You Raise Me Up

Your reviews are nothing but encouraging, and the carrots helped the bunnies alot. Be patient, and I promise I'll have our couple doinking each other's brains out soon enough. I've just got a few twists and turns to put in here first.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She woke up in a hospital bed a few hours later. Hunger was gnawing at her insides, and her head was beginning to ache. She looked over, and frowned gently at the flowers on her nightstand. There wer red roses, but also roses that were a beautiful shimmery gold. She reached out and plucked the card from its resting place in front of the white vase.

These were personally picked from the Malfoy Gardens. Hope they make the little lioness happy.

DM

p.s – Thanks.

The card was written with an elegant scrawl, decidedly male. She assumed the ‘DM’ stood for Draco Malfoy.
A young nurse stepped into the room, and smiled brightly when she noticed Hermione was awake.

“Hello, Miss Granger. Good to see you awake.” She said, and drew her wand as to perform a few tests on Hermione. She tapped it against the table, and a green glow emanated from the tip. She passed the wand slowly over Hermione, from head to toe, and the light never changed. “Nothing but stress and shock, my dear, so I’m sure the Healer will have you out of here in a few short hours.” She added. “Would you like something to eat?” she asked.

“No…I’m afraid anything I ate would end up in the toilet.” She said, toying with a string on her shirt.

“Um...who brought me in…if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Not at all, my dear. Harry Potter brought you in himself. He was accompanied by a very handsome blonde. They both seemed very worried about you.” She said, smiling ever wider at the memory of the two practically fighting over who would carry the young girl.

“Are they still here?” she asked meekly.

“The young blonde is. I’m afraid that Mr. Potter had an important meeting with the new Minister.” She said.

“Who’s the new Minister?” Hermione inquired, eager to know who had inherited the fuck-fest that they called the Ministry.

“Percy Weasley.” She said simply.

“Oh god…he’ll send us all to the deepest, blackest part of hell if our bloody shoes aren’t tied right…” she said, exasperated that the uptight, rule-frenzied Percy was the new leader of their world. The young nurse giggled softly.

“Oh, he can’t be that bad…seemed rather nice to me. He was in here earlier visiting his brother.” She said.

Hermione was slightly surprised. Percy was a prat, but apparently he wasn’t a prat with no feelings.

“How is Ron? Is he okay?” she asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

“He’s fine, my dear. Just a stray curse. He’s resting just now. His family is with him, if you’d like me to tell them you’re here.” She said. Hermione shook her head.

“No…I just want to be alone right now.” She said.

“What about that nice blonde gentleman?” the nurse asked.

“Oh…well he can come in…” she said softly. “When did the flowers arrive?” she asked.

“The young man disappeared to grab something to eat, and came back with them. Quite beautiful, yes?” she said, smiling at the flowers.

“Yeah…beautiful.” She replied, and watched as the nurse walked out of the room. About a minute later, Draco strolled into the room, looking decidedly worse for the wear. He had changed from his leather armor, and was in black slacks and a soft green sweater. His eyes looked red, and he sniffed once when he walked into the room.

“Have you been…crying?” she asked gingerly. Men and crying…

“No.” he said. He saw the skeptical look she gave him. “I haven’t, Granger. That card was right. I picked those flowers out for you personally. My allergies don’t really agree with flowers…they make me all itchy and sneezey.” He said.

“And Dopey and Grumpy and Sleepy…” she said, a playful smile gracing her lips.

Aside from looking utterly adorable, Draco thought Hermione was crazy. “Sleepy, maybe….but nothing except that one-night fire whiskey bend in sixth year has ever made me dopey, Granger. And just because I don’t open up like a bloody book to people doesn’t mean I’m grumpy…” he pouted. Hermione thought that besides looking very spoiled at the moment, that slight pout to his lips was…cute.

“I wasn’t insulting you, you barmy twit…I was making a joke about a Muggle bedtime story. Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.” She said.

“Why in the name of the deepest pit of hell would anyone want to hang out with one dwarf, much less seven of the little buggers…” he said. She laughed.

“Never mind. Why did you go to the gardens to pick me out flowers if they make you all…allergy…ish.” She said, blushing a little at her choice of words.

“What a way with words you have, Granger. I went because I wanted to hand-pick the gift for the quick-thinking bird who saved me from that big, bad Auror.” He said, a slight smirk appearing on his face. She rolled her eyes. “I also grabbed some lunch and told mum about..the…er…” but he tapered off when he saw the look on her face.

“Sorry…I didn’t mean to…”

“Did you know?” she asked softly.

“Know what? About the raid? I knew they were going after you and Weasley, but I wasn’t in the position to warn you. I was busy with that spell…” he said.

“Tell me one thing…did you participate? Did your father?” she asked.

“No. We were stationed elsewhere.” He said. Hermione nodded.

“Mother said the Ministry had already set a date for father’s trial. It’s in a couple days…” he said. He had no idea where that came from. Why in the name of Lady Guinevere’s left nipple did he think that she would care about that...

“Oh. What do you think will happen to him?” she asked, trying to make polite conversation. Personally she hoped he would have a sloppy snog with one of the Dementors.

“I don’t know, Granger. Probably dress him in a fucking pink kilt and have him paraded around England singing ‘God Save the Queen.’” He snipped sarcastically. He noticed Hermione try her very hardest not to smile at the image. “They’ll probably have him Kissed.” Draco said. He saw a chair near Hermione’s bed, and slumped into it unceremoniously. He put his face in his hands and sighed.

“Do you love him?” she asked.

Draco looked up from his hands. “My father? Well…our relationship is a bit complicated. He’s never outright said those words to me, nor have I to him. I know he cares for me. I know he would give his life for mine. He’s also…like my best friend. I can tell him anything, you know? Without the fear of ruining my reputation, or making a fool out of myself. He’s never judged me. Pushed me beyond what I thought my limits were, yes…utterly and thoroughly thrashed me when I did wrong, yes…never abused me. Never hurt me…” Draco said. He didn’t notice the tears spill over his own eyes, or the ones start in Hermione’s. “I know he’s been a right bastard to a lot of people. Even you. But he’s everything to mum and me. When I was younger, he would ride me on a broom with him. Just around the grounds…but…when I was with him I felt so…” he stopped, unable to think of the word.

“Safe?” Hermione offered. Draco’s head snapped up to look at her. He noticed the tears on her face, and then for the first time felt his own drip from his chin. He nodded silently. “I know how you feel. My dad could make me feel the exact same way. Like you were on top of the world, and nothing could hurt you…” she said. He nodded again.

They sat in silence for a little while, both thinking of their loved ones. Hermione heard a soft sniffle, and looked over to see that Draco was crying quietly. She gingerly got off of the bed, and went over to where he was sitting. He looked up as she stood at his side. She leaned down, and placed a small kiss on his cheek.

“I’m sorry about your father, Draco. I hope everything turns out well for you and your mum.” She said softly. Draco stood, and looked down at her.

“Thank you for listening. Thank you for helping me. I’m sorry about your parents, and your home.” He said, and looked at the door. “I should probably get home to mum before she has kittens worrying about me…” he said. She smiled, and watched as the tall blonde neared the door.

“Draco?” she called softly.

“Hmm?” he asked, turning to her. She blushed gently.

“Thanks for the flowers.” She said. He smiled back at her.

“You’re welcome.” He said softly. He turned to go again.

“Draco?” she called again.

“Hmm?”

“Thanks for the kiss…”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If no one has noticed, the title of this piece, along with the names of the chapters, is from the song You Raise Me Up. Josh Groban sang it best. DO have a listen, if you haven't already.

Lucius says that if someone is ready to buy the raspberry jam, he's ready to be licked. The reviews were amazing.