Fire & Ice - A Draco Malfoy fanfiction

Chapter 7 - You could've fooled me

Be always gentle, every heart hides a wound that never bleeds

- Alexandra Vasiliu

When I woke up, it was still light out. I had to adjust to the bright sunlight and my head was pounding. It took me a couple minutes to realise where I was and what had happened.

Draco Malfoy had poured boiling liquifying potion over my arm. Great.

I couldn't see much of the damage, as my arm was completely wrapped in bandages. I didn't feel any pain, though.

"Oh, great, Miss Selwyn, you're awake", Madame Pomfrey said and walked over to my bed. "How are you feeling, darling?"

"A bit of a headache, but that's all."

"No pain?"

"No, I can barely feel my arm to be honest." She touched it in several places, but I didn't feel much.

"Well, I'm not surprised. Your nerves are very much in shock. But don't worry, I've got a trick or two up my sleeve. You'll have to come in every day or so to let me reapply a healing paste and your arm should be back to its normal state in a week or so."

"So nothing permanent?"

"No, your nerves just need to recover from the shock. There might be some scarring, but I'll try my best."

Madame Pomfrey continued to remove the bandage and I had to avert my eyes upon seeing the burned flesh. The skin was red, tight and cracked. Some spots were dark brown and the boils had popped open, leaving some open wounds. There were still a couple of threads from her cloak stuck to the skin and I could see indentations in my wrist where my watch had melted into it. How did I not feel any pain?

"It looks gore, but even third degree burns are no match against some proper magic", Madame Pomfrey smiled, grabbing a heavy jar of a thick, white cream. She washed the arm, picking away the last pieces of fabric, before spreading a layer of cream on top of it. The wounds covered my entire hand, lower arm and a small part of my upper arm. There were a few spots on my other hand that were a little battered too, from when I grabbed my arm to ease the pain, but luckily, my other limbs had been spared.

Madame Pomfrey wrapped my arm again and gave me a potion against the headache.

"What time is it?" I asked, enjoying the immediate magic of the potion.

"Half past eight in the morning. I suspect your friends will be here soon. They were here all night." So I had been out for almost 24 hours? How terrific.

As if it were magic, Daphne and Tracey walked in just moments later.

"Oh thank Merlin, you're alive", Tracey said as she noticed I was awake.

"Dramaqueen much", I chuckled. They sat on the edge of my bed, inspecting my bandaged arm.

"So, how are you feeling?" Daphne asked.

"I'm fine. My arm looks disgusting, but I'm not in any pain, so that's good.

"Seriously, Eleanor. The way you screamed yesterday. Such agony", Tracey said, shivering.

"Seriously, I had nightmares about it", Daphne added. "Everybody was shaken up about it."

"Even Malfoy", Tracey chimed. "Looked like a ghost for the rest of the day."

"Serves him well, I'd say. Burned my arm to a crisp."

Tracey nodded and it was quiet for a good while.

"Well, are we going to watch quidditch tryouts next Saturday? There are quite some snacks to spot", Tracey grinned.

"Watching Draco in a quidditch costume? Yes, please", Daphne sighed, a dreamy look in her eyes.