Crimes Against Nature

Chapter 10 - Draco's POV

When I walked into the room Hermione was asleep with Harry and Ginny watching her. I put her food down on the table next to her and walked over to Harry.

“How is she? Did you guys all talk?” I asked quietly. Ginny nodded, a smile spreading on her face. You could tell she wasn’t as stressed out as before.

“She didn’t believe us at first but eventually it dawned on all of us that we had been lied to by Ron. Ginny almost had a fit but kept herself in check. Hermione didn’t even notice how pissed she was. I, on the other hand lost my shit. I can’t wait for his fucking trial.” Harry said angrily. I nodded in agreement with him.

“It’ll definitely be easier for her to heal if he’s behind bars or something. Ginny, have you told your family what happened yet? Potter and I could send an official ministry letter explaining what happened if you want.”

I could see the smile fading away and being replaced by sadness once again. “Not yet. I was on going to stop after I left here. I was hoping Harry could come and explain with me.” Harry nodded and agreed. We talked for another 15 minutes before they walked out of the room with promises to come back the day she was discharged to help with her stuff. I sat down in the chair next to her bed to wait for her to wake up.
About 2 hours after arriving I could hear her mumbling in her sleep. I watched her to make sure she didn’t hurt herself.

“Master no it hurts. Please master I’m sorry. No, no please. I’m so sorry. I’ll be good I promise. Please don’t hurt me. MASTER NO. NO STOP. IT HURTS SO MUCH. I CAN’T TAKE IT.” She was screaming and thrashing around. I started to call her name gently so she could wake up.

“Granger wake up you’re dreaming. Granger. Granger come on. Hermione WAKE UP.” I said as I shook her. She finally woke up and sat up quickly. She looked around and when her eyes landed on me I could already see the tears forming. Before I could even think about what I was doing, I reached out and grabbed her. She hid her face in my chest and started to cry heavily. I could feel her sobs racking her body and there was nothing I could do but comfort her. I stroked her hair gently and let her cry as long as she needed. When her sobs turned to sniffles, I pulled away to look her in the eye.

“I’m sorry Malfoy. I think I ruined your shirt. I’ll pay to have it professionally cleaned.” She said, guilt lacing her voice. I rolled my eyes and looked at her, “you think I care about a shirt? I don’t. Are you okay? How do you feel? Do you need me to call someone to sedate you or do you want to stay awake?”

She sighed. “I’m okay now, thank you. I’d like to stay awake if you don’t mind actually. Do we have any food here? I don’t remember the last time I ate something.”
I accioed her soup and reheated it with some magic. I set up the table so she could eat comfortably and handed her a spoon. She began to eat and was done quickly. I cleared everything for her and looked at her. She looked exhausted, sad and a little broken. I sat back down in the chair next to her and she looked at me curiously. “So…he made you call him master?” I asked cautiously. She nodded sadly.

“The day you found me I had almost slipped up and called him by his name. That’s why he was punishing me. He punished me that morning for waking him up, and when I got home he punished me for calling him the wrong name but it was mostly for being late. Do you think I’ll ever fully heal? Will I be loveable or am I doomed to be alone?”

I looked at her, really looked at her. “Whoever doesn’t love you is clearly blind and an idiot. You’re beautiful and kind and you deserve to be treated as such. Plus, you won’t be alone. I’ll be your back up.” I winked at her.  She looked at me with laughter in her eyes and started giggling. Soon we were both laughing and trying to catch our breath.

“Thank you. I really needed that.” She said before settling into her pillow and falling asleep again. I settled into the chair and closed my eyes to sleep. We slept the rest of the night, her with no nightmares and me with a smile on my face.