DRAGON'S HEARTSTRINGS || dramione | harry potter

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Hermione managed to get out of bed some half an hour later after Draco left, painfully sensing how weak her body had become. She felt dizzy when she stood up, so she had to walk slowly. The cottage was small, so it didn't take long for her to look around while she tried to keep her thoughts away from Harry and what was waiting for him. There were two more rooms save from the one she slept in, as well as a living room connected to a small kitchen. She went there to make a cup of tea. Thankfully, the gas stove was working. She didn't feel like eating neither the salad nor the still-warm soup Draco had made her but she couldn't resist tasting it – all she could think was that Draco should stay with cooking potions.

She felt a pang of grief and guilt in her chest that hit her upon remembering Mipsy. Hermione wasn't all that sorry the Manor was burned down – even thought she grew used to it, but there were also many horrible memories related to that place. However, the loss of Mipsy was dawning on her slowly but surely. When the kettle whistled, she let out a small sob, hoping nobody heard her even though she was all alone at the cottage. She didn't cry. She wanted to, but the tears refused to come.

She sat by the window with her cup of hot tea, staring ahead at the sea. The waves were hitting the sandy shore like wild animals, and the wildest of them almost reached the terrace of the cottage. The wind was howling, making the windows rattle, and Hermione had half a mind to go outside but the weather seemed cold and windy and she didn't trust her healing body to keep her steady enough to withstand it. All she could do was wait.

When Hermione heard a familiar pop of Apparition outside the bedroom, she ran there, almost spilling the now-cold tea on the way, forgetting all about her fragile state. Harry and Draco were already there and Hermione rushed to assess their state with a single glance – they both seemed sound, physically at least. Harry was pale, his body seemed languid with deep dark shadows under his eyes, his jaw seemed tight and somehow more defined during the last few days as if he had been grinding his teeth all the time they've been apart. Although he was looking around the cottage curiously, when his eyes met hers, there was endless sadness in them.

The tears finally came.

Hermione ran to hug him, choking out, "Oh, Harry..."

He hugged her back, burying his face in her neck just like they did when they were children after spending the summer away from one another. She saw his lower lip tremble momentarily as if he were about to cry too, but the next moment his face hardened, and determination shone in his gaze.

"It's going to be over soon," he told her. "We will win this."

"Harry," she sniffed. "I'm so sorry."

"You don't need to be sorry for anything. This is what needs to be done. This was always meant to happen, no matter how hard we tried to postpone it." When they drew away, he looked her up and down. He frowned. "Malfoy told me you were attacked."

"Nagini bit me."

"Are you alright?"

She nodded. "Draco saved me."

Only then did she come to her senses enough to look at her loved one. And she gasped when she saw a bloody gash on his cheek. She went to him, but only caressed his clean cheek which, unfortunately, was also scarred.

"What happened?" she asked, trying to determine how bad the damage was. He had a scar of similar caliber on the other side of his face, but this one seemed deeper, although upon closer inspection she verified that it was caused not by magic, but physically, as if someone was trying to gouge his eye out.

Draco's face was hard as stone. "Pansy," he drawled. "She fumed when I told her I had to kill her boyfriend. She attacked me with bare hands, which was brave. To say the least."