Chapter 16

Hermione's point of view

I couldn't believe what I saw. Hiding in the shadows it was Victor Krum himself. I hadn't seen him since, well since the Triwizard tournament. We had written letters to one another but over time we had stopped. I think we both weren't committed to a long distance relationship, plus it didn't help that I liked Ron.

As soon as I said his name he stepped out of the shadows, he had changed. Physically his build was very similar- square shoulders, muscular arms. But he now had a rather large beard that obscured most of his face and his eyes. His eyes held infinite exhaustion. He did not look like the prosperous Quidditch player I had met many years ago. I immediately knew for some weird sense that he was the person I had been communicating with. Don't ask me how I know because I'm not a hundred percent sure in all honesty. I just know. Maybe it's the tenderness in his face, the care and the dare I say it- admiration. He didn't want me to die and he saved me. He saved me and I would always be infinitely grateful to him.

"Thank you."

"It was no problem." His smile was kind and warm- just like I remembered it. I was glad that hadn't changed.

"So are you going to explain to me what happened here?" Draco's face was too tense. I couldn't remember much. Before the back had descended I could remember Draco's worried face looming above me when the world went sideways. The next thing that I remember is memories. Memories that didn't belong to me. How did I know they didn't belong to me? Well they weren't from my perspective but somehow they were all about me.

I saw multiple vantages of me at the Yule Ball. I saw me laugh, cry and answer questions in classes. I felt the fondness from all of the memories and the darkness began to recede so much that breathing became easier. My eyes still felt glued shut but I was more aware of what was happening to me. I had felt hands lift me into a warm coolness that encased me and I drifted to an unknown place.

I remember seeing- what was it- a figure encased in a ghostly light. It's singsong voice spoke in a language I didn't recognise but with every one of its words I felt myself becoming more and more conscious. I felt so floaty and then I was opening my eyes to Draco's worried face.

I had no explanation for what had happened to me, it all was very weird and I had never heard of anything like these symptoms before- and trust me I've read a lot. I was just as curious as Draco, probably less aggressive but just as curious. I could feel the notebook through Draco's jacket and I was nervous about how he was feeling about it- I had kept it from him. I should have told him, he was my husband and I should have been able to trust him with this.

"There's a curse that can remain undetected until the symptoms are critical. I made Hermione do multiple tests that all came back negative because the symptoms weren't far along enough. I went to search for answers with an old professor and he had heard of this rare curse. Most people don't know about it because its useless in battle and takes months, even years, to take effect. Plus it's a dark curse. You don't feel it when you get hit with it and you must cast it wordlessly. It's terribly difficult to pull off so this case is probably the 6th in the entire world."

"How does the cave come into this?" Draco questioned.

"A great wizard found these sacred waters- these waters are home to the ghosts of the greatest purest witches. In their lifetime they learnt to combat the spell because one of their own had it cast on them. Unfortunately she died and she now resides here. I'm guessing you saw her." I nodded thinking back to the ghostly figure in white.

"They wrote it in their scriptures and there are only four copies, luckily I remembered that my Professor had mentioned it. The memory part relieves the darkness of the curse, so reverses some of the symptoms but the water is needed to complete the revival because of it's healing abilities. That's why the witches were drawn here and used it as their resting place; because of the caves ancestral power."

"That's..."

"Intense." Draco finished my sentence and he unconsciously pulled me tighter to him, "I'm just glad that your okay." I was too but I had one more question for Krum.

"Why did you reach out to me? And why did you do it through a creepy notebook?" He thought for a moment before answering me.

"I heard whisperings that you were going to get what you deserved. People are still angry about your part in the war and an ex death eater was bragging that he shot you with a curse. I wanted you to be aware that you could be in danger, I knew that if you didn't trust me- if you knew who I was- then there was a possibility that you would disregard my warning. I needed you to be on the lookout and I needed something that wasn't out of place. That's why I used a notebook and kept it anonymous."

"Thank you for warning me, but if I had known it was you I would have trusted the whole thing a lot more." He smiled at me and I felt the bond of friendship fall into place. A gust of stale wind blew threw the cave and I shivered, I was only wearing a thin t-shirt and jeans.

"We need to get you back to the castle." Draco said looking at Professor McGonagall. She nodded in agreement.

"Thank you for your help Mr. Krum but we need to get back. You are welcome to come back with us."

"No thank you, my Professor is waiting for me." I stood up weakly and I felt my legs quake. Draco was there steadying me. I leaned on him gratefully and reached out a hand to Krum. He took it.

"Thank you again." I couldn't express how grateful I was to him for saving me.

"It's alright." He apparated out of the cave and then I felt McGonagall's hand on my arm. I closed my eyes and when I next opened them we were back in the Hospital wing.

"I want to monitor you if that's alright Mrs Malfoy, just for the next few hours just to help you build up your strength." Madam Pomfrey began to cast spells around me, frowning at what she saw. I felt dizzy, I hadn't eaten anything all day.

"Sure." Draco helped me over to a bed and gratefully I laid down. I was so tired. He kissed my head fondly and stroked my hair.

"I love you, I'm not mad. I'm just glad that you're okay."

"I love you too." I was so happy that I was a) alive and b) that Draco wasn't mad at me. I didn't know how to explain my decision to hide it from him, maybe because I knew it would cause him unneeded stress. I shouldn't have kept it from him and I vowed to always be truthful with him. He deserved that honesty from me.

Gently I snuggled under the warm blankets and drifted off into a comforting darkness. In my dream I was visited by the angel like figure. I felt like she was watching over me like a guardian from heaven. I felt safe and warm. I was alright.

Draco's point of view

I stayed by her bedside all night and well into the next morning. Without thinking about it I had forgiven her for hiding this from me. It was silly to argue about something so small when it had saved her life. I knew that if I had known about it then I would have told Hermione to get rid of it- I wouldn't have trusted it and that would have cost me her life. And if I had known that it was Victor Krum communicating with her then I would have burnt it straight away out of jealousy.

Maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration but I definitely wouldn't have been happy about it and I wouldn't have trusted it at all. And I would have questioned Hermione and our relationship which definitely wasn't good.

I heard a rustling from the bed and I lifted my face to see her eyes opening sleepily.

"You okay?" I watched as she looked around remembering all that had happened.

"I think so." She grabbed my hand and kissed it. She was warm, so beautifully warm and I couldn't be happier. It was weird that I still had to remind myself that she was safe now, I kept on convincing myself that she could fall ill again. I knew that was impossible- the effects of the curse had been reversed completely and she now was only recovering from dehydration.

I sat on the side of the bed and she leaned her head into my chest. This was pure bliss. The simplicity of our love that flew through us and kept us connected always kept me at a loss- I was still amazed that she could love me and that we could be happy. But in this moment our whole lives were stretched ahead of us and I knew that I would love her until the very end.

Victor Krum's point of view

Somehow I had managed to save her. I had raced back like a mad man barely stopping to rest just because I had learnt that once the victim felt the draw to the cave then the catastrophic symptoms weren't far away and when I had left her the pull looked so strong. When I had seen them already at the cave I was- well there is no way to explain the elation that I had felt in that moment.

Hermione was safe and my work was done. It was definitely time for me to shave the beard off and start living life again. I wanted a family and to look at someone the way Malfoy looked at Hermione.

I apparated home and picked up my razor...

A/N: Thanks for reading this far, please review :)