Hermione let out a deep sigh as she pulled her bushy curls into a tight bun. She'd been working for the past thirty-two hours, and the lack of a proper bath was causing her hair to stick out at odd angles. The long hours were definitely taking a toll on her as seen by the dark circles around her chocolate brown eyes and the soreness in her muscles. She definitely needs to learn how to say no to her superiors. But honestly, does she really have the heart to turn away patients when she knows that they need her? She knew the answer was no, and so she continued to work for hours on end in St. Mungo's helping the injured and sick.
As she splashed water on her face, she pushed herself to stay awake for just a bit longer. It was another long day because of some accident that occurred in Diagon Alley. She'd been dealing with victims from the incident, some more serious than others. After a couple more hours of overtime, she had finally gotten the go signal for her to go home, and she wanted to make sure she didn't leave behind a limb while apparating.
She picked up her bag and wand by the nearby bench and made her way out of the room to an apparition point.
"Hermione! Hermione, wait!" A fellow healer called out to her as she passed one of the wards.
Hermione stopped in her tracks and begrudgingly turned around, knowing that her soft bed would have to wait a little bit longer.
"What do you need, Edric?" She asked as politely as she could, trying to keep the disappointment out of her voice.
"Could you heal one patient?" He said, obviously ignoring her gaze. "It's just that we're all still busy with the patients from the Diagon Alley incident, and so…"
"Yeah, sure" Hermione replied with a shrug.
"Perfect," Edric replied with a smile forming on his mouth. "The patient is by the entrance of ward 3."
Hermione simply nodded, and walked to the patient. She was silently praying to any god out there that it would be a quick and easy job. She didn't think she could last much longer. When she reached the patient's area, she pulled aside the curtain and let herself in.
"Morning, I am Hermione Gra—," she started, but trailed off as she stared at her patient.
Before her sat a man covered in dust and dirt. The right sleeve of his dirtied button down shirt was in tatters, covered in blood and grime. His startlingly pale exposed skin was painted with red and brown, and his arm seemed to be in no better condition as it hung limp at his side. But Hermione didn't process any of that, as she was totally transfixed by his familiar platinum blonde hair and smoky grey eyes.
"Are you going to just gape at me, or do your job, Granger?" He snapped, successfully bringing her out of her daze.
Hermione shook her head, and mentally scolded herself for staring. She'd seen way worse conditions, but never in a thousand years would she have though that he would need her help.
Because of his mother's assistance, Draco Malfoy was able to avoid a life in Azkaban. Instead, he dealt with some community service during which many people noted that he wasn't the same as before. They said he was quiet and kept to himself. After diligently accomplishing his five hundred hour penalty, he completely disappeared from the wizarding world. Many believed that he was up to no good, and may be trying to start another dark army, but the aurors and minsters assured them otherwise. Hermione agreed with them, noting that during his months of service, he never seemed to look for revenge, regret and remorse maybe, but not revenge. She thought that maybe, just maybe, he would be able to turn over a new leaf. However, after being M.I.A. for five years, he finally appeared in the Daily Prophet three years ago. He had taken over Malfoy Industries and brought back the company to its glory days. As she read the paper, Hermione realized she might have given the good side of him too much credit. Based on the signature smirk he wore in the picture that accompanied the article, it was obvious he was still hungry for power. Same old Malfoy. At least he wasn't using dark magic to attain it this time, she noted before she tossed it away.
"I am sorry." She mumbled. "I am Hermione Granger, and I'll be the one assisting you today."
"Like I didn't already know that," he said with an edge in his voice. "I don't care who in Merlin's name you are. Just do your job and fucking heal me already."
If she still had any hope that he turned over a new leaf, it was completely erased by his attitude. Hermione rolled his eyes, knowing she shouldn't have expected so much from him.
"Still a spoiled brat, huh." She replied, finally shaking off her initial shock. "I guess you'll never grow up, Malfoy. Maybe, I'll take my time."
She almost backed away from him as he sent a livid glare her way, but she was already used to it after being tormented by him for years. It didn't hold its usual sting though, because his face soon tightened in pain.
Hermione closed the gap between them and examined him from a distance. Aside from what she assumed was a broken arm, there were cuts and bruises all over his face and arms, and what she surmised, all over his chest as well.
"I am going to have to ask you to take off your shirt." Hermione said as she turned away so she wouldn't have to watch him undress.
"Trying to fulfill some of your filthy little fantasies about me, Granger?" Draco replied, sounding just as obnoxious as he did when he was sixteen, only with a deeper voice now.
"Whatever your ego wishes to believe." Hermione muttered as she rolled her eyes, getting tired of their childish banter.
She turned around, and took a step back and gasped at what she saw before her.
"I already know I have an amazing body, Granger. No need to stare." Draco said without any conviction. It seemed like he was struggling to get the words out of his mouth, and Hermione could see why. From the right edge of his collar bone and going across his chest to the bottom left of his ribcage was a bright red cut. It seemed like someone tried to patch it up because some parts were already healing, but overall it was still dripping blood. Aside from that, his skin seemed to be entirely black and blue, only letting some red peek through where he was cut and slightly bleeding. His shirt wasn't even completely off as it hung on his right shoulder. Hermione was nearly a hundred per cent it was broken now.
"Blimey, Malfoy." She let out once she started to breathe again. There was the possibility that he was in Diagon Alley during the accident, but judging on his wounds, it didn't seem so likely. "I thought you had thugs to do all your dirty work for you."
Draco let out a chuckle, but immediately stopped as pain shot through his body. A deep frown formed on his face as his eyebrows furrowed together and his eyes shut close. He seemed to be fighting the urge to cry aloud in pain.
"Episkey" Hermione cast the spell and watched as most of the cuts closed; still, the one right across his chest remained. Her brows knit in concentration as she tried to think of a spell or potion that could heal something so deep.
"Vulnera Sanentur" she said, taking a wild guess. If it could heal Sectumsempra, it should be able to heal a single cut. She let out a sigh of relief as the wound began to close. She muttered a couple more spells to get rid of the dried blood and bruises. Soon, Draco's chest was completely pale white once more, with just a light scar across his chest. Hermione, however, noticed that there seemed to be a lot of older ones. She said nothing, and moved her attention to his right arm which was most likely broken.
She carefully pulled off the rest of his shirt so that she could examine his arm. She applied some pressure, and he winced once she touched him, but it seemed to be caused by pain rather than disgust. Judging by his reaction and the angle of his forearm in relation to his elbow, Hermione knew her hypothesis was correct. In fact, it seemed like most of his bones were smashed into pieces. She carefully put down his arm, so it hung at his side once more.
"What in Merlin's name have you been up to?" Hermione asked, trying to figure out what could cause such extensive injuries.
"Nothing that concerns you." Draco replied dismissively. Hermione noted that he was having an easier time breathing and was relieved that it didn't seem like he had any internal injuries.
"Whatever," Hermione replied, knowing she wasn't going to get an answer. "You're going to have to stay the night because your bones need to grow."
"Ugh, not Skele-Gro" Draco said, scrunching his face up in disgust.
"Sorry, Malfoy, but your little antics caused the bones in your arm to be smashed. There's nothing else I can do." Hermione said as she pulled out the ivory bottle. She poured some of the dark liquid in a cup and gave it to Draco to drink. Using his left hand, he got the cup and glared at the potion.
"Now, after I cast the spell to get rid of the bones, drink it." Hermione instructed. "It's going to taste really bad and hurt, but be a good boy and don't spit it out."
His steel gray eyes sent daggers her way, before bringing his attention back to the ominous substance in the cup.
"Okay, ready?" Hermione asked, but continued without waiting for a response. "Ossio Dispersimus"
Draco quickly brought the cup to his lips, squeezing his eyes shut as he forced himself to swallow it. Hermione watched him, slightly impressed that he didn't spit it out.
"Now, I'll just clean up your arm." Hermione began working on his arm to get rid of the cuts and bruises. When she finished, she noticed that under all the blood and grime was a burn. It seemed like there was a sharp dagger and a circle under its hilt. She tried spell after spell to heal it, but nothing seemed to work. It was bright red, and although it didn't disappear, it didn't seem all that harmful either. She stared at it, trying to figure out what it represented. "Where's this from?"
"Like I said earlier, Granger. It's none of your business." Draco replied as he got up to stand. His body was sore all over and his right arm was still causing him a lot of pain, but he was okay, way better than he was a few minutes earlier. He started to make his way to the exit before Hermione softly pulled on his left arm.
"Where do you think you're going?" She asked sternly.
"I'm healed aren't I?" Draco said, taking on a bored tone. "I am going to head home where I can rest in peace instead of this madhouse."
"But the bones in your arm still need to grow." She said, knowing that it wasn't new information to either of them.
"Then, they can grow while I rest at home." He replied with a huff before pulling his arm out of her grasp and walking out of the room.
Hermione just watched as he left the room, too tired to try to stop him a second time. She grabbed her stuff and rushed to leave before someone else could stop her.
Hermione apparated back to her apartment and saw that the sun was shining bright in the sky. Absentmindedly, she noticed that Ron wasn't home before she passed out on their bed even if it's the middle of the day.
She woke up a few hours later. Despite the comfort of the bed and the fatigue, she dragged herself out of bed to get ready for her date with Ron. Since they both had hectic schedules, Hermione always made sure to put effort in their rare dates, even if it caused her even more hours of sleeplessness.
As she got in her first bath in the last two days, she let her thoughts wander. Oddly enough, they settled on the burn mark she saw earlier on Draco's arm. For some reason, she couldn't get it out of her head.
A/N : Thank you for reading my first Dramione story! Aside from a short one-shot a few weeks ago, this is my first time to write a story and years, so your reviews would be greatly appreciated! I already have everything planned out and so please do give this story a chance! :D