Chapter 18
Since there wasn't a ring to make their engagement noticeable, they kept it to themselves. They went back to their regular routine of training, classes, duties, quidditch practice for those who played, group study, very little snog session for those who had someone to snog with and the nightly visits to Fincayra to find the meaning of the first song. The only thing that was added to Harry's routine was at least thirty minutes spent with his grandfather.
He and Dumbledore enjoyed their time together. They had almost seventeen years to catch up on. They'd talked about Harry's great-Uncle Aberforth. Dumblefore had told him more about his twin brother and how much he would finally be able to spend time with him whenever Harry was available. He'd offer to leap him to Hogwarts some time and Dumbledore told him he'd have to ask Aberforth first.
Aberforth had been a little apprehensive about anything related to being a wizard since he'd lost so many as well to the dark lords who tried to rule the earth. One of his main reason for deciding to try to live as a muggle was the lost of his daughter to Grindewald. He couldn't forgive himself for his lost. Though he'd lost the mother of his daughter during childbirth - they never married - the lost of his only child he thought was his doing because he decided to join the crusade to rid the world of the evil that was growing rampant. She'd been only seven years old and was caught during a cross fire when a killing curse that was intended for him, hit her instead.
A part of him died on the day her daughter died. There'd been rumors of him and goats and silly things that would embarrass a respectable wizard. But he stopped caring about rumors and silly stories that were meant to hurt people. No, without his daughter there was nothing else. Even Albus tried to bring him out of the reverie, but he'd stopped trying since he too had many things to carry on his shoulder.
Harry told Dumbledore that he'd like to owl him to let him know that he'd love to get to know his family if he's willing to acquaint himself with Harry. Dumbledore told him that may be just the thing to finally get him out of the mood he'd been in for years.
They'd also talked about his parents and how much he was like his father. He also told Harry how much he regretted not being a part of James' life or a part of his. Harry told him it was too late to regret and that it's better that they started to build their relationship during the present and forget the what ifs. Dumbledore was never so proud of Harry since that moment. He had truly become wise in his short life. He saw his late wife in him in a way as well, the resilience to the bad things. His wife had been the same. She grew up with an abusive father, but despite that fact or maybe because of that fact she'd become more loving, caring and quite selfless.
Two weeks after Harry and Hermione's engagement Draco became a little withdrawn. Ginny tried to coax him into telling her what was bothering him, but he could not. He'd told her it was nothing. Until it was the nothing was becoming a little more of a something.
"Draco, you're my son. You will follow in my footsteps as I had done with my father so will you!" shouted Lucius as he spoke to his son who was tied down to a bed with his left arm bare.
"No, I will never follow in your footsteps. No matter what kind of mark you put on me. NEVER!"
"Ah, so you think you are better than me now, do you? Think you and that old man can protect yourselves from my lord?"
"I can protect myself from the likes of you or your coward of a master!"
"Tsk! Tsk! Maybe you need a little reminding on exactly where you came from, Draco?"
"I know where I come from and it's nothing I can be proud of." Lucius slapped Draco across the face.
"Your insolence will cost you, Draco. Perhaps a little visit to the dungeons will remind you of who you really are?"
"You can do whatever you want to me, I know who I am. I am not who you want me to be nor who you think me to be, Father." He said father with a touch of sarcasm that didn't escaped Lucius' ears.
"You do not know who you are! If you did you would not be tied down to a bed, you would be marked with the dark lord's sign and would be finding ways to rid the world of Potter and Dumbledore." Draco flinched a little at the mention of Harry's name, but masked it immediately with indifference.
"I'd rather not be part of the fight that you are so blindingly taking part of. I would rather know what I am fighting for rather than rely on a promise that some power hungry creature has been spewing for the last decade or so. If he was so powerful then why isn't he ruling the world yet?"
"You dare talk about the master in that tone. He can squish you like a bug if he pleases, but because you are my son he would rather have you fighting with him."
"I will not fight for something I do not believe in!"
"Silence!" Lucius yelled. He smacked him across the other cheek. A bit of blood spewed out of Draco's mouth, but his eyes remained steady and showed no fear as he stared at his father.
"Why would I want to follow in your footsteps? Do you really expect me to one day strap my son on a bed and beat him into submission? NEVER! Do you hear me NEVER!"
Draco woke up soaked in sweat. He'd been having the same type of dream for the past few weeks and didn't know whether to be afraid of it or to be glad that he could stand up to his father even if it was only in a dream. He'd wanted to tell Ginny, but how could she tell him that he came from someone who would go so far as to beat his own child just so that his will and his master's will be followed.
He got up and went to get a drink of water. The dream had been so vivid. Each night they grew more violent and they hurt more and more. He could still feel the sting on his face and the bindings still around his wrists and ankles. He knew too well that though it was only a dream that his father was well capable of that type of torture no matter who it was.
How could he continue in the quest for the songs if he was truly unsure where his loyalties lied when the time came to be tested? He knew where he stood now, but his actions had been in secret. What happened when they became public and his father found out? Would he be strong enough to face him? Would he be strong enough to fight for what he believed in like he claimed in the dream? Would he be strong enough to protect Ginny?
In the dream he'd been fearless, but in reality after the dream his insides were a mess at the thought of being confronted by his father to choose. He didn't know if he would be able to. He wanted to tell someone so bad, but he was more afraid that deep inside him he would find that he was truly as evil as his father and his master. He wished the choice were taken away from him. He wished Harry would just read his feelings and tell him that everything would be all right and that he was strong enough to stand up to his father.
He couldn't go back to sleep after the dreams. He'd lie awake in bed and wait for the sun to rise. Sometimes after leaping back from Fincayra he'd wished he were awake so that he didn't have to dream, but he liked spending time with Ginny and the others at Fincayra and to be there he had to be asleep. He loved being in the forgotten land of Merlin's fore fathers. It seemed he could be anything he wanted to be and not have to worry about his father or the threat of Voldemort, but he knew he couldn't stay there. He was part of a destiny and the destiny would be to destroy his father and his master.
When the morning came, he got dressed quickly and met Ginny at their favorite meeting place before breakfast. It was something he'd looked forward to even when the dreams happened. It was something that kept him going throughout the day.
When she saw him, she ran to his open arms and kissed him fervently. She'd been worried about him, but she didn't want to force him to tell him what was bothering him. She wanted him to tell her what he felt because he wanted to share it with her and not be forced to do so.
"I always like the taste of you so early in the morning," he whispered.
"I was a little worried, you're late."
"I'm sorry. I got held up in the common room by a little first year rivalry." He'd stumbled across two first years that'd been arguing over who was more powerful, Voldemort or Grindewald. Draco just shook his head at the apparent misconception that evil power was something to boast about.
"Ah, a prefects job is never done, eh?" She smiled, but she noticed the gray under his eyes and she began to pout. "Draco, you look like you haven't been sleeping well."
"It's because I miss you too much at night," he joked, but there was a little truth in his statement.
"Are the other Slytherins treating you okay?"
"You know they can't do anything to me. They fear me too much. Even Pansy has been steering clear of me."
"Then care to tell me why you haven't sleeping well?"
"Aside from dreaming too much about you? Nothing really. Nothing I can't handle, just a bit of childhood nightmares."
She wrapped her arms around him knowing that he wasn't telling her the whole truth. All she could do was be there for him and to support him no matter what. She kissed him again and poured all her frustrations and helplessness into the kiss.
"Ahem!" Harry and Hermione cleared their throats.
"Sorry to break this up, but we thought we'd warn you about some incoming company. There are some Gryffindors walking this way, and if you two don't want to make your relationship public, I suggest you'd best go your separate ways and see each other later?" Harry hated to do it, but he'd seen the trouble when he was looking for a private spot to snog with Hermione before breakfast. He knew where Ginny and Draco met so it was easy for him to assess the situation before it happened.
"Thanks, Harry." Ginny said. There was a little apprehension for Draco as if he'd wanted to be seen with Ginny. Harry stared at him a moment and saw a troubled soul. He decided to have a private talk with him later. He wasn't the only one who noticed Draco's demeanor, but no one wanted to push Draco into saying something he wasn't ready to share.
"Anytime. We'll you at breakfast. I just want to give my fiancé a better good morning kiss."
"What did you say?" Ginny asked.
"Oops! Sorry, love," he whispered to Hermione.
"We'll tell you about it later," Hermione assured her.
"You'd better. All of it, well almost all of it." Hermione smiled at her knowing she meant the time she'd walked in on them.
"I will. Get going."
A few seconds later, the Gryffindors passed the corridor and found Harry and Hermione in an embrace.
"Get a room!" joked one of them.
"Care to volunteer yours?" retorted Harry and the other children laughed at the person who'd made the comment.
"Oh, Harry. That's terrible. We're supposed to be setting good examples as Head Boy and Girl," she playfully reprimanded him.
"We are. We're showing them not to snog in a more public corridor. You know no one uses these hallways unless they're trying to avoid something or someone else?"
"Are you trying to say, those three Gryffindors are trying to avoid something?"
"Yes, it seems that they're trying to avoid Crabbe and Goyle. We'll have to talk to Draco about putting a leash on his hounds. They're bullying people around. It seems they've found a new ring leader in Pansy." Hermione looked at him in questioning eyes.
"How do you know all this? I sometimes roam the halls while I'm resting."
"You mean your second sight?
"Uh-hmm."
"Harry, do you go into the girls dorm or lavatory sometimes?" She looked worried and it amused him that she still felt a little jealous at times."
"No, love. If I'd wanted to sneak a peek at anyone, I'd go into your room. Besides, I've see most of you, remember." She blushed at the thought and immediately recalled Harry's lips on her bare chest.
Seeing the blush, Harry continued, "I don't go into the private rooms remember?"
"Right."
He pulled her closer to him and kissed her forehead. "I only want you, Hermione. I want you to be my first and my last."
The way he'd said the words made Hermione's blood come to a boil. She felt the instantaneous heat of his promise. She wanted the same thing and couldn't seem to make her mouth work to tell him the same thing. She did the next best thing and lifted her head to give him a very fervent kiss.
A/N: Okay, for those who wanted the Ginny and Draco moment and more Harry and Hermione moments, hope you like that. Thank you as always for your reviews.
If I don't get any more chapters up, that means I am officially on vacation. See you when I get back. Have a Happy Easter everyone….