Braving the Past

Chapter 6: The Duel

The next morning, Hermione woke up with an incredibly sore throat.

Good thing I thought to cast a muffliato on the room, she thought to herself.

She'd dreamt of Remus Lupin, how nearly his whole life he had to live in poverty because of his status as a werewolf. He was an amazing person, but no one ever cared to learn, and that's how Hermione's life was likely to go as well if she had been turned.

In her dream she had been.

She peeked down at her bandages and realized she'd have to go back to Madam Richter to get them changed. Blood was starting to seep through, and Angela's pulling on them wasn't helping things.

With a sigh, she crawled out of her warm bed and went to the bathroom to get ready for the long day ahead of her. In the shower, she had to keep any water from touching her arm unless she wanted it to burn like crazy, so she held it out. That's how Tom found her.

"What's wrong with your arm?" he said as he just waltzed into the bathroom, apparently having used alohamora on the locked door, nearly causing Hermione to slip and fall.

She yanked her arm back in and hissed as water seeped through the bloody bandage.

"Merlin, Tom!" she shouted. "Have you absolutely no decency?"

"Calm down, I just needed to brush my teeth," his voice came from behind the shower curtain.

"And you couldn't have waited 5 minutes for me to finish?"

"You know, it's not like I can see anything. I don't see why you're complaining," he said, twisting the sink knobs, and beginning to brush his teeth.

"Oh, because every girl wants a creep to come in when she's naked in the shower," Hermione said sarcastically. She was sure Tom's smirk took up his entire face.

She heard him rinse out his mouth.

"I'll have you know half the girls in this school would love for me to join them in the shower."

"Get out!" Hermione shouted before he got any ideas. Tom laughed and then she heard the door close. She peeked her head out the curtain to make sure he had really left, then finished up as fast as she could. As soon as she was out, she locked the door once more and changed as fast as she had when she, Ron and Harry had camped out searching for Horcruxes.

The thought sent a wave of sadness through her, but she shoved it back and marched from the bathroom. She didn't give Tom's smirking face a second glance as she grabbed her school things and left through the portrait hole to the hospital wing.

"I was wondering if you'd ever come back," Madam Richter said as Hermione walked in.

"Sorry," Hermione said sheepishly. "Could I get a change of bandages? It hasn't seemed to heal yet." She held out her arm for the matron to see.

"Of course, dear. Have a seat and I'll be right out with those bandages."

Hermione uneasily sat on the edge of one of the many white beds in the large room and pulled her sleeve the rest of the way over her elbow. Madam Richter soon came from her office with a new wrap and potion in hand.

"This'll help with the swelling, even if it can't help heal you completely," she said, motioning for Hermione to drink it.

She tipped her head back as Madam Richter carefully unwrapped her arm, downing the nasty potion in a couple large gulps. Upon looking down, Hermione saw that the slashes were large and red, and she was rather surprised that they couldn't be seen poking through the thin bandage.