A/N: I know. I'm an absolute menace for leaving you with a cliffhanger for a week. In my defense, I only did that becuase I knew i'd never have to make you wait longer than a week. :) Thanks so much for your continued support of this story. Special thank you to my alpha reader: LaDeeDaa and beta reader: astrangefan

Waiting

Hermione's eyes snapped open and she immediately felt weighed down by thick, hot blankets. Her arms were pinned to her side, and she felt chilled and stifling hot at the same time.

"Mmm," she moaned trying to speak but her throat and mouth were dry as the Sahara.

"She's awake!" She heard what was unmistakably Ron's voice and turned her head toward it, but all she saw was an empty chair in the dark Hospital Wing.

What time is it? What happened?

There was a flurry of movement out of her vision, and her fuzzy brain began to recall things. Harry had screamed something about her heart monitor and then…

Nothing.

She tried to lift her arms out of the blankets but either they weighed one-hundred pounds, or she was as weak as a newborn kitten. She wasn't sure which.

"Hermione, can you hear me?" It was Padma. Suddenly her friend's beautiful face was hovering over hers, concern etched on her features.

"Yes," she whispered, her voice barely audible.

"Good," Padma said. Her voice sounded so relieved that Hermione wondered what, exactly, had happened when she'd passed out.

"Wh…" she opened her mouth, but she couldn't seem to make the words come out. She desperately needed water. Her throat felt like sandpaper. She could barely swallow.

As if reading her mind, Padma used her wand to elevate the bed slightly and offered Hermione a cup with a straw. "Drink," she instructed.

Hermione did as she was told, sucking in long, miraculous gulps of cold water. It felt like heaven, and she closed her eyes to savor the feel of the icy liquid coating her parched throat. "What happened?" she finally asked, her voice slightly stronger.

Ron had come around to her other side and sat in the chair next to her bed while Padma placed the cup on the table beside her. "Do you remember the curse inside Draco fighting you?"

Hermione nodded, her heart thumping weakly against her ribcage.

"Did it work?" she was suddenly struck by the possibility that it had all been for nothing. Perhaps the curse had won. "Where's Draco?" she asked, her voice breaking both from the strain and her emotions.

"Draco is at the other end of the Hospital Wing," Padma said calmly. "He's still unconscious."

"Wh-what?" Hermione breathed. "What happened?"

"You fought hard, Hermione, and in fighting you lost nearly all of your blood volume. I was trying to replace it, but you were losing the blood faster than we could get it back into you. Your heart gave out. We - we lost you." Padma was trying very hard to remain professional, but Hermione could tell that the ordeal had affected her greatly. She looked exhausted.

"Lost me?" Hermione asked, her brows furrowing.

"Your heart began racing, setting that muggle machine off. Then it just stopped," Ron supplied. "We thought you were dead. Padma brought you back."

Hermione turned back to Padma. "What?" she felt like the only word left in her vocabulary was 'what'. Her brain was scrambling to catch up.

"Cardiopulmonary resuscitation," Padma explained. "I learned how to do it the moment we planned to use Muggle medicine. You were down for about ninety seconds. I had no way of knowing if it would damage your brain. My research suggested that any time down could leave you with cognitive deficits. We've-we've been waiting for you to come to. The diagnostics I've run suggested your brain was fine, but…"

Hermione could tell her friend had been extremely worried, that her waking up - able to talk, seemingly with her full faculties - was an extreme relief. As grateful as she was, there was only one thing on her mind.

"Draco…"

"That ninety seconds was enough to lift the curse," Padma said, and Hermione immediately closed her eyes letting the relief wash over here. She breathed in a shuddering breath.

It worked.

"But," Padma continued, "This ritual was much harder on Draco than it was on Theo. Theo was awake and healed only an hour after the curse lifted. Draco - he's not responsive. I've run diagnostic spells. He is cured, but we can't wake him."

"Oh, Merlin," Hermione cried, her voice barely above a whisper. "Can I see him?"

"You aren't getting out of that bed for at least twenty-four hours," Padma insisted, her tone indicating that she'd not be able to coerce the Healer into changing her mind this time.

Hermione felt tears in the corner of her eyes as the weight of what they'd told her settled over her. "Can I just see him, please?"

"We moved him because we didn't want anything to compromise your recovery," Padma explained. "But as you are awake - after I run an extensive set of diagnostic spells - we can move him back here."

"Thank you," Hermione breathed, her shoulders slumping with great relief. She looked over at Ron who looked like he'd aged five years in one night. "How long was I out?" he asked him.

"Two days," he said. But immediately his hand went up to stave off any more questions. "I don't want to talk about what's gone on since you went under. We'll talk about it when you have more strength."

He knew her so well. She did have a million questions. With the timetable she had, she couldn't waste two days. Her three weeks were now down to two, and her infuriatingly weak body and magic wouldn't make those two weeks any easier.

Padma ran her tests while Hermione observed Ron a bit longer. "Can you help me pull my hand out?" she asked, indicating to her arms stuck to either side of her.

"Oh," Ron said, standing up immediately. "Of course. Madam Pomfrey suggested we tuck you in tight with heated blankets to bring up your body temperature."

Hermione nodded. That made sense. Ron reached over and loosened the blankets slightly before delicately taking one arm at a time and lifting them out from the cocoon of warmth. Instantly she felt chilled, but she ignored it. She reached out and took Ron's hand in hers.

"Thank you," she said, her voice breaking again. "I'm sorry." She knew that whatever she'd put them through over the last two days could not have been easy. She wondered where Harry was.

"Never again, Hermione," Ron said, sniffling. "I don't care what the cause, never will we let you put yourself in this much danger again. Don't even think about it. Don't even ask."

Hermione squeezed his hand as much as she could in her weakened state and nodded. "Okay," she agreed. "Where's Harry?" she asked.

"With Malfoy," Ron said. "He is determined to wake the twat." Ron's words were harsh, but his tone was not. "I think he believes that if you nearly died, there should be something to show for it."

"Theo?" she asked.

"He's bounced back and forth between the two of you. He's with Malfoy now. He's a right mess, to be honest."

"Okay," Padma said, with a sigh of relief. "Your heart is fine. There is no long-term damage. Madam Pomfrey acted quickly with potions the minute we got you back. Your brain seems to be uninjured. Your magic is zapped. I wouldn't expect you to get full use of it for a week, but just like before I anticipate it will come back gradually as time passes. You will need several blood replenishing potions over the next several days, and we are out of iron infusions, but you desperately need one. You are severely anaemic. You are also dehydrated."

Hermione nodded, taking in all of the information even as she was desperate for Padma to finish so she could bring Draco to her.

"I've removed the IV because I believe that magical remedies are best for both of you, but it means you will need to drink lots of water voluntarily." Hermione nodded again. 'I also do not want you to leave this bed, not to go to the loo, not for anything, without a wheelchair or an assistant."

"Just so happens," Ron butted in, "that I'm excellent at walking pretty girls to the loo."

"I really wouldn't advertise that," Hermione replied tiredly, but the corners of her mouth turned up into a small smile.

"I can live with all of that," Hermione said. "I'll drink my water, I'll eat whatever you place in front of me, but will you please bring me Draco?"

"I will have him moved here, yes," Padma agreed.

"Thank you," Hermione replied. And with the win, the little energy she had left her. She leaned back into her pillow and drifted off to sleep.

"Up," Ron insisted as she pouted. "Water and food," he said.

With a tired sigh, Hermione opened one eye and saw Ron staring back at her, a cup with a straw in hand. He used his wand to elevate her bed into a seated position before nodding toward the other side of the bed. "They moved him," he said.

Hermione's head whipped around to her left where Draco was lying in a bed next to her. They'd wrapped him as tightly as she'd been wrapped the night before in what she assumed were also heated blankets. They also moved the table next to her bed so that his bed could be situated directly next to hers. Her heart swelled and her eyes filled with tears. She was immensely grateful to her friends in that moment.

"No change," Harry answered from the end of Draco's bed. She frowned, her eyes moving to where he stood. Theo was seated in the chair opposite Draco, his head in his hands.

"Come on, tuck in," Ron said, placing a plate of food on her lap and moving the cup he'd been holding to her mouth. She sucked down the cup of water dutifully - truthfully, she was still incredibly thirsty.

It suddenly occurred to her that she had to pee - urgently. "Uh, I've got to use the loo," she said, looking up at Ron then Harry.

"I'll take her," Harry said, moving from Draco's bed over to hers where he began to pull back her blankets. The cold air of the Hospital Wing made her shiver.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked, concerned.

"Fine," Hermione assured him. "Just cold."

Harry made quick work of a light warming charm before taking her hand in his and cradling her elbow with the other as he helped her out of bed. She was far weaker than she even realised. Her legs shook under her for a moment before she straightened herself, leaning slightly on Harry for support.

Slowly they made their way to the loo at the end of the ward and Harry looked away as she pulled her pants down and he sat her upon the pot before moving out of the cubicle to give her privacy.

She let out a moan as she relieved her bladder. She ignored Harry's muffled chuckle. She was able to clean herself well enough and even managed to pull up her pants, but she needed Harry to help her with the proper cleaning spells for her hands. She tried her magic first.

Nothing.

Harry cleaned her up and helped her back to her bed where she was quickly wrapped back up in her blankets by Ron. "Eat," he insisted, shoving the plate back in her face.

"Fine," she said. She took a bite of toast and chewed slowly as she looked back over at Draco. He looked peaceful, at the least. "Can I see his arm?" she asked. She needed to see, for herself, that The Mark was gone.

Theo was the one who answered her, raising his head from his hands. "It's gone," he said, pulling Draco's arm free from the covers. He shoved Draco's shirtsleeve up and showed Hermione his pristine, alabaster skin.

Beautiful.

Hermione felt something lodge in her throat as her heart beat faster. The tears she'd been holding back sprang forth unbidden as a sob escaped her. It was really gone. Gone, but Draco wasn't awake. It was a bitter-sweet relief and the tension of her worry about the man lying there was making its way through her weakened body and manifesting in wracking sobs.

"Hermione, calm down," Ron cooed next to her, wrapping an arm around her. She leaned into his strong shoulder. "He will wake. There's nothing wrong with him, physically. Maybe the curse took a lot out of him. Maybe he just needs more rest."

"Hermione, please eat," Harry insisted, fussing with the plate in her lap.

Theo placed Draco's arm back under the blankets. "He'd want you to get your strength back. In fact, he'd insist on it," Theo proclaimed.

Hermione sniffled and tried to control her sobs. Finally, she nodded and took a shaky breath. With no more coaxing she finished her breakfast. She did need her strength. She needed to get out of bed so that she could destroy Voldemort's Energy. She needed Harry and Ron to focus on the Rakov brothers. She couldn't afford to waste time - hers or anyone else's.

After some time, Harry and Ron reluctantly left her side to tend to Auror business on the grounds. Theo, realising Hermione wanted to be alone with Draco, excused himself too - off to find Padma to see if he could be of use somewhere in the castle.

Hermione took the private moment to reach over and place her hand gently on Draco's chest. It felt better feeling the beat of his heart thump under her fingers. It was a small comfort.

He's alive.

She rolled over on her side so that she could watch him, hold him until she once again dozed off.

When she woke, she felt slightly stronger. She could sit on her own and she took a long pull from her water glass before resting once again on her side facing Draco.

"Please, Draco, wake up," she cooed. "You are free," she informed him. "The Dark Lord can't hurt you anymore."

"You know, when this is all over, maybe we'll just go far from here - Australia, maybe. We'll sit on the beach, no Daily Prophet, no Wizengamot, nothing but us and the sky and the sea. We can take Theo - ugh, he'll probably want to bring Pansy," she made a face.

"The point is," she continued, "we can do anything. But only if you wake up, Draco."

He didn't stir. She sighed and watched him for a very long time before Theo came back, book in hand and smiled as he sat next to Draco's bed, keeping silent vigil with her.

At lunch, Padma was back to check on her. "I'm pleased to report your dehydration has mostly cleared," she announced. "I've requested an iron infusion from a local Hospital here in Scotland…"

"Wait," Hermione interrupted. "How?"

Padma smirked. "I pretended to be a doctor. It's not so hard."

"Do you mean to tell me that we could have just pretended to be doctors instead of stealing blood?" Ron asked, outraged.

"No, I'm afraid not," Padma said. "They keep a much closer watch over where blood goes. A few iron infusions to a doctor in need is hardly anything to raise suspicions. Harry is off to recover them now."

"Maybe Draco…" Hermione started. She wondered if, perhaps, they should get extra for Draco, maybe it would strengthen him.

Padma shook her head, already knowing what she was about to say. "Draco isn't suffering from anaemia. My best guess is exhaustion. I'm very tempted to try a Pepper Up."

"Give him some more time," Hermione said. "If he wakes naturally, it will be better." But she felt hope for the first time. If it was just exhaustion, if nothing was really wrong with him, it was just a waiting game.

Padma nodded in agreement. "That is probably best."

Ron walked in with her lunch plate and Hermione pulled herself up into a sitting position taking the plate from him. "You look better," he noted.

"Thank you, Ron," Hermione said with a smile. "Any news?"

Ron sighed. "Status quo," he said. "We've begun searching for all books on Horcruxes, and we've spoken to Snape's portrait. He wants to speak with you when you are stronger, by the way."

Hermione's eyes lit up. "Oh, does he know something?"

"He's not sure what he knows," Ron said. "He knows a lot about Horcruxes. Dumbledore too, but neither of them has heard of one outlasting the host. I think they are hoping that you might offer them some insights."

"Well, it is better than nothing," Hermione pointed out. "Perhaps all three of us putting our heads together can come up with something."

"It would be unlikely that they come up with a solution," Ron pointed out. "They will know all the information they already knew about Horcruxes, but portraits don't do well with learning new information. There is nowhere for it to go."

Hermione nodded. "That's true. It can't hurt either way."

"Harry should be back soon, and then Unspeakable Draguar wants to come and touch base, but I've already told her you can't have visitors until tomorrow," Ron continued. Hermione pouted. She hated being reminded how weak she was.

"No change in Malfoy, I assume," Ron asked, scratching the back of his neck.

"No," Hermione said.

"And you? You feel the same?"

"Well, I do feel stronger, and less dehydrated. But I'm still terribly tired," she admitted. "My magic is still drained."

"Well," Ron said, "Eat up, then rest." Hermione nodded and dutifully began eating her lunch.

Hermione was restless. Having slept most of the day, she was decidedly wide awake, though, without use of her wand she didn't really know what time it was. It had to be late. Madam Pomfrey was in her room off the Hospital floor and Padma had gone up to the tower ages ago. The silvery moon cast an eerie light upon the only two occupants in the room. Hermione had demanded everyone get a proper rest in the common room, so she and Draco were alone, though Draco was still motionless beside her.

She extended her hand to his chest again, needing to feel that comfort thump of his heart under her fingertips.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

The even and strong beat comforted her, but she wished he'd open his eyes. "The others are worried about us, you now," she said to him, though she was really just trying to fill the time with something other than worry.

"We gave them a turn," she went on. "I don't understand what went wrong. Why did the curse fight with you and not Theo? We never considered…"

She moved closer and rested her head on his motionless shoulder, keeping her hand pressed against his heart as she continued. "Well, it doesn't matter at this point. It's gone now. So, if you could wake up, that would be great."

She placed a soft kiss on his shoulder before settling her cheek against it again. "I know you are tired. I want you to rest, but Merlin, I want to know you are okay."

She listened to his breath, felt the rise and fall of his chest, and breathed him in. "Now that you are free, we can focus on destroying the Energy. I think I'll be much more focused without having to worry about you and Theo being taken over by that awful curse."

She was prattling on about nothing and everything, filling the void of his silence with chatter. She didn't know if he could hear her. It didn't really matter. But as she was about to open her mouth to say some other useless thing, she felt his breath change under her cheek.

Her eyes widened and she sat up. The slow, even breathing she'd been lulled by had definitely shifted and he was breathing deeper and faster. "Draco," she whispered, afraid she might be seeing things in her desire for him to wake.

"Draco, can you hear me?" she shook his shoulder lightly.

"NNnn," he moaned.

She nearly shrieked with joy.

"Draco!" she cried. "Please, Draco…"

He let out another slight gasp before his eyes opened and he blinked several times. "Her…"

"It's me," Hermione cried, throwing both arms around him and laying her head on his chest, her ear against his beating heart which sounded both faster and stronger. "Oh, Merlin, Draco…"

Tears filled her eyes as she clung to him. He moved slightly under her, pulling his arms from the blankets and wrapping them around her. "What happened?" he asked, his voice scratchy, but the way it rumbled in his chest against her ear made her let out an elated sob.

She sat up, looking him up and down as if he might not really be awake - she might have actually lost her mind. But he was there, staring up at her, his grey eyes tired but definitely alert.

"Oh, Draco," she cried. "It worked. The curse put up a fight, but we did it."

Draco immediately looked down at his left forearm and his eyes widened as he saw the unmarked skin there. "You did it," he said, his voice was weak still, but there was awe in his tone, almost like he was sure that despite having cured Theo, she wouldn't have been able to do the same for him.

"We did it," Hermione corrected. "You fought so hard, so bravely."

"What happened?" he asked again.

"Maybe I should call for Madam Pomfrey or Padma. I'm not sure…"

"No," Draco said, shaking his head. "I feel fine. Tired, but fine. I want to know what happened."

Hermione swallowed. "When we did the ritual, the curse inside you fought back," she explained. Draco listened intently. "It wasn't like it was with Theo. It required a lot more blood and a lot stronger magic."

"Are you okay?" he asked, suddenly realising she was in her own hospital bed. His hands immediately went to her face, cupping both cheeks as he looked her over. "Are you okay?" he asked more urgently.

"I'm fine," Hermione said. "I passed out for two days, but I'm fine now. I just need rest."

"Two…" Draco breathed. "Your magic? How is your magic?" he sounded nearly panicked.

"My magic will come back just like before," Hermione explained patiently. "I'm more worried about you. You've been asleep for three days."

"Three days…" he muttered to himself. He leaned back against his pillows and let the information wash over him. Hermione curled up into his side and rested her head on his shoulder again. This time, he curled his own arm around her.

"I've been begging you to wake up since I came around, I was so scared I'd lost you," she admitted. It was something she hadn't been willing to say out loud. She'd been determined to be optimistic, but the truth was, she'd been terrified that he might never wake.

"I don't understand why it was different," Draco replied.

"I don't either, but at this point it doesn't matter. We can figure that out later," Hermione said. On the list of things to do, researching that was not at the top of the list. "What's the last thing you remember?"

"Well…" Draco said, "you are going to think I've gone 'round the twist…"

"No," Hermione promised. "Did something happen after I passed out?"

"I'm not sure," Draco said. "I don't remember that. I remember the pain, searing pain like a nine or ten. But then everything went black. After that, I was in the boathouse with Snape."

"What?" Hermione asked, unable to control the surprise in her voice.

"Yeah," Draco said. "It was like, I knew he was dead. I knew it was not real, but I couldn't seem to leave. We talked about a lot of things," he said, a blush painting his cheeks. "I think it was just a fever dream now…"

"What did you talk about?" Hermione asked, curiously.

"You. My father. My destiny," Draco replied.

"Oh, so just small talk then," Hermione said sarcastically. Draco's chest rumbled with a chuckle and she smiled against him.

"I think I saw Snape because I associate him with redemption," Draco admitted. "He did so many wrong, terrible things. But he was able to make his life matter, to counter the bad with his own choices."

Hermione nodded silently and listened. "We talked about choices, and personal accountability, decisions that we can and can't change."

"It sounds like your brain had a lot to work through," Hermione said.

"Yeah," Draco said.

"And what did Snape have to say about me?" she finally asked, resting her chin on his chest as she looked up at him.

"He told me not to be a damn fool. He told me not to be so noble in my seeking redemption that I lose the thing that matters to me most. He told me that he'd made a decision to push someone away a long time ago, and it was the worst mistake of his life," Draco answered, his eyes staring back into hers.

"Well, I always knew Snape was smart," Hermione said with a smile. "Now, let me call for Madam Pomfrey because I won't be able to rest until I know for sure you are in perfect health."