MODF: It didn't take a year! I was so excited after finishing another chapter, I started right away on another! The reviews and alerts for the story and for my page contributed to my motivation:P Anyways, here's chapter five!

Info: Hermione left the Wizarding world after it happened. She tries to put it all from her mind, but what happens when the echoes of her oppressed past haunt her and she is asked to return once again to the place she called Home?

Warnings: Post-war and Post-Character Death. Do not read if this upsets you.

Romantic relationships do in fact take place. Don't read if you're canon obsessed or can't stand the thought of Het. XD

Also, don't read this if you're a death eater. The whole pureblood/mudblood thing will really fry your arse. :D

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or any characters here and within, unless otherwise stated by me. I am not making a profit off of this, people! It's simply for my own sick amusement! J.K.Rowling is the brilliant mastermind behind the Potterverse. Hence why she is far more well-off than I! XD So… On with the Fanfiction!

Chapter 5

Of Episodes and Comprehension

She didn't see it coming. Ron jumped on her and wrapped her tightly in his arms, and her heart shattered with two words.

She could still see Draco, slipping in and out of the vision before her. She pushed him away, spinning in confusion before shakily regaining her balance a meter away. He walked towards her, slipping into her visions until she didn't know what was going around her.

'AVADA KEDAVRA!' She saw Lucius Malfoy over Ron's shoulder.

Was it Lucius or Draco coming towards her through the crowd? She could feel it; it was Lucius with the desire for murder burning in his cold eyes. He was there in the Great Hall and he was there in her memory. He killed Ron and he had come back now for her! She—

She spit out a stunning spell over her companion's shoulder—

She yelled the curse across the Great Hall—

—but in her arms Ron went limp and fell, still grasping her cloak, tearing it as he pulled away from her.

Draco deflected the curse, and the students all back away as the watched the scene. Hermione was crying as she sank to the floor, hands over her face, tears dripping down her cheek and onto the floor.

'Ron. RON! Wake up! Please… PLEASE!' She was clutching that bit of torn cloth, watching his body lie there, cold. The light in his eyes was gone. She knew then, before she bent over him, that he was dead.

'HERMIONE, WATCH IT!' She heard someone yell to her, but her eyes stayed glued on her fallen friend, her fallen love.

'AVADA KEDAVRA!' She knew it was over for her. She embraced the cold chill of Death that she knew must be rushing towards her, but it never came. She looked up, and through her teary eyes she saw Draco Malfoy, face twisted in anger, tears running down his cheeks. His wand arm was poised to strike, but the strike, she realized, had already happened. There was a chilling crumpling sound as the elder Malfoy fell to the ground. Dead…

Hermione looked into Draco's eyes and knew that it was he. Those eyes shone back at him now, as he must have realized what she was seeing. And again there was sadness. She looked into his eyes and the eyes from her memory. Lucius Malfoy was dead, killed by his only child.

She looked into Draco's eyes, and he looked back at her. She could see in the anger that there was real pain there. But there was no time for pain now. She mouthed a silent thank you, sadness still staining her eyes, and he hurdled himself back into battle without a word.

She felt Harry's arms wrap around her, picking her up bridal style. They walked past Draco, who stood staring at them, and she felt Harry pause, and he whispered to Draco as they passed. 'Draco, make sure they go back to the festivities. I want this to still be a fun night. I'll take her to the hospital wing.' She looked up and thought for a moment she saw concern in those stormy eyes of his, but it was all gone to her as she fell silently into darkness. The concern may never have been there at all…

The gentle kiss he gave to her came out of no where. He could only think "What the hell are you doing, Draco?" as his lips slid gracefully over hers. The caress was gentle and sweet and warm, but without warning she pulled away from him. He thought for sure she had come to her senses and realized what she was doing, but as she regained her footing several meters away he knew differently. He looked into her eyes and didn't see her there— She looked at him but he couldn't feel her in the stare. Where was it she went?

He began to walk towards her but froze as she screamed a stunning spell at him from across the hall. He deflected it with some difficulty, and the whole crowd around them stopped and stared in fear at the scene before them. He looked into her eyes again and saw that she was still gone, but in her eyes he saw something else. Something dark resided there, and then he felt he knew what she had seen. She was in battle, she was in a place far away where she had lost her love and her life, and when she looked at him she saw his father.

She jerked, curling up onto the floor and crying, and for a third time she looked up into his eyes. She was seeing him now, and a look pain and remorse lingered in her gaze, and her lips mouthed at him silently.

'Thank you.'

It was just as she had done all those years ago, and his heart wrenched as the memory surfaced in the back of his mind. Hermione slumped then as Harry had run to pick her up. He carried her in his direction, and he was a bit dazed as Harry spoke to him.

'Draco, make sure they go back to the festivities. I want this to still be a fun night. I'll take her to the hospital wing.' He thought he had nodded, but he may not have. He looked at her concernedly, and met her partially open eyes with his troubled gaze. And then her eyes closed, and Harry carried her off towards the Hospital Wing.

He didn't want to stay. He wanted to go to her and to be sure she was okay. He knew what she had seen and he wanted to tell her that he was not his father. He wanted to make her know that she was nothing like that horror of a man. He wanted to—

He wanted to stop thinking like this. A Malfoy fretting over the safety of a muggleborn whom he had spent his whole life hating? This thinking was dangerous to everything he stood for, and so he stopped it right where it was.

'All right everyone, go on then! Professor Granger just had a bit of a spell. No harm done. The music, please?' The band commenced another song and the students chattered as once again they returned to dancing. Draco remained at the gala for the rest of the evening. After all, he was a Malfoy. It would be a compromise of his character for him to visit so soon without a viable excuse.

He would be sure to invent one as soon as he sat down for a strong drink.

MODF: I know. It's short. But, hey! It's over a thousand pages. And it didn't take a year. XD

Review if you have a chance? It makes me really happy. :P