EDIT: 11/14/17 Wow I know, bit early for edits yeah? But some things with the previous version of this had been bothering me. While nothing super major has changed, like the actual events, the relationship between Hermione and her mentor has been tweaked.
Hermione stood in front of her boss's desk in complete disarray, hair askew and chest heaving with emotion. She knew what she had to say wasn't going to go over well; but she never thought it would be this bad.
"With all due respect, Mam, you simply must be kidding, I can't take that man as a patient." The wrinkled face of the woman before her puckered even more as she pursed her lips, eyes narrowing to dark slits.
"With all due respect Healer Granger," returned Head Healer Ojibe in clipped tones "I am not. You know as well as I that there is no humor in finding the best care possible for those who seek treatment at St Mungo's." She pressed her hands together and glowered at her young protégé from across the desk, disapproval pouring from every pore.
As Hermione started back at her mentor it was obvious on her face that she was doubting the statement. This had to be a joke. A prank. Something. Because she just couldn't believe Ojibe had even considered telling her to work with that man child, much less actually going through with it.
"I… he… Healer Ojibe, he's the most crass, inconsiderate, inconsolably miserable man I have ever met! How can you expect me to subject myself to that abuse?"
"Healer Granger!" Ojibe said sharply "I cannot believe what I am hearing. Do you really mean to say that you, against the very oath you took as a healer of this institution, would skirt your responsibilities, deny a man his health, his life even, because you find him disagreeable?" Ojibe shot out of her chair with alarming speed stand with her, slamming her hands on the desk between them. "Truly you seek to hand him off like you don't care, without even trying to see if you can help? Have I taught you no better?" Hermione's temper simply flared in response.
"You make it sound as though I am the last person here who can treat him. Why can't you find someone else?"
The other woman seemed to be at a loss for words.
"Because a proper healer treats every patient like they're the only ones who can, until they are sent away, or can do nothing more!"
Being looked at in such a way almost made her she could turn back time and stop herself from ever starting this conversation. It wasn't the anger in Ojibe's voice, or the set of her mouth that did it.
It was the disappointment in her eyes, like this had all been a test, one Hermione had failed. It hurt to think that Healer Ojibe could ever doubt her as a healer. She turned her head away, a sour, resentful feeling settling deep in her stomach. When Hermione had started her day, she had a long list of things she thought she would be doing; defending her integrity as a healer, was not one of them.
Hermione had been up to her metaphoric elbows in work when there was an authoritative knock at the door. She glanced at the door before glumly before staring back at her desk with a sigh. See this was why things had piled up at all; the second she gets any kind of rhythm going there was always an interruption. There was another knock, impatient and short, and Hermione frowned.
"One moment please!" After a moment's hesitation she quickly shoved aside her papers, catching a few before they took to the air off the other side of her desk before answering the door, a hand tucking her hair behind her ear. Turning the handle, she fought to keep the faint annoyance she felt from her face.
"Hello, yes- Healer Ojibe!" The small woman looked back, dark lips parting over even white teeth in an easy smile. Hermione returned it and stood aside to let her in with a gesture of welcome. It should have been obvious who it was; there was only one person in the entirety of St. Mungo's that would dare knock on her door like that.
"Healer Granger." the older woman returned the greeting with a diplomatic dip of her head, the folds of her head wrap seeming to undulate under the dappled sunlight that bathed the room. She breezed past and folded gracefully into the chair in front of Hermione's desk.
"To what do I owe the pleasure?" Hermione asked lightly, picking her way back towards her seat, toeing a few stray papers to the side along the way. Healer Ojibe would never drop by in the middle of the day for an idle chat.
"I have a job for you," she replied, "a difficult one."
"Oh?"
This raised a brow, but overall, she wasn't surprised; it was hardly the first time someone had come to her with a tricky issue. She still loved solving a good problem now as much as ever, and she was hardly one to turn down a challenge. Hermione joined her mentor in sitting down, lacing her fingers on top of the dark wood of the desk.
"Absolutely, what can I help with? Is someone stuck in their research? A peer reviewing challenge?"
"Actually," Ojibe smoothly interjected "It's a rather difficult patient case concerning a young man. I want to you work it, not only as a researcher, but as a traditional healer as well." This pulled up the other eyebrow. Now this was unusual, it had been quite some time since she last served as a healer. It wasn't because she thought it beneath her, it was that she thought she could be of better service in a lab, and some of the breakthroughs her team has made led her to believe that was true.
"Ah well, it certainly has been a while for me…" she started off and Healer Ojibe leaned forward, with a particular look, the one that said there was a right and a wrong thing to say here. Hermione felt a slight pressure in response. "It would be remiss, to stay out of practice too long." she offered weakly, easily reading the mood of the room. Ojibe leaned back, satisfied. Hermione glanced at her papers longingly; it seems they would have to wait until another day. Again.
"Oh absolutely." Ojibe agreed, tucking her hands into her sleeves with a pleased shake. "The patient is actually here for another checkup and administering of potions; do you have time to meet him and get a handle on the case?"
This time Hermione was quicker on the uptake to recognize a command that was a request only in phrasing. She glanced about her paper covered office once more with a slight grimace before acquiescing.
"How could I say no?" There was a hint of amusement to Ojibe's counterpace as she rose from her seat gracefully, her bracelets quietly clacking against each other as she beckoned to her protégé with smooth easy movements. Turning on her heel, the door swung open for her with a single gesture. Hermione faltered in confusion at her actions; that was it? No explanation, no scrolls, no anything? When Ojibe said she would be meeting the patient and getting a handle on things, she had assumed they would be two separate actions.
Grasping around in her pocket for some bobby pins, Hermione rose up and quickly exited the room, throwing a glance over her shoulder just in time to watch the door gently swing shut behind her. When she turned around, starting down the hallway, her mentor was waiting for her, pulling ivory robes more tightly to her.
"Shall we?" she asked before continuing, Hermione following closely behind her. The long walk from her office to the patient wards was spent in an amicable silence and she let her mind wander, her hands idly pilling her hair into a messy bun as she thought through the possibilities. Perhaps the patient infected with something rare? An odd poison? A mysterious curse perhaps, one they wanted her to work until they got a proper cursebreaker?
But when she took in the even steps of Ojibe's leisurely pace she mentally crossed out anything immediately life threatening, at least for now, and that only served to make her curiosity that much stronger.
Finally, the hall opened up into the high arched ceilings of the main lobby, and Hermione couldn't help the warm feeling spreading through her as she stepped into the room. After the war St. Mungo's had seen a massive influx of donations, and every last galleon, sickle, and kunt of it had been put to good use during the reconstruction.
Everything was polished to perfection, their equipment cutting edge, with generous access funding to fuel their research. Now more than ever they were ready to serve, and more than happy to do it. The hall was alive with activity, notes or every shape gently arching overhead, sailing between golden baubles of light that gave the entire area a soft glow. Healers bustled about, the head desk orchestrating it all with words and wands. Ojibe and Hermione easily wove through the organized chaos, each picking up on the rhythm and flow of the room, pausing to return the pleasantries called out to them with a wave or a smile. Pulling her from her thoughts Healer Ojibe called back.
"Here we are." Coming to a stop in front of the door, she gave Hermione a few more crumbs of information. "The young man here has been seeing us for about a year now, but little progress has been made." A note of irritation crept into her voice as she continued to speak. "I do want to mention that the patient is rather… troublesome. Please see me in my office when you are done and we can further discuss where to go from here."
Hermione nodded, confusion at the lack of information concerning her new case rearing up once more as she watched her walk away, robes fluttering behind her. Tapping her chin she took a step towards the door, eyeing the rich cherry wood critically as though if she looked hard enough, it would give her a hint regarding what this was all about. As expected, it was disappointingly blank, the customary glowing of the room number to indicate a patient was staying here the only feature besides the handle. Tweaking her hair one last time, she laid a hand on the wood and knocked. When a muffled "Come in" came from the other side, she entered with a serene tilt to her lips and bit of guilt.
This poor man was suffering, his case challenging enough to require a researcher's eye for the unusual. But while the healer in her was aching at the thought of this man's suffering… the academic was intrigued. Hermione took a moment to scrutinize the man sitting on the bed, leaning back on his hands, facing away from her in the darkened room as she quietly shut the door.
He was tall and lean, with long aristocratic hands as her gaze followed the lines of his body from head to finger tips. In the artificial twilight of the room, fine pale hair seemed to be almost glowering sliver, and it brushed messily over the neck of his button up shirt, a dark coat laid on the bed beside him. His face was hidden, but something about him seemed familiar, and her stomach began to curl.
Why did she feel like she had seen him before? And even if she had, why did the sight of him make her tense? Tipping her chin up with shoulders pulled back, she tried her best to shake away the ill feelings. She was sure it was simply nerves regarding Ojibe's warnings on his temperament making themselves known.
"Good afternoon sir, I'm Healer Granger and I have been assigned to your rather unique case. I look forward to doing whatever I can to alleviate your condition."
Suddenly the man's back stiffened, and when she glanced down his hands were clenched in the sheets. Biting back a frown she stared at the back of his head in confusion. After a tense moment the stranger relaxed and lazily turned his head over his shoulder, full lips and a straight nose coming into view before finally, stormy gray eyes as his hair fell away from his face. She sucked her breath in with a sharp gasp, unable to keep the horror and dismay from her expression.
"I'm sorry," Draco Malfoy remarked, mocking insincerity dripping from every word "I thought I was here for some help, not more bloody nightmares."
A/N: So hello all! This is my first Harry Potter story with my favorite paring that I have ever written! It started with the lines from my summary as a passing thought, then I just started writing more and more and a story bloomed from there. I am very excited to get this going, I have been this inspired in quite some time.
