Essential Hope

You were sitting on a hillside. It was a still night, illuminated by the full moon. A cool breeze ruffled the grass around you, shattering the silence. Standing up, you realized you were not alone.

Tall, hooded figures were closing in on you from every side. You realized they were death eaters, and you had a feeling they weren’t there to chat. You noticed a gap between two death eaters, big enough for you to get through. Desperately, you began to walk backwards, trying to escape the creatures.

As you took another step back, you stumbled and fell, landing hard on your side. You scrambled up, and turned to run. Right in front of you was a tall hooded figure. He thrust his hands forward and grabbed your shoulders. You threw your hands out to try and hit him away. Your arms went right through him. He shook off his hood, and you gasped. Your father was staring back at you. His bright green eyes bore into your greenish-blue ones. You tried to pull away, hitting and kicking even though you went right through him.

“Kelsey! Look at me.” His voice was cold and hard, not like you remembered. You met his gaze reluctantly. Another voice spoke to you. It wasn’t your fathers, but a chilling, ice cold voice that slithered into your head, sending a chill down your spine.

“You see what your father has become? He was a coward! He lied to you all. He joined the death eaters to escape death. He is going to kill your family, and you will be next.”

“No!” You shrieked, hitting and kicking harder. Your father began to speak,

“Kelsey, wake up. Kelsey! KELSEY!”

“Kelsey! For the love of.. WAKE UP! And would you please stop hitting me?!” Ginny’s voice rang through your ears. Wait, Ginny? What?” You opened your eyes, and looked around. Ginny was sitting on top of you, holding one of your shoulders in one hand, and deflecting your hits with another. You sat up quickly, and just barely grabbed Ginny in time to keep her from falling off the bed.

“Sorry, Gin. I hope I didn’t hurt you too bad..” She smiled sympathetically at you and said,

“Oh, it’s okay. You were crying in your sleep, so we decided to wake you.” Hermione was sitting on her bed, staring curiously at you. Ginny stood up and said,

“Now that you’re up, I think I’m gonna go.” She smiled at you, waved to Hermione, and disappeared out the door. You had wanted to talk to Ginny and Hermione about your dream, but Ginny was already gone, and Hermione was about to leave.

“Mione, hey, can I talk to you?” You asked quickly, standing up. Your tank top and shorts were soaked with cold sweat. You shivered; it was freezing in the dorm! Hermione shot you a sympathetic glance and said, opening the door,

“Sorry, Kels. I need to go. But we can talk when we all get back, okay?” You gave her a smile to keep her from feeling bad.

“No problem, I guess it can wait, so I’ll-“ Hermione had left before you finished.

“I’ll just talk to myself, obviously.” You muttered, already in a fowl mood for the day. Your friends had been doing that a lot lately, leaving and running off before you could even ask them the time of day. You stripped out of your pajamas, since you were the last one in the dorm, and padded to the shower. You turned it on and got in, letting the warm water sooth your bad attitude. You couldn’t help but think of the dream. It made you shiver, despite the warm water washing down you. You recalled the meeting with your dad, and the cold words telling you your father was a coward.

“Its not true. My father was a brave man, and he died an honorable death.” You told yourself, shaking your head. As you washed yourself down, you felt a twinge of pain on your right hip. After rinsing and getting out of the shower, you wrapped a towel around you and walked to the full length mirror on the wall. You pulled off your towel, and on your hip was a slowly darkening bruise. Exactly where I fell on my hip in my dream… You thought, frightened. You dried off and dressed quickly, trying to keep fear from overtaking you.

It was October, and very cold out that day. Frost lay covering the grounds, and after checking the weather out the window, you pulled on a pair of white, form fitting low-rise jeans and a navy blue skin tight, long sleeved V-neck shirt. You studied yourself in the mirror. You smiled, after seeing the nice reflection, and slipped on your shoes. You did your hair in a half up style, letting your bangs fall to one side. You grabbed your favorite hoodie (a white hoodie with black music notes) and jogged down the stairs.

To your surprise, George and Angelina were both in the common room, seemingly waiting for you. George smiled and hugged you, saying,

“Ginny told us about your chaos this morning, so Ang and I decided to wait for you to see if you were okay..” You grinned, and gave Angelina a big hug as well.

“Thanks, you guys. That means a lot.” You three walked to breakfast together. You ate light, not sure what you were going to do today. George offered to let you come with them to Hogsmeade, but you didn’t want to intrude. You left the breakfast table, and walked outside. You air was freezing! You were to lazy to run back to get a warmer jacket, so you wrapped your arms around yourself, and started walking. With nothing better to do, you decided upon going to Hogsmeade alone, just to pass the time. You were feeling really lonely lately, and missed the times at the burrow with Fred and George.

Oh Fred… The fact that Katie and him were an actual couple still upset you. I mean, you had liked him, a lot, and you thought he liked you too. Now that she wasn’t even letting him near you, you felt hurt, and unwanted. Just as you began to sink into a depressive state, a warm arm slid around your shoulders. You looked up, and grinned.

“I was wondering where you had wandered off to!” Draco said softly, a hint of laughter dancing in his eyes. You wrapped your arm around his waist, and gave him a hug.

“There you are! I was missing the company of my best friend.” You informed him as you two pulled away and continued walking. You wanted more than ever to slide back into his warm, strong arms..

“You wanna have lunch with me?” He offered, smiling. You nodded and said,

“I’d love to.”

You walked to Hogsmeade quickly, Draco treated you to a delicious lunch at the Three Broomsticks, and then you two walked around Hogsmeade, window shopping. After a few hours had passed, and the sun was starting to set, making it even colder, you both decided to head back. It was just you two walking alone, and you liked it that way. About halfway back, you began to shiver. Noticing immediately, Draco unbuttoned his coat and slipped it around your shoulders.

It warmed you up, but not just because of the heated coat. He always made you feel warm, he always made the days better. He looked at you, and smiled, turning his head a bit. He suddenly pulled you aside, under a huge maple tree. He faced you, holding your hands. You got a warm tingle all through your body.

“Kelsey, look.. You.. You’re really great, I mean, you’re so sweet.. And so gorgeous.. I just, I wanted to know…” He took a deep breath, and said,

“Kelsey Lynette, would you be my girlfriend?” You grinned, and said,

“Of course, Draco.” He suddenly wrapped his arms around your waist and picked you up, spinning you around. You lifted your legs, and wrapped your arms around his neck. He sat you down, but kept one hand on your hip, sliding the other to your back and pulling you closer. You tightened your arms around his neck as he leaned down. Your lips met softly, just brushing against one another.

The second time, there was a bit more passion in it as you pressed your lips together. You parted your lips, allowing him to slip his tongue into your mouth. After a few minutes of kissing, you pulled apart. He wrapped his arms around your shoulder, and you slid your arm around his waist, walking back to the castle.

Draco walked you to the Gryffindor tower, as always. This time, before he left, he gave you a passionate kiss, and said,

“Goodnight, sweetheart.” You kissed his cheek, and said,

“Goodnight, Draco. Sweet dreams.” You gave him a smile, and he grinned as he walked back down the stairs. As you entered the common room, you saw George sitting on the couch, throwing sticks into the fire. You sat down next to him, still smiling. He smiled back at you and said,

“Well, someone’s in a good mood!” You giggled, and said,

“Well, yeah.. You could say that.” He stared at you oddly, and asked,

“Why so smiley tonight?” You looked at him nervously, realizing that you were now Draco Malfoy’s girlfriend. Draco Malfoy, the one all the Gryffindors hated.. You stared at him intently, and said seriously,

“George, can I trust you?” He became serious too, and said,

“Yes, of course.” You sighed, and said,

“Well, I have a boyfriend..” He grinned excitedly, saying,

“Oh, really!? Who!?” You smiled in spite of yourself.

“Well… Draco.” To your surprise, he didn’t gasp, frown, yell, look shocked, or even look angry. Instead, he got an even bigger grin, and said,

“Wow, that’s great Kelso! I knew it would happen sooner or later!” You laughed and hugged him, relieved he wasn’t mad or upset. You pulled away and said,

“But please, don’t tell anyone, not yet. I want to.. But especially don’t tell Harry-“

“Don’t tell me what?” Came a voice from behind you. You jumped a few feet in the air and looked back at him.

“Wha- uh, Harry when did you get here!?” He gave you a quizzical look, and said,

“Obviously, just in time.”