Title: A Good Choice

Author: Nocturnal-Dangers (Nocturnal for short!)

Rating: R (sexual content)

Summary: The war rages on and the trio seek refuge after a vicious attack. Hermione takes time to relax briefly before reality strikes hot.

A. Note: This is a quick one-shot Dramione story from the twisted depths of my mind. I'm not even sure what Draco type I'm going for in this story although I do love a tormented one.

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Hermione pulled back the wool sweater that hung loosely off her shoulder to get a closer look at the deep gash across her shoulder blade. She had been extremely lucky not to get a full blow of the attack, but very regretful Harry had been the one. The last few weeks, Hermione had been feeling more like a coward as the war had worsen. Her hopes of keeping her life was falling from her eyes quite like the tears she had shed so many times for the past two years.

"How are you?" The door squeaked open and a shaggy mane of ginger gleamed in the light.

Ron pushed the door back as he noticed the extent of Hermione's injury and put a hand up to the wound. She felt his warm hand gently glide across her bruised and cold porcelain skin, it felt oddly comforting. She sighed a moment before she felt the pain shoot from her shoulder and an exasperated gasp escaped her lips.

"I'm guessing you aren't well." Ron smiled wanly. "I'll patch it up for you. Just hold still a minute."

Hermione watched in the mirror as Ron slipped his hand into his pant pocket and produced a long, slender wand in his right hand. She noticed his hand slightly shaking, showing a weaker emotion that Ron had not managed on his face. He had been so strong, it surprised her. He never showed any strength in their seven years at Hogwarts, just many weaknesses hidden behind many sappy jokes and puns. After the first real battle, Hermione had seen this new bravery in her long time friend that was hidden for seventeen years. She had respected him for it, even made up for all the essays she was coaxed into writing for the git. She envied it as well, for she knew she could never truly be like him, fearless amongst the evil that lurked in the shadows.

"There, it should be fine. You should rest though, it needs to properly heal." Ron ran his hand across her shoulder over the pink scar on her back.

"Is Harry well?" Hermione ignored his request and looked through the open door to spot the raven-haired boy.

She saw a lump on the bed which she assumed was Harry though it is unrecognizable in the dark. She noticed the black lump move slowly and a low guttural moan escape his lips.

"He needs more help than I do." Hermione grasped Ron's hand. "Thank you."

Ron turned his head back to her and tightened the grip on her palm. He pulled the hand up to his lips and planted a soft kiss against her callous hand. He brushed her hand against his cheek and Hermione smirked at the romantic gesture. He loved her, it was almost sickening to think but it was true.

"This war is so..." Hermione started lowering her hand away from Ron's face.

"Black and white." Ron finished for her. "Only really evil and good."

"No." Hermione simply replied pulling the torn sweater over her head and on the floor. "It's grey."

Hermione leaned over and picked up the torn and blood splattered material and laid it on the bathroom counter. She was going to have to somehow clean that later so she could wear it again.

"Grey?" Ron's eyebrows met at the middle of his face.

"War is not about right and wrong, it's about choices...decisions." Hermione looked past Ron's face into the dark room beyond the bathroom, at the slow frame on the bed. "It's about surviving because you have to, because you want to. If life means gaining the dark mark, then you choose it because you want to, but if your life is at stake, you'd gladly replace it for piece of normality."

"You are not going on about Malfoy again, are you?" Ron's face flustered at the mention of his name.

"What?" Hermione was exhausted and did not understand why Ron brought up Draco Malfoy.

"Draco Malfoy." He pronounced slowly for her to catch every syllable. "The former Hogwarts student that was with Voldemort for a short bit than up and vanished. Supposedly reprieved to the Order though we never found out anything about it. My guess is the boy went ahead and got himself blown up real nice."

"See, he made choices because he wanted to live." Hermione crossed her arms quickly in th heat of the moment but regretted it as pain shot up her arm. "Just as I want to live."

"That's real selfish, Hermione." Ron narrowed his eyes and pointed a long skinny finger at her face. "You love your friends or you use to. It's not like you to put yourself above others. I don't understand you."

"You can't expect this all to remain the same after school!" Hermione lifted her finger back in retort while holding back tears. "I've got to choose something!"

"Why can't you choose to help us?" Ron's voice rose. "Why can't you choose—-" He paused as a loud moan rang out from the dark room and he quickly flitted his eyes to Harry and then to Hermione. His voice lowered as he ended his rant. "Why couldn't you choose me?"

Hermione bit her lip stubbornly as Ron's mouth pursed and his hand shook violently in the air. She let her brown eyes sink into his before he lowered his hand and turned from her. He grabbed the bathroom door and pulled it shut just letting his face still protrude in the room.

"I'm choosing to help Harry." Ron muttered as he clicked the door shut.

Hermione leaned forward and turned the lock on the door. She hesitated a moment before she finally said weakly, "I'm choosing to take a shower."

She peeled off her dirty clothes from her battered and exhausted body before leaning forward and turning the shower knob on. She hated him, while he loved her. She just couldn't adjust to this broken lifestyle that her life had been forced into. She knew many things, well many than her fellow companions could imagine, but fixing everything right was something you just never knew how to do. No matter how many spells you casted or potions you brewed. In fact, school prepared her for nothing life withheld. The only thing that had helped her was her countless times being forced into terribly dangerous situations with Harry. Perhaps, she should be grateful for the choices she made, if she never choose to help Neville that day on the train, she would have never met Harry or even Ron. See, I appreciate my choices, Hermione thought bitterly to herself.

She stepped into the hot shower, feeling the warmth relax her muscles. She missed so many simple pleasures in life that disappeared as quickly as the war began. This was one of those things she missed the most. She missed reading the most rudimentary books full of things she only dreamed she could do or perform otherwise. She even missed those simple study sessions among Harry and Ron where they discussed many things, things that delighted her and made her smile. The memory she missed most was letting her head rest against Ron's chest as she listened to his steady heartbeat as he casually stroked her hair.

Hermione broke from her reverie when she felt a hand come around her waist. She looked down to see the black snake staring back up at her face, the Dark Mark. It was him.

"What are you doing here?" She gasped as his hand trailed down the side of her waist.

She then felt his bare chest clash with her back and a cheek to her ear. He was surprisingly warm and soft to feel against her.

"I had to see you." He quietly whispered in her ear as he let his lips fall against her neck. She felt his moist tongue run along the base of her neck before kissing her shoulder. His hand ran across her scar and he lowered his face once more to her ear. "What happened?"

"I---we got attacked. I got hurt." She let her head fall back onto his shoulder.

He bent down and trailed kisses along the scar while he let his other hand rub across her belly. Hermione let out a sigh of pleasure as the kisses melted against her skin, dripping the pain away. She turned around to face him in the shower to get a good look at him. He was still much taller than her and his body was as slender and pale as it was before. His platinum blonde hair hung loosely over his eyes as if hiding something. She pulled his hair back behind his ear to see black and blue bruises surrounding his eye. She also noticed a large scar that ran from the base of his ear to the base of his neck.

"What happened?" Hermione was horrified by the scar.

"I got hurt." He smiled shallowly.

She leaned forward and place a gentle kiss on his lips. She pulled back a second later but was pulled back in by Draco's other hand taking a place on her neck. First, it was soft little kisses but mounted to his tongue finding its way into her mouth, deepening the kiss further beyond her expectations. It felt so wrong to be wrapped in his embrace but such a helpful comfort. She let her hands intertwine his neck and up to jostle his disheveled mane of hair. His hands roamed her back sweetly, gently rubbing his fingers in her skin.

Hermione had to admit it felt good being touched intimately, even if it is by someone she could never trust fully. It wasn't long before his mouth left hers, leaving trails along her skin in the hot water. She felt something against her leg, she knew what it was and what it wanted. She knew she just couldn't do it, not there.

"I can't, not here, Malfoy." Hermione looked down at Draco's head as it was plastered to her chest. She felt it again, feeling like shit for turning it down.

"It's okay." Draco snagged her up against the tiled wall and pinned her arms against the wall. "Though, I really want to." He let his hand trail down her stomach to in between her legs. He rubbed his hand against the inside of her thigh and let his lips run across her cheek. She set her head against the cool tile and let a moan escape her lips. She heard his deep throaty chuckle as he removed his hand and put it on the tile.

"Don't tease me like that." She pouted as he looked at her with a wicked grin upon his serpent-like face.

"You should talk." He ran a finger down her jaw line.

"You should go. You are not safe here." Hermione took a serious note to her voice.

Draco sighed and stood back from her. His eyes felt with sorrow as he let his finger trail her jaw line again.

"I haven't seen you in over three months." This time he was the one pouting. "I missed this, I missed you."

"You know I don't love you." Hermione stated standing up straight in the puddle that formed under her feet.

He shook his head "yes". He had a place in her heart. A small hidden place where no one would ever look or pry into because it was such a secret. She never regretted or felt shameful for what she had done with Draco. He was hiding himself all those years and she was probably the only soul to get a taste of what he was really like. She prided it and enjoyed her time with him, but he had to go.

"I don't want anybody getting suspicious." Hermione said quietly and ran a finger along the scar on his neck. "I will see you soon. I want to know how you came about those wounds."

"Fine." He simply replied letting her hand drop away from his face. He leaned in and gave a quick last kiss before pulling the curtain back and exiting.

A few minutes later Hermione heard a loud pop and she pulled back the curtain to see an empty room. She smiled to herself and went back to her shower. She washed her skin throughly making sure to get rid of the dirt and blood and shampooed her hair quickly. She wrapped a clean towel around her body and squeezed the water out of her hair. She sighed as she finally felt comfortable.

She stared at her face in the mirror. There was no blood, no dirt, and no worries, at least, not for now and that was good enough for her. She ran a hand down her face. She was tired, it was time to get some sleep for the night. She opened the door to see that Harry was peacefully laying on the bed, a soft snore oozed from his nose. She chuckled quietly as she turned to see Ron laying on the twin bed across from Harry, his eyes closed and his face looking the most peaceful she had ever seen. She shut the bathroom light off and moved quietly in the dark shadows to the twin bed. She brought her hand down to feel Ron's chest slowly inhaling and exhaling. She sighed at the moment of silent before getting in the bed next to him. She settled her head against his chest and listened to his heart as it beat slowly beneath his shirt.

This would be her choice. She would choose to appreciate what she has, Harry, Ron and Draco, a small part of her brain rang in her mind. This would be a good choice.

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Okay, so it turned into a Draco/Hermione/Ron bit.

Let me know what you think by being a great reader and leaving a REVIEW.

-nocturnal