Theretofore on GG:
"...And what do I need a bookshelf made of plywood and staples when I've got you to handcraft me whatever I want?" she teased, lightening the mood, and he smirked.
"Oh, you think that, do you?" he questioned, trapping her in an embrace from behind, and Hermione laughed, turning her head to aid in an anticipated kiss. "I really do love you, Manny."
"Expect me to doubt it, do you?" she jeered, but nursed Draco's inclined eyebrow with a well placed kiss to his chin. "Let me write a note to Faye and we'll go and sort through my things."...
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Chapter 10: Her Brand New Skin
"Are your eyes closed?" Hermione asked, though she knew full well that Marin was completely obstructed to light and very grumpily so.
"Yes; I've a three inch blindfold plastered to my face, Manny. I can't see anything. Where are we going, anyway?"
"If we told you that, it wouldn't be a surprise, would it?" Draco piped wittily, steering her through his little shop while Hermione walked behind them, closing doors and murdering lights. Marin huffed dispassionately, projecting her bottom lip in an incredibly ineffective puppy dog pout. "Now don't try that," Draco warned. "You'll see soon enough."
When the trio reached the top of the staircase, Draco released the younger of the girls and quickly opened the door, dragging her inside. Hermione followed cheerily, making sure to close the entrance behind her.
"Here, love," Hermione said, intercepting Marin from her boyfriend and directing her toward the plush toile couch in the living area. The darker girl sat and crossed her arms, looking impatient and anxious.
"Can I look now?" she asked and Hermione smiled as Draco came to stand beside her, lacing the fingers of his right hand around her corresponding hip.
"Yes, you can look," he answered, and Marin savagely ripped off her blindfold, blinking against the light and taking in all that was around her.
"Wicked..." she breathed to herself as her eyes graced the high, industrial ceiling. "Where am I?"
"My apartment," Draco quipped, having anticipated her question. Immediately, Marin turned to face her kidnappers.
"Really?" she asked, eyes narrowed in suspicion. He gave a defined nod.
"Indeed."
"And that's the surprise?"
"Well," Hermione said, smiling in amusement. "One of many." Draco smirked in agreement.
"What?" Marin asked, now completely confused. "Why? What's going on?" Unable to contain herself, Hermione broke free from Draco and sat beside their houseguest, wrapping her in a hug.
"Well..." the older woman repeated. "I know a certain someone who's turning fourteen."
"My birthday?" Marin asked, looking somewhat worried. "What did you plan, Manny?" Hermione's grin petered into a lopsided smile.
"Well, there's cake and presents in the kitchen... but there's a few more things we need to talk about, before all that," she said and Draco nodded his agreement as he sat on the opposite side of the lady of the hour. Hermione heaved a heavy sigh. "All right, first things first. I'm moving."
"Moving!" Marin exclaimed, sounding immediately devastated. She threw herself at Hermione. "No! You can't go!" Hermione laughed softly, sharing her embrace.
"Not like that, baby. I'm moving here, with Draco," she corrected amusedly and Marin looked up. "Faye's moving into student housing, so we'll have to have sessions here instead. That's one of the reasons I've brought you here." Marin sat up, stiffly.
"Oh," she mumbled, flushing in self-embarrassment. "That's all right, then..."
"Which," Draco interjected. "Brings us to the first gift." He reached into his breast pocket and withdrew a black velvet sachet. Marin sighed.
"You guys..." she started, meaning to refuse their offerings, but Hermione laughed, interrupting her.
"Don't get too excited about this one, love," she warned, and Marin accepted the gift into her hands with curiosity.
"What is it?" she asked, feeling something hard and flat within the confines of the bag. Draco smirked.
"Open it," he suggested, and she did, slowly, extracting the simple silver key, laced on a linked chain.
"Erm... what is it?" she repeated, and Hermione laughed, wrapping her arms around the young girl's shoulders.
"It's a key," she stated illusively, as if revealing some secret. Marin looked up.
"A key to what?"
"Our front door," Draco provided, earning himself a sudden look from their guest. "This place isn't too far from home, love; we'll walk you back and show you the way. I want you to know that if you need a place to stay, for any reason, we're here for you, no questions asked." Marin stared for a moment, her eyes wide with astonishment, then turned to Hermione, who nodded her approval of Draco's suggestion. There was a silence before the younger girl could retain the coherent thought needed in order to breathe, and she broke down in a breath, latching on to Draco's neck while holding Hermione's arms closed tight to her. Hermione and her boyfriend smiled deviously at each other, sneaking a kiss beside Marin's ear. She held them wordlessly, her grip only lessoning as Draco pulled back. "Don't cry, love. You're supposed to be happy," he said in strive to cheer the girl, who was now staining her pretty face with overdue tears. Marin shook her head and sniffled, wiping at her eyes and draping the silver chain over her head.
"This is the best present I've ever gotten," she admitted, annoyance and chosen attitude waned in favor of emotional distress. Draco laughed aloud, attempting to lighten the mood.
"But it's not even the big one," he told her, aiding in drying her face by running dry thumbs along her salty cheeks. Marin shook her raven locks.
"I don't want anything else."
"Oh, but Draco's spent so much time on it. At least take a look before you decide you don't want it," Hermione teased, combing her long black tresses with polished fingertips. Marin sniffled and looked up at the only male in awe.
"You made it?" she asked, confused. "What is it?" Draco and Hermione shard a look.
"I suppose we should skip right to that one?" he asked his girlfriend and Marin snapped her head to view Hermione in anticipation. She looked unsure.
"I don't know..." she started and Marin pleaded with her eyes, resolution disallowing her to verbalize her want. Hermione smiled softly. "All right. Marin, love; do you trust me?" The younger girl, overcome for a moment with joy, nodded determinedly. "This next thing I'm going to tell you is going to be a little bit hard to believe, but I want you to know that I'm sorry I haven't ever told you before. I hope you understand."
"What is it, Manny?" Marin asked, countenance fallen slightly in concern. Hermione gave a little sigh and Draco smiled his support.
"I'm a witch."
A thick silence filled the living area, and Marin blinked.
"What?" she asked finally, turning to Draco with a look as if to say Is she crazy?
"I'm a witch, love," Hermione repeated, laughing nervously. "You know..." she waved her hand. "Pointed hats, potions, black cats and broomsticks... a witch." Marin tilted her head.
"Manny, is this some sort of trick?" she asked, and Hermione sighed in exasperation.
"I'll prove it to you," she said, standing from the couch and leaving the room, only to return moments later with a long polished rod. "What do you want me to do?" Marin spared another look at Draco, but he remained neutral, shrugging his shoulders and looking intrigued. She turned back to Hermione, who stood impatiently, twirling her wand.
"You mean, like... magic?" she asked, and Hermione nodded. "Erm... turn me into something."
"What? Marin, I'm not going to hex you. Something that isn't life threatening, please," she said, rolling her eyes. Marin looked decidedly skeptical.
"Turn that table into something else, then," she instructed, pointing across the room. Draco looked panicky.
"Be careful; I refuse to spend another fifteen hours making a duplicate," he interjected, and Hermione smirked.
"Drake, don't you trust me?" she asked playfully and he gave her a warning glance. Hermione rolled her eyes. "What should I turn it into?"
"Erm... a pony?" Marin suggested sarcastically and Hermione thought on it for a moment before shrugging her shoulders.
"All right, but a small one," she said, followed by a few choice Latin words. In a cloud of sparks, a small black pony appeared in the middle of Draco's living room, whinnying and wagging its tail. Marin, who had been expecting a bluff of some kind, looked suddenly scared.
"How did you do that?" she demanded, sounding more frightened than intrigued.
"Marin, honey..."
"They'd have hanged you a hundred years ago for that... how did you do it? Smoke? Holograms? What...?"
"Magic, I'm afraid," Draco said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Marin, you don't have to be afraid. We're the same as we've always been... we love you, we aren't going to hurt you."
"You mean... you- you're a witch too?" she asked shakily and Draco laughed.
"Wizard would be the correct term, love."
Marin jumped up off the couch and began backing toward a wall, leaning against it only to fall as the curtain gave way. Draco stood up in a moment to help her, as did Hermione come to aid after re-transfiguring the little colt.
"No! Stay away from me! You can't keep me here, I... I want to go home," Marin wailed, throwing her hand in front of her to stop them. Hermione slowly backed away, tears forming in her eyes, and dropped her wand before running around a curtained corner and into another room. Draco, who had turned to watch her go, sighed and brought his eyes back to Marin.
"All right... if that's what you want, I'll take you home. But I really wish you'd consider..."
"No! Don't come near me!"
"All right- all right. Now listen to me, because you'll never find your own way otherwise. Can you find your way home from Four Crossings?" he asked and she nodded hesitantly. "Good. If you follow the doorways in the curtains that way," he said, pointing. "You'll find the door. Go down stairs, into the store room and out the front door. Turn left, and continue straight until you get to a big, stone building with a tall bell tower on the top... it almost looks like a church. Turn left again, following the street beside it until you get to a shop called Jimmi Japs, which will be next to a store called Hidler. Follow the alley between them and you should come out between some shops on Four Crossings Street. If you ever want to come back, love... all you have to do is go the same way. There'll be a wall blocking the alley, but you can walk right through it now that you know what's on the other side. I'm sorry we've scared you, Marin. I hope you know we'd never do anything to hurt you."
By the time Draco had finished his directions, Hermione stifled sobbing was very audible through the drapery walls. He sighed, turning away from her and maneuvering into the bedroom to comfort his girlfriend. Marin, left sprawled on the floor, lifted herself from the ground and made to leave, but paused at Hermione's unbridled wail. Conscience eating at her, she tiptoed quietly around the corner, trailing her friends, and peered into the little room with a bed, where Hermione sat sobbing in Draco's arms while he muttered something about not getting so worked up. With a shutter, Marin turned and ran, out the door, through both rooms, and into the cold, midevening air.
-x- -x- -x-
Hermione woke at an ungodly hour, startled from a dream that was immediately forgotten and groaning at the familiar feeling of nausea and bitter taste of bile that greeted her each morning. She rose from bed slowly, cautious of her condition and afraid to move too quickly for fear of provoking her stomach to protest.
Donning a light robe and slippers, Hermione shuffled out of the bedroom and made a direct beeline to the bathroom, where she promptly allowed herself to vomit dryly. She had planned to reserve dinner until after Marin's party and, because the events had gone so terribly array, had forgone it all together, favoring to cry herself to sleep against Draco's chest. She blamed her pregnancy for making her so overly emotional, as even an event so heartbreaking would normally do little more than make her lose her appetite and strength to be outwardly happy.
After her throat had contracted itself raw, Hermione allowed her fatigue to take over and rested. It was unknown to her how long she had sat there, face pressed against the porcelain seat of the toilet bowl. She woke again, to the putrid scents of urine and the cube of potent bleach that stained the water blue. With a groan, Hermione slowly hoisted herself up and shuffled to the kitchen in a daze, mind set on retrieving a glass of water to cool her scorched throat.
Contented, and with a large, liquidly cargo for her trouble, Hermione slowly made her way again toward the bedroom, sipping her water and wanting nothing more than to fall again between the sheets with Draco.
As she passed the living room, Hermione stopped dead in her tracks. The sound of shattered glass echoed through the highly vaulted rafters.
"Draco!" Hermione yelled and Draco could be heard scrambling out of bed, making grunts of frustration and surprise as he tripped over the sheets and fell squarely on his bottom.
"Hermione?" he called out to her as he stood, leaping over random shoes and wadded clothing before bursting directly through the curtain walls to find her. He reached the opening in the curtains just as Hermione dashed into the living room. "What's wrong? Are you- dammit," he cursed, fighting with the curtain as he tried to force his way into the room.
Hermione crossed the room and knelt before the couch, reaching out to shake the shoulders of the tiny raven-haired girl that lay there, wrapped in her tattered coat and clutching the chain strung key around her neck.
"Marin? Honey... wake up," she said softly, fighting against tears of happiness at seeing the girl again in her home. Marin sat up slowly, blinking her eyes open just as Draco made it into the room.
"Manny?" she asked feebly and Hermione broke down in her happiness, drawing the girl's head to her chest for a warm embrace. Marin gave a startled scream and pushed her mentor away, covering her ears with her hands as if unwilling to hear any words said. Hermione drew away slowly and Draco approached with caution.
"But, Marin... I thought..."
"Manny, it hurts," Marin sobbed, her tear streaked face hidden in the shadows of the early morning. Hermione was surprised.
"What? Let me see," she said, and Marin slowly drew her hands from her ears, curling them into fists as she bit her lips against the pain. Hermione carefully tucked the girl's long hair behind her ears, withdrawing at the gasp which escaped her lips. Unable to see much in the feeble light, Hermione sighed in frustration. "Draco, where's my wand?" Marin made no reaction to the request except to suck the droplet of blood which had escaped the chasm in her lip formed by her teeth.
"Here," Draco said, retrieving Hermione's wand from where it lay in the center of the room and surrendering it to her before bending his knees to kneel beside her. She thanked him quietly and sent a spell to the overhead lamps so that the maze of rooms was bathed in artificial light. Both adults gasped at the sight before them. Marin wore a face of admirable courage considering the amount of pain she must have suffered just from the injuries subjected to her face. She sported one inflamed eye, a long cut across her forehead and a split upper lip to compliment the hole she was biting into the lower. The grotesque masterpiece was accented by her ears, which were inflamed and covered with pussy pustules and blisters filled with a greenish fluid.
"My god," Hermione uttered as another wave of tears ran down the teenager's face, punctuated with little, restrained sobs. "Listen to me, love," she started softly, covering Marin's fists with her hands. "I can help you, but the only way I know how is with magic. Now, I won't do it if you don't want me to. We can go to the emergency room and..."
"No!" Marin burst, squeezing her fists more tightly. "Not the hospital, please..."
"All right, baby, all right," Hermione said, raising her wand. "Are you sure?" Marin nodded to the best of her ability, and Hermione said a spell to take a photograph of her injuries before she began to delicately direct charms to correct all the distortions of the girl's face. The burning sensation dulled in her ears until the pain stopped completely, and her tight grip relaxed. "There; feel better?" Hermione asked, setting her wand delicately on the floor beside the photograph. Marin, looking better and much more relaxed, fell into her embrace.
"Thank you," she whispered and Hermione shushed it away, holding her closely. Draco approached the situation, placing a warm hand gently on her back, and Marin gasped and shied away. He withdrew immediately, looking to Hermione for assistance. She looked concerned, and gently pushed the girl back.
"Marin, where else does it hurt?" she asked, and Marin took a breath to speak, but cut herself off, her eyes trailing to Draco. Sensing the theme of the conversation to follow, Draco smiled shyly.
"How about some ice cream, hm?" he asked, brushing a finger beneath her chin. "We bought your favorite." Marin smiled her thanks and Draco made his exit, walking toward the kitchen while scratching the back of his head in a tired daze. Hermione began to approach conversation with Marin, but her eyes suddenly shone with remembrance and she looked up in alarm.
"Draco! Watch out-"
"Ow!" Draco called out as he stepped on a shard of Hermione's broken glass, followed by an "I'm all right!", which made Marin laugh. Her smile fell again at the look on her mentor's face as the mood in the room dimmed to its previous low.
"What happened?" Hermione asked, her voice deathly quiet, and Marin turned her eyes to the carpet as tears blurred her vision.
"When I left, I... I didn't go home. I went the way Draco told me... to get to Four Crossings... and then I wandered a bit. To clear my head, you know?" Hermione nodded, smoothing the girl's frizzled hair. "I fell asleep on a park bench and when I woke up it was pitch black, so I went home as quickly as I could and... and..."
"It's okay, baby," Hermione encouraged, moving to sit beside her on the couch. Marin gratefully accepted the proffered embrace and rested herself against Hermione's comforting chest.
"My father was waiting. He was angry... my mother had just told him she was pregnant, and it isn't his. They haven't... in over a year, even I know that. So... he was angry, and... I was late..." she spilled, words flowing as quickly as her tears. Hermione squeezed her close and kissed the top of her head.
"What did he do, Marin. You have to tell me everything."
"He... he... he said, 'If I'm not good enough for your mother, then I'll... then I'll have to settle for you' and he..."
"Baby, I know this is hard, but it's very important. Did your father rape you?" Hermione asked and Marin dissolved into tears, nodding her head into her matron's chest. Hermione waited a moment, frowning, as Marin composed herself. "Honey, did he use a condom?" She paused a moment, as if thinking, and shook her head. Hermione sighed. "Did he ejaculate?" Marin sobbed.
"I don't know... I can't remember anything, I..." she rambled hysterically and Hermione shushed her, holding her close.
"Where was your mother when all this was going on?" she asked, if for no other reason than to stray slightly from the conversation and calm the frantic teenager.
"She was cleaning the blood from the kitchen floor..." Marin said, sniffling. "She was passed out there when I left."
"Can you tell me everything that happened, love? From the moment you got home? You don't have to go into too much detail, just..."
"He was in the living room. They both were. Mum was knitting, I think, and drinking something... and he yelled, first. Just yelled. I tried to explain, but he wouldn't listen and he took me into the kitchen... and cut me with a... a vegetable peeler," she said, sniffling and laughing at the quirk. "I think it was the only thing he could find. And he beat me, and burned my ears on the stove." Marin paused. "I don't remember how we got upstairs, but..."
"How did you get away?"
"After he... touched me, he fell asleep. Or passed out; something... I had to wait for hours in the bed. I was so scared, Manny. I thought he'd wake up and... and I'd be the one sleeping next," Marin admitted, and Hermione gasped at her crude reference. "I snuck out when I was sure it was safe... I didn't have anywhere else to come, I..."
"I'm glad you came to me, baby. I love you. I love you so much; they don't deserve you. I'm going to fix this, Marin, I promise you. He'll never be able to touch you again," she said, holding her close, and Marin remained silent for a while, relaxed in Hermione's loving embrace.
"Manny," she said after a while, pulling back to sit upright. "I have... more." Slowly, and with shaking fingers, Marin peeled the jacket from her shoulders to reveal crudely bandaged arms, wrapped in what looked like bloody pillow cases. With careful ease, she unraveled the makeshift gauze, biting the already raw spot in her lip, and anticipated Hermione's gasp at what she saw. The tops of both arms were flayed; the skin peeled in centimeter wide strips, like large and mucus laden vegetables. Hermione healed them in a daze, watching with wonder equal to that of the blue eyed victim as the little lines disappeared like make-up. "Wow..." Immediately, Hermione attacked the bottom hem of Marin's shirt with her fingertips, lifting it over the girl's head to view the thin, pale body below. Marin was incredibly surprised. "Manny, what are you doing?"
"I have to check you over, baby... I can't do that with your clothes on."
"But what about..."
"He won't come back until I call for him, I promise," Hermione said and healed the visible bruises and contusions on Marin's torso, back, and stomach. "Does it hurt anywhere, specifically?" Marin looked hesitant, but brought a shaky hand to rest over the triangle between her legs.
"Here," she said, voice soft and nervous. Hermione frowned deeply and nodded.
"Yes, love. I'm afraid that's to be expected. I know a charm that should help, but before that... Marin, there are a few others that, if you'll let me, I'd like to perform," she said, approaching the topic gingerly. Marin looked nervous.
"What do they do?"
"They... Well, they're to make sure there are no repercussions for what your father did. Do you understand?" she asked and the girl nodded, staring in awe.
"There's... spells? For that?" she asked and Hermione nodded.
"They're quite complicated and most of the time people don't bother, but in this case..." she began and Marin nodded her approval. "All right; lay back..."
After all contraceptive and pain reliving charms had been successfully placed, Hermione summoned some more comfortable sleeping attire from her room and magically dressed Marin, who was falling asleep in her seat. She set her up on the couch with an array of pillows and the most comfortable blanket she could find before calling for her boyfriend, who came bearing gifts of coffee ice cream. As a thank you, both for the understanding and sustenance, Marin placed a warm kiss on his cheek, and settled into the cushions to bask in the simple pleasures of comfort. Hermione kept her seat on the couch as she carefully ate her dessert, and Draco perched himself on the arm beside her, poking at his confection with distaste. There was much silence and little conversation in the quarter hour it took for Marin to eat her ice cream, recover from her brain freeze, and fall to the edge of consciousness.
"I'm so tired," she mumbled, face pressed against the cushion. Hermione stroked her arm, smiling softly.
"You've been through a lot, love, and the charms tend to do that to you if you aren't used to them. You just sleep; you're safe here," she prattled gently, and Marin smiled.
"I love you guys," she said as she fluttered into sleep and Hermione sighed heavily, feeling as if something had been lifted from her shoulders. She stood from the couch and took Draco's hand, directing him over the glass-free floor and into the kitchen where their half empty bowls made their way back into the freezer, spoon and all. Hermione explained to her best ability exactly what had happened to Marin, and what she had found as evidence on her body. Draco's eyes burned with a rage she recognized from another man that she had known a very long time ago; one with an upturned nose and all the makings of an upper-class, blond, English snob.
When Hermione's explanations ended and Draco had calmed himself to a dull roar, it was decided that Draco would take the couch for the evening and Hermione would watch over Marin in their bedroom. He had made the observation that she wouldn't like waking up alone, and Hermione agreed with added opinion that waking up beside a man might not be the best for her fragile psyche either, and they had compromised. Draco carried Marin into the bedroom and tucked her between the sheets, kissing her forehead softly, then came to Hermione in the doorway and kissed her lips with a declaration that something would have to be done in the morning. She agreed and embraced him with advice not to work himself into insomnia before leaving to crawl into bed beside her unorthodox little sister. Once the dust had settled and silence had blanketed the little flat, Hermione pressed the bridge of her nose to the back of Marin's head, and silently sobbed for the lack of her innocence, wetting her hair and the pillow beyond.
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A/N: I'm sorry, you guys, for the wait and everything. I've been so damned busy, and I can't even sleep when I want to. It's insane. Bear with me, please.