Right, so I've beaten writer's block into temporary defeat, and here's my celebratory chapter. Hope you'll like : ) Remember to review while you're at it :D
Chapter 5: Abrasions
"Really, Granger, what has gotten into you these days?" Draco couldn't help asking as he watched his sort-of friend ease herself into a chair, gritting her teeth against her aches. "Sat on the beast you call a cat and got shredded to bits?"
"Keep your nose out of my business, Malfoy, before I do something to it that we'll both regret," she shot back peevishly, pulling out a couple of books and a stack of parchment from the bag at her feet. "And Crookshanks is not a beast."
"Ah, then perhaps 'murderous feline' may be more suitable." He smirked unrepentantly at her glare before studying her with uncharacteristic seriousness. "You know, Granger, you should take care of yourself more. You've been like this for days."
"Why, Malfoy, I didn't know you cared."
"I don't," came the flat reply. "I just noticed because you live next to me."
"Which is the most unfortunate thing that has ever happened to me in my entire life,"
she all but snapped at him.
"What about the time you were Petrified? I bet you were devastated by the number of lessons you missed."
"Shut up, Malfoy."
He simply grinned, knowing he had hit the nail on the head.
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"You are doing a remarkably poor job of concealing your discomfort," Snape commented archly.
She simply looked coolly at him over the quarterstaff she held, waiting for him to elaborate. A week and a half's worth of training had forced her to condition herself against his razor- sharp tongue, the only other option being permanent residence in St Mungo's.
He adjusted her grip on the length of the wood. "Wincing endlessly, moving stiffly..." he reeled off, rapping on the back of her knuckles. "Higher."
She obeyed, trying to concentrate on her exercises with the staff rather than his voice, but the next words bore into her skull relentlessly.
"I'm surprised Potter and Weasley have yet to notice, with your blatant physical marks," he continued, indicating the dark bruises that stood out against the pale skin of her arms and hands. "Surely you have covered Concealment Charms in your classes."
"We have," she answered carefully. "But I consider it a blatant waste of magic, seeing that they will heal and fade over time."
He sat down in a chair nearby, watching her perform the exercises he had shown her three days before. "And Mr Malfoy?"
"He did ask, but I threatened to do him serious bodily harm if he probed any further."
"Ah." He sounded smug. "At least the Head Boy is more perceptive than the two dunderheaded friends of yours."
She stopped herself from rolling her eyes, and checked an impulsive reply. He had a point though, a voice inside her conceded. Harry and Ron had been oblivious to her abnormal behaviour, and had no idea of her calling, which was a good thing. Right?
Then why was it she suddenly felt like crying?
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"Hey, mate," Ron was saying at that exact same moment in the Gryffindor Common Room.
The Boy-Who-Lived looked up from his perusal of the parchment before him. "Yeah?"
'D you notice something's up with Hermione lately?" At the significant look his friend gave him, he blushed and added hastily, "Maybe it's me, but she seems to be a little more distant these days, and looking really exhausted. And...the way she moves...it seems different, you know?"
Harry frowned, running ink-stained fingers through his unruly head of hair. "How?"
"I dunno, just more fluidly, I suppose..."
He grinned. "Really, Ron, you two have been dancing round each other since third year. When are you ever going to tell her?"
The redhead turned a deeper shade of crimson, if it was at all humanly possible, and leant in. "You don't suppose she knows, do you?
"Nah, I don't think so." Shaking his head, Harry bent to his homework again, making a mental note to check out Ron's observations for himself.
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Draco looked up from his homework as Hermione trudged into the common room. "You're early today. Back so soon from your exercise routine?"
She made a non-committal noise as she flopped onto the couch. His eyes widened as he saw the bruises dotting her forearms. "What did you do to yourself, Granger?"
She snatched her arms off the desktop. "I—I fell. On the stairs."
"I hardly think staircases can give you those marks. Besides, most of the stairs here in Hogwarts are carpeted."
"Never you mind," she replied brusquely, getting to her feet with a grimace. As she did her now-familiar disappearing act into her room, he shook his head. It wasn't his place to pry, but he figured Potty and the Weasel should be told.
Angel-wingzz: No, I'm not gonna make it a Hermione-Draco fic, but I hope this chapter wil be to your satisfaction while I beat my writer's block into complete submission. :P