CHAPTER 7

Hermione woke to quick feather-like touches of a pair of warm, gentle hands - there was someone here with her, first finding a pulse on her neck and then apparently examining her ribs. She did not have neither the strength nor will to open her eyes and look at the person - it felt like the ground was swinging under her, her eyelids were like lead and her thirst got simply unbearable. But she was conscious, that was certain, she told herself.

The person next to her - he or she had to be kneeling or sitting by her side by the sound of it - took out something wooden - a wand, most likely - and pointed it at her ribs. Was she beyond saving and this person - maybe a healer? - was making it go easier and quicker for her? She certainly wished for it a few times in the past days and now she could not fight it anyway... She squeezed her eyelids together to prepare for the curse and, indeed, it came in a while.

There was a deep voice whispering "Episkey" somewhere nearby and she could feel her ribs mending immediately. Ugh. So it was a healer and she was not beyond saving, obviously! Not yet, that is. And it was a man. Even though she was treated with nothing but gentleness so far, she couldn't help feeling insecure - men could rape women and they did it with pleasure; that's what she learned during her stay in here. But this one had yet to even touch her anywhere improper; as soon as he healed her ribs, he started examining her wrists that lay unbound along her sides now.

Then she heard something tear - what was that? With her curiosity piqued, she found the strength to open her eyes finally. The man - unsurprisingly dressed in Death Eater robes and Mask - was tearing his own shirt? Why? He dabbed the piece of cloth from his shirt in a potion from a bottle he held in his other hand - it looked and smelled like the Murtlap Essence, the same concoction she brought Harry a lifetime ago for his wounds caused by Umbridge... He suddenly stilled in his movement and quickly looked her in the face - or showed her his mask directly, for the only she could see was the faint glitter of his eyes in the holes that were meant for them. He seemed frozen in his tracks. Did he not expect her to be awake? Why was he acting like she caught him stealing the cookies?

The man really did not behave like a healer would... Or not a healer that was sent and meant to help her. Was he there of his own accord? Did he want to help her for some reason? She knew better than to ask him aloud - he would tell her if he felt like it and she really did not want to be under Silencio again. And she should better not make a noise if he was not supposed to be there and that became more and more likely as he was still acting like a rabbit caught in headlights, not moving a muscle and just staring at her.

The stare was starting to make her feel uncomfortable - why was she thinking about wanting to have a shower suddenly? It felt weird, as if someone else came up with that... She frowned and blinked a few times to clear her head and vision and indeed, the feeling eased as if it was never there. Strange... And he started moving, finally, lifting his hand to show her the cloth and the potion and waiting. What for? And then it hit her - he wanted her permission to heal her! What? Since when did anyone here ask her permission to do anything?

Still wondering if she understood him properly, she hesitantly nodded - that would also convey the message that she understood what he was doing in case he was asking for that and she would not look like a total moron. But she was probably right in her first assumption, because he immediately after started dabbing her wrists with the essence, his touch ever so light and tender, making the experience with no doubt the nicest she had over the past few days as relief from the constant pain nearly made her sigh. She watched him as he worked, careful and focused and tender to the extend that Madam Pomfrey's care never even neared to. What a strange Death Eater was this man? They were not supposed to be like that, right?

When her wrists were cured, he tore at his shirt again - why didn't he bring some bandages or gauze if he was going to heal her? - and looked at her once more, motioning to her neck. She nodded her agreement and watched him work from this close. He was still focused intently, but maybe also deep in thought. It was strange when he reached her face - looming above her helplessly lying on the mattress. But he made an effort to never do anything threatening, no sudden moves, not even a sound... Like he was treating a wounded animal. Which she was in a sense, she surmised.

With her face healed and new cloth being taken, it was clear he intended to continue with the rest of her scratches. Them being where they were, she was quite unsure about it, but he hadn't done anything wrong yet - and honestly, she would not be able to do a thing about it, had he wanted to - so she nodded at him again and prepared for being touched there, braving herself not to flinch. When it came, she barely even knew about it. He was careful not to touch her directly and reminded her that she really had not showered for days, so it was no wonder... On the other hand he was not that unwilling to touch her when it was her wrists, so maybe he really did want to avoid embarrassing her even more... It was quite enough that he saw what he was seeing now for that. Fortunately, he just put the Murtlap on her breasts on the pieces of his clothing and left it there to heal and hide her nipples. It felt nice on her skin... Although he was obviously not too comfortable in his position and shuffled his legs to relieve it. Why was he kneeling anyway? He probably just didn't want to seem dangerous by towering over her, but this really looked nearly like he really cared... And that was quite impossible.

Then he took his wand again and for a moment she expected to be lifted, blindfolded and carried to the rape room again, but he pointed it the other way and conjured a cup. A cup! For drinking! She watched as he filled it with water and hoped she would get to drink it. And then some more, preferably! He handed her the cup and she took it - or tried to take it, but as soon as her hand left the floor, it became shaking terribly and she dropped the cup. It clattered loudly on the floor and she glanced at him, startled and hoping she did not get him into much trouble with it, if he wasn't supposed to be here. He didn't seem to care too much and offered her another cup, bringing it to her mouth this time and even helping her to hold her head steady.

She drank the cup as if it was the last she would ever get in her life - and it really could have been for all she knew - and it felt wonderful in her parched mouth and throat. As soon as she drank all the water, she was offered second and third cup and finally felt that she had enough for now. The man was though obviously not done with her and put a potion to her mouth, letting her see and smell it first. She recognised it immediately - she saw and digested it many times in the past as it was probably the most common potion from them all, a Pepper-Up. There was nothing she could confuse it with and she knew she needed it, so she drank. And then she drank a Healing Potion, Nurturing Potion and something that she knew to be a form of a pain-killing potion by the smell of Asphodel and Dittany that she detected in it. When she was finished, she felt better than she had in days and quite a bit drowsy as well - was it the potions or the sudden absence of any pain? She did not even realise how much her whole body hurt until it was gone.

Her eyelids began closing and she fought against it with all she had - he was still in her cell! In a way she trusted him not to hurt her now - he would waste a lot of his own effort if he did - but she certainly wanted to see what he was doing. And he was not doing anything to make it easier for her - the Death Eater unclasped his own cloak and all but tucked it around her as if she were a small child. A DEATH EATER!, her mind screamed at her, but she could feel nothing else than grateful to him at that moment; finally she had something to cover and protect her! And then he even washed her, making her feel nearly like a decent person after such a long time...

He seemed lost in his tracks, just kneeling and watching her, not moving a muscle. Maybe he was finished with her now and was wondering what to do next? Or did he want to wait here until she falls asleep? Her parents did that to her when she was little...

The memory of her parents combined with her much better health, appreciation of his care and, above all, the cloak - she was sure he was not asked to give it to her and therefore had to do it out of common decency - made her say a quiet but clear "Thank you."

She did NOT expect him to flinch away at that as if she had slapped him! He got up fast and nearly ran out of the cell without a glance back at her, slamming the door behind him as if it burned him.

...

What the heck did just happen?!

She lay stunned for a while, wondering what made him react the way he did. Perhaps she startled him by speaking up so suddenly? Or she disturbed him from his thoughts? Or he was a hidden Prince Charming cursed by an evil witch - Bellatrix was somewhere in the building, right? - to never speak with his wife-to-be, she thought, giggling and with no worries on her mind whatsoever as she cuddled in the warm cloak and fell asleep.

So there it is! I hope it did not disappoint too much...

The next chapter is going to be longer again, but it will take more time to finish and upload it - perhaps even a week; it will be a few busy days for me. I hope you will forgive me eventually and let me know how you like this one!