Escaping Darkness [Book 1 of Through Darkness and Light]

Chapter 18: Blossoming Hope

Someone was holding his hand.

He must be dreaming.

No one had held his hand since he was four…and his mother, who was dead, had been the only person to hold his hand.

So, the fact that someone was indeed holding his hand signaled that he was dreaming. Plus, he no longer felt the blinding pain of before. It had subsided to a soreness, a dull ache. And he was warm, not cold. It was quiet, and there were no mocking voices, no horrifying footsteps coming nearer…just the soothing rhythm of someone breathing slowly, as if in a deep sleep.

Draco finally convinced his eyelids to drag themselves open, but it took a few moments for them to focus on the blurry figure in front of them. When they did, however, he frowned. Harry?

The boy was slouched in a chair next to him, obviously sleeping. Draco looked around, finding that he was in the hospital wing at none other than…Hogwarts!

Yep. This was a dream.

But the warmth enveloping his hand was so comforting…he didn’t want to ever wake up from this dream. In this dream, he was obviously cared for, considering he was in a clean bed, with a clean – ugh – hospital gown on that, while it wasn’t the fashion statement of the century, was better than nothing at all. Another sign that he was cared for was the fact that there were no cuts or bruises on the arm that was draped outside of the sheets, connected to the hand that was currently claimed by one sleeping Harry.

Draco sighed, content in his analysis of his dream, and let his head fall back against the pillows. For a dream, he was certainly exhausted.

Suddenly, the hand gripping his tightened, and Draco looked over to see the very much awake eyes of what should have been a sleeping person.

“D-Draco?”

“Yes, that was my name, last time I checked,” Draco said with a wan smile. Harry seemed ready to pass out with shock at seeing Draco’s eyes open.

“Hold on…I’m going to go get Pomfrey…”

“Wait, Harry, what?”

“Don’t go back to sleep…just hang on…”

Accidentally bumping into the table by Draco’s bed, and then running into the curtains that surrounded the bed, Harry finally managed to escape down the corridor, his movements frantic.

Draco watched him dash off, bemused, but he let his eyes fall shut again. What a strange dream…

“Mr. Malfoy?”

With a grimace, he pried his eyes open again, to see a concerned Madame Pomfrey and an even more concerned Harry peering down at him.

“Told you he was awake,” Harry said, his worried expression giving way to relief.

“And it seems you were right,” the mediwitch acknowledged, pulling out her wand. She quickly waved it over Draco. “You seem to have improved, Mr. Malfoy. But you did give us quite a scare the other day…still, I’d say you are well on the road to recovery.” She nodded, a pleased expression lightening her features. “I’ll leave you two alone then. Call me if you need me.” With a nod to Harry, she quickly whispered, “Don’t tire him out too much,” then left, heading towards her office.

Harry stood there for a moment, staring at Draco. Just the sight of seeing Draco with his eyes open…it gave weight to Pomfrey’s declaration that Draco would be all right. He blinked when Draco asked, “Well, are you going to stare at me all day, or are you going to tell me why you happen to be in my dream this time?”