The Dream Trilogy Book One: To Dwell On Dreams (A Harry Potter FanFiction)

Chapter Thirty Two

Chapter Thirty Two

They sat in the tunnel for a while. Harry handed out the other bar of orange and chilli chocolate, eventually convincing Draco to have some. As expected, his terrible depression lifted noticeably as soon as he took a bite. He fished the rest of the bar off at Harry's insistence.  

He wiped his mouth and his eyes. "Sorry I hit you," he said. Harry shrugged.  

"Now we've all had our noses broken. It's like a blood pact." 

"Erm," said Parvati, giving her hand a little wave. "I'm alright not being in the pact, my nose is just fine thanks." The group managed a small laugh. It was almost four in the morning, and Harry could feel his eyelids drooping. 

They got moving again soon after that, fearful of what would happen if they started sleeping. Harry was shivering uncontrollably now, and began wracking his brains for a spell that might warm them up. Draco seemed very weary. The zest with which he'd been scrutinising the approaching passageway had blown out, and he was staring at the ground as he slowly walked by Harry's side.  

"I feel so numb," he said after a while. Harry was aware that they had dropped to the back of the group, but felt like maybe Draco was in a fragile state of mind and the best thing could be to let him talk it out. It was niggling him though who was inspecting for traps. 

"I know," said Harry, shoving his thoughts away and his hands in his pockets. "What I said before - I meant I've seen him kill someone, and I feel like it's my fault." It was the truth after all. The painful image of Cedric Diggory's lifeless body swam in front of his eyes, and he tried to blink it away. "I didn't mean to upset you." The torch light was dancing about a bit more than usual and the shadows were deepening. Harry had to concentrate where he was putting his numb feet in case he tripped.  

"I screwed up...and she had to pay the price," Draco replied quietly.  

Harry sighed. There was nothing he could really say to that. "She'd be proud of what you're doing now though." 

"Hmm," said Draco. 

A noise that was hard to place echoed through the tunnel from up ahead. Draco stopped walking, concern crossing his face. "What the-?" cried Parvati. Harry realised the last torch was hanging by his head, and beyond that petered into darkness. 

"Are - are we wet?" stuttered Hermione, and Seamus swore loudly, his legs splashing through what Harry now understood to be fair height of water. That must have been the strange sound he heard. Draco gasped. 

"Get out!" he cried, racing towards them, pushing Harry backwards as he went. "Stay back!" he ordered. Harry pulled out his wand, lit it and made his way forward anyway. Draco had grabbed a hold of Seamus, Parvati and Hermione and yanked them out of what seemed to be the edge of an underground lake. 

Once on dry ground Draco spun towards Hermione, dropped to his knees, threw open her coat and ran his hands all the way up and down the laddered tights on her drenched and shaking legs. Hermione froze. Harry's mouth dropped open. 

Having swept every inch of her legs, Draco turned and went for Parvati. "Hey!" she yelped and jumped backwards, swiping at him. "Hands off!" Hermione still hadn't moved. 

"The lake," said Draco, pointing out into the distance. "It's full of grindylows, they'll latch on and pull you under." 

"Oh," said Parvati. She and Seamus looked at each other, then began patting down their legs through their jeans.  

"I was so cold," chattered Hermione finally. "I didn't feel the water." Harry quickly siphoned off the remains of the lake from her clothes and she stopped shaking so violently. Once he'd done the same to Seamus and Parvati the five of them turned and stared out into the black.