Wicked Enraptures

Parings: Central HG/DM, HP/?, RW/Implied HG.

Ratings: R—some times it will border NC-17. Don't go running to the Admins; I'll dilute some of it out.

Summary: There's something foul about her when placed in a mindset filled with dingy thoughts, biting retorts and secrets that would make the devil himself weep. Hermione Granger knew this, and it's why she tried so hard to hide it from her parents and most of all from her friends, but obviously not hard enough.

Author's Note: A plot bunny that has bitten me, transmitting rabies. Oi! Here it is.

Disclaimer: I don't own it, and if I did, certain characters would be shagging already.

Prologue: Rock-a-bye Baby

In the treetop
when the wind blows, the cradle will rock
when the bough breaks; the cradle will fall
and down will come baby, cradle and all…

Wandering the corridors of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was a hobby for the never-sleeping Head Girl, Hermione Granger. Her lack of sleep was evident due to the violent, purple-ish black circles encased under her eyes. She wasn't studying too hard, surprisingly, and no, she wasn't visiting boys in the middle of the night: she was simply running away from her dreams. Her nightmares.

She was in the west wing of the school, finally deciding to remove the Disillusionment Charm from off of her and stoically sauntered back to her Head Girl quarters. She lifted her long dressing gown as she climbed the stairs, her long brown mane of hair falling to the middle of her back in soft curls. She released a dry sob as she approached a tall portrait of a lion lying in field of grass with a serpent wrapped around its left paw; the lion had a necklace around him, a pendant of a pentacle dangling from off of it. She whispered the password, the pentacle glowing, and slipped into the opening, entering the small common room that she shared with the Head Boy. As she pulled off her night robe to expose her thin, cotton gown she heard a noise that startled her. Turning away from the door that led to her room, she eyed the door across the common room, and saw Draco Malfoy standing there calmly, his hand resting on the knob and his own pyjamas rumpled, hair tousled and eyes droopy from sleep.

"Again, Granger? If you're sneaking out for a snog, at least place a silencing charm on the Portrait door. The creaks could wake up half the bloody castle!" he snapped. The candle light that lit the room flickered across Hermione's face, giving it an eerie shadow as a grim smile graced her lips.

"I'll remember that next time," she replied deeply, her throat raspy from her muffled screams from earlier. Draco eyed her curiously, before nodding and exiting the common room, heading back up to his own private quarters for sleep.

Hermione Granger, student extraordinaire, was left alone once again in the common room. After a few minutes of sorting out her thoughts, she too went up to her private quarters, quietly shutting the door and falling into a sleep plagued with nightmares of blood, betrayal, unthinkable pain, and a face she thought was so handsome at one point…

----

"Hermione, could you pass the butter?" Ron Weasley asked. He sat across from her beside Harry in the Great Hall as they enjoyed a late breakfast on a calm Saturday morning. The weather was quite agreeable, seeing that summer was still lingering in the air and fighting off the approaches of autumn. Hermione, despite the heat, was smothered in a dark blue cardigan with loose fitting jeans that seemed darker than the shade of black, if possible. She was staring aimlessly at her plate, moving its contents about disinterestedly. She had not heard Ron. "Hermione…the butter?" he asked again. This time, Seamus, who was sitting beside her, nudged her roughly in the side. She gasped, dropping her fork onto her plate with a distracting clank! and tenderly touched the side of her body, where Seamus had nudged her.

"Oi, bloody hell Hermione," Seamus muttered, a silly grin on his face. "Don't you hear Ron calling yah?"

"Oh…" she stated. "I…erm…wasn't paying attention," she said, releasing her throbbing side and lifting her face to meet Ron's concerned blue eyes.

"Are you okay Hermione?" Ron asked.

"I'm fine, no problems here…" she said with a smile. Ron gave her a relaxed look. Harry gave her a look that spoke otherwise and cleared his throat.

"Ron was asking for the butter."

"Oh…" she said again. Harry's eyes widen as Hermione wordlessly reached for the plate of butter and handed it to Ron. In all their years at Hogwarts, Hermione had never passed Ron the butter. The butter was always closer to Ron, and he always asked Hermione to get it for him. She would then disagree and break out into a speech about his laziness and how she was not his maid. Ron was also speechless as she handed him the butter, her eyes unfocused, and her mind elsewhere.

"Bloody hell, I think we need to take her to the Infirmary!" Ron gasped out finally. Hermione jumped at the mention of the Infirmary and shook her head, releasing a soft nervous laugh.

"Don't be silly Ron, I'm just tired is all," she started. "I don't want to argue about butter today, so let's just drop it." They all looked at each other quietly before returning back to their plates. A few minutes later, Hermione pushed her plate away and stood from her bench, giving her two best friends a small smile before excusing herself to the library for studying.

When the double doors closed behind her, Hermione stumbled onto the floor inside an alcove, her body shaking with tremors as she sobbed. She covered her face with her hands and cried into them, the pain in her side subsiding enough for her to stand and rest against the stone wall for support. She continued to cry; even as she heard the double doors crack open. Although she wasn't in plain sight, the footsteps grew closer to her form and she quickly covered her mouth with her hand, quieting her weeping.

A shadow blocked her light from the corridor, and she turned away from the wall to see Draco Malfoy standing before her, dressed in all black and holding on to a small green and gold booklet. "What's wrong Granger?" he asked, but not before quickly adding, "did Weasel or Potty break up with you?"

She straightened up hurriedly and smoothed out her clothes, pushing pass the blonde man and entering the corridor. "That is none of your business Malfoy," she said heavily, making her way towards the library. Draco continued to follow her. "What do you want?" she shouted over her shoulder.

"I have our schedule book, and I wanted to go over some things with you…"

"Well," Hermione said softly. "You can come to the library with me, and we can talk it over." He didn't question her tears anymore, but just followed her to the library, schedule book in hand.

-----

Summer

"Hello!"

Hermione was sitting on the swings outside in her backyard, head bent over a rather large book when a deep voice made her tumble from out of a rather interesting plotline. She lifted her head to see a boy—a man—staring at her from above the fence that separated their yards. "Hullo," Hermione responded, her eyes filling with general cheerfulness.

"I'm Eric, your new next door neighbor!" he replied with a smile. Hermione smiled right back at him.

"I'm Hermione."

"What a beautiful name..." he answered. Hermione admired the lengths boys would go through to be charming.

She giggled slightly and closed her book. "I thought that the Smithes lived next door." Hermione also thought the Smithes were rather too young to have a son his age, but kept that quiet. He must've been nearing twenty, if anything.

"I'm their nephew. My mum and dad are doctors, and they went on a mission to South America to treat the children there. They won't be back for a year or two, so I'm here with my Aunt Jasmine and her husband Theodore," he explained.

"That's wicked!" Hermione couldn't fight the wishful look that flashed across her face. "I've always wanted to travel to South America!"

Eric chuckled, "maybe I can take you with me when I go and visit them." Hermione's cheeks grew red at the joke and smiled through the blush.

"Why didn't you go with them?" she asked.

"I'm starting University in a couple of months," he answered. "I have to walk in the footsteps of my parents, you see? I have a lot to do, so I decided the sooner I start, the more prouder they'd be," he muttered. "What about you?"

"University?" Hermione asked, laughing. "I attend boarding school; I'm soon to be entering my last year…"

"Fabulous," he grinned. "Would you like to come over for lemonade?" he asked nervously, obviously taking a fancy to Hermione. She smiled and shook her head in the negative.

"Lemonade, no…I absolutely hate it. But tea would be a rather nice alternative," she said, standing from the swing and walking up along the fence. Eric sighed in relief and gave her a dashing smile.

"You got it then!" he exclaimed, opening the door to his own backyard.

----

It was night again.

This time she wouldn't endure the nightmares any more. She took One, Two, Three, Four vials of dreamless sleeping draught. She could barely make it to the bed after consuming the horrid liquid, and collapsed on the stairs with an undignified thud.

That was where Draco found her the next morning, barely breathing.

Author's Note: So you all must be wondering "why the hell is she making yet another story?!" Well, I couldn't help it. I even wrote three more chapters plus this to make sure I update regularly. I really like this story. It seems like it'll work. It's dark and very edgy. You might think you know what's happening, but you'll be proven wrong in the end, unless you read carefully. I will be adding chapter one to this next Sunday or Monday, depending on this chapter's outcome in the sea amongst the other fishes. It wouldn't be fair just to have this chapter and it being incredibly short and an introduction. I will then update once every two weeks. It's a schedule I have because I need to work on my other stories. Ugh!

Also—the chapter titles will always be some sort of nursery rhyme…for a reason.

Please Review! Constructive criticism is the best.