Lost: Dramione Story

Chapter 17: The Ghost of Christmas Past

Once we had washed the dishes and cleaned everything away, my body started to betray me. My eyes we tired and sore. My legs about ready to collapse. It turned out once I tasted sleep I wasn't going back. I changed out of the fancy get up and into something more comfortable. The pair of loose jersey shorts and a green sweater that certainly didn't belong to me, I guess you could say I adopted it over the last few days. I was brushing my teeth when he called me. "Hermione?"

"yes" I peered round the door. He was sitting unnervingly still. "what is it?"

"well, Merry Christmas" he stuttered. There was a bag on the small coffee table.

"you got me a gift?" I asked.

"well you are currently trying wade through a hundred books to figure out how to get rid of this"

"no, you couldn't have just appeared with this" I put my hands on my hips.

"okay, okay, I got you a gift just open it". I undid the black ribbon on the white bag. A beautiful deep green diary with my initials in gold plating on the spine.

"it's- " I took a breath.

"awful, disgusting, the worst gift ever. I knew it. Is that my jumper?"

"it's beautiful" the pages were blank and lined and ready to be filled "it's wonderful". I stood unknowing what to do. How to express what I was feeling. He looked down at me, his eyes so full of wonder. "Hermione". Next thing in knew, I reached up and stroked his cheek before kissing him lightly where my fingers had just been.

"Thank you" I don't think my voice was even there. I walked past him, he caught my wrist before pulling me back and crashing his lips into mine. Had I really been kissed before this? Had I really ever felt what it was to be kissed by someone who clearly cared so much? He ran his fingers through my hair holding me closer. For those few moments, everything stopped. The pain, the suffering, the doubt. There was just us. I pulled away, taking a breath, not knowing what to say.

"I'm sorry" he muttered, "that was out of line". He walked away and was in the bathroom before I could say anything. My lips tingled from the taste of his mouth. I walked to the door, leaning my head against it. He wasn't going to come out.

"goodnight Draco" I whispered. I didn't sleep, not because I was scared. I refused to admit to myself that maybe it was because I missed having him beside me. I just lay there staring up at the ceiling thinking about the last few days. Hours went by and my mind kept running back over that kiss, Then I heard it. Screaming, begging for somebody to stop. It was Draco. I opened the bedroom door, he was tossing and turning violently on the couch as if somebody was holding him back.

"Let her go!" he screamed.

"Draco, Draco" I shook him and shook him. He just kept thrashing. He was burning hot, as if he had a fever. "Draco" I begged "please, please wake up". His eyes flashed open and bolted upright sending me to the floor in shock. His eyes were glazed.

"where is she?" he asked roughly, brandishing his wand at me.

"Draco, it was a dream"

"where is she?!" he screamed, he came towards me, I backed away, until I hit the wall. "where is Hermione, Bellatrix?". He thought I was her. He thought I was her.

"Draco, I'm right here" his eyes so full of pain.

"where is she?"

"Draco!" I held out my arm where the scar laid "it's me, it's Hermione, it was a dream". His eyes cleared. He looked at me cowering pathetically on the floor.

"Hermione" he stuttered, fumbling backwards shaking his head "I, I, I'm" I got up and hugged him tightly as he sobbed into my shoulder. "I would never hurt you" he said into my chest.

"I know" I soothed "I know". I tucked him into bed, then got in beside him. I hummed a song my mother used to sing to me as a child. Something about lavender and Kings. He eventually fell asleep, curled up tight beside me.

The sun bathed the room when I woke. Draco was still asleep his arm tucked under my head. I decided to leave him sleep and get some fresh air. I needed to get outside and not just to the library, out of the castle.

 I walked down the bridge. It was early yet, but there were a few teachers and professors around. I had a decision to make. Could I just leave Ron? Could I just forget everything and not talk to him in person? Was that letter enough? And what about my other problem, well not problem. Malfoy. What was I feeling? Where was my head? I loved Ron. Right? If what I had for Ron was love, what in Merlin's name was what I felt for Draco? I wandered back through the castle down empty passageways and corridor until I found myself beneath Gryffindor tower, where I had come after Ron kissed Lavender Brown. She was dead now. My sin crawled at the thought of it all. The amount of death these walls had seen. I felt a spirit come flying through the room. Beautiful and white, grace but speed. It spun and twisted until it landed in a familiar form. He leaned against the far wall. His feet and arms crossed in their usual position. His face fixed around a cocky smile. His freckles now white and speckled across his ghostly face. My eyes started to water. Then I heard a sound I never thought I would ever hear again. "penny for your thoughts, Granger?"

"Fred"