Blinded by the Walls | Dramione

The Curse of Wanting an Easy Death

Hot tears streamed down her cheeks. She still couldn't phantom how her Ron, the most kind- hearted person she knew, could ever do this. Her tear-soaked eyes blurred her vision, disabling her from making out her surroundings.

Think Hermione, think.

She didn't have enough time to send a Patronus for help. Her only option was wandless magic, which she hadn't practised since the war. Even then, she rarely used it because it didn't function as quickly as her wand did. More concentration and intensified feelings were needed to summon her magic.

As she ran, she tried to draw power from the natural elements. She quickly bent down to grab a dead leaf and squished it in her hand, trying to concentrate. The pain she felt from her throbbing arm was definitely not helping. She let her anger and frustration with her ridiculous situation help her summon just enough power to take down three people. She could do this, right? Three people with no wand. Piece of cake, right?

The river became more apparent, and she imagined being chased by snatchers to increase her pace. Once arrived, she looked at both sides and saw an outline of their figures on her right.
They stood in the middle of the lake, forcibly suppressing his body underwater.

Something was horribly off.

There were no screams or protests whatsoever, and the sound of that made her extremely uncomfortable.

As if he wanted this fate for himself.

He had given up so easily. The Malfoy she knew would've never backed down before picking up a fight. The one that would go to the ends of the world and back to torment her and her friends.

She jumped into the lake and used the water to draw in even more power.

It was helping.

She could feel her magic building up inside of her, but she needed to plan her strike carefully.

She had one shot and couldn't miss it.

She took a deep breath and pushed all of her magic into her hand. She could feel it heat up, and the water started to whirl around it. The water quickly took the shape of a vortex, rising twenty feet above her. "Hey!" she yelled, and the hooded figures rapidly turned to face her. They all jumped back, terror-stricken, and she pushed her hand forward in full force and yelled Bombarda at the top of her lungs. A tsunami-like surge of water rapidly advanced toward them. They immediately reached for their wands, but the water beat them to it, sending them flying backwards onto hard land.

A wave of exhaustion hit her, but she tried to stay composed until she was sure the captors had left. It took them a couple of moments to pick themselves up. They were all violently coughing up water.

"Come on, we need to go!" the first one to get up exclaimed. His voice didn't sound familiar to her. He vigorously shook the rest, and they got up, with the bit of strength that was left in them, and stormed off into the woods. Panting.

She could feel a liquid trickle down her nose and reached the back of her hand to wipe it off.

Blood.

She rinsed her hand in the water and could slowly feel everything turn white around her. Her body collapsed into the water, but she quickly regained consciousness when she hit her head on a rock. She brought a hand up to the back of her head and felt it bleeding. Her mind was hazed, and she tried to pull herself onto the shore with one hand. Her muscles were weak, and the torment of her injured arm grew stronger. She could sense the blood trickling down her neck to her back and dripping one by one into the water. There was nothing left in her anymore. Maybe Malfoy was right about one thing.

There was no reason to fight or scream anymore. She had done that enough to last her a dozen lifetimes. Her time had finally come, and she wasn't going to cheat or swerve death anymore.

She let herself be and released her arm that desperately held onto the shore, making her body retract into the water. Piece and she had finally met. She closed her eyes and let the water determine her fate.

It was nice, for once. She felt nothing. Absolutely nothing. No more internal or external pain, nothing. No sounds, no responsibilities, no unresolved feelings to disturb her piece. The chilling water felt warm on her skin, and she finally felt a feeling that she thought was no longer in the books for her. Happy. She felt happy.

Her biggest fear was to go away in pain, but for once, the universe had granted her a favor. She was filled with delight until something had to ruin it for her.

Someone hooked their arm around her back and pulled her to the shore. She had a light pulse but refused to let herself breathe.

"Accio wand! Appaneo," she couldn't tell who it was with all the water clogging her ears. She pressed her lips into a hard line, not allowing the water to escape her mouth.

Why did this person have to ruin it? Why couldn't she have one thing? Just one singular thing for herself.

She could feel the person trying to forcibly push her jaw open with both hands, "Stop resisting me, Granger!" They exclaimed.

Malfoy?

She was taken aback by the fact that he was trying to help her when he could've easily left her for dead. Then, in a moment of weakness stemming from her surprise, she let her mouth relax, allowing him to open it, and the water poured out of her.

She choked it all out but had difficulty breathing. He tapped his wand on her chest and cast a shocking charm to restore her heartbeat. It was quicker than its average pace, making it more difficult for her to adjust. He placed a hand on her back and slowly lifted her upper body into a sitting position. Her eyes still remained closed, and she could feel her head stinging like crazy, "Make it stop," she cried.

"Make what stop?" He questioned, breathless. She dragged her arm upward and pointed towards the back of her head.

He quickly walked behind her and placed a hand on the side of her head to examine the wound. He made a hissing sound, which scared her even more, "Breathe, okay?" He tried to keep his voice calm, trying to neglect the bolt of anger inside of him. He couldn't care less if he would be sent to Azkaban for killing those sons of bitches. He was going to kill them. She nodded, biting her lower lip from her poignant aching.

"Vulnera Sanentur," he whispered, causing her to growl from the pain, "Here," he reached his hand towards her, "Hold it as tight as you want to," he offered. She slowly fluttered her eyes to look at him. He was soaked as well, his hair sticking to his forehead, and he assured her that it was okay.

He didn't look like Draco Malfoy the Notorious Death Eater at that moment. He just looked like, Draco. A tortured soul that still carried some light in him.

She held his hand and squeezed it thoroughly until she could feel her bleeding stop. Once it did, s he tried to unclasp her hand from his, but he held onto it with a hefty grip, "Your wound hasn't healed yet," he warned. She momentarily glanced down to look at their combined hands and nodded in compliance. They sat there in silence together for a good two minutes. Once her wound healed, he softened his grip and withdrew his hand, running it through his hair.

She watched him as she gingerly touched the back of her head and sighed in relief at her sealed wound. She laid down on her back by tilting her head to the side to not apply pressure on her newly healed laceration. He mirrored her movements by doing the same and lay next to her. They remained silent, apart from their breathing regulating itself from each exhale.

"Thank you," she said, facing him. The two words that she never thought would be for him. He didn't react right away and continued observing the constellation he was named by.

She didn't really expect him to say it back, even though she nearly killed herself to save him. But in reality, who was she kidding? It was the perfect opportunity to use his rescue as her means of death. She could live up to how everyone saw her and be remembered as the heroic figure who saved the life of a formal death eater.

The Golden Girl.

But she would remember herself as the pathetic, wounded little girl that escaped the harsh reality of the act of living.

He looked at her, with his ever so cold gaze, and stared deeply into her eyes, dark eyelashes dangerously attractive on him, "Thank you."