Thanks for reviewing! Again, I apologize for my slow update and apologize again for the length of this chapter. It's one of the shortest but I didn't see how I would be able to expand it beyond what it is. Hopefully, next chapter will be longer!
HarryPotterNut: Yes, I do ship Dramione! And no, you are not overreacting! It's great that you feel like your reading a book! That's an amazing compliment, thank you.
Kiralightwood: Katherine would be proud of you for proofreading! Okay, probably not but the sentiment is there.
A creak of a chair. A soft cough. The jingling of a bracelet. A hopeless sigh. Draco heard all these things while he wove in and out of sleep. He had no idea where he was and quite frankly he didn't care much. What did it matter? Obviously, he was safe. Hopefully, he wasn't dead.
"Draco, please, I know you can hear me. Madame Pomfrey told me you can and you're just being stubborn. Please wake up. You have to eventually." Hermione's voice drifted into his clouded brain. He was tempted to ignore her but he knew she was right.
Groaning, he opened one eye and saw her anxious face above him, framed with her coffee colored curls looking anxious.
"Hi, Hermione."
"OH GOD! THANK YOU FOR FINALLY LISTENING, DRACO MALFOY. DO YOU KNOW HOW WORRIED I WAS? YOU HAVE BEEN SLEEPING FOR NEARLY TWO WHOLE DAYS!"
"Two…days?"
"Yes!" her voice softened after that, "I'm sorry. How are you feeling?"
Draco turned away from her. He didn't want to talk about Narcissa.
"I'm fine."
She looked at him sadly but didn't bring up his mother, which he was grateful for, "Harry and Ginny usually come in after lunch to visit. They should be here soon."
"And you?"
She looked up, startled, "What?"
"How often do you visit?"
"She has barely left!" Harry said, coming up behind her and touching her shoulder.
"She refused to leave!" Ginny added.
"I didn't hear you two come in." Hermione said awkwardly.
For a few minutes no one said anything. Draco was surprised, she stayed all this time? Nobody had ever shown such kindness to him. Before he could say anything Madame Pomfrey came over with her hands on her hips.
"You lot were supposed to tell me the second he woke up! You have to leave right now, he needs to be checked and proper before I let him leave! Go on, shoo!"
"We'll see you later, Draco!" Ginny called, pulling Hermione along with her and out the door. The other girl cast him a weak smile over her shoulder as she was dragged out the door, Harry following. Draco felt a dull sadness inside him as he watched them go. His friends.
He remained silent as the old woman fussed over him and fed him different potions and pills. He said nothing when she told him he was free to go. And he spoke not a word for the rest of the day as he headed back to the Slytherin common room.
Hermione was very pleased that Draco had finally awoken. It was a huge relief. She had been so worried about him, it must have been so traumatic to have watched his mother die. Draco didn't talk much or share his feelings in the first place but now she was sure he was going to keep his pain bottled inside of him. Not to mention that he had been tortured. Madame Pomfrey had told Dumbledore that he had been hit with the Cruciatus curse repeatedly, more times than a boy of his age should have been able to withstand. Hermione's heart ached for him. His life was so tragic.
And so, she stayed by his side. Harry looked at her confusedly when she refused to leave but she told herself she would do this for any friend. Any friend. Even Ron had come in and begged her to go sleep in her bed instead of on a stiff chair but she vehemently negated. She couldn't leave him like that. So fragile and weak and broken.
She had no idea how cruel Lucius Malfoy was. A man who tortured his own son and then killed his wife. No wonder Draco had been so cold for the last five years, he never knew love. Hermione wanted Lucius to pay for what he did. Pay for hurting her friend.
"Hermione!" Ginny called, "Why are you awake? You need to sleep now, you haven't slept properly in two days. Go to sleep, we can all visit Draco tomorrow."
"Of course." Hermione replied. She climbed into her bed and Ginny shut the door. Then, she fell into a dreamless sleep.
When she woke, she screamed out loud. Draco stood above her looking panicked.
"Draco? What are you doing here?"
"I remember!" he cried, "I remember what she said! Voldemort he…Tom…Deatheaters!"
"Calm down!" Hermione said gently, "You need to breathe." Cautiously, she reached out and touched his arm. His arm went ridged but she did not remove her hand. Slowly, he began to relax and then he closed his eyes and began to speak.
"My…mother told me something before she died. She didn't get to finish her thought," he choked out, "But she told me that Voldemort is weak and he wants his youthful body back. And the deatheaters have a plan!"
Hermione did not know how to reply to this. Was this the horrible threat they had to face? How would Voldemort even get his youthful body back? It was all too much to take in.
"Is that all she said, Draco?" she asked quietly, still stroking his arm soothingly.
"Yes."
"Well, that could mean a variety of things. We need to tell Dumbledore right now!"
Draco nodded and she climbed out of her bed and towards the door, "Are you coming?"
He nodded once more and followed her out the door. They found Harry and Ginny lounging in the common room, looking confused when they saw Hermione and Draco together.
"Draco learned something while he was in Malfoy Manor." she announced, "We are all going to go to Dumbledore right now and tell him."
The four of them were now rushing through the halls of the grand castle and up the staircase to Dumbledore's office. Hermione knocked rapidly on the door until it opened and the wise wizard stood in front of them.
"What a pleasure to see the heirs all together!"
"Professor! Draco learned something horrible while he was away!" she said, skipping formalities.
"Did he now?" Dumbledore said, raising an eyebrow and glancing at all of them.
"Yes!"
"Come in, we can talk."
The four teenagers piled into the room and took their seats across from Dumbledore. Then, Draco began to tell what he had told Hermione before. She watched Harry and Ginny's horrified faces and Dumbledore's thoughtful one as they absorbed this new information.
"That is…troubling." Dumbledore said finally, "I am not so sure what it means. Does Voldemort plan to take over another body, his youthful one, or something else?"
"I don't know, sir." Draco said.
"I do not wish for you all to worry. I will research into this problem and in the mean time you children should continue your training."
"What?" Harry gasped, standing up, "You want us to do nothing when we know his plan?"
"You are not doing nothing, Harry. You will continue your training which is the best thing you can do. Also, you do not know his plan or how he will conduct it or even when. This is useful information but not enough for us to go on."
"But, we know whatever he is planning will lead to the destruction of our world if we don't do anything!" Harry cried indignantly.
"Yes, we do know that. But, what do you plan to do? Storm into his hideout and kill him? You must be rational."
"Professor Dumbledore is right, Harry." Hermione said, "We can research and train and do whatever we can but we can't stop him yet. We will stop him though, just not yet."
Harry looked furious but he sat down in defeat anyways.
Dumbledore began to speak again, "I know you all feel the pressure and responsibility of your task and I know you are all very brave students. We will accomplish what the Founders wished us to. You must be patient, and we will do this."
After that, they began to walk out of the office and towards their common rooms when Hermione said she was going to the library to research the issue. To her complete surprise, all three of her friends said they wanted to go too.
And so, the heirs spend the rest of the night pouring over books of body possession and time travel, wondering what Voldemort was planning and how he would carry it out. Whatever happens, Hermione told herself, we are going to win this. Rowena Ravenclaw herself had faith in me. I will fight for what I need to.