Chapter 9.

POV Draco

"Hello Draco."

Her voice was quiet and raspy; weak from the 5 weeks spent in a coma, but to Draco it was the sweetest sound he'd ever heard. She reached out her hand, offering for him to take it. Crossing the room quickly, he gently encompassed her hand in his own, placing a kiss to her knuckles. He pushed his anxious energy down and conjured up a smile for her.

"You're awake. We thought… I mean… we were worried that…" He couldn't find the words to express his joy at her return. He didn't know what she would remember or if she would even want to see him.

"Draco, look at me," His eyes snapped to hers, "I'm alive, look…" she placed his hand on her chest and he could feel the gentle thumping of her heart, he met her gaze again and she reached up to touch his face "See? I'm here. You saved me."

He was tired of crying, but he thought he'd never get to see her golden brown eyes again, or hear her swotty little voice; and yet here she was , alive and smiling at him.

"I will always save you Granger."

Theo cleared his throat, announcing his presence. He took the seat opposite Draco and took Hermione's hand. "Glad to see you're alive and well Granger. Had us in a right scare there for a minute."

"Im sorry to have frightened you all. I should have listened to you Draco. Your instict told you I was in danger and I didn't listen. I was blinded by friendship and trusted my abilities. I should have had my wand out…speaking of. Where is my wand?"

Draco looked down. He had gone to retrieve it after Hermione was safely being treated, but it was gone. "We looked everywhere Granger. I saw it and I meant to grab it but you were so critical, my first focus was getting you stable. When I went back…"

"Where could it have gone? Ron was already tied up by then, it couldn't have been him."

How did she…?

"How did you know he was tied up?"

"Well. It's a little hard to explain. I'm not even sure myself really. I think Minerva might have the answers, I planned to make a meeting with her once I am allowed to get up. But I am pretty sure that it has to do with our soul bond. While I was unconscious, I was in a sort of void; I could think and I felt like I had a body but I couldn't see anything. And then I seeing things. I don't know if they were happening in real time or if it was memories of the event but it always had to do with you Draco so I'm thinking that it must have been my mind holding onto yours for safety. Again I will need to discuss it with Minerva and see if she has any research that could explain it."

"Wait, so you saw everything?" Draco was squeezing her hand tight, his eyes darting left and right as his mind comprehended her words.

"Yes. I saw you save me, well kind of, I saw while you two were healing me and Draco conjured a patronus. I saw you give your statement and the Aurors treat you like a criminal. I put myself between you and and them, and then Minerva showed up and did the same thing. I saw you, Theo and Pansy talking about how Harry never came to see me. I touched your leg and you jumped up, like you felt me, and then you took off, where did you go?"

"That was you? Like you were there?" He stood sharply, thinking over every moment of the last 5 weeks, scrounging through his memories for clues.

Was she there all the time? Did she see...? Surely not. Salazar help me!

"Yes! I guess that would mean I was seeing it in real time. It would also explain why I only saw the parts after I was unconscious."

He was still pacing, his thoughts a jumbled mess. He felt silly for being so high strung, he was usually the calm and collected one, but since the Yule Ball, occluding had become very difficult.

"Drake, sit down, your going to walk all the way through the floor." When he didn't respond, Theo shot a sticking charm at his feet, causing his upper half to topple over into a seat. Theo undid the charm and Draco righted himself before he spoke.

"I went to see McGonagall when I ran off. I was so sure you were there; we had planned to test that theory once you were fully cleared, but you had to go and be an overachiever and wake up early."

Hermione gave a gentle smile and reached for his hand. "We can always test it later."

They stared at each other, having an entire unspoken conversation. Theo cleared his throat as he stood, "Okay, I'm going to go get us some food, and find Pansy. She will be furious if she finds out we didn't tell her you were awake." He leaned down and kissed her forehead. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do." He said pointedly at Draco before walking out the door.

--

They sat in silence for a moment, neither knowing what to say now that they were alone. The air around them felt thick and humid despite the winter air, threatening to drown them both if someone didn't break the silence.

"I loved the song." Her voice was quiet again, nervous.

"You saw that?"

"It was the last thing I saw before I woke up."

His face flushed red and he looked down at his hands. He didn't know why he was embarrassed, he had hoped she was hearing him when he had sung to her. He shook off the feeling and pulled his chair closer to her bed.

"Are you feeling alright?"

"As well as I can, considering what happened. I would like to get out of this bed though."

"I'll go ask Pomfrey when we can get you up and moving once Theo comes back with food."

In the blink of an eye Draco jumped to his feet. His heart was racing, his ears were ringing and he was dripping sweat. Blood covered his hands and Hermione's lifeless body lay on the floor. The walls shook and and the floor rumbled as if the entire castle was about to collapse on top of him. The ringing grew louder and he covered his ears, dropping to the floor. He heard voices in the distance and screamed for their help, but no sound left his mouth. He tried again but suddenly even air refused to pass his throat. He couldn't breathe. He fell back, clawing at his throat, trying to get even a single breath. Voices grew louder, they were close, but he couldn't call out to them. He heard his name as the world began to darken. It called to him again, and again, and ag--

"DRACO!"

He sucked in a lung full of air and shot up. He looked around frantically and saw Hermione kneeling beside him, grasping his arm. His face flushed as he realized he'd had another panic attack.

"You shouldn't be out of bed."

"Well what was I supposed to do? You were in a full fit and Pomfrey wasn't here, I couldn't leave you down here like that."

He sighed and pulled her into his lap to hug her. He leaned down to press a kiss to her forehead but in that same instant, Hermione lifted her head up and their lips met. It was quick, and it took Draco a moment to process what happened. She looked up at him sheepishly, worried she had overstepped.

He placed a hand on the side of her neck, and felt the steady thump of her heart. He closed his eyes, soaking in the rhythm, relaxing, knowing that she was alive. Sliding his hand around to the back of her head he pulled her forward and their lips met again. This time he devoured her, his hands tangling in her curls, his tongue entwining with hers. He pulled away and pressed his forehead to hers.

"I never thought I would get to do that again." He said breathing deeply

She pressed another kiss to his lips, "I know."

"Our tethers were connected for one hour. One! When it broke, I thought, "that's fair, I deserve that". But then I started getting those small surges where I could feel you for just a moment and I started to hope again; but no matter how much I hoped, nothing could prepare me for my relief when the bond fully reconnected, or my joy at seeing you awake. I know that to you, this is still day 1, but for me it's been weeks, and that's okay, because as long as you'll have me, I'll be right here. I'll do everything in my power to keep you safe. I—"

She silenced him with a hungry kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled herself up so she was straddling his lap. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her flush against his chest as he trailed kisses down her jaw and onto her neck. He nipped her neck lightly, causing a moan to escape her lips. She pulled his hair and he gasped into her mouth, making her giggle.

"Eh hem."

They jumped apart, looking up to see Theo and Pansy standing in the doorway.

"We brought sustenance, but it looks like you have found your own in the form of each other's faces." Pansy said as she closed the distance between them. "You missy are not supposed to be out of bed."

She reached her hand out to help Hermione up, and enveloped her in a hug.

"I'm so happy you're awake. Being a new best friend is hard when one of us is in a coma."

"Best friend?" Hermione said looking at her quizzically.

"Yes! Best friend! You think I'm letting anyone else claim that title? They weren't sitting here with you for 5 weeks!"

"Pansy!" Draco snapped trying to silence her, but Hermione held up her hand to stop him.

"Its alright Draco." She said before turning to back to Pansy, "Thank you for being here Pansy, and I would be happy to be your friend."

"Best friend." She added. Hermione rolled her eyes before turning around and getting back into her bed.

Theo conjured up an extra chair and they all gathered around Hermione's bed to eat.

"I didn't know if you wanted tea, pumpkin juice or butterbeer so brought all three."

"Tea please."

Theo went to make it, but Draco already had it done and reached his arm out to offer it to her. She paused, staring at him in awe.

"You know how I take my tea?"

"Spoon of honey with a splash of milk" he waved the cup under her nose and she took it, squinting her eyes. "Who did you think was sending you tea when you were spending late nights in the library?"

Her eyes widened, "THAT WAS YOU?" His response was a wink which elicited a groan from his two "friends".

They sat in silence as they ate and Draco felt a growing warmth in his chest as hope filled his soul. He sent a silent prayer to the gods, begging them to never take this feeling away. It was the first time in his life that he could say he understood what it meant to have a family.