Tuesday Morning 12:10 am

"I want to get better," Hermione said softly, her voice barely above a whisper, "I don't want to be here stuck in this room, I need to get better, everything was so hazy, I almost believed I was still in the dungeons for a bit there."

Draco stayed silent almost not believing what he was hearing. Had she finally pulled out of it, was she going to get better?

"You're here now though," Draco said putting a arm around her and pulling her closer, "I won't let you go."

She turned her head and smiled at him, and he saw that she truly was back. He felt an overwhelming happiness surge throughout him and kiss her forehead softly feeling a single tear run down his cheek.

"What time is it?" she asked startling Draco. Then he laughed and told her it was around midnight, about two weeks since they'd got back.

"Where am I?" she asked looking around the room with a studious expression on her face.

"Now you ask that," Draco teased, feeling delighted that she was suddenly better, back to herself, of course not even he was truly better, but she was over Shock or whatever it was that had affected her so.

"Infirmary?" she asked curiously raising a eyebrow.

"Your own special room," he told her, brushing a strand of hair out of her eyes.

"Can we get out of here?" she asked pulling herself up into a sitting position. She gave a little groan then winced, "I feel so weak. Soft."

"I don't think broth is very nourishing," Draco said easing himself up into a sitting position.

"Is that what they've been feeding me?" she asked.

Draco nodded and gave a grin, realizing he almost forgotten what it had been like to be happy. He glanced at his watch, "You want to get out of here now?"

"Why? What's wrong with now?" she asked curiously, reaching up to rub some sleep out of her eyes then said, "Ah, I want to shower, I feel like I slept too long."

"It's kind of late," Draco told her, "You chose to come out of it right at midnight."

"What are you doing here then?" Hermione asked curiously.

"You sound like you don't want me here," Draco said then told her, "I couldn't sleep."

"I did a lot of thinking, I felt like, in a way I was trapped inside myself, and it was all emotions, and then there was you," she said softly and looked up at him.

"I"-

"Please kiss me," she said interrupting him, that light that burned in her during the time he'd known her in the dungeons coming back into her eyes. Draco nodded and leaned down touching his lips to hers, feeling himself drowning in the sweetness of her kiss.

It was altogether a different experience from kissing Sen. Passion mixed with the unfaltering love he had for her and the unending caring, made it very different, and much better. Pure passion without love, made him feel, almost dirty, passion was nice, but by it self... it didn't feel right. This, what he had with Hermione felt right. He felt like he would start floating and his heart would burst he loved her so much, she made him so happy.

"Draco?" Hermione asked pulling away, her voice turning serious, and with a tinge of fear in it.

"I'm here," he told her worried, feeling the sudden change, as she tensed up.

"I need to tell you something," she said, "I think I was in denial for a bit there, but where ever I was it cleared my mind, and, in order to get over this, I need to tell you."

"Okay," Draco said unsure, wondering, what it was she needed to tell him. He scooted closer to her, and took her hand to reassure her.

"Down in the dungeons, when they took me," Hermione began, and bit her lip. Draco saw how it was very hard for her to say this, "they tortured me, but it was more than just curses and spells, Draco. They, I mean I was, I was raped."

Draco took in a breath and without a thought sat down on the bed next to her and took her in his arms as she started sobbing.

"It'll be okay, things will be okay," he said softly rocking her back and forth, until finally she fell asleep, Draco assumed he must have to at some point, for it was 6:42 when he woke up.

6:42 am

Draco opened his eyes feeling rather stiff and cramped, he was about to sit up when he felt the weight of Hermione curled up against him. He yawned and stretched his arms then turned his gaze down on Hermione, her face peaceful. Her eyes flickered open, then closed, then opened again and she turned her head to look up at him, smiling slightly.

"Morning, love," he said feeling himself smile back then asked, "How do you feel?"

"Better," she replied and took a breath with a slight shiver, "I guess I got it out then."

"You're not pregnant are you?" he asked worry evident in his voice.

Hermione shook her head, then blushed slightly, "There's spells and stuff, my parents made sure I knew them. Kind of embarrassing."

She shivered again and Draco knew it wasn't from cold, then she added on, "I kind of put it down in the little dark corner in the back of my brain, then I started falling in love with you, and that made me shove it even farther back, but I guess that just made it worse. Better to confront and work through it, instead of ignoring it."

"You want to talk about it more then?" he asked brushing a strand of hair out of her eyes. She shrugged then said, "I felt, violated."

Draco nodded, "They took something from you, that they had no right to."

"I'm glad they're all dead," Hermione said, vehemence filling her voice.

"They got only what they deserved," Draco said and Hermione slowly nodded.

"There's a lot you need to be caught up on," Draco said and smiled softly, Hermione opened her mouth to say something else when the doorknob turned. Draco looked at his watch, it was 7:00, it was probably Potter coming to stop in before breakfast.

"Shit, act natural," he said and quickly got off the bed and into the chair as the door opened to reveal none other than Harry Potter.

He glanced around the room taking in Draco's rumpled clothing, assuming he'd slept in the chair, and then the fact that Hermione was sitting up and awake, and looking, alive again.

"Hermione!" he yelled and ran forward to hug her, knowing right away that she was better, or at least on the road towards it. Draco stood slowly up and paused in the doorway, Hermione was grinning, engaged in talking to Harry. He caught her eyes and mouthed, "I love you. I'll come in a hour."

A/N: Thanks for reviewing! 77 reviews! That's like 7 reviews a chapter! There's probably gonna be another 10 chapters or so after this one, not even near the end yet. Dedications To:

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