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 14: Awaken.
Since the day Draco kissed Hermione, neither of them could take it out of their minds. However, Hermione still thought that Draco just kissed her because he was feeling bad and lonely. Besides she was still trying to figure out what she was actually feeling for him. Draco, on the other hand, knew exactly what he was feeling and he was a bit embarrassed to say it out loud. He was also respecting Hermione's wish not to rush things. So neither of them mentioned what happened that day and as they continued their routine, another month passed without being even noticed.
However, this month was way better than the last one, especially for Draco. Scorpius had improved his condition and he got out of the ICU. He got back to a normal room, but he was still in a coma. Draco was a bit relieved, but he couldn't stop worrying, of course. At least the situation was bit better. He could visit Scorpius whenever he wanted, he could stay in the room with him and spend the night there. In the first week of Scorpius in the new room, Draco didn't leave the hospital with the excuse of wanting to be there when his son wakes up, but it never happened. After a while, Hermione could convince him to go home just for a while, so both of them agreed that he would try to rest and she would keep an eye on Scorpius, like she wasn't doing it already.
In the last day of the month, Draco was sitting next to his son's bed. He was reading a book Hermione gave to him, but he couldn't concentrate at all, because every sound he heard coming from the bed, he looked up to see if Scorpius was waking up. At that time Hermione hadn't arrived at the hospital, she was taking the afternoon shift, but Draco wished she was there already. She was the reason why he had the strength to go through the two tough months and he had finally found someone who he could be himself with, with no judgments.
Draco looked once again to his son. Nothing. He got back to the book and he read the same line for the twentieth time, literally. Finally, he could get his mind away from Scorpius for a while, but he wasn't reading the book, either. He was thinking about Hermione when he heard a little voice calling him.
"Dad?" Scorpius said softly.
Draco looked from the bed and saw his son looking at him with those bright blue eyes just like his. Draco got up and approached the bed.
"Scorpius! Oh Merlin, you're awake!" he said crying.
"Dad, what happened? Why are you crying?" the boy asked.
"Many things happened, son. How are you feeling? I should call a nurse," Draco got up. "Stefanie must be here. I'll call her. Do you feel anything, Scorpius? Any pain?"
"No, I'm fine, dad," Scorpius replied.
"I'll be right back, son. I'll call Stefanie," Draco said and he left the room.
He walked around the hall looking for the nurse. He found her in another patient's room and basically dragged her out of there.
"He's awake! He's awake, Stefanie!" Draco kept saying.
Stefanie, at first, was mad at him because just grabbed her abruptly, but then she understood what he was saying and decided to forgive him, because he waited for a very long time for this to happen. They got to the room and Stefanie turned to Draco before she started to examine Scorpius.
"Mr. Malfoy, can you call Hermione and tell her to come?"
Draco nodded and left the room. Stefanie stayed with Scorpius, checking if he was feeling any pain or something he shouldn't be feeling. Thankfully, he was just fine. The coma didn't cause any damage to his body, but he still had the infection, which meant he still had to make the blood transfusion and take the potion he was supposed to since the beginning. In a matter of twenty minutes, Draco showed up again with Hermione by his side. The medwitch entered the room and Stefanie explained her that Scorpius was just fine and he didn't have any damage from the coma. Those news were a relief, not only for Draco, but Hermione too. She was happy the little boy was awake again and she could finally treat him.
"Scorpius, listen. We still have to run some tests. You'll start the right treatment and you'll have to stay in the hospital for a while, but in a couple of weeks you should be at home again," Hermione said.
"A couple of weeks? That's too much!" he complained.
"I know it seems too much, but I can't let you go before I'm totally sure that you are healthy again. We can't take any risks after what happened, ok?"
"Ok, but I still don't understand what happened. Stefanie said I slept for two months. I never slept that much," Scorpius replied.
"Scorpius, what is the last thing you remember?" Hermione asked.
"I remember running away to Lucy's room. Then, you and my dad went after me. We talked and then I don't remember anything else," he answered.
"Scorpius, about your mother…" Draco started.
"Malfoy, don't. This is not the time," Hermione interrupted him.
"Hermione, what happened after we talked?" Scorpius asked.
"Well, we talked and you passed out. You entered in a coma. It happens when your body is too weak and it shuts down to concentrate its energy to heal you. It's the body's self defense. Since then, you've been staying at the hospital and it's been two months as you already know," Hermione answered.
"Did anything happen while I was asleep?" the boy asked.
Hermione and Draco exchanged glances at each other and Stefanie tried not to smile.
"Not much, actually. What exactly do you want to know?" Draco asked.
"Where is Lucy? Can she come visit me, Hermione? I would love to play video games with her again, even though I'm not very good at it," Scorpius said.
"Scorpius, Lucy isn't at the hospital anymore," Hermione said looking at the floor.
"Did you heal her, Hermione? She told me she had a very bad disease, but she didn't tell me any details of it. When I go home, will I be able to see her again?" Scorpius asked.
"Oh, dear," Hermione approached him and took his hands on hers. "Lucy didn't go home, but I'm sure she is in a better place now. She's not suffering anymore, I can assure you that."
"Do you mean she is…" Scorpius started.
"Yes," Hermione replied with tears in her eyes. "Sometimes, the human body can't handle too much damage. I did everything that I could to help her, but she was too weak."
Scorpius didn't reply and he started to cry silently.
"Scorpius, Stefanie is going to take you to run some tests, ok? I have to talk to your father for a while, but soon we'll start your treatment and you'll be good," Hermione said.
"I don't want to do exams. I want to go home," he replied softly.
"I know you do, sweetie and I know that this is not the good news you were expecting, but for you to go home, we have to heal you, right? It's ok to be sad for Lucy, but I'm sure she would want you to be brave now, so you can be ok again," Hermione replied.
"Ok, I'll do it, but are you sure she is in a better place now?" he asked.
"Yes, dear. She's probably playing a lot of video games wherever she is," Hermione smiled letting a shy tear roll down her face.
Scorpius nodded and he left with Stefanie to run the tests. Hermione stayed alone in the room with Draco. He walked up to her and in an impulsive act, he kissed her. Hermione was caught by surprise, but this time she didn't kiss him back, she just pushed him away.
"Draco, I told you that I don't want to rush things," she was annoyed, first with him because he kissed her and secondly with her because she wanted to kiss him back.
"I know, I'm sorry. Honestly, I'm just so happy that I couldn't help it and I've holding myself not to do it before. I'm sorry, I just can't believe he's awake again," he said and he hugged her.
"I told you he would be fine," she replied hugging him back. "And I didn't want to ruin this day, but I have bad news."
"What is it?" he asked letting her go.
"Well, you better come with me," she said.
They left the room and he followed her to her office. They got there and she handed him the Daily Prophet.
"What is it, Hermione? Why are you giving me this?" he asked.
"Look, I don't like Rita Skeeter, but I have no idea why I decided to read her article today. Anyway, I read it and it wasn't about stupid gossip. You should read it tough," Hermione replied.
Draco opened the paper and found the article Hermione was talking about. Besides the text, there was a picture of Astoria and he read it.
"Do you think she is serious, Hermione?" Draco asked when he finished.
"Yes, after I read it this morning, I went after Harry to see if he knew something. He told me that he sent some aurors to Spain to investigate it. It happened yesterday and it seems Astoria was really murdered. I'm afraid Skeeter is not lying this time. I'm sorry," Hermione said.
"I knew Astoria was with someone bad, but I couldn't imagine that she would be involved with some dealer. He was even muggle and she was here bitching about me being friends with you!" Draco replied.
"True, but maybe she was just using him. Once he realized what she was doing, he got angry and he killed her. That's what Skeeter wrote, but I'll still talk to Harry to have some closure on this story, but I can make only one affirmation, Astoria is dead," she said.
"And how I am supposed to tell this to my son? He just woke up and you saw his face when you told him Lucy died. Astoria was his mother whether I like it or not and they might spend two minutes together, but it doesn't change the fact that he will be devastated. I mean, when he realized that his mother was alive, he created some hope to be with her. Now, I'll have to kill his dream of having a mother. What should I do, Hermione?" Draco said. He was a bit happy that Astoria wouldn't be around anymore, but he never wished for her to die.
"Draco, you just can't hide this from Scorpius. You'll have to find a way to tell him. I'll help if you want me to. I'll be there for you and for him, you know that right?"
"I know and I am really happy to know that. You have no idea of how much I'm grateful for everything you did for my son and for me. I'm in debt with you for the rest of my life."
"No, you already paid me with one of the most valuable things in the world. True friendship. Now, I can say I consider you my friend and you were there for me as much as I was for you, so I would like to say thank you too."
"I'm really happy that you consider me your friend. A true one, at least, but how am I going to tell my son that his mother is dead, truly dead?"
"Today is a day to celebrate, not completely, because Scorpius still has to go through treatment. And I think we shouldn't upset him anymore. So I would suggest that you don't saying anything today. Wait until tomorrow, but you can't let more than two days pass to tell him, ok?"
"Ok, thank you Hermione," Draco hugged her.
"Did you know that this is the seventh time you said thank you to me?" she said hugging him back.
"Just be quiet, will you?" Draco smiled.
A/N: Yay! Scorpius woke up! And keep waiting, 'cause next week there will the final double update!