Time Heals All Wounds?

Chapter 8

Hermione was abruptly awoken by one of the girls from the year below who then handed he a letter and skipped away. Muttering to herself about stupid children, she stretched her stiff limbs and resettled in the chair. She had slept in the Common Room in case Harry came back. She was distraught when she came back from dinner and sae that Harry was gone. It was all her fault!

The girl shook herself from the thought before she cried again. Instead she looked down at the folded letter in her hand. Her name was written elegantly across the front in green ink. Carefully, Hermione broke the seal and unfolded the piece of card. As she unfolded it, a small piece of paper fluttered out onto her lap. She ignored it for a moment and focused on the letter itself. It was written in the same colour and script as the front.

Granger,

Harry came to me last night. As he was in tears and borderline hysterical, I felt it would be wrong to send him away. He is still here and safe. I have enclosed a picture for evidence as I assume you would not believe me otherwise.

Draco Malfoy

Hermione grabbed the picture from her lap and cooed at the relaxed look on Harry's face as he slept. His little hands clutched a pillow to him. It had been a long time since she had seen Harry sleep so peacefully.

Feeling relieved, she stood and made his way up to her room to change and get breakfast.

_ _ _ _ _ _

Harry groaned as he slowly sat up. The way he had slept hadn't done much for his back and the wounds that littered it. He hadn't realised that he had whimpered until suddenly Draco was in front of him. The sudden presence caused Harry to recoil and the hurt that flashed across the blonde's face made his eyes start to water.

"I'm, I'm s-s-so-sorry. I. I d-d-did-didn't me-mean it. I p-promise." Tears streaked down his face as he curled in on himself. He was so stupid. Just like Vernon always told him.

Vernon. Oh god! The man was going to kill him when he got home at the end of the year.

His breaths started to come in short gasps, but he couldn't get the thought of his impending punishments out of his mind. Vernon was going to kill him this time. It was bad enough when Vernon thought he was fooling around with another boy. Now that he actually had, the man was going to murder him.

Harry jumped when he felt a hand in his hair. The rational section of his brain wasn't working due to his thoughts of Vernon, so he panicked. He ripped himself away from the hand and shot off the bed. Not knowing what else to do, he ran into the bathroom and slammed the door shut. He then jumped into the bathtub and pulled the curtain further across and hid behind it. Harry could wait it out. Once the person on the other side of the door got bored, he would run. He could do it.

The plan was shattered when the door exploded off its hinges. Harry curled further into himself and hoped that the person wouldn't look in the tub. He was stupid to even think that. Who wouldn't check here? It was the most obvious place to go. The shower curtain was yanked back to reveal a very worried blonde boy. The boy crouched down so he was closer to his eye level.

"Harry? Harry, love? What is it? What's wrong?" the blonde tried to reach for Harry's hair, but he jerked away. Harry knew better than to let the boy fool him. He was working with Vernon and couldn't be trusted.

"No! No, y-you are h-help-ping him! You are g-go-oing to-to tell him that, that I w-was h-he-here! Th-then he's he's go-gonna p-p-punish me!" Harry ended up wailing, his face in his hands. He was so stupid and now he was going to pay for his mistake. Vernon would be sure of it.