In The Arms of the Monster

Chapter Twenty-Two Numb

Hermione's Point of View
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         I rush Draco to St. Mungo's and tell them the emergency. They take Draco back into a room, and I let Mrs. Weasley know, she's there within seconds, no longer seething about Angelina and George's child.
     She hugs me and then tells me to go to him. I walk in and the healers ask me what I say. I tell them I saw him drop the knife and fall. They nod, "he's almost awake. He'll be fine, but he will have to stay here for a while. I'm sorry Miss Granger."
     The Healer's leave and I go to sit next to Draco on the bed. Angelina, George and Mrs. Weasley come in and conjure chairs to sit in. I cry softly into Mrs. Weasley's shoulder for a bit before asking George and Angelina to tell me what happened after I'd blocked there yelling.
"Mum yelled at us and then burst into tears because she's going to be a grandmother." George says. I laugh. "Congratulations you guys." I say, giving them a hug.
"Damn it, did someone else get engaged while I was passed out?" I hear a familiar voice say, sounding hoarse.
I turn and look at him. I feel tears in my eyes. "You idiot!" I scream, he flinched, probably not the reaction he'd been expecting. "Why the hell would you do that? You could've Owled me or something, don't you ever do that too me again. I was terrified!"
"I'm sorry, love. I didn't think you wanted to talk to me. I assumed you were mad at me."
"This is a relationship, we have to talk when we are mad. We have to figure things out. I shouldn't have left, it isn't like Astoria had the baby. Nor am I like Astoria. I will take the blame for leaving, but not for this." I say, sitting down on the bed. George, Angelina and Mrs. Weasley show themselves out.
"I know you're not Astoria. Would you like to know something?" I nod, hesitantly. "She's the reason I started." Of course she is, I think. "Why?" "Because she got rid of the child, I didn't really want her too, I mean I joked about it, and then she did and she just disappeared." "You idiot!" I shout, again. "Is this so bad? Are we through because of this? Are you this mad at me?" He shouts. "I just wish you had told me sooner. Of course not. I am not mad, I am just upset that you didn't talk to me." I respond, lowering my voice. "Whatever I'm going to the bathroom." "You're not allowed to move." I respond. "Watch me." He shoves himself up and I watch, trying to move quick enough, as he passes out from blood loss.
I groan and call for the healers. They come back and give him more blood, and close his wounds more. I sit in a chair running my hands through my hair continually. When they leave I walk over to the bed and curl into his side, being carefully not to hurt him.
I fall asleep sometime late in the night. When I wake up Draco is sitting up and talking to Mrs. Weasley and laughing while twirling a piece of my hair in his fingers idly. I roll over and shove my head into his chest, crying softly. "Mrs. Weasley, would you mind?" I hear the older woman stand and leave the room. The room fills with tension, but he doesn't quite playing with my hair, a small sign of assurance.
"I'm sorry for not telling you about Astoria. I'm sorry for not telling you about everything. I'm sorry for not talking to you the other day when I should've. I love you, Hermione. I don't want to lose you, but if you leave me, I will try to survive." I look up at him, tears streaming down my face. "I'm sorry for yelling. I shouldn't have. I'm sorry for leaving, it wasn't the adult thing to do. I should've been there for you." I notice tears in his eyes. I reach a hand up and wipe them away. "Don't cry, we're okay." I whisper. He smiles and nods weakly. I lean up and kiss him hesitantly. He responds. I almost laugh with relief. When we pull away I adjust myself so I end up with my head on his shoulder. "When are they letting you out?" "As soon as I can stand, so Mrs. Weasley has been giving me home remedies and using some spells that leave little residue on me, to get me to my feet." He smirks. "Although there's other things we could do that would help me stand again." I smack him softly, "Funny Malfoy." "I'm Malfoy again?" "It's really my only endearing quality, so yes." He laughs, a roaring, soaring, wonderful sound, and nods, understanding the reference to a long time ago. "It's really your only redeeming quality." I laugh. "Let's get you to your feet, so that we can get you home." He nods.
After a few hours healer come in and tell him that he's walking well enough to go home. "Are you staying with him Miss Granger." "Yes, as it's my house, also, and he's my fiancé." I snort. The Healer looks a bit embarrassed before he leaves and has the papers sent for us to sign. He signs and then gets up and we leave the Muggle way. The Weasley's follow. When we reach the subway the Weasely's apparate away, but not before they all promised to help as much as they could. I thank them all, but Draco looks slightly annoyed. When we get home he asks, "How much work do they think I am?" I laugh. "You're a lot of work." I exclaim, "But it's okay. Would you like to watch the news?" He nods. I turn it on and help make sure he's comfortable. I smile at him, not paying attention to the news much, but rather watching his face become more and more peaceful, especially when they say they've caught Astoria. Our problems are over, I think, and then I kiss him. We turn the TV off and go to our room. We lay down and face each other. We talk long into the night, sometimes we sit in silence and listen to each other breath. Other times we kissed, but most of the time we talked. We talked about everything, but we ignored our problems, just for a night.