Bound

Chapter 37

Hermione smiled and tried her best not to chance a look at Draco as she answered Harry's question. "I've been good, how about you guys?

Harry and her both sat down and Hermione listened to all of them talk about their Easter Holidays. It sounded like all of them had fun, and it was then that Hermione realized that all of them weren't really present.

"You guys didn't say where Neville is,"

Theo was the first one to answer. "He went to see Hannah, she stayed here for the Easter Holidays."

Hermione smiled at Theo before nodding. She then turned to face Blaise as he spoke. "So, did you get the chance to get rid of Draco this week? I know that the binding spell was lifted off for the Holidays."

Hermione blushed and her eyes met Draco's eyes that held a smile, no, a smirk in them. She narrowed her eyes the slightest bit before facing Blaise again.

"We share the same dorm, he wouldn't have any place to go to. So no, we were practically glued to hip." She added that last bit sarcastically, but she knew the truth behind those words. Draco and Hermione spent every minute of the Holidays together, and whoever paid close attention to the way they kept looking at each other would guess as much.

"I bet you were." Pansy chided in, a knowing smirk on her face.

Draco could barely conceal his smile as he looked over at the red faced Hermione. She blinked a couple of times before choosing to ignore Pansy's innuendo.

Soon enough, Blaise and Ginny started bickering, and from there, all Hermione could recall was the blush on her cheeks, the fullness of her heart, and the twinkle in Draco's eyes.

***

She was dreaming.

Feather on the bed, firewhiskey in their grasps, a warm arm around around her waist, a laugh lightening up her features, and her friends all around her.

Yes. It was a dream. This cannot be a nightmare like the usual ones that she has. Her nightmares consist of Draco begging and of her screaming; this one consists of her shining with her friends.

She missed dreaming; she realized. She missed seeing the faces of those she loved every time she closed her eyes.

She also missed not having nightmares; she missed not waking up with a scream lodged in her throat and with sweat covering her body. She missed being normal.

She wants to keep dreaming.

She wants to keep waking up with a smile on her face.

***

She was sitting in DADA with Draco next to her when Remus entered, a tired smile on his face and a new bruise on his jaw.

Full moon; Hermione realized as she took in his appearance, and a very stabbing and painful feeling bruised her heart and didn't stop nudging her until the end of the class.

Even after the war, Remus kept suffering. The sad thing was that there was no cure for him. Yes, Tonks was there for him, but nothing was going to make the full moon easier for him. Even wolfsbane didn't help that much. The only thing —person— that helped was Teddy.

In a letter sent to Harry from Sirius, he mentioned that Tonks went to the dungeon with Teddy once, and from there, the wolf inside of Remus got so enraptured with the baby that he forgot the urge to hurt himself. Now, Teddy and Tonks always sat with him in the dungeon, trying to lessen his pain.