Wow! It has been a long time since I updated this, and for that I am very~ sorry! Life got really hectic. But I will try to update more frequently!
So in this chapter I took the liberty of creating some wizarding history! I hope that you enjoy it!
So to recap since it has been a while:
"Severus! She's waking up!" Draco shouted again and all three adults leapt to their feet and followed Draco to the room.
They crowded around her bed , all trying to be there as her as she shifted in her sleep and groaned softly before her eyes flickered open.
Chapter 4:
"Hermione, oh God, Hermione!" Jean cried when she saw her girl open her eyes. Never mind what that man said -Hermione was her daughter. Jean pushed past her husband and brushed her hand across Hermione's forehead, but Hermione didn't respond to the touch.
"Hermione...honey-?" Jean murmured softly, worry thick in her voice.
Noah reached out and grabbed his baby's hand, "baby girl?" He whispered gently.
Severus raised his wand, ignoring the clenching in his gut and cast several diagnostic spells on the girl. Severus' eyes widened when he noticed how much her magic had expanded, but other than that anomaly, her vitals were stable.
Severus cast a mild lumos and pointed the light at Hermione's blank stare and was shocked to see two jade green eyes staring at him. Hermione's eyes dialated at the light and she took a shuttered breath. Slowly her gaze focused and she glanced at the man holding a wand in her face.
Hermione just stared at her professor in confusion. Was she...she had been fighting and then...and then nothing. Where was she?
"Ms. Granger, can you understand me?" Severus asked, raising a silencing hand to the girl's mother to quiet her.
Hermione stared blankly before nodding her head in confirmation.
"Do you know who I am?"
She knew him, but there was something so different about him. Before, being around this man had set her on edge. She had always respected him, but she had never been comfortable around him. Now...it was as if he was a different person. She felt at ease, and safe with him. She nodded her head at him.
"Honey! Oh honey, its mummy." Jean cried and Hermione turned her head at the voice. She saw her mother and father standing over her, tears in their eyes, and Hermione could feel her own eyes grow wet. She opened her mouth to try and speak, but nothing came out except a harsh cough. Hermione's body jerked painfully.
"Drink, Ms. Granger." Severus demanded, and Hermione parted her lips without hesitation. She nearly groaned as cool water hit her throat. She was so thirsty.
"Slowly." Severus instructed softly, pulling the cup from her mouth and replaced it with a mild pain reliever.
Hermione grimaced at the taste, but chugged it down and her throat, and felt the pain ebbing away almost instantly.
"Th-thank you sir." She croaked, reaching for the water once again.
Severus gave it to her, and pulled away when she began to drink too quickly. Hermione sighed when she couldn't drink anymore and let her head fall back on the pillows and let her gaze travel around the room and was shocked to see Draco Malfoy standing behind her father's tall frame.
"Sir, what-"
"Oh honey rest. It's okay." Jean cooed softly, seeing distress on her daughters face.
Hermione noticed she wasn't at home, and was beginning to panic.
"Ms. Granger you almost died." Severus stated bluntly, and Hermione's eyes focused solely on him, grateful that he was going to tell her what the bloody hell was going on.
"The spell Dolohov hit you with at the ministry last term had an unexpected impact on your magic. I will explain it fully once you have recovered more, Ms. Granger so do not give me that look."
Hermione shrank into herself at the reprimand, but nodded sharply in agreement.
"The effects of everything began to eat away at your magic, and was in turn killing you. Myself and young Mr. Malfoy have been your primary caregivers since you came into my care three days ago. The magic that was killing you has been removed, and your core is regrowing at a rapid rate. You should be back to full health in a few days. Only then will I explain the situation to its fullest."
Hermione nodded, processing everything she was told, giving a curious glance to her school nemesis.
"As for how things will proceed, Mr. and Ms. Granger, you are welcome to visit, but my home is small and I do not have the space to house you. We will discuss a schedule later." Severus listed, then turned to Draco.
"You will continue to care for Ms. Granger until her core has fully recovered."
Draco's eyes flitted to Hermione for a brief moment before bowing his head in accord. He would not argue with that tone, and definitely not in front of others.
"As for myself, I must prepare for the coming term, and will be gone tomorrow. Ms. Granger, if you cause yourself unnecessary harm, or disrupt anything within my home I will give you detention for a month scrubbing pots as soon as the term begins, am I understood?"
Hermione tried to look innocently at her professor, but, judging his raised brow he wasn't buying it.
"Yes sir." She promised.
"Then I will leave you three to yourselves for a moment. I will return in an hour to take you home." Severus informed the Grangers, who nodded in understanding.
Once the door was closed Hermione sighed, "I'm sorry."
Noah frowned, going to the other side of the bed, and sitting on the edge. "For what pumpkin? You have nothing to be sorry for."
Hermione shook her head, but her throat hurt too much to say much more. She closed her eyes and took a breath. "I scared you."
The two parents looked at each other before cuddling close to their baby. "Just rest baby. We are here, and you are safe."
Hermione nodded, sleep claiming her before she could really fight it.
Hermione sighed as she felt herself waking. There was a gentle warm breeze drifting across her skin, and she could feel the warmth of the sun on her arms. She let her eyes open slowly and she blinked away the sleepiness, and almost felt as if she was dreaming. Draco Malfoy, her long time tormentor was sitting casually in the chair beside her bed with a book propped open against his knee. Hermione could see the intense focus on his face as he read, his bottom lip pinched between his forefinger and thumb.
"What are you reading about?" Hermione whispered, her curiosity getting the better of her. She saw the boy tense in shock before he released his lip and his glacial eyes turned on her. His face was hard, but there was something different about him that Hermione couldn't put her finger on.
Draco studied the pale girl on the bed for a moment and felt like he was being broken apart by her curious gaze. He wasn't certain, but Draco wondered if he was the only one that noticed that her eye color had changed. Before her eyes had been a soft brown. Now they a pale green. The color should be sharp, but on her…
"Your eyes are different, did you know that?" Draco asked instead, unable to stop the words from tumbling from his mouth.
Hermione startled, her brows raising in disbelief at him. "What do you mean?" She asked in exasperation when she realized he wasn't going to elaborate. Her throat was still a bit sore, but the potion that she had taken seemed to have done the trick.
Draco didn't respond right away, instead he closed his book and leaned forward, letting his elbows rest on his knees. "Your eyes," he started, "what color are they?"
"Honestly, brown. My eyes are boring brown." Hermione snapped in frustration.
Draco frowned. He had never thought her eyes were boring, but he wasn't surprised at her reaction but shook his head. "Not anymore." He murmured quietly.
Hermione eyed the boy and shook her head, "what are you doing Malfoy? Why are you being so...so not you. Where are the insults? Why are you here?"
Draco sat back and eyed her, trying to decide on what to tell her. "When Severus brought you here, you were dying. I helped to save your life because without you, Potter has no chance in killing the Dark Lord, and despite what you think about me, Granger, I am not my father. I have no wish to kiss the feet of a madman."
Draco almost began to squirm under her intense eyes, but then she smiled at him, and something within his chest squeezed.
"You never told me what you were reading about." Hermione asked, extending an olive branch to the Slytherin, unsure as to why she was even bothering.
Draco eyed her, noting on how she avoided everything he had brought up. He recognized the offering of peace and decided, what did he have to lose…
"Warding Magic." He said with a smirk when he saw her eyes light up with interest.
"Can you read some? Honestly if I lay here much longer I may go spare with boredom." Hermione requested, not really expecting him to conceded and actually read to her. She wasn't even sure why she was even trying. But somehow knowing that Malfoy had helped to save her life, and the fact that he was being so...nice...it had her changing her perception of him. Merlin she was actually enjoying his company.
"You just woke up and you are bored already?" Draco shook his head at her but figured he didn't have much to lose. He opened the book to where he had left off. He had found it after the conversation the night before, wanting to know more about the ward that was placed on Hermione.
"Protective enchantments, or wards are complex charms that layer upon other charms to create a barrier. Wards can act as containment barriers or blockade barriers. The earliest forms of warding magic was established in the late 700s to protect witches and wizards from those who desired their persecution. It soon became common practice for magical people to ward their homes and properties with a ward to keep non-magicals, or muggles from witnessing magic.
Today the most common ward for shielding magic from Muggles is a repelling ward. It dissuades Muggles from going near a warded area."
Draco paused in his reading and noticed that Hermione's eyes were closed, but she had a small smile on her face, and Draco felt his lips quirk up in a small smirk in response before he continued reading.
"In the late 700s two popular wards were used by the wizarding populous. The first ward was primarily used for homes and properties. It not only repelled Muggles, but it also disillusioned the property by either changing its appearance or making it invisible altogether. The later was a containment ward that was cast on newborn witches and wizards to contain the magic within their magical core without hindering its growth. Developed by Freidrich Gunter in central Europe, the Eindammung Ward helped Witches and wizards to prevent their children from accidental magical outbursts that had once led to their persecution. The ward was cast annually until the child was of age to control their magic, and then the ward was removed.
Due to the creation of warding magic the wizarding world experienced an increase in birth rates pushing the population away from extinction toward a thriving society. By the late 800s, the magical population had increased to the point where Magical communities began to establish safe from Muggles. Pureblood families did away with the containment wards as they were no longer necessary; However, despite the newfound security that the wizarding world was experiencing, it was not until the establishment of Hogwarts in 990 that the Eindammung Ward began to lose popularity with the commonwealth."
Draco paused when his wand began vibrating loudly, an alarm telling him it was time for Hermione's nutrient potions. He gently closed the book and placed it on the table near his chair.
Hermione opened her eyes when Draco stopped reading and she watched him stand gracefully. She smiled softly, her eyes filled with contentment. She hadn't been read to since she was a little girl and Draco had such a smooth timbre voice that she felt her whole body relax. He had an excellent reading pace and Hermione hadn't wanted to stop listening to him.
"It's time for your potions." Draco commented before stepping out of the room to retrieve the potions from the lab. He was a bit surprised at how smooth this was going and even more shocked that he was enjoying it.
Hermione sat up when Draco left the room and she peered around before swinging her legs over the edge, gently placing her feet on the floor, wiggling her toes before placing some weight on them. She felt solid, so she stood up quickly and nearly fell over as her legs began to give out on her. But she didn't fall. Instead she was surrounded by warm strong arms.
"Merlin's balls, Granger, I leave you for two bloody seconds and you are already trying to get me killed by hurting yourself." Draco grumbled as he caught her just in time.
Hermione 'hmmed' as the smell of ink, clean linen and sandalwood invaded her nose. She decided she quite liked how Draco smelled.
Draco sat her back on the bed and gave her a hard look. "Well?" He demanded.
Hermione had the decency to look sheepish. "I just wanted to go to the loo Draco." She admitted.
Draco startled. It hadn't occurred to him, now that she was awake that she would need to do things like...that.
Draco cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Right, well first drink these, and then I will help you to the bathroom."
Hermione nodded and accepted the first potion. She looked at it in distaste for a moment.
"Honestly, I am not trying to poison you." Draco huffed in irritation at her hesitancy.
Hermione glared at him. "It's not that. I just hate the taste of these things. I love potions and magic, but the taste of them...ugh"
Draco just raised a brow stared at her. Hermione rolled her eyes before unstopping the vial and downing the foul thing quickly. "Ugh" she groaned as Draco took the bottle and handed her another.
Hermione chugged it back just as fast and glared at the bottle before handing it back to him.
"Nasty buggers." She commented. "Now, take me to the loo, I need to get...clean." She finished lamely.
Draco snorted. But set the vials down before lifting her into his arms in one fell swoop.
Hermione shrieked loudly, "Draco! Put me down!"
"So that you can fall on your face? No, Severus would be quite cross with me." Draco responded lightly before carrying her to the guest bathroom. He was shocked at how light she was and tried to ignore at how good she felt in his arms. He walked into the small bathroom and set her down on the edge of the tub. Before frowning. What was he supposed to do now?
Hermione settled down on the cold tiles and began to fidget. "Are you going to stand there and watch me bathe or are you going to get out?" Hermione teased.
Draco huffed. "You will call for me when you are finished." he demanded more than requested before stalking out in mild embarrassment leaving the door slightly ajar so he could hear her if she needed him.
Hermione sighed before she started the taps and began peeling off her sleepwear. Now that she was alone she had time to think about everything that had happened to her. When the tub was filled enough, Hermione slipped in and sighed in pleasure at the hot water over her tired body.
She scrubbed her skin until it was pink before settling back to soak.
"Your eyes are different, did you know that?" The words floated in the forefront of her mind and Hermione turned to the mirror and started shocked at her appearance. Her hair was a few shades darker, her skin paler, her nose was slimmer but, it was her eyes that were the biggest change. They were a light jade green…
Suddenly she remembered a cold blackness and then two pale identical green eyes staring back at her.
Ok! So that was Chapter 4! I hope that you liked it! I pinky promise to update more often. :)
Eindammung : German for Containment
I hope that my history fit well into the HP universe, and that it wasn't too boring to read through! I actually enjoyed creating a bit of back history.
I know the relationship between Draco and Hermione seems a bit fast, so I will get into that a bit more in the next chapter!
Let me know what you think!