Chapter 9: How Could This Happen to Me
Disclaimer: JK owns!
Being a caring person was never his strong suit, but for some reason he cared. When he saw her lying by the lake, he cared. He cared that she was outside, in the dead of night, by herself, unprotected. For a second he reprimanded himself, 'Malfoy's don't care. About anyone, or anything.' Instead of turning his back to her and returning to the castle, like he should have, he stayed and watched her sleep. He leaned against a tree and watched her intently, each intake of breath, each flutter of her eyelids, and the slight tremor she gained. He supposed she was getting cold. The wind was starting to pick up and the temperature was steadily dropping. After careful consideration and a quick glance about (to make sure no one was watching) he picked up her shoes, and then Hermione.
On the way back the common room Hermione started shaking violently, as if suffering from a terrible cold, or a horrid nightmare. As he walked, Draco tried to rock her gently, hoping it would somehow sooth her. But it did little to stop the tremors, and eventually she started whimpering in pain. By the time they reached the Commons Draco was spent and actually very worried. He had attempted to wake her, but he could seem to wake his beautiful dreamer. Softly, he laid her on the couch, and began searching for a blanket or a sheet or something to heat her icy skin. It took him a minute to realize he placed her on top of the blanket. He gently wrapped it around her making sure to cover her hands and feet, hoping it would do the trick.
Draco started a fire to warm the frosty air in the room. Then he retired to an armchair across from the couch and resigned to watching her sleep. He didn't know what it was, but he felt he could watch her for hours. She was nothing uncommon, but something made her extraordinary. He took in every breath that she breathed and every flutter of an eyelid; the rise and fall of her chest and the quiver of rosy pink lips. Draco found himself growing weary. The sounds of the clock ticking in the background, the gentle sound of her breathing, and the cracking of dying embers slowly lulled him to sleep.
Draco woke with a start at the sound of a blood-curdling scream. He quickly stood, trying to remember where he was. It took a second, but the previous nights events came to him. He groggily looked at her. Hermione was sitting up wide-eyed and breathing hard.
Hermione's mind was going a mile a minute. The dream, the reality, the sick feeling she often got thinking about it; she felt she was going to throw up. She started crying. She started rubbing her stomach and crying hysterically. She mumbled, "How could this happen to me?"
She knew Malfoy was in the room, but at the moment she really couldn't cared. Whenever she had her episodes, that's what she called them, she never really cared who or what was around her. Sometimes the memories were too much for her to take. They always come back with such a vengeance. "How could this happen to me?"
Draco sat there shocked. The only time he had ever seen tears in Hermione's eyes was the day Ron beat her. Not only that, it was 5:30 in the morning, he barely got 3 hours of sleep. He sat up and cracked his neck, unsure of what he should do or say. Maybe he should walk away like nothing happened. That would be the very smart thing to do. But the smart thing isn't always the right thing, and that was what he was trying to do, the right thing. He sat up and met her eyes again. She had calmed herself considerably and now there was the sound of hiccups present in the room. She turned her eyes away from his; the embarrassment of her episode was sinking in. 'Oh god, I need to learn how to think before I act.'
"Are you alright?" He was rubbing his temples and staring at her. Hermione couldn't bring herself to look at him. She didn't know what she could say to that, of course she wasn't okay. And even if she said she was would he believe her? Her mind was so busy scrambling itself; she failed to hear him repeat his question.
When she didn't respond for a second time Draco stood and walked over to the couch and took a seat next to her. "Earth to Granger! Anything alive in there?" He practically shouted at her.
"Malfoy, there is no need to yell when you are less then 5 feet away from me." She said indignantly.
"Could have fooled me. Are you alright, I asked you twice and I never got a response?"
She knew she couldn't lie, but she sure as hell couldn't tell him the truth. He already knew more than anyone ever should. "I've been better, but I'll be fine." She looked around the room. This wasn't where she had fallen asleep, she knew that much. "Did you bring me up here?"
He nodded.
"Oh, thank you." She said quietly.
"Granger, what happened to you? Besides the beatings, what else did he do?"
She felt her face flush, "Nothing, Malfoy. Nothing."
"Really? So tonight's out burst was over nothing?"
She stood and dropped the blanket that was wrapped around her. "Look, Malfoy, I appreciate all that you've done for me the past couple times I've had a run in with Ron. Seriously, though, you need to just forget it happened. If I can forget it, I know you can."
She started walking towards her dorm room. "Granger, you know what your doing is wrong. He deserves to be turned in. If it was me or anyone else besides Potter and Weasley you would turn them in, in a heart beat."
She stopped. "But it is, Ron."
The next few days passed with out much incident. Hermione and Draco stopped avoiding each other and began planning the Halloween feast. They talked simply about the feast, nothing else.
Hermione did however avoid Ron like the plague. Everyone knew, or thought they knew, what happened. Apparently Hermione caught Ron cheating on her and dumped him instantly. Hermione went along with it and left it alone. Harry believed it well enough. Enough so, that he didn't question Hermione staying away from both of them. Seeing as he and Cho just got together, he had little time for either Hermione or Ron. In the back of her mind, Hermione was jealous. Through it all she still had her crush on Harry and it hurt her to see him so happy with someone else, especially when she was by herself.
In order to avoid sulking and moping, Hermione threw herself into work. The Halloween feast, homework, studying for N.E.W.Ts were all she thought about. In the middle of all this, something got messed up. She and Draco were called to the Headmaster's office. Hermione was scared. Malfoy wouldn't have told anyone, he swore he wouldn't. 'Oh, Merlin! What if he did! Ron will be in so much trouble, and I'll be the girl that everyone feels unnecessarily sorry for! Oh, God! Oh, Merlin!' Hermione's head was spinning when she entered the room.
Draco was already sitting there. When she looked at him, he seemed sullen, but you couldn't really tell. He always held his emotions in check. He refused to look at her and the fear was getting worse and worse.
"Good evening, Miss Granger."
"Headmaster." She said with a nod.
"I've called you two up here to talk about some arrangements that need to be made. Hermione, Draco will be a way for the next week. He will be leaving tomorrow; I was wondering how long the plans for the Halloween feast would take? Will I need to get a temporary head boy? Or will you and the prefects handle it?"
"Oh, umm…no the plans for the feast are done. I'm sure I can handle the rest of the duties. I mean it's only a week, right?"
Headmaster nodded. "Well in that case, you are both dismissed."
Draco stood up rather abruptly and left without a word. Hermione just stared after him but never asked a question.
The next morning Hermione didn't really miss Draco's presence. But one thing she was missing was a cigarette. She ran out yesterday and the next Hogsmeade weekend wasn't for another week. Hermione thought of something, but almost died because there was no way she could actually go through with it. But by 7 am that morning the craving was too much to bear.
Dear Malfoy,
I know I always yell that I don't need help, but I'm kind of in a bind right now. Seeing as you're out of school right now, and I'm locked in school right now, could you maybe please send a carton of cigarettes? I'll never ask for anything again! Please, please, please! Just let me know how much they are around you and I'll repay you. Oh, and sorry if I'm interrupting anything important.
Hoping to get a nicotine fix,
Granger
Satisfied and desperate Hermione sent the letter and then began getting ready for school. She was entering her room after a nice warm and rather refreshing shower. To find her owl perched on her windowsill. Two cartons of cigarettes and a piece of parchment were held in its talons. Hermione squealed with delight. And ran to Gerard, her owl. She quickly gave him a treat and relieved him of his parcel.
Granger,
Never expected you to be so desperate as to ask yours truly for help. Consider it a gift; hope they last you until next Saturday. And by the way, your owl is vicious, he almost broke skin.
Malfoy
Hermione wasted not time in sending a thank you reply, but did instruct Gerard to be kind to Malfoy considering he did her a great favor. She smoked her cigarette while she got ready then ran down to the Great Hall for breakfast.
She sat herself next to Neville and Harry, Ron across from her. He was avoiding her gaze. Everyone said their greetings and began to eat.
"Holy shit!" Harry suddenly exclaimed. Hermione looked at him with confusion and then noticed the Daily Prophet sitting in front of him.
"What?" She asked. He handed her the paper, it was opened to the obituaries. Hermione gasped when she saw a picture of Narcissa Malfoy. The obituary read like most. "I didn't know Malfoy had siblings. And it's odd, it doesn't mention how she died." She skimmed the paper. "Were there any other articles in the paper about her?"
"Nope."
Hermione actually felt herself feeling sorry for Malfoy, she knew what it was like to lose parents. And now she felt guilty about asking for something as trivial as cigarettes when he was mourning his mother. God, she was such a horrible person.
A/N: And after this the story progresses even more. Now that I have most, if not all of my bases covered I can push the plot forward. I'm sorry it took so long to get this up. Lots of drama has been occurring and school work needs to be done. I would love a review or two, actually more would be nice.
Jenn