Chapter Seven – Bothering Snape and the End of the Wait

Hermione made her way to the hospital ward, her head in disarray. She had left Draco tending to the potion whilst she went to visit her friend. That was something for her to think about...Her and Draco? It made no sense yet it made perfect sense. It was wrong but felt so right. They were complete opposites yet the force between them was stronger than anything else she had ever experienced.

The curtains were pulled around only one of the beds in the hospital wing; Ginny's. As there was Madam Pomfrey to nod her through, Hermione simply slid between the curtains. Unsurprisingly Harry was there but he excused himself when Hermione appeared. Grateful for the privacy Hermione silently observed the sleeping girl.

She was deathly pale and her body was rapidly convulsing and relaxing, causing her to sweat frantically. Hermione noticed the sweat dripping form Ginny's brow was purple. It was Ginny's essence, the stuff that made her.

Every witch or wizard is made up of a substance that is the source of their magical power. Each person's is a different colour. Her own was blue, she knew Draco's was green (unsurprisingly) and Harry's red. A witch or wizard can only survive if they have their essence. Without it they not only lose their magical abilities but also their life, as the one is linked to the other.

Hermione sat beside her old friend and clutched her cold hand, feeling the tears well up.

"Oh Gin." She whispered, "I'm so sorry. I promise I'm doing all I can, and we will try more than our best to sort this horrid mess out. You can't die Gin, you just can't"

Ginny's eyelids fluttered slightly but no indication was shown that she had heard Hermione.

"Please come back Ginny." Hermione muttered, "It would be awful if...if we lost you. We can't loose you. Too many people will miss you; me, Harry, Ron, everyone." Hermione suddenly felt her anger getting the better of her; "God damnit Ginny you can't die. You simply can't!"

"Miss Granger, I would appreciate it somewhat if you could lower your voice." A cold sneer slithered through the air from one of the other beds. Hermione kissed Ginny on the forehead before exiting through the curtains.

"I'm sorry Professor Snape." She apologised, feeling slightly embarrassed at loosing her composure in front of the most composed man to ever walk the earth.

"Indeed. Now tell me, are planning on continuing your little rant at the world or will you be leaving us to recuperate?"

"My apologies Sir, but you seem to be perfectly healthy."

"Just because I am not withering about and feeling sorry for myself it does not make me a well man."

"Of course not. Sorry Sir. Um, whilst we are both here would you mind at all if I asked you something?"

"Is this about the potion?"

"Yes Sir. I know you would originally be the one to brew it but the task has fallen to me and Draco..."

"One first name terms now are you? Funny, I though you hated each other." A smirk was playing on the potion master's lips.

"Oh, it er...never mind. I was simply wondering Sir, if you were the one brewing the potion and you knew Ginny did not have until the potion was finished, would there be anything you could do to speed the potion up?"

"Well, you could use a rapid aging potion on the potion you are already brewing. I think it would work. How long does Ginny have left?"

Hermione gulped, swallowing the lump that had suddenly appeared in her throat.

"Harry didn't say when I spoke to him, but looking at her myself I'd estimate 24 hours at the most."

"That bad? Well then rapid aging looks like a good shot. The potions should mix well enough-there may be a problem with heating disagreements between them and consistency but one will bow to the other eventually. You will find a vial in my personal locked cupboards. It will be small, containing a silver-blue liquid. Take it and use five drops. Here is the key."

Snape handed Hermione an old silver key from a chain around his neck and she took it, hand shaking. Then, suddenly she hugged the potion master, tears streaming down her face.

"Thank you." She said.

"Yes, yes Miss Granger, now get off me."

Hermione stood, wiping her eyes and left the hospital, smiling and leaving behind an amused old wizard.

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Draco looked up from his book as Hermione returned to the lab, looking somewhat more flustered than usual.

"You OK?" He asked.

"Oh Draco, we might be able to save her."

"How?"

"Rapid aging. I'd forgotten all about it."

"Hermione, that will take us three months to brew; you know how delicate it is. There's no way it will ever be ready in time."

"Yes there is, Snape has a private stash of it. He said we can use it; five drops. If we put that in then all the reaming ingredients it will be ready in about..." Hermione paled as she looked at her watch, "24 hours."

"Well, that's good isn't it?"

"Yes and no. I went to see Ginny; she's got about 24 hours left...if her condition doesn't deteriorate any further."

"Well we'd better get going then." Draco said.

Hermione gave him a weak smile, silently thanking him for having hope when some many others wouldn't.

Little conversation passed between the two as they worked. Hermione added five drops of the rapid aging potion to their potion and watched, fascinated as the two reacted, causing it to turn a shimmering green.

Draco quickly added all the remaining ingredients in swift succession;, blast-ended skrewt stingers, ten unicorn tail hairs; given willingly, shredded flobberworm skin, fifteen phoenix tears and one hippogriff claw.

"Well, that's all we can do for the next 24 hours." Draco said.

Hermione remained silent.

"I don't want to loose her Draco." She said. "I can't loose her."

"You won't love."

"Promise me. Promise me this will work."

"I promise." Draco said, though he doubted the strength behind his own words. "Do you...do you want to come back to my rooms? They're closer than yours and that way we can keep an eye on the potion easily, if we need to."

Hermione nodded her head. She'd appreciate the company more than he could know, and she wanted to spend some quality time with him, although she would not admit it, to find out where they were going. Nothing further had happened between them since he had comforted her, and she secretly wanted more.

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Draco sat on the opposite end of the couch from Hermione, watching her twirl a strand of hair around her finger and watch her tea, as though willing it to be something a lot stronger. They had been at his for several hours now, talking, laughing, reminiscing, playing cards and generally having a good time.

"What do you want to do?" Draco asked.

"Oh, I'm quite happy just sitting doing this." Hermione answered honestly. The silence was much appreciated, and more so because it was a comfortable silence. She didn't feel she had to talk and didn't feel to press Draco to either.

"Gods Granger, intelligence slipping again? I meant what do you want to do about us?"

"Oh. I'm not sure."

Draco couldn't believe his ears. She wasn't sure? No-one was ever "not sure" if they wanted a Malfoy or not. They always wanted a Malfoy.

In one swift movement Draco had closed the gap between them and was inches from Hermione's face. He could see the gold flecks in her cinnamon eyes and the fullness of her lips. He had to have her. He closed the remaining gap between them and no protests were made. Hermione welcomed him with open arms and open lips, allowing him free roam of her body.

Draco groaned as she kissed him. She was sweet and sexy. Slowly, he brushed her thigh, running his hand up her body and over her breasts, up to cup her face, entwining in her hair. Hermione felt her hands rush to Draco's buttons, frantically undoing them to expose the smooth, strong flesh beneath. Her slim hands wandered his skin, dancing over the dips and ridges they found as he began caressing her back, unhooking her bra through the slight material of her T-shirt.

"This is madness." She heard herself say.

"But it's what you want." She replied to herself, a moan escaping her lips to prove her point.

Draco carefully lifted her slight frame and carried her to the bed where they fell upon each other in an unrelenting movement.

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Hermione awoke in strange surroundings, and took more than a moment to regain her senses and absorb her surroundings. The room was elegant; not pretty like hers. The walls were elegant green and black, the curtains elegant green and silver, the bed an elegant black, the man next to her was elegant too...What? The man next to her?

Hermione did a double take as her fuzzy morning mind focused on the night before. She felt nothing but happiness and content as she stared at the beautiful wizard next to her.

"Hi." He grunted, opening a sleepy eye.

"Hi." She whispered back.

"Are you OK?"

"A little sore." She admitted, "But I'll live. Anyway, it was worth it."

"Good. What time is it?"

"Um...almost twelve!" Hermione gasped. "We need to get up. The potion. Ginny! The potion will be ready at four. We need to go and check on Ginny and make sure...make sure she's still here."

Draco nodded and rose form the bed throwing on a pair of jeans and black T-Shirt. Hermione son joined him and together they made their way up to see Ginny.