only you

chapter 1- the darkest dawn

The sound of a heart beating is something that most would find comforting. Some would find it terrifying, the loud and throbbing footfalls, the tensing and relaxing of the muscle and accompanied by fastened breathing. That combination could sure be scary. Others would say that the fluttering butterfly beats of the heart during one's first kiss would surpass these qualities. But one Hermione Granger would say that the sound of her heart beating slow inside her chest was torture. Waiting, waiting, waiting, for life to be over or to finally start. Until of course, she finally awoke. With a gasp of breath and the opening of her eyes, she was alive. In hospital again. She glanced around, hoping for someone to be beside her, to tell her that it would be okay, yet, she was alone.

A doctor soon rushed in with the flurry of white and blue that was his nurses and began checking her vitals. After a moment, he spoke.

"Hello, I am Doctor Sheffield," He said, shining a light in her eyes. "How are you feeling?"

"I-" Her voice was thick with the croaks of disuse. "I am fine. Is anyone here for me?"

"Yes, I believe a boyfriend is." He replied, straightening to be standing by her.

The doctor surveyed her for a moment, scanning her face for what she assumed to be illness or hysteria. For a reason she could not understand, despite defying death only what seemed to be hours before, she was extremely relieved and totally calmed by the confirmation of Draco's presence.

"Miss Granger," He began, "You have been unconscious for a few days. We are unsure what the effects of surviving the curse that you were attacked with will be or are, so we'd like to keep you under observation for a few more hours."

She nodded blithely, as the doctor and his two shadows collected the instruments that had been disturbed and left as quickly as they came in the absence of her unrest. Hermione remained, staring at the door at which they had exited while she pondered what had happened. The doctor had certainly been the same that had assessed her when she was here last. She still did not know what caused the pain that had prompted her last visit. She rested her hands on the slight curvature of her belly as thoughts of the future carried her to sleep.

It all felt like one big dream. For what felt like an eternity, she was floating through a dark haze of confusion. Then, there was a voice. She felt her eyelid flutter once more. The moonlight was soft on her skin and so was the velvet tears that dropped from the sound of sobbing. She opened her eyes. There he was, a vision in the harsh fluorescent light. His face glistened with streaks of tears. He sat in a shabby plastic chair beside her, clasping onto her tubed and pale arm. It pained her worse than her injuries to see him cry. Draco was all she had to thank for the life she had been living. He was a gift. Her sacrifice was a thank you. Love from, Hermione.

"Please don't cry." She whispered, "At least not for me."

His crying stopped abruptly. His grey eyes settled once again upon her face. Draco was here. He cried out in joy, and in one movement took hold of her aching body and hugged her so tight she felt as though she might faint. At that moment nothing mattered except for his strong arms around her once more. A flash of the events from nights before made her flinch again, and he drew back.

"Hermione... I can't believe that you're awake." He wiped a stray tear from his eye. "I thought I'd never see you again."

She studied his face for a moment, marvelling in the curvature of his jaw and sparkling eyes. Uncertainty seemed to hide between every crevice and pore. Hermione took a deep breath before replying.

"What exactly happened?"

Draco began to stiffen in his chair once more and then, altogether stood and strode to the window at which he stood before, the moonlight illuminating his face.

"It's true... Ron is dead." His voice was choked with emotion, as he faced her once more.

Hermione's heart shuddered inside her chest and a flash of Ron's body accompanied it.

"But the blow is softened by the fact that Cheriah will be in prison for a very, very long time." He continued.

Draco moved toward her, returning back to the seat and grasping her hand. He looked distracted, but the comfort of him beside her allowed her to ignore this.

"The funeral is tomorrow," He stroked a stray hair from her forehead. "Are you going to be okay?"

"As long as you're beside me." She said with a half-hearted smile.

"We're going to make it through this." He reassured her.

They shared a moment of silence, hand in hand in the darkened hospital room.

"Get in here, you goof." Hermione said suddenly, pulling him into her bed to lie beside her.

They lay side by side, like sardines, as Hermione drifted off to sleep once more and left Draco wondering if his girlfriend would be able to cope with tomorrow, if the life that now awaited her would be too much. The moonlight beamed down, lighting her translucent skin, just as ever-present as the fear that filled the couple's hearts.