Brightness of a Beloved Eye
Chapter 7: Working Together

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She nibbled on the end of the quill as she thought about what tactics to use against the formation I just informed her of. She always nibbling when she was thinking for something important like the Order. Many quills ended up in the rubbish bin at the end of the day due to her never ending nibbling.

I reached over to pull the quill away from her lips and handed her a lolli I'd purchased earlier with her in mind.

"Thank you."

She murmured the thanks and resumed her nibbling, this time on the lolli, and planning.

We'd been seeing each other every other night since the day I was revealed to the Order. It had been six months since then.

At first, we refused to stay in the same room for more than 15 minutes. One of us always ended up storming out the door angry at the other. We saw each other nearly once every two weeks to, at least, try to plan something, but it never worked out. Sometime around the second month, we came to an agreement. It was a truce.

I would not call her mudblood or insult her and she would try to tolerate my egotistical personality. We met once a week then.

I would still end up getting her angry when I insulted her friends and the other houses. And so she often left me in a rage. But I so loved to get her all riled up. Her flushed face, flashing eyes, and that wild hair just did something to me.

She realized, all too soon, in my mind, that I would get her riled up on purpose and she stopped taking to my bait. It was then that we started to see each other every other day.

I suspect she started to care for me over the summer. My father caught me when I was trying to sneak out. I missed that meeting with her.

The night after the next, she was angry at me for not informing her of the cancellation. I actually apologized and sat down forcefully in an armchair, forgetting about my back. I jumped up and yelped in pain.

I'd never yelped in my life. Why I did it that night, I wouldn't know. But I suspect it had to do with me wanting her to know that I didn't miss our meeting intentionally.

She immediately abated her fury and ordered me to strip off my shirt.

She ordered me, a mudblood ordering a Malfoy; it was unheard of. And yet, I listened to her and took off my white shirt carefully, to avoid irritating anything on my back.

She told me to lie down on the couch so she could properly examine my wounds.

While she cleaned my lashes with a burning antiseptic, I could hear her hiss in pain for me since I never made a sound.

"Who did this to you, Draco?"

She spoke it so softly that I didn't realize she spoke until she stopped moving and anticipated a response.

"My Father."

I said it so casually that she gasped aloud in shock and horror.

"How could a father ever do that to his son? I couldn't imagine…"

She sounded so heartbroken, so sorrowful, I couldn't help what I said next.

"It's alright, Hermione. I'm already used to it."

And that brought on another surprise for her.

"This isn't the first time?"

Double damn my unthinking mind and my mouth for uttering words.

I sighed aloud and explained very casually what I never told anyone in my life.

"Of course not. This is how my father gets me into shape. Once I do something out of line, it's a whipping. They only get harder and longer as I get older. But you learn to get used to it, you don't have a choice, really."

I half expected her to pity me, but what she did next surprised ME up to the high heavens.

She kissed the base of my neck and spoke with her lips touching my skin.

"I'm sorry you had such a rough childhood. I promise to plan so that everyone's can be safer and without such pain."

I swear I felt drops of tears on my back, but when I turned to look at her, her eyes were dry and a smile graced her face.

"I-I'll be fine in a few hours."

Did I actually stammer? To her?

I'm getting too soft. Being nice to mudbloods and joining with muggle-lovers. What is the world coming to?

"I got my letter from Hogwarts today. I made Head Girl."

"Yes, I'm aware, I made Head Boy."

She smiled at me.

"This will make planning a lot easier since we'll be sharing dormitories."

Merlin! I'd forgotten about that! Sharing a dormitory with HER?

I'm not going to get any sleep at night.

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Authoress's Notes:
I'm bored... so I decided to upload some more chapters. yay for the readers. and yay for reviews!

Ah… I still try to insert some funniness into my dark story. Well… I've tried. Can't say that I didn't. I don't like writing notes… bah.

Until next time. Remember to REVIEW.

…

Kristina Chang