Saving the Enemy

Chapter 12

Hermione

    Hermione awakes suddenly with a sick feeling in her stomach. She pulls the covers off of herself quickly, running to the bathroom even when she is still disoriented from sleep. She heaves up the alcohol from last night, a raging headache taking over in between leaning over the toilet, regret for last night taking over her body. She barely notices Draco coming in to hold her hair and rub her back soothingly.

    She has tears running down her face from how violently everything is coming up, leaving her shaking and weak when nothing is left. She collapses back, Draco’s arms catching her, pulling her to his chest. He is slightly rocking them as Hermione keeps her eyes closed as his warm and calming presence overtakes her senses. She knows the worst is over, feeling slightly hungry now. She opens her eyes and wipes away the tears. Draco places a feather-light kiss on her forehead before helping her get up. She stumbles out of the bathroom with Draco holding her waist just in case as she makes her way over to the side of the bed to grab her bag.

    “I’m going to get changed then we can leave for some breakfast,” she whispers, still recovering. Draco nods, letting go of her to grab his bag from the floor as well. She walks back to the bathroom, pulling out her outfit for the day: jeans and a flowy red shirt that hugs her in all the right places. She takes a quick shower to refresh her, grabbing the special gel she picked up to keep her hair smooth and soft instead of frizzy. She dries it with the blow drier provided before pulling her hair into a high ponytail. She brushes her teeth twice to ensure her breath smells like spearmint, erasing the damage from this morning. She pulls on her black combat boots, lacing them before standing up to repack her bag.

    Hermione steps out of the door to find Draco sprawled out on the bed in jeans and a black short-sleeved short along with a pair of black sneakers she had found the other day. She sees the mark on his arm, the remote to the television in his hand as he watches the screen. She makes her way over to him, noticing his hair is messy, making him look more attractive, especially since it shows he is so comfortable around her. He turns to her, hearing her gently footsteps advancing towards him. She becomes entranced as she looks deep in his gentle, caring eyes and bites her lip, trying to hide a sheepish smile.

    “Hello, beautiful,” Draco says, pulling his left forearm behind himself to hide what he is ashamed of. She walks over to him and pulls his arm back out so she can see the faded scar of the dark mark, knowing it will stay there for the rest of his life.

    “You know this doesn’t bother me, right?” She states, frowning. He nods, still unable to look her in the eye. “I know this is going to bother you, so if you want, I can hide it like I do mine.”

    Draco looks over to her arm, obviously not noticing that he can’t see her mark anymore. The only time she lifts the spell is to show him that it’s there. Even though she said no magic, she knows he will want to hide something that keeps reminding him of his past. This is supposed to be a fun weekend and this will hopefully put him at ease.

    “Please,” is all he says, begging her to place the spell, so she pulls her wand out from her bag to place a spell on his arm, creating the illusion that it isn’t there to everyone, including himself. It wears off every twenty-four hours, but for now she sees him visibly relax, turning his arm as if he can’t believe it.

    “Come on, I’m starving,” Hermione states, grabbing his hand in one of hers, her bag in the other. Draco nods, grabbing his backpack as well before slinging it over his shoulder.

    “Thank you,” he says, placing a quick kiss upon Hermione’s lips. Even though the contact was brief, it sends an electric shock through her, causing her to smile up at him as her heart starts to race.