CHAPTER 31

October 11th 2001

Draco Malfoy dabbed a tea bag into the boiling water while looking out into the dark fields behind the cottage. He enjoyed his night time routine of sitting by the fireplace with Granger, and talking until their eyes couldn't stay awake any longer. A small slice of normality for the runaways.

Picking up the two cups of tea, Draco headed out of the kitchen and back into the living room. Granger was sitting on the couch with a blanket covering her legs, still wearing his boxers and t-shirt.

"Here you go." He handed her her usual pink mug.

"Thank you." She smiled, blowing off the steam on the surface.

Draco took his usual seat next to her on the sofa, letting her rest her feet on his lap. Given that he showered her everyday, there was little awkwardness left between the two. Comfortable friendship sewn together through tragedy.

"Potter sent another letter today." He took a sip of his tea and flinched at the heat on his lips. "He said that the Auror's will be gathering tomorrow to launch an official investigation over the search for Lucius."

"That's good. Perhaps Harry will be able to send us some leads on his whereabouts."

"Or…" Draco tilted his head at her to indicate the seriousness of his next statement. "We could just let the professionals do their job, and keep you hidden until they do."

"There is a reason why I was sorted into Gryffindor."

"What? So you could run head first into the fire at the slightest smell of smoke?"

She sighed. "I just hate sitting by and letting someone else get hurt."

"Letting someone else get hurt? Or letting someone else have control?"

Granger squinted her eyes at him, knowing well that he was correct. Draco groaned as she kicked him under the blanket.

"Maybe."

He grinned, retesting the temperature of his drink.

The past week had been terrifyingly horrible for them both, but small moments of laughter like this made the burdens feel a little less heavy.

"Did Harry mention anything about Ron? Or Astoria?" Granger asked.

"Astoria is keeping everything at the ministry at bay. She doesn't know where but knows that we have gone into the muggle world."

"And Ron?"

Draco hated how much longing was in her eyes. It was clear how much she missed her fiance, and was probably just using him as a substitute for the weasel.

"I'm sorry, Granger. Nothing yet."

She gave a look that either resembled relief or disappointment. Which one, Draco wasn't sure.

"We can tell them about your injuries, if you want. Perhaps that will encourage him to write or Potter will say something on his behalf."

"No, I don't want them to know." She replied sternly. "If he does not want to write, then he does not want to write."

Draco took another sip of his tea to hold back the insulting comment that lingered on his tongue. It baffled him how Granger's life was in danger, and Weasley had not even bothered to write to his witch. If it were his fiance that were on the run, Draco would have torn the world apart until she could come home.

"So how do you think things will be for you and Astoria when we get back?" Granger used her toes to press against his leg, teasing him over his new relationship.

Draco rolled his eyes. "I don't know, Granger. It is very new."

"Do you like her or is she just fun?"

"You make it sound like I lack emotional attachment."

She shrugged her shoulders playfully. It was clear that she only saw him as a womanising pureblood. Draco felt the compulsive need to prove her wrong.

"I like her." He lied. "Although, the more I get to know her the more I realise how similar she is to Pansy. She has the power to manipulate you to do anything she wants, and make it feel like it was your idea in the first place."

"That does not sound like it makes you happy." She furrowed her brow and gave him that look of judgement she does when she's concerned.

"Yeah, well… Not all of us get a happy ending like you and Weasley."

Granger looked down at her tea with pursed lips. Draco had a feeling he may have struck a nerve. Lifting her feet off his lap, he stood to his feet and walked into his bedroom.

Earlier in the day he had gone into the muggle town down the road with his usual disguised features. During the errand, he had spotted the book stall that Granger had looked at when they first arrived. Knowing that she needed something to cheer her up, Draco bought her a book to help lift her mood.

Now seemed like a perfect time to gift her with it.

Walking back into the living room, Draco sat back down on the couch and handed her the book in his clutch. Granger tilted her head in confusion but put her tea down and took the novel from his hands.

"What is this?" She asked, scanning the cover.

"I saw it while in town today." He explained. "It is one of the original copies of that Oz book that you enjoy so much. I thought you might like it."

Granger let her jaw drop as she flicked through old pages.

"This is so lovely!" She shrilled. "Thank you so much, Malfoy."

Draco felt his ego grow substantially. He was startled as Granger leant forward and hugged him with full force. Her arms wrapped around his neck tightly, in gratitude for the small present. Out of shock, he hesitantly put his hands at the small of her back, careful not to touch her injuries.

She smelt heavenly in his arms. Her bouncy curls tickled his cheek as her chin fit perfectly in the crook of his neck. Chests so close yet so far apart.

He closed his eyes and embraced the feeling he might not ever get the pleasure of knowing again. She felt the missing puzzle piece in his grasp.

But the moment of paradise slipped from his fingers faster than he could take a breath.

Granger's body began to convulse in his touch. Her head flung back and pulled her down to hit the couch below, a foaming liquid seeping through her lips.

"Granger?!" Draco lifted her neck in panic. "Fuck! Granger?!"

The witch's eyes began to roll at the back of her head as he thrashed in his hands.

Picking her floppy body up off the sofa, Draco ran to the purple guest room and laid her face down on the towels. He used his hand to keep her body from moving beneath him. Without a second to lose, he pulled his wand out of his pocket and ripped her shirt open. The wizard cast his mapping spell to reveal where the dark curse was hidden within her flesh.

Green ambers lit up like a firework all along her spine.

"Fuck!" Draco roared, throwing an old glass of water across the room.

With heaved breaths, he climbed onto the bed and straddled Granger's legs. His heart felt like it was going to implode within his chest. They had left the curse in there too long and now it was killing her.

Taking the tip of his wand, Draco sliced a clean cut down the centre of the witch's back. Identical to the scar of his own. The piercing of the skin made her body stop convulsing. He hoped to Merlin, she wasn't dead.

He snatched the healing spell book from the nightstand and flicked through its pages until it landed on the one he needed. His hands stained the parchment with blood.

Anger was boiling inside him. If he did not get every inch of this curse out of Granger's back, she was going to be dead before the next hour. Her life was ticking within his hands.

Taking a deep breath in, Draco tried to control his breathing. Hot tears ran down his cheeks as he exhaled a staggered puff. The nightmare that possessed his life for years was being relived time and time again. It was killing him to be the one with the wand in his hand, and knowing exactly how haunted Granger was going to be thanks to him.

Opening his eyes to the green filtered room, Draco began stripping the dark curse from within her body.

Apologies fell out of his snot covered lips as he twirled his wand. "I am so sorry. I am so sorry. I am so sorry."

Granger's body lay still among the pool of her blood. Her eyes were shut but her skin was getting paler by the minute. A shade away from a corpse.

Draco roared in an outrage as he worked on the countercurse. His silver orbs were glazed with tears while they watched the curse levitate off her back.

"Come on." He grunted, sifting through the flesh and catching loose trails of the curse. "For fucks sake, come on!"

He was growing impatient with how quickly the curse was swimming away from him. It was fighting to stay connected to Granger's magic, clinging to her weak body.

As Draco pulled the last particle of the glowing green out of her spine, the room grew dim. Darkness swallowing the witch and wizard whole.

He had done it. He had pulled every last piece of the curse out.

She was free.

Draco pressed his forefingers against her neck, two blood marks smeared across her throat. He sighed a breath of relief at the feel of her heartbeat.

Granger was still alive. She was alive.

He jumped off the bed and untwisted the healing potions with trembling hands. He shakily poured the purple cleaning potion into the vertical cut, detoxing it of any and all infectious diseases.

Still crying, he sewed her wounds together. Tears diving into the pool of dried blood smudged along the scarred back.

With a warm cloth, Draco cleaned all the red damage and droplets of his heartbreak. Wiping away any evidence of how much he loves her.

Hermione Granger had been dreaming of the Yule Ball when she was awoken by the feel of claws scratching at her back. She rolled around in blankets that were too scratchy, fighting to hold back a scream that was lodged in her throat.

Her chest heaved up and down, as sweat dripped down her forehead and onto the pillows below. She clutched the sheets at her side, struggling to resist the urge to itch the cuts across her broken skin.

In a moment of release, Hermione snapped her eyes open and shrieked out a cry of pain.

Malfoy's panic filled face entered her vision immediately. His hands clutched around her jaw, as she clenched her teeth together and groaned in pain.

"What's going on Granger?" He flicked between her eyes. "What's hurting?"

"My b-back." She muttered. "It burns."

Malfoy rolled her over to face down and lifted the shirt that she was wearing. His finger tracing was a cold relief to the heat radiating within her skin.

"The curse is all gone, your flesh is just reacting to the healing potion, okay? I will rub some cream on it to make it cool down." He explained, followed by summoning the jar with his wand.

Hermione bit down on the pillow against her face, while trying to control her rapid breaths.

The motion of Malfoy rubbing in the cold paste allowed her to calm down slightly. Her breaths got more steady as he massaged the scars, both firmly and gentle enough to not hurt.

"Better?" He asked, kneading the small of her back.

She nodded, releasing her teeth from the pillow and shifting her head to face the window. They must be in her grandmother's bedroom.

"What happened?" She kept her eyes on the dark sky outside.

"You started convulsing after I gave you the book." He explained softly. "The curse had latched itself to your spine and you had a seizure. I had to - I had to cut you completely open in order to get it all out."

Hermione could hear him holding back his emotions. She bit the inside of her lip to hand back her own tears.

"Did you?" She rasped. "Did you get it all out?"

Malfoy took a moment to answer but moved to rub her shoulders. "Yeah, Granger. It's all gone."

Hermione tightened her eyes shut. She hadn't felt relief like this since she watched Voldemort fall to his death.

"Malfoy?" She whispered.

"Yeah?" He breathed back.

"Thank you."

Hermione felt Malfoy's hands stop the massage. His palms stuck to her back for a second before he pulled the shirt down and rolled her back over to face the other way.

He bent down in front of the mattress so they were face to face. His eyes looked haunted, haunted with the memory of ripping her open just like he had been those years ago. In a sick way, she wished that he was the one to be struck by Crawford, just so she could take this nightmare away from him.

"You should never thank me, Granger." He tucked a curl behind her ear. "I am the one who hurt you like this."

Hermione crossed her brows in anger and sat up onto her forearm. "You are not responsible for any of this."

"Yes I-"

"No you are not!" Her voice level escalated.

"If I had just done what my father had asked me to do, then maybe-"

"Do you regret being my friend?" She interrupted a little rudely.

"Not for a second, Granger." He met her aggression. "But if being your friend means the cost of watching you suffer, then I never should have gone into your office that day and asked for your fucking reference."

"I would take a wand to my back every single day if I had to, if it meant that I got to be your friend. Don't you get that?"

"You shouldn't have to!" He snapped, frustration dancing in his eyes.

"But I would." She lowered her tone to a hum. "That is how much your friendship means to me. That is how much you mean to me."

Hermione placed her palm on the bone of his cheek, the stubble prickling at her fingers. His lips were a welcoming red shade, almost calling out to her own.

Malfoy pulled himself away from her touch, causing her arm to flop against the side of the mattress.

"You uh-" He cleared his throat. "You should rest. Do you want me to stay? In case anything happens?"

Hermione looked up at him in the dark room. He looked so tired. It had probably been days since he last slept.

"I want you to stay." She invited.

"Okay, I will be-"

"Can you… Can you stay with me in my bed?" Her voice quivered.

Malfoy put one hand through his hair, and the other in his pocket. A double habit whammy.

"Please." She begged.

He gave a small nod before walking over to the side near the window. Hermione whimpered as she rolled herself over to face him. Even his silhouette was striking in the moonlight.

Malfoy took his shoes off one at a time before lifting the blankets. A cold breeze brushed against Hermione's legs as he slid in and made himself comfortable.

Hermione liked how much his beard had grown over the last few days. It made him look older than he was.

"I was dreaming about the Yule Ball before I woke up." She nuzzled her head into the pillow.

Malfoy blew a soft breath out of his nose and turned to face her. "Do not let Weasley know you are dreaming about your ex boyfriends."

"Don't act like you would not love to see his reaction." She smirked.

He tried to contain his smile, but failed and let a few teeth show. He always had nice teeth. Her parents would have appreciated that.

"What was happening in this dream of yours?" Malfoy asked, flipping to mirror her position.

"Well…" She inhaled, "It was more of a memory than a dream. At first I was with Krum on the dancefloor, having a very lovely time. Then the night had ended and I was making my way up to Gryffindor common room, when I overheard a couple fighting. I am not sure what possessed me to find them, but I was quite shocked seeing the girl hitting the boy in a dark corridor. She was yelling at him for not paying enough attention to her."

Malfoy lowered his brow and tilted his chin. "Do you know who they were?"

"Yes. It was you and Pansy."

Hermione watched him start to reflect on that night on his own accord. It must not have been that big of a deal if he could not remember it without prompt.

"Ah yes, I remember that fight." He pursed his lips. "She was upset because all of the boys were fixated over a certain curly haired witch's makeover, rather than the overpriced gown she had bought."

"Pansy was mad because of me?" Her voice went up in pitch.

"No. Pansy was frustrated because I too was flustered at the way you looked that night, and did not pay her attention. She had a right to hit me that time."

"She hit you more than once?"

Malfoy raised his eyebrows and bit the inside of his lip. "Sometimes. If I did enough to piss her off."

"Does she still hit you now?" Hermione was starting to get a little concerned over the affair that he and Pansy shared.

"No, Granger."

She wanted to inch closer to him under the blankets, but the sticky subject of Malfoy's love life did not seem like the most appropriate time.

"Does Astoria know about your affair with Pansy?"

"No." He replied bluntly.

"Does Pansy know about Astoria?"

"Merlin, Granger, all these questions are starting to paint me as a skirt-chasing prick." Malfoy sniggered.

Hermione held her serious facial expression. "Well?"

"Yes, Pansy knows about Astoria." He gave in. "And before you ask any more questions about my love life, let me answer them for you. No, I am not sleeping with Pansy anymore. Yes, I am aware of how badly I have affected her and Theo's relationship. No, I am not going to go back even if Astoria and I split."

They felt like honest answers, but something was telling Hermione that he was holding something back from her. She had the suspicion there was a good reason for it.

"I can't believe you thought I looked pretty and the ball." She teased.

"Piss off." He scoffed. "You know you looked beautiful that night."

"I worked quite hard on my hair."

"Oh, I am sure."

Hermione took a deep breath in and out, wincing as the skin on her expanded.

"Are you okay?" Malfoy asked in a change of panic, flicking his eyes between hers.

"I think so." She replied, repositioning herself to feel more comfortable.

Malfoy pulled the duvet blanket over her shoulders. "You should sleep, Granger."

Hermione kind of enjoyed how he would use her surname all the time. After all their years of friendship, neither had referred to one another by their birth name. She wondered if either would ever surrender one day.

"Promise you will stay? You'll stay until I wake up?"

Malfoy leant in and kissed her on the forehead. "Whatever you want."

That night, Hermione dreamt of the Yule Ball once more. Only this time, it was Malfoy that held her on the dance floor.