So very very sorry this has taken so long! I don't deserve your forgiveness and I give you all permission to kill me... And I say that because I know you won't or otherwise the story will never be finished.
I had a revival I was preforming in and I had to practice every single day, I never caught a break, and then the actual revival came along, those days were filled with heading to the theater to preform sound checks, fix the lighting, go into make-up and wardrobe, then preforming, and by the time the day was finished I was exhausted. Then after the revival was finished I came down with severe strep throat, yay. -_-
Whilst I was ill I started writing on this chapter, and almost had it completely finished when my computer crashed and I lost EVERYTHING. Thus sending me into a major funk and I was unable to ever be pleased with how the rewritten chapter came out. I erased the entire thing many times before finally being pleased.
Once again, I apologize profusely, and I hope I haven't lost all of my readers.
Also this chapter has a lot of Teddy/Hermione fluff, so much that it's nearly gag worthy, but it is strictly friendship fluff.
When Hermione opened her eyes again she was lying in the hospital wing, and momentarily she thought she was dreaming because she had dreamed of waking up in Hogwarts countless times.
Then her brain clears and she remembers in vivid detail everything that transpired, the almost wedding, Snape's death, Draco's.. Draco!
She looks around the room frantically in search of anyone who could assure her that Draco is okay, but instead of finding a professor, or Madam Pomfrey, she finds the object of her troubled thoughts.
"Draco?" She croaks out, her voice hoarse from lack of use.
She clears her throat and calls his name a bit louder, when he doesn't respond she begins to grow a bit more worried, the only thing keeping her calm being the steady rise and fall of his chest indicating that he is in fact alive.
"Madam Pomfrey?" She calls out, relieved when the woman scurries into the room only a moment later.
"Oh dear you're finally awake, you gave everyone quite a scare when you blacked out." She says, waving her wand over Hermione to check her vitals.
"Madam Pomfrey." She says her name softly, and the woman freezes.
"Why isn't Draco waking up?" She asks, and Madam Pomfrey looks down, refusing to meet Hermione's eyes.
"Please, tell me." She begs, her voice quivering in fear.
"When he was bit, Klaus's venom leaked into his veins, and began changing him." She pauses as Hermione gasps out loud.
"Please tell me the change was stopped." Her voice breaks once more, her fear bubbling up in her throat.
"Yes, I managed to stop the venom before it reached his heart which would have finalized a change. But when the venom hit the spell block it began attacking his other important organs, we stopped that as well, but he has been in a comatose state ever since."
"W-when will he wake up?" Hermione feared the answer more than anything, but she had to know.
"I think you've heard enough you should rest."
"When. Will. He. Wake. Up?" She asked again, refusing to back down.
"I don't know if he ever will." A sob escaped from Hermione's throat at the woman's words, and she felt like the room was suddenly shrinking around her, the walls slowly closing in, suffocating her.
"No. He has to wake up, he has to." She states, ignoring the tear escaping from her eye and making it's slow descent down her face.
"I'm sorry Miss Granger, I wish I could give you better news I truly do." She says, petting Hermione's head gently, she's about to say more when there's a knock on the door.
"Come in." Madam Pomfrey calls, losing her mother hen tone and going back to the stern witch she usually is.
Teddy walks in, a stuffed animal clutched in his hand. His eyes light up as he sees Hermione awake, a smile spreading across his face.
"About time you woke up Herms!" He exclaims, running over to her and pulling her into a tight hug.
"What have I told you about calling me that?" She growls halfheartedly happy to see someone who could keep her mind off of the thoughts of Draco possibly never waking up.
He instinctively covers his crotch, remembering her threats. "Sorry, very sorry, please don't remove my balls. Still very fond of them." He says, and she smiles.
"What's that in your hand?" She asks, and he holds up a teddy bear, fur the same shade of brown as his hair, and wearing a Slytherin tie.
"I got this for you, figured my little niece or nephew would like to have something to make them think of their Uncle Teddy." He smiles as she takes the bear, clutching it to her chest.
"That's very sweet of you." She says, leaning into his side. "What are best friends for?" He smiles, wrapping his arm around her and squeezing her gently.
"I'll ask Blaise the next time I see him." She says, and he sticks his tongue out at her.
"Oh very mature." She states, and he rolls his eyes. "You should appreciate me more, you've no idea how many people taunted me for walking down the halls with a teddy bear in my hand." He sniffs as if he's about to cry, and it causes her to let out a giggle.
Teddy's eyes strayed from hers to Draco's momentarily, and instantly the light mood dissipates, a darker, much more serious one taking it's place.
"Has Madam Pomfrey said anything about his condition? She really wouldn't reveal much whenever any of us asked her." He asks, and she repeats to him exactly what Madam Pomfrey told her, not noticing that she's crying until he starts wiping away her tears.
"Hey hey, don't be like that. You know how strong Draco is, he's not gonna give up so easily, he's the most stubborn bastard I've ever met." He says, sounding as if he's holding off his own emotions for her sake.
"What if he doesn't Teddy?" She asks, knowing he can't really give her much of an answer but asking anyway.
"I don't know, but if he doesn't, I'll be there with you every step of the way, and so will Pansy and Blaise." He whispers, interlacing their fingers and squeezing her hand comfortingly.
A sharp kick from the baby that hit Teddy in the ribs ended the sweet moment.
"Ahh, that is definitely D's kid." He says, rubbing his side. "You're such a wimp." Hermione states, and he once again immaturely sticks his tongue out at her.
Professor Klaus had seen many people go mad in his days of living, but Ronald Weasley's was by far the most annoying.
"YOU PROMISED SHE WOULD BE MINE! AND YOU LET HER SLIP THROUGH YOUR BLOODY FINGERS!" He shrieked, tugging at his hair as he paces back and forth through the room.
"We can make this work Mr. Weasley would you please shut the hell up." He groans, feeling a headache coming on even though he was incapable of having one.
"HOW IS THIS SUPPOSED TO WORK?! ARE YOU MENTAL? SHE IS GONE, NOT HERE, BACK IN THE ARMS OF THE FERRET!" He shrieks once more, and Klaus lets out a growl.
"Do. Not. Call. Me. Mental." His voice is dangerously low as he speaks, and Ron instantly stops his pacing and lets out a scared squeak.
"S-sorry." He mumbles, staring down at his feet looking as if he's about to wet his pants.
"Now if you would sit down and behave calmly, I can explain exactly how this could work." He says, interlacing his fingers together under his chin.
Ron instantly drops down in a chair close to where he was standing and makes sure to not even breath loudly.
"First of all, you need not worry about her being back in Mr. Malfoy's arms because there is no way he could have survived the bite I gave him, my venom does not have the ability to change people, they all die or are comatose for the rest of their lives." He says, and Ron instantly smiles.
"Second of all, to complete our plan we needed access to the Forbidden Forrest which is on Hogwarts grounds. With the young Malfoy's death on her shoulders Miss Granger will be disoriented, and very easy to control. A simple Imperio and she'll be bending to my very will, this will work out in our favor. I assure you." He states, arching his eyebrow when he can tell that Ron is going to ask more.
"What do we need in the Forbidden Forrest?" He blurts out, leaning farther away from Klaus in fear that his questioning will cause him to lash out.
"Located in the darkest parts of the Forbidden Forrest is the Deținător de minți the Romanian root that literally means Keeper of Minds. Once the root is obtained we will have to wait until Miss Granger's little brat is born, and then the plan will fall into place."
"And what is the plan exactly?" Ron asks, biting his lip. "In due time Mr. Weasley." Is all Klaus says before he gets up and walks out of the room.
"Alright Miss Granger you are free to leave." Madam Pomfrey says after she's finished checking Hermione's vitals once again.
"A-Are you sure?" Hermione asks, glancing in Draco's direction. The mediwitch smiles at her sympathetically.
"Yes I'm sure, and just so you know, I already got permission from Professor Dumbledore for you to come back to check on Draco anytime you please, even if it's in the middle of the night." She says, rubbing Hermione's back gently.
"Thank you Madam Pomfrey." She says, leaning up to hug the woman tightly, taking her by surprise.
"Before you go there's someone that wants to see you." She says, and then the doors open and Hermione's parents rush in.
"Mom! Dad!" Hermione exclaims, running to them as the wrap their arms around her tightly. "Oh my baby girl!" Her mother cried, tears streaming down her face.
"We came and saw you while you were unconscious, but when you woke up we were talking to Dumbledore and we only just found out." Her dad says, running his fingers through her hair gently.
"It's okay, you're here now that's all that matters." Hermione says through her tears.
"Don't you ever scare us like that again." Her mom says once she's finally got control of her tears. "I'll do my best." Hermione whispers, hugging her parents once again.
After sitting with her parents for a few more minutes they said they had to go back and talk to Dumbledore.
"We're talking to him about letting us stay at Hogwarts until the baby's born." Her mom says, and Hermione smiles wide.
"Are you serious?!" She asks, and they both nod. "Now don't worry, we're not gonna be the embarrassing parents and eat lunch with you and follow you to class, but we'll be here whenever you need us, no more having to send us an owl to get us." Her dad says and they laugh.
"We'll see you in a bit sweetie, we love you." Her mom says, kissing her on the forehead before they leave.
"Alright dear are you ready?" Madam Pomfrey asks, fussing over Hermione as she gathers her things.
"As I'll ever be." She says, as the door to the hospital wing opens and Pansy, Blaise, and Teddy walk in.
"We figured we'd escort you to your room." Pansy says, running up to Hermione and hugging her tightly. "That would be lovely." Hermione says, smiling as Teddy and Blaise loop their arms through hers.
As soon as they get out into the corridor everyone stills and goes quiet, their eyes focused on Hermione.
Then some Gryffindor girl walks up and pulls Hermione into a hug, Hermione recognized her as the 5th year girl that confronted her the day she got out of the hospital after Ron raped her.
"I never doubted you." The girl says, her voice full of sickly sweet pity.
"Bullshit." Hermione says monotonously, pushing the girl off of her roughly.
"And that goes for all of you too. None of you were there for me, in fact you belittled me, and insulted me, and completely supported Ron. But now that you realize you were supporting the wrong person, you're gonna start being all sweet to me to save your own asses so you don't look like pricks. And you actually expect me to just pretend that we're all friends? I hate to break it to you, but I have more self respect than that." She says, her voice stern.
When everyone in the room is still staring at her after about a minute she clears her throat awkwardly.
"C-carry on." She says, and instantly the room is filled with the subtle buzzing of whispers, all of them about her.
Out of the crowd Harry started walking towards her, very obviously nervous.
"I'm proud of you Mione, and I'm so sorry I ever doubted you." He says, and she smiles at him.
"I've already forgiven you Harry." She says and he smiles softly. "Yeah I know, but I'll spend the rest of my life trying to make it up to you no matter how many times you forgive me." He says, and they both laugh a bit.
"I'm gonna hug you now okay?" He asks, and she nods, pulling her arms from Teddy and Blaise's and wrapping them around him tightly.
"You'll always be my best friend, even if I'm not yours." He says, squeezing her, before pulling back, tears shining in his eyes.
"You're in my top 5." She teases, hugging Harry once more before looping her arms back through Teddy and Blaise's.
As she walked off towards her room, Harry stared after her, longing to be as close to her as he used to be.
"I promise you Hermione, I'll get Ron for you. Even if it kills me."
Well, that was interesting. I have never had such a hard time writing a chapter, I hope you enjoyed it. I'll do my best to update faster.