Help (Dramione)

Exhaustion

The three boys began walking to the library where Luna had Hermione distracted, each with a different expression on their face. Harry was amused by the comment and was overcome with giggles. Some of these laughs were directed towards Ron who seemed to have smoke coming out of his ears. He shot both Draco and Harry fiery looks as his face turned increasingly more red. "You better not touch her Malfoy" Ron spoke calmly but it was plain to see he was filled to the brim with rage at what the professors words suggested.  The comment only earned him a glare from his enemy. Those were the only words spoken the entire walk. Draco knew he should be amused like Potter. He knew it was meant as a joke of sorts. He knew she was kind of serious with her request but the smile the professors wore indicated that she was teasing him and he should have laughed and went on with the request. But instead the words made his mind race. He had not seen the rest of Hermiones body. Not all of it anyways. What if she had began cutting elsewhere and he was completely oblivious? She has been doing so well but what if she was just pretending again? What if she was hiding things from Draco and letting herself go through this alone. It broke his heart to know that she might be feeling alone and helpless once again. His thoughts were interrupted by a concerning sight as the trio entered the library. Luna sitting at a table fidgeting with her sleeves with a sad expression on her face. No Hermione. Draco rushed to the table giving an accidental death stare to one of his new found friends. He didn't have to say a word before the witch started blurting words faster than her mind could handle. 

"I'm so sorry. She told me she was going to the bathroom. That was a half hour ago! I  shouldn't have let her go alone. I was hoping she would come back. I'm sorry." Draco had a feeling she wasn't apologizing to him but to Hermione. Seconds after her last word, he turned on his heals and began making his way to where he knew she would be. He heard muffled 'Its alright' from harry who was trying to console a distraught Luna.

Once he got to the bathroom where they hadn't been able to meet very often anymore, he didn't hesitate to enter. His heart dropped to his feet once he saw Hermione sitting in her usual spot on the floor, her skirt slightly raised to reveal a few fresh cuts on her outer thighs. Draco knelt on the floor next to her, gently pushing a few curls away from her face and wiping away mostly dry tears from her cheek with his thumb. He tried not to look down at the new wounds. He didn't want to upset her by focusing on them too much too soon. First he would make sure she was fully calm before questioning her. From what he did see of them when he was walking over to her, they seemed very much less then before. They looked more like they did when he first found out about her habit, back when she was more in control. That made him feel a little better. That meant she was not having a breakdown but maybe just needed a little release. He pondered this thought before reminding himself that he would ask questions in a minute. 

"Luna told on me then?" Hermione sounded bitter but gave a little laugh along with the cold words. She was... smiling. usually at this point she would still be in tears, practically in a ball on the floor. This scared Draco a little. He didn't know what she needed. She seemed almost giddy. She doesn't seem like herself. Draco pushed that thought away and again reminded himself of the task at hand. 

"Well of course. And it looks like its a good thing she did." He tried not to show that he was upset to keep her in this somehow upbeat mood. Draco reached out gently to put his hand on her thigh near the new cuts. Hermione flinched and whined softly from the pain it brought. Draco quickly pulled his hand away. Hermione laughed at this. Draco was growing more and more confused. 

"What? Don't want to touch me?" Her next move surprised Draco. She grabbed his hand back and place it even higher on her leg and tried to slide it up. This wasn't his Hermione. He pulled his hand away from her tight grip and stood up. He could feel a knot build in his chest. He didn't know what was happening. 

"Hermione I don't think that's a good idea right now. We need to talk about what happened and why you did this again. " Hermione was not happy with this response. She stood so fast that she almost fell straight back down, swatting Dracos hands away when he went to help steady her. The young witch suddenly looked haunted. Her eyes were a mix of a blank expression and anger. She was passing now. Draco followed her with his eyes. Hermiones hands formed into fists as she unconsciously dug her nails into her palms with enough force to draw blood.  She let out a small yet aggressive noise that was somewhere between a grunt and a whine. Draco jumped at the startling noise.  She turned to him then and he could see clearly all the fury in her features. 

"I don't want to talk about it!" She was almost screaming. Draco could feel the tears forming in his eyes but he knew she needed to let it out. She would turn back into his Hermione once she let it all out. She would feel better and that's all that mattered. All he cared about in this moment was getting his favorite girl to feel like herself for a while. So he tried his hardest not to let any tears fall, not to let her know how much this was effecting him. "All I ever do anymore is talk about terrible things and go for checkups and get concerning looks. I want to do something else! I want to go outside and play and be fucking free!" She was smiling again as if a switch went off in her head. "I want to do things with you." As she said this she tried to grab Dracos hands and put them on her in the same manner as before. And like before, got angry when he pulled them away. He didn't want to take advantage of her in this obviously fragile state. Even though she was saying she wanted things know, he knew she would most likely regret it later. She was pacing again, faster this time, with her fists now pushing against her skull, sometimes lifting slightly and coming down with force. 

"Hermione stop!" Dracos voice was strained and shaky. He moved towards Hermione and grabbed her wrists, pulling them away from her head. She struggled and let cries that almost were enough to permanently hurt their ears. Draco couldn't hold back anymore and let out a few small cries of his own, letting a few tears slipped as he held his loves wrists away from her body. Hermione stopped struggling after a moment when she saw a droplet roll down Dracos cheek. The pair stood still and stared at each other, both out of breath from a mix of panic and struggling against each other. Hermiones lip began to quiver and her body became week. She began to fall from the combination of physical and emotional exhaustion only to be caught and brought down gently. He rocked her for a moment as she cried into his chest and wrapped her arms around him. Draco placed his chin on her head and tried to regain control of his own emotions. Hermione began to fall asleep in his arms and Draco decided it was best to just let her sleep. They would talk when she woke up.