Chapter 10: What You Became to Me

And Ill become

What you became to me

Draco woke the next morning feeling more tired than when he went to bed. It wasn't a mental tiredness that usually plagued him, but an aching stiffness that seemed to have washed over his body like a tidal wave. Then, he remembered why. He looked down upon the woman who was sprawled out on top of him. Her legs still gripped either side of his hips, and he smiled as he rubbed her back and woke her. "'Mione—Hermione, its morning." He called her name gently and groaned as she moved around him.

Hermione, as she moved, felt her passions rising up in her, and she opened her eyes and sat up on her haunches to gaze down at the man below her. In the morning light, he was even more wonderful than she had imagined. Her hands slid up his stomach and over his chest and she watched as his eyes rolled back into his head. "It's also Sunday." She purred before leaning down and trailing kisses across his broad chest. She felt his reaction to her, as they were still connected, and she smiled.

"We have work to do." Draco growled, though his tone made it clear he was no more willing to leave the bed than she was.

Hermione pressed her lips to his adam's apple, and then whispered back, "we have all day to work on my magic, Draco." Her voice was dripping with lust and pent up passion and it made Draco squirm in excitement.

"Consider this practice, then, love." Draco groaned, putting his hands on her hips and flipping her underneath him. "You must work on finding a happy memory, after all."

"I am certain I have found enough to make a thousand Patronuses." Hermione sighed, gazing half-lidded up at her blond haired lover.

"One more won't hurt." Draco whispered, kissing her heatedly as he began to move.

--

They stood in the Auror training arena once again. It was well past midnight, Harry had restarted the simulation and this time, Hermione did not hesitate to trust her magic. She fired spells she hadn't fired since the end of the Great War. Executed moves she hadn't performed since the last faced down Voldemort himself. Hermione made record time defeating the Death Eaters that came at her—binding, banishing, reductoing, any thing she could think of. She performed a few spells that Draco and Harry didn't know themselves.

That wasn't the real test, however. She had stood her ground against the simulated Death Eaters before—and she had beaten them. It was the Dementors which posed the true threat to Hermone's magic. As they entered the room, both Harry and Draco backed away so that Hermione became the sole target. She knew that they would do this—but she still faltered at first. She knew that her Patronus Charm had been altered by the entire ordeal. She wasn't sure she even still had the Otter she was so familiar with.

Usually when Hermione performed a spell, she could predict—feel—what the outcome would look like. Reductors were blue. Stunners were red. She saw it in her mind and she felt it, almost as if she could feel the color itself as it flowed through her body and out of her wand.

With the Patronus Charm it was different. When she'd first produced a fully corporeal Patronus—her otter—back in fifth year—she had committed the feel of it magical surge to memory. A day ago, when she was faced with the challenge, the feeling would not come. The first time she'd tried against the simulated Dementors, she felt nothing at all. Her magic got so far and then, it seemed to just come to a halt with in her—it refused to produce itself in her wand.

Now, for the second time she faced the Dementors, she felt something entirely different. The magic was willing to leave the wand, but the surge was entirely foreign to her. It caused her to hesitate.

"Hermione! Now!" She heard Harry yelling at her, and she saw the bright white light of the beginnings of his Stag.

"I can do this!" she cried back to stop him. Closing her eyes, several memories flashed behind her lids. All of them involved the blond man standing in the shadows watching her pensively. When her mind settled on the night before—when they'd finally been made one, she reopened her eyes and came face to ugly face with one of the Dementors. Gasping and ducking its lips as it bent its head to hers; she ran around it and pointed her wand to the sky, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

What came out of her wand was not the otter she was so used to. Instead, the form was much bigger, winged, and far more dangerous than her otter had ever been. Suddenly, she was reminded of another Patronus she'd seen just the day before.

--

Draco shouted the charm into the sky and light erupted from his wand. A great, masculine dragon flew from its keep and raced at the offending creatures, driving them back away from Hermione, himself, and Harry.

He'd cast this charm dozens of times during the war. It had become essential to keep the Dementors in line once they'd joined forces with the Dark Lord. He was forced to stay in a Manor where they lurked the dungeons and the perimeters. He had felt as though he were in Azkaban himself.

It was really no surprise that Draco's Patronus was the Dragon. It was everything Draco was. Strong-willed and protective of what he considered his. Cunning, dangerous, aggressive, powerful yet graceful. Deadly, yet beautiful. He liked this particular charm very much.

As he watched Hermione dodge the Dementors' attempted kiss, he raised his wand to shout the incantation. Luckily, Hermione beat him to it and this time, she produced a corporeal Patronus. Draco couldn't believe what he saw.

--

Harry's nerves were tense. This was the big test—had Hermione searched and found the memory that would work for her Patronus? Or would Harry once again have to intervene? He saw the Dementor lean over her and she did nothing—he began his incantation, and only stopped when he heard her shout.

He waited nervously as she dodged the cloaked figure and raised her wand to the air. When she shouted the charm a form did fly from her wand—but it was not the form he had been expecting at all. He found himself looking at Draco for some kind of explanation.

--

Hermione watched as the graceful feminine version of Draco's Dragon flew from her wand and charged at the Dementors bearing down on her. With its wings extended, it opened its mouth in a silent roar gnashing its teeth at the cloaked figures. The Dementors screeched and fled from the brilliance of the light.

Hermione watched mesmerized as she held tight to her wand and pushed against the force of the Dementors to guide them back out of the room. Her Otter was gone. It had been replaced by a creature she hadn't known existed within her. An overwhelming sense of happiness flooded through her as the light faded and she dropped her hand. The Patronus had matched itself to Draco's. She had only heard of that sort of thing happening once before—with the Auror Nymphadora Tonks and Remus Lupin. Tonks' Patronus became a wolf after she fell madly in love with Lupin.

Hermione turned to Draco and offered him a meaningful smile. She had done it. She had gotten her magic back. She'd produced a very difficult charm flawlessly.

Harry ended the simulation and jogged over to the two who were staring at each other. "Hermione, I thought your Patronus was an Otter?" he questioned, looking between the two.

"It was." Hermione said, looking at her friend and smiling. "But that was before I fell in love with Draco." She explained. "He helped me get my magic back, after all. He is the one I share my most happy memories with now." Hermione walked over to Draco and wrapped her arms around his waist. "It makes sense that the Patronus took after his, he's everything to me."

Harry blinked at the two. It was clear that Draco didn't know what to say in front of Harry. Harry stuck his hand out for Draco to shake. "I suppose congratulations are in order." He said, with half a smile on his face. "But I also want to thank you." He said, sincerely. "You brought my best friend back into my life and I don't know what I would have done if I wasn't made a part of this."

Draco took the raven-haired man's hand and shook it. "You have no need to thank me, Potter. It appears that I'll do anything for the one I love." He squeezed Hermione a little for emphasis.

--

When Draco and Hermione arrived back at the Manor both were energized and happy. Despite the fact that it was early morning and the sun was only an hour or two from rising, they sat in the kitchen and talked and shared tea and cookies. Finally, the subject drifted around to finishing Draco's West Wing.

Draco, honestly, had forgotten about the abandoned side of his house. He had been so caught up in getting Hermione's magic back to her, he put all else on hold. He conducted business through owl post and floo, made friends with his former enemies, even reacquainted himself with the Weasley's—a family who'd been estranged from the Pureblood line for generations.

"I've almost finished the elves' quarters." Hermione noted, sipping her tea. "They wouldn't let me do too much, honestly, no matter how hard I tried. I had to almost FORCE Mopsy to allow me to add things like linens and drapery to the windows and beds." She mused. "So the second floor is taken care of. The ballroom—though it could use some sprucing up—really shouldn't take too much effort. A few good household cleaning charms and its as good as new. As for the third floor—" Hermione paused gauging Draco's reaction.

"We could turn it into guest rooms." Draco said with a sigh. "I mean, what's in the past is in the past. The house is mine now. There's not Dark Arts stuff lying around for people to trip over and hurt them with. I think once we get all the old furniture out, change the flooring, maybe paint or something, it'll be as good as new."

Hermione nodded. "That sounds like a wonderful idea!" she clapped her hands together happily.

She took his arm and together they walked up the stairs to the third floor. Draco shuddered remembering his last visit to this place, but pushed open the double doors without a word.

"He and Hermione both went through each room, removing things that they could use in other parts of the house and adding or transfiguring new things to suit their purpose. His mother's study was turned into a lounge and common sitting room. The meeting room was turned into a large bathroom with a rather large pool-like tub for bathing in and a skylight that let in the brightness of the morning sun. There were several other rooms that were transformed into spare bedrooms, each with its own color scheme and unique features. One was done in shades of blue, another in green and silver, still another in red and gold. Hermione was meticulous and detail oriented when it came to the decorations and she got a few of the elves to help with some of the finer points. Draco admired her handiwork, admired the work he himself had done; already, the house felt lighter—less foreboding. The air was not heavy with evil the sins of others. Instead, it was bright and fresh with the love and care of his and Hermione's relationship.

--

When Draco and Hermione reached the end of the hallway, the paused. It was the last room on the floor—they'd been working most the day and it was now hours after lunchtime as they stood before Draco's old bedroom.

"We don't have to." Hermione said, remembering the last time they went into the room.

"No. I want to." Draco said. The emotions bottled up inside of him were whirring around but he opened the door and stepped through the threshold without any sense of dread. Hermione was right behind him.

"Draco?"

"I want to leave this room the way it is." Draco said finally.
Hermione didn't understand. "I thought you didn't want to remember your past?" she whispered to him, placing a hand on his arm.

"It's not about the past anymore, Hermione. I'm thinking about the future."

Hermione's brow knitted.

"I just need to mend some of the more…damaged… areas…" Draco said, and Hermione followed him

He made his way to the stain by the bed, he levitated the furniture that was sitting on the rug and removed the rug and banished it. He conjured a new rug, a green and silver one with intricate patterns and designs embroidered into its face, and placed it down underneath the bed and dresser. Next, he replaced the broken window sill and painted the room to cover some of the imperfections in the walls. He removed the wardrobe with his hand print in it and replaced it with a brand new one that matched the furniture already in the room.

Hermione beat him to the bathroom and stared at the shattered corner of the mirror for a moment. Silently, she banished the mirror and conjured a new one. This one matched the themes his room had already picked up, and its patterns mirrored the ones in the carpet Draco had just laid down. She stood back and looked herself over when Draco joined her.

"It's lovely." He murmured and kissed her temple. "Just what I would have picked."

"I don't understand why you insist on keeping this as it is." Hermione mumbled, but sighed and looked up at Draco. "Whatever your reason, I'm proud of you. I'm glad you didn't remove this room entirely." She smiled.

"Glad?" Draco asked

"Yes. This was your childhood, Draco. This is a part of who you are. It is true that some horrible things happened to you in this house—but I know there have been some truly wonderful moments here too." Hermione explained.

Draco smiled. "The most wonderful moments this house has ever seen have been during your stay Hermione. You have really helped me face my past and come to terms with who I am and where I come from—whether you know it or not." Draco pulled the curly-haired woman into his arms.

"It seems we're perfect for one another, then, Draco Malfoy." Hermione smiled. "You gave me back my magic, and I found a purpose in helping you learn to love yourself again."

Draco merely nodded his assent and dipped his head low to capture Hermione's lips with his own. "You have captured my heart, 'Mione, you have saved me from my loneliness and it was more than I could have ever asked for."

Hermione grinned, "I don't plan on going anywhere for a long time, Draco, so you have all the time in the world to properly thank me."

--

They ate dinner leisurely, sat by the fire and read to one another, cast a few wandless frivolous spells to make one another laugh, talked about their past, and made love over and over until they fell asleep in each other's arms.

The seed of love had been planted. It had been given fertile soil in which to grow, and it had blossomed into something truly amazing—something neither of them expected.

Hermione woke sometime in the night and laid thinking about the future. Would she and Draco marry? If so, did he expect her to have children? She remembered telling him about her…disability… when she'd first arrived at the Manor, but, things had been going so well for them that she had almost forgotten herself. She almost felt normal again.

She remembered what Draco said about his willingness to adopt—but Hermione couldn't help but feel disappointed at not being able to bear his children herself. She felt inadequate, incomplete, damaged. As she lay in Draco's arms, she wondered if he ever thought that far into the future. She wondered if he contemplated what they would do in a year or two; if they would still be together. It was with these questions in her mind that Hermione drifted back to sleep just before the daylight hours.

Little did she know that Draco had thought about the future and he intended to share it completely with Hermione. Little else did she know that doctors, no matter their talent in magic, are sometimes very, very wrong.

Author's Note:

10!

Ok. So it's coming to an end, folks. There will be just one more chapter—and epilogue. There will be resolutions all around, and maybe a surprise or two ;) stay tuned!

FM