In Too Deep

The diagnostic charm started to turn a shade of purple as she warmed up. They had been working for almost 30 minutes and she was 34 degrees. Draco felt like he was going to pass out from hypothermia and exhaustion, but now was not the time. Potter had tried to pepper him with questions, but he was used to Draco not answering him. So he just worked and kept his mouth shut.

45 minutes in, her diagnostic was firmly red as she had reached 36 degrees. Draco was starting to feel a pit of despair in his gut. There was no reason for her heart to not be starting. There was no water in her lungs, she was being pumped with oxygen and life saving drugs. Her heart was being beat for her by three strong men who loved her dearly. Why wouldn’t it start, damn it?

As if it heard him, at the next diagnostic check it was fibrillating again. Draco cleared everyone and shocked, but it continued to fibrillate. He cast a stronger charm, and to his relief, it converted into a true rhythm.

“Ah!” He rasped out. He ran to the head of the bed to see if she was awake. “Hermione! Hermione, can you hear me?”

Her eyes opened just the slightest, but it was enough to bump this face of hers to number one on his list. Her face showing him she was still alive. Her eyelids fluttered shut and he panicked, she needed to stay awake.

He grabbed his wand. “Rennervate!” This time her eyes shot open, and she started gagging on the tube in her throat. He made quick work of removing it for her. He sat the head of the bed up so she could see.

He was sure he was a sight. His clothes had started drying over the past hour, but were still very wet. His hair was a spiked mess, and he could see that his fingertips were a bluish purple despite being out of the water for some time. If he had to guess, he would say his lips were probably a similar color. If his eyes matched how he felt, he was sure his bags looked like bruises. But none of that mattered. Granger was breathing again.

Her eyes darted around the room. Potter was standing right behind him, eyes wide with panic in his quidditch pajamas. Theo stood to the side, cautiously eyeing the diagnostic charm as bodily systems returned to green.

“Do you remember what happened?” Draco asked her. His voice was raspy.

She could barely speak through her hoarseness. “We were in the lab. We uh…went to the medwing because you cut your feet. It flooded.” She hesitated. “I think I drowned.”

Draco gave a sigh of relief. Her brain was intact so far. “Do you remember your name, and what about our names?”

She cleared her throat. Draco was honestly surprised she could speak at all between drowning and the breathing tube. “My name is Hermione Granger. Behind you is Theo Nott and Harry Potter. You’re Draco Malfoy. You love me, and I think I love you too.”

Draco was so ecstatic he passed out on the spot.

………….

He woke up some time later, stiff as a board. A quick glance led him to believe he was laying in a cot that was transfigured from a folding chair. That was fine. He was sure he would have slept on anything vaguely horizontal.

He looked around the room. They were in the same place they had brought Hermione after they escaped the lab. Hermione herself was asleep in a hospital bed a little to his right. She had a diagnostic glowing above her. All green. He looked and saw a diagnostic above his own head. Green.

Theo was asleep in a folding chair at the foot of the bed. To his left was a pitcher of water and a glass on a rolling table. Draco realized how thirsty he was, poured himself a glass. He downed it, and poured himself another that he sipped slowly.

He set the glass back down a little harder than he meant to, and Theo startled awake. “Oh good, you’re awake. Hermione will be thrilled.”

Draco cleared his throat. “How long was I out? Is Hermione still okay? Does anyone know we’re here?” He could feel the panic starting to rise in his throat.

Theo got up and put a hand on his shoulder. “Mate calm down. Everything is fine. Hermione is still fine. She panicked after you fainted. She calmed down once we assured her you were just exhausted. She is a little peeved at both you and Harry for neither of you telling her you worked together. That’s a problem for later though. You brought her in around 10 pm on Friday. We got her back around 11. Don’t freak out but it’s 6 am on Sunday. So it’s been about 31 hours. Clearly you needed the rest. We treated you for hypothermia and frostbite, but other than that you’re fine. And no one knows we’re here. Harry warded the door and told all the staff that I passed out in here after a bender. They all think I’m coated in vomit, so they’ve avoided this room like the plague.”

Draco relaxed against his pillow, relieved to hear that everything was okay. Then he remembered what they lost. “All of our data is gone Theo. I even had the potion prepped for Amy, it just needed the merfolk blood. Now it’s all gone.” He rubbed his eyes in frustration.

“Thankfully I have most of the data in my lab. I can whip up another potion today. When Hermione wakes up, and if she feels up to it, you two can go collect the merfolk blood. The water should be back to baseline by now, so if you can convince the merfolk you’ve fixed the issue, maybe they’ll give it freely.”

Draco was frustrated with this arrangement, but there wasn’t much he could do about it. He apparated to his flat for a quick shower and a change of clothes before cracking back in.

His reappearance woke Hermione up. Even though Draco knew she was fine, seeing her awake almost sent him to his knees.

“Hey. How are you feeling?” He asked softly.

“I’m fine. Chest is sore, but Harry repaired my broken ribs. You have some explaining to do about that by the way. Anyway, how are YOU? You’re the one that passed out right in front of me pale as death with lips as blue as the sky!”

“Me?! I’m fine! You’re the one that died!” He was angry but didn’t know why. It was like his head and chest were full of a million emotions. Fear from watching her drown. Relief from watching her wake up. Stress from all their lost research. Happiness from hearing that she may love him in return. Finally anger, from her putting him in that position in the first place.

“You died and for an hour you left me alone. 15 minutes of just dragging around your corpse! 45 minutes of beating your chest and trying to pump life into you. The worst hour of my life since I watched you be tortured on my drawing room floor. For the first time in my life I thought I had found true happiness, and for an hour I was sure I had lost it forever! So yes I’m fine, thanks for asking!”

He was panting. Screaming at her took a lot more energy than he thought it would, even though he should have plenty to spare after sleeping more than 30 hours. He staggered slightly and when he finally looked up, she was crying.

“I’m sorry I left you. I’m sorry I made you do any of this. In truth, drowning was the easy way out. When you offered the scuba gear to me, no part of me wanted to take it. Not because I didn’t think I could get you back, I knew Theo would handle it. Not because of my swimming. But because I knew I wouldn’t be able to bear seeing you like that. I wouldn’t be able to handle seeing you cold and blue. It was a selfish decision and I’m sorry. But I knew you would take care of me. I knew you would stop at nothing to bring me back to you. Before you even told me you loved me I knew. And I was right. Then I wake up, and I see my worst fear come true. I see you, skin stark white with your lips and fingers blue, and you drop to the floor in front me. I thought something had swapped somehow, that you had drowned and I was just confused. Theo told me you looked like that just from saving me, and all my guilt came flooding back. All of my fear. So of course I’m worried about you. I may be sorry for being selfish, but I’ll never be sorry for caring for you!”

She was panting now too. Draco glanced up at her diagnostic and made sure her oxygen was okay. When he was sure she was physically sound and just heated he looked back at her. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were bright. She had never looked so alive.

He couldn’t help himself. He took two long strides toward, took her face in his hands, and started kissing her like they were reuniting after years apart.

The best part about it was that she kissed him back.