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Atonement	By : absumoaevum Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 13723 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 5
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor to I make any money from this story. These characters are JKR's, I just play with them.

Chapter List
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Chapter 3

When the Levy Breaks

The next few days were not pleasant for Draco. Not only did he have to endure name-calling and sometimes worse from the other Houses, his own House, Slytherin, disdained him has well.

After countless applications of the jelly-legs jinx, two accidental ingestions of nosebleed nuggets which were hidden in his food, and the mysterious disappearance of most of his school uniforms, Draco had decided to cast protective charms on whatever he could to keep his property and himself safe. Draco warded his four-poster bed against intruders. He magically sealed his trunk with his remaining possessions inside. He did his homework in a lonely corner of the library and came down late to almost all meals, making sure that Vaisey and Harper were gone before he sat down at the far end of the Slytherin table to eat. But it was only getting worse. The Slytherins, at least, were not content with the usual joke jinxes. They were becoming exponentially more ruthless by the day.

Draco had just stepped out of double Charms on the Friday following the start of term, distracted with cramming his textbook into his over-full bookbag, when he ran headlong into Vaisey.

“Watch where you're going, fink!” hissed Vaisey.

“Yeah, Malfoy,” growled Harper, who was looming just behind Vaisey. He cracked his knuckles ominously.

Draco nodded slightly, resigned, eyes on the ground, and tried to sidestep the two boys. They were both bigger than him, though they were a year behind him in school. Draco was forcibly reminded of a younger version of Crabbe and Goyle.

His consternation at the memory of his former friends must have shown on his face, because Vaisey jeered, “What's the matter, Malfoy? Nothing to say now?”

No, Draco didn't have anything to say. What could he say? He just stood there, feeling stupid, as a little crowd gathered around them. Most of them were Slytherins from Charms and Ravenclaws coming up from classes on the first and second floor on their way to their common room before dinner. He had no friends among them, or anywhere in the whole school for that matter.

“You're pathetic, Malfoy! You're a disgrace to Slytherins,” Vaisey spat.

Draco tried to get by again, but Harper blocked his way. “Don't,” muttered Draco, still not looking at either one of them.

“What are you going to do, fink? Pay me off?” Harper laughed and Vaisey joined in, though Draco doubted he got the joke.

“Why don't you call Potter and have him save you, Malfoy, huh?” Vaisy smacked Draco's bookbag out of his hands. It landed with a dull thump on the stone floor of the corridor, its contents scattering, but Viasey had jerked his hand away with a yelp. “Flagrante curse, Malfoy?” He shook his hand in the air, trying to soothe the burns to his palm and fingers. “What, you afraid we'll take your bag like we did your clothes?”

Harper pushed Draco, and he stumbled back into someone else, who pushed him forward again. Vaisey and Harper laughed again. “I don't need magic to teach this fink a lesson,” said Harper.

Draco sneered. Let him try. Let him hit me, he thought. Harper pushed Draco again.

“Wipe that grin off your face, you traitor. You coward!”

Draco's head snapped up at this. He looked Harper right in the eyes. He could tell they were going to try to hurt him. They had worked themselves up enough.

Harper smiled viciously. “This is going to be fun.” And he shoved Draco hard into the wall, coming at him almost faster than Draco could react, but Harper's fist hit stone instead of flesh as Draco ducked out of the way. Harper cried out in pain before Draco's shoulder connected with his chest, plowing him all the way into the wall at the opposite side of the corridor. People were moving out of the way, re-forming into circle. No one lifted a finger to help, to stop it.

Draco pounded his fist into Harper's stomach. Harper doubled over with a grunt and Draco drew his wand. He was ready. He raised it to do he knew not what when —

“Crucio!” roared Vaisey. The crowd gasped as the spell hit Draco in the back. He fell to his knees in writhing agony. His wand dropped from his hand rolled into the forest of feet in front of him. “Petrificus Totalus!” The unbearable pain lessened as Draco froze and fell forward. His face hit the stone floor with a crunch, and blood gushed into his mouth and onto the floor unabated. Then Vaisey and Harper were kicking him anywhere they could. Each blow felt like his insides were exploding anew with pain.

“Stop!” A pair of mary-janes shuffled through the crowd of shoes and came to a stop near his head. He could hear more footsteps behind him. “Finite Incantatem!” a girl's voice said. Draco's body collapsed, free of the body-bind curse, and he gasped for breath under the weight of so much agony. He spit blood onto the floor.

“Expelliarmus!” It was a different voice this time, but still a girl. “Get up, Malfoy,” said the second girl.

“The rest of you, shove off!” commanded the first girl. “GO! NOW!”

Draco got to his hands and knees, still struggling to catch his breath. He felt like his lungs were filling with water, like he was drowning. He looked up to see the Weasley girl, her wand pointed at the wandless Vaisey and Harper, the latter of whom was laving his busted and bleeding lip with his tongue.

Granger was there, too, standing over Draco, holding Vaisey and Harper's wands in one hand and brandishing her own wand in the other. The last of the crowd retreated down the corridor, whispering and stealing glances over their shoulders.

“Right,” said Weasley to Harper and Vaisey, “Fifty points from Slytherin for fighting. Each.” She glanced down at Draco as she said it. He took this to mean that she was including him as well, but he didn't much care at the moment. “You can get your wands back from Headmistress McGonagall. Now get out of here!” Vaisey and Harper ran off down the hall, clutching their bookbags and readjusting their cloaks as they went.

Now Draco was left with just the two Gryffindors. It was very quiet. He could hear his pulse pounding in his ears. Draco rolled back into a kneeling position and tried to wipe away some of the blood on his face with his sleeve. He thought he might pass out from lack of air. He felt dizzy, disoriented.

“You need Madame Pomfrey,” he heard Granger say. She stowed her wand in her robes and crouched beside him to get a better look at his face. “Ginny, take these wands to McGonagall. I'll take Malfoy to the Hospital Wing.” Weasley stared down at Draco with an inscrutable expression as she accepted the wands from Granger. He blinked in the intensity of the redhead's gaze. It was staring into white-hot sunlight.

“Ok, Hermione,” she said. Weasley made as if to go, but then suddenly turned around and slapped Draco hard across the cheek. “That's for my brothers, and for Harry,” she hissed.

“Ginny!” squealed Granger.

“I know. Sorry, Hermione. I couldn't resist. I'm going, I'm going.” The Weasley girl turned on her heel and marched off down the hall.

Now he was alone with Granger. What was she going to do to him?

“Can you stand?” she asked after a moment. Her voice was softer, low but cautious. Draco nodded and she helped him to his feet. They started for the Hospital Wing which was, mercifully, on the same floor. “Thank God we don't have far to go,” she said.

“My— my wand,” sputtered Draco.

Granger pulled out her wand. “Accio Malfoy's wand!” It flew at her and she caught it rather clumsily.

“And my bag,” he said.

“Oh for Merlin's sake.” She stopped and turned awkwardly to look back at the place where his bookbag and school things were splayed near the entrance to the Charms classroom. Granger pointed her wand at the bag and it vanished. “It'll meet us there,” she explained, “Now, let's go.”

+++

“Merlin's beard! Mr. Malfoy! What— Miss Granger—” Madame Pomfrey seemed lost for words as Hermione hobbled into the Hospital Wing supporting a semi-conscious Malfoy. The flustered witch helped Hermione the rest of the way to the nearest bed, and they lowered Malfoy onto it together.

“Madame Pomfrey—” Hermione began, but stopped short as Madame Pomfrey rolled a fabric partition between them, blocking Hermione's view of Malfoy in the hospital bed.

“I'm sorry, dear, but you'll need to give me a moment with him,” came Madame Pomfrey's voice from the other side of the partition, “I need to— there. Oh dear, punctured lung, broken ribs, cracked malar bone.”

“Will he be alright?”

“Oh yes, dear. Nothing I can't mend. But he'll have to stay overnight.”

“Well then, I'll just—”

“Miss Granger, you will wait where you are.”

So Hermione waited, listening to Madame Pomfrey muttering to herself. Every so often a bottle would zoom in from her office and disappear behind the partition. Malfoy didn't seem to be awake. Or, at least, he wasn't making his usual fuss.

Soon, Madame Pomfrey joined Hermione on her side of the partition. She looked upset. “I shall have to call for Minerva.”

Hermione had expected that. Madame Pomfrey crossed to the fireplace near the door to her office and lifted a jar of what Hermione knew to be floo powder from the mantle. As, Madam Pomfrey knelt on the pristine hearth, Hermione edged toward the side of the partition. She waited until the other witch's head had disappeared into green flames before she peered around it to get a look at Malfoy.

His eyes were closed and he lay stiffly with his arms at his sides. Madam Pomfrey hadn't pulled the covers over his bare torso, which was covered with large red splotches, the beginnings of nasty bruises. The nurse had cleaned the blood from his swollen face. Hermione noticed cuts on his knuckles. He had tried to fight back. She took a few tentative steps toward Malfoy, wary yet weirdly fascinated. She hadn't seen anyone look like this since...

“Miss Granger!” snapped Madam Pomfrey, and Hermione spun around in alarm. “What do you think you are doing?!”

“I'm sorry, Madam Pomfrey! I was just going to put his wand on the table.” Hermione hurriedly pulled Malfoy's wand from a pocket in her robes. She showed it to Madam Pomfrey, who was looking stern, then placed it on the nightstand.

“Mm-hm! Miss Granger—” but just then Headmistress McGonagall entered the Hospital Wing and Madam Pomfrey and Hermione hurried out from behind the partition to meet her.

“What happened?” asked McGonagall, addressing Hermione.

Hermione shifted uncomfortably. “I don't know exactly, Headmistress. I was talking to Professor Flitwick after Charms with Ginny Weasley, and when we came out, there was a crowd of people and Malfoy was fighting some Slytherin boys.”

“Arctus Vaisey and Denis Harper, yes, Ginny has been to see me.”

“That's really all I know, Headmistress,” said Hermione. She wanted to get away from the Hospital Wing as fast as she could.

“Well, thank you, Miss Granger. You did a good thing bringing him here. You may leave.” Hermione nodded and hurried out of the double doors of the Hospital Wing, confused and agitated.
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Atonement