Scars That Heal (Dramione Fanfiction) [COMPLETE]

6 - Wounds and Duty

* Trigger Warning - Self-Harm In This Chapter *

On Sunday morning, Hermione woke up at a reasonable time. She felt uplifted from finishing her psychology book - granted, it hadn't revealed the secrets of her horrific dreams yet, but she was starting to understand the human brain more. Wizardry just couldn't explain things like this the way Muggle science could, and it was comforting to have her old Muggle schooling methods help her through this difficult patch.

"Hermione?" Susan Bones said from the bed next to hers. She pulled the curtains back and saw the other girl sat against her pillows. "Do you know when we've got the first Hogsmeade date?"

"Yes, I actually went to see Clark about it yesterday. October the 5th is the first weekend, but I can't remember the others. I need to get the times to the Prefects from other houses, so they can go up in the Common Rooms." Hermione climbed out of bed and got dressed before grabbing the sheets of Hogsmeade dates and walking down to the Great Hall.

"Seamus!" she called, seeing him stood with Dean in the corner. He jumped away from his friend violently, and went over to her.

"Hey, Hermione," he said, "What is it?"

"Did you give McGonagall those Prefect lists in the end?"

"Oh, damn! I knew I'd forgotten something. I've got them in my pocket, just a second," Seamus groaned, pulled the creased pages from the inside of his robes. Hermione scanned the list, and saw she had a duty in the Charms corridor; with Malfoy.

"Hang on; we did these together, and I'm pretty sure I never agreed to go with Malfoy."

"You were a little... distracted? That night?" Seamus suggested tentatively, "Most of the pairings I suggested, and you just grunted."

Hermione blushed a little - she really hadn't been paying attention when they had made them - but just replied "I can put up with him for an hour, I'm sure."

She took the Hogsmeade dates list, and pinned it to the Hall noticeboard, where news for the whole school was pinned; House notices were put in the Common Rooms. Then she had to track down the Prefects from the other houses. Susan and Jemima Peddlestone from Hufflepuff appeared within the next few minutes; then Luna and Terrence Hardy came down ten minutes after that. After she had been stood around munching toast for half an hour, Malfoy came down. He looked even paler than normal, and she noticed he blanched further when he saw the food at the table.

"Malfoy," she said stiffly, holding out the duties list, "You've got one at ten tonight in the Charms corridor. Don't be late."

"I can't wait," he said stiffly, looking more apprehensive that she had expected. There was something not quite right about is demeanour; less obnoxiously sarcastic, more mask-over-a-problem. She nodded, and left.

***

The Herbology greenhouses were humid and oppressively warm in the summer; now the autumnal chills were starting to creep in, they were are pleasant temperature. As Hermione walked past the tanks and pots of obscure foliage, she wondered if Neville had been to see Hagrid yet. She hadn't spoken to either of them in a while, so it would be nice to catch up on the teacher's side of things.

"Hello!" called Neville from behind a large shrub, which was cooing softly as he brushed its frond-like leaves with a large comb. "Oh, Hermione! How are you?"

"Could be better, if I'm honest. I just came down to catch up with you, really."

"What's on your mind?" asked Neville, replacing the comb and pulling over two stools. The shrub gave a disgruntled noise, and shivered slightly.