Hey! Here's a one shot for you guys! It's just a little something I typed up out of the blue, enjoy!
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The kitchen was quiet. Everyone was still, eyes making contact with nothing. Hoping, praying that she was okay. They shouldn't have let Hermione go. Shouldn't have let her check on her parents, it wasn't safe. They shouldn't have let her leave.
They were all in one of the many Malfoy houses south of London waiting for her to return. Hoping she was alright, but they were all still in shock from the news they got only less than twenty minutes ago. The owl was the Grangers; Hermione had gotten it for them so they could communicate with her and the wizard world.
The note was short three words that made the hairs on the back of their necks stick up... the three words that made them wonder if she was okay, the three words that may be the last thing she ever said to them.
The note that the grey owl delivered at 8:26 PM said something none of them wanted to hear. It said:
THEY FOUND ME
They had been waiting what seemed like hours but were only more than thirty minutes until the door slammed open. They all ran into the long hallway to see who had entered the house.
There stood a wide eyed Hermione Granger. Cuts everywhere, with dirt, blood, and ash on her, she smelled of thick smoke. She stood there for a while until her knees buckled and she collapsed onto the rug crying.
Ginny and Narcissa were the first to reach her. Comforting her and trying to calm her down. Draco kneeled down in front of her and hugged her. Blood, and mud got into his white button down shirt, but he didn't care, not one bit. His girlfriend meant more to him than anything. The only other person he loved beside his mother.
Draco and Narcissa had gotten sick of Lucius's behavior and actions. So they left him. They hated him. Hated the Dark Lord, hated the way they had acted. They joined the order, it took a while for everyone to get used to the Malfoys at Grimmauld place every day. Most of the order just ignored them.
But Hermione gave them a chance. Talked to them, and got to know them. After about five and a half months Harry, the Weasleys, and the Order included them in everyday activities and acted normally around them. After that the friendship between Draco and Hermione flourished, and they soon fell in love.
Draco hated seeing Hermione like this. It broke his heart. He whispered calming words in her ear, trying to calm her down so they could know what happened.
Hermione had been at her parents for the past three weeks. She hasn't seen them since she was sixteen. She missed them. They all knew it was dangerous. But let her go...
Once Hermione had calmed down enough Narcissa leaned in towards her face looking into the girls tear filled eyes.
"What happened?" She asked in a soft gentle voice. Hermione then flung her arms around the woman and cried for a little longer. She finally stopped and started to explain.
"My M-mum was making dinner... and we heard a-a-a crash... I knew that s-someone had gotten through t-the barrier... I wrote you guy's the note... but it w-was to l-l-late..." she started crying again but continued on.
"I fought them for a couple of seconds but that didn't really help... t-they crucioed my parents... they started doing other spells... they used the killing curse on them..." she started shaking and sobbing harder "I k-k-kicked the one holding me in the shin. Got my wand" she hung her head "and fought of the r-rest of the d-death e-e-eaters, but before they left they set the house on f-fire"
She started sobbing again, but in Draco's strong arms. After a while she stopped.
"Let's get you cleaned up." said Ginny. They stood up. Hermione tried but couldn't. She was too weak, and distraught, how would they get her clean.
"How are we going to do this?" asked Narcissa.
"We could just put her to bed." Harry said.
"We can't do that! She's covered in blood and ash..."
"Ginny could give her a shower. I mean they could have shirts and shorts on..." said Ron.
"That will have to do." said Narcissa. Ginny started taking the tired Hermione from Draco's arms. But Hermione looked up to Draco with desperate eyes.
"Please don't leave me..." she whispered.
"Well what are we gonna do? Malfoy can't give Hermione a shower!" Ron said giving an exasperated yell, but almost everyone looked at Draco.
"Yeah he can!" said Ginny.
"What?" said Ron.
"Yes..." Narcissa slowly contemplated.
"We can't let Malfoy give Hermione a... shower!" said Ron.
"Why not? It's not like they haven't seen each other naked before!" said Ginny. Draco face gained a bit of color but his facial expression remained. And all the Weasley boys glared at him.
"Potter... if you're not okay with it, Ginny will give her a shower." said Draco who was still holding a limp Hermione. Harry thought for a moment.
"Go. Take her Malfoy..." Harry nodded at Draco. Draco nodded back. He picked her up bridal style and carried her up the stairs to his room, he heard Ron protesting as he closed the door to his room, he locked his door and turned on the lights.
He put her on his bed, and he took a pair of boxers and a T-shirt out of his dresser and changed. He turned the shower water on, and got it to the right temperature. He walked back over to his bed and looked at Hermione who was barely awake.
"I'm going to undress you now so we can get you clean. Okay?" He half whispered. She nodded and looked at him with an almost dead look in her eyes.
He put her hair in a sloppy ponytail to get it out of her face. He took off her light blue shirt and underneath was a pink and white laced bra.
But all he was looking at was all the bruises and cuts on her body. She had one particularly large cut on her left shoulder. It wouldn't heal as well as the others, and if any pressure or stress was put on it, it might open up again. As he healed her cut he couldn't help but hated those people who did this to her, she didn't deserve any of this.
Draco disposed of her white Converse and mismatched socks. He gently removed her ripped jeans. All that was left was her bra and underwear.
He put his arms around her back and she pulled her arms around his chest and held onto him. He unclipped her bra and he pulled each strap off. Hermione had wanted to wait until after they were married to have sex but with the war going on, and anything could happen.
He remembers their first time together it had been gentle and loving. It was late at night and they were cuddled up against one another and talking, and then started kissing. Thing got heated very quickly. He remembered asking if she was sure. He didn't want things to go to fast, but she insisted and they had many very enjoyable nights after that.
But now he was just filled with sadness, pity, hate, and love.
He slipped his thumb under the side of the fabric covering the rest of her body. He slowly pulled it down her thighs, knees and past her ankles. She was now naked, all bloody and dirty.
But to Draco she still looked beautiful, though he would never admit it to anyone else. He lifted her light form up off the bed and carried her into the bathroom and into the shower. He set her down up against the far left wall. He grabbed soaps and washcloths, and set some clothes out for Hermione and himself. After he was finished went back into the shower and saw Hermione in the same position as he left her, but her face was clenched and she had thick shiny tears running down her dirty face. He walked over to her and sat down in front of her and put a washcloth under the warm water. As soon as the washcloth touched her skin she flinched and she looked at him, her eyes filled with fear, and pain.
"It's okay…" he looked at her skittish form, she was still in shock. He reached for her shaky pale hand. "I won't hurt you, I promise." She flung her arms around him for the second time that night and cried, not loud but heaving silent sobs. After a while she calmed down.
He again started washing her arm in attempt to get it clean. He finished her arms and legs and started on her chest, stomach and back. He got her thighs, and was carful with her back because of the fragile skin from her deep cut on her shoulder. Once she was clean he washed her hair and got all the soot, blood and tangles out.
She was all clean and he carried her to his bed and laid her on his silky sheets. He got himself dry and dressed as quickly as he possibly could. Hermione was more awake then she was before, staring blankly at the wall opposite of him. Draco knew if she had been in her normal state that she would have been trying to cover her body. Even after sex she would hide under the sheets or make him turn away while she dressed. He walked over to her and dried her body. He healed the rest of her tiny scratches and applied some paste to her bruises
He dried her hair with his wand and tied it into a simple braid, after that he cleaned up the bathroom. He came back into the room grabbed her clothes and walked over to the bed. Her lip was quivering, her eyes were squinted, and her breathing became labored.
He kneeled down by the edge of the bed and grabbed her hand.
"It's okay love… I'm here, you're okay… you're safe." Now silent sobs wracked her vulnerable looking form. He really didn't know what to do. He was never any good with crying girls, and seeing Hermione hurt like this was painful for him, he could barely stand it. So he just put a comporting hand on the side of her stomach his other hand still rubbing the top of her limp hand.
After twenty more minutes her quiet wails lessened. So he started to get her dressed again.
First he put some clean underwear on her, but it took a while for him to figure out if he should but a bra on her or not, but in the end he would put it on just in case. He slipped her into a pair of his boxers, and one of his old Quidditch jerseys. He cast a drying spell on his damp bed, and laid her underneath the warm covers. Draco turned off the lights and slipped under the silk sheets with her. She immediately clung to his body, her face in his shoulder and leg over his side. He whispered calming words into her ear, and rubbed her back trying to get her to fall asleep.
Eventually she did… but only to wake up several hours later in a cold sweat screaming and crying. A few seconds later he heard a few thumps and a stout knock at the door. He grabbed his wand and unlocked the door. Slowly entered a wary looking Ginny with a frown on her face, and soon followed Harry, Ron, the Weasley twins, Molly, Narcissa, and a couple of the order members.
Ginny walked over to the bed and sat on the side Hermione was on and rubbed her shaking back in a comforting manner. All the rest stayed at the door, watching mournfully. Her sobs went on for a while, but finally died down.
"Malfoy… what is this wet stuff?" asked Ginny looking at her hand trying to see through the darkness.
"Dammit!" he whispered.
"Draco!" his mother silently scolded, but he paid no mind to her.
"Weasley turn on the light and grab the salve on the desk!" he said in a hurried tone. She immediately obeyed his urgent command. The people at the door watched on, wondering what was happening.
"Malfoy what's wrong?" asked a frantic looking Harry. Draco gently, but swiftly whipped off her shirt, now suddenly glad he had put a bra on her. He saw out of the corner of his eye Harry and Ron flinch at the sight of their best friend topless, and the Weasley twins backed up a little, probably a little embarrassed.
He ignored this and focused on the cut on her back. Ginny gasped surprised, she looked at her hand and saw red gooey paste on her hand. Everyone noticed immediately.
"What the bloody hell is wrong with her Malfoy?" asked a scared looking Ron. But Draco didn't answer, a few seconds past.
"What's going on Malfoy?" asked Harry stepping forward more. Draco whipped his shirt off and put his wand between his teeth. He used the shirt to clean up the blood on her back.
"The strain on her body from crying and sweating so much tensed her muscles…" he grabbed the tin of salve and started applying it to her wound. "The stress probably didn't help and she has this cut in an odd place, so it must have reopened and I think it's bigger then it was before so it must have torn a bit more." Mrs. Weasley gasped.
"Mum go and get some blood replenishing potion!" said Ginny. She was getting Hermione's hair out of the blood. Draco grabbed his wand between his teeth and muttered healing spells. Slowly the wound started to close. After a few seconds he cleaned away a majority of the blood off the bed, Hermione's back and Ginny's hands. Mrs. Weasley came back with the potion; she scurried over and handed it to Draco. Everyone was silently watching, as Draco gently lifted the vial to her chapped lips.
"Come on love… drink the potion it will help you feel better." She put her lips around the vial and he tipped it upward. "Someone get her a glass of water." Draco commanded. Mrs. Weasley again went and got her a cold glass of water with a straw. This time she handed it to Ginny and she slowly backed away to stand with the others.
"Here's some water…" Draco said and kissed her forehead and turned her towards Ginny. She drank about half the glass before she leaned back into Draco's chest; he quickly applied some salve to her nearly healed cut.
"Ginny go her Hermione some undergarments and new clothes to wear to bed, Potter go and turn on the shower, and make sure it's not too hot. Mrs. Weasley please clean the sheets and get new ones on. Mother goes make her some tea with some dreamless sleep in it please." Everyone nodded and set off to do what he had asked.
"What are you doing?" asked Ron.
"I'm giving Hermione another shower. She can't possible go back to bed with the blood in her hair, and her body." As he said the he started undoing her bloody braid.
"Oh okay… well… I'll just go then." he looked at Hermione, turned and walked out the door.
"Get better soon Mione" said Fred and George.
"We need somebody to scold us" George said.
"When we prank people," finished Fred.
"Or try something stupid!" they finished together.
"Thanks…" she said quietly. And Draco could see a slight smile on her lips, which was a good sign. Ginny came back with clothes for Hermione and he told her to set them on the bathroom counter. She did as he was told, and harry came out of the bathroom from fixing the water to the right temperature.
"Potter can you carry Hermione into the bathroom." He nodded and took her from Draco. After that he went into his drawers and pulled out some clothes to wear. He decided to just wear some trunks, wearing a shirt was a waste of laundry. Soon Molly came bustling in pulling off the sheets, so she could but the clean ones on. Next his mother came in with some tea, she set it on the nightstand and but a heating charm on it so it wouldn't grow cold.
Soon they all left, and he went through the same routine of undressing her only she was now more awake, and aware. Once she was naked she brought her knees to her chest trying to cover herself. He just kissed her cheek, and picked her up and set her in the shower, and wet her hair. He shampooed her hair and conditioned it. He washed her back and her chest, and then he turned off the shower.
He picked her up and set her on his now clean bed. She moved to cover her body again, but he ignored that and dried her hair with his wand, and braided it again. Draco applied more salve to her back after he was done she was fidgeting and playing with her braid. He left and grabbed the clothes off the bathroom counter that Ginny had put there. When he walked back in Hermione had her knees up by her chest covering her lower body and her arms crossed over her breast.
Draco walked over to her and set the clothes on the best and grabbed the knickers. She blushed and looked away.
"I can do it…" she said quietly.
"Are you sure?" he asked.
"Yeah I think so…" she said "could you… maybe turn away?" she asked.
He did as she asked and went to the dresser to get new clothes. He heard her try to get up, after a a minute he heard her sigh.
"You okay love?" he asked still turned around.
"I can't do it…" she said weakly.
"Can I turn around?" Draco questioned.
"Yes…" she said.
He turned around to see her at the front of the bed on the floor with her knees by her chest and her head in her hands.
"I'm just so tired and I can't stand…" she mumbled into her hands. He walked over and lifted her onto the bed, she hurried to try and cover herself. But he grabbed her foot and leaned down and kissed her ankle. He looked up to see her blushing, and then he kissed her on the thigh. He kissed her bare stomach and then between her breasts. He pulled himself up in front of her red face, and kissed her forehead.
"I love you…" he said. These were the moments that made Hermione completely melt. See Draco was not an emotional person he didn't like anyone seeing what he was feeling. He really only let Hermione see his soft side. And when he said "I love you" she knew he really means it because he didn't say it often. If he said it often she might have started thinking he didn't really mean it.
"I love you too." She said still blushing.
He grabbed her knickers and went down by her feet; he slid them in between her ankles and glided them up her legs, and up her waist. She was now blushing so hard that she thought her face might explode.
"Do you want your bra on?" he asked.
"N-no…" she stuttered avoiding his gaze.
He slipped her sweatpants on and grabbed the large T-shirt Ginny had brought. He was about to put it on and noticed she was crossing her arms over her chest again. He looked her in the face and she quickly looked away. He leaned in and put his lips by her ear and whispered.
"Don't hide… your absolutely beautiful." He said his lips touching her earlobe as he talked. He kissed below her ear, and her neck. He did it so gently she felt the tears in her eyes.
Draco kissed her one more time on the neck and then he was inches from her face and he kissed her nose. The tears slowly cascaded down her face. He lifted his hand and wiped with his thumb, and he slipped the oversized shirt down her frame. He picked her up and set her under the covers. He grabbed his clothes went into the bathroom brushed his teeth and got dressed.
He turned off the light and got under the sheets. He started to move towards Hermione and she moved faster and clung to his shirtless torso. He felt her tears against his bare chest.
"They're gone…" she sobbed "I don't know what to do... how am I supposed to go on without them?" she cried.
"I don't know Hermione… But I'll help you, we will do this together." He said.
"You never even got to meet them… my dad would have loved you, and my mother would have pulled me aside and say how polite a handsome you are!" she laughed a little. "and she would have asked when she would be getting some grandbabies, and my dad would have given you "The talk". What am I going to do Draco?" she started to cry again.
"I don't know… I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have let you go." He said. She touched his smooth chin.
"It's not your fault. It's those stupid Death eaters who will be put in Azkaban after Voldemort in gone. And then we can be together and not have to worry about dying every time we walk outside." She said sighing.
"Yeah… and we will get married and have kids." He said wistfully.
"Do you mean that?" she asked.
"Of course… I love you Hermione Granger, so, so much. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you."
He said putting his forehead against hers.
"I love you too Draco Malfoy." She said. They brought their lips together in a loving kiss.
And they fell asleep in each other's embrace dreaming of a war free world together.
FIN
XOXO
-IMB