Ch. 41

Hermione still hadn't woken up that night, or the next morning.

Draco wouldn't leave her side, even when Blaise insisted they go get breakfast for the three of them since Ginny still wasn't allowed to leave yet.

Blaise left the Hospital Wing grumbling while Draco sat and watched Hermione for any sign of movement.

"Hey."

He looked up to see Ginny watching him with concerned eyes. "She'll be alright, you know that."

Draco looked back down at Hermione and sighed. "She's been unconscious for two full days now."

"Two?" Ginny asked in shock. Then she slowly struggled to sit up, asking, "How long was I out then?"

"Only one, it was roughly about twenty-four hours actually since you woke up yesterday morning," Draco said. "I don't know why hers is taking longer though; from the sounds of it, there was only maybe a few hours between when you were marked and her being marked."

She finally settled against the propped up pillows and looked at him. "Maybe it's because of her blood."

He gave her a confused look and she went on to explain. "Maybe my transformation was short because it only had two kinds of blood to work with: magic and Veela. With her, she has magic, Veela, and muggle. The Veela might be having difficulties with the muggle aspect of her, so that could be why it's taking longer to process."

Draco looked back down at Hermione and frowned. He hadn't thought of that, but surely it couldn't be too much of a factor. Could it?

"It's an interesting place we go to," Ginny started quietly. At this point she was trying to keep Draco from getting lost in his own thoughts and worries, and from the way his head shot up and looked at her, she had his attention.

"Place?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm not sure if hers is the same place that I went to, but it was an interesting journey." She shifted slightly before continuing. "It was dark at first, but then I found myself in a large house, larger than Hogwarts. It was still nighttime, but the further I explored the house, the brighter it got outside. The sun was coming up the entire time I was exploring."

"What did you do in the house?" He asked curiously.

She shrugged. "I kept opening doors for some reason. There wasn't anything behind the doors, just a black void. And there were so many levels of the house; the stairs were ridiculous. I felt like I was climbing for hours. But finally when I got to the top of the house, there was one long hallway with a large door at the end of it. Once I had finally made it to the end and opened the door..."

She smiled then. "There was a beautiful garden on the other side. All sorts of flowers and animals. And at the center of it was me. But it was a very different me, almost as if someone had given me a beautification potion or something. She smiled at me while I walked to her and then she took my hands, told me it was time to wake up, and I did."

Draco look at her quietly while she finished. She was staring off at the opposite wall, obviously reliving the dream that she had been through. He looked back down at Hermione and wondered if she was having the same experience.

Before either of them could say anything else, Blaise entered the Wing with three plates from breakfast hovering in front of him. He sent one to Draco and Ginny grabbed one when it got close enough.

"Thank you, Blaise," She said with a smile.

He smiled in return but there was something off about his smile. Ginny then stared at him with an odd expression. "Blaise...are you upset about something?"

He stared in return and his mouth hung open. She looked just as confused as she said, "I think I can feel your emotions now too. You're upset and unsure?"

Blaise didn't answer, still staring at her. Then he sighed and set down his silverware. "I'm just trying to get used to your appearance."

"My appearance?" She asked, looking between him and Draco. "What's wrong with how I look? Why did no one say anything before?"

"No, no! Nothing's wrong with it," Blaise said quickly as he set his plate down on the bedside table and took her hand. "It's just...have you not seen yourself yet?"

She shook her head and it was obvious that she was started to be agitated. Blaise summoned a mirror from one of the other tables and she took it quickly, looking into it. She didn't say a word as she inspected her face while Blaise and Draco watched her silently. Both were afraid to move, their plates left untouched.

Ginny finally took a deep breath after a few minutes of silence and said, "I look like the other me from the dream."

Blaise gave her a confused look. "Dream? What other you?"

She shook her head and set down the mirror, and then picked it up to look again. "While I was unconscious I had this whole dream, I'll tell you the details later but in it there was another version of me, but she was much more beautiful than I could ever be, and now..."

Ginny fell silent and Blaise looked at Draco, unsure of what to say. He then looked at Ginny again and sat down next to her on the bed, saying, "Ginny, it's not that much of a transformation. You look different, yes, but it's not like you're a completely different person. And you've always been beautiful."

"Not this beautiful," She muttered. Then she brought the mirror very close to her face. "Do my eyes have gold in them?!"

Blaise smiled slightly. "It's a nice contrast against the blue."

Draco watched them quietly from Hermione's bed. He was lost in thought about when Hermione was going to wake up, and hoping it would be soon. He looked down at her, looking for any trace of change. But there was nothing, and his heart sank. The emptiness was still there, eating him alive. He missed being able to feel her emotions, to know that she was alright.

A letter suddenly came soaring through the Wing towards Draco, stopping right in front of his face and interrupting his thoughts. Ginny and Blaise watched him curiously as he took the letter and stared at it.

He let out a breath and slowly opened the letter, recognizing the writing on the front as his mother's handwriting

Draco chewed on the inside of his cheek while he read the letter. His mother had become so much more open minded since the war ended, and she had been trying to give their family name a better reputation, something that Draco wholeheartedly accepted.