Hermione didn't sleep very well that night.  She awoke every few hours to either phantom pain or a nightmare.  The first time she'd woken up crying, Draco had still been awake reading so she hadn't felt too terrible about disturbing him.  When she woke up the second time, writhing from a pain that was no longer really there, the lights had been off and Draco had been fast asleep.  He'd woken up the second she let out a pained whimper and tried hard not to wake him up.  He didn't seem to care that she'd disrupted his sleep.

"It's okay,"  he'd murmured, wrapping his arm around her and pressing his lips to the side of her head.  The first time, it had taken a while for the pain to disappear and when it finally did, she discovered Draco was still holding her and pressing small kisses to her head.

It had happened two more times.  They hadn't lasted near as long or felt half as painful as the first time, but every time, Draco would move so he could hug her better and either whisper apologies she didn't have the energy to argue with or press soft kisses to her face.  It was just after the third time of phantom pain and an accompanying nightmare, that she resolved to just stay awake for the rest of the night.

"Go to sleep, Hermione,"  Draco told her after several minutes.

She shook her head, continuing to stare up at the ceiling.  He pulled her closer, practically covering her like a blanket as he did so but she didn't mind.  The added warmth and comfort made her feel safer.

"I have a dreamless sleep potion if you would like it,"  he offered.

She considered it.  Maybe it could keep away the phantom pain as well.  If it couldn't, however, she didn't want to be trapped inside her own mind to experience it.

Draco seemed to read her thoughts because he said,  "It just works to keep nightmares away.  It won't force you to sleep through everything."

Remembering that every time she woke up, she also woke Draco, she nodded at the idea.  Draco unwrapped himself from around her and crawled off the bed.  She immediately missed his presence next to her and watched as he walked to his dresser and pulled out a small vial.  As he walked back to the bed, she sat up and reached out to take it from her.  He conjured a water glass for her as she downed the potion.  It didn't taste horrible, but she was glad for the water afterward and drank nearly the whole thing.

"Thank you,"  she said, lying back down on his bed.

Draco made the water glass disappear before crawling back in beside her, draping himself over her like he had before.  She grabbed hold of the arm he'd wrapped around her chest and turned her head to look up at him.  He was already staring down at her, but Hermione didn't avert her eyes like she otherwise would have.

"I know I won't like the answer,"  he muttered, brushing a strand of hair further from her face.  "But how many times did he use the cruciatus curse on you?"

Hermione paused.  She wasn't actually sure, now that she thought about it.  She was pretty sure she'd fallen unconscious around the third time, but she couldn't be sure.  After that, everything blurred together.  She knew for sure it had been at least three times, but suddenly she wanted to know the exact number.  Maybe that would explain why she kept experiencing such horrid phantom pains throughout the night.  Either that or Amycus Carrow had figured out how to cast the curse on her without having to be nearby.

"Maybe three?  Four?"  she guessed, watching his face as he processed her words.  She could tell the exact moment he realised she had no real idea because his face darkened before he could hide his emotions.

"You don't know?"  he asked.

She shook her head, telling him she'd fallen unconscious around the third time.  He didn't seem to like the idea that Amycus could have continued casting the curse on her even while she was unconscious, so she didn't voice her worry he'd figured out a way to cast the curse without being near her.  Merlin, if this was what detention was going to be like for everyone, she needed to figure out a way to keep the others safe before next Saturday.

"My list!"  she exclaimed, remembering the list of books she'd written for Narcissa in hopes of borrowing.  Draco looked only momentarily confused before realising what she meant.  "Your mother took it, yes?  Can she send them by tomorrow?"

"No, I was going to owl it to her in the morning,"  Draco said, pulling her back down as she tried to get up.  Unfortunately, there was no way she was going to be sleeping until she knew Narcissa had her list of books and would send them as soon as she could.  She was now in an even bigger hurry to find a way around the inevitable after experiencing detention for herself.

"Send it tonight,"  she told him, pushing his arms from around her waist and getting up from the bed.

She stumbled, forgetting how weak her body was after that afternoon.  From behind her, she heard Draco scrambling out of the bed to help her stand up.  She pulled away before he could try and drag her back to the bed.

"You don't understand,"  she said, moving towards the door with shaking legs.  "I need those books.  I need to figure it out before next week and those books are my only hope,"  she said.  He didn't try to stop her, instead falling into step beside her to make sure she didn't fall.

"What's so important it can't wait until you're better?"  Draco asked, sounding a little annoyed.

She glanced at the clock on the wall and sighed when she realised it was two in the morning.  Even if she sent the list to Narcissa now, she wouldn't get it until morning.  The earliest the books would come was probably the following morning.

"I can't—"  she cut herself off, dropping onto a chair at the table.  She didn't have enough energy to walk any further, but her current books were at the table anyway from her research that morning.  "I can't tell you,"  she murmured.

No matter how much she trusted Draco, she was not about to risk the entire DA.  He couldn't know about it.  She'd seen the Dark Mark on his arm that morning before he'd left with his mother.  For a moment she'd been distracted by his bare chest, but the blur of ink on his forearm had pulled her attention away and it had been all she could do to act normal as she stared at the mark.

"Hermione, you can barely stand,"  he reminded her.  She ignored him, opening the first book she'd read and beginning to skim it again.  Maybe she'd missed something in her first reading and could find the answer this time around.

"You can go to sleep, Draco,"  she told him, fingering the pages of the book as she glanced over the words in front of her.  "It's just research; I don't need your help."

"Then why do you need my library?"  he bit back.  Hermione paused before shaking her head and turning the page.  There was a tense silence as she continued to skim through the book and Draco stood beside her.  "Does this have anything to do with the DA?"

"What?"  she snapped, tearing her attention from the book.  How the hell did he know about that?  There were protections and spells in place to prevent word from getting out.  Had someone not signed the paper and it had escaped her attention?  She could have sworn she'd put spells in place to prevent even that.

"Yeah, you said something about it when you returned from detention,"  he told her.  Hermione tried to think back to what she'd said, but the pain had blurred everything and she couldn't remember anything very clearly.

"What did I say exactly?"

"Just that you'd left your ring on your nightstand on your way to the DA,"  he answered.

She let out a breath, relieved she hadn't said anything more.  Unfortunately, now Draco knew there was something called the DA.  If he heard anyone else mention it, he might put the pieces together.  Maybe he wouldn't do anything to break them apart, but just knowing he could find out would put her on edge.

"You don't have to tell me,"  he muttered, dropping into a chair beside her.

"I won't,"  she told him.  If he thought he could say something like that and guilt-trip her into telling him, he was very, very wrong.  He didn't argue with her, though.  Instead, he reached for her list of books and stole a piece of new parchment from her.  Before Hermione could ask what he was doing, she figured it out.

He carefully copied every book title onto the parchment, writing a brief note to his mother at the bottom.  With a curfew in place, he couldn't send the letter via owl right then, but she watched as he charmed the parchment and it disappeared.

"There, your list of books is sent,"  he told her.  He stood up from his chair and held a hand out to her.  "Now come get some sleep or you'll never recover."

Hermione looked longingly at her books, but she knew she wouldn't find anything she hadn't already read.  Any more research with these books would just waste her time.  Besides, Draco looked like if she didn't at least return to the room to try and sleep, he might break down right there.  So she nodded, telling herself she was only agreeing for Draco's sake and had no intention of sleeping.  However, as soon as she was back in Draco's bed, surrounded by his scent and the feeling of his arms wrapped protectively around her, she fell asleep.