Demons in the Light

Disclaimer: Come on now, do you really think I can possibly possess the talent of the great JKR?

No, thought not.

Bare with me in this, I always have slow starts with lots of detail, i dont know why, it bothers me though.

So sorry about the lack of updates... I had a breakup, and it didn't go so well.

But now i'm back to writing, and please, please let me know if you have any ideas or suggestions!

PS - Thank you reviewers! -hands out cookies-

Anyway, onward!

Chapter 2 - Dark Matters

Draco swung his broom lazily over his shoulders. He was slowly marching toward the quidditch pitch, already noticing a few of his team mates up in the air passing the quaffle.

Throwing his jersey on, he mounted his broom to catch up and officially begin practice. It had been a rough start, Draco had been named captain for the Slytherin house, a feat which he had long since dreamed about achieving, but it was beginning to haunt him, alongside his head duties and the ever-growing mountain of homework.

Gliding swiftly through the air, he shifted his eyes continuously, watching for the glimmer of gold. His team was doing well, there was no doubt in that. With Potter as captain of Gryffindor, the competition for the cup was as strong as ever. 'Of course, Slytherin will win...' he thought to himself, smirking. His face turned into a frown as Crabbe was sent sailing to the ground after recieving a bat in the head. He heard the familiar thud as the big oaf hit the ground, moaning in pain.

Draco shook his head. It had been a mistake to take on the two idiots as beaters from day one. Sure, they were big and intimidative, but still... they weren't as great with the reflexes. The sky darkened, and the snow began to fall. Draco caught sight of the snitch, and easily snatched it up without effort.

After a few more hours, he called off practice and swooped down to the locker rooms to change and prepare for dinner.

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"Hermione!" Ginny called from across the great hall. She looked up blankly from her bowl of soup, before sulking back into the warm steamy broth. The past two weeks had been miserable. Harry had out right avoided her, crossing the hallway to the other side as he saw her approaching, taking longer paths to classes and glaring as he sat with Ron in the back, leaving her with Neville at the front of the room. She gloomed more and slurped quietly at her vegetable soup, as a bright, cheery redhead made her way to Hermiones left hand side.

"Oh 'Mi, you'll never guess what just happened!" She shared happily, oblivious to her sulken friend, who was desperately trying to hide behind a curtain of her now sleek, straight deep brown hair.

"What could possibly have made you even more hyper then you already were Gin?" She said dully.

"Harry finally did it! He.. well I know its a little soon and all.. and I know you and him haven't been on great terms and all..", she paused as she recieved a cold stare from Hermione, "..Ok well they've been dreadful really, but well you know how much I liked him all these years... and well... well... " Ginny stopped as she looked at Hermione's suddenly paled face.

"Um, 'Mione.. are you feeling alright?"

She choked slowly on her last bit of soup before responding, "Yea.. just.. they don't quite chop these carrots thin enough these days.. " Hermione mumbled, wiping her mouth with her napkin lightly before standing.

"I'm happy for you Gin, I am, really, just I think I need more time... "

"I understand. I hope you and Harry do wind up friends again. I hate the tower nowadays, its so gloomy and miserable. With you and Ron barely talking, and Harry being a stubborn prick, of course I'll be working on that one first thing I garantee it, it's so depressing... you really ought to drop by more often and visit us, Lav and the girls are really missing their old roomate.." She rambled on, tripping over a dropped textbook and stumbling, trying to keep up with Hermiones fast pace.

They soon reached the cougar statue, which gave a light growl to Hermione as she whispered the password. The doorway was now visible, and Hermione gave Ginny one last fleeting look.

"No Ginny, I don't think thats ever going to happen." She said with a sad tone, before disapearing into the darkened enterance.

Sighing to herself, she numbly pushed open the great oak door and walked into the common room. The fire was crackling happily and a broom was displaced on the leather couch, beside it a wrinkly robe with visible sweat stains discoloring the green and black pattern. She frowned, realizing that Draco must have finished practice early. Upon hearing the shower running as she walked up the stairs, she knew she was correct. Opening her door, she looked around for something to amuse her. She saw her homework piled neatly on a great mahagony desk, along with several quills and notepads. Glancing them over, she decided against the idea and laid on her bed.

Rolling over, Hermione opened the bottom drawer on her nightstand, there was her leather-bound, badly worn journal, her salvation, complete with tattered pages and tear stains. She took it out and grabbed her wand from her robe pocket. "Fadia Grafient" she muttered softly, tapping the top of it and unlocking the pages. The writing poured onto the pages, the smell of ink still fresh. She reread her last entry, it was yesterday, and the writing was slightly neater then the other recent ones.

I hate this life. Its vile and miserable, cold and complicated.

As everyday passes, I get weaker. Whats left to life? Nothing

for me, I assure you of that. Those nights being held in his arms,

those carefree hours of summer, under the shady trees with

butterbeers and quidditch magazines, what could ever replace

those? I feel like I am dying, but backwards. Everything I have

ever lived for is now thriving on nothing but self driven motives,

which seem to dwindle as time passes. I can't hold myself to my

continued education for much longer, there's gotta be something

more.

Hermione.

She took out a quill and turned to a fresh page. Already, she had started to deepen her mind with thoughts of the afternoon, the bright winter sky was filled with deep grey clouds, snow falling gently over the grounds. It was a fairytale, a romantic setting for couples, bundled together and walking around the lake, catching snowflakes off their tongues.

She used to love these Saturdays. Her and Harry would relax and build snow castles, skate on the lake and laugh at the squid as it squished itself against the ice underneath them, in blatent attempts to get at them. Yes, it was perfect. Now as she stared out the window, looking across the lake at the couples, she thought nothing of happiness. It was all too depressing.

Deciding against writing, she pushed away her quill and relocked her journal, replacing it in the drawer. Getting up, she looked at the clock on the mantel. It was already 8. She still had three hours before curfew, when she would begin her rounds. She grabbed her note book and headed out the door, glancing at the nearly naked Malfoy stepping out of the bathroom before dissapearing.

"What the bloody hell..." Draco said, raising an eyebrow as the petite witch raced out the door. She'd been doing that for some time now, dissapearing before rounds were due to be made. Her visits to this unknown destination became more and more frequent in the past weeks, after her and Potter had split.

Draco grinned, flashing his white teeth to the hall mirror, "I think Grangers finally lost her head."

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Hermione reached the portrait of a beautiful young woman, carrying a newborn child and cooing softly at the child. She looked up and glared at the intruder.

"What is it?" The portrait said icily, her eyes firmly set apon the soft hazel ones that glared back.

"Discovery" She spat, and the portrait swung violently open. She stepped inside, panting from her run, and moved slowly down the rough stone steps. The floor of the labyrinth was as cold as the air, and Hermione pulled on the hood of her robes, shoving her hands in her pockets as she moved along in a knowing pace. She twisted at all the right turns, and complicatedly made her way through the maze. She neared a door to the right and turned it counterclockwise, as it opened majestically toward her, allowing her to enter in the small room, cloaked with green and black furniture. A solemn portrait hung on the wall, sleeping soundly. Hermione pulled out the chair to the small desk, and the portrait gave a startled yelp.

"Good evening, Miss Granger. You woke me." The portrait of a wisened elderly man spoke softly.

"Sorry Salazar, but I need to decide."

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Oh, I'm so bad at these cliffhangers, so I try not to do them.

I'm not proud of this chapter really, but I guess breakups take a lot more of my mind away then I realized.

Do feel welcome to review?

I'll update much faster when I know I'm liked

-Kendra x0x0