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Now, enjoy: An Unspoken Bond
An Unspoken Bond. That was what they had she decided. That was why one of the most powerful Death Eaters in Voldemort's inner circle was lying in her arms sleeping like a child. That was why she was holding him like he was the most precious thing in the world to her. Why she hadn't turned him over to the Order, just as he hadn't let the Death Eater's take her when he had the chance. Even though barely a word had passed between them that wasn't full of hate she could feel it. An almost tangable thing that filled the air and silence around them. She didn't love him, she didn't even think she liked him, but she protected him. She had protected him from the Order, the Death Eaters and most of all she protected him from the nightmares. The nightmares that, over the years, had him clinging to her, sobbing and moaning for succour. And she had given it. That was probably why they were in the position they were in now she mused.
He shuddered in her arms and pressed his face deeper into the crook of her neck. Her hand automatically came up to stroke his hair even as she whispered soothing non-sense into his ear. He settled again, holding onto her so tightly she knew she couldn't have moved away if she tried, not that she wanted to. She gazed down at the beautiful face, the closed eyes that she knew were the colour of ice, the pale thin lips, the softest skin she had ever felt. Who would have ever thought that she, Hermione Granger, bookwormy and bushy haired would be the one to give comfort to one of the most hunted Death Eaters of all time. Well things had a habit of never going the way she planned.
It had started in the middle of their 6th year. She had been hurrying back to her room, a secret place she had found last year that gave her a quiet place to study, it wasn't to far from her common room so she could sneak back in the morning, trying to avoid Filch after sneaking into the Libary to do some research on the Half Blood Prince. She was almost there when a noise stopped her in her tracks. It sounded like someone crying. It was coming from an unused classroom a little furthur up the corrider. Carefully she made her way to the door and peered in. The moonlight dimly lit up the figure huddled in the corner. Whoever it was was sobbing harshly she could see from the violent shaking of their shoulders and the whimpers of pain that came to her ears. Her compassionate nature came to the fore and she softly made her way to the person, who seemed not to realise she was there, before kneeling in front of them and placing her hand gently on their arm which was flung up to cover their face. Instantly she saw there was blood on the robe and when she looked up to the person's eyes she almost gasped in shock. Looking back at her were the ice grey eyes of none other than Draco Malfoy. He gave a low moan and whispered, "Leave".
She barely heard him, her keen eyes searchig the darkness and finding more blood and many, many gashes in his robe. Gazing into his eyes again she murmered, "No, not unless you let me help you" moving her hands over the the rents in her uniform she could tell he had been seriously hurt.
"You can't help me," he said harshly, biting back painful moans. He closed his eyes but she could still see the tears that leaked from under them.
"Mal...," she cut herself off mid-sentence, "Draco, I'll help you" she said, softly, gently. Brushing bloodied hair away from his face whilst her mind screamed at her, what was she doing, he's the enemy. She quickly silenced those thoughts. Malfoy or not he needed help. His eyes snapped open at the gentle use of his name, studying her for a moment before he nodded his head.
She had somehow managed to get him into her special place. Over tha course of last year she had collected an odd assortment of furniture, helped of course by the house-elves, including a large bed because she kept falling asleep while studying. Helping him onto the bed she started to strip him of his robes so she could try and heal some of the vicious slashes in his skin. Somehow she got the feeling he would not want to be taken to Madam Pomfrey. His hand came up to stop her taking his shirt off and he shook his head, although she could see the movement caused him pain.
"Draco please, I need to treat these quickly or you'll lose too much blood for me to help." she pleaded with him. Again her only response was nod. Quickly she undid the buttons and this time could not hide a gasp of horror. His whole torso and back was covered in what looked like whip marks. Worse off all she could see some of these wounds were not knew and had to have been aquired over many months. His head rested on her shoulder as she sadly whispered,"Oh Draco, what have they done to you." She had done her best to be gentle as she cast spells that would heal the wounds and stop the bleeding before lying him down in her bed. She cast a spell that she hoped would make him sleep before bursting into tears at the havoc that had been wrought upon him. In her mind no-one not even Malfoy should be treated as he obviously had. She moved a chair to the side of the bed to keep a vigil on him and after a time she too drifted off.
She was woken by his screams. Moving quickly onto the bed she tried to wake him, terrified he would undo all she had done to him. His screams were full of terror and they were putting the fear of God into her as well. Finally he awoke, sitting bolt upright in the bed and he sobbed. She had never know someone could cry so bitterly and she reached out to comfort him. Pulling him into her arms she allowed him to bury his face in her neck softly and stroked his back trying to soothe him. He clung to her and it was it pleading that tore into her heart and ripped it out.
"Plaese don't leave me, please I'll do anything, just don't leave, don't leave me alone, please," he begged.
She had murmmered,"Shh, it's alright, I wont leave, shhh" softly rubbing circles on his back tryin to calm him and prevent him seeing the tears that rolled down her own face. And that had been the start.
That pattern had made up the rest of her sixth year, until it got to the point he was sleeping in with her most nights out of a week. Oh it never changed during the day, they still spat insults at each other like they were expected to. But at night he would seek the comfort of her arms as he told her of the beatings and many other things that had been done to him. Never had he told her of what his mission was, she found that out from Harry. Dumbledore was gone, not by Draco's hand but by Snape's.
She didn't see him for six months after that. No doubt he was training as a Death Eater just as the whole of what would have been the seventh year of Hogwarts pupils trained with the Aurors' for war. One night he had appeared at her parents house when she had three days leave from training. She didn't ask anything, how he got here, how he even knew where her house was. She simply opened her arms and he had walked into them and that was the beginning of the pattern that happened during the next six months of training whenever she was home. He would not look at her when he arrived for the first time with the Dark Mark emblazened on his arm. She had run her hands over it once, then dismissed completely from her mind.
When the war started in earnest the only time they saw each other was in the kidst of battle. Curses flying and people dying, with the occansional glance of each other through the blood and smoke haze. Of course she made sure to avoid him and he her during all their battle together, which wasn't many. They were both high enough up in their respective armies to be able to choose their own battles. So the war had gone on for a long year with many dead on both sides. She had lost her parents, and Bill Weasley was gone. Fleur had gone into a mad rage after Bill's death and apparated to the middle of a known Death Eater spot and gone down heroicly, taking down as many as she could in a sucide attack. Mrs Weasly had finally accepted that Fleur loved Bill more than anything else. George Weasly, Katie Bell and Seamus Finnigan were lost on a surprise attack on headquarters. Many more were either dead or lying wounded in the field hospitals. She herself had been seriously wounded more than once.
It had been a large battle that bloody day. She had been hit by a bone breaker curse and was lying on the ground praying for someone from her side to find her before someone from their side did. It was the routine after a battle to go throught the dead looking for any that were left alive and trying to save as many of your own before the Death Eaters appeared trying to do the same thing. She caught a glimpse of a black hooded figure out of the corner of her eyes and knew it was the end for her. She only hoped it was quick. She laughed painfully to herself, of course it wouldn't be quick, these were the bloody Death Eaters she was talking about here. Unfortunatly her small laugh had caught the attention of said Death Eater. She glared as the figure approached. To her surprise the figure bent down beside her, what was he going to do? Snap her neck? She couldn't help the moan of pain that escaped her and the man - she could tell from the build - picked her up and clasped her gently to his chest before moving towards her side of the lines. Wait, her side of the lines? She was still wondering why she wasn;t dead yet when he put her down as gently as he had picked her up and began to tend her wounds. Comprehension hit her like the proverbial brick. "Draco," she breathed.
He pulled his hood back and she saw her guess had been correct. His short blond hair was matted with blood and his face was covered with dirt and grime but it was him. He had his wand over her and was muttering some pain relieving spells over her broken bones. Once he finished he pulled he up softly so she could lean against his chest. They sat in silence for a about an hour before he looked up as though he was listening to something." You will be safe now." he said to her as he cradled her closer for a minute before laying her on the ground and dissapparating with a pop. A few minutes later she could her the cries of Mediwitches from her camp as they rushed to her side and carted her back to behind the lines. That was the last she saw of him until now.
They had been meeting up for the past week. She was in London recuperating and he was doing reconissance. They never asked anything about each other's side. It was an unwritten rule they had. Strange she thought, how they always seemed to find each other in the midst of things. He stirred again in her arms and she whispered softly in his ear, "Go back to sleep, Draco", before drawing back to gaze into his sleep-glazed eyes. He smiled at her and pulled her even closer so their foreheads were touching. She stroked his blond hair until he drifted back to sleep. She really should turn him over to the Order. Yes, she should, it wasn't right her constantly meeting up with him like this. It was betrayal of the deepest kind. Even as she fell into the land of dreams herself she knew she never would hand him in. They had an Unspoken Bond.