Give Me Your Darkest Hour
Theo was sprawled out on the blanket next to her as she munched on the fruit that Narcissa had given her. She tossed grapes at him occasionally, giggling when they would miss and hit him in the forehead. She turned, tilting her head up to the sun and closed her eyes.
“You look so much like our mum, Granger.” It was said as a whisper and she spun around to see Theo staring at her.
“Do I?” She crossed her ankles, staring at her wiggling toes. “Can you tell me about her?”
“I don’t know much. Most of what I go off of are the photos that I have in my room. I was about four when she died, but I can remember her eyes. They were the deepest blue I have ever seen. And her curls. Merlin. They were as unruly and untamable as yours.” He let out a soft laugh before she watched his eyes cloud. She knew that he was about to talk about something that bothered him. “You know why I’m so scared to see your eyes lifeless? Because I saw hers after our father was done with her. They’re burned into my brain. Every time I close my eyes for the longest time–that was what I saw.”
“I’m sorry that I wasn’t there.”
“Don’t apologize for something that was out of your control.” He sat up, draping his arms over his long legs. “You didn’t choose not to be there. Honestly, I’m glad that you weren’t. I can’t even hate her for choosing you to be the one that she saved. You…he would’ve broken you, Hermione. If he didn’t kill you, he would’ve broken you. I don’t…” Theo choked, turning his eyes to where Draco was sitting with his mother having tea. Hermione noticed his gray eyes on her, and she flushed, turning back to Theo.
“I should’ve been there to save you from him.”
“No. No the fuck you should’nt have. I would’ve killed him for touching you.” Hermione met his eyes as he stared back, eyes clear and unwavering. The breeze drifted across them, blowing their curls in the wind. She nodded, knowing that there was a promise to his words. “I don’t want you to ever step foot into that house, Hermione. I don’t want him anywhere near you. I would rather die than for him to know that you exist.”
She sighed, turning until her head was in his lap. He looked down at her and smiled.
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She was sitting in the library when Lucius entered, his cane the first thing that she heard. He threw a glance her way before making his way over, studying her carefully. He sat down on the chair in front of her, not saying anything as he stared at her.
“Is there something that you needed from me, Lucius?” She didn’t bother looking up from her book and out of the corner of her eye she saw him smirk.
“Such terrible manors you have.” It wasn’t said with malice, but she tipped the book down to look at him. There was something dancing in his eyes, and she fought back the want to smirk at him.
“Yes, well I spend all of my time here. How ever will I fare in the outside world?”
“Speaking of the outside world...” Lucius’s gaze flicked over her before he narrowed his eyes. “I needed to speak with you regarding a few things. Would you please join me in my study away from prying ears?”
Hermione nodded, slipping from the chair and strolling after him. Once they were inside, he sat behind his desk motioning for her to take a seat in front of him. He watched her for a moment and she narrowed her eyes at him. It seemed as though he was trying to make her nervous. She lifted her brow at him and crossed her ankles, staring at the parchments littering the mahogany desk. There were deep green pillows on each of the two chairs that sat in front of the desk. The carpet was a soft gray and she sunk her toes into the plush.
“You have recently become aware of your lineage, is that correct?”
“Yes. I always wondered how I was able to make it past your Muggle Wards.” His eye twitched at the distaste she laced in her words.
“It has come to my attention that you are rather adept at using your bright mind and making yourself capable of surviving certain situations you have found yourself in recently.” He pressed his fingertips together, narrowing his eyes at her. “You also have proven that you will go to immeasurable lengths to protect the people that you love. A trait that I can admit I'm glad that you possess.”
He was silent for a moment as if he was waiting for her to react to what he was saying or interrupt him with questions. If she had learned anything about Lucius it was that the best way to ruffle him was to let him wonder what you were thinking.
“When you return to Hogwarts this year things will not be the same as they once were. There will be rumors, and many of your friends might draw sides against one another. You might be forced to choose. I’m wondering, Hermione, what would you choose if the situation came down to it. Would you be willing to put yourself into a position of power if it meant saving the people that you loved?”
Hermione stared at him. “I would put myself in a position of weakness if it meant saving the ones that I love. The only side that I will choose is the side that is right. I will do anything to protect the ones that I love.”
He smirked. “As will I, Hermione. As will I.”
She paused just outside of the door, turning back to look at him. “You know there was something that I said to Snape once. There are many facades in which one can take. Making them believable is the part that is the most difficult. Just know that I’m willing to wear whatever mask that I must.” His eyes flashed as he stared back at her.
She made her way back to the library wondering if Lucius knew just how far she would go to protect the family that she had made. The family that was taken from her. The one that she had found her way back to. She also wondered if he knew that he was included in that.
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Draco had been quiet the last few days, his eyes vacant occasionally and she wondered if he too had learned to build a library in his mind. Then, she realized that it probably wasn’t a library at all–instead it was more than likely jeweled boxes where he hoarded his memories like a dragon like they were treasures. The thought made her giggle and Narcissa glanced back at her, a smile tugging on her lips.
Lucius cleared his throat and everybody's eyes drifted to his. “Tomorrow…we will be attending the World Cup. I expect every one of you to be on your best behaviors. You all will be representing the house Malfoy and I expect you to act as such.” His eyes lingered on hers and she flushed.
Theo and Draco immediately started discussing the two teams and Hermione found herself oddly fascinated. The next morning, she was gently shaken awake by a House Elf who left a tray of breakfast and Peppermint tea by her bedside.
She had just finished up with her bath, applying the cream to her curls and shrugging on the jersey that had been left in her bed when Theo came bursting into her room. She squealed, glaring at him.
“What if I hadn't been dressed, Theo. Bloody hell.” His cheeks flushed.
“Right, sorry about that. Quite used to living with Draco or myself. I'll remember that.” Theo's face paled suddenly. “I'll also make sure to inform Draco. You know. Just in case.”
Hermione rolled her eyes and perched herself on the edge of the stool next to her vanity. She was attempting to twist her hair up when her eyes met Theo's in the mirror. “You know. Draco is quite fond of you wearing your hair down. Didn't know if that mattered.”
Hermione flushed and she turned to glare at him. “Why would that matter, Theo?”
He glanced at her. “Oh, you know…just a little snippet of information. He told me the two of you kissed.”
She whirled back towards her mirror, attempting to pretend to be busy with her curls. “Oh, did he now? What did he say exactly?”
“A wizard cannot reveal all of his secrets, Hermione.” She met his eyes in the mirror again.
“A wizard, no. But a brother…”
“That's cold. I'm wounded.”
“Are you? Pity.” She pursed her lips at him, and he grinned.
“He said and I quote, ‘I kissed Granger, Theo. You might get me as an official brother after all.’” She whirled around to face him, eyes wide.
“He did not!” Theo was smiling wildly, and she narrowed her eyes at him. “He never said anything about us kissing, did he?”
Theo smiled wider. “Nope.” The ‘p’ was enunciated with a pop, and she picked up her small comb and threw it at him.
“You. Theo!”
“What! I just wanted to know if you two were dancing around one another or if one of you finally did something about it. Poor bloke has been worried that you fancy Potter.”
Hermione wrinkled her nose as she gasped. “Harry! He thinks I fancy Harry!”
Rather unfortunately, Draco chose that moment to enter the room only catching the last three words of her sentence. She stared open mouthed at him as he glared.
“Pity, because it seems to be my family bringing you to the World Cup.” With that he spun around and left. Hermione turned back to Theo, her finger raised as she glared at him.
“I'll fix it. I'm sorry.” Theo scrambled off of the bed. And headed towards the door. “To be clear you do fancy Draco, right?”
Her cheeks flushed and Theo smirked, closing the door as he made his way down the hall. Hermione sat with her head in her hands and cursed Theo’s wonderful timing to discuss school crushes.
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Draco didn't say a word or look at her the entire time that it took for them to travel to the World Cup. They landed in the campgrounds, in front of a ridiculously lavish tent fitted in greens and silvers. Inside was even more ridiculously lavish and each of them had their own bedrooms.
Making her way to her room, she scowled at the lavish furniture and threw her bag onto the bed with a muttered curse under her breath. After a moment, Narcissa appeared, raising a brow at her.
“Is the room not to your liking darling?”
“No! No, I mean, yes. Sorry. It's beautiful and perfect. I'm sorry. My head seems to be a bit scrambled at the moment.”
“What's wrong?” Narcissa perched herself on the edge of the bed and Hermione sat down next to her with a sigh.
“Theo had the wonderful idea to ask me about who I fancied. Draco managed to walk in at the wrong time and now I believe he's mad at me.” Hermione was sure that her cheeks were a bright shade of pink now.
“Dear, one thing that you should know about Malfoy men is that they are quite possessive. Especially my Draco. He is an only child and I fear that his…need to have everything that he wants to himself stems from me giving him all of the love that I could. I didn't think that I would have children and when I was gifted Draco..well. Let's just say that if I had the means to give him the entire world I would. You're both still children, dear.” Narcissa reached out to twirl a curl around her finger. Hermione's heart panged.
“Aunt Cissy, can I ask you something?”
“Of course darling.”
“Do you think that my mother felt that way about me?”
Narcissa cupped Hermione’s cheek, brushing her curls back and away from her face. “I think that she tried to do exactly that when she gave you to that Orphanage, Hermione.”
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Hermione was perusing the small vendors that had set up when she noticed a tall man that looked vaguely familiar. She followed closely behind him, ducking behind shop displays whenever his eyes would scan the crowd.
When he turned enough for her to fully see his face she gasped. His dark brown eyes were almost identical to hers, and he had slightly curly hair. His expression was pinched, and she could see the cold rage and hatred simmering behind his eyes.
Just as his eyes were going to pass over her, a hand clamped around her mouth, and she was spun, pulled back against a hard chest. “Are you daft?”
Hermione stood still, the heavy rise and fall of Draco's chest against her back. One arm was across her stomach, fingertips brushing against her exposed skin and the other was releasing her mouth.
“That's him, isn't it? My father?”
Draco held his breath for a moment, his feet moving as he tucked them between two tents, spinning her to face him.
“Yes.”
“I wasn't trying to have him see me. I don't know what came over me…I was just following him.” She glanced towards the throng of people a few feet away, watching them pass by.
“You shouldn't have. If he would've recognized you somehow…Theo would've lost his mind if he even looked at you, Hermione.”
“I didn't think. I'm sorry.” She flicked her eyes up to Draco's. He was staring at her, expressionless.
“There's a first for everything I suppose. You shouldn't have come here by yourself. It's far too dangerous for a girl to be walking around by herself, let alone one that does nothing but attract trouble.” His voice was slightly cold and standoffish, and she furrowed her brows.
“Did Theo talk to you? About the confusion and what you heard.” Draco snorted.
“He attempted to tell me that I didn't hear you yell out loud enough for all the paintings to hear that you fancied Harry Potter. But, seeing as how my ears work I found that hard to believe.”
“I don't fancy Harry.” Draco rolled his eyes.
Hermione wasn't sure what came over her, but she stepped onto her tiptoes, and pressed her lips to his. It took him a moment to respond, and then his hands were around her waist, pressing her softly into him as he kissed her back. It was gentle and he pulled back after a moment to stare at her, his forehead pressed against hers.
“Well. I'll say that's one way to persuade a bloke otherwise.” He pressed another quick chaste kiss to her lips, and intertwined their fingers as he led her back to the tent. He released her at the flap, opening it as he ushered her in with a hand to her back.
Theo raised an eyebrow at her and she rolled her eyes back at him. After a moment Theo and Draco disappeared into his room, reemerging a few seconds later as Theo glared at her.
Hermione narrowed her eyes at Draco, who simply shrugged his shoulders. She scoffed and stomped into her room. He had effectively ruined her bubbly feeling from their kiss by assuredly telling Theo about her following their father. Sure enough after a few moments Theo entered her room (after announcing) and sat on the end of her bed.
“Why do you always go looking for trouble, Hermione?”
“I didn't realize that it was him until he turned to look at me. I wasn't intentionally seeking out our father–”
“I'm sorry, you did what?” Hermione stopped, turning around to face him slowly.
“What exactly did Draco tell you?” Theo’s eyes flashed as he stared at her.
“He told me that I should be aware that you're sneaking off to the shops by yourself. And you being the trouble magnet you are, insisted that one of us constantly keep an eye on you.”
She let out a groan and fell face first onto her bed, screaming into the cushions. “Evil little cockroach. Of course he would make it seem like he told on me. Bastard.” She turned to face Theo who was staring at the ground. “I didn't just sneak off, Narcissa was aware that was where I was heading. I wasn't actively looking for Tiberius, I just happened to see him.”
“So he's here?”
“Yes.”
Theo nodded, then stood exiting her room. She stared after him.
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Now, Draco was being Draco, and Theo was silent and standoffish as they approached the box. To her horror, she found the Weasley’s and Harry already there. They were staring at her wide-eyed and she resisted the urge to curse under her breath. She reached out, gripping Theo’s hand tightly. There were far too many people here, and she was worried that she wasn’t the only one brimming with anxiety. Theo froze for a moment, then squeezed her hand back, leading her after Lucius to their seats.
“Ah. Of course I should’ve expected that you would be joining us here.” Arthur was giving Lucius a fake smile and Narcissa returned it with a dazzling one of her own as her hand brushed over Lucius’s arm.
“Well. I certainly wasn’t expecting your..brood. Tell me, Weasley, are you planning on starting a team of your own one day?” Her fingers twitched against Theo’s skin and he squeezed her hand back.
The opening was unlike anything she had seen before. The men drifted towards the railing with the simple explanation from Narcissa, “Veela, Darling.” She clung to Theo’s hand like a liferaft, and he let her, his eyes locked onto the game in front of them. It was brutal–and Hermione found that even though she wasn’t particularly fond of the game, she couldn’t tear her eyes away. And although Krum caught the snitch, the Irish still won the game leaving Hermione to wonder if Krum just wanted to end the game on his own terms.
They were making their way towards the front box when Krum descended on his broom. Draco and Theo rushed forward with Lucius who introduced them. Hermione stayed back, standing next to Narcissa as she smoothed down her robes. “I don’t really see what the appeal for Quidditch attire is.”
Narcissa chuckled, her hand resting on Hermione’s shoulder. “Maybe you will someday, darling.”
Krum had lifted his eyes, and she felt herself flush as they passed over her. Narcissa’s hand tightened on her shoulder and her eyes flitted back to Draco who was following Krum’s gaze to where she stood. She watched his gray eyes widen momentarily, and then his elbow came out to nudge Theo in the ribs. Just as Theo spun around to her, Krum had started walking in her direction.
“Did you want an autograph?” His accent was heavy and Hermione smiled at him.
“That would be lovely, thank you.” She glanced around for something for him to sign and remembered that she was donning one of their jerseys, and leaned forward brushing her hair off of her shoulder to offer him a space to sign. He smiled, a faint blush spreading across his cheeks as he carefully leaned forward to sign the material on her shoulder. His hand brushed a few stray curls from her skin, tucking them behind her shoulder.
“I didn’t catch your name.”
“Hermione.”
“Hermy-ow-ninny.” She giggled and watched as Draco and Theo carefully made their way towards her.
“Close enough.” He smiled at her, and then bowed his head. With a flourish that was surprisingly ungraceful for a seeker, she watched him slip onto his broom and disappear over the edge.
Theo and Draco were glaring at her shoulder where Viktor’s name was now scrawled against the fabric. She flushed even darker from embarrassment and Draco narrowed his eyes on her cheeks. Theo, reached over, grabbing her hand as he glared after where Krum had hurtled from the ledge.
“I wonder if his broom stopped working.” Hermione gasped, smacking him on the shoulder.
“Theo! Why are you acting like that? He just wanted to give me an autograph.”
Draco’s eyes brushed over the few curls that had now moved back onto her shoulder. “Pity, might have to cut those strands.”
Instinctively, her hands came up to brush her fingers along the soft tendrils. “What do you mean? What’s wrong with them?!” Both boys stared at her for a moment before glancing at each other.
“On second thought I think I am rather happy that you’re so brilliantly daft in some areas, Granger. I would be concerned if you were brilliant in all fields.”
Hermione was sputtering, completely and utterly confused as the boys led her down through the stands. They made their way back to the tent, passing multiple parties already under way. Draco and Theo had moved to be on either side of her and she watched multiple drunk stares her way as they passed. Hermione was vaguely aware that she was exhausted, it was close to one by the time that they stumbled into their tent. She was leaning heavily on Theo at that point, who had a steadying arm around her waist. He tucked her carefully into bed, slipping the covers under her chin and smoothed back her hair. She stared at him through half closed lids.
“Theo?” Her words were laced with sleep and she watched him turn back towards her, pausing at the end of her bed. “I love you, you know that right?” He stumbled, gripping the end of the bed as he stared at her with wide eyes. She smirked at him and closed her eyes, letting sleep pull her under.
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She woke up to the sounds of whispering. “Come on, let’s go.” It took a moment for the voice to break through her fog and she woke up, scrambling as she slipped out of bed. She was still in her Jersey and jeans, her robe hanging across the chair to the right along with her shoes. Fuzzy memories of Theo tucking her into bed surfaced and she slipped her shoes on as she quietly made her way from her room. The tent was quiet and she peeked into Theo’s room, finding it empty along with Draco’s. Furrowing her brows she made her way through the front of the tent, entering into chaos. There were parties all over the place. Different fires burned as smoke billowed into the air. There was hooting and howling from all around her, as people stumbled and sloshed their beer around. She was quickly swept into the throng of people and soon she realized that she didn’t know the direction back to the tent.
Panic unfurled in her stomach as she glanced around, trying desperately to find a familiar face. She stepped back, tucking herself against the edge of the tents as she wrapped her arms around her middle. A familiar voice broke through the fog and she turned to find Harry staring at her, Ron standing close behind him. “Hermione! What are you doing?”
“I was–I got lost.”
Ron narrowed his eyes at her and Harry made his way over to her, wrapping her into a hug. She calmed as his hands smoothed over her back. “You shouldn’t be out here, it’s not safe.”
“What do you mean? It seems perfectly harmless to me, everybody is just celebrating.”
“There are drunk men all over the place, Hermione. It’s no place for a girl.” Ron’s voice was laced with venom and she narrowed her eyes at him.
“Well, it’s no place for children then either and yet here you are.” A sudden whooping broke out from behind her and her eyes flitted over the unruly crowd that seemed to be congregating towards something in the distance. Hermione narrowed her eyes, wondering what everybody was looking at when suddenly there were screams all around them. Harry was suddenly yanking on her hand, pulling her towards the trees and she stumbled, glancing behind her at what everybody was looking at.
There were people in the sky, frozen and suspended as they came into view. A large group of people in robes were behind them, underneath them, some with their wands fixed on them. The group has silver masks, all shining in the firelight and Hermione gasped. Hermione pulled her hand from Harry’s and took off running towards the group of masked Death Eaters. She had heard about them, knew what they were and she realized that she was running towards a group that could easily kill her. A group that her father could be a part of. She turned, running in the opposite direction as she frantically scanned the crowd for any sign of blonde hair peeking through. Fires were erupting all around her, lighting the tents around her into flames. Smoke was choking her and she coughed, scrambling through the crowds as her eyes searched frantically.
A gasp tore from her throat when her eyes flicked up, noting a mark unfurling in green streaks through the sky. Her eyes widened, realizing that it was the Dark Mark. She knew that much from her research about Death Eaters. It was the sign for Voldemort. Suddenly, there was a hand around her arm and she was yanked against somebody’s chest. Hot breath far too tall to be Draco or Theo was blowing against the top of her head. She wriggled, attempting to free herself from the grasp. The man was tall and she felt his fingers brushing across her ribcage as he pressed her against him. His hands enclosed around both of her wrists as his other hand came up to grip her hip roughly. After a second, his fingers trailed up, slipping along the skin of her stomach. Slurred words echoed in her ear and she reared her head forward and slammed it back hearing a sickening crack.
“You fucking bitch!” The hands released her, and she stumbled forward, falling onto her hands and knees. Scrambling, she whirled around and the man was lifting his arm, sending a slap across her jaw. She fell backwards, into a tent and she closed her eyes, kicking her legs as she tried to right herself. The man stumbled into the tent and she screamed, kicking at him wildly. There was a moment where he stared at her, and then she watched his eyes dull before he fell onto the ground next to her. She scrambled, tears streaming down her cheeks as she scrambled from the tent and right into another body.
She beat her fists against the chest, not able to register the voice talking to her until she was being squeezed against a chest, hands cradling her head. “Granger! Calm down, it’s me.” She pulled back after a moment, meeting Draco’s eyes. They were molten silver and she saw them fix on the bruise she knew was already forming across her jaw.
Theo was off to his side, wand raised and hand trembled pointing towards the man lying in the tent. She scrambled from Draco’s arms, falling against Theo’s chest and she felt him hesitate a fraction of a second before his arms closed around her. Her breaths came in stutters as she tried to calm herself and then she felt herself being lifted, pressed against a chest. She opened her mouth to protest and Theo gave her a stern look, his blue eyes swirling with anger. She was trembling and she noted that they were running, a familiar voice broke through the haze and Theo set her on her feet, still holding tightly to her waist. Draco was right next to her, his hand grabbing onto her arm and she felt Narcissa wrap her arms around them all until there was a sudden feeling of a tug at her navel.
They landed in the middle of the Manor and Hermione’s knees trembled. “Why did you three leave the tent?”
Narcissa’s voice was calm and Hermione couldn’t lift her head to look at her, instead she kept her face trained down, hiding behind a curtain of hair. “We just wanted to see the celebrations. We didn’t know that Hermione would follow us, she was asleep when we left.”
“Draco. You are a bright boy, don’t pretend to be daft enough to assume that she wouldn’t go looking for you if she woke up and you two weren’t there. Go to bed. All of you.”
Hermione turned, attempting to shuffle away but Theo was right next to her, his hand gripping tightly onto hers as the three of them wordlessly made their way up the stairs. She expected them to go to their own rooms but instead all three of them made their way to hers, stepping through the door. Hermione stared at her feet, unable to lift her gaze and see the disappointment written across their faces.
“What happened?” Draco’s voice was as calm as his mothers but she knew that it was dripping with anger.
She opened her mouth and closed it, before lifting her head to stare at them. Both of their eyes trained on her jaw, their eyes flashing and she sat on the edge of the bed, suddenly realizing just how tired and sore she was as the adrenaline left her body.
“I woke up and the two of you weren’t there, so I went looking for you. It was fine for a moment until it wasn’t. Harry and Ron met up with me by the edge of the tents. I don’t know why they were there but Harry told me that I shouldn’t have been out there, that it wasn’t a safe place for women.” She snorted and glanced at Draco.
“For once I find myself agreeing with Potter.”
“Anyways, I noticed the family…the ones being suspended in the air.” She choked. “The Muggles I’m guessing?” Draco nodded minutely. “I stopped following Harry and ran toward them. I was so mad, I don’t know what I was expecting to do but then I remembered…” Her eyes flicked to Theo who was clenching his hands into fists. “Anyways, I turned to look for you two and got distracted by the mark in the sky. That’s when–” Her voice broke and she swallowed.
“That’s when that guy grabbed me. He was rubbing his bloody hands all over me and I wound up being able to crack my head into his nose. I think that pissed him off because that’s when he slapped me. I fell back into the tent and well, that’s when the two of you showed up.” Neither of the boys were saying anything, but she could see them both trembling as they stared at her.
“Draco?”
“I got her, Theo.” Theo nodded, stepped towards her to place a kiss in her curls and then slipped through the door. She stared after him, confused. Draco closed his eyes for a moment, before stepping towards her, his hands were shoved into his pockets and he walked slowly until he was standing right in front of her. Carefully, he lifted his hand to her cheek and she bit her teeth together in the effort not to flinch. Draco would never hurt her. Draco would never hurt her. The mantra was on repeat through her head as she felt his fingers brush along her jaw. “You were incredibly careless tonight. You could’ve gotten yourself killed.”
She watched him close his eyes and his jaw ticked. “I’m fine, Draco.” Clearly, they were the wrong words and she watched as his eyes snapped open to glare at her.
“You call this fine, Granger? You call the sound of you fucking screaming in the middle of a damn riot, fine? You call Viktor touching your curls, fine? You call the fact that another man had his hands on you, fine?” Hermione flinched and she watched him close his eyes again, taking a steadying breath before opening them again. “You have an uncanny ability to somehow drive Theo and I mad on a normal basis.”
A small smile pulled at the corner of her lips and she tried to pretend like she wasn’t trembling. “Somebody has to.” Draco dragged a stool in front of where she was sitting and took her hands into his. She had just now noticed the bruises on her arms. There was one forming on each of her wrists, and then another on her forearm where she had been forcefully grabbed. She gulped wondering if her hip was also bruised from where she was gripped roughly. A soft sob broke from her lips and Draco’s fingers twitched against her skin.
“Mip!” The House Elf appeared, pulling on the ends of its ears. “I need bruise paste, a Pain Relief Potion, Calming Draught and Dreamless Sleep please.”
“Draco, I’m fine–”
“Hermione.” It was firm and final. She clamped her lips together, nodding lightly. “Where..where else did he touch you?”
Hermione’s eyes snapped to him and she shook her head, wrapping her arms around herself just as the Elf popped back into the room. She jumped and the Elf set the items onto the table and disappeared.
“I can..I can get my mother if you’d prefer. Just tell me what you need.”
“No-no. Don’t get Cissy. I don’t. I don’t want her to know about it.” Draco nodded, casting his eyes back to her jaw and she realized just how sore it was. Reaching over, he grabbed a potion from the table and unstoppered it, bringing it to her lips. She swallowed it and after a few moments, she felt the familiar warmth of the Pain Relief spread through her body. “Thank you.”
Remembering his previous question, she lifted her shirt carefully, revealing a large bruise forming along her hip. She wanted to scrub her stomach from where the man’s fingertips touched her but she bit her lip, staring at the darkening skin. Draco’s hands twitched and he grabbed the bruise paste, applied some to his finger and hesitated with his finger inches from her skin. She nodded and moments later the cold paste was being spread delicately across her skin. Afterwards, she dropped her shirt and reached out her arms towards him.
He pulled his wand out, muttering a healing charm to the cuts and scrapes on her hands from when she fell and then moved on to carefully apply the paste onto any and every bruise that was formed on her skin. When he was done, his eyes flicked to her jaw and she nodded. He brushed her hair from her shoulder, tucking the few unruly strands behind her ear before brushing his thumb carefully across her jaw. Slowly, he rubbed the paste into her skin and even with the Pain Relief Potion, she winced, closing her eyes. She knew he was done when his hand rested on her jaw, softly brushing his thumb across her cheek.
Slowly she opened her eyes and blinked at him. He was staring at her, his eyes warm and filled with an emotion that she couldn’t place. After a moment he reached over, grabbing the other two vials and handed them to her. He made a move to unstopper the Dreamless Sleep and she shook her head. “I-I need to shower. I want to…I need to get the feel of his fingers off of my skin.” Her voice dropped to a whisper and he cleared his throat, a strangled noise trapped in the depth.
“Bath?” She nodded and he got up, slipping his hands from her cheek and made his way to the bathroom. She didn’t hear anything, but the faint smell of lavender drifted through the room. She closed her eyes, fighting the trembling that was threatening to take her over. She couldn’t break. Not yet. Draco slipped from the bathroom, and nodded making his way to the door. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to be alone but she knew she didn’t want him there for when she took a bath. He turned towards her, opening his mouth before closing it again. “My door is right next to yours, you know that. Just yell if you need anything, Hermione.”
She nodded and he left the room, she made her way to the bathroom, and slipped into the bath as she cried, her tears mixing with the bubbles as the smell of lavender enveloped her.