Chapter 36 - Year 5, part 7

November 4th, 1995

Hermione was sitting in the Gryffindor stands waiting for the match between her own house, and Slytherin. There was still a good fifteen minutes until it was to start, and as always, she had brought a book.

She needed to find a way for the ADC to be able to communicate since the toad had decided to pick up her game. Ever since Hedwig had been caught that one time, they had become aware of how their packages seemed to have been ransacked. And, if Hermione wasn't mistaken, their letters were probably also opened, read and then resealed before being handed to the recipient - if it were deemed safe.

Then there was the thing with her inquisitorial squad, the name itself sounded so dumb she couldn't not make fun of it. Really, who did she think she was? Drawing children in to make them spy on other kids? And what of the Prefects? Did they simply not matter anymore?

But, the damn inquisitorial squad. They were currently being a right menace to her and the Advanced Defense Club. Their patrolling had picked up all around the castle at the most stupid hours of day, and while none of them had been caught - mainly because the patrolling was rarely happening on the 7th floor - there had been a couple of close calls. And those close calls, where too many.

They needed a solution.

Looking across the pitch, she could see the Slytherins starting to arrive. It made her wonder… How would Voldemort call his followers to him, when they were needed? Harry had said something about a tattoo… But how did that even work?

And making tattoos on a group of teenagers seemed a bit too extreme for her tastes. They were desperate - but not that desperate.

"A Protean charm? That's a bit advanced, don't you think? Even for you." Lavender laughed behind her and Hermione put her finger to mark her spot before turning in her seat. She didn't know whether to take the comment as a slight to her intelligence or as a compliment.

"Broadening your mind, Lavender," She said in a voice that might sound the tiniest bit like their wonderfully talented Professor Trelawney, "Is what makes the brain work best. So, thank you, for the compliment."

What she had chosen to interpret as a degrading look down on her from Lavender, softly turned to one of resentment. Hermione hadn't been wrong, then.

Lavender grumbled something Hermione couldn't hear clearly, turned around with a loud 'huff' and went to sit down with Parvati.

She couldn't care less about the two of them. If only she didn't have to share a room with them for the next two and a half years.

Soon enough, the rest of her schoolmates - including Ginny's friends, Natacha and Luna, the last wearing a large roaring Lions head - arrived and the players entered the field, making her forget all about her current troubles.

…

The game was horrendous. Honestly, she couldn't stand Ronald Weasley, but for the Slytherins to have made an entire song just to play with his insecurities was so far from fair play it was beyond her.

She could see him get more and more angry for every goal they scored against him, while the green supporters sang louder and louder.

How he had even ended up in Gryffindor was beyond her, but the hat must have had its reasons.

The score had just rounded 240-120 in Slytherins favour when she suddenly saw Draco diving downwards. Harry wasn't far behind him, and quickly gained on him.

His broom isn't fast enough.

Draco stretched out his arm and hand. He was almost completely horizontal on his broom - completely mirrored by Harry at his side.

Come on. Come on. Come on. She didn't know whom she was cheering for at the moment.

She was out of her seat, hanging dangerously over the edge as she grasped the railing. Her heart was stuck in her throat.

Come on - A Bludger came searing through the air, brushed the top of Harry's head, and slammed into Draco's shoulder.

The whole stadium seemed to collectively gasp and become completely still, as Harry's fingers simultaneously locked around the snitch and fell off his broom in surprise from the Bludger - as Draco was thrown off his broom and slammed into the ground.

Her hands went flying to her mouth trying to cover the silent scream that didn't leave her mouth. Then she ran. She pushed herself through the throng of people trying to get onto the pitch, ran, ran, ran to get to him. She could see Harry sit up ahead of her and she felt relief flood her - but it wasn't him she was running for.

She could see Draco laying lifeless off to the side where he had landed, surrounded by teachers and students. She had barely stepped foot in his direction, before arms grasped her shoulder and forced her towards Harry. "Not here, Hermione. It'll be a bloodbath."

"But - but, he - Draco -" She choked, as her eyes glassed over. Still, she didn't fight Fred as much as she wanted to. Based on their Quidditch match this summer at her house, Fred and George both knew of her affiliance with some Slytherins.

"I know. I know. He's getting help. You'll see him at the hospital wing." His arm around her was reassuring, but she couldn't help but wonder if he would even make it halfway across the field. That Bludger. That fall. That wasn't just something you stood up and walked away from.

Tears threatened to slip as she landed on her knees in front of Harry, and waited for Ginny to stop yelling at Harry, because 'why in Merlin's name did you let go of your broom, you bloody IDIOT?!' Then she had slammed her mouth against his, and that had been that.

…

Later that evening, she slipped quietly down the hall wearing Harry's cloak and the map. As she arrived by the door to the Hospital Wing, she could still see Professor Snape, Daphne and Theo beside the dot with Draco's name. They had been like that since she left Gryffindor-tower, but it seemed she was in luck as saw their dots finally start to move towards the door.

As they left the room, she was quick on her feet - for once - and slipped in before the door closed behind her.

She could see Madam Pomfrey walk around the dimly lit room, so Hermione was careful to be as silent as possible when she moved through the room and to the bed where she knew Draco was.

She slipped around the privacy blind that had been put in place, and found Draco sitting up in his bed. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, with his face turned towards the open window to his right. Meanwhile, he looked to be massaging his left shoulder lightly.

"Draco?" She whispered, and watched as his entire body jerked, while his eyes turned in her direction.

"Hermione?" He whispered back, and seemed to look somewhere over her shoulder.

Behind her, the steps of the Matron disappeared into the next room. Then the door clicked shut.

"Why so surprised? I thought you always knew when I was near you." She whispered teasingly as she stepped closer and caressed the hand he was leaning against, on the bed. He in turn sat up straight and grabbed her hand with it.

He then pulled her closer in to stand against his duvet covered legs, lifted his other hand, and pulled her hood down. "There she is." His hand left the hood and went directly to hold her cheek like it was the most precious in the world. As she closed her eyes and sighed, against the feel of his hand, she wanted it to be so badly. "I'm sorry, I was a little distracted."

She opened her eyes and stared directly into his gray ones. "I figured. Snape was here for a long time. did he have much to say?" His eyes narrowed slightly as he cocked his head. "How did you know he was here for a long time?"

Thinking about the map in her pocket, she answered, "I have my ways."

He looked at her intently, like he was trying to read her mind. She knew she would know if he did. But she also knew he was skilled at Occlumency, not Legilimency. He sighed, kissed her forehead and shook his head. "Fine, keep your secrets. For now." He sighed again. "To be honest, I think he only came to check up on me, and by coincidence, met Theo and Daph on the way. Then they stayed for Pomfreys sentencing..."

She frowned up at him. He sounded a lot graver than she had thought he would be. She had heard people talking around school today, so she knew he was fine. Knew he was here, but that he was fine. That was the one thing that had made her calm down after he was lifted off the pitch. "I thought you were okay? They said -"

"I am fine, Hermione. Don't worry. But…" He sighed again, and she hated it. "The Bludger hit a soft spot and tore something inside my shoulder, I don't remember the name for it. It's fixed and healed now, but I'll never get full mobility again." To show her, he lifted his left arm and made to roll his shoulder in a circle like he was preparing to throw cricket-ball, but he very obviously couldn't. He hissed in pain and grabbed his shoulder again, his entire upper body sagging in on itself.

"Mr. Malfoy - I thought I told you to take it easy." Came the stern voice of the healer as her small footsteps moved in their direction.

"Sorry!" Draco croaked, and Hermione quickly pulled her hood back up and made to move away from him, but he stopped her by grabbing her by the waist. "I'll just go lie down now."

"See that you do, Mr. Malfoy. I'll be back in a moment." The footsteps stopped, and then retreated.

Seeing as he obviously wasn't going to let her go, she stepped closer into him. He wasn't wearing a shirt, and she could see every muscle move as he did. It was fascinating.

And oh, so beautiful.

Her hand was at his cheekbone before she could stop herself. Feeling and taking in everything that he was. Her fingers ghosted across his lower lip - his breath, a caress against the skin on her fingers - before slipping down his throat that bopped as he swallowed, and moved when he lifted his chin to better accommodate her.

His collarbone… It was like something carved out of marble as she leaned in and pressed her lips to it. Meanwhile, her fingers continued their exploration of this beautiful man that had chosen to be hers. He gasped, as she moved her pointy and middlefinger down over his chest and then stopped at his ribs. Here, she snaked her arm around him and continued to kiss him - now moving northbound and back up the same way she had touched him before, but now it was her lips that were leading the way.

Then she found his lips, and it was perfect. Absolutely perfect, until he tried to put his arms around her and remembered that something was hurting in a way that it shouldn't.

He hissed in pain.

"I'm sorry - I don't know what I was thinking." She whispered, incredibly embarrassed at what she had just done, and suddenly relieved that her face was still covered a little bit by the cloak.

"Don't be." He reassured her. "It helped to distract me a bit, and it's not like I didn't like it." he finished sheepishly.

Even though his words made her happy, she still felt bad… And terribly embarrassed. "I better go… It's late and you-"

"Stay."

"Wh-what?" She wasn't sure she had heard him correctly. Did he just-

"Please, stay. Just for a little bit. I feel like I never get you to myself anymore."

He wasn't wrong. School, Umbridge, his Occlumency lessons, her prefect duties and work with the ADC had taken up a lot of the time they would otherwise have had to be together.

She sighed in resignation. If they got caught, they would be in trouble. "Just for a little bit, then."

She watched as he scooted over and laid back, making space for her on his right side so that his left would be free to move.

She had never done this before. It wasn't in any of her books, and she had never talked to anyone about what one did when you were invited into someone else's - particularly not a boy's - bed. He was injured for Merlin's sake, and they were… Kids. This was wholly inappropriate, and what on earth was she supposed to do?
"I can see the wheels turning in your head, Granger. What's going on?" He said slowly as he fixed the duvet, and tugged it up until it covered his chest. Somehow, that was what made her brain start to function once again.

"You really don't want to know." She whispered, and laid down beside him, where she fixed her cloak so that it covered her curled up form, completely. She then rested her head on his upper arm, and felt it lock around her shoulder. Looking up, she found him already watching her.

"Hi." He whispered, and sounded oddly enough like he was just as uncomfortable as she was. Not that he made her feel uncomfortable in any way, but oh boy, if the situation didn't.

"You almost caught the snitch today. It was pretty amazing to look at." She whispered instead, looking into those pretty gray eyes. He had sounded kind of like there was something he had wanted to say earlier, and she felt so bad for bringing it up… But what if it helped? Just a little bit?

"Yeah, I almost had Harry this time. I think my broom's too slow… Maybe I'll talk to dad about getting a new one once…" He stopped so suddenly, she thought it was because someone had snuck up on him. But the pain in his eyes betrayed him, and he held her a bit tighter. "I always thought about playing for the Falcons or something like that, you know, after Hogwarts, but now I can't - all because Crabbe can't swing a fucking bat to save his life."

Apparently, Crabbe would be the death of both of their possible dreams of flying in the big League.

"Did you want to go Professional? Like, really professional?" They had never talked about what any of them wanted for the future. Not any of their friends, not any of them. They didn't even know what they wanted together. She suddenly felt so small and so unimportant.

"I don't know… But It'd have been nice to at least have the chance."

She chewed on this, because that was a really good point. "Can you fly? Like, at all?" She was terrified of how he might answer that question, but luckily, he didn't keep her hanging for long.

"Sure! Absolutely - but not right now. Pomfrey said we can take another look at Quidditch in 6 months' time, but that's the rest of the school year that's gone just like that. So, there's that. But I can definitely take you flying if that's what you're scared of missing out on." He smirked, "Don't worry love, you're not getting rid of me and my fabulous ideas." He finished with a small chuckle and kissed her nose. As she chuckled back, she heard the sound of the door clicking and then footsteps.

Draco's arm went slack around her shoulder and Hermione laid perfectly still - again making sure that she was fully covered by the cloak - as Pomfrey arrived, gave him his potions for the night and retreated with a whispered 'Goodnight, sleep well'.

He quickly took the potions, and fifteen minutes later after, having talked quietly together, he was snoozing softly against the top of her head.