It had been along summer. My mother left and my father slowly fell to alcohol. Every evening he left and at dawn, the first sight of light, he would stumble through the door, frosted out of his mind. He stopped treating me like his daughter. One night, a few days before I was to go back to school, I dropped a glass.
"You idiot! Clean it up!" He grabbed the towel I was holding.
"You dropped it, you pick it up." he sneered. I cut up my hands pretty bad.
Finally, the day I would go back to school arrived. You see, I didnt go to just any school, I went to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. That's right, I'm a witch. My name is Hermione Granger and this would be my sixth year. I never unpacked when I came home in June, so I didn't have to worry about leaving anything.
My father was driving drunk. He laughed as I relaxed when we pulled in the train station. I pulled my trunk out of the boot. At the thump of the door closing, I was shoved to the ground, my 'caring' father standing over me.
"Ya tink ya somtin specal. Doncha?" I looked at his lopsided grin. His speech slurred too much.
He kicked me. Again and again. He kicked me so hard I felt a rib crack. He didnt stop. Oh no, that would have been too convenient, too nice. He beat the crap out of me. And when he was satisfied I'd 'learned my lesson,' he collapsed into the car. Blowing me a kiss, he reved the engine and ran over my hand. I didn't have the strength to cry out, the pain all consuming. He nearly missed my head as he sped off, hitting a pole along the way.
I made my way slowly to Platform 9 3/4. The whistle blew as I stumbled through the barrier. I hauled my trunk to the train, the pain in my hand the only thing in my head. I found an empty compartment and collapsed on one of the seats. I took a deep breath and finally looked at my hand. Several peices of glistening bone stuck out against all the blood. God, it hurt like hell. I did a simple concealing charm, to hide the bruises, and fell asleep.
A few hours later, the trolly lady came by. I said I was fine and she left. My head was throbbing but my hand was strangely numb. I finally opened my eyes. Sitting across from me, staring so intensely I thought hed burn a hole through me, was the one and only, Draco Malfoy. He was the last person, besides Harry and Ron, I wanted to deal with right now.
"You alright?"
"Yeah."
"You're lying." he stood, "I fixed your hand and wrapped it. You should change the bandage after dinner." He left.
I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding. Some students outside my compartment were talking about Harry. Big suprise there. First years. I rolled my eyes. A few minutes more and they ran off. The door slid back, and Malfoy stepped in. Quietly closing the door, he sat across from once again.
"Uh... thank you. For my hand." I was so tired. couldnt he just leave.
"Welcome. We wont be at the castle for few more hours. You should get some sleep. Ill wake you before we stop so you can change."
He was being way too nice. Was he planning something?
We sat in silence for a while and I drifted off. True to his word, he woke me with enough time to change into my uniform. He was waiting for me when I walked out to the corridor. No one else was on the train.
"I saved us a carraige. Come on." he gently took my good hand and led me to the platform, a single carriage waiting for us.
When we arrived at the castle, I didnt feel like dealing with the nosey Gryffindors so instead, I went to the Infirmary. Poppy fussed over me and my hand. She took the concealment charm off and a small gasp behind had me turning my head. Draco had followed me. The look in his grey-blue eyes made me look away. I couldnt handle it. It was what I tried to avoid. Poppy shooed him out. She sat on a bed furthest away from the door and forced me to drink Dreamless Sleep. A few minutes later, I was out.