Recap of Chapter Six

Hermione stared dumbly at the letter before raising her eyes to Draco.

'Well fuck me. I don't know what I was expecting but it wasn't that,' she whispered.

At any other time the sight of a speechless Hermione Granger would have amused Draco, but as it was, he could only nod his head in agreement. The girl – no, woman – beside him had suddenly got a lot more interesting.

A/N: shout-outs to IGOTEAMEDWARD, riaroo400, jake jackson, rachelll11, and BadWolfJiggy for being repeat reviewers, thank you for taking the time to leave me feedback my lovelies! You all get a yummy hazelnut latte. Reviews are as satisfying as putting on clean pyjamas and climbing into a freshly made bed.

Reminder – sentences in italics refer to a character's thoughts, a flashback, or a letter; it should be fairly clear which one is which.

Chapter Seven

'Well,' remarked Draco, unsure of what to say but feeling he ought to say something.

'Quite. Dryads and druids instead of muggles, I don't know what to make of it,' Hermione said softly. She started to reach for the cinnamon schnapps, faintly registering that the bottle seemed to be a lot lighter than earlier.

'Granger, I'm cutting you off. You've had a good half of this bottle and skipped dinner, you're going to have a hell of a hangover in the morning,' he said firmly, removing the bottle from her grasp. Hermione looked puzzled, this was an odd role reversal.

'I thought I was meant to be the boring, sensible one?' She queried.

'Oh don't worry you are. I'd prefer not to be woken by the sounds of you vomiting your guts up however, so no more for you,' Draco tried and failed not to smirk at her put out expression.

'But I only had a few! Oh, and the firewhiskies with McGonagall,' she added as an afterthought, nodding her head in agreement with herself. Draco raised an eyebrow at this, my, she really is teacher's pet!

'Even more reason for you to go to bed. On you go, I'll bring you up some water,' he had no idea why he said that. He reasoned that he needed some himself, that was all, and filled two glasses in the kitchenette before following Hermione upstairs.

Draco looked at his watch. Potions was in an hour and he needed to get going if he wanted to fit in some breakfast (two mugs of coffee and toast) first. He hesitated a moment. He hadn't heard anything from Granger's room, probably still sleeping it off he thought. He was halfway across the common room before he groaned and turned around, he couldn't let her sleep in and miss class, she'd be seriously upset and no doubt he'd be on the receiving end. He'd probably get it from Slughorn too. Shit. I do not need this in the first week back! He knocked on her door, waited a full minute then walked in, calling her name as he went.

'Come on Granger, rise and shine! Potions starts in an hour and we can't have the resident teacher's pet being late now, can we?' He mocked. No answer came, but she snuggled into the duvet a little more. He tried again, starting to feel a bit guilty – this might well have been her first unbroken night of sleep in months if last night was anything to go by. It looked like she hadn't bothered to change into her pyjamas again, or perhaps she always slept in her uniform? Strange girl.

'Granger!' He shouted, nearing the bed. 'If you don't move your arse I'm going to pull the damn covers off you!' Another snuggle. 'Okay, don't say I didn't give you fair warning,' and with that he pulled the duvet right off the bed. His face then proceeded to flush with embarrassment. Hermione grumbled half-heartedly at her rude awakening and attempted to open her eyes.

'Um Granger, I think you've got your period,' he stumbled over the word.

'My what?' She mumbled, squinting up at him and wondering what the hell he was talking about.

'Your er, moon cycle. I think you've got it.' He wanted to leave, badly. He started to move towards the door.

'Don't be silly Malfoy, I don't get those,' she sighed wearily. Oh gods, she's still pissed. I'm going to be in so much shit with Slughorn. Never mind that she was drunk before I even got back, oh no, it will be the ex-Death Eater roommate that gets the blame. Fuck!

'Granger, you're still drunk from last night. I'm going to get you a hangover potion then you're going to shower, take care of your, er, women's stuff, and get to class if I have to drag you there myself,' he said through gritted teeth. He escaped briefly to his room then returned with a small phial.

'Why do you keep saying I've got my moon cycle? I told you, I don't get them, some kind of late developer or something.' Hermione shrugged.

'Drink this. There's blood on your sheets,' he told her, studiously avoiding eye contact.

'Oh. It's probably the bandages again,' she nodded sagely then winced at the pain in her head. Leaning up on her elbow she didn't see Draco frown at her as she drank the potion. He looked down at her body, trying to work out where she could be wounded. It occurred to him that the bleeding must be bad to have soaked through both bandages and clothes. Why was she hurt anyway? From the battle? What the hell kind of wound still bleeds four months later?

'Oh fuck,' she realised what she had just said and started to panic. 'I didn't mean that. Um, I was still pissed, that's right, I didn't know what I was saying. Now get out of my room Malfoy, I need to get up!' Hermione's face was horror-struck and she could feel tears of shame and fear starting. She had to get him out of there before he started asking questions.

'No. You're obviously hurt and you need help. I'm going to take you to the hospital wing,' he reached down for her hand and she shrank back.

'No, please! I'm not going there, I don't want anyone to know. Please don't tell, Malfoy. Please!' She begged, the first tears starting to fall. He knelt down beside the bed and looked up into her face, she was frightened and there was something else too…. was that embarrassment he saw? No, it was shame he decided. He'd seen it often enough when he looked in the mirror to be able to recognise it in others. Draco's mind flickered back to her nightmare and he felt uneasy. Her breathing started to speed up and he was worried she was going to hyperventilate.

'Calm down. It's okay, I'm not going to force you to go,' he said soothingly. Hermione's shoulders sagged in relief. 'On one condition.' She tensed immediately. 'You let me see the damage and help clean you up,' he said steadily, looking right into her eyes. She saw that he was serious but how could she let him see the wounds? They were disgusting. She was disgusting. She didn't want to take her trousers off in front of him either, that was altogether too much flesh to show.

Hermione closed her eyes and tried to concentrate on her breathing. When she had it under control Draco handed her the untouched glass of water from the evening before and she sipped it, slowly calming down.

'Would you feel better if Maisy was here? She could bring fresh dressings too,' he said, hoping that the presence of a female (albeit a non-human one) might put her at ease a bit more. Hermione thought. If Maisy knew she might be able to keep her supplied with ointment and dressings, which would relieve her of the stress of trying to buy them in Hogsmeade without anyone noticing. But then Maisy answered to the headmistress now, not Malfoy. What if she felt duty bound to tell McGonagall? She came to a decision.

'No, I can't risk her telling McGonagall. She might feel that she has no choice once she sees the… the….' Hermione couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence. He nodded slowly, seeing the truth in her words. 'You must promise me you won't tell, Malfoy. Please,' she begged, desperation in her tone.

'I can't take an unbreakable vow without involving a third person, Granger. Can you accept my word that I won't tell anyone without your permission?' He looked straight into her eyes, trying to convey his sincerity. Can I trust him? Think of everything he's done…. He let Death Eaters into Hogwarts – but his family were under threat if he refused. He tried to kill Dumbledore – but lowered his wand and didn't harm him. He didn't identify Harry to Bellatrix and Lucius. He stood by while that bitch tortured me – yet if he had tried to stop her she probably would have killed both of us…

The arguments and counter-arguments ran through her mind but in the end one thing stood out, he hadn't identified Harry, and that was enough for her to take a leap of faith. She nodded to him, signifying her acceptance.

'Okay, lie back down. I'm going to fetch some warm water and a cloth. Do you have fresh dressings?' Hermione pointed to the cupboard in her bedside table and he took out a large pink washbag, stuffed with bandages and tubes of ointment. When he returned with the bowl of water and damp cloth Draco sat on the bed beside Hermione. 'Where are you hurt?' He asked gently.

'My thighs,' she whispered, trying not to cry. She knew that they were going to look even worse than usual because of being wrapped in the same bloody dressings for 24 hours. She reached down and undid the button at her waist then pulled the fly zip down. By this point she was feeling sick, she didn't want Malfoy to see how repulsive the mess was, and she really really didn't want to be undressing in front of him.

'I'm going to take your trousers off, okay? Can you lift your hips up for a second?' He spoke to her like he would a frightened animal. Dread knotted in his stomach as he slowly peeled her school trousers down. Her thighs were covered in blood and he quickly summoned a thick towel from the bathroom. 'Lift up again?' Draco gently eased the towel underneath her bottom and thighs and took a deep breath. 'Granger, I'm going to need you to move your legs apart a bit so that I can take the bandages off and clean you up,' he sounded much calmer than he felt.

It's not him, it's not him. This is Malfoy, he's helping me, he won't hurt me. It's not him, it's not him. This is Malfoy, he's helping me, he won't hurt me. Hermione repeated the mantra over and over in her head. She was trying to stay grounded in the present and not lose herself in memories. She cupped one hand over her knickers and slowly widened her legs her legs a little while Draco began the painful process of easing off the bloodied dressings, trying to hurt her as little as possible.

He stared at her thighs for several seconds, not really believing what he saw. Despite the blood – both dried and fresh – he could clearly see the words carved into her white thighs. On the inside of her right thigh was MUDBLOOD; on the inside of her left was WHORE.

Draco barely made it to the loo in time before he emptied his stomach. Hermione lay on her bed wishing she were dead.

A/N: okay, so this one was a bit angsty and we're no further forward on Hermione's parentage but we're laying the Dramione groundwork here people, it takes time!