Chapter 14

TRIGGER WARNING
Mentions of self-harm and depression

Hermione sighed to herself as she pulled on her Hogwarts robe over her muggle clothes. She rolled down her long sleeve over her forearm, hiding the mudblood scar. She had only been wearing clothes with long sleeves ever since the war. She wasn't ashamed of it, she was proud, actually; but she would quite prefer if people not look at a scar on her arm and treat her like she was some frail little things. Brushing down her now tamed hair that falls delicately down her shoulders, she grabbed her bookbag and wand and left the bedroom. She entered the living room to find Draco sprawled across the couch with his arms and legs hanging over the edge, and his mouth open. She chuckled to herself as she nudged him slightly to wake him up. He groaned in his sleep and turned slightly, covering his eyes with his arm.

Hermione bent down to nudge him again but stopped abruptly as she glanced at his arm and her breath hitched in her throat as she dropped to her knees. She nudged him softly and called out to him. "Draco, wake up," she whispered, touching her shoulder. The blonde's eyes fluttered open and he sat up abruptly, rubbing his eyes.

"Granger, what are you doing? Never put you down for someone who would watch me sleep," he said, smirking slightly. Ignoring his snide remark, Hermione grabbed his arm gently. She turned it around to reveal his faded Dark Mark with deep and harsh scratches on and all around it. "What is this? Draco, what have you been doing?" she asked him, her tone full of concern. He yanked his arm out of her grasp and looked away, not bothering to answer the question.

"Draco! Look at me," she said, a little louder, and turned her head to meet his eyes. "What? Why does it matter?" Draco yelled, his voice cracking at the end. "Why does it matter what I do?" he said in a hoarse whisper, his deep, conflicted grey eyes meeting her warm, brown ones. "Why won't it matter Draco?" Hermione shouted at him in frustration as she stood up. "Because I'm a Death Eater! I-I was a Death Eater, and that is who I will always be. I've been marked as evil, and that is how people will always see me. No matter what I will do, no matter if I helped the Golden Trio in their escape, or anything really, but I'll always be a Death Eater, and I will always be evil," he cried and got up, pushing past Hermione.

"No!" she said, grasping his shoulder. "You are not evil, and what you are doing to yourself does matter," she whispered, turning him around to face her. Tears had welled up in his eyes, and his breath was shaky. Hermione squeezed his shoulder and inwardly chuckled at her current situation. Never in a million years had she imagined herself comforting Draco Malfoy. She shook her head as she pushed Draco down onto the couch and sat down beside him.

"Draco, you are not evil. You were forced into making all the wrong choices, but you realize you're are not just a Death Eater, because you, unlike all the others, have a heart, and you realized in time what is wrong an what is right," Hermione whispered soothingly as she trailed her fingers on the edges of his Dark Mark. "You chose what is right in the end, and that's all that matters. What people say about you, or your choices is not who you are. What matters is what's on the inside, and inside you, there is good." Her eyes widened as the pale-skinned boy broke into heavy sobs. Her expression softened, and she hesitantly put her arms around him, as if trying to keep all the pieces of his now broken self together.

Tears were steadily pouring out Draco's eyes and each sob he let out wracked his whole body as he fell apart. Brokedown in the arms of Hermione Granger. Hermione Granger, of all people. Bt he didn't care. Never had anyone spoke kinder words to him, or tried to comfort him the way she was doing right now. His mum used to comfort her, but he had never quite cried as much in her presence. His mother had been his only source of comfort during the darkest days of his life, but Narcissa had sorrows of her own. With her husband forcing her only son into the depths of evil and murder, being forced to house maniacs and Voldemort himself in her house, and listening to the constant shrieks and blood-curdling screams of the muggle-borns and muggles being tortured in their cellar, she had had enough on her plate.

So he cried. Cried in the arms of his supposed fiancée, who was kind enough to comfort a former Death Eater. The Death Eater in whose house she had previously been tortured.

'Get it together', Draco thought to himself. 'She might be mellow and she might comfort you, but that doesn't mean you can just cry like a little girl! Pull yourself together." After a few more sobs and shaky breaths, he finally calmed himself down and pulled back from Hermione's embrace. She smiled slightly at him as she let go and held his arm in her hand. "This is not who you are, Draco. This is your past, not your present or your future," she said, her voice confident. She let go of his hand and pulled back the left sleeve of her robe to reveal her faded 'Mudblood scar. "Just like this. This is my past, not who I am now. Scars, or marks, or titles don't define who you are."

Draco glanced at the scar and caressed it with his finger. "It hurts, doesn't it?" he asked her, looking into her brown eyes. "What, the scar? No, I mean, it did at the time, and for many weeks after that, but, not anymore," Hermione replied, her brows furrowed. Draco chuckled slightly and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, roll your eyes, maybe you'll find a brain back there," she snapped playfully at him, but Draco chuckled even louder. "I wasn't asking about the scar, I was talking about the-the curse. The Cruciatus Curse," he said, his voice soft. "Of course it does, but, it was worth it. C-can we not talk about that?" Hermione said looking away. "Sure, yeah, I'm sorry," he mumbled.

"How did you manage to do that to yourself anyway?" Hermione asked, pointing towards the scratches on his arm. "In my sleep, and sometimes during my outbursts," he said, running a hand through his pearl blonde hair, messing it up even more than it was before. "In your sleep? Like, during nightmares?" she asked, her eyes wide with worry. He nodded sheepishly as he met her eyes again. "Draco, you need to control yourself! This is not good!" Hermione said, her voice rising. "You need to vent your anger, I understand, but not on yourself! Use material objects, like parchment, or books, or anything really!" she continued, squeezing his hand tightly.

"Yeah, I know, Iknow. It'll take some time getting out of this habit, but I'm trying, and it's getting better, okay?" Draco groaned, nodding his head and growing steadily irritated. "Just- just promise me you'll limit this, and take care of yourself, okay?" Hermione blurted, and he let out a light laugh. "Yes mum, I will. I didn't think Hermione Granger would ever be so concerned about me," he said with a smug grin on his face.

"Oh, shove off," Hermione said, punching his other arm as she got up. "Now you better get ready if you plan on getting breakfast before heading to the classes for today," she stated and headed towards the door to leave for breakfast. "Oh, and Draco?" she called out before stepping out. "There's a scar healing lotion in the bathroom with my stuff. Use it please," she said and left.

Draco sat there staring at the closed door before shaking his head and getting up. He smiled to himself as he grabbed a change of clothes and went for a shower, a light chuckle escaping his lips.

I wrote this in an hour. Just an hour. But, to be honest, I quite like it. Also, you would not believe how much I had to convince myself to not use "orbs" while describing their eyes. It just bugs me, and I'm an active Wattpadian, so...

On a lighter note, THEY HAD THEIR FIRST HUG! I'm sorry, I don't know why I'm so excited.

BTW, we crossed 7k reads! And, we crossed 100 story followers! I honestly didn't think this would be that much of a success, so I'm incredibly happy. I love you all so much, you don't even know!

Qween87: I thought I owed Lavender that much because honestly, I don think she was that much of a bitch. She really seemed to like Ron, and she was a bit possessive and clingy, but that doesn't justify all the hate she gets. In some fanfics, she is shown as the protagonist, which is fine, coz it's a fanfic, but I don't think people should hate on the actual canon character.
Ron is stupid. He just is! And I think he acts sensibly when someone actually helps him understand the situation, you know? As for Malfoy, he's a poor boy. What else can I say?! Thank you so much 33

rooske01: Glad the message is clear. And yeah, Ron's apology was long overdue. He can act like a bitch at times, but he isn't a bad person at heart, and I'm quite fond of him. Also, as I said above, I think Lavender just gets unnecessary hate. Thank you for your constant support and your lovely comments 333

scrappy8: Why thank you! 333

YourFan: I totally agree. Ron is just dumb, and he takes time to process things, and sometimes just doesn't understand them, but he is not a bad person. He just messes up sometimes. Love you! 33

MsAwesome2u: I don't think I'll write him as mean as he was, but Draco will be snarky and sarcastic, just how I like him. He'll snap occasionally, but you'll have to wait for it. As I said, I don't think Lavender is all that bad, so I'm not making her out as the bad person here. Ron is stupid as always, but he is improving. Lots of Love 33

Lots of Love!

Until Next Time,

Cheerio!

XOXO