A Reason To Be

Weeks went by and Hermione’s condition remained the same. Her parents had to go back to their home after that day, they would have liked to have stayed with their daughter but their occupations would not allow it. They felt slightly better after speaking with Dumbledore. He assured them that she was in the best place and that she was receiving the best care possible. A physician from St. Mungo’s had come and examined Hermione and confirmed what Madam Pomfrey had said. He said that he preferred not to move her and that Hogwarts really was the best place for her. At Hogwarts, Hermione would be surrounded by her friends and would benefit from Madam Pomfrey’s complete attention. For those weeks following her parent’s visit, Hermione did receive the best care possible. Madam Pomfrey was ever far from her, and she did receive visitors. Students for Gryffindor house came with they had a spare moment, Harry and Ron most of all. Every once in a while Professor McGonagall or Dumbledore stopped in for a moment as well. Hagrid had been up once or twice with Ron and Harry as well. Of course, there was someone else who made rather frequent visits, but only Madam Pomfrey knew about the late night visitor. Though lately, his visits had been closer to the hours of daylight.

After Draco changed out of his Quidditch uniform, he wandered up to the hospital wing. None of the students saw him; they were all in the Great Hall for dinner. When he entered he saw Madam Pomfrey standing over Hermione. From his angle it looked like the woman was buttoning up a fresh pair of pajamas on Hermione. Madam Pomfrey looked up and smiled at the young man.

“Hello Draco. I heard Slytherin did quite well during the match today.” The mediwitch said pleasantly, trying to make conversation. Draco walked over and sat down his normal chair at the young girl’s bedside.

“Yeah we did, I don’t mind saying that Hufflepuff never stood a chance.” Draco said confidently. Madam Pomfrey laughed softly and shook her head. Draco watched her as she adjusted the covers of the bed around Hermione, as she brushed the wavy chestnut hair out of the young girl’s face. The she stood up and smoothed out her own skirts.

“Well Mr. Malfoy, I’m off. You know where to find me if you need me.” Madam Pomfrey stated as she gathered a few things and left the hospital. Draco nodded, for he was familiar with this situation very well. Over the past weeks, he had spent many a night in that chair by Hermione’s side. He knew that after dinner, the mediwitch retired to her own rooms, though she was always on call if she was needed. She felt comfortable leaving the girl with Draco; she had observed him with her and knew that nothing would happen to her.

He spent more and more time in the hospital wing. It was usually at night when everyone else had gone to their own dormitories. The last thing he wanted was for Potter and Weasel to walk in while he was there. Draco wasn’t sure why he went at night to see her. Nothing changed, every time he entered the room she was still in her bed, she was still in a coma. All he knew was that it didn’t feel right if he wasn’t there. Maybe that was because he felt responsible for what had happened to Hermione. Maybe it was because he still felt a slight twinge of paranoia that while he wasn’t looking Pansy and her cronies would try something. He knew that they knew the consequences of violating the right of custodia ab recolitus, but he still didn’t put it past them. It may not have been either one of those things, but he still wanted to be there.

“Well Granger, you should have seen the Quidditch match today. It was over before it began. The snitch was floating right above the Hufflepuff seeker’s head and I just reached right out and grabbed it. I think it may have lasted about fifteen minutes.” Draco said as he settled back into the chair. Normally in the hospital wing there were only small, metal chairs. Well that had become unacceptable to Draco real quick. A week prior he has transfigured one such chair into a large, cushy, black one; complete with ottoman. As he made himself comfortable in the large chair, he continued to give her the commentary on that afternoon’s match.

At first he had felt extremely foolish talking out loud to Hermione but now he carried on a conversation as if nothing was amiss. Just as Draco was wrapping up talking about the Quidditch match, the door of the hospital wing creaked open and Draco’s head spun around to see who had come in. In walked Blaise Zabini, carrying a plate of food. Draco had not seen Blaise since the train ride back from London; he had not expected to see him in the hospital wing.

“I brought you something to eat, noticed you weren’t at dinner.” Blaise explained casually as he strode to the far end of the room and placed the food on the table beside Hermione’s bed.

“Oh…thanks Blaise. How did you know I was here?” Draco asked curiously. Blaise laughed as he leaned forward, looking at Hermione.

“Lucky guess.” Blaise replied. Draco thought a moment as he reached for the plate of food. He really didn’t want anyone knowing that he came up here at night, but after a few moments of thought he decided if he had to have someone know; he’s prefer it to be Blaise. Blaise Zabini was notoriously tight-lipped. The man knew how to keep a secret.

“I’ve got to admit, I did not see this coming. Who knew that Draco Malfoy could grow a soul? Especially when we mudbloods are concerned.” Blaise observed nonchalantly. Draco stopped chewing when he heard what Blaise. He was about to fly off the handle over the ‘growing a soul’ comment, but then something else caught his ear.

“We mudbloods?” Draco ventured?

‘He couldn’t possibly mean that…’ Draco’s mind was a little slow catching up.

Yes, my parents are Muggles.” Blaise laughed at the expression on Draco’s face. Draco would have never in a million years suspected that Blaise Zabini was Muggle-born.

“I never knew that.” Draco said quietly, slowly resuming his chewing. Blaise laughed harder at this, though it was not a pleasant laugh.

“Of course you didn’t, no one does. Did you really think I would let a pureblood know about my heritage? You only now found out because I wanted you to.” Blaise explained, there was a touch of bitterness in his voice. Draco looked up from his seat at the young man standing next to him and immediately knew why he didn’t want anyone to know.

‘In our previous years I would have ripped him apart if I knew he was Muggle-born. He is right; he was smart not to let anyone know.’ Draco thought as he felt a little bit of guilt creep up on him.

“So why did you tell me now? How do you know I won’t make your life miserable now?” Draco asked, his voice sounding as if he might to that very thing. Blaise didn’t flinch though; he kept looking at Hermione, lying in bed.

“Her. I know you won’t because of her. You knew she was a mudblood and still you helped her.” Blaise said. Then, without waiting for a reply from Draco, he spun on his heel and muttered a farewell as he breezed out of the room. Draco watched the young man until he was out of sight, then he turned around and looked back at the young girl before him.

“That came out of fucking nowhere, didn’t it?” He said to her. The he put his empty plate down on the table and pulled open the drawer. He reached in and pulled out a book. It was one that he had purchased at the Muggle bookstore in London. At first he had brought a book to read while he sat with Hermione, slowly but sure he stopped reading to himself and started reading a loud.

“I think we should keep reading tonight, it is either that or another game of chess and I’ve got to tell you Granger, you are a pathetic chess player.” Draco stated. After he had gone through what was in the trunk Dobby had brought, he discovered a chess set. It was not wizard chess, it was the Muggle version. Draco had set up the pieces on one of the hospital trays that were around and proceeded to play two sides of a chess game. Of course he won every time. He took Hermione’s silence as an answer and opened the book.

“Shall we continue where we left off? The Fellowship has just left Rivendell, as I recall.” Draco said as he flipped through the pages, searching for where he had last read. Draco leaned back, kicked off his shoes and began reading to Hermione.