Linspace

Chapter 17

Hermione was frozen on the spot, the water still running over her skin. She didn't want to turn her head and see Alec's expression, sure she was going to crack under his stare. She was barely holding herself together as it was.

Things had been going so good lately, with the nightmares giving her a break. But the previous day's discoveries and the fight with Paul had been too much apparently, and that night Bellatrix had once more been haunting her dreams.

She hadn't expected Alec, or anyone really, to wake her. As usual she had put a Silencing Charm on the room, so that, should she have a nightmare, her screams wouldn't bother anyone. She hadn't thought about the blood though. Having vampires staying at her house wasn't an everyday occurrence, so she never had to worry about that before. Because it wasn't the first time something like this happened, that wound was cursed and it was never going to heal properly, she had come to terms with that. But how was she going to explain it to Alec? Or Demetri? Or Paul?

It was true that the wolf already knew a bit about her past and she had shown him some of her scars. But this was a completely different matter. Those little blemishes on her hands were nothing in comparison.

She couldn't talk about Malfoy Manor, not yet. Not even with Harry. Of course her best friend knew what had happened that night, he had been there. But the wizard hadn't been in the room to actually see, he had just heard her screams from the dungeons. And, as an unspoken agreement, that was enough.

"Hermione?" Alec called in a gentle voice.

Her gaze snapped to his at the unexpected change in his tone and, seeing worry marring his beautiful features, the witch took notice of the tears trailing down her cheeks and of the tremble in her hands, later closing them into fists to stop it. The moment she felt cool fingers wrapping around hers her resolution broke and she let herself be pulled into Alec's arms. She didn't even complain when he picked her up and carried her out of the bathroom, as she wasn't sure how much more her legs would have held her up in the state she was. She just buried her head in the crook of his neck and breathed in his comforting scent, a combination of bleach and sugar, typical of vampires, and a hint of amber that was all him.

She wasn't bothered by his cold temperature, on the contrary, it helped her ground her, bring her focus back.

"Thank you." Hermione said once she had calmed down. She didn't move out of the embrace though, as it was too comfortable and it made her feel safe. And she needed to feel safe right now, the nightmare still too fresh in her mind.

Alec, for his part, didn't seem to mind and actually held her a little bit tighter at the sound of her voice, that was still a bit raspy.

"You don't have to thank me, Hermione." He replied softly, though the witch could hear the hard edge to his tone and she didn't need to look at his face to know that he was fighting to keep his anger in check. She felt his posture stiffen then before he spoke again. "But I need to ask-"

"She's dead." She interrupted him, knowing where this was going.

"Good." He stated in response, relaxing once more.

Hermione startled slightly when she felt his cool fingers again, this time carefully tracing the hateful word on her skin.

"If you don't mind me asking, what does it mean?" The vampire asked when the tip of his finger had finished tracing the 'd' in Mudblood before restarting from the 'M'.

"It's a derogatory term for Muggleborn, a witch or wizard born from non-magical parents, like me." She responded, her voice getting a bit thick. His hand on her skin was incredibly soothing and it didn't bother her in the least that he was touching her scar. It was actually making her sleepy. "But it doesn't mean anything to me anymore. I'm proud to be a Muggleborn." She continued, her eyelids now too heavy to keep her eyes open.