Chapter 6: Mr Nott's Friend

Author's Note:

Hello everyone,

First of all, I would like to apologise to all for this long wait. I lost someone dear to me on the 3rd of January after his long fight against pulmonary fibrosis. It has been quite hard getting back on track after this. I have tried several times to come back to my account to post a new chapter but I could not do it. Shaymars, I am really sorry I could not update it when I said I would but your kind words meant a lot. Thank you.

I am not sure how the next chapter will be received but I do hope my best efforts were enough to keep it entertaining. Before we move on to the story, I would like to thank Shaymars, HarryPotterLover413, CassieRenee333, Grovek26 and dutch potterfan for their reviews. Thanks to everyone, who also added the story as their favourites. It is very encouraging for me to keep progressing with it.

And as usual, Harry Potter and all its characters (except those I made up) do not belong to me. They are still J.K Rowling's.

Happy Reading everyone,

Sanyah

Draco slowly let go of her hand and nodded, "Yes, that's me."

"Lord Malfoy," Hermione said slowly, remembering the name Mr Nott had used during the introductions earlier.

"Please, call me Draco. I don't like all these formalities and titles," said Draco as he pulled up the rickety chair next to the bed, and sat down.

"What do you want?" she asked with mistrust plainly evident in her voice.

Draco detected the mistrust in her voice and it angered him; not because she did not trust him but because his mate has obviously been though a lot of rough moments for her to find it hard to trust someone.

"I just want to help you," he said softly.

Hermione stared at him for a few seconds, trying to decide whether this man really wanted to really help her or whether this was just a big joke at her expense.

"Why would you want to help me?" she asked, confused. "I am a servant girl and you are a LORD!"

"So what? This doesn't mean anything to me, Hermione. I really want to help you," Draco said, trying to convince the obviously very intelligent girl in front of him.

Hermione stared at him in silence for a few seconds, trying to decide whether this man could be trusted or not.

"I still don't understand why you would want to help me?!" she refuted back after a few more seconds.

"Do I really need a reason to help you?" Draco asked, trying to stop her in her questioning fest. "Can't I just want to help you?"

"No one does anything without a reason in this world!" Hermione replied defiantly. "I don't see why you should be different from everyone else."

"You are right...," Draco said after a while. "I do have my own motive behind but please believe me when I say that I mean you no harm."

Hermione scoffed at his statement, "There is no way for me to be sure of that!"

Draco sighed. It was not as easy as he had thought it would be. Besides, no one had ever stood up to him like that before. Deciding to try one more time, he removed his wand and slowly handed it to her.

"Here, take my wand and keep it with you."

Hermione stared at him for a few more seconds before hesitantly taking the wand from him.

"Are you convinced now?" Draco asked once more.

Hermione nodded silently from where she was on the bed, still a bit confused. After all, this man was Mr Nott's friend. How come he was being nice to her? And what will come next after this act of kindness?

"How can you help me?" she asked, trying to gain control over a situation which was slowly overwhelming her with its strangeness.

"I want to help you in every way I can," Draco said truthfully, taking her hand in his again. "I will do everything I can to help you."

Hermione removed her hand from his awkwardly and stood up. It made her uncomfortable that Lord Malfoy was being a bit more than friendly with her.

She walked to the window and stared into the night. "No one can help me," she stated resignedly.

Draco was feeling her unease, that's why he had remained seated when she stood up to be away from him.

At her statement though, he got up and went to stand right up next to her. He shoved his hands in his pockets to restrain his need to hold her.

"Try me first, before saying I can't" he said confidently, staring at the girl who making his whole body and being crave for her.

After a while, she turned to look at him in the eyes. "And what would you exactly do to help me?"

"For a start, I could rid you of all that tiredness and help you get a good night's sleep."

She shrugged dismissively, "I sleep just fine."

He chuckled and turned back to staring outside. "It it is obvious by just looking at you that you are tired."

"And how do you know I have trouble falling asleep at night?" she asked again.

"I have my ways," he said, shrugging again. "So, what do you think? Want to let me help you or not?"

"Al...Alright, then. I guess I can give it a try." She replied hesitantly.

Draco grinned and strode to the bed, beckoning to her, to follow him. "Come over here."

She walked slowly to the bed. "What now?"

"Now, lie down on your bed and make yourself comfortable," he instructed, glad to be able to do something.

"You want me to lie down?!" she asked, eyeing him untrustingly.

"Come on! I won't harm you. Just lie down please." Draco said pleadingly, trying to convince her. Her mistrust in him was annoying and yet he knew that he could not blame her.

This time, she did as told and soon she was lying comfortably on her side, waiting for Lord Malfoy...no, Draco...for Draco to do something.

She had turned her back to the wall, tucked her left hand under her head and her right hand, in front of her on the be with her knees slightly bent. She looked beautiful like that.

"And now?" she asked, unsure of what Draco had in mind.

Draco shook himself mentally, he had been staring at the girl lying down on the bed and looking so damn great.

"Now, you just relax and do nothing. That's all," Draco replied distractedly, pulling his chair, to be the closest possible to the bed.

"That's all?" Hermione blurted out in disbelief. She had been expecting something else than 'relax and do nothing.'

If that was it then, she didn't require Lord Malfoy's precious help. Apparently though, Lord Malfoy could read minds and had guessed Hermione's trail of thought.

"In fact, you won't do anything," he precised, still preoccupied by his chair. Once he got it in the desired position, he sat down and looked at her.

"You just relax and whatever needs to be done, I'll do it," he said, reaching for her hand, and hiding a frown when she unconsciously took it away, tucking it under her.

"Okay," muttered Hermione, unsure of whether he could really help her or not.

"Give me your hand," he instructed, holding out his own this time, and waiting for her to take it.

"What are you going to do?" she asked, her hand still safely tucked at her side.

He chuckled at her paranoid behaviour, even though it annoyed him to no end that she was still refusing to trust him completely. But he knew that to gain her trust, he would need to lighten the mood and help her relax. But most importantly, he would need to let her come to him, and not force her to take steps she is not ready to take.

"I will chop it off and make a delicious soup with it," he replied teasingly.

At his comment, she blushed and giggled, to his utter joy.

"I guess I'm being a bit paranoid," she said apologetically.

"Yeah," he agreed with another chuckle. "Just a little bit...Just give me your hand, I won't harm you."

This time, she extended her hand towards him and allowed to clasp it securely in his.

"Alright then, now close your eyes."

Hermione shook her head. "I'd rather keep my eyes open please."

Draco restrained himself from letting out an exasperated sigh.

"Ok, as you wish...Now, just let me do and whatever happens, remember that you are safe with me."

On seeing Hermione nod once more, Draco secured his hold on her hand and closed his eyes to concentrate. He slowly tuned out his surroundings and focused on the feeling of her hand in his. H sought her out with his mind; just like father has instructed him to do to be able to connect on a deeper level with his mate.

Once mated; Robert had explained that this very same connection will become innate to their couple and they would be able to feel each other constantly without any conscious effort. But up until the time they actually mate, he will have to initiate the connection to be able to feel his mate in his mind and for her to feel him as well.

He suppressed a smile on feeling his mind link with hers; it moulded perfectly and completely with hers in a complementary fashion.

From then on, he called upon his Veela powers and slowly started enveloping her mind with his. On hearing a gasp of surprise escaping from Hermione, he opened his eyes and saw that she was a little scared.

In his mind, he could feel her trying to pull back and break the link. She could feel something foreign at the back of her whole mind, surrounding hers completely and it scared her.

He covered the hand he was holding with his other hand and rubbed hers gently and slowly with his thumb.

"It's ok. It's just me. Just relax and let go. I am not going to hurt you, so relax please."

He could see her scared gaze and wanted to hold her close. But Hermione would definitely not like that and he could lose her trust for good.

He slowly intensified his powers, coaxing her from shying away from him and kept on talking to her to prevent her from panicking again.

After a while, his patience paid off and he felt her relent and let go slowly. She let him rock her mind gently and felt as if she was floating on air. A small smile graced her features and she tightened her grip on his hand.

"Feeling much better?" asked Draco, with a knowing smirk.

She nodded slowly, moaning in answer, clearly enjoying the feeling of total relaxation Draco was procuring her with.

"Good," Draco replied. "Just enjoy it and don't worry about anything at all. You are safe with me."

After a few more minutes, Hermione started feeling drowsy and the feeling was more pronounced as the seconds ticked by. She tried hard to keep her eyes open.

"Don't fight it. Close your eyes, it would do you good." Draco said, having noticed her pointless fight.

Hermione, however, being a very very very...VERY stubborn girl by nature, did not heed Draco's advice.

He observed her fight some more, before placing one hand on her forehead; increasing his focus a notch to coax her to give in to the exhaustion.

"I said don't fight it," with a reproaching tinge to his voice. "Close your eyes and just let go...let go, Hermione. Let go...relax."

Finally, she stopped fighting and her brown eyes fluttered closed. Within a few seconds, her breathing evened out and she fell into a deep restful slumber.

Slowly, Draco let go of her mind and severed the link. He remained seated, her hand still in his, contemplating his sleeping mate.

"Father was right...you are indeed very special," Draco whispered to the sleeping girl. "My mate...my beautiful mate."

He conjured a white rose with his wand that Hermione had left on the bed next to her.

He placed the rose next to her head on the pillow and kissed her gently on the forehead.

"I'll be back very soon my mate. Sleep well."

He went to the window and with one last look at his mate; he transformed back into his Veela form and took off into the night.

Sanyah