Aconite - Dramione/Blinny

Ch. 38

They stopped first at Hermione's house after Lucius insisted she change clothes, which she begrudgingly agreed to after finding a few patches of blood that she hadn't noticed before.

"I honestly didn't see those," She muttered as she pulled her shirt away slightly to frown at the dried blood at the edge.

Lucius crinkled his nose slightly as he looked away. "Granted, you have had a few other things on your mind."

As they approached the house, he looked it over with a thoughtful expression before saying to her, "This is a stunning house! I must say, I'm impressed; not to offend but I didn't think you would pick something this large and manor-ly."

"No offense taken!" She laughed slightly as she unlocked the door and smiling at him. "You can actually thank Draco for this; he helped me pick it out after my sudden divorce."

Lucius's eyebrows went up in surprise as she led him inside but didn't say anything as she excused herself upstairs to quickly change. He folded his hands behind his back and looked around with a small smile on his face, taking in everything. He thought she had decorated it beautifully, and there was a warm, welcoming presence in the home.

Hermione rushed downstairs a few minutes later as she threw her hair up into a messy bun, looking around to see that Lucius had found her pictures in the hallway leading to the living room. He glanced at her as she approached with a small smile on his face.

"These are your parents?" He asked, nodding towards one of the pictures.

"Yes, right after they got back from Italy a couple of years ago," She laughed, looking at the picture as well. "Mum was so sunburnt."

"Sunburnt?" He gave her a confused look and she shook her head.

"I'll explain later," She said before nodding towards the door. "We need to find Draco first."

He nodded and she had to hold herself back from jogging towards the door, being sure to pull the right sleeve down over her bandages. She had a feeling that seeing her arm bandaged up might make Draco disappear again once they found him.

Lucius silently offered his arm again and she took it, bracing herself as he disapparated the two of them away. They landed in the foyer of an absolutely beautiful manor, and if she wasn't so determined to find Draco she would have stood there in awe of the décor. Lucius chuckled at her as she walked off quickly and he patted her shoulder.

"Don't worry, dear," He said gently with a smile. "There's plenty of time to look around after we locate Draco."

She nodded and they both walked through the entry way as he led her through the manor. Hermione anxiously looked into every room that they passed until they heard voices coming from the next floor.

Her heart jumped into her throat and she nearly took off running towards the stairs, taking them two at a time as she breathed heavily. As she stopped at the top of the stairs, she saw doors to the left and right of her, and she looked back and forth.

The voices began speaking again and she managed to pinpoint them coming from a door to the right. After rushing to the door and taking a deep but quiet breath to calm herself down, she pulled down on the handle and pushed the door open, rushing inside.

Draco was sitting on a plush couch with his head in his hands, but he looked up as he heard the door open and froze. She gave barely more than a glance to Narcissa who had been sitting on the couch next to Draco with her hand on his back, and even moreso ignored the glare she was given by the older witch.

"Hermione?" The look Draco gave her was a mixture of disbelief and hurt that nearly broke her heart. "What are you doing here?"

"Draco, I'm alright!" She said quickly. "You don't need to try and isolate yourself from me!"