Draco chuckled and she felt his weight settle down next to her. She wrapped her arms around him and fell asleep to the rhythmic sound of his breathing. There would be time to worry about everything else in the morning. There would be more to deal with but, in the meantime, this was all she needed.
Hermione woke up again to the sound of Healer Brady opening the door. The bed next to her was empty, but still warm like Draco had just climbed out.
"He went to the bathroom," Healer Brady said in a chipper tone. "He told me to say that he'll be right back."
Hermione nodded, pushing herself up when she saw the tray in the healer's hands. There was toast and eggs and a tall glass of milk. Just looking at it made Hermione realize that she was starving, but then again she hadn't eaten since Christmas Eve.
While Hermione ate, Healer Brady gave her a full check-up. "How are you feeling?" she asked.
Hermione swallowed. "Better. Still sore, but a lot better than yesterday." It was true. Her muscles still felt achy, like she was recovering after an extremely strenuous workout, but she felt like she could move now.
"Good. We'll see how you feel after you finish your breakfast and then, if you're up to it, maybe that nice young man can help you go for a short walk." Healer Brady winked at her and backed away from the bed.
Hermione nodded eagerly, moving her legs under the covers. She didn't think she would be able to go far, but it would be nice to get out of bed for a bit. "That'd be great."
"Good. Call me if you need anything." Healer Brady stepped out the door as Draco entered. The dark shadows were gone from under his eyes and his hair looked like he'd tried to wet it down in the bathroom.
"Good morning," he murmured as he sat down on the chair. "I'm sorry. I was hoping I could make it back before you woke up."
"That's okay." Hermione sat up, balancing herself so that she faced him with her legs crossed in front of her. "Healer Brady says I can go for a walk if I feel comfortable."
"That's great." Draco stood and reached out with his hand like he was about to help her up.
Hermione smiled and shook her head. She took his hand and rested it in her lap. "I want to talk to you about something first." Her heart pounded in her throat, whispers in the back of her mind telling her that she might have imagined his words before she'd passed out.
"Okay." Draco looked tentative but he climbed up on the bed next to her. "What is it?"
"It's about what you said, after I got hit." Hermione paused, watching his eyes for a second. He stared at their clasped hands, a slight blush rising on his cheeks. "I heard you."
He didn't hesitate. "I love you. I should have told you sooner."
Hermione reached over, turning his face to hers so that she could press a kiss to his lips. It was soft and gentle. She thought back to their first kiss, all rage and accusation and battling for dominance, and how far they'd come in just a few months.
"I don't know what I would have done if I'd lost you," Draco murmured when they pulled away.
"I'm right here." They kissed again, most urgently this time. Fire raced hot and cold up Hermione's spine and she clutched at the front of Draco's robes, keeping him right where she wanted him. He slipped his hands through her hair and down to her shoulders, pressing her backward.
Hermione pulled away, hissing with pain that bolted through her muscles as she tried to lay down.
"I'm sorry." Draco snatched his hands away. "Are you okay?"
Hermione nodded, sitting up again and stretching her back gingerly. "I'm fine. Might be another day or two before I can do that, though."
Draco chuckled and brushed his lips across her cheek. "Do you want to go for a walk now or would you rather wait?"
"Give me a few minutes." Hermione settled down, rolling her shoulders and stretching out her legs over the edge of the bed. "How's your mum?"
Draco nodded with a smile. "She's good. She's with the others here at the hospital. They're all fine, but the healers want to keep them for observation."
"Good. I'm glad." Hermione snuggled up to him for a moment and then slid off the edge of the bed. Her knees wavered for a moment but held. Draco stood next to her, resting a supporting arm around her waist. "Have you seen my parents?" Hermione asked as she took her first step.
Draco shook his head. "Sorry, but I haven't. And before I forget, Harry and Ginny are going to stop by later."
Hermione nodded. She would never believe that her parents would just abandon her but it was hard to know what to think when they just disappeared like this. She tried not to think about it too much as she and Draco made the rounds along the hospital floor. People stared as she passed, their whispers following her down the hall.
When Hermione returned to her room she curled up in bed and fell immediately to sleep. She woke once more to Healer Brady walking through the door, this time with lunch. "There's someone here to see you," the healer said.
The door swung open again and Hermione's parents entered, her beaded bag in her mum's hands. Healer Brady left the tray on the side table and exited again.
"Hey, sweetie," Hermione's dad said as he leaned over to kiss her forehead. "Sorry we haven't been to see you. It was..." He glanced back at his wife. "It was a lot to take in."
Hermione nodded. "I'm glad you're here now."
Draco moved out of the way, practically hiding in the corner, but Hermione's mum waved him forward. "Get over here. You're family too now," she said.
Hermione felt a strange thump in her chest. She felt a tear pricking at the corner of her eye. All of this-the attack, Draco's confession, the truth of everything coming out, and now their acceptance of him-was almost too much for her to handle.
"Why don't you eat?" her dad asked. "We're going to be here for a while." He sat down in the chair, nodding at her as she held out the tray.
Hermione smiled and picked up the turkey sandwich. It was just the way she liked it: with a slice of tomato between two slices of turkey. "Did you tell them how I like my sandwiches?" she asked, eyes on Draco.
He shrugged, but a small smirk pricked at the corners of his lips. "They're Healers. It's their job to know how to take care of people."
She chuckled and took a bite of her sandwich. It wasn't the best, but then again hospital food never was. Hermione's mum sat down on the edge of the bed next to her feet, placing the beaded bag in her lap.
Hermione swallowed her mouthful. "What's that for?" she asked. She wasn't even sure how they'd managed to find it. As soon as she'd returned home she'd emptied the whole thing and stashed it somewhere in her room.
"You'll see," her mum replied.
Hermione wasn't really up for surprises at the moment, but she let it go and kept eating. Her dad walked over to Draco and held out his hand. "I just want to apologize for the way that we treated you," he said. "And to thank you for taking care of my daughter."
"Apology accepted, sir," Draco said as he accepted the handshake. "And no thanks necessary. I only did what I had to." He was looking at her as he said it, holding her gaze with bright eyes.
"You're welcome in our house any time, whenever Hermione comes home," her dad continued.
"Thank you." Draco inclined his head. Her dad stepped away from him once more, returning to Hermione's bedside. She hurried to continue to chew, having stopped mid-bite to watch their conversation.
Once Hermione had finished eating as much as she could, she returned her attention back to her bag. "Are you going to tell me why you dug out my bag and brought it?" she asked.
Her mom tossed it into her lap. As always, Hermione was surprised how soft and empty the bag felt on the outside as she opened it and peered inside.
Stacked neatly on the inside were all the Christmas presents that they hadn't had time to open.
"I thought you might like to open them," Hermione's mum said. "And your bag seemed like the easiest way to get them here."
Hermione smiled. "It was a good idea." She reached inside and started pulling out packages, handing them out to their proper recipients. Draco walked around to the other side of the bed, settling down at her side to accept his.
"Hermione, you start," her mum suggested.
She nodded, choosing a book-sized gift and tearing aside the wrappings. Her fingers froze as they brushed over the cover. It was Hogwarts, A History, but it wasn't just any old copy. She held her breath as she flipped through the old pages and saw the words written on the inside.
First edition.
"What is it, honey?" her dad asked.
Hermione had to swallow a couple times before she could speak. "It's a first edition of Hogwarts, A History. It's a textbook that we use at school." But how could she explain to them that it was more than that? That this was the first of her magical textbooks that she'd cracked open the night she bought them. That this book had been at her side through everything. Through her first year at Hogwarts all the way to the journey to hunt Horcruxes.
She looked up at Draco, her eyes wide. She could tell by his smile and the softness in his eyes that he understood what the book meant to her, though she didn't think she would ever know how. "Thank you."
Those two words didn't seem like enough but there was nothing more that she could really say.
"It's perfect."
Draco nodded. "I thought you would love it. You do quote it all the time." He nudged her, teasing. "It took a while to track down."
Hermione couldn't resist. She leaned over, grabbing the front of his robes and pulling him for a kiss. She kept it short and chaste, but full of promises for when they were alone.
"You open yours next," she murmured as she pulled away and straightened up again. A slight blush burned on her cheeks but she refused to let it show.
Draco nodded and pulled the wrapping paper aside slowly and carefully. Hermione was resisting the urge to grab it out of his hands and just rip through when a leather-bound notebook finally dropped into his lap.
He felt the covers and then flipped through the pages. "It's blank."
"Well done," Hermione replied. "I'm glad that you haven't lost your quick wits." She smirked at him and then let her face relax into a more serious expression. "It's a clean slate. For you to fill with whatever you want."
He kissed her again and after that the spell was broken. They opened their presents quickly, admiring each others' when they were all done. In addition to the book and the earrings, Hermione also received a new coat—black, thick, and soft—and a briefcase.
"For your first job after you graduate," her dad explained as she stroked the soft leather. "So you look professional while you're taking on the world."
Hermione smiled. "Thank you."
For her dad there was a written promise for new dentistry equipment and a nice silver watch. Her mum had a thick heated blanket folded her lap while she flipped through the album of wizarding photographs that Hermione had given her.
"They move," her mum noted.
She laughed. "Yeah, they do." She took the album from her mum and flipped to the beginning, settling down to her to her. They went through the book page by page as Hermione explained the stories behind each picture.
When she reached the end where all the empty sleeves were, she looked at Draco and smiled. "There's still a lot of space left."
Draco smiled back at her and rested a hand on her shoulder. Hermione felt the last remaining tension slip from her body as she sat there with her family gathered around her and her love at her side. She knew there were still challenges to come—people that would never be accepting—but she would live in this bubble for as long as it would allow.
