Chapter 7: New and Improved Malfoy Family
It took several moments for her to realize what was in front of her wasn't imaginary. Draco's breaths were coming hard and ragged, his chest rising and falling rapidly. She could see his eyes attempting to close as he leaned on the doorway.
She was snapped out of her momentary shock when Draco's patience had run thin.
"Are you all blind?! Can you not see that she needs medical attention? I swear you're all a bunch of bloody idiots." Draco scoffed. "And this is supposed to be the fucking heroes of this world."
"Watch it Malfoy." Harry warned.
"Make me." Challenged Draco.
"That's it!" Cried Ron, brandishing his wand once more. "I don't know what I was thinking. I should have hexed you years ago!"
"Like you could, you pathetic little weasel."
Hermione frowned at the rising tension between them all. "Everyone knock it off! She's hurt badly and we don't know how severe her condition. How are you going to feel if she dies here while all of you are at each other's throats?"
No sooner had those words left her mouth did she find Draco leaning in close to her face, eyes full of fury. "She is not going to die Granger."
He took off towards the stairs, the others not failing to notice the limp his walk and the bleeding gash across his back. Hermione let out the breath she had been holding in, realizing it had been a while since she had been the direct source of his anger. She had almost forgotten.
Shaking her head of the unpleasant thoughts, she focused on the injured two upstairs. "Ron can you take the baby please? I need to hurry."
Ron agreed taking the baby from her arms and watched his best friend run up the stairs. With a worried glance to Harry, the two followed her.
When she entered the room, Hermione found Draco rushing in and out of the bathroom. He was grabbing everything and anything he thought would be useful. He paused momentarily catching sight of her. "Don't just stand there!"
Draco tossed the supplies he had onto the bed, running his hands through his hairs frustrated.
"Don't go snapping at me!" Hermione yelled. Yes, she could she he was worried but he was entitled to yell at her whenever he wanted.
"I can do whatever the hell I want!"
"Malfoy! Don't you dare speak to her like that!" Harry warned, walking into the room just in time to hear him.
"I can speak to the mudblood however I want to!"
Slap!
"Enough Draco!" Hermione said, clenching the stinging hand, making a point to use his first name. He took several strides toward her so that he was once more in front of her face, nose to nose. "I get it, you're scared." He opened his mouth to protest but she quickly continued. "Don't even try to deny it. You want to help her? Shut up and let me heal her. Go get me some warm water."
To her surprise, he followed her instructions and she focused her attention on the unknown woman in her bed. Hermione sat down carefully making sure she didn't hurt her any further.
Giving her a quick glance over, she was dismayed to see the exact state she was in. Dressed in a low-cut, halter-top and tight black jeans, the blood had stained the garments, with bruises and cuts marring her skin. There were rips and holes throughout the garments. The most prominent one being on her shirt where there was a long laceration across her stomach. From what she could tell it was pretty deep.
Deciding to deal with this first, Hermione took her wand and muttered an incantation, the shirt disappearing, leaving her in her bra.
"Are you mad!?" Hermione visibly jumped, unaware that Draco had come back from the bathroom already. He placed the bowl of water and towels beside her. "What are you thinking exposing her like that?"
Hermione took a deep breath. "Relax. I can't heal her properly with the shirt in the way. Besides it was torn to shreds."
"But Potty and Weasel?" Draco whispered, gesturing to the boys in the back with a tilt of his head.
It all made sense now. Hermione smiled knowing Draco was uncomfortable with the idea of the two in the room while the woman was so exposed. Decency. She was learning the many sides of Draco Malfoy.
Continuing to heal the woman, Hermione replied, "Well, why don't you take 'Harry' and 'Ron' to the baby's room and show them around."
Draco was quick to disagree. "Me? Nice to them? I don't think so. Not going to happen."
"Well the same thing could be said about me, but look, here we are being civil towards each other."
Draco dismissed it with a shrug. "That's different. You're different. Your Hermione."
Hermione didn't miss the intent of using her first name. "Interesting. No mudblood this time. Glad you remembered my name." She replied coolly, the sting from his words earlier still affecting her.
Draco had the sense to feel shame. He shifted his feet uneasily. "Yea, about that, I didn't mean it. Sometimes my anger gets the best of me."
"Anger management comes to mind." She probably should have reprimanded him more but knew he was telling the truth. Though there was no formal apology she understood him. Hermione smiled at him, letting him know that they were okay. "Take them to the room."
Draco took a long glance at the woman on the bed.
"Don't worry. I'll take care of her. Go on already." Hermione assured him as she finished healing the wound on the stomach, wiping the last of the dried blood with the wet towel. It looked much nastier than it was, allowing her to easily heal her based on the skills she had gained from Madam Pomfrey over the years.
With a grateful nod Draco walked over to where Harry and Ron stood. "Come on you peeping toms. I know this is a first for you but you need to get the hell out of here."
Hermione sighed, not even bothering to turn and look at him. "Nicely Malfoy."
Draco rolled his eyes. "Fine. Please get the hell out of here." The word seeming to cause him much stress, as he struggled to let the syllable roll off his tongue.
"Did you hear that Harry? And here we thought he didn't have any manners." Ron laughed.
Eyes narrowing, Draco took a step further towards him. "Hey Weasel! What the hell are you doing with my son?" Just as suddenly Draco stopped, pressing his hand to his stomach. New blood mixed with the old staining his hand.
All joking aside Ron sobered up immediately, concern taking over. "Hey you seriously need to have Mione take a look at you too."
Hermione gasped, turning to the blond. "Draco Malfoy! Get over here right now! What are you doing playing around like that in your condition?" She had been so focused on the woman she had let it slip that he had been injured badly himself.
"Condition? I'm not terminal." Draco grumbled.
"Not another word. I don't want to hear your excuses. Come sit down."
Not having the energy to argue, Draco complied, taking a seat beside her on the bed's edge.
"You two keep the baby occupied downstairs so I can finish up here." Hermione instructed Harry and Ron. Agreeing there was nothing useful they could do here they headed downstairs.
"I don't know why you didn't say anything." Hermione murmured. "This has to be painful."
"I'm a Malfoy. We don't feel pain." Draco's answer was automatic.
"Try saying that again as if you weren't brainwashed." Hermione stood, grabbing the bowl filled with bloody water and the used towel. "Malfoy family or not, everyone can feel pain. It's just that you choose to not let it show. Now take off your shirt and I'll be right back. I'm going to change the water."
She left without waiting to hear if he had anything to say back. She much preferred if he didn't. In the bathroom, she dumped the old water into the sink, refilling it with warm, clean water. Grabbing a few extra towels on her way out she was unprepared for the sight in front of her.
Familiar heat warmed her cheeks, as she took in the exposed, muscled form of the man in front of her. The years had been good to him she noted, not one to deny what was right in front of her. She supposed it was all right for her to admire, she wasn't blind. However, that was as far as it could go.
Regardless of what she told herself, her thoughts strayed going in very many different directions. She took a deep breath, praying that the red would disappear from her skin so that Draco would not suspect anything. Not that there was anything to suspect, she mentally chided herself.
Hermione took a seat beside him once more, quickly diving into working on the wound. It didn't take a genius to realize that it was completely identical to the one she had just healed on the woman. He remained silent the entire time she worked, Hermione grateful for the silence as she tried to focus on her jumbling thoughts. It didn't help that he kept gaze on her through out the time. She would catch his eye from time to time, every time feeling as if he was searching her for an answer.
"Are you planning on telling me what happened?" Hermione asked breaking the silence. She was sure that silence was making it very easy for him to hear he pounding heart.
"If I told you no?" Draco returned.
"I would still make you." She replied honestly.
"Thought so. You're about as stubborn as me."
Hermione looked up at him from a side cut she was healing and smiled. "You can blame my mum for that. In fact I would say that she is worse than you and me combined."
Draco chuckled. "I highly doubt that."
"That's because you don't know her. For instance my dad has been trying to get her to concede that she is allergic to strawberries."
"Not exactly a winning point."
"Hear the rest. Going against the doctor's advice she ate one and blew up like a balloon!" Hermione laughed at the memory. "It's been 15 years! 15 years! She still insists that it was the store's fault for lack of care. She hasn't eaten once since but she will not say that she is allergic to them. She's so silly and impractical!"
"You're really close with your parents aren't you?" Draco asked.
"Yes, close to the point of scary. You can't tease me." Hermione said.
Draco shook his head. "Just thinking how that must feel."
Hermione was instantly reminded of whom exactly she was sitting next to. It was odd how quickly she was able to fall into conversation with him. It felt so natural.
A soft moan from the woman saved her from coming up with a response. Immediately Draco began to stand but Hermione firmly held him down with a hand on his forearm. "She's not going anywhere. I've healed her but unfortunately I don't have much for the pain. She might be uncomfortable but she's fine Draco."
He didn't put up any protests but he remained rigid, keeping watch over her.
It crossed her mind then that he might be in love with this woman. The way he was protective over her and the looks he gave her were ones of adoration. She stood and walked behind to begin working on the injuries on his back.
"Sarai Maylin Black."
Draco had been quiet for a while and she was startled when he suddenly spoke.
"Pardon?" Hermione asked.
Keeping his gaze on the woman, he said, "Her name is Sarai Maylin Black."
'Black?!' Hermione thought, pausing in her work.
"Yes Black." Draco said sparing a glance at her over his shoulder. "And before you ask, no I can't read your mind."
"I wasn't thinking that." She frowned knowing that it was exactly what she was thinking despite how ludicrous the idea was.
"I have a pretty good clue as to how the inner workings of the Granger mind work now." Draco completely turned around to face her. "Though I have to say it took me a lot longer than usual to figure it out. You're one complicated bird shorty."
Hermione scrunched up her face. "I'm not that short."
He raised an eyebrow at her in challenge.
She got the hint. "You're going to keep calling me that no matter what huh?"
"Naturally."
"I wasn't going to say anything but I figured there must have been a reason as to why you didn't head to the infirmary, or better Mungos."
Draco nodded. "None of their business."
Hermione shook her head in disagreement. "You're going to have to give me a lot more than that."
"Sarai was in trouble. I went to help her. We got caught in a bit of a fight. Made it back here. End of story." Draco summarized.
"Negative. There is more to that story and I know it." Grabbing a clean towel, she dipped it into the bowl wetting it. She began wiping the grime and blood away from his cheeks. "How did you know she was in trouble?"
Draco sighed knowing she wasn't going to let the issue slide. "Sarai is my cousin. Which I'm guessing you have already put together, correct?"
"Yea, it seemed like the reasonable conclusion considering you're related to the Black family."
"She's a year younger than I am. As far as family goes, she is the closest one to me. Our families were both obviously tied up in the Black Arts and her family would be over at the manor frequently." Draco closed his eyes, taking in the gentleness of Hermione's hands on his face. "Sarai is beautiful, inside and out. She has a spirit to be rivaled with." Draco opened his eyes. "One day, she had to have been nine years old then, she came over with her family. I could tell immediately something was wrong. That girl is strong and all I could see was weakness. When I went to take her outside to the gardens she flinched at my touch. I just knew at the point what had happened. I rolled her sleeves up and found it littered with bruises. It was expected."
Hermione's face was full of confusion. "How can something like that be expected?"
"The way the old families operate is very different from others. Sure we reap in the benefits but ultimately we are bound by traditions. In our families, the head of the family decides our fate. In our cases it was our father's."
"That's disgusting." Hermione blurted out.
Draco chuckled at her bluntness. "That's beside the point. Even though I knew I couldn't control her father I still felt the need to do something. I couldn't take the thought of her going through such pain without me there. That night I made a potion that would connect her essence with mine. Any pain inflicted on her would be copied onto me. If she is bruised, I am bruised. If she is cut, I am cut."
"You were only ten! You couldn't possibly brew such a potion. I've studied up on potions such as those. They are extremely advanced!"
"Again. I'm a Malfoy, family of the Dark Arts."
"What happened tonight in particular?"
Draco was about to answer when a soft, tired voice called out to him. Instantly he turned to Sarai who had finally awoken.
"Hey princess." Draco smiled softly at her.
"Tired. It hurts." She croaked.
He stroked her black hair, placing a soft kiss on her temple. "I know. I know."
After Sarai had woken up Draco had conjured another bed for her in the room. It was a tight squeeze but they managed despite the face that Draco had wanted a king sized bed for her. Shortly after they moved her from the bed, exhaustion had put her back to sleep quickly.
Harry and Ron had left after Hermione agreed to have a serious chat with them at lunch the next day, here in the Head's common room.
Draco refused to leave Sarai's side for the remainder of the day and Hermione kept busy with the baby. When night came she put the baby to sleep in his room and retired to the bedroom. As she changed the sheets from earlier she would steal glances of Draco sitting by Sarai's side. With clean sheets on Hermione climbed into bed, grabbing the book of baby names she had bought at the store, from the nightstand. She wouldn't bother him and it would give her time to look through the book. It was time they had chosen a name for the baby.
Twenty minutes later, she had several names jotted on some parchment she had tucked into the book. "Draco you should come to bed already and get some rest. You've had a long day and if Sarai needs you at all, you'll be right there."
Draco didn't budge.
Hermione sighed. "If you don't sleep you won't be able to heal properly yourself. If that's the case you won't be able to protect her in your condition. Think about it."
It seemed like the right words to say because after a goodnight to Sarai he went stripped his pants off, too tired to pick them off the floor. He simply went to lie down beside Hermione.
He was lying there for several minutes, when Draco realized Hermione wasn't planning on falling asleep anytime soon.
"Well?" Asked Draco.
"Well what?"
"Aren't you planning to sleep?"
"Not until I find a name for the baby!" Hermione vowed. "We can't just keep referring to him as baby."
"What about me? Don't I get a say in this? Traditionally the father is the one to chose the name."
"Hmm no comment." Hermione started reading aloud the names from the book. "How about…"
"No."
"Well there's…"
"No."
"Okay. This looks…"
"No."
"Fine. How about…"
"No."
"Oh really! How do you even know if you like the name? I haven't even been able to read off a single one." Hermione cried.
"I just know. They are not good enough." Answered Draco.
Based on his answer Hermione had a sneaky suspicion that he might have already given this some thought. "Draco do you have a name in mind already?"
"Devlin Chase Malfoy."
Hermione had to admit it was a good name. "You put a lot of thought into this already huh? It's a great name."
"Good! It's settled! Now sleep!" With that said Draco turned off the light and pulled Hermione down with him. She tensed, once again feeling the insecurity of being next to a man in bed once more.
"Relax." Draco drawled slinging an arm over her waist. "I won't devour you…yet." She could feel the outline of his smirk against her skin. Her heart pounded for a couple more minutes but was soon soothed by the warmth of his body. Her body relaxed on it's on and with his scent surrounding her she closed her eyes.
"Hey Harry?"
"Yes Ron?" Groaned a sleepy Harry.
"I just had the weirdest dream mate. Our Mione was friends with Malfoy. Malfoy was the father of little boy. If I remember correctly Hermione was, dare I say it, acting as the mum. Bloody weird dream huh?" Ron turned over in his bed. "Oh and I could have sworn in my dream Hermione had moved in with Malfoy, sharing a room together."
"Uh Ron?"
"Impossible! What a nightmare!"
"It's all true. It wasn't a dream Ron."
…..
…..
….
"Hermione!"
We got some answers in this chapter! It's a start. And no cliffhanger this time! I'm sure a lot of you are grateful for that haha Almost done writing the whole gang together so I can start diving into the main plot of the story. Exciting! You all have my thanks for the reviews and follows! Leave a review and bring a smile to my face!
Personal thanks:
Anon: Done! Next chapter here! Thanks.
TNgirl: Haha. Something must be wrong with me if I am leaving you hanging like this. Hopefully this chapter helped out a bit.
V.O.L 2: Thank you!
shaymars: Listened to your pm. It put my butt back on track! Thanks for not letting me fall behind. Always need the push!
werevampluvr: I know cliffhangers can be the worst. I put it there and I hate when it's done to me. I may be a little twisted haha.
HarryPGinnyW4eva: Thanks for your support! I hope this is going in a good direction.
Jenniferfornlof: At least we have a name for the woman now. There will be a lot more answers to this woman's past to come up. You've been great!
