The Dark Side (A Dramione Story)

Chapter 8

After moping for a few minutes about the shared-bathroom-situation, Hermione went back out into the common room and picked a book off the shelf. She nestled into the armchair closest to the windows, absorbing herself in the pages.

Hours later, she woke up with a stiff neck and numb legs. She rubbed her eyes and checked the time on her watch, which read 2:30am. Groaning, she stood up and left the book on a small coffee table.

When she was back in her room, she grabbed her toothbrush and opened the bathroom door.

At first she thought she was sleepwalking, as the figure sitting on the tiled floor with tears running down his face could not have been real. But as he hastily rose to his feet, she realised that the Draco Malfoy in front of her was definitely real. They locked eyes for a few silent seconds, before he turned away and rubbed his face dry.

"Malfoy?" She stammered. "Why are you awake? Do you have any idea what time it is? You'll never be able to focus in class tomorrow."

"Just... don't worry about it." He said, with a hint of anger in his voice. "Haven't you ever heard of knocking?"

"Well, I'm sorry that I didn't think anyone would be awake at this time of the night," she shot back. He just shook his head and stormed out, slamming his door on the way.

Guilt weighed down on her, and she cursed herself for telling him off instead of asking what was wrong. She knew firsthand how it felt to sit alone at night, evading sleep to avoid the horrors that played on her eyelids while she slept.

But then she remembered who she was feeling sorry for. This was the person who let Death Eaters into the castle so that they could murder Dumbledore. He watched as she writhed on the floor in agony under the wrath of his deranged aunt. He had mocked and ridiculed her for years throughout her time at Hogwarts.

He didn't deserve her pity.

After she had brushed her teeth, she went over to her bed and slid under the covers. But hours of staring at the ceiling did nothing to quieten her mind, and her futile attempts at falling asleep failed. She was relieved when morning finally arrived, and she hopped out of bed to prepare for the day. She dressed, brushed her hair and sprayed her favourite sweet-smelling perfume. Grabbing her toothbrush, she headed for the bathroom.

The night's events played on her mind and she knocked politely. After hearing no reply, she went in and finished getting ready.

A short while later, she left the Head dormitories and made her way to the Great Hall for breakfast. She was looking at the floor and didn't see the person until she slammed straight into them. She automatically uttered an apology. But when she looked up at who she had collided with, she gasped loudly.

"Lavender?" She said, deeply surprised. "I thought you were..."

"Dead?" She replied, not unpleasantly. "I'm not surprised. Greyback really made a mess of me."

Hermione noticed the gruesome scars that ran from her left ear to the bottom of her neck. It seemed absurd that the bubbly, sentimental and somewhat silly girl she had once known had been changed into a werewolf. Hermione felt her troubles suddenly become insignificant as her heart ached for Lavender.

"I'm so sorry. If I had known you were alive I would've come and visited you in hospital or something."

"Trust me, Hermione. You didn't want to see me like that. But thanks."

"Well, are you on your way to breakfast? What are you doing up here?"

"Er- well I needed to see Aberforth. When I got attacked he started sending owls with advice. He's going to help me on full moons, and I just wanted to finally meet him now that I'm here."

"Okay, sure. I'll see you later, then?" Hermione waved as Lavender nodded and continued down the hall.