3A/N: Sorry for the long absence. To tell you the truth, I had all but given up on this one. That is, until I woke up today completely inspired. So, I plan on finishing this one all the way through. Hopefully, before I start school again on the 22nd of January. We'll see how that goes P.
And as for a disclaimer? Well, I'm sure you know how that goes. But what the heck?
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Except a cozy Hogwarts blanket and my dreams .
Draco and Hermione rushed to the Room of Requirement, knowing without having to be told just whose scream that was. What they didn't expect, however, was seeing Albus Dumbledore step through the doors of their destination just as they arrived.
"Sir, is she alright?" Hermione asked, out of breath.
"Yes, she's fine for the time being, Miss Granger. However, I think it would be best to move her tonight; the Room of Requirement can be a lonely place and I believe it would be best if she were surrounded by friends at the moment."
"Yes, sir," Hermione agreed with a nod and a sigh of relief. "Will she be staying with Draco and me in the Head's Dormitory then?" Dumbledore thought for a moment, then nodded.
"I believe that arrangement might be better than our current one. Please, take this time to introduce our guest to Mr. Malfoy here, and then kindly inform your friends of the situation as well. I think it's time they knew everything, don't you?"
"Yes, sir," Hermione agreed again. No sooner had they wished Dumbledore goodnight, did Hermione turn to Draco, a fierce look in her eye.
"Listen, Draco—Ria has been though a lot. I know it's in your nature to use sarcasm and wit to smooth over a situation, but I'm telling you now, if you so much as make her shed one tear over something you've said, I'll have Peeves follow you for the rest of your natural life."
"Seriously, Granger—is that the best you could come up with?"
"That's exactly what I mean! Harry, Ron, Ginny and I are used to it—Ria needs kindness and compassion now, not your smart remarks. And besides—are you telling me having a poltergeist follow you around singing bawdy songs about you and throwing gum in your hair 24-hours a day, 7-days a week won't grow old?"
"Well when you put it like that…"
"Malfoy…"
"Oh!" Draco cried out, clutching his heart in mock pain. "She used the last name! Alright, alright," he appeased, seeing the look in her eye. "I'll play nice."
Satisfied, Hermione opened the door, beckoning Draco to follow.
"Shh—she's asleep."
It took Draco awhile to adjust to the dim lighting in the room. 'No wonder she's so depressed,' he thought to himself as he followed Hermione to the girl's bedside. 'I would be too if I had to live here all by myself.'
The Room had obviously gone to great lengths to keep its treasure well provided for. By the looks of it, her sleeping quarters alone was larger than the Head's Common Room, and that was saying something. Yet, for all the attempts at comfort, the sheer size of the place was enough to make one feel incredibly small and—just as Dumbledore had said—lonely. Though, Draco certainly wouldn't mind spending time here with his friends. It was an incredible set-up.
Finding nothing really at fault with his surroundings, Draco turned his attention to the girl laying in the bed. At first, he saw nothing but covers—loads and loads of covers on top of a barely breathing form. Slowly, his eyes traveled up the length of the bed, anticipation growing as he realized he was about to see the great secret that had almost cost Hermione her life.
"Wait—Draco," Hermione whispered, and Draco immediately turned his attention to his friend. There was a worry in her voice that scared him. "I think there's something you should know,"
A cold feeling settled in his stomach, his mind racing to fill in the obvious blank before Hermione did. Something he should know? What was it? Why did it put that look on her face? Was it fear?
"Granger, I'm not getting any younger here, you know…" The sound of his voice startled Hermione, and she remembered she was seconds away from sharing something with him that she hadn't even shared with Dumbledore. For the life of her, she couldn't remember why.
The strong urge to protect her Slytherin companion washed over Hermione, making her wish she hadn't brought it up in the first place. She didn't want to tell him anymore. She wanted him to be happy, to revel in the new bliss that came from the safety of a world without Voldemort, a bliss that came in having real friends that wanted him to forget the pain he had suffered.
"Granger? Should I conjure you up a hearing aid then?"
She was about to respond, about to find some reason to get him out of the room before chaos would ensue, but a rustling from the bed told her it was too late. Shit.
"Hermione? Is that you?"
Draco's eyes immediately shot to the source of the voice he heard, still husky with sleep, yet hauntingly beautiful. The instant they fell on her face, he wondered why it had taken him so long to look upon her before. It was as though the room dimmed, yet the face atop the pillow created its own light source. A face to match that voice. Dimly, he wondered what she looked like under the blankets.
"Shh—yes, I'm here, Ria, I'm here." Shock ran through Draco as he remembered Hermione was in the room as well, followed by annoyance. Who was this girl who made him lose focus so easily?
"Did Albus send you?"
"No, we heard you scream and we rushed here as soon as we could. We met Professor Dumbledore as soon as he was walking out of here."
"'We'?"
"Yes, me and Draco—he's a friend of mine, and he's going to help us, ok?"
Groggily, the girl tried to sit up in bed, something Draco could she she was failing miserably at. Hermione noticed as well, and helped her reposition herself, so as to wake up and observe her surroundings.
"Draco?"
"That would be me," Draco replied, clearing his throat. His chest constricted at the thought of having all of this girl's attention to himself.
She turned her head to see him, and he had to remind himself to breathe. She was so graceful in that movement alone; the twist of her head, the blinking of her long lashes, the hand that brushed her long black hair from her still sleepy eyes. He wondered where she got such full lips, and that halo that seemed to encircle her head. Couldn't Hermione see it?
Hermione winced as Ria turned to look at Draco, waiting for the scream she knew would come. When all she heard was silence, she opened her eyes. Brown eyes were curiously studying sharp grey ones. What?
"Did you have a bad dream then, Ria?" Hermione asked, trying to keep the girl from focusing on Draco for too long.
"Yes, but I can't remember it…I can never remember them…"
Relief flooded Hermione, who was glad to see that Ria wasn't about to run screaming at the sight of Draco. Rather, she looked entranced by the Slytherin, which worked out perfectly.
"Listen, Ria—Professor Dumbledore wants you to move in with Draco and me in the Head's Dormitory, so you won't have to be alone all the time. We'll take care of you there, until we can sort all of this out, alright?"
"Yeah, I don't know about you, but company would be nice after what you've gone through," Draco added, immediately regretting opening his mouth. Sadness filled Ria's eyes as his words brought to surface memories she obviously was trying to forget. He wished he could take them back—even more so when Hermione's angry eyes met his.
"Hey, why don't you get some rest while Draco and I look for Harry and Ron—I've told you about them, remember? They're friends too," Hermione soothed, trying to change the subject.
"Why don't you find them and bring them here? They're probably in the Gryffindor Common Room, and I'm not exactly allowed in there, Head Boy or not. Besides—I'd like to get to know Ria more. After all, she's going to be living with us. Er—if that's all right with you," he added, looking to Ria for approval. She nodded slowly, finally turning her eyes to look at Hermione.
"I'll be fine here, you can bring your friends—I'd like to meet them."
Hesitantly, Hermione agreed, sending Draco a look that clearly told him to watch it. If anything was wrong with Ria when she got back, he'd have hell to pay. He gave her a small nod in assurance, and Hermione voiced her "see you later"s before slowly walking out the door.
Once Hermione was out of sight, the air in the room immediately relaxed.
"Ugh, thank God," Ria sighed, slumping against her pillows. Draco, confused, found himself grinning and wondering where this change came from. "I'm sorry—" she quickly began to apologize, looking at him once again and making him feel as though the breath was knocked from his lungs. "It's not that I don't like Hermione or anything—I love her! She's been so good to me ever since everything happened…it's just…I'm sick of everyone treating me like I'm some terminal case."
"Last time I checked, we were all terminal cases, if you will," Draco replied, his grin growing.
"Technically yes, but I'm not made of fine China. My dad's dead—I get it. I can't do much because he was killed by magic—I get it. I'm stuck here until you people decide what to do with me—I get it. I've dealt with death before—I've had to deal with it my whole life. I just wish everyone would stop treating me like I'm about to break or something…"
"Well, for starters, maybe you should stop acting like it," Draco suggested, delighting in the way her eyebrows raised in surprise, and those lush lips parted ever so slightly. Obviously, she wasn't used to people talking to her like this.
"Well how the hell am I supposed to act? Hermione still hasn't gotten over everything, apparently, and Albus has to be the most intimidating man I've ever met in my life."
"Fair enough—Granger does take a while to grieve," Draco agreed solemnly. "And Professor Dumbledore can scare a fair few people if he's got a mind to. So—why drop your guard for me?"
She looked at him, her dark brown eyes studying his sharp grey ones. For a second, he expected her to come up with an answer profound enough to leave him more breathless than he already was. Instead, she just shrugged.
"I don't know. I guess we'll find out?"
"Yeah," he agreed, reminding himself to exhale and wondering just why he needed to. "We will."