Traitoress

Dreaming

Harry cursed, his mind reeling. He and Ron both sat in silence in the tent, and he could see his best friend’s heartbreak on his face.

Hermione, Hermione, he sighed internally. You’re killing both of us. Yet the sight of Ron’s obvious pain at their loss of Hermione did not make him feel guilty. He was far too busy dealing with his guilt himself.

If he’d known…if only he’d worked out that Ginny wasn’t who he’d thought her to be…then Hermione would never be in this situation. She would be with him, in the tent. And he could go back to feeling guilty about stealing the girl Ron wanted, rather than this crushing pain he felt at losing her.

Across from him, Ron stirred from his frozen position, then croaked, "I can’t believe it."

Harry said nothing, not trusting himself to be able to speak.

"Ginny…" So that’s who Ron was thinking about. His sister, his beautiful, clever, funny baby sister who had turned her back on them and betrayed them. Who was out to kill them. But worst of all: she had Hermione. Harry’s thoughts couldn’t stop returning to her - her relaxed expression as she read a good book, her mane of bushy hair that seemed to have a life of its own. And he’d lost that, because he’d been as stupid as to trust the girl who’d been so heavily influenced by the Dark Arts at eleven.

"She betrayed us, Ron," Harry said quietly, and Ron gave a quick intake of breath to hear the truth so baldly stated. "She fought us, lead us into a trap, and took Hermione. You saw her. She is a Slytherin." He could say no more - once again, his mind returned to Hermione and they lapsed into silence again.

The night drew on endlessly. As Harry closed his eyes in an attempt to sleep, He imagined he could hear a third person’s breathing in the tent, the quiet snores Hermione would give as she slept. And all through that night, he could almost feel her presence with them.

- - - - -

She touched his cheek, smiling that smile she always had on her face. He hated it when she was upset. She noticed his change of expression.

"What is it, Draco?" she asked, a spark of concern in her purple eyes.

"It’s nothing," he smiled, fixing his eyes on her. "Don’t worry about it, okay?"

"Sure," she shrugged, and he put his arms around her.

He chuckled quietly and she tilted her head back and looked up at him. "What’s so funny?"

"I’m just thinking about how lucky I am to have you in my life," he said, kissing the top of her head.

"I love you, Draco," a small smile was on her face as she spoke.

"I love you, too," he replied.

Their lips met and the feeling jolted through him like electricity.

"Ginny…" he breathed and she laughed as he spoke her name aloud, and he kissed her forehead.

Draco jerked upright in bed. For a moment, all he could hear was his heavy breathing, then he heard the soft breaths of another person. Looking around, he saw Ginny was asleep on the sofa in the far corner of the room. The moonlight was bright outside and he could clearly see her face. He noticed that her face in his dream had been identical, and he was spooked by how much he’d noticed about her without consciously realising it.

He reached out towards her mind with Legilimency, and watched her dreams for a while.

She was in the Chamber of Secrets, and she was afraid.

"Tom?" she called, her fear audible in her voice. "Tom, where are you?" Her voice echoed off the walls, and she spun around, looking for him.

"I did what you wanted, Tom," she said quietly. "I wrote what you wanted me to on the wall."