Author's Note: Things are pretty awkward between these two. It's a tough road ahead for them, especially as Hermione comes to terms with her new situation. As always, JKR is the frothy layer on top of a butter-beer.

Draco clutched his stomach with one bloody hand, stumbling to get back up to his bedroom. He knew he was dropping his blood on the hallway runner, but at this point he really didn't give a shit.

Voldemort had returned from Europe earlier in the evening, and after he had tortured the truth out of Bellatrix, Draco had been summoned along with everyone else involved in letting the Golden Trio escape. It had been nightmarish. The Dark Lord had been furious. He had thrown curses at everyone until they each admitted their responsibility in the escape. The only one who had been spared was Narcissa. She had barely taken any notice of Voldemort, and in an act that was probably more about apathy than mercy, he hadn't even looked at her. He probably thought a crazy person was beneath his attention.

Draco's punishment had been quite tame compared to some others. Bellatrix wouldn't be walking for a week, and Lucius… well, he would be surprised if his father did not leave with a chronic heart condition after some of the stresses his body was just placed under. Draco was lucky he had had no direct hand in any part of the capture or torture. And he had never been responsible for Dobby when he was a Malfoy elf. Once Voldemort had learned what happened, he had spent an hour doling out punishments. Draco had been subjected to a few spells, one that sliced into his belly, which he was now holding onto and sucking in deep breaths of air.

Draco had returned to his bedroom and grabbed a few potions with red, sticky fingers, throwing them quickly into a bag. He slung it lethargically over his shoulder before approaching the fireplace. In a burst of green flames, he disappeared, arriving at his cottage in a whirl, making him stumble out into the living room to get his bearings.

"Master Draco?" Tilly's head was peering around the edge of the bedroom door, looking at him with worry as she took in his bedraggled appearance and blood stained hands.

"How is Granger?" he asked in a tired, demanding tone as he stumbled towards the kitchen.

"She is awake, Sir. She is eating porridge."

"Good," he sighed with relief.

Before he could make it to the kitchen door, his leg cramped up from blood loss and he sunk into one of the armchairs.

"Tilly," he called wearily, and she was at his side in a split second, "I need you to pass me the two blue potions in my bag there"

"Master is in pain," the little elf said with a mewl of anxiety.

"It's not as bad as it looks, I promise," he lied to her, giving her a small smile. She clicked her fingers and the vials leapt promptly into her bony fingers. She presented them to him, and Draco quickly downed them with shaky fingers.

"Okay… I'm going to need to find a tricky spell I read about once to seal the wound. Knowing the Dark Lord, he probably cursed that hex so it will make my insides rot. I'm pretty sure there's something written in one of my books about it."

Tilly nodded quickly.

"Which book, Master? I will fetch it."

Draco could picture the front cover but the name was just beyond him. With a frustrated sigh he prepared himself to stand.

"Master?" Tilly asked with an edge of panic to her squeaky voice.

"Get me some bandages, Tilly, and bring them into the bathroom. I'll get the book."

With a muttered curse under his breath, Draco limped towards the bedroom. He could smell porridge and honey. And her. Her natural scent pervaded the room. As he stepped inside the doorway, he followed the strip of golden light to where it rested on her, bathing her skin. Granger was propped up on some pillows, the bowl sitting beside her on the bedside table. She had clearly managed to have a longer rest than before, as she was looking slightly more alert. Her curls were mussed from sleep and spilled wildly around her shoulder. And she was looking at him with wide, horrified eyes.

"Merlin, what happened to you?" she asked breathlessly.

Draco shook his head numbly at her and hobbled around to the bookshelves nearer the bed.

"You don't want to know, Granger," he replied coldly.

She was silent for a moment as his eyes browsed the spines of his books. Then she spoke, and her voice was much stronger; outraged and insistent.

"Wait…did he do this to you?"

Draco knew exactly to whom she was referring. As if she wouldn't be able to guess, she was the infamous know-it-all of Hogwarts after all.

"Malfoy? Am I right?" she pushed when he didn't answer.

"Aren't you always?" he retorted, teeth grinding together to stop himself from yelling at her. It's not like she could leave him alone to save his pride, even if that's exactly what he wanted. She was literally trapped here in this room. So he would just have to put his dignity on a shelf and let her see his pain.

"Oh shit," she exclaimed very softly, almost inaudibly as she leaned around to get a better look and her eyes glimpsed more of the bloody wound beneath his trembling fingers.

Draco spun around to look at her. She was staring at him with a gleam in her eyes that he had a bad feeling was pity. She bit her lip in hesitation before she spoke again.

"Was it because Harry escaped?"

Draco rolled his eyes.

"Obviously," he spat back at her before he turned away to look at his books again. He started to get more and more frustrated when he couldn't see the one he was looking for. And it didn't help that his stomach was burning up. And that Granger was witnessing the entire humiliating ordeal.

"Damnit," he cursed, his bloodstained hands shaking.

"What are you looking for?" Granger asked after a while.

He almost ignored her, but then realised he had nothing to lose, and she was a bloody bookworm after all.

"It's a tome on healing spells, but has a chapter on sterilising curse wounds."

Granger's teeth sunk further into her bottom lip. He could see she was thinking hard, and he leaned his head back into the shelves to watch her from beneath hooded lids. Her frown deepened before she suddenly looked up at him in triumph.

"Biddle's Anthology of Broken Bones. It has a whole section on cleaning out injuries where curse magic can get into muscle or bone."

Draco let out a sigh of relief.

"Yes," he hissed, kicking himself when he heard the title. He had known his bookshelf held the answers, but his mind was fuzzy from the pain, "I knew I had it! Bloody swot," he added in her direction, but without much bite.

He leaned down to one of the lower shelves, gripping his stomach tighter before he limped with an unsteady gait into the bathroom, the book clenched in his other hand.

"Tilly, unroll the bandage and get it ready to wrap around my waist."

Draco gingerly removed his black shirt, wincing when it peeled away from the wound.

It took him a few minutes to find the right spell in the book, and by the time he started casting he was already exhausted. Tilly watched on with a quivering lip as he repeated the spell a few times until he was sure it would work. He got more and more drowsy throughout until he was slumped against the sink.

"Master Draco must hold himself up while Tilly bandages."

He managed to prop himself semi-upright while the elf gently but firmly wrapped the cloth around him, pinning it in place. The numbing agent on the bandage was helping to reduce the burning sensation, and he was finally able to draw in a deep shaky breath.

"Ok, Tilly…thank you. I need to get…to…the couch," he was sure at this point he wasn't very coherent.

He took the elf's hand and let her lead him out of the bathroom. He wished he could just get her to apparate him there, but with the magic he had just cast still working inside his body, it was too risky.

"You look like shit," Granger commented wryly when he re-entered the bedroom in order to get through to the living area.

Draco felt the room spinning as he looked up at her. He was drunk with exhaustion and felt himself stumble when he saw her.

She's so fucking beautiful… he thought, his voice slurring even inside his own bed.

"Liar," he drawled out loud, "You think I'm sexy."

He couldn't believe he just said that. His mind was seriously not working properly. He blearily saw Granger pull a face that might have been shock or disgust, he wasn't sure.

"You must be hallucinating," she quipped in return, and Draco snorted with laughter. He and Tilly only made it a few steps before he had to stop and sink down onto the end of the bed, his arms clutched around his belly. He closed his eyes and just breathed for a second. But all he could smell was apples…

"Tilly should do something to ease Master's pain," the elf squeaked with worry beside him.

He heard Granger gently stop her.

"No, you mustn't. He can't have any other magic interfering with the spell he cast. It could stop it working prematurely."

"Miss is very clever."

Draco felt himself sway from side to side, listening to them talk. He could practically feel Granger blushing at the compliment.

"Um…thanks…"

"Don't thank me, Miss. Tilly is just hearing Master say it."

"What?"

"Master says Miss is brightest witch of her age."

Draco groaned.

"That's enough, Tilly," he murmured indistinctly, knowing the elf could reveal far too much about his feelings, especially if Granger started asking questions.

"Help me get to the couch."

He felt Tilly rest her fingers against his forehead, feeling his temperature. He could feel himself burning up as sweat formed in his hairline.

"Master is not strong enough."

Draco grit his teeth and tried to make himself move. He hadn't realised he had slumped so far down onto the bed, though.

"Just give me a moment…" he murmured.

Hermione released an impatient breath.

"That's some great boss you have, Malfoy," she said, dripping with cruel sarcasm.

He blearily opened one eye and looked up at her. She was peering down at him, her curls dangling close to his face. Her words were harsh, but she actually looked quite worried about him. That was a silly hope, though. Because Granger would probably feel bad if she stepped on a cockroach.

"He's not all bad. Sometimes he just yells at us instead of going straight for the torture."

Hermione raised one perfect, elegant brow. He was sort of looking at her upside down from his angle on the bed. She looked beautiful, but she was spinning around above him like a mirage.

"Well you chose to be an evil bastard, remember? So you can't really complain."

"Actually I didn't," he retorted quickly, angry at her for scolding him like he was a child.

"What?"

He huffed out a breath.

"I didn't choose this."

She stared down at him, and that horrible look of pity returned, softening her features. Then after a while, she bit into her lower lip again and he moaned. He knew this lip bite. It was different to some of the others. He had seen it when she was helping the younger students with their homework. Or sometimes when she was reading those muggle novels she was so fond of. It was compassion.

When she didn't speak for a while, he found his gaze moving from her eyes to those chestnut curls dripping down from where they framed her face. They were dangling over him and swaying gently. When he released a breath, one of them rippled in the wind that was stirred above him.

Not really thinking straight, and blinking to keep his vision from swimming too much, he started to reach up a shaky hand. Almost as if in slow motion, he wrapped a single curl around one of his fingers, feeling its softness. Granger's eyes widened in surprise, but he barely registered it. He tugged the curl gently downwards then released it, watching it spring back into shape. Just as he was about to do it again, Granger leaned back out of his reach. He let his hand drop, his already burning face heating up more.

"Should…go…" he groaned.

"For goodness sake, Malfoy, you're completely drained. Just go to sleep here."

"No, I should…m…ove…" He slurred. Tilly was clucking her tongue, and it seemed she had an ally in Granger now.

"Sleep, Malfoy. Stop being stubborn."

"Bossy witch…"

Granger rolled her eyes and folded her arms across her chest with a look of disapproval. She clearly wasn't happy about sharing her bed, but she was a clever girl. She knew that he was her best chance of getting better and finding her way back to her friends. So it seemed she was willing to tolerate him, if a little grudgingly. In fact, she even leaned forwards and propped his head up long enough to slide a pillow under him. She wasn't particularly gentle, and her hands didn't linger at all, but he still appreciated the gesture.

"Sweet dreams, Malfoy," she drawled in a fair imitation of his usual sneering voice.

He smirked.

Little hellcat, he thought, but just as he was drifting off he let his guard slip for a split second as his head sunk deeper into the pillow.

"G'night…Hermione."

A small part of his mind vaguely registered her puzzled expression before he slipped off into a deep sleep.

It was much later when Draco finally managed to blink his eyes open in the darkness. His body felt very lethargic, arms and legs heavy and head pounding. He was also thirsty. With a groan of pain he lifted his head slightly to look around him. It was night-time. There was a slither of moonlight coming through the window, but it was still mostly pitch black.

It took him a while to wade through the fog in his brain. But when he did, he realised he was still lying on the bed in his cottage. And he was still completely drained from both his torture and the healing spells he used. And Granger was still there, now sleeping next to him. There was about half a metre between them. He was lying on top of the covers, but she was snuggled up beneath them, and her head was turned away to face the other wall.

But they were in bed together.

He knew in the back of his tired mind that it didn't mean anything. They were both recovering from being tortured, her even more so than him. And it's not like they were cuddled up together. But his stupid foggy brain kept whispering to him, daydreams that he would normally supress. He took a deep breath and rolled his head to the side so that his cheek was resting on one of her wild curls, which were draped haphazardly across the pillow.

Apples…cinnamon…

With a smug grin on his face, he allowed himself to retreat back into sleep.

I would love to hear some reviews – I have fairly clear ideas about where I'm going with this story, but feedback is always useful in determining how I go about it.