Sleeping Beauty

A/N: Thank you again to my wonderful betas, Juliannanight and RobisonRocket!

Sleeping Beauty

Chapter 4

Hermione made her way down to the hospital wing at the same time Madam Pomfrey was leaving.

Madam Pomfrey gave Hermione a sad smile, which Hermione returned. "How is he?" The nurse smiled again and said softly, "He'll be alright. He's sleeping very peacefully right now. He should be up and about in a couple of days."

"A couple of days? What do you mean, 'a couple of days'? What's the matter with him? If he's just sleeping, he should be up in a few hours, shouldn't he?" Hermione was in a state of shock.

"Oh, it will take at least a couple of days in order for his magic to be replenished. Mr. Malfoy is a pureblood wizard, Miss Granger. The hit he took, although not fatal, was very powerful."

Hermione nodded her head and asked, "Madam Pomfrey, may I see him? I won't disturb him. I just -- I need to see him."

"Of course you may see him. You won't bother him. He won't wake until his mind is ready."

"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey. I hope everything goes well with your sister."

"Thank you, dear. She'll be fine. She just got into a nasty bit of Bubotuber pus. I should be back by the start of term. Take care of yourself, Miss Granger."

Hermione entered the room quietly. She looked around the room to see if there was anything out of the ordinary to contradict what Madam Pomfrey had said. There weren't empty potion bottles around his bed. There were no vials littering the trash can. There was only Draco.

She stood stock still for a moment. Slowly, she walked over and took the chair next to his bed. Gone was the sneer that was usually in place even though they were friends now. Gone was the look of superiority that he had held in their school days. Also gone was the laughter in his face and the light in his eyes that she had grown to adore in their recent years. Hermione sighed sadly and whispered, "Oh, Malfoy, what I wouldn't give to see that superior sneer that you once graced us with."

"I can't call you Malfoy now, can I? No. You stopped being Malfoy the second you stepped between your father and me. If I were being honest with myself, you stopped being Malfoy the day you came over to our side. When you wake up, we'll talk. I need to understand what motivated you to do what you did."

"You have to be alright, Draco. You have to be. You have to wake up and be alright so I can hit you for putting your life in danger just for me. You knew what Lucius was capable of. Why would you take that curse? You have to wake up because I need answers. You know me, 'little miss know-it-all.' I have to know what he did to you -- what he tried to do to me."

Hermione didn't realize when the tears had started to pour out of her, but when she did, she couldn't stop them.

Hermione was being shaken. "No. Not again. Please."

"Miss Granger, you need to wake up. Come now. You need to lie down properly so you can get some rest. This has been a most stressful day for you."

Hermione raised her head and looked around. She had cried herself to sleep, and her head was lying on the mattress next to Draco. She didn't even remember taking his hand, but she was holding it with her fingers interlaced with his. She didn't let go immediately as Professor Snape's face came into focus.

"Professor, I don't want to leave him. I need to be here when he wakes up. Can't I stay?"

Snape eyed her for a moment and then nodded. "You may sleep in the empty cot next to Draco." When Hermione didn't move immediately, Snape looked at her questioningly. His eyes darted to their clasped hands and then back to her. "Miss Granger, may I ask you something? Why did you refer to Mr. Malfoy by his given name? I understand, until recently, that you and Draco were still on a surname basis. I know it's trivial and somewhat juvenile that I would be interested, but I am curious."

Hermione stared directly into the professor's eyes and answered, "After everything we have been through together, it would be trivial and juvenile for me to continue to call him 'Malfoy.' It's just right, isn't it? It's just seems right for me to call him by his name."

Snape regarded her for a moment and then nodded. "Indeed. Good night, Miss Granger." Then he swept out of the room.

Getting into her own bed, Hermione sighed. Speaking to an absent Professor Snape, she muttered, "And one day, Professor, perhaps you could call me 'Hermione.' After all, you've seen me naked."

Just outside the entrance to the hospital wing, a very tired Professor Snape cursed himself for actually blushing at the young woman's words. What am I...a first-year? With his scowl properly in place, he left the corridor and headed to his own quarters. A nice glass of Firewhiskey was in order. He needed to prepare for what tomorrow would bring.

Sometime during the night, Draco stirred and opened his eyes. He looked around him and felt a wave of relief hit him when he realized he was at Hogwarts. As he replayed the events of the previous day, his mind raced. He heard a muffled cry and turned to see Hermione asleep in the cot next to him. Instead of waking her, he turned his head back to stare at the ceiling.

Draco almost woke her, but thought better of it. She would wake soon enough, and when she did, he would have to tell her everything. He knew this wasn't going to be easy; he just hoped she wouldn't hate him. "Oh, bugger. What have you done?" Draco was speaking to himself.

At the sound of Draco's voice, Hermione woke with a start. She looked around her, and her eyes landed on the boy in the cot next to her. It took a moment for her to realize that he had his eyes open, staring at the ceiling. As she looked closer, she noticed that he had a single tear falling from the corner of his eye into his hairline.

Before Hermione could react to his waking, Draco spoke. "There's something... something I have to tell you. You need to know... " Hermione finally snapped out of her daze.

"No, Draco. Shh! Don't talk. I need to get the Headmaster and Professor Snape."

"Granger, wait... "

"I will just be a moment. I can Floo call them."

"But, I have to tell you something important."

"It can wait."

"Damn it, Hermione. Just listen to me." Hermione stopped in her tracks. In all the years she'd know him, he'd never used her first name.

"You just called me Hermione." It wasn't a question.

Draco looked at her, confused. "I had to get your attention. Besides... " He managed a slight smirk. "You called me Draco earlier. I heard you."

Hermione schooled her features. "Yes. Well, you saved my life. I couldn't very well keep calling you by your surname." Hermione looked at her hands and added, "I owe you my life."

"You don't owe me anything. I, however, owe you an apology, and I also owe you an explanation."

"You want to apologize for saving my life?" Hermione was appalled.

"No, no. You see, there's more." Draco tried to sit up, but he was very weak.

"No. Lie back down. I really need to get Professor Snape."

"I'm fine. I'm just a little tired. I really need to tell you something important." Draco sat up and turned to look at Hermione. "Do you have your wand? We need some light in here."

Hermione hesitated for a moment and spoke softly. "Draco, your father broke our wands when he attacked us."

Draco sighed. "No problem, this might be easier to say in the dark. It's about the spell he used. I know what the spell was, Hermione. I think I knew what it was going to be even before he cast it."

"Are you sure we don't need the professors?" Hermione was beginning to get nervous and impatient. She wanted to know what it was, but at the same time, she was terrified to find out.

"No. Just let me finish this, please. I may not have the nerve to tell you later."

"Okay. But budge over, will you?"

Draco furrowed his brow at her, but did as she asked. Hermione sat down on the edge of the bed, facing him.

Draco didn't comment on this sudden move. "The curse Lucius used on you is an ancient curse that was once used by some of the oldest pureblood wizards. They don't use it anymore. It is a curse that binds a house-elf."

Hermione was a very captivated audience. Her eyes widened at the thought of a house-elf being hit with such a curse. Then it struck her as odd. "Why is it not being used anymore?"

"They don't use it anymore because most house-elves are already bound to a family."

"What about the ones who are free, like Dobby?

Draco hid a wince at the thought of his childhood friend. Losing Dobby still hurt. "Actually, I was getting to that. Believe it or not, the Department for Control of Magical Creatures lobbied against this practice because was too barbaric."

"I remember hearing Lucius' reaction to your campaign against the mistreatment of house-elves. He mentioned something about wishing he could turn you into a house-elf. When he sent the curse at you, I knew what it was the second I saw it come out of his wand. He wanted to turn you into his house-elf, Hermione."

Hermione had gone pale. "He wanted to make me his slave? And you knew?" Hermione stood abruptly from the bed. She turned toward the window and just gazed out, lost in thought.

"Hermione, I'm sorry. I know this upsets you, but I couldn't let him do that to you. That's why I jumped on you. That's why we are in the situation we are in now."

Hermione rounded on him. "What do you mean we? The curse hit you. Now you're his slave -- because of me!" Tears were streaming down from her eyes now, but she didn't have the strength to wipe them away.

"No, Hermione. We are in this together. Don't you get it? I didn't take the curse. We took it together. However, the circumstances are not the same."

"What do you mean? Am I your slave now? Or do we both belong to your father?"

"We don't belong to anyone except each other. That's the other part of this being an ancient curse. When it's cast on two humans, it binds them together. It was sometimes used for arranged marriages to make sure the spouses stayed faithful to one another."

"You mean to tell me that you and I are slaves to each other?" Hermione sat down hard. She couldn't believe what was happening.

"We aren't slaves to anyone, Hermione. Didn't you listen to what I just said? The curse was used for arranged marriages."

"So we're... I mean, you and I are... married?"

Draco didn't answer her because at that moment, the door banged open, and they were greeted by two very worried men.