Chapter 22. Now, I would like to say congratulations to GooseyCorsair for guessing what would happen next and how it would happen…Anyway, I still need to know what you guys want me to do with this story…I'm not sure whether it really needs a sequel or what, but I'm going to at least continue this one until they are out of Hogwarts and right now its about a month after Christmas…

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Chapter 22: Why Didn't I Think of That Before?

Hermione, of course, slept with Draco again that night, thinking on what Blaise, Harry, and Ginny keep telling her. She wished to God that she believed them, but she was becoming unsure about the love of her life. She spent time alone, just looking at him, thinking. The more she was left alone with her thoughts, the more she believed that he wasn't going to wake up for her or Blaise.

"I know what you're thinking…" said Blaise, walking towards her from the doors leading to the infirmary.

"No you don't." she said calmly.

"Yes, I do. It's written all over your face." he said just as calm.

"Oh really? Then what am I thinking?"

"You're thinking that he won't bother to wake up for you…that he'll just leave you hanging because you aren't good enough for him." he said casually. Hermione's face dropped.

"How the fuck did you do that?" she asked with anger in her voice.

"I told you it was written all over your face…" he said.

"Oh, shut up." she said annoyed that someone can tell what she's thinking.

"He will wake up for you…you mean everything to him." Blaise said warningly, but a hint of smile.

"How would you know? You aren't him." she said a bit more nastily than she wanted it to be.

"Trust me…I know." he said and walked away. Hermione sighed. Damn him, how the hell did he do that? she asked herself. Oh well, at least he didn't reprimand me for skipping dinner she thought, not bothering to talk to her conscience.

She finished up the rest of her homework and walked back to her dorm to get pajamas. She didn't want to leave stuff in the infirmary, just in case more occupants came. She walked inside her dorm and saw that it was starting to collect dust on the furniture, shelves, and presents that she had not bothered to open without Draco.

She sighed and walked up to her room and got pajama pants on and walked back to Draco's bed side. She looked at him with longing. How she had wished to feel his warm touch and for him to hold her when she lied down next to him at night. She wanted to feel his lips on hers so much, but she didn't know how much longer she was going to last without him.

Her parents had begun to worry about her because she didn't want to come home for Christmas. Her brothers missed her much and wanted to see her, they hadn't even seen her after Joseph died and now her fiance, she told them she was engaged to Draco the first time she wrote to them after he fell into a coma, was in a coma and she wouldn't even leave his side. She wrote to them and told them she was fine and that she would see them some other vacation.

She'd received all of their gifts and notes of 'Get well soon' cards for Draco and her. She hadn't opened their presents either.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hermione was lying down on the bed next to Draco when she awoke in the middle of the night from a warm sensation that had crawled over her, the exact same one that had crawled over her when she put the rings on.

"What's going on?" she asked aloud, as Draco's body glowed gold and then hers did as well. She suddenly had an urge to do something she'd been afraid to do. She kissed him on the lips, deeply and passionately.

She kept kissing him and about after five, long seconds of kissing his warm lips, that weren't kissing back, she realized they began to move. She didn't stop. She kept kissing him harder as she felt the person next to her began to move and kiss her back just as longingly.

"Draco!" she piped as she pulled back. Why didn't I think of that before? She asked herself.

"Hermione." he said hoarsely, "What happened to me?"

"You've been in a coma for a month." she said, her face falling a bit. He pulled her chin up and kissed her again.

"What happened to you?" he said, looking her over. She was very skinny and pale still. She had bags again under her eyes and her eyes were so dark brown that they looked black.

"I…um…I…" she stuttered. Draco's body was still stiff from not moving at all. He managed to get a glass of water sitting on Hermione's side of the bed. She quickly helped him drink some down and put it back.

"Thank you." he said, "What happened?" he asked. He was referring the night of the duel.

"You killed your father, but you got landed in a coma. I don't know exactly, I passed out from blood loss the same time you passed out." she said nervously.

"Come here," he said, opening his arms for her. She didn't hesitate. She climbed in with him and savored his touched that she had waited over a month for.

"I'm so happy you finally woke up." she said.

"It was weird," he paused, "being in a coma."

"How? Isn't just like sleeping?" she asked.

"No, I heard everything you guys were saying. I saw everything that was happening, but it was like I was watching a movie." he said, staring into space.

"You…uh…heard everything?" she gulped.

"Yes…how could you think that I would just leave you?" he asked seriously, his eyes turning a misty gray.

"It felt a lot longer than a month for me," she explained, "everyday it seemed like it was a year… I don't know."

"I love you more than anything in the world." he said.

"I love you too." she said and kissed him again.

"Why didn't you eat when they told you to? You could have gotten really sick, Hermione." he said more lovingly than harshly.

"I wouldn't have cared…" he looked at her disbelievingly, "my life would have been nothing without you."

"I thought you were a really smart witch…" he said and smirked and she looked at him like he was stupid. He laughed.

"You said that it worked when I wake up to the call of sex…. I knew that was all you had to do to get me up, plus, use the rings."

"I didn't think about it. I was afraid to kiss you." she looked away from him.

"Why?"

"I was afraid that you would be in a coma for a long time and you would never be able to kiss me back, so I thought I shouldn't drive myself insane by kissing someone that I thought would never be able return it." she said with tears falling.

"I would rather die than not kiss you back." he said and pulled her up to him and kissed her, this time not stopping. They pulled away after several savored moments.

"You want to get something to eat?" Draco asked.

"I'm not hungry." she said.

"Too bad, you're eating. Just looking at you makes me feel horrible. You're so skinny and pale." he said.

"Aren't you tired anyways?" she asked, avoiding how many pounds she'd lost.

"Oh, of course," he said, sarcasm dripping from his voice, "I just slept a month and I'm so tired…" he pretended to be exasperated.

"Oh shut up." she said. He didn't listen and pulled her up. He pulled her down to the kitchens, carefully avoiding Filch or a professor. He got them a load of food and went back to the Heads' Dorm with Hermione.

"Damn, didn't the elves clean?" he asked, wiping his finger on the desk and looking at it. It was practically black from dust.

"I don't know." she said, and walked to the tree. He followed and shoved a pumpkin pasty in her mouth. She chewed it slowly and relentlessly.

"How come you never opened these?" he asked pointing to the presents.

"I didn't want to do it without you….I want to ask you something though…"

"Shoot."

"Why did you get me that odd book? It came in handy, but what made you think of it?" she added.

"I know my father more than anyone will know…I knew he would do something to me that would require that page that I marked. I've actually used it before on Blaise from a beating my father had given us…except I didn't kiss him though, I just had to use the rings." he added quickly. They laughed.

"I see…that's cool, I'm glad you thought ahead." she smiled at him. Her face seem to light up more every minute now that he was awake. Her eyes weren't black anymore either.

"Me too. Here, this one's for you." he said and gave her a gift.

The love of my life,

I love you so much and I can't wait until we're married to make it permanent. I would never dream of leaving you for anything.

Love,

Draco

She read the note it had in it the ribbon. She looked up at Draco.

"All you had to do was read that and you would've known that I wouldn't just leave you…" he said with a hint of sadness.

"I'm sorry…I just couldn't bear to be in here for more than a minute." she said truthfully.

"Understandable….open it." he said. She did so. It revealed a beautiful velvet box, for a necklace. She flipped it open and gasped. It was a beautiful necklace, with a thin gold chain and it had held a locket that was heart-shaped. There were diamonds going around the edge of it. She opened it up and saw two great pictures. On the left side, was Draco and Sarah in a moving picture at the ages they are now. On the right, there was a picture of Joseph, he was waving at her and she saw that it was a school picture she had seen at home.

"I love it…" she said and looked up.

"How did you get these pictures?" she asked.

"We did it when you weren't around and Joseph just gave me one from your home." he said.

"Thank you so much." she said, as tears of joy sprang to her eyes, but she didn't let them fall.

"Here, I got you a gift too." she said and picked a gift up from in front of her.

"You didn't have too…" he said seriously.

"Yes, I did. Open it." she demanded lovingly. He opened it and saw a chain connecting to what looked like a dagger with a dragon curled around it. He took it out and put it on. It was silver and about two inches tall and an inch wide. The dragon was twisted around the blade and hooked onto the handles.

"Whoa, this is way cool." he said.

"I thought you would think so…" she smirked.

"How did you know I like dragons?" he asked curiously.

"That night when you were reading the book about dragons. The first day we got here. I saw the title of the book you were reading when I sat down in front of you."

"I see….You just remember everything, don't you?" he asked sarcastically. She laughed. They continued opening her presents until they were finished and tired. They, Hermione too, ate a little bit more and then left for the hospital wing before Madam Pomfrey had a heart attack if she didn't see them there.

Hermione cuddled up into his arms and pulled the blanket over her. She felt his arms pull her tighter and sighed happily. She'd been waiting over a month for that feeling and was glad she had it now and hopefully…forever. They fell into a deep sleep.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Draco!" Blaise shouted as he ran into the infirmary. Everyone knows that Dumbledore doesn't miss a trick and had obviously warned Blaise, Ginny, and Harry. Blaise came first down to Draco's bed. Harry and Ginny walked in, out of breath from running after Blaise. Blaise's yell hadn't woken up Hermione or Draco, who were still asleep in each other's arms.

"Draco!" Blaise whispered loudly. Draco's stirred, but didn't wake.

"Draco." he said with voice this time. Harry walked on the other side of the bed to where Hermione was.

"Blaise, obviously you don't know how to wake these two up…" Harry said, "watch and learn." Harry raised his hand and went to wake Hermione up, but of course, like before, Draco's hand snatched his before he touched her.

"I told ya so." said Harry. They laughed. Draco opened his eyes warily. He looked up and saw Blaise.

"Hermione, wake up, everyone's here." he said, but she didn't move, she was too comfortable in his arms.

He turned back to everyone, "I wonder if it works on her…" they looked at him oddly, but he continued. Draco leaned down and kissed Hermione. She awoke instantly and was kissing him back. He was still kissing her, while leaning up as she followed suit, not breaking their lips apart.

"It works on you too." he said when the pulled away.

"I guess so." she smiled. Draco stood up and hugged Blaise. He was so happy that Draco was awake, he was ecstatic.

"I knew you'd wake up, man." he said cheerfully.

"Actually, all was needed was a simple kiss." he said and looked at Hermione. They both explained the events of the night before. Hermione started telling her part on how she woke up and had an urge to kiss him and he told the rest.

"Whoa, who knew that the person that was dying most for you to wake up…literally," Blaise added, referring to Hermione, "was the same person that could wake you up."

"I know… I got her to eat though…last night." Draco said, Hermione blushed, but because she knew it was true that she was dying slowly without Draco and given another month or two she would have been. Draco still smiled at her red cheeks, even though he knew the reason she was blushing in the first place.

Just then, Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey came in. He glided over to their bed, holding a bag of lemon drops. He offered them one, but they refused.

"I see that our young Mr. Malfoy has finally awoken." his eyes twinkled.

"Yup, good as new." said Draco.

"I can see that." Dumbledore chuckled. "Now that we have that sorted out, how about a little breakfast? I see Mr. Zabini didn't want to wait that long to see his friend." he chuckled again.

Everyone nodded and proceeded out the doors, Draco and Hermione still in their pajamas. Dumbledore opened the doors wide and every head in the hall turned their way. Everyone applauded for the five kids trailing behind Dumbledore.

"Your defeat against your father was in the Prophet and everything." whispered Hermione.

"Thanks for the update…" Draco said. He kissed her as they were walking. They could hear jealous sighs as Draco did so. Hermione couldn't help but smile to herself as she sat down next to Draco at the Gryffindor Table along with Blaise.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I think that was a lot better, don't you? Anyway, I don't know how to continue after the wedding, which will be in the next chapter or so. I need to know if I need a sequel or just an epilogue. I really need to know, help me out here please!

K