TW// Dark themes and slight mention of blood and death. Read with caution.
***
Her eyes kept fluttering the whole time he sat there, his hand close enough to her wrist that he could feel her pulse.
He squinted his eyes as they racked her form that was slumped on the bed, her hands fell limply at her sides. Her skin was pale, not something characteristic of her that seeing her like this was like seeing her dead.
Draco narrowed his eyes and focused them on his knuckles that were now bruised.
He couldn't help the smirk that spread on his face when he remembered what happened after getting Hermione to the hospital wing.
***
"Where do you think you are going?!" Pansy asked, looking from his to Hermione that was on the bed, as if this was reason enough.
"I am going to return the favor." He glared at her, his eyes twitching.
Pansy lifted an eyebrow before a smirk spread on her face, "Mind having company?"
Draco squinted his eyes but motioned for her to follow him nonetheless.
"Guys, maybe you all should wait, let's stay with Mione for now." Harry tried to calm them down, failing miserably of course.
"No, I agree with them." Ginny shrugged, looking at Hermione's slightly bloodied white shirt.
"I agree too." Blaise cracked his knuckles.
"We are not going to act in a circus, I am not taking everyone with me." Draco narrowed his eyes, crossing his arms as he did so.
Blaise rolled his eyes, muttering a "Fine."
"Everyone, out! I have to check on the patient." Madam Pomfrey motioned for them to move.
Without warning, Draco took Pansy's wrist and pulled her with him, knowing well enough that she is the one who will know what is needed to be done.
"We haven't done this in a while, have we?" She smirked as they walked down the hallways to the Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff common room.
He smirked as well, "Three years to be exact. Last time was when we attempted to push the Gryffindor off the astronomy tower."
She rolled her eyes, "You did go a little far, but you were an arsehole when young —still are— but we all know you were just scaring him."
Draco huffed a laugh, "Didn't stop Theo from trying to stop us, even though the Gryffindor did try to burn his books."
"You know Theo, he lives by the "Wisdom knows what to overlook." motto, it isn't like his books were significant or anything." She rolled her eyes sarcastically, knowing well enough that he would kill his friends if they even came near his books.
"Sometimes I wonder why he wasn't placed in Ravenclaw." Draco shook his head in disbelief.
Pansy snorted, "Thank Merlin for that."
After a while, they found themselves in front of the Ravenclaws/Hufflepuffs common room.
"Are we sure it is a seventh year?" Pansy asked him.
"We'll check both if not." He shrugged.
In less than five minutes, both of them were inside, threatening the Hufflepuffs.
It was no brainer, really, that the Hufflepuffs responsible for the attack on them would expose themselves so the others don't get in trouble.
Stupid Badgers.
Pansy had one of the four that attacked them pinned to the wall with her wand at his throat, the guy was wide eyed and he swallowed visibly every few seconds.
"Are you going to tell us why you did it or not?" Draco dusted his hands on his trousers, his knuckles bloody.
He just beat three Hufflepuffs and no one dared to help them.
So much for loyalty.
"N-no." He breathed out.
Draco narrowed his eyes, "If you don't, You will end up like them." He motioned to the three other guys that were slumped on the floor.
He swallowed again but still refused to say anything.
Draco smirked, "I'll leave that one for you, Pans."
He could already sense her smirking.
He turned around and twirled his wand, leaving the common room.
Five minutes after he stepped foot out of the common room, he heard the pleading sounds of the guy as he begged Pansy to stop hexing him.
Good.
He deserves to feel what Hermione felt.
***
He was brought back to his senses by a movement on the bed.
"Hey." Her voice was barely louder than a whisper.
"Hey." He was surprised by how soft his voice sounded.
She rubbed her eyes, "How long have I been here?"
"A few hours."
Hermione tried lifting her head up from the soft pillow but her head was seemingly heavier than usual.
Draco didn't fail to notice, "Here— let me help..." he stood up from the chair and softly grabbed her shoulders, pulling her up and against the bed frame, she smiled and muttered a thanks before looking at the dark window.
"What time is it?" She asked as she surveyed the hospital wing, only a Hufflepuff was present.
The one Pansy beat.
She furrowed her eyebrows, "Merlin, what the hell happened to him...?" She murmured to herself and Draco couldn't contain the sneaky smile that spread on his face.
"It is almost eleven, by the way." He answered her earlier question.
She widened her eyes, "And what are you doing here? You should go back to the dorm."
He shrugged, "I am staying here tonight, the binding spell and all."
She furrowed her eyebrows "Can't professor McGonagall lift it off for the night?"
"She offered to, but I refused. You are staying here until tomorrow night, we don't have to go through all of that." He shrugged again.
She furrowed her eyebrows before giving a small nod.
She then closed her eyes and said, "What did they hit me with?"
Draco furrowed his eyebrows, "We didn't get any details. But it must have been powerful because it knocked you out." Hermione nodded.
She opened her eyes and looked at him before her eyes drifted to his hands.
"What the hell happened?" She asked, though her voice sounded calm.
He shrugged, "Nothing."
She narrowed her eyes at him, "So you are telling me your knuckles are all bruised because of nothing?"
He rolled his eyes, "It is nothing important."
She huffed and looked back at the huge window on the opposite wall.
A few seconds passed before she talked again.
"Did you all figure out who jumped us?" She asked, still looking at the window, seemingly deep in thought.
He rolled his eyes, "Some Hufflepuffs."
She squinted her eyes, "I saw professor Alvaro talking to some Hufflepuffs a few days ago."
Draco narrowed his eyes, "Do you think he has something to do with this?"
She nodded, "Yeah, Harry does too. He even found out some information on him."
"What did he find out?" Though he hated that Harry was the one who got all of this information, Draco couldn't be more curious.
"His whole family was murdered during the war, he has a brother that was disowned years ago and we don't know anything about him."
Draco furrowed his eyebrows, "So you think he is acting like an arsehole because he is driven by revenge?"
Hermione shrugged, "Yes."
They were silent for a while before Draco spoke again.
"Sounds likely." He said as he leaned back in his chair and propped his legs on her bed.
She narrowed her eyes at him but didn't say anything.
"I thought after the war, prejudice would finally be nonexistent." She said finally.
Draco sighed, "You thought wrong, Granger. Prejudice will continue to live on the face of the earth until we take our last breath."
She furrowed her eyebrows, "But why would we let it? Why can't someone do something about it? Why can't we do something about it?"
He huffed, "You want a couple of eighteen year old kids to do something about a problem that existed before they were even born? I don't think it is as simple as you put it."
She turned to face him, "Actions speak louder than words, we won't know if it is impossible if we don't try."
"Sometimes giving up is just better."
"We shouldn't give up without putting up a fight. We give up after going to the ends of the world to try and do what we want to do. You go down fighting and screaming. You go down after you have done everything in your power to change the world." She spoke in a stern voice that even McGonagall would be jealous of.
Draco looked —studied her would be more accurate— at her, eyebrows furrowed and mind racing.
His mouth lifted up in the corners in a little smile, "You should write a book, with all of your adjectives and descriptive imageries, your book would sell faster than that Ravenclaw fraud."
She rolled her eyes, "I just told you a speech from the depths of my heart and that is what you reply with?! Go to sleep, Malfoy."
She huffed and laid back in bed.
"The depths of your heart?" He asked, a smile threatening to break out on his face.
She fought the same urge as well, bur her eyes and his as well told the whole story, they couldn't seem to hide from each other.
"Yes."
He shook his head, leaning against the chair once again.
"Are you going to sleep like this?" She asked.
"Why? Want me to join, Granger?"
The words stumbled out of his mouth before he could stop himself and he cursed himself mentally after saying that.
Hermione turned her face to the other side, hiding the red tinge that appeared on her face before schooling her features and rolling her eyes at him, "In your dream."
You are not in my dreams, but my nightmares, he wanted to say, but this time, he stopped himself.
He let a small small plaster on his face and closed his eyes, but he didn't go to sleep just yet.
"Madam Pomfrey said I could sleep on one of the beds here."
She hummed and he didn't need to look at her to know that her eyes were closed and that she was on the verge of sleep, "You should do it then." her voice was barely louder than a whisper.
He nodded, "I should."
***
The material was rough as he woke up. Hard.
His mind was whirling about and he was not yet ready to open his eyes and come face to face with the sunshine.
But sooner or later, he had to open them.
He opened one eye first, and when he came face to face with darkness, he grew suspicious.
He opened his other eye.
Still. Darkness.
He looked around, the whole room was dark, blackness taking over everything except himself and his chair.
He swallowed, his eyebrows furrowed and his fists clenching and unclenching.
He was dreaming, he had to be dreaming.
He stood up and looked around again, this time not failing to notice the bed that was taking shape next to his chair.
The bed became bigger and bigger, and with that, the shape —the person— on top of it became clearer.
Or rather, the people on top of it.
He didn't see it at first, he only saw the blackness of the dress and the black dark curls, but he didn't see the brown curls and the brown eyes at first.
His eyes widened as he took in the scene that was unfolding before him.
The blackness —the black curls and dress— belonged to his aunt, much to his dismay.
And the brown soft curls and the brown eyes that were dark, dull and empty of life —so uncharacteristic of their owner— belonged to Hermione.
Bellatrix was on top of Hermione. Knife in hand. Sick smile plastered on her face. Crooked teeth visible. Disgust and disdain with a touch of satisfaction created a permanent mask on her face.
But...
But Hermione was completely still. No screams coming from her mouth as the knife plunged hard and deep into her skin, just stained and dry tears on her face.
And her eyes...he couldn't look at her eyes...he just couldn't...they were just too much...too dull...too still...too dead.
It took him a while to notice how her hands fell limply at her sides and how her eyes were trained on his, not moving, just trained on his eyes with a hint of...accusation?
"Look Draco! Look what I did to the mudblood!" His madwoman of an aunt exclaimed, her words tumbling out of her mouth with a hint of satisfaction and amusement.
She grabbed Hermione's jaw with her long black nails, drawing blood from Hermione's cheeks.
Her fingernails sank even deeper into Hermione's skin as she noticed the blood falling from her jaw.
The blood fell from her jaw and ran down her neck and into her collarbone and chest. Some blood even stained Bellatrix's hands.
She sneered and yelled.
"ARGH—SHE GOT HER DIRTY BLOOD ON ME!"
Hermione's limp body was on the floor —it was mostly darkness, really — in seconds, and she didn't even react to the harshness of the fall.
Draco just stood there, wide eyed, slack jawed, hands trembling, body shaking and mind swirling.
"DRACO!" His aunt yelled when she saw him.
"HOW DARE YOU COME BACK HERE YOU BLOOD TRAITOR?! AFTER YOU TRIED TO HELP SCUM LIKE HER?!" The woman in front of him looked every bit the woman that was once Voldemort's right hand.
Crazy, scary, delusional and mad.
Draco's eyes widened as she stalked towards him.
"Do you want to gain back our trust? Want to prove your loyalty? Of course you do! How can I ever doubt you! You are your aunt's boy!"
He was not.
She was smiling now, a sick, twisted smile on her face.
"Come on, finish her." She handed him her wand.
"Wh—"
"FINISH HER!" She roared.
"I—"
"Do you want your father dead?! Your mother?! Yourself?!"
Three corpses appeared before him.
His father's, his mother's and his.
All three were bloodied, cuts and scraps on their faces like they were some garbage.
"Wouldn't you want to avoid that?! Of course you want to! Your loyalty will always lie the Malfoy family." A hint of jealousy was evident in her voice.
"I—"
"Come on now, don't disappoint me."
She seemed to like interrupting him a lot in this fine nightmare.
She looked at the corpses behind her, "Don't disappoint them either."
"I don't think I can—"
"Come on, Draco. You don't want to be called a coward again, do you?" She was taunting him, and he knew it. He knew better than to fall for her trap, but he just couldn't shake the feeling of anger that surged through him.
"I am not a coward." He ground out.
She smirked, "Then prove it."
Draco's jaw trembled as he walked closer to Hermione's body.
She is dead.
He knew it from her limp limbs and dull eyes and tear stained face.
What is he supposed to do?
He stopped suddenly, turned around, looked at his aunt, and casted a spell towards his aunt.
"Avada Kedavra."
***
He woke up with a jolt, his heart pounding in his ears and his forehead sweating and his hands trembling.
His wand was held tightly in his hand, the pressure almost snapping it in half.
He quickly let go and the wand fell to the ground.
He looked to his side and thankfully, Hermione was still there, looking very much alive.
His fought the urge to reach out and touch her cheek or wrap a strand of her curly hair around his finger.
Instead, he got up and stalked out of the hospital wing.
***
"Granger! Wake up!"
Hermione groaned and rubbed her eyes.
"What time is it?" She asked, her tone lazy and tired.
"Almost four o'clock."
Hermione shot up from bed.
"Pansy!" Daphne reprimanded, "Don't lie to her!" she then turned to face Hermione, "Don't worry, Hermione. It is still ten in the morning, you can lay down if you want."
Hermione smiled and laid back in bed.
Pansy huffed and was followed by Ginny who rolled her eyes as well, "You are boring, we were trying to trick her."
"It wasn't a good trick." Daphne and Hermione said at the same time before smiling at each other.
Pansy, Ginny and Daphne got into a small, idiotic fight and Hermione took this chance to look around the hospital wing.
He was not present.
Hermione frowned but smiled when she felt Pansy's hand on her knee.
"I am so sorry that you had to endure that just because you are hanging with us, and I am —we are— also sorry that we weren't able to st—"
Hermione put a hand on Pansy's hand that was on her knee and smiled, "Don't. You didn't do anything wrong."
Pansy smiled and from there, the four girls talked for hours. Pansy, Ginny and Daphne telling Hermione what Pansy and Draco did to the Hufflepuffs and what happened since yesterday.
That particular bit of information —what they did to the Hufflepuffs— was surprising to say the least, but at least now she knows what happened to his bloody knuckles.
They spent some time together before the three girls had to go to their classes.
Hermione was left alone in the hospital wing, with just the company of the bruised and beaten Hufflepuff.
Well, that is just fitting, isn't it?
***
Mr. Malfoy,
The chasse aux partenaires is not a famous tradition, making it hard for people to know what it actually is about.
This particular year, the chasse aux partenaires will only be for the bound students.
During the masquerade ball, one will disappear and leave clues for the other to find them.
It depends on the relationship between the two and how deep their connections goes, for if you don't trust or know your partner well, you might not be able to succeed in finding them.
One of you will receive a card in the upcoming weeks, whoever receives it will be the one who disappears during the ball.
The clues must be deep and profound, but they shouldn't be difficult. But whether it is difficult or not, the bound students are supposed to find each other, for you will have spent months together until the masquerade ball.
The masquerade will be held on 25th June.
The chasse aux partenaires will be held two hours after the masquerade ball and it will end exactly at midnight.
Don't be late, for the doors will close magically after 8 o'clock.
Yours,
Headmistress McGonagall.
***
Whatever Draco expected, it was not that.
And if he is being honest, he doesn't know how to feel about it.
He can only pray for Hermione to be the one who gets the card in the upcoming weeks.
***
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Chapter 16 will be up next Saturday!