"Hermione, wake up", you hear the soft voice of Luna on the other side of the dormitory. You grumped at her and she furrows her eyebrows. "Are you okay?", she asks as reply.
"Yes I am", you give her a weakly smile. "I'll be at breakfast in a minute."
"Do you need anything?". "No Luna, I said I'm fine", you replied quite irritated. Luna nodded slightly and walked away to the great hall.
You dropped your head back in your pillow, regretting you told Luna you were fine. The truth is you did not get any sleep because you had the worst periodcramps ever this night. You just got to take some rest, when the other girls in the dorm woke up and were getting ready for today's classes, laughing hard, and making fun. "Five more minutes", you said to yourself. You pull your knees against your chin to reduce the pressure on your lower abdomen close your eyes.
You wake up almost half an hour later. You're in so much pain that you're hesitating to stay in bed for de rest of the day, but you know you're having class with your boyfriend Draco for the first hours. Normally he would have understood if you had stayed in bed on the first day of your period, but he has had a terrible week. Last night he had a meeting with the deatheathers, and you know he needs you at this moment more than you need him.
While looking at the clock you realize that you have to be in Professor Snape's classroom in ten minutes, otherwise detention will follow. You jump out of bed, which is followed by a huge stab in your lower back. You decide to ignore this for a while and run to the bathroom, tidy your hair, get dressed quickly and tie your tie. You feel on your body that it is better to stay in bed and that feeling is reinforced when you look at yourself as white as a ghost in the mirror.
In your haste you can't find your school bag, so you run towards the dungeons with only your potion book.
Just in time you slide into the school desk and Snape closes the door behind you. While panting, you look at the place next to you. Normally Draco sits there, but now he is nowhere to be seen. "Shit", you think to yourself. Your cramps, which you had almost forgotten for a moment, come back in a flash and you close your eyes for a few seconds to bite through the pain. "Mrs. Granger," you hear professor Snape say slowly. "If you want to sleep, you should have stayed in bed." "We are going to work on a transfiguration potion today, open your book on page 372 and follow the steps. Mr. Weasley and Mrs. Lovegood work together, Parvati and Longbottom form and couple and Mrs. Granger work on the potency with Mr. Potter."
You are happy to work with someone you are good friends with and together you throw the ingredients in the kettle. Occasionally, you are moving from one foot to the other, bending over to accommodate the cramps, rubbing your stomach. "Is everything okay?" Harry asks concerned. "Yes, I'm fine. Thank you", you answer softly. "Hermione," he continues without Snape hearing your conversation. "You're as white as Peeves, haven't said a word and you look like you're in unbelievable pain. I've known you for six years now and that's long enough to know you're not feeling well. Can you please tell me what is going on so I can help you?"
The pain and worry about Draco increase in an instant and you get tears in the eyes of Harry's kind words. "Cramps", sighs to Harry as you look at your feet. "Cramps?" he repeats questioningly. "Period cramps". "Oh". There was a moment of silence until Harry cleared his throat. "Is there anything I can do for you?" he asks. "As he asks you feel something wet on you. That's when you realize you've had your period and you didn't put in a tampon. You look at the school desk. "Bloody hell," you slur softly, realizing that you forgot your bag in the dorm this morning. You move a little closer to Harry and whisper the situation to him."I don't know what to do Harry", you say with tears in your eyes again. "Is there a problem here", you hear Snape's voice behind you. You immediately turn around because you don't want to show Snape that you leaked. You think for a moment about what you want to answer. Basically, you just want to confess that you've had your period and want to go back to bed, but you definitely don't want Snape to know about your monthly struggles. Besides, Snape is never going to give you permission to leave without a good reason. In addition, not only your lower abdomen, but also your back is now so cramped that you can use a painpotion. And who better to turn to than Snape. "Maybe you can tell him", you hear Harry whisper as he gently strokes your back. – Snape: "Tell me what Mrs. Granger? And hurry up, 'cause you're dividing my precious time."
Meanwhile, the whole class looks at the scene between the school desks and you feel your cheeks turn red. "Maybe I can talk to you privately, Professor?" you ask as you stare at your feet. Snape actually wants to grab the situation to make it even more awkward, but stares at you questionably: 'Normally she's so confident, but today she seems so small and fragile. She looks bad, almost sick.' "Follow me to my desk", said the professor. "And the first to interfere with us gets to stay in detention." Before you run after professor Snape, someone taps you on the shoulder. Luna is standing next to you with a worried face. "Hermione, you have leaked unwise", she whispers into you. She bends over and ties her sweater around your waist to make the red spot less noticeable. "Thank you Luna. And... I'm sorry I was so moody this morning", you tell her. "No problem. I'll come and check with you later", Luna says, then she skips away towards her kettle."
Reluctantly you walk towards Snape's desk, who has just followed the situation but still doesn't understand much about it. "What's the matter with you, Granger?" he asks. Normally his voice is loud and piercing, but right now it sounds more concerned. You take a deep breath and decide to tell him the truth, because the pain is almost unbearable and you really need help. "My period just started, I forgot my tampons and I'm having a lot of cramps," you chuckle. You see your professor's face turn red and you immediately regret that you gave out your secret. While thinking, he sits down a little deeper in his chair and suddenly walks away without saying a word. "I could sink through the ground, how stupid that I did this", you whisper to yourself. Just then, Snape returns with a small package. "Here, he says. Can you freshen up a bit?" Gratefully you take the package and you run to the nearest toilet room. You unpack the package and breathe a sigh of relief when you see it filled with pads and tampons. You grab what you need and make your way towards the dungeons, to attend the last minutes of the lesson. Knowing you're not leaking anymore, Draco's worries return.
"Shall I walk with you to the great hall for lunch?", Harry asks concerned as soon as you walk into the classroom. He also noted that Draco is not there, while you are normally inseparable. "Please", answer you with a smile. Class will be over at eleven. "Mrs. Granger. Would you like to come here for a while," Snape hears in the background. Actually, you don't want to talk about your period with your professor again, but you know you don't have a choice. "I'm waiting in the hallway," Harry says. You walk back to the desk with your book in hand. "Have you seen Draco yet?" Snape looks at you questioningly. "No", you say while shaking your head. Snape also knows that you need Draco right now. Every teacher knows, you are known as THE love couple at Hogwarts. "Professor, do you maybe have something for the stomachache?", you ask out of the blue. You bite your lip to endure a cramp and hope for the answer what you want to hear, but alas." There is no such thing as anti-menstrual pointing, Ms. Granger. "And in the future, it's helpful if you stay away from my class during this time of the month." You look up in surprise and see Snape's serious face. "Sorry professor", you say startled and you almost run out of the room, after which you bump into Harry in the hallway. The impact sends a shiver through your whole body and you cling to the wall so as not to stand out from the pain. Before the door closes behind you, Snape sees you sink to your knees.
Harry lets his books fall from his hands and catches you as you sit on the floor crying. "Let me take you back to your dorm," Harry says as he wraps an arm around you. "No, no!" you almost scream. "I'm sure Draco will be waiting for me at lunch, and I can't live without him right now." With one arm around Harry and the other arm around your abdomen, you walk together to the lunch table. As soon as you go through the doors of the great hall you look at the Slytherin table, but there is no one in the place where your blond boyfriend normally sits. At this point your worries start to strike even more, it's not like Malfoy to hide from you for so long and you wonder if you said something wrong. In addition to the pain that spreads throughout your body, you suddenly feel everything go limp and you start to yawn. You are in the middle of the room with Harry when Luna and Ron walk up and start talking to Harry. You don't even hear what they say until you feel someone grab you tight. "Come on, Hermione, I'll put you to bed," Luna says. You feel it's the best option, and let yourself be taken without a fight to the Gryffindor common room. Ron and Harry's concerned looks watch you slowly walk away.
You are put to bed and tucked in by Luna and you immediately lie down in a fetal position to make the pain a little more bearable. Luna lifts the covers and places a hot water bottle on your stomach, after which you heave a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Luna,", you say while lifting your head slightly. Luna looks concerned because you look terrible. "Is there anything I can do for you, Hermione?" she asks softly, placing her hand on your forehead. "There might be one thing," you say carefully. "Could you see if Draco is in his dorm?" "I'm going to do that for you right away, try to relax in the meantime", Luna shouts before walking out of the dormitory.
You get more and more tired and fall deeper and deeper, until you hear soft footsteps walking towards you. It's Luna sitting on the edge of your bed. "Draco is indeed in his dorm, but I thought it best not to speak to him. Rest now and I'll take you to him tonight," she whispers, not waking you up. You nod softly, despite not agreeing. "I'm going back to class now so you can sleep, if you need me, I'll be there soon", she continues softly, after which she takes her books and walks downstairs. The moment you hear the fat lady's door open and close, sit up straight. What did Luna mean by the Draco not being approachable?!
You decide to postpone resting and put your foot on the floor to get out of bed. The pain has made you sweat and your shirt clings to your body. Yet you are so cold that you take a sweater from your closet and put it on. You put on your hood to hide your pale face a bit and you slowly walk towards the door. You're still in pain so you know it's not a smart idea to walk through the school to the Slytherin dorm now, but you don't have a choice. Every fiber in your body is screaming that your boyfriend needs you, so you bite through the pain and shuffle slowly through the castle. Once you reach the door, you lean against the wall. "'Pureblood' is the password", you said quickly before a huge moan follows. The door swings open and you run in as fast as you can, up the stairs and into Draco's dorm. In the back bed you see someone lying with his back to you and you hear soft sobbing. "love", you ask softly? A cramp follows and you almost fall to your knees again, but you try to stay strong for the pile of human beings before you. "Hermione?" do you hear softly. The blond heap of human turns around and you can finally see his face. He is also pale and his eyes are swollen from crying, yet your heart skips a beat, you are so in love with this man. You walk up to him without saying a word and he immediately slides to the side to dive into your arms as soon as you lie down. He hugs you so hard you want to scream in the stomachache, but you hold your ground for him.
Draco rests his head on your shoulder so he can't see your face and doesn't seem to notice that you're in pain because of his grief. "What happened?" you ask him as you run your fingers through his strokes. Malfoy starts talking about last night's Death Eaters meeting. About that he is expected to join the community and about the violent things that are expected of him. You are shocked and don't know what to react when the tears flow down his cheeks again. "Everything will be fine", you try to reassure him. What he doesn't know is that you can't escape crying either and the hormones only make it worse. Your fingers are still running through Draco's hair as you feel his body gain weight and he slowly falls asleep. Knowing that he is safe in your arms also ensures that you can relax more and lie back. Slowly but surely your eyes close and you actually get the chance to rest.
You wake up with a start as dusk falls and silence in the common Slytherin room is filled with voices. Next to you is Draco who is still exhausted from the hard hours he has had, and you look at him with love. Suddenly you notice something, a red spot on the bed. "Oh no", you said to yourself. Draco also slowly wakes up and you try to hide the stain, but it was already too late. "Love, are you okay?" he asks as he also sits up in bed. His eyes were still red from crying, but his face had already taken on a bit more color. Now that he really saw you, he realized how bad you look. You can no longer keep your emotions to yourself and decide to throw out all the frustrations of today. Your shoulders start to shake and Draco presses against you. "Please tell me what's going on, love," he says, pressing a kiss to your forehead. "I didn't sleep because of my cramps, got my period during Potions class, leaked in the middle of the class and made a fool of myself in front of Professor Snape. I can't take it anymore Draco, the pain is too bad and I don't know what to do to make it stop. I want to tear my ovaries out and not feel anything anymore," you sob as you press your head into his shirt. "Honey, why didn't you say anything to me?" Draco asks, startled. He feels guilty because everything revolved around him before you fell asleep. "Because you're having a bad week too and need me," you continue sobbing.
The blond Slytherin boy gently pulls you back to bed and gets up to fill the bath with hot water, because he knows it will help with your cramps. Then he walks back to pick you up and lifts you to the bath. You don't say anything, but smile as he helps you undress and get into the water. "Enjoy this time to yourself, I'll be right back," he says as he pulls your orange curls away from your eyes. "Hmm," you moan with your eyes closed. After half an hour Draco enters the bathroom. "Will you come with me, love?" you hear softly and you open your eyes. On the sink are jogging bottoms, your favorite hoodie of him, a box of tampons and a vase with flowers. Before you make an effort to get out of the bath, Draco is standing next to you. He wraps an arm around you and helps you dry off, before leaving you alone to get dressed. After getting ready, you walk back to Draco's bed. He spreads his legs and you take a seat against his stomach, after which he hands you a box of chocolate and a cup of tea. "You're way too good for me," you sigh. Only then do you notice how hungry you are after a day without eating anything, you put a chocolate in your mouth and sigh deeply when you taste how delicious you like this. "Come and sit a little closer," he says. You slide back and you feel how Draco places his warm hands on your stomach and begins to massage gently. Your whole body relaxes and after a whole day full of stress and pain, you finally feel a little better. "I love you so much", you say to Draco as you lean even closer to him. "I love you even more," he whispers softly. While cuddling you fall asleep and a peaceful night follows.