Hermione walked back to her new, secret room still with butterflies, just not as many. She walked up the stairs to Dumbledore's office. Then she did the bookshelf password. The door opened and she saw Draco sitting on a bed, clutching his arm. His face was red and tears of pain were falling down his cheeks.
'Draco!' She cried.
She ran to him and panicked.
'What's wrong?'
Draco just held his arm and grunted in pain. He took quick, deep breaths over and over, trying to breathe. Hermione wrapped her arms around him, tears began falling down her cheeks seeing Draco in so much pain.
'Draco! Is it your scar? Is it the mark?'
Then she remembered Dumbledore talking about searing pain from the dark mark.
'I'm going to go get Dumbledore, I'll be right back.'
Hermione then shot out of the room. She found Dumbledore walking to the library, probably research on the charm.
'Professor, it's Draco, please hurry!'
The two made their way to Draco quickly.
'Voldemort is looking for him.' Dumbledore said calmly.
Draco was now kneeling on the floor.
'All right, my boy, I know you are in a great deal of pain, but unfortunately we can not do anything as a quick fix for the mark, as of this moment. But it would benefit you to lie down.'
Hermione and Dumbledore helped Draco to lie on the bed. Draco kept cursing under his breath, and neither Dumbledore nor Hermione scolded him.
Draco kept making cries of pain, and gripped his arm tighter and tighter with every cry. The mark was a bright scarlet color.
'Professor, when is it going to stop hurting him?' Hermione asked hysterically.
'He'll be in pain for some time, Voldemort is very angry. In case of shock, we should bring him to the infirmary.'
'No!' Draco cried, 'I want to stay here!'
'Because of the immense pain, you could go into shock. I'll go get some potion for it, in case you do then.' Dumbledore said, respecting Draco's wishes to stay put.
Dumbledore left to get the magical medicine.
Hermione ran to the small sink in the room and dampened a cloth. She went back to Draco's side and wiped his sweaty brow. She then grabbed Draco's free hand and he squeezed it tightly. She winced at the grip, but ignored it realizing Draco was in much more pain than she.
'You're going to be okay, my love…just a little while longer.'
'He's calling me…' Draco said agonizingly, 'He's angry.'
Hermione leaned down and kissed his wet brow.
'I know. Hang on, Draco, please don't go into shock…please…I know you're strong. You're so strong, you are doing so well…' She said, trying to comfort him.
Draco had had his eyes closed since she walked in to find him like this, but now he finally opened his eyes and looked up at her. He saw she her eyes were clenched tightly closed, tears falling from the corners. She was crying for him and his pain. Draco tried with all his might to regulate his breathing for her, not sound so horribly, no matter how painful it was.
He thought about what he would be doing right now if she weren't here with him? Would be just give up and go to Voldemort? Would he have to face all this pain alone?
Hermione then lowered her head and put her head in the crevice of his neck, still letting him hold her hand tightly. He felt her kiss his temple softly, and he could hear her crying quietly.
Dumbledore then entered with a bottle. Hermione leaned back up and wiped her eyes with her free hand.
'If Draco goes into shock because of the pain, force a cup or so of this liquid down his throat. You'll know he's in shock if his breathing becomes shallow and he no longer seems to be conscious. Do you want me to stay?'
'No, thank you, Professor. I think Draco would prefer it if it were just us.'
'No problem, I will be in the library with Professor Flitwick researching the charm is you need me.'
'Thank you, sir.'
Dumbledore nodded.
'Don't worry, Mr. Malfoy, the pain will soon be gone.'
Dumbledore then left and shut the door.
After about another half-hour of rapid breathing, and hand clenching, Draco began to stop sweating and cursing and his breathing became more regular. He slowly loosened his grip on Hermione's hand also.
Hermione smiled and kissed him.
'Oh Draco! You were so brave, you were so steadfast, you didn't even go into shock.'
'I've built up a pain resistant after all these years.' He said slowly.
He began to sit up, and Hermione helped him. He unclasped him arm, it was a dull red.
'Does it still hurt?' Hermione asked.
'Like hell…but it's tolerable now.' He said.
'I was so scared when I came in, Draco. I didn't think the mark would do that to you.'
'It does.'
'Has it done it before?'
'Twice. That's how he calls his followers. The more times you're called, the less you feel it. You become immune to it, unless he's really angry like he just was…'
Hermione wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face into his strong chest. Draco put his arms around her and kissed the top of her head.
'Thank you for being here with me, Hermione.' He said softly.
Hermione pulled away and looked at him.
'Of course, I don't want you to go through this alone.'
'I don't know what I would do if I was alone in this, I don't think I'd be able to withstand it for long.'
'Don't think about that. I am here and you are resisting it. Nothing else matters.'
'Before you left to go get your bag, we were going to talk about some things.'
'Yes…we were.' Hermione said hesitantly. 'What did you want to speak to me about?'
Draco took a couple breaths and then resituated himself so Hermione was sitting in-between his legs.
'Hermione, you know I love you,' He told her.
She smiled and sighed.
'Yes, and I love you too. I have a question though. There are tons of things going through my mind right now about what you want to talk about. I am scared it's about breaking up or taking a "break" will you please just tell me right now if it's anything like that?'
'Hermione, it's nothing of that sort. I don't want to break up.'
She smiled again.
'Good, because I think our relationship is especially strong right now.'
'I do too, that's why I want to speak with you about our relationship. As soon as I left your house yesterday, I began to think about my responsibilities right now, to my family, school, Voldemort, and to you. I wished that I could forget about all those things, excluding you, and I pictured my ideal life: you and I away from all this, thedeath eater attacks, secret relationships, and everything hindering our lives right now… Hermione, I love you and I would do anything for you. I know we've talked about our future before, and we've said we want to be together "forever" but I am here, asking you now, do you mean it?' Draco asked her, holding her hands and looking into her deep brown eyes.
Hermione nodded her head.
'Of course, Draco. I mean everything I say to you, about us. The relationship I cherish the most in my life is ours.'
'And you would stay with me forever? Even though I am a death eater, even though my father is after me, even though Voldemort is chasing me, even though your brother does not approve of us, even though the school is against us, through all that?' He asked her.
'Of course, Draco. I love you, I don't care about any of those problems as long as we're together. As long as you return my love, nothing matters.'
Draco then leaned in and kissed Hermione.
'You know you are the only girl that I've ever loved. The only girl I've ever stayed with for this long, the only girl I've ever truly cared about. You are the onlyperson that I miss when I am away for too long. You're the only person I think about constantly. Whenever I make a decision in my life, I think about you first…that's never happened to me before. If I died here, right now, I know my life would be nearly filled because I had you.'
Hermione's eyes were glossy. Draco was laying his heart open to her.
'Nearly filled?' She asked.
'Yes, nearly.'
'How could your life be fulfilled?' She asked.
Draco leaned in and kissed Hermione passionately, pressing his body against hers. As they kissed, he reached behind her and grabbed something from his coat lying on the bed behind her.
Draco stopped the kiss and Hermione asked again.
'How could your life be fulfilled, Draco?'
He placed his lips against her ear and whispered softly.
'Hermione, would you be my wife?'
Hermione drew back quickly, and saw he was holding a black velvet box. It was opened and a ring with three small diamonds were set inside it. It was styled to match the ring he gave her for Christmas.
Hermione immediately began to cry softly.
'Oh my god…' She whispered. She looked into his eyes and saw that they were longing for her. 'Of course, Draco.'
He smiled brightly and slipped the ring on the same finger the Christmas present was on. They joined to form a large engagement ring.
Draco kissed her again, and she kissed back happily. He could taste her wet tears falling gently down her face.
He leaned against her ear again.
'Now my life is fulfilled.' He whispered.
