Hermione and Draco : How To Save A Life

Chapter 12: Bruises

"I need to tell them", her voice was higher than usually as she paced back and forth in the spacious bathroom.

If anyone wanted to take a bath right now, they would face a magically sealed door and be forced to pick another prefect's bathroom in the castle. It was not like this was the only one. Draco had refused to let her fix his bloody face with magic despite his, as he had claimed, unending trust in her magical abilities. He had  just wanted to keep it sore, she did not know why. Or cared, for that matter. She did not care about anything right now. An unforgivable curse... holy fuck. At least she convinced him to clean the wound properly before he could die of an infection- which, despite not caring, would spoil her day. He had moaned a bit about her muggle knowledge of medicine but did as he was told. Better for him. Who knew what she was capable of, now that she had jinxed one of her best friends. She did not trust herself anymore, at least not yet, few minutes after their encounter with Ron.

"Why did you jinx him, then ?", Draco said calmly, his body covered in chin-high bubbles. He looked distractingly good without a shirt on, so Hermione had let the water flow until every inch of him was covered in foam. His arrogant smirk afterwards had been proof enough that he didn't even need to be naked to dazzle her mind. She had to turn around and hadn't dared to turn back again until now.

"Because I was panicking ! He beat you, Draco. What was I supposed to do ?"

"Exactly", he raised a brow, "but you could have just let him fight with me like a normal person- without breaking the law. I can deal with him, you know."

It was Hermione's turn to raise a brow.

"Didn't look like that to me. Shouldn't you despise muggle fights anyway ?", she snorted and he shrugged.

"They are effective sometimes. Satisfying in a way magic isn't."

She smirked, thinking of the time she smacked his nose during their third year. She knew exactly what he meant. He smiled, as if he thought of it, too.

"Since when are you an upholder to moral standards and care about breaking the law? I thought you'd applaud me for finally giving out to Ron."

"Oh, trust me, I do. He deserved it. But whether I like it or not, I know you care about him- and that you feel guilty. I knew the minute you drew your wand. There's no reason to, Hermione."

She looked away again. There was a reason for guilt. She betrayed a friend. Pettigrew of a different sort. Something inside of her snapped.

"For what it's worth, you now know how he'll react when you tell him. Which, by the way, is another reason not to tell him anything. Do you really want to lose a friend because of this ?" he gestured toward his pale chest.

Despite her guilt, she felt pity for Draco's lack of self esteem. Not that she actually pitied him, he would not want that anyway. But she did not understand how a person who was so precious to her could not see his own worth. She moved to the edge of the giant bathtub and sat down to wipe the blood off him with a wet cloth. He closed his eyes in pleasure when her gentle hands caressed his bruised face.

"Yes", she simply replied, her voice barely a whisper.

"You sure you don't want to join me in here ?", a cheeky smile covered his lips.

She leaned down to whisper in his ear.

"Maybe next time", she kissed it gently and pulled back again. Neither of them had forgotten what they were about to do at the lakeside. But now was not the time.

He pouted. That alone almost made her take off her clothes and jump into the comfortably warm water.

"If Ron's reaction was this harsh, I don't want to know what Harry will do", she sighed as Malfoy opened his eyes.

"I doubt it will be worse", his voice got bitter.

"Why ? He hates you even more", Hermione admitted quietly.

"Maybe. But he doesn't love you."

Water splashed on her face as she let the cloth fall into the tub and starred at Draco in disbelieve.

"You think Ron loves me ?"

And now she started laughing like a child. Hilarious. She and Ron had always teased each other, annoyed and frustrated. There was no way he loved her. Friends, sure. They could count on each other. She spent weeks at his house the last few years but... love ? No. He had always been a friend like Harry or Ginny. There was a time when she had thought he might had been jealous when she went to yule ball with Viktor. But she had later blamed it on her fancy dress and straightened hair.

"I happen to know what it looks like to be in love with you, and Potter hates me, but Weasley loves you. It's different. How did you not notice that ?"

"Because it's absurd."

"It isn't, really."

"Well, it doesn't matter either way. I don't love him, I love you."

His eyes turned wide.

"What ?", she asked bluntly.

"You love me ?"

She could read the disbelieve in this face, sweet and scared. She had thought of it so much and totally forgotten that she had never told him before. It was obvious to her, but to him ? Apparently not.

"Of course I do, silly ass. Do you think I'd-"

He did not let her finish what she was about to say. The smile on his face was brighter than ever as he pulled her into the bubbles, placed her on his bare lap and kissed her fiercely. Her robes were soaked within seconds, just like her panties. She did not even have time to be angry at him. The wild strokes of his tongue made her forget everything, everyone, just like all those times before- but even more. This was magic, pure magic- and more. Her arms naturally found their way around his neck and she could feel his naked manhood swelling beneath her tights as she tucked his wet hair. Hastily he pulled off her cloak, followed by unbuttoning her now see-through shirt that exposed her beige bra. Why did she not pick something more fancy today ? His hungry eyes did not seem to care. He gently sucked the sensible skin of her neck, all the way down to her breasts. She leaned back and moaned at the feel of his mouth on her untouched skin where she was never touched, let alone kissed, before. She wondered where he had learned how to do this, what to touch, but she banned those thoughts from her mind. Quit  thinking, Hermione.  She leaned forward again, took his chin between her hands to stop him from kissing her breasts and parted his lips with her tongue, just as he had before. She was scared, but she did not want to let him know. She was ready. But- she stopped in the movement, right when Draco wanted to take off her skirt and tights. They breathed heavily, she was sure her eyes were just as widened as his, only less beautiful. Nothing was as beautiful as his reddened cheeks, his dark, shining eyes and un-gelled blonde hair. He looked like a god.

"What's wrong ?",  he said under his breath.

"Do you have something to... you know... contracept ?"

For a moment he looked at her as if she did not speak his language. Then, realisation came across his face, he sighed and pushed her off his lap. They sat next to each other for what felt like ages, not saying a word until their breathing turned normal again. It should have felt awkward, but it did not. After a while he turned down to push his lips against her shoulder, lingered and quietly whispered :"maybe next time"

somehow that understanding was all she needed to hear to prove that he was not as indecent as people tried to make him. He understood. He did not judge. He did not pressure. And somehow that was everything.

----------------------------------

I'm trying to update more regularly again now :) I hope you enjoyed today's part !