"You Only Live Twice"
by Dorthey Star
Chapter Thirteen: New Awakenings
Draco felt something soft stroking his forehead, pushing the silvery strands out of his eyes. He sighed. If this was death, he didn't mind dying after all. It wasn't quite like he had remembered it from last time, but death might change with time. Who knew? Carefully he opened his eyes. The bright light pained his eyes and he knew he had lived.
"Draco?" a voice said quietly. He blinked his eyes and looked at the owner of the voice. It was Hermione. She was standing over him, stroking his forehead, and still wearing the toga from earlier along with one of his leather jackets. How much earlier? he thought, Minutes? Hours? Days? He closed his eyes again and succumbed to the sleep that was pulling at the corners of his mind.
Hermione sighed. She had really wanted to talk to him, to make sure he was all right.
"Don't worry dear, he'll be ready to talk soon enough," Narcissa said, looking at the two seventeen year olds thoughtfully. She had heard that they had broken up, but she had never known why.
"I just want to apologize," she said, resting her hand in his soft hair.
"For what?"
"How we broke up...did he tell you?" Hermione asked, turning to the older woman.
"No. He just told me that you had broken up and that he would be going on with the planned marriage to Pansy. Then he wrote me just before Christmas telling me that he and Pansy had agreed not to get married. Honestly, he can't make up his mind," Narcissa said, shaking her head.
"Well, I was mad at him for killing himself after Lucius murdered me. And he said that if I couldn't see why he killed himself, then we shouldn't be together. And I'm terribly stubborn and proud, so I agreed about breaking up. The only thing is, I regretted it terribly. Then I thought that Harry was in love with me, but it turned out that he was in love with Ginny the whole time," Hermione said, laughing at that last part. She pulled the leather jacket closer to her and breathed in the wonderful smell of Draco. At that moment, Professor Dumbledore walked in.
"Good morning, all," he said cheerfully, "Has Mr. Malfoy awakened yet?" He sat down on a chair by the bed. Narcissa was in the chair on the other side, and Hermione was on the bed between Draco and Narcissa. Hermione ran her fingers through Draco's hair.
"Yes, but only for a moment," Narcissa said with a small smile. At that moment, three things happened; Draco woke up, Harry, Ron, and Ginny came in through one door, and a very large black dog came in through another.
"Are you going to stay awake this time?" Hermione said to Draco as Harry cried out "Snuffles!" and the black dog turned into his godfather, Sirius Black. Narcissa gasped.
"Sirius?" She asked standing up. Without saying a word, he walked up to her and gave her a bone crushing hug.
"Sirius, why don't you take Narcissa into another room and explain your current situation to her," Dumbledore said pleasantly. Narcissa and Sirius left the room, talking rapidly.
"I'll try," Draco croaked to Hermione. Damn, he thought, I sound terrible. She smiled feebly at him.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, two tears falling from her eyes.
"Huh?" Draco said, blinking.
"I'm sorry for getting you involved in everything, and for almost getting you killed," she said. He pulled her close as she cried into his chest.
"Don't worry. I've been taking Hero lessons from Potter," he said. She grinned. He was the same Draco after all.
***
"So you weren't Lily and James' secret keep and you didn't kill Peter Pettigrew?" Narcissa asked hopefully. Sirius shook his head and grinned.
"In my heart I wanted to believe that you hadn't killed Peter, but my mind told me that you had a hot temper. I knew, however, that you weren't a Death Eater," Narcissa said as she hugged Sirius tightly. They had been best friends in Hogwarts, him in Gryffindor, and her in Ravenclaw.
"But I still haven't been proved innocent. Peter is still out there somewhere, and I'm doing my best to find him. Harry has had to stay with is horrible Muggle aunt and uncle because of me. Luckily this is his 7th year." He put his head in his hands and rested his elbows on his knees. Narcissa put her arms around him and kissed him on the head.
"Living with his aunt and uncle has made Harry who he is, just like living with an abusive father has made Draco who he is. Of course, Harry shows his good side more than Draco does, but they're both good people in spite of what they grew up with," Narcissa said, soothingly.
"You're right, but that's not making me feel any better," Sirius said miserably.
***
Disclaimer: all the characters belong to JKR. The story title belongs to the dude that wrote James Bond. (Will someone PLEASE tell me who that was?)
Author's Note: Two chapters left. Oh, and I've named my new kitten Tarzan the Klutz. He's very, very, very wild, but sweet. Ah, I sense some up coming S/N-ness. *grins* I was going to have it N/R, but I prefer S/N...^_^ Now everyone has their soulmate...except Ron. And Snape. And McGonagall. And Pansy. And Dumbledore. Errrr.... Anyways. Please Read/Review!
Hero 101Lesson #1: Do the first thing that pops into your head and never have a plan.
