"It's alright. You're going to be okay, i promise" Draco breathed heavily as he carried her in his arms.
He had found her at the edge of the forest, covered in scratches and bruises. Covered in blood. He decided then and there he never, never, wanted to see her like this again. It hurt to see her like this.
He glanced down at her in his arms, she was still breathing, you had to look very closely to see her chest rise and fall, but she was breathing.
It was dark out and he could barely see a thing, but he was determined to get her to safety and take care of her, just like she always took care of him.
He didn't know what had happened to her. He was sitting on the couch in their Head Girl and Boy dorm when he got her Patronus saying she needed help and he was on his way. That's all he knew, but by the looks of it, she was attacked by a..werewolf? Yes that's what it looked like.
They were almost at their dorm but he had to be quiet, it was after hours and if anyone caught them like this, well, this would most likely not end well. An Ex-Death Eater carrying a, almost dead looking, muggle born not to mention 'Brightest Witch of her age, Golden Girl, Hermione Granger'. But he made it.
He carried her to their shared bathroom and carfully placed her on the ground against the bathtub, he checked if she was still breathing by getting closer to her and almost pressing his ear again her lips, looking for any sign of air leaving her mouth. And luckily she was still breathing.
He sighed in relief, he would never admit it to anyone if they asked, but he had been scared, scared that she was going to die on him and that he would be left all alone, again. He couldn't have that, he didn't want to feel that way again. They had grown close, very close over the last couple months.
Draco knew that Hermione meant something to him, only he didn't know she meant that much to him until he saw her there on the ground, hurt, bleeding and in need of help. His help.
He grazed his hand over her cheeck to check if it still radiated that heat they always seemed to have, and sure enough it did.
He took off her shoes and socks, her T-shirt and bra, her demin jeans and lastly her panties. He had let the bath fill up with warm water and soap. He carefully picked her up yet again and set her down in the warm embrace of the water. Making sure aswell that her head was positioned right.
He grabbed a wash cloth and started gently cleaning her wounds and cleaning off the dirt and mud on her olive skin. He made sure to be very gentle, just like she was with him always. He grabbed her chin in his hand and turned her face more towards him.
He began wiping her face, now and then dipping the cloth in the water to wet it again and start wiping her face once more. She stirred wich made him stop what he was doing, he dropped the cloth in the water.
"Granger? It's okay, it's fine. I'm right here okay" He knew she probably couldn't hear him but he didn't care, he thought maybe talking to her would help aswell. He grabbed the cloth again and started wiping above her eyebrow.
He kept talking to her, he always talked to her, he liked doing that, sometimes when she was asleep he would talk to her, he would lay on his side staring at this beautiful witch beside him and wonder how he ever deserved this, he would talk to her about how he still did not understand what she saw in him, how she could forgive him for all the horrible things he's done in the past, how-
Her eyes slowly pealed open, he put the cloth on the side of the tub and placed his hand on her cheek, as to assure her that he was still there beside her. "Draco?" she coughed while still prying open her eyes.
"Yes love, i'm here" he said while stroking her cheek, her eyes opened and her eyebrows furried together in confusion to why she was in a bathtub, so she looked back up at him "What am i doing in a bathtub Draco?" she sounded genuinely confused like she didn't know she had been attacked in the forest not moment ago, maybe she hit her head.
"You are covered in scratches and dirt from head to toe, Granger. Can you remember why?" He had to check if she still knew, if she didn't have a concussion or have any memory loss "Parts, i can remember parts. It's mostly a blurr really"
"You sent your Patronus," he sighed and dropped his head, shaking it "you said you needed help" he looked back up at her, his eyes now wet. Hermione put her hand on his that was still on her cheeck and smiled downwardly "I did, i did need your help. And you saved me Draco."
She placed her other hand on his cheeck, causing it to get wet from her soaking hand, and she placed her forehead on his. "Thank you for helping me." she lifted her forehead from his and kissed him. She kissed him with all the strength she had left in her tired body, she kissed him to say thankyou, again, for saving her.
She kissed him because if it hadn't been for him, she'd be dead right now.
They reopened their eyes and Hermione gave one of her heart warming smiles that seemed to make Draco's heart melt every time she blessed him with one. So he gave her one back, he didn't smile often but when he did, they where always for her.
"C'mon, turn around so i can get your back" he hadn't had a chance to get her back when she was unconscious so better do it now. She gave a soft 'Okay' and turned around so her bare back was facing him.
He found it weird that even though she was covered in dirt, bruises and scratches, he still found her utterly beautiful. He was always able to find something beautiful in what she was doing or how she looked. She was beautiful all together.
He grabbed the cloth again and made sure to wet it before dragging it down her back, he also made sure to be gentle. Her back wasnt as bad as Draco had feared, but it was bad nonetheless. She had a big purple, almost going blue, bruise on the left side of her rib.
He cleaned her off and made sure she was comfortable while he did it, asking her, what seemed like every second, if she was okay and if he wasn't hurting her. She thought it was sweet, he cared so much for her just like she cared for him.
"I'm done" he said kissing her cheeck. He helped her get out and get dressed again. Dressing her in one of his many shirts that she had stolen from his closet. She looked extremely tired so he decided to carry her to their bed.
He lay her down on her side of the bed, the right side to be exact, and put the covers over her. He climbed in aswell, normally she would turn around with her back to him so he could spoon her, feel her warmth against him. But he was scared that if he were to do that now he would hurt her.
So instead he carefully grabbed her body and placed her head on his chest, she nestled her head more towards his neck so she could feel the warmth of his skin. He startes stroking her untamed mane and kissed her head.
He was about to fall asleep when he heard her mutter something, barely audible but still there.
"Thank you"
Fin.
