Hey everyone!

First of all I want to say a great big thank you to everyone who read my stories last month. It means so much to me to be able to write stories that y'all love to read and enjoy. Secondly I can only apologise about the delay in the beginning of the month updates. Work has been draining and I didn't have the energy to update after work but I have a few days off now so getting these up now I can.

Say safe.

Lots of love,

LSH xxx

Love Strikes Twice- Part 12:

Astoria shook awake and she wondered who had woken up her up before blinking and then looking over at Draco's bed and saw those eyes of his staring back at her and she swore before jumping to her feet.

"Merlin Draco! Hold still and I'll get you a drink," she said before hurrying out of the room and heading to the nurses' station to get him a Ginger Ale… possibly not the best thing but she felt bad giving him water as his first drink conscious again.

She said she'd get one for the nurses to replace it before hurrying back to Draco's room and then she moved the bed so he could sit up slightly and then she allowed him to drink the drink through a straw and watched as his cheeks began to get a little more colour in them.

"OK I have to ask you this before I say anything else… how your pain levels on a scale of 1 to 10? 10 being the worst," she asked knowing that if he said six or above she'd have to sedate him again.

"Five," Draco said softly as he looked at her, "it wasn't a dream… I did see you. What happened? Where am I?"

"You're under my care in hospital after you somehow managed to blow up your business and nearly killed yourself," Astoria said as she sat in the chair beside Draco's bed, "you've got shallow and deep burns and your left ankle was shattered in the explosion so you have metal rods and screws to help that heal and then you'll have to learn to walk again on that leg when you're able to stand on it."

Draco swore as he looked at her and sighed,

"What did I do? I don't understand what or even how it happened. All I know is something went wrong. What about the business? My mother…?"

"Your father is saving your business and your mother is concerned and worried but was calmer with me treating you," Astoria explained, "this is not the way I expected you to come back into my life after 10 years apart Draco Malfoy," she said with a slight smirk playing on her lips.

"Well I didn't mean to end up face-to-face with you again. Ever," Draco said as his voice began to steady itself, "believe me I would have rather met you in a café somewhere… not as one of your patients. This just feels… awkward and yet I'm happy to see you again. You've done well for yourself. You were born to be a Healer Ria."

"Do you dare remind me of how you practically stalked me for 10 years Draco! Don't you dare. You know about my daughter… you know about Matt. He's also treating you by the way and you… you invaded my life!"

"I had to make sure that you were safe… especially after seeing you so broken at the hand of those monsters!" Draco said before coughing and Astoria helped him to have another drink.

"Monsters… what are you…?"

"Took me weeks to get your father to trust me enough to be allowed a 'turn' with you but when I saw you beaten, broken and barely conscious I held you so tight and close and apparated you to you Grandmere's in Southern France and stayed with you. I left before you were fully aware I was there but I was the one who got you out," Draco said, "I kept an eye on you in case your father tried to force you back into that state. That's why I know about Seraphina and Matt."

"It was you! You were the one who risked your life to save mine…" Astoria gasped as she looked into his eyes and saw truth in them.

She sat back and thought about everything for a minute before gasping.

"I need your help. I will react to all this later but, right now, I need you to help me to help you," she explained, "can you order rush deliveries for the Apothecary?"

"Yes. Why?" Draco asked as he looked at her.

"There's a salve that will help us treat the burns without aggravating the Dragon Pox…"

"Dragon Pox…? Oh Merlin… don't tell me…"

"Yes you've contacted Dragon Pox idiot. We figured out that you were working on a cure," Astoria said before hurrying to get her laptop and shoving it on his lap, "I need you to log into your account so I can order the salve. It's only found in Peru and would take weeks for me to get it normally and we cannot risk you getting an infection," she said before smirking, "if you don't do as the healer wishes… Dray… then the Healer will just sedate you again…" she whispered in his ear as she rested a hand gently on his chest and felt his heartbeat racing.

"Ria…" Draco whispered as he looked at her and found himself drawn to her once more and his hand reached out to touch her cheek. She allowed him to before moving closer to him stopping as her lips were mere inches from touching his.

"Log in now please," Astoria said as she pulled away and smirked.

Draco gasped as she pulled away, a little breathless from that moment before barely composing himself and went to the correct page and logged in before passing the laptop back to Astoria and she sat down and looked for the salve and ordered it… plus a few other things that Draco would need down the line to help him recover from everything that had happened.

He just watched her and then bit his lip as he saw her smirking.

"Ria…?"

"Oh I ordered that and a few things that I know you will need down the line," she said innocently as she looked at him and smirked, "I'm serious when I say I want to help you get better; Matt does too… despite the fact he thinks that I'm still in love with you," she said as she looked at him before sighing, "things are a mess but I will get you better and home again Draco. That I can promise you."