Curiosity was driving Hermione insane. Never one to leave a mystery unsolved, she pondered over everything that he had said while she lie back in bed, her head snuggled into her pillow. It was truly an interesting thing to think about. Lucius Malfoy had been in love with a muggle? When? How had it happened?
Her meetings with the elder Malfoy had always been few and thankfully far between, yes Hermione had always got the impression that he had a heart of ice. Someone like that surely could know nothing of love. But apparently he had at one point. So much so, that losing her had filled him with an all-consuming hatred of everything muggle, including their blood running in the veins of a witch.
She couldn't understand how it would affect Draco so much. Surely that would have just disgusted him, finding out that the father he had looked up to so much had done what he had always told his son was wrong and against nature. There just had to be more to the story.
Draco was at that very moment preparing for bed himself. He had never intended to tell Hermione his story. He had left out the worst of it though. When his grandfather had discovered the love affair of this muggle and his pureblood son, he had gone about separating them so effectively that it completely changed his son.
Draco wondered what his life would have been like if his grandfather had allowed the match to take place. He fell into a deep sleep, filled with dreams of what his life would have been like. Attending Hogwarts as a muggle-born, free to pursue a relationship with Hermione. It was a pleasant dream.
Hermione awoke to see sunlight filtering in through the curtains on the window. She wiggled her toes, delighting in the feel of moving them again.
"Good Morning Hermione!" Draco sang as he entered through the door. "Would you like your pumpkin juice first, or your skele-gro?"
"Might as well get the skele-gro out of the way. I wish that I was able to take a full dose instead of little ones every day," she muttered.
"Now Hermione," Draco said very patiently, "You and I both know that full doses are only for broken or lost bones. You have to take the smaller doses so that you'll regain your bone density. If you take a full dose you'll have too many side effects."
Hermione gulped down the small container of the medication, and quickly swigged down her pumpkin juice trying to get the acrid taste out of her mouth. If she could ever have the chance to face Lestrange again, she was not going to hold back.
"There's a girl," Draco said teasingly. "Now, let's get down to your physical therapy." His blue eyes danced. This was his favorite part of the day. He could touch her and she couldn't do anything but comply if she ever wanted to get back to the front lines. Placing her foot in his lap as he sat on the end of the bed, he began to vigorously massage her toes and feet.
"How does that feel today?" He inquired, feeling the soft skin under his fingertips.
"It doesn't feel like I'm being stabbed by a thousand needles anymore, so I suppose that it's a good sign."
"That's very good Hermione. It means that your circulation is improving," He replied as he continued to minister to her feet. As he moved up to her ankles and calves, he noticed that she sucked in her breath. "Enjoy that do we?" He asked her, the trademark Malfoy smirk beginning to form.
"Absolutely not," she retorted. Never in a million years would she admit to him that while she detested him as a person, she was slowly beginning to look forward to her daily physical therapy. She felt her breath catch in her throat as Draco's fingers found their way to a particularly sensitive spot just under her ankle.
"Seems to me that you are," he drawled. How he longed to be able to touch her without the guise of caring for her injuries. Hermione flushed, at a loss for words. He knew that she would never openly admit to enjoying his daily ministrations. Despite the agreement that they had met yesterday, he knew that it would take a lot for her to see him as anything other than "the amazing bouncing ferret." He would never live that one down.
"What's that look for Malfoy?" Hermione inquired, seeing his grimace. "My legs don't look that bad do they?"
"Actually Hermione, your legs are rather nice. I was thinking about that dreadful time that the fake Moody decided to turn me into a ferret," he replied, not quite meeting her eyes. Hermione burst into laughter.
"And to think, I had nearly forgotten that! That was one of the highlights of that year you know," she snickered.
"Well, I'm glad that you found that amusing Granger. I'll have you know that it took nearly a week for that horrid smell to stop emanating from my hair," He sniffed, making Hermione laugh harder.
"You know good and well that you deserved it for being such an insufferable little git," laughed Hermione as tears began to stream from her eyes.
"I deserved that did I?" said Draco, narrowing his eyes. Hermione only nodded her hair and laughed harder.
"I didn't know that ferrets could bounce that high!" she said, nearly choking on her laughter at this point.
"I don't take well to being mocked Granger," said Draco, his ice blue eyes flashing fire at her. "I believe that you shall have to be punished." Fear began to fill Hermione as her laughter abruptly stopped. Draco reached over to her and…began tickling her ribcage relentlessly.
"Do you still think I deserved it?" He demanded, his fingers prodding her side.
"Yes!" Screamed Hermione, as she tried to scoot away from his fingers. This was a horrible position to be in when one's legs weren't reliable.
"And now?" He asked several moments later, digging his fingers in a little bit more. He was enjoying torturing the helpless Hermione.
"No! You win!" she laughed. Draco laughed too, collapsing on top of her at this point from laughter. Hermione looked up and saw that his face was only inches from her own.
"I'm glad that you don't smell like a ferret anymore Malfoy." She giggled.
"As am I my dear," he whispered, as he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers.