Tainted White

CHAPTER FOUR


Hermione was much calmer after she realized that it was all some kind of a scam. Trying to cause her pain, he tricked her into believing that Harry was dead.
Of course he wasn\'t. Wouldn\'t Voldemort kill her as well already?

She was wondering day after day what the reason that he kept her here was. She almost didn\'t see him after that night she stabbed him.

Well, Hermione tried to forget...she ran into him one night, when she was going back to her room from the library. It was around 2 am...and, he was obviously just coming back home. It was raining, much like today. He scared her, surprised her behind a corner...and she bumped into him. He grabbed her waist and kept her from falling. It was most certainly a reflex reaction.

‘It was that damned night.’

His eyes scared her. Those few seconds that she got to look inside him. A husky whisper…“Lock your bedroom door tonight. Lock it well.\'\' With that, he pressed her body to the wall of stone and closed his eyes. He said, \'\'Go.\'\' Before he turned and walked away.

It was only when she climbed into her bed that she realized...his body was burning...her skin was still hot where he held her.
She did not expect Draco Malfoy to be warm....

She had to wash her skin...to rub his touch off. It was burning. ‘Wash it before it gets under.’

Hermione entered her bathroom and ran to the sink. She couldn\'t look at her reflection before she washed it. Before she washed his touch from her arms. ‘Wash it ...faster…’ The water was hot...and the towel was not rough enough, to make it go away.
\'\'Get off...get off of me...\'\' she squeezed through her teeth.

It was then that she raised her head and looked at the girl in the mirror. She was shaking. There was...\'\'Blood?\'\', on her nightgown. ‘Mine or his?’ Her forearms were red from scrubbing, but there was no blood. ‘His...he\'s bleeding.’


Hermione Granger failed that moment. Made the biggest mistake of her life. She was not fast enough.

She recognized concern on her own face in the mirror. Even if she was not letting herself feel it, her face was showing her.
That she was not fast enough.

She cared.

Martha entered the bathroom, and stopped in front of a sick person. She looked at the girl, her wet gown, white tainted with blood. Then she saw her arms with bruised skin and fingers griping the towel... \'\'What have you done to yourself child...What do I do with you? With both of you\'\' She said and approached the girl. Hermione let her lead and sit her down at the bed. Martha was crying, while moving Hermione\'s hair from her face.\'\' You have to change your clothes.\'\'

\'\'Martha?\'\'

The woman looked at her and Hermione noticed that her face aged over night.

\'\'Was it a battle?\'\'

Martha shook her head.

\'\' Who did it to him?\'\'

\'\'I cannot tell you...Please, he\'ll know if I say it. Don\'t ask me that.\'\'

\'\' Ok. Was it someone from my side?\'\'

Martha shook her head again and the tears ran faster.

\'\' Voldemort?\'\'

The woman looked at her.

\'\'Why?\'\'

\'\'Please, Ms...I can\'t.\'\'

\'\'I understand. Just tell me...\'\' and then the words neither of them expected to hear \'\'How is he?\'\'

Martha said, \'\'He\'ll recover.\'\'

Hermione raised her arms and allowed Martha to take her clothes off. The silk hurt her skin as it passed over her forearms. The woman walked to the drawer and pulled the other nightgown out. Hermione felt the cool material over her face, as Martha dressed her. She never noticed the scent before. The scent all the clothes that were chosen for her had.

She felt weakness in her stomach. \'No\'. It was his. The scent she smelt when he grabbed her. In addition, she didn\'t wash it...she couldn\'t.
She was wrapped in it now.

\'\' Did he send you to lock me in? He said I should lock my door tonight. Why, Martha?\'\'

\'\'I…” Martha closed her eyes, and decided, \'\' I guess he can\'t trust himself tonight.\'\'

Hermione was not stupid. She knew what it meant.

\'\' He cannot be here. Does not even come home any more...he’s out somewhere...and comes back late at night. \'\' Martha raised her head \'\' And then he drinks and comes here to your room every night. Then he just looks at you and leaves before the dawn. \'\' Martha sat down at the bed slowly...she loved her master far too much to watch him hurt. \'\'He suffers. Jack, and me, we do not know how to help him. He just pushes us away. He barely even talks. He has changed so much.... I cannot recognize my boy anymore.\'\' Her voice broke.

Hermione got closer to her. She touched her face, her tears, tears that were falling for Draco Malfoy...Another mistake.
They were wet, and warm...like the ones she cried for Harry.

What was she getting herself into?
Where was she falling ?
Who for?

Martha cupped the hand on her cheek and whispered. \'\'You have to help me, Ms.\'\'

‘What? Can\'t you see what I am? How could I help anyone?’ Hermione pulled her hand away.
\'\'No.\'\' She shook her head. \'\' Leave and lock the door.\'\'

She saw a plea in her eyes, but she couldn\'t make herself care.
‘No. I don\'t care. It\'s Malfoy. It\'s not true. Even if it was, why should I? His kind always ends up on top in the end.
I don\'t care. It felt wrong. Why, why do I...care? Why couldn\'t I stop?
How could I? How could I fail so badly? You have made So many mistakes, Hermione. Why did you let him get under your skin? Where were your guards?
What happened to the walls? Why were they not high enough? How could you be so careless?’

The night Hermione Granger lost the first tiny piece of her loyalty was a stormy one. Rain was falling heavily. There were no stars to show her the right way.
Only the moon...and it was only there to make her see her reflection in the mirror. To show what she has done. A night with no name. Easy to forget.
She didn\'t know it then. She didn\'t want to know it. It was easier to pretend that a night of tears, blood, pain, silk, mistakes, did not happen....

Forget the eyes, the touch, and the voice...the scent.

But...those eyes were piercing through her in her sleep.

The touch was still burning her skin. She felt it.

The voice...was coming back to haunt her...and made her tremble.

The scent was … numbing her mind...She was drowning in it. In addition, the silk she was wearing only made it harder to swim out to reach the surface.
It was pulling her to the bottom.

Somewhere in the depth of her unconscious mind, Hermione knew...It would never be the same again. She will pay until the rest of her life to the one or the other side of her heart. Now divided, it hurt her more than ever, but if anyone had a mind strong enough to ignore it, it was Hermione Granger. Therefore, she did.

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A_N So, do you still like it? Or do you think she fell too soon? Review and tell me.....