Disclaimer: I'm sure everyone knows this already, but just in case you missed the past 15 disclaimers for this story, I am not J.K. Rowling and I do not own Harry Potter.
A/N: Well, here it is...chapter 16. I want to thank everyone for the marvelous reviews for last chapter, I hope that you guys enjoy this chapter as much as the last.
Enjoy!
Chapter 16: Dream's Reality
Jill froze with her hand on the doorknob. For a moment she stood in silence waiting to see if Hermione would speak again.
Sure enough, after a long pause, Hermione's quiet whisper uttered "Draco?" again. But this time it was weaker, as if it was taking all of her energy just to whisper his name.
Jill ran to the bedside, "Hermione?" But when she got no further response, Jill began rushing around checking Hermione's breathing levels yet again. Hermione did not seem at all distressed, though her heart rate had sped up a significant amount. However, as Jill watched, it began to slow once more, so Jill attributed the increase to the immense effort Hermione's body required to speak. Jill waited a few more moments, only venturing to leave when she felt certain that Hermione had gone quiet for the night. Immediately, Jill took off for the lobby, hoping that Draco hadn't left yet, but she was not surprised when she got down there and found no sign of him.
Jill heaved a sigh before trudging back upstairs; she would have to wait until he returned to tell him what had happened. The thought brought a wide smile to Jill's face, had she not heard it for herself, she would not have believed that Hermione had spoken. Jill had checked her stats multiple times, and there had never been any indication that Hermione's body was prepared to take such a monumental step. But that just goes to prove what a powerful healing tool love can bee; far more potent than any potion or spell in the world.
- - - - - - - - - -
Much to his surprise, Draco fell asleep the moment his head touched the pillow. He slept soundly all night for the first time since Hermione had gone missing. It had only been about a week ago, but to him it felt like a lifetime. And when the morning came, Draco did not jerk awake in a cold sweat as had seemed to become typical for him, instead he eased out of his sleep into a peaceful wakefulness.
He opened his eyes and thought he must be dreaming, for he found himself in his own room. He could not recall the last time he had slept in his own luxurious bed in the comfort of his own room. It felt good. The events of the previous night slowly came back to him as he stretched and blinked the sleep from his eyes. Thinking of the progress Hermione had made the previous day brought a grin to Draco's face.
Of course, now that he was awake all he wanted was to get back to Hermione. Still, he allowed himself a relaxing shower and a quick breakfast before he apparated to St. Mungo's because he could not recall the last time he had either. Once at St. Mungo's he made to go straight to Hermione's room, however since there was a healer and a few mediwitches inside, Draco went to the waiting room instead.
Draco was surprised and rather annoyed to find that Potter and several Weasley's were already there, waiting with Hermione's parents. Draco nodded to them all in brief acknowledgement before taking a seat.
All was quiet until Jill's familiar voice floated to their ears from the hallway. "I'm telling you, you are absolutely wrong about this."
"You young mediwitches don't take things seriously enough, sometimes there are problems that we can't see and don't identify right away that can be very dangerous. And mutterings like that might be a clue, or a sign that there's something more wrong that we have missed!" another, older sounding, mediwitch insisted.
Jill and the older mediwitch walked by the doorway to the waiting room, but when Jill caught sight of Draco and the others, she stopped and faced them all wearing a rather mischievous grin. "It was more of a word than a muttering. But if you're so concerned why don't you tell her family and friends, they're right here."
Everyone tensed and stared at the two mediwitches, one who was looking sympathetic, and the other who seemed to be having difficulty containing a smile.
"What is it?" demanded Mr. Granger.
"Corrine is concerned because last night Hermione spoke, and in some cases, apparently that indicates that there is a possibility of a mental complication that we were unaware of."
Mrs. Granger gasped and immediately began tearing up; the idea of her brilliant daughter suffering from any sort of mental damage was too much to bear.
"Now Jill, I told you, it's only when they speak meaningless words that there is cause for alarm. Perhaps what she said has something to do with her kidnapping."
At that point Jill could hold it in no longer, she snorted with laughter, drawing confused and annoyed looks from everyone, "I'm positive that it was not meaningless," she glanced at Draco, "and it has nothing to do with being kidnapped."
Corrine threw her hands up with exasperation, "what would you call it then, when a patient randomly says things like draco in the middle of the night!"
Draco, along with everyone else, instantly jumped out of his chair. Now Jill was beaming, as she looked Draco dead in the eye, "I call it love."
Draco didn't hesitate a moment before charging out of the room, nearly bowling over the two mediwitches in the process.
"Young man! You can't see her now! Young man get back here!" cried Corrine.
Jill cleared her throat, "that's her boyfriend, his name is Draco."
"Dra-" Corrine froze and glared at Jill, clearly not amused. "You knew that this whole time and you did not tell me!"
"You never asked," Jill shrugged.
"Well, we should still investigate as to what made her speak last night, because there was no sign she was ready to do so."
"I know the reason," Jill turned to address everyone. "Last night Draco snuck in her room after visiting hours-"
"He heard Hermione speak and he didn't tell us?!" cried Ron indignantly. Most other group, other than Hermione's parents who simply looked shocked, were wearing similar looks of indignation.
"No," Jill continued, "she didn't speak until after he left. I only heard her because I saw him leave and wanted to make sure that she was still alright."
"Oh," Ron muttered, though he still looked rather miffed.
"However, her speaking his name is very significant because it suggests that she's actually aware of people's presence, or at least Draco's, and that could mean that she's closer to waking up than her levels would suggest."
"So how long do you think it will be until she wakes up?" asked Mr. Granger.
"I don't know," shrugged Jill, "at this point I would say it depends on how much time Draco spends with her, since she seems to improve most whenever he's around."
- - - - - - - - - -
Draco didn't slow down until he was in Hermione's room; he went to her as fast as he could while keeping quiet. "Hermione…Hermione," he gripped her hand tight hoping she would wake up.
It happened much sooner than he'd anticipated. "Draco?" Her whisper was so quiet that had he not seen her mouth move, he would have thought he imagined it.
Draco nearly shouted with excitement at hearing her speak his name. Instead he kissed her hand several times, "Good Hermione, I'm here, I'm right here."
Hermione inhaled a deep breath, "I'm sorry."
"Shh, I already told you, there's nothing for you to be sorry for," Draco could not believe that after all she had been through, Hermione still felt she had something to apologize for.
"Thank you."
Draco could feel Hermione slipping away again, but he wasn't ready for her to go, he was too happy to hear her voice once more to allow her to fall unconscious again so quickly. "No, no, no, no, no Hermione. Stay with me, I know you can, please Hermione, please stay awake."
"I can't," she gasped, her breathing was steadily becoming more erratic.
"Yes, yes you can," Draco leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead, "relax, everything's fine."
Hermione took in several deep breaths, which seemed to calm her down. Draco held her hand tight, silently urging her to stay awake.
"Draco?" she whispered again.
"I'm here," he kissed her hand.
Hermione took in another deep breath and with tremendous effort opened her eyes.
Draco nearly cried out with joy at seeing her beautiful eyes, even if her eyelids were half closed. He let go of her hand and held her face instead; he almost thought he was dreaming as he gazed into her eyes. Hermione leaned her head into Draco's hand, simply enjoying his touch.
"What about the others?" she asked.
"They're all fine, and Pott…Harry killed the Dark Lord, so it's all over. He and a bunch of the Weasley's are here with your parents."
Hermione sighed, and Draco could even make out a ghost of a smile on her face.
"Can I see my mum and dad?"
"Of course, I'll go get them, but you have to make sure you stay awake."
Hermione closed her eyes but answered, "okay."
Draco stood and made to leave, but Hermione would not let go of his hand. "Hermione, if you want to see them, then you have to let go."
"I don't want to let you go," Hermione pleaded.
Draco could hear her breathing begin to hike up, a sign that she was stressing herself out again. Draco returned to her side, cupped her cheek in his hand, and kissed her deep. "I'm not going anywhere, I will just be in the other room whenever you want to see me."
"I love you."
"I love you too, more than anything," Draco kissed her once more before leaving.
Draco took his time walking down the hall so as to savor the indescribable happiness and relief that was swelling within his chest. He was oblivious to everything around him. When he arrived at the waiting room he stopped in the doorway, he found everyone was staring at him anxiously. They were all rather surprised to see him back so soon, but even more than that they all wanted to hear from him how Hermione looked.
Draco glanced around the room before focusing his gaze on the Grangers. He then spoke in a mellow tone, "she asked to see you."
Mrs. Granger gasped and clutched at her husband while Mr. Granger immediately began crying tears of joy. Everyone else let out cheers and happy cries. Mr. Granger stood and pulled his wife, who was beside herself with joyfulness, up with him. Together they passed Draco and made their way to their daughter's room.
Draco watched them go with a small smile before turning back to the others.
"So she's really awake now?" Ginny asked.
Draco nodded, "I don't think she'll be able to stay up for long, she nearly drifted off while I was in there, but she is awake, and now she knows that everything, and everyone," he glanced at Harry and Ron, "are alright."
"It's good that she knows that," said Ginny, "I'll bet she was worrying herself to death about everyone, so now she can focus on herself."
"That's what I thought," agreed Draco.
Somehow, it felt both like an eternity and like no time at all before the Grangers returned; both wearing rapturous smiles. "She's doing great, but she's sleeping now, "explained Mr. Granger.
"When she wakes up, she'd like to see Harry and Ron, and I'm sure she'll want to see Ginny too," added Mrs. Granger. There was a long pause before she spoke again. "Draco?"
Draco looked up at Mrs. Granger curiously as she walked toward him.
"Thank you."
If anything, Draco looked even more confused by that statement. He glanced around the room as if looking for an explanation, but it appeared that everyone other than Mr. Granger, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were just as confused as him. "There's nothing to thank-"
Mrs. Granger shook her head, and raised her hand to silence him, "you are the one she could feel, you are what brought her back, like Jill said, love brought her back."
Draco's pale face flushed pink, he wasn't accustomed to conversations such as this, which revolved around feelings and the like, and he seriously doubted whether or not he'd ever be comfortable with them. But hearing Hermione's mother say things like that to him, especially in front of others, just made him all that much more uneasy. He didn't know how to respond, so he just avoided eye contact with everyone in the room. His cheeks were positively crimson when Mrs. Granger leaned in to kiss his forehead, and he found himself even more unable to speak than before. Mrs. Granger did not take offence to his silence though, she seemed to understand how awkward he felt, and merely smiled at him.
- - - - - - - - - -
Over the next several days, Hermione's condition continued to improve by leaps and bounds. The healers still did not want her to move around too much due to their concern that she would over exert herself and damage her lungs, which were still sensitive. She was however able to stay awake for most of the day, and everyone was pleased to know that when she wasn't seeing visitors, she was avidly reading any book she could get her hands on.
One day, Draco arrived at St. Mungo's early with the hope that he would get a decent amount of alone time with Hermione. He was lucky in that no one else was there, and that Hermione was just waking up as he walked in. The smile on her face when their eyes met sent Draco's heart soaring. He hadn't realized just how much he missed seeing her smile until right then. The first thing Draco did was cross the room and give her a long and gentle kiss. It took quite an effort on his part to stop once he felt her kissing back with everything she had.
He backed away only a few centimeters; wanting to remain as close to her as possible. "I missed that," he whispered huskily.
"I'm sure you did," Hermione kidded.
Draco chuckled, "I missed you even more though."
"I remember feeling you here, like somehow I knew when you were with me. I think I dreamt you saying things to me too."
Draco saw a blush overtake Hermione's cheeks, "oh? Like what?"
Hermione's blush deepened, and her gaze left Draco's, "nothing, I don't even remember."
Draco did not believe her for a second, "aww come on, it can't be that bad. Juts tell me." Draco flashed her his irresistible smile for added effect.
Hermione bit her lip, "well, alright." She took in a deep breath, "basically I dreamt that you found something I wrote after I got kidnapped, and in it I said… some stuff, and you told me that you wanted the same thing."
Draco restrained his smile the best he could because he knew exactly what Hermione was referring to, but he did not want her to know just yet., "and what is it that we both supposedly want?"
"To be together forever," Hermione whispered. "I dreamt that you proposed." She turned her head completely away, clearly embarrassed and unsure of what Draco would think.
Draco smiled at her shyness and leaned in to kiss her softly; at the same time he pulled the ring from his pocket. After breaking the kiss, he turned Hermione's chin towards him, forcing her to look at him, and then he took her hand in his. "What I actually said was, that you had to wake up so that I could propose," he slipped the ring onto her finger without breaking eye contact, "and then we could spend the rest of our lives together."
It took Hermione quite some time to register what had just happened. At first she just stared at him in wide-eyed shock, seemingly unable to speak or to even look at the ring.
Her silence did not worry Draco, he realized that his proposal had probably come as quite a shock, so he patiently waited while she processed everything; all the while smiling encouragingly at her.
"Oh my god," was all she could say after regaining the ability to speak. "Oh my god," she said again as she finally broke her gaze with Draco to glance down at the ring. "It's beautiful," she gasped. The platinum band fit her finger perfectly, as if it was made just for her. And the opal stone transfixed her completely. The royal blue and emerald green seemed to swirl within the stone as she shifted her hand to see it in the light.
Draco watched with a look of pure bliss as Hermione marveled at her ring. Her eyes were sparkling even more than the ring, and the look on her face nearly caused his heart to burst. "Hermione," he waited until she was looking straight into his eyes, "will you marry me?"
For the longest time, Hermione silently gazed into his eyes. "I can't believe this is real," she finally whispered, more to herself than to Draco as she turned her attention back to the ring.
"Don't doubt it," Draco whispered back as he brushed a lock of hair away from her face.
Hermione closed her eyes at his touch, a huge smile on her face. "Yes, Draco I can't wait to marry you!" Hermione turned her attention back to Draco, and the moment their eyes met she grabbed his face and pulled him in for a long kiss. By the time she broke it, both of them were gasping for air. "I can't even tell you how happy I am," she said breathlessly.
"You gave me a hint just now," Draco winked, causing Hermione to giggle and her cheeks to flush.
Hermione gazed back at her ring, this time looking as though she was pondering something.
"Knut for your thoughts?" asked Draco.
Hermione waited a moment before responding. "Hermione Malfoy… Mrs. Draco Malfoy, I like it."
Draco chuckled and kissed her hand, "so do I."
"Does anyone know you were going to do this?" Hermione gestured to her ring.
Draco shook his head, "I wanted you to be the first to know."
Hermione grinned with delight, "then I can't wait to tell everyone! Ginny will probably have a heart attack when she sees this ring!" Hermione beamed at Draco, "I can't believe it, we're getting married!" Suddenly, Hermione threw off her covers and shifted her legs off the side of the bed.
"What are you doing?"
"You can't expect me to sit still at a time like this!" Hermione tried to stand, but it had been so long since she'd moved, it was much more difficult than she'd anticipated. Her joints were sore from lack of use, which caused her to stumble as she tried to stand. But Draco was there to catch her, and he supported her in his arms until he felt her grip on him slacken. He too loosened his grip, but refused to let go of her completely. Holding her next to him just felt too right to let go. Hermione gazed up at him and draped her arms around his neck. In turn, he leaned down to kiss her while lifting her completely off the ground.
And that was how Jill caught them when she entered the room to check on Hermione. "Well now, it looks like someone's feeling much better today."
The two broke the kiss and Draco gently set Hermione back down on the ground. Hermione hid her face in Draco's chest while he wrapped his arms tight around her. He looked back at Jill smiling and completely unfazed by the interruption.
"You look very happy today as well," Jill commented to Draco.
"Never been happier," he agreed.
Hermione managed to get over her embarrassment enough to face Jill, "I am feeling much better today." Then, momentarily forgetting about the brand new engagement ring on her finger, she raised her hand to brush her hair off her face.
The action caused Jill to gasp as she spotted the ring, "I can see why!"
As a reflex, Hermione again hid her face against Draco's chest. Draco chuckled, while urging her to stop hiding, "there's nothing to be embarrassed or shy about."
"I should say not," piped in Jill. "You've got quite a fiancé there, Hermione. Not too hard on the eyes either," added with a wink, causing Hermione to giggle like a little girl.
"Believe me I know," she said. "I'm just still in shock," she turned to Draco, "I didn't even realize how much I wanted this until I thought it was too late. So to have it happening now, it's a dream come true. I'm still waiting for myself to wake up."
"This is better than any dream," countered Draco, "because it's real."
"It is real isn't it?"
"Do I need to pinch you to convince you?" Draco asked, half joking. He then lightly tickled her sides.
Hermione squealed with laughter and made to back away, but on her unsteady feet she lost her balance. Again, Draco was there to catch her. "That wasn't pinching," she cried in mock anger, "that was tickling!"
"So? Could you have slept through that?"
Hermione paused to think, "no, I guess not."
"Then you know you're not dreaming."
"Then I truly am the happiest girl in the world right now," she smiled as she pulled Draco's head down for another kiss.
By then Jill realized that the newly engaged couple had forgotten about her, or at least Hermione had. Jill had the feeling that Draco didn't care one way or the other if she witnessed he and his fiancé kissing. She waited a moment before interrupting, "I'm sorry to intrude, but I really do need to check Hermione's levels to be sure that everything's still healing well."
Hermione tore her lips from Draco's the moment she heard Jill's voice and immediately began muttering apologies. Draco on the other hand took it in stride; he was far too exhilarated for anything to bother him today. "I'm guessing that means you want me to leave?"
"Just for a few minutes, you can wait just outside the door if you like.
"Alright," Draco stepped into the hall and leaned against the wall beside the door wearing a blissful smile. He had finally proposed; sure, it hadn't happened at all how he'd planned, but she had accepted which was all he cared about. They were going to be married! Even though Draco had been thinking about it for quite some time, the significance and reality of it was only just beginning to hit. Draco closed his eyes and allowed himself a brief daydream about what life being married to Hermione would be like; it was a wonderful image. But after nearly ten minutes, Draco left his daydream and began to wonder what was taking so long. Surely they hadn't found anything wrong; other than being tired and sore, Hermione seemed perfectly fine to him.
Just as Draco was about to barge in, the door opened and Jill stepped out and looked at Draco with an odd expression. "Take good care of her Draco."
This statement took Draco by surprise, but after the initial shock he nodded, "I will."
"It was nice to meet you."
"You too," Draco got this feeling that they were saying goodbye, but he didn't want to get his hopes up too high, just in case he misunderstood.
Jill smiled at him, and then walked off to check on another patient in another room.
Draco then stepped inside Hermione's room and was pleased to find her beaming at him. "What did she say?"
Somehow, Hermione's smile got even wider, "she said I can go home!"
"Really?!"
"Yeah!"
Draco ran forward and scooped Hermione up in his arms, when he put her back down, he found tears in her eyes. He wiped them from her cheeks with his thumbs and gently kissed her forehead. "Let's get you home then." Draco led them down to the lobby. Hermione was still recovering, so her movements were slow and she used Draco as support while walking, but that didn't matter to either of them, both were so happy that nothing could ruin it now. When they got to the lobby and as they were approaching the apparation area, Draco paused.
"What's wrong?" asked Hermione, cocking her head at the look on his face.
"You said you could go home, which home are you going to?"
Hermione looked taken aback, "I hadn't thought about that," she thought aloud. "Well, I definitely want to see my parents, and of course I have to go back to Grimmauld Place to see Harry and Ron…"
Draco sighed and rolled his eyes; he had a feeling he knew where this was going.
"And of course all my stuff is there, so I'd need to pack it up," Hermione eyed Draco mischievously.
Draco smirked as he caught onto her meaning, "you mean that?"
"There's nowhere I'd rather be than with you."
Draco couldn't help himself, he pulled Hermione into a deep kiss, which left her with no doubt that he wanted more.
Hermione however, pulled away when she felt his tongue against her lips. She did not fail to notice the hint of disappointment in his eyes, so she gave him a chaste kiss on the lips and whispered, "let's save that for later, shall we?"
Draco's disappointed expression immediately changed into one of eager excitement, "promise?"
"I promise. You're not the only one who misses that you know."
"We better get going then," Draco winked. "To your parents' house?"
"Yeah."
Draco held both of Hermione's hands as he apparated the two of them to the entryway of the Granger household. Hermione looked around with delight "Mum! Dad! I'm home!"
"Hermione?" Mrs. Granger's voice called from the kitchen, she sounded as if she did not believe her ears.
"Yes, it's me, they let me go!" Hermione made to run forward, but found that it hurt too much, so instead it was her mother who came running.
"Oh goodness Hermione!" she cried at the sight of her daughter, "it's so good to see you here, away from that hospital, and out of that bed! You look wonderful!"
"I feel wonderful Mum, better than I ever have."
Mrs. Granger pulled away to examine her daughter more closely. Upon second glance she could tell that Hermione was glowing, she was beaming brighter than Mrs. Granger had ever seen. Mrs. Granger cast a glance to Draco, sensing that something more was going on than just Hermione being released from the hospital. However, as usual, Draco's face betrayed nothing more than a smile.
"Is dad here?" asked Hermione.
Before Mrs. Granger could answer, Mr. Granger's footsteps were heard coming down the stairs. "Hermione!" he smiled, "I thought I heard you." He rushed forward and enveloped his daughter in a big hug. "It's great to see you up and about again sweetie, and you look great."
Hermione beamed, it was clear to Draco that she wouldn't be able to contain her excitement much longer. He chose to remain off to the side while Hermione greeted her parents, and waited for her to break the news. His heart began pumping as he began to anticipate the reactions from Hermione's parents. He wasn't worried that they would not approve, he was just anxious to hear Hermione announce it.
Hermione put her hands behind her back so as to hide the ring until the right moment. "Mum, Dad," she smiled, "I have something to tell you."
Hermione's parents both stopped short, now they both could tell that something important was coming.
Hermione thrust her hand with the ring forward and announced, "Draco and I are getting married!"
Both of Hermione's parents looked absolutely shocked. Mrs. Granger's hands flew to her mouth as she gazed between Hermione, the ring, and Draco. Draco stepped forward, and wrapped his arm around Hermione's waist as they both waited for one of her parent's to say something.
It was Mrs. Granger who spoke first, "oh my god," she gasped as she took Hermione's hand to look closer at the ring. "It's beautiful. Oh honey I'm so happy for you!" Mrs. Granger hugged Hermione tight and then hugged Draco as well.
Mr. Granger meanwhile hugged his daughter, "I can't believe my little girl has grown up so fast, and now she's getting married." When he pulled away everyone saw tears at the corners of his eyes. "And you," he said to Draco, "you make sure you take good care of her."
"I will," Draco nodded.
Mr. Granger smiled and extended his hand to Draco. Draco shook his hand and found himself pulled into another hug. He made a mental note to get used to the hugging because clearly he was going to be doing a lot of it as a part of this family.
When he pulled away, Draco noticed that Mr. Granger was eying him skeptically, and Draco began to think that perhaps Hermione's father might not be quite as accepting of he and Hermione getting married as Draco had thought. Mr. Granger opened his mouth and Draco braced himself for a lecture.
So he was noticeably surprised when Mr. Granger asked, "you two didn't sneak out of the hospital to tell us this did you?"
Hermione pretended to be offended by the thought, while Draco breathed an inward sigh of relief.
"Of course not Dad, we would never do a thing like that! Although, I did have to beg Jill to let me go…"
"You did?" asked Draco, who was rather surprised that Hermione would do such a thing.
"Uh huh, it took a while, but in the end she saw that there was no way they'd be able to keep me there. I am way too excited to lie in that bloody bed all day." Hermione gazed fondly at Draco as she spoke of her happiness, causing him to smirk back.
- - - - - - - - - -
Mrs. Granger insisted on making a celebratory brunch in honor of Hermione returning home, and of the engagement. Once they started eating, Mrs. Granger and Hermione began eagerly discussing wedding related topics. Draco half listened, though he found that actually listening too much caused a big knot to form in his stomach, so after a while he tuned them out. In the middle of the brunch, the doorbell rang, and Mr. Granger volunteered to get it. Not that anyone heard the doorbell other than him; the women didn't seem to hear anything besides each other and Draco was too wrapped up in gazing at Hermione and thinking about how perfect his life had suddenly become.
But of course, whenever Draco entertained the thought that his life was perfect, Potter seemed to come along and ruin his fun; and today was no exception.
From the entryway, Mr. Granger called, "Hermione, there's some people here to see you!""Hermione!" Draco heard Harry, Ron, and Ginny cry.
Hermione squealed and tried to run to them, but ended up walking rather stiffly instead with Draco at her side making sure she didn't hurt herself. Behind them, Mrs. Granger smiled at Draco's behavior; it warmed her heart to see him so protective of her daughter. Mrs. Granger had no doubt that with him Hermione would be happy and protected.
"Hey guys!" Hermione beamed, the moment she saw her friends.
Draco meanwhile stayed off to the side and silently bid farewell to all hopes of having any sort of alone time with Hermione anytime soon.
"We were so worried when we found your room empty! But then when they said that you were sent home we were so excited we came straight here," Ron was explaining.
"I can see that," Hermione laughed.
"You should have seen Ron, he nearly went crazy on them when we couldn't find you," chuckled Harry.
"I did not!" Ron disagreed.
"Ron, they were about to strap you down and take you to the insane ward," Ginny teased with a roll of her eyes.
"You're exaggerating," argued Ron, though his bright red ears suggested otherwise.
"We're just so happy to have you back Hermione, we missed you," said Harry.
"You have no idea how good it is to be back!"
Harry and Ron then began catching Hermione up on everything that had been going on since she was brought to the hospital, but Ginny remained uncharacteristically silent. Her silence did not go unnoticed for long, "Ginny, is something wrong?" Hermione asked, causing everyone to look at Ginny.
But Ginny either did not notice, or did not care, she was staring at a certain object, on a certain finger on Hermione's hand. Though only one person seemed to immediately know what she was looking at.
Draco smirked, and moved next to Hermione "I think little Weasley spotted something," he whispered into her ear.
Hermione gasped, and covered the ring with her opposite hand while a bright pink tinge overcame her face, and a smile spread over her lips.
This reaction caused Ginny to gasp with a look of awe and extreme excitement on her face. "You did not!" The question, which wasn't really a question at all, was directed to Draco, which only served to further confuse Harry and Ron.
Draco's lips quickly formed his trademark smirk, "yes, I did," he stated as he snaked his arm around Hermione's waist.
"AHHHHH!!!" Ginny screeched and launched herself at Hermione, giving her a backbreaking hug. When she let go, she slapped Hermione playfully on the shoulder, "how could you not have told me the minute I walked in!"
Hermione tried to look apologetic, but she could no longer suppress her exuberant smile.
"Tell you what?" asked Ron.
"Yeah, what are you talking about? And what did Malfoy do?" Harry added.
The last question caused both Hermione and Ginny to burst into a fit of giggles and Draco to look even smugger than he already did. He was very tempted to answer the question, but he had a feeling that the news would go over better if it came from Hermione. So instead of speaking, he patiently waited for the girls' giggling to end while silently reveling in how happy Hermione looked at that moment.
When the giggles finally did subside, and Hermione had caught her breath again, she held out her hand for her friends to see and said in a voice of pure bliss, "Draco asked me to marry him."
A/N: Now how will Harry and Ron react to that?? Find out next chapter! And please review to let me know what you think! Thanks:o)