Chapter 5

Hermione played with the rose petals floating on her bubble bath. Her skin reacted well with the expensive bath potions Narcissa poured on her tub. The glimmering bubbly water made her skin glisten and feel softer. It amazed her how the potions healed the scars on her skin. Every scar but one.

Hermione traced her scar as the unsought recollection of memories came flooding in.

////

Her face was stained by her tears.

Her lips were pale and dry as her skin.

Her heart beat fast beyond normal.

Her hands trembled as she sat limply on her kitchen floor, holding a bloody knife.

She stared blankly at nothing while trying to absorb the pain she was supposed to feel from the wound she carved on her skin.

Blood spilt on her kitchen floor.

It had been almost a year, and the scar that Bellatrix gave her should have already healed, but still, it remained fresh like the first day.

To her, the scar was a sick reminder of her weakness.

She battled the haunting objective of Bellatrix's curse. Every day and every night, she battled with it, but she wasn't always the victor.

It ruthlessly haunted her nights. It challenged her sanity.

As time passed by, she'd shut down, and the only way to feel the world again was to carve the scar and feel it pulse in pain.

Her lips began to curve into a weak smile when the numbness of her system began to fade away, and the pain took over.

Finally, she felt real, and her surroundings felt touchable again.

Blood spilt from each letter that she carved with her knife.

"M... u... d... b... l... o... o... d..." she read in a whisper.

Satisfied with what she felt, she stood and washed her bleeding arm.

In the morning, it will be a new day. She will harvest from her small garden and cheerfully greet her customers as her life has always been a delight. Hiding the death wish behind her lovely smile.

////

It had been a while since she touched those. Seems like the wedding has been the perfect distraction to depart her mind from it.

Hermione inhaled the sweet scent of Christmas food lingering around mixed with the lovely fragrance of her bubble bath. She rested her head on the edge of her porcelain bathtub.

She felt a little sleepy and decided to rinse off before she could drown herself there.

"The champagne one is better, Daph! Really, just look at it compared to the white one," Pansy exclaimed, thrilled, from the room next to hers.

Hermione couldn't help but reminisce about her moments with Ginny. She missed dressing up with her and listening to her fashion comments about some outfits she tried.

Her lips twitched into a small smile as she listened to Pansy and Daphne discussing their outfits for the night.

Hermione slapped her forehead as she stared hopelessly at the dresses she piled on her bed.

They were great, but she scarcely found any suited her taste. They look decent but far from comfortable.

"This is hopeless," she muttered as she strode back to her closet to search for more dresses.

It was hard to find something of her style as it was all Narcissa's taste shoved inside her closet. The day she got there, Narcissa shopped for an insane number of dresses that were all beyond her style.

She wanted something with sleeves that would cover her scar, and those dresses in her closet don't have one.

She was in the middle of rummaging in her closet when someone knocked on her door.

Hermione rolled her eyes and shoved a hanger back inside her messy closet.

"Granger?"

Her irritation grew swiftly the moment he called for her.

"What?" She asked, annoyed.

"Can I come in?"

Hermione huffed as she closed her closet and fixed her cotton robes.

"Come in," she called.

The door opened, and Draco entered. His strong scent of mint and green grapes embraced the space between them. He wore a well-pressed black suit, looking proud, expensive and sophisticated man.

"I suggest taking a picture might last longer," said Draco as he grinned, snapping Hermione out of her thoughts.

She woke to realize that her eyes had lingered for a while and that she felt guilty.

Hermione cleared her throat.

"What is it? I am getting ready," asked Hermione as she turned her back on him, and marched towards her bed, digging into the piles of dresses.

"I see," Draco said as he landed his eyes on Hermione's queen-sized bed.

"I think I might solve your problems," Draco suggested confidently, snatching something from his pocket.

"I have tons of problems- which one would you try to solve?" Hermione asked as mockery churned in her words.

Draco pulled a small white velvet box and handed it to her.

"Seriously? We're not over this yet?" Her shoulders dropped to frustration.

She sat on the edge of her bed, and crossed her arms, stabbing fatal stares at him.

"Will you listen to me first?" Draco pleaded as he placed the small white velvet box beside her.

Hermione signed defeatedly and allowed Draco to do whatever she wanted.

He pulled his wand and pointed it toward the box.

With the wave of his wand, the box returned to its original size.

"Open it," Draco ordered with a faint smile.

"I already told you-"

"Mother bought it for you- she said you should wear it tonight at dinner. She's expecting you to wear it," Draco explained.

"I'll leave you now," he added and made his way out.

Hermione skimmed at the box.

She forced herself to think it was better to wear the one Narcissa wanted than to waste her time being frustrated and stressing about which dress to wear.

Inside the box was a spaghetti strap ankle-length red wine slip dress with a slit that goes up to her thigh. She shrugged and wore the dress.

The fabric hugged her figures perfectly, and the way the fabric glides against her skin whenever she moves was perfect.

"Love the dress, Granger," said Pansy out of nowhere.

Hermione jumped to the unannounced visit.

"Can't you knock? You scared me," said Hermione as she clutched her chest.

Pansy shrugged her shoulders and marched towards the full-body mirror.

"Ugh! These fringes are ruining my look!" Pansy complained as she fixed her fringes. "Do you have a hairspray here?" Pansy asked.

"I think there's one inside that drawer over there," Hermione pointed at her drawers where Sharon and Amanda stored her hair products for tomorrow.

"Found one!" Pansy announced and applied some to keep her fringes in place.

"Hey watch it," said Pansy as she dodged one shoe box that fled towards her. "Can you stop rummaging your closet like that? You look like a racoon scavenging on a trash bin," Pansy added, observing Hermione stressing over a pair of shoes.

"What's the fuss over here?" Daphne said as she entered the messy room.

"Granger here can't find the perfect shoes for her dress- will you quit it? You're wrinkling the dress," Pansy scolded.

"Well, I guess I'll just wear this one-"

"Ew, no! Don't you dare wear that! Give the dress some justice, Granger. Wait here."

Hermione looked at Daphne confusedly.

"Here, I brought these for my red dress, but obviously, this green dress looks better on me. Size five?" Pansy asked, handing the shoe box to Hermione.

"Yeah... size five-"

"You're welcome. Now hurry up! We still have to do your hair!"

"How do I look, Pans?" Daphne asked as she turned around, showing off the details of the champagne-coloured shoulder satin dress.

"See? I told you this one fit you better," Pansy said, nodding approvingly at her friend.

"Done," said Hermione after she walked a few steps with Pansy's heels.

"Nope, not done yet. Sit your arse down. You can't go down there with your hair looking like that."

"Loose curls? What do you say?" Pansy tapped her wand on her chin as she thought of which hairstyle would look great on Hermione's outfit. "What do you think Daph?"

"Loose curls it is. Look," said Daphne, pointing at the wall clock. "It's almost time for dinner."

"Slow down- that hurts," Hermione complained as she held her head against the force of Pansy's grip.

"Beauty is pain, Granger," said Pansy, taking the last section of Hermione's hair and wrapping it around her wand.

Daphne, on the other hand, was busy painting her face with a little bit of make-up as per Hermione's request to keep the make-up light. Though she asked Daphne to cover the scar on her arm with a concealer. Good thing they didn't dig deeper about her scar and did her request casually.

"Hey, guys? Are you in here?" Theo knocked from outside.

"Yep, in here!" Pansy answered.

"Can I come in?" He asked.

"Sure!"

The door opened, and Theo entered wearing a navy-blue suit.

"Looking good, Nott Jr," said Pansy, circling around Theo who stood confidently in front of the girls.

"I know," said Theo and laughed, fixing his tie.

Pansy rolled her eyes and walked over him, swaying her hips like a model on a runway. "Well... how do I look?" She asked as she turned around.

"Hmm fine," said Theo, nodding in approval.

"Ugh, Theo!" Pansy jokingly stomped and flipped her shoulder-length hair.

"Ravishing as always, Parkinson... Just wow... the tree downstairs would be ashamed by your competitiveness," Theo remarked and cackled, teasing Pansy.

"Wow, thank you, Theo, and to your very nice navy-blue suit. You look like a shiny blue dolphin," Pansy spat, rolling her eyes and going to check herself again in the mirror.

"Chill, I was just teasing," Theo replied.

"Oh, quit it, you two!" Daphne sighed and then chuckled as she witnessed another round of Pansy and Theo's endless bickering.

"Let's go?" Theo offered his arm to Pansy, but she just walked past him like he wasn't there.

"Did I just ruin her night?" Theo asked Daphne as they walked out of Hermione's bedroom.

"Yeah, you just did," Daphne replied and chuckled.

Hermione was the last to leave her bedroom. She was careful with every step, her heels buckling against the shiny marble floors. Also, it pulled the paintings' attention to her.

The whispers and slurs weren't really stifled as she walked past each painting. Each ancient ancestor has always had something to say and they weren't pleasing to the ears.

She just ignored them and continued her journey down the dim-lit hallway of the Manor.

"Where's Draco?" A familiar voice echoed from downstairs.

"He's upstairs changing. He'll be here soon," Narcissa's voice filled in.

The nearer Hermione got to the staircase, the clearer the voice was to her ears.

"Nice to see you Madam Lestrange," Theo's voice echoed up to her location.

Upon hearing her name, Hermione automatically froze on top of the staircase. Her other hand involuntarily landed on top of her covered scar.

Her memories with Bellatrix were never pleasant, which was a valid reason for her heart to beat beyond average. She hauled her breath and took two steps back, hiding from the view downstairs. She felt giddy, and her breaths began to plunge deeper down her lungs, too far to reach.

Her waist felt tighter as her mind recalled the tight ropes around her body due to the incarcerous curse Bellatrix cast on her. Her body's reaction to the unpleasant memory deprived her of the normal passage of air inside her body.

Hermione stumbled against the wall, scarcely keeping her balance.

She panted hard as she tried to reach for air, her eyes shut close to her concentration, but the longer she forced it, the harder it gets.

The surroundings turned upside down the longer she kept her weight on her shaky feet. It was too much. Her consciousness was slowly being robbed from her.

She knew she would hit the ground at any moment.

"Granger!" His voice called at a distance down the hallway.

The last thing she heard before she let herself lose.

The hassle of her surroundings woke Hermione from her unwanted slumber. Her head pounded with pain.

She blinked to clear her sight as her vision was still blurry.

"You're awake."

Draco walked over her, towering over Hermione who lay on his bed.

"What happened?" Hermione asked, her voice raspy due to the dryness of her throat.

"Shouldn't I be the one to ask you that?" Draco replied, stirring something in a cup.

"I don't know. It just happened out of the sudden-"

"You're not being honest with me, Granger," said Draco, handing over a

"Why did you bring me here?" She asked softly, avoiding his gaze.

"Your room was a mess. So, you're here now," Draco replied. "So, what exactly happened?" He repeated and conjured a chair to sit in.

"It's probably my diet," she lied defensively.

Draco observed her silently and seemed to seek more from her.

"What?" Hermione asked as she noticed how deep his eyes were seeking into hers.

"Nothing," said Draco and flashed a quick smile. "Here, drink this before we go downstairs."

Hermione stared reluctantly at the teacup in his hand.

"There's no poison in it," said Draco.

Suspicion flashed in her eyes as she accepted the cup. He stood and went to the drawers, his back facing her, a perfect chance to inspect the liquid on her teacup.

She gently swirled the liquid inside the cup, checking its viscosity.

Hermione knows her potions very well. She learned the basics of identifying the common types of poison with the help of Snape's extra notes in his Advanced Potions book. There was more to learn from it, but eventually, Harry had to dispose the book.

She smelled its scent and observed if it suspiciously changed its colours. After a few swirls on the teacup, she concluded it was a safe draught, though she wasn't confident about it.

A wandless inspection should never be fully trusted.

"Just drink it, Granger. The Dark Lord would kill me if I poison you without his permission," said Draco as he rummaged his drawers.

Hermione took a sip, and suddenly her muscles relaxed. Her dancing nerves seemed to soothe down. It felt like a fresh wash of calmness streamed through her system. The pounding on her head faded as well.

The taste of the draught was familiar to her, but she couldn't grasp it.

"Draught of peace," Draco confirmed, showing her bottle to ease her suspicion.

"Finish it, and we'll go downstairs. Mother kept sending her elf here to call us."

Hermione crawled off of his be and fixed her wrinkled dress.

"Stand straight," Draco ordered as he pointed his wand towards her.

She obliged and stood still.

Upon the wave of his wand, he cast a charm to fix her wrinkled dress.

"Thank you," she said softly.

Her gratitude earned a quick smile from him.

"After you," he said, moving aside to give her the way.

She responded with a soft smile and marched towards the door.

"Granger-"

"Yes?" She asked, looking back at him.

"You look-"

His eyes travelled her body. Her hand then simply covered the concealed scar on her other arm. He had never seen it before. She spent her days there wearing something with a sleeve to hide it.

"Hmm?" She asked softly.

"You look beautiful tonight."

Her heart skipped a beat, involuntarily.

"Oh, uhm- thanks... You look nice too," she replied softly, simply killing the flutters in her chest.

He flashed a smile again.

The flutters regained life, and she hated it.

They marched together down the stairs and to the dining hall where everyone gathered.

"Draco!" Bellatrix squealed the moment Draco entered the dining hall.

The fascination and excitement on Bellatrix's face faded the moment Hermione entered after Draco.

"Aunt Bella," Draco greeted and hugged his aunt.

"I missed you! I brought gifts for you! I placed them under the tree- go check those later," Bellatrix cheerfully announced.

"Hello," Bellatrix greeted Hermione, standing behind Draco.

Hermione felt Narcissa's eyes on her commanding her to greet and be respectful to her sister.

"Hello," Hermione almost choked on the word as she tried to flash a gentle smile.

"Don't you want to hug your future aunt-in-law?" Bellatrix grinned menacingly as she opened her arms to Hermione.

She swallowed the lump in her throat and stepped closer to the fakest welcome of arms she ever hugged in her life.

"Good to see you again, Granger- or should I start calling you Hermione Malfoy? Hmm?" Bellatrix giggled into Hermoine's ear.

Hermione did her best to remain calm inside Bellatrix's embrace. She can't feel herself breathe air whilst she hugged her. It felt like the longest eight seconds of her life.

Bellatrix pulled away and smirked upon the glance of her clean unscarred arms.

"It's good to see you getting better now, Granger."

Hermione felt revolted by her honeyed words, and her eyes skimmed at her concealed scar was just disturbing.

Lucius sat at the head seat of the dining table. Narcissa sat on the first seat on the right side. Beside her were Draco and Hermione. Bellatrix sat across her sister, then bedside her was Pansy, followed by Daphne and Theo.

Hermione couldn't help but wonder at her sight of the feast on the table, simply searching for some dish close to Mrs Weasley's. She wasn't in the mood to dine, but just for that evening, she wanted to do her body a favour and eat proper food.

She used to look forward to Christmas eve dinners at burrow only for Mrs Weasley's mincemeat tarts, her all-time favourite.

"Where's Astoria?" Draco asked as he gathered food on his plate.

"Yeah, where is she?" Theo repeated as he looked around.

Sound of footsteps running in filled their ears before they could further wonder about Astoria's absence.

"Sorry I'm late," she said, panting as she arrived.

"What in the actual f-" Pansy whispered, almost spilling her champagne.

Hermione followed their eyes and saw Astoria walking towards them wearing the same dress as hers.

Everyone at the table switched looks from her to Astoria.

A suppressed laugh was heard from Bellatrix.

"Hi-" Astoria paused when her eyes landed on Hermione sitting quietly on her seat, ignoring the burning stares on her head.

Astoria scoffed as she frowned at Hermione.

"Tory," Theo called, tapping the seat next to his.

Pansy cleared her throat and nudged the older sister.

Hermione forced herself to remain calm, yet she can't deny the sudden urge to snatch the knife in front of her and slit her head off. It took a few deep breaths before she could shut her intrusive thoughts out.

Draco was a witness to how she struggled to keep herself collected. He saw how she'd tighten her grip on her glass and the way she stabbed her steak with truculence.

"So, how are you, Draco dear? I heard you've been busy lately," Bellatrix asked and took a sip of her champagne.

"Fine, aunt Bella, and yeah, I'm busy. I didn't know buying a Manor would be this tedious," Draco replied.

"That's true because I remembered when my husband and I- wait, what?"

All eyes were on Draco and Hermione.

Lucius lost grip of his fork, causing it to clatter on his plate.

Hermione coughed as she choked on her champagne.

"What?" Draco asked, cutting his steak.

"You didn't mention purchasing a Manor house to us, Draco?" Lucius asked, keeping his temper.

"Oh, I didn't? My bad-"

"Draco, care to explain to us?" Narcissa asked softly, though her nerves began to slither out of her skin. "Did you know about this, Hermione?"

"No- no I don't have anything to do with this- I-" Hermione lost her words.

She gave him the deadliest death stare she could ever give, but he didn't seem to care at all.

"I bought a Manor house for Granger and me. What's wrong with that?"

"What's wrong with our house?" Lucius asked, his tone slowly losing its politeness.

"This is your house, father. I just want to live on my own, with Granger," Draco answered.

"Why? This Manor is too big even for the four of us. You can even have a dozen kids, and this house won't crowd us-"

"What do you mean, kids?" Lucius snarled in disbelief.

"Well, someday they will have to have a baby-"

"Not necessarily, Cissy- Look, my husband and I don't even have kids yet-" Said Bellatrix as she too grew horrified of the idea of his pureblood nephew having kids with a muggle-born.

"Well, perhaps because you despise children-"

"Cissa," Lucius warned as he burned on his seat.

"Oh, what now?" Bellatrix stood, and slammed her hands on the dining table, making everyone jump in fear and shock.

Hermione was clueless about which emotion should she process first. The irritation towards Astoria? The hatred towards Bellatrix? The shock about Draco purchasing a Manor house for them? Her anxiety and heartbreak about the wedding tomorrow? Or the pressure about Narcissa's mention of kids and babies.

"Let's calm down- it's fucking Christmas Eve, for goodness sake!" Lucius snarled, glaring at the two sisters who stole the show.

Narcissa calmed down and sat gracefully back on her seat while Lucius took her hand and gave it a squeeze.

Bellatrix, on the other hand, finished a whole bottle of firewhisky while throwing glares at her sister.

"Draco," called Lucius.

"Yeah?"

"We'll talk later in my office," Lucius added.

Hermione saw Draco tighten his grip on his fork and the way his jaw twitched.

"Draco?" Lucius repeated.

"Yes, father," Draco answered, his voice uninterested and cold. His face darkened like his mood had been washed off of his face.

The dinner was finally over, and it felt like a thorn plucked out of her throat.

The whole feast was just torture. Bellatrix's backhanded comments and Astoria's frequent death glare toward her were enough reasons to snap and flip the table on their faces, but she did her best to keep her patience in place to keep herself out of trouble.

Draco's friends ate silently while Astoria kept blabbering about things nobody asked about. Even her sister would roll her eyes like she was tired of listening to her.

No bridal shower happened. The commotion earlier back at the table had devoured everyone's energy.

"Good night," Pansy said exhaustedly as she entered the guest room with Daphne and Astoria.

"Night- wait, your shoes-"

"Oh, keep it," Pansy mumbled in her sleepy voice.

"Uhm- thanks-"

The door shut before she could finish her remarks.

Hermione marched towards her bedroom, and her exhaustion weighed double when she saw the mess she left behind.

Hermione groaned in annoyance and began cleaning up.

"If I had a wand, this would be easier," she muttered as she picked up the last pair of shoes on her floor.

She was too sleepy. Her eyes would involuntarily shut as she stripped down.

"Finally!" She exclaimed as she threw herself on her soft bed, snuggling her sheets and pillows. Sleeping naked was the best decision she had ever made throughout the day. The soft and cold sheets seem to cradle her to sleep.