Chapter Six:

It had officially been fourteen days of living with Draco Malfoy. Fourteen days of being forced to see a string of witch's waltz in and out his bedroom door at all hours of the day and night. He had least seemed to have the decency to cast a muffliato spell to keep her from being forced to hear any of his fornications with the other Slytherin ladies of their grade and some below. She couldn't help but notice how she had never seen the same girl twice. Malfoy got around; she was sure by now half of Slytherin had probably been on his cock.

The more time which passed of the two of them living together, the more she found herself talking to Theodore Knott. Theodore seemed to be the only constant in Malfoy's routine. It was almost every other day where the two of them were either in the common room of Hermione and Draco's dormitory or hidden away in the blonde's room doing Merlin knows what.

Even as Draco pulled girls into his room, luring them in with his annoyingly attractive smirk and soft lips, Theodore still never left, instead finding comfort in the couch outside, waiting for Draco to finish his deeds. In fact, Hermione had even found herself in conversations with the brown-haired Slytherin, and more surprisingly, genuinely enjoying his company. He wasn't rough like Malfoy; in fact, he was funny. Very funny. Hermione often found herself laughing at things he said or stories he told. It was a nice change from the conversations she most recently shared with Ginny, Harry, and Ron. Those three were so serious. The only things the four of them seemed to talk about was school-girl gossip, complaining about Slytherin or constantly making comments about the war. It was as if they didn't have a freeing thought in their minds.

However, after fourteen days, it was today, a Friday night, that Hermione finally found herself for once alone. There was no Malfoy, no Theodore, and no girls. She had her entire dormitory to herself. She sighed as she flopped back on the large couch, basking in the silence which fell over her. She could faintly hear the roars of the crowd from the nearby quidditch stadium. Hermione never found much enjoyment in watching her peers ride around on broomsticks, throwing balls and catching balls. She never understood the sheer fascination of the game that seemed to overwhelm all other students of Hogwarts.

Tonight, was the first game of the season, kicking off with a well anticipated Slytherin vs Gryffindor match. She knew Harry had kept his position as seeker for the Gryffindor team, however Malfoy was no longer seeker for his own. Instead, he was a beater this year. Hermione couldn't help but think back to her first encounter with Malfoy at the start of the semester on the train to Hogwarts. When she first realised just how much the blonde Slytherin had filled out over the Summer, how much taller and broader he was. It made sense that he wasn't a seeker anymore. He wasn't small and agile, instead he was tall and strong. He had a beaters build. She wondered if he was any good. Her curiosity however was not enough to strip her from the opportunity of cuddling up in her fuzzy lounge dress which fell just below her cheeks, and diving into one of her most favourite Muggle novels.

One hour is all she got. One hour of serenity before her dormitory door was flying open with a string of yelps and grunts. She shot up, eyes moving to the scene in front of her. Malfoy was all but dragging Theodore who was bloodied up head to toe, into the dormitory and quickly shuffling him into the free spot next to Hermione on the couch.

"Malfoy!" Hermione shrieked, "he's bleeding!"

"Well done, Granger! You really are the brightest which of your age," Malfoy muttered sarcastically, pulling off his long-sleeved shirt as to make a torniquet with the two sleeves of it, he wrapped it around Theodore's arm. "Move out of my way, he needs-" Draco started, but was quickly cut off by the Gryffindor.

"He needs to go to Madam Pomfrey immediately, that's what!" She had found herself kneeling in front of Theodore who was groaning in pain, eyes almost shut as he cursed, cradling his own arm.

"I can deal with a couple of cuts and broken bones Granger, I'm not useless. Move," Hermione frowned as he watched Malfoy search for his wand in his quidditch bag. It was then she noticed the clothes he and Knott wore matched. She theorised that Theodore had joined the Slytherin team this year, clearly injured during the game.

"I can do it." Hermione's voice was soft, almost questioning herself as she let her fingers grasp Theodore's arm, softly letting Malfoy's shirt unwrap from around it. She watched as the blonde Slytherin moved to open his mouth, before he had a chance, she spoke up again.

"I'm well versed in healing spells Malfoy. More than you, and we both know it, just let me do it."

Hermione knew it was eating Draco Malfoy up inside, she watched as his jaws snapped close but with a grunt, he was giving her permission. He was admitting that she was better at spells. She didn't gloat, just let her wand wave over Theodore's arm and with a few mumbles of a variety of healing spells, she watched as the clearly broken bones were fixed, the wounds healed, and dried blood cleaned and vanished from the area.

There was a silence, Theodore sat up, softly admiring his now healed arm, "thank you..." He trailed off in an almost whisper. Hermione's eyes met his and she smiled.

"It's okay... I've used those spells countless times for Harry and Ron."

Theodore didn't say anything, merely excused himself to the showers, claiming the rest of his body needed to be as clean as his newly healed arm. He left Malfoy and Hermione alone. She sat slowly back on the couch, smoothing over her fuzzy dress, her book abandoned on the floor, page lost.

She still had his shirt in her hand.

"Here..." she mumbled softly, holding her hand out for the blonde Slytherin to take it from her. It was then that she noticed it for the first time. Draco Malfoy was shirtless, but the black inkling on his right forearm kept her from even having the time to take in his appearance.

So it was true...

The dark mark stood out like wildfire on his pale skin. Perfect inked lines of a skull with a snake protruding from its mouth. It spoke a thousand words, but the story remained a secret she wished to hear. She found herself staring. Harry had told them of course... told them how he had seen Malfoy's mark, how Malfoy had become one of them during the war. But there was a small pit inside her which never believed it was possible. She didn't think her friend was a liar but needed to see it herself to believe it.

And here it finally was, staring at her.

"Hasn't anybody ever told you it's rude to stare, Granger," Malfoy snapped, snatching the shirt from her with a dirty look. She was embarrassed. Because that's exactly what she had been doing – gawking at the inkling on the Slytherin's arm as a million memories she would rather not remember, came back to haunt her.

"Sorry... I just..." She trailed off.

She didn't have any words. She watched as Malfoy quickly cast a cleaning charm on the shirt, pulling it over his head. Just like that, the mark was hidden. She couldn't help but notice how quickly he had hidden it back under the sleeve of his shirt. Like he was embarrassed to have it on display.

It was the first time she had ever seen Draco Malfoy look so... ashamed.

For the second time that year, something screamed at her that the Slytherin that stood in front of her was not the same boy she used to know a year ago. So, in the effort of inter-house unity, the following words fell from her mouth.

"We all have scars Malfoy... some are just more visible than others. That's all I see, just a scar."

He blinked at her. Without a word, walking out of the room, and for the first night in two weeks - no girls came to visit.