Draco opened his eyes blearily. He was in the hospital wing and the scratchy sheets were chafing at his arms uncomfortably. He sat up slowly, the covers slipping off his bare chest. As he looked down at himself, he saw scars stretching across his abdomen and onto his chest. They were upraised bumps on his skin, bone white and long stretching as far as eight inches over his chest and torso. He stared at them in stunned silence for a moment, before turning to see that he was completely alone in the room, other than a dazed looking Gryffindor first year covered in green pustules, sitting on the edge of a bed at the front of the ward.
Madame Pumphrey stood at the other end, magically scrubbing the bed pans in the middle of the room. As Draco looked over at her, she turned to look over her shoulder, when she spotted him sitting up in bed. She promptly marched over to him. The pan continued to clean itself as she approached Draco's bed.
"How are you feeling Mr. Malfoy?" She asked. As he twisted around, a sharp ache shot through his chest. Her face was stern, but her eyes softened when she watched his face clench tightly in pain.
"I-I'm fine. I just need to get back to school...now." He groaned. He couldn't bear to think how the school would look at him now if he coninued to hide up here like some pitiful git. If he thought his reputation was shot to pieces already, then what would they think of him now? Madame Pumphrey pushed him gently back into the pillows.
"You're not fine. I'd say you need another night here at least." She said firmly. He wanted to protest, but he knew if he did she would just make him stay even longer. "The pain should be mostly gone tomorrow, though I'm not sure if you'll ever get rid of those scars. You're just lucky that Potter didn't use a more serious curse on you. Some curses effect people so drastically that the wounds never truly close." She added. Lucky? Potty cursed him and she called him, Malfoy, lucky? He was deformed for life thanks to that stupid prat.
"Are you sure they'll never go away?" Draco sighed. She just smiled sadly down at him and shrugged.
"Most likely not." She replied. She conjured a screen around the bed. "Miss. Parkison should be here in ten minutes. She's been coming here during lunch for the past two days." She smiled knowingly. Draco snorted amusedly. There was nothing going on with Pansy.
He heard the door open at the front of the room, and footsteps echo across the floor. He sighed heavily and squeezed his eyes shut. Maybe if he pretended he was alseep, Pansy would just leave. He heard someone drag a chair behind the screen and set it next to him. He kept his eyes closed. He hardly breathed.
"You can quit pretending. I heard you talking to Madame Pumphrey before I came in here." It wasn't Pansy. What the hell was the mudblood doing here? His eyes snapped open and he rapidly sat up in bed, pulling the sheets up to his chin to cover up his bare chest.
"Get out." He snarled, throwing her a disgusted look. She raised herself up haughtily.
"I'm only here because Professor Slughorn asked me to bring you the homework." She threw a stack of parchement on the bed with surpising force and glared at him angrily. Her cheeks were pink.
"Get out." He repeated. Her jaw was set. She crossed her arms and continued to glare at him. "What?" He snapped.
"You couldn't be the least bit grateful could you?" She retorted. He scoffed exasperatedly.
"Grateful to a mudblood? No way in hell! In case you haven't noticed, I'm covered in scars so I'll thank your good mate Potty for that later." He sneered. She blinked.
"Harry ran to get snape. He didn't mean to hurt you. You attacked him." She said quietly. He rolled his eyes.
"Look at this." He dropped the sheets and pointed at the scars on his chest. "He did that. It's not my fault. I didn't make him do it." Granger stiffened and then looked up at him.
"I-I'm sorry." She whispered. Shock filled Draco at her words. She was apologizing? She didn't do anything. He was being a completely selfish arse and she was apologizing to him. She felt sorry.
"I don't need your pity." He growled. "You think I want your apology? I could kill you Granger. I don't care what you did. I'll never be grateful nor indebted to a mudblood." Hermione stared at him blankly. Her face twitched and her eyes flickered with pain.
"You're horrid. I wish you'd died." She rasped. She snatched up her school bag that lay beside her and marched away.
Malfoy wanted to make her stop and come back, but he just watched her jog away. He thought he saw her wipe her eyes angrily. He felt so sorry for the things he said, but he couldn't take them back.
"No! You're Malfoy. You can't feel sorry for that stupid mudblood. She's a heartless bitch and she desrves every bit of it." He thought to himself, but it was all half hearted. Guilt flooded him as he remembered all the horrible things he had said.
The door slammed. It opened again and he heard someone sprint across the room.
"Oh Drakey! You're awake!" Pansy dashed behind the screen and launched herself on top of him, hugging him fiercely. It's funny, all Draco could think, is how much he wished Granger hadn't left.