Chapter 23
Hermione heard some noises. The noises didn't register as making any sense. She didn't mind, she was feeling very comfortable where she was. The noises continued, disturbing the peace she felt.
They were coming closer. She could make out that they were voice.
"Hermione?" Someone was beckoning her. Hermione considered ignoring it. Something shifted in her mind, like the sudden but indefinable shift from deep sleep to light sleep. And the shift brought pain and exhaustion, replacing the nice peace she was enveloped in.
"She's coming to." Someone said.
"Hermione?" A voice said, a familiar voice.
"Open your eyes." She heard another, Draco. He was close, very close. She was happy. The sound of his voice made her happy. How ridiculous was that, she wondered. She'd turned into Lavender Brown.
Hermione opened her eyes to the sight of his grey ones. That was nice, if she could only get rid of the discomfort she felt. She tried to shift to get rid of it, but he hushed her. She focused on him and tried to let go of the pain.
He leaned in and kissed her. Ok, that made the pain go away. He was so warm. Someone cleared their voice, which meant there was someone else in the room. Draco stopped kissing her.
"That is you in there, isn't it?" Draco said in a whisper.
The question confused her, her head felt muddled. She tried to get her mind to co-operated.
"The baby?" She let her thoughts speak directly. Hermione tensed up as she realised that something could be wrong with the baby.
Draco smiled and relaxed. "Its still hanging in there." He said. "Tough little bugger."
"The mediwizard needs to give you some potions." Someone said. Harry. "You need strength."
"Harry?" Hermione tried to turn her head but it was too weak.
"I'm here." He said and walked around the bed into her view.
"It was Pansy." Hermione said. "She did this to me."
"I know." Harry said. "We have her downstairs."
"You found me." Hermione said, focusing her attention on Draco. "I knew you would." Which wasn't exactly true, she hoped he would. Part of her still believed this was all too good to be true.
He stroked her cheek with the palm of his hand.
"I was worried I'd lost you."
"Master?" An elf voice sounded from somewhere.
"Father is here." Draco said. "I must see to things. I will be back shortly. Be a good girl and take your potions."
Hermione felt the loss of his heat when he moved off the bed. Hermione felt her weakness and the bone shattering cold.
A mediwizard came into view and started talking. Hermione tried to follow, but her mind wasn't able to translate what he was saying to meaning. He was talking too fast, but when he put potions to her lips, she drank it. It took a few minutes, but the potions seemed to relax her a little. It seemed to clear up the cloudiness in her mind a bit too.
"Harry?" She called.
"I'm here Mione." He said and took her hand.
"Pansy tried to kill me." She said.
"I know." Harry said. "We have her restrained downstairs."
Hermione nodded.
"Molly told me something was wrong." Harry continued. "She came to me a while back, a bit distressed because that your hand on her clock was still active. She asked if she could remove it, but I told her to keep it for now and let me know if there was anything noteworthy. She sent me a Patronus when when the clock said you were in trouble. I came right away and found Pansy. She was being evasive so I sent a Patronus for Draco, who came immediately."
"Pansy was saying that she'd come to take you to lunch, but you weren't here." Harry continued. "Draco wasn't having any of it. He practically greeted her with the Cruciatus curse. Then the Imperio. He is disturbingly handy with the unforgivables. I was worried for a minute that he'd go for the full trifecta. He had her lead us to you under the Imperio curse, where we found you in the pond."
"Draco was beside himself. I think he actually cares for you." Harry said. "He kept on chanting something. Chanting this entire time. I don't know what it was, it was no charm I had ever come across before."
"You can't arrest him." Hermione said. "He was just trying to find me."
"I know." Harry said. "I can turn a blind eye considering the circumstances, although if he'd continued, I wouldn't be able to. He was furious. I was really worried that he'd kill her for a second or two. I am pretty sure he was considering it."
Draco came back into the room.
"Father is downstairs. He has contacted the Parkinson's and her husband. Father is recommending that we send her to a sanatorium in Switzerland."
"She needs to be charged." Harry said.
"That would mean she'd end up in Azkaban." Draco said.
"She committed a crime." Harry said.
"Azkaban would destroy her." Draco said. "She will be restrained and treated in a sanatorium."
"A nice little retreat in Switzerland then." Harry said with sarcasm. "Purebloods closing ranks."
"Nobody deserves Azkaban." Draco said. "Who is going to gain by her being tortured into complete madness in Azkaban."
Harry and Draco seemed to be having some kind of staring contest.
"I guess Hermione should have a say, she is after all the wronged party."
"I don't care." Hermione said. "As long as I don't have to worry about her hiding in the bushes every time I go outside, I don't care."
Hermione wasn't sure she could afford the energy to hate Pansy. If she put Pansy in Azkaban she would have to think about it. If she let Pansy go to the Sanatorium, she felt quite fine about spending none of the energy on the girl ever again. She could be her family's problem.
"Fine." Harry said. "I will go, but I will come back and check on you later." He said and squeezed her hand.
The mediwizard left shortly after, leaving instructions with Draco. As he left, Draco lay down on the bed next to her so they were face to face. He didn't say anything for a while. Used his fingers to tame some of her more adventurous locks.
"I almost thought I'd lost you." He said.
"Still here."
"I don't know what I would have done if you didn't come back." He said. "It wasn't a possibility I wanted to consider."
"Harry said you were chanting something."
"I figured if I would wish you here, then maybe I could keep you here." He said.
Hermione started to cry. She was just overwhelmed and it was finally catching up to her. Draco pulled her close and she lay there resting against his chest while she cried. Much too much crying lately.
"Nothing like this will happen again." He said.
She'd almost lost it all. Had it all, then lost it. And now she was back, chance number three.
"You can't guarantee something like that."
"I can if I lock you in and let no one near you."
"Oh there's a good strategy." She said and snuggled closer. She knew he was kidding. Maybe the tiniest little bit of uncertainty. "Are there any other unstable ex-girlfriends I need to know about?"
"Sadly, yes." He said. "Although probably not to the degree that Pansy is. Saying that, I never thought Pansy would go this far."
"Do you have a thing for unstable girls?"
"Pureblood girls, you have to expect a bit of crazy." He said.
"Maybe you need to have a hard look at your breeding policies."
"Sadly, they'll rather put up with the crazy." He said. "The pressure they put on you is compelling. And they marry you off before you know any better, before you're old enough to challenge them."
Hermione rested her head on his chest.
"And now you're stuck with a muggleborn in a pureblood wrapper." She said. "Does that equate to cheating? What if everyone found out?"
He laughed. "I don't care at this point. All I care about now is that its you and me. Everything else doesn't matter. I wouldn't go back to the way things were for the world. Seriously, if Astoria woke up just now instead of you, I really don't know what I would do with myself."
"Would you be doing this?" She asked and leaned up to kiss him. She was in charge of the kiss and she used it to languishly explore his mouth. Her fingers snuck in between the buttons of his shirt to feel the warm skin underneath. She pulled them out and went to unbutton the top button, but he took her hand and held it still.
"Now Mrs. Malfoy, you are strictly not allowed any strenuous activity. Doctors orders." He said. "And if you will not be a good girl and go to sleep, then I am going to have to leave."
She didn't want him to leave. She wanted to feel his warmth around her. So she settled her head back down on her chest. She tried to relax, let the peace settle into her weary body and she started to drift off to sleep. She needed him to stay, she needed him to chase any nightmares away, to replace them with sweet, if not naughty thoughts.