i always promise updates and then never deliver, so sorry about that. update on my foot, i'm still in a boot for the next two weeks.
chapter twenty:
"hermione?" grace called out.
"one moment." hermiones muffled voice called out.
their lips separated at last, both of them absolutely breathless. they had heard graces call and hermione responded soon after.
their foreheads were pressed together, their chests rising up and down heavily as they tried to catch deep breaths.
both pairs of hands fell to the side, their arms limp with exhaustion.
hermione moved away from underneath dracos body and she crouched down and set her head in her hands. draco bent downwards and began rubbing her shoulders lightly, his hands working effortlessly to massage her neck area.
there came a knock at the door and grace quickly answered it with a "come in."
hermione opened the door slightly and peeked her head in. grace was soaking in the tub, bubbles covering her entire body so nothing was viewable to hermione.
grace lowered her eyes quickly, staring at the floor instead of hermione.
"what's up?" hermione asked.
"the p-person at the hospital, it was my m-mother." grace whispered.
hermiones mouth opened slightly, almost leaving it ajar. she moved her body into the bathroom and closed the door entirely. she sat down on the bathroom floor, her back against the door as she nodded for grace to continue.
"my dad b-beat her and i, a-and she had t-to go to the h-hospital bec-cause of him."
"no," hermione whispered under her breath as her hand crept up to cover her mouth.
"he would hit us u-unt-til we bl-led. my m-mom never want-ted to leave b-because she th-thought he would try t-to find us. s-so we stayed." grace buried her head in her hands and let out a few sobs.
"no one will hurt you here, you're safe from him. you don't ever have to go back there, your mom can stay with us until we can find you somewhere safe to live - somewhere he'll never find you." hermione said, her voice strong as her insides churned with disgust for the man who called himself graces father. "you're safe, grace."
graces head rose a bit, the corners of her mouth drawn to a small almost smile. "r-really?"
"yes," hermione reached out and stroked the girls wet hair, "you'll never see him again. we'll keep you safe, you and your mother."
"t-thank y-you." grace stuttered as she wiped her eyes and sunk back into the bubbles.
"i'll leave you with some privacy." hermione said as she stood on wobbly knees and opened the door. she left the room and closed the door gently.
"i know, i know." draco cooed quietly as he rose from the floor. he was sitting right outside the door, listening to everything. he enveloped her in his arms and held her tightly to him as she shakily let out a slight shudder and sob combination.
"how could someone do that to such an innocent, kind girl?"
"i don't know," draco said honestly, "come, lets sit."
he led her to the bed in their bedroom, where nat was curled by the beds legs. nat lept up onto the bed, a skill she had acquired after many head-butts into the wall and side of the bed.
hermione curled into dracos lap, draco stroking her hair softly and rubbing her back.
"she's just like you, hurt and scared." hermione whispered.
"except someone amazing, kind, caring and beautiful is caring for her, just as you did for me." draco whispered back.
"what if she doesn't want to be cared for?"
"she will, once her mother is out of surgery and healthy, you'll see."
"will she be ok?"
"i saw the same fighting spirit in her that i see in you - she'll be ok."
"promise?"
"i promise."
there came a knock at the door, it was quiet but loud enough to penetrate the silence in the bedroom.
"do come in," hermione said, "the doors unlocked."
the door opened slightly, grace peering in slightly. her eyes and hairline appeared in the crack of the door.
"hi." she said quietly.
"hello, grace." hermione said as she sat up, inching off of dracos lap.
"does this look ok?" grace asked tentatively.
"give us a little spin?" draco asked softly, knowing she was probably a little scared around men rather than women.
grace looked thoughtful for a second, pondering what he could mean. then she gave the couple a small spin, the corners of her shirt twirling around her.
"you look wonderful, almost a different person." hermione said.
"thank you." grace said, her cheeks turning a vibrant shade of pink from embarrassment at the sudden compliment.
draco moved off of the bed and found his way to the closet, grabbing some sort of suitcase shaped container. he set the container on the dresser in the room and opened it up, revealing a record player.
the case was a sleek black case, wrapped to perfection with no scratches or scrapes. there was a pocket on the black inside, holding a few records, one of which draco took out. he took the record out of the paper casing and set it on the disk area. once it was there he placed the needle on the edge of the disk and cranked the volume up.
piercing through the silence, this magic moment by the drifters started playing.
draco walked up to grace slowly, his hands out. he tried to emanate a sense of peace to the young girl, trying not to scare her.
"fancy a dance?" draco asked, kneeling down to reach her height.
"really?"
"yes."
draco gently grasped the girls hands in his and rose, taking her to the bigger part of the bedroom.
"i'm going to make dinner, fancy pasta?" hermione said as she rose from the bed and moved out of the doorframe.
"grace?" draco asked.
"pasta sounds good."
"pasta it is." hermione said. she walked out of the door and into the hallway, then soon returned and asked "any allergies i should know about?"
"no." grace answered.
as the trio sat at the kitchen table, hermione dished out some food for herself and draco, leaving grace to dish out her own.
"thank you," grace started, her stutter gone for the meantime, "for everything."
"we're happy to help." hermione said, reaching to gently grasp graces hand in her own.
"do you know when you're mother will be out of surgery?" draco asked.
"they said sometime around a few hours, maybe four."
"how long were you there before we arrived?" draco asked.
"maybe an hour, we had just gotten out of the house and i had called for an ambulance."
"you called?" hermione asked incredulously.
"there was no one else around but me."
"and they left you sitting in the waiting room?"
"there was no where else to go."
"we'll find your mother tomorrow, or would you fancy tonight?"
"tomorrow is ok."
"tomorrow it is."
the three sat in silence the rest of the meal, grace helping herself to seconds and thirds. hermione barely touched her food, she was still trying to digest everything that she'd learned about grace and her past. draco ate everything on his plate, including another half serving of everything.
nat was fed, her small body going to rub against everybody's ankles as they ate dinner.
hermione grabbed an extra t-shirt from her drawer, along with a pair of shorts that looked like they could fit around the small waist of grace. she left the bedroom and went into the office to find grace sitting on the inflatable bed that they'd put in there for the time being.
"i grabbed you some of my clothes for pajamas, if you'd like." hermione said as she held out the clothes to the girl.
"thank you," grace whispered as she took the clothes, "goodnight."
"goodnight, grace."
hermione laid in bed, the only clothing covering her body being one of dracos t-shirts. she was waiting for draco to come back from the store - he had run out for some more clothes for grace and some groceries.
it was ten o'clock by the time he got back, and hermione was already asleep. he set everything in its place in the kitchen and pantry and then walked into the bedroom.
hermione was lying on her side of the bed, the covers barely covering her almost nude body. the shirt she had donned had rolled up and was revealing one of her breasts, the rest of her torso being mainly covered.
draco started to strip down to his underwear, his shirt and pants leaving first, then followed by everything else.
"'mione?" draco whispered as he climbed into bed next to the sleeping witch.
"hm?" hermione sleepily hummed.
"goodnight."
"goodnight." hermione mumbled, the world barely making it out of her before she fell asleep once more.
fucking crist guys i'm so sorry. i've been so distracted lately i haven't even thought about this. as an apology, i'm doing a double update so the next chapter is out now.