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Learning to Breathe

Chapter 3

xoxoxo

Hermione stole glances at Draco who was sitting beside her on the floor. He had his eyes closed and seemed to be having a bad dream. At least to Hermione it looked like he was having a bad dream. He looked like he was incredibly pissed off about something and he seemed to be in pain. He was practically frowning with his eyes closed and flinching every once in a while. It was a pretty funny sight. But weird, too. She contemplated on whether she should wake him or not. Her curiosity got the better of her; she turned to face him fully and softly called out his name.

"Draco?"

No answer.

She spoke a little louder. "Draco, wake up"

Still no answer.

Hermione stuck out her index finger and poked his arm, hard.

Draco's eyes shot open and he jumped to his feet, looking around furiously as he reached into his robes for his wand and pointed it, poised and ready to fire at whoever was attacking him.

"That went well" Hermione said, still sitting on the floor, cross-legged and looking up at his tall lean figure, amused at his sudden reaction.

He turned around and looked down at her, a confused look on his face. Just a moment later, Hermione burst out laughing and Draco soon followed suit. The both of them were laughing so hard, they had to hold the wall for support.

"You should have seen the look on your face!" she choked out, still laughing in between.

Draco was very embarrassed by this incident, but you could hardly tell because his cheeks were already slightly pink from laughing so hard. Luckily for him, no one else was around.

A few minutes later, their laughter finally died down and they were sitting against the wall again, this time facing each other. Hermione looked much better now than she did before they started laughing at Draco. He was kind of glad that she didn't look like she was going to start crying again anytime soon because it would just feel awkward again. Draco himself felt much better as well, and for the first time in a long time, he actually really laughed, and he had to admit that it felt good. Even if they were laughing at him.

After a moment of silence, Draco decided that it would be safe to try and make conversation with her.

"So… you're feeling better?" He asked gently, afraid that he might make her cry again.

A flicker of emotion shone in her eyes for a moment, but to his relief, died down a second later.

"Yes, much better…" She gave him a small but genuine smile when he turned to look at her.

There was a long pause before Hermione spoke up again, and this time, she turned to face him and took a deep breath before speaking.

"Look, I'm really sorry about what happened today… I didn't mean to drag you into this; you were just at the wrong place at the wrong time… and you're missing Potions because of me… I promise I'll explain everything to Professor Snape about this, I'll come up with a good excuse, I swear-"

"Hey, don't worry about it. It's no big deal..." Draco cut her off before she went hysterical. "I was cutting class too, honest. I needed to get away from all the work for a while…"

Hermione looked somewhat relieved after he said that, and she looked down the hallway to check if anyone was there. Empty and quiet all the way down to the dungeons. Everyone else was in class, doing what they were supposed to do.

She turned back again and slumped against the wall, letting out a heavy sigh. It looked like she still had a cloud over her head, even though he had managed to make her forget all about her troubles for a moment. She still couldn't believe that she was actually missing Potions and was sitting there next to Draco Malfoy of all people.

And the weird thing is, they're not biting each other's heads off! Or perhaps not yet…

Draco decided then and there that if he really wanted to know what was up with her, he was going to have to ask her eventually, so instead of delaying it some more, he sucked up the courage to finally ask her.

"Can I ask you something?" He asked, waiting to see her reaction.

"… sure, go ahead" came her reply, still calm and tear-free.

That was a good sign, so he went on ahead, just like she said.

"Why were you crying?" he asked softly, afraid that a harsher or louder tone might provoke her again.

….

This was all very new to Draco. The part where he was being all sensitive and actually caring about another person's feelings. He didn't know what to make of it, but he decided that it was a start to something new and it wouldn't hurt to be a little less than evil once in a while. In fact, it was a great start to not being Lucius Malfoy. His father couldn't care less about anyone else's feelings but his own.

There was a long pause before any answer came from Hermione. She knew that he would ask her that question sooner or later, and even though she didn't feel like telling anyone about it just yet, she felt like she owed it to him for staying with her and for being so nice to her. That was the first time she actually felt grateful to Draco Malfoy for anything in the whole of their 6 and a half years in Hogwarts so far.

She could tell that something happened to him over the summer ever since his father got sent to Azkaban, but she didn't know what, exactly. Whatever it was, it changed him as a person; everything from the way he talked to her, to the way he'd been walking around alone lately, without his two cronies, Crabbe and Goyle, looking lost in thought all the time. He'd been missing from a lot his lessons, often not showing up for class without a particular reason. He didn't even seem to care about what people say and think about him anymore.

She could feel that he was looking at her intently; practically burning a hole in her face with his blue-grey icy eyes as he continued to stare at her, waiting expectantly for her answer. When he saw that she felt uncomfortable at his gaze, he looked away to the ground, concentrating on the floor instead.

Hermione finally concluded that he deserved to know, after staying by her side even as she mysteriously broke down in the middle of the hallway and cried her heart out.

'He must have been pretty taken aback.. .' she thought, trying to imagine the situation he was in earlier.

Hermione spoke quietly "It's my mother…"

Draco switched his attention back to her and listened intently as she spoke.

"She had liver failure… and has to undergo a liver transplant…"

He knew about the strange ways that muggles use in hospitals for certain types of illnesses and diseases. He had read about muggle operations that they perform in their hospitals and procedures of doctors in books. He read a lot. Reading always took his mind off of his father and things. It was one of his favorite pastimes, one that nobody knew about because everyone thought of him as an evil soon-to-be death eater, and death eaters certainly had to have more pressing matters to deal with and dark meetings to attend than to sit around and read books.

"She needs to find a compatible donor or they won't be able to start the operation…" Hermione stared straight ahead, biting back the emotion in her voice.

She was tired and worn out, and didn't feel like crying all over again. So she kept hold of herself and continued, without bursting into tears.

"She's waiting... we're all still waiting for an available organ that will match hers"

Draco looked at her closely. She wasn't crying, but she looked really sad.

"When will she get it?"

Hermione sat up straight and breathed in a deep breath of air. He waited patiently for her to gather herself before talking again.

"There are more than 80,000 people waiting for organs. And if they finally get a hold of one, they have to make sure that it is compatible to the patient, or the procedure might end up fatal. The vast majority of patients die while waiting…." She said that all in one shot, her voice a little shaky.

He was shocked to hear that. He never knew that there were so many people out there, suffering from chronic diseases and such.

'Their lives might just be as miserable as mine…' He thought to himself, sympathy slowly and steadily creeping its way up to him. That was another new emotion to him.

Or rather, his life might just be as miserable as theirs.

"I'm really sorry to hear that." Draco said, more sincerely than he had ever been to anyone about anything in his life so far.

He could only imagine the agony she must have been going through, waiting anxiously day after day for any news of a donor, and knowing that her mother might die waiting. He might not have experienced much love from his mother, but he knew that deep down, he still loves her. He knew that if something like that happened to his mother, he would somehow be upset over it too.

They sat in silence again after that until they heard chattering and sounds of feet coming from the other end of the hallway. Potions was over and it was time for lunch.

Hermione and Draco looked at each other and quickly got up from their spots on the floor. She turned to him and looked up at him with her big and bright cinnamon colored eyes.

"Thank you for being by my side and listening to me today" she said sincerely and gave him a genuine smile.

Draco returned her smile with one of his own, which was very rare at the time, because, well, because he was Draco Malfoy. He didn't smile. He smirked. But I guess there is a first time for everything.

"You're welcome."

And with that, they walked down the hallway and were instantly washed away from each other by a large sea of famished students rushing to get into the Great Hall for lunch.

xxxxxx