Just A Dream

Aftermath

Having been ambushed slightly by her friends, a sudden wave of sadness crashed over Hermione. She realised despite the fact she may have needed to, she didn't even want to talk about what she just witnessed, it was far too painful. So instead she politely sat and tried her best to listen to what the others had been through, and trying to ignore the fact she'd seen them dead not half an hour ago.

Ron kept mentioning how there were spiders absolutely everywhere in his dream, and despite the fact Blaise had initially laughed, they soon found they had to face up to some more serious things. Like death eaters. It was a very grim experience for them both apparently.
Harry on the other hand just felt sorry for Luna. A lot of his past had been bought up, a lot of painful memories, that had to relived with her by his side. It was ok though, she was very understanding.
Neville had clearly had a terrible time, and like Hermione did not want to share anything, so he went straight up to bed. She wondered if Pansy had similar fears to Draco, and that if she too had some rather disturbing weaknesses.

"...and out of nowhere, Blaise had managed to sneak out from under the table and BAM! Just like that there was..."
"Sorry guys," Hermione cut off Ron, "mind if I just head up to my dorm for a while? I'll see you guys at dinner."
The boys looked at each other uncertainly, but then nodded.
"Hey Hermione," said Harry before she could disappear. "How was it with Malfoy?" They hadn't even asked until then, but Hermione didn't answer and just continued her way up to her room.
She was alone, at last, and she flopped on to her bed.

Draco did exactly the same thing, ignoring Pansy's depression as he'd entered the common room. Blaise was also laid down on his own bed and lifted his head a little as Draco entered.
"Was it as bad for you as it was for me?" he asked wearily.
"Trust me," replied Draco, "it was worse."
He slept then until dinner, and although several disturbing images conjured in his mind whilst he rested, he only had to think of Hermione's touch to calm himself down.
But every time he did that he got even more fidgety and uncomfortable. It was Hermione, no, it was Granger. He had to shake this feeling of any actual liking towards her. It wouldn't end well if they got close, which was nearly impossible anyway considering how easy it was to suddenly break out into an argument with each other.

So, just before dinner, Draco had awoken and simply hung about a bit in his surprisingly empty common room, brooding over his thoughts. It took him a full minute to realise Pansy had appeared and sat on the sofa opposite him; probably because she had never been so quiet for so long before.
She coughed, and Draco peered up to see her face was bit damp, obviously from tears. Feeling a sudden responsibility, and quite a bit of pity, he sat next to her and put his arm around her. Not in the way he used to do it when they messed around, now it was just as a friend. She clearly appreciated this, and leaned into him a bit, sniffling slightly.
"Longbottom cause any major accidents?" he asked smirking.
She laughed, "actually, it's funny you should say that. He did quite the opposite. He..." she trailed off, and although intrigued, Draco didn't push her for an answer. After a while they both got up and headed down for dinner.

Hermione was sitting at the dinner table looking rather anxious as people slowly filled the room. She didn't know why she was anxious, and then decided there was no point really in worrying about it all. It was all just a dream, it was all exaggerated, and it was all just a big show of what might come. But she then felt confident it wouldn't.
So having regained a little comfort, she forced a smile to her friends and listened to the conversations. She noticed that despite sitting next to each other, Neville and Luna were very quiet. In a way she was very interested to see what they all saw, but at the same time wanted nothing to do with it.

"To be honest, it wasn't much of an obstacle course, as in the physical sense," mentioned Harry.
"I know what you mean, felt like more of a depressing walkthrough of my partners life," answered Ron. "Still, I suppose that's what this is all about. Getting to know your enemies."
"You know I'm sure not every Slytherin is a bloody death eater Ron," Hermione said suddenly.
"Yes I know that, but you get people like Malfoy..."
"He's not that bad," Hermione cut in.
"Did you really just say that?" asked Ron in disbelief. "After everything he's done to us?"
"You're the one on first name terms with your partner! Honestly do you think I've gone soft in the head? I know he's not perfect but neither are you! No one is."
A very awkward silence settled and Hermione sighed.
"I'm sorry, I just... saw more than I'd wanted to today."
"Dont worry about it," Harry replied before Ron could. "It's been pretty tough for everyone I think."
"Yeah well, it certainly doesn't mean I've become his best friend or anything close to that, so rest easy Ron," she said smirking a little at her protective friend.
That was all he'd ever been to her, a friend. She'd never seen him or Harry in any other way, though she did feel bad when Ron had had a crush on her, but luckily now that had past, and the brief awkwardness they went through had disappeared.