Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
A/N I'm sorry this took so long. My fan fiction inspiration is dwindling. I don't really have any idea when I'm going to finish this story, hopefully soon. There are about two chapters remaining, I think. This one, and an epilogue. Or maybe two more chapters and an epilogue. I haven't decided.
Well, I hope you enjoy this. And it's a poem again.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Chapter Eleven- Ghostsx-x Ghosts x-x
Troubled and terrified
Not allowed to move
She lies awake in her dreams
Wrapped up in you
You're like a drug to her
You're something strong
That gets her high
She can't wait for you for too long
So like a ghost she'll drift
Away from you
And there won't be anything
You can do
You've always been sorry
But the ghosts have always
Told you you were wrong
That you had to be strong
She needs you to be strong
x-x-x-x-x
Broken hearts never felt this cold before. But since your eyes are ice and your hands are tied, you must let her drift. You must let her go.
x-x-x-x-x
Draco stood next to Hermione's bed, looking down at her sickly pale skin. Her hair was matted and she had beads of perspiration on her upper lip. The inner turmoil inside him was enough to create a tornado of What ifs and I hates and Whys. He felt lost without talking to her now; he didn't even know what to do with himself. He went to classes, and came back every night, and during breaks.
Harry rarely came to visit now. He'd always try to stay away so as not to provoke Draco. Anytime anyone came into that room, Draco either wouldn't speak, or yelled and kicked and screamed at them. Even Madame Pomfrey would leave Draco alone with Hermione. It was as if he'd gone mad with guilt and rage and sadness. It was clear to anyone who saw him that he was in agony. He had bags under his eyes for he rarely slept anymore, and his hair was long, and he had a pale beard, something a Malfoy was never supposed to have.
As the months passed since Hermione's collapse, she had only woken up once or twice, to look at Draco fondly, and then slip back into the coma she was in. Madame Pomfrey watched as Hermione's stomach grew, and she told Draco that if all went well, Hermione would wake up as soon as her water broke and the baby was born. Professor Snape would then concoct the antidote and Hermione would be saved.
x-x-x-x-x
One day, Madame Pomfrey pushed Draco away from the infirmary, with little explanation as to why. He stormed angrily around the school, nearly growling at anyone who came close to him. He'd become a kind of ruffian, with his clothes dirty and black and torn in places.
He ran into Harry. He literally ran into Harry, and fell on the floor, his back sore in seconds from the fall.
"Watch it, Potter." He said with the same malice he had used when the boys were enemies.
"Sorry." Harry mumbled, offering a hand to the pale Slytherin, who took it and pulled himself up. Harry was amazed at how light Draco ha become, and how thin he looked.
"Potter, let me ask you something," Draco said drunkenly, "Why is it that you can tolerate me now?"
Harry looked down at his feet, "I trust Hermione's judgment."
Draco nodded, "And that somehow erases everything I've ever done to you? Everything my father's put you through? Even Voldemort?"
"You never associated yourself with Voldemort, except when you associated yourself with your father, and I know long ago you stopped doing that."
"Are you scared?" Draco asked.
"Of what?"
"Maybe. . . definitely having to fight him." Draco looked up to see Harry uncomfortable. He was dragging his foot against the stone floor, his hair covering his face, his bright eyes just visible underneath the black cloak.
"Of course I am." Harry finally decided to say. "Of course I'm scared. I'm not fearless, never have been. I just know that I was born to do this, and I have to."
"I really hope that shithead goes down." Draco said bitterly.
"Mm, so do I. So do I."
x-x-x-x-x
Draco and Harry took a walk through the grounds, not saying a word, just simply walking on the springy grass, with no shoes on.
The sun was setting and Draco suddenly looked up, alert.
"She's up."
"What?" Harry asked, puzzled.
"I'm sure of it. She's up."
"How could you possibly know that?"
Draco was running, a smile on his face, "Because. . . I just remembered, today is the day we're supposed to have our child!"
Harry took off at a run, "Oh God."
The two men ran as fast as they could up the steps and through the heavy doors. Heads spun to watch as they dashed down the corridors, eliciting gasps and speculation from the portraits on the walls. They finally reached the infirmary and Draco pulled open the door.
Hermione was screaming.
Madame Pomfrey was in a state. She had two students who were both interested in the medi-witch profession practically in tears trying to prepare everything for the girl in labor.
"Draco! Draco. Dracoooooo!" Hermione was panting, and demanding he be there. He rushed to her side, taking her hand in his, smiling. She was going to be okay!
"Ow!" Hermione yelled. Harry stood awkwardly by the door, not quite sure what to do with himself. Madame Pomfrey bustled over, towels in her arms. She dumped them into Harry's and said, "Potter, dear, make yourself useful! Bring those towels over there, and then go find Professor Snape."
Harry nodded, and ran to give the towels to the two apprentices. He then dashed out the door and out of sight.
Draco held Hermione's hand, and flinched slightly when she squeezed harder. There were beads of sweat on her forehead and upper lip. Her face looked tired, even thought she'd been in a coma for nine long months. She had passed her 7th year at Hogwarts asleep, and every one of her old school mates had taken their NEWTS and gone on to find jobs. Draco and Harry had stayed behind to look after her.
"It'll be okay, darling." Draco whispered, hoping, and praying that Snape's potion worked and that his lover would be saved. Hermione screamed once more, as if in response to Draco's words.
Draco looked at her, this angel of his, and decided to ask her the question that had been on his mind since they'd made love. He took a deep breath as Hermione whimpered once more.
"Hermione, I was wondering if. . . if when you got better, if when you had our child, you might want to. . . marry me?" Draco whispered the last bit. Hermione snapped her head towards him, and smiled before she yelled again.
"Yes Draco. Yes, yes, yes." She said.
Harry ushered Snape in, and following the two was Dumbledore. Snape told Harry to take his key and go fetch the few ingredients he needed to make the potion. Harry nodded, and hurried off once more, looking sad and determined.
Madame Pomfrey said, "Okay, we're going to give her a potion to make the baby come more quickly, so that the girl can be put through less pain, and can be saved faster." Her two assistants nodded, and Draco smiled. Madame Pomfrey took a vial from her desk and walked over to Hermione's bedside. She handed the vial to Draco, and smiled weakly at him. Draco took no notice of Madame Pomfrey's obvious worry, and gave Hermione the potion.
After half an hour of hard work, Sariah Narcissa Malfoy was born. She had, uncharacteristically for a baby, a tuft of blond curls on her head, and eyes like Draco's. She looked like Hermione, with Draco's coloring.
Draco held her in his arms proudly beaming, while everyone was frantic making the potion and removing the hair from the baby's head. He looked fondly down at his fiancée, who watched him and Sariah with a tired smile.
"The potion is read Ms. Granger. Mr. Malfoy, would you care to give it to her?" Snape walked up to the bed, and handed Draco the potion, "Here we are."
Draco took the vial, and with sigh of relief, he gave it to Hermione. She smiled up at him and all signs of fatigue vanished from her person. Draco gave Sariah to Harry to hold, and bequeathed him her Godfather. He smiled, remembering Sirius fondly.
Draco got down on his knees and put his face about an inch from Hermione's. She smiled and put her hand to Draco's face when a tear escaped his eye.
Snape whispered something to Madame Pomfrey, and she looked down at her hands with tears in her eyes. Dumbledore looked gravely at the couple and shook his head. Harry watched this strange behavior with curious eyes. Then he looked to Hermione, and saw the color draining from her face. He shook his head, "No!" With Sariah in his arms, he rushed to Draco and Hermione, and saw that Hermione understood what was happening.
"Draco," she whispered, "Never forget how much I love you, how much you showed and taught me. You gave me so much hope, more than I could ever had hoped for. Promise me you'll find someone, so you may raise our daughter with a proper family." Her voice was growing raspy and tired. A tear rolled down her cheek, "I love you more than words can possibly express." She then looked at Harry and smiled. After looking at Snape, Madame Pomfrey, and Dumbledore, she kissed Sariah on the head and then soundly, chastely, kissed Draco.
"I love you." With that said, her eyes fluttered closed.
"What?" Draco stood up, touching her face. "What the hell happened? What's going on? Fuck! Snape, what the fuck did you do? Why isn't she awake?" He ran up to him, taking him by the robes, angry tears running down his face. "Why the FUCK isn't she awake?"
Dumbledore walked up behind him, putting a hand on his shoulder, which Draco quickly shook off. "Mr. Malfoy, earlier, Madame Pomfrey noticed something different about the way Hermione's birth was going. Generally, victims of this disease have a painless birth. When they don't, their disease is incurable."
"What?" Draco stood, his eyes wide, tears now streaming down his pale cheeks. "Why? Why didn't you tell me? Why did you make her take that vial of potion to speed up the process?"
"It did not speed up the pregnancy, Mr. Malfoy. It gave Hermione life. Normally, victims of her particular disease die as soon as they have given birth."
Harry interjected, "And what about the other potion. The one that was supposed to save her?"
Snape answered, "I didn't know at the time that it wouldn't work. Madame Pomfrey and Dumbledore failed to tell me that detail. Perhaps they hoped Hermione was a special case."
Draco looked up, walked slowly towards Harry, taking Sariah in his arms. He then walked over to Hermione's body, stroking her cheek for the last time, and placing kiss on her forehead. Without a look at any of the people in the room, he walked out.
x-x-x-x-x
A/N Wow. I'm sorry I did that. Don't hate me. I just had a nice idea for the epilogue and well. . . I wanted her to die at the end. I thought it would bring a bit of reality to this very magical tale. I hope you don't hate me for taking so long either. I have such a bad case of writer's block now. Ugh. Well, I think I shall stick to writing one shots and song fics from now on. This took a very long time to write, and while I am rather proud of it, and many of you seem to like it, I just don't think I have the patience to write stories this long.
There will be an epilogue after this.