Desperately Yours

Chapter 2

The Brilliant Light of Morning

"Night lift up the shades

And let in the brilliant light of morning

But steady there now

For I am weak

and starving for mercy

Sleep has left me alone

To carry the weight of unraveling

where we went wrong

It's all I can do to hang on

To keep me from falling

Into old familiar shoes

How stupid could I be?

A simpleton could see

That you're no good for me

But you're the only one I see."

-Stupid: Sarah McLauchlan

.

Hermione woke the next morning feeling as if she had been run over repeatedly by a very large bus. Her head was throbbing, and as soon as she opened her eyes, she wished she hadn't. Sunlight streamed in through the window, landing directly in her face and causing her to wince painfully. She stood up off the bed, holding onto the blanket, and fumbled across the room to her bathrobe. She didn't pause to think of why she was only partially dressed, only thinking of her extreme pain.

Once she had secured the robe, she walked slowly into the kitchen, each step sending shooting pains through her already throbbing head. Opening a few cupboards before finding the right one, she pulled out a bottle of muggle aspirin. She had always found it amusing how even in the wizarding world, there was no cure for a hangover, but right now she wished desperately that there was one.

"Headache?" someone asked sympathetically from behind her. Startled, she dropped the bottle of pills as she turned around.

"Merlin, Harry, you scared the shit out of me!" she screeched as she tried to bring her heart rate back to normal.

"Sorry" he grinned sheepishly, pausing for a moment, "But nice retaliation! I'm rather shocked by your impressive use of language!" he teased.

"Aurgh" she replied, filling a glass with water and popping two pills into her mouth. "I'm not 16 anymore you know, I have long since learned how to curse, especially when the situation calls for it. And believe me, this morning it definitely calls for it. But anyways, what are you doing here so early t his morning?"

"First of all" Harry started off, glancing at his watch, "it is not early, in fact, it's nearly noon. Secondly, how much do you remember about last night?"

She looked slightly puzzled at his question. "I remember going out to dinner with you, having a few drinks, coming back, and having a few more, but that's about it." Her mind drifted to her undressed state when she had woken up. "Wait, oh god Harry, we didn't.......did we?"
He shifted uncomfortably in his seat on the couch. "Erm...no....not exactly."

"Not exactly?" she asked, a look of dread on her face.

"Well, you sort of passed out before we got there."

"Oh thank god!" she exclaimed, letting out a relieved sigh. "Not that there's anything wrong with that, or with you Harry, it's just that...." She drifted off, not knowing quite what to say.

"Don't worry, I know exactly what you mean. We were both raving drunk, I mean, you don't even remember, it's not a big thing." She nodded in agreement, looking at him more closely for the first time that morning.

"Harry, you look dreadful. Did you sleep on the couch or something?" she asked as she noticed the dark circles under his eyes.

"Actually, I didn't really sleep at all."

"What? Why not? That's not healthy at all, and you know you have to work tomorrow." Even when hung-over, she easily went into lecture mode.

Harry sighed. 'Well, this is as good a time as any. Might as well get it over with.'

"Mione, come here." He patted the seat next to him. She looked at him questioningly, but obeyed nonetheless and joined him on the couch. "Las night as we were, you know, you started muttering things. At first I thought I imagined it, because it was rather odd. But you said it repeatedly and well...." He was looking uncomfortable again, so she tried to ease the tension. Letting out a little chuckle, she told him,

"Come on. It can't have been that bad. What did I say?"

"See, that's the thing though. It was that bad." He paused, taking a few deep breaths before continuing. "Mione" he started, letting his gaze drop slightly from her eyes. "You called me Draco. Twice. And you told me, well, him, that you loved him." The silence in the room was deafening. After a few seconds, he looked at her again. All the color had drained out of her face; she was extremely pale and looked as if she'd seen a ghost.

"Wha-what did you say?" she managed to spit out.

He sighed, obviously not happy to have to repeat it again. "You called me Draco, as in Malfoy, our enemy for the past 11 years."

"That's not possible. That's not possible" she repeated, almost as if she was trying to convince herself.

"That's what I said at first too, but, it's what you said."

"Are you sure you heard correctly?"

"Yes. And that wasn't the only thing you said either. You started talking about things you had supposedly told him, you said" he blushed a bit, talking about what she had said during their passion "that you'd told him you'd wait for him, that he was the only one, and that" he gulped "that you loved him Hermione." He let the silence take over the room again, allowing her to digest what he'd just said. However, after a few moments had passed and she still stared off endlessly, emotionless, he reached out to gently touch her arm. With that simple gesture, she burst into tears, collapsing into him. He immediately put his arms around her trying to console her in her sudden burst of emotion.

"It's alright Mione, it's okay." He whispered, not knowing exactly what he was talking about.

"No it's not. It's not okay. Oh god Harry, I'm so sorry." she managed to cry out through her sobs, each one wracking through her body. "I'm so sorry." she whispered, clinging to him.

"What is it that's wrong?" he asked, rubbing her back gently, trying to calm her down.

"It's" she spurted out, but could not finish and only sobbed harder.

"Come on, we'll still love you no matter what it is, but you have to tell me." he coaxed.

"It's- it's him!" she cried. "I need him, I miss him, it hurts so much Harry, it hurts so much...."

"Shhh..." he soothed, still trying desperately and unsuccessfully to calm her down. "Who is he?"

"D-dr-"she began, but could not get the words out. Suddenly he understood. He jumped up off the couch.

"It's HIM? Draco Malfoy?!" he shouted. Her tear-stained face looked up at him and nodded pitifully before sinking back into the couch and crying harder still. He looked at her in her condition, and immediately could not be angry with her. He scooped her up in his arms, trying to comfort her once again.

"I'm sorry Harry, I'm so sorry" she whispered.

"It's alright, it doesn't matter, we'll figure this out together." He offered her a weak smile. First, he decided, he would comfort her, and later, he would find out what in the hell what going on.