"Draco you can't just treat people that way" Narcissa rasped out as her sons strong arms lied her down on her bed.
"Mother we can talk about this later. But for now, you need to sleep." His lips pressed against her forehead and she was asleep before he shut the door. Cerry was waiting for him in his room and rushed up to shine his shoes nearly making him trip.
"Cerry you don't need to do that. I'm fine."
"But master is in distress! Surely Cerry can be of some help!"
"No!" Draco barked at the now cowering house elf, "Just leave me alone Cerry!" With a slight pop Draco was left alone in his darkened room with only his thoughts for company
"Draco is this Harry Potter?" His father's breath nuzzled at his ear. Of course It was Potter. There was no denying it. And that was most definitely Granger in the snatchers arms. The blond opened his mouth to answer but stopped just before the words slipped off his tongue. If the Dark Lord caught Potter then there would never be an end to this. He would be forced to torture innocent people.
"I can't be sure." Draco stammered out.
"But surely this is the mudblood you always talked about? Right?" Bellatrix's eyes were crazed and she gripped her nephew's shoulders tightly.
Draco shrugged. "Possibly." He forced himself to keep his smirk at bay. Voldemort had taught him well and perhaps he may just be able to get away with this.
"Wait! What is that?" His aunt screeched through the hall. Draco spun his head sharply and followed her line of vision. There in the hands of one of the snatchers was the sword of Gryffindor. Things sped up suddenly as Bellatrix whipped a spell at every one but his family, knocking them all unconscious. "Lucius take the boys down to the dungeon. The mudblood and I are going to have a little chat." She spat wickedly. Draco could see the fear in Hermione's eyes but also sensed determination and bravery. Even if he wasn't fond of the girl, he by no means would ever of handed her over to Bellatrix. The woman was insane. "Where did you get this sword?" She whispered menacingly.
"We…we found it!" Hermione sputtered out. But it was too late. Her acting wasn't as good as Draco's.
"Crucio!" Shrieked Bellatrix. Hermione's screams ripped through the Manor and tore at the few heart strings Draco had left. She fell to the ground and began writhing in pain. Her eyes locked with his and he had to bite down on his tongue until it bled to stop from running to help. The witch screamed in agony once more and then began shaking violently. The curse lifted but the Gryffindor didn't move an inch. "What did you take from my vault you filthy mudblood?"
"Nothing! The sword is a fake!" There were now tears staining her pretty face. She screamed once again as another curse was thrown from Bellatrix's wand.
Draco sat up in bed panting and held his chest. He had never had that nightmare before. They usually involved his many tasks he had been forced to do during the second war. He put a sweaty hand up to his forehead and rubbed at the sleep in his eyes. This nightmare had been so much more vivid than the ones before.
"Draco!" Narcissa cried through the house.
"Coming mother!" Said Draco as he jumped to his feet and pulled on some pajamas. He ran down the hallway and burst into his mother's room to a sickening sight. Her charred stomch was showing and oozing a mysterious black substance.
"Call Hermione." Narcissa gasped before convulsing excessively. The Slytherin sprinted down to his fireplace and screamed her name into the flames. An unfamiliar dark room spun into view and he stuck his head even further into the grate.
"Granger!" His desperation seeped through his voice like poison. Her petite frame came into view accompanied by the Weasel and Potter. "Great." Draco mumbled under his breath.
"What is if Malfoy? How did you even find me?" She sounded annoyed and somewhere in the back of his mind anger flushed in at her blatant attitude.
"It's my mother! Get your arse over here now!" Spat Draco. Hermione's eyebrows shot up into her hairline.
"Excuse m-" she began
"Just get over here Granger. I don't have time for this." He interrupted before pulling his head out of the sea of green and readjusting his vision. A second later the witch, with an ear splitting crack, appeared in the living room.
"Malfoy you've got a lot of damn nerve talking to me like that!" Her bossy voice echoed off the cold stone walls.
"Whatever Granger just go check on her. It's bad." Hermione's feminine features softened and her eyebrows lowered down to a normal level.
"Where is she?"
"This way." Draco motioned for the petite witch to follow him up the grand staircase and down the hall to Narcissa. Hermione followed at a safe distance until they reached the foreboding doors and Draco could feel her warm breath on his shoulders. He creaked the door open and flew it open to reveal a seizing Narcissa.
"Mrs. Malfoy!" Hermione let out a shocked yell and ran to the elder witch's side. Immediately she began mumbling complicated advanced spells and moving her wand in the strangest fashion above the frail body beneath her.
"Granger this isn't gonna heal her!" Draco spat form the doorway. But even as he finished speaking the words he knew he was wrong. The black substance was vanishing and Narcissa's tremors were diminishing. Hermione swept a stray curl out of her eyes and stood up straight admiring her handy work.
"What was that you were saying Malfoy?" She smirked at him and strut up to the doorway where he hadn't moved a foot. "You can call me all the bloody names you want, but you do not doubt my work or what I am capable of. Understand?" She whispered venomously. Color flushed to his pale complexion at her words and he stared down into her cocky face.
"Shut the fuck up Granger. I will not be spoken to like that by you. Get out." His molten grey eyes were almost black with rage and Hermione's eyebrows shot up her forehead at his words.
"Excuse me Malfoy? I just saved her bloody life and you think you can order me out of the hell you call a house? I don't have to heal her you know. I could just refuse and you could watch her die." She turned away from him and marched out the door and down the hallway, "Don't you dare speak down to me again or so help me God I will not come back to fix her when this happens again. And mark my words Malfoy, it will happen again." There was a loud, angry crack and the fuming witch was gone, leaving Draco stunned and if he was honest with himself, a bit scared.
Hermione popped back into her flat with rage coursing through her veins. She had not been this insulted in years and felt tears threatening to spring from her eyes. If she was being completely truthful with herself she knew that she would heal Narcissa no matter what Draco said or did. It wasn't in her nature to just let someone die. Especially over something as petty as a childhood grudge. Crookshanks started wrapping himself around his distressed owner's legs in an attempt to calm her down but it was to no avail. Hermione began hyperventilating and fell to the floor.
Now that she was back in her flat it came crashing down on her that that had been the first time she had stepped foot in the Manor since that day. And with that realization even more pain was thrown down onto her shoulders. Images of Bellatrix's mad deranged face swam through her consciousness like a toxin. She bit down on her lip roughly with determination and pulled herself up off the ground. No. She would not let something like this cause her to be so weak. That was not how Hermione Granger dealt with things. She was a Gryffindor and she was strong and so help her she would heal Narcissa and show Malfoy exactly what she could do.
The next morning Hermione awoke snuggled in her blankets and could hear the sounds of London outside her bay window. She had always loved London and all the sounds and vibes it had. When the war had ended, the first thing she had done was buy a flat all to herself in the center of the city. Just a short walk away from Piccadilly and Trafalgar. Those were her favorite parts of the city. They just held the life and spirit of London and always warmed her heart.
She stretched out her body until it felt like her tendons would snap and snuggled closer to the ball of ginger hair lying against her abdomen. Her alarm clock stated that it was half past ten in the morning on a beautiful Saturday morning. Groaning, Hermione rolled out of her bed and scuffled into the kitchen to make some coffee.
As she reached the kitchen she was startled by a snow white owl tapping on the glass of her window.
"Hey Pacem." She greeted Harry's snowy owl. He had bought it soon after the war had ended, seeing as Hedwig had died in the very beginning. The owl hooted joyfully and held his talon out so Hermione could grab the letter tied to it. He nipped her hand gently and flew off as soon as she had untied his burden.
Hermione, I hope Pacem hasn't been sitting outside your window waking you up or anything. I just wanted to check on you seeing as you didn't come back after that random floo from Malfoy. Just owl me whenever you get the chance. I know how much you like your Saturday morning cartoons so I don't wanna impose. –Harry
Grinning at the concern her bespectacled friend showed, Hermione threw the letter down on her counter and grabbed her steaming mug of coffee to go sit and watch her cartoons. There were some muggle traditions she had never grown out of even after her time at Hogwarts and cartoons were one of them.
Draco woke late on Saturday morning already frowning. Another nightmare had plagued his dreams that night. The same one with his insane aunt torturing the mudblood. No. He didn't use that word any longer. Shaking his head in disgust at his own thinking, Draco tore off his clothes and hopped into the shower. The water trickled down his abdomen grouping around his naval before continuing down to his thighs. Rubbing shampoo into his icy blond hair, Draco began thinking about the events of the night before. That Granger girl sure could be feisty if she wanted to. Her freckled cheeks had sported quite the flush and her brown eyes had been on fire. His groin twitched at the thought of her expression the night before and Draco scolded himself. He felt repulsed at his own body for reacting that way for even a second.
The wizard moved his thoughts to the beauty he had bedded just two weeks ago and he felt his member begin to harden at the thought of how he had pounded into her. Draco had never considered sex to be emotional, his first time with Pansy had been purely physical and all his conquests since then hadn't had a trace of emotion in them. They were purely for release. And the women knew that, they knew that Draco was not a feeling man. He gripped his hardened member and began running his hand up and down thinking of the curvy blond underneath him. But as he felt his release Hermione's face flashed through his consciousness for a fraction a second.
After Draco finished his shower he went into his mother's room to check on her but found her to be sleeping peacefully, both hands resting on her charred abdomen. Grinning, he turned and headed towards the library where he planned to spend a restful day reading and perhaps working on business for the Malfoy Corporation. You could never be too far ahead in the competitive business world. He had learned that the hard way after the company had been thrust upon his shoulders two years ago when his father had died in Azkaban. At first Draco had been sure that the company was doomed to fail but he learned the ropes quicker than anyone had expected and now made millions of Galleons a week. And he had brought the Malfoy name back the dirty shambles it had been living in. The company regularly donated to every charity in the book and Draco was the most sought after bachelor in all of wizarding London. Not too shabby for a man that had been tainted with unforgivable curses and a dark mark tattoo. Which still rested on his left arm, taunting him every time he rolled up his sleeve. It reminded Draco daily that the war was not as distant of a memory as he would like to believe.
Subconsciously he slid his sweater sleeve up his arm and ran his cool fingers across the damaged skin. It no longer burned him like in the past but hurt him mentally all the same. Draco would have liked to believe he was a better man than he had been four years ago. But whenever the mark caught his eye in the mirror he was reminded that he would never be a good man. Never would he deserve anyone to love him or have a family with him. How could they when he had done all those unthinkable things? Yes, Draco may have grown a company into a multi-million Galleon corporation but he was still a broken, defeated man.
When the sun was highest in the sky and the cartoons were dimming down, Hermione finally lifted her lazy bum off the couch and into a shower. After letting the water run down his tired body for far longer than she had planned, the witch stepped out and dried her hair with a simple flick of her wand, sending a de-frizzing spell right after it. She threw on jeans and a blouse and skipped into the kitchen to answer Harry back. Whistling out a special call, Hermione's small barn own Libri flew into view from her cage where she had been snoozing.
Harry, yes I'm fine. Just a healing procedure that took a lot out of me so I just headed home after seeing Malfoy. I will be over there later today to see the rest of the house and try on the bridesmaids dress Ginny had been raving about yesterday. See you soon! –Hermione
She tied her quick response to Libri's outstretched leg and watched her fly off into the city before cleaning out her coffee mug the muggle way. That was another habit she just couldn't seem to shake and Ron always teased her about wasting her time cleaning the dishes.
"Hermione!" Williams voice called though her flat startling the witch into nearly dropping the mug.
"In here!" She called out. Williams flushed face popped around the wall and grinned before walking up and pecking her on the lips.
"Harry owled me saying you had a rough night, do you need a hug?" He looked over Hermione's face before she nodded her head and fell into his arms, leaning her head against his toned chest. His strong hands rubbed her back and wrapped curls of her hair around their fingers. Hermione pulled her head away from his chest and looked up into his ocean blue eyes. A mess of brown hair was sticking up around his face and he had a small amount of stubble growing from his defined jaw.
William brought his lips down to Hermione's and latched on, sucking at her bottom lip. Hermione opened her mouth up and danced with his tongue as the kiss grew more passionate. William rubbed his hands up her sides and began pushing her blouse up and rubbing her exposed stomach.
"Hermione." He growled huskily into her mouth before trailing kisses down her neck.
"Bed. Now." Hermione whispered against his lips before dragging him into her room for some much needed comfort.