Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Blah blah blah. Whatever.
Chapter 6: Returning Home
Hermione and Draco were very happy at the hotel. Since Draco had inherited all of the Malfoy fortune, they ordered room service and stayed in most of the day. Some days, Draco would bring Hermione shopping and they had the greatest time together. They enjoyed getting to know each other again and almost forgot all about school.
One day, Dumbledore came to visit them in their room. "Hello, Mr. Malfoy, Ms. Granger. I see you two are doing well on your own." He said pleasantly.
"We're quite happy here, actually. It's a charming hotel and the people around here are really great. We went to Flourish and Botts yesterday and it was amazing." Hermione exclaimed. "Look! I've picked up some new books on Potions and Transfiguration." Then her smiled faded. "But I am getting anxious to go back to school. When do you think we will be allowed to return?"
"Well, I don't see why you can't return tomorrow, Ms. Granger. Everyone at Hogwarts really misses you two. Especially Harry, Ron, Vincent and Gregory. They're not the same without you. As a matter of fact, I suspected you would be returning to school this year so I did not fill the Head Girl Position, OR the Head Boy position either. I had the prefects doing your jobs. You two, when you return, will be the Head Students. How does that sound?"
Hermione was so happy that she could have jumped for joy (but she wasn't quite there yet.) She stood up and gave Dumbledore an unexpected hug. "I'm so excited. Draco, did you hear that? We get to go back! And you will be head boy! And I will be head girl! And this is all just so overwhelming and..." she was getting so ahead of herself that her legs gave out from excitement. Draco caught her before she hit the floor.
"Sweetheart, maybe we should keep you out of school for a little longer. Maybe you're not ready to go back." Draco said to her. He cared about her so much and didn't want to see her get hurt.
"NO! I'm fine, Draco. I just got a little carried away with the good news. Come on. I have a plan. I'll start by only going to a few classes a day, not too much. Then, when I'm ready, I'll take on my full schedule again."
"It seems you thought this whole thing through." Dumbledore said with a smile. "If you think you are ready, then you can come back right now with me. I must be going now though. I didn't tell anyone where I was going and if they notice that I'm gone, they tend to go a little nutty. Are you two ready?"
Draco stood up and quickly said a spell to pack all of their belongings. "I am ready. What about you, 'Mi?" 'Mi was his nickname for Hermione. She loved hearing it. It was his way of telling her that he loved her.
"I've been ready. I was born ready. What are we waiting for?" Hermione began to stand up but Draco stopped her.
"You're still weak. Why don't I carry you there? Let's not wear you out before you even get there."
She smiled weakly at him. "You always treat me like I'm precious and like I'll break with the smallest of touches. Why?"
"Because 'Mi. You're the most important thing to me. I will never let anything happen to you." He lifted her up and kissed her passionately. Then Dumbledore cleared his throat to remind them that he was still in the room.
"You two really do make a wonderful couple. Now, we can apparate to Hogwarts if you will just hold my hand. I am the only one that is able to apparate into Hogwarts. As long as you are connected to me while I apparate, we will all get there in one piece." He reached out his hand and Hermione took it. Soon, there was a loud popping noise. Hermione had closed her eyes when they were apparating and when she opened her eyes, she was in awe.
"This is the Head Tower. This will be your common room. To the right, down that hallway is your room, Hermione. And Draco, on the left, down that corridor, is your room. You have an adjoining bathroom. I will leave you two here to get acquainted with your new living spaces. Goodbye."
As soon as he was gone, Draco carried Hermione up to her room. "I have to go and talk to some of the teachers. They want to know what kind of progress we have been making. I'll send Scarhead and Weasel up here to take care of you while I'm gone."
"NO!" She shouted. "I mean, I don't want them here. They just, well, I don't, I don't really want to... I don't know. I don't want to overwhelm myself I guess. I didn't tell them I was coming back... or ... or about..."
He looked at her and used his eyes to ask her what she was saying but then he figured it out all by himself. "You didn't tell them about us yet, did you?"
She looked down at her feet, avoiding his eyes. She didn't want him to be angry with her. "No, I didn't. I didn't want to tell them in a letter. It just seemed so, so awkward. What do I tell them? 'Dear Harry and Ron, So guess what. Your worst enemy woke up from a coma and confessed his undying love for me. And then, I confessed my love for him. And then we kissed and now he's my boyfriend. See you at school.' I mean, I wanted to tell them in person. You understand, don't you?" She looked up and her eyes met with his. She felt a cold shiver run down her spine.
"Fine. I guess I understand. I'll go tell Dumbledore to find Potty and Weasel to spend time with you. Bye." He left and Hermione couldn't help but feel very alone. 'I hope he's not mad at me.' she thought to herself.
Half an hour later, Harry and Ron were knocking on the portrait hole. "HERMIONE! IT'S US! LET US IN! PLEASE!" Ron shouted.
She got up from the couch slowly and walked to door. She opened it and then walked away before they even entered. "Shut the door behind you once you've come in." She ordered. She was tired and weak from the day and really just wanted Draco to come back.
Harry immediately ran and hugged her. "Hermione! We've missed you so much. Why didn't you tell us you got better? How did you get better? I thought that they had no idea how to cure it."
"YEAH!" Ron joined in, giving Hermione a hug as well. "We didn't think you'd ever be able to leave St. Mungo's!"
"Well if you two would quiet down for a moment, I can explain." She launched into an explanation of how she got to this point in time, careful to leave Draco out of all of it. She still wasn't sure how to explain it to them.
"Wow, 'Mione. You really ARE the smartest and the strongest witch ever to come to Hogwarts." Harry exclaimed.
"I'm just one notch away from you, Harry." Hermione joked. They all laughed but after a few minutes, Hermione's face became serious. "Guys, I have to tell you something. But you guys have to promise not to scream or yell at me. I'm still very weak and tired and I can't take any more stress."
"I'm sure that whatever it is, we're not going to yell at you, Hermione." Ron assured her. "But we promise. Don't we, Harry?"
"Yes, yes. Of course. There will be no yelling or screaming going on here."
"Okay. Well, I had some help in getting better. I was trying to do it all by myself but one day, I collapsed and I was crying. Then, I was picked up off the ground and to my surprise, it was Draco Malfoy. He had woken up from his coma. Well, we talked and then, he told me that he fought in the war... for me."
"Hermione, I'm so sorry. Ew, it must be horrible knowing that Malfoy's in love with you." Harry exclaimed with pity in his voice.
"NO! Harry, you don't understand. I feel the exact same way about him. I love Draco and I know it's weird but he makes me happy and I hope you guys can be happy for me."
Ron looked shocked. Taken back. He couldn't understand what had just happened. "Wait a minute. Hold up. Rewind. Did you just tell us that you are in love with the man who has terrorized us for six years, the man who has called you names in order to insult you. This is Malfoy we're talking about, Hermione."
"I know. But he's changed. You guys don't know him like I do. He's kind and gentle. He loves me and he's always there for me when I need him."
"Hermione, I'm happy that you're happy but I don't know that I can accept that you are happy with Malfoy. He's our worst enemy." Harry said.
"I know he's your worst enemy, guys. But I love him. And if you cannot accept my relationship with Draco, then our friendship is one that will only go on forever in our memories."
Harry and Ron looked at eachother and then sighed reluctantly. "All right, Hermione. If he makes you happy, then we won't stand in your way. We'll be by your side for all eternity. You're our best friend. Not even Malfoy can ruin that." Ron said with a grin.
"Yeah, 'Mione. We're here for you." Harry added.
Hermione broke down in tears. "I'm so glad to hear you say that. I don't know if I could have survived without your friendship. You two mean the world to me."
After a few hugs and a little bit of time of Hermione drying her tears, they began talking like old times. "So, we're doing well in Quidditch. The team hasn't lost a game." Ron said. "Harry is the captain. Ginny's doing well too. She's really learned quite a few new moves from Fred and George. Oh yeah, speaking of them. They said they stopped by. We're sorry you felt like we were pitying you. We just wanted you to know that we weren't going to forget about you."
"I know. I just couldn't handle everything then. I was very tired of seeing the nurses give me looks of sorrow and I just had to blow up at something. You two happened to be the first thing I thought of. My apologies." She said with a smile.
"It's okay." Harry assured her. "We figured it was something like that. Anyway, do you want to go with us this weekend to Hogsmeade? There's a trip this weekend."
"I don't know. I want to talk to Draco first. He's kind of mad at me and I really need to work things out with him before I make plans without him."
"Why are you two in a fight?" Ron asked.
"Because I told him that I had not yet told you two that we were together. He didn't seem to like that very much. And who could blame him. If he told me that he wanted to keep us a secret I would have thought that he was ashamed of me. But it's not that I was ashamed of him, I just didn't want to ruin my friendship with you guys. I wasn't sure if you would be able to accept him and me together."
"We're sorry we were the cause of your fight." Harry said. "But you could bring him with us to Hogsmeade if you'd like. We should probably get to know him if we want to spend any time with you. I'm guessing you'll be glued at the lips."
Ron looked confused. "I thought the saying was 'Glued at the hips'. Why did you say lips?" Then it struck him. "Oh, wait. Don't answer that." Hermione and Harry both began laughing and Ron turned a bright shade of pink.
Soon it got late in the night and it was time for them to leave. They each gave her a hug goodbye and left. As soon as they were gone, it struck Hermione as weird that Draco still wasn't back.
'Where could he be? I know he's mad at me but he has to come back to the room sooner or later. I told Harry and Ron now. I want to tell him the good news.' Hermione thought. She began to worry that something may have happened to him but she knew that Hogwarts was safe so she calmed down.
She decided that she would go and check out the library before she went to sleep. She exited through the portrait hole and began walking. She was walking down an empty corridor and suddenly grew very scared. She could have sworn she heard footsteps behind her. She whizzed her head around to see who was there but there was no one. She decided to pick up her pace. Again, she heard a sound from behind her but this time she did not look around to see who it was. She broke into a jog. She was surprised to see that she could actually jog but then felt herself getting weaker and weaker by the moment. 'I just have to make it to the Library. Then whoever is behind me will go away.' She decided to run. She started running but eventually her body gave way and she collapsed, crying on the ground. The footsteps were coming closer to her.
"Go away! Leave me be!" She shouted. "I'm not afraid of you!" That was her last effort to scare off her attacker. Before she knew what was going on, she heard a voice cry,
"STUPEFY!"
Hermione went as stiff as a board. She couldn't move. 'This reminds me of when I was paralyzed. I've never been stupefied before. I don't like it very much.' She tried to shout for help but she couldn't. So, she closed her eyes and let sleep overcome her.
A/N okay. I have a long list of people to thank for all of the chapters so instead I'll just say thanks. I really enjoy getting your reviews. I've been working all day on this even though I feel really sick and my sister is getting ready for prom. I basically neglected her all day and just sat at the computer. I'm really trying to make you reviewers happy but it's hard work. I feel so tired right now, it's not even funny.
I'm real sorry to leave you off with a cliffhanger but that's the way the cookie crumbles. I like this chapter a lot. I hope you guys did too. This one is probably my favorite chapter. It's the first time you see the couple argue and see how they act once they're not in their own little bubble anymore.
It's going to get harder and harder for them so stick around and just keep reading, please. I promise to keep on writing if you promise to keep on reviewing. Deal? Tell me in your review NOW!
I'm sure there are a lot of you who read the story but don't review so I hope that you are liking the story thus far. I wish you would review to tell me what you think.
Thanks to all my repeated reviewers. You guys ROCK! I LOVE YOU!
Okay... also... I'm so sorry for not updating sooner. I wrote this on April seventeenth. I wanted to post it as soon as I was done but my internet shut down and I have to use the library computers at school to post (and they won't let you on if it's not for homework so I have to be really sneaky) I want to kill my computer for not letting me get on the freaking internet. I don't know what to do. My mom is going to cancel aol and get net zero. Do any of you have netzero? Does it work well? Tell me all about it in a review or an email. My email address is mirkwooddreams28@aol.com (For the time being)
Thanks everyone.
Chapter 6: Returning Home
Hermione and Draco were very happy at the hotel. Since Draco had inherited all of the Malfoy fortune, they ordered room service and stayed in most of the day. Some days, Draco would bring Hermione shopping and they had the greatest time together. They enjoyed getting to know each other again and almost forgot all about school.
One day, Dumbledore came to visit them in their room. "Hello, Mr. Malfoy, Ms. Granger. I see you two are doing well on your own." He said pleasantly.
"We're quite happy here, actually. It's a charming hotel and the people around here are really great. We went to Flourish and Botts yesterday and it was amazing." Hermione exclaimed. "Look! I've picked up some new books on Potions and Transfiguration." Then her smiled faded. "But I am getting anxious to go back to school. When do you think we will be allowed to return?"
"Well, I don't see why you can't return tomorrow, Ms. Granger. Everyone at Hogwarts really misses you two. Especially Harry, Ron, Vincent and Gregory. They're not the same without you. As a matter of fact, I suspected you would be returning to school this year so I did not fill the Head Girl Position, OR the Head Boy position either. I had the prefects doing your jobs. You two, when you return, will be the Head Students. How does that sound?"
Hermione was so happy that she could have jumped for joy (but she wasn't quite there yet.) She stood up and gave Dumbledore an unexpected hug. "I'm so excited. Draco, did you hear that? We get to go back! And you will be head boy! And I will be head girl! And this is all just so overwhelming and..." she was getting so ahead of herself that her legs gave out from excitement. Draco caught her before she hit the floor.
"Sweetheart, maybe we should keep you out of school for a little longer. Maybe you're not ready to go back." Draco said to her. He cared about her so much and didn't want to see her get hurt.
"NO! I'm fine, Draco. I just got a little carried away with the good news. Come on. I have a plan. I'll start by only going to a few classes a day, not too much. Then, when I'm ready, I'll take on my full schedule again."
"It seems you thought this whole thing through." Dumbledore said with a smile. "If you think you are ready, then you can come back right now with me. I must be going now though. I didn't tell anyone where I was going and if they notice that I'm gone, they tend to go a little nutty. Are you two ready?"
Draco stood up and quickly said a spell to pack all of their belongings. "I am ready. What about you, 'Mi?" 'Mi was his nickname for Hermione. She loved hearing it. It was his way of telling her that he loved her.
"I've been ready. I was born ready. What are we waiting for?" Hermione began to stand up but Draco stopped her.
"You're still weak. Why don't I carry you there? Let's not wear you out before you even get there."
She smiled weakly at him. "You always treat me like I'm precious and like I'll break with the smallest of touches. Why?"
"Because 'Mi. You're the most important thing to me. I will never let anything happen to you." He lifted her up and kissed her passionately. Then Dumbledore cleared his throat to remind them that he was still in the room.
"You two really do make a wonderful couple. Now, we can apparate to Hogwarts if you will just hold my hand. I am the only one that is able to apparate into Hogwarts. As long as you are connected to me while I apparate, we will all get there in one piece." He reached out his hand and Hermione took it. Soon, there was a loud popping noise. Hermione had closed her eyes when they were apparating and when she opened her eyes, she was in awe.
"This is the Head Tower. This will be your common room. To the right, down that hallway is your room, Hermione. And Draco, on the left, down that corridor, is your room. You have an adjoining bathroom. I will leave you two here to get acquainted with your new living spaces. Goodbye."
As soon as he was gone, Draco carried Hermione up to her room. "I have to go and talk to some of the teachers. They want to know what kind of progress we have been making. I'll send Scarhead and Weasel up here to take care of you while I'm gone."
"NO!" She shouted. "I mean, I don't want them here. They just, well, I don't, I don't really want to... I don't know. I don't want to overwhelm myself I guess. I didn't tell them I was coming back... or ... or about..."
He looked at her and used his eyes to ask her what she was saying but then he figured it out all by himself. "You didn't tell them about us yet, did you?"
She looked down at her feet, avoiding his eyes. She didn't want him to be angry with her. "No, I didn't. I didn't want to tell them in a letter. It just seemed so, so awkward. What do I tell them? 'Dear Harry and Ron, So guess what. Your worst enemy woke up from a coma and confessed his undying love for me. And then, I confessed my love for him. And then we kissed and now he's my boyfriend. See you at school.' I mean, I wanted to tell them in person. You understand, don't you?" She looked up and her eyes met with his. She felt a cold shiver run down her spine.
"Fine. I guess I understand. I'll go tell Dumbledore to find Potty and Weasel to spend time with you. Bye." He left and Hermione couldn't help but feel very alone. 'I hope he's not mad at me.' she thought to herself.
Half an hour later, Harry and Ron were knocking on the portrait hole. "HERMIONE! IT'S US! LET US IN! PLEASE!" Ron shouted.
She got up from the couch slowly and walked to door. She opened it and then walked away before they even entered. "Shut the door behind you once you've come in." She ordered. She was tired and weak from the day and really just wanted Draco to come back.
Harry immediately ran and hugged her. "Hermione! We've missed you so much. Why didn't you tell us you got better? How did you get better? I thought that they had no idea how to cure it."
"YEAH!" Ron joined in, giving Hermione a hug as well. "We didn't think you'd ever be able to leave St. Mungo's!"
"Well if you two would quiet down for a moment, I can explain." She launched into an explanation of how she got to this point in time, careful to leave Draco out of all of it. She still wasn't sure how to explain it to them.
"Wow, 'Mione. You really ARE the smartest and the strongest witch ever to come to Hogwarts." Harry exclaimed.
"I'm just one notch away from you, Harry." Hermione joked. They all laughed but after a few minutes, Hermione's face became serious. "Guys, I have to tell you something. But you guys have to promise not to scream or yell at me. I'm still very weak and tired and I can't take any more stress."
"I'm sure that whatever it is, we're not going to yell at you, Hermione." Ron assured her. "But we promise. Don't we, Harry?"
"Yes, yes. Of course. There will be no yelling or screaming going on here."
"Okay. Well, I had some help in getting better. I was trying to do it all by myself but one day, I collapsed and I was crying. Then, I was picked up off the ground and to my surprise, it was Draco Malfoy. He had woken up from his coma. Well, we talked and then, he told me that he fought in the war... for me."
"Hermione, I'm so sorry. Ew, it must be horrible knowing that Malfoy's in love with you." Harry exclaimed with pity in his voice.
"NO! Harry, you don't understand. I feel the exact same way about him. I love Draco and I know it's weird but he makes me happy and I hope you guys can be happy for me."
Ron looked shocked. Taken back. He couldn't understand what had just happened. "Wait a minute. Hold up. Rewind. Did you just tell us that you are in love with the man who has terrorized us for six years, the man who has called you names in order to insult you. This is Malfoy we're talking about, Hermione."
"I know. But he's changed. You guys don't know him like I do. He's kind and gentle. He loves me and he's always there for me when I need him."
"Hermione, I'm happy that you're happy but I don't know that I can accept that you are happy with Malfoy. He's our worst enemy." Harry said.
"I know he's your worst enemy, guys. But I love him. And if you cannot accept my relationship with Draco, then our friendship is one that will only go on forever in our memories."
Harry and Ron looked at eachother and then sighed reluctantly. "All right, Hermione. If he makes you happy, then we won't stand in your way. We'll be by your side for all eternity. You're our best friend. Not even Malfoy can ruin that." Ron said with a grin.
"Yeah, 'Mione. We're here for you." Harry added.
Hermione broke down in tears. "I'm so glad to hear you say that. I don't know if I could have survived without your friendship. You two mean the world to me."
After a few hugs and a little bit of time of Hermione drying her tears, they began talking like old times. "So, we're doing well in Quidditch. The team hasn't lost a game." Ron said. "Harry is the captain. Ginny's doing well too. She's really learned quite a few new moves from Fred and George. Oh yeah, speaking of them. They said they stopped by. We're sorry you felt like we were pitying you. We just wanted you to know that we weren't going to forget about you."
"I know. I just couldn't handle everything then. I was very tired of seeing the nurses give me looks of sorrow and I just had to blow up at something. You two happened to be the first thing I thought of. My apologies." She said with a smile.
"It's okay." Harry assured her. "We figured it was something like that. Anyway, do you want to go with us this weekend to Hogsmeade? There's a trip this weekend."
"I don't know. I want to talk to Draco first. He's kind of mad at me and I really need to work things out with him before I make plans without him."
"Why are you two in a fight?" Ron asked.
"Because I told him that I had not yet told you two that we were together. He didn't seem to like that very much. And who could blame him. If he told me that he wanted to keep us a secret I would have thought that he was ashamed of me. But it's not that I was ashamed of him, I just didn't want to ruin my friendship with you guys. I wasn't sure if you would be able to accept him and me together."
"We're sorry we were the cause of your fight." Harry said. "But you could bring him with us to Hogsmeade if you'd like. We should probably get to know him if we want to spend any time with you. I'm guessing you'll be glued at the lips."
Ron looked confused. "I thought the saying was 'Glued at the hips'. Why did you say lips?" Then it struck him. "Oh, wait. Don't answer that." Hermione and Harry both began laughing and Ron turned a bright shade of pink.
Soon it got late in the night and it was time for them to leave. They each gave her a hug goodbye and left. As soon as they were gone, it struck Hermione as weird that Draco still wasn't back.
'Where could he be? I know he's mad at me but he has to come back to the room sooner or later. I told Harry and Ron now. I want to tell him the good news.' Hermione thought. She began to worry that something may have happened to him but she knew that Hogwarts was safe so she calmed down.
She decided that she would go and check out the library before she went to sleep. She exited through the portrait hole and began walking. She was walking down an empty corridor and suddenly grew very scared. She could have sworn she heard footsteps behind her. She whizzed her head around to see who was there but there was no one. She decided to pick up her pace. Again, she heard a sound from behind her but this time she did not look around to see who it was. She broke into a jog. She was surprised to see that she could actually jog but then felt herself getting weaker and weaker by the moment. 'I just have to make it to the Library. Then whoever is behind me will go away.' She decided to run. She started running but eventually her body gave way and she collapsed, crying on the ground. The footsteps were coming closer to her.
"Go away! Leave me be!" She shouted. "I'm not afraid of you!" That was her last effort to scare off her attacker. Before she knew what was going on, she heard a voice cry,
"STUPEFY!"
Hermione went as stiff as a board. She couldn't move. 'This reminds me of when I was paralyzed. I've never been stupefied before. I don't like it very much.' She tried to shout for help but she couldn't. So, she closed her eyes and let sleep overcome her.
A/N okay. I have a long list of people to thank for all of the chapters so instead I'll just say thanks. I really enjoy getting your reviews. I've been working all day on this even though I feel really sick and my sister is getting ready for prom. I basically neglected her all day and just sat at the computer. I'm really trying to make you reviewers happy but it's hard work. I feel so tired right now, it's not even funny.
I'm real sorry to leave you off with a cliffhanger but that's the way the cookie crumbles. I like this chapter a lot. I hope you guys did too. This one is probably my favorite chapter. It's the first time you see the couple argue and see how they act once they're not in their own little bubble anymore.
It's going to get harder and harder for them so stick around and just keep reading, please. I promise to keep on writing if you promise to keep on reviewing. Deal? Tell me in your review NOW!
I'm sure there are a lot of you who read the story but don't review so I hope that you are liking the story thus far. I wish you would review to tell me what you think.
Thanks to all my repeated reviewers. You guys ROCK! I LOVE YOU!
Okay... also... I'm so sorry for not updating sooner. I wrote this on April seventeenth. I wanted to post it as soon as I was done but my internet shut down and I have to use the library computers at school to post (and they won't let you on if it's not for homework so I have to be really sneaky) I want to kill my computer for not letting me get on the freaking internet. I don't know what to do. My mom is going to cancel aol and get net zero. Do any of you have netzero? Does it work well? Tell me all about it in a review or an email. My email address is mirkwooddreams28@aol.com (For the time being)
Thanks everyone.