As soon as the door was locked, Draco gave a curt nod to Ginny and pulled a small stool up to the side of Hermione's bed. Draco picked up Hermione's hand and brushed the top of it with his thumb. After taking a deep breath, he replaced her hand on the bed and picked up the healer's bag. His hands trembled as he picked up and examined the bottles inside.
"So are you going to explain?" Ginny asked, walking up beside him.
"Explain what?" Draco asked without looking up.
"Why we can't touch her," Ginny pressed irritably.
Draco placed a small jar on the bedside table and continued digging through the bag, ignoring Ginny's question. The crease in Ginny's brow deepened as she realized Draco had no intention to answer her. Draco placed another, slightly bigger jar onto the nightstand. Ginny stared sadly at the girl in the bed. She looked so pale and fragile. Feeling more irritated, she looked back at Draco. Hermione trusted him. Lupin had told her just how desperately she tried to convey her loyalty to him. After seeing how possessive and frightened Draco was for her, she couldn't help but trust him too, but after the others left the room Draco's features returned to the cold stone-like demeanor that she'd always known and she was beginning to worry. He looked so intense.
"Would you stop looking at me like that?" Draco grumbled without looking up. He didn't need to look at Ginny to know that she was watching him again with that intense calculating stare.
"Then answer my question," Ginny demanded. "What did they do to her that we can't touch her?"
Draco paused as he poured a bit of potion into a small shot glass. Only after replacing the stopper in the bottle did he answer her. "I never said you can't touch her. I said I wouldn't let you," Draco corrected.
"What?!" Ginny shouted in outrage. "I asked if you knew something we didn't. I asked if it would hurt her if we touched her and you said-"
"And it would hurt her. In ways you wouldn't understand," Draco answered heatedly, looking up to the set of blazing blue eyes. He was upset at the insinuation that he was lying, but he stayed calm, his eyes stern. He glanced at Hermione and his face softened, his eyes becoming sad. "I promised her that I'd protect her any way that I could. It-it would hurt her for people to see her like this. She didn't want anyone to see what she's suffered…" Draco's voice drifted with his eyes. Ginny's anger ebbed away as he spoke, the sadness in his voice leaving her no doubt of the sincerity of his words.
"I'm sorry…" Ginny said quietly.
Draco shook his head sadly, dismissing her apology. He understood her distrust. In fact, he was impressed by her ability to trust him as much as she did. He wasn't sure that if he were in her place that he would have allowed him in the house at all. Pushing these thoughts aside, he picked up the tiny glass of potion and gently brushed his hand over Hermione's cheek.
"Draco…" Hermione mumbled almost inaudibly.
"Hermione?" Draco asked in surprise. "Hermione?"
Draco and Ginny stared at her intensely waiting for a response, but none came. "I-I think she's still sleeping…" Ginny said quietly.
"Hermione, It's Draco," he said softly. "I'm going to heal you now. I'm going to give you this potion. I need you to drink it…" After waiting another few seconds for a response that didn't come, Draco tilted Hermione's head up and poured the potion into her slightly parted lips.
"What is that?" Ginny asked.
"It's for broken bones," Draco answered. Draco gently stroked a finger over Hermione's throat, coaxing her to swallow the potion.
"They…?" Ginny started.
"I'm not sure anything is broken, but I'm concerned that she might possibly have a small fracture in her skull. Her ribs have also been tender. It can't hurt," Draco explained. He was about to place the bottle back in the bag, but in a small afterthought, he uncorked the bottle and took a gulp of it himself before returning it to the bag. Draco picked up the small jar from the table and looked down at it in thought. He closed his eyes and sighed before turning to Ginny. "Will-will you stun her?"
"What?!" She asked incredulously.
Draco sighed again and rubbed his face. He knew this was the response he would receive. "This will hurt and I don't want her to feel it. I could give her a sleeping draught, but I'm afraid she still might wake. We'll revive her as soon as we're done. It won't hurt her."
Ginny bit her lip. She knew it wouldn't hurt, but it still felt wrong to stun her friend, especially in the state she was in. "Stupefy," Ginny muttered. She was relieved when Hermione's body showed no change. She still looked as though she were peacefully sleeping.
"Thank you," Draco said quietly. Now he could finally get started. He pulled the floral blanket down to Hermione's waist and reached a hand up the slate blue jumper, pulling Hermione's arms out of the sleeves and gently tugging it over her head. Ginny gasped as soon as the shirt was pulled away. She had imagined that Hermione must have been injured, especially with the state she was in when Lupin arrived with her, but this was beyond what she had imagined. Hermione's body was much thinner than before, her ribs now visible beneath her severely bruised skin. Bruises, varying in intensity and age, were scattered over her chest and arms. Ginny's eyes followed the long gash from Hermione's collar bone down to where it vanished beneath the waist of the black cotton boxers on her side. Draco's hand interrupted Ginny's evaluation as he began slathering a violet pulpy ointment down the large cut. Both Draco and Ginny cringed with sympathy pain as they heard the mixture sizzle in the wound.
"It will clean it and begin to cauterize it so it won't bleed anymore before I can seal it," Draco explained.
"I know," Ginny replied quietly. Ginny's brows furrowed as she looked over the top of Draco's arm. There on Hermione's right breast was an unmistakable bite mark, and an identical one of her left shoulder. Ginny's heart pounded as realization washed over her. "They raped her…" she breathed.
Draco looked up at Ginny miserably then back down at Hermione, saying nothing as he returned to his work, pasting liberal amounts of ointment over each small cut he found. Draco, feeling he got everything, pulled back in his seat to examine her, the fingers on his right hand dripping with purple ointment, while he held the jar in his left.
"I think you got it," Ginny assured. "But you might want to…" Ginny gestured towards Draco's chest. Draco gave a tiny snort of amusement. He could only imagine how terrible he looked just then. There was barely an inch of his chest that wasn't covered in dried blood. Which parts were his blood and which parts were Hermione's, he didn't know. Draco took one last scoop of ointment and put some on his chest and neck. As soon as he did he hissed in pain as it stung and bubbled in his open wounds. Draco gritted his teeth and breathed slowly as he screwed the cap back on. Gradually the pain subsided and he turned to Ginny again.
"You know I'm going to need your wand," Draco said. They both knew he would, from the moment she accepted, she knew she would have to give it to him. And it was lucky for Draco that no one else seemed to think of this issue.
"I know." Ginny pressed her lips together and reluctantly relinquished her wand. It wasn't that she didn't trust him. In fact, in the last few minutes she came to trust him much more than she ever thought she could, but lending her wand to anyone was uncomfortable. Wizards and witches could become very emotionally attached to their wands and it hurt to allow another person to use it. Ginny shook her thoughts. This was for Hermione.
Draco nodded in appreciation and quietly began uttering healing spells under his breath, tracing the wand over the cuts that were covered in the drying purple ointment. Draco concentrated extra hard as he healed the large gash, the skin pulling itself together and sealing itself, leaving pink scar in its place. Draco frowned. He had hoped that the scar would be lighter, more faint. But it had been open too long and would forever bear a scar as a reminder.
Draco grabbed the edges of the blanket again, but stopped and looked seriously at Ginny. "You know that I won't... violate her, right?" He asked tentatively. He almost sounded as if he were pleading that she believed him incapable of such a thing.
"If I didn't trust you, I wouldn't have given you my wand," Ginny pointed out, hoping that her actions would speak louder than her words.
Draco nodded and pulled the blanket off of Hermione's legs. Ginny gasped and covered her mouth in horror as she saw the dried blood smeared on the insides of Hermione's thighs. Ginny had already understood Draco's insistence to not let the others see her in such a state, but now she felt indecent herself to see the extent of her suffering.
"It's not from rape or something like that," Draco said quickly, but still softly. It was the first time he had used the word 'rape' to describe what happened to Hermione. He knew it was what had taken place, but he could never bring himself to say it. "At least that's what she said. It's just a cut on the inside of one of her thighs. When she moves, it smears..." Draco's voice kept getting softer. He didn't feel comfortable explaining any of this.
Draco swallowed hard and slowly removed the boxer shorts from her body. He knew that Hermione trusted him, and Ginny agreed that she did also, but Draco couldn't help but feel indecent in exposing her. It was uncomfortable enough working on her upper half, but at least then she was still partially covered. But now, in her nudity, she look more vulnerable than ever. Draco turned his eyes from her and took a deep breath. This is not wrong. I'm only healing her. Draco removed the lid again from the purple ointment, pulled back one of Hermione's legs and quickly spread the pulpy substance over wound. Draco glanced at the short brown curls at the apex of her thighs, then looked up at Ginny.
"Can you heal?" He asked hopefully. Ginny just shook her head, her eyebrows furrowed. "I'm...I'm just going to check..." Draco swallowed hard and spread Hermione legs. Slowly he spread her labia and examined her very briefly before pulling away and closing her legs. "You... um... she... I don't think it's serious..."
Ginny nodded solemnly. "She looks like she's alright," Ginny agreed uncomfortably. "If it hurts, I'm sure she'll let someone help."
Draco nodded. "Please don't tell anyone that-that..."
"I won't," Ginny said seriously. She could only imagine the reactions that her bothers or Harry might have if they knew how intimate Draco was in healing Hermione. Each scenario she imagined resulted in severe damage done to Malfoy. And he really didn't deserve it. Never had she imagined he could be so gentle and caring. Draco grabbed the last jar from the nightstand and began rubbing a creamy butter-like lotion into the many bruises covering Hermione's body, starting from the bottom up, covering her with the blanket as he went. Draco pulled the blanket up to her shoulders and lightly massaged the lotion on her neck and forehead. He set the container down and looked at the left over lotion on his hand. Not wanting to waste it, he gladly rubbed it onto his face where Lestrange had kicked him just hours ago. Just the few light brushes of cream started numbing the swollen tissue immediately. He could actually feel its progress as it completely healed in less than thirty seconds.
"Well," Draco said. "I think that's about all I can do." Ginny nodded and Draco picked up Ginny's wand from the bedside table. He looked hopefully at Hermione's pale face as he pointed the wand at her. "Rennervate."