Donor

The next morning Blaise and Theo appeared in her office before she had even finished her first cup of coffee. She hugged the still steaming mug and motioned for them to get it on with it. To her surprise, they calmly requested that she blood type them. Neither of them came back a match for Draco but she filed the results away in their patient records for any future need.  

Susan and Hannah were in her office an hour later going over the week’s schedule when Ginny entered. 

“I have come to the conclusion that both of your boyfriends vex me. Get new ones.” 

Hannah threw her head back and laughed, “Seeing as my girlfriend is a lovely human, she’s addressing the two of you.”  

“Trust me, I’ve tried,” Susan grumbled.  

“Try harder.” Ginny snorted.  

“Last time I checked, I was single…” Hermione commented while sorting through a stack of Ministry requests. 

“You may need to reiterate that to Malfoy then.” 

“Malfoy!?” She cried, her poor papers falling out of their neat stacks and scattering over the desk. “Gin you can’t possibly think that Draco and I-,” 

“Draco, is it?” Her friend quirked a brow at the informal use of his name. “And yes, I do.” 

“That’s ridiculous!” 

“Is it?” Susan joined in on the attack.  

“Absolutely! He’s just a patient… I would never…” 

“I said the same thing and now I can’t sleep unless it’s in his bed.” Susan huffed, as if she hated it but Hermione knew she wouldn’t continue going there if she didn’t want to. 

“You’re living with him!? You failed to mention that!” Hannah accused. 

“Quite sure I said ‘sleep’ in his bed, that hardly qualifies as living with someone. Anyways…” Susan trailed, “The way he looks at you is definitely more than that of a patient looking at their Healer.” 

The other two hummed in agreement. 

“You’ve all gone mad.” She squawked.  

“Says the girl who he happily blackmailed me for.”  

“I get the feeling that he’s the kind of person who finds enjoyment in extortion regardless of who’s involved,” Hannah chimed in. 

“Speaking of that, what exactly did he see you and Harry doing?” 

“Oh, Ginny, not again,” Susan expressed her dismay.  

Ginny rolled her eyes. “We like to play a game of who can get the other more turned on in public… sometimes we don’t always make it home before it reaches a… climax.”  

Hermione wrinkled her nose. She shouldn’t have let her curiosity get the better of her, it was definitely a fact she could have happily lived her life not knowing.  

“He is not interested in me, nor I him.” She stated matter-of-factly, standing to go to her first appointment. 

“Sure, sure, let me know when you’re ready to restate that under veritaserum.” 

Four days later she was reading about wards on her couch when her floo sprang to life and deposited the inspiration for her reading a few feet in front of her.  

She returned her eyes to the pages, “I thought I made myself clear last weekend when I expressed my displeasure for unannounced and uninvited visitors.” 

“I did,” he responded just as tightly, mirroring her tone. 

A heavy sigh escaped her, “You did what, Malfoy?” 

“I owled. An hour ago.”

 Hermione frowned and turned toward her window to find a beautiful walnut colored bird patiently perched on the sill outside.  

“Oh.”  

She stood and disengaged the sound muffling spell she had placed during her migraine, cracking the window open to accept the small piece of parchment attached to its leg. 

I plan to arrive in an hour. Close your floo if you do not wish to receive me.

D.M. 

“If you’re here to check on the wards, I’m working on it.” She said and gestured to the book she had left in her spot on the sofa.  

“That’s not why I’m here,” he breathed, she could hear the disproval in his voice when he continued, “and we have a more comprehensive tome in the Manor library, I will see that it gets sent to you.”

“I’m perfectly fine with the book I currently have.”

“That’s nice, it will be here tomorrow.”

“Did you not just hear me say that it won’t be necessary?” She snapped. Unsure of why she was being so aggressive when he was being perfectly cordial with her. Something about him put her on edge. She had yet to decide if it was in a good or bad way.

“You’re really going to turn down the opportunity to read something that cannot be found elsewhere?”

She thought about it for a minute and realized he had her, “No.”

“Exactly as I suspected.” The haughtiness in his voice grated on her.

“Why are you here, Malfoy? Unless you’ve come to tell me that you’ve found the counter-curse or happened to find another way to stay alive, it is too soon for you to need me again…”

“I don’t require anything from you.” He nearly fumed in response.  Whether he meant now or in general was inconsequential.

“So you keep saying.” Hermione returned to her seated position and opened to the page she had left open.

“Merlin, you’re insufferable.”

Her book shut with a clap.

“Me!? Have you met yourself?” Hermione stood once again and stomped toward him. “Despite you being a fucking prick for the entirety of our acquaintance, I nearly drained myself to save your life only to have you tell me you would have rather perished. Which you then impressively followed it up with telling me that I need to ‘be more careful’ after someone else attempted to take advantage of me.” She inhaled sharply. “To top it all off, you show up on my doorstep, halfway to death, needing my help once again because the fragility of your ego kept you from getting treatment in a more appropriate and timely manner.” 

“Gods would you just-,” Draco pinched the bridge of his nose.  

“What? Would I just what? Please, I am so eager to hear whatever comes out of your mouth next.”  

The man in front of her looked exhausted as he rubbed a hand down his face.

“Lay down.” He demanded.

She had prepared for many things. That surely was not one of them. “I beg your pardon?”

“Lay down, Granger.” He restated.

“Why on earth do you want me to-,”

“Oh my Salazar, Hermione! Would you just do as I ask without fighting me for once?!” He exploded before the energy left him again and he added a quiet, “Please.”

Shocked to hear her first name roll off his tongue, curiosity, as always, got the better of her so she did as he instructed, though she scowled at him the entire way down. Once she was settled and comfortable, Hermione’s glare transformed to widening eyes as she watched him remove his suit jacket in efficient movements. Her focus moved to the sleeves of his shirt, where he began unfastening the buttons at the wrist, and rolling them up to his elbows. She suddenly felt warm. It felt like she was watching something intimate. Something she wasn’t meant to see.

He approached her and placed a singular knee in the space between her legs before slotting himself on top of her and resting his head against her stomach.

“Malfoy, what are you-,”

“Shut up.” His muffled voice grumbled. He grabbed at her hand and placed it on the back of his skull.

Hermione sat there in complete and utter shock. Unsure of how they had gone from yelling at each other to him curling up like a cat on top of her.

Uncontrollable giggles rolled out of her. Draco scowled up at her when his head began bouncing from it.

“Sorry,” she snickered, “sorry. This is just the exact opposite from anything I expected.”

His answer was dropping his head back down on to her, which only lasted a few minutes when he must’ve decided he no longer liked that position and scooched her further into the cushions against the backing of the furniture so that he could lay on his side and bury his face into her neck.

Her fingers idly ran through his silky hair while she gathered her scattering thoughts.

“You know,” she hummed a while later, “for someone who doesn’t ‘require’ anything from me, this,” she emphasized the word by pulling his hair how he did her curls outside of the Leaky Cauldron, “suggests otherwise.”

His breathing remained even against her skin despite the deep purr from the tug she gave him.

“I do not require or need anything from you, Granger, or from anyone for that matter. Relying on people makes you vulnerable. Which is something I do not have the luxury of being.”  

“So, what do you call this then?”

“Indulging.”

“And the transfusions?” She was playing with fire asking that question, knowing he usually became cross when the topic was discussed.

Silence.

His voice was soft and full of sleep when he finally answered. “Acquiring debt.”

“How… practical.”

He hummed.

Hermione sighed and looked down at the wizard now fully asleep holding her tightly as if she would be taken from him. Narcissa, Ginny, and the girls may have been right about Malfoy softening towards her. And she couldn’t lie and say she hated their current embrace. However, that didn’t excuse him from his extreme lack of emotional intelligence and his proclivity to offend her when he was awake.  

“Why must you make everything so gods damned difficult?” She whispered into his hair.

She didn’t know when she fell asleep, all she knew is she was woken by a loud: “WHAT THE FUCK!”

She sat up, or she tried to, but found herself trapped in a cage made from strong arms with her head underneath a chin.  

“Look, I don’t know why you’re surprised… I told you about this. You’re the one who chose not to believe me.” Ginny said in exasperation.  

“You really need to start locking your floo,” Draco’s raspy voice vibrated against the top of her head. “The redundancy of this kind of occurrence is becoming exasperating.”

Hermione untangled herself from him and successfully sat up finding that she had been transported to her bedroom at some point during her slumber. She brushed her hair out of her face making Ron and Ginny visible in her doorway.

“I can see common propriety is lost on the two of you. Entering someone’s home, let alone their bedroom, before nine in the morning is considered disrespectful.” Draco clipped from beside her where he remained laying.

“Draco.” she cautioned quietly for only him to hear before glancing at the bedside clock and wincing at the numbers that barely read seven-thirty, “He does have a point... Could you both please wait out in the living room while I get sorted?”

“Hermione, we just found you in bed with Malfoy! I think formality has long passed. Wait until Harry hears of this!” Ron ranted.

She grimaced at his hysterics. “It’s not what it looks-,”

“‘Mione if you finished that sentence I will scream,” Ginny deadpanned.

“She’ll be out in five minutes. I suggest you do as she asked and wait in the sitting room, or she won’t be out at all.” He gave her friends a wicked smile and then had the door slamming in their faces with a flick of his wrist.

Hermione slapped at him before slipping off the bed and barreling into her closet to find a suitable robe. “Don’t go thinking that sleeping here one night grants you the access to control my life, it won’t end well for you.”

“Noted,” he purred from very close behind her.

She jumped and whirled around finding his chest mere inches from her face. He placed a finger under her chin, lightly pulling her towards him but leaving a miniscule amount of space between their lips.

Her breath caught.

“Technically,” he smiled mischievously, “I’ve slept here twice. Which means I am now qualified to manage your life. Your specifications, not mine.”

“And just like that, my willingness to let you ‘indulge’ has concluded.”

He laughed. It wasn’t like the one she witnessed outside of the bar with Marcus; this one was real, genuine. It caught her off guard. Warmth spread through her while witnessing this side of him for the first time. It was gone just as quickly as it came.

“Don’t look at me like that.”

She blinked and busied her herself with tying the sash around her waist. “I’m sure I don’t know what you mean.”

He tipped her chin up again. “Mm,” the hum was low and from deep inside him, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you blush like this.”

Hermione chose not to respond. It was true, he had never seen her like this, demure and flustered, probably because he typically ignited a rage within her that was brewed from the depths of hell. His eyes flicked between hers, searching for something.

She leaned forward as if being pulled in magnetically.

“Draco,” his name was a whisper on her lips.

The door to her room rattled as it was struck again and again. They both exhaled the breaths they had been holding.

“I’m late and should have already departed anyways; Theo and Blaise will be less than pleased with me.”

She frowned, “It's Saturday, what on earth could you be late for this early?”

His hand fell away from her face.

“Unfortunately, I recently acquired a minor ailment that requires an extensive amount of research if I hope to find a… cure.” He spoke as if he were at a dinner party describing a strange object he picked up off a dealer in Knockturn Alley instead of a blood curse that was doing its best to destroy him even at this very moment.

The exasperated eye roll she gave him conveyed exactly how she felt about his sarcasm.

“Any luck so far?” She moved to her door and threw it open, meeting Ron’s glower with one of her own and pushing past him to make her way to the living room.

Draco’s terse response of, “No.” blended in with Ron’s “Finally.”

Both were ignored as she addressed Ginny. “A warning would have been nice.”

Her friend shrugged. Hermione sat in her spot on the couch and tucked her feet underneath her.

“Seriously took you that long to put on a robe? Not like we haven’t all seen what’s underneath already.”

“Ron!” Ginny reprimanded with a smack to the back of his head. “I would really prefer to not have to bring you home in a body bag.”

“What?!” He asked dumbfounded as if he hadn’t just insulted and embarrassed her. “It’s true… and Hermione would never kill me. Hex maybe. But not kill.”

“She wasn’t the threat I was referring to…”

Three heads turned to find Draco looking bored next to the fireplace, but she could see the cold fury in his eyes.

“Malfoy, I believe you were running late?” She blurted out, hoping it would distract him from whatever murder plot he was currently formulating. She didn’t miss the way his entire demeanor changed at her use of his formal name. “As for you two,” the difficulty in dragging her eyes away from Draco to focus on her friends would have been comical to her teenage self, “I would like to remind you that I am a grown woman, and as such, can spend time with whoever, whenever, and wherever I please.”

Ron opened his mouth to no doubt stick his foot even further in.

“No, no,” she said with a raised hand, “it was a statement, not an invite to start a discussion. Speaking of invitations, I have decided that all open-ended allowances to my space, and furthermore, me, are now rescinded until I can trust that the privilege will not be abused. Please relay the message to your family.”

Ginny smacked Ron again. “Oh well done, you’ve got us grounded.”

“Wait, where are we going? You can’t honestly expect me to leave right now!” Ron whined as Ginny pulled him to the fireplace and shoved him in. “This isn’t over.” He pointed at Draco before fading away in a swirl of green.

“What… fascinating company you keep, Granger.”

The Draco Malfoy she’d grown up with was back. Baiting her with a polished backhanded compliment, the only difference was that she had grown tired of this game with him, and it no longer held the same biting effect after he had been wrapped around her all night.

“I would say to give my regards to your friends, but I fear it will only encourage them to become more like mine.” She sighed while reaching for the book on wards she had abandoned the previous night, a mug of steaming coffee appearing next to her. “Godric knows they already feel comfortable enough showing up here to interrogate me.”

Another flash of neon blazed in her peripheral seconds after a blanket she had never seen before settled over her lower half. She guessed that was his way of softening towards her without having to break the notorious Malfoy character he had resumed since stepping out of her room.

True to his word, the exclusive tome on wards and protective enchantments arrived by mid-afternoon. She finished it by the following morning and had even experimented with a few before settling on two that felt good with her magic infused.

Harry appeared in her office first thing Monday morning. She expected some form of awkward lecture about her choice in company but was pleasantly surprised when he instead apologized for both his wife and Ron’s intrusion.

“You know how they are,” he breathed after informing her that he had taken her side and thought the two of them had overstepped, “I think they sometimes forget we aren’t part of their immediate family. And as only children we were never taught how to deal with the bombardment of siblings and their lack of boundaries.”  He shook his head and adjusted his glasses. “While I may have a few personal objections toward Malfoy, I hear he is very well respected within his department and if he has somehow found a way to make you trust him then I am happy you have found someone.”

“This has been blown way out of proportion.” Hemione returned. “I’m just his Healer.”

“Hermione,” Harry said with a hint of admonishment, “While I may be dense at times, I am not my wife nor am I Ron. I am sitting here telling you I support you… the least you could do is not lie to me.”

She bit the inside of her cheek. “Okay, fine. When we’re not arguing, which isn’t often since its all we seem to do if we’re awake, I suppose he is alright.”

Harry remained looking at her silently. Knowingly.

“Get out,” she grumbled attempting to hide a smile while her cheeks heated.

He left with a laugh.