Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Songs of Regret	By : RavieSnake Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 76454 -:- Recommendations : 5 -:- Currently Reading : 17
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters from it. I also hold no rights to any of the songs mentioned. I make no money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 37
- 38
- 39
A/N: The song: Slow Ride by Foghat. ;)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Good, Draco, very good. Now the other,” Madam Pomfrey encouraged as Draco lowered his right leg and gritted his teeth in concentration to lift his left. It only rose a few inches off the mattress and Madam Pomfrey frowned slightly.
“Try again,” she said holding her hand in the air a little ways above his foot, “and try to touch your toes to my hand.”
Draco glared determinedly at her hand as he attempted again to lift his leg. “Damn it,” he cursed, throwing his head back against his pillow, when his leg refused to cooperate, “I can’t.”
Madam Pomfrey lowered her hand and nodded. “Okay. Try just bending your left knee.”
Draco nodded back and took a deep breath. He grunted slightly as his leg very slowly pulled up and started to bend at the knee. He got it about half way before releasing it to lie flat again.
“That was better,” Madam Pomfrey sighed, “but still not what I’d like to see.”
“Will it improve?” Hermione chimed in from her perch on Draco’s right bed side.
Madam Pomfrey gave them both a somber look. “It’s too early to tell.”
“Can I try and walk?” Draco asked anxiously. The mediwitch nodded and Hermione immediately hopped down from the bed and offered Draco her hand. He took it and, bracing himself against her hold, carefully swung his legs over the side.
“Slowly,” Madam Pomfrey warned, coming to stand beside Hermione to grasp Draco’s other hand.
“Okay,” he said, taking several deep breaths before gripping both women’s hands tightly and setting his bare feet to the floor.
“On three then,” Madam Pomfrey said. Draco and Hermione both nodded and when she reached ‘three,’ Draco rocked forward to put his weight on his legs for the first time in more than four days. His knees went weak for a brief moment, causing Hermione to gasp worriedly, but he quickly steadied himself and straightened up.
“Now for the hard part,” Madam Pomfrey said. “Let’s try to the other bed and back. You tell me immediately if you need to stop, understand?”
Draco nodded and then, at the older witch’s direction, took a step forward on his right leg.
“Excellent, Draco!” Madam Pomfrey praised as he took his full weight without issue and began to swing his left leg forward. The moment he tried to balance on it, his ankle buckled.
“Fuck!” Draco roared in frustration as he leaned on Madam Pomfrey’s arm. “Foot’s still numb.”
Hermione rubbed Draco’s arm as she and Madam Pomfrey guided him back to sit back down. “It was your first attempt. Don’t get discouraged.”
He glared down at his leg. “I need to walk again,” he said dismally.
“You will,” Hermione said surely as Madam Pomfrey walked away to a cabinet, “we’ll work at it.”
Draco turned her a grateful smile and squeezed her hand. “You’ll still love me if I have a gimpy leg?”
Hermione brushed his hair behind his ear and gazed at him adoringly. “I’d love you even if you had no legs.”
Draco squeezed her hand harder and leaned his forehead to hers.
“Let’s give this a go, shall we?” Madam Pomfrey said, interrupting their moment to hand him a crutch. Draco all but scowled at it and she patted a hand to his thigh. “It’s only temporary until you get used to the movement again,” she added, as Draco took the crutch, “We can graduate you to something smaller like a walking stick once you learn how to manage the left leg.”
Draco stared down at his leg with an expression like he was about to be sick. “I don’t want a bloody walking stick,” he grumbled. Hermione rubbed her hand over his back gently.
“We’ll get you a really cool one.”
Draco looked sideways at her and cocked an eyebrow. “My father had a really cool one…didn’t make it any less a walking stick.”
Hermione frowned but didn’t respond as Madam Pomfrey waved at Draco to try and stand again.
“Let’s try it again, shall we?” she said encouragingly. Draco furrowed his brow down at the crutch and his leg, but complied with Madam Pomfrey’s directive and leaned forward again to stand. He braced himself on the crutch and Hermione’s hand and successfully made it to the other bed and back.
“Keep going, if you can,” Madam Pomfrey called out as she took a step back to scrutinize the movements of his lower body. When Draco made a full circuit around the hospital wing she clapped enthusiastically. “Wonderful!”
Hermione tiptoed up to kiss him on the cheek. “That was so good,” she said happily.
Draco still looked displeased. “I’ll rejoice when I can do it without an aid,” he said with another glare down at his left leg. Both women gave each other a glance that said they clearly doubted he’d ever be without an aid, but didn’t comment.
“I need to use the toilet,” Draco announced, breaking the uncomfortable silence. Madam Pomfrey smiled.
“Well, at least we know incontinence won’t be an issue.” She motioned to the small bathroom in the corner of the wing and Draco hobbled his way to it with her and Hermione still at his sides. “Do you want assistance?” the mediwitch asked, opening the door for him.
Draco shook his head. “No, I think I can manage it on my own.”
“Alright, we’ll be just outside,” she replied as he stepped into the bathroom. He grunted in reply and Madam Pomfrey closed the door behind him. Hermione looked at her with a deep sigh.
“What do you think?” she asked sincerely.
Madam Pomfrey gave a heavy shrug. “The left leg is…bad,” she whispered with a wary glance at the bathroom door. “The delay in dosing resulted in a malformation of the cord in one area disrupting the nerve signals to his thigh, calf and foot.”
Hermione pursed her lips as she took in the news. “Can he ever overcome it?” she asked tentatively.
"With extensive therapy, the muscles may adapt to allow for a reasonably steady gait, but... My suggestion… start looking for ‘really cool’ walking sticks.”
Hermione nodded in grim understanding and they waited the rest of the time in silence until Draco opened the door.
“I…I think I need to rest,” he said with a worried expression when he came out. Madam Pomfrey nodded and the three of them made their way back to Draco’s bed. The women helped him back in and Madam Pomfrey leaned the crutch against the wall within his reach.
“We’ll try again after lunch,” she said as Hermione settled herself back onto the mattress at Draco’s side.
“Do…do you think we could have a bit of privacy?” Draco asked. Madam Pomfrey gave him a small smile.
“Of course,” she said waving her wand to draw a curtain to fully enclose his bed. Another flick of her wrist settled a silencing spell around it. “I’ll check on you in about an hour. I will be in my office should you need me.”
“Thank you,” Hermione said quietly. Madam Pomfrey placed a hand to her shoulder and squeezed before slipping out. The moment she was gone, Hermione snapped her face back to Draco. “What’s wrong?” she demanded.
“You mean besides the fact that I’m half crippled?” he sneered at his leg.
“There’s something else,” Hermione said, placing a hand to his right thigh. He glanced up at her but quickly looked away. “Draco, look at me.”
He reluctantly raised his gaze to hers and his face pulled into a disgusted pout.
“What is it?” Hermione asked again. Draco glanced down at his lap.
“I…I can’t feel him.”
Hermione furrowed her brow. “What?”
“I can’t feel…him,” Draco said louder, cupping a hand to his crotch. Hermione’s eyes widened in understanding.
“Oh…” she said, looking down. “Does…does he still work at least?”
Draco shrugged. “I was able to piss. But I didn’t exactly have time for a wank to find out the rest.”
Hermione’s mouth twisted in thought as she stared down at his lap. “We’ve got time now. May I?” she motioned hesitantly to his groin. Draco removed his hand and placed it behind his head as he leaned back.
“Be my guest,” he said with a nervous puff. Hermione crawled all the way onto the bed and straddled his knees.
“Is this okay?”
“So far,” Draco replied as he watched Hermione cautiously settle her weight over his lower limbs and grasp the waistband of his pajama bottoms. She tugged them down his thighs slowly to expose him.
“Well, he looks the same,” she stated and Draco chuckled.
“Well, that’s good I suppose.”
Hermione grinned up at him and then concentrated her attention back downward. She touched a finger to his soft length and Draco twitched slightly. Hermione darted her eyes to his.
“Did you feel that?” she asked hopefully. Draco shook his head. Hermione gave a disappointed hum and looked down again. She slid her hand under his bollocks and gently squeezed. Draco barely stifled his giggle at the touch.
“That I feel,” he said with a grin. Hermione narrowed her eyes at him and removed her hand.
“You can feel your balls, but not your dick?”
Draco made a rumbly noise in his throat. “I fucking love it when you talk dirty.”
Hermione frowned at him. “Oh, please,” she said with a harrumph. “This is serious.”
“You’re right,” Draco agreed, setting his face back into an expression of concern, “please proceed.”
Hermione gave him another shifty look, but once again turned her attention to his penis. She grabbed it roughly into her hand and squeezed hard.
“Easy!” Draco hollered, bolting upright and Hermione raised a brow at him.
“I thought you couldn’t feel anything?”
Draco relaxed back a little. “I can’t, but I can still see you bloody well brutalizing him.”
“Mm hmm,” Hermione hummed as she loosened her grip and lowered her head. “So, you’re telling me that you can’t feel this?” She licked the length of him. Draco’s hands gripped into the sheets.
“Nope,” he answered, “not a thing.”
Hermione looked up at him with her mouth hovering just over his steadily hardening cock. “Really?” she breathed on him, “Nothing?” She gave him another slow lick that was then accompanied by a sensual guitar riff.
Draco merely shook his head and Hermione pouted up at him. “Pity,” she said, blowing on the wet streak she’d left along him. Draco’s legs tensed beneath her and she smirked. “So I guess it would be pointless to try and suck him off then.”
“You could try it,” Draco suggested, his voice rough, “Just…just to make sure.”
“You’re right,” Hermione said with a stern moue, “best to be sure.”
She lowered her face again and gently took his now stiff length into her mouth. The guitar riffs continued and Draco closed his eyes and threw his head back.
“Anything?” Hermione asked, releasing him after a few purposeful sucks.
“Afraid not,” Draco panted slightly, looking back down at her.
“Curious,” she said, gripping her fingers around his slick member again. She began to pump her hand along him earnestly and watched his face closely. His mouth twitched and his cheeks quivered as he attempted to keep a straight face. A strangled moan echoed in his throat and Hermione shook her head at him.
“For a spy and a Slytherin, you really are a terrible liar,” she said, letting him go. Draco groaned in protest and gave her a guilty look.
“I couldn’t help myself,” he confessed, reaching for her hand and guiding it back to his cock.
“Why lie?” she asked, stroking him more gently, “That wasn’t funny.”
“Wasn’t meant to be,” he said, closing his eyes in pleasure. “I…I didn’t think you’d agree if I suggested this, what with me still being laid-up.”
“Are you kidding?” Hermione laughed. “After watching you writhe in pain for two days I would’ve jumped at the chance to finally give you some pleasure.”
Draco cracked an eye open at her. “I did go through a lot of pain,” he said, twitching his erection in her grasp. Hermione bit at her lip and grinned.
“Well, then…I ought to make sure you feel a lot of pleasure.” She released him once more to shimmy out of her bottoms and knickers. Draco opened both eyes and hissed in a breath at the sight of her and then groaned as she moved up to align herself with him.
“Are you sure you’re up for this?” she asked even as her music already began to filter in around them. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
Draco placed his hands on her hips. “You might have to do most of the work, but I doubt you could hurt me any worse than you already have.”
Hermione pinched him in the side and he laughed. “Do you want me to fuck you or not?” she asked with a playful glare. Draco settled back in the bed and moved both hands behind his head.
“Go for it, babe.”
“Prat,” she snapped back, leaning forward to brace herself on his chest. She slowly lowered herself onto him and they both shuddered at the sensation.
“Oh, fuck yes,” Draco moaned appreciatively.
“Let me know if I go too hard,” Hermione said, raising up and gently lowering again.
“No, that’s perfect,” he sighed, “Just like that.”
Hermione smiled and continued to rock her hips over him in a slow, steady rhythm. “You shouldn’t have lied…but I am so glad you were lying,” she said breathily after a moment.
“Now we’re even for you keeping the Quidditch thing from me,” Draco replied, sliding his hands beneath her shirt as she leaned over him. “And why are you ‘so glad’?”
Hermione ground down on him a little harder and swiveled her hips causing Draco’s eyes to roll. “Because to never see that look on your face again would have been tragic,” she laughed.
“I suppose I should be happy it was only my leg that’s numb when it very well could’ve been him,” he said, shuttering his eyes at the feel of her.
“It certainly would’ve made bringing the children back more challenging if it’d been him,” Hermione said quietly. Draco reopened his eyes. He removed his hands from her breasts and brought them to her face to pull her forward over him. His eyes searched hers as she stilled and the music lowered in volume.
“Not even death could keep me from bringing them back into this world,” he said seriously. Hermione gave him a trembling smile and he tugged her face forward to kiss her gently. “I promise,” he whispered against her lips and Hermione resumed her languid movements. Draco pulled her head a little more and deepened their kiss as the music rose louder.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“How do you s’pose he’s doing up there?” Tracey Davis asked, leaning forward at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall. “Has anyone been able to visit yet?”
“I tried again last night,” Theo replied, setting down his sandwich, “but Madam Pomfrey told me he’s still too exhausted from his recovery for visitors.”
“Poor Draco,” Pansy cooed, “those nerve potions can be horrible. He must have been in so much pain.”
“One can hope,” Crabbe muttered, smashing a crisp with his fist. Theo, Zabini and the girls glared at him.
“You wish pain on your best friend?” Theo challenged angrily. Crabbe snorted.
“He’s not my friend.”
“Oh, fuck you then,” Theo spat at him, “You’re just still sore he didn’t make your clunky arse a beater.”
“I hate that he’s had to suffer like that alone,” Pansy piped up again to try and diffuse the tension between the two boys.
“Not as alone as you’d think,” Crabbe mumbled, looking away from Theo to glare at his plate. Goyle elbowed him hard in the side.
“What’s that s’posed to mean?” Tracey asked with a puzzled look.
Crabbe looked sideways at Goyle who shook his head almost imperceptibly. “Nothing,” Crabbe answered reluctantly, smashing another crisp. Theo narrowed his eyes at the two, but didn’t reply as he hefted his book bag over his shoulder.
“I think I’m going to head up now to try and see him again. You want to go?” he asked, turning his head to address Zabini. Zabini gave a quick nod and stood as Theo did.
“You comin’ Pans?” he asked her as well. Pansy nodded her reply and turned to Berrow beside her. She planted a kiss to his cheek.
“I’ll see you after Charms, handsome,” she said to him. He winked at her and she giggled as she too stood. “Let’s go Trace,” she called out. Tracey rolled her eyes lightly, but got up and followed to walk with Pansy, Theo and Zabini out of the hall.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“It’s so quiet,” Tracey whispered as the four Slytherins slipped stealthily into the hospital wing, “Are you sure he’s still in here, Theo?”
“Were else would he be?” Theo answered with a shrug.
“Maybe they sent him to St. Mungo’s after all,” Pansy said as they all stepped a little further into the room.
“Or he’s behind the only curtained bed,” Zabini drawled, with an eye roll. Pansy shot him a glare.
“Don’t be a smart-arse,” she snapped.
“Shh,” Theo hissed at them, “I don’t want Madam Pomfrey chucking us out before we get to see him.”
The four of them went silent and huddled together to move as a group to the bed with the curtain.
“Maybe we should go,” Tracey said a bit uncomfortably when they stopped, “if it’s this quiet, he’s obviously sleeping.”
“He can sleep when he’s dead,” Zabini said, reaching a hand to the curtain, “I want to know how my captain is doing.” With that he yanked the curtain aside.
“Holy hell!” Draco’s voice echoed against the curtain as his lunch tray nearly toppled off of his lap when he jumped. Pansy lurched forward to steady it as Draco clasped a hand to his chest and took several giant breaths. “You scared the fuck out of me,” he wheezed.
“Jumpy much?” Zabini said, pulling the curtain open further to allow all four of them to step up to Draco’s side.
“What…what are you all doing here?” Draco asked, casting a quick glance over their shoulders to the bathroom door.
“Visiting you,” Pansy replied sweetly, settling herself to sit on the edge of his mattress. “We were worried about you.”
“You…you were?” Draco asked, genuinely taken aback by the sincerity in their faces.
“No one’s seen you in like four days,” Tracey said with a hand on her hip, “We had to make sure you were still alive.”
“I was touch and go for a bit,” Draco replied dramatically, “but…still alive.”
“We’ve tried to visit, but they wouldn’t let us in,” Theo said with an apologetic shrug.
Draco shrugged back and ran his hands across his scalp as he leaned back to look at them all. “Well, I’m glad you’re here now. How’ve things been?” He rested his hands behind his head as he addressed Theo and Zabini directly. “Have practices been good? You two haven’t run my team into the ground already have you?” he said jokingly.
His smile faded at the suddenly serious faces staring back at him. He was just about to ask what was wrong when Tracey pointed at his exposed left forearm.
“Whoa,” she said breathlessly. Draco turned his head slightly to eye his Dark Mark before looking back at his friends.
“You really fucking have it,” Zabini said, his eyebrows arched. Draco shrugged and lowered his hands.
“I as good as told you that I did,” he said unperturbed. He picked up his sandwich from his lunch tray and took a bite. The others continued to look at him in awe and he rolled his eyes as he swallowed.
“Better?” he asked after he pulled down the sleeves of his shirt.
“You just leave it out in the open like that?” Theo asked, tearing his eyes away from Draco’s arm even after it’d been covered. Draco shook his head.
“No, I usually put a glamour on it, but I wasn’t expecting anyone to come in here,” he replied.
“Wasn’t Granger in here too?” Theo said, leaning around the end of the curtain to look about the wing.
“She still is,” Draco answered, taking another bite. He raised his hand to cover his mouth to speak as he chewed. “She’s using the loo.”
“Has she seen it?” Theo whispered.
“You think I’m stupid?” Draco frowned at him. Theo visibly relaxed at that and the others appeared to shrug the shock away as Pansy gave Draco a pout.
“How horrible that you’ve been stuck up here for days with her,” she commiserated. “What have you been doing?”
Draco set down his lunch. “I was pretty out of it for the first couple of days,” he said honestly.
“Was it awful?” Pansy asked, a look of utter concern upon her pugish face. Draco glared down at his blanket-covered legs and nodded.
“Yes,” he sneered in response.
“Well, you look okay now,” Tracey offered, “How are you doing?”
“Can you walk yet?” Zabini chimed in as well, eyeing the crutch that was leaning up against the wall beside the headboard. Draco looked up at them.
“I’m still a bit knackered to be honest, but the pain’s finally gone. I was able to make a lap around the wing earlier,” he answered.
“So, you’re healed?” Pansy asked hopefully.
“Still working on that,” Draco answered, sagging a little and glaring at his legs again.
“Have you heard from your mum at all?” Theo asked. Draco nodded.
“Yeah, she sent me a letter. Wished me well, sends her love…the usual.”
“She send a care package?” Tracey asked eagerly.
“Oh, I see why you came up here now,” Draco said with a look of mock hurt, “Just after my chocolates.”
Pansy clucked her tongue at him and smacked him in the arm. “No, we missed you.”
“Yeah, the table hasn’t been the same without your snarky arse,” Theo added and Draco smirked at him.
“Good to know,” he said.
“When are you supposed to be released?” Zabini asked, crossing his arms.
“Madam Pomfrey said I might be able to leave later today,” Draco answered, rubbing a hand to the back of his neck. “So long as my next walking exercise goes well, I could be down for dinner.”
The door to the bathroom suddenly clicked open and the Slytherins all turned to see Hermione standing stunned in the doorway.
“Um...hello,” she said awkwardly. All four visitors cocked their eyebrows at her. Hermione gave them a tentative smile and Pansy pulled her wand and flicked it - reclosing the curtain around them.
“What a weirdo,” she hissed to the others as she stowed her wand back into her robes.
“Why is she even still in here?” Tracey commented with a contemptuous look at the curtain. “Didn’t she just have a broken nose?”
“The bludger shattered her face,” Draco replied coolly. “Took Madam Pomfrey a full day of spells and potions to put her right.”
“Too bad she didn’t make her look better while she was at it,” Pansy said with a snotty little grin.
“Can’t blame the witch for not wanting to waste the extra energy on the likes of her,” Zabini said, leaning against the wall, arms still crossed. “I’m still a bit surprised you put forth the effort to save her,” he added with a nod to Draco. Pansy and Tracey nodded in agreement and Theo squinted at the curtain as if he could see beyond it in the direction that Hermione had been.
Draco looked at them all and shrugged. “Worked out for me that I did,” he said, casually tossing an apple slice into his mouth. Theo looked back at him and raised a brow.
“Meaning?”
Draco grinned as he chewed. “Hermione?” he called out after he swallowed, “Come here and meet my friends.”
“Hermione?” Tracey mouthed at Pansy with wide eyes. Pansy looked away from her to stare at Draco like he’d just grown a second head.
“You can’t be serious,” she said just as Hermione pulled aside the curtain to step up to the opposite side of Draco’s bed. Draco looked up at her.
“Hermione,” he said in a friendly tone, waving a hand at the others, “my friends. Theo, Blaise, Tracey and of course Pansy.”
Hermione gave them a shy wave and Draco turned to address them. “Friends… meet Hermione…my girlfriend.”
Silence followed the statement as the others simply stared and Hermione sat down beside Draco. He threw an arm around her waist and the action seemed to snap them from their stupor.
“This is a joke, right?” Pansy demanded with a dirty look at the hand on Hermione’s hip.
“No joke,” Draco answered easily, picking up another apple slice. He held it up to Hermione and she took it with a gracious smile.
“Is brain damage a side effect of nerve potions?” Zabini asked with a questioning look at Draco. Hermione frowned at him.
“Draco doesn’t have…”she started. Zabini cast her a scornful glare.
“Was I talking to you, Mudblood?” he spat at her. She shrunk against Draco’s side slightly and Draco tightened his grip on her as he looked lazily back up at Zabini.
“Now, now, Blaise,” he said calmly, “no need to be rude.”
“Are you out of your fucking mind?” Zabini snapped back at him. Draco merely rubbed Hermione’s side and reached for his drink glass.
“Hermione, love. Would you?” he asked tilting the cup at her. Hermione took the cup from him and, with a last nervous glance at the others, nodded meekly before getting up and walking back out of the curtain. Draco watched her go and then looked very seriously back at the seething Slytherins.
“It’d be helpful if you didn’t start spewing racial epithets at her. You’ll scare her off,” he whispered.
“He’s lost his bloody mind,” Tracey muttered, taking a step back. Draco shot her a glare.
“I assure you I’m still in full control of my mental faculties, thank you.”
Pansy jabbed a thumb in the direction Hermione had gone. “Then would you care to explain that?” she whispered back angrily. Draco shrugged again as he leaned back.
“Sometimes a job requires that we must get a little dirt on our hands,” he said with a pointed nod to his left forearm.
“Or cocks?” Pansy spat snidely.
“Come now, Pans,” Draco smirked, “what language. You’re supposed to be a lady.”
Pansy rolled her eyes as Theo’s finally widened slightly in understanding.
“You’re using her to get to Potter,” he said, the statement sounding more like a question.
“Sshhh!” Draco admonished with a nervous glance at the curtain. He looked back at them all sternly. “Any of you fuck this up for me and I will make sure the Dark Lord knows who’s to blame,” he whispered. “So play nice, yeah?”
“And since when has Granger been friendly to you?” Zabini asked suspiciously. “She’s not exactly stupid.”
“Should I be offended by that?” Draco asked, narrowing his eyes at him. Zabini sneered at him.
“Be whatever the fuck you want, but something doesn’t add up. If there’s anything Granger isn’t it’s a lovesick twit.”
Draco merely snatched up another piece of apple. “Well, she’s been friendly enough since yours truly saved her miserable life. Don’t ask me to explain the emotional workings of a Mudblood, I’m just taking advantage of them.”
“And what about Margaret?” Theo asked with a scowl.
“What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her,” Draco said, allowing a flash of guilt to pass over his face. There was a thick silence then as they all passed uncomfortable, resigned glances between one another. The curtain pulled open to reveal Hermione again and they all tensed slightly.
Draco cast a last cautionary look to them as Hermione leaned forward to set the filled glass on the lunch tray.
“Pans,” he said cheerily, as Hermione sat again, “did you know that Hermione likes to knit? I know you’ve expressed some interest in learning more domestic things. Perhaps the two of you could get together and you could learn to make Darius a scarf.”
Pansy looked at Draco like she was about to throttle him until he lightly shook his left forearm in warning. Her eyes darted from the gesture back to his face and she slowly turned to face Hermione. She gave her an obviously strained smile.
“Su…sure,” she forced out through gritted teeth. “That…that’d be nice.”
“Splendid,” Draco said, putting his arm back around Hermione’s middle to draw her closer to his side, “we’ll have to arrange that.”
“Um…sure,” Hermione said weakly. “I’m not very good, but…”
“Nonsense,” Draco interrupted. “Your knitting is superb. You two’ll have fun for sure.”
Pansy’s right eye twitched as she forced another smile. “For sure,” she said tweely.
“I need to leave,” Zabini said bluntly, kicking off the wall. He looked at Draco, pointedly ignoring Hermione’s presence beside him. “When will you be back at practices?”
“Next week hopefully,” Draco answered. “Can you keep managing them for me?”
Zabini nodded once and threw open the curtain to head for the exit.
“Thanks for visiting!” Draco called out to him. Zabini simply waved lazily in the air, without looking back as he left.
“We should get going too,” Tracey said, tugging at Pansy’s robe sleeve. She looked at Hermione. “Nice…nice meeting you,” she said awkwardly.
“It’s a shame it’s taken this long,” Hermione smiled back. Tracey shifted uncomfortably with a glance at Draco. “Come on Pans,” she said finally turning to leave. Pansy stood.
“I’m glad you’re feeling better,” she said to Draco. “Hopefully we’ll see you at dinner.”
“Thanks for coming to see me,” he said, smiling. She nodded and with a last wary glance at Hermione turned to join Tracey. The girls both hurried out of the wing, their heads together. Theo watched them go and then looked back at Draco and Hermione. His eyes went back and forth between them before resting on Draco.
“I hope you know what you’re doing,” he said, readjusting his bag over his shoulder. “I’ll see you.” He went to leave and then paused. “Hermione,” he said with a polite acknowledging nod.
“Theo,” she reciprocated kindly. An almost pained expression flitted across his features at the simple response but he quickly masked it and, with a final nod, left the room. The moment he was gone Hermione punched Draco in the shoulder.
“What the hell’s the matter with you!?” she spat at him. “Knitting with Pansy…are you crazy?”
“She could help you make those little hats for the elves,” he said with a grin. Hermione frowned at him.
“I really wish Dobby hadn’t told you about that,” she sulked, remembering Dobby bringing them food in their room and boasting to his old master about his towering collection of hats.
Draco pulled Hermione close again and she slumped against him. “No going back now,” he sighed.
“Do you think they bought it?” she asked quietly.
“I’m pretty sure Pans and Trace did and Theo’d never do anything even if he didn’t. But Blaise is hard to read,” he answered with a pensive scowl.
“I was surprised to see him visit,” Hermione said, reaching forward to grab an apple slice. “I thought you two didn't really get on?"
"Blaise is...fickle," Draco said with a shake of his head, "Best mate one minute, scheming prick the next. I think he might have a personality disorder. "
Hermione hummed as she bit the slice. “We’ll have to be careful around him.”
“We have to be careful period,” Draco said seriously. “Imagine if they’d come in an hour ago.”
Hermione paled a bit. “That would’ve been harder to explain.”
They sat together in silence for a bit with only the sounds of Hermione’s chewing.
“Why does it feel like things are going to be more difficult being out in the open than they were when we were hiding?” Hermione finally asked quietly.
“Because they probably will be,” Draco answered, resting his chin on her head. “Just another charade to add to our little tragedy.”
“Why do you think Severus did it? Suggested this, I mean?” she replied in a whisper. Draco squeezed his arm tighter around her.
“It saved me from punishment. He turned my disappointing injury into something the Dark Lord can use,” he answered with a heavy sigh.
“Oh,” Hermione said, “I thought perhaps he was just tired of us using his office.”
Draco couldn’t help the laugh that escaped him at that. “Probably a bit of that as well,” he grinned. They were quiet again until Hermione broke the silence once more.
“I feel sad for him,” she said.
“Sev?” Draco confirmed and Hermione nodded against him.
“You were supposed to be able to help him as a partner and so far we’ve only caused him more work and worry. And in addition he’s had to endure our trysts when he was robbed of his own love.”
“I think the fact that I’m soon to be a brother proves that he’s had a number of trysts of his own,” Draco responded coolly.
“Yes, but there’s a difference between sex and love,” Hermione noted, “You said yourself he’s not in love with your mother.”
Draco shuddered slightly. “Please don’t make me think about Mother having sex. Or Sev.”
“He could be an attractive man if only he’d do something with those teeth and that hair of his,” Hermione said thoughtfully. “He’s talented and he’s got a good body.”
Draco’s eyebrows rose into his scalp. “Should I be worried?”
Hermione laughed and pulled herself away from him to stand. Without a word, she removed the tray from Draco’s lap and set it aside, then climbed back up to straddle him.
“You know yours is the only body I want,” she purred, setting her hands to his chest.
“This old, broken body?” he playfully sulked.
“Not so old,” Hermione said, spreading her fingers over his hard pecs.
“Broken, though,” Draco sighed with a slight frown at his left leg. Hermione nodded as she leaned forward.
“Still love you,” she mumbled as her lips set to his. Draco drank her in eagerly and after a heated minute of snogging, Hermione pulled back. She gazed at him and brushed a lock of his hair off his forehead.
“Feel rested enough to work on making this beautiful, broken body mobile again?” she asked, swinging her legs off of him to hop down from the bed and take hold of the crutch. She held it out toward him and, with a giant breath, Draco took it from her and swung his own legs over the side of the bed.
“I suppose,” he said, placing his feet hesitantly to the ground. “Do you think we ought to wait for Madam Pomfrey to get back from lunch, though?”
Hermione shook her head. “No, you’ve got this,” she said surely. “I expect you to walk with me into the Great Hall for dinner tonight.”
Draco adjusted the crutch under his arm. “Will I be walking you to your table or mine?”
“I’ll be walking you to yours, I think,” she said, taking a step back to start leading Draco around the room, “then I’ll go to mine. We don’t want to overwhelm everyone right away.”
Draco snorted as he continued his unsteady circuit. “I have a feeling just walking in together will do that.”
Hermione’s mouth twisted in thought. “Well…at least the Slytherins will already be prepared.”
“Not all of them,” he replied. “Anyway, I’m more interested in what your friends are going to do. We haven’t told them we’re going public yet.”
Hermione paled slightly. “You’re right,” she said anxiously, “and they won’t understand unless we explain that you’re a…”
“Weasley took it alright,” Draco said when she trailed off with a troubled look. “And Potter’s ready.”
“Ready for what?” Harry’s voice suddenly came from nowhere. Hermione and Draco both snapped their heads around at the sound of it to see him, Ginny, Ron and Susan huddled in the doorway when he lowered his invisibility cloak.
“Good to see you walking,” Ron said as Draco hobbled around to face them.
“Haven’t quite got the steadiness down yet,” Draco responded with a nod to him, “but thanks.”
“Did I miss something?” Ginny asked with a perplexed look at the respectful expressions passed between Draco and her brother.
“What am I ready for?” Harry repeated, ignoring Ginny.
“Did the second round go better?” Ron asked, stepping closer to Draco, ignoring both of them.
Draco motioned to the crutch. “Not as good a result as I would’ve hoped, but the pain was a little more bearable. Sorry, mate, but this one’s a bit better at providing comfort than you,” he added, tilting his head at Hermione.
“I don’t doubt,” Ron said with a good-natured roll of his eyes.
“Mate?” Ginny repeated, stunned at Draco’s word use. “What the hell is going on?”
“And what did Ron take alright?” Harry demanded lightly, still focused on what they’d overheard walking in. Ron glanced at Harry and then back at Draco as the blond looked to Hermione at his side.
“Shall we then? Albus gave us the go ahead and I suppose now’s as good a time as any,” he thought to her. She pulled her wand, waved it at the door to lock it with an audible set of clicks and then reached over and laced her fingers with his and nodded. Draco looked back at the others.
“Make sure that mind’s locked up tight, Potter. And Weasley,” he said, balancing himself with the crutch in his armpit to hold out his left arm towards Ron, “would you care to do the honors?”
Ron stared at the arm offered out to him a moment, but then took the step forward and grasped it.
“Ronny, what are you doing?” Susan asked nervously.
“I wasn’t just helping Hermione when I was up here the other day,” he said, fixing them with a serious expression, “I was helping him.”
He pushed up Draco’s sleeve and then stood to the side to reveal the Dark Mark to them. He pointed to it.
“And this is what I was alright with,” he said with a resolution that made Hermione’s heart ache.
“Oh, no,” Susan whispered sadly, with a hand to her mouth. Ginny glanced at her and then moved to be closer to Harry’s side.
“You were right,” she said quietly, turning her gaze back to the brand that Harry had yet to look away from. He said nothing as his face contorted with a mixture of confusion and anger.
“Harry?” Hermione said gently. His green eyes slowly moved from the Mark up to her face.
“How…how long?” he asked tightly.
“I received it on the fourth of July,” Draco answered. Harry’s gaze darted to Draco before going right back to Hermione.
“This whole time?” he asked, the sound of betrayal thick in his voice. Before Hermione could reply he looked to Ron. “How could you possibly be okay with this?” Harry asked him.
“He’s part of the Order,” Ron answered. “Dumbledore told me himself.”
Harry looked back at Hermione. “Hermione?”
“It’s the truth Harry. He’s working with Professor Snape to try and…”
“Snape!?” Harry interrupted angrily. “We don’t know that we can trust that greasy git! Do you not hear the way he glorifies the Dark Arts in class? He’s foul at the best of times.”
“Hey!” Draco snapped at him. He released Hermione’s hand to point at him. “Severus is one of the most noble men I’ve ever met, you sanctimonious bastard.”
“Draco,” Hermione chided sternly. He and Harry ignored her.
“Better that than a cowardly snake,” Harry spat back at him. Draco visibly seethed for a moment and Ron, Hermione, and Ginny all readied themselves to intervene.
“I swore to you, Potter,” Draco growled at him through bared, gritted teeth, “I swore to you that I’d protect her.” He thrust his left arm out further and pointed to it. “Do you honestly think I could do that if I actually believed in what this fucking, disgusting, goddamned thing stands for!?”
Harry lost some of his hard posturing, but still looked disgustedly at the Mark and Draco shook his head.
“You…you think I LIKE having this thing?” Draco demanded. “I fucking hate it. HATE it. It’s the one thing in my whole miserable life I truly regretted…” He choked-up and his face twisted as he fought against his own emotions. “I hate it,” he repeated, “Hate it so fucking much. So fucking…” He suddenly broke down in tears that he tried to hide and Hermione immediately put her arms around him to cradle his head against her.
Draco’s knees started to give out and Ron grabbed the crutch as it fell when he and Hermione slumped down to kneel on the floor. Draco wrapped his arms around her and buried his face into her shoulder. She looked over him to glare at Harry.
“Don’t you EVER call him a coward again,” she threatened. She turned her attention back to Draco and began whispering softly into his ear as he clung to her.
Harry blinked at the scene and then looked up to see Ron staring back at him with a disapproving scowl.
“You shouldn’t have said that,” Susan spoke quietly.
“He’s a Death Eater,” Harry whispered, sounding lost and looking back down to watch Hermione and Draco.
“You’re sure he’s on our side, Hermione?” Ginny asked delicately. Hermione glared up at her.
“Of course I’m sure. I was with him before he got it. I even…I encouraged him to go through with it when he wasn’t sure he could,” she said grudgingly. Ginny inhaled deeply at the response and then walked away from Harry to stand beside her brother. She held a hand down to Draco.
He startled at the gesture and looked up at her puzzled.
“Get up,” she ordered. “If you’re a Phoenix, it’s time you started acting like one.”
Ron held out a hand to him as well and Draco let go of Hermione to sit back on his heels and stare at them. He wiped at his cheeks with the backs of his hands and then hesitantly placed them in theirs and let them pull him back up to his feet. Hermione stood as well and placed a hand to his back to steady him. Susan quickly joined them.
“Thank you,” Draco said, looking between them all. The Weasleys and Susan nodded at him and Hermione beamed at them.
Harry watched as a silent understanding was passed among them before they all turned to look back at him. He furrowed his brow slightly as he searched the faces of the five people standing together for a long minute. His gaze finally rested on Draco.
“Is there anything you can do to prove that you are what you say,” Harry asked desperately, “something to show you’re a fighter for the Light?”
“Harry…” Ginny started, but Draco held up his hand to stop her.
“It’s okay,” he said, “I can. Hermione, will you please get me my wand?”
Hermione immediately accio’d his wand from the table beside his bed and handed it to him. He grasped it and with a determined look into Harry’s eyes cast his spell.
“Expecto Patronum!”
Draco’s snow leopard came forth to loud gasps from Susan and Ginny. The Patronus stalked purposefully toward Harry. Harry gaped at it with wide eyes as it came to pose just before him. It opened its wide jaws and Draco’s voice boomed around the room.
“LIGHT AND LIFE!”
The Order’s motto echoed around them and Hermione swiftly cast her own Patronus. Her otter swam over to join the leopard as the great cat continued to roar Draco’s message. Her voice joined Draco’s in proudly stating the simple saying. The moment it did Ginny, Ron and Susan pulled their wands and cast theirs to add a horse, a Jack Russell terrier, and a dolphin to the mix.
Harry looked beyond the silvery-blue collection of animals to meet Draco’s eye again. He pulled his wand and, with a satisfied smile, cast his Patronus. The stag bounded forth and bowed to the snow leopard.
“Light and Life,” it said in Harry’s voice when it righted its head. The stag then took off to run about the room. Harry walked forward to join his friends as the other Patronuses bolted after his. He and Draco exchanged their own look of understanding before letting their gazes follow the playing, ethereal creatures around them.
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Additional A/N: Wow, you all are awesome. Your splendid reviews pushed my muse to focus on this over my other stories...so you can thank yourselves for the update! Much love!
Also...I'm now on tumblr as RavieSnake and, while I still don't really know what the heck I'm doing on there, I will start posting to it everytime I update this. It's an option for some of you looking for alerts to new chapters. Thanks!
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Songs of Regret