The Objects of Desire

Dreams and Confessions

Hermione walked back to the Gryffindor common room with a wide smile on her face. She couldn’t believe how easy it had been to play Draco. She had never thought for a minute that she would be able to persuade him to participate in her potions project but he capitulated rather easily. She was rather disappointed really; she had planned a whole strategy of how to talk him into the project, playing out over the next couple of weeks with periods of flirting and rejection that would finally ware down his resolve. All it took was one small argument and he had relented to everything. This was not the loud, obnoxious, self-obsessed brat that she had despised for the past five years. This was not Draco Malfoy. There was something wrong with this situation, Malfoy had changed too much too soon, and she knew in her heart of hearts that it was all a show for her benefit. She would have been flattered if she thought that the reason behind his sudden change was the passion she saw in his eyes whenever she flirted with him, but she knew that was not the truth. No this all stemmed to the battle at The Ministry, this relationship was a means of him exacting his revenge, but against whom?

She had fought his father in the battle, could that be the reason? A muggle born daring to defend herself against the great Lucius Malfoy? Maybe, he might be attempting to lure her back to Malfoy Manor where she could be tortured and murdered for her part in his fathers’ predicament. No there was no way she would be stupid enough to accompany him back to that place even if she was surrounded by all of the order members, and he would know that. Besides Draco was a man who lived on his emotions, especially the negative ones. If he hated her enough to plan a whole seduction to ensnare her, he would not be able to treat her the way he was. The target had to be someone else, the same someone else who he had attacked on the train home from Hogwarts.

Hermione’s forehead wrinkled with thought, how could Draco hope that his seducing her would force his revenge on Harry? Hell Harry didn’t seem to care. When Ron had gone off on her, spouting all the reasons that this relationship was against all the laws of nature, Harry had kept out of it. Actually, he even seemed supportive; he had even been the one to persuade Ron that this was not the end of the world.

The broad smile she had when leaving the dungeons had changed to a frown, why didn’t Harry care about her dating Draco? If he had suddenly came back and said ‘hi, by the way I going out with Parkinson’ Hermione would have gone ballistic. Yet she was dating Draco Malfoy the bane of their existence. He was the son of Lucius the death eater who had participated in the death of his godfather. He was also the nephew of Bellatrix Lastrange the woman who had actually murdered Sirius. Harry should have been fuming, why was he so calm? She couldn’t believe he was actually seeing the big picture. It was too soon after Sirius’ death and Harry’s mood swings were legendary in The Gryffindor Common Room. Yet he hadn’t lost his temper since the day they went to Diagon Alley. One minute he had been all moody vowing never to speak to them again for their own safety then a short time later he had been all sweetness and light and treated her as if nothing had happened, even taking the Malfoy matter in stride. This was not the Harry Potter that she knew, why were both the boys acting so OOC? Hermione shook her head as she made her way to the portrait of The Fat Lady. The boys’ behavior was a complete mystery to Hermione but that was not a problem so much as a challenge. Solving Mysteries was one of her favorite pastimes.

***

Draco was walking along the path from Hogwarts to Hogsmead. The sky was clear, the sun was beating down, song birds sang in the trees as squirrels, and rabbits ran across the springy grass. He walked arm in arm with Hermione and he didn’t have care in the world. Hermione pulled him to a standstill, a short distance from the town and turned to look him in the eyes. Her brown orbs were full of love and affection as she reached up and kissed him passionately on the lips her hands entwining in his hair.

She pulled away from him slowly looking deep into his silver eyes, \"I have to go my love, they are coming for me.” Then she turned and ran into The Forbidden Forest.
\"Hermione,\" he called as he gave chase, his legs moving as fast as they could, but still he couldn’t seem to catch her. He ran on through the forest watching as the small figure in the blue T-shirt and jeans darted through the trees with all the agility of a dear, never once breaking stride as she traveled the paths of the forest. He tried to scream out a warning as a black clad figure filled the path in front of her drawing her to him, but his voice seemed lost to him.

He woke with a start tears running down his cheeks and sweat covering his brow. He climbed from the bed his heart beating ten to the dozen with anxiety. He paced back and forth across the common room. It was only six o’clock but he needed to see Hermione to know that she was all right.

\"What the hell’s got into me?\" he spat out under his breath, \"she’s only a stupid mud blood, why should I care if Death Eaters have her? It’s her own sodding fault for not staying in the muggle world where she belonged.\"

\"But she’s beautiful,\" argued a voice in his head.

\"For a mud blood,\" he qualified.

\"Parkinson and Bulstrode are pure bloods. Are you saying that you would rather be with them?\" Asked the voice in a sarcastic voice that reminded him of his housemaster.

\"She’s just a mud blood,\" continued Draco.

\"But she’s intelligent,\" continued the voice.

\"For a mud blood,\" he snapped this time.

\"Name the last pure blood witch to get better OWL grades,\" said the voice, it was annoying him how much his conscience reminded him of Snape.

\"How the hell am I supposed to know that?\" He bit out.

\"I bet Hermione knows,\" replied the voice smugly.

\"She\'s the Gryffindor know it all. Of course, she would know.\"

\"She certainly suckered you into that potions project.\"

\"How was I supposed to know the old fool would be there,\" snapped Draco, \"I was waiting for Snape to tear a strip off her ass for coming up with such a stupid project.\"

\"So now you’re caught between a rock and a hard place,\" replied the voice with a hint of humor at his predicament. \"You know of a plan to undermine one of The Dark Lords favorite weapons. If you keep it to yourself you will draw the wrath of The Dark Lord himself, but if you inform him the action taken against the girl will break your wizards bet and turn you into a squib.\"

\"I must tell Aunt Bella,\" he said in a defeated voice, \"being a squib has to be better than being dead.\"

\"You could always talk to the headmaster,\" replied the voice, \"he’s kept Potty alive for the past fifteen years.\"

Malfoy stopped and thought for a moment, \"I couldn’t turn my back on all we believe in.\"

\"Why? What has The Dark Lord ever done for you?\" Asked the voice. “He’s taken your father from you in a half baked attack on Potter. He must be really losing it to try and attack The Ministry with only a few numbers; either that or he just didn’t care about the losses.\"

\"But if I disobey him he will kill me.\"

\"What of the girl, The Dark Lord will kill her for daring to stand up to him.\"
\"What do I care, she’s a mud blood whore who needs to be eradicated from our world.\"

\"So why were we pacing around the common room waiting to see if she was all right?\"

\"Sod off,\" snapped Malfoy, \"get out of my fucking head.\"

The potions master smiled to himself as he broke the spell. Sometimes it was really useful to know Occlumency. He had needed to plant a seed of doubt in the young wizard’s head to stop him sending the owl to his Aunt Bella. The Dream and subsequent conversation the boy believed he had with his conscience had planted that seed.

There was no saying that Draco wouldn’t still decide that the will of The Dark Lord was too great to be ignored, but if that was the case, the boy was too far-gone to be reformed. All they had to do now was watch all communication in and out of Hogwarts. If he tried to inform his Aunt then the boy would have to be Obliviated and Miss Granger informed that no further attempts at turning the boy would be permitted. All that they had to do now was sit back and wait.

***

Harry sat down by the lake skimming stones across the water remembering the wonderful evening he had spent down here with Daphne only two nights before. Why did his life have to be so difficult? If only the weight of the world didn’t rest on his shoulders then he would tell her about the damn bet and let her decide if his magical ability was worth saving.

No, He just had to be the one who was destined to face Voldemort. His life was not his own and wouldn’t be as long as The Old Snake lived.

So, he had avoided her for the past two days, walking the other way when she entered a corridor, sitting as far away from her as possible in potions, and making sure he never looked into her eyes. One pained look in her beautiful blue eyes and he would be lost, he could never purposefully hurt her and seeing the fact that his actions were doing just that would cause him to reconsider. It was killing him trying to stay away from her but a little pain now as better than what they would go through when she found out.

He closed his eyes and cursed his sentimentality and lack of forethought; it should have been obvious that the same feelings that drew him back to this place would have the same effect on Daphne.

\"So, reliving the place of your triumph,\" she said laughing bitterly trying to hold back the tears. \"I bet it went down really well how you duped the Slytherin whore into believing that you really cared for her. Oh, I bet that they all had a good laugh at some jumped up bint like me thinking she was good enough for The Gryffindor Golden Boy.\"

\"Don’t,\" said Harry his eyes pleading with her.

\"Don’t what? I’ve all ready made a fool of myself, thrown my last bit of dignity on the ground for you to trample all over. I know I should have realized that I could never live up to your expectations, but pardon me for trying.”

Harry’s famous temper finally snapped, \"It’s not you it’s me. I’m scum, I’m pond life, and I don’t deserve your respect or your love. Believe me I’m no better than Malfoy, after all my years looking down on the git and my temper pulls me down to his level.\"

\"WHAT THE HELL DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH MALFOY?\" She shouted back at him on top of her voice.

\"This is about more than you and me,\" he answered dejectedly. “I have the weight of the Wizarding world resting on my shoulders.\"

\"You think I can’t handle that?\" She asked, \"Don’t you dare try to protect me. I know the risks involved with being with you and I believe that you happen to be worth it. You don’t seem to have the same concerns about Hermione; do you really believe she is so much stronger than I am? I’d like to see her try and stand up to the Death Eater wannabes in The Slytherin Common Room.”

Sod it! He didn’t care anymore. Maybe it was his temper that had gotten him into this, but he was sick of having to school his life around his destiny. \"That’s not it.\"

\"What then?\" She asked looking at him with pleading eyes.

\"If I tell you, you have to listen to everything I have to say before you make your decision, no interruptions, or storming off. Once you’ve listened to what I have to say my life is in your hands if you want me dead you will have your chance.\"

\"I’ll never want you dead,\" she replied.

\"Just swear your oath as a witch to listen.\"

\"I swear.\"

\"The year before I was born, Professor Dumbledore had a meeting with Professor Trelawney. He was interviewing for the new Deviation Professor. While they were meeting, she had one of only a handful of real prophecies that she has ever had. Basically it said that I am the only person who can kill Voldemort.\" Harry was rather impressed that she didn’t flinch at hearing his name. \"That prophecy has cost me nearly everybody who has ever loved me, my parents, and my godfather Sirius Black.\"

Harry smiled the girl had no reaction to the name Voldemort but nearly choked at hearing his godfather’s name. \"I know that most people think that he was the death eater and betrayed my parents to the dark lord, but he was set up by Peter Pettigrew.\"

\"I get messages from Voldemort through the scar on my head, to start with this was quite useful it gave us information about the things he was planning and we were able to stop some of his plots. The problem occurred when he found out about the link he lured me to The Ministry by planting the image that Sirius was being tortured there.\" Tears were running freely down his cheeks, \"the rest is history, the images were a trap to try and get me to reveal the contents of the prophecy to him. Some of my friends came to rescue me and the others who had gone ending in the death of Sirius and Draco’s father being captured.\"

He paused for a moment trying to regain his composure as tears flowed down his face and his breath became ragged. \"Last week before we came back to Hogwarts we went to Diagon Alley to get our school things. There were fifteen people on guard duty protecting us from possible death eater attack. Fifteen people risking their lives so I could spend the day shopping plus my friends who had become targets for associating with me. I’d had enough I finally snapped I told them that I was no longer their friend because my loving them would make them targets and I could risk losing someone else who I cared for.\" Harry looked up trough the curtain of tears to see them flowing just as freely down Daphne’s face.

\"I’d lost my temper once again and walked back to the Cauldron and straight into Malfoy who played my anger like a piano. By the time he was finished I had agreed to a bet, he would bed Hermione before I could bed a Slytherin of my choice.\"

He looked her in the eyes pleading with her to forgive him for what he was about to say, \"I picked you because I really liked you, you’re attractive and funny with a great personality. I never intended to win the bet because as long as it’s in place he can’t hurt Hermione physically. I just intended to have a good time with a really nice person and stop Draco from winning fifty Galleons off me every week.\"

\"I just didn’t realize how nice a person you were and how quickly I could fall for you,\" he said looking out towards the far shore of the lake. \"Once I realized how right we were together and how much this damn bet had the ability to hurt both of us, I wanted to tell you. I wanted to let you decide if you were going to forgive me if you were going to tell Hermione and take my magical ability, but as usual, my fate isn’t my own. It’s about more than me and you and Hermione. The whole of The Wizarding World needs me to destroy Voldemort.\"

\"Why have you told me all of this if it has the ability to destroy The Wizarding World?\" she asked her face straight as she tried to wipe the tears but more replaced them almost immediately.

He covered his eyes with his hands as he slumped further against the fallen tree trunk, \"I couldn’t sit here and listen to you debase yourself, I couldn’t sit and let you think that you were the lowlife here when all the time it was me.\"

An expansive smile filled her face, \"I mean that much to you that you would risk the destruction of our way of life just to stop me believing that you didn’t think I was good enough for you.\"

\"Yes, but more than that, I trust you enough that I knew that once I had told you, you would keep it to yourself even if you can never forgive me,\" he turned to face her looking deep into her tearstained eyes, \"I trust you Daphne Greengrass more than I trust any other person in the world.\"

She dropped down by his side and pulled him into a tight embrace, \"Stop I don’t need to hear any more,\" she said kissing him on the top of the head as she pulled him into a tight embrace.

They lay there for about an hour just holding each other happy at the fact that they were going to get a second chance. \"So,\" said Daphne coyly, \"Who’s winning?\"

\"I am,\" replied Harry drawing out the parchment.

\"So where are you taking me for dinner tomorrow?\" she asked with a wicked smile on her face, \"we had better make it somewhere expensive if Malfoy’s footing the bill.\"