Well, it's the penultimate chapter, just one more to go. Thanks to all my
reviewers; you mean the difference between a chapter or no chapter
Disclaimer: Don't own anything from or affiliated with Harry Potter.
Thank you to my beta Spazy Sange for all her amazingly hard work on my behalf.
Chapter 10: Slow Awakenings
Draco slowly opened his eyes, and was instantly awake and alert, it was a habit built up over many years of being in perpetual danger. At this particular moment however, he was in absolutely no danger at all, something of a novelty for him.
The day had dawned clear and beautiful, giving no evidence of the life altering and dramatic events that had occurred the night before. The sunlight was shining, golden and bright through the window. The curtains had been pulled back by the nurse only a few minutes before, and the light was hitting Draco's pillow in fat beams. The cause of his current state of wakefulness didn't annoy Draco, as once it might have done, but simply made him smile.
'Nothing bad could happen on a day like this.' Draco thought to himself contentedly. He resolved to stay in his bed until after breakfast, and then go in search of Hermione. He figured that if she wasn't around he could charm one of the receptionists into giving away her location.
The nurse bustled in at that point, disturbing Draco's recollections of a certain spunky young doctor. He smiled up at the nurse without the slightest hint of irritation and asked cheerfully.
"What's for breakfast?"
The nurse blushed slightly at being the focus of Draco's bone-melting grin before pulling herself together.
"We have bacon and eggs, or sausages, or toast. You can also choose from orange, apple or pumpkin juice, tea or coffee."
"Hmmm..." Draco appeared to be contemplating breakfast as seriously as some people ponder how to attain world peace. "I do believe that I will go with the bacon and eggs this morning, and some orange juice if that'll be alright please, Suki."
The nurse quickly placed a tray across his blanket covered lap and placed a plate of bacon and eggs, a glass of orange juice, cutlery, and a napkin on it. She was trying desperately not to show how pleased she felt that he had remembered her name.
"If that'll be all, Mr. Malfoy, I'll be getting on with the others."
Draco nodded to show that he was finished with her, and reluctantly she left the room. Draco tucked into his breakfast with relish. The food in hospital was always excellent, almost as good as at his own home, or Hogwarts. Within a matter of minutes he was finished, and downing the last of his orange juice, stood up as the tray vanished, with all his dirty breakfast stuff on it.
He rapidly dressed in some comfortable but presentable trousers and a deep blue shirt, with the collar unbuttoned. Feeling that he looked acceptable, and checking his smile in the mirror, Draco felt adequately prepared to go in search of Hermione. Hurriedly walking down the corridor to avoid the Head Nurse, Draco made it to the elevator. As the numbers clicked down from 12 through to 4 Draco remained alone, however on the fourth floor he was joined by a young looking doctor, and a man wearing the uniform of an Ambi- Broom driver.
"Jesus, Lyden, what happened to her?" the doctor asked, Draco leaned closer, unable to repress his curiosity.
"She got hit by a lorry; you know one of those Muggle things...?"
"Yeah I know, Dr. Harrison said its 50-50 as to whether she makes it. I really hope she pulls through. It wouldn't be the same without her." The Ambi-Driver nodded agreement, looking devastated.
"Hermione's the heart and soul of this place, not another doctor like her anywhere."
Draco's heart lurched and then sank to his feet; suddenly finding it hard to breathe, he clutched at the sides of the elevator. This attracted the attention of the two men, who had so far ignored their fellow passenger, wrapped up in sorrows of their own. The doctor whirled around and pushed Draco to his knees.
"Breathe slowly and deeply, in for seven, hold for seven, out for seven. With me, 1...2...3...4...5...6...7"
As the doctor was doing this, the Ambi-Driver pressed the button of the next floor they were due to pass, so the doors slid open. Draco's breathing calmed and he was able to stand up and throw off the doctor's hand.
"What did you say about Hermione? Do you mean Hermione Granger? Where is she? I need to see her!"
Lyden looked curiously at the distraught man in front of him, realization dawning upon him.
"Shit, you're Draco Malfoy aren't you? You wouldn't know..." The man trailed off into silence, and Draco fought the very great urge to drag him to the floor and punch him repeatedly until he got the information he wanted.
"Listen, I don't know how to tell you this, but Hermione was in an accident last night, and well... it was bad."
"I want you to take me to her, I have to see her."
The doctor looked doubtingly at Lyden, but Lyden just nodded and motioned to the doctor 'Tell you later'.
"She's in intensive on the fourth floor. We'll go now, and I'll explain to you on the way."
Draco nodded assent and together the two men went back into the elevator that they had so recently vacated in dramatic circumstances. Lyden pushed the button for the fourth floor and turned to Draco.
"Look, I know what happened between you and Hermione at your house. I know that she would have wanted you to see her, which is the only reason I'm allowing you to, do you understand? Hermione is very special to me, and I would never let anybody hurt her."
Draco picked up on the unsaid message in Lyden's words and nodded.
"I need you to be prepared, okay? She had a lot of internal injuries, and they were very severe. If she'd gone to a Muggle hospital she would not be alive right now. We can't heal some of the more minor injuries, such as broken bones and grazes because of the potent medicine fixing her on the inside. It's very indefinite things we're talking about, I mean there's only so much a body can take, and she's pushing it."
Draco felt physically sick at these words, after all the deaths in his life, you'd have thought he would be immune to it, but apparently he wasn't.
"She's unconscious and is likely to remain so for an unspecified length of time. She received severe head trauma, and..."
"For the God's sake, just spit it out." Draco spat bitterly, seeing the man hesitate. Lyden's face turned cold and he replied.
"She may never wake up."
*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_
It was several hours later when Draco was finally able to stop and think about the situation that he was now faced with. After tracking down every doctor in the hospital, and some beyond, to see if there was anything else that he could do, he had returned to Hermione's room. He was now sitting in the plush chair by her bed, watching her chest rise and fall, slowly and rhythmically. Every doctor that he had seen only confirmed what he was trying not to think about: there was nothing more that anyone could do. After years of being able to buy whatever he wanted and needed, Draco was finding out in the worst way that money can't buy you everything.
All that anybody could say to him was that anything familiar might help, talking to her, playing her music..... As far as Hermione went, Draco was prepared to do anything to help her, after all Malfoys always paid their debts, and that was the least he owed her.
After consulting with Lyden, Draco discovered that Harry and Ron were both in the dark about what had happened to her. Steeling himself for something that was both distasteful and completely against his character, Draco turned to the fire. Throwing in a handful of powder, and muttering a few words, he saw Harry's face appear in the flames.
"Malfoy? What do you want? Is it something about your testimony pertaining to the demise of Voldemort?"
"Drop the big words Harry; I know that you're an idiot." Seeing Harry start to fume, and knowing that an argument was about to break out, Draco continued quickly.
"As much fun as this is Potter, I didn't want to talk to you for the purpose of insulting you. It's about Hermione...... something's happened to her."
"What have you done, Malfoy? I swear, if you've hurt her, Azkaban or no, I WILL kill you!"
"Breathe Potter, I haven't hurt her," Draco internally flinched at that, knowing that it wasn't entirely true. "She was hit by a lorry while going home last night, and she's in critical condition here... They don't know if she's gonna make it, and they said that anything familiar might help her break out of this..."
Draco stopped talking as he suddenly noticed Potter's face, he had gone very pale, and was visibly shaking. He suddenly regretted the brusque way that he had delivered the awful news. Potter looked remarkably close to tears, and Draco found himself wishing that he could be as free with his emotions as Potter.
"Does Ron know?" Harry's face fell further as Draco shook his head, "Oh Gods, this is gonna kill him, he's always loved Hermione. I mean, we both love her, but Ron... well he,"
"I know what you mean Potter," Draco interrupted, not wanting to hear about the Weasel's crush on Hermione. "Do you want me to tell him?"
Both Harry and Draco looked shocked at this offer, Harry because it seemed so... nice and un-Malfoy like, and Draco because he had just willingly offered to talk to the Weasel.
"Ummm, no thanks Malfoy, he's not going to take this well as it is, and to hear it from you would make it worse. Thanks for offering though. Are you at the hospital with her?"
"Yeah, I'm going to keep her company for a while, I think. I mean I owe her that much at least."
Harry nodded, "What room is she in? Ron and I will be there in about an hour probably, I don't know if it would be such a good idea for Ron to see you there if you know what I mean."
Draco nodded, "She's in the intensive ward on the fourth floor, in the third room on the left. I'll get the nurse to page me when you enter the ward and leave out the back door."
"Yeah, okay then Malfoy." Harry turned slightly, as if to leave, but then turned back. "Malfoy...?"
"Yes, Potter?"
"Thanks. I really mean that, thanks."
Draco nodded, and then cut off the connection. This had been a very surreal conversation, he concluded. Potter had been friendly towards him, and he had reciprocated that gesture. But, he thought, the weirdest thing about it was that parting comment. Because, just for a fleeting moment, Draco had known what it would have been like to be a part of that hallowed group, the Golden Trio, and he had liked that feeling.
*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_
Draco was sat quietly in Hermione's room, neither saying nor doing anything when the tip of his wand glowed red, and emitted golden sparks. Recognizing the spell, Draco wearily lifted himself out of the comfy chair and made for the elevator at the end of the corridor. Seeing Harry at the opposite end, Draco nodded in acknowledgement, and spun around as the Weasel made his ungainly appearance into the corridor.
As Draco waited for the elevator, he heard the pair's footsteps echoing down the quiet, still corridor. It was easy to tell when they reached Hermione's room, as the footsteps ceased abruptly, and a gasp could be heard. Draco knew that the image that they were presented with was not an encouraging one. She was as pale as death and stiller than a pond on a breezeless day. Her arms were covered with grazes and bruises, and her face was marred with a long cut along her jaw line that had been stitched in the muggle fashion as no magic was allowed. She had a large graze down the left side of her face, and a bruised eye; all in all, she looked almost as bad as Draco felt.
He hated this feeling of helplessness, and knowing that she had left without knowing that he was sorry made it worse. He wished more than anything to take back the last fifteen minutes that he'd seen her. He'd regretted it at the time, but never more than now. The thought that she might die without ever knowing everything that he needed to say was constantly on his mind, worrying at it, and making it impossible for him to think about anything else.
The nurse had promised to page him again when the two had left, and Draco returned wearily to his own room to get some rest before his vigil began again. Never before had Draco felt the need to sit with someone when they were ill; even when his mother had been confined to her bed after one of Lucius' more energetic beatings. Draco could now see that his life had been almost unbearably emotionless until Hermione Granger had stepped into his life.
It didn't even seem to matter what kind of emotion it was, but she was inextricably linked with extreme emotion in his mind, and that was something that he didn't want to lose again. Hiding your emotions every day for 12 years wasn't easy, and Draco's newly found ability to feel was leaving him vulnerable to every emotion going. Guilt, anger, love, passion, hate, longing, frustration, despair... all of these were running through Draco in an unstoppable flood.
Only Hermione could stop the bitter, unpalatable taste of the darker feelings, and bring back the light and the sweet. Draco needed Hermione to keep him sane, and make him feel alive and whole again. As difficult as it was for him to realize this, it was far more difficult for him to realize the possibility that maybe she couldn't save him; maybe she needed him to save her first.
*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_
Hermione was trapped inside a world of pain and suffering, feeling like she was in hell. She could hear everybody, and feel everything, but was unable to escape from the prison of her mind. She could hear Draco's broken whisperings, Harry's pleading, and Ron's heartfelt desperation. She wanted so much to wake and make everything better for them, but she didn't know how, everything was so difficult. She couldn't seem to remember how to wake up, and as hard as she tried, she couldn't seem to emerge from the thick sticky blackness that was holding her prisoner.
Time passed quickly while seeming to stand still, and as she drifted in and out of awareness, a common theme seemed to be emerging. Draco was an almost constant presence by her side, leaving only when Ron and Harry were there. He was forever around, talking, cajoling, holding her. This seemed to strike a cord somewhere deep in her memory, of the night when it all went wrong, the night where he had...
All of a sudden, that night was thrown into sharp relief in her brain, the details were as clear as crystal. Confusion swept across her following the revelations of her mind. Considering his attitude after their last interlude, why was Draco here, caring for her, talking to her, holding her? Hermione scoffed at the emotion that seemed evident in his voice... like he cared! She was suddenly angry. How dare he think he can come and pretend that that night had never happened? How dare he come and sit with her, like Harry and Ron, like he was one of her friends. It was too much.
Hermione's rage swept across her mind, seemingly forcing her upwards, out of the prison of her own making. Ironic as it seemed, Draco Malfoy was to be her salvation, he would be the one to finally wake her up.
*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_
It seemed to start very slowly, just a flicker here and a twitch there, but perhaps that was just the way it appeared to him. Perhaps it was just his brain trying to escape from the crushing pressure of his anguish, making him think that she would be okay. Draco sat intently watching, as Hermione's eyes flickered, and her head twitched and then moved to face him. Her eyes flickered once more, and then slid open, agonizingly slowly.
Draco held his breath, waiting for the illusion to dissipate into unwelcome reality, but it didn't. Her eyes remained open and came to focus on his face. Draco knew that he should be calling for the doctors, but couldn't bring himself to summon that painful intrusion on the moment he'd waited, what seemed to be a lifetime for. Hermione parted her lips, and Draco saw her struggling to form words, but her mouth was dryer than the Sahara and it was beyond her limited abilities at the moment.
Hermione just looked at him, trying to convey to him her desperate need for water. As if by some mystical means of communication, he turned away from the bed, and returned with a glass of water and a straw. Gently he placed the straw between her lips and she sucked gratefully at the liquid that lay within. Never had anything tasted so good to her before. He took the cup away long before she was finished however and she glared her disapproval at him.
"Take it slowly; you don't want to make yourself sick."
It made sense, although she was still mad at his unwelcome mothering of her. Feeling the moisture do its work, Hermione tried speaking again, and although successful, was dismayed at the croaky, scratchy old-lady voice that emerged from her throat. "What are you doing here, Malfoy?"
His eyes darkened and numerous unidentifiable emotions rushed through them in a flood that lasted milliseconds.
"I... I... I have to go."
Cursing himself for being a weak, spineless bastard he practically ran out of her room, ignoring her heartrending whispers as she tried to call him back. Hermione lay on her bed, as yet unable to move trying to decipher the emotions that had rushed through his eyes. It made no sense, but she was almost certain that one of them had been pain; as a doctor, she would know.
*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_
It was a mere two days later that she was released; after the potions to fix her insides had done their work, the rapid healing potions to fix her minor injuries had been applied. Hermione sent up her thanks that she was a witch, and such muggle tortures as physiotherapy were not required. She was leaving the hospital with a new found determination. She was going to find Draco Malfoy and make him explain if it was the last thing she ever did.
Hermione had spent the whole of the day before she left asking people about Draco and his actions towards her. She had started by asking the nurse assigned to her floor; the reaction had not been what she expected.
"Oh lovey, there's one you need to hold on to! Every day he was here, holding your hand, stroking your face, whispering into your ear, I've never seen a man so in love before!"
Then the nurse had come closer and bent down towards Hermione, in the pose of confiding something secret.
"You can't tell him I told you this, but..." The nurse had stopped and bitten her lip. "Once I came in here, one of the very first days it was, and he was all hunched over your hand, and I thought there was something strange about it. I'm not one to be nosy, me, but I kept watching and a couple of seconds later, he lifted his head, and there it was.... Draco Malfoy was crying! Ah yes, never thought I'd see the day, but there it is!"
Hermione's face had dropped in shock, but the nurse continued on regardless of her patient's current mental state.
"I never saw it but that once, but it was enough I tell you. He loves you so."
"Thanks, Maria." Hermione mumbled distractedly as the nurse bustled out and on to her other patients.
This was all too confusing, and it only got worse as the day progressed and Harry came to visit her. This in itself wasn't unusual, but what was, was that Ron wasn't there as well. Even as he stepped in the door, Hermione knew there was something on his mind.
"What is it, Harry? Is it something bad? Is Ron okay?"
"Ron's fine Hermione, but there's someone who isn't okay, and I don't think you realise what's going on."
"You mean Draco, don't you, Harry?" Hermione sighed in resignation as Harry nodded.
"He's different Hermione, and I think it's because of you. The day he found out about your injuries, the first thing he did was let me know, and we've become sort of... acquaintances, since then. He misses you, Hermione, and if he wasn't so stubborn, he'd be here trying to patch it up with you. He just... thinks that you wouldn't want to hear it. After he waited so long to tell you what he needed to he's going to let the opportunity slip, and I don't think you should let him."
Harry paused to take a breath.
"He loves you Hermione, and I... I think you love him, too."
*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*
Hermione got out of the cab and paid her fare, still debating whether or not this was a good idea. The cab popped and left and Hermione had no choice any more as she turned to face the imposing façade of Malfoy Manor. The rain started to fall as she made her way up to the front doors, and a ghost of a smile passed her lips as she placed her hand on the handle. It still remembered her, and she pushed open the heavy door, grateful for the diligence of the house elves as it made no noise.
It had stayed just as she remembered it, although she wasn't sure why she had expected it to be changed. Hermione stood in the middle of the hall and spun slowly around in a circle, breathing in the majesty of the no longer threatening building. It even smelled like Draco, and she found herself drawing instinctive comfort from that. She stopped spinning and ended up facing the now blocked entranceway to Lucius' lair. She stepped towards it and placed her hand on the warm stone of the blockade.
"Hermione...?"
The voice echoed loudly, and she span away from the wall and to the source of the noise. Draco stood in the entranceway to the passage that led to the library. He was wearing a pair of black silk pyjama bottoms and his chest was bare, in his hand was a glass containing an inch of an amber coloured liquid that Hermione identified as Ogden's Firewhiskey.
"You know, that stuff is bad for you." Hermione cursed herself for making such an inane comment; she was going to sound like such a fool.
"Look, I'm sorry that I broke into your house and everything, but I really think that we need to talk." She said quickly, seeing his mouth open to reply and not wanting him to throw her out straight away.
Draco was silent for a second, and then nodded.
"Come to the Library, we can talk there. I would put more clothes on, but I'm too hot, and it's not like you haven't seen it." He added snidely before spinning away to stalk down the corridor, so she wouldn't see the blind hope that had taken up residence on his face.
It was unfortunate that he had done so however, as he didn't see Hermione's face crumple, and then recover into a visage of stone. She momentarily considered running away from him before her determination rose and spread strength through her body. She followed his rapidly retreating back towards the room that had once made her so happy.
Draco entered while Hermione was still a good forty feet further down the corridor. He used that time to quickly hide all evidence of what he'd been doing. He pushed the toothbrush she'd used under a chair, and placed the white dress carefully on the windowsill and pulled the curtains so it was hidden from view. Picking up a photograph from the desk, he took one last look at the smiling image of Hermione the schoolgirl, and pushed it onto the bookshelf, between Hogwarts: A History, and The History Of Malfoy Manor.
Hermione entered just as Draco had settled himself into his seat and was pouring another measure of Ogden's Firewhiskey into his glass.
"Please don't do that Malfoy, I need you to be coherent for this conversation."
"I think the least you can do, Hermione, is to call me Draco. Considering what we've been through in the past few weeks, I think we're on a first name basis, don't you?"
"Very well, Draco. Now, I know that this isn't the best time to be doing this, but I thought that the quicker we dealt with this issue, the quicker you can go back to your life, and I can go back to mine."
Draco nodded, as if he could see the logic of that statement, even as parts of him were withering inside. He was determined not to show it however; if she could live without him, then he was damned if he couldn't do without her, too.
"I would say that there are two questions that need resolving." Hermione swallowed; how could this be so damn easy for him? "One: Why did you feel the need to stay with me when I was ill? Don't try and deny that you did, I asked the nurse and she confirmed it. Two: why were you so nice to Harry and Ron? Harry came to talk to me, and said that you and he have become... well acquaintances is how he put it. This isn't like the Draco you used to be. What's changed?"
"First of all, Hermione, that was three questions; skilled on the maths front, aren't we?" He mocked.
She glared at him, feeling her anger start to rise. She stomped over to the bookshelves, and angrily stared blankly at them. He remained silent, panicking on the inside; she was stood directly in front of where he'd hidden the picture.
Trying to grab her attention, he started with his explanations.
"Just to be contrary, I'll start with question two. I wasn't nice to Harry and Ron; I have never been nice to the weasel. I'll admit that I was a mite more than civil to Harry and technically it was your fault. He's actually a pretty decent guy once you get to know him; although I guess you'd know that already."
She nodded.
"I felt that I had to let him know about your accident. A Malfoy always pays his debts, and I owed you that much for the help you'd given me. That neatly answers question one as well."
"And question three? Is there a neat answer to that too?" Unhelpfully, Hermione had stayed looking at the bookcase, slowly moving her fingers over the spines of the books. Draco felt his heart sink as she gasped, knowing exactly what it was going to be about.
"Oh Gods! Look, Draco! You've got a first edition copy of Hogwarts: A History!" Her voice was full of excitement and wonder, and he could practically feel her pull the book out of its place on the shelf. He heard the photo hit the floor and out of the corner of his eye he saw her bend down and pick it up. She turned to him and he looked at her; he saw her questioning eyes and briefly shut his, knowing all was lost.
Hermione looked down at the picture once again, not quite believing her eyes. She knew what the photo was; it was the Hogwarts end of year photo, however Draco had changed his. He had blurred out every face except hers, and it was enlarged so that it took up most of the space in the picture.
"Why...? What...?"
She looked at Draco's face once again, and it was devoid of the antagonism and distance that had filled it since she had entered the house. It was almost painfully open, and Hermione knew.
"The third question... what's changed? Everything has, Hermione. You've changed everything."
She walked over to the nearest window; she needed air. She pulled the curtains apart and saw the white dress that she had worn the night that she and Draco had...
Fuck. This was going from bad to worse. Draco was practically punching himself; why hadn't he magicked the items somewhere instead of hiding them?
Hermione turned back towards him.
"Everything, huh? I think you'd better tell me what happened after I left that night."
Encouraged by the fact that she wasn't leaving yet, Draco was happy to comply.
"It was so strange. I didn't really remember what had happened when we were here; I knew you'd come here, but not... well anything. You'd just left and I could see something on the chair where you'd been. It was your tears on the chair, and I got up and went over to them. I don't know why, but I felt this compulsion to touch one. I did and all these memories sort of flooded into my brain.
There were little snippets of conversations we'd had. And with them was this pain; it wasn't bad... well it was but it was good as well. It felt so warm and kind of tingly, and I..."
Draco stopped abruptly. Hermione was still facing the window holding the dress, but he could see even from his seat that she was holding onto the dress so tightly that her knuckles had gone white.
"Hermione... Hermione?" She didn't respond and Draco started to worry. It wasn't that long since she'd been deathly ill, and it had been a big day. He rose from the chair, and walked slowly over to her so as not to alarm her. She still didn't move and he stopped just behind her; so close that he could breathe in the scent of her hair.
"Hermione... look I didn't mean... I mean... Maybe I should leave you alone." He turned to leave, completely at a loss as to what he should do.
Just as he turned, he saw a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye and span back around to face her. She was slowly turning to face him, so slowly that he hadn't noticed her moving at first. Her face was turned to the floor and her hair obscured any view that he might have had. He heard a shaky intake of breath and decided that he couldn't take any more of this waiting.
He lifted his hand, and slowly slid two fingers under her chin, marvelling at the softness of her skin. Gently he tilted her face up to look into his; there was no resistance and soon he was looking directly into the face that he loved so much.
Her eyes were shining with tears, streaky marks down her face showing where the predecessors had gone. The tears made her chocolate eyes dark and shiny, like mini versions of the bottomless lake at Hogwarts. Moved by the emotion showed on her face, Draco slowly lowered his face to meet hers and gently traced the paths of her tears with little kisses. Another shuddery intake of breath made him raise his head again to see her reaction to his actions.
Hermione raised her arms to weave around his neck and pulled his head down, meeting his lips with hers in a passionate kiss.
"I thought I'd lost you." She whispered when they pulled apart.
"Never again." He replied, before wrapping her precious body in his strong arms, wondering how he'd made it through his past lifetime without her.
"I missed you so much."
"I missed you, too. I thought it was all lost when you found the picture."
"I hate that picture. We'll have to get you a better one."
"I don't need a picture now; I have the real thing, don't I?"
"Yes, you do." Once again, their lips met in a frantic kiss, as if trying to reassure themselves that the other one was there to stay. Suddenly, Hermione ripped herself away from Draco and ran towards the exit of the Library, she threw open the door and ran down the corridor. Stunned, Draco stood motionless for a second before tearing after her; he caught sight of her disappearing towards the front door. Panic made him run faster than he'd ever run before, and he reached the entrance hall on record time. He stood panting, looking bewildered at Hermione, who stood in the entrance hall looking at him.
"What... the... bloody... hell... are... you... doing?" Draco panted
"I left the front door open; I was just shutting it before all the rain came in." She said, walking over to Draco and rubbing his back as he struggled to regain his breath.
Draco fell to the floor, holding his sides, laughing himself stupid at all the panicked thoughts that had ran through his head. Hermione shook her head at him, rolling her eyes at his stupidity, then shrieked as Draco pulled her down next to him.
"Eeek! Draco! The floor is all cold and wet, and why am I on the floor anyway?" She whinged.
Draco rolled her on top of him, and raised his head up so he could whisper into her ear.
"I love you, but if you whine like that one more time, I'm going to have to punish you."
Hermione grinned, and in her best whiny tone said,
"Oh but Draco, I'm all cold now, and I'm never going to get warm, and you're so mean and..."
The last part of Hermione's tirade got cut off by Draco's mouth pressing hard against hers.
"What did I tell you, Hermione? I don't make threats lightly you know!" Draco said with a twinkle in his eye.
"Good." Replied Hermione, grinning as wide as she could.
Draco stood up abruptly and swept her up into his arms, striding as fast as he could towards his bedroom. It took only a couple of minutes to reach it, and he practically threw Hermione down onto the bed. He then knelt on the edge of the bed, and crawled up to Hermione in a very predatory fashion. Hermione would have giggled, if only the sight of him hadn't completely taken her breath away. His muscles rippled and tensed underneath his perfect, although pale skin. Hermione reached up and grabbed him by the shoulders, digging her fingers into the resilient muscle as she pulled him down to meet her.
Draco resisted, smiling down at the frustrated Hermione; eventually tiring of the game that he could so easily win, she sat up halfway and moved her face close to his. She stopped about a millimetre away from his lips, gently breathing in and out through her mouth, creating tickly little drafts of air against his mouth. Waiting to see who would break first, seconds seemed like hours. Eventually, with a groan, Draco broke and crushing her mouth with his, pushed his tongue through the barrier of her lips to explore the silky smooth wetness that lay beyond.
Without noticing it, the pair gradually made their way downwards until Hermione was laying flat against the smooth white cotton sheets of Draco's bed. He was lying fully on top of her, pressed so tight that they looked almost like one being. Being so tightly against one another, Hermione could feel how much he wanted her, and this knowledge made her flush with pleasure. Removing one of her hands from the back of his neck, it made a little winding trail down his back, and around to his lower stomach.
Hermione could feel the ripples of muscle that made up his stomach, and the little downy trail of hair that she loved to play with. Draco let out a shuddering gasp as she pushed her hand down into his pyjama bottoms to explore his erection with skilled hands. Feeling how close to the edge he was already, Hermione grinned as she teased him, running her fingers up and down the velvety skin without ever fully gripping it.
"That's not playing fair, love." he complained, without really meaning it
"All's fair in love and war." She retorted
"Oh really?" He questioned. Hermione made to retract the statement, realising she'd made a mistake, but he drowned any reply she might have made with his mouth.
Gently unbuttoning the blouse she wore, Draco trailed his fingers from her chin, through the valley between her breasts, and down to the waistband of her trousers. He raised her up, and slipped off the blouse, throwing it across the room where it landed half on his desk. She grinned to see the haphazard way he threw things around, confirming her earlier suspicion that his room was only tidy because of the house elves.
The grin quickly faded as he unclasped her bra and slid the straps off her shoulders. This too was thrown across the room, landing in a million to one shot on the handle of his door, where it stayed. Hermione's heart was pounding frantically as Draco sat staring at her. She was mentally willing him to move, when he did; not the way she wanted however as he rolled off her, and lay on his side facing away from her.
"Good night, Hermione."
She sat bolt upright in shock and indignation; what did he think he was doing?! She stared at him in disbelief, until she saw his body trembling ever so slightly and realised that this was taking a lot of willpower for him. Gently, she leant over, making sure her bare breasts rubbed against the sensitive spot that she had discovered half-way down his spine.
"Good night, Draco." she whispered into his ear, tickling him. She rolled over and lay still, not touching him, waiting.
With a groan, Draco rolled over and straddled her.
"Evil temptress; that didn't go as I planned." He complained as she grinned up at him, flushed from her victory. She quirked an eyebrow, and he leant down, kissing the spot very gently.
"Now, where were you?" she prompted him, causing him to grin this time. He slowly slid his lips from her eyebrow down her hairline to her jaw, where he detoured to along her jaw line. He pressed a tender kiss to her lips before moving down to the hollow in her throat and the side of her neck. His hands had moved to gently caress the undersides of her breasts and up around the edge, to a ticklish spot just underneath her armpit. Gently stroking that spot, he caused little laughing gasps and moans to be emitted from Hermione's mouth.
Suddenly frustrated with the game playing, he moved his mouth directly to her nipple and closed his mouth around it, alternately sucking and feathering it with his tongue. Hermione writhed in ecstasy, and using the last little bit of strength in her, flipped the pair over so that she was straddling him. Impatiently, she yanked down his pyjama bottoms as he lifted his hips, she threw them over her shoulder where they landed in a crumpled pile by his chair. Kissing her way around his face, she varied the pressure, and just before she kissed him on the lips, she pulled her head up and stared into his eyes.
"I do so very much love you."
"And I, you." He replied, letting her see the love in his eyes. She lowered her lips to his, in a kiss that was gentle and loving, at odds with the passion they felt. Hermione slipped to the side, allowing Draco to once again be the one on top. Fitting himself between her legs, Draco allowed himself to acknowledge just how lucky he was to have a girl like her. Leaning down to press a kiss on her temple, Draco pushed himself into her; once again feeling the ecstasy of her hot, wet depths.
Determined to savour this moment, he set an almost painfully slow rhythm that nearly killed them both. It seemed like an eternity to the both of them; they were joined forever in this moment of passion. It surpassed even the last time that they had been together; that had been born of new passion and birthing love, this was something different, something older and more loving.
They came together, each lost in the feelings that engulfed them; the knowledge that only together could life be this perfect for either of them.
Draco stared down at Hermione, her skin flushed and shining with sweat. She had never looked more beautiful to him and his emotions welled up to the surface and threatened to spill over. Hermione watched him watching her; his beautiful face full of emotion, his hair messy and tousled, his body sweaty and trembling with exertion.
"I love you." She told him, "I know I keep saying it, but it's such a relief to be able to tell you."
"I will never tire of hearing it, even if you said it to me for the rest of our lives, and I hope you will." Draco bit his lip, he'd revealed too much of what he was thinking... well it was too late now.
"Draco? Do you mean what I think you mean?"
Draco rolled off her, to the side, and pulled open a drawer in his bedside table.
"I brought this to the hospital, so many times. I had it the day you woke up, but my nerve broke seeing you like that, and I couldn't do it."
He extended his clenched fist to Hermione, he didn't open it immediately and she stroked the tops of his fingers. Slowly he loosened his grip and on his palm sat a small black box. Hermione already knew what was in it, but she couldn't bring herself to open it; what if she was wrong? She'd be crushed by the disappointment, and wouldn't be able to hide it.
Draco studied her face, watching emotions run through it; he decided to bite the bullet and opened the box. Inside, on a cushion of white silk, was a platinum band, with an exquisite, flawless, princess-cut diamond set into the precious metal. It was the most beautiful engagement ring that Hermione had ever seen, the stone was the perfect size, elegant but not trashy, the setting was exactly what she would have chosen for herself.... It was her dream ring. Worried by Hermione's silence, Draco started to regret ever showing it to her.
"I... I was just going to ask, you know if you wanted to... well, maybe we..."
Goddamn it he was making a mess of this. He got off the bed, and walked around to the other side of the bed. He knelt down in front of Hermione and she turned to face him.
"Will you marry me?"
Eventually, he got it out, and he remained kneeling, staring intently at her face, for any sign of her reaction. Her eyes welled up with tears.
"Draco," she gasped, "It's beautiful, I mean, it's perfect... it must have.... I mean I..."
Seeing the tension in his face, she suddenly realised that she hadn't actually given him any answer yet. She smiled at him, and to Draco it was the most beautiful sight in the world.
"It would make me the happiest person in the world to be your wife, Draco Malfoy. I love you so much."
His smile said it all. He took the ring out of the box and gently slid it onto her ring finger.
"Do you like the ring then? I had such a hell of a time trying to pick the perfect one; I went to every jewellery store in Britain I think, wizarding and muggle. It was the last ring in the last store and I just knew it was the one for you. I think it was destined or something."
"It's perfect. There are no words..." Hermione leant down and kissed him, and it was almost a seal on an agreement on the fact that they would spend the rest of their lives together. She pulled Draco back up into the bed, and they snuggled together in the tangled sheets, each thinking how lucky they were. Draco lifted her hand and looked at the ring that was shining on her finger; he smiled at the sight of it.
"You're mine now. You belong to me." He said
"Yes. I'm still going to be me though, right? You're not going to make me give up being a doctor?"
"I would never even dream of depriving anybody of your care. Just promise me that you'll never care for anybody like you cared for me." He took her laughing as an agreement to this suggestion.
******************************************************** Well, that's the last chapter, just a mini epilogue to go. I hope you guys appreciate the lovely long chapter! Anyway, please review, it'll help me work faster, lol!
Thanks
~T~
Disclaimer: Don't own anything from or affiliated with Harry Potter.
Thank you to my beta Spazy Sange for all her amazingly hard work on my behalf.
Chapter 10: Slow Awakenings
Draco slowly opened his eyes, and was instantly awake and alert, it was a habit built up over many years of being in perpetual danger. At this particular moment however, he was in absolutely no danger at all, something of a novelty for him.
The day had dawned clear and beautiful, giving no evidence of the life altering and dramatic events that had occurred the night before. The sunlight was shining, golden and bright through the window. The curtains had been pulled back by the nurse only a few minutes before, and the light was hitting Draco's pillow in fat beams. The cause of his current state of wakefulness didn't annoy Draco, as once it might have done, but simply made him smile.
'Nothing bad could happen on a day like this.' Draco thought to himself contentedly. He resolved to stay in his bed until after breakfast, and then go in search of Hermione. He figured that if she wasn't around he could charm one of the receptionists into giving away her location.
The nurse bustled in at that point, disturbing Draco's recollections of a certain spunky young doctor. He smiled up at the nurse without the slightest hint of irritation and asked cheerfully.
"What's for breakfast?"
The nurse blushed slightly at being the focus of Draco's bone-melting grin before pulling herself together.
"We have bacon and eggs, or sausages, or toast. You can also choose from orange, apple or pumpkin juice, tea or coffee."
"Hmmm..." Draco appeared to be contemplating breakfast as seriously as some people ponder how to attain world peace. "I do believe that I will go with the bacon and eggs this morning, and some orange juice if that'll be alright please, Suki."
The nurse quickly placed a tray across his blanket covered lap and placed a plate of bacon and eggs, a glass of orange juice, cutlery, and a napkin on it. She was trying desperately not to show how pleased she felt that he had remembered her name.
"If that'll be all, Mr. Malfoy, I'll be getting on with the others."
Draco nodded to show that he was finished with her, and reluctantly she left the room. Draco tucked into his breakfast with relish. The food in hospital was always excellent, almost as good as at his own home, or Hogwarts. Within a matter of minutes he was finished, and downing the last of his orange juice, stood up as the tray vanished, with all his dirty breakfast stuff on it.
He rapidly dressed in some comfortable but presentable trousers and a deep blue shirt, with the collar unbuttoned. Feeling that he looked acceptable, and checking his smile in the mirror, Draco felt adequately prepared to go in search of Hermione. Hurriedly walking down the corridor to avoid the Head Nurse, Draco made it to the elevator. As the numbers clicked down from 12 through to 4 Draco remained alone, however on the fourth floor he was joined by a young looking doctor, and a man wearing the uniform of an Ambi- Broom driver.
"Jesus, Lyden, what happened to her?" the doctor asked, Draco leaned closer, unable to repress his curiosity.
"She got hit by a lorry; you know one of those Muggle things...?"
"Yeah I know, Dr. Harrison said its 50-50 as to whether she makes it. I really hope she pulls through. It wouldn't be the same without her." The Ambi-Driver nodded agreement, looking devastated.
"Hermione's the heart and soul of this place, not another doctor like her anywhere."
Draco's heart lurched and then sank to his feet; suddenly finding it hard to breathe, he clutched at the sides of the elevator. This attracted the attention of the two men, who had so far ignored their fellow passenger, wrapped up in sorrows of their own. The doctor whirled around and pushed Draco to his knees.
"Breathe slowly and deeply, in for seven, hold for seven, out for seven. With me, 1...2...3...4...5...6...7"
As the doctor was doing this, the Ambi-Driver pressed the button of the next floor they were due to pass, so the doors slid open. Draco's breathing calmed and he was able to stand up and throw off the doctor's hand.
"What did you say about Hermione? Do you mean Hermione Granger? Where is she? I need to see her!"
Lyden looked curiously at the distraught man in front of him, realization dawning upon him.
"Shit, you're Draco Malfoy aren't you? You wouldn't know..." The man trailed off into silence, and Draco fought the very great urge to drag him to the floor and punch him repeatedly until he got the information he wanted.
"Listen, I don't know how to tell you this, but Hermione was in an accident last night, and well... it was bad."
"I want you to take me to her, I have to see her."
The doctor looked doubtingly at Lyden, but Lyden just nodded and motioned to the doctor 'Tell you later'.
"She's in intensive on the fourth floor. We'll go now, and I'll explain to you on the way."
Draco nodded assent and together the two men went back into the elevator that they had so recently vacated in dramatic circumstances. Lyden pushed the button for the fourth floor and turned to Draco.
"Look, I know what happened between you and Hermione at your house. I know that she would have wanted you to see her, which is the only reason I'm allowing you to, do you understand? Hermione is very special to me, and I would never let anybody hurt her."
Draco picked up on the unsaid message in Lyden's words and nodded.
"I need you to be prepared, okay? She had a lot of internal injuries, and they were very severe. If she'd gone to a Muggle hospital she would not be alive right now. We can't heal some of the more minor injuries, such as broken bones and grazes because of the potent medicine fixing her on the inside. It's very indefinite things we're talking about, I mean there's only so much a body can take, and she's pushing it."
Draco felt physically sick at these words, after all the deaths in his life, you'd have thought he would be immune to it, but apparently he wasn't.
"She's unconscious and is likely to remain so for an unspecified length of time. She received severe head trauma, and..."
"For the God's sake, just spit it out." Draco spat bitterly, seeing the man hesitate. Lyden's face turned cold and he replied.
"She may never wake up."
*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_
It was several hours later when Draco was finally able to stop and think about the situation that he was now faced with. After tracking down every doctor in the hospital, and some beyond, to see if there was anything else that he could do, he had returned to Hermione's room. He was now sitting in the plush chair by her bed, watching her chest rise and fall, slowly and rhythmically. Every doctor that he had seen only confirmed what he was trying not to think about: there was nothing more that anyone could do. After years of being able to buy whatever he wanted and needed, Draco was finding out in the worst way that money can't buy you everything.
All that anybody could say to him was that anything familiar might help, talking to her, playing her music..... As far as Hermione went, Draco was prepared to do anything to help her, after all Malfoys always paid their debts, and that was the least he owed her.
After consulting with Lyden, Draco discovered that Harry and Ron were both in the dark about what had happened to her. Steeling himself for something that was both distasteful and completely against his character, Draco turned to the fire. Throwing in a handful of powder, and muttering a few words, he saw Harry's face appear in the flames.
"Malfoy? What do you want? Is it something about your testimony pertaining to the demise of Voldemort?"
"Drop the big words Harry; I know that you're an idiot." Seeing Harry start to fume, and knowing that an argument was about to break out, Draco continued quickly.
"As much fun as this is Potter, I didn't want to talk to you for the purpose of insulting you. It's about Hermione...... something's happened to her."
"What have you done, Malfoy? I swear, if you've hurt her, Azkaban or no, I WILL kill you!"
"Breathe Potter, I haven't hurt her," Draco internally flinched at that, knowing that it wasn't entirely true. "She was hit by a lorry while going home last night, and she's in critical condition here... They don't know if she's gonna make it, and they said that anything familiar might help her break out of this..."
Draco stopped talking as he suddenly noticed Potter's face, he had gone very pale, and was visibly shaking. He suddenly regretted the brusque way that he had delivered the awful news. Potter looked remarkably close to tears, and Draco found himself wishing that he could be as free with his emotions as Potter.
"Does Ron know?" Harry's face fell further as Draco shook his head, "Oh Gods, this is gonna kill him, he's always loved Hermione. I mean, we both love her, but Ron... well he,"
"I know what you mean Potter," Draco interrupted, not wanting to hear about the Weasel's crush on Hermione. "Do you want me to tell him?"
Both Harry and Draco looked shocked at this offer, Harry because it seemed so... nice and un-Malfoy like, and Draco because he had just willingly offered to talk to the Weasel.
"Ummm, no thanks Malfoy, he's not going to take this well as it is, and to hear it from you would make it worse. Thanks for offering though. Are you at the hospital with her?"
"Yeah, I'm going to keep her company for a while, I think. I mean I owe her that much at least."
Harry nodded, "What room is she in? Ron and I will be there in about an hour probably, I don't know if it would be such a good idea for Ron to see you there if you know what I mean."
Draco nodded, "She's in the intensive ward on the fourth floor, in the third room on the left. I'll get the nurse to page me when you enter the ward and leave out the back door."
"Yeah, okay then Malfoy." Harry turned slightly, as if to leave, but then turned back. "Malfoy...?"
"Yes, Potter?"
"Thanks. I really mean that, thanks."
Draco nodded, and then cut off the connection. This had been a very surreal conversation, he concluded. Potter had been friendly towards him, and he had reciprocated that gesture. But, he thought, the weirdest thing about it was that parting comment. Because, just for a fleeting moment, Draco had known what it would have been like to be a part of that hallowed group, the Golden Trio, and he had liked that feeling.
*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_
Draco was sat quietly in Hermione's room, neither saying nor doing anything when the tip of his wand glowed red, and emitted golden sparks. Recognizing the spell, Draco wearily lifted himself out of the comfy chair and made for the elevator at the end of the corridor. Seeing Harry at the opposite end, Draco nodded in acknowledgement, and spun around as the Weasel made his ungainly appearance into the corridor.
As Draco waited for the elevator, he heard the pair's footsteps echoing down the quiet, still corridor. It was easy to tell when they reached Hermione's room, as the footsteps ceased abruptly, and a gasp could be heard. Draco knew that the image that they were presented with was not an encouraging one. She was as pale as death and stiller than a pond on a breezeless day. Her arms were covered with grazes and bruises, and her face was marred with a long cut along her jaw line that had been stitched in the muggle fashion as no magic was allowed. She had a large graze down the left side of her face, and a bruised eye; all in all, she looked almost as bad as Draco felt.
He hated this feeling of helplessness, and knowing that she had left without knowing that he was sorry made it worse. He wished more than anything to take back the last fifteen minutes that he'd seen her. He'd regretted it at the time, but never more than now. The thought that she might die without ever knowing everything that he needed to say was constantly on his mind, worrying at it, and making it impossible for him to think about anything else.
The nurse had promised to page him again when the two had left, and Draco returned wearily to his own room to get some rest before his vigil began again. Never before had Draco felt the need to sit with someone when they were ill; even when his mother had been confined to her bed after one of Lucius' more energetic beatings. Draco could now see that his life had been almost unbearably emotionless until Hermione Granger had stepped into his life.
It didn't even seem to matter what kind of emotion it was, but she was inextricably linked with extreme emotion in his mind, and that was something that he didn't want to lose again. Hiding your emotions every day for 12 years wasn't easy, and Draco's newly found ability to feel was leaving him vulnerable to every emotion going. Guilt, anger, love, passion, hate, longing, frustration, despair... all of these were running through Draco in an unstoppable flood.
Only Hermione could stop the bitter, unpalatable taste of the darker feelings, and bring back the light and the sweet. Draco needed Hermione to keep him sane, and make him feel alive and whole again. As difficult as it was for him to realize this, it was far more difficult for him to realize the possibility that maybe she couldn't save him; maybe she needed him to save her first.
*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_
Hermione was trapped inside a world of pain and suffering, feeling like she was in hell. She could hear everybody, and feel everything, but was unable to escape from the prison of her mind. She could hear Draco's broken whisperings, Harry's pleading, and Ron's heartfelt desperation. She wanted so much to wake and make everything better for them, but she didn't know how, everything was so difficult. She couldn't seem to remember how to wake up, and as hard as she tried, she couldn't seem to emerge from the thick sticky blackness that was holding her prisoner.
Time passed quickly while seeming to stand still, and as she drifted in and out of awareness, a common theme seemed to be emerging. Draco was an almost constant presence by her side, leaving only when Ron and Harry were there. He was forever around, talking, cajoling, holding her. This seemed to strike a cord somewhere deep in her memory, of the night when it all went wrong, the night where he had...
All of a sudden, that night was thrown into sharp relief in her brain, the details were as clear as crystal. Confusion swept across her following the revelations of her mind. Considering his attitude after their last interlude, why was Draco here, caring for her, talking to her, holding her? Hermione scoffed at the emotion that seemed evident in his voice... like he cared! She was suddenly angry. How dare he think he can come and pretend that that night had never happened? How dare he come and sit with her, like Harry and Ron, like he was one of her friends. It was too much.
Hermione's rage swept across her mind, seemingly forcing her upwards, out of the prison of her own making. Ironic as it seemed, Draco Malfoy was to be her salvation, he would be the one to finally wake her up.
*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_
It seemed to start very slowly, just a flicker here and a twitch there, but perhaps that was just the way it appeared to him. Perhaps it was just his brain trying to escape from the crushing pressure of his anguish, making him think that she would be okay. Draco sat intently watching, as Hermione's eyes flickered, and her head twitched and then moved to face him. Her eyes flickered once more, and then slid open, agonizingly slowly.
Draco held his breath, waiting for the illusion to dissipate into unwelcome reality, but it didn't. Her eyes remained open and came to focus on his face. Draco knew that he should be calling for the doctors, but couldn't bring himself to summon that painful intrusion on the moment he'd waited, what seemed to be a lifetime for. Hermione parted her lips, and Draco saw her struggling to form words, but her mouth was dryer than the Sahara and it was beyond her limited abilities at the moment.
Hermione just looked at him, trying to convey to him her desperate need for water. As if by some mystical means of communication, he turned away from the bed, and returned with a glass of water and a straw. Gently he placed the straw between her lips and she sucked gratefully at the liquid that lay within. Never had anything tasted so good to her before. He took the cup away long before she was finished however and she glared her disapproval at him.
"Take it slowly; you don't want to make yourself sick."
It made sense, although she was still mad at his unwelcome mothering of her. Feeling the moisture do its work, Hermione tried speaking again, and although successful, was dismayed at the croaky, scratchy old-lady voice that emerged from her throat. "What are you doing here, Malfoy?"
His eyes darkened and numerous unidentifiable emotions rushed through them in a flood that lasted milliseconds.
"I... I... I have to go."
Cursing himself for being a weak, spineless bastard he practically ran out of her room, ignoring her heartrending whispers as she tried to call him back. Hermione lay on her bed, as yet unable to move trying to decipher the emotions that had rushed through his eyes. It made no sense, but she was almost certain that one of them had been pain; as a doctor, she would know.
*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_
It was a mere two days later that she was released; after the potions to fix her insides had done their work, the rapid healing potions to fix her minor injuries had been applied. Hermione sent up her thanks that she was a witch, and such muggle tortures as physiotherapy were not required. She was leaving the hospital with a new found determination. She was going to find Draco Malfoy and make him explain if it was the last thing she ever did.
Hermione had spent the whole of the day before she left asking people about Draco and his actions towards her. She had started by asking the nurse assigned to her floor; the reaction had not been what she expected.
"Oh lovey, there's one you need to hold on to! Every day he was here, holding your hand, stroking your face, whispering into your ear, I've never seen a man so in love before!"
Then the nurse had come closer and bent down towards Hermione, in the pose of confiding something secret.
"You can't tell him I told you this, but..." The nurse had stopped and bitten her lip. "Once I came in here, one of the very first days it was, and he was all hunched over your hand, and I thought there was something strange about it. I'm not one to be nosy, me, but I kept watching and a couple of seconds later, he lifted his head, and there it was.... Draco Malfoy was crying! Ah yes, never thought I'd see the day, but there it is!"
Hermione's face had dropped in shock, but the nurse continued on regardless of her patient's current mental state.
"I never saw it but that once, but it was enough I tell you. He loves you so."
"Thanks, Maria." Hermione mumbled distractedly as the nurse bustled out and on to her other patients.
This was all too confusing, and it only got worse as the day progressed and Harry came to visit her. This in itself wasn't unusual, but what was, was that Ron wasn't there as well. Even as he stepped in the door, Hermione knew there was something on his mind.
"What is it, Harry? Is it something bad? Is Ron okay?"
"Ron's fine Hermione, but there's someone who isn't okay, and I don't think you realise what's going on."
"You mean Draco, don't you, Harry?" Hermione sighed in resignation as Harry nodded.
"He's different Hermione, and I think it's because of you. The day he found out about your injuries, the first thing he did was let me know, and we've become sort of... acquaintances, since then. He misses you, Hermione, and if he wasn't so stubborn, he'd be here trying to patch it up with you. He just... thinks that you wouldn't want to hear it. After he waited so long to tell you what he needed to he's going to let the opportunity slip, and I don't think you should let him."
Harry paused to take a breath.
"He loves you Hermione, and I... I think you love him, too."
*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*
Hermione got out of the cab and paid her fare, still debating whether or not this was a good idea. The cab popped and left and Hermione had no choice any more as she turned to face the imposing façade of Malfoy Manor. The rain started to fall as she made her way up to the front doors, and a ghost of a smile passed her lips as she placed her hand on the handle. It still remembered her, and she pushed open the heavy door, grateful for the diligence of the house elves as it made no noise.
It had stayed just as she remembered it, although she wasn't sure why she had expected it to be changed. Hermione stood in the middle of the hall and spun slowly around in a circle, breathing in the majesty of the no longer threatening building. It even smelled like Draco, and she found herself drawing instinctive comfort from that. She stopped spinning and ended up facing the now blocked entranceway to Lucius' lair. She stepped towards it and placed her hand on the warm stone of the blockade.
"Hermione...?"
The voice echoed loudly, and she span away from the wall and to the source of the noise. Draco stood in the entranceway to the passage that led to the library. He was wearing a pair of black silk pyjama bottoms and his chest was bare, in his hand was a glass containing an inch of an amber coloured liquid that Hermione identified as Ogden's Firewhiskey.
"You know, that stuff is bad for you." Hermione cursed herself for making such an inane comment; she was going to sound like such a fool.
"Look, I'm sorry that I broke into your house and everything, but I really think that we need to talk." She said quickly, seeing his mouth open to reply and not wanting him to throw her out straight away.
Draco was silent for a second, and then nodded.
"Come to the Library, we can talk there. I would put more clothes on, but I'm too hot, and it's not like you haven't seen it." He added snidely before spinning away to stalk down the corridor, so she wouldn't see the blind hope that had taken up residence on his face.
It was unfortunate that he had done so however, as he didn't see Hermione's face crumple, and then recover into a visage of stone. She momentarily considered running away from him before her determination rose and spread strength through her body. She followed his rapidly retreating back towards the room that had once made her so happy.
Draco entered while Hermione was still a good forty feet further down the corridor. He used that time to quickly hide all evidence of what he'd been doing. He pushed the toothbrush she'd used under a chair, and placed the white dress carefully on the windowsill and pulled the curtains so it was hidden from view. Picking up a photograph from the desk, he took one last look at the smiling image of Hermione the schoolgirl, and pushed it onto the bookshelf, between Hogwarts: A History, and The History Of Malfoy Manor.
Hermione entered just as Draco had settled himself into his seat and was pouring another measure of Ogden's Firewhiskey into his glass.
"Please don't do that Malfoy, I need you to be coherent for this conversation."
"I think the least you can do, Hermione, is to call me Draco. Considering what we've been through in the past few weeks, I think we're on a first name basis, don't you?"
"Very well, Draco. Now, I know that this isn't the best time to be doing this, but I thought that the quicker we dealt with this issue, the quicker you can go back to your life, and I can go back to mine."
Draco nodded, as if he could see the logic of that statement, even as parts of him were withering inside. He was determined not to show it however; if she could live without him, then he was damned if he couldn't do without her, too.
"I would say that there are two questions that need resolving." Hermione swallowed; how could this be so damn easy for him? "One: Why did you feel the need to stay with me when I was ill? Don't try and deny that you did, I asked the nurse and she confirmed it. Two: why were you so nice to Harry and Ron? Harry came to talk to me, and said that you and he have become... well acquaintances is how he put it. This isn't like the Draco you used to be. What's changed?"
"First of all, Hermione, that was three questions; skilled on the maths front, aren't we?" He mocked.
She glared at him, feeling her anger start to rise. She stomped over to the bookshelves, and angrily stared blankly at them. He remained silent, panicking on the inside; she was stood directly in front of where he'd hidden the picture.
Trying to grab her attention, he started with his explanations.
"Just to be contrary, I'll start with question two. I wasn't nice to Harry and Ron; I have never been nice to the weasel. I'll admit that I was a mite more than civil to Harry and technically it was your fault. He's actually a pretty decent guy once you get to know him; although I guess you'd know that already."
She nodded.
"I felt that I had to let him know about your accident. A Malfoy always pays his debts, and I owed you that much for the help you'd given me. That neatly answers question one as well."
"And question three? Is there a neat answer to that too?" Unhelpfully, Hermione had stayed looking at the bookcase, slowly moving her fingers over the spines of the books. Draco felt his heart sink as she gasped, knowing exactly what it was going to be about.
"Oh Gods! Look, Draco! You've got a first edition copy of Hogwarts: A History!" Her voice was full of excitement and wonder, and he could practically feel her pull the book out of its place on the shelf. He heard the photo hit the floor and out of the corner of his eye he saw her bend down and pick it up. She turned to him and he looked at her; he saw her questioning eyes and briefly shut his, knowing all was lost.
Hermione looked down at the picture once again, not quite believing her eyes. She knew what the photo was; it was the Hogwarts end of year photo, however Draco had changed his. He had blurred out every face except hers, and it was enlarged so that it took up most of the space in the picture.
"Why...? What...?"
She looked at Draco's face once again, and it was devoid of the antagonism and distance that had filled it since she had entered the house. It was almost painfully open, and Hermione knew.
"The third question... what's changed? Everything has, Hermione. You've changed everything."
She walked over to the nearest window; she needed air. She pulled the curtains apart and saw the white dress that she had worn the night that she and Draco had...
Fuck. This was going from bad to worse. Draco was practically punching himself; why hadn't he magicked the items somewhere instead of hiding them?
Hermione turned back towards him.
"Everything, huh? I think you'd better tell me what happened after I left that night."
Encouraged by the fact that she wasn't leaving yet, Draco was happy to comply.
"It was so strange. I didn't really remember what had happened when we were here; I knew you'd come here, but not... well anything. You'd just left and I could see something on the chair where you'd been. It was your tears on the chair, and I got up and went over to them. I don't know why, but I felt this compulsion to touch one. I did and all these memories sort of flooded into my brain.
There were little snippets of conversations we'd had. And with them was this pain; it wasn't bad... well it was but it was good as well. It felt so warm and kind of tingly, and I..."
Draco stopped abruptly. Hermione was still facing the window holding the dress, but he could see even from his seat that she was holding onto the dress so tightly that her knuckles had gone white.
"Hermione... Hermione?" She didn't respond and Draco started to worry. It wasn't that long since she'd been deathly ill, and it had been a big day. He rose from the chair, and walked slowly over to her so as not to alarm her. She still didn't move and he stopped just behind her; so close that he could breathe in the scent of her hair.
"Hermione... look I didn't mean... I mean... Maybe I should leave you alone." He turned to leave, completely at a loss as to what he should do.
Just as he turned, he saw a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye and span back around to face her. She was slowly turning to face him, so slowly that he hadn't noticed her moving at first. Her face was turned to the floor and her hair obscured any view that he might have had. He heard a shaky intake of breath and decided that he couldn't take any more of this waiting.
He lifted his hand, and slowly slid two fingers under her chin, marvelling at the softness of her skin. Gently he tilted her face up to look into his; there was no resistance and soon he was looking directly into the face that he loved so much.
Her eyes were shining with tears, streaky marks down her face showing where the predecessors had gone. The tears made her chocolate eyes dark and shiny, like mini versions of the bottomless lake at Hogwarts. Moved by the emotion showed on her face, Draco slowly lowered his face to meet hers and gently traced the paths of her tears with little kisses. Another shuddery intake of breath made him raise his head again to see her reaction to his actions.
Hermione raised her arms to weave around his neck and pulled his head down, meeting his lips with hers in a passionate kiss.
"I thought I'd lost you." She whispered when they pulled apart.
"Never again." He replied, before wrapping her precious body in his strong arms, wondering how he'd made it through his past lifetime without her.
"I missed you so much."
"I missed you, too. I thought it was all lost when you found the picture."
"I hate that picture. We'll have to get you a better one."
"I don't need a picture now; I have the real thing, don't I?"
"Yes, you do." Once again, their lips met in a frantic kiss, as if trying to reassure themselves that the other one was there to stay. Suddenly, Hermione ripped herself away from Draco and ran towards the exit of the Library, she threw open the door and ran down the corridor. Stunned, Draco stood motionless for a second before tearing after her; he caught sight of her disappearing towards the front door. Panic made him run faster than he'd ever run before, and he reached the entrance hall on record time. He stood panting, looking bewildered at Hermione, who stood in the entrance hall looking at him.
"What... the... bloody... hell... are... you... doing?" Draco panted
"I left the front door open; I was just shutting it before all the rain came in." She said, walking over to Draco and rubbing his back as he struggled to regain his breath.
Draco fell to the floor, holding his sides, laughing himself stupid at all the panicked thoughts that had ran through his head. Hermione shook her head at him, rolling her eyes at his stupidity, then shrieked as Draco pulled her down next to him.
"Eeek! Draco! The floor is all cold and wet, and why am I on the floor anyway?" She whinged.
Draco rolled her on top of him, and raised his head up so he could whisper into her ear.
"I love you, but if you whine like that one more time, I'm going to have to punish you."
Hermione grinned, and in her best whiny tone said,
"Oh but Draco, I'm all cold now, and I'm never going to get warm, and you're so mean and..."
The last part of Hermione's tirade got cut off by Draco's mouth pressing hard against hers.
"What did I tell you, Hermione? I don't make threats lightly you know!" Draco said with a twinkle in his eye.
"Good." Replied Hermione, grinning as wide as she could.
Draco stood up abruptly and swept her up into his arms, striding as fast as he could towards his bedroom. It took only a couple of minutes to reach it, and he practically threw Hermione down onto the bed. He then knelt on the edge of the bed, and crawled up to Hermione in a very predatory fashion. Hermione would have giggled, if only the sight of him hadn't completely taken her breath away. His muscles rippled and tensed underneath his perfect, although pale skin. Hermione reached up and grabbed him by the shoulders, digging her fingers into the resilient muscle as she pulled him down to meet her.
Draco resisted, smiling down at the frustrated Hermione; eventually tiring of the game that he could so easily win, she sat up halfway and moved her face close to his. She stopped about a millimetre away from his lips, gently breathing in and out through her mouth, creating tickly little drafts of air against his mouth. Waiting to see who would break first, seconds seemed like hours. Eventually, with a groan, Draco broke and crushing her mouth with his, pushed his tongue through the barrier of her lips to explore the silky smooth wetness that lay beyond.
Without noticing it, the pair gradually made their way downwards until Hermione was laying flat against the smooth white cotton sheets of Draco's bed. He was lying fully on top of her, pressed so tight that they looked almost like one being. Being so tightly against one another, Hermione could feel how much he wanted her, and this knowledge made her flush with pleasure. Removing one of her hands from the back of his neck, it made a little winding trail down his back, and around to his lower stomach.
Hermione could feel the ripples of muscle that made up his stomach, and the little downy trail of hair that she loved to play with. Draco let out a shuddering gasp as she pushed her hand down into his pyjama bottoms to explore his erection with skilled hands. Feeling how close to the edge he was already, Hermione grinned as she teased him, running her fingers up and down the velvety skin without ever fully gripping it.
"That's not playing fair, love." he complained, without really meaning it
"All's fair in love and war." She retorted
"Oh really?" He questioned. Hermione made to retract the statement, realising she'd made a mistake, but he drowned any reply she might have made with his mouth.
Gently unbuttoning the blouse she wore, Draco trailed his fingers from her chin, through the valley between her breasts, and down to the waistband of her trousers. He raised her up, and slipped off the blouse, throwing it across the room where it landed half on his desk. She grinned to see the haphazard way he threw things around, confirming her earlier suspicion that his room was only tidy because of the house elves.
The grin quickly faded as he unclasped her bra and slid the straps off her shoulders. This too was thrown across the room, landing in a million to one shot on the handle of his door, where it stayed. Hermione's heart was pounding frantically as Draco sat staring at her. She was mentally willing him to move, when he did; not the way she wanted however as he rolled off her, and lay on his side facing away from her.
"Good night, Hermione."
She sat bolt upright in shock and indignation; what did he think he was doing?! She stared at him in disbelief, until she saw his body trembling ever so slightly and realised that this was taking a lot of willpower for him. Gently, she leant over, making sure her bare breasts rubbed against the sensitive spot that she had discovered half-way down his spine.
"Good night, Draco." she whispered into his ear, tickling him. She rolled over and lay still, not touching him, waiting.
With a groan, Draco rolled over and straddled her.
"Evil temptress; that didn't go as I planned." He complained as she grinned up at him, flushed from her victory. She quirked an eyebrow, and he leant down, kissing the spot very gently.
"Now, where were you?" she prompted him, causing him to grin this time. He slowly slid his lips from her eyebrow down her hairline to her jaw, where he detoured to along her jaw line. He pressed a tender kiss to her lips before moving down to the hollow in her throat and the side of her neck. His hands had moved to gently caress the undersides of her breasts and up around the edge, to a ticklish spot just underneath her armpit. Gently stroking that spot, he caused little laughing gasps and moans to be emitted from Hermione's mouth.
Suddenly frustrated with the game playing, he moved his mouth directly to her nipple and closed his mouth around it, alternately sucking and feathering it with his tongue. Hermione writhed in ecstasy, and using the last little bit of strength in her, flipped the pair over so that she was straddling him. Impatiently, she yanked down his pyjama bottoms as he lifted his hips, she threw them over her shoulder where they landed in a crumpled pile by his chair. Kissing her way around his face, she varied the pressure, and just before she kissed him on the lips, she pulled her head up and stared into his eyes.
"I do so very much love you."
"And I, you." He replied, letting her see the love in his eyes. She lowered her lips to his, in a kiss that was gentle and loving, at odds with the passion they felt. Hermione slipped to the side, allowing Draco to once again be the one on top. Fitting himself between her legs, Draco allowed himself to acknowledge just how lucky he was to have a girl like her. Leaning down to press a kiss on her temple, Draco pushed himself into her; once again feeling the ecstasy of her hot, wet depths.
Determined to savour this moment, he set an almost painfully slow rhythm that nearly killed them both. It seemed like an eternity to the both of them; they were joined forever in this moment of passion. It surpassed even the last time that they had been together; that had been born of new passion and birthing love, this was something different, something older and more loving.
They came together, each lost in the feelings that engulfed them; the knowledge that only together could life be this perfect for either of them.
Draco stared down at Hermione, her skin flushed and shining with sweat. She had never looked more beautiful to him and his emotions welled up to the surface and threatened to spill over. Hermione watched him watching her; his beautiful face full of emotion, his hair messy and tousled, his body sweaty and trembling with exertion.
"I love you." She told him, "I know I keep saying it, but it's such a relief to be able to tell you."
"I will never tire of hearing it, even if you said it to me for the rest of our lives, and I hope you will." Draco bit his lip, he'd revealed too much of what he was thinking... well it was too late now.
"Draco? Do you mean what I think you mean?"
Draco rolled off her, to the side, and pulled open a drawer in his bedside table.
"I brought this to the hospital, so many times. I had it the day you woke up, but my nerve broke seeing you like that, and I couldn't do it."
He extended his clenched fist to Hermione, he didn't open it immediately and she stroked the tops of his fingers. Slowly he loosened his grip and on his palm sat a small black box. Hermione already knew what was in it, but she couldn't bring herself to open it; what if she was wrong? She'd be crushed by the disappointment, and wouldn't be able to hide it.
Draco studied her face, watching emotions run through it; he decided to bite the bullet and opened the box. Inside, on a cushion of white silk, was a platinum band, with an exquisite, flawless, princess-cut diamond set into the precious metal. It was the most beautiful engagement ring that Hermione had ever seen, the stone was the perfect size, elegant but not trashy, the setting was exactly what she would have chosen for herself.... It was her dream ring. Worried by Hermione's silence, Draco started to regret ever showing it to her.
"I... I was just going to ask, you know if you wanted to... well, maybe we..."
Goddamn it he was making a mess of this. He got off the bed, and walked around to the other side of the bed. He knelt down in front of Hermione and she turned to face him.
"Will you marry me?"
Eventually, he got it out, and he remained kneeling, staring intently at her face, for any sign of her reaction. Her eyes welled up with tears.
"Draco," she gasped, "It's beautiful, I mean, it's perfect... it must have.... I mean I..."
Seeing the tension in his face, she suddenly realised that she hadn't actually given him any answer yet. She smiled at him, and to Draco it was the most beautiful sight in the world.
"It would make me the happiest person in the world to be your wife, Draco Malfoy. I love you so much."
His smile said it all. He took the ring out of the box and gently slid it onto her ring finger.
"Do you like the ring then? I had such a hell of a time trying to pick the perfect one; I went to every jewellery store in Britain I think, wizarding and muggle. It was the last ring in the last store and I just knew it was the one for you. I think it was destined or something."
"It's perfect. There are no words..." Hermione leant down and kissed him, and it was almost a seal on an agreement on the fact that they would spend the rest of their lives together. She pulled Draco back up into the bed, and they snuggled together in the tangled sheets, each thinking how lucky they were. Draco lifted her hand and looked at the ring that was shining on her finger; he smiled at the sight of it.
"You're mine now. You belong to me." He said
"Yes. I'm still going to be me though, right? You're not going to make me give up being a doctor?"
"I would never even dream of depriving anybody of your care. Just promise me that you'll never care for anybody like you cared for me." He took her laughing as an agreement to this suggestion.
******************************************************** Well, that's the last chapter, just a mini epilogue to go. I hope you guys appreciate the lovely long chapter! Anyway, please review, it'll help me work faster, lol!
Thanks
~T~