When Draco woke the next morning, the first thing he noticed was his pounding head and the sour taste in his mouth. The second thing he noticed was that he was not in his room, nor in the Room of Requirement, but in the Astronomy Tower. Finally, he realized he wasn't alone. Curled against him was a thin, warm body with a halo of curls covering the better part of her face.
"Oh holy hell…" He mumbled, "We didn't…." He searched the area around him and then checked himself for any telltale signs of a drunken interlude. Nothing. Well thank Salazar for that. Still… there was something. Flashes of Hermione's face, blurry and yet clearly sad and longing. Longing for what? Him, of course. It had been a rare occurrence for her to look at him with open longing, but now that they knew about the bond, she probably wouldn't hold back. Not to mention they were both drunk, of that he was certain. He looked down at her again and took in how perfectly she conformed to him, resting her head halfway down his chest, just above his belly button, with her arm thrown across his waist and her leg hooked over his hip. The position was incredibly provocative and with anyone else, it would have made him assume the worst, but with Hermione, it was more intimate and their was a gentle innocence to the way she had draped herself over him, like she knew nothing would ever come of it, but took comfort in him allowing her to be close for once. His own arm, dead asleep from being in the same position for too long, curled around her and rested on her shoulder, holding her to him. It made him feel almost possessive of her, something he didn't like. He immediately went about extracting himself as gently as possible so as not to wake her and make the situation even more awkward.
It took him a while, but he finally managed to set lay her gently on the floor, using her arm to cushion her head. He tried not to notice how light she had been, or how soft her hair was when it brushed against him. Stifling a groan, he forced himself to his feet and walked towards the door despite the pounding in his head and the sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. Whether it was from all he'd had to drink, or guilt over leaving her lying there, helpless, he didn't know. Just before he left, he took one long look back at her. She was curled on her side in the same position he'd placed her in just seconds ago. From the looks of it, she'd sleep for a long while yet. He almost felt bad for her; she'd probably feel worse then him considering her lack of drinking experience.
"It wouldn't be my first time drinking."
"Oh?"
"Maybe I'll tell you about it sometime." She bit her lip and eyed the bottle in his hands before taking it from him. "For now… cheers." She tilted it back and took a large swig not even sputtering and handed it back to him.
The snippet of conversation floated through his mind, a partial memory of what had occurred last night. Maybe she wouldn't be too bad then. Still, Draco didn't want to stick around to find out. He needed to shower, change, and sneak off campus. He had a meeting to attend.
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Hermione awoke, completely disoriented and incredibly uncomfortable. Her mouth tasted nothing short of foul and her head pounded. She knew this feeling. She had a bitch of a hangover. As she struggled to sit up, her head spun and took a moment for the world to right itself again. She sighed. She was in the Astronomy Tower and she had no idea how she had gotten there.
She remembered one thing very clearly though: Draco and their bond. He had been here. Flashes of him sitting across from her floated through her mind. That and there was a bottle of extremely expensive Fire whiskey lying dangerously close to the edge of the balcony.
"Bloody hell." She moaned, rubbing her forehead. She had been drunk many times before, trying to numb the constant flow of Draco's emotions, but it had been a while. Her tolerance levels must have sucked. "Well, what do I do now?" she wondered aloud. She glanced over at the bottle. What the hell, why not? She walked over and picked it up. Full. She grinned, fantastic. This would come in handy on a particularly bad day. She shrunk it down, thankfully her wand had been in her pocket, and then slowly made her way towards the door and out into the corridor. She knew where she needed to go.
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It took her a long time and quite a few pauses to rest, but eventually, Hermione made it to the Room of Requirement. Doing her best to remain focused and ignore the pain in her head, she thought of the room where she had spent the previous few weeks with Blaise, Theo, and Draco. The door appeared before and she hurried inside, nearly crying with relief when Blaise jumped up and immediately started talking.
"Where the hell have you been? We looked for you all night after we couldn't find Draco and wow you look like shit!" He said, eyeing her wrinkled clothes, tangled hair, and pained expression. "Draco's hangover is hitting you hard, huh?"
"What?" She asked, confused.
"You know… he was drunk… it made you drunk. Now you're stuck feeling his hang over." Blaise explained, wondering how she could not have realized this herself.
"Along with my own! For shit's sake!" She exclaimed, flopping down into the nearest chair.
"Your own…oh you didn't! You found him last night, didn't you?" Blaise laughed. "The two of you got hammered together, that is just odd and hysterical."
"Blaise?"
"What?"
"Shut up."
He sniggered. "Sorry, I just didn't take you for the drinking type."
"You wouldn't believe some of the things I tried to block out Draco's emotions." She sighed, all she wanted was to eat something and crash for the next few hours. Thank Merlin it as Saturday and she had no classes. Wait…did she just feel the desire to eat?
"Blaise, something's wrong. Really, extremely wrong."
"What? What is it?" He said, moving closer to her.
"I'm… hungry."
"What?" The words sounded so foreign coming out her mouth.
"I know. It's the strangest thing."
"It doesn't necessarily mean anything. Snape told Draco he couldn't eat for 24 hours before the magic transfusion, plus he just spent a night passed out drunk, so his hungers probably high, which makes it a negative emotion which means its hitting you hard." Blaise explained.
"So what do I do?"
"Stuff your damn face while you can!" He immediately thought of every delicious breakfast food he'd ever eaten in his life appearing on a table in front of them. And then there it was, an absolute bounty of deliciousness. He and Hermione glanced at each other, then yanked their chairs to the edge and began to shovel in the food. Muffins, bacon, sausage, biscuits, chocolate chip pancakes, and large amounts of pumpkin juice were downed in minutes. Hermione savored every bite, thanking whatever God, or Goddess there might be for this one chance to enjoy food again.
"I need you to do me a favor." She said in between bites.
"Sure." He said around a mouthful of steak and eggs.
"When we're done eating, find some way to make me sleep."
"Why?"
"I'll explain later, just do it when the time comes. For now, lets keep on enjoying this. What else can we eat? Fuck breakfast, let's do lunch, dinner, and dessert as well."
Blaise felt a strange warmth in his chest. Hermione had become like his sister and watching her weight fluctuate between dangerous and extremely dangerous had been awful. It was an incredible relief to see her eating willingly, even if she was completely pigging out in front of him. He only hoped it would last long enough to bring her weight back into the healthy range. If all else failed, he wasn't above asking Draco to skip a few meals so the hunger would hit Hermione like this again.
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Draco emerged from the green flames and fell into step with his Godfather. The time had finally come to report to the Dark Lord and Aunt Bella. It was clear Snape had walked the halls of Malfoy Manor before, since he never once asked Draco where to go and took the quickest, albeit most confusing, routes. Finally they stopped in front of the double doors that lead to the Dark Lords favorite place to lounge, one of many large studies in the Manor. Without either of them having to knock, the doors creaked open and they stepped inside. In the soft light, Draco could just make out the Dark Lord, sitting in a high backed chair in front of the fire and Bella, sitting on the edge of an elegant green velvet couch.
"Draco, so good to see you. What news do you bring?" The Dark Lord hissed.
"Is Hermione alright?" Bella asked, getting to her feet and rushing over to her nephew. The changes in his aunt were astounding. She looked saner then she had in years, if not much more worn with worry over her goddaughter's safety.
"Yes, and more importantly we have found the cause of her…issue." Draco gestured for Snape to explain.
"Ms. Granger has been cursed with a bond, forcing her to take all of Draco's negative emotions into herself. This, along with the stress of the upcoming war, took a harsh toll on her and nearly cost her life." Snape said.
"Do you think whoever did this intended it to take her life?" Bella asked, her concern for her goddaughter causing her to ignore her dislike for the double agent.
"No, I think it was meant to serve as a distraction. She must have been coming to close to something she wasn't supposed to know about…like her heritage."
"How intriguing…" The Dark Lord muttered, "I have, of course, heard of Ms. Granger's brilliance before. "The Brightest Witch of Her Age." I believe they call her? Not many would be willing to challenge someone with her reputation, especially knowing her heritage… so who would do this?"
"I believe I may have the answer to that question, as well." Snape told his master.
"Oh?"
"I believe the caster to be none other then the one who originally took her life from her: Albus Dumbledore."
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Ah, I love a good cliffhanger. Sorry it's taken me so long to update. I've been dealing with some issues and a serious case of writers block. Also, I've started the process of finding all my old stories, which are posted to my original account, and began editing and reposting them to this account. Only one short one-shot is up currently, but check it out. It's a tearjerker, so if you don't feel like crying, I might not… anyways thanks for reading REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW my lovelies-
Seleen.