Searching- a Dramione fanfic

Chapter 9- To See, Hear, and Feel

To See, Hear, and Feel

Draco had his arms around me, pressing me in tight against his chest. My arms were folded in, but I was able to clutch his shirt and hold on for dear life. My legs were limp and if he let go, I was going to fall.

He pulled me away from him after a while to look at me. I tried to hold onto his shirt so he couldn't peel me away, but my fingers burned and they slipped right off. I started to fall again so he set me on the bed and I laid down gratefully and closed my eyes. I felt his fingers brush my arm as he rolled up the sleeves of my shirt. I heard him suck in a quick breath of air.

"Hermione, did you bring any potions?" He asked concerned.

I shook my head. No. I hadn't expected this sudden travel so I hadn't gotten any potions the last time I went to Diagon Alley. I heard a thump and the rustle of a lot of things being moved and sorted through. I lazily opened an eye and saw Draco frantically looking through my suit case. He looked curiously at bottles of perfume and lotion. Then he came across my muggle first aid kit. It was just a small white box with band-aids and disinfectant wipes and antibacterial cream inside it. He opened it quickly and took out the tube of cream. He studied it for a moment and then opened it and squeezed out a bit of clear jell onto his finger.

Draco got up and walked over to where I was on the bed. I closed my eyes and let him spread the cream on my arm. His hand was soft and gentle and smooth. He glided his fingers over my skin and the burning became less and less. My breathing steadied as I started to fall asleep. He grabbed my other arm and I flinched as he rolled up the sleeve on that one too. Then I felt him spread the cream over what must have been torn skin all the way up and down my arm. He stopped for a moment and breathed in another gasp.

"Merlin! What did you do?" His voice was full of worry.

I opened my eyes slightly and looked up at him. He was staring at an exposed part of my stomach. I looked down and saw that my skin was torn open there and I could see what looked like my muscles under the tissue. I felt sick. My head fell back and I closed my eyes. His fingers grazed the outside of the cuts which made me suck in my stomach and shiver.

There was a tug at the bottom of my shirt and I realized that Draco was pulling it up slightly. I wanted to sit up and cover my skin from him, but it burned so much and I was afraid that if I sat up I would get sick all over.

He moved his soft fingers over the torn areas, sealing them with cream. My breathing became rapid and goosebumps rose up on my skin. He rubbed cream into the cuts that zigzagged across my stomach and around my belly button. Lightly massaging my stomach, up up up until he reached the bottom of my ribs. The burning on my stomach had decreased but my chest was still on fire.

I didn't know if I wanted him to go up any farther. It felt good, but the thought scared me. I felt him shift his weight on the bed and I felt his warmth as he leaned over me. I jumped at his finger brushing cream right under my eye and around my eyebrow onto my forehead.

Then he was done and it was quiet. I wanted to open my eyes and see where he was but I couldn't His weight was gone from the bed and I felt alone. For the first time I wanted Draco Malfoy here. I wanted to see him, feel him, smell him, or just know he was beside me. I wanted to reach out and find him and pull him back down onto the bed so I could feel his weight there again. But I couldn't move. Every time I let out a breath I became more and more tired. I felt my muscles relax with each breath and little by little I fell farther into sleep.

I woke with a start about three or four hours later. I sat up quickly in the bed and looked around me. For a second I forgot where I was and was startled to find that I wasn't in my own bed. Draco was on the floor with his back against the wall and entertaining himself with a game of sorts were he would shoot a marble through a forest of small cones and try to make it to the other side without hitting a cone.

He looked up and saw that I was awake so he got up quickly and walked over, knocking over all the cones in the process. "Are you okay?" He said eyeing the cuts on my arm that would have been healed by now if I had brought potions.

I was feeling much better. My head still hurt a little but I didn't feel sick any more and most of my cuts didn't hurt. "Ya." I said quietly.

"You got splinched pretty bad." He said.

It wasn't that bad. I remembered when Ron got splinched on our way out of the ministry. That was bad.

"You want to tell me what happened?" He looked down at me.

I realized he probably thought that I had after all tried to aparate without him. It made me angry that he was thinking that but I didn't stay angry at him for long because I remembered the wizards who did this to me and my anger went strait to them.

"There were two wizards." I said recalling what had happened. "They were following me. They took me to the woods." I looked at my shoes. They were muddy scuffed and getting dirt all over the bed sheets. "They were looking for you." I said looking up into Draco's eyes.

He didn't look shocked. He looked angry and sorry at the same time. His eyes were darker than usual. He covered his face in his hands.

"They said you took something from them and they want to return the favor." I continued trying to see his face through his hands.

"Shit." He mumbled. "Hermione, I'm so sorry. I had no idea they would do this to you." He uncovered his face and looked me in the eye.

His eyes were full of tears, but he wasn't crying yet. The skin around his eyes was red and puffy. I felt like I should say something, tell him it was okay but I had no idea what he was apologizing for.

"Please tell me you killed them." He said.

I shook my head. "I couldn't do it. I obliviated them though."

He sniffed and looked at the ceiling. "It wont matter. There's more. They will just restore their memories."

"Who is 'they'?" I asked.

It was quiet for a while like Draco was debating whether or not to tell me. I stared at the mess of cones on the ground and the one marble that had rolled a way from them.

"They are former Deatheaters, like my father." He said, now looking at his shoes that where perfectly polished and shiny.

I wanted to ask him what they wanted, what Draco did to make them come looking for him, what he took from them, but I couldn't find the right words.

He cleared his throat. "They've been looking for me for a while but I've managed to keep them away with my work at the Ministry." He turned to look at me.

His stare was intense and sad. I had to look away.

"They want to kill me." He said. "Because I took my father from them. I killed my father." He whispered.