CHAPTER 28

October 2nd 2001

Hermione Granger woke in her grandmother's old bedroom by the warmth of the morning sun heating her freckled cheeks. By the sound of birds chirping out the window, she gathered she had woken later than planned.

Slipping out from beneath the sheets, she tiptoed across the floor boards to see if Malfoy was still asleep. To her surprise, his bed was untouched from the night before.

Remembering when they had bid goodnight, he had been watching television in the sitting room down the hall. Hermione crept down the passage and peered around the wall to where she last left him, hoping on his behalf that he had gotten a chance to sleep.

The first thing she spotted was Malfoy curled up in a ball, fast asleep on the couch. Mouth slightly ajar with soft breaths escaping. Even in his sleep, he still frowned like he was pissed off.

Low voices came from the television on the other side of the room after being left on all night. Hermione quietly snuck into the small room and turned it off by the remote on the floor. All that was left to be heard was Malfoy's silent snores.

Taking a seat in between the knook of his hooked legs, she hated to interrupt his peaceful sleep, but they had already missed so much of the day. Placing her hand on his upper arm, Hermione gently pushed his shoulder.

"Malfoy." She breathed.

No response.

"Malfoy." She repeated in a more sing-song voice.

Malfoy started to stir, groaning as he peeped one eye open to look at who was disturbing him. Hermione showed her teeth in a sweet smile, but soon hid them again remembering she had not brushed yet.

"Come on." She whispered, cautious not to set off a ticking bomb. "Time to get up."

The sleepy man only presented her with a moan in return, shutting his eye once more and pretending to go back to sleep.

Hermione rolled her eyes as she stood to her feet and tugged his arm so strongly he fell to the floor with a thud. She couldn't help but snicker as Malfoy looked up at her with angry eyes.

"I hate you." He cursed through clenched teeth.

"What else is new?" She offered a hand to help him up but he slapped her gesture away and stood on his own accord.

Within the hour both witch and wizard stood on the gravel driveway, ready to visit Crawford. Seeing as they were headed to a rather wealthy area, Hermione opted to wear a white blouse with jeans today. The all black outfit from yesterday was rather out of character for her liking.

Malfoy disagreed, settling for his classic dark attire of matching dress shirt and trousers. Although, he must have forgotten his razor when packing his apartment, seeing as his typical clean face was now rugged with stubble.

"Rochester, right?" Hermione tightened her purse around her neck.

"Yes." He held out his arm for her to grab.

The moment she gripped onto his wrist there was a pull at their navel, apparating them to the other side of the country. With a soft thud they landed on top of a hill facing a medieval castle.

"Does Crawford really live in a castle?" Hermione asked with a tinge of shock.

Malfoy pumped his eyebrows and formed his lips into a straight line. "One up from a manor, isn't it?"

The two walked downhill until they were met with towering iron gates. A guard that looked to have werewolf characteristics titled his head at their arrival. Malfoy pushed Hermione behind his back slightly as they approached him.

"Malfoy here to pay a debt for Crawford." He spoke with confidence between his shoulders.

The werewolf hummed in approval and flicked his wand for the invisible wards hovering around the gates to swirl away momentarily to let them walk through. Hermione felt a cold chill run down her neck as she walked past the guard. He definitely knew who she was.

"I take it you have done this before." She hissed to Malfoy as they marched down the entrance gardens.

"Let's hope it's the last time."

The castle's entrance had a magnificent ascending staircase which led all the way up to bronze double doors. They opened on command with a creek as if they were expecting visitors. Hermione braced herself, wand at the ready in fear of a fight.

The large house was awfully empty. Not a single piece of furniture in sight, only decorated with patterned carpets and cemented pillars.

Malfoy led the way down a hall to the right. There wasn't even a sound of house elves. This castle was a ghost town, minus the ghosts.

As the witch kept a close step to the wizard in front of her, she noticed there were knights' armour standing in hollow crevices along the walls. They certainly matched the aged castle interior design.

Passing through what looked like a drawing room, Malfoy came to a halt in front of a navy blue painted door.

"Do we have a plan?" Hermione rasped harshly, feeling completely unprepared for such a risky visit.

"Don't get killed." Malfoy replied, opening the door with his entire body.

Crawford sat in his office with a cigar between his teeth as he studied pieces of parchment that were scattered across his desk. Hermione gathered he looked to have seen better days by the scars running across his face.

Malfoy cleared his throat to announce their entrance. Crawford looked up calmly, and smirked at the sight of the visitors before him.

"Crawford." Malfoy growled, clutching onto his wand.

"Draco." He took a puff of his smoke. "I heard you were in America, son."

"Funny how things change. Where have you been hiding? Not running away from your debts I hope."

Crawford let out a low laugh and placed his cigar on the edge of his ashtray. He leant forward to get a better view of Hermione standing behind. She clutched her wand tightly, not merely as intimated as he most likely assumed she was.

"Very risky of you to bring the mudblood here, Draco." His upper lip twitched.

Malfoy held his arm out and pushed Hermione further out of the hitman's view. "What happened to my father?"

"We killed him. Is that not what you paid for?"

"Do you take me as a fool? I am aware that he is still alive. Are you two pricks working together?" The aggression in Malfoy's voice was turning vicious.

Crawford took a deep breath in before scraping his chair against the floor and walking to the front of his desk. Hermione could only partially see what was happening, but she found comfort in seeing the whites in Malfoy's knuckles wrapped around his wand.

"Your bravery is commendable, young boy." Crawford's playful tone was gone now. "But I am afraid you have trapped yourself by coming here today."

Just as Malfoy was about to reply, he was interrupted by the sound of someone's heels clicking down the hall to stop at the office door. The witch and wizard snapped their heads around to see Lucius Malfoy standing behind them, with a look of shock slapped across his face.

Before either could react to their target's arrival, Crawford threw a dark spell at the door, briefly missing both of them.

Hermione ducked at the explosion, and felt Malfoy crouch over her in protection for a second, before whipping back up and throwing a silent spell back. In the corner of her eye she saw that Lucius had no wand in his hand, and took off on foot back where he came from.

Looking back at Malfoy in a duel with Crawford, Hermione felt her feet stick to the ground beneath her.

"Go!" The blond barked, pushing Hermione out of the room, ignitng her run down the carpeted passage.

Lucius' long hair flowed behind him as he sprinted at great speed through the empty halls. Hermione tried to get a good aim in order to stop him but her steps were too rapid to get a steady shot.

The knights' armour that hung on the walls came to life at the moment she ran past them. Hermione could hear their iron uniform thunk with impact on the ground behind her. They must have been charmed to capture anyone trying to escape the castle.

Over her shoulder she threw jinx's and spells to ward them off but none were working. Floor boards exploding at her misses.

Just as she skidded into the dining room, Lucius pulled up with nowhere to go. Hermione looked behind her to get a view of how far behind the knights were gaining on her. But the moment she looked back at the older Malfoy, he was being wrapped in green flames in the cornered fireplace.

"Arse!"

Draco Malfoy hit the ground hard after Crawford jinxed him across the room. His vision blacked out briefly from the impact, but it was enough time to allow the hitman to run out of the office and down the hall.

With a grunt, Draco pulled himself off the floor. The room spun as he hobbled after his attacker, but soon steadied itself once he caught his breath back.

Spitting the blood out of his mouth, he sprinted down the passage to try and find where Crawford had run away. Nearly toppling over and crashing across the floor, he spotted Granger throwing spells in the drawing room.

His father was nowhere in sight.

Knights armour were scattered everywhere as Granger and Crawford danced around them in their duel. In a moment that felt like the air had been stripped from the room, Granger foolishly turned her head to meet Draco's gaze midfight, permitting Crawford to send her flying across the room.

Without permission, Draco's body lept to help her but was struck with a 'Crucio' before he could reach. Heat and pain radiated throughout the wizard's body as he thrashed on the floor crying out.

As he lay among the armour unable to move, he watched as Crawford stood over Granger's body, pinning his wand against her back.

Heaving with spit in his mouth, he released a curse. "Sectum Maledicere!"

"NO!" Draco roared. But it was too late.

The witch screamed out in pain as red sparks carved into her skin. Blood began to pour all around her as Crawford's wand tore her skin in two.

Rage possessing his body, Draco lifted his wand. "Bombarda!"

His target ducked just in time, dodging the spell so it hit the fireplace behind him. Cement grumbled from the walls, collapsing on the house floo.

Looking him in the eye, Crawford grinned in victory just as he apparted away from the fight. Dust particles floated around the room in his absence.

Fumbling up off the floor, Draco ran over to the woman among the rubble. With shaky hands he cupped her face to see if she was still alive.

"Granger." He gulped. "Granger. You're going to be fine. Okay? You're going to be just fine."

By the heavy weeping that slipped through her lips, Draco knew she was still alive.

Gently placing her face back down, he waved his wand over her back and cast a spell to absorb all the blood back up. But he could see there was still a lot of damage.

Looking around the room, Draco had no idea what to do. The only way they could get out was if they apparated, but there was a chance they could splinch and tear Granger's open wounds even more.

"I'm taking you to Mungos." He grunted, rolling her body over.

"N-NO!" She cried out. "T-they'll know we're g-going t-there."

She was right. There were no other options. He couldn't risk bringing her back to London. There were eyes everywhere. They had to go to the cottage. It was the only place Crawford or Lucius couldn't get to them.

Draco scooped Granger into his arms, careful not to only hold her by the neck. She screamed at the feel of her skin stretching.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." He apologised frantically. "We have to apparate. There's no other way out."

Granger bit down on her teeth, bending her head back and letting out a sob. Draco knew that apparating could intensify her injuries, but he could not think of another solution.

With an image of the Oxford cottage strong in his mind, Draco clutched tightly onto the woman in his arms and twisted them away. The sound of Granger crying out in pain pierced his ears as they landed on the gravel driveway. Blood dripped through his fingers and spread on her neck, meaning their travels did do more damage.

Taking no time to hesitate, Draco ran as quickly as he could to the withered front door, and kicked it open with his foot. Going straight to the living room, he softly placed Granger down onto her side on the yellow shag rug.

His heart tightened at the sight of tears staining her cheeks.

"I have to rip your shirt, Granger." His voice quivered with panic. "I have to rip it."

She was in too much agony to respond, so he took his wand and tore her blouse down the back anyway. As the material fell to the floor Draco nearly threw up at the sight of her torn skin.

The dark curse thrown at the witch had slashed an X across her back, and their apparition had only deepened the wound.

With shaky hands, he unclipped her bra, then took the satchel from Granger's clutch and directed his wand into the charmed purse.

"Accio Potions."

Numerous bottles flew up out of the bag and he grabbed them all. Sorting through any useless flasks, he held onto the Cleaning-Potion, Essence of Dittany and an unknown cream that was labelled 'For Wounds and Scars'.

Still on her side, Granger dug her nails into the rug below so strongly her knuckles turned white. Draco stumbled to his feet and ran to the kitchen, grabbing a wooden spoon from one of the drawers.

"Bite this." He instructed kneeling at her side, propping the utensil into her mouth.

She accepted the spoon and bit down hard, heavy breaths puffing from her nose.

Draco untwisted the cap on the cleaning potion and tilted her body so he had better range to her injuries.

Sweat dripped from his forehead as he looked down onto the broken witch. "I am going to clean the cuts first, okay? This is going to burn." He warned her. She nodded with nervous breaths.

Tipping the flask ever so slightly, purple liquid dripped onto the flesh wound. Granger's screams were only partly muffled by the spoon in between her teeth. Draco had to hold her down as she trashed beneath him. He felt his heart skip numerous beats at the sight of her veins popping out of her neck.

As he poured the healing magic along the X, he soothed the witch by rubbing her forehead with his thumb. It was tearing his soul to see her in so much pain.

Once the wounds were cleaned, he took the dittany and poured it over her twice, just to ensure it would work. Before Draco's eyes, green smoke billowed upwards as the skin on her back began to regrow. Granger stopped thrashing but started to shake, and her breaths came more hollow and controlled.

The panic in Draco's body failed to cease though.

"You're going to be okay." He breathed, still rubbing her hairline. "You're going to be just fine."

In truth, he had no idea if Granger was going to be alright. But he hoped that speaking it out in the world would manifest it to reality.

She sobbed on the floor. Draco clenched his eyes shut at the traumatic sound.

"M-Malfoy." Granger stuttered, pulling the spoon out of her mouth. "I-I can't move my l-legs."

Snapping his head to look at her, Draco halted in rubbing her forehead. A whole new wave of panic washed over his entire body.

"Are you certain?" He hissed.

"Y-yes." She looked up to him with wet lashes and red eyes. "The curse is s-still ins-side me. I can f-feel it."

"That is it. I am taking you to Mungos."

"No!" Granger barked back at him. "It is f-fine. You just h-have to t-take it out."

"I am not skilled enough to do that, Granger!"

"Y-yes you are."

Draco was unsure if her stutter was caused by the curse, or the adrenaline. He prayed it was just the adrenaline.

"I already sewed your skin. I would have to tear it open again in order to find it."

"Please."

Running through all the ideas in his head, Draco's mind was too cloudy to think straight. He didn't know why she refused to let him take her to the hospital. They were dealing with permanent damage here.

With a grunt he agreed to her request. "Fine. But I am knocking you out."

She concurred, closing her eyes and taking in a deep breath.

Draco tucked a strand of her hair back behind her ear before pointing his wand to her temple and placing her into a deep sleep. Her body flopped onto his knees instantaneously.

Careful not to knock her head on the floor, he lifted her shoulders and rolled her carefully onto the carpet face down.

He let out a raging roar into the open air.

This fucking run was supposed to fucking protect her.

With exasperated breaths and tears on his cheeks, Draco sliced Granger's back open once more. Blood streaming down the rug the moment it was released. He could smell the dark magic in her, noticing the visible curse swimming around her flesh.

Casting the only counter curse he knew that might work, the wizard watched as fragments lifted from cuts, stripping the witch partially of its toxicness. Draco could not get all of the dark spells out, but felt if he did any more cutting he would possibly kill her with blood loss.

Dripping the healing potions over her wounds once more, he swallowed the anger in his throat. He needed to be calm when she woke.

Once the tearings had formed new skin, Draco lifted her body onto his lap, keeping his hands on her neck and stomach. Granger's bra and blouse had remained on their appropriate areas thanks to the outpour of blood.

Lifting his wand to her temple once more, he cast a spell to wake Granger from her slumber. Her long lashes fluttered until her brown eyes met his silver.

He gulped, nervous to inform her of the damage. "I could not get it all out."

Granger flicked between looking at his left and right pupil with a saddened expression. It was clear she was holding back tears.

"Can you feel anything?" Draco squeezed her thigh.

"I can w-wiggle my t-toes." She whispered back. "But I cannot feel your h-hand."

He lowered his head in relief. It was not much, but it meant she wasn't paralyzed.

"I am so sorry, Granger. This should never have happened."

Draco scooped his arms under her legs once more and pulled her into him. Granger buried her head into his chest as they held onto one another crying. Neither of them ever wanting to let go.

An hour later the wizard stepped into the old tub and softly set the witch down on the ledge. He held her in place by the shoulders as he twisted the taps to run the water. She clutched her top with her hands to keep it from falling.

"I am going to have to clean the blood off your back." He took his shoes and socks off one at a time. "Keep your blouse on. You can rinse the rest off once I am done."

"Okay." She agreed, shakily unbuttoning her jeans.

Draco tugged at the pants and pulled them off her legs. She was left in just her basic pastel pink underpants. It wasn't the ideal way he had imagined taking off her clothes, but that was far from any of his concerns right now.

He threw her damp jeans onto the bathroom floor behind them, and lifted her under her arms to lower her into the warm water. Draco took his own trousers off and sat in the tub behind her.

He squeezed the sponge letting the excess water flow down her back. She shivered as he gently pressed it against her skin, wiping away the dried blood. He was careful not to brush her carved X wound.

The clear tub was soon stained with red.

Guilt was drowning the wizard. He almost wanted to reopen his own scar as punishment for dragging her into his mess. All he ever wanted to do was protect her.

Granger pulled her legs up to her chest and rested her head against them. Little whimpers escaped her lips as he washed her clean.

"W-what are we gonna d-do, Malfoy?" She exhaled.

He sighed, completely exhausted from any ideas of what they were to do next. "I'm not sure, Granger."

"We c-can't let your Dad g-get away with any of this."

"I know. But you cannot even walk, so until you're better..."

It wasn't long before her back was soon free from blood. Draco was tempted to help her with the front but now was not the time to push any boundaries. Instead, he pulled the plug and ran some fresh warm water.

He balanced his body wash and the sponge on the ledge for her to use. She looked up at him from her crunched position. Her blotched eyes caused his heart to feel like it was being pricked by a pin.

"I can sit here on the floor facing the other way if you need." Draco offered.

Granger nodded, probably afraid she'd tear her sewn cuts.

He twisted the tap as the water level reached her stomach and sat on the cold tiles with his back pressed against the tub. He could hear her cry out as she slowly lifted the shirt off her shoulders and dropped it in the water. Draco pinched his nose, holding himself back from turning around and helping.

"Are you okay?" He asked softly.

"I think s-so." She replied in strain.

After a few minutes Granger had finished and Draco was lifting her towel wrapped body to the main bedroom. He laid her on top of the mattress before fetching a pair of clothes from the drawers.

He figured her night gown was easiest for her to put on, and the most comfortable.

"I should probably rub some of that paste on your back before you get changed."

Granger agreed, lifting herself to sit at the edge of the bed. She clutched the towel tightly to her chest, letting it drop behind her so he could access the full slice.

Fortunately, her underwear was still on.

Draco summoned the jar of cream with his wand, unscrewing it before spooning some into his fingers. He climbed onto the bed and leant on his knees as began to spread the paste along her spine.

Granger exhaled a hitched breath at the touch of his fingers against her skin.

"Is this okay?" He breathed.

"Y-yes."

The guilt that was drowning Draco started to add pressure as he massaged her. It felt nice being this close to her, but at what cost? Her life? Her ability to walk?

Once the paste set and was rubbed into her skin, he climbed off the bed and stood in front of her.

"I don't know what to do here, Granger." He confessed with his head hung low. "I am so sorry."

The witch lifted her arm and titled his chin back up. "Neither d-do I."