Scars That Heal (Dramione Fanfiction) [COMPLETE]

39 - Daisy Chains

Hermione loved the little galaxy on her body, and even as the ink started to wear away over the next few days she found herself drawing them back on. It was mainly in lessons, if she was distracted, and she would roll up her sleeves so the night sky could continue along her arms. Luna was the only one of the others who noticed properly, and she thought it was lovely.

"Why are you doodling on your arms, Hermione?" she asked. "There's some spare parchment in my bag, if you want it."

"Oh, thanks Luna, but I'm drawing constellations on my freckles," Hermione smiled, gesturing to the little stars she had added between the lines.

"That's beautiful, and very deep. I'm not sure if you intended it to be deep, but they look nice anyway," Luna replied.

"Nothing thoughtful here, just the fact I like the look of it."

"Any reason why?" Luna asked pointedly.

"...Just something Draco said to me." Hermione relented.

"Well, I think it's adorable. Have you ever considered tattooing them on?"

"No, but... now I am, I guess! I like drawing them on, is the only thing. I can't do that if I tattoo them. And isn't tattooing pretty painful? And it is my whole body, pretty much."

"There are numbing charms that we can utilise as witches. And you wouldn't have to do the whole body anyway - you could always just do a little constellation on an arm or on your chest." Luna suggested, twirling her quill in her fingers. "I'd always liked the idea of being a tattoo artist if I had to get a Muggle occupation. It seems awfully nice to put art on people's bodies."

"I'd never thought of it like that." Hermione thought about all the people she'd seen with tattoos as a child. It was one of the few things her father had ever forbidden her to do.

"You're not allowed a tattoo until I die, Hermione," he had said with a degree of sincerity, "And even then, you've got to wait six months just to make sure I really am dead. I have no idea why you'd want to ruin your skin like that."

Well, he was definitely dead and buried now. It hadn't been six months, but by the time she left Hogwarts it would be. Hermione had never really considered getting a tattoo before. There was never anything she specifically wanted, but now she had an idea in her head. A little Draco constellation over her heart. It wasn't something she would get done impulsively, but it seemed like a nice possible idea for the future. Maybe she did want a tattoo!

That lunchtime was meant to be a scheduled revision session, but in the end none of the group was in the mood. April had ended up very sunny and warm, and most of the time they spent in the library was wasted lusting after the clear skies and fresh air. So Hermione - albeit begrudgingly - agreed to a day off. The justification that the others had made was that they had worked very hard over the rest of the weeks, and they all deserved a random break.

They all went down to the grassy banks by the Lake, and when they had all sat down Ginny revealed the lunch she had hidden in her robes. It was with a mischievous grin that she pulled sausage rolls, an entire salami, salad, cheese twists, bread rolls, butter and even a jar of chutney from her pockets. The salad had been inserted into something very similar to a Bubble-Head charm, but it came out looking a little wilted all the same.

"You never cease to amaze me," Dean grinned as he liberally spread butter over some bread and loaded it with salami slices.

"I aim to impress," Ginny said proudly, then producing a jug of cold pumpkin juice and a bottle of Butterbeer from her bag.

"How did you stop it from spilling?" Luna asked, tilting the jug and watching as the liquid clung to the inside instead of pouring onto her robes.

"Something George wanted me to trial-run, and thank Merlin it did work or my parchment would not be up to McGonagall's standards."