DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT QUEEN JK ROWLING THUS I DO NOT OWN THE CHARACTERS. EXCEPT THIS PLOT. NONETHELESS ENJOY
A certain brown curly haired girl was paroling the entire grounds with her wand, tightly clenched in her hand. The war was over, and their side had obviously won. If they hadn't, it would have been ridiculous and stupid to walk around the unusual ground alone for remaining Death Eaters.
The rest of Dumbledore's Army were gathered the day before, four days after they won the war; and they were assigned by Harry to search the grounds by threes to look for Death Eaters that were probably lurking around, looking for revenge.
It might have sounded silly that they were searching for stray Death Eaters that were probably all cuddled in their beds, whimpering about freedom and such; but no; that is far from true. Yesterday's plan was brought up due to the event when three loyal Death Eaters broke into the Burrow. They demanded the Three Golden Trio to show themselves and fight them after what they had done to their beloved Dark Lord. Luckily, the trio came from outside helping blasting off gnomes; seeing the Death Eater with their backs to them was a huge advantage as they as well blasted their butts off the land – quite literally. But ofcourse, Molly Weasley had let that slide; after all, who would want another interruption when their feast was in motion?
So here she was, trudging along the path where they buried Dobby. She could see Seamus and Dean a few miles from where she was, searching over trees and under rocks.
Silly men.
Approaching Dobby's grave, she halted when she saw fresh wild flowers, but just pursed her lips and placed her own flowers beside the others. She stroked the grave with a delicate hand and said a quick greeting to Dobby.
After about an hour and a half of walking around and after meeting with Seamus and Dean who said they were going back to Hogwarts to help rebuild, Hermione just wandered to the very end of the beach where Seamus was awhile ago – claiming there was nothing there.
When she walked further, she sensed a barrier as it pushed her gaze away from the area she was nearing. Being a true and noble know-it-all, Hermione she brought it down in only a few muttered spells. Checking this last place, she was met with a broken down, rusty, old shack that she has never seen before. The front porch faced the sea, and she rounded it carefully to prevent making any noise and to peek through the window. Dark curtains covered the inside.
Approaching the mysterious shack slowly, she climbed over the porch with just socks on (shoes in hand) and side stepped against the delicate wall, listening intently in case there was someone inside. With her ear against the almost-wrecked door, her question was confirmed when she heard muffled voices.
Casting another Disillusionment Charm on herself, she listened more comfortably with her hand and ear against the door. Surely, the people inside were too rushed to put up a Silencing Charm around the shack.
"That's my son you've got tied up!"
A low eerie chuckle was replied. "Do you think I care if this is your son? You all betrayed the Dark Lord by running away when you got the opportunity, Lucius. And look where it got you all."
Hermione froze. "Don't tell me you didn't do the same, because I saw you run off as well when the Potter boy stood up!" The shout echoed off.
"But I came back, didn't I? Saw the body of our Dark Lord on the filthy ground…dead." Footsteps resonated inside the tiny shack. "This gave me the…idea of bringing back another Dark Lord to our side. But now, we can be in the highest position." A grunt was heard. "Don't you want that Lucius?"
"If you mean that you want my son to be the next Dark Lord then you must be out of your insane mind!"
Hermione felt the heavy static of Unforgivables being exchanged inside the shack. Stepping back, she made to run but was stuck in place when she heard a blood curdling scream inside it. A second of contemplating whether to help or run was apparently too long when the door was suddenly thrown open.
A blood covered man strode out of the shack, limping away. She stifled a gasp when she saw the man holding a head in his right hand. Pointing his wand on the ground where the trees were, he produced an extremely deep hole and threw the head with disgust into it. He then proceeded to throw hexes at the head, blood splattering around the area. Lucius waved his wand again, and the hole was covered with sand. Spitting, he strode back.
She knew she should have felt sick, but she did not - at all. She felt a somewhat understanding towards the long haired blonde man who was still growling out curses at the probably million pieced up head. She was sure her father or mother would have done the same to the man who…mangled Hermione's body infront of them. But they were just Muggles after all; the only thing they were able to do was scream her name in agony and put up fights until they…were out of their misery.
Hermione exhaled rather loudly because Lucius looked around for the source of the sound. Wide eyed, Hermione stayed still in her spot and eyed Lucius warily as he approached her spot slowly. His eagle like eyes looked around the stillness of the setting.
After confirming that no one was around, Lucius hastily went inside the shack without closing the door. He just slumped down beside his son who was probably untied after Lucius killed the stranger who was threatening to hurt the young Malfoy.
"Draco? Son, wake up." Lucius sat his son up against the wall.
Curious, Hermione quietly made her way over to the entrance of the shack. An unmistakable pile of ash at the corner of the room told Hermione she should be wary of Lucius presence, but somehow, she wasn't. Weird enough, no blood was around the shack except on the person who committed it just awhile ago. She peeked inside and saw Malfoy senior hovering over the still, pale form of his son, trying to do something that would confirm that his son was still alive.
"Finite Icantatum." He whispered shakily.
Hermione felt sorry for the man as he tried different spells to revive his son. Hermione was contemplating on whether she should help Lucius or not. The sight of a father trying to revive his son made Hermione feel odd.
No! They're the enemy. I should…I should…
Lucius made a grab for his son's shoulders and shook them rather violently. "Draco, son…please."
Hermione could almost feel what he was about to say after that sentence. You're the only one I have left to live for. It made Hermione sick at the thought of leaving a father unable to bring back his son, when she could do something to help. She was certain that if that was her father or mother, she would plead for help for them to revive her – and confirm that she was still there to be able to hold.
"I can help." Hermione said softly, without thinking of the consequence.
Lucius wheeled around, wand raised, eyes searching for the intruder. "Show yourself!" He bellowed.
Hermione hesitantly removed the charm off her and stepped into the shack, hands raised in surrender. "I-I can help," her eyes strayed to the pile of ash.
A menacing chuckle made Hermione look back at the person she was talking to. His face was a mix of disgust, anger, incredulity, and a tinge of…hopefulness. "Mudblood Granger? Help?" he sneered. "I should kill you right now before you go off telli-"
"Alright kill me, but you won't be able to help yourself or your son. You might be able to carry him off for awhile but your injuries say otherwise." Her eyes looked over at the blood soaked robes. "The gash on your back and the slice on your neck is barely keeping you conscious – and if you're thinking of apparating, then good luck." Hermione spoke flatly, her Gryffindor self swimming to the surface. "I see you're already having a hard time staying upright after throwing a billion hex on that man."
Lucius looked outraged, his sallow face contorting into an ugly grimace. "Now Mudblood, I don't get what you are on about but-"
Hermione's patience and kindness was slipping, "If you seriously want me to help, then I better do it right now because my friends are most likely going to be here soon." She lied. "If you don't want me to help then go ahead and take your pick, Malfoy," she hissed. "It's either you and your son getting killed, or handed to Azkaban this instant."
Lucius clenched his jaw and stared at Hermione's eyes. She could see those blue-grey orbs analyzing her, as if he could see through her mind. With a hesitant nod, he lowered his hand and said threateningly, "If you do any funny business, Mudblood, I wi-"
"And it would do you a lot better if you stop calling me that horrid name." She said as she hurried off to the young Malfoy and bent down, examining him closely. His face was pale, his cheeks were slightly hollow, and there was a pink swollen spot just below his jaw; but over all he looked fine. No signs of gashes, cuts or abuse are seen. No blood patches, no torn clothing except for wrinkling of his clothes around the calf, waist and legs where he was most likely tied. She found this weird and she opened one of his eyes to see if she can figure out the reason why he was still unconscious. She hissed at the sight of his supposedly silver eyes but were instead dark red. Lucius growled out a "Speak!"
"Buggering hell, an internal curse," Hermione said in a rush, she grabbed the young Malfoy's jaw and opened his mouth, revealing a blue tainted tongue. Grabbing his waist, the witch held out her other hand to Lucius.
He looked at her with utter bewilderment and disgust, as if her hand was some kind of a slimy creature with fangs.
She held out her hand once again and spat "Oh grow up! Would you rather have your son die or lend me your hand so we can fucking heal him already?"
Lucius' eyebrows shot up at her language but nonetheless placed his hand on hers. As soon as their hands made contact, they instantly apparated in her living room; Malfoy junior on the carpet, still as dead, and Malfoy senior wobbling horribly.
Without thinking, she pushed Lucius Malfoy onto the couch who fell on it inelegantly, and pointed her wand at him. Before Lucius could raise his own wand, a slightly cold feeling washed over him which he realized was a Cleaning Spell.
"Shirt off, now." Hermione said hurriedly who ran to her glass cabinet that was filled with vials of potions. She took out two vials of blue potion and two corked round bottomed flasks of yellow substance.
Feeling slightly disoriented with her decision of helping him and his son, he took off his blood covered black robes, and white buttoned up shirt. He hissed when he accidentally leaned back at the couch where his gash was still opened up. Looking over at Hermione, he saw her closing her chimney – the Floo network – with a complicated ward and other spells Lucius did not recognize.
Hermione approached him where she laid the vials and flasks on the coffee table, kneeling. Waving her hand, a huge silver make up box appeared in front of him. Before he could retort on how artificial shit will be able to treat him, it opened and revealed several first aid items – both muggle and wizarding.
A twitch of amusement at the corner of his lips made Hermione chuckle.
"Thought it was something else?"
Lucius merely grunted out a response while he watched Hermione take out a white cotton pad from the box. She handed Lucius the vial with the blue substance inside.
"Drink," she said absently while uncorking the flask and tilting it onto the white pad, a drop of the yellow substance steamed as it made contact with the pad.
Eyeing the vial, he frowned and tilted the contents in his mouth, swallowing the minty-sweet potion, a few seconds later he felt the potion take effect, relieving him of the burning sensation from his gashes and cuts.
"Made that by myself," standing up and leaned close to Lucius. "I found that normal potions taste dreadful." She started dabbing the yellow stained pad on the shallow cut on his neck.
Lucius could hear the sizzling of the potion as it killed any chance of contamination whilst sealing his skin together. Hermione then took her wand and muttered a spell while she guided the tip of her wand down the path where the skin sealed.
"I'm assuming you don't want any imperfections on your skin, but I did it for the benefit of the cut not opening again." Throwing the used pad, she reached for a new one and repeated the process. "Turn around, please."
Lucius did and let the question slip, "Why are you doing this? We're enemies." He heard the sizzling again, but sharper since the gash was more deep compared to the one on his neck.
Hermione didn't reply for moment until a little later when she did a second coat. "Are we really, Mr. Malfoy?" He then felt the tip of her wand prodding his back. "From what I heard – and sorry for over-hearing – you don't seem to support your fellow Death Eaters."
Lucius cleared his throat and corrected her, "Former."
Her wand stopped midway for a second, and it proceeded again. "Then that confirms that you're not an enemy anymore. As for helping you…it's hard to explain." There was a pause where Hermione thought he was going to prod about her explanation, but it didn't come up. "There you're done. As for your son, his treatment will be quite complicated."
She vanished the used pads with a wave, and levitated Draco onto the couch where his father just moved away from. Taking the vial in her hand, she uncorked it and poured it in Draco's mouth and pointed her wand at his mouth sliding towards his throat. His throat convulsed, swallowing the contents.
"So he won't be able to feel pain or discomfort," she mumbled as she muttered healing spells on minor cuts and bruises on the boy's body.
After healing the minor injuries Hermione kneeled beside Draco's head and stared at the couch, her mouth moving silently, trying to remember something. Pinching the bridge of her nose with eyes closed, she muttered something about looking at the blood and sticking a filtering tube against his throat.
"My, this is a gruesome process," Hermione frowned. Her gaze went to Lucius, asking him to understand. "One member of the army in our side had this…the man you killed was possibly the one who casted this curse on him." She closed her eyes again with furrowed eyebrows and a frown, head bent, trying to remember the details. "Long process, it was. The curse is intended to kill the brain cells whilst the curse travels through the bloodstream. The decreasing of brain cells leads to loss of memory, insanity, then loss of senses, and then it eventually stops organs from functioning." Her eyes opened and she pointed a finger to a pink swollen spot below Draco's jaw. "The pink swelling here is where the curse was casted, and is the source of these nasty maroon leach-like substances. Every extraction of these meter long curses is painful since they have electric cores; which is what kills the brain cells."
Lucius was speechless, and livid. "I should've made him suffer a long painful death." His fists were clenched tightly, knuckles white. "How long is he going to be...unconscious?"
"If we start the extractions today, then he should be conscious a week after atleast. But it depends on the curse that's multiplying now as we speak." Her head turned slightly, "When was he cursed?"
"He was abducted ten hours ago…I saw him unconscious like that after four hours of searching for him." Lucius sat on the love seat, his forehead on his palm.
"Ten hours is not that bad, but since it multiplies quite rapidly, I'll get started." Hermione stood up and unlocked an oak cupboard next to the glass cabinet.
Never before had Lucius seen such an…unusual person in his existence. Even before knowing they were not exactly enemies, the Granger girl offered a helping hand to treat them. It seemed quite mysterious though, that she would help them in a snap. Maybe she was expecting something in return? But what? They have nothing at all, they have been on the run ever since they escaped the Dark Lord's grasp. The look on her face though seemed that she was doing this out of the goodness of her heart…and something else. A slight peak of trust, respect, and gratitude surfaced in him. Sitting contentedly, his eyes began to slide down.
"Sleep, you need it. I'll take care of him, don't worry." Her soft voice resonated in his ears, and he began to drift off in a peaceful sleep.