When She Looked At Him | a Dramione One Shot

“You see!” Tonks said in a strained voice, glaring at the gruff werewolf beside her. “She still wants to marry him, even though he’s been bitten. She doesn’t care!” She moved her hand up and pressed it against Remus’s face, “I don’t care either,”

The hospital wing was once again met with the silence of the shock of this apparently secret relationship. There had just been a battle between the Order and Death Eaters. The Death Eaters entered the school and attacked and murdered Albus Dumbledore. The battle was over and everyone was huddled around Bill Weasley in the hospital wing save for Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who left to check the halls and make sure there were no more death eaters or injuries. Fenrir Greyback attacked many, including Bill Weasley. Molly thought that his fiance, Fleur, would not want to marry him after this. Fleur expressed that she still loved him despite his looks. This profession of love infuriated Tonks, here she stood loving a man with similar atrocities, and yet he was fighting against it.

“Dora, it’s different,” Remus said, suddenly appearing tense and trying to move away from her, “Bill won’t be a full werewolf. The cases are completely-”

“I still don’t care Remus,” Tonks grabbed onto his robes as if it were the last thing she would ever hold, “I’ve told you a million times-”

“And I’ve told you a million times,” Remus’s voice got quieter and he stared at the ground, refusing to meet her eyes, “You deserve someone whole and young. I am too old for you...too poor...too dangerous...too broken,”

Tonks went to reach for his face and reassure him, but before Tonks or anyone else in the room for that matter could reply, the doors to the hospital wing were flung open. The order members were quick to grab their wands, the tender moments between the two couples were quickly over. There, in the archway stood a group of Slytherins. Draco Malfoy was surrounded by his friends, Crabbe, Goyle, Nott, Zabini, Greengrass, and Parkinson. The group, though still children, seemed to have fought on the side of the Death Eaters, it was even heavily rumored that Draco himself was a Death Eater.

Ginny was the first to speak up, she stepped closer to the pale boy, “You’ve helped kill Dumbledore, and now what?” She took a threatening step forward, “What do you want Malfoy?”

“Just wanted to check in on your pathetic pity party Weaslette,” Draco sneered. A few of his followers chuckled and Luna gasped.

Draco went to raise his wand but Tonks was quicker, with an expelliarmus, his wand went flying in the opposite direction.

“Not so tough now are we? Now go cousin, next time I see you, I won’t be as kind to spare you,” Tonks got out, glaring at the boy.

“How generous cousin, proves my exact point from earlier Goyle. The Order is weak. They are bound to go down and serve the dark lord eventually. They are truly nothing without the Chosen Twat and his pet weasel”

This garnered a shocked gasp from Molly and an angry McGonagall, Even Luna looked angry, and Ginny looked about ready to use her Bat-Bogey Hex.

“Go now, boy, if you know what’s best for you. Dumbledore would have spared you but I may not be so gracious,” Minerva said coldly.

The boy did not budge.

“Come on Draco, we have to go anyways,” Daphne Greengrass grabbed onto his arm, trying to move him closer to the doorway, and yet, he still wouldn’t budge.

“We can’t leave yet Greengrass” he growled out.

“But Dr-?” Blaise spoke up.

Before anyone from the order could interrupt this strange encounter or begin to start a fight, the doors on the other side of the hospital wing were flown open. Harry stood trying to hold up a limping Ron. The two looked exhausted and confused, but before any snide comments were made about the Slytherins, Madame Pomfrey whisked them to separate cots and started to perform her healing magic.

What many in the room save for a striking pair of cold grey eyes failed to notice was Hermione, who was now pacing back and forth past the row of cots. Madame Pomfrey went to gently grab her arm but she pulled away, a dangerous glint in her eyes.

“Professor, Harry and I checked the corridors by Professor Dumbledore’s office, we didn’t find any other Death Eaters or people from the other side. I saw some order members who were too injured to walk over-”

Even covered in blood, dirt, and looking even more tired than she was the night of an exam, she still looked breathtaking to Draco. After everything she had been through that day, Granger was reporting back to McGonagall and worrying about everyone else.

Always the selfless one, Granger, I thought we said we would work on that Draco thought to himself, stifling a chuckle.

After today you won’t be able to work on anything with her again, the dark voice in his head told him. He brushed it off, his always present smirk faltering only for a second, and returned his attention back to Granger who was still going on apparently.

“We really did try to check every corridor, every hidden passage. We only stopped because Ron was really hurt- I’m fine Ronald-”

Ron tried to protest from his cot but it was only met with protests and glares. Draco knew that voice. She wasn’t fine. Not really. It’s the same voice she used when she was stressed, or Ron or Pansy were particularly mean, or when she found out about his-

Draco shook his head and took to focusing on Granger. She had a gash on her forehead. Definitely has some head injury. He yearned to touch her, hold her just like he did so many times before, but he couldn’t, not with any of these people here. He decided to clear his head, occlude properly and check again to make sure Granger was okay. She was still ranting about something or other, something he once was annoyed at but he now found endearing. She turned to start pacing again, and he only hoped he would look at her and everything would be okay again. Everyone in the room seemed enamored in her but still, he hoped that she would see him. Really see him. Like he’d always seen her. Notice me, Granger. But she just turned and continued pacing, oblivious to everyone. When she turned, he could see a rip in her shirt. The rip displayed a big gash across her side, no doubt the effect of some dark magic. He couldn’t tell what was worse, that, or the tears clearly brewing in her eyes. It’s going to happen any moment.

“I was with Luna and we saw Snape and we let him get away. He killed Dumbledore, I could’ve stopped it. It’s my fault. It’s too late. But it’s not too late for— I have to find him...” She started babbling, seeming to go delirious, “I have to find him”

Pomfrey was at her side, trying to get her to calm down and aid her to a ready-made cot.

“Miss Granger, there was nothing you could do. Calm down.” She said soothingly, McGonagall came over to her, slowly rubbing her arm trying to calm her down, “Hermione, he’s gone now, we did all we could, just lie down so we can help you,”

It’s not going to work that voice sung in his head, her voice. Before Draco could do anything to help, not that any of the order members would let him, she fell to the floor, bursting into tears.

“He’s gone” she repeated over and over between sobs. Most of the people in that Hospital Wing were shocked, never seeing the great Hermione Granger, the brightest witch of her age break down like this. They didn’t know what to do. But he did. He saw her like this so many times. He knew. He was always there for her when she acted like this. It showed that she wasn’t as perfect as she seemed, but he didn’t care. It was one of the reasons why he lo- he made a move to walk towards her, but Pansy held him back.

“Draco I told you to end it. Now is not the time. You saw that she is safe. It’s time to go. Now,” Pansy whispered angrily into his ear and was pulling his arm toward the door. He refused to move.

“He needs me. I left him and he needs me. I need him. He doesn’t want to. It’s not his fault. I have to help him,” She was still hysterical and crying on the floor, everyone around her looking worried and unsure, “I need to get to him,”

“She’s not making sense Professor,” Neville said to McGonagall.

The adults in the room were trying to figure out how to move her, she would not move.

“Oh for Merlin’s sake Granger,” he let out with a low chuckle. Draco removed his arm from Pansy’s grip, not caring what she or anyone else in that room thought. He took long strides across the room, making his way to where she was bawling on the floor. McGonagall and Molly Weasley pulled out their wands, but he could give a hippogriff’s arse what they tried to do. He had one thing on his mind and he’d be damned if his reputation would get in the way of it. Granger. His Granger. Draco crouched down by her exhausted body.

“Malfoy, I’m not afraid to hex you, step away from her,” Ginny said, wand pointed at his back.

“I’m not going to sit around and let this happen like the rest of you. Give me eight minutes and if you still don’t believe me, then you could use that Bat-Bogey Hex you’re so fond of. It’s eight minutes and your order lot is surrounding me. Just bugger off for eight minutes Weaselette,” Draco let out, clearly getting agitated.

“And why should we trust you Malfoy?” Ron called out from his cot, voice laced with venom.

Pansy chuckled, she was the only one who truly knew. She had always warned him it would end up this way. But he refused to listen to her then and refused to listen to her now.

“You don’t have to trust me Weasley, but Dumbledore would give me the benefit of the doubt and I know that in the right state of mind Granger might’ve too. I’m not going to ask again. Eight minutes,” he tried to reply as calm and stoic as ever.

Without waiting for a response or approval from anyone, he slowly inched towards the crying girl. He brought one hand to her back, rubbing soothing circles, and brought his other hand to her face, tilting her head to face him.

“Granger,” he spoke clearly and calmly, knowing he had to help her, just like she so many times helped him. “Hermione, look at me love, please,”

The sound of his voice looked like it calmed her a little, but she still seemed out of it.

“D-Draco?” she whispered out as she stared at the ground, shaking.

“Yes Granger, it’s me. I’m fine, please just look at me, love,”

The room was silent. You could hear a pin drop. Everyone was shocked. How long has this been going on? First Remus and Tonks and now Draco and Hermione. The oddity of the couple did not go over everyone’s heads. They thought they were going mad, Harry half expected Hermione to slap him for speaking to her that way. But Hermione slowly moved her head and turned so she was facing him. She looked at him, really looked at him. Up and down, bringing her hands to touch what she could see. This is real, she thought, He is safe and he is real. She took her hand and grasped his, holding it tight.

“Draco,” she repeated, this time more sure than before. She turned and looked into his eyes. When their eyes met, it was as if something clicked. She looked at him and saw the countless times they studied and laughed in the Room of Requirement as they debated about Bathilda Bagshot. She saw him sneaking her into the dungeon, both of them trying not to get caught. She saw them sitting at the Black Lake, fingers intertwined, talking about everything and nothing. She saw how brave he was and how hard the past couple of months have been on them, especially him. She saw the same boy she saw when he showed her the Dark Mark, when he first said ‘I love you’, when they danced under the stars. She saw Draco. Her Draco. Without even a moment of doubt, she reached and pulled him in. She hugged him like he was the only person who mattered, clinging onto him as if they were the only people in the world.

They pulled back and sat there, on the floor of the hospital wing, hearts racing, cradling each other’s faces in their hands.

“Draco I didn’t think you’d come back. Are you okay? Don’t you have places to be? He’ll be loo-”

He chuckled lowly. “Granger, don’t worry about me, I’m fine. I told you I’d always find you,”

She let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding.

“But what are we going to do now? He’s gonna be after you. They all will be. I have to help you. We need a plan,”

“Granger, we talked about this. You need to stop worrying about others and start worrying about yourself,”

“But I-”

“Hermione,” he said in a jokingly stern tone, “We need to get a look at your wounds. You need to go to Madame Pomfrey, no exceptions,”

“Can I do something first?” she asked. He nodded slightly in response. She took a hand and brushed it against his cheek, then took her other hand and let it run through his soft, blonde hair. Just like she remembered. She cradled his face and brought him closer, letting their lips collide. It was meaningful and soft, laced with appreciation and care. They loved each other, and that was all that mattered in that moment. She drew back and let out a sigh of content, moving to get off of the floor and face the music to see Madame Pomfrey. Draco pulled her in, holding onto her face and placing a chaste kiss on her forehead.

“Let’s just stay here for a moment, yeah?” he whispered softly.

She nestled into his chest, and he wrapped his arms around her, only stopping to check the watch on his wrist, three more minutes. They sat like that as long as they were allowed, in each other’s arms, where they belonged. They both knew when they got up, they would have to deal with everyone’s protests.

Ron maybe: “’Mione what the bloody hell are you doing with that git?”

Molly probably: “She might be under imperius you know. That could explain it,”

Maybe even Pansy: “You really chose that bint over me?”

Theo would probably be laughing at the two, Ginny asking many questions, most of the room probably extremely confused. They both knew this wasn’t the easy choice. But all the laughs, crying, heartbreak, and love were worth it all. When she looked at him, really looked at him, she saw the boy who she loved and knew that it didn’t matter what would happen next, as long as they were together.