Let Me Help You

DracoxHermione

Rated NC-17

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or its characters from the franchise. That honor belongs to JK Rowling

Let Me Help You

Chapter 9

It was October and rather chilly, so much so that there was snow falling from the sky. It was strange considering it wasn't even truly winter yet, but Hermione deduced stranger things have happened; she would know, after all. At the moment she was in Hogsmeade with Harry and Ron having Butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks. Hermione noticed Harry looking intently somewhere at the moment while Ron was trying (and failing) at ignoring his sister and Dean Thomas. Turning her head, she saw a glimpse of platinum blond hair disappear towards the back of the shop, and the brunette immediately thought of her crush. Not even five minutes later Draco, just as she thought, appeared from the back and walked out of the pub without so much as catching anyone else's attention, save for and obviously Harry.

"Malfoy's up to no good, I bet," Harry said low enough for them to hear before taking a sip of his Butterbeer.

Hermione shifted for a moment before saying, "You don't know that, Harry."

Ron scoffed and replied, "Come on, Hermione. We all know that whenever the ferret is involved, nothing good ever comes out of it. I'm telling you, he's following his father's footsteps into becoming a Death Eater and following You-Know-Who."

Hermione shook her head and took a sip of her Butterbeer just as Professor Slughorn walked over to them. He spoke to Ron momentarily before turning his attention to her and Harry, inviting them to something important apparently. It wasn't like Hermione to not listen, but her attention was elsewhere while the Potions Professor was talking. More specifically, it was on the window where she saw Draco looking in at her with an anxious look on his face before he quickly left.

Quickly standing Hermione put her coat, scarf, and hat on before telling her friends she would see them later. As she was walking away while putting her gloves on, Ron called out, "Where are you going?"

"I've got to go do something," Hermione quickly replied before exiting the Three Broomsticks and walking out into the snow, her brown eyes searching for her crush. She walked along Hogsmeade, turning her head at every corner and small alleyway that she saw. Just as she was reaching the edge to head back towards Hogwarts, she was suddenly grabbed and yanked into a darkly shadowed alleyway and a leather gloved hand was placed over her mouth. Eyes widening she turned and saw that it was Draco that had suddenly grabbed her.

Pulling his hand away she said, "Honestly Draco, you could have just called my name. You nearly gave me a heart attack."

Draco looked down and mumbled, "Sorry, but I didn't want to draw attention. You've already seen me at the Three Broomsticks as it was and I had a feeling you were going to come after me."

"Yes, and you were correct. What were you doing in there, Draco?"

"I had some business to do."

"By sneaking around and disappearing in the back of the pub?"

"Hermione, please. It's work for him."

Hermione's eyes widened and she shut her mouth, taking a good look at the boy standing in front of her, only just now noticing that through his anxiousness, he was shaking. But not only that, he had dark circles under his eyes and it almost seemed like his cheeks were sinking in and making his cheekbones more prominent than they already were.

Reaching a hand up she lightly touched his face, causing Draco to flinch and pull away from her for a moment. She tried again and noticed the blond boy tense this time, but didn't pull away. Placing her other hand on Draco's shoulder, she stared at him intently, her brown eyes boring into his grey ones before she asked, "Draco, are you alright?"

"As you already know, no I am not alright," Draco replied.

"No, I mean are you eating and getting good sleep? You look awful?"

"Thanks so much, Granger. But if you must know, I am eating but am throwing it back up later. And as for sleep, well I've been back in the Room of Requirement at night trying to mend the Vanishing Cabinet, along with being summoned and taking lessons with Severus and you. So no, I'm not really sleeping."

Hermione's heart went out to her crush before grabbing his hand and pulling him out of the alleyway and heading towards the bridge that crossed over onto Hogwarts grounds. Luckily no one saw them, so it didn't bother her too much. Draco, walking behind her as he was dragged along, said, "Oi, what are you doing, Hermione? Where are we going?"

The Gryffindor looked back for a moment before saying, "You are going to get some proper sleep, whether you want to or not."

"B-But I've got to make sure that- "

"Draco, you need rest. You are paler than ever and you seem to have lost weight. Not to mention you already have such a heavy burden on your shoulders, the least you can do is sleep for a few hours. It is Saturday, after all."

"Yeah, but- "

"Please Draco, let me help you get some rest. And if it makes you feel better, I'll stay with you until you wake up."

The Slytherin prince knew that she was right, he did need some sleep. But he couldn't help but be worried that something would happen with his plan that he just executed. He knew both Hermione and Potter had seen him do something and that Potter was suspicious of him (like that was anything new), but even so Hermione was still sticking by him in his reluctant endeavors. The least he could do was comply with her request. Smiling softly Draco nodded and allowed the brunette to drag him back to the castle through a side door and up several stairs before entering a door that lead into a corridor. Looking around he realized that they were on the fifth floor of Hogwarts.

Hermione lead Draco down the corridor until they reached a door. Upon the witch opening it, Draco saw that it was a broom cupboard. After stepping inside and closing the door, Draco cast Lumos with his wand and watched as his companion bent down and began moving things out of the way before finally showing a small little doorway. She opened it and beckoned Draco to crawl through, to which he hesitated before doing so. After he did, Hermione crawled in after him, using her wand to place the items back in front of the hidden door and closing it before they crawled throught the space until they were able to stand. Once standing, Hermione lead Draco up some stone steps until they reached a door; as Hermione pushed the door open, Draco's eyes widened in shock.

They had stepped into a rather large and obviously hidden room that was decorated in silver, gold, bronze, black, as well as green, blue, red, and yellow. There was a large plush sofa as well as armchair and loveseat, all of which were situated near a mahogany fireplace. On the other side of the room was a huge oak four poster bed with a golden comforter and silk sheets, the curtains tied to the posts also made of silk and were cream colored with a white chaise lounge at its foot. And on each of the walls was a portrait of the Founders of Hogwarts; however, these weren't enchanted to move like the ones down in the rest of the castle. All in all, it was a magnificent room and Draco found himself very impressed.

"What is this place?" he couldn't help but ask.

"I'm not sure. It was never mentioned or known to be written in any books about Hogwarts that I have read, but I would assume that it was a secret place for the Founders to escape to for privacy outside of their own quarters," Hermione answered.

Draco watched as Hermione shed her coat, hat, scarf, gloves, as well as shoes before walking over to the bed and jumping on it. After she got comfortable she turned to face him and smiled, patting the space next to her. The blond sighed and took off his own gloves, coat, and shoes before walking over to the large bed and climbing on it and moving over next to Hermione. He watched as the brunette laid down, reaching up and wrapping her hand around his wrist, gently tugging on it to coax him into lying down with her. After a slightly harder tug Draco complied and was surprised at how soft and comfortable the pillows and bed were as soon as he lay down. His exhaustion finally caught up with him and before he knew it his grey eyes had closed shut and he was asleep facing Hermione.

Hermione smiled softly as she watched Draco sleeping, trying to make herself not reach over to stroke his light locks of hair that looked rather dry and brittle. When it became apparent that Draco was too tired to wake up, she reached over and lightly caressed the boy's slightly sunken cheek. She wished that he wasn't doing what he was. Despite what her friends thought, Draco wasn't really as bad as they thought he was. And if only she could tell them what he was being forced to do, then maybe they would change their opinion of him. And then maybe they would understand the risks Draco was taking just to protect his mother.

The blond sighed in his sleep and unconsciously snuggled up next to the brunette, his arm lightly wrapping around her waist as he buried his face in her neck. Hermione froze for a moment, her face turning bright red as her heart pummeled in her chest, and then she relaxed and wrapped her own arm around her crush. Draco was snuggling her and he didn't even know it, but she was okay with that. In a way, it made her feel closer to the boy in her arms. And while Draco slept, Hermione held him and stroked his hair, hoping that his dreams were nothing but pleasant.

Hermione walked into the Gryffindor Common Room feeling giddy and with a smile on her face. She had spent a full total of five hours with Draco, holding him in her arms as he slept for three of those five hours. The last two hours were spent talking, Draco trying to fight off the blush on his face from when he woke up to find himself breathing in her scent. It had been rather cute but Hermione decided not to tease him about it, seeing as he was already embarrassed as it was.

Just as Hermione was about to enter the Girls Dormitory, she heard her name being whispered. Turning around she saw both Harry and Ron beckoning her towards them. Walking over to them she asked, "What is it?"

"Where have you been? Have you heard?" Ron asked.

Confused Hermione asked, "Heard what?"

Harry looked at Ron for a moment before saying, "When we were coming back from Hogsmeade, we heard a scream and saw Katie Bell be dragged around on the ground before lifting into the air, then dropping back down. Hermione, she was taking a cursed necklace to Dumbledore and she touched it. Katie was cursed and I suspect Malfoy."

"Yeah, and when Harry brought it up, McGonagall and Snape quickly dismissed it due to lack of evidence. But Harry is certain and so am I. what do you think?" Ron added.

Hermione brown eyes widened in shock as her heart stopped in her chest. Draco was trying to deliver a cursed necklace to the Headmaster and unintentionally cursed Katie? Draco wouldn't intentionally do that to her, but if it was for Dumbledore, then that meant he really was trying to kill him.

Suddenly feeling sick Hermione turned and ran into the Girls Dormitory, running straight to the bathroom and emptying her stomach into the toilet. After she finished throwing up, she rinsed her mouth out and lay down on her bed, telling Lavender Brown that she was fine when asked if she was alright. Draco was trying to murder Dumbledore against his will and he ended up accidently cursing a fellow student. And all the while he was still doing his task from You-Know-Who just to save himself and his mother. She didn't condone what he was doing, but she did promise that she was going to help him and stand by him, no matter what. Hermione just hoped that Draco didn't get hurt in the process of him fulfilling what he had to do.