Malfoy had taken to having tea with Hermione in her room every day now. It'd been just over a week since her panic after Harry's departure, and she still felt confused by his motives, or even whether or not he was honestly not an imposter under polyjuice. His kindness unsettled her. It wasn't logical, yet here he was, sitting at her windowside table, legs crossed, eating biscuits and sipping tea.
"Granger, eat your sandwiches."
She glanced at him, and saw him watching her over his tea cup. Her lip twitched in amusement. She thought he may have begun this little tradition of tea time as a way to try and convince her to eat, but he had never outright requested it of her until now. He must be feeling desperate.
"Something funny, witch?"
Her eyes never left him, and she shook her head.
"I'm not hungry." She said.
"You're never hungry. Still, eat them and I will leave you alone." He said, taking a sip of his tea.
She couldn't tell if he was upset or annoyed with her. He never showed that his patience might be thinning, or that he was on the verge of cursing her. She probably watched him just as much as he watched her. She still felt clueless. She wondered if he might feel the same way about her secrecy and personal life choices.
She slowly plucked up one of the smallest cucumber sandwiches and ate it. He didn't react, but Hermione could have sworn his eyes twinkled momentarily in response.
"Granger," he said in a hushed voice, watching her finish off a fourth small sandwich and sip her tea,"Lets go somewhere today."
She looked up at him with slightly wider eyes than usual, but recovered her faculties quickly. She cleared her throat and placed her cup and saucer down.
"Why would I do that?" she asked, shaking her head slightly.
"To experience freedom again. To experience life."
They sat in silence, surveying the others movements for quite some time, before Hermione shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
"No."
He nodded, and slowly refilled his cup.
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Malfoy asked every day at some point for Granger to accompany him outside the Leaky Cauldron, and everyday she said no. She wondered if this is all he did with his time. He couldn't possibly think he was making any progress on her. Not even Harry was so lucky, and he had been trying for over a year.
The daily routine for her was always wake up, bathe, dress, stare out the window, place the food tray from the day before outside her door, stare out the window, tea with Malfoy, avoid conversation, stare out the window, refuse his suggestions to eat or venture off somewhere, say goodnight and watch Malfoy leave, change, stare out the window, go to bed.
She did stop walking alone at night at Malfoys request, however. She'd gone once without telling him, not that she needed to or anything, and upon her return she found him running along the sidewalk franticly searching for her. It was the first time in years she had seen that panic in his eyes and she found it didn't sit well with her. She promised him as they walked back to the Leaky Cauldron that she would stay in at night from then on.
Today, however, she was still alone. Malfoy had not come by and she didn't much care either way, but it was unusual to say the least. Odd how this could now be considered unusual for her. She tapped her fingers on the window sill, wondering if she should check on him. It would be the polite thing to do... Her mind was a constant struggle between what she knew to be right, and what she felt inside. She was like a hollowed out version of the girl she used to be. It took a great deal of effort to extend simple acts of courtesy these days. She sighed and turned away from the window to go see about the blond.
"Malfoy..." She called once leaving the confines of her room and knocked on his door. She couldn't hear anything inside and thought he might have actually gone somewhere for once.
"Malfoy, are you in there? I was just... checking if you're okay."
Still no answer. A month ago, Hermione would not have cared enough to make the effort. She would have continued to stare out her window until bedtime. She almost turned back to her room, but something inside was tugging at her to see for herself if he was inside. She thought of the time he talked her down from her panic attack, and decided she couldn't very well let him alone if he was feeling down at all. She furrowed her brow, placing her hand on the door knob. She concentrated for a moment and heard the lock click.
"Malfoy, if you're in here, I'm coming in..."
She felt like she was intruding, but she would just peak in. If he wasn't there, no harm done and she'd lock it back up and leave. If he was, and demanded she leave, she would. If he was upset, she'd offer her assistance. She slowly turned the handle and peered inside. His room was much like hers, but slightly bigger, of course. She stepped inside and allowed her eyes to adjust to the growing dark of the room. She thought he wasn't in, but heard something from behind his bed, coming from the floor. Confused, she walked toward the noise. She knew she should be on high alert. She should have her wand out, ready to defend herself if needed. Ignoring the fail safes in her brain, she continued forward. Rounding the side of his bed, she inhaled sharply at the sight before her.
Malfoy was sprawled out on the floor, dressed in black trousers and a loose white button up with the sleeves rolled up. Well, at least some of it was still white... She found that he was dirty, with gravel and soil all over him. His face, arms and what she could see of his neck and chest had cuts and bruises and blood along them. He was breathing, albeit with significant effort on his part and she wondered why he didn't seek assistance for his injuries sooner. How had he gotten them, anyway?
She knelt by his side and brushed the hair out of his face. He looked pale and pained and had broken out in a cold sweat.
"Malfoy." She whispered. "Malfoy, can you hear me? Can you speak?"
She could hear him grumble incoherently, and he winced in pain as he tried to turn his head and find her voice. She pulled her wand out, and cast several spells to clear away the grime and blood, healed the cuts littering across his exposed skin, and did her best to diagnose and repair any cracked or broken bones. She couldn't do anything for the bruising, as she didn't have a salve with her, nor could she help with the residual pain and soreness. She shakily put her wand away again. She had not performed so much magic in quite some time, and felt her fingers tingling. It had actually felt good, but she pushed that thought aside as she turned her attention back to the man lying next to her.
"Malfoy, can you stand? You've got to get off the floor." She asked quietly. She hadn't noticed she'd begun stroking his arm gently, trying to rouse him out of the stupor he was in. He grumbled again and made to move. She quickly grasped his arm, and helped him up, and they all but toppled onto the bed.
She felt her heart thud momentarily in her chest. She'd half landed on him, and on the bed. He gasped through the pain of the fall, but when she hurriedly tried to get up, he gripped her to his chest tightly.
"Stay here." He whispered hoarsely. She didn't know what to do. She felt she should punch him, or yell and jump away. She thought he was absolutely off his rocker and must be dreaming or drunk on the pain. She chanced a glance to his face and saw him looking down at her through half hooded eyes.
"Please, stay with me."
She watched him for a moment longer, and nodded. He adjusted himself to lie on his side and pulled her flush against him, her hands on his chest and she was able to see his face clearly. He kept his eyes on her, and every now and then she would notice him flinch or shudder from the pain. She wondered briefly if he'd been crucio'd, because his reactions seemed fairly similar to those after effects.
She reached a hand up and gently stroked his cheek.
"Are you okay?" she breathed, and for the first time in Merlin knew how long, she felt her stomach knot up, and a tightening in her chest. She didn't care enough for herself on whether she lived or died, but seeing him like this, knowing he was possibly tortured in the last few hours, made her want to scream and hunt down who did this to him.
"I'm better now."
"I can go get something to help with your pain, Malfoy." She made to get up from the bed, but he shook his head and held her tighter. She saw him wince at the movement.
"I'm sorry. Don't hold me so tight, I won't get up." She whispered. Instead, she settled herself back down and continued to stroke along his jawline and cheek.
They remained like this for what was likely hours. The daylight in the room completely left, and the moonlight from outside cast a cool glow across the bed. Malfoy drifted in and out of sleep, and she didn't move a muscle for fear of hurting him again. She was struggling with her emotions at this point. Warring over the concern growing inside her for this man. He showed up out of the shadows, ingrained himself into her day to day, and never pushed her any which way, but slowly somehow, he became important to her without her even realizing. She sighed, and felt him squeeze her gently. His silver grey eyes opened and they sparkled beautifully in the moonlight.
"You're still here." He murmured, and she nodded. She could have swore he'd sort of smiled, but it was gone so fast she thought she may have imagined it in the dark.
"Want to tell me what happened to you, Malfoy?"
He shook his head and buried his face into the crook of her neck. She felt her heart thud again, and silently cursed her simply female body for its traitorous reactions. His breath danced along her skin, and she tried to focus her thoughts back onto more important things.
"Malfoy, you were in bad shape when I found you." She said quietly, not trying to sound like she was scolding him.
"I'm okay now, Granger." came his soft reply from somewhere under her hair.
She shimmied away from him slightly and forced him to look into her eyes. She could see him struggling. He had gone through something horrible, but didn't want to burden her with his problems. She felt a pang in her chest and knew right then that she was worried for him, and would continue to feel this way everyday from then on.
"Have you eaten anything?" she asked, gently caressing a spot at the nape of his neck. She just wanted him to feel relaxed, and didn't really care how intimate this all probably was. He shook his head again. "Me either." She said. He tightened his hold on her.
"Would you like to eat? I promise I will join you this time, and I won't complain." She said, and he gave her a small chuckle. Shockingly, she did something completely unexpected. She smiled. She could not remember the last time she had smiled for anything or anyone, but here she was, smiling in bed up at Draco Malfoy. He tilted his head, watching her, his eyes danced over her face and he wore an expression she couldn't quite read. He lifted a hand and brushed his fingers across the outer corners of her eyes, her cheeks, her lips and her jawline.
"How simply beautiful it is to finally see that smile again, Granger." he whispered, and she felt herself shiver under his touch. What on earth was happening to her?
"Food?" she asked again, and could hear the slight tremor in her voice. He breathed in deeply and nodded. She slowly rose from the bed, and went across to her room. The dinner tray was where she expected it to be, left by a house elf Harry commissioned to ensure she was fed regularly. It was always piled with far too many things for her alone, but was perfect to share.
She placed the tray on the bed beside him. He tried to sit at his small table, but she refused to allow him out of bed.
"Do you have any potions or salves here with you, Malfoy? To help with your pain and stiffness?"
He nodded, as he struggled to seat himself comfortably against the headboard. She helped him lean against the pillows as he pointed to his bathroom.
"There's some in there, on the counter top." He replied.
Hermione retrieved a Pepper Up potion and a salve for sore muscles, but he didn't seem to have anything for his bruising. She returned to the bed, and ate with him quietly after handing him the items. They didn't speak at all, and she tried not to stare too much at him. She could see swelling on his arms and face and wanted to kill whoever was responsible.
"Granger, your desire for revenge is wafting off you like dung off a dung beetle." came the blonds lazy drawl, and she snapped herself out of her thoughts. She looked down at the bit of bread held in her hands.
"I'm sorry. I'm just angry. I find that I don't really like seeing you this way."
He reached over and cupped her cheek for a moment before nodding in understanding, and continued to eat. She wondered why he wouldn't say anything about it, but knew she was being a hypocrite. She barely spoke to him about anything since he'd come into her life.
"I suppose I will go back to my room, if you're sure you feel better?" She said, once they'd finally finished eating and Malfoy had taken his potion. He was giving her that funny look again. In another setting, she might have described it as cute or adorable, but right now, all it did was confuse her. "What's wrong, Malfoy?"
"Can you help me with this salve?"
He held out the small container, and with unsure hands, she took it from him. She watched silently as he removed his shirt, and threw it off to the side. By this point, he'd already lit some candles around the room, and Hermione inwardly cursed the soft glow of the warm light for dancing across his lean muscles and fair skin the way it did. She also worked incredibly hard to suppress the rage she felt at the sight of all his scars from the past, and bruises from the present that were scattered all across his torso and stomach.
He was watching her reactions again, so she did her best to slip on her blank mask. She motioned for him to lean back on the pillows against the headboard and began work on his bruised chest. Immediately she could see his sore muscles loosen and relax as the salve was rubbed into his skin.
It took about forty minutes to thoroughly rub the concoction into his chest and back, but once she was finally done, he'd fallen fast asleep, lying flat on his stomach.
Hermione cleared away their mess of food and put away the medicines and potions he'd taken. Walking back to his bedside, she gently eased the fallen hair away from his sleeping face and looked at him closely one more time.
He was really stunning, and the fact that he was showing her side's to him she would never have dreamed to know was intriguing to her. She smiled again, and thought how glad she was that he found her before she turned away and went back to her room for the night.
End Chapter 3