Chapter 14

For four long hours Draco lay on the bed, stone-cold and lifeless. A statue that Hermione thought would never wake up again. Finally, though he began to shiver, little movements, that could have been missed, his body too weak to do more than shy away feebly wherever he was touched.

Hermione sat next to him on the bed – at least deeply relieved that he was breathing and alive but consumed with guilt at the same time for pushing him too hard, too soon. She didn't expect such magic to do that but the force of the spell that had been on the mansion had grown so powerful over time that it had required an extraordinary amount of magic just to pierce and shatter it.

Draco stirred again and moaned, his senses immediately on fire, as his eyes blinked open. Hermione, quickly grabbed the damp towel she had ready next to her and wiped his forehead again, gently brushing away the hair from his sweaty forehead to cool it down.

"Granger", his lips barely moved but his voice was much louder than the soft croaks he had made before.

Hermione grabbed hold of one of his hands and squeezed it reassuringly, "Hey" she whispered, extremely relieved. "You gave me such a scare".

Draco moaned again, before his eyes opened wider. There was a pause as if he was registering something before he asked quietly, almost as if to himself "Am I free?"

Hermione nodded, unable to say anything more as a tear spilled out of her. She felt so overcome with emotions now that it was no longer just concern as to whether he would live. She had done it. He was no longer trapped in this cruel prison of his.

Draco sighed and gazed up at the ceiling. His face broke into a weak smile. "Unbelievable" was all he could say. The word was enough to summarize it all.

"You need to get some rest first Draco" Hermione prodded gently, putting away the towel and replacing her hand to check his forehead. Good, it was no longer fire-hot. "The magic we used was very strong, you had both Masher and I very worried for a while."

"That magic?" Draco turned to look at her questioningly, "My…my patronus turned into yours."

Hermione saw Draco's confused face and felt her own face flush hot. She turned away, still gripping his hands.

"I didn't think it would work", Hermione said shyly. She slyly looked at him under her eye and saw he was staring at her hard, which only turned her cheeks redder.

"Hermione? Those patronuses - they only change for special reasons" he said slowly.

She didn't know how, but she managed to blush ever deeper. "I guess…yeah. We had a connection."

Clearly flustered she continue, "I mean I was thinking of dementors and how a patronus is part of you but also not and I mean…I didn't think it would change, I wasn't sure anything would happen but…"

Draco sat up, eliciting a deep moan from him. Hermione hurriedly turned around, gently wrapping her arm around his shoulder.

"Don't move, you need to be getting some rest! I knew patronuses could change, Snape's did for Lily. I just didn't know how or why it did for us but thank god it did."

Draco nodded before breaking into a huge smile again. "Thank you", he said sincerely."Merlin, thank you so much Granger. You…this. You saved me. Like, wow. I'm free. I mean my patronus does look like a ferret now"

Hermione snorted indignantly, "It's an otter, you jerk!"

Draco tutted, "Could have fooled me." His face quickly turned serious though. "It's amazing, though that I'm free. That this is all over."

Hermione smiled at him, about to say something about how lucky he was, when Draco closed the distance between them and pressed his lips hard against her.

Hermione was shocked, and amazed and bewildered and everything at the same time but she instantly closed her eyes and surrendered her lips to his. They were surprisingly warm, soft and sweet which she didn't expect in the slightest. Their lips massaged each other, dancing gently around, exploring and forming around each other. No tongue, just bare lips moving against lips. She felt the warmth of his hands on her back sliding up and the sensations sent her into over-drive.

Before she knew it and wanted it, they broke apart but only to rest their foreheads against each other.

Hermione breathed in deeply and stared at the pools of silver that stared back at her. No longer a dull or brittle grey like when she had seen them first. "Don't ever scare me like that again Draco" she murmured.

The blonde smiled gently and kissed her again, softly, a brush against her desperately-searching lips. "Then, don't leave me like that again," he whispered back.

She couldn't ever. Not even if she tried.

"This is it though – you're free", Hermione grinned. She couldn't be happier for him, "Are you ready to face the world again?"

A flash of fear sprang in Draco's eyes, which surprised Hermione, before he hesitantly shrugged. "I don't know if I am" he replied honestly. "I've always envisioned this moment for so long and now that it's here, it's a bit, I don't know…underwhelming"

Hermione realized his hands were shaking uncontrollably, even though they were still in her grip. She rubbed them gently – she felt a huge swirl of emotions deep in her gut that confirmed that this was only the start of their time together. They had been through so much and yet it seemed like the hardest and scariest part was not getting out – but staying out. She could feel the fear and trepidation he was unwilling to voice out loud. However, they were in this together, a team; after all, they shared the same patronus. They were connected in more ways than one.

"Draco, listen to me", she pulled his face to look at her and continued firmly, "It will be fine and anyway, I will be right here to help you get through it."

There was a sudden huge meow, and then a small fur ball launched itself onto the bed next to them. It licked both of their hands.

People. I have seen the world.

Hermione smiled at the self-important voice of Masher. The cat had disappeared off for the past hour, once he had been sure Draco was alive. The cat too had constrained itself to the limits of the borders of the spell ever since it was first charmed - Hermione guessed it was more out of loyalty than anything. "And how did you like it?" she queried.

It was very muddy, was the cat's only response. His brown paw prints on Draco's cream sheets confirmed that.

Both Hermione and Draco laughed. The brunette glanced over at the Slytherin and shook her head. "I can't believe this happened" she said disbelieving, " I mean, all of this: meeting you, finding out so much about people I thought I knew, falling in love with you…"

Hermione blushed at the last thing, and her eyes fell to her lap. She had not meant to use the L-word at all, that had completely spilled out. It was ridiculous, they only had been in each other's company for three weeks. She had never done that before, not even in her brief relationship with Ron and she was not sure how to explain using that word at all.

There was another laugh from Draco, but no reply, as he reached over to stroke the chestnut hair of the Gryffindor. She couldn't resist peeking up at him through the chinks of his hair.

"I just can't believe it happened" she continued softly.

"Never my intentions Granger."

End of Part I

Author's Notes:

So excited that we have come up this far. No worries - I plan to keep on posting consistently, once a week, a new chapter but this seemed like the perfect natural ending to this first part. Really looking forward and hoping for some reviews and/ or follows!

Coming Up in Part II: Draco and Hermione go out into the real world but face more difficulties adjusting to a new life and a world that is not ready to accept the Slytherin back into society. Also, Hermione sets about seeking justice against Ginny but darker secrets and deeper problems come out to haunt everyone, especially the unlikely couple.