A/N: Oh man, Blackians. This chapter was definitely an interesting one to write for me. But it gives us a little more insight into some past events. We're slowly getting closer to finding out what is happening with Hermione. I hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, only the plot that deviates from the original story.

XoXo,

Elle.

Chapter 6

Two hours. Draco had been tossing and turning in bed for two hours. His mind was churning and his thoughts were tumultuous. The close encounter with George had shaken him. He hadn't had those feelings in close to six months. He hadn't been that close to another adult in half a year, aside from his mother. He'd distanced himself from everyone because he'd gotten scared. He'd begun to open up to George while simultaneously having George open up to him. It was his first run as a therapist and grief counselor, and he had made many errors that he hadn't had the experience to know not to make.

He knew better now, of course. But that didn't stop him from falling right back into the web that he and George had created. Draco threw the covers off his body and sat up in the bed with a sigh. He ran his fingers through his hair, tugging at the blond locks. The sooner Hermione woke up, the sooner George went back to his own house, the better off Draco would be.

Draco swung his feet off of the bed, placing them flat on the cold floor. If he couldn't sleep, he may as well go and check on Hermione. As Draco stood, he adjusted his boxers and pulled on his robe, tying the sash. He left his room, pausing by Scorpius' room, carefully twisting the handle. A sliver of light speared into the room, landing across the foot of the bed, illuminating the room enough to allow Draco to see his son sleeping peacefully in his bed.

Scorpius was sprawled out across the twin sized mattress, taking up as much space as his tiny body could manage. Draco smiled as he watched his little chest rise and fall for a few moments, before closing the door carefully and quietly. He moved through the suite, summoning his bag to him as he got to the door. Out in the hallway, he took a deep breath, closing his eyes. He knew that he was going to have to prepare himself to see Hermione wearing Tori's old night dress.

Draco opened the door to the suite George and Hermione were in and the sight that greeted him sent a strange sort of jealousy through him. George was on the bed with Hermione, his arm under her head, cradling it gently as he stroked her hair. He was talking quietly to Hermione, almost whispering into her ear. Draco couldn't hear what he was saying to her, but he felt like he was intruding, so he cleared his throat.

George looked up, his eyes red and exhausted, but he smiled tiredly at Draco. "Couldn't sleep either?"

"No, I just tossed and turned, so I decided to come and check on Hermione. No changes?" George shook his head, carefully extracting his arm from under Hermione's head, and sat up. Draco walked over, brushing his hand across her forehead, checking her temperature and brushing her hair back.

Draco could feel no fever. Hermione wasn't sweating and her face was calm, not betraying any signs of pain. He opened his bag and withdrew his equipment, putting the cuff around Hermione's slender arm. He puffed it up, checking her blood pressure. Everything had remained stable throughout this whole ordeal, which was promising for Hermione. "We should probably try some more potions now, since we're both awake." George nodded and Draco dug into his bag for the potions once more.

When Draco held up a purple one, George tilted Hermione's head back in preparation, but Draco shook his head. "No, this one is mostly vapor. She needs to inhale it. So we need to hold our breath." George nodded, releasing Hermione's head and leaning back, at Draco's nod they both took a deep breath and held it.

Draco watched as the vapor disappeared into Hermione's mouth and nose as she inhaled. He found himself once again drawn into the hope that maybe this time, she would wake up.

XxX

February 14, 2001

Valentine's Day. The day Hermione had dreaded the most all her life was here and she couldn't be more excited for it for once in her life. She had slipped into a little red dress and matching heels, dressing every bit the part. For the first time in the last few years, she had used magic to tame her hair into a sleek style.

Hermione had mostly applied light makeup, but she put on a daring red lipstick to match the dress and painted her nails black, using a quick spell to get them to dry quickly.

Tad was due any moment and Hermione had begun to get nervous. This was a big night for them. They had been dating for eight months now and had finally decided to take things to the next level. It was a big step for Hermione and for Tad as well. They had both had lengthy conversations about their past sex lives, revealing how many lovers they had each had. Much to Hermione's surprise, they had each had two.

When she entered the den, she looked around the room. There were pictures of her parents around, but they had dwindled over the years, having been replaced with pictures of Harry, Ron and the Weasleys throughout her Hogwarts years. Now, there were photos of her and Tad as well. When she and Tad had talked about their past sexual encounters, his head had tilted at the mention of Harry. They had talked briefly about him before and so it had surprised him that Hermione had slept with her best friend.

It was funny, though, to see the look of confusion on his face when Hermione had said she'd slept with her best friend's brother. She'd said it so off-handed that she didn't think about how it would have been perceived. Hermione had quickly clarified however, that she'd meant her other best friend's brother. George had been her first. They had grown close over the summer, after fourth year.. In her fifth year, she had lost her virginity to him. They'd dated for most of the year until the debacle at the Department of Mysteries.

The knock on her door brought her out of her reverie and she moved to the front door to open it. Tad stood on the other side, a dozen roses in his hand and a smile on his face. "Hi, babe. You look stunning, as usual." He leaned in for a kiss, lips lingering, sucking and pulling at hers.

Hermione wanted to give in right there, but Tad had said he'd made them reservations at The Torrid. It was a brand new restaurant and she was surprised he'd been able to get the reservations at the last minute. Hermione took the roses from him and brought the red, velvety buds to her nose and inhaled slowly. The scent intoxicated her, filling her lungs and leaving on a slow breath as she exhaled. "I'm going to go and put these in a vase. I'll be right back."

She left him in the den and went to do exactly as she'd said. When she was finished, she returned to Tad with a smile. "Alright, let's get going. We don't want to be late."

An hour and a half later, they were in the restaurant finishing their meals. Hermione was beginning to get full, so she pushed her plate away. She had heard that the tiramisu was to die for, and she just had to have some. Hermione looked across the dimly lit table at Tad with a smile. He returned her glance with a smile of his own, pushing the plate in front of him away. "Dessert time?" He asked.

Hermione nodded her head, wiping her mouth with her napkin. "I do believe it is. I'm going to have that tiramisu, what are you going to have?"

"I believe I'll have the same." Tad answered quietly as he summoned the server.

Hermione began to stand from her seat with a grin. "Well order for me then. I need to run and powder my nose. I'll be right back, honey." She leaned down and gave Tad a gentle kiss and left the table to go find the restrooms.

When she returned to the table, their dessert was awaiting her and Tad was smiling up at her. Hermione resumed her seat and crossed her legs under the table. She picked up her fork and began to eat her dessert quietly, aware that Tad was watching her as he ate his. She blushed, her fork halfway to her mouth, "What?"

"Just admiring how beautiful you look in the candlelight, babe." Tad answered her, taking another bite of his dessert. Hermione grinned back at him and brought the fork past her lips. She closed her eyes in satisfaction as the flavors of the tiramisu hit her tongue. When she went back for the second bite, her eyes were still closed. Her fork made an odd clinking sound on the plate and she opened her eyes to find a large diamond poking out from under her dessert and Tad on one knee.

Hermione's eyes began to fill with tears as Tad removed the plastic wrapped ring from the plate and unwrapped it, holding it up for Hermione to see. "Hermione Jean Granger, these last eight months have been eye-opening for me. I am a military man through and through. I never thought I would find someone I would fall in love with, let alone want to marry. I thought I would be married to my post for the rest of my life. But you are an amazing woman and I can't think of anything better than spending the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?"

Awestruck, she was clueless as to how to answer, so she just nodded her head with a huge smile on her face. Tad's answering smile was just as wide as he slid the ring on her finger and leaned up to kiss her gently, cradling her face in his hands. It was a special night indeed and it was only going to become more so. Tad called for the check and paid for their meal in a hurry to get back to Hermione's house.

XxX

George looked at the frustrated blond across the way, his hair sticking out at odd angles from his fingers having made multiple passes through it. It was now half past three in the morning and none of the potions they had tried had worked to wake Hermione. Draco was beginning to lose faith in himself and George couldn't stand it. He rose from the bed and walked around to the other side. George ran his hand through Draco's hair, gripping the platinum locks and tilting the other man's head back. "You stop that now."

Draco exhaled a sigh, his grey eyes filled with torment and disappointment. "I feel as if I've failed her, George. Nothing that I've done has worked. The human body can only last so long without food and water. Magical coma or not. She can't die, too. I couldn't save Tori, I can't lose her, too." His voice broke at the end and George felt his heart squeeze in his chest at the thought of losing Hermione. They hadn't dated in years and years, but he still cared deeply for her. And from the looks of it, losing Hermione would destroy Draco as well.

George used his leg to spread Draco's apart and step between them, stepping closer to Draco. He bent his body over, his forehead resting against his former lover's as they locked eyes. "You said it yourself, though. If she's put herself into this coma, whether consciously or not, it is up to her to wake herself up. Wait, what about Legilimency? Snape taught you Occlumency and Legilimency. What if you try it on her, to see if we can get an idea on why she is in this coma? Maybe then you could brew a potion that would be tailored to her specific needs?"

Those grey eyes widened and Draco leaned up, his lips meeting George's in a kiss. It was a fleeting kiss, but it was enough to simultaneously reignite old feelings and create an air of awkwardness in the room around them. George instantly backed away from Draco, who cleared his throat and averted his eyes to Hermione. "You're a fucking genius, George."

Draco's skills in Legilimency were so great that they rivaled that of Voldemort's before he had been defeated. He didn't need his wand or to say the incantation aloud for the spell to work. He didn't even need eye contact. George had always been in awe of his talent and sat back and watched now as Draco leaned over Hermione, placing his fingers on her temples. Those shoulders of his lifted as his chest expanded with a deep breath. George could see Draco's jaw tightening as he concentrated and it didn't seem to be a good sign.

After five minutes had gone by, a sweat had broken out on Draco's brow, but he hadn't given up on Hermione yet. When ten minutes had gone by without any sign of Draco relenting, George walked over and pulled him away. A tortured gasp pulled from his lips as his lids flew open, "What the bloody hell did you do that for?"

"You weren't getting anywhere and you bloody well know it. Any longer and you would have passed out on her. Then what good would you have done?" George looked at Draco and shook his head. The wizard was even more pale than normal, sweat rivulets running down his temples, his hair damp. Just attempting Legilimency on her had exhausted him. Draco was swaying, trying to maintain his upright position on the bed. "Lay down before you fall off onto the fucking floor," George said, sighing quietly as he pushed Draco down next to Hermione.

No sooner than that blond head hit the pillow next to the bushy brown hair, Draco's grey eyes rolled back into his head. George went into the bathroom to retrieve a damp washcloth, returning to wipe the sweat away from Draco's face and throat. He then moved to the foot of the bed to watch as two of the people he cared most for slept next to each other. He had to admit, they would make a lovely pair. George brought his fingers up to his lips, they were still tingling from the feel of Draco's lips. While he had dreamt of Draco the last six months since they had called things off, that kiss had sealed their fate. Whatever had been between them was in the past. Sure, the sparks were still there, but he could tell it was something neither of them wanted to pursue.

As for Hermione, what they had in fifth year had been profound for both of them, an experience neither of them would forget. They were each other's first lovers and it had been fun learning what they each liked. He had always hoped in the back of his mind that one day he and Hermione might try again. But the Department of Mysteries had changed her, Sirius' death had changed her. The war had altered them both.

George shook himself free of that downward spiral and focused on the here and now once again. What Draco had said was true. The human body could only last so long without food and water. George hoped like mad that Hermione woke up before that happened. They could dribble water down her throat, but food-that was another story.