After Tonight

Chapter 27: Fragile

There was no way in hell they were going back.

Draco paces the floor on the outside of the bathroom, the noise of hermione showering filling his head as he chews on his lower lip.

He thought it odd, that the moment she was out of his sight he found it harder to breath. But that was love.

Pulling on his collar, Draco swears under his breath. The world was burning around them and she still cared what happened to others. He had to admit, it was one of the things he found most endearing about her; how selfless she was; but he couldn't protect someone who wasn't afraid. She was brutally fearless, which also meant reckless, and the thought of her in harms way made him ache.

The sound of water spewing ceased, and Draco steps away from the door quickly, stepping to the other side of the room with his wand in hand, and began removing peeling paint from the wall. He knew the safe house was less then homely; maybe if he spruced it up, she wouldn't be so eager to leave.

It had taken hours to just convince her to shower, to remove the sweat and grim from her skin, but eventually she gave in, the exhaustion evident in her defeat.

"We should try to locate the others. Ron wasn't back yet, was he?"

"Granger, you cannot possibly think in this state. Just rest."

"I can't just rest!"

After that she had started to cry, and he had taken the opportunity to drag her upstairs, sit her on the dusty mattress and swiftly clean the shower. He'd then pushed her in, clicking the door closed softly and she had taken the hint.

Her heart was too soft, too open. He could protect it, nurture it, lock it in steel bars out of the grasp of everyone who could ever harm her.

The door creaked open, and Draco gave her an open mouthed smile, straining to keep it on his face as he took her in.

Hermione looks nothing short of a drowned mouse. Her wild hair was wet, matted down and sticking to her thin neck and protruding collar bones, eyes watery from no doubt another wave of emotions. She had redressed in her old clothing, and Draco flicked his wand, casting a scorgify to Pansys blood that stained the hem of her fabric.

"Thanks," she sniffs, still standing in the bathroom doorway. "I hadn't noticed."

"That's alright love," he replies, and tries a smile again. "Come here." He crooks a finger at her, slipping his wand into his waist band.

She doesn't move, her brown eyes zoned on the cracked floorboard. Draco bites the hollow of his cheek, a slight attempt to keep his temper in check.

Does she realize how lucky she is, how fortunate they were? They were given a second chance at a life all of their own, yet she was still mourning those who had never had her best interest at heart.

"Hermione." He says slowly, walking in front of her. He skims her hands and arms, his thumbs caressing her skin lightly as she breaths out, still not looking at him. "This is our home now."

This revelation seems to shake her back, and she peers up at him brows furrowed in confusion. "How could say that? Your best friend was dying, you have no idea if she's alive, your mother is most likely going to be blamed for our sudden and rather rash dissapperaence, not to mention the fact that Luna is missing an arm." She wails, pulling her arms back to cross them over her chest, out of his reach. "I know you think I'm fragile but I'm not. Stop treating me like i'm-i'm useless!"

"Because you are!" He shouts before he can stop himself. Hermione doesn't react like he had expected. She doesn't yell, doesn't shove him back. He expected her to throw back insults, call him a waste of space or stomp her feet in defieance. instead, she sets her mouth in a thin line, and without hesitation storms out of the room. Draco flares his nostrils as he hears the front door swing open, then bang shut a moment later, and he quickly exits the room.

Flinging open the front door, he watches as hermione defiantly walks off the front porch, wand clinched tightly in her hand.

"Where do you think you're going?" Draco scoffs, elevating his voice.

Turning around, she gives him a fearsome glare. "To help them!" She replies, then begins to walk again. "Even if you won't!"

This couldn't be happening. He could not allow this to happen.

Biting the inside of his check, Draco holds his wand steady and whispers, "Incareous."