Okay, everyone! Hello! Here's the next chapter. Some Pansy-bonding and Draco saving fun! Enjoy!
Chapter Eleven
Hermione sniffled as Pansy led her out into the gardens. She took a huge gulp of air and looked up at the clear blue sky. That was when Hermione scowled. "Can we go back inside now, Parkinson?" She asked, testily.
Pansy raised an eyebrow at her. "We just came from inside. It's much nicer out here, Hermione." She said, smirking slightly as Hermione scowled and trudged on.
"Fine." She gritted her teeth as they continued, Pansy in the lead. Hermione had no clue where Pansy was taking her, only that it was supposed to help after hours of crying. She huffed. She didn't want to be outside, where everything looked so… happy.
Pansy chuckled. "Granger, just relax, you need it. This will do you good; trust me." Then she snorted. "Okay, so maybe not trust. You probably wouldn't exactly trust and ex-Slytherin." She said disdainfully.
Hermione laughed a little bit and smiled, shaking her head. "I am so over that; you know. It was two years ago. And Voldemort's gone. So, I don't honestly care, and at the moment, I'm going to not care and trust and ex-Slytherin." She announced happily.
Pansy rolled her eyes and smirked. "Of course you are, Granger. Only you would get over it." She sighed. "I just wish everyone else would, too. I did, after all. And I'm supposed to be a snobby pure-blood bitch."
Hermione nodded. "Harry and Ron haven't even gotten over it; and they're supposed to be heroes." She rolled her own eyes. "But maybe they will with time. It takes effort and at the moment, all their effort is spent catching the remaining death eaters."
"You speak some wise words, Granger." She laughed.
"Please, Pansy, call me Hermione." Hermione smirked as Pansy laughed and shook her head.
"Whatever, Hermione." She stopped suddenly, smiling as she looked up into the sky. "The boys are playing Quidditch." Pansy said thoughtfully. And true to her word, Hermione saw Draco and Blaise up in the sky on their brooms, whizzing around, throwing the quaffle at each other.
"So…?" Hermione asked.
"Well, we can either go watch them, or we can go and relax in the hot springs. Up to you." She said, looking at Hermione, who was biting her lip.
Hermione dreaded the thought of getting undressed to get in the hot springs. Her body wasn't fully healed yet and she thought it to be quite ugly with bruises and welts where Viktor had left his mark. She shivered.
But then again, she didn't particularly want to watch those two play quidditch. It really was quite boring. Besides, she could trust Parkin-Pansy. She'd been through the same thing and she wouldn't pass judgement. "We'll go to the hot springs." She said, feeling a little sick.
"Brilliant." Pansy said. "Now, I know you probably don't want to show me your body… well, because of what it probably looks like, so I'll turn around and you can get in." She said, as if reading Hermione's mind.
"Do I at least get to wear my underwear?"
Pansy laughed. "Well, duh. I wouldn't make you go starkers. I'm not that cruel." She cackled, which didn't comfort Hermione in the slightest.
She took Hermione's hand and led her to an enclosed clearing with steaming baths formed by rocks. Hermione grinned. "It's lovely." She said, serenely.
"I'm glad you think so." Pansy's smile unnerved Hermione. It was… warm, and kind. She was surprised. "Now, I'm going to turn around. You get out of your clothes and get in. Slowly." She said, gesturing to the carved steps at the side of one of the natural craters.
Hermione nodded and removed her jumper. Instantly, goose bumps formed on her skin and hurried to remove her jeans and t-shirt. Once her clothes were off, leaving her in only her underwear, she climbed the steps and put a foot in.
She drew in a sharp breath. It was shockingly warm compared to the rest of her body. Slowly, as Pansy had said, she lowered her body into the water and felt it warm up. Once she was settled, she let Pansy know she could do the same.
Once Pansy was in the proper attire, she got into the hot water with her back facing Hermione, her scars standing out against her tanned skin. Hermione frowned. "Did your father give you those scars?" She asked, once Pansy was in.
Pansy nodded. "He liked to mark me." She said, her voice thick with hatred. "Him and his mates. They used to keep a tally on how many times they'd had me." She said solemnly.
"Bastard." Hermione said, feeling her own scars on her rib cage. "Some people should never have been born. Sometimes, I wish I had never been born. Then maybe I wouldn't have gone through that pain." She took a deep breath. "But then I think, if it wasn't me, it would have been someone else." She confided.
Pansy nodded. "I agree. I mean, what if it was someone who wasn't as strong?"
"I don't see myself as strong any more. I got myself into this mess and all I've done is run from it. I feel like a coward." Hermione said.
"You're not a coward!" Pansy said passionately. "You're a strong woman, Hermione. You know why?" Hermione shook her head. "It's because you're still alive. That is strong. To be able to go through that, and keep living, it's a definite sign of strength." Pansy said, grabbing her hands and grinning as Hermione nodded to herself.
"You're right." Hermione admitted. "Enough of this, let's just relax." She said, leaning back and feeling her muscles go loose. She closed her eyes and started humming to herself.
Meanwhile
"Oi, Blaise, what are you looking at?" Draco called to a smirking Blaise as he looked down at something on the ground. He flew over to his friend. "What's going on?" He asked, shaking Blaise's shoulder a little.
Blaise snapped out of his stupor. "What? I was just looking at our guests." He said, smirking again as he pointed down to the hot springs.
Draco raised an eyebrow as he saw the two girls sitting in the craters, talking. Pansy grabbed Hermione's hand and said something that made her nod her head and lean back to relax. "Wonder what's going on." He stated.
Blaise rolled his eyes. "Obviously, they're having girl talk. They're getting along, I guess." Blaise said with satisfaction. "I told you Pansy was a good idea, Drake." He smirked even more.
"I never said she wasn't." Draco said coolly. "It's just that Pansy and I… Well, we're not getting along, is all. I'm sure she'll get over it." He said carelessly.
"I don't know about that, mate. I mean, what you said –"
"Yeah, I know." Draco snapped. "She'll never forgive me. I get it. I don't care anymore." He said snootily. "It wasn't like I actually meant it… I was just sick of her and her ignorance."
Blaise rolled his eyes at his best friend. "Ignorance?" Blaise snorted. "She told you she wouldn't marry you unless she fell in love with you, mate. That's not ignorance. That's dreaming. And that's what you told her. Which made her angry." Blaise looked at him pointedly.
Draco sighed and shrugged. "Are we going to get moving, or what?" he asked impatiently.
"Whatever, mate." Blaise said nonchalantly before pegging the quaffle at Draco, effectively hitting him in the head. In an instant, he regretted it as his best mate began to hurtle toward the ground at a horrific speed. "Draco!" He yelled, going into action.
At that moment, Pansy looked up at the sky, to see a familiar head of blonde hair falling to the ground, another person on a broomstick following after him, but not fast enough. She screamed and froze.
Hermione looked up to see what Pansy was screaming at, and her fist instinct was to bolt out of the hot spring and grab her wand. She ran out and pointed her wand at the falling body, effectively slowing his fast descent.
Pansy came out of her trance and ran over, soaking wet and in her underwear. Hermione stood back in the clearing and pulled on her jumper (she didn't have time for jeans), before running out to see the consequences of the fall.
"Draco, man, c'mon, wake up." Blaise pleaded, shaking Draco's shoulder as he lay still on the ground. "Please, I'm sorry." He pleaded again.
"What happened?" Pansy asked, desperate to see her friend wake up. "Blaise, tell me what happened?" Her voice was hoarse and she was shivering.
"I was just mucking around – I didn't mean to hit him in the head, really." Blaise put his head in his hands.
Hermione knelt at Draco's head and felt his pulse beating steadily under the tips of her fingers. She saw his chest move slightly and sighed in relief. "He's alive. But only just." She heard Blaise and Pansy thank Merlin quietly and sat back on her heels. "We're going to need to get him inside." She said, looking at Blaise. "Blaise and I will aparate him into the house. Pansy can you bring our clothes and stuff. You need to get warm again." She said, eyeing Pansy's goose bumps.
Pansy nodded and stood, running to the hot springs to get her clothes on. Blaise stood and Pulled Draco up, holding him up by one side. Hermione took Draco's other side and they side-along apparated into the manor.
Now, Draco Malfoy wasn't exactly light to carry, so it was no surprise that when they had managed to get inside, Hermione almost dropped him. Luckily, Blaise was there, white-faced as he was, to catch him until Hermione got her own balance back.
"Mum!" Blaise yelled, and then cursed. "She's not here. She's at some meeting." He told Hermione. "Can you heal him?"
"I don't know what's wrong with him…" She said helplessly.
"Can't you find out?!" He snapped. She cowered at his tone of anger and he sighed. "I'm sorry, granger, but I'm desperate here. He could die because of me." He admitted, setting Draco down on the couch.
She nodded and pulled out her wand again. "I'll try. You need to summon Maria or a proper healer. Maybe we could take him to St. Mungos?" She asked.
"No, not St. Mungos. He'd kill me if his mother found out."
"Alright, then." She pointed her wand at him and remembered the spell she had seen Madam Pomfrey(sp?) use on a few patients to find out what was wrong with them. "Vistalian." She muttered, pointing her wand at his chest.
Immediately, a green screen began to float in the air. It was a transparent image of his body systems. His head began to glow red and she remembered red was for bleeding. But nothing else seemed to be damaged. She let out her second sigh of relief.
Blaise returned, looking pale. "She's coming soon. But she said to do what you can." He told her.
Just then, Pansy burst in. "Is he okay? Will he be alright? Oh, Merlin, what's wrong?" She asked Hermione.
"Pansy, calm down; he'll be fine. I hope. His head is bleeding so I'll need to patch that up and then maybe he'll wake up. He'll probably have a concussion, but I think he'll be okay."
Pansy relaxed. "Oh thank Merlin." She said, hugging Hermione tightly.
"Jelly," Blaise called. A small house elf appeared and asked what service he could perform for the master. "I need bandages and warm water and… oh, all the stuff used to heal a head wound." He told the elf, who popped away as soon as his instruction was received.
In a second, Jelly was back with the supplies and gone with a bow. "Right, turn him over." Hermione instructed and set to work on the bloody cut on the back of his head.
Twenty minutes later, Maria bustled in, looking stressed. "Hermione, how is he doing?" She asked, watching over Hermione's shoulder as she pulled the last stitch tightly.
"He'll wake up soon, in a lot of pain, I think." She said, unsure of herself. "It stopped bleeding after a few minutes and I just had to clean it, but I think I'll get you to bandage it." She said, frowning as he looked at his blood stained hair.
Maria looked relieved. "Alright." Then she took in Hermione's attire. Well, lack thereof. "Put some pants on, honey, you've done a great job." She gave Hermione an encouraging pat on the back. Hermione blushed and ran off to get changed.
Two hours later, Draco awoke with a start. "Oh shit, my head." He moaned.
"Language, Draco." Maria scolded from her nearby arm chair.
Blaise and Pansy stood up and practically ran over, worry creasing their faces. "Are you alright met? I didn't mean to hurt you –"
Draco's eyebrows rose. "What the hell happened?" He asked, feeling the bandages on his head.
"Well, I sort of threw the quaffle at you too hard and it hit you in the head." Blaise said, slowly enough for him to hear. "I really didn't mean to." He looked ashamed.
Draco laughed. "You idiot." He said, but regretted it as his head began pounding. "I'm alive, aren't I? So no harm done." He said, pleased.
"Thanks to Hermione." Pansy said. "She stopped you from…" She grimaced. "Making more of a mess out of yourself, and then she fixed your head." She looked to where Hermione was sleeping soundly by the fireplace, curled up like a cat.
"So, Granger saved me." He muttered pensively.
"Yeah, you kind of fell for her." Blaise said with a laugh.
But Draco didn't see what was so funny.