Author's Note: Here is the next chapter. Thanks for reading; I hope you enjoy Hermione waking up and their first proper interaction. But it might not be as smooth as we'd all like! Please review.

Once again I bow down to JKR, who brought such a lovely sense of realism to her world of fantasy.

Draco was pacing around the kitchen trying to settle his nerves with a very strong cup of espresso. He could feel the caffeine calm his headache, but it did nothing for his anxiety. He was sure that Granger would wake up soon; she'd been out for hours. How would she react to what he'd done? How would she react to even seeing him? He wasn't exactly her favourite person. Maybe he should have another coffee. Draco leaned back over the counter and flipped the switch on the espresso machine. It was a little black and silver box that he had charmed to work since he didn't have anywhere to stick the cord that the man at the store said you needed to give it power. It was funny how these muggles had found clever ways to do things, if a bit slower. The machine hummed to life. Draco wasn't sure how it worked, exactly, but after a lot of noise and steam, a stream of hot delicious coffee poured out into his cup.

He had been thinking about his own game plan for hours now since he woke. He couldn't pretend to guess how Granger would react to being here, and it would depend largely on how her healing progressed. She might thank him, or curse him, or yell at him, or hug him. Alright, that last one was a stretch, but at least he was trying to prepare himself. The only thing he knew for sure was that he needed to approach it with caution. The last time she saw him before last night she despised him. He might have grown up these last couple of years, but to her he might always be that bigoted little prick, even if it was hard to admit that. It would only confuse and scare her if he was suddenly so caring and attentive. A part of him just hoped that she was smart enough to have noticed the change in him this last year or so. Merlin knows she'd caught him staring at her often enough.

Draco tipped his head back and drained the rest of his coffee. But he slammed the cup down on the counter with a bang when he heard a groan coming from the bedroom. Draco swallowed the lump in his throat and strode into the bedroom, pausing by the side of the bed.

She was twitching and stirring, emitting the occasional moan as her tired mind dragged her out of sleep. She was still so pale. Her eyes blearily opened, squinting against the faint sunlight as she started to look around lethargically. He just waited for her to gather her thoughts. She might need some time to adjust.

She croaked out a sound unintelligibly, looking towards him through narrow eyes. It was possible her vision was temporarily blurred or impaired from the cruciatus.

"You're safe," he said quietly, calmly.

Granger shifted on the bed and let out another groan of pain, louder this time. He could see her gritting her teeth. He sat down, propping himself on the edge of the bed beside her.

"Do you need any pain potions?" he asked quietly. He was itching to reach out and touch her, but managed to stop himself. He was sitting fairly close to her anyway. If she twitched a finger she'd probably graze his leg.

Granger screwed her eyes shut then blinked them open again. Her eyebrows creased as she frowned, looking at him with an expression of disbelief.

Her eyes widened a little when she recognised him. She shrunk back in the bed away from him.

Draco just managed to stop himself from wincing at the look of fear on her face. Recovering nicely, he just gave her a cocky quirk of the eyebrow instead.

"Morning, Granger," he replied dryly.

She shook her head, eyes wide now. She looked him up and down before letting her eyes scan over the bedroom for any clues as to her whereabouts. He watched patiently as she took it all in at first, but patience wasn't exactly his strong suit.

"How are you feeling? Are you in any pain?" he repeated, summoning a couple of potions just in case. When Hermione saw him raise his wand to do the summoning charm, she flinched and turned her head away, clenching her eyes.

Draco sighed.

"Granger," he said quietly, trying to sound calm and not scare her more, "You're not at the manor anymore. You're safe."

Granger's eyes flicked back to him in surprise at his tone. She had obviously never heard him speak like that. The thought was a sad one. When she didn't respond, but just continued to stare at him, he coughed nervously and continued,

"We're at a cottage. Uh…my cottage actually."

She continued to stare at him for an indefinable amount of time. It was starting to make him very uncomfortable. He had wanted so long for her to give him that kind of direct attention, but he would have preferred it without the look of terror in her eyes.

Draco pursed his lips and tapped his foot, turning his head away for a moment. He pulled the stopper from a vial of blood replenishing potion and turned back to her.

"Here," he said, leaning forward to bring the vial to Granger's lips.

As his hand got close to her face, she started to panic. Her arms flailed up and knocked the vial and his hand to one side. The vial smashed against the top of the bed frame, spilling the potion everywhere. She kept thrashing on the bed, recoiling away from him.

Draco lifted his hands in the air in a sign of peace, backing away slightly.

"Ok, that's ok," he said steadily, "I'm not going to touch you."

Granger managed to stop thrashing about, but her chest was still rising and falling in harsh pants. She had yet to speak, and that alone made Draco frown. Granger was not known for her ability to stay quiet. Her incessant yammering was infamous.

"I'm just going to perform another diagnostic charm." He told her, raising his wand again and moving it over her. Granger clenched her eyes shut as if expecting pain, but when it didn't come, she opened them to squint at him.

There was nothing in the diagnostic image to indicate that something was wrong with her throat or her vocal chords. He figured she was just still in a state of shock.

"Can you speak, Granger?"

She looked confused for a moment but just huddled up more over her corner of the bed.

"I guess not," he sighed and ran his fingers over his scalp, messing up his hair, "Alright, that's ok. Maybe a muscle strengthening potion would help."

He reached over and picked up another vial from the bedside table, then paused.

"If I hand this potion to you, will you take it? It's not poison."

She just blinked at him. Taking that for a passive agreement, he leaned towards her with the potion. She stared at his hand for a long time, before she finally reached out her own shaky fingers. Draco made sure he offered her one end so that she could take it without touching him, as much as he would have liked that.

"Drink up," he said with an encouraging smile. Granger continued to look perplexed, but opened the stopper and took a deep whiff of the potion. She was a clever girl. She'd be able to smell that it was a real muscle strength solution. Eventually she grimaced in acceptance and tipped the vial back to drain the potion. He smiled to himself. That was a start.

When she finished he saw her clutching onto the empty vial with white knuckles. He leaned down, resting his elbows on his knees with his hands dangling in between his legs and swallowed, eyes lowered.

"Look, Granger. I'm not planning on hurting you. So you can stop looking at me like I'm about to curse you."

He took a couple of breaths before raising his gaze to her again. She studied him for a while. Her hair was messy from the ordeal of the night before and a few wild curls were draped over her forehead. She tilted her head to the side and brought her knees up under her chin. But slowly, as they watched each other, the terror faded from her eyes. She was still scared, her hands shook and she was deathly pale, but she wasn't panicking anymore. Draco tried to give her another encouraging smile, but it turned out more like a grimace.

Granger opened and shut her mouth a couple of times, as if trying to find the words to say. She even started talking at one point but just managed a croak.

"It's ok, take your time," he said. He had to pat himself on the back a little. This was about as patient as he was ever going to get. And even then he was running on his last nerve. But he'd done well so far. And from the determined look on her face, she was recovering her Gryffindor courage.

Finally she managed to say something in a hoarse whisper. He had to lean a little closer to hear it.

"H...arr…nd…Ron."

Draco cringed when he realised she was saying the names of her two friends. Of course that would be the first thing she'd ask. She was fiercely loyal to the two morons. Which he supposed was a good thing. If she hadn't been so loyal, then the Boy Who Lived would've fried sometime during first or second year.

He really hadn't wanted to bring them up so soon. The bastards had just left her behind. They'd turned their tails and ran, something he was sure Granger herself would never do. He wasn't sure how she'd feel about that. It might make her upset.

She obviously misinterpreted his expression of disgust, because she shook her head with a croak of horror.

"N…not…dead? Please no-"

"They're fine," he interrupted quickly, "They…well…they escaped."

Her eyebrows shot up in surprise and she looked at him pleadingly. He realised she was waiting for more information.

"My father's crazy old house elf, Dobby, saved them. I don't know where they went or who they're with now. But they definitely got out. Lucius and Bellatrix were furious."

He waited a second for the self-pity to overwhelm her, but she just looked relieved.

"Thank Merlin…" she whispered.

He considered her pensively for a while. She began stretching her arms and legs out a bit and testing herself tentatively for injury. She looked exhausted. There were dark circles under her eyes and she was having difficulty moving the arm that Bellatrix had carved into. Eventually she looked up and spoke again, her voice still very hoarse from all the screaming.

"How did I…" she trailed off, but didn't have to finish. He knew what she was asking.

"Lucius and Bellatrix left the room to see what was going on with your friends. While they were gone, my personal elf got you out and brought you here. But they think that was Dobby too."

Granger nodded slowly, absorbing this information. She unconsciously reached down and ran her fingers over the bandaged scar on her arm, her eyelids drooping as her arm cramped up and shivered in response.

Draco blanched.

"You should get some more sleep. You need rest to recover, you're still very weak."

"Why?" she stammered pitifully as her head drooped back towards the pillow.

"Granger, you were tortured. Obviously you need to rest."

"No," she spat the word tiredly and Draco felt his gut swoop, waiting for her to continue after she caught her breath, "why did you save me?"

Draco's heart began to pound faster. His palms were sweating as she looked at him with something that seemed like suspicion or accusation in her eyes.

At least she's looking at me, he thought. Now wasn't the time. She was exhausted and in incredible pain. There would be time to talk later, when she was more lucid.

"Get some sleep," he repeated, and she frowned dazedly at him. She clearly didn't like that he'd avoided the question, but her eyes were drooping more and more as her body relaxed against the mattress.

Not wanting her to push the issue when he wasn't exactly ready to cope with it himself, he stood and made a quick exit from the room. Cursing himself for a coward, he returned to the kitchen as fast as he could.

There was a pair of green eyes peering up at him from around the corner of the bench.

"Are you spying on me, Tilly?"

"No, master," she squeaked, sidling around the corner and shifting from foot to foot.

"Don't worry, I actually got some sleep too," Draco said with a knowing smile. Tilly brightened up, then. She had clearly been worried about him.

"What's happening at the manor?" he asked, leaning against the cupboards and running his hand tiredly down his numb face.

"Tilly was one of the lucky elves. Master Malfoy scolded the elves badly."

Draco groaned.

"He yelled at them, did he? Idiot."

"Gretel is dead, Sir."

Draco frowned and looked down at Tilly as he felt the nausea return to his stomach. Of course Tilly was being euphemistic when she said he had "scolded" them. He should have known better. Gretel was an older elf who had served his mother for years.

"Damnit," he muttered, slamming his fist down onto the counter, "fucking sadist."

He couldn't really act like he was surprised. His father had always been a corrupt person, using his money and power to influence others, but in recent years since the return of the Dark Lord he had completely lost his grip on reality. But to kill one of his own servants? Draco shivered. He looked down and saw that Tilly was looking at him with big wet eyes.

"I'm sorry, Tilly. I wish there was something I could do."

Tilly nodded and tugged comfortingly on the edge of his pants.

"Master Draco is enslaved just like Tilly."

Draco nodded glumly and slumped harder into the counter.

"That's about right. Did anyone question my absence?" he finally asked in a weary voice.

"No, Sir. The Missus said you needed some time by yourself and then no one asked again."

Draco was pleased his mother was still aware enough to stick up for him, even if it was only a minor victory.

"Have you had any sleep?" he asked his elf with penetrating eyes.

She started to nod but then caught the gleam in his eye and quickly changed it to a shake.

"No, Sir. But Tilly must cook meal for Master and the girl…"

Draco snorted and spun around to face the kitchen.

"It's alright Tilly. You go to the attic and have a nap. I'll make some lunch for myself and Granger. It might not be fancy, but I've got to do something active or I'll go mad."

Tilly nodded and started to back out of the room uncertainly.

"The eggses is in the fridge, Master Draco. "

He smirked and headed towards the fridge straight away.

"Sweet dreams Tilly," he said pointedly, and the next moment she had disappeared, taking the hint.

Once she was gone, Draco sighed again and leant his head against the fridge door.

His father was a violent wreck.

Granger was awake.

And he was going to have to figure out how exactly he was supposed to answer her question.