The Dream Trilogy Book Two: Tread On My Dreams (A Harry Potter FanFiction)

Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

Draco blinked his eyes as the morning light streamed through the gap in the curtains of his four poster bed-hangings. Hermione.  

It wasn't a dream. 

He sat up, immediately wide awake. Panic seized him as the details of the previous night filtered back through his brain. The kiss. The kiss after that. Her smile. 

He'd been tormenting himself with thoughts of this moment for months, picturing her acceptance, her rejection, trying to convince himself he didn't care, that she meant nothing to him. 

As his breathing slowed, he began to realise that maybe he meant a little more than nothing to her.  

Being a Sunday, Dean was sprawled amidst his bed sheets with a Muggle newspaper spread out in front of him, drinking in the sports pages filled with photographs that unnervingly did not move. Potter's bed was unslept in. Draco shoved some jeans on and called out a 'hello' to Dean as he threw himself into the bathroom to brush his teeth. Dean managed a reply about thirty second after he'd closed the door. 

Draco walked into the Great Hall for breakfast with snakes writhing in his belly. There she was. Wedged between Lavender Brown and Lisa Turpin the Ravenclaw, determinedly poking at her porridge, ignoring their elbows in her ribs as her cheeks glowed rosy again. All three spotted him entering, and Hermione's face went from rosy to scarlet. Lisa and Lavender suddenly became very still, hawking him as he sat down opposite them, which was far worse than the gossiping. Sarah Potter and Natalie McDonald were sat a few seats down, and thankfully gave him a hearty wave good morning that he could respond to. 

He pulled some toast from a nearby rack and concentrated on spreading a layer of jam on its surface. Lisa and Lavender resumed their whispering, but Hermione seemed paralysed with uncertainty, her eyes half cast in Draco's direction. Did she regret it? Was she embarrassed? The rod of steel that Draco had spent most of his life growing up with flicked coldly up his spine, shooing away his doubts. He remembered precisely where she'd put her hands up in that tower. You didn't do that unless you meant business. 

So he did the most logical thing he could think of, which was to run the toe of his boot up the inside of her thigh.  

Hermione dropped the pumpkin juice she was holding over the entire contents of hers, Lavender's and Lisa's breakfasts. Hermione froze in horror. Lisa and Lavender squealed predictably, jumping backwards to keep the juice from pooling into their laps, as Lee Jordon and Angelina Johnson snorted into their scrambled eggs.  

After taking a few breaths, Hermione finally raised her eyes to his, and Draco knew where he stood as that smile reached the left hand side of her mouth.

***

Harry had had enough. Even from the other end of the Gryffindor table, it wasn't hard to see the way they were looking at each other. 

Parvati huffed, high pitched, from the back for her throat. "Of all the nerve," she said, shaking her head. 

Harry ground his teeth. "Let's go sit with Terry," he said, and stood up without waiting for a response.  

"Oh, yeah," said Parvati quickly, snatching up her bag. "Good idea, and maybe my sister..." Perhaps she could tell Harry wasn't really listening, he was too lost in his own thoughts, but he was grateful when she trailed off.  

After everything they'd put him through, his family, his friends, to see Granger and Malfoy making gooey eyes at each other made him feel it had been some sort of conspiracy all along. Why should they get to be happy? 

Terry, as usual, had stayed a little longer after breakfast, strumming on his acoustic guitar. As it was a Sunday there weren't any lessons to go to, and he seemed happy picking at the strings, singing softly under his breath. "Hey," said Harry, dropping his bag and slamming himself down into the seat next to Terry. 

"Morning sunshine," said Terry, not pausing in his strumming or looking up from the strings.  

"Terry," said Parvati eagerly, sitting beside Harry and leaning in closer to them both. "You'll never believe what's happened." 

"Malfoy's dating Granger," said Terry, again not looking up. 

Parvati deflated visibly. "Oh, right," she said, and Harry ground his teeth again to hide his irritation. "You know?" 

Terry shrugged and finally did them the decency of looking up. "So?" 

"Soo," said Parvati in a sing-song voice. "It's outrageous, who do they think they are?" 

Terry let his hands relax away from the guitar. "Why do you care?" 

Harry leant back against the Ravenclaw table. "I just don't see why they should get to be happy." 

Terry arched an eyebrow brazenly at him. "Someone round here should be," he said, and went back to his instrument.  

Harry glared at him, and wished for once he wouldn't be such an ass. 

Parvati's eyes flicked between them both uneasily. "I," she said slowly. "Am going to go say hi to Padma, okay? Be back in a moment." Harry didn't say anything as she rose, eyes still on them, and left. 

Terry rolled his eyes, and swung his guitar around to prop it up against the bench. "What?" he said. 

Harry shook his head and looked away, glancing only briefly at the Gryffindor table. He realised that Granger and Malfoy had stood up and were leaving the hall, and as his eyes moved to follow them, Malfoy's head turned and the two of them locked eyes, just for a moment. 

"I thought you'd understand," he said, snapping his gaze away, focusing on his trainers instead.  

Terry sighed and grabbed the guitar neck, standing up and stretching so his shoulders popped. "There seems to be a lot I don't understand," he said, not unkindly. "You guys feel like explaining, you let me know." 

He rested the guitar over his shoulder like Harry might do with his broomstick, and sauntered off in the same direction as Malfoy; out the hall. 

Harry watched him for a moment, tapping his foot as his agitation rose. "Wait," he said, knowing he was probably about to do something really stupid, and got to his feet as well, jogging after Terry. Terry stopped and cocked his head as well as his eyebrow. 

"Yes?" he said, standing on the threshold and propping the door open.  

Harry swallowed and clicked his tongue. "I think maybe we should talk," he said, and slipped through the door jar, into the entrance hall. He glanced back to see Terry shrug, let the door go and follow him.  

"About what," said Terry. 

"Everything," said Harry.