Last chapter…

"Draco!" Hermione breathed, sitting up quickly on the bed.

Harry had fallen asleep on the side but was awoken suddenly by movement. He looked up and saw that Hermione was up.

"Herms! You're awake!" He hugged her and began his onslaught of questions.

"What happened to you? Why did you collapse?" He worriedly queried.

"Harry…Harry! Just hold on and let me compose my mind for a second." She held her hand to her forehead and closed her eyes briefly before opening them in realization.

"Where's Draco!" Hermione shouted, moving to get out of the bed.

Harry's expression froze.

"Why do you want to know?" He asked narrowing his eyes suspiciously.

"I have to find him, Harry! You don't know what has been going on!"

"Wait, what has been going on! You better tell me! Don't you start keeping things from me; I have a right to know!" Harry had truly become incensed at her sudden concern for his arch-rival.

"I don't have time for this, I have to find him." Hermione struggled to stay balanced but swooned back onto the bed.

"How can you try and stand after what had happened? You passed out in the middle of Astronomy. You're going to sit down and tell me everything." Harry stated firmly, keeping bottle green eye-contact with her tired, chocolate ones.

Hermione bit her lip gently in trepidation at revealing the reason why she had fainted and as to why she showed worry for an enemy.

After taking a welcomed breath, she began slightly shakily.

"Well, Harry. Remember that night I had disappeared? I ended up at the bottom of the school base, unconscious. Draco found me and we both tried to get out but it only resulted in getting somewhere we really shouldn't have been." She winced from memory.

Harry kept his intent stare on her.

She continued her story, leaving out pieces that were not going to be very helpful in Harry's present state of irritation.

He was left with a bit of relief that she was finally alright, but there was the lingering resentment of being shut out. He was her boyfriend. That was supposed to mean something. It was supposed to count for something. Though here he was, learning what had been going on in Hermione's life that was somewhat catastrophic, the same time everyone in Hogwarts was.

She searched his face for any hint of emotion, be it annoyance or sadness, but all she could see was that he was thinking.

One thing troubled her. Although she was glad the nightmares had stopped, they had to have been solved by Draco. If he had succeeded, then where was he? There had to be some way of getting away from Harry long enough to go find him.

"Harry? How is Hermione doing?" Ron asked peering around the doorframe.

He saw that she was sitting up and he ran over.

"Hermione! What happened! How are you!" Ron began in the similar way Harry had done.

"Ron, not now. Please?"

"Oh, right. Sorry."

Suddenly an idea struck her.

"I'm feeling a bit hungry, seeing as I haven't eaten in a day. Can we go down to the kitchens and fetch some food?" Hermione asked slowly, hoping that her plan would work.

"Yeah, sure. You could stay here and we could go get it for you." Harry suggested.

"No, I'd rather like to stand up. I get nauseous when I lie about for a while."

"Okay."

Convinced and cautious of Hermione's health, they made their way to the kitchens.

In front of them was the painting.

"Now which fruit do you tickle? I always forget. Is it the banana? Or the kiwi? What on earth is that fruit?" Ron mumbled as he puzzled over the fruit's identity.

"Ron, you tickle the pear. And for god's sake, that's a pomegranate."

"Right. I knew that."

They walked in and were immediately bombarded with sandwiches carried by the house-elfs.

The boys were very distracted by the tasty food that had now made its appearance.

Hermione took the opportunity to slip behind the tapestry and through the door. She patted her cloak pockets and found her wand. Making her descent on the stairs, silence began to envelope her, and darkness blanketed the walls a few feet in front.

She came upon the door that held inside the chimera and pushed the handle down.

The scene that lay in front of her burned into her mind as the most horrifying thing she had ever seen.

The beast had been killed but its dark blood was spilled everywhere. A few feet over, she cried out when she saw Draco face down in his own blood.

"Oh god, Draco!" She rushed over and tried to turn him over.

Layers of red had caked onto most of his face.

With a sweep of her wand, the mess had vanished, only to reveal the many cuts and bruises hidden by the opaque liquid.

Her fingers trembled as they ran over his forehead. Tears welled in her eyes and she lost control. Yelling out, she clung to his limp, thinned frame. After several minutes of wailing, she detected a slight movement. Aligning her ear with his chest, she picked up a faint beat.

"Draco! Wake up, please! You can't die now! Not after everything. You saved my life Draco! Please, just open your eyes! Call me a mudblood, smirk at me, anything! Don't leave me. I WANT IT TO BE LIKE IT USED TO BE!" She screamed, her face reddening from the exertion.

He remained still.

She quickly stood and pointed her wand at his body. He rose, floating yet still appeared life-less. Hermione ran back up the stairs, keeping him close behind her.

She moved aside the rug and quickly made her way through the kitchen.

Harry and Ron had been calling out to her, and then they saw her.

They froze.

"Hermione…" Harry began.

"Get out of my way." She pushed past them, and exited the room, leaving behind two extremely shocked boys.

Reaching the Hospital Wing, Hermione burst though and yelled out for Madame Pomphrey. She walked out of her office, clearly peeved.

"Miss Granger, this is a hospit-…Oh my stars! What has happened?" Her hands flew to her mouth as she witnessed Draco's state.

"Never mind about what, focus more on right now. We need to get him to St. Mungo's NOW!"

"Yes, I'll get the floo powder. They have a fireplace in the emergency wing." She hurried to her office and returned with a flowerpot.

"Miss Granger, you had better come along as well."

"I wasn't planning it any other way."

They made it to St. Mungo's and rushed Draco's unconscious form to several MediWizards.

They took him and placed him on an enchanted gurney.

Hermione wanted to accompany them, but they assured her that she would be kept up to date of everything as soon as they had complete information.

Taking a seat, she cradled her head in her hands as she dreaded any news.

Hours passed and still no sign of any medical personnel.

Finally, one of the MediWizards that had been put in charge of Draco emerged through the door.

"Miss Granger?"

"Yes?" She asked shivering from the inside out. This was it.

"Well, it was difficult, due to the numerous cuts that had been present and the major blood loss. Though he will be kept here for a few days, we have managed to stabilize his condition. It's best you return tomorrow, for now just get some sleep."

"Come on Miss Granger, your friends must be worried about you." Madame Pomphrey placed a hand on her shoulder.

Hermione faced the doctor.

"Could I stay here? I don't really want to go back, not right now. I am tired of questions, I am tired of being forced to rest. Please?" Hermione pleaded tiredly.

The MediWizard looked from her to Madame Pomphrey, then sighed.

"Yes, alright. I am afraid there is no place to sleep. But I will tell you when you can see him." He left and Hermione avoided Madame Pomphrey's gaze.

"I suppose there is no moving you then. I will inform the Headmaster of the situation, though I have a feeling he already knows. Take care."

Hermione was alone now. She sat there with several things on her mind.

Eventually she fell asleep, thankfully having no nightmares.

"Miss? Miss?" A voice called out.

Hermione's eyes opened blearily.

A nurse was standing in front of her.

"Miss, you can go visit the young man now. He's down the hall, third door on the right."

She got up and walked in the direction that she had been told.

Walking through, she saw Draco lying on a bed, bandages all over his body. He was asleep.

Hermione smiled and sat down in a chair next to the bed. She placed her hand on his.

His eyes slowly opened and he saw her.

"Bloody hell! You look like you got in a fight with a werewolf and lost." He hoarsely stated.

"Oh shut up." She playfully shot back, but her eyes had filled with tears.

"Oi, I don't need to see you look like a drowned rat too."

"I thought you were going to die."

"Oh is that it? Sorry to disappoint." He smirked.

"I really did. I thought you were gone. That you weren't ever going to come back." She whispered, recalling the fear she felt.

"Look, the only thing I got out of this is hopefully a bunch of manly scars. Though if there are any on my face, there will be hell to pay."

Hermione laughed, happy that he was alright.

"Don't ever do that again. I don't know if I could handle it."

"Hmm…well you can't tell me what to do, but I think we can strike up a deal."

"Yeah."

"Anyways, because I'm so damn amazing you'd miss me."

"More than you could ever imagine." She replied, leaning forward and kissing him.

Alright, cheeps. That is the end. Hope you enjoyed it, even though it was a short story, and pieces that are left unanswed, I made it a happy ending. Well. Harry doesn't get a happy ending, cuz he's an emotionally angsty-hopelessly in love-angry little boy.