DRAMIONE - STAND BY YOU

A DREAM-FILLED STATE

The next morning, Hermione found herself to have a headache when she woke up, the pitch black of her dreams during the night laying like a heavy weight on her mind. It felt strange, like a warning. Harry had suffered from ambiguous dreams before and they had turned out to have been signals, flashing lights of warning and danger. But that was when Voldemort had been intent on killing him and Voldemort was now dead himself. What other threats could possibly be dangerous enough to affect her dreams? 

Hermione made a mental note to ask Harry about it later and changed into her uniform, sorting out her messy appearance before she met Draco in the common room. 
"Morning" she smiled, giving her boyfriend a kiss as she often did on a morning. 
"Sleep well?" He asked. 
Hermione knew that telling him the truth would only worry Draco, so she nodded, ignoring the repetition of the word 'lie' that was mentally screaming at her. After all, it wasn't as if her dark dreams were definitely dangerous, and telling Draco of them would only inconveniently cause him to exaggerate the situation. For now, Hermione would pretend as if everything was fine - for Draco's sake. 

Hermione walked hand in hand with Draco to breakfast, aware that their relationship still got a few curious and disapproving stares even though their relationship had been going on for months. It amused Hermione, how something so small could attract so much unnecessary attention, which was why every time she left Draco to sit at her own house table, she gave him a quick kiss on the lips, to show just how much she didn't care about people's judgemental eyes. 

"See you later" she smiled at him, before walking over to the Gryffindor table and sitting in between Ginny and Seamus. 
"Alright, Mione?" Seamus winked at her in his usual playful manner. 
"I am thank you." She replied, rolling her eyes at him. "You?" 
"Never been better. Cho finally agreed to go on a date with me! Can't blame her really. Who could resist this?"  Seamus smiled and Hermione shoved him due to his arrogance. 
"I'm glad you're happy" she smiled, putting some toast and scrambled eggs onto her plate. 
"Hermione guess what?" Said Ginny eagerly.
"What?!" Replied Hermione, widening her eyes in mock excitement. 
"I have an idea of what to do for an event this year" announced Ginny. 
Hermione groaned. 
"But Ginny we have N.E.W.T.S. to revise for." 
"All the more reason to have a party as a break!" Argued Ginny. 
"Really? Another party?" Asked Hermione, raising her eyebrows. 
"A good one! For Valentine's day I was thinking" replied Ginny. 
"I swear, if you're planning on putting cardboard hearts all around the great hall....." Began Hermione. 
"No, no, no!" Interrupted Ginny. "It won't be anything like that, just a cause for celebration." 
"And I'm guessing you want my help with this?" Asked Hermione. 
Ginny nodded."And Luna's. Don't worry I'll ask Mcgonagall and everything". 
"Fine" grumbled Hermione, stabbing her fork into her eggs and shoving them in her mouth, angry that she was never able to say no to the girl. 
"Yey!" Squealed Ginny, clapping her hands. She then turned to Harry and Ron who were eyeing her warily. 
"See guys! Told you she would say yes" she beamed at them both. 
"Thanks Hermione!" Smiled Ron sarcastically. 
"Whatever" Hermione replied, rolling her eyes. It wasn't as if a party could do much harm anyway. 

The morning went by fairly quickly, with Care of Magical creatures, Potions and Ancient Runes proving very interesting lessons for Hermione. Although, Slughorn had informed them that they would be learning about the more complex properties of veritaserum next lesson, and Hermione was determined to get a head start so she informed her friends that she would be spending her lunchtime in the library. Familiar with the witch's usual visits to the library, they left for lunch without question, leaving Hermione to sit in her usual seat in the corner of the book filled room, alone with only a potions book and her thoughts. 
"Hello,Hermione" greeted a soft, kind voice, and Hermione looked up from her notes to see a small, blonde witch smiling at her, looking unique in a pair of pink, funny shaped glasses.
"Hello, Luna" smiled Hermione. 
" You're head seems to be full of wrackspurts today. Is everything okay?" Asked Luna, lifting the spectrospecs up to balance on her forehead. 
Hermione knew that there was no point in lying to her friend, aware of how perceptive Luna was when it came to others. Luna was one of the very rare people who were able to see past the walls that people often put up to protect their secrets. 
"Truthfully Luna, I'm not sure" Hermione admitted, her mouth curving upwards slightly in defeat. "I'm trying to act okay for everyone when the truth is, everything is building up so much that it's overwhelming. Theo is back, and since then I've had this strange dream where I'm in complete darkness. Though despite the simplicity of it I feel as if it might be more complex than it seems. I feel like something bad is going to happen. I can't tell Draco because he will only worry and I don't trust the others to keep this a secret. As well as that, I can't stop thinking about my parents and how maybe despite my intentions being selfless, I'm being selfish by not restoring their memories. To add onto that, I now have the pressure of helping Ginny organise this party if Mcgonagall agrees to it."
Luna smiled at Hermione softly, her bright eyes full of reassurance and friendship. 
"I understand, Hermione. Theo being back has brought a tense atmosphere on the school. Even the nargles seem to be decreasing due to the stressful aura surrounding everyone. You're dreams could just be a side effect of the stress and perhaps your worries are just anxiety. Despite that you should tell Harry or Draco or even a professor about them, just in case. I'll keep your secret though as it is not mine to tell. Your parents are safe, and so you are not in any rush to restore their memories. After all, it is a large step. I have to help Ginny too, but in a way I am glad to be helpful. You may be going through a difficult time Hermione but your friends are here for you. You are not alone" Luna smiled, placing her small hand on Hermione's shoulder before skipping off out of the library. Luna was right, as always. Hermione shouldn't worry, not too much at least. If she needed help from her friends, she would no doubt be given it, just as she would help them if they were struggling with anything.