Dreams

Disclaimer: Hey, I wish I had the ingredients to do the Polyjuice Potion, to make myself look like J.K Rowling, but I would still lack the writing talent, so stick with me… I do not own Harry Potter… And, I'm really sad that I don't own Draco Malfoy (*sobs*). Oh well, life goes on!

Dedication:

Well, I have to dedicate this short fic to all of my readers from When the Angels Cry, His Little Healer, The Next Victim and Silver Eyes, because they have been supporting me so much, and I would be nothing without them.

Also, I would like to say thank you to Lady Silver for having the idea of the Malfoy Manor challenge. As you can see, this fic doesn't obey to that challenge, but it gave me some ideas. Thank you, once again.

Dreams

Dreams can show you your deepest desires, and they can show you your deepest fears… Sometimes, they can even show you things that simple aren't real, or at least, most of the time, we think they aren't.

Ginevra Weasley never expected such thing to happen to her. She was having dreams that she couldn't explain, although they seemed so real that she had trouble separating what was real and what was not.

This is another problem about the dreams… Sometimes you can't separate the reality from the fiction. Ginny was having a hard time trying to figure out in which category her dreams fitted in. Reality or pure imagination?

Why did she wake up every single night in a cold sweat, with tears running down her face and a sob stuck in her throat? What could be so wrong to make someone feel such despair, while you're sleeping? No, these were not dreams about a certain Tom Riddle, or about the Chamber of Secrets… These were dreams about an old Manor and a broken heart.

Everything started in the end of her sixth year, when everyone was on board of the Hogwarts' Express, going back to London for summer vacation.

Ron, Harry and Hermione had finished their seventh year and spent the whole time talking about their plans for the future, making Ginny feel bored out of her mind.

“Hey, Gin, where are you going?” Ron asked, when he noticed his sister leaving the compartment they were sharing.

“Ron, I'm bored with your conversation… Please, how many times do you guys have to repeat that you're taking the tests to be Aurors? I've heard the first time, no need in repeating it!” she fumed, pointing an accusing finger at her brother and his friends. “Now, if you don't mind, I'll search for someone who actually is capable of intelligent conversation!”

With that said, Ginny turned her back on them and exited the compartment, closing the door with extreme force, causing the door glass to crack, but not break.

“What's wrong with her?” Hermione asked, clearly upset for being called an unintelligent talker. She thought she was very intelligent, thank you very much!

“Probably jealous, never mind! So, when are we going to the Ministry and sign up for the Auror training?” Ron repeated for the thousandth time.

The trio once again began their planning, while a fuming Ginny Weasley walked down the narrow hallway, desperate to find one of her friends.

Well, maybe she had exaggerated when she yelled at Ron, Harry and Hermione, but she was worried and they truly were getting annoying. Why can't someone be upset in the silence anymore?

Her most recent boyfriend had dumped her two days ago, and she was crushed. Ok, maybe she didn't really love him, but hey, it still hurt her feelings! Lost in her thoughts, Ginny stopped in front of a window and leaned her forehead against it, enjoying the warm sunlight against her face, making her smile.

“A sickle for your thoughts…” a low seductive voice whispered in her ear, making her shiver involuntarily.

“Probably they aren't worth that much…” Ginny sighed, not bothering to look at the guy she was talking to. She hadn't recognized his voice, but she was too tired to turn around and face him.

“Of course they aren't… You're a Weasley, why should they be worth anything?” the boy asked in that same voice, but this time with a small teasing tone on it.

“Really, Malfoy, why are you even talking with me if all you want is to be a pain in the ass?” she sighed, drawing invisible patterns on the window with the tip of her nails. “Care to leave me alone?”

“Is this a depressed Weasley I see? I thought the lot of you were happy fools!” he joked, leaning against the window by her side, allowing her to have a good look at him.

“The simple thought of you being able to think it's a victory, Malfoy… I didn't know you were able of doing that much!” she replied with sarcasm, although a small pleased smile tried to come to her lips. Her fights with him were always very amusing; too bad he was leaving Hogwarts.

“That shows how much you know about me…” he replied with a smirk.

“What do you mean? Is there anything at all I should know about you?” she sneered, in her best imitation of his usual facial expression, and focused her attention on his gorgeous face. The guy was hot, what could she do besides drool over him?

“Plenty of it, Ginny… Plenty of it.” He whispered, making it almost impossible for her to listen.

“Like what?” she asked, in the same whisper, taking a step closer to him, to be able to hear him better.

“You're gorgeous…” he sighed, placing a warm hand on her flushed cheek, caressing her soft skin, the corner of her lips, the tip of her small nose. Just then, he lowered his head to hers and receiving no kind of negative reaction, Draco kissed her… Just a small soft kiss, with no promises in it, with no secret meaning at all. Just a gentle touch of lips.

Ginny took a step back and looked at Draco with shock in her face, her brown eyes wide open and her lips parted.

“Why did you do that? I thought you didn't want to catch Weasley germs…” she asked, trying to regain the ability to think.

“Once again, there are plenty of things you don't know about me.” He replied, shrugging his shoulders, any signs of the usual Draco Malfoy gone from his voice, from his face, from his eyes…

“Who are you, and what have you done with Draco Malfoy?” she asked, raising a suspicious eyebrow.

He just chuckled in response, looking straight at her, and then his face turned serious and he took a deep breath.

“I assume you still haven't had them… I have been having these dreams about us, but they aren't dreams about now, or about the future. They're dreams about a long time ago, I don't know when. We are always in them, and that's how I've started to notice you…” he replied, serious. “I'm sure you'll have them really soon, so, I won't waist anymore of my time on this…”

That was shocking! Draco Malfoy having dreams of Ginny Weasley? What was wrong with the guy?

“Malfoy, I advise you to visit St. Mungos and stay there for a couple of months on the Mental Ward!” Ginny smiled openly, trying hard not to laugh, but Draco remained silent and looking serious. “You're not serious, right?”

Draco just remained silent.

“Oh Merlin, you're serious…” she gasped. “What kind of dreams? Teenager's dreams, scary dreams, dreams in which you kill me and laugh? WHAT?”

At this Draco's face turned sad, and he took a deep breath.

“Heart-breaking dreams…” he whispered, looking deep into her eyes.

Ginny was about to reply when the train slowed down abruptly and Ginny fell against Draco, who held her safely in his arms.

He smelled really good and his robes were very soft… If she were a cat, right now she would be purring and rubbing her face against his chest. Still in his arms, Ginny looked up at his face, realising how shiny his eyes were right now, how his lips seemed to want to smile and his cheeks were slightly red. He looked gorgeous and … warm. Not his usual cold self.

With this thought, Ginny was the one to initiate the kiss. A soft touch of lips that turned into an urgent kiss, as if there was something they needed from each other. Their tongues met once and again, exploring each other in a sensual dance, their bodies completely in touch, Ginny's hands around his neck, combing her fingers through his soft hair, while his hands caressed her lower back in small circles.

Only when the train completely stopped and the students began to exit their compartments, did Ginny and Draco stop their kiss, realising what they had been doing.

“I… I think I better go…” she whispered, her face very red with embarrassment, and her knees violently shaking.

“Of course… See you in your dreams.” He whispered back, turning around and leaving her alone in the hallway, with dozens of students staring at her in shock.

`Oh great, in five minutes the whole Platform 9 and 3/4 will know about this!' she thought, running to her compartment, to pick up her trunk and meet her brother.

Indeed, everyone was talking about the Weasley and Malfoy's kiss, by the time she managed to manoeuvre her way out of the train. Everyone stared at her and whispered madly to their friends, making her feel extremely uncomfortable and afraid of Ron's reaction. Soon enough, Ron heard the whispers and a whole new fight began between siblings, for the amusement of the crowd.

It took the whole ride home and the next few hours to completely convince Ron that the kiss had been accidental, and that it had meant nothing at all. Of course, one thing was convincing Ron, and another thing was convincing herself.

She was the one to start the kiss… And when they kept on kissing, she had felt something lift from her chest. That pressure she had been feeling was gone and replaced with a much more pleasant feeling… She had to admit, she had truly enjoyed the kiss, much more than any other kiss she had ever exchanged with an ex-boyfriend, and that only helped to make her feel worse. She actually wanted to kiss Draco Malfoy again!

It was that night, the first night back at home from Hogwarts, that the dreams began to haunt her. Actually, dreams is not the correct expression… Dream is more like it, because she always had the same dream, every single night.

Ginny would fall asleep and soon she would find herself slowly walking on a huge garden, full of rosebushes in every possible colour, the soft green grass crunching under her feet, the sound of water falling in a nearby fountain… The garden was always calm and silent, and Ginny liked this part of the dream. It was when she turned around that the problems started. Behind her, the huge Manor made of dark stone made her feel inferior, insignificant and scared. There was something about the house that made her want to run away and never look at it again, and although many times Ginny tried to command her legs to move and run away, her body always kept on walking slowly towards the house, as if it had a will of its own.

The interior of the huge house was richly decorated, with its high ceilings and golden statues, the luxurious fabrics of the furniture and the exotic woods and marbles carefully scattered around the rooms. But Ginny would never stop in these rooms… She always went down a stone hallway, with very little light, and she would always enter a big Drawing Room, where Draco would be sitting by the window, reading some papers.

“Good morning, husband…” she would say in a gentle, yet formal tone.

“Good morning, Milady…” Draco always replied in a cold voice, not even looking up from his work. “Sit!”

She always obeyed the order, and sat next to the fire, nervously playing with her hands, waiting for him to start the yelling. And he always did…

“How could you be so stupid? Haven't I told you there were wards around the property? Haven't I told you the wards would act like the Cruciatus Curse on the intruders until they were barely alive?” he yelled furiously, pacing the room in front of her. “Why are you so stubborn? Why do you want to leave this house so much that you would submit yourself to such torture? You could have been killed!”

Ginny just remained in silence, listening to his words… Ever since the first dreams, she had concluded that they were married, but not by choice, as apparently she had tried to run away from the Manor.

“Why do you hate me so much?” he would whisper sadly, kneeling in front of her, holding her hands between his and meeting her brown eyes with his sad silver ones.

Removing one hand from his grasp, Ginny would caress his face and brush away strands of his long blond hair.

“I don't hate you…” she whispered.

“Then, why do you keep running away from me, from this house?” he asked, frustrated.

“Because I love my freedom more…” she replied in a gentle voice. “You know I wasn't brought up like one of those women who go to those high-class parties! I am the daughter of a farmer, and there's nothing you can do to make me let go of my freedom…”

“But you are free! You walk around the house; you have ladies stopping by for tea all the time…” he insisted, standing up again to walk to his desk.

“Ladies that hate me, but keep a friendly façade to fall on your good grace? Ladies who just want to talk about dresses and parties? Ladies who say awful things about me when they think I still haven't entered the tea room?” Ginny cried, standing up as well. Then, she always walked to the large window overlooking the gardens, and placed a hand against the window, as if it were the bars of a prison cell. “I walk around the house, always seeing the same rosebushes, always the same fountain, always the same grass… Always alone! And then, at night, we always have dinner in silence, and I go to my bed and lie awake all night, missing the life I had, the freedom I had…”

“You only sleep alone because you want to! I told you, when you wanted to come to me, I would have my bedroom door unlocked.” He replied coldly. “We do need an heir, you know?”

“Of course, that's all I'm useful for, am I not?” she spat angrily, not bothering to face him.

“No, that's not all you're useful for… You know I enjoy your company, but we always end up fighting!” he sighed, standing behind her, his hand covering hers on the window. “Why do we fight so much? Yes, it was a forced marriage, but I think we could learn to love each other…”

“If you even knew how to feel!” she replied coldly. “I'm not the one who threw a Cruciatus Curse at his wife, just because she didn't want to sleep with you on the wedding night!”

“I told you I'm sorry one thousand times before!” he sighed, turning her around to face him, locking her body between the window and his body. “I was drunk and I wasn't thinking straight! The morning after I apologised, didn't I?”

Ginny just stared at her feet, not wanting to face him and melt under his gaze. How was she supposed to show hate towards the man she had come to love, on the 3 months of marriage?

“Gwen… Please, forgive me for my past mistakes, and allow us to start anew!” he asked, placing a hand under her face, to make her look at him. “Tell me we can start again…”

“We can…” Ginny replied with a shaky breath, tears falling down her face, as Draco kissed every single one away. “We can…”

The dream could end here, and everything would be perfectly fine, but it didn't… The bad part always came next.

Draco and Ginny, or Gwen and Draconus as they were called in her dream, did try to be happy together, and had succeeded, acting now as a true recently married couple, spending time together around the house, talking, laughing, and even having their first night as a married couple, becoming the parents of a beautiful small boy…

But the happiness would end up being destroyed as a new Dark Wizard came to power and Draconus gave his loyalty to that man. When Gwen thought she was unhappy, in the beginning of their marriage, it was nothing compared to the way things were now…

Evil wizards going in and out of the Manor, plotting against the Ministry of Magic, killing people, doing everything they could to rule the world… This fever took over Draconus, causing their marriage to fall apart, once again.

The power blinded her husband, and the violence started, as he hit her whenever she tried to bring him back to his old self. But what hurt the most, was feeling that he truly did hate her…

It was on one of her attempts to open Draconus eyes to reality, that Gwen died, at the ends of her own husband, the man she loved, and that was the way Ginny woke up every night, breathing heavily, crying, sobbing and extremely unhappy. It was indeed a dream about broken hearts, like Draco had said at the train.

Through these dreams Ginny had come to fall in love with Draco, just as she was sure, Draco had learned to respect her and even feel something for her, or he wouldn't have gone looking for her and kissed her, on the train.

It was very early in the morning, one month after the kiss, when Ginny sat up straight in her bed, clutching her chest, where a sob threatened to come out, tears rolling down her face and the ever present memory of Draco's face as he killed her over and over again.

`What can I do to stop this dream? This has to mean something… anything!' she thought, leaving her bed to pace her room in front of the window. “So, Gwen and Draconus are me and Draco, probably hundreds of years ago, right? Are we resurrections of some kind?”

Sighing, she paced some more, trying to think about every single possibility.

“Their love failed because he was too blind by the power and he killed her… But they loved each other before that!” she reasoned once again. “What can this mean? The only chance to understand what's going on is if I talk with Draco… He must know something, for sure!”

Having decided on what to do, Ginny took a quick shower and put on some clean clothes, before she wrote a small note to her parents, saying she was going to visit Luna for the day. Yes, it was a lie, but she needed an alibi!

Going out to the Burrow's garden, Ginny focused on the Manor from her dreams and Apparated on the luxurious garden… The same fountain was singing as the water cascaded, the same rosebushes full of colourful roses, sending delicious aromas in the air, the same grass under her feet.

Just like in the dream, Ginny turned around to face the magnificent Manor, but unlike the dream, she didn't feel scared about what the house symbolised… In fact, she felt almost eager to enter it.

And so, she walked towards the Manor as the first rays of sunlight appeared on the horizon. She extended her hand towards the doorknob and was about to knock, when the door opened, surprising her to death. There, in front of her, stood a small house-elf, bowing so much that his pointy nose touched the black marble floor.

“Master is waiting for Miss…” the house-elf said, signalling for her to follow him.

Ginny was surprised once again… How could Draco know she was there?

“You can leave… I know my way!” she said to the small creature and made her way through the hallway she had come to know so well in the last month, as she dreamt about it every single night.

The door to the Drawing Room was open and she slowly walked in, observing Draco sitting behind the desk.

“Good morning, Malfoy…” she said, knowing that in her dreams she always said `Husband' instead of `Malfoy'.

“Good morning, Milady…” Draco replied with a small smile, leaving his seat to approach her. “I see you've been having the dreams as well…”

“Yes, I have… That's why I came here, because I think there's an hidden meaning behind all of this.” Ginny stated, her face very serious, although her eyes still held a soft look towards him.

“Yes, there is a hidden meaning… Have a sit!” he sighed, sitting on an armchair close to the warm fire. Ginny followed him and sat in front of his chair, watching him attentively, waiting for some kind of explanation.

“Tell me everything…” she whispered.

“I suppose you always wake up after your death?” he asked nervously, but his only answer was a nod from Ginny's head. “Well, after Draconus kills you, he snaps out of his trance… He realises that he killed his wife, the mother of his heir, and Draconus almost killed himself at the moment, but he didn't. There was his son to educate as the Malfoy heir, and he couldn't abandon his child, so Draconus invoked an ancient curse… The two lovers would come back to life, to find each other and make their love work. Until they were able to be happy together, the curse would always make them resurrect and come back to try once again.”

“And… We are their resurrections?” Ginny asked, shaking a little, although the room was comfortably warm. She had thought of the resurrection possibility, but she had never expected such a story.

“Yes, I believe we are…” he nodded, waiting for her reaction.

“So, we have to be happy together, right?” she mumbled, watching him nod once again. “Well, as long as you don't join the Dark Lord, don't go power crazy and don't kill me, I think that's fine with me…”

That reply was one Draco Malfoy had never expected from her, and it was easy to see the surprise and shock on his gorgeous face.

“Well, Ginevra, I never expected you to be so willing… What happened? You fell in love with me?” he asked, with a smirk on his face.

“Oh, don't go all Slytherin on me! You've probably fell with me, as well, after those dreams!” she laughed at his shocked face. “Come on, dear husband, you can't lie to me…”

“Ok, so maybe I like you… But that doesn't mean I like your family!” he pouted, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

“Oh, don't worry, I don't like yours either!” she smiled. “What are we going to do?”

“First of all, explain what's going on to your parents and my mother… Then, you'll go back to Hogwarts for your final year, and then, you'll come back for our marriage.” He said quickly, as if he had been spending his days planning everything in his head.

“Oh, and what makes you think I want to marry you so soon? Maybe I want to date for a couple of years, first!” she smiled, standing up to go to the window overlooking the garden. “After all, we don't know each other that well…”

“Maybe not, but we'll have our whole life ahead of us to get to know each other…” Draco whispered in her ear, as he placed his body behind hers and hugged her waist, his hands caressing her stomach.

“That's true…” she smiled, turning around in his arms, to lace her own around his neck, her fingers buried in his fine blond hair. “Can you promise me something?”

“Anything…” Draco whispered, kissing her forehead gently.

“Don't let history repeat itself…” she whispered, raising her head to meet his silver eyes, looking down at her.

“I promise!” He whispered, taking her lips on a gentle yet passionate kiss, as the sun finally appeared on the horizon, giving a new life to the world, to the garden outside, to the dark hallways of the Manor, and of course… to the new love they had just found.

“I love you Draco…” she whispered against his lips.

“Right back at ya!” he chuckled, kissing her again.

Sometimes dreams have deeper meanings than we think, but generally, they're just that… dreams. Illusions of your brain which include events that happened in the past, mixed up with desires of your own.

Ginny and Draco were special, as their dream was a way for them to find their destiny, and it managed to bring two feuding families together as one. Thanks to this dream, this warning about the mistakes of the past, Draco and Ginny joined their hearts, their souls and their families, and guaranteed that the history wouldn't repeat itself… They guaranteed that Gwen and Draconus would finally remain in peace where they belonged… in the past.

**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**

Hey everyone, I was reading some challenges on the fictionalley.org forum and I found a challenge called Malfoy Manor that caught my interest.

I know it's not one of my best jobs, but hey, it's just an idea I had, ok?

Thank you for reading, and if you don't mind, leave a review, no matter how bad it is, because there's something I love, and that is reading what you all have to say about my stories.

Lots and lots of love, Carina.

Oh, by the way, I'm going to cheat… I'm nominated for the Novel-Length Fic (non-H/Hr) with When the Angels Cry. If you read that fan fiction, and you think it's worth it, please, vote, ok? I know I shouldn't be doing this, but hey, I want to feel loved!

Document created with wvWare/wvWare version 1.0.0

-->