Saved By Malfoy Unedited

Chapter 24

Hermione lightly gripped my shirt when I sat next to her.

"Draco?" She asked.

"Hermione?"

"What happened after I... stunned Rufus,"

"Well... you were tortured.... and Bellatrix sent Theo to make sure you didn't die...." I explained. "You know you didn't need to stun Rufus.... Theo can take care of himself."

"I..I know but he's done so much and I...I didn't want him to get hurt knowing I could do something to stop it," she stuttered.

I kissed her softly.

"You and your kind heart," I muttered.

She lightly slapped me before cowering from her own action. I smirked and kissed her lightly. She relaxed and I pulled back.

"Still afraid of me Granger?" I asked.

"Yes... but you can't blame me," she replied.

"And why is that?" I asked, regretting it the second it left my lips.

"Well for starters..." She began, "you have hit me, you have magic while I, well my wand was snapped years ago. You are much stronger than I am. I can't protect my self in any way, and am, by law, a lesser being. Lastly, I was tortured for years by people with the same mark that you have your arm."

I regretted starting this conversation. Everything she said was true.

I instinctively wrapped my arms around her and kept her close.

"Hermione, I love you. When I hit you, it was because I had to. If I hadn't you would have been tortured. I know you aren't a lesser being as you are 'the brightest witch of our age.' And the mark was the biggest mistake I ever made. I love you. You don't need to be afraid of me," I told her.

She snuggled to my chest but didn't say anything. She was silent for a moment.

She suddenly shot into a sitting position, surprising me and hurting her. She took a moment to get over the pain.

"Draco, we did nothing for your birthday!" She said.

I rolled my eyes.

"That's what your worked up about?" I asked. "It doesn't matter. Me, Blaise, and Theo got drunk when you were asleep."

She glared at me.

"We need to do something to celebrate, just us.... how old are you, wait... how old am I?" She asked herself.

"Seeing as your a couple months younger than me, and I just turned twenty, you are nineteen," I told her.

"Hmm..." She thought. "I don't feel nineteen."

"How old do you feel?" I asked.

"I feel like I've been through way too much to be nineteen," she muttered.

I pulled her back down and wrapped an arm around her.

"What do you want to do for your birthday?" She asked.

I kissed her lightly and smirked.

"I want us to Sleep," I muttered.

She looked scared for a moment and when I realized she completely misinterpreted what I was saying I laughed. She sat up and looked ready to bolt at any moment.

"I mean literally sleep," I chuckled.

She relaxed and relief filled her features. I, once again, pulled her close and wrapped my arms around her waist.

"Alright then," she whispered, "sleep."

"Wait... you need a sleeping drought," I told her.

I felt her tense next to me. I summoned the potion and let her drink it at her own pace. I whispered sweet nothing's in her ear until she drank it.

She put her head on my chest and closed her eyes. She instantly passed out. I held her as close to me as possible and she clung to me.

I snuggled my nose into her hair and slowly let the darkness take over.

~*~*~

When I woke me and Hermione were in completely different positions from when we fell asleep.

Instead, she was cradling my head in her arms, my face against her chest. I had one hand on her hip and the other around her waist. She had a content smile on her face.

I smiled and held her tighter. She reacted the same, holding my face tighter to her chest. I looked up at her.

Her face contorted with pain. I quickly moved from her arms and cast a silencing charm on the room. She started twitching and whimpering.

I quickly looked for a pain relief potion. She opened her eyes but put a hand over her mouth. She let a soft cry escape her lips. When I finally found the potion Hermione took it willingly. She relaxed completely.

"Good morning," she said after a few minutes.

"Good morning," I replied, laying next to her.

"How was your sleep?" She yawned, wrapping her arms around my waist.

"Great," I replied, returning the embrace. "How about you?"

"Good until the last bit," she said.

She snuggled into my arms again.

"Can we just stay like this forever?" She asked.

"I wish," I muttered.

~*~*~

"Be careful when your in there," I told Hermione as she got ready for a bath.

"If there's too much blood I'll tell you," she replied, grabbing a towel.

"You will tell me if there is any blood," I corrected.

She rolled her eyes and shut the door.

"I mean it!" I yelled through the door.

"I can take care of myself!" She yelled back before turning on the water.

I huffed and sat on the bed. After a bit she walked out of the bathroom. A few of her wounds were lightly bleeding so I shot up.

"It's fine, Draco. Just a little bleeding," she told me.

I glared at her and went in the bathroom. It was a red flag when she tried to stop me. I pulled back the curtain and saw the light red water draining from the tub. The water was dark enough to tell me it was more than "a little bleeding."

I turned around and gave Hermione a look. She avoided my gaze.

"Get your undergarments on so I can heal you," I ordered.

For the first time since I got her, Hermione blushed.

"N..no, I'll just get dressed and deal with it," she replied.

I softened my gaze and looked at her.

"You need to let me heal you," I said softly.

She started stuttering excuses.

"Hermione, I won't do anything bad," I told her.

She was still unsure. She played with her hands and stuttered.

"I promise, I'll only heal you then you can get dressed," I told her.

She thought about it for a long while. She sighed and agreed.