A/N: Quidditch League Season 7 Round 5

Team: Pride of Portree
Position: Beater 1
Prompt: (Dream Sequence Dimension) Write about a dream that continued happening even after the character woke up.

Additional Prompts: #1 [Word] Fire, #5 [Action] Whistling, #14 [Word] Sarcasm

Word Count: 1449

The Weirdest Dream

There have been times when a person sleeps so peacefully that they have woken up and forgotten where they originally fell asleep. For Draco Malfoy, this is not one of those times.

His original room had emerald green curtains, where this room had crimson. The comforter that currently covered the bed and himself was the same color it had always been, but it appeared to be worn out. The paintings on the wall were of people he didn't recognize that were waving and smiling at him. He never had these paintings on his bedroom wall before. The scent that hung in the air was floral and pleasant; however, something even more strange was happening.

There was someone in this unrecognizable place with him.

The sound of water hitting tile ruptured through and intensified with every splash of water. A soft, light whistle vibrated through the small flat as he left to investigate the sound. He found his way into a living area that looked even stranger to him. The furniture, the color of the wood, the scents of the flat, the pictures of people he didn't know, and the color of the walls were not his. They weren't even adaptations of what he had.

He was just about to chalk this up to the weirdest one night stand he had ever encountered until he saw it. A golden frame sat on the end table of two people. These two people would never be caught next to each other in a million years but in this picture they were smiling. They were smiling, kissing, dancing, and then repeating the process all over again.

"No, it couldn't be…" he trailed off into a whisper as he looked around.

He was trying to find more pictures that showed this ridiculous relationship but the heavy whistle strengthened and overpowered everything.

"What couldn't be?"

An oddly familiar, yet more mature, voice answered his accusation. It occurred to him that it unfortunately could be. He turned around to see Hermione Granger standing there in a robe, her usually frizzy hair drenched and creating a puddle around her bare feet. Her large brown eyes were watching him carefully. She wasn't nearly as shocked to see him as he was to see her.

In his mind, he felt that he should be upset to see her. He had so much he wanted to tell her after the battle at Hogwarts that he never got to tell her. He never got to apologize. At least, he didn't remember apologizing.

"I..uh…" he trailed off.

This had to be a dream. Hermione narrowed her eyes and tilted her head a bit. She was thinking about him, analyzing him, and he was curious as to what she thought of him. He wanted to know how they got here. More importantly, he wanted to know how he got there.

"Are you alright?" Hermione asked, coming closer to him.

She was so close that he could smell the white grapefruit and mint of her shampoo. He could see the freckles on her face and the sparkle in her eyes. Everything about this felt out of his control.

"The m-ministry…" he lied, trying to figure out something to tell her.

"What about the ministry?" she pressed.

"I-uh…"

It felt as if his throat was closing up and a fire was forming in the pit of his stomach. His head was starting to spin and it seemed like his vision was starting to blur. He could only see her through his foggy vision.

"Are you having nightmares again?" Hermione asked calmly.

"What nightmares?" Draco asked, trying to hide his discomfort from her.

The fire was even more painful and starting to spread within him. A faint whistle started to sound again through the apartment but he seemed to be the only person to hear or feel these things. All it took was for Hermione to press down on his shoulders for all of the symptoms to disappear.

"The ones that keep causing you night sweats, stomach pain, blurred vision, and many more things. You're having them again, aren't you?"

He just shook his head and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"I really don't know what you're talking about. This can't be real. Why are you in my flat?" he asked, pointing a finger at her.

"It's our flat. What's going on with you?" Hermione asked, removing her hand from his arm as if she had been bitten by a snake.

"I wish I knew!" he shouted, throwing his hands in the air.

He really wished he knew. Why was he having such pains? Why was she in his flat? Why were they together in several photos around the flat? Why do all of his problems cease when Hermione Granger touches him? What nightmares?

He was trying to unpack everything he had experienced in the past ten minutes and he couldn't wrap his head around it. Either he was dead or he was dreaming. He was convinced of that much.

"I think you need to come back to bed. I think if you just relaxed and took some deep breaths that you would truly feel better," she said, taking his hand gently and pulling him towards the bedroom.

He wasn't going to argue. He tried to rationalize that maybe when he woke up that this dream would be over. He could ponder those questions in his real life rather than this one. He sat down gingerly on the side of the bed as Hermione placed a cool rag to his forehead. He didn't remember her grabbing a towel anywhere and just shrugged it off.

"Feeling any better?" Hermione questioned.

"As opposed to what?" Draco wondered.

"Your sarcasm is appreciated but not enjoyed," Hermione giggled.

"Why are you in my dream?" Draco whispered softly.

She sighed heavily and smiled up at him.

"I've been wondering for months."

She got up with the cool cloth and started to walk out of the bedroom again but Draco had stopped her. If this was a dream then he would have no problem doing what he was about to do. He pulled her close, hands tangled in her dampened hair, and gave her the sweetest kiss he could. It was warm, soft, and pleasant. He wasn't expecting that from kissing Hermione Granger. He had wanted to do that for years and always wondered how it would feel. He wasn't disappointed.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, settling his forehead against hers.

"For?" Hermione questioned, looking up at him curiously.

He pushed up the sleeve on her robe to reveal the brand that his aunt had left on her arm. The one thing that he was sure was the cause of all the nightmares. It had to be. It was one of the most horrible things he had experienced. He never would have wished that on her as his thumb roamed over the raised tattoo.

"We've talked about this," she sighed, looking everywhere except at him.

"I don't remember it."

"I forgave you. I can't forgive her," she said quietly.

"Understood."

He pulled away but refused to let her go. A part of him never wanted to let her go but he still had one question to ask her.

"I need to know something," Draco started, "is this a dream or a reality?"

"Only you can choose," she said with a half-smile.

With that, Hermione disappeared just in time for Draco's eyes to snap open again. He was back in the bedroom that he had just woken up from. He sat up in bed and noticed that everything in the room was the same except for the sudden, yet familiar, burning in his stomach. It was on fire again and the whistling had returned as it floated through the flat. Hermione was nowhere to be found but the shower water was running again. The pictures were waving at him pleasantly and every photo that had them in it was showing a love he never dreamed he would have with her. Yet, they were moments he had never experienced with her.

The shower water ceased and a very relaxed Hermione glided in the room gracefully with hair still as wet as a fresh mop. He smiled when he saw her. It bothered him that he didn't know how they got to this point but he was perfectly fine with being a part of it. Even if it was still a dream.

I guess I wanted my dream to be my reality he thought to himself as he smiled at the room.

He was completely fine waking up to a dream as long as she was in it. Hopefully, the dream never ends.