Stay Away From Me
By: the enchanted kneazle
I don't own Harry Potter. Have I told you guys how much I hate having to put this at the beginning of every chapter?
Chapter 4
After tossing and turning all night, Hermione woke up early the next morning intent on coming to a decision about Malfoy. There was a possibility that he was bluffing, not really intending to follow through with his threat. But on the other hand, if he wasn't bluffing, Hermione didn't think her sanity could handle any more intimate contact with him. At least not without completely abandoning her morals and giving into the pure lust that was Draco Malfoy.
No, she definitely did not want to do that. Not at all. Not one bit. Never. Not in a thousand years…Oh, hell. Who was she kidding? Certainly not herself. Hermione had never felt that way in her life. Granted, she didn't have much to compare it to. A few awkward embraces from Viktor Krum didn't come close to eliciting the things she had felt in the circle of Malfoy's arms.
She had no other choice than to obey his order to stay away. Of course she would still watch the map just in case, but she would have to stop staring at him. In fact, she made a vow to herself right then and there to stop watching him. She wouldn't even glance in his direction. She would diligently avoid him and stick closer to her friends that way he wouldn't have any opportunities to get her alone. Hopefully he would forget about her if she gave him exactly what he wanted.
With a new mindset, Hermione checked the map to make sure Malfoy was nowhere near her dorm and headed straight up to the Gryffindor common room and waited for her friends to get ready for breakfast. They walked down together and she was proud of herself for not automatically seeking him out with her eyes like she had been doing for the last week.
She sat down with her back to the Slytherin table and forced herself to focus on what was going on in front of her. Ginny was telling some story about Padma and Parvati switching places on some guy one of them was dating and Hermione found herself laughing along with the rest of her friends.
The next few days passed quickly for Hermione, who carefully avoided any and all contact with Malfoy. She always sat with her back to him in the Great Hall, in classes she chose a seat as far away as possible, and made sure she always had someone with her in the halls. She even got Blaise to do rounds with her.
She was lying in bed Monday night doing some light reading on the effects of bezoars on magical ailments when her alarm spell went off, signaling that it was time to check the map. She gasped when she couldn't find him anywhere on the map.
Hermione instantly jumped up in worry. She began to pace back and forth thinking about what this meant. She hadn't been expecting this. Of course! She had taken the invisibility cloak from Harry. She would just wait for him to show back up and sneak down there to make sure he was okay. She wouldn't reveal herself to him, just watch and make sure he made it back to his common room. Then she would just sneak back up to her room and Malfoy would be none-the-wiser.
As the minutes passed and turned into hours, her eyes never left the map, willing it to show her his name. There! On the second floor! He had used one of the passageways that came out in Hogsmeade. So that was how he was doing it! She stored that information away for later and dug the invisibility cloak out of her trunk.
Luckily, the Head common room was only one floor up from where he had emerged and, judging by the progress his footsteps made on the map, he was moving at a very slow pace. Her stomach sank with the realization of what that meant. He was hurt... She rushed through the castle until she made it to where he had been on at the map. Looking around she didn't see him anywhere. Panic seized her when she finally did.
He was laying facedown on the floor, his body frighteningly still. All thoughts of staying hidden flew from her mind when she ran over and knelt at his side, still shrouded in the invisibility cloak.
She checked for a pulse and let out a relived whoosh of air when she realized he was still alive. Putting her hand on his upper back, she leaned down to look into his eyes. They weren't dead and unmoving like last time, but they were cringing in pain. Hermione yanked her hand back as she realized his body was probably screaming in pain from being cursed for hours on end.
She sat there and stared at him for a minute before coming to a decision. She carefuly laid her hand back where it was and brought her other one up so it rested carefully alongside. She didn't move them for what felt like hours and when she finally did, it was an almost imperceptible contraction of her fingers. She waited a moment. Again. Another moment. Again. Again. Again.
His eyes drifted closed in relief as Hermione increased the pressure. Her hands moved up to his shoulders and squeezed, earning a groan from Malfoy. She closed her eyes in silent thanks that she could provide him some relief. She did that for awhile before moving to his lower back, running her open hands up and down, her thumbs digging into his spine as she went.
After awhile she stopped massaging and just ran one hand over his back in a soothing pattern. Giving comfort through touch.
"Okay, Granger, I think i'll be able to make it back to my common room now. You can go."
She jumped when he said her name. How did he know it was her? She hadn't made any sounds other than a gasp and that couldn't have given her away. She was contemplating casting a voice modification charm on herself and pretending to be someone else when he muttered:
"Cinnamon."
Huh? There was a long pause as she tried to process what he had meant.
"You smell like cinnamon, Granger. Now will you please leave? I'll be fine from here. I'll deal with you tomorrow."
Hermione sighed as she realized she was in for a world of trouble come tommorow and there was nothing she could do about it. She went to stand up, but before she did, she leaned down and whispered, "I'm glad you're okay, Malfoy."
Uh oh! Hermione got caught with her hand on Draco's cookie jar! Hahah! I'm lame, I know. Anyways you know what that means…next chapter Draco gets to exact his revenge!
I was hoping to get that to you guys tonight but it's just not gonna happen. This girl needs some sleep! Anyways, I was wondering if you guys would rather have smaller updates daily or larger ones every couple of days? Let me know.