Chapter 24

No time was wasted as Hermione apparated straight into the Hospital Wing of Hogwarts. Madame Pomfrey jumped slightly as Hermione appeared in front of her. She was having an unusual rest in her office, enjoying the brief peace and quiet before she returned to her patients in the main room. The loud pop from Hermione's apparition caused her to sit up quickly, shaking her head and getting back into healer mode.

"Miss Granger, is there a reason why you decided to apparate into my personal office?" Madame Pomfrey snapped.

"Severus! Is he awake? How is he? I need him! Draco's in trouble!" Hermione rushed out, a resounding fear could be detected in the tone of her voice.

Madame Pomfrey quickly stood up and crossed the room to the door, throwing it open and heading straight for her quarters where Professor Snape was quietly resting. She pushed open the door and stepped inside, staring at the awakened professor.

"Poppy, the definition of rest for me is to not be disturbed. I trust you, of all people, should know and respect that." Severus snapped before he noticed Hermione hovering behind Madame Pomfrey's frame. The look on Hermione's face gave him everything he needed to know. He sat up quickly, wincing slightly as he reached for his cloak. "Who is it, Granger and where are they?"

"Draco. My house." Hermione automatically responded.

"I trust you are strong enough to apparate the both of us there?" Severus glanced at her once he could stand again.

"Yes." she breathed out as she stepped past Madame Pomfrey and took a hold of his hand.

"Thank you, for your help, Poppy. But we both know I can manage now." Severus gave her an uncharacteristic wink before a loud pop sounded, indicating their apparition away.

"You've cleaned up the house." Severus noted as they appeared in her living room.

"He's upstairs." Hermione walked to the staircase, ignoring Severus' comment. Her mind was strictly on Draco. Nothing could distract her.

It didn't take Severus longer than three seconds to figure out what was going on with Draco. He had been the one to help Lucius when he had first gained his full powers.

"I need to take his clothes off. Open the windows, Hermione. His body needs to cool down. Then, you need to go to my classroom...in my storage room...there's a potion you need to find." Severus said as he rushed forward, ignoring his own pain, to undress Draco.

Hermione rushed to the windows of the room, throwing them open, letting the cool air seep in, chilling them all to the bone, before turning back to see a now naked Draco, laying on her bed. Severus noticed her staring and smirked to himself at the red tinge in her cheeks. She will still innocent, which surprised him that he even cared about that.

"The potion you are looking for is in a blue glass bottle. The potion itself is the color of midnight black, and the label on it will be 'Fons Vitae'. Do you understand?" Severus asked.

"Yes." she nodded her head vigorously. "I'll leave now then?"

"If you want him to live, yes!" he snapped.

Hermione stepped away quickly, moving into the hallway before closing her eyes and allowing herself to apparate from her house, back to Hogwarts. This time she apparated herself into Snape's Defense Against The Dark Arts classroom. She spotted the storage room almost hidden away by an intricate tapestry. Her legs moved her into the storage room as she began to look for the potion. The first thing that surprised her was the amount of potions Snape had kept in his room, even though he was no longer the potions professor.

She scanned through them, one by one, biting down on her lower lip in frustration as the potion she was looking for seemed to be nowhere. She slammed her fists against the wall of his storage room in anger before seeing the secret compartment next to the potions case. She opened the compartment and found 4 bottles of the Fons Vitae potion. Deciding to play it safe, she took all four bottles with her.

Once the bottles were secured on her, she apparated back to her place, hoping she wasn't too late. She appeared in her living room once more, running up the stairs to her room where Severus was doing some intricate wand work over Draco's body.

"Hurry, he doesn't have much time." Snape called to her.

Hermione's entire body went stiff at the sight of Draco's paler than normal body. His chest was no longer rising and falling like normal. In fact, he looked as if he was barely breathing. Hermione rushed forward with the bottles in her hand.

"You got them all...oh child...you were only supposed to bring one." Snape shook his head at her as he uncorked one of the bottles, leaning Draco's head up and pouring barely a sip down his throat.

A blue glow erupted from Draco's body causing Hermione to gasp in surprise. Severus stood up fully, taking her arm and leading her out of the room as the glow remained on Draco.

"Let him rest now, Granger." he said gently to her. "You need rest as well. Go to your parents room and lay down. You don't always have to look after everyone, you know."

"Not everyone...but Draco...always." she choked back her tears.

Severus stared intently at Hermione, trying to see if she was being truthful. There was no doubt in his mind that his godson was deeply in love with the smartest witch of his year, but he was always a bit doubtful of Hermione if he was being honest. He had never known another muggle to endure the stress and complications that Hermione and Draco were given. In fact, not even his precious Lily could have handled and survived what Hermione and Draco had been through.

However, now, staring at this strong willed young woman, he knew...she was in love with his Godson. He turned to look at Draco, noting that the color was slowly returning to his face. He waited until Hermione left the room like he had ordered before sitting on the edge of the bed, near Draco's head. He bent down until he was near Draco's ear.

"This one...she genuinely loves you, Draco. Don't give her up. Don't lose her. You'll regret it for the rest of your life. You'll end up like me." Severus whispered before pulling back.

He stood up, cleared his throat and left the room, leaving Draco to rest peacefully.

Nightmares. Everytime she closed her eyes...the nightmares came. So many of her fellow students had died...so much pain and sacrifices had been made. Her face had gone white as she dreamt of the dead bodies that had littered the floor of the Great Hall after the battle. She didn't know it, but while she was screaming in her dreams, she was screaming in reality to.

Hermione clung to the sheets as her body was thrown back and forth on the bed by her own unknown accord. A pair of strong arms encircled her body and pulled her up against a hard chest. Thinking, subconsciously, that she was being kidnapped, she fought...tooth and nail...against the person, throwing punches at the chest.

"It's me, my love." Draco's voice washed over her, causing her to instantly still her movements. "You're safe. It's over...it's all over. We survived Hermione...we survived it all…"

She wasn't sure if she was awake or dreaming about this moment, but she refused to open her eyes. A waterfall of fresh tears began to flow down her cheeks, causing Draco to pull away slightly so he could cup her cheeks in his hands.

"My love, open those beautiful eyes and look at me. I'm real." Draco breathed out.

Hermione gulped and hiccuped slightly before slowly opening her eyes to meet the gray ones possessed by the love of her life. The fists she had formed that were pressing into his chest turned into flattened palms before she gripped onto the thin shirt he was wearing, tugging at it as if trying to confirm that he was real. Her brain began to work quickly after that.

"Draco! Why aren't you resting?" Hermione wondered as she pulled away to turn her head and wipe her eyes. "You shouldn't be out of bed."

"I woke up hours ago, my love." he explained. "It's already the next day...next afternoon to be specific."

"What?!" Hermione's eyes widened. "I've been asleep for almost a full day?! How are you even better?"

"The potion Severus gave me is a replenishing life source potion." Draco explained, knowing she wouldn't do anything until he answered her questions. "It's not...known...to many. He created it right after he graduated from Hogwarts. Only he knows the recipe. One small sip will replenish someone for days. Apparently what I went through is rather common among strong wizards and witches. Particularly pure bloods. If Severus hadn't given it to me though...I would have died sometime in the night."

"Oh Draco!" Hermione sat up more and threw herself at him, clinging to him as the idea of never being with him again washed over her.

"It's alright my love...you saved me...you've always saved me." Draco reached up and cupped her cheeks. "You believed in us even when I thought all hope was lost. I could never love another person as much as I love you Hermione Granger. I don't want to go anywhere without you by my side anymore. Live with me. Be with me. Marry me. Stay with me, forever, please?"

"Yes...yes...yes to all of it, Draco." Hermione began to shed a new set of tears...happy tears. "It's always been you. It will always be you. I don't want to exist in this world without you by my side. I need you...I've always needed you. You're not just my best friend, Draco Malfoy, you're my everything."

Draco had heard enough. No other words were spoken as he slid a hand into Hermione's messy hair and pulled her closer, covering her lips with his. Hermione responded desperately, leaning herself up to deepen the kiss. The time was right...finally. They were both ready. It was a long time coming...they had been patient...they had put others and world before themselves. It was time for them now. Just them. Always them…

A/N

I am back from my hiatus and ready to continue the story. Thank for you those who sent me encouraging messages. I will be updating every Friday/Saturday! Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Let me know your thoughts!