A Story of Change
folder
Harry Potter › Het - Male/Female › Draco/Hermione
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
5
Views:
2,788
Reviews:
10
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
Harry Potter › Het - Male/Female › Draco/Hermione
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
5
Views:
2,788
Reviews:
10
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Footprints
Chapter 3: Footprints
Written by: Lori
She woke to a cool breeze and autumn leaves rustling against her cheek. She felt disoriented and just a little queasy, but gathered her strength in spite of it and pulled herself to her feet. Had she fallen asleep out here?
It all came back to her like a bolt of lightning, jolting her to awareness. She had seen him. There was no way she could have imagined it. She pieced together all the details she could remember, from resting under her tree staring at the night sky right down to the cold look on his face just before it all went black, determined to make some sense of it all. Fresh footprints too large to be her own caught her eye. She followed them from the lake to where she awoke, then toward the castle until they disappeared into the thick grass. Could he have went inside? Was there something or someone in there that he came to find?
It simply didn't make sense! Why would he come back here at all? And he had been crying...no, balling...which wasn't entirely atypical for Malfoy, being the spineless little crybaby she knew him to be. But there had been something different about him tonight. He had seemed honestly griefstricken. What had happened in the last few months since his disappearance that would cause him such anguish? That would lead him back to Hogwarts of all places?
She kept a watchful eye, searching out his pale form as she made her way quickly toward the castle. If he was a death eater, which was near certain to be true after what he had done the year before, McGonagall needed to know of this right away. Of course it would be simply her word; there was absolutely no evidence aside from a few muddy boot prints, that he had ever stepped foot on the grounds. And it may not sound entirely believable that he ran across the field to cry by the lake, then after a good handwashing and a few moments of contemplation (in which she had sufficient time to call for backup), he had simply jumped in for a latenight swim...if he had been in the lake at all...
In fact, the closer she got to the entrance, the less likely it seemed that anyone would believe her. She had been rather overworked lately, and a bit out of sorts since term began. They would probably think she had either fallen asleep and had an elaborate nightmare or had gone completely barmy. She was beginning to think that might be the case, herself.
She paced outside the door, eyes still wandering the grounds for any sign of him, but he was gone without a trace. There was no possible way he could get inside the castle, not with all the wards McGonagall had put up before the term began, and so she decided with a reluctant sigh, that the best thing to do was wait until morning when her head was clear and her nerves weren't shot. She would request permission to head to Hogsmeade tomorrow evening, and hopefully someone there could confirm the sighting. The last thing she needed was to destroy her credibility by bursting into the headmistresses chambers with some nonsensical story, and no witnesses to back it up.
She looked down at her watch as she made her way to her dorms. Her eyes widened in shock as she realized curfew had passed more than an hour ago, and she still had two essays to finish and a pile of papers to grade. How long had she been asleep out there?
The pile of papers stared at her for well over an hour before she could gather enough wits to grade them. Thoughts of Malfoy plagued her mind. After Dumbledore's death he had simply vanished without a trace. Rumours circulated that he had went into hiding with his mother, yet others speculated that he was now part of Voldemorts inner circle. There was no sure way to tell. Harry was convinced he never would have killed Dumbledore, and Hermione was inclined to agree. Malfoy was many things; a bigot, a snob, a ruthless, manipulative pig...but a killer? If he had been, surely he would have done more than simply put her to sleep out there. He could've done anything to her, but he chose to leave her unharmed.
She only hoped that he had enough sense not to get too far into that death eater business. She may not have liked him much, but the idea of him, or any of her classmates for that matter, dying for a cause so meaningless caused her chest to constrict painfully. He was probably looking at a lengthy stint in Azkaban as it was.
If only she'd had a few moments with him before he knocked her out with that charm! Perhaps she could have gotten some sort of idea what he had gotten himself into. Her eyes became more unfocused with every passing minute, but she fought to stay awake just long enough to get the last foot of her essay completed.
Perhaps that's why he came here of all places, she pondered as her eyes became too heavy to fight off the need for sleep. Perhaps he wanted help, or...redemption.
~~~~~~~~~
A/N: Sorry if I beat anyone to adding the next chapter. I was just thinking how much it would suck to write all this and then have someone out there post before I could! This is a really awesome idea. I never have enough time to complete a story, but adding a chapter to this every now and then may quell my urge to write. I took the liberty of correcting some of the mistakes in past chapters that jumped out at me. Just spelling errors and that sort of thing. I'm not a beta by any means, and unfortunately my writing probably shows it. Feel free to edit my work as well. I'm sure it could use a few touch ups, but I did my best to proofread it before posting. Please review and let us know what you think!
Written by: Lori
She woke to a cool breeze and autumn leaves rustling against her cheek. She felt disoriented and just a little queasy, but gathered her strength in spite of it and pulled herself to her feet. Had she fallen asleep out here?
It all came back to her like a bolt of lightning, jolting her to awareness. She had seen him. There was no way she could have imagined it. She pieced together all the details she could remember, from resting under her tree staring at the night sky right down to the cold look on his face just before it all went black, determined to make some sense of it all. Fresh footprints too large to be her own caught her eye. She followed them from the lake to where she awoke, then toward the castle until they disappeared into the thick grass. Could he have went inside? Was there something or someone in there that he came to find?
It simply didn't make sense! Why would he come back here at all? And he had been crying...no, balling...which wasn't entirely atypical for Malfoy, being the spineless little crybaby she knew him to be. But there had been something different about him tonight. He had seemed honestly griefstricken. What had happened in the last few months since his disappearance that would cause him such anguish? That would lead him back to Hogwarts of all places?
She kept a watchful eye, searching out his pale form as she made her way quickly toward the castle. If he was a death eater, which was near certain to be true after what he had done the year before, McGonagall needed to know of this right away. Of course it would be simply her word; there was absolutely no evidence aside from a few muddy boot prints, that he had ever stepped foot on the grounds. And it may not sound entirely believable that he ran across the field to cry by the lake, then after a good handwashing and a few moments of contemplation (in which she had sufficient time to call for backup), he had simply jumped in for a latenight swim...if he had been in the lake at all...
In fact, the closer she got to the entrance, the less likely it seemed that anyone would believe her. She had been rather overworked lately, and a bit out of sorts since term began. They would probably think she had either fallen asleep and had an elaborate nightmare or had gone completely barmy. She was beginning to think that might be the case, herself.
She paced outside the door, eyes still wandering the grounds for any sign of him, but he was gone without a trace. There was no possible way he could get inside the castle, not with all the wards McGonagall had put up before the term began, and so she decided with a reluctant sigh, that the best thing to do was wait until morning when her head was clear and her nerves weren't shot. She would request permission to head to Hogsmeade tomorrow evening, and hopefully someone there could confirm the sighting. The last thing she needed was to destroy her credibility by bursting into the headmistresses chambers with some nonsensical story, and no witnesses to back it up.
She looked down at her watch as she made her way to her dorms. Her eyes widened in shock as she realized curfew had passed more than an hour ago, and she still had two essays to finish and a pile of papers to grade. How long had she been asleep out there?
The pile of papers stared at her for well over an hour before she could gather enough wits to grade them. Thoughts of Malfoy plagued her mind. After Dumbledore's death he had simply vanished without a trace. Rumours circulated that he had went into hiding with his mother, yet others speculated that he was now part of Voldemorts inner circle. There was no sure way to tell. Harry was convinced he never would have killed Dumbledore, and Hermione was inclined to agree. Malfoy was many things; a bigot, a snob, a ruthless, manipulative pig...but a killer? If he had been, surely he would have done more than simply put her to sleep out there. He could've done anything to her, but he chose to leave her unharmed.
She only hoped that he had enough sense not to get too far into that death eater business. She may not have liked him much, but the idea of him, or any of her classmates for that matter, dying for a cause so meaningless caused her chest to constrict painfully. He was probably looking at a lengthy stint in Azkaban as it was.
If only she'd had a few moments with him before he knocked her out with that charm! Perhaps she could have gotten some sort of idea what he had gotten himself into. Her eyes became more unfocused with every passing minute, but she fought to stay awake just long enough to get the last foot of her essay completed.
Perhaps that's why he came here of all places, she pondered as her eyes became too heavy to fight off the need for sleep. Perhaps he wanted help, or...redemption.
~~~~~~~~~
A/N: Sorry if I beat anyone to adding the next chapter. I was just thinking how much it would suck to write all this and then have someone out there post before I could! This is a really awesome idea. I never have enough time to complete a story, but adding a chapter to this every now and then may quell my urge to write. I took the liberty of correcting some of the mistakes in past chapters that jumped out at me. Just spelling errors and that sort of thing. I'm not a beta by any means, and unfortunately my writing probably shows it. Feel free to edit my work as well. I'm sure it could use a few touch ups, but I did my best to proofread it before posting. Please review and let us know what you think!