Perfect Storm

Chapter 3

Hermione gazed down at the wriggling bundle of blankets. Her heart soared as she reached down to pull the bedding away from the baby's face. She instantly recoiled as she was met with a faceless child. Her strangled screams were drowned out by the piercing sound of metal against metal. Hermione scrambled to scoop up the baby. Her fingertips grazed the soft fabric just as the floor under her feet cracked and swallowed her into a never-ending darkness...

Hermione bolted up, covered in a cold sweat and tangled sheets. She wildly kicked the covers from her legs and stumbled to the open window. A light drizzle had begun and Hermione lifted her head up, letting the cool mist bring her back to reality.

"Just a dream," Hermione murmured to herself. She enjoyed the rain for another minute, before climbing back into the bed.

This was the third night in a row that she had had the same dream. She cursed herself for not getting her prescription refilled before leaving the states. Her mind had been so overwhelmed with her trip home, she neglected her appointment with the muggle therapist. Inevitably, she found one single night terror pill left in her purse, on her first night in England. It was going to be a longer month than she had originally thought.

For the next few hours, Hermione tossed and turned, never fully falling asleep. Anytime it seemed like she might finally drift off, her subconscious slapped her awake. At six o'clock, she finally gave up and went down for breakfast.

Ginny was back in Wales, with the Harpies, and she could hear Harry in the shower. Hermione took it upon herself to make up some waffles and bacon, before he had to head off to the ministry. Before she went back to New York, she had to teach that man how to at least scramble an egg to go with his toast.

"Mmm, Hermione you're going to spoil me," Harry sighed, sneaking a piece of bacon off the griddle, then promptly yelling about it being hot.

"If you'd have a little bit of patience, I could have gotten it out of the scalding grease for you," Hermione chided. She piled the sizzling slices onto a plate and, with her wand, summoned the waffle from it's iron and floated it to a plate in front of Harry.

"Ginny's gonna hex me if I don't fit into my tux at the fitting tonight," Harry mumbled, shoveling a chunk of waffle into his mouth.

"Harry, I don't think you've gained a single ounce since we left school," Hermione remarked, drowning her own waffle in sticky syrup. "Some of us should be so lucky to have that metabolism."

"You can't complain," Harry protested. "You look fantastic. Where's your ounce of fat?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. She knew her body was far from grotesque, but it wasn't without constant maintenance.

"I also bike and walk miles around the city, everyday."

"True, and it pays off," Harry acknowledged. "Draco sure was appreciating it the other afternoon. I caught him checking you out."

"I presume Draco Malfoy checks out every arse that passes him by." Hermione stabbed at her waffle, causing her fork to scrape against the ceramic plate. Wincing at the sound, she dropped the fork and looked at Harry. "How on earth did you come to be friends with him? You've talked about having to work with him, but I never realized you two had become so close."

"I don't think we realized it either until it finally dawned on us that we were making excuses to hang out together," Harry shared. He took a gulp of orange juice and continued on. "I was wary about him at first, of course. When I got brought on as an Auror, he and his parents were just coming to trial. I could tell during Draco and Narcissa's testimony that they were sincere in their regrets and had, in the end, been part of the wrong side completely out of fear for what would inevitably happen if they tried to defect. Lucius wasn't as forthcoming with his testimony, and in the end served another year in Azkaban, on top of his heavy fines."