Stolen Paradise - Dramione (ON HOLD)

Ch. 9

The smell of food cooking caused her to stir and she lifted her head with a slight groan, a flash of pain bolting through her neck as she moved; how long had she been in the chair?

As she slowly unfolded herself and sat up, making sure to not put anymore stress on her neck, she carefully looked into the kitchen where she could just barely see the sky from the large window in the dining room. It was grey and cloudy, but somewhat darker than she remembered it had been before.

She carefully stood up, massaging the back of her neck as she walked into the kitchen. He was standing at the stove, stirring something as he read from a book that she couldn't discern from the doorway.

He looked up as she walked into the kitchen, giving her a small smile. "Did you sleep okay?"

"I'm not sure," She answered, looking around. "How long was I asleep?"

"Nearly all day," He said, looking back at the pot he was stirring. "You fell asleep about an hour I think after you sat in the chair."

She groaned, rubbing the back of her neck again. He noticed this and gave her a concerned look. "Are you alright?"

"I slept on my neck wrong," She muttered, leaning against the counter and slowly rolling her head around in a circle to stretch her muscles. "I'll be alright, it just hurts a bit."

"I can get you some painkillers if you need them," He offered, watching her as she stretched her neck. "Actually, I'm just going to get them; considering how long you were asleep and the fact that you hardly moved, I can't imagine how badly your neck is hurting."

She gave him a surprised look, blinking as he left the kitchen and went down the hall towards her bathroom. Looking back towards the stove, she walked towards it and picked up the wooden spoon he had set down, stirring the contents of what looked to be some sort of stew. Whatever it was smelled wonderful, and when she looked over at the book she paused before realizing that it was in French.

The muffled sound of footsteps grew louder and she looked up, wincing as the pain shot through her neck and sucking in a deep breath.

"That made me hurt just watching," He said with a pained laugh and holding out a hand. "Here, these should help."

She held up her hand and he dropped three small pills into it, stepping aside as she headed towards the sink.

"I didn't know you could speak French," She said, reaching into the cabinet for a glass.

She saw him pause out of the corner of her eye before he replied, "How did you figure that out?"

"The recipe's in French," She said simply as she filled the glass with water.

He didn't say anything for a little bit as she took the pills and followed them with a large swig of water, cringing slightly at the taste while setting the glass down. He continued stirring, looking up at her a few times before saying, "I read it better than I hear it. The pronunciation is so wildly different though from how it reads."

"It really is," She agreed.

"Do you speak French?" He asked, giving her a curious look.

With a small shrug, she said, "Only a little; I haven't used it in so long. My parents took me to France for holiday after second year, and shortly after that I developed an interest. But with everything that was going on then, I just didn't have time to pursue learning the language."

He nodded in understanding and looked back towards the recipe book. "The same thing sort of happened with me. Malfoys are always taught different languages growing up; Mother happened to favor French and I grew up learning it. She didn't really speak it well either, which is probably why I read it better than I hear it."