“Just because you can kill somebody doesn’t make you brave,” she said quietly. Ron immediately went red and started to protest that that wasn’t what he meant, when Harry, who had been silent for a few moments, suddenly spoke.
“This is going to mess up all our plans,” he said dully. Hermione and Ron turned to him in surprise. He faced them, a despairing look in his eyes.
“We planned to go after Bill and Fleur’s wedding, which is in two weeks. Then we said we’d wait until after my birthday so I can legally do magic outside school. Now we’re going to have to wait until Malfoy recovers.” He raised his hands as they both started speaking at once. “I know that’s what’s planned: we’re going to have to babysit Malfoy because he’s ‘potentially dangerous’. Ron’ dad told me last night. Apparently it’s an important mission for the Order which we should give our full attention to,” Harry spat the words bitterly, thumping his fist on the table in frustration. “It’s so we don’t go to Godric’s Hollow like we planned. The Order think we’re not able to take on Voldemort. But if I don’t, who will? I’ve faced him five times and I’m still living! What about the prophecy? I’m the only one who can do it, and all they do is delay me!” His voice rose to a furious shout. He threw back his chair and began striding angrily up and down the cluttered kitchen. Ron and Hermione exchanged worried glances.
“Harry, all everyone wants is to protect you,” Hermione said in a small voice. He scowled and shook his head.
“Look, mate, I know it’s annoying but we’ll only have to wait a few extra days, Malfoy will be back to his usual nasty self in a few weeks,” said Ron, in a tone that was clearly meant to calm him down. Before Harry could erupt, Hermione forestalled him.
“Why don’t we say we’ll wait for just three weeks after your birthday, and if Malfoy’s not himself by then, we’ll leave no matter what.” Harry nodded grudgingly. Hermione heaved a tiny sigh of relief. When Harry was angry, it could be very difficult to calm him down.
At that moment, Ginny, ever the late riser, entered the room. The embarrassment between herself and Harry was almost tangible. Hermione quickly leapt in and volunteered to go for a walk with Ginny. Hopefully it would help to clear her muddled mind.
A/N:Sorry for the long delay with this chapter, but I regret to announce that the next one won’t be up until February! I have excruciatingly important exams this year and my mocks are this month. I’ll try to respond to reviews but I can’t update.