Author's Note: This story is dedicated to my friends Lu Mezenga, who encouraged me to write it and Stefanie, who was the inspiration for my OC. I own anything, all rights go to J.K. Rolling. Read it, enjoy it and review it! :)

Chapter 12: As Time Goes By.

A month after Hermione gave Draco the bad news, everything seemed the same. Scorpius was still in a coma and nothing had changed. He was stable, but there were no improvements. In the beginning, Draco had had more faith, but his hope started to fade away slowly with time. He was still worried and his mood changed each day. There were some days in which he could gather all his hope and just think about the best. In others, he'd get so sad, he barely left his bed, not even to see his own son at the hospital, which he did almost every day.

Hermione, on the other hand, didn't stop. On the month that passed, she continued her every day routine, because Scorpius was just another patient she had to treat. However, she wished she could feel like he was just a number to add, but like every other patient that stayed in the hospital for a while, she couldn't shut her feelings down, even though she was a professional. She knew it was part of the job to deal with people, but she couldn't not connect with her patients since they were very special to her.

Since the day Hermione had spent the night at Draco's house, they grew closer, as he was at the hospital most of his time. Even though it wasn't visiting time, Hermione was, now, walking to the hospital's cafeteria to meet Draco, who was waiting for her after seeing his son. On her way, Hermione was remembering the morning she woke up at Draco's.

Hermione woke up with the sunshines coming from the window. She got up and followed the coffee smell that was coming from downstairs. In the kitchen, Draco was finishing a sandwich and he was wearing just the pajama pants. Hermione stopped at the door and stared at him for a bit more than a second, which was enough time for him to notice it.

"What's wrong, Granger?" he smirked.

"Nothing," she shook her head. "I'm not fully awake yet."

"Look, I know you like what you see, but please don't drool on my carpet. It was very expensive."

"Very funny. I wasn't drooling."

"If you're saying so. I made some scrambled eggs. I hope you like it."

"Sure, can you grab me a cup of coffee, please?" she sat down next to him.

"I'm the owner of the house and you're giving me orders?"

"First of all, I asked please. Second, it's good to see you in a better mood. Did you sleep well?" she started to eat.

"I was so tired that I slept right away, which is a good thing. Considering the situation, I would've spent the night rolling in bed. What about you?" he said getting her the coffee.

"The same. I usually sleep right away too, because I'm always tired from work," she said and drank her coffee.

"You've probably already heard this, Granger. But you work too much."

"I know," she smiled. "But I like what I do and when you become a medwitch, you have to sacrifice some part of your life, but I don't mind it, actually."

"Yeah, right," he snorted.

"So, how are you feeling?" she ignored his last comment.

"I'm still worried. Do you think something happened to Scorpius during the night?"

"If something did, we would've known. I'm heading to the hospital now, but it's too early for the visiting time. I would suggest you to work a bit and by the middle of the morning, you go there, ok?"

"Are you telling me to work? Are you crazy? Scorpius is much more important than that!"

"I'm glad you think like that, but I can't let you see him earlier. It's the hospital's rules, not mine. Working was just a suggestion. You should do something just to kill time, to get your head somewhere else than in Scorpius, so you won't get too worried or anxious to see him."

"Fine, I have some stuff to do. So, I'll get it done today and later I'll go to the hospital."

"That's great, Malfoy. I have to go now, because I still have to go home. Thanks for breakfast," she said leaving the kitchen.

"Granger, wait," he said and she turned to him. "I just wanted to say thank you. Again."

"Don't say thank you too much to me. I might get used to it."

"You better get used to it, because this is the new me and I'll say thank you any time I need to."

"Ok, I won't complain about it, then," she smiled again.

After that, she left his house and went to her apartment. Hermione took a shower and headed back to the hospital as usual.

Since that night, Draco and Hermione ended up creating a routine that went through the whole month. Draco would visit Scorpius during the day and he would wait Hermione to have a break or to finish her shifts at night. Then, both of them would drink coffee at the hospital's cafeteria and sometime they would go somewhere else near the hospital. They've started to spend a lot of time together and by the end of the month they were almost best friends. Draco was still worried about Scorpius and with time he started to tell Hermione his worst fears as a father. Hermione didn't know what to think at first, but she was glad that he trusted her, because even though they had spent years fighting and arguing, she trusted him too now and he became a very good friend to her.

Hermione continued to walk, but she was interrupted by Stefanie, who seemed to be in a very good mood.

"Hermione! Guess what?" the nurse smiled.

"What now, Stefanie?"

"Are you ok?"

"I'm a bit tired, but I'm still meeting Draco for some coffee."

"I see… You're meeting Draco like you always do and you're drinking coffee like you always do. Don't you get tired of doing that basically every day?"

"We don't just drink coffee. We talk… A lot, actually."

"So, you're getting to know him," Stefanie smirked.

"Yes, but let's change the subject. What are you going to tell me?"

"Oh right… Remember that guy I've been seeing for the past two week?"

"Daniel, if I recall, right?"

"Yes, do you remember that I told you we had a huge fight because he didn't want to be in a committed relationship?"

"I do, actually. You've spent the whole night crying and eating ice cream with me in my apartment. Anyways, what about him?"

"He just came here to apologize! Can you believe it? I mean, he even asked me to be his girlfriend! I have a boyfriend now, Hermione! And he is not the bastard I thought he was."

"That's great Stefanie. At least you're not thinking about Dr. Collins anymore."

"What? No! I mean, he's my boss. It's unethical," they both laughed.

"Talking about Dr. Collins, I haven't seen him much lately and in the few times I saw him, he gave me some strange looks," Hermione said.

"What were you expecting? The man is in love with you. Besides he has been staying at the hospital until late and what have you been doing after work at the same time he leaves? You've been drinking coffee with another man! And what a man Draco is, right?" Stefanie said, but then the smile on her face faded. "Oh my God! I shouldn't have said that. I mean, I have a boyfriend now and Draco is your future boyfriend. What an awful friend I am. Good friends don't keep eying a friend's future boyfriend. Oh Hermione! I'm so sorry."

"There is no problem Stefanie. Draco is just my friend and nothing more…"

"For now," Stefanie muttered.

"Anyways, you're a great friend and about Dr. Collins, I'll talk to him later," Hermione ignored her friend's comment.

"Great! Now, I'm going home, because I have a date with my brand new boyfriend. Enjoy your evening!"

"Good bye, Stefanie," Hermione said.

Stefanie left and Hermione entered the cafeteria, where Draco was waiting for her on a table with two cups of coffee.

"Why did you take so long?" he asked.

"Hum… A bit grumpy today, aren't we?" she mocked.

"Your coffee is cold now, Granger."

"You didn't have to buy mine. If you had waited for me to get my coffee it wouldn't be cold, Malfoy."

"But why were you late anyways?'

"Are you checking up on me and my schedule?"

"A bit. I don't like to be kept waiting."

"You don't like too many things. Do you mind if we go somewhere else tonight? I'm a bit hungry and I didn't want to eat sandwich again."

"There is no problem. Where do you want to go?"

"It's a surprise. It's one of my favorite restaurants and I think you're going to like it."

"We'll see if it is as good as you're saying. Let's not rush our judgments, ok? " he smirked.

"Let's go, Malfoy," she smiled.

They left the cafeteria, but they met Dr. Collins on their way out. Max stopped and looked at Hermione, who was very uncomfortable with the situation.

"Dr. Collins," she said. "Are you leaving already?"

"Hello, Hermione. Yes, I'm leaving earlier this evening."

"I'm not the only one who works too much." She smiled weakly. "Anyways, Dr. Collins, this is Draco Malfoy. Malfoy, this is my boss, Dr. Collins."

Both men shook hands, but all of them could feel the tension between them.

"The famous Draco Malfoy. I heard about you and your family a lot and now I can finally say that I met you in person."

"Thank you, Collins. I must say that I've heard very good things about your hospital and my son is being treated very well here."

"And how is your son doing?" Dr. Collins asked.

"He's still in a coma, but hopefully, Dr. Granger will make him better."

"I'm sure she will. She is one of my greatest doctors, if not the best." Max smiled to Hermione. "Anyways, I should get going. Good evening for you two."

"Sure, we should go too. Good night."

Dr. Collins left and Draco turned to Hermione.

"Wow, that was something," he smirked.

"Shut up, Malfoy. Let's go," she answered and started to walk.

Draco just shook his head and followed her.