A/N: You guys are amazing, I love you all. This is the last chapter that's going to be in London. The next chapter will be of them back in New York and then the drama begins again. I was going to put Hermione's dream world back in this chapter but it got a little too long. So that shall be coming soon.
I'm also looking for a beta reader that edits quick (two – three days) if anyone is interested in that daunting task.
As well, be warned that from now on this story is strictly M rated. There will be smut, violence etc etc from here to the end of the story. You have been warned.
This update was unexpected but I just had to do it since you all were so amazing and supportive. I love you!
Thank you to my reviewers: Yolandadcup, RAVEN-NEVAR, Jade2099, neojedigoddess, tfobmv18, PlaugedDarkThoughts, insecuredelusions, kabbage (for two reviews), and krrt. And to everyone who favourited and alerted.
All unsigned reviews will be answered at the end of the chapter.
Chapter 16: To Culminate
Hermione:
I had a blazing headache, the likes of which I hadn't experienced since during the war. Specifically, after being tortured for information by a deranged bitch at the Malfoy manner. I was obviously in worse condition now, my body weaker than back then. I ached so much that spare tears leaked out of the corner of my eyes.
But then again, I was recovering from falling down the stairs, breaking a few bones and had my midriff drenched in a horrifically damaging potion. The healers had told me that it had been sitting in the Black's dungeons for years, just gathering potency. It had seeped right through the layers of my skin, I was told, but since Draco and Harry had brought me to St. Mungos just in time, they had been able to stop it seeping right through to my vital organs and killing me.
For now, though, I had to have disgusting salves applied to the wound three times a day so that it could kill the infested skin, stop the potion from spreading further and regenerating new skin. I'd never been in so much pain, that much was for sure.
And all because of a stupid redheaded cow who couldn't deal with the fact that I was dating his school rival.
Fucking bastard! Maybe he did deserve to be in Azkaban after all of this pain... maybe I'd go visit him and beat the crap out of him as soon as I could walk without support. Ronald Weasley had had a bullet painted over his head. Draco had seen to it.
After Draco had practically fought his way through the bureaucratic monstrosity that is St. Mungos to get me out of there and into a set of comfortable rooms in Muggle London he had apparently purchased, or something. Stolen? I wasn't sure. He didn't find it necessary to divulge any information to me.
My injuries had affected him more than they had affected me, it seemed. He wouldn't let me out of his sight. If a person could be too attentive, Draco would have it down pat. It was as if he thought I'd disappear if he looked away for even a second. He cooked, he cleaned, he cuddled... for fucks sake, he even helped me bathe.
Three days later and I was still embarrassed about that little fact.
I suppose I shouldn't have been embarrassed about anything. I had, after all, lived in a tent with two teenage boys and managed just fine. He was my supposed boyfriend. He lived with me. He'd told me he loves me. I shouldn't have had any issue with it, yet I continued to blush every time I found myself in that inevitable situation...
He either ignored my embarrassment and apparently every of his own emotions that came along with finding me naked in a bathtub, or he was completely unaware to it and unaffected by my nakedness. Either way, I hadn't known gentlemen like this actually existed.
It wasn't as if I could do anything about it if I'd wanted to, anyways. I was still too weak to walk. Feeding myself tired me out to the point where I needed to take a nap. I had no other option but to let him carry on, so we both tactfully ignored the situation.
Or, well, I tried my best at least.
It got especially hard when I was forced to lay across his lap three times a day so he could apply the painful salves, trying my best not to scream.
/
"Hermione?"
"Mm?" I had been dozing on the couch when Draco had walked in, the St. Mungos bag in his hand. I immediately figured out what time of day it was and eyed him wearily. "Did they tell you how much longer?"
He just looked at me for a few long moments, blankly, as if he didn't want to divulge that kind of information. As if I couldn't handle it. I didn't know what was worse, him keeping secrets from me, treating me like a child, or his overly broken attentiveness.
He sighed and came to sit next to me. "I made lunch. Do you want to eat first?"
Hmm... feeling like throwing up or having no appetite at all? What a wonderful decision to make. What would you choose? "I suppose we can get it over with, if you want."
He sat there while I wearily got up and started to unbutton the white shirt I was wearing, realizing it was one of Draco's. By the time I'd finished and started to remove the tank top I was wearing underneath, I had no energy left. I looked at him, hopelessly and he wordlessly helped me.
I blushed, wishing I could have worn a bra, but the poisoned skin extended all the way to the underside of my breast. It would have killed to wear one, much to my dismay. Perhaps I ought to have anyhow.
"I'm sorry," I whispered, once I had clambered into his lap, wearing only a pair of shorts.
"It's okay," he responded immediately, in his empty gracious form that he'd taken to these days. "It's not your fault. But it'll be over with soon, and you'll get your strength back. Then we can go home."
That was another thing. He was completely obsessed with the concept of taking me home. I couldn't be sure why, and he obviously wouldn't answer, as he was busy shielding me from the world and myself. I couldn't be frustrated with him of course... I could only be thankful. But perhaps, he would see reason tonight.
I would try again tonight.
He pulled me gently into place, pulling on the dragon hide gloves for protection. I closed my eyes, gripping his shoulder to brace myself for the inevitable pain. Screwing my eyes shut tighter I waited. I heard him unscrew the bottle of salve, reach in and smear it over his protected fingers.
He paused. "Are you ready, love?"
I peaked through my lids, seeing his worried expression. A few strands of hair had fallen out of place onto his forehead, into his eyes. I reached up to kiss his cheek, to reassure him. "Yes, just get it over with." He nodded slowly and began lathering the purple, hardened skin with the odorous, pink paste.
I almost screamed this time, almost. Instead, a high pitched squeak escaped my lips, tears flowing down my cheeks incessantly. It only got worse. Hearing a sizzling sound, I stared down at the mess that was my stomach. There was a bubbling mess, I found, part salve/ part diseased skin in a colour that resembled vomit.
Draco held me, whispering things that made no sense into my ear. I wouldn't know what I'd do without him in this situation. As much as I loved the Weasleys, and Harry for that matter, I couldn't possibly imagine going through this situation without him.
He was my stable pillar.
He was the magic to my wand. The chocolate fudge to my honeydukes, the butter to my beer... and any other likeness you could possibly come up with. I was, as you could say, irrevocably in love. With a Malfoy.
What's worse – The fact that he was once a death eater from a long line of muggleborn haters hardly made a difference anymore.
Draco:
I couldn't bear to see her in this much pain.
I was barely hanging on to my last nerve, my brain barely functioning. I knew it was slightly too early in the course of our relationship to be this obsessed with her every need – but it was something I had positively no control over.
The truth was, when she'd laid there in that pathetic excuse of a hospital bed, my life had flashed before my eyes. It was lonely, bleak, depressing as fuck. I couldn't manage to live without this bubbly Gryffindor. No matter that she was part of the Golden Trio. No matter that I'd bullied her for so long.
This shit was getting serious.
What was even more surprising? I wasn't even close to wanting to disappear. For the first time in years I didn't want to just go blank, forget everything and barely exist. I wanted to live, goddamnit! But I wouldn't be able to manage without my perfect ray of sunshine.
I had just been tucking the darling into bed when I noticed her chewing her lip. That meant she had something to say, but wasn't sure exactly how to phrase it.
"What's wrong?" I asked, instantly worried. Did I forget to do something? Was she uncomfortable?
"We...need to talk..." she mumbled, not looking me in the eye. I sat down next to her on the edge of the bed reaching for her hand that lay above the covers. She was entirely too pale, I noticed once again. Paler than me and that was quite a feat to accomplish. "No, we'll talk when you get in bed."
I let go of her hand, confused. Walking to the loo, I mentally checked off everything that I was supposed to have done for her today and came up blank. What could we possibly need to talk about?
Then it hit me. She most likely wanted to ask about the report the healers had given to me today at St. Mungos when I'd gone to get the new batch of salves. Well, that's not going to be a pleasant conversation... Fucking hell! I had been hoping to avoid it for as long as possible, not wanting to alarm her.
After I'd finished brushing my teeth, I looked at myself in the mirror for a few long minutes, wondering what Hermione saw in me. I still didn't like mirrors, or my reflection in general for reasons I didn't want to explore in my mind. Instead, I steeled myself and walked towards the door, towards my salvation.
Her eyes were closed. She looked like a sick angel.
Hoping she'd fallen asleep I inched my way into bed, gently taking her into my arms. "Mmm," I heard her say. "You're cold."
"Sorry, love." I pulled her closer, moving her hair onto the pillow so I could press my face against her neck. If there was one thing I couldn't manage without, it was this. I couldn't imagine a time where sleep was this restful, as it was with her.
"Don't be, I like the feeling."
"Are you too warm? Here, I'll just get the lighter blanket..." I was in the process of getting up, when she snagged my arm and shook her head, motioning for me to stay. Instead, she took my arm and brought it closer around her, stroking my palm with her delicate fingers.
"I want to talk to you," she whispered, nervously.
I cringed, hoping she'd put it off for later. Or maybe had gotten too tired to continue. "We can talk about it in the morning, you know," I said as I stroked her hair.
"No. It won't take long. I just want to say..." she paused and I cringed, which she luckily didn't notice. Maybe this could be avoided...what could I possibly do, though? Maybe I could feign sleep, yes that would work.
"I love you, Draco," she said.
Oh.
"And I'm worried about you..." she trailed off.
Oh.
Well that was completely unexpected. I held her closer whispering it back and felt her shiver. Smiling, I kissed her cheek, relieved... ecstatic? Maybe a little heady with the pleasure. I could have gotten up and done summersaults, my heart was already doing so. All I wanted was for her to say it again. Maybe a thousand times would suffice.
The witch actually WANTS me!
And I was happy until she continued. "Are you... you know...emotionally shutting yourself off from me?" I saw her shoulders hunch up and I knew if I turned her over, her face would be screwed up in mortification of asking such a question. Her rambling tendencies kicked in at this point and she started to speak in hyper speed. "Because that's really not the way to go, Draco, I can help you, you know. All you have to do is talk to me. But you just don't –"
I laughed and she paused, clearly confused. "I'm not shutting myself off from you, Hermione."
"You're...not?" she turned to look at my smiling face.
"Not at all."
"But you act like you are," she said, nervously. "I mean, you barely talk to me... you look so blank all the time. And you're hiding things from me. You don't answer my questions...It's not very nice of you." She poked my chest at the last statement, causing me to laugh further and for her to stick her tongue out at me.
"I'm sorry," I answered her, seriously this time. "I've been...worried about you, trying to hide it because I didn't want to add to your stress."
"Oh..." she looked stumped for a few minutes and I just watched her in silence, playing with a stray curl of her chocolate coloured hair. "So, you'll stop hiding things from me, then?"
I looked at her another moment, pretending to consider the question. "Nope."
Her mouth dropped open and I laughed, again. She started smacking me, yelling, "You bastard! That's not fair!"
I pinned her on her back, trapping her so she couldn't run away and start a pillow fight. "What's in it for me?" I asked, kissing along her jaw. She shivered as I'd anticipated and continued to kiss her down her neck.
"Anything you want, Mr. Malfoy," she squeaked when I nipped gently at her skin.
Raising my head up to stare at her beautiful face, I grinned. "Oh, anything you say, Ms. Granger?" She nodded fervently so I kissed her soft lips. "What about that?" When she nodded again, I let her arms go to cup her face. Her hands immediately went to my hair and I immediately wondered why I hadn't done this more often in the past few days...
That was until I heard her yelp in pain.
Springing off her, I looked at her worriedly. She just curled up, clutching her stomach in pain, waving at me to wait for a minute. I sat there helplessly... feeling like the most useless individual in the world.
After a few moments, she settled down, panting. When she'd caught her breath, she turned to look at me apologetically. "What happened?" I asked her quietly.
"I must have strained my muscles too hard or something... out of excitement?" I looked at her with what must have been a confused expression. "My abdominal muscles." She pointed to her stomach. "Clenched. When you were kissing me. The muscles that is," she paused to see if I were following. "I'm fine. It was just a shock."
I decided that I'd have to be extra careful with her, now. "And this wasn't your fault, fucker, so don't you blame it on yourself and try to be even more helpful than you already are!"
Damn, she knew me well.
Rolling my eyes, I pulled her back into place so we could fall asleep. "What did the report say, Draco?" Fucking hell...bad timing this witch had.
I didn't answer, hoping she'd let it go. "Draco Malfoy, I will disembowel you! I have a right to know! And you will tell me now!" I didn't say anything, felt her stiffen and I could sense her glaring at me. After a few minutes of silence she huffed in defeat and pulled out of my grasp.
Or tried at least.
"Let me go, Malfoy!" I couldn't be sure if she'd felt my head shake. "You're an arse," she muttered, when she found that I wasn't about to let go.
Another few minutes passed before I finally decided that I couldn't keep it from her forever. "Three weeks," I whispered, hoping she'd already fallen asleep.
"What?"
"Three weeks. You should be healed in three weeks," I muttered, waiting for an explosion to follow my words. None came.
"Oh good, I thought maybe you were keeping it from me because I'd be trapped like this forever. Hmm... so that means we can go home by February! Better than I was expecting. And then I can read what you have written of your new book. What's it called again?" She continued to chatter but I hardly paid attention any longer.
How was she so damn optimistic all the time? Maybe I'd underestimated her, after all.
A/N: The Unsigned Reviewers
Yolandadcup- thank you for your review. Yes, they're going to get even worse now with their lovey duvey ness.
RAVEN-NEVAR- You'll have to keep reading to find out if Hermione dies or not. I don't know why, but I really enjoy cliffhangers and torture! I'm not completely sure about how many chapters but I'm thinking around 40. Don't hold me to it though.
Insecuredelusions- You are such a sweet reviewer! Of course I will continue this story especially if I've got your support! I started this at a very tough time in my life and I want to continue just to remind myself that I can make it through. Thank you for reviewing! As for your own writing, I'm sure you're very talented yourself. I wouldn't mind reading your work if you'd like to send me something. I am a beta reader, if you ever require my services.
Kabbage- you are truly brilliant. I can't tell you how much you've motivated me to update so quick.
Krrt- Thank you for adding me to your browser favourites. It means quite a lot! Thank you for your amazing reviews as well, you're brilliant.