At six o'clock the next morning, there was a knock at Hermione's front door. Draco, who had been sound asleep, grumbled as he tossed the blanket from his body and shuffled over, opening the door grumpily.
"Potter," he said once he saw who it was, "Why are you here so fucking early in the morning?"
"The same could be said about you, you know," said Harry, raising a brow.
Draco shrugged, "I never left."
Harry started to glare and opened his mouth to say something but was cut off before he could.
"Don't worry, I didn't defile your little princess. I slept on the couch."
"Good to know. I came to drop this off," he said as he held out a manila folder.
"Her manuscript? You didn't give it to her yet?" Draco asked, taking it from Harry.
"I haven't really had a chance, have I? The only time she let me see her was when she was being released and I left before I remembered to give it to her. She's usually awake around this time so….."
"So you thought you would just stop by, early in the morning, catching her off-guard?" asked Draco, raising a brow.
Harry sighed and ran a frustrated hand through his hair, "I don't know. I just want to see her. I… I miss her. Ginny misses her. James misses her…"
"Yeah yeah, I get it. But Potter, you can't just force yourself into her life again. Let her come to you when she's ready. Even if she doesn't get her memories back, she notices all the pictures around this place. She knows, even if it scares her, that you're her friend. Once the nightmares stop, and she can think things out some more, I'm sure she'll contact you."
"Is that your polite way of telling me to leave before she sees me?" asked Harry.
Draco shrugged, "I can be an arse about it if you really want."
"No, no, I get it. I'll.. I'll wait for her to come to me," said Harry, slightly dejected.
"Good. Now, run along off to work like the good little Ministry worker you are," said Draco, shooing him off with a hand.
Harry rolled his eyes, "See ya, Malfoy."
Draco shut the door and glanced up the stairs, wondering if Granger was awake. The door to her bedroom still seemed to be shut, so he shrugged and went back to the couch to fold the blankets. He penned a quick note to Hermione and left it on the coffee table before disapparating.
When Hermione finally woke, she glanced at the clock and blinked a few times to make sure it was correct. "Eight?" she said aloud. She slipped out of bed and opened her bedroom door, the smell of eggs and toast wafting up. She smiled as she headed downstairs but it quickly faded when she saw only the food on the table, a note beside it.
Granger,
Had to go to work. I made breakfast and put a stasis spell on it so it stays warm. Hope you like scrambled eggs.
Potter stopped by this morning and gave me a manuscript for a book you were writing. It's in the manilla envelope on your coffee table.
I'll stop by after my shift to make sure you're ok, but it will be late, around 10 or 11.
Take care.
Eat. Rest. Healer's orders.
-Malfoy.
Before Hermione could read the "PS" at the bottom of the note, she jumped as something leaned against her leg. She glanced down and saw a white cat looking back up at her. The cat mewed and Hermione frowned, not remembering seeing a cat yesterday. She glanced back at the note and read the rest of it.
P.S. I brought my cat over to keep you company. Her name is Cleo and she thinks she's a queen. Treat her as such or she'll stare at you with contempt, it's what I do to avoid conflict.
Hermione let out a chuckle and placed the letter on the table. She kneeled down and put out her hand for the cat to inspect. "Cleo, huh? Well, nice to meet you." She scratched the cat behind the ears, earning a pur and a nuzzle in return. "I think we'll get along just fine."
She gave the cat one last scratch before sitting at the table and helping herself to breakfast.
Draco walked into Hermione's house at half past 10 in the evening. He wasn't sure what to expect, but it wasn't to see that she was still awake, reading a handful of papers, while his cat laid across her lap, snoozing peacefully. She looked up at him and gave him a grin, "Good evening, Draco."
Draco raised a brow as he slipped off his Healer's robe, "So you finally figured it out, huh? How?"
Hermione waved the papers around that were in her hand, "My manuscript, apparently."
Draco looked at her uneasily, "I'm surprised you haven't kicked me out then."
She gave him a confused look, "Why would I kick you out?"
"Well," he said, sitting next to her on the couch, "If I'm in your book, which is about the war, then you'll know how I was involved."
"Well…" she said, as she placed the manuscript down to turn and face him, causing Cleo to get up and move to Draco's lap, "It seem's that the person who I was before I lost my memory thought quite highly of you."
Two eyebrows raised this time, "You don't say."
"Mhm," she said with a nod. "Would you like to read it?"
Draco eyed the manuscript but shook his head, "That's alright. I'll just wait until it's published, like everyone else."
Hermione sighed, "Well, if I don't get my memories back, then it will never get published."
He shrugged, "Guess I'll take that chance."
Hermione waited a minute before asking, "Are you hungry? I have leftovers from dinner you can have."
"Thanks, but I ate at the hospital," he said, absently running a hand down Cleo's back, causing her to purr loudly.
Hermione looked at the cat and smiled, reaching out to scratch behind the cat's ears, "Thank you, by the way, for having her keep me company. It helped."
Draco nodded, "You're welcome. I figured she could use the extra attention while I worked anyways."
Hermione nodded absently, nibbling her lip, "Can I ask you a question?"
"If I say no, will you ask anyways?"
She smiled slightly and nodded, "Will you consider staying the night a few more times? Just for a while?"
"Granger, I said one night-"
"On the couch."
"What?"
"You said one night 'on the couch'. I'm offering you my guest bedroom for the rest of the time," she explained.
He raised an impressed eyebrow at her, "Sneaky thing, aren't you?"
She grinned and shrugged.
Draco let out a sigh as he laid his head against the back of the couch, "I suppose I can inconvenience myself for a few nights…"
He didn't get a chance to finish as Hermione threw her arms around him again, "Thank you thank you thank you."
"Yeah yeah. But remember what I said about the hugging?" he said while half heartedly trying to pry her off of him.
She laughed and let him go, "Sorry, but you may as well get used to it. Apparently, I'm a hugger."
Draco rolled his eyes, but there was laughter behind them, "Greeeat."
Draco awoke that night by the sound of someone screaming. Sitting bolt upright in bed, he focused on his surroundings to make sure it was real and not a dream of his own. When the shouting happened again, he sprung out of bed and ran towards Hermione's room, where she was yelling and screaming incoherently.
"Granger. Granger wake up," he said, walking over to the bed and trying to shake her gently awake.
"NO! No, don't touch me! NO! NO!" she yelled as she thrashed some more.
"Granger, wake up, it's me, Draco… come on, wake up!" he pleaded angrily as he sat on the bed. She bolted upright, her eyes wide and fearful, looking all around the room. Draco grabbed her face with both his hands and had her focus on him "Look at me Granger. Look at me. You're safe. You're ok. No one is hurting you. It was a nightmare. Breath, Granger, breath… that's it. Nice and slow. In…. and out. That's it. Again. In and….out..."
He waited until her breathing returned to normal and she no longer had fear in her eyes before finally letting her go. She let out a sob and buried her face into his chest, wrapping her arms around his middle.
He reached up and patted her hair, making shushing sounds until she stopped crying.
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry… I don't mean to cry all the time, it's just… those dreams. They're so real..."
"Why didn't you take the Dreamless Sleep I gave you?" he asked, resting his chin on top of her head.
"I… I don't want to become dependant on it," she said with a sniffle.
"Granger, it's not an addictive potion. All it does is eliminate dreams. I swear on my life as a Healer that it's safe to take."
She sniffled again before finally lifting her head and looking up, "Alright… I'll take it."
"Where is it? I'll get it for you."
"In the bathroom…"
Draco got up to retrieve the vial of potion from her counter, noting that a blanket was now covering the mirror, and walked back over to where Hermione was. She took the vial and drank the offered position in one gulp, then handed it back to him.
"There, now you won't have to worry about anymore dreams tonight," he said, placing the empty container on the nightstand.
"Can you stay, please? Just until I fall asleep?" she asked.
He let out a tired sigh and nodded, "Move over."
He slid into the bed next to her and she snuggled up against him, her head on his chest. Unsure of what to do, he put an arm behind his head and left the other limp beside him. He started dozing off when he heard her counting under her breath.
"What are you doing?" he whispered.
"Counting your heartbeats."
"...Why?"
"I need to focus on something here…. On something real."
He was silent for a moment before saying, "Well, it's good to know I still have one."
She lifted her head and turned to look at him, frowning, "Why do you say that? Of course you have a heart."
"There would be those out there who would disagree with you," he said with a tired sigh.
"Well… screw them," she said, before laying her head back down on his chest and drifting to sleep to the sound of his beating heart.
A/N: Short chapter this time around, but the other chapters after are longer. Stay tuned! If you're lucky, I may post one more tonight.