I just have one thing to say...please don't hate me.
Enjoy
XxDracoxHermion3
In Time
There was one sound and one sound only heard when one would step into the room – the faint slur of wheezing. On top of the staccato of beeping emitted from the monitor that sat at the head of the bed. But, the wheezing…the wheezing is what made your ears stretch a mile.
She turned her head slowly to face the white clock that hung from the wall, barely making out the roman numerals as the ticking of the hands raged on.
9:54.
Two hours and six minutes. Two hours and six minutes.
That's all she had.
Two hours
And six minutes.
As darkness filled each crevice of the dreary hospital room, Hermione found it difficult to even turn her head, it was so exhausting. Tears soaked through her pillow as she lie upon the hospital bed alone, counting down the seconds until the inevitable. She lay upon the small, yet stiff mattress, and despite how muddled and dense her mind was, she couldn't help the one thought that plagued her for the past few hours.
She couldn't help the sense of thinking how such a thing was possible. How she, the great war heroine, was reduced to a translucent, shriveling, dying mass lying on a pasty old bed in St. Mungo's. Dying of a flipping Muggle disease. She wasn't supposed to be here, this wasn't supposed to happen! Yet…
It did.
It wasn't fair that she had to be going through this, it wasn't fair that her body decided to turn against her. Hermione had never once in her entire life done anything for which this would be the punishment, so why was it happening? Why was fate so cruel…so insensitive?
And despite the notion that Hermione absolutely despised self-pity, she couldn't help that at this precise moment, it was fine to let it show. Even if he wasn't here. The man who would lend his shoulder for her tears. The man who would rub comforting circles on her knuckles as she wallowed in her own sadness.
Her husband.
The man who, despite seeing so much death already in his life, never backed down from a fight. The man who couldn't bear to see another loved one die, so he turned and fled. She wouldn't, she couldn't, blame him for turning his back on her when she told him of her cancer. It was something any sensible person would do. If she wasn't married to him, she'd probably leave herself just to spare him the grief of one more loss. He was hers, her husband, her one and only love, her world, and she would do anything to protect him until the very end. Funnily enough, the end came much too soon.
Another tear escaped her eye and traveled across the bridge of her nose, sinking into the pillow cover to join the rest. She wasn't in any physical pain, just overwhelming emotional pain. So why shed tears for no reason?
Just as the lids shut over her eyes, she heard the sound of the door clicking, followed by the soft sounds of footsteps. A stream of hospital fluorescents flooded through the room and she flicked her eyes open. Who in Merlin's name could be here now? She already said goodbye…she didn't want anyone to see her like this. Not her parents, not her friends, and especially not her beautiful child.
So then who could it be? Her eyes slowly adjusted to the outpour of light, and upon seeing who stood before her, she almost thought that she had finally slipped into a mental state.
"Draco?"
"Hermione," responded her former enemy with a curt nod.
"What…are you doing here?"
He took the time to shut the door, leaving the room to be bathed in its prior moonlight. She couldn't see much of his face but it made her feel queasy that he was looking down upon her with a look of almost-pity.
Again, she despised any sort of pity.
"Was just…visiting someone. Was told you were here so I thought why not," he responded with a calm sort of tightness. "Why are you here alone?" he asked before she could comment on his last statement.
"I…I didn't want anyone to see me when I…when I…d-d-…" she trailed off, brows knitting into a frown.
"Shouldn't your husband be here?" he asked.
"He didn't want to see me…like this." She responded. "It's understandable, though.
"You're better off without that bastard. Bloody coward." He replied coldly, turning his head to look out the window instead of into her eyes.
She shook her head, a small smile tugging at her lips, "That's not true. I love him, he's the best man that I could ever have the honor of marrying."
He scoffed, "Which explains why the wonderful oaf didn't show."
She watched him as her smile dissolved slowly, her thumbs twiddling in her lap. "What are you doing?"
"Standing, Granger. What does it look like?"
She smiled again, a luminous one, as she heard the usage of her maiden name once again. Though she had taken her husband's name, Hermione still loved that Draco still called her 'Granger'. At least some things never changed.
He leaned against the wall across from the headboard and watched her as her smile dissipated once again. He noticed that fear and worry filled her eyes suddenly. So, he did what he did best: irritate her. And how, you may ask? Well…
His eyes searched the room and he quickly strode over to a rolling office chair, tugging it by its arm as he pulled it towards her bed and gracefully took a seat next to her. Crossing his arms over the side of the bed and smirking slightly.
"You can't be here," she said quietly. "I don't want anyone here right now."
"Well tough, Granger. I'm not leaving."
She opened her mouth for a rebuttal, but instantly crushed her impending words at the hard look that he was giving her. And despite her earlier claim of wanting to be alone, she was kind of grateful that he was here, at least she wasn't completely alone in his presence.
A few silent minutes passed by, neither talking. And in that time Draco allowed his eyes to take in the differences that overcame her body. Her skin was translucent and pale, her body much thinner than he'd seen it last. She looked weak and frail. Nothing like the blazing fire he had come to know her as.
He was broken from his examination when Hermione spoke up in a timid voice, "How have you been?"
"Just peachy," came his reply, his voice betraying him.
She rested her bony hand on the back of his, and patted it, realizing that his hand was so warm and…and alive. She sighed, "What's wrong?"
He stared at the wall ahead of him and laughed sadly, "Am I that easy to read?"
She patted his hand once more, "No. I'm just a gifted people-reader," she whispered. "Now tell me, how are you?"
"Not so well," he replied after a moment of hesitance.
"Care to elaborate?"
Draco moved his gaze from the bulletin board on the wall behind her to her eyes, "I've made a terrible mistake. And it's too late to take it back and I…I just know I've fucked things up forever."
She considered him for a few seconds, "Just apologize, then."
He shook his head, "I wish it were that easy."
"Really? Maybe when they hear the words the person that you claim to have wronged will forgive you. Just try it with me, go on," she urged.
He didn't respond.
She sighed heavily, "Oh come on, try it."
"I'm sorry," Draco said in a pathetic mewl.
She smiled in approval, "See, it wasn't bad! Just keep practicing and you'll be perfect." Her hand had grown tired of patting so she just settled for keeping it on his, smoothing little circles over his knuckles once in a while.
Silence filled the room again, and Hermione shivered, coughing slightly and placing her hand over her mouth to stray the germs away from Draco.
"You're freezing," he remarked, noticing the large goosebumps upon her thin arms and the slight chattering of her teeth.
She shrugged nonchalantly, "I've been trying to get warm for the past few hours. But to no avail," she said with a small voice.
He encompassed her hand in his, a meager attempt to warm her, but an attempt nonetheless. "Are you cold anywhere else?"
She stared into his brilliant eyes and noticed that they were swirling with anger, combined with the tenseness of his jaw. She hesitated a bit before answering, "Well, everywhere, really. These bloody blankets don't do – what are you doing?"
He dropped her hand, paced in front of the bed, and finally circled around her, He arrived to the other side of her bed and lifted the covers, climbing in with her without a second thought. She felt a biting gust of air that was quickly discarded once Draco's warmth surrounded her. Her eyes widened in shock as she found herself turning slowly to face him, eyes blurring with tears. She curled up into his side and let the warmth invade her numb senses. Smiling slightly when she felt his arm drape around her waist, pulling her closer to his chest. His clean and comforting scent filled her nostrils, warming the depths of her icy heart and bones. This, dying like this, she wouldn't mind. And as soon as the thought crossed her mind, her eyes jerked open.
"Draco?"
"Hm?"
"What time is it?"
"Uh…10:28," he replied, "Why do you ask?"
"Ceph…Ceph," she croaked, tears spilling out of her eyes as she nuzzled her face closer into his chest. "His…his birthday. Please, no. Please…" she pleaded as sobs wracked her small frame.
Draco pulled her even closer, rubbing up and down her back as she cried into his shirt, balling the fabric into her fist. "Shhh."
"Your friends love you. Your son loves you. Your parents love you…your husband loves you," he murmured desperately. "And everyone that has had the honor to ever meet you loves you."
He felt her body shake harder at his words, and he felt his heart tearing at each strangled cry.
"I…I do. I love my friends. Harry…and Ginny…and Neville and Luna. And I love my son, and my parents. But I love my husband most of all…" she croaked.
She shifted her head so that she was now staring directly into his silvery eyes, "I've loved my husband for as long as I can remember. No matter what he's done I forgive him because I can't hold it to myself knowing that he was hurting and assign him blame. I forgive him for the times he's hurt me. Because my husband is the best husband in the history of Wizarding husbands."
He raised a brow, "Not good enough for Muggle husband standards?"
She chuckled sadly, "Of course. And Muggle husband standards."
"Draco?"
"Yes, Hermione?"
"Will you tell him something for me?"
"Of course."
"Let him know that…that I love him. And I always will, no matter where I will be. And tell him that I know he will always love me too. Tell him that just because I am leaving this world doesn't mean that he needs to too. Tell him to live his life even though I won't be there. And tell him…tell him that, for our son, if he ever needs the help, and if he ever falls in love with a nice woman that he-"
"No, Hermione! How can you say that?" he interrupts, "I mean…don't you think that it's his choice if he wants to get married to another woman?"
"-that he can do whatever his heart desires without feeling guilty about it. I don't want him to be alone for the rest of his life just because of me."
"Maybe the arse deserves to be alone. I mean, the git did leave you after all…"
"No! Yes, he has done some idiotic things but…he's my husband and I love him, I just want him to be happy," she insisted.
He sighs but does not answer.
"If I know anything about my husband it's that he is a stubborn man. Forgive him if he doesn't comply. But you need to make sure that he listens and executes my orders, yeah?"
Draco laughed, "His wife is equally, if not more, as stubborn as he. It never ceases to amaze me how you too have lasted together so long…"
"The feeling's all the same," she whispers, a breathtakingly beautiful smile played on her lips.
She lowers her head and relaxes against his chest once again, smiling, and crying as sleep takes over her body.
Draco watches her, swallowing a lump that formed in his throat. He continued to rub her back, feeling her hair tickle his chin at every exhalation of breath that left her body. The wheezing was just a faint background now. He glanced over to the clock on the wall and sighed, "10:43," he says to himself. He shuts his eyes just briefly, praying to whatever greater deity that would care to listen that he didn't fall asleep. He still had time, and he couldn't waste it. So long as he focused himself on her soft wheezing and breathing, he'd be fine. He could make this work.
At a time unknown to him, Draco's eyes shut, and then next time he opens them is when he realizes that his body is much colder than it was before his unplanned nap took over. The tickling on his chin was no longer present. He froze as his eyes widened, realization setting in. he looks down at the mass of curls beneath him, tears springing to his eyes immediately as he is given no signs that she was awake. That she wasn't gone just yet. A few seconds later, the tears grow heavier on his face as he wraps his arms tighter around her cold body, burying his face deep within her soft, sweet-smelling curls. Hard sobs wracking his body, making him shudder and moan. Merlin, she was gone.
She left him.
He reluctantly removed his face from her beautiful golden tresses as his blurred eyes focused in on the hands of the wall clock.
11:59.
A harsh round of sobs override his senses as he drops his face back into her hair, rocking her body with his slowly as his untimely loss reverberated through him.
"I love you, Hermione Malfoy."
So...yeah. We've been learning about cancer in Biology class and today was kind of a glum day so...this is what came from that combination. Please don't kill me. I cried around three times myself while writing this.
IF YOU LOVED IT PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW!
Additional notes:
A Stroll in the Dark will be updated on Sunday;
Reprieve will be updated on Sunday as well;
DISCLAIMER: THIS BEAUTIFUL WORLD BELONGS TO OUR SAVIOR JK ROWLING, I OWN NOTHING