Prompt: Scars - The first time Harry or Hermione sees a less obvious scar on each other.

Hermione tossed in her bed. Ever since Ron had abandoned them, she had trouble sleeping and so she turned, keeping her eyes closed stubbornly, hoping that tonight maybe sleep would find her.

Harry had taken the first watch, and she could hear him return through the flap at the entrance and sigh quietly. She heard a heavy thud as he set the locket down on the table and cast a quick silencing charm at the bathroom within the tent.

She knew this meant he would try to shower quickly before waking her for her watch. She allowed herself to open her eyes and take him in. He looked frail, even more so than usual. The lean build of a seeker that he had built over the past few years had faded, and he looked more like an Azkaban prisoner than a teenager.

She watched as he grabbed clean clothes from the dresser where he kept them. He took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes, sighing once more, and she could feel her heart break for him. He deserved so much better than what he had been dealt, but life wasn't fair.

He ran his hands through his hair and pulled his shirt off. Hermione didn't mean to watch him undress and was preparing to tear her eyes away, but the sight of him made it so that she couldn't. He was so skinny, almost as malnourished as he had been when he was a little boy on the express their first year, but that wasn't what caught her attention.

She could see scars covering his body, most of which she was familiar with. The lightning bolt on his forehead was the most famous, but he also had the puncture wound on either side of his left bicep from where the basilisk had impaled him and the words 'I must not tell lies' on his right hand that he had spent months engraving into his own skin at the hands of Umbridge.

The last scar Hermione knew about was the large cut starting below his neck where the Hungarian horntail had grazed him on his shoulder, but it was three small burn wounds on his back that had caught her attention.

She gasped without meaning to and Harry stiffened. "Hermione?" He called out softly and she debated not answering, but after a moment without meaning to, she did.

"Oh, Harry." She said softly, standing and making her way over to him. "You have more scars than most adults do." She said closing the distance between them and embracing him, causing him to tense at the sudden intimacy, but his shyness be damned she wanted to hold him.

He stood still for a second, and then another before he finally relaxed in her arms and hugged her back. "Sokay." He told her, attempting to reassure her. "Scars mean that I've healed, if they were still bleeding that would be a problem."

Hermione choked back a sob. "Your body has healed Harry, but what about the rest of you?" Her voice was becoming frantic. A dragon, a deranged instructor, a basilisk and — and this!" she exclaimed, running a hand over the three small burn marks. "What are these from Harry?" she demanded, even though she had a suspicion.

"It's nothing, really—" He began but she cut him off angrily.

"Oh, cut that, Harry." she said angrily. "Tell me."

Harry hung his head in shame. "Aunt Petunia was a smoker." He said quietly. "She only did it a few times before Dudley pulled my shirt off at school and one of my instructors noticed."

Hermione felt hot tears in her eyes. And swiped at them furiously. She had been stuck in a slump since Ron had left, unable to muster up the energy to fight a war, but now she felt reinvigorated. "We're going to win this war, Harry." She told him with all the reassurance she could muster. "And once Voldemort is gone, I will make sure that everyone who has ever hurt you will pay. I swear to every god."

"Hermione —" Harry attempted to calm her down.

"No." she said resolutely, cutting him off. "You are the best person I know. The least deserving of any of the shit life has thrown at you." She nearly smiled at Harry's shock at her curse but ploughed on. "We will win this war and take care of them and then you will learn what it means to be loved like you should have been." She said stubbornly. "And that's a promise."

Harry looked her in the eyes and then nodded. "Okay." He said simply. "You've never let me down before. I believe you. Now let's win this damn war."

A/N: I would love to hear your thoughts if you care to share them :)