©Soulmates | Dramione

51. Death Eater

Hermione winced for a while as she heard Blaise's explanation. It must've been so painful for Nott to face everything yet still manage to joke around and smile brightly towards all his friends. She observed the horrible scar on Nott's shoulder, wondering how could he survive such life. If it was her, she might end up hanging herself instead of getting tortured from her own father. Blaise asked Hermione to check on Draco as he summoned a new shirt to replace the bleeding one Theo was wearing.

Hermione dragged her feet forcefully towards Draco's bed. If it wasn't because of Nott, she might've not known anything. She knew, by the time Draco regain his consciousness, he would shout at her and ask her to leave. She was mentally prepared for that. He couldn't do much because the burning sensation in his arm refrained him from doing too much magic. Hermione's eyes fixed on Draco's wrapped arm. She tried to unwrap it with her magic, but Blaise managed to wrap it back from his position which was at the wooden stool next to Nott's bed.

"What's wrong, Blaise?"

"Don't unwrap it. We want him to rest"

"What do you mean?"

"We don't want that Mark to be exposed. Like I told you, it was cursed. He would be screaming in pain all over again if it was exposed. I don't want another sleepless night of brewing Draught of Peace"

There was a bit of annoyance at the end of Blaise's tone before he went out from the room. Maybe he was going to make another Draught of Peace in case Draco wake up and scream like a highschool teenage girl with extremely painful trauma. Hermione returned her focus towards the pale wizard next to her, lying sick on the bed.

Hermione's eyes examined the features of her husband softly, it's been 5 months since she's last seen him. Except the other day where he came secretly and slept with her for few hours. Her eyes fell to his veiny hands. Fighting her fright, Hermione regained her strength as she intertwined their fingers together. Draco's fingers were cold, stiff, paralyzed. He looked almost ill at the moment.

Hermione examined Draco's face. He did look ill, as if he didn't eat for weeks. Maybe he did, but with a very small portion. His skin color was paler than he already was. The circles under his eyes were so grey and bloated, as if he has been crying for days. Probably weeks or months. Nobody really knew a thing that's going on inside his head. People saw him for what he was.

A Death Eater.

That was what people saw him as. Whenever the topic of Malfoy being brought up, the first word regarding the name of Draco Malfoy must be about him being a Death Eater at such a young age. The boy who let the Death Eaters into his school and became the witness of his own headmaster's death right before his eyes. To witness the terrifying deaths committed by Voldemort in his family manor.

Hermione knew there were nights he would be having all those dreams. More likely the flashback to his terrible past. She knew how much he wanted to forget everything. She's seen him at his most vulnerable state when he was being tortured by the flashbacks of his memories back in their manor. She knew there must be times he had those scary nightmares all over again. Blaise ended him quite well throughout these few months.

"Draco, can you hear me? It's me, Hermione"

A weak grunt escaped Draco. Hermione squinted her eyes at him, observing his face. He was frowning, then whimpering in pain, pressing his eyes closed harder, clenching his teeth and jaw, balling his fists as if he was trying to go against something. His body arched slightly as if he was being tortured. A slow groan escaped his mouth again, as if he was trying to fight the pain. He was dreaming of being tortured by the Cruciatus Curse.

Hermione's body trembled uncontrollably. For a moment, her brain stopped working. It was jammed. Numb, she couldn't think. The only thing Hermione did was releasing her grip from Draco and stood next to Blaise's bed like a coward as she watched her husband in pain. Her legs was trembling, it felt like they were almost numb. She couldn't move, she knew she's going to collapse at any moment from now on. Hermione's only hope was Blaise. She needed Blaise to be here to help her. Her panic attack came again. She didn't like it.

Using all strength left in her, Hermione tried to fight her panic attack and dragged her feet to the door. All suddenly, the door felt so far away from her reach. She needed to get to Blaise. She needed him to help her. Draco was in pain. Hermione's heart rate was at an uncontrollable speed. It felt like she just saw some horrifying deaths in front of her eyes. Her eyes quivered in fright as she managed to get a grasp on the silver doorknob. Twisting it hard, the door opened and Blaise stood there with a goblet of potion in his hands. He frowned at Hermione's look of terror.

"Blaise, help me"

"What is.."

"Hermione?"

*********
To make it clear, if I'm talking from Hermione's point of view, it would be Blaise and Nott, while for Draco it would definitely be Zabini and Nott. For Blaise, he sometimes called them with their names, that's why it ended with Draco and Theo. And also, he's a friend of Hermione during their years in Hogwarts. 

PLAGIARISM IS A CRIME!

Noted.