A.N. I can't get over how much support I've gotten for this story! You guys are the reason I haven't given up. I can't say enough thanks for all of your love. Just know that I sincerely appreciate every review and every follower.
MamaPunx
Chapter 15
:Hermione:
She woke groggy. Her throat was sore and her eyes burned. She looked around and jumped to her feet when she saw that she was not in her room. It took her a few seconds to realize she was in the common room. There was a blanket at her feet and a pillow where her head had been. It took her a few seconds more to realize that Draco lay sleeping on the floor a few feet from the sofa she had been sleeping on. It was still night outside so she must have only been asleep for a little while. She checked that her clothes were on properly out of habit.
Running a hand through her mane, Hermione returned to the couch and watched Draco sleep. After the way he had handled her ridiculous sob session a few hours ago, she came to the conclusion that she had seriously misjudged him all these years. Or maybe not. Maybe he really had just been a right prick, but had made a very drastic change within himself. Because she was quite certain that she didn't know much at all about this new Draco. But she felt that maybe she knew enough. This Draco had been so earnest and sincere while letting her cry into his shirt. This Draco walked her to and from classes so she didn't get overwhelmed by the other students in the hallway. He was really a very sweet boy. Man? Surely he was a man now. Surely they were all men and women now after the war.
Draco stirred, turning his face towards her. Generally sleeping people tended to look peaceful but Draco was wearing a frown and looked rather restless. He pursed his lips as though he were very displeased and his frown deepened.
Hermione felt a strange desire to try to comfort him. And it scared her. Deeply. It scared her right down to her foundation. So instead of offering him comfort, she stayed right where she was. She needed to sort through the mess inside her head. She needed to figure out what was what and how she felt, how she REALLY felt about everything.
She liked Draco. She considered him a friend now. She liked his company. That in itself was fairly ridiculous to her considering that she already had friends that she wasn't even attempting to talk to at the moment. But her friends didn't understand. They WOULDN'T understand. She was the kind of mess that only a fellow mess could understand. And she could sense that Draco was a bit of a mess too. Definitely not the same sort of mess but a mess nonetheless. But aside from that common ground, he also made her feel safe. Protected. And that was something she desperately needed right now. Something she hadn't had in what felt like lifetimes. He was also very observant. Which could sometimes be a con, since she often felt like he saw right through her mask. But it was also a pro. His observance was what allowed him to deal with her and she knew it. He watched her body language and he somehow always knew exactly what she needed from him at that moment.
She supposed that all of these things added up to something, but she didn't know what. It wasn't anything as ridiculous as having feelings for him. No way in hell was she ready for feelings of any sort. But she could admit to a... Comfortable companionship... At the very most.
Draco shifted on the floor again drawing Hermione out of her own head. He was muttering something that she couldn't hear and his frown was deeper than ever. She hesitated for a moment before gathering her courage and sliding off of the couch to join him on the floor. She crawled towards him slowly, careful not to make any noise, until she was head to head with him. She pulled her hair back and held it with one hand, then leaned her ear towards his mouth and listened intently. It only took a few seconds before he muttered again.
"Fix her, she's broken..." he whispered. "Don't let her shatter..."
Hermione gasped and sat back on her heels. Tears stabbed at her eyes and her breathing became unsteady. He was dreaming about HER. There was a tingling in her veins, and she felt as if some part of her was waking up after being dormant for a long long time. She reached a shaking hand out, ever so slowly, and lightly brushed his cheek with trembling fingers. He stirred but did not wake. Confident that he would remain asleep, she placed her palm gently on his cheek. She reached out with her other hand and softly brushed her thumb across his forehead, trying to smooth out the frown lines.
The newly woken thing inside of her yawned and stretched and demanded its presence be noticed. Hermione was afraid to put a name to this thing. She acknowledged it briefly and then pushed it far far away, for another time.
Draco's features softened. His frown faded and his mouth relaxed. 'Now he looks peaceful,' she thought and pulled her hands away. Almost immediately the frown returned and his lips were pursed once again. He rolled onto his side facing her.
She did not realize what she was about to do until she was already doing it. Hermione lay on her side facing Draco and snuggled herself into his warmth. She stared into his face long enough to see it relax once more, then sleep took her into the first night not plagued by nightmares.
:Draco:
He half-woke from a dream that was already fading and cracked open his eyes. He saw that it was still night, that he was lying on the floor in the common room and that Hermione was curled in a ball, firmly snuggled into his chest. He wondered how and when this had happened. But he was already drifting back to sleep so he left his musings to the morning. He covered them both with his blanket, put his arm around her waist, buried his face into her hair, and slept.
