So, I've never really understood Dramione at ALL, but here's a little bit of PLATONIC Dramione. I tried to add a bit of an emotional side in, but I don't know how well I did. Please, let me know! I really like hearing feedback from you guys. :) Enjoy!

Chapter Eleven

Get up. Get up, dammit. Draco groaned, curling in on himself. He wasn't quite sure what had happened but he was sure that he was injured, and badly. His right leg was on fire, as though it had been sitting in a burning fire, and his chest felt like it was about to explode. He couldn't see out of his left eye, and he kept feeling a stinging on his right forearm.

His attackers had vanished, leaving no trace that they were ever in the room. Draco had been caught entirely by surprise, and he didn't stand a chance of defending himself. Blaise and the other Slytherin's had easily Disarmed him, and proceeded to hex, curse, and maim Draco for felt like an eternity.

Draco, with great difficulty, pulled himself up, using his left arm for support. He almost collapsed again, crying out with pain as his right leg took weight. Draco managed to find his wand laying a few feet away from where he had been laying, and he picked it up gingerly. He needed to get out of the Slytherin dormitory. He pointed his wand at his eye, and whispered, "Episkey!" The cut over his eye sealed itself quickly and painfully, and Draco charmed away the blood, so he could see clearly. He couldn't tell what time it was, but it must have been late, because the common room was quiet.

Draco limped towards the door, his right arm holding his right leg, and his left arm holding his wand out in front of him, ready to Stupefy anyone who crossed him. He successfully made it out of the dungeons, but was forced to stop right outside the doors, leaning against the wall and breathing in short little pants, because breathing hurt. What he really wanted to do was call out for Harry, but he knew it was fruitless, Harry was on the other side of the school, and it would be impossible for him to hear him.

And so Draco continued limping down the hallways, his breathing become more uneven and ragged, and his vision going in and out of focus. The pain in his chest was blinding, overpowering even the pain in his broken leg. What had Blaise and the others done to him? Tried to fucking murder me, that's what, Draco thought absentmindedly. His left arm was getting weaker, his grip loosening on his wand, and just when he was about to collapse again, a little shown in the distance, and a voice called out to him.

"Malfoy?" Granger called out, her footsteps speeding up. Draco could barely look up, the pain threatening to consume him. "Granger," he whispered, finally falling, his good leg unable to support him anymore. Granger caught him, and gingerly laid him onto the cold stone floor. She pushed Draco's hair out of his eyes, and examined him. "What happened?" she asked, conjuring a splint from the end of her wand, and securing Draco's leg. The pain in Draco's chest was increasing.

"Slytherins," Draco breathed, unable to speak clearly. "Attacked me," Draco could hear Granger making strange noises, whimpering, it sounded like, and he began to wonder why she was helping him at all. It's not like he deserved her help. Sure, he and Granger had been amicable lately, but Draco felt that he was doing that mostly for Harry's benefit. He never once thought that Granger would ever help him willingly.
But before he could ask Granger why she had such a kind heart, he blacked out.

"I told you, Madam Pomfrey, I found him like this. I was just returning from Professor Slughorn's office, and I saw him leaning against the dungeon walls, looking like an absolute mess," Draco listened. The voices were a bit muffled, but Draco could only suspect that that was because he was still half-asleep.
The pain in his leg was gone, and the pain his chest was muted, though still lingered. The stinging on his right arm was gone as well, and Draco could feel thick bandages around his skull. "Alright, Miss Granger. It was very lucky that you found him as early as you did. Any later and the curse done on his chest would have killed him," Madam Pomfrey explained. Curse? What curse? Draco didn't remember being cursed, but then again, he didn't remember much of the previous night.

"Oh, he's awake," Granger said, her eyes piercing Draco's. Draco hadn't even realized he was watching Granger and Madam Pomfrey until Granger's eyes met his. Madam Pomfrey rushed over, and helped lift Draco up into a sitting position. "There, there," she fussed, thrusting water down Draco's throat, and examining his leg and chest. Granger walked over, and looked at Draco, both sympathetic and calculating.

"Well, all seems well now, Mr. Malfoy, though I am going to keep you overnight again, as that was a nasty spell they put over you. But for now, I'll leave you with Miss Granger," Madam Pomfrey said, and went back into her office before Draco could ask her to stay, and then he was left with just Hermione Granger to keep him company.

Granger pulled up a chair, and sat beside Draco, just looking at him. Draco felt strangely embarrassed, and able to feel the tension in the air. And then Draco saw Granger's eyes flick downward, staring at Draco's arm. He instinctually pulled his left arm away, but Granger stopped him. "That's not what I'm looking at, Malfoy," she said, her voice thick, as if she was trying to hold back tears. "It's your other arm," She points at Draco's right arm, the one that had been stinging, and to Draco's horror, he saw a single word engraved into it, a word that would leave a scar for the rest of his life. It was a horrible, derogatory word that made Draco's insides curl with hatred and fear.

He looked up at Granger. "Why would they do that to me?" he whispered, trying not to let his voice sound weak. Granger gazed at him for a moment, and then scooted closer to him, pulling her right shirt-sleeve up. It revealed a scar, bright white against her skin. "Why would someone do this to me?" she said, giving Draco a look, because she knew that he knew why. Draco didn't answer though, because Granger answered for him. "Because some people have a very skewed outlook on the world, and they just simply can't accept a changing society, and so they make everyone who doesn't agree with their views an outcast, whether it be physical," She gestured to her scar and Draco's, and continued on. "Or emotional. And that, Malfoy," She pointed at Draco's new scar. "That it what it felt like to be constantly bullied by you,"

Draco's face became very hot, and he wanted badly to just disappear under the covers, but then Granger did something surprising. She took Draco's hand. "That being said, I truly believe that you have changed for the better, and have come to understand your prejudices and your mistakes, and I definitely believe that you love Harry. Harry is my best friend in this entire world, and if he can learn to forgive, then I suppose I can too. So, there you go, Malfoy. I forgive you," Granger finished, giving Draco's hand a squeeze.

Draco took a moment to digest what Granger had said, and carefully thought of a response. It didn't take him long, because he knew what he wanted to say. "You can't forgive someone who hasn't apologized, Granger," he said softly, sitting up a little bit taller. He locked eyes with Granger, and as genuinely as possible, apologized. It was a heartfelt apology that made Granger's eyes fill with tears, and in the end, she threw her arms around Draco, hugging him so tightly that he had to remind her that he was injured and still in pain.

"Sorry, sorry," she said, her hands fluttering around Draco. Draco smiled. "It's okay, Hermione," he said her first name, the letters rolling of his tongue easily, naturally. Hermione smiled. She stood up, pushing back her chair. "I'll go get Harry, now, I suppose," she said, looking around. Draco nodded, resting against his pillows.

"That'd be great," he replied.