Hermione found herself yawning as she stretched. The night had been longer than she thought it would be. Every hour she had woken Draco. Each time though she found it harder and harder to get him to wake up for her. She knew it was hard to wake up continuously especially when you weren't getting the full cycle of sleep that you needed. She looked away from her book and watched Draco lying there, breathing slowly. She hated that he had to deal with so much pain and wished she could take it from him.
Hermione ran her fingers over the pages of the book and sighed. So far she had found nothing resembling Draco's problem and she knew she had a long way to go to figuring out what was happening. Hermione looked over towards the door as she heard it squeak open. She watched Narcissa creep through the door and gave a small smile. "Morning." Narcissa said quietly. "Good Morning." Hermione answered back as she watched Draco's mother walk around the bed and take a seat on the edge. "How has he been?" She asked as she felt his forehead.
Hermione looked at Draco and then back to Narcissa. "He took all his potions, but he's getting harder and harder to wake up. I don't know what to do if I can't get him up." Hermione shut her book and watched as Narcissa ran her fingers through Draco's blonde hair. "You should try to get some sleep." Narcissa said as she pulled the potions from the bedside table. Hermione gave a small shrug. "I'll be fine for now. It's about time to wake him." She added as she looked at her watch.
Narcissa spoke to Draco and Hermione watched as Narcissa slowly spoke louder and louder to her son. She found herself smiling as he managed to speak. "mione." Hermione moved to the edge of the bed and took ahold of his hand and gave it a soft squeeze. "Wake up love." She said softly. Hermione watched as Draco's eyes began to flicker open.
Hermione kissed his hand softly as Narcissa started to open the phials for him. Draco rubbed his eyes and made a face as Narcissa raised the first one to his lips. Hermione watched as he opened his mouth for a moment and took the potion. He took a moment to swallow it down and Hermione reached over for the glass of water before handing it off to him. He took hold of the glass and started to chug it down quickly. Hermione took the empty glass from him and set the glass down. She felt him squeeze her hand and Hermione watched as he took a drink from the next phial. His eyes drooped suddenly and Narcissa ran her fingers through his hair. "Just rest sweetheart." Narcissa spoke softly.
She had just finished speaking when he was out once more. Hermione squeezed his hand gently before she moved from the bed and sat in her chair once more. She had more to research and she needed to figure it out. "You should go get some sleep." Narcissa said as she pet Draco. "I'm fine, I promise." Hermione said as she opened her book and flicked to the page she had left off at.
Hours had passed. The last time they had to attempted to wake Draco up it was a disaster. They ended up trickling potion into his mouth and coaxing him to swallow. Hermione looked at her watch and rubbed her eyes. She felt like she was back in her third year. Narcissa had come to her and had her come down for lunch. It had not taken her long to finish and come right back to Draco.
Hermione stared blankly at the pages of the book before she looked up to see Lucius walking into the bedroom. He glanced at Hermione and then made room for Snape to walk in. Hermione gave a confused look at the two men as they moved towards the bed. Narcissa followed behind them a short moment later and she stood by the chair Hermione was sitting in. "What's going on?" She asked confused.
"Lucius had Severus come back to see if he couldn't figure out what was going on. Or maybe see if there was an easier way to ease Draco's pain." She said quietly as they watched Severus kneel next to the bed. Lucius sat on the edge of the bed. He did not seem so relaxed, but was on alert. Severus pulled his wand out and the two men had a short conversation as Hermione looked up to Narcissa. She stood in silence and Hermione looked back to the two men at Draco's side.
Severus had started to wave his wand and muttered into the silence. Hermione hugged herself as the moments passed and watched as sweat started to form on Draco's face. Snape had his eyes shut and kept muttering. His wand ran back and forth over Draco's leg. Hermione found herself biting her lip and glanced at Narcissa. She seemed as worried as Hermione and her eyes stayed firm on the men. Hermione looked back towards the bed and watched Lucius. He was still just as stiff as when he had sat on the bed. His hand rested gently on Draco's shoulder.
Draco gave a jerk and Lucius' hand pushed down on his shoulder to keep him still. Hermione stood slowly. The seconds seemed to be going by as if by minutes. She watched Draco jerk again and give a grunt of pain. Hermione made to step forward and she felt Narcissa grab hold of her. "Just wait." She said quietly.
Hermione watched as the sweat began to drip from Draco's face. He had started to turn paler. His eyes shot open and Lucius was prepared for it. Suddenly he had his hands on Draco's shoulders and kept him on his back. "Relax Draco. It'll be over soon." He said softly as Draco gave a grunt of pain and tried to get up. "It's okay son." He said softly. Hermione felt Narcissa's grip on her arm tighten as Draco gave a cry of pain. "Stop!"
"Soon, just hold on." Lucius said as he glanced back at Snape. Draco gripped Lucius' arms and gave another yell of pain. "We need to find out what can help." Lucius said trying to keep Draco calm. "It's all to help you." Hermione watched Draco clench his jaw and his hands tighten their grip. The sweat continued to drip from his face and his face seemed to take on a hint of green. Snape continued, the muttering slowing down. His face was screwed up in concentration. Hermione bit her lip harder.
The sound of Draco's breathing filled the room as he tried to keep the yell that wanted to tear from his throat down. Lucius kept the pressure on him and after a moment longer Snape dropped his wand arm. Hermione looked at the man, he hid emotions so well. Hermione looked towards Lucius and Draco and watched as Lucius slowly eased on the pressure. Draco seemed to be trying to control himself and after a moment wrenched himself from his father's grip and turned over onto his side. Hermione watched as he gripped the edge of the bed and pulled himself over in time. Hermione shut her eyes as she heard him suddenly gag.
Nothing seemed to hit the floor but it didn't stop Draco from gagging more. It was a good thing she hadn't tried to keep him up on one of the last tries and got him to eat. Hermione opened her eyes to see Lucius rubbing Draco's back as he continued to let his son finish. She felt Narcissa release her arm and suddenly a tingling sensation went down it. She hadn't realized what a death grip Narcissa had on her.
It took a moment longer before Draco finally went limp. He was trying to catch his breath and kept his head hung over the edge of the bed. "Could have warned me." He mumbled. Lucius gripped Draco's shoulders and pulled him back from hanging over the edge. "We were trying to keep you from having to deal with the pain. We were hoping you were going to stay asleep from the potion and exhaustion."
Hermione watched as Lucius waved his wand and got rid of the puddle of sick. "Well a bigger heads up will help me." He said before he looked to Snape. "And what did you find out?" Snape was back on his feet and looked towards Draco before he looked at Lucius. "I can't tell you much." He looked at Narcissa. "I've not seen anything like it. I can't do much. It is as I suspected. The more I tried to dig deeper into it the more pain it seemed to cause. I wasn't able to dig much into it as you can tell." Hermione gave a bit of a laugh. All eyes shot at her. She felt her cheeks redden. "Sorry, it's just with how much Draco seemed to hurt I would have thought you got further into it."
Draco gave a small smile at her before looking at Snape. "So you are telling me that for you to figure out more, the pain is going to be a lot worse?" Snape stayed silent for a moment before he gave a small shake of his head. "There will be more pain yes. Will it tell me more about it? Possibly. There is a large chance that it may reveal nothing. I may have to repeat the process several times and it may still show me nothing."
Hermione finally moved. She sat on the edge of the bed and she felt Draco take ahold of her hand. Lucius rubbed his jaw and gave a sigh. "What do you think we should do?" Snape kept a blank face. "I don't know if we should continue or wait and see what the Healers at St. Mungo's can come up with." Lucius gave a look. Draco gave a sigh. Hermione looked at him again and saw him watching Snape. "Either way I'm pretty screwed." He ran a hand across his face. He looked so drained. Hermione squeezed his hand and gave it a soft kiss.
"I guess we will just have to give it a try." Draco stated with a shrug of his shoulder. "I don't like it." Narcissa said suddenly. Hermione looked over at her. "You were barely able to handle the pain just now. You would not be able to handle it any further and to have to do it possibly more and nothing come out of it." Draco took in a deep breath. "Sorry mother. I believe you are out voted on this." He said softly.
Narcissa gave him a look that Hermione would swear could kill someone. "What do you think will happen at St. Mungo's. They'll have me in just as much pain if not more. No one seems to know what to do or what's been happening. This is going to be our best bet for the moment. I just need rest. We can stop with the potion for now. After that we will give it another try." Narcissa scoffed.
Draco rubbed his eyes. "I don't think I could do it right now." Hermione kissed his cheek and he put his arm around her. "When would be best for you?" Severus looked to Narcissa then to Lucius before he spoke. "We can do this tomorrow. You need as much rest as you can get. I will warn you that it's best not to stop once we start." Draco gave a nod. "Tomorrow it is." He said with a look to his mother.
Draco watched as his mother left the room with a huff. Hermione watched as Lucius stood up. He looked at Draco before he gave his shoulder a squeeze. "Don't worry. I'll handle your mother." He said before taking off out of the room. "I will see you tomorrow morning." Severus spoke as he followed Lucius from the room.
Hermione looked away from the door as it closed and looked at Draco. She saw his gray eyes looking into his and he suddenly pressed his lips to hers. Hermione wrapped her arms around him and felt him pulling her down onto the bed. She smiled as he brushed his nose against hers lightly. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" Draco gave a small smile of his own and shook his head. "No, but who better to figure dark magic?" He asked of her. Hermione made a small face, but he had a point.
"Have you gotten any sleep at all love?" He asked softly. Hermione gave a small laugh. "Of course not." Draco kissed her once more. "How about we have a nap?" Hermione gave a face. "You need to just sleep through the day and night." Draco grinned. "Well I promise to if you stay with me." Hermione made a face. "Well, I don't know how well your mother will take such a thing." Draco brushed his lips to hers. "She wont be bothered. She'll be too busy arguing with dad all night." Hermione smiled. "I guess that'll be fine."
Draco reached over Hermione and grabbed one of the potions from the bedside table before leaning back. Hermione watched as he started to down the rest of the potion and Hermione took hold of his hand. Draco let her take the empty container and he gave a sleepy smile before she gave him a kiss. "Sleep well love." She whispered as she watched his eyes slowly close. Hermione set the bottle down and snuggled up against him her arm wrapped around him as she laid her head on his chest and attempted to knock out tomorrow from her mind and catch some sleep.