Disclaimer: Okay so I disclaim all the Harry Potter characters coz they belong to Miss Rowling and I most certainly do not make a profit from them and this goes for all of the story. All I own is the plot and the prickling (mewhahaha).
Title of Story: When Darkness Catches the Light
Summary: Can two sworn enemies ever find true love in each other? What happens when a seductive mission comes along to prod them in the right direction? Draco/Hermione
Rated: PG-13 for language, angst descriptions and some sexual connotations.
Chapter Twelve: Much-Awaited Resurrections
I can be a mystery
Cover up my heart
Never show my emotions
Always keep you in the dark
--Just As I Am, Guy Sebastian
"Lucky for him you were there, Miss Granger, otherwise Mr Malfoy could very well have died. But no worry, he should be well enough in the morning."
Hermione merely nodded her head in response to Madam Pomfrey's words, the notion of Malfoy's possible death from the night's events still ringing like an alarm in her mind.
She glanced over at one of the Hospital Wing beds, surveying the sleeping form of Malfoy with some relief. He looked so peaceful and docile, simply lying there with tight bandages on his slender limbs and his face covered in a cold sweat.
It was a sight that caused Hermione's heart to ache excruciatingly.
She rubbed her eyes that had suddenly begun to prickle and looked over at Ron in his bed directly opposite Malfoy's, by the window.
He looked in a much better state than Malfoy, even though in truth his condition was worse. His body had not yet fully recovered from the splash of the acid and it would apparently take a few weeks to derive all of the foreign substance from his veins.
Hermione trembled as a cold draft passed swiftly through the open window by Ron's bed and she paced shakily up to it and closed it. It was true that her hands hadn't stopped quivering since the time that she had conjured stretchers for the two boys to travel toward the Hospital Wing.
I am so stupid, Hermione weakly reprimanded herself. I could have stopped the duel. I am so STUPID!
She looked down at Ron's sleeping form, intently watching as his chest rose and descended rhythmically with his breathing. His face was pallid, the faint sprinkling of freckles on the bridge of his nose being the only flagrant colour on it.
Hermione grimaced as she noted the slight green tinge of the acid on the skin of Ron's arms and stomach and she unconsciously smoothed the moist hair on his head, but immediately withdrew her hand as a sharp spasm of prickling shot up her arm.
"Well, Miss Granger," Madam Pomfrey said, briskly moving toward Hermione. "Tell me again how you came to find these two."
Hermione did not answer immediately, still looking over Ron's sleeping form. She felt an enormous feeling of guilt well up inside of her, asphyxiating all of her senses of happiness and innocence.
She could very well have done something to prevent all of this from happening – but she hadn't. She could very well have done something to protect Ron – but she hadn't. She could very well have done something to deter both boys' notions to duel – but again, she hadn't done anything of the sort.
It was her fault Ron was here, nearly dead from all the strange acid that had accumulated in his body.
It was her fault that Malfoy was here, too.
Me and my stupid 'feelings', Hermione scowled, hating herself for ever thinking that Malfoy was really a good person inside.
So then why did I go to comfort him instead of Ron?
"Oh, I just found them like that on the Astronomy Tower on my nightly patrolling, but I don't know how they got there," Hermione lied, trying to stop her voice from cracking with poignancy.
Madam Pomfrey nodded, though somehow Hermione could tell that she was disbelieving of the account. The matron bustled over to one of the benches near Malfoy's bed and she poured a steaming liquid down the boy's throat.
Malfoy stirred, coughing vigorously and clutching his throat, but Hermione was glad to note that he was at least still alive.
She sighed and paced back to her chair in the middle of both beds, twiddling her thumbs absent-mindedly.
"Now, normally I would not allow a student to stay overnight in the Hospital Wing, but I need someone to keep an eye on these two while I am away," Madam Pomfrey declared, rousing Hermione from her thoughts. "I assume you know how to perform basic sleeping and healing charms?"
Hermione glanced up at the matron, whose usual expression of severity had been replaced with a questioning one.
"Yes, Madam Pomfrey," Hermione nodded.
The matron turned around and walked out the door, her departure causing the overhead lighting to dim automatically.
Hermione sighed her relief, as she felt as though her every movements were no longer being analysed, and she instinctively paced toward Malfoy's bed and looked down upon his snoozing body.
Her heart clenched as she noticed the blood stained bandages on Malfoy's arms and chest, how his skin seemed marred abhorrently by each graze and wound. Hermione massaged his upper arm mechanically and observed with some astonishment that the boy's face seemed to mangle in a snarl and he pulled away from her touch, weakly though it was true.
Hermione withdrew her hand immediately, embarrassed at the boy's actions and glanced momentarily at Ron's sleeping form on the other side of the room, reassured to note that he was still fast asleep…
She looked back at Malfoy and a smile crept across her face.
He looks just like an angel...
Hermione pulled a stool toward Malfoy's bed, as though some ethereal force drew her to it, and she rested her head on the sheets near his feet, smoothing out the wrinkles gingerly with her hand and wondering when the boy beside her would finally wake from his deep slumber…
Draco was falling.
The intricacies of the sky he passed on the way down were but a blur, but the colours… well, 'they' were something.
First, the sky was all black. It made Draco's head throb unrelentingly, and pain beyond anything he had ever experienced was spreading throughout his entire body.
He closed his eyes tightly, just as moisture began dripping continuously from them and smarted his cheeks. The feeling jolted Draco to his senses, and when he opened his eyes, he gasped when saw that his tears were in truth, made of blood. But the blood was so… 'empty' and 'unfulfilling'…
Draco shook his head furiously, just as he began to note that the colour surrounding him was now changing... the sky seemed to be lightening to a grey colour, and the rivers of blood stemming from his eyes were immediately halted. Draco felt somewhat relieved, though still scared, as the area near his navel seemed like it was going to detonate any second…
And just when the speed of his descent was accelerated, Draco noted that the colour of the sky was now fading to a faint pink colour… Draco's heart felt like it was soaring, all of his emotions seemed to be ignited, the butterflies seemed to flutter in his stomach and all his worries seemed to escape him…
And then he splashed into a lake; the water was cool to the touch, almost icy, and upon impact with his body, the ripples on the otherwise static surface diverged incessantly, with seemingly no end…
Draco clambered out of the water, his mauve robes drenched and spraying moisture on the stony floor of the desert…
'Desert? But… what about the water…?'
Draco turned abruptly, eager to see whether the pond was still behind him – but it wasn't! There was just a single, large cactus plant, reaching endlessly up to the sky above that was clearly illuminated by the sweltering sun…
Draco glanced back at his robes to check if they were still saturated with moisture but – he was naked!
'Aargh!', he thought abashedly, covering up the more private regions of his body and hastily scanning the dry Spinifex lands for prying eyes…
But no one was there… he was all 'alone'…
The agoraphobic nature of the situation seemed to asphyxiate Draco's very senses, and he gasped for more of the harsh desert air… no matter how much it was indeed beginning to puncture his thirsty lungs…
Draco gazed back at the cactus plant, momentarily admiring the large spikes protruding from its exterior before a feeling of dread settled itself in his body… His breathing stopped from sheer surprise at the sudden cold sentiment…
He knew deep down, he 'had' to climb this infernal thing. It felt like a moral obligation, though Draco knew it would be difficult. Not to mention completely foreign and unfamiliar to his senses…
But somehow, for some reason, he knew that once he had climbed the tree… he would in turn become superior… That - although he attempted to shift the notion from his mind - he knew that once he got to the top, he would be absolutely 'fine'…
Draco gasped once more at the utter vastness of the cactus plant, before resting the sole of one of his aching feet on a spike of the tree. A blazing tremor of torture rippled swiftly through his body and he screamed, the noise seeming absolutely bloodcurdling and alien when it reached his own ears…
He shook his head vigorously, just as the sky around him blackened once more, and he ignored the tears that were streaming hysterically down his cheeks, and swung his other foot on an even higher spike. But this time…
This time… the pain was inconceivably excruciating.
Pain… beyond any pain that which he had previously experienced… A pain that seemed at once to vaporise his blood, shrivel his skin and rupture his bones…
Draco sobbed audibly, breathing in the abrasive air around him with an insatiable thirst… trying to ignore the fact that every nerve in his body felt as if it was on fire…
He swallowed the accumulating saliva in his mouth and closed his eyes firmly against his resolve to step down from the cactus plant.
No… it would be a better place… up 'there'…
Somehow, after enduring the pain of what seemed like eternal lashings from a whip of frozen, wintry ice, Draco reached what he believed to be the mid-way point of the cactus plant, and he permitted himself a quick rest.
He barely noticed that the sky around him was lightening to a grey, pasty colour…
Draco stifled another sob that was threatening to escape him and hurled his foot on the next spike and he noted with immense relief that the pain was starting to become tolerable…
In fact… the sensation he experienced seemed almost thrilling and… 'pleasurable'…
Draco hastily placed his other foot on the next 'rung' of the cactus, hoping that the lack of pain would not be fleeting… and he was glad to note that the feelings of thrill and pleasure seemed to only intensify…
But out of the blue, a sharp twinge of pain struck Draco in the nape of his neck, as transient as a bolt of lightening and he gasped out of surprise and plunged steadily down from his stance on the mid-way point of the cactus…
No!… Was… so… 'close'…
He was falling again…
Back to the blackness below…
"NO!"
Hermione woke up abruptly, upon hearing the shrillness of the voice that came from the person beside her, to find that it was a new day. She had been dreaming of doves and love hearts, her arms pleasurably squishing the strangely spongy bed beneath her, and she was more than incensed at having to escape the lands of what she hoped would be the future…
She sprang from the bed, eyeing Malfoy cautiously as he sat upright, his widened eyes scanning the room hastily. Hermione felt her heart dip as she noted his trepidation.
"D-Draco?" she ventured, the boy's first name rolling off her tongue before she could stop herself from uttering it.
The boy beside her swiftly glanced her way, the elegant strands of blonde hair falling delectably into his silver-blue eyes. Those eyes… they were looking at her again…
"Granger? You? What the fuck… where's the bloody cactus gone?"
Hermione, whose heart had begun to melt at the sight of Malfoy's beautiful eyes, felt her heart harden back again, agonisingly. She fused her eyebrows together, trying to maintain control of the anger that was welling up inside her.
"Huh? What cactus?" she responded dazedly, glancing around the room again in a hope to comprehend what Malfoy was saying.
He steadily sunk back onto his pillow, patting the squashy bed underneath him, before nodding slightly and he again looked over at Hermione, his eyebrow raised questioningly at her. She swallowed.
"Well, what are you doing here Granger? Hang on – what am I doing here?"
Hermione did not answer immediately. She shifted her gaze away from the silver-blue orbs that had begun to bore into her own, and took a seat on the stool beside Malfoy's bed. She did not notice the condescending smirk that had spread suddenly over his face, but she didn't need to.
"Granger, haven't you learnt yet?" he whispered menacingly. "A Mud-muggle must always stand in the presence of a superior. I don't remember saying you could sit, and mind, I do have an exceptional memory."
Hermione winced as the words were acknowledged in her mind and she stood up from her stool, not even caring when it clattered to the floor. She felt so enraged at that very moment – felt like her mind was being submerged in flames of unrelenting fury…
"Screw you Malfoy!" she shrieked, eyeing the somewhat-surprised boy in front of her with revulsion. "I saved your freaking life and this is the thanks I get?"
Malfoy fused his eyebrows together, as if not daring to believe a word she had just said. Hermione followed suit in her expression. Either Malfoy was really shocked, or he didn't want to believe her and he was just a good actor…
"What did you say, Granger?" he murmured, his eyes clouding over in an impenetrable mask.
Hermione sighed. She really hated all these mind games, if that was truly what they were.
How could she tell Malfoy that she was the one who cursed Ron into a mild sleeping state so that she could heal him without interruption and bring him up to the Hospital Wing so that he would in turn not… not…
"You don't remember the duel?" she asked, uncertain as to where she should begin.
Malfoy tilted his head slightly to the side, and it was obvious to Hermione that he was trying to remember.
He looks so freaking adorable…
"Duel…" Malfoy repeated blankly, more to himself than to Hermione. "Yeah… I think I remember something… with the Weasel, right?"
Hermione grimaced at the connotation before forcing herself to nod. Malfoy sighed.
"Yeah I remember… so he nearly killed me, huh?" he said, forcing a tone of amusement into his voice.
But Hermione was quick to decipher the façade.
"Yeah," was all she managed to utter before she steadied the stool and took her seat next to Malfoy's bed, hoping he wouldn't make another snide comment at her blatant muggle-born heritage.
And fortunately, he didn't.
"And you claim to have saved my life?" Malfoy whispered, his voice cracking as it spoke the last few words.
Hermione felt a lump in her throat at the memory, and nodded. Oh, how scared she had been when she saw Malfoy fall limply to the ground… how pallid his face had been and how lifeless his eyes seemed to be…
"I see," Malfoy again whispered, so inaudibly that Hermione had to lean forward slightly to hear him.
Hermione nodded again.
"So how are you feeling now?" she squeaked.
Malfoy glowered at her.
"I was just fucking resurrected Granger, how do you think I would feel?!" he hissed only slightly louder than before, lifting his arms exasperatedly in the air.
"Oh stop being so melodramatic!" Hermione snapped, just as Malfoy appeared as though he were about to slap her.
He then halted his actions brusquely and only then seemed to have noticed the tight bandages on his slender limbs. And the distinct red spots on them. Hermione cringed.
"He made me bleed… that son-of-a-bitch made me bleed," Malfoy whispered, his voice hinted with suppressed menace.
Hermione stood up once more from her stool and Malfoy flinched slightly at her terse movements.
"Oh yeah? Well good one Malfoy, 'cause you nearly killed Ron too!" she screeched, signalling Ron sleeping on his bed across the room.
"And oh how I wish I would have succeeded," he snapped back, his voice equally vehement.
Hermione stepped up to Malfoy's bed and leaned over the boy, their faces only inches apart. His breath was warm and fresh, but could do nothing to pacify Hermione even the slightest.
"Don't ever fucking say that again," she whispered severely, eyeing Malfoy with deep distaste.
Malfoy recoiled ever so subtly, his eyes wide with undisguised horror and he unconsciously lifted up one of his slender, pale fingers to point at the area between Hermione's eyes. His evident fear made Hermione's heart plunge and she quickly retreated from her position, smoothing some of the curls of brown hair that had escaped the hair tie out of her face.
"I'm sorry," she managed to gasp, before moving to head out the door of the infirmary.
Draco snarled.
Granger had once again put him in a foul mood. Even though he somewhat regretted the condescending remarks he had thrown at her, she had managed to look as though she could kill him with one blow of her tongue. And those eyes…
They had flashed that blue fire again…
What did the Dark Lord say that meant? That she was coming of age?
Draco shook his head out of the thought and glanced at Weasley across the room. He could not see the boy's body, just his greenish, ashen face. Draco's stomach did uncomfortable somersaults.
He looked at his own mangled limbs in disgust.
How could he have been so weak as to let this happen to himself? Why had he not fought the damn red-haired fool? For Draco knew he certainly had the ability to inflict critical wounds on someone but… why hadn't he done anything of the sort last night?
I just cast that stupid acid fountain shit, he scowled.
Draco didn't even know why he had performed the said curse. He could have cast all the other – legal - dark magic he had been studying over the holidays, but no… he had decided to simply make Weasley gargle and spurt weak acid…
Draco shifted awkwardly on his bed, the task proving somewhat tedious, as he could not make full use of his arms. He sighed exasperatedly and flung his arms down by his sides.
He tried to remember just what had happened during the duel, but the memories only came into his mind as sudden projections that faded almost instantaneously. It was like he was under some memory charm…
Draco seemed to remember some… crying… yes, that was it. Crying. It had been so heart-wrenching, the sound of those sobs… Each one had cut into Draco's heart like a blade…
The blades… he remembered them too… He remembered how his heart had dipped well below his navel when he caught the sight of those knives coming straight for him… How everything else around him seemed to blur… All his attention was expended on those knives…
Draco shivered, though the sun was sweltering outside.
A sweltering sun. Now where had he seen that…?
But Draco shook his head vehemently, as the fatigue seemed to consume him and his body ached for sleep. But even as his body seemed to relax, it also tensed as he acknowledged the fact that his sleep would most certainly not be dreamless…
Hermione rubbed her temples, willing her throbbing migraine to disappear.
She had only just come to her Extended Dark Arts Defence class when she was swarmed with questions of where she and Ron were last night. It would not have taken a genius to figure out what the Gryffindors assumed the couple were doing out so late in the evening, and this irked Hermione severely.
"Look, can you all just shut up for a second!?" she snapped, her tone of voice so cold that everyone stopped to stare at her.
Hermione sighed and smoothed some of the brown locks out of her face. She had just come out of the Hospital Wing, after having a sparring match with Malfoy about absolutely nothing and then she had to come to class, with all these imbeciles throwing nonsensical questions at her.
First, she had decided against telling them the truth. What would they think of a duel between the Head Boy and the Head Girl's boyfriend? She smiled grimly as she thought of the possibilities for wild rumours to emerge.
But finally, she decided she would only tell half of the truth. That meant that she wouldn't be lying, really. She would just say that Ron was feeling sick and was in the Hospital Wing. And this was most certainly not a complete lie.
"Okay, listen up and listen good 'cause I'm only going to be saying this once," she muttered, clutching her books close to her chest. "Ron is feeling sick, so he's in the Hospital Wing. I was out last night to help Madam Pomfrey to make him get better. Alright? So just shove those pathetically erotic rumours down your throats and make sure you don't vomit such garbage near me again."
Hermione herself was surprised at her own words and tone, but in truth, it had seemed like another person was talking, only it was using Hermione's voice to physically communicate the thoughts. It was indeed strange.
Everyone lining up outside the classroom looked blatantly shocked at the Head Girl's fiery outburst and they whispered to each other and pointed at Hermione, which did absolutely nothing to appease her growing irritation.
She felt Harry place a comforting hand on her shoulder but a fleeting prickling rippled through the limb and she retreated away from him, eyeing his confused face with one of fear.
Hermione moved toward the door, eagerly waiting for Professor Hereta to make her arrival but she had another something to infuriate her in the mean time.
"Poor Ron," Parvati said, her voice submerged in such genuine sorrow that made Hermione's eyebrows fuse together in perplexity.
Since when did Parvati care so much about Ron?
"Yeah, I know, it is sad isn't it?" Lavender said edgily, shooting Hermione a look of pure contempt that Hermione was only too happy to return.
"I'll visit him later tonight, just to see how he's doing," Parvati continued, gazing haughtily at her perfectly manicured fingernails.
Hermione sighed and watched with immense relief as Professor Hereta walked towards the group of students.
"Draco, face me."
Draco recoiled as he heard that voice. It was so callous, so harsh… and yet, so familiar…
"My Lord?"
He heard cacophonous laughter resound in the room. Was it a room? It just seemed like a realm of perpetual darkness. Draco could not see a thing, and it made him feel even more vulnerable. He gazed at his limbs and saw that he was still bandaged.
But then wait – how did he get here?
He was in the Hospital Wing bed just a moment ago; he could've sworn his life on it! Draco gazed at his limbs yet again and noted the exact same bandages and grazes on his body. He looked just the same as before. But he didn't remember ever leaving the Hospital Wing to come here… Unless, of course…
"Well, I see at least Ronald Weasley did not mar your memory. Draco, would you care to tell your Lord why you are so injured? Why you have not kept in touch? Why you have not obeyed your Lord's orders to gain Miss Granger's trust?"
The last few words were emphasized with pure hatred and Draco flinched. How could he explain himself now, after that tough ordeal he had just undergone last night?
"Master," he began, choosing his words carefully.
But the words just wouldn't come out. For the first time in his life, Draco was utterly speechless.
"Speak, boy, speak, I do not deem your silence constructive," the voice said malevolently. "Tell your Lord why you have not followed instructions obediently, as is required of you."
Draco cringed at the tone.
"I don't know, sir," he managed to mumble.
The darkness still engulfed his body, and as the temperature suddenly plummeted, Draco could hear his teeth chattering. He closed his mouth firmly and clenched his hands into tight fists. He did not want the Dark Lord to sense his fear.
"Why is Granger not your friend yet, Draco?"
"I don't know, sir."
"Why have you not been trying your hardest to gain her trust, to seduce her, even?"
Draco flinched once more, an action that triggered his teeth to chatter once more. He could hear heavy breathing coming from somewhere in the room.
"I don't know, sir," was all Draco managed to whisper.
He heard fierce cackling in the room, a sound that caused his very eardrums to vibrate and tremble intensely. Draco raised his disfigured hands to massage his temples, an action that only granted momentary peace.
"We're getting rather repetitive now, aren't we, Draco?" the voice hissed. "I know you have a brain, otherwise I would not have chosen you for this mission. But lately it seems that your brain has absconded from your body. I want an answer, and I want it now: Why have you not followed your orders as of yet?"
Draco trembled as a draft of coldness swept his body. He needed to prolong the time to answer…
"My Lord, I request permission to first ask you a question."
The voice again laughed, its tone now more amusing rather than callous.
"This should be interesting, Draco. Permission granted."
Draco swallowed the growing lump inside his throat, and this seemed to ease his tension somewhat. He twiddled his thumbs absent-mindedly before he could think of a suitable question.
"How did I get here?" he blurted out, before he could stop himself.
Draco could hear a deep intake of air somewhere in the room, before the voice again spoke.
"Although I dare not admit it to anyone, Draco, I am feeble. Feeble in my human form. The elixirs and spells that are currently being prepared to restore me to my erstwhile immortal form are not seeming to function as per plan. So, no, I have not come from my abode to seek you in the Hospital Wing. That would be sheer folly, would you not agree? No, I have made use of a certain apparatus…"
And the voice trailed off, but Draco understood its meaning.
"My Lord, I request permission to ask a few more questions."
"Permission shall only be granted if I in turn have full privilege to ask my own questions, Draco."
Draco nodded and swallowed against his resolve. He had a million questions he wanted to have answered but he knew that asking all of them would certainly try the Lord's patience…
"Why the Mudblood, my Lord? Why not pursue Potter once more? Surely he is more pertinent to your operation?"
Draco sensed swift movement in the room.
"Do not speak of blood heritage in my midst, Draco, and so recklessly at that," the voice hissed, before resuming a more even tone. "I have planned this for many years now, even intercepted Granger's mail over the summer break so that she would be weak enough for you to tamper with. Granger is my focus now, not Potter. And I need not validate my reasons for this to you, do you understand me, Draco?"
"Yes, sir."
There was another sharp intake of breath in the room, before the voice again rang out, its tone of voice strangely hinted with amusement.
"I am surprised at you, Draco."
Draco raised his eyebrows. What was the Lord talking about?
"You know very well what I am talking about," the Lord said lazily. "Deep within your… heart… you know…"
Draco suddenly felt a sharp pain on the nape of his neck and he massaged it vigorously, willing the pain to flee and never again come back…
"Draco answer me this: are you starting to fancy your precious 'Mudblood'? Is that why this is so hard for you?" the voice murmured, its tone dripping with hilarity, before it once gain hardened. "Love is a weakness, Draco, a weakness that causes even the bravest man to cower away from danger. It is sheer weakness, Draco. Weakness."
Draco gritted his teeth and clenched his hands into tight fists.
"My Lord, I do not know what you speak of."
The voice cackled yet again.
"You seem to have forgotten the properties of the apparatus, Draco. The Heir of Slytherin knows all, and an intrusion on the mind is conducted more easily with the use of such a tool. You will discover soon what I speak of. But remember, Draco – I do not tolerate procrastination. Cast away these sentiments and follow the path to your glory – to my glory. Do not disappoint me."
And as the Head Boy was far off in his realm of perpetual darkness, Hermione quickly downed her lunch and made her way to the Hospital Wing, careful to avoid attention from her fellow students.
She was still thinking about Malfoy, and how he had been so rude to her, even after she had bloody saved his life. Just who did he think he was, ordeing her to ask permission to sit down in front of him and calling her an inferior all in the same breath?
She scowled as she rounded past a corner, clutching the straps of her bag on her shoulders for security. Hermione wanted to see how Ron was doing, as she was fairly sure that he would be at least awake by now.
She remembered how distant and sad Ginny had looked at the lunch table just before, eyeing her pastry with repulsion. It would have been hard for her, Hermione reasoned, to find out that her brother was in the Hospital Wing.
And this thought made Hermione stop in her tracks.
I didn't tell Ginny about Ron. though, she thought, frowning slightly. So why else would she be upset? Unless…
Her skin began to pale slightly. What if Ginny found out about Harry and Lavender? But as soon as the thought struck her mind, Hermione cast it away, chuckling as she thought how stupid she was to think that Harry would be that oblivious and heartless.
She resumed her brisk stride, glad that the corridors were relatively empty at this time and walked through the open door of the Hospital Wing. She saw Madam Pomfrey gaze at her in brief gravity before recognition dawned on her face and she smiled slightly.
"Ron is doing much better Hermione," she said, nodding in the respective boy's direction. "I'll just leave you two, I must go off and eat my lunch."
Hermione nodded and walked toward Ron's bed, eyeing Malfoy out of the corner of her eye. He was fast asleep, his hands clenched into fists and his mouth moving incessantly. This made her frown slightly, but she shook her head and looked down at Ron, whose eyes were only slightly open.
"Hi 'Mione," he whispered, the abbreviation making Hermione cringe nevertheless.
She nodded and patted his arm lightly.
"How are you doing?" she replied, forcing a smile on her face.
"You look beautiful," Ron murmured, and Hermione wondered if he had even heard her question.
His benevolence triggered a large, genuine smile on her face nonetheless and she sat on the flimsy stool next to his bed.
"How was class?" he continued, trying to sit up on his bed but failing.
Hermione grinned once more and massaged the skin on one of his arms. It was still slightly greenish, but appeared much better than what it was last night. Her hand began prickling and she withdrew her arm hastily.
"It was interesting," Hermione gasped matter-of-factly, clutching her pained hand with a fistful of robes.
Ron nodded slightly and turned over on his side so he could face Hermione.
"Hermione," he breathed, looking into her eyes with deep sincerity. "I had a really bad dream, you know?"
Hermione looked at him, her eyes willing him to continue. He understood her passive gesticulation immediately and motioned for her hand to clasp his own. She obliged reluctantly, trying to block out the intensifying tingling she was feeling in that very limb…
"One minute, everything was pink and I felt so happy, 'Mione," he wheezed, his eyes suddenly distant, "but then everything went black, you know? And I couldn't see your face anymore and it scared me."
Hermione felt her heart dip.
"Hermione," the boy continued, his eyes becoming more focussed on the girl beside him. "Tell me nothing bad will happen to us anymore. Tell me you love me, 'cause I sure as hell love you."
Hermione flinched at his demand, turning her attention away from Ron. She couldn't bear to see the unconditional love in those eyes… the compassion… the authenticity…
"I love you," she lied, her voice low but Ron caught every word.
He smiled broadly and squeezed her hand and Hermione had to stop the tears that were threatening to fall from her eyes at the agonising pain and prickling she felt with the close contact.
"Thank you, Hermione. Thank you for saying that."
A/N: It's the time to disco (woo hoo!) I got 140 reviews or thereabouts – yay! Thanks for the support people, its so great to see you like this story!
Okay so now I gather that people like the long chapters, which is a relief because I like writing them long!
Okay so this chapter – I really hope you like it, because if I was being honest, I am not too happy with it myself. A lot of mystery and haziness in this one, and I know people are gonna throw a million questions at me but I'm sorry I can't answer them because it's all in the plot and you will find out in due time.
Oh and I hope people have guessed the apparatus, that would make my day hint hint hehehe.
Sorry to the people who think there is too much swearing, um maybe I should put the rating up to R? Can you tell me what you think in your reviews? The R rating is only for the swearing I have no intention of writing sex scenes for this story, sorry to disappoint smirk hehehe.
Oh and the part at the end between Ron and Hermione – was that too mushy? I tried to tone that down a bit coz I'm sure people have worked out that Hermione doesn't really like Ron as much any more dun dun dun! lol. So yeah sorry if that was intolerable to all you anti-ron-and-hermione-shippers - i feel you!
And on the advice of one of my wonderful reviewers – Trent Davieson -, I have decided to start up an email thingy where I will update you whenever I put up a chapter. So please put your email in your review and I shall oblige hehehe. If you do not want to divulge your email that's fine, I recommend checking the story every week or fortnightly for updates coz it will happen eventually people!
Okay this a/n is getting a tad long and I wonder whether people even read it lol so Im gonna go now thanks for reviewing and REVIEW this chapter too!