Haunted

Long lost words whisper slowly to me

*********************************


Draco woke a few hours later and listened to the house around him. It was silent; the only noise was the racket the crickets were making in the garden below. Draco dragged himself onto his chair, adjusted himself and, gripping his wand/steering device, glided to the window. He couldn’t see the lake from here, trees hid it from view, but he could sense it. The dark waters which could take life and hold it, that which could offer peace and fear. He could see Granger floating close to the bottom, still, dead. But she wasn’t dead, she was alive in the room across from him. A small part of his mind reminded himself that it was because of him she was alive but he shut it down because another part warred that he had gone against his father, he had let him down for saving the Mudblood.

No, shut up! I don’t take orders from him, he’s not my father, he’s a sick, twisted, evil man licking the boots of a demented leader. He’s disgusting, spineless you don’t owe your loyalty to such as him. You owe it to people like (gulp) Mrs. Weasley and Lupin and…

Granger.

Yes, he did. She was the one who had helped him so much the first time, who had (literally) taken him by the hand and shown him around while he’d wiped his palm on his robes. She’d given him tasks, talked the others who were more reluctant around. She’d snuck into his room one night after he’d thrown a book into a mirror, smashing it, the shards hitting the ground like figments of his own mind. She’d quietly cleaned up the mess, taken a seat at the edge of his bed and asked if he wanted to talk.

He’d thrown her out, screaming at her, calling her unimaginable things, cursing her parents and her stupid bushy head. She’d left. He’d followed. They’d talked in her room for a long, long time.

She had never gotten angry, that’s probably what he hated about her most. She never got mad or frustrated or irritated. Her calm demeanor had broken him in the end, bringing him about.

Then the letter had come. He’d left them, betrayed them, betrayed her. Was that why she hated him so? She’d changed, as he had. But not enough to mask the woman he knew was in there. She was still Hermione Granger, still the smartest witch of the age, still the only person who would take an enemy by the hand and show him where the towels were. He’d asked her why once, the night before he’d left. She’d given him the answer which would be the one thing that had helped him survive the nightmare that had become his life:

“You’re not your father.”

Her brown eyes had been huge when she’d said this, swallowing her face. He’d always found her plain, an easy target with which to ridicule because of her boring average looks, but at that moment she had taken on the image of an exotic bird, one that you were allowed to look at but never touch for it would fly out of reach as soon as you got too close.

Draco started when he realized he was outside her door, floating above the ground in his chair for cripples. He pressed his ear against the door and listened. He couldn’t hear anything, not having Granger or Mrs. Weasley’s womanly power of sonic hearing. When the door opened he nearly toppled out of his chair he jumped so high, but Mrs. Weasley just smiled at him.

“Go on in, dear. She’d sleeping finally. I think she’ll sleep straight through the night.”

“Is she…alright?” What do you care?

“Yes, she’ll be just fine. We got the fever down about an hour ago and her skin should be healed in a couple of days if we can get that potion on her three times a day. But don’t you worry, you saved her again and she’ll have no lasting effects. At least not on the outside. Go sit with her if you’d like, I need to check in with Arthur and talk to the boys.”

She placed a hand on his shoulder and stilled. “Thank you, Draco. She means so much to us all and you’ve given her back to us twice now. I wish we could all have guardian angels like you, but nobody deserves one more than that girl. I love her as much as my real daughter and I can’t stand to think-,” She broke off and sniffed, Draco growing increasingly uncomfortable. “It was a lucky day indeed when you decided to come back to us.”

She left quickly and Draco heard her blow her nose from the front hallway. Shaken, he turned to go back to bed but Granger’s room called to him. Swearing, he glided in and stopped next to her bed, looking down at her.

She was still, her face turned towards him. Her skin was still an angry red, its surface covered in the yellow substance. She looked like hell and two years ago he would have made her life hell because of it. But somehow, he didn’t feel the compulsion that once wracked his body.

She shifted ever so slightly and let out a slow breath of air through her nose. Her hair had been swept up by Mrs. Weasley and it was piled atop her head in an explosion of curls. Draco stared at her for a long time, all the while wondering why. When Potter snuck in and sat on a seat beside her, he left, returning to his room which he never should have vacated.

He was going mad.

*********************************************************

The hands pulled, pulled her down, down into the depths, the death, the cold…

“No…no…”

Down, down, always down, dragging her, defeating her. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think past the pain.

“No, please…”

“Hermione-,”

Gods, the pain! The pressure, surrounding her on every side, pressing in, stealing the only air she had left, stealing her life. It would be theirs soon, nothing left to give.

“Don’t, please…”

“Hermione, wake up, it’s just a dream.”

Dreams of tomorrow vanished as the cold consumed, sucking away all that she had to give. She’d failed, failed herself, failed her friends. Her friends…

“Sorry…”

“What? Hermione-,”

Ron, Harry…they were waiting for her, their hands were reaching out, but she couldn’t grab them, couldn’t get to them. They were so close but she couldn’t bridge the gap. It was her fault, after all.

A vise like grip stole around her, purging her of her remaining life. Malfoy. He’d come for her. She looked at him, his features distorted by the water between them. He grinned at her, that evil grin that had once held so much fear and pity for her.

“Help me,” she begged. His grin widened. He came forward and kissed her, hard, devastatingly strong. She grew weak, melted into his lips. He breathed his life into her, giving her air. Then he pulled away laughing, cruelly.

“No, please don’t,” she begged. “Don’t leave me, please…”

He let go and she fell, down, down, sinking like a weight. Her vision was clouded by black and she could no longer see him, no longer see that grinning face that taunted her with life.

“NO!” she screamed sitting up. Her eyes opened but no light penetrated and for a moment, she panicked. Then the pain took hold and she screamed again. She was on fire! Oh gods-

“Put it out! Help me!” she tried to call, but it came out as nothing more than a croak.

“Hermione, stop, stop! It’s okay, you’re alright! It was just a dream, just a bad dream. See? Here, touch me, touch my hand.”

She reached out towards the voice, needing something, something solid to ground her. She felt it, warm, flesh. It felt strange though, rough.

“See? I’m here. Calm down, alright? Are you in pain?”

She nodded, slowly awakening, her senses returning. She could hear Harry shuffling around, looking for something. Her mind returned as well and she remembered the reason she couldn’t see was because she was blind. She still woke up frightened from it sometimes. And the reason she was in pain was because she had spent so many hours in the sun on the water, the water which had threatened to kill her, to drown her…

She shivered. “Harry-,”

“Here, drink this. Do you need help to sit up?”

She shook her head. She was alright, but it bloody hurt. Every part of her burned like a demon. A goblet was pressed to her hand and she realized that her palm must be burned too, as the goblet felt like leather. She drank down the vile potion and another goblet was pressed into her hand. She took a sip. Ahh! Water. With a smile that hurt like hell, she drank it down greedily.

“Thanks,” she said, not croaked, and handed it back to Harry. “So, how’s my tan turning out?”

“Keep it up and you’ll be darker than Dean.”

They laughed but Hermione could hear the tension in Harry’s voice. “Look, Harry, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to cause all this trouble.”

“Hermione, it wasn’t your fault! How can you blame yourself?”

“Because it is, Harry! I went into the lake, I was upset, I wasn’t paying attention. I drifted off, I didn’t keep hold of the dock. It was a stupid thing for me to do and I deserved to drown.”

“Don’t say that! What are you saying? So what if you made a little mistake? You’re saying that because I fell for Voldemort’s trick I deserved to lose my godfather? Is that the way it goes?”

“No! Of course not Harry! I didn’t mean…it’s not the same thing at all!”

“It is. Hermione, you have to get out of this, this, funk or whatever you’ve gotten yourself into. You always made me forgive myself for my mistakes, forced me to live on, so I’m doing the same for you. Hermione, what happened that day at the battle…it wasn’t your fault, it wasn’t anyone’s fault. We didn’t know they’d found out, no one could have prepared…it was an accident, one I wish had happened to me instead.”

“Harry-,”

“No, listen to me for once. I’m not blaming myself. Do I feel guilty? Yes. But this was your turn, you had found the cup, it was yours to destroy, I understood that then and I understand it now. I had another part that night. But it doesn’t erase the fact that I wish it hadn’t happened. We all do. But it did. Hermione, we can’t help you unless you want it.”

Hermione was slightly stunned. It took a lot for Harry to berate her, even more so right after she woke up. There had been several times she’d thrown herself into sticky situations, making it out by her coat tails. He’d always waited until someone, be it Madam Pomfrey or Mrs. Wealsey, had claimed her fit as a fiddle and then he would go off. Until then, he would treat her like a porcelain doll. Apparently, she’d really crossed the line. Had she really been so sullen? It was true, she hadn’t been herself. But she’d thought she’d done a good job masking it in front of everyone. Well, everyone except Malfoy, he didn’t matter.

Malfoy. She shot up.

“Harry, is Malfoy alright?”

“Er, yeah, he’s fine…”

She sat back. Gods, she’d just remembered, remembered floating at the bottom, waiting for death to claim her when she’d felt that saving grace wrap his arms around her pulling her back up towards air, towards life. The images after that were sketchy but she remembered his words:

“I’ll be your eyes, you be my legs.”

He’d pulled her towards safety, his weight threatening to drag her down. But she knew she couldn’t let him down, not after he’d saved her for a second time. She couldn’t let him die now.

He’d saved them both, brought her hack to the house. She had no memory after that. But one thing was blaringly clear.

Draco Malfoy had saved her life. Twice.

“I’m sorry Harry. I swear I’ll be better. Alright? You don’t need to worry anymore.”

“Hermione, I’ll worry no matter what. You’re my friend. I love you. That equates the need to worry.”

She smiled. OW.

“Can um…am I decent?”

“Er, decent enough.”

“Can…can you send Malfoy in? I want to thank him.”

“Sure.” She heard his footsteps and called him back. She reached out for his hand and held it tight, looking (she hoped) up at him. “Thank you.”

“Anytime.”

He left and Hermione sat in silence, the pain dulling from the potion. It was hard to wrap her mind around Malfoy’s actions. Why would he save her? Again? If she had drowned it would have been entirely her fault, no one else to blame. She would be out of his hair, he could do all the searching he needed in private, find what he wanted about the Order and report back to his Lord who would give him an added bonus for offing the Mudblood. But what if she was wrong? What if he really had come back to their side?

But why? After nearly three years, why would he come back? What would be the purpose? He’d had clemency the first time, they’d welcomed him with open arms after what Harry and Snape had told them, after what they knew he’d endured. But he’d left, obviously with a change of heart. Why else would he leave after all they had done? After all they had given him? And Hermione wondered for the first time if there hadn’t been some other reason, some pressing matter that had torn him away after only a couple weeks.

How could she have been so blinded by anger? She may not be able to see, but her mental faculties were all in order. What had she become if she couldn’t see past the pain of a tortured man?

She could hear him gliding into the room.

“Granger.”

“Malfoy.”

Just like that. Those barriers.

“Can, can you come closer?”

She felt his presence until he was beside her. She wished she could see his face.

“I know I must look a mess, I won’t keep you long.”

Silence.

“Er, I just…I wanted to thank you for saving me. Again. I was dumb, I know, and you saved my skin. Well,” she laughed, maybe a little nervously. “Maybe not my skin, I think that’s toast but…my life at least. Look,” she sighed when she was met with more silence. “I want to apologize for the way I’ve treated you these past few weeks. My behavior has been abominable and not at all what you deserve, especially after all you’ve done for me. I don’t know why you left last time, it’s not my business, but I want you to know that…I-I trust you. I know it can’t have been easy to switch sides again and I thank you for being strong enough to do so. I quite obviously owe my life to it and maybe even Harry’s which means more to me than my own. So, I guess what I’m saying in all this indiscriminate babble is that I hope you can forgive me for acting like those we are fighting against and we can start over. Again.”

Silence. Gods, if he didn’t speak her head was going to explode…

“Sure.”

Sure? Really? That was it? After pouring her heart out all she got was a ‘sure’?

“Er…okay. So…I think I’ll have to miss today’s session but we’ll pick up with your therapy tomorrow, same time, same place. Alright?”

Where were the crickets when she needed them? At least they would provide some background noise in this uncomfortable atmosphere.

“You’re kidding, right?”

Kidding? Now this was the place where ‘sure’ would have fit fine and dandy but now he was going to get all intense?

“No, I was under the impression I was being completely serious. Is there something wrong with that?”

“Granger, do you understand what would have happened last night had I been a minute later?”

She could feel the tight grip of the water holding her down, feel the anguish of her protesting muscles and lungs, the terror of death flooding her senses…

“Yes, I am fully aware.”

“And you’re just going to jump back into work, just like that?”

“Yes. Just like that. I’m not going to spend my life contemplating what might have been. We’ve all been in that situation, that’s the way life goes. I can’t dwell, I can’t let the fear consume me. So I will keep on living and doing what I can until the time comes when help doesn’t come in the nick of time.”

This time, the silence wasn’t so damning.

“Alright. Same time tomorrow.”

This silence was. She felt the air shift as he left and she leaned back against the pillows, hissing at the stinging pain. If it wouldn’t hurt like Hades she would slap herself in the forehead for her foolhardy actions.

She didn’t have long to contemplate because a commotion made its way from the entrance, up the stairs, and into the room.

“Hermione! Oh my gods!”

Ah. Ginny.

“Hey, Gin. Oh-!”

The girl threw herself upon Hermione and knocked the wind out of her, not to mention the searing pain which whipped through every inch of skin she came into contact with. She must have made some noise because Ginny sat back with a squeal.

“Sorry! Sorry, I, oh man, you look terrible-,”

“Gee, thanks,” she muttered, unheard by the wild girl.

“Mum just told me, I can’t believe this, I never should have left-,”

“What? Gin, no, don’t be ridiculous! Someone can’t watch me at all times, I am an adult you know.”

“Well, yes, of course you are but…”

“But what? Gin, it was an accident, accidents happen. Malfoy was here with me and he saved me, didn’t he? Now why don’t you calm down and tell me what’s been going on lately.”

She felt the fiery girl battle against herself and finally relented. She had just begun to tell her the latest on the Ministry search when a knock announced another arrival.

“Am I interrupting?” came a timid voice from the door.

“No, of course not, Neville!” Hermione said, recognizing his voice. “Come in! How have you been?”

“Good, good, Professor Sprout says I’d be ready to teach this term if I wanted.”

“That’s great! Are you going to take it?” she asked, sad that she couldn’t see his sweet face as he told her this wonderful news. She hoped she was looking at him. His voice sounded as if it were coming from the door still.

“Huh? No, no of course not, Professor Sprout is much more qualified…”

“Neville, come on!” she urged. “You’ll be a great teacher!”

“Well, I don’t know…I told her I’d think about it…”

“Neville, take it. You’ll be great.”

“Thanks, ‘Mione. Are, are you alright? McGonagall was down at the greenhouses today and told us what happened…”

Hermione groaned and went to cover her blushing face with her hands but realized no one would be able to tell since she was sure she was red all over. “I’m fine, Neville. Just a little miscalculation on my part.”

“Well, see, I found this plant in the Forbidden Forest when Professor Sprout and I went to get some Glandake cuttings and it’s supposed to be good for eyesight. We thought if we mixed it with some Restorative Draught and tweaked a couple elements we could maybe help you bring it back.”

Hermione smiled sadly in his direction, touched that he would go to that much trouble. “Thank you, Neville. That was very thoughtful of you.”

“We made you a couple weeks supply and if that doesn’t do anything we have a few ideas of what we can do to increase your eyes capacity to see light. See if we take an extraction serum and couple it with a-,”

“Hey, Neville, actually, can you accompany me down to the kitchen?” Ginny said, a nervous note evident in the quiver of her voice. Hermione put a raw hand on her arm.

“Gin, it’s alright. Neville, why don’t you come sit over here and tell me more about it?”

A moment of silence passed in which she knew they were sending each other eye signals. A chair scraped along the ground and Hermione reached out her hand for his which, she was sure, he reluctantly touched.

“Just want to know where I’m looking,” she explained.

“Oh, er…so, the potion…yeah…”

He went on to explain the different ingredients they had obtained and what special qualities they would bring out in each other if mixed in a certain consistency. Hermione was happy to find out once Snape had left Neville was actually somewhat skilled in the art of potion-making. They battled about it for a while, Hermione knowing the entire time nothing would come of it, but she wasn’t going to dissuade Neville of doing something that might help others. Ginny left early in the conversation and Neville only left when Mrs. Weasley shooed him so Hermione could “rest”. When the motherly woman shoved potions down her throat, Hermione asked for the one Neville had brought.

“Dear, you know it won’t do any good…” she said.

“I know, but that’s not the point. If he’s going to work that hard to help me, the least I can do is take the darn thing. Please, just let me do this for him.”

She handed Hermione another vial and Hermione drank it down, grimacing at the taste of dirt and…butternut squash?

Next, Mrs. Weasley helped her to apply the sticky paste on her skin. “How does it look?” she asked, wondering if she even wanted to know the answer.

“Better than last night. Most of the blisters are gone and the swelling has lessened, it’s turning a little more pink…”

“I must have look like hell last night.”

“Well, you wouldn’t have won a beauty contest, that’s for sure.”

“Ah! Mrs. Weasley!”

“Well, you said so yourself! I was only saying…”

Hermione grinned and shook her head. They finished applying the gunk, Hermione unashamed of her nakedness. It wouldn’t be the first time the older woman had seen her thus and, as she had said the first time when Hermione had burned with embarrassment, “It’s nothing I haven’t seen before.”

“Mrs. Weasley?” she said before she could leave.

“Yes, dear?”

“Thank you for everything. I promise to be more careful in the future.”

Motherly lips touched the top of her head. “You just take care of yourself, now. Worry us all to death.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“Now, now, enough of that. I have to get back to the Ministry, lord knows what’s been going on without me. Are you sure you’ll be alright?”

“Yes, I’m fine. Go on, give Mr. Weasley my best.”

“I will, dear. Don’t you hesitate to call for us.”

“I’ll be alright. I love you, Mrs. Weasley.”

There was a soft moment of silence following her words. “I love you too, dear.”

Hermione smiled when she heard a distinct sniff follow the woman out the door. Hermione leaned back gently and closed her eyes, sighing through her nose at the slight sting her skin gave out at the contact with the soft cotton. She tried not to think about how sticky and disgusting she was and let the pain potions take their toll. She was almost asleep when a knock sounded at her door.

“Come in.”

“Hermione? How are ye, love?”

“Jimmy! It’s nice to hear your voice.”

“Come, now, no one wants to hear me Irish brogue.”

“Oh hush, you have the girls fawning all over you.”

He chuckled. “What happened, lass? Arthur said Molly was called away last night because you’d been hurt. I came as fast as I could, left my da to finish the meeting with the centaurs alone.”

“Oh, it’s silly. Embarrassing, really.”

“Tell me, my heart’s been going tha’ fast since I heard.”

“You’re sweet. Alright, come sit down so I don’t feel like I’m staring at the wall.”

She explained what had happened and he made a big fuss about it. Hermione laughed as he insisted that he stay at headquarters with her.

“Don’t be silly, Jimmy, you’re needed elsewhere.”

“Da can take care of it, he’s got hands of gold.”

“But Jimmy, what about your students?”

“Grubbly-Plank can take over for the rest of the term. Hermione, nothing’s as important as your safety.”

Hermione felt her heart glow at his words. “Jimmy, that’s very sweet, but you can’t. You have a life, you can’t waste your useful talents watching over a clumsy blind fool such as myself.”

“Don’t speak like that! Blind or no, you are one of the best people I know and I would consider it an honor to stay here with you.”

She reached out her hand and his cupped it gently with both of his, seemingly unperturbed by the sick smelling goo coating her skin.

“You have the smoothest mouth on this island. Jimmy, summer will end soon enough. You’ll go back to Hogwarts because that’s where you belong. Until then you have so much to do…the Order needs you. You can’t stay cooped up here with me all the time. I’ll be alright. Besides, Malfoy is here, he’s saved me a couple times already, I believe he’s fully capable of doing so again should the need arise,” she said with a smile, hoping to ease the tension. But Jimmy’s gentle grip on her hands suddenly tightened, making her gnash her teeth together so he didn’t see the pain it caused.

“I don’t trust him. You shouldn’t be here alone with him.”

“He’s proven himself trustworthy enough up until now.”

“It’s not safe. If I had known they were leaving you here with that man…”

“Jimmy, please. I’m fine. There’s no need to worry. People are in and out of here all the time,” she lied. “He hasn’t made to kill me yet.”

“It’s not that I’m worried about.”

“Well, then, what in the world are you worried about?”

“Hermione, you are a very beautiful witch who is completely unaware of the affect you have on us men.” Hermione blushed to the roots of her hair, not that it mattered with the massive sunburn she’d acquired. Us men? Meaning she affected Jimmy? “I’ve heard…rumors,” he continued. “Ones that don’t sit easy with me.”

“Rumors about what?”

“Hermione, just, please, promise me you’ll be careful around Malfoy. There are things about him you don’t know, things no one as beautiful as you should ever have to face. If you ever, ever feel…threatened by him, call for me. I’ll be at Gingham Row, just floo me there. My offer still stands. I will stay here with you, I can protect you.”

“I don’t need protecting, Jimmy.”

“I know you don’t. But it can’t stop me from wishing you’d let me be your knight in shining armor. I’ll be around, alright? I’ll check in on you.”

“I’d like that.”

He stood and kissed her on the top of her head, much as Mrs. Weasley had, but much much different.

“Goodbye, my rose.”

“Goodbye, Jimmy. Be safe out there.”

A warm fuzzy feeling stole over Hermione when he left, shutting the door behind him. Hermione had always held a soft spot for the sweet Irish man and knowing he felt the same, even after she’d gone blind, was invigorating. But the potions pulled at her, making her sleepy. Before she knew it, she was drifting away on a cloud of potions and rolling green hills of Ireland.

************************************************

Draco watched the back of the sandy boy’s hair as he jogged down the staircase. For unknown reasons, he was fuming.

He’d heard the conversation the nauseating couple held and felt like he was going to be sick. Who did that wanker think he was? Crawling all over Granger like that…

But some of the things he’d said unnerved Draco more than he cared to admit. Did he really know something? Or was he just saying those things to get into Grangers knickers? Either way, Draco didn’t like it one bit. He was going to have to keep an eye on the Irish man and make sure he was bluffing.

And what if he wasn’t? What if he knew more than he was letting on? And what if it got out? What if he told the Order what Draco had been doing since he’d left? Would he be allowed to stay? Certainly not alone with their beloved Muggleborn.

Fuck.

He was just going to have to make sure they didn’t find out. He peeked into Granger’s room where she was sound asleep, her mouth open a little, her chest rising and falling against the crisp white sheet, her nipples poking out through the thin material. He felt an all too familiar stirring in his groin and had to keep from groaning out loud. He really needed to get laid. If he was getting hard by looking at Granger’s nipples, it had been far, far too long.

Mind whirring, he headed down to the kitchen. Time for more sandwiches.

********************************************

A/N: Hey guys, sorry it’s so long between updates, I’ve had some family matters come up and paired with finals I’m only able to throw a couple sentences out here in there. In a couple weeks things should cool down a lot and more chapters will come at my regular pace. Bear with me!

Also, the lyrics at the beginning of chapters from now on are from the song "Haunted" by Evanescence unless otherwise noted.

So, think Jimmy knows what Draco was up to? Think you do??

Thanks for all your reviews. Love you all mucho!

XOXO

RynStar15