Science the Islamic Way

Chapter 15:

Much Ado About Nothing. That's a Muggle favorite isn't it? Draco added the never opened book to the growing pile. Uric the Oddball: A Closer Look. Hmmm, that should be funny. He threw it with the rest. He looked around at his vast library.

"I think that would be enough for her for today. Honestly, fast can that woman read?" He fumed. This was his third trip to the library, in one day.

"I mean, I love books. But this is absurd." He muttered. Looking around him, he snapped his fingers. "Tillie? Tillie!"

The little elf Apparated next to him. "Yes master?" She waited anxiously for his request.

"Please take this to Miss Abby. She will know what to do with it." He indicated the pile of books with a languid hand.

"Right away sir!" She hurried to the pile of books and carried them, teetering a bit under their weight.

"I say, do you need any help with those?" Draco asked, looking at frail Tillie with no little uncertainty.

"No master. Tillie can do it by herself sir." The little elf stammered, huffing and puffing.

"Nonsense. Tipsy!" Another elf popped out of nowhere.

"Yes master!"

"Help Tillie with those books."

"At once sir!"

He quietly watched the two of them hobble out of the library. Funny things house elves. Not seen, not heard until needed. Why, Draco must have dozens, but there couldn't be a whisper to be heard of them, except Tillie and Tipsy, who tended to Draco themselves. The rest kept out of the way, with only the shining floors as any evidence that they existed. Hah, if Hermione was here, she'd probably say he was an evil slave driver.

Draco stopped. Hermione was here. His brain hurt suddenly, and he closed his eyes as he sank down on one of the library's leather chairs. It was so bloody hard….she was right under his roof, in the place his heart had always yearned for her to be, and he couldn't do a damn thing! Damn it, he could barely look into her eyes without his heart wrenching, without seeing the raw pain in them, without feeling so guilty…

"Damn!" He pounded on the coffee table next to him, making a priceless Chinese vase fall and break. "Shit! Idiot Draco! Can't I do anything right?" He aimed his wand at the mess. "Reparo!" The vase was fixed.

"Uh! I need to get out. I need to do something!" He paced restlessly. He was feeling useless. Cooped up in this house, with no work, nothing to keep him busy, it was hurt to wake up every morning and know he couldn't make a difference. Or change back time. Or something! He couldn't even work on his cases…that Muggle killing case he was working on, the one that brought this whole thing…

And Hermione. He longed to be near her, tell her what he felt like, he wanted her so badly to…to stay with him. He needed to know if there was any hope…

It was decided. He had to go visit her. Get over his fears. And make sure she hadn't finished with the new books already. With a purpose now, he got up quickly and left the library.

"How is it, that you never used any kind of potion to brush your hair?" Abigail asked Hermione, with no little amount of surprise. She looked at Hermione's curly brown hair, then at the brush in her hand.

Hermione gave a wan smile.

"It's easier to brush when it's wet Abby. But I do admit, I've stopped taking care of it since…well for a while now." She replied softly. She very nearly said the unspeakable, but had managed to stop herself in time.

Abby stopped for a heartbeat. She went on brushing Hermione's hair quietly. She leaned back to admire her handiwork. What she saw didn't please her.

"We are magic, are we not?" She frowned. "Then we will use our magic to fix this! I'm sorry dear, I know you're all for the Muggle ways and I quite admire you for it, but some situations ask for desperate measures!" She exclaimed emphatically, causing Hermione to smile. "Yes that is what we shall do! On to war my fellow brave soldiers. On to battle!" She brandished her wand about and in a matter of seconds Hermione's hair was washed, cleaned, and fixed into an array of lovely curls.

"There! That's quite better don't you think? You should always be at your best….yes, you have a lovely face, there isn't much I should meddle about…all that's left is him getting his lazy ass up here…" Abigail muttered the last part to herself, appraising Hermione thoughtfully. "Though it's love already. I see it in his eyes. If she would just let him in. If only he had a little more patience. But he's a coward; it's what got him into this mess in the first place…" She went on muttering.

"I'm sorry Abigail, I couldn't quite hear you. What were you saying?"

The kind old nurse quickly snapped back to focus.

"Oh nothing dear. Just wondering if you've had anything to amuse yourself with, instead of languishing about in this most dull manner. You did finish the library dear." She looked about in the room.

"Oh, yes." Hermione was quick to answer, before the nurse came up with something. "I had some more books brought up to me. Dr- Mr. Malfoy was kind enough to stop by and ask if I needed anything. Tillie just brought them." Hermione colored slightly, just the hint of pink on her pale skin.

"He did, did he?" Abigail asked, with a twinkle in her eye that went unnoticed by Hermione. Hermione knew the house elf by name. This was definite improvement! And she mentioned Draco's visit! Her charge was looking out the window in silent contemplation, and Miss Abigail could only guess what, or who the subject of her thoughts was. "Well, I'll leave you to your reading. Though you must want something else to amuse you…oh, I have it! Records! He must have some in this house…I remember Narcissa was fond of music, so Blaise told me. I'll just go and hunt about for them dear!" Abigail got up. There wasn't much more she could do than wait for nature to take its course. Though these two were taking enough time. "If you need me just call out, and I'll be able to hear from anywhere."

Hermione was quiet. Narcissa loved music? There was so much she didn't know about Draco, so much she should have…Her eyes clouded over as dark thoughts began invading her mind again. They never left, always hidden in some corner of her head, waiting for her to let down her guard, for her to sleep before they started attacking her again. It's why she read so much. Books chased away these thoughts, keeping them hidden, keeping her lost in a surreal world of words, stories…

And kept thoughts of him away. But he was always there in her stubborn heart, never fading away, the feelings getting stronger as she healed slowly. There was this…this feeling of hope…of confusion…she should still be in pain. She should still be having nightmares when she's awake. She shouldn't be caring about what her hair looked like. But for some reason, she wasn't. The dark world she had known since she married that monster, was gone, or at least, Hermione hoped, far away. She felt like giggling. Which was not normal. No not normal at all. And Hermione felt guilt. She had lost a child, her own flesh and blood. She shouldn't have these absurd thoughts! She should pay for what she did. Not thinking what it would be like touching those lips…NO! No-no-no-no-no Hermione shook her head violently.

"NO!" she yelled, all the feelings of confusion, of pain, of terror, betrayal, of…of love exploding with that single syllable. Hot tears fell down her face as images flashed through her brain. The door banged open. She looked up in time to see a very worried Draco hovering over her. How did he come so fast? Did he fix his hair? She wondered through the jumbled state of her brain. Then she laughed. Of all the thoughts! It was a high pitched, maniacal laugh, and she gasped for breath.

Draco paused, unsure what to do. This sudden change scared him out of his wits. On a sudden impulse, he held her. She melted in his arms. The room had an eerie silence that was broken only by Hermione's broken sobs.

Hermione felt him put his arms around her. Slowly, painfully, she gathered herself together, and used Draco's warmth to calm herself down.

After what seemed like several lifetimes of silence.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, her voice hoarse.

Draco handed her some tissues.

"No need to apologize." He said tensely. He didn't trust himself to speak a lot. It was like this, every time he held her. He slowly, reluctantly, drew his arms away. He sat down silently on the opposite chair.

She immediately missed the warmth when Draco took his arms away. She looked out the window to avoid looking at him.

"You never come when I'm smiling." She joked weakly. She mustered up some courage to look at him, and saw the pain in the stormy gray eyes that used to haunt her dreams..

"I…Uh, did you get the books?" Draco deftly changed the subject.

"Yes, I did, thank you very much." Hermione answered.

"Humph!"

"Did you hear that?" Hermione asked Draco in surprise.

"Probably one of the house elves." Draco answered, waving it off. He looked at the untouched stack of books. "You haven't opened a single one."

"I…forgot to ask Abigail to bring them nearer to me."

"Which reminds me, where is that old hag?" Draco muttered to himself. He looked around the room.

"Thank you." Hermione uttered quietly.

Draco started. "For what?"

She tried to gather her courage. Do it Hermione. You're a fighter! It's time to stop the fear…

She was quiet for a few minutes while Draco, for once, looked into her eyes, trying to search for something.

"For what, Hermione?" He asked softly, coming nearer to the bed.

"For…for saving me. From myself. For coming into my dreams. For giving me hope. Life. For…I don't know! I just…I don't know! I never know! And I can't understand it. I cant'…I should be in pain. I shouldn't be happy just to see you! I don't, I can't!" She cried in distress.

"Shh…shh…it's okay. I didn't mean to upset you love." She felt happy to see him? He brought a long finger to her face, slowly touching her skin, feeling pleasure as it heated up under it. There was hope. There was hope. He let himself go, surrendering to his emotions, as he came closer till he and Hermione were practically side by side. She held her breath as he traced the skin on her neck, her exposed collarbone, her arm, to her wrist. Then he did the same thing again, this time though, with his lips, taking his time slowly, agonizingly…

Hermione felt searing heat, her mind went blank, she couldn't breathe or think, or…Oh Merlin…Her heart was beating, and unknown to her, slowly mended.

Then she felt cold. She opened her eyes…had she closed them? She saw Draco pausing over her, his face constricted painfully as he was battling some unearthly demon within him. She felt her heart slowing down

"Oh, don't stop. Please don't stop." She whispered, holding him close.

He laid down beside her. "But I don't want to hurt you. I love you too much Hermione. I don't want to hurt you." He breathed into her ear.

"Please…" Hermione begged, the darkness was taking a hold of her…

He couldn't control himself. Painfully he kissed her, lightly the first time, then longer, harder, with a hunger that scared him to his core. She stiffened, then, little by little, she gave in, holding him so close the two molded into each other.

And in that moment, the world stopped.

A/N: I am truly and utterly a vile human being who does nothing better than lie around all summer cursing her writers block. And I deserve every bad review. And rotten egg thrown at me. If there is anyone interested enough to throw rotten eggs at me. I truly and completely apologize for taking so long to update! But if you don't like this chapie, then y'all gotta give me some sympathy, cuz this is the best I got right now. Which isn't much! But hopefully I'll finish the story soon. I'll try to keep my updates a little more regular, so there isn't a five month gap between them…

Well review please…………………………… please? It might motivate me into adding a few more chapies…()

Oh, and MUCHO GRACIAS for everyone who read, reviewed, favorited or just showed general interest in this story of mine. I owe u guys everything!

Cheers

(a few ions later) Sorry guys! i wrote this a month ago, but i dont have any internet! hope u guys like this chapie! it hasnt been edited, so any mistakes u've found, just remember...i finally got rid of my writers block! thats wat really matters, right?