Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter!

A/N: Thanks to all the people who reviewed! It's nice to hear your thoughts! I even got a pretty crazy request that I, as much as I would liked to, can't fulfill because then I would have to rewrite a couple of previous chaps! So, I am sorry if I can't make it happen!

Anyway, I will not talk your ears off here (metaphorically speaking), and let you read! Enjoy! C:

Chapter 21

When Madam Pomfrey said 'Magical coma' Hermione thought that the ground beneath her feet opened up and swallowed her whole. She forgot where she was and didn't even notice when tears fell down her cheeks and a heart wrenching sob escaped her lips. It was all lost to her and she started to see black spots in her vision. She wasn't aware that her body was moving forward. All she could see was Draco's unconscious form as she desperately tried to reach him. His face was so pale, so lifeless and he looked like he was…dead. Her mouth opened in a silent scream and she reached her hand as if wanting to grasp him. And then, everything went black.

X~~~X

"Draco," she had screamed at the top of her lungs, and then had collapsed only a step away from Malfoy's bed. He had the sudden urge to run forward and catch her, but he held back and clenched his teeth. Dumbledore and Zabini were now at her side, checking if she was okey, while Pomfrey quickly left the room. He wanted to hold her so bad at that moment, he felt his heart ache.

"Mr. Zabini, please move her on the bed," the nurse said after she reentered the room, motioning to the empty bed besides the unconscious blond Slytherin. As much as it pained him to hurt Hermione, he had to admit even in this situation, he was glad that that bastard was out of his way for who knows how long.

'Maybe I will get lucky and Malfoy is never going to wake up,' he thought with a small smile that turned into a frown when she started mumbling 'Draco' repeatedly. Even in her unconscious state there were fresh tears running down her sun kissed cheeks. He found that even then, she was breathtakingly beautiful and he was once again left with only wistful thinking that she would be his one day.

He watched as Zabini set her on the bed, feeling a pang of jealousy that yet another man could touch her, even if that man had no interest in her, while he could only watch from the sidelines. Madam Pomfrey opened a small, dark brown bottle and held it close to Hermione's nose. The curly haired witch coughed a bit and then, a moment after, opened her eyes and blinked them for a moment.

"Miss Granger, how are you feeling?" Madam Pomfrey asked the slightly disoriented witch. She was quiet for a long moment before answering, and what she said, made him squeeze his eyes shut. "Empty…like…like somebody took a part of my soul and hid it somewhere…I can't find," she said with deep sadness lacing her tone and her voice cracked at the end as she let out another sob. He didn't need to hear anymore and he slowly backed away from the scene and towards the door.

When he was in the corridor he took big gulps of air to calm his nerves. Only a moment longer and he would have snapped and just given up. A moment longer and he would have given up trying to win over Hermione Granger, but he couldn't do that. He still wanted her for himself; he couldn't afford to go soft no matter how he hated to see her in this state. Finaly, with his mind set, he left.

X~~~X

She knew that she had to be strong for Draco's sake, but she couldn't, for the world, stop the tears and the sobs. If she could look in a mirror now, she was sure she looked like a blubbering mess with flushed, tear soaked cheeks and a quivering bottom lip. A snow white napkin was drabbed over her cheeks by Blaise, who looked concerned and just a little bit freaked out. "Granger, listen, I am not good with crying girls, so please stop the water works already. I thought I told you that this is not going to help," he said as gently as possible, but his voice had an edge to it.

She sniffed and then nodded; Blaise was once again right. On top of that, she was Hermione Granger and she didn't break down crying no matter how hard a situation was. She had to believe that Draco would wake up soon. She shouldn't just give up hope. There was this small part in her brain though that was whispering doubts in her ear, questioning her on what, if he didn't wake up, she would do then. How would she go on? What if she didn't have strenght to move on, if it happened? What if she-

She abruptly sat up in bed and took a deep breath to calm her nerves, banishing the thoughts from her mind. She would hope and wait until he woke up, and she wouldn't give up on him.

Blaise, who had been leaning over the bed, stumble back a bit in surprise, not sure what to do; he looked at Dumbledore, who gave him a small smile, his blue eyes twinkling. "Mr. Zabini, I am sure you are tired after the game, so why don't you go and have some rest," professor Dumbledore said putting a hand on the dark skinned man shoulder. Blaise gave Hermione a nod, which she returned and he stepped away from the bed. He gave Draco's form a worried frown and then left.

"Miss Granger, are you feeling alright?" the headmaster asked drawing Hermione's unfocused gaze towards him. She blinked and nodded, but the old wizard could see the pain in her red puffy eyes. He looked away from the witch and towards the corner of the room. Whoever had been there was gone. He had a feeling that after Miss Granger and Mr. Zabini had walked in the room someone had followed, but was hidden under a disillusionment charm. He wasn't certain as to whom it could be, but he had a suspicion that whoever this person was, had something to do with the Malfoy boys supposed 'Quidditch accident'. Miss Granger had already proven that the bludger had been hexed, now the only question was: who could possible want to bring harm to the Malfoy heir?

Dumbledore gave Hermione his usual merry smile, she supposed to reassure her, and then stood up from his perch at side of the bed she was sleeping on and went over to Madam Pomfrey, who was standing besides Draco's bed. Pulling out the napkin Dumbledore gave her on the Quidditch field Hermione wiped off the last remnants of her tears and tucked it back in her robe pocket, just in case if she needed it later if she couldn't hold the tears at bay.

Her red and puffy chocolate brown eyes settled on Draco's form and in that moment she felt her heart stutter in her chest. He looked so fragile and vulnerable that she just wanted to hold him and never let go. She reached out her hand towards his, but the distance between the beds forbid her from touching his pale knuckle.

Not a person to give up, Hermione swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up, swaying a bit, but she quickly regained her bearings and sat besides his bed on a small stool. Her small, warm hands enveloped his left hand and she frowned at the coolness of his skin. She brought the knuckle up to her lips and kissed it, her eyes straying to his face. 'He looks so peaceful,' she thought with a sad smile. She listened to Madam Pomfrey and Professor Dumbledore talk, but in her heart she desperately wanted to hear Draco's voice, see him smile, kiss those inviting lips…Just thinking about what they did this morning made chills run all over her body.

"How long do you think he will be in this state?" she heard Dumbledore asking and she looked at Madam Pomfrey, who had a slightly worried expression. "That's the thing, Albus, I don't know. It can last for days or maybe even a month, or-" she paused and her eyes settled on Hermione. "It could be years before he wakes up," she said grimly and Hermione couldn't stop the gasp from escaping her lips. "Years?" she uttered in complete shock. She felt her hands started to tremble and she bit her lip to stop it from quivering. Tears once again escaped her eyes and she buried her head in Draco's side, crying silently.

Professor Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey looked at the girl with sympathy, while she cried her eyes out, soaking the blond boys Quidditch jersey with her salty tears. Sighing, the old wizard whispered for the med witch to take care of both teens and then left the hospital wing.

"Okey, Miss Granger, you may stay if you like, but only for a moment. I am sure you are tired and hungry," Madam Pomfrey suggested and Hermione shook her head. "I don't want to leave his side," she told the med witch in a murmur. She felt a bit hungry, but even her stomach agreed with her that it could wait. The nurse sighed and shook her head. "Miss Granger, Mr. Malfoy is going to be fine here. Go now and you can come back later when you have calmed down," the witch insisted and Hermione fought off the urge to snap at her.

Sighing, she relented and stood up from the stool. She walked around Draco's bed and came to stand on his other side. She leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to his cool lips, wishing to feel them come alive and respond to hers, but they stayed the same and she slowly backed away from his bed. The walk to the doors was so hard. She kept stopping and turning around to look back at him.

When she finally made it out of the room, she leaned against the door for a moment, pressing her face against the wood. "I love you my Dragon," she whispered and then left in hurried steps.

X~~~X

When she reached her common room – she had no intentions of going down for dinner – she was once again surprised by another letter from her secret admirer. Well, if she was honest, she was unpleasantly surprised because she didn't want to take crap from whoever was responsible for it. Attached to it was another box of chocolates, with a small note on top. She picked up the note and the chocolates, said the password and stepped inside. On her way inside she noticed that the snake on the portrait seemed to be extremely depressed and the lion was trying to comfort it. Hermione was left wondering that maybe it was because of Draco.

She sighed and sat down on the couch, with the chocolate box in her lap. She stared at it for a moment before grabbing the small note at the top. It read: I hope this will make you feel better. She rolled her eyes and opened the box. Inside she was greeted with chocolate hearts, with white chocolate in the center and three words in the middle that made her feel uneasy. The little 'I love you's' on them, frankly, freaked her out. If it was from Draco, she would find the gesture sweet, but this was an anonymous person and there was a possibly that she hadn't even spoken to this person.

The whole thing was starting to get on her nerves and it had only been two days since she received the first letter. She didn't know what was written in the second one, since Draco had burned it. She smiled to herself at the way Draco was so protective of her and sighed; how is she even going to get through her day without him. Even the couch she was sitting on reminded of him; especially the way he thruster in her warm heat and told her that she was his. She groaned and to take her thoughts off the mental image, she took the note.

The parchment was in silver this time and when she opened it, she was greeted with neatly written words in emerald green ink. She leaned back in her seat and started reading it, her hand reaching into the chocolate box for a piece of candy and bringing it mere millimeters from her lips, but not biting in it.

Dear Hermione,

I heard what happened to your boyfriend and I won't lie to you, I am glad. You may think that its bad at the moment, but you'll see, you will forget him, once you give me a chance. I still can't tell you who I am, but just know that you'll find out soon.

Love,

Your secret admirer

The letter was extremely short, but it still made Hermione's blood boil in anger. She crumpled up the note and threw it across the room. She looked at the chocolate piece in her hand like it was the devil himself and threw it in the fireplace among the ash. She pulled out her wand and lit the fireplace and disposed of the rest of the chocolates and the box. After that she just sat there for about ten minutes, starring in the red flames like they were the answers to all her problems.

A knock on the portrait hole made her snap out of her trance and she sighed as she stood up and walked over to it. The knocking continued and now a voice followed it. "Mione, if you're in there, let me in," said the voice and she recognized it as Ginny. Shaking her head in disbelief she opened the portrait and Ginny bounced in with a concerned look. Hermione looked at her friend and then threw her arms around Ginny. She was shocked for a moment, but recovered quickly and led Hermione to the couch.

"Oh Mione," she sighed and hugged her as tightly as she could. She felt really bad for Hermione. Malfoy may have been a prat to all of them for six years, but he made Hermione happy and now the pore girl was unhappy. Her eyes saw something shinny on the floor and she got curious. "What is that, Mione," she motioned to the crumpled silver paper. Hermione turned her head so she could see where Ginny was pointing and scowled when she saw the offending object.

"A letter," she answered simply and Ginny gave her a skeptical look. She let go of Hermione and got up to pick it up. Hermione shook her head. "No Gin, It's not important," she said, but it was too late and Ginny was already reading the short letter. When she was done, she looked at Hermione like she was an alien from outer space and then dropped the letter like it had bitten her. "What was that, Mione?" she said with curiosity and shock lacing her voice as she sat back down next to her best friend.

Hermione was silent for a moment contemplating whether she should tell Ginny, but the decision to tell her came quicker than expected. "It was a letter from my secret admirer," she said and Ginny rolled her eyes. "I noticed, but since when do you have a secret admirer? Did Malfoy know?" she asked and Hermione blanched at her words; the way she said 'did' made it sound like Draco was dead. Catching on that Ginny corrected "Does Malfoy know?" looking extremely apologetic. Hermione had looked like she was going to have a heart attack in that moment and Ginny hadn't meant it to come out that way.

"Yes, Draco knows. He was there when I received my first letter from him two days ago," she said and a small smile graced her features that threw Ginny completely off. "By the way, you shouldn't be sitting on this couch," she said with a smirk and Ginny jumped off the couch like it had shocked her with electricity. "Why?" she asked a bit wary and Hermione felt a blush rising in her cheeks. Ginny was still unaware that she had lost her virginity. In that moment, Hermione decided she would fill her in, but not outright tell her. She was not Lavender Brown so she was not going to brag on how good Draco was, not matter how much that was true.

Ginny looked at Hermione like an understanding had dawned on her and her eyes widened. "No way, you didn't," she shook her head and Hermione shrugged. "Fine, if you don't believe m-" she started to say, but Ginny cut her off by pulling her to her feet. "Okey, I believe you, but did you really…lose it on the couch?" Ginny asked grinning from ear to ear. Hermione rolled her eyes. "No, I lost it in his room. We did it on the couch the day when I got the first letter from my…secret admirer," she said gulping at the word 'my', but Ginny didn't seem to care because she hugged her tightly. "Oh Hermione, now your no longer bookworm and prude, but the sexy girlfriend of the Slytherin prince," she exclaimed and Hermione once again rolled her eyes.

"Okey, okey, but I'm not going to tell you the details," she said with a serious look. "C'mon Mione, please," she pleaded with her bottom lip stuck out in a cute pout. Hermione shook her head and Ginny groaned. "Fine," Ginny said pretending to be offended. Choosing to change the subject Hermione decide to ask what had been interesting her for quite a long time now.

"What do you think of Blaise, Gin?" At the question she could see Ginny visibly stiffened and her cheeks turned a rosy pink. "He's…" she trailed off to find the words to describe the attractive Italian and Hermione knew that her suspicions were true; there was something going on between the two, but Ginny wouldn't tell her. She couldn't really ask Blaise because she was pretty sure he would find a way to get out of the situation. What else could you suspect from a Slytherin?

Sighing, she led Ginny over to one of the armchairs that she was sure she and Draco hadn't occupied and Ginny just stared off in space for a moment, before she snapped back to reality. Hermione sighed again and leaned back on the couch she sat before. She could tell that it was going to be hard; especially since Draco was not by her side. A lone tear made its way down her cheek.

To be continued…

A/N: It's so sad; I myself have a pretty dramatic mood at the moment. It's just so hard to hurt them so much, but alas I have to and the next few chapters probably are going to be filled with drama. As usual your thoughts matter a lot to me and/or constructive criticism is welcomed too.

~*BeneHime*~