A Friendship on Fire

Thursday I had potions, in which I worked alone on the Polyjuice potion while Ron glared at me every few minutes from the other side of the table. That was followed by charms and Transfiguration and my 1 hour break before I went to ancient ruins – Thursday was my longest day, from 9 till 4 with only one break, sometimes I liked Thursday's because I could do lots of work in lessons, but not today, I was far far too tired after having such little sleep.

I was relieved to be leaving potions and heading to charms class as Ron wasn't in that one; all the classes had been split up more because there were more students in the 7th year.
I had charms with Ginny, Luna and Neville.
Professor Flitwick decided to use this lesson to teach us protection charms, but I already knew all of them from spending the best part of a year searching for horcrux' and hiding from snatchers, so I helped Ginny with it and then we just sat and talked for a while.

"How're you feeling today?" Ginny asked me.

"Okay I guess just tired. I couldn't sleep last night." I said shrugging nonchalantly.

"About the things Ron said?"

"Amongst other things." I frowned "I think something's going on with Draco, something not good."

Ginny raised her eyebrow at me and gave me a look and I just rolled my eyes at her and shook my head. "Like what?" She asked.

I contemplated telling her for a moment then decided she's my friend, and I need to talk. "Well, he's been off for a few days for some secret reason, but he came back yesterday evening to get something from Professor Slughorn which he neglected to elaborate on but I assume would be a potion, and he can't have been far from Hogwarts because he told me he can't apparate far, and then he rushed out because he was against the clock. It just seems very suspicious… "

Ginny gave me a questionable look but then switched to thoughtful and she finally said "I don't know, it does sound rather odd… Just ask him when he comes back." She shrugged and cast the one of the spells for Flitwick's entertainment and he clapped happily as he walked past.

I thought for a moment and Ginny looked deep in thought as well. She spoke up first. "Can I ask what's going on between you two… I mean, obviously you're getting closer and friendly and stuff, but is that all?"

I thought for a moment and decided to give her the most truthful answer I could. "I really don't know." I couldn't help the sigh that escaped. "We haven't even been talking for that long anyway…"

"I knew I wanted to marry Harry before I met him." We both laughed and I cast a charm around us as Flitwick walked past again.

"That's a little different. Harry was famous in the wizarding world – you were like his little fan girl." I saw her blush slightly at the memories. "Before Draco and I started speaking I pretty much hated him, but now I know more about him, and I know all the good he's doing. Even when he wasn't doing good he was still doing good. He said that he didn't know if Harry was Harry when we were at Malfoy manor so that they wouldn't summon Voldemort. He fed Luna, Griphook and Olivander when they were locked there and other stuff. He was just trapped with horrid people." I went on, defending Draco and Ginny raised her eyebrow. I blushed a little.

"You don't need to defend him Hermione, if you say he's a good guy I believe you. You probably have the best judgement of anyone I know. Even if your judgement is clouded by the fact that you fancy the pants off him." She giggled to herself and my cheeks flooded bright red – I felt like my face was on fire.
I was just about to speak up when Ginny said "Don't even try denying it with the colour of your face!" She laughed again.

I didn't know what to say for a while, and I finally said sheepishly "I don't know how to feel…"

"Why?" Before I could answer she spoke up again. "You think he's hot, right?" I looked at her and she took it as a yes "And you think he's nice, right?" I nodded. "And you can talk to him about stuff that upsets you and confide in him." I nodded again. "Then what else is there to know? You can be selfish sometimes you know. You're allowed to not care what other people want or think." She smiled at me reassuringly.

The rest of the day slipped by gradually until it finally reached 4 o' clock. Finally, I could eat and get some answers, but first I stayed behind in Ancient Runes to ask the professor a few extra questions about the assigned homework for next week.
I got out about 15 minutes late and basically ran down to the great hall through my hunger. I saw there was no Draco yet and went straight in and sat on the Gryffindor table next to Harry and started putting food on my plate.

Harry looked at me with wide eyes "Where's the fire?"

I smiled and shook my head "I'm so hungry! I've had a long day and apparently my appetite has grown." I shrugged and started on my plate full of casserole chicken and mixed veg, then poured myself a glass of water.

"Clearly! I thought you were going to eat the table when you came in." He said laughing at me.

I knocked his shoulder playfully as I ate. "How's your day been?"

He shrugged "Pretty usual. Got harassed by first years, had lessons, didn't learn anything I didn't already know… All thanks to you of course." He smiled at me.

I stayed in the great hall for about 20 minutes talking to Harry and eating my food happily then headed out to go to the library before meeting Draco.

As I headed towards the stairs however I noticed the tall blonde boy limping towards the stairs before me. I sped up to catch up to him. "I thought you weren't coming in yet… Why are you limping?" When I was next to him I turned to face him and was shocked to see Draco's face covered in cuts and bruises which lead down his neck. As I got a better look at him I saw a couple of deep cuts on his forehead and cheek and saw a large cut on his hand. My eyes widened in horror. "What happened to you?!"

He shook his head. "It's a long story. I just want to sit and drink lots of coffee."

It looked as though it pained him to talk. "Not before going to the hospital wing. You look terrible."

"Aw, I thought I looked nice and rugged. Way to put a guy down Hermione." He said it as a joke but his face was scrunching in pain as he hobbled up the stairs.

"Oh hush. You look like you've been beaten by the wimping willow if it had barbed wire on its branches."

He nodded. "Feels that way too."

We went the rest of the way to the hospital in silence and I offered my arm to support him. As soon as I opened the door to the hospital wing Madam Pomfrey came running over and took him straight over to the bed. Draco ripped his trousers – which were already torn – up to the knee, to reveal a large deep cut and bruising travelling half way down his calf, starting at his incredible swollen knee, and then laid down and pealed his jumper and top up to reveal a few friction burns and scrapes and one large slice along the bottom of his ribs on the left.

Madam Pomfrey was never one for asking questions but I expected a little more response to the amount of damage he had caused himself.

She put some healing cream on bandages for his leg and hands and a few other scrapes and cuts and gashes he had gained then applied cream to a large gauze and stuck it over the cut on his ribs, then left the pot next to his bed with a jug of juice telling him to drink it and apply the cream to the rest of his injuries.

Draco fidgeted and shuffled back a little so he was propped up against the pillows properly and I poured him some pumpkin juice into a glass. "Here." I handed it to him and sat on the side of the bed. Now in this light I could see the deep purple bags under his eyes, the swelling in his lip, the dried up blood trails from his nose and ear, I noticed how some of his scrapes and cuts were older than others. "Were you like this yesterday?" I asked wondering, as I hadn't noticed in the darkened room.

"Not to this extent. I felt bad but not this bad." His voice was weak and tired, and seeing as he wasn't making any attempt at the cream next to him I grabbed the jar and twisted the lid off.

"Are you going to tell me how this happened?" I asked quietly as I got the cream on my finger and gently rubbed it over one of his cuts.

He sat for a moment and looked at me. I felt like I was being assessed and couldn't help blushing a little. "No don't blush, it hurts to smile" He said with a small smile, which quickly faded and he looked at me seriously.
"I'm not sure how you'd feel about it if I told you, and I don't think I'm ready to find out. Can we just leave it as I had to leave school for a few days, and I hurt myself." He said quietly his voice still weak and sad. Even as he laid still it looked as though he was in agony. He let out a deep breath. "Could you ask madam pomfrey about some mega pain relief. I feel like my bones are turning to tin."

When I got her, she came back over muttering to herself "Oh yes, how silly of me. Sorry Mr Malfoy." He nodded tensely and tried to control his breathing. His face had turned a sallow green colour and Madam Pomfrey handed him a sick bowl and then cast a few spells over him before giving him an injection and a drip. He threw up as soon as she finished then quickly washed his mouth out with mouthwash.

"You don't have to stay here and see this. I can catch you up later I'll be better soon enough." Draco whispered to me, his voice so weak.

"No, I want to be here. I've seen people be sick before I don't mind. I carried on coating his cuts with the cream and he closed his eyes.

When I finished with the cream I held his hand and looked over him again to check for any other cuts. He squeezed my hand a little and I saw a small smile appear. "You're amazing you know." He said sounding happy and dazed without opening his eyes.

I laughed. "I think that's the drugs talking."

He fluttered his eyes open a little, still smiling. "It's definitely not. You're absolutely amazing. Thank you." He played with my fingers and sat up a little.
He reached his hand up to my face and stroked my cheek. "Beautiful." He traced my jaw line. "Perfect" I blushed hard and he grinned slightly. "Hermione." He tapped my nose softly and pulled me towards him.

Instead of kissing me, he gently rubbed his nose against mine and then kissed my nose. "Thank you for being better than I deserved." He said quietly as he sat back down.

I shook my head as I blushed and we sat in silence for a little while as we tangled and untangled our fingers and I could see him closing his eyes again.
"Do you want to sleep?" I whispered, but just then Madam Pomfrey came over with another jug, but this one wasn't juice.

She put it down on the table and handed him a cup already full with it. "For your bones. Give it half an hour and you'll be able to walk again but I want you taking it easy for a day or two, and keep drinking this every hour until it's all gone.
He nodded and started sipping it but shuddered after half of it. "Tastes like dragon piss." He said unhappily and quickly gulped down the rest.

He looked at me, with his head tiled to the side a little. "What say we go down to the great hall in half an hour and you spoon feed me." He looked over himself in an exaggerated manor and said "because I'm ill." He pulled a sad face.

I smiled at him. "I think you're well enough to feed yourself."

As soon as I said it he gave me the biggest puppy dog eyes ever and I felt as though my heart actually sank. "How can anyone say no to that face?"

He grinned at me looking a lot better but still deadly tired. Half of his cuts had already vanished, only the deeper ones were left, and clearly the drip had made him feel a lot of relief; his expression was relaxed and comfortable.
Just then Draco started to undo his trousers and my eyes widened "What are you doing?" I asked shocked and slightly excited, which of course made me blush.

He laughed at my expression. "I'm taking my trousers off." He watched me for a moment as I tried to find somewhere to put my eyes. "Don't worry, I have shorts on."
And indeed when I looked back down at him he was revealing long deep blue. He also took his jumper off and was wearing a plain white t-shirt which stretched tightly over his lean but muscular torso. I think he noticed my eyes lingering on his chest a little longer than necessary because he chuckled and said. "Stop it, you'll make me blush."

When the medicine started taking effect, Draco grabbed a walking stick (which I'm sure was just to add effect) and we headed down to the great hall. As we walked he kept glancing round at me, and I him, but we were completely silent. Just making odd gestures and bumping each other and giggling, as though we had some sort of silent language going on.

In the great hall I immediately scanned the Gryffindor table which was a lot emptier than before but Harry, Ginny, Ron and Neville were all sat there talking.
Draco noticed me looking and asked "Do you want to sit with them or on an emptier table?"
I glanced at him to see which he'd prefer but he said quickly "I don't mind." And smiled.

"Sit somewhere else, an explosion might go off if we sit over there." And so we sat on the end of the almost empty Slytherin table where Draco created a mountain of food on his plate.

"Have you not eaten while you've been off?" I asked with my eyebrows raised at the size of his portion.

He chuckled and started wolfing it down "No not really, but I usually eat quite a lot. I'm a growing boy you know." He nodded and rubbed his belly as he ate.

I laughed and shook my head at him. "You're strange." I smiled and he continued to nod in agreement.

I let him shovel his food down in quiet, just humming to myself as he emptied and refilled his plate. Twice.
"I think if you eat n more I'm going to vicariously explode for you. How do you have that much room in your stomach?" I asked shocked.

He laughed and patted his hands on his still flat stomach. "No idea. I do feel a bit full now though…" he then grabbed 3 tarts and ate them before dusting off his hands and having a drink.

"I promise I'm done now." He said smiling at me angelically as he pulled himself up using the edge of the table before grabbing his walking stick.
I threaded my arm through his as he struggled to walk and we headed out of the great hall and decided to go and sit on the grounds for a little bit and enjoy the warm evening.

We sat close to the entrance so Draco didn't have to hobble far and he wrapped his arm around my shoulder casually as he drank another cup of his medicine which I had remembered to bring.

He shuddered as he finished it. "It's so horrid. It's even worse here than the one the ministry gave me –"

He stopped speaking suddenly and I looked at him with my eyebrows furrowed slightly. "Why have you needed this before?"

He didn't answer for a while and then said. "I've needed it a couple of times recently, but they said it should get better soon and then I'll be fine." He stared straight ahead as he spoke while I tried to look at him.

I narrowed my eyes suspiciously but decided to leave it for now and dissect the information later.
"Well, I hope you get better soon. You looked shocking earlier. How many times has that happened?

"A couple." He replied hesitantly then played with my hair as if absent-mindedly.

I sighed contently and rested my head on his shoulder "I didn't like you not being here." I confessed quietly and I felt his facial muscles shift into a smile.

"I didn't like not being here either." He started playing with my fingers on his lap. "I thought of you. You were stalking my mind." He chuckled. "It's very distracting, one minute everything's cool, next minute, huge boner."

My eyes widened and my face went deep crimson which made him overjoyed and he laughed loudly. "Sorry I had too, I missed it! But in all honesty, you do have that affect."

I buried my face in my hands. "Stop!" I pleaded.
He chuckled again and pulled my head away from my hands and brought me to face him, my face still pink but cooling. He kissed my forehead softly and my stomach flipped.

We stayed outside until it was pitch black and we enjoyed the stars for a little while and I talked about what I knew from Astrology. As we succumbed to the night and decided it was time to head to bed as he needed lots of sleep and I had to get work done, we walked into the silent castle slowly, admiring the candles that floated every few feet around the entrance and entrance hall.

Draco walked me to the staircase and looked as though he was about to walk up but I stopped him "You don't have to walk me up, you need sleep and to gather your strength, I'll be fine tonight."

He grinned at me "I know what you're like for attracting Peeves and falling over; god knows what could happen to you if I leave you now." He winked at me and my heart gave an extra beat. "I won't take no for an answer Granger, I'm walking you to the fat Lady."

I didn't argue with him, after all I didn't want to leave him.
We walked up all the stairs and through small shortcuts and got up there in 5 minutes. We both hesitated by the portrait who was already sleeping.

I whispered to Draco "She won't like it when I wake her up." As he pulled me into a long hug.

"Oh well, you have to put up with her singing." He breathed a laugh against my ear, making me shudder gently.
I nodded in agreement and we stood in our warm embrace for a while, when he pulled back slightly and looked down at me with his nose gently pressed against mine.

He kissed me so tenderly and sweetly it took my breath away. "Hermione…" He started quietly. "What is this? What are we?"

I pressed my forehead on his softly with my eyes closed and took a moment to answer. "I don't know… We're a blurred line – a friendship on fire. A burning hope on a field still building from destruction."

We stood for a moment, holding each other, my head on his shoulder. I picked myself up after a moment and kissed him, I kissed him with determination then walked to the portrait as he stand motionless, watching me. I never broke eye contact with him.

"Liquorish wands" I said the password quietly, chosen by Professor McGonagall in memory of Professor Dumbledore I assumed.

I stepped one foot into the hole and said quietly to Draco "I'm yours." Before stepping all the way in and pulling it shut.

A.N: It's been a while! Sorry for abandoning you fanfiction friends, had a busy month but I will try and write more this month as I'm happy with where my story is going, though I'm still debating things I think you will enjoy it! leave me a review babies - emilyjxo