Disclaimer: Once again I must stress that I still own nothing. Which is a pity, because I bet it would be a lot of fun to own Draco for a while. ;D Also, Scars belongs to Papa Roach. Also, Chicks Dig It belongs to Chris Cagle.
Author's Note: I know I posted two chapters in one week [hooray me] but unfortunately you guys should look at that as the exception. I told one reviewer that I wasn't going to post chapter six until I had started on chapter seven.. but so many people were alerting and adding as a favorite that I put the cart before the horse. So needless to say, I have to catch up. Hopefully I'll be able to do one chapter a week. Hopefully.
Chapter Seven – My Scars Remind Me That The Past Is Real
"How do you think he's faring up there?" Ginny asked as she looked over at her best friend. It had been a week since Malfoy had been given the potion that none of the teenagers knew the purpose of. The redhead didn't actually like the guy, but she knew that it would be hell to have to stay in bed for that long with nothing to do and no one to talk to. She'd be driven mad if it were her.
"Who cares, Gin." Ginny looked over at her brother who was shoveling eggs into his mouth, holding onto a handful of bacon that he looked ready to shovel in as well. "As long as he's still alive then Hermione is doing her job, aint she? She wasn't told to entertain the stupid git."
Hermione raised an eyebrow at the siblings and went back to reading the Daily Prophet that she held in her hands. "I'm sure he's bored. But there really isn't much I can do about it at this point." Placing her finger on the sentence where she'd stopped reading she folded the newspaper in half so she could see the redhead who had originally asked her a question. "Until he can move his arms better there really isn't much I can do with him."
Ginny opened her mouth to argue but Hermione just held up her hand to say that she wasn't finished speaking. "Think about it. Even if I wanted to play a board game or something with him, I couldn't. I would have to move all of his pieces for him and read all of his cards for him, et cetera. The only feesible option is Wizard's Chess, and frankly I don't feel like playing that with my friends let alone someone who doesn't even want me in the same room."
Defeated, Ginny shut her mouth. She knew that Hermione wasn't any good at playing Chess, and she wasn't about to offer up her own services to play with the blonde, nor would her brother or Harry. He was just going to have to deal until he could move around better. "Has he let you bathe him yet? Or does he still keep asking about Snape?"
Hermione shrugged her shoulders and went back to reading the post. "I've just been scourgifying him for the last week. I figured I would try again today. If he doesn't allow me today then I may just have to give up or knock him out in order to do it." She laughed softly at the thought of knocking Malfoy out just so that she could keep him clean and shook her head. I guess we'll see.
The teens had just finished breakfast when a loud screech reached their ears and a few owls flew to the window. "How many owls did they have to send? We're only one house!" Harry exclaimed as he let the owls in and handed them all treats. He untied the letters from each of their legs and went about handing them out. "One for me, one for Hermione, one for the Weasley's, and one for Malfoy." Harry's voice took on a slight snarl as he said the last name.
Hermione took both her letter and the one for Malfoy, placing his on the table next to her while she opened hers to read. The purple booklet in front of her made her pause.
- Issued On Behalf of -
The Ministry of Magic
PROTECTING YOUR HOME AND FAMILY
AGAINST DARK FORCES
Hermione rolled her eyes as she read the headline. The only good thing she could say for Scrimgeour taking over for Fudge was that he seemed to be making an effort to protect people. All Fudge really cared about was protecting himself.
"Right, well I guess I'll go ahead and give this to Malfoy. So he can learn how to protect himself from dark forces." Hermione sighed and grabbed the paper from the table and headed up the stairs. She hated having to go through all of this. She hated how scared the wizarding community was. She hated that she had to be here taking care of Malfoy rather than be with her family when she knew that they were just as scared as the wizarding community. Many of the events taking place in the news for them were the same events on the news for the muggles. Even Amelia Bones had made muggle newspapers.
Stepping into the bedroom where her enemy lay was like walking into the hospital room of a dying patient. There was no movement. No noise. The only sound was the breathing that sounded lightly from under the covers on the bed. She stayed in the doorway, fighting with the guilt that slowly gnawed at her. She knew that Ginny had been right when she'd claimed that Malfoy was probably bored. He was probably also lonely. He had been laying in a bedroom away from everyone for a week already, and she noticed that most of the time he'd slept the time away.
Why? Perhaps he slept so much because sleeping would help him heal faster, but she seriously doubted it. She would just have to make an effort to keep him entertained for a while. Professor Dumbledore had asked her to take care of him. She knew that meant emotionally as well as physically.
Taking a deep breath, Hermione walked further into the room and opened the curtains so that the sunlight poured into the small bedroom, lighting up Malfoy's face. "Rise and shine, Malfoy." She heard a growl and couldn't keep the smile from forming on her lips. "Growl all you like. You're more like a puppy playing tug of war than a big old guard dog. Nobody's afraid of you."
She pulled a chair away from the desk that sat in the corner and pulled it up to the bed so she could put her feet up on the end. Using her toe she pushed at his feet until he growled again, a little fiercer this time. "Oh, the little puppy is growing up. Come on, you can do it. You can be a big scary dog. Come on." She pushed his feet a little more, and giggled out loud when the growl that emitted from the bundle of blankets sounded like a pitbull raring to strike.
"What the hell do you want, Granger?" He asked as he pushed the blankets off of him slowly. He hated that he couldn't even give anything the dramatic flair that it deserved because he couldn't move enough. Even if the pain didn't bother him very much anymore, there were still all the casts that he had to fight.
"I told you. It's time to wake up. You've slept enough this week. Time to greet the world." She smiled and went to hand him the purple packet that had come in the mail for him and then thought better of it. He couldn't lift his arms high enough to look over the paper and she couldn't use magic to make it float in front of him. "You got a packet today from the Ministry. We all did, actually. Would you like me to read it to you?"
"No." Draco glared at the frizzy haired witch in front of him and tried to show through his eyes just how much he loathed the idea of her reading to him like a child. He couldn't wait until the allowed him to do things for himself. Couldn't wait. He also couldn't wait for the day when he could hex that stupid grin off of Granger's face. He knew that despite the fact that he'd told her he didn't want her to read the pamphlet, she was going to anyway. That knowledge came to life when she cleared her throat.
"Okay good. Here we go.
- Issued On Behalf of -
The Ministry of Magic
PROTECTING YOUR HOME AND FAMILY
AGAINST DARK FORCES
The wizarding community is currently under threat from an organization calling itself the Death Eaters. Observing the following simple security guidelines will help protect you, you family, and your home from attack.
You are not advised to leave the house alone.
Particular care should be taken during the hours of darkness. Whenever possible, arrange to complete journeys before night has fallen."
"That's their advice? The buddy system and to basically be afraid of the dark? Are they trying to protect wizards or are they trying to protect muggle children?" Hermione looked up as Draco exclaimed angrily over what the paper said. "I hope like bloody hell they have better so-called 'guidelines' than the ones you just said," he said with one of his trademark sneers, "or else perhaps we should get Fudge back in office."
Hermione vaguely remembered reading the newspaper article to him that said that Rufus Scrimgeour had taken Fudge's job. She was surprised that he actually had opinions about politics though. He didn't seem the type that cared.
"This is the first time I'm reading it through, so I guess we'll see.
Review the security arrangements around your house, making sure that all family members are aware of emergency measures such as Shield and Disillusionment Charms, and, in the case of underage family members, Side-Along Apparition.
Agree on security questions with close friends and family so as to detect Death Eaters masquerading as others by use of Polyjuice Potion (see page 2)."
Hermione wrinkled her nose at the thought of Polyjuice Potion. It didn't take much for her to remember the one time she had attempted using that particular potion. Not only had the taste been horrible, but being turned into a human sized cat had not been a very enjoyable experience. To cover up the distaste left in her mouth at the thought she looked over at Malfoy. "So, Malfoy. What security question should I ask of you. To make sure that you aren't actually a Death Eater?"
His eyes glittered slightly as he smirked. What kind of a question was that, coming from the smartest witch of their age. "How about this one? What kind of a Death Eater would masquerade as a boy who had been nearly beaten to death by Death Eaters knowing that they would just be laid up in bed for a time?" He was sure that he had her with that one. More sure than he'd been of anything since even before getting that stupid letter from the future.
"How about, the really smart Death Eater? The kind of Death Eater that would know that by staying in bed in a house full of members of the Order on a constant basis, that they would learn plenty of information that as soon as they were able, they would be able to give back to Voldemort?" Hermione knew that he was just trying to best her, but she also knew that she would do everything in her power not to let him win.
Malfoy frowned when she actually found a plausible answer to his question. Well she is the smartest witch of our age, he thought snidely. "Well how about the fact that they said to come up with questions for close friends and family? I am neither your close friend, nor your family. Therefore I don't see why you should care about asking me the questions anyway." Malfoy was determined to find something that would make the Gryffindor actually have a moment of speechlessness.
"If I find a quill I'll make sure to rewrite it so that it says 'agree on security questions for close friends, family, and any nurse-patient relations'." Hermione was thankful that from being around Fred and George so much, she had a quick wit. She had actually been stumped for a moment when he'd brought up his second point. But she'd found a way to win again, and that was all that mattered. "Now then, If I may continue with the paper so that we can finish this sometime today,
Should you feel that a family member, colleague, friend, or neighbor is acting in a strange manner, contact the Magical Law Enforement Squad at once. They may have been put under the Imperious Curse (see page 4).
Should the Dark Mark appear over any dwelling place or other building, DO NOT ENTER, but contact the Auror office immediately.
Unconfirmed sightings suggest that the Death Eaters may now be using Inferi (see page 10). Any sightings of Inferius, or encounter with same, should be reported to the Ministry IMMEDIATELY."
Draco put out his hand before the brunette in front of him could turn the page and continue reading. There were going to be at least ten pages of this? He was not going to sit around so that she could read a Ministry ordained book to him. "Look, Granger, I get the point. Death Eaters are bad. Be careful. Blah blah. I think that out of everyone in this house, I probably know that the best. Unless of course Snape is here and then he wins. Now is that all you came up here for? Because honestly I think I would have rather remained asleep."
"Actually no. Today is your lucky day." Hermione pushed the chair back to its place under the desk and then came up to the side of the bed to help him sit up. She noticed that he still had trouble, and favored some of his ribs, but he seemed much better than when he'd first come in. "Today is the day that I shorten your casts." With a grin she reached behind her and opened the top drawer of the dressing table. Pulling out a circular blade she brought it over to him. "Now I'm going to need you to stay still and not move otherwise I'll end up cutting you along with the casts."
Draco had no doubt that she wished he would move so that she could have an excuse to cut him, but he wasn't about to allow that. She told him not to move, he wasn't going to move. He wasn't going to do anything that would cause him to get even more hurt than he already was. He was just going to sit here and "OW!"
When Hermione had started up the small blade, she had forgotten to mention to Malfoy that it was going to make noise. She could tell the sawing sound caught him off guard the moment he jumped, but the split second that the blade touched his bare arm had already happened before she could pull her hand away to reprimand him about moving. "Sorry, I told you to keep still."
Malfoy glared at her, and at the offensive piece of machinary before holding his arm out to her again, this time ready for the buzzing that it was going to make when it turned on. He held his breath as she began, noticing that as she sliced through the cast small particles jumped into the air. He wasn't sure what the cast was made out of, only knowing that it was a muggle made object, but he was fairly certain that he didn't want to breath in the dust.
To say that he was happy when he could suddenly bend his elbows, and then his knees, would have been a vast understatement. He knew enough to know that he still wouldn't be able to walk around, but knowing that he was able to move his joints had him sighing in relief. "I thought it was going to take longer than just a week to be able to do that," he said to her with his a semblance of smile when she backed away and began cleaning up.
"You would think so, but since you're a wizard you tend to heal faster than muggles do. Even though I can't heal you using magical means, your body is still your body and no amount of dark curses can change that. You still have to heal on your own, but with the magic flowing through your body it should be faster than it would be otherwise." Hermione swept the dust onto the floor and threw the pieces of cast that she had cut off into the trash can. She would have to go get the broom to clean up all of the dust.
"Now that you can move, you'll probably notice that your arms and legs, where the casts were, are going to smell a little weird. You still can't get your casts wet so unfortunately you can't wash yourself, but if you're willing to get over yourself and let me wash you I can having you smelling like a human being again in no time." Hermione cocked a shoulder up and then walked to the door. "Just think about it while I go get a broom."
She made her way downstairs and had just made it into the kitchen when she was bombarded by Ginny. "Hey, what was that screaming I heard up there? You didn't kill him did you? I mean, I wouldn't mind much, but I think you'd get into a lot of trouble with Dumbledore if you were to do that."
Hermione laughed at the younger girl and shook her head. "No I just accidentally cut him. He'll be fine. I just trimmed his casts. Do you know where the broom is?" At the mention of the Broom, Mrs. Weasley walked into the kitchen and put her hands on her hips.
"The Malfoy boy has been calling for you," the older witch said as she placed a hand on Hermione's back and steered her back towards the stairs. "You go see what he wants and I'll send the broom up."
"Go ahead," he said when Hermione stepped back into the room. She was surprised that he had given in so easily when just a week ago he had put up such a fight. Perhaps it had something to do with that potion he'd gotten.
"Alright. Mrs. Weasley is going to be sending up the broom so I guess I'll go ahead and get some water started. He nodded as she stepped out of the room and she nodded back.
Hermione could hear the broom sweeping up Malfoy's room while she filled a bucket with hot water. She walked around the bathroom grabbing everything she would need, a bath towel, a wash cloth, soap. She laughed softly to herself as she realized that the only soap they had for guests was Old Spice. It was such a mature scent, and she couldn't help but remember all of the muggle romance books she'd read in the past where the 'hero' wore Old Spice because it was supposed to be a sexy scent.
Personally I just think it smells like my dad. Nothing sexy about my dad. She laughed again at the thought and then turned the water off, grabbing the bucket and heading back into the bedroom.
She was pleasantly surprised when she walked in and noticed that Molly had not only sent up the broom, but also a duster. The room practically sparkled compared to how it had looked when she was in there ten minutes ago. In fact, the only thing left that needed to be cleaned were the windows and mirrors, but those could wait another day.
She pulled the chair back over to where she'd stood when cutting his casts and placed the bucket on top of the seat. "What are the chances you can scoot over without help?" she asked as she tried to perch on the edge of the bed by his hip. She watched as the blonde placed his elbow against the bed and used it to push his butt across the bed a few inches. Just enough for her to be able to sit comfortably. "Thanks."
They were both pretty much silent as she pulled the blanket down towards his stomach. She reached behind him and was thankful when he helped her out by moving his arms so she could easily pull off his shirt. When the boys had noticed that he had been in there shirtless while Hermione was working they'd threatened to hex his balls off if he didn't stop flashing the innocent girl.
She picked up the Old Spice and the washcloth, pouring some of the soap onto it then dunked it into the water just quickly enough to wet the soap without washing it away.
She washed methodically. Unused to washing a person that wasn't herself she wasn't sure how he would prefer to be washed, so she simply washed in circles, ensuring that she wouldn't miss a spot. As the sweat and dirt of the week washed away Hermione tried not to notice the scars that lined Malfoy's skin. She knew by the looks of them that many were old, had been there for months, perhaps even years.
She paid close attention to which spots bothered him the most, reminding herself to put some ointment on them after she was finished. "You can ask, you know," she finally heard him say silently.
"Ask what?"
Draco flinched again as she pressed soap against a particularly nasty cut on his back. There were so many of them intermingling with the scars he'd on there for years that he would honestly be surprised if he had any actual skin left on his back. Soon it would all be scar tissue. He knew that the more she washed, the more visible the scars became and he could practically feel her flinching every time she came across a new one.
His mind shifted to the letter that was currently under his thigh, easily reached when he wished to look over it again. I know that you are in love with the Gryffindor Princess or you will be. He wanted to scoff at the thought. He was not, nor would he be in love with the girl behind him. He had been attracted to her on a few occassions, but that was completely different than being in love with someone.
Thinking about being attracted to her, however, brought about thoughts of Lydia from the letter. Unfortunately my life's failures led to me drinking and after pushing Hermione and causing her to go into labor.. Potter and Granger are two people that you need by your side if you wish to survive this war with some of your dignity intact.
"You can ask, you know," he said quietly. He was sure that he was more surprised to hear him say that than she was. What? Thinking about a letter which may or may not even be real had him suddenly wanting to be friends with Granger?
"Ask what?"
Draco turned his head so that he could see that scars that she was circling. He didn't say anything else though as he faced forward. He held his breath, hoping that she wouldn't actually take him up on the offer. He was glad that she was quiet for a few minutes as the battled raged in him for telling her that she could ask. It wasn't as if he actually wanted to go over his life story with her. Especially about what he had to put up with from his dad.
"Do you want me to ask?" He was surprised that she wasn't forcing her questions upon him right away. He had expected she would ask as soon as he gave her permission. She was usually such a curious person.
She'd moved on to his arms by the time he finally answered. "I'm not really sure," he answered honestly. Once again he was grateful that she wasn't filling the time by talking too much. The only downfall being that the bathing seemed far more intimate than it would if they were talking the whole time.
It wasn't until she had moved across his shoulders to his chest and stomach that she finally bit her lip and spoke again. "What happened?" He looked down at the top of her head and then closed his eyes. She only looked at the spots that she was washing, knowing that if she took in the whole of his abdomen that she would see even more scars, their raised white tissue nearly transparent against his already white skin.
"My dad, Granger," he said with a sneer. "My dad's what happened." He shuddered slightly when she the now clean washcloth across his abdomen. "Don't worry your frizzy little head about it."