It was the morning of their first DATDA class and Hermione was pacing around the Gryffindor common room worriedly before herself and the boys went down to breakfast.
She heard them come down the stairs and glanced up at them, searching for any equal amount of dread that she was currently feeling.
Harry of course, looked absolutely fine. Being paired with Luna was ridiculously lucky compared to his friends. Ron was looking a little sheepish but not too panicky, much to Hermione's surprise.

"Aren't you guys worried at all?" she asked quickly as they made their way to the dining hall.
"Not really," said Harry quietly and smiling. She rolled her eyes and looked to Ron.
"What about you though? You can't be looking forward to this."
"I'm not. Trust me I don't wanna do this either, but we need to remember it's all just a set up, I'm sure they won't make it too serious for us to handle, even if we happen to be paired with the bloody Slytherin duo." They exchanged looks of sympathy for one another just as they reached the table and sat.
Breifly, Hermione looked up from her breakfast of scrambled egg and glanced around to see Malfoy, who looked like he quite frankly couldn't care less about what they were about to go through.

Little did she know that on the inside he felt much the opposite. Draco barely slept at all last night, worrying about what kind of things in his mind would be exposed to Granger. Of course if she ever told anyone what she saw, his reputation would be destroyed at school, and his father would be very unhappy with him; which was something Draco was desperate to avoid happening.
The short hour in which he did sleep, his nightmares were there again, nightmares of his father, and the things he'd had to witness over the summer. Draco was quite frankly beyond afraid of what Granger might think or say. However he was determined now to make sure this wouldn't effect him as he unintentionally met eyes with Hermione for just a split second. She quickly looked down, her cheeks tinging red slightly. He tried not to smile, it was so easy to get her embarrased.

Draco found he couldn't finish his breakfast, and with everyone talking non stop about the first task and trying to guess what it might be, he stood up and left to prepare a little before going to class.
Hermione watched him get up and leave and felt as though he probably was worried, but being his Malfoy self, was trying very hard to hide it.
His eyes looked dark though, as if he'd had no sleep at all last night, but Hermione couldn't blame him. She wasn't looking forward to seeing anything that may be hidden away in that big head of his. She didn't want to know the horrors he may or may not have been through. She didn't know what to expect; and that frightened her.
The rest of breakfast went in a rush, the mixture of excitement and anxiety from everyone left her feeling almost light headed, as Harry, Ron and herself bid goodbye to Ginny, who was just as keen to know what they were going to do, and made there way to the DATDA corridor, in which several people had crowded round.
Slowly they filtered into the classroom to find Dumbledore and McGonagall standing at the front, patiently waiting for the class to be quiet.
As they did, Dumbledore calmly spoke first.

"If you would all quickly find your partners and form a line, we ask that you follow us and listen carefully as we walk."
Shaking slightly with nerves, Harry gave her hand a comforting squeeze before going off to find Luna. She took a deep breath.
Just let this be quick, she uttered to herself.
It wasn't difficult to spot Malfoy's shiny blond hair in the nearly full room, she made her way over to him and was greeted with a nod.
"Granger," he muttered as politely as possible.
"Malfoy," she returned, then silence as they walked together in the line of pairs and listened as Dumbledore spoke and lead them to a very empty part of the castle that went on to a large room she'd never seen before.
Talking as he went Dumbledore said, "So sixth years, this first task will take place in your sleep. You and your parter will enter into each others sub-consciousness and then with the use of some very powerful magic, be transported to a sort of obstacle course, however with several enemies interrupting your path. This task is intended to help improve both your physical stamina, and your use of the correct spells in certain situations. Not only will you find enemies, but you may find your weaknesses are exposed within the dream. Try to find the will to be strong." Finally getting a good view as they filed into the room, she saw it was filled with beds, that were pushed together into pairs.
Both Draco and Hermione groaned in horror at the same time when they realised they'd have to lie next to each other.
"Now," McGonagall continued for Dumbledore, "find a bed with your partner and lie down. Get comfortable and then you must all hold hands with your partners."
Pretty much everyone in the room erupted in complaints, but McGonagall wouldn't have it, and she casually cast a silencing spell over everyone.
"It's very important that you listen to these instructions. These dreams will appear very real to you, and you will most likely sooner or later forget it's a dream at all, so stay focused. Your aim is to simply make your way through this sort of obstacle course as Professor Dumbledore mentioned, and touch the trophy that will be at the end with your partner. This acts as a trigger to wake you up when you're done. Are we clear?"
Everyone gave a rather sullen nod, ️and McGonagall smiled to herself. "Right, well everyone lay on their beds then."

Everyone sped to their beds, far quicker than either Hermione or Draco expected, which meant they had to walk the furthest to the last row of beds at the back of the room.
Awkwardly they lay down opposite each other as McGonagall removed her silencing spell.
"Everyone has a minute to talk to your partner, make a plan if you like," she said.
Draco stared into Hermione's eyes. He'd never been this close to her for so long. Their faces were inches from each other and he had to force himself to stop staring. She coughed awkwardly amongst the hushed chatter of all the other pairs and said, "well should we make a plan then or not?"
"I think we should just push through it as quick as possible, who ever gets to the trophy first just waits for the other person to get there."
Hermione hesitated slightly, nearly wanting to disagree. The thought of having at least someone real beside her was comforting, even if it was Malfoy, she didn't really want him to go ahead on his own as she suspected he would, she wanted to stay with him.

When she still hadn't replied, Draco raised an eyebrow slightly.
"Earth to Granger?" he asked smirking.
"Oh sorry, um... Yes ok, sure," she said, though she didn't sound very sure.
"Nervous?" he asked, sincerely for once.
She glanced and up and stared into his silvery eyes. "Yes," she said honestly.
"Me too," he said quietly, not really meaning to.
"The great Slytherin Prince? Afraid? You disappoint me Malfoy," she said, clearly trying to lighten the mood a touch. He smirked.
"Only worried I might get stuck in the dream forever with you, now that would be a total nightmare." She smacked him playfully on the arm. Normally he would've got annoyed at her, but instead they laughed together slightly, then awkwardly went quiet again as McGonagall announced from the front of the room, "Now everyone, join hands."

Draco looked with a pained expression at Hermione, but she attempted to put on a comforting smile and they linked hands. Her delicate fingers interlocked with his own into a tight grip. Her touch suddenly calmed him, and he let out a deep breath of relaxation. Hermione had now shut her eyes and was ready to go into the sleep. He looked at her again for one last time, the warm feeling in his centre growing slightly. She looked so peaceful like this.
But suddenly his eyes shut too and everything went black.
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A/N; ok I'm sorry that wasn't that interesting! But the next chapter will be the first task, I hope you guys are looking forward to it. And yes, I have gotten a bit of inspiration here from Inception.. :D