Ch. 42

Ginny bolted upright in the middle of the night, wand in hand and pointed at the door. Blaise jumped and nearly fell out of the bed, scrambling to stand up and breathing heavily.

"Ginny!" He exclaimed. "What in the name of Merlin-"

Then he heard the tapping. He drew his wand as well, slowly stepping in front of Ginny and silently opening the door with his wand.

A small piece of parchment flew in, zipping around the room as Blaise and Ginny both relaxed. Ginny grabbed the parchment as it passed her and opened it, quickly reading and then crying out happily.

"Hermione's awake!"

In a flash of red she bolted to grab her robes, not taking the time to change and impatiently waited for Blaise to grab his robes as well and slip on his shoes. Ginny didn't even bother with her shoes as they raced out of the dorm and down the corridor to the Grand Staircase. Ginny took the steps two at a time, grinning at her newfound speed.

Blaise was amazed at how fast Ginny was now, but didn't say anything as they entered the Hospital Wing to see Draco sitting on the other side facing the door with the largest grin on his face. He was holding Hermione's hand, and Hermione was still flat on the bed with her eyes closed, but she also had a smile on her face.

Ginny rushed to her side and said happily, "We were so worried about you! How do you feel?"

"There aren't words to describe how I feel," Hermione answered weakly. "Did someone bring Lockhart in to take away my bones and then feed me Skele-gro?"

The other three laughed and Hermione smiled slightly. Then she groaned as she shifted slightly, and Madam Pomfrey soon appeared with the same set of potions that she had for Ginny. The Matron scoffed at Blaise and Ginny while shaking her head, but she simply said, "I'm going to be giving Miss Granger another Sleeping Draught. She needs to regain her strength. You two can return in the morning. And Mister Malfoy, I suggest you return to your dorm and get some sleep now that Miss Granger is alright."

Draco glared at her slightly and she merely rolled her eyes, muttering something about Veelas under her breath. After she had given Hermione both the pain potion and Sleeping Draught, the brunette was soon fast asleep and the Matron had left.

Ginny looked at Draco and said, "Will you let us know as soon as she wakes up again?"

"Of course," Draco said happily. "You got here very fast, by the way."

She grinned. "I suspect we also received some Veela traits. I can't wait to see what Hermione can do."

Blaise and Ginny left after that, and Draco was able to sleep through the night happily for the first time in a few days, feeling whole again.

Draco woke as soon as he felt Hermione stirring. He opened his eyes to look at his witch. She was radiant in the morning light, and her face was really glowing now.

She finally opened her eyes and turned her head slightly to look at Draco. He smiled down at her, and she smiled in return. He found that her eyes now had flecks of gold in them, setting off the amber tones.

"What?" She asked quietly.

He shook his head, remembering Ginny's small freak out. "Nothing. How are you feeling?"

Hermione sighed and stretched slightly. "It's going to sound weird, but I feel different."

Draco bit his lip. "Different how?"

"I'm not sure." She looked up towards the ceiling. "Like my senses are sharper. I can actually see flecks on the ceiling."

"Well," Draco started, "I don't want to freak you out, but you did go through a transformation. Ginny did as well. And you both honestly look a little different."

She whirled her head to look at Draco as she sat up. "Different? What do you mean?"

"Don't worry too much, it's not an extreme change," He said as he tried to calm her down. He found the mirror and summoned it over so Hermione could take it.

She stared into the mirror and was silent for a few moments. Draco waited nervously for a reaction, and then she looked over at him, her brow furrowing slightly. "Why am I getting a sudden nervous feeling?"

"Oh," Draco sat up. "Well, when Ginny woke up, she was able to feel Blaise's emotions the same way we can feel yours. I guess now you're able to feel my emotions."

"Why are you nervous?" She asked then, setting the mirror down in her lap.

"Well, I was nervous because I wasn't sure how you were going to react to the changes," Draco admitted. "Ginny may have freaked out slightly before she saw her face."

Hermione bit her lip. "Where is Ginny? I want to see her."

"Of course, I'll send another note to them." Draco grabbed another piece of parchment from the bedside table where he had his schoolwork and wrote a quick note to Blaise and Ginny, sending it off through the corridors.

He looked at her then, taking her hand and squeezing it. "Were you able to hear anything while you were unconscious?"

She shook her head. "Why, did something happen?"

"Two things, technically," He started. "One, Potter called a truce with Blaise and I."

Hermione looked at him in shock. "What?"

"Yeah," Draco laughed. "We were shocked too. Of course, Ron decided to not participate."

"Of course not." She shook her head. "He's too stubborn. Harry should bring him around though soon. What was the second thing?"

"My parents came to visit."

If she wasn't shocked before, she was now. "...What?"

He nodded. "I was surprised too. And that's not even the half of it."

"Well I'm still alive so obviously it must not have been too bad," She joked half-heartedly, gesturing down at herself. "What happened?"

"Yesterday morning, I got a letter from my mother saying that they both promised nothing bad would happen to you, so I finally told them that you were my mate," Draco explained. "Next thing I know, they both barge in here, and start asking questions like how long you've been unconscious, what happened, all that. Then when Madam Pomfrey informed us that if you didn't wake up today that they'd send you to St. Mungo's, my father offered our own private suite there if that did happen."

Hermione stared at him with wide eyes. He nodded and continued, "He then began talking about how he's trying to turn a new leaf and become a better person, and how he doesn't want anything you try to do in the future to be tarnished by the family name. He said this whole long speech about it."

Her mouth was hanging open at that point, unable to believe what she was hearing. "There's no way. He hates me. He hates people like me."

"I thought the same thing, but he was genuine," Draco said with a small smile. "Even my mother was shocked. And she is more open now too. Ever since the war, she's completely turned around."