CH. 12- Recovering

I moaned out softly as I struggled to wake myself up. I felt like a double decker had run over me repeatedly. My body ached all over and my head was pounding. I don't remember ever feeling quite this bad. It made getting my tonsils removed as a little girl a walk in the park. All I wanted to do was wake up from this horrible dream. Only it wasn't a dream I thought to myself as memories started to resurface in mind. Going to Draco's party with Ginny…talking with Harry…making out with Cormac. I abruptly opened my eyes as my breathing started to become irregular.

"Oh thank god, Hermione you are awake! Let me get the doctor," a soft excited voice said as I saw long red hair sweep out of the room.

So that's where I was, in a hospital of all places. I hated hospitals. It reminded me of that one time when my cousin had gotten sick and my mum took me to visit her. I was 8 at the time, and that was the first time that I saw what death really looked like. She had unfortunately had cancer and was terminal. I still remember spending every waking moment with her until she passed away in this dreaded hospital. That's when I promised myself that I would never come back, until now that is.

"Hello Hermione. Nice to see you awake. I am just going to check your vitals for a moment," the doctor said, walking up to my bed with a chart in his hands.

Ginny stood anxiously to the side, holding her arms against her stomach. She always did that when she was nervous, which was rare. I felt bad that she had been put in to this position and I tried my best to smile reassuringly at her. She smiled back appreciatively.

"Well, everything looks good. I am very glad that you have woken up. You gave us all quite a fright. You have been out for two days," the doctor said turning towards me.

"Two days?" I asked in shock. What in the world did that creep give me?

"I know you probably have many questions and I will try to do my best to answer them. You were given a very high dosage of GHB and it caused you to become unconscious. When you were rushed to the hospital, you experienced circulatory or cardiac arrest and we proceeded with immediate surgery. You recovered well, but you did not wake up. If you hadn't woken up by the time that you did today, I am afraid the situation would have become very serious in the long run."

"I would imagine. Are there any lasting effects?" I asked apprehensively.

"There shouldn't be, but we would like to keep you for an extra day for observation. I will be sure to contact your parents; they were very worried about you. I will be back a little later to check up on your progress. It's good to have you back Hermione," the doctor concluded with a smile.

"Thank you, doctor…" I trailed off.

"Dr. Davis. Good day," He said before turning and leaving the room.

Ginny moved towards me and took a seat next to me on the bed. "I was so worried when you weren't waking up. I thought…"

"Shh, Ginny it's okay. I'm okay. There is nothing to worry about," I interrupted reassuringly, reaching out a hand to comfort her.

"I am not ever letting you out of my sight again. You know before how I said, you need to get out more and experience life? Well, I change my mind, don't. I much prefer you as solid, rigid old Hermione," She said with a smile.

"Gee, thanks. So what happened with everything? The party, how did I get here, Cormac?" I asked looking at her.

"Well, after we found you. Draco called the ambulance and Dean and Seamus made sure to clear everyone out and clean up before the authorities got there. You know…underage drinking and all that," I nodded at her in understanding, beckoning her to continue. "Cormac, is officially expelled from school and facing brutal charges. The barrister in you would be proud. Hermione, you should have seen Harry in action! He was like a knight and shining armor if there was one. He just swopped in and pummeled Cormac like he was nothing. And when he saw you, he ran to you and was so patient and wouldn't let you out of his sight. I am actually quite surprised he isn't here at the moment. The nurses finally kicked him out and told him to go home and get some rest. He said he would come back later today."

"I can't believe I missed all of this and I really can't believe that Harry did all of that for me."

"Well believe it. Hermione, he was truly brilliant. I haven't been more proud of him. I think he has more than proved that you can trust him again," She replied giving me a significant look.

I smiled at her as she moved her new Cosmo magazine in front of me. I shook my head at her antics before I asked her to read the new gossip to me. All the while, my thoughts lingered on Harry. He more than deserved my gratitude, but was I ready to let him in again?

Later that day—

"Mum, I am okay, I promise," I said for the fourth time.

"Well you are my baby girl and I am your mother. I cannot help but worry about your well-being," She answered as she straightened my bed spread.

I smiled at her and gave a knowing look to my father seated at the seat next to my bed. He shook is head in amusement at my mother's behaviour. My parents had been here for the past hour after Ginny left, making sure that I was doing well. Once Dr. Davis read me a clean bill of health, my dad was satisfied, my mother on the other hand, not so much. She refused to believe I was fine until she gave the seal of approval. Mothers.

Hearing footsteps at the door, I turned my head in that direction. Harry was standing in the doorway, with flowers in his hands looking at me with a relieved expression on his face. I smiled at him, genuinely happy to see him.

"Harry, oh thank you so much!" My mother exclaimed running towards him and wrapping him in a huge motherly hug.

"Of course," Harry spoke out softly patting my mother politely on the back.

"Jean, give the bloke some breathing room," my father said as he reached for her, pulling her away slightly from Harry. Harry looked my dad in the eyes, giving him an appreciative nod. "Honestly though, we are very grateful for what you did for our Hermione here. It shows great courage and maturity. You are becoming quite the gentlemen."

"Thank you sir, but I would do anything for Hermione," Harry answered looking at me before shifting his beautiful green eyes back to my father.

"Well, we should be going. We will be back to pick you up tomorrow sweet heart. Now, do as the doctor tells you, don't argue with him," My dad said walking over to me and placing a kiss on my cheek.

"I will daddy, see you tomorrow," I promised before being crushed by my mum.

"Be good okay? And if you need anything at all, call us okay? I don't care what time it is. We will be right here," She said as she reluctantly let me go.

"I will be fine. I love you guys," I responded at them with a smile before they waved goodbye to Harry and me and walked out the door.

Harry walked further in to the room and placed the flowers on my bedside table. He walked towards the bed, pulling the chair closer to it, before sitting down. There was a comfortable silence for a few moments as we both looked at each other in the eye. Brown and green.

"Thank you for the flowers. Lilies, they are my favourite," I said breaking the silence with a smile.

"You're welcome. I remember how you said they were the only flowers you would ever like because you wanted to honour my mum. I thought they could keep you company since you don't like hospitals because of what happened to your cousin," He replied smiling back.

"You remember that?" I asked in slight shock.

"I will always remember everything about you. You are important to me," He asserted with such conviction on his face I wanted to reach out and hug him, but I fortunately restrained myself.

"That's really sweet."

"I try."

I laughed a little and he joined in as we went back in to comfortable silence.

"How are you doing? Are you feeling better?" He asked in concern.

"I'm doing better. Awake. Listen, thank you for everything you did. From what Ginny told me, you really went above and beyond the call of duty," I answered.

He shrugged in response. "I hated seeing you that way and knowing that bloody coward did it really pissed me off. He deserved what he got. No one hurts my Hermione and lives to tell the tale without facing serious repercussions."

"Your Hermione?" I asked playfully.

"Umm. That was not supposed to come out and it did and now I am going to hush up about it," He struggled to say as his cheeks started to tinge red. He was so adorable. Did I just say that?

"I am only teasing you Harry."

"Oh, right."

"I'm glad that you came here. I really wanted to talk to you about something," I said as he looked at me expectantly. "I know that I haven't been particularly accommodating these past couple of weeks, but you haven't give up on me. And that means a lot. You've proven yourself far more than I ever could have imagined and Ginny thinks that I should start to trust you again. And I am inclined to agree. So, if you would still like to be friends, I am up for it."

"Of course, that would be great," He answered with a slight upturn of his lips before he looked down at his hands.

"What's wrong?" I asked noticing his sudden shift in mood.

"Don't get me wrong. I am glad that we are friends again and everything. It's just that, it not enough. I want to be with you, don't you get that?"

"Harry, I don't know. I think it's a bit too much."

"Hermione, listen I don't think I can ever be just friends with you. It's all or nothing," He asserted putting the cards on the table so to say.

I honestly had no clue how to answer that statement. The logical Hermione for once in her life had no answer. What was my life coming to…?

The next week at the championship football match—

To say that things had been awkwardly tense between Harry and I these past couple of days since the hospital, was an understatement. Sure we talked and sort of hung out with each other in group settings, but whenever we were alone, I tried to make any excuse not to be. All he ever wanted to do was talk about us, us being together more specifically. I still haven't given him a solid answer and I didn't know if I really would ever be ready to. I would love to claim that it had to do with the fact that I still did not feel comfortable dating so soon after Cormac, but that would be a lie. I knew that Harry would never do what Cormac had done. There was no way that he ever could. So what was it?

These were my thoughts as I sat on the benches at my school's championship football match with Ginny and Luna. I had asked Ginny if we could make banners that said 'Red loves Draco' on them. She down right refused the idea. I thought it was amusing and very tasteful in my opinion. I turned to see Luna screaming excitedly next to me, waving a banner that read, "Weasley is our King". Now that was bloody brilliant.

"So what is going on with you and Harry? Please explain because I am dreadfully confused," Ginny announced over the crowd.

"We are friends," I answered back.

"Bible? We both know that something more than that is going on," She asserted crossing her arms and facing me.

"It's complicated I guess. We are friends like I said. However, he wants more and I am not particularly sure that I want to give him that. I like how things are going now. Why change it?"

"Maybe because you actually do like him and you both need to get laid already. There is too much sexual tension going on there."

"Agreed," Luna inserted into the conversation.

"Excuse me, but I don't particularly approve of you guys putting my love life on display like that. Nor do I think that any of you have the right to judge. Gin, you refuse to go public with Draco for god knows what reason and Luna, you have done everything short of just going up and telling Ron how you feel. Everyone in the school knows, except Ron of course. So, until you two decide to do something about your love lives, stay out of mine," I asserted turning my eyes back on the game.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Ginny and Luna smiling knowingly at one another. I don't know what that expression was about and I didn't think that I would like it. The crowd erupted in cheers as our school won the match. I smiled and clapped along with everyone else. The final score was 3-2. Harry had made the winning goal. That was my Harry.

"Oh wow that was great!" Ginny shouted over the crowd. "Are you staying for the awards ceremony?"

"Sure, why not," I replied with a shrug.

Ginny and I laughed as Luna went in to another chorus of "Weasley is our King".

I watched from a slight distance away from the awards ceremony on the field. All of the players were incredibly dirty from rolling around on the grass celebrating their win. Kind of like energetic pigs if you ask me. It was particularly amusing to see 'Lord' Draco rolling around as well. Never thought I would see the day.

"And now for the M.V.P. award. This year's player has continued to impress us throughout the years and we are looking forward to his future career with great interest. Without further ado, this year's M.V.P is Harry Potter!" The announcer said passing over the trophy to Harry.

I smiled broadly, barely containing my excitement. The small crowd erupted in cheers. Even Sirius was there, proudly clapping and whistling for his godson.

"Umm wow, thank you for this huge honour. It truly does never get boring," Harry announced playfully. "On a serious note, I couldn't have done this without my amazing mates (shouting from the players could be heard) and my pain in the arse coach who worked us to death but nonetheless, I really respect him for it. This year has been an extreme awakening for me and has made me realize the important things in my life. Things I could never live without…" He trailed off as his eyes caught mine. "Umm screw it," He asserted as he sat his trophy down and ran towards me.

Everyone looked at him in confusion as he made his way over to me. I was in complete shock. What was he doing?

"Hermione, I am not taking no for answer. You are one of the most important things in my life and none of this is worth anything if I don't have you in it to share it with me. Where does this leave us?" He asked desperately looking into my eyes.

Bolder than I have ever been in my entire life, I reached up and pulled his head down to mine and kissed him softly. He instantly responded to the kiss, putting his arms around my lower back and pulling me closer. I could hear people whistling and clapping in applause. I could even hear Sirius's, "atta boy!". But none of that mattered. All that mattered was that his lips were on mine and I was kissing him back with just as much intensity.

Wow, so that was an interesting change of events to say the least. You know what I realized, I could just end the story here and it would be perfect. But then, it wouldn't be an M fic now would it? So of course it is not over! There is still more to come from this powerhouse couple. I hope you all enjoyed. Please read and review! Thanks! =]