A/N: just so that you know…Draco has secrets, as I have hinted bellow, and it will take a while for Hermione to heal, I will also explain why that is so(in next chapter), let me just say that this is a romance fic, so if you don't know what's going to happen then that's just strange…anyway, this is a chapter about the time Hermione spends, unconscious/ waking up and the next 2 or 3 chapters will be spent in this room also…
I'm sorry if it's bad…but as I said, he has secrets I don't think now would be a good time to reveal them…Enjoy…
With love,
Hpobsession…
Hermione could here a soft voice near her head and clung to it, it was low and deep, smooth and refined, it told tales of years at a school, spent laughing at her, and a secret yearning for her affection. She was happy listening to the voice that told her its secrets that trusted her to listen and not to judge. Yet as the days wore on and she did not wake, she could not figure out who or why they were there. She only remembered her mission, and watching a beautiful horse race across a grassy paddock, ridden by a shimmering, fascinating creature, bold and brilliant. He had an aura that spoke of a thousand secrets. And yet the days still wore on, and Hermione ignored the pain that shot through her body, and embraced the soothing feeling of cool cloth against her brow….
XXxxXX
So cold…Hermione thought as she cuddled her arms closer, the satin sheets were doing nothing to warm her and the bed's mattress was abnormally stiff. BED! Hermione thought frantically as she tried to gauge her surroundings. She could feel the skin on her legs touch the satin, she knew that second that she was naked. She sat up in to bed she had been put in and pulled the cold sheets over her bare chest. Her head was tender as she gingerly touched her left temple with a long finger. How did I get here? Then images of her assignment floated through her head.
"Idiot!" Hermione spat into the dark room, the only light was a thin sliver shining across the dark floor. She heard a cough and squinted her eyes to look into the far corner of what she was hoping to be an empty bedroom, when a brilliant light blinded her. Someone had quickly opened the large drapes from which the sliver of light had shone between.
It took several attempts at opening her eyes to finally see clearly. There standing in a fine cloak of dark blue lined in a glistening white was, the handsome heir.
"Idiot?" he drawled in a mocking tone, "I am not an idiot." He finished more seriously.
"Where am I?" Hermione found the nerve to ask after catching her breath and calming her heart rate. She watched him carefully as he moved to sit in a chair at the end of her bed. Only then did she notice the black cloak hanging limply on one of the waist high pillars.
"You," he paused, "wait…what are you doing here?" he asked. Hermione became rather agitated at this, for she, not knowing where she was, did not know how to answer that question. She stared dumbfounded at him, before he raised an eyebrow.
"Where am I?" She asked again finding confidence deep down inside. He crossed his arms across his chest and raised the other eyebrow.
"You are at the Malfoy Manor, now tell me, why are you here?" He uncrossed his arms and moved forward in his seat, poised in attention. He held her gaze, never blinking, and Hermione couldn't help but be mesmerised by the gleaming silver and pale blue, beneath long curved lashes. Evil…too bad…Hermione concluded and came back to reality.
"That is none of your business." She stated firmly and shifted in the bed, but stopped as her leg throbbed and her head swam. "Ouch!" She hissed and furrowed her brow in frustration. Hermione saw in the corner of her eye, Draco jump from his seat, but immediately sat back down, in a straight backed, regal position. Hermione looked at him in close scrutiny and was again surprised to find uneasiness in his eyes. But as surely as it was there it had vanished, replaced with a cold indifferent stare.
"Well…" he began, "seeing as this is my families estate, and you were found in the vicinity of my wing, then you must forgive me for not believing you when you say this is none of my business." He stated also in a firm voice, sitting back and once more crossing his arms across his chest. His eyes were hooded as he watched her, Hermione felt exposed in her nakedness, even underneath the sheets, and drew the sheets (discreetly) tighter around her.
"Why am I here?" She asked, "How long have I been here?" she completely ignored his short speech and focused on hiding the fact that the sheets had triggered the arousal of her nipples.
"It seems, if I may be so blunt, that you have lost your mind." He finished with a satisfied smirk. Then looked away from her to give her time to cover up. "You've been unconscious for just over two weeks, you had a rather bad head injury."
"I have not lost my mind!" She pouted, but caught herself and stopped. "Why am I still here? Surely I could have been healed by now?" She asked, she wondered why she could not feel any magic around her injuries.
He paused.
"Why are you here?" He repeated once more, this time more forcefully.
"I was sent here by Professor Mcgonagall." She stated, she might as well have told the truth; she was in enough trouble as it was, and the plan was not to tell him exactly why. "To see how you were…" she finished lamely and sat still waiting for his answer. She was feeling very cold and rubbed her arm subconsciously.
Draco noticed her uneasiness and decided to leave her.
"Fine! He through his arms up in defeat, "don't tell me…it doesn't matter now, you're a trespasser…father will do what he does to all trespassers." He finished and got up to leave. Hermione was surprised at his rather childish behaviour and bowed her head to smile. "By the way, you will have to find your own clothes, you are in my guest room, I'm sure there is something in that armoire in that corner," he waved lazily at a large mahogany armoire planted in between a mannequin draped in a silky cloak and a hat stand. "I have no shoes that will fit you, dress swiftly and wait outside that door for further instructions." He stopped and strode towards the door.
"Where are my clothes?" Hermione asked incredulously, "Surely you can't expect me to where anything from this place!" She yelled at his back. He stopped mid stride.
"Well…" he paused and began fumbling to put his hands in his pockets, " they were destroyed." He turned around and Hermione began to feel nervous at the shiftiness of his eyes and the shuffling of his feet on the marble floor. "You were not fit to take off your own clothing, so you needed assistance, in the process they were incinerated."
Hermione swallowed a lump in her throat that had formed when he mentioned 'assistance'. "What type of assistance?" she paused for a moment, "Who helped me?" Hermione asked quietly as she tightened her grip on the surrounding sheets. She watched as his mouth dropped open then quickly shut again, "Why am I naked?" Hermione asked in a shaky voice, "And I can't get out, not on my own anyway!" she exclaimed, as her cheeks grew warm and began to redden. His face also took on a pink tinge; she could feel heat roll off of him. At this she knew it was Draco who had helped her undress. She eyed him suspiciously.
"You needed assistance…" he said slowly, " It's your fault you're in this state!" He didn't quite meet her eyes.
"BUT WHY AM I NAKED!" Hermione retaliated with a roar. Draco looked taken aback but refused to weaken at the acid tongue of the insolent cow.
" I told you that I had NO clothes for you!" He hissed and watched her quiver.
"Why did you help me?" she asked weakly and let her head fall back down on the pillow. She was weak, and didn't need to sit to talk. It had only hit her now, that he must have been the one who had been speaking to her. "I thought you would have killed me?"
"It was mercy…don't expect any more." He said in a hollow voice, his face devoid of expression. He shut the drapes and Hermione could hear the tapping of his footsteps as he left the room. She shut her eyes and allowed the confrontation to drift to the back of her mind, allowing instead the whispers of her saviour to sing her to sleep.
He hates you Hermione…Hermione thought to herself. It was mercy…
But he let you live… Her conscious answered, surely that means something…it must have been more then just mercy…
"Thankyou Draco…" Hermione spoke softly to the silent room.
Little did Hermione know, Draco stood listening outside her door, a soft smile tugging at the corner of his lips. With a swish, he was walking down the hall; images of Hermione ran through his mind, images that involved the sheet neatly folded away…
A/N: Sorry I know this chapter's bad, but I had a sudden stroke of inspiration, that was for chapter 3 and 4, so I needed this to set it up…I know I know it's terrible but bare with me, it will get better!
With love,
Hpobsession.
