A/N: So I accidentally spent a day writing this one shot instead of all the work I was supposed to be doing. It's a little different from anything I've written before so I hope you like it!
Exactly 7 days after the Battle of Hogwarts, they show up at the safe house.
The knock at the door startled Hermione Granger, who was sitting in the dining room at the large wooden table, surrounded by large tomes of books on dark magic. She was the only person in the house, as it was one of the safe houses that the Death Eaters had found the week before. But they'd left the house standing and Hermione had cast a spell to protect the books so she'd come back to go through them and see what she needed to take back to headquarters with her. At the sound, she immediately whipped out her wand and rose to her feet. Instead of going to the front door, she goes quickly and silently out the back door. Seeing no one out there, she moves along the side of the house and hears the sound of knocking at the front door again. Whoever it is probably wasn't a Death Eater, she thought. She doubted the Death Eaters would knock. But an Order member would have known to enter through the back door with the password instead of the front so she couldn't imagine who would be knocking at the door. She cast a silent spell on the tree in front of the house so that it reflected who was at the front door. She had to hold back a gasp when she realized who was there. The unmistakable shade of blonde. What the hell were they doing here, she thought. The last information that the Order had was that the Malfoy family was at the center of the Death Eater movement against them. Unsure of how to proceed, she activated her emergency coin, which would immediately send a signal to headquarters that she was in danger. Then, moving as quickly as she could, she cast a stunning spell. As the pop of apparation rang through the air, the Malfoys dropped one by one from Hermione's spell. Hermione emerged from the side of the house and saw Harry, Ron, Seamus, and Dean standing with their mouths hanging open. Harry was the first to recover when he saw Hermione.
"What's going on?" Harry asked, glancing at Hermione momentarily before looking back at the stunned family on the porch. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Hermione replied. "I have no idea what's going on. There was a knock at the door, I saw it was them, I activated my coin, stunned them, and you're officially caught up on everything I know."
"You think they're spies?" Ron asked, looking over at them.
"They're shit spies if they knocked on the front door," Seamus pointed out.
"Maybe they've defected?" Dean asked, chiming in.
"That'll be the day," Ron said, snorting. "Probably sent here by their lot to pretend to be defected then they'll spill all our secrets the minute they get the chance."
"We have no idea what they're doing here until we talk to them," Hermione commented.
"Let's get them inside," Harry said, with a sigh. "Bind them to the dining room chairs then we'll have a talk with them."
"Harry, you can't be serious," Ron protested. "They're Death Eaters. We should send them straight to the holding cells."
"They're here for a reason," Harry replied, with a shrug. "I want to know why."
After making sure there weren't any tracking spells on the Malfoys, the group of them levitated the Malfoys into the house. Ron moved the dining room chairs into the living room and Harry bound the Malfoys to them.
"So who do we try first?" Seamus asked.
"The person who is least likely to be here against their will," Harry replied. "Let's wake up Narcisa Malfoy."
Ron pointed his wand at Narcissa. "Enervate."
Narcissa slowly opened her eyes, blinking twice before her eyes focused on Harry.
"Mr. Potter," she said, quietly.
"What brings you here, Mrs. Malfoy?" Harry asked.
"Lucius, Draco," she croaked, looking wildly around the room before calming at the sight of her husband and son next to her.
"Mrs. Malfoy," Harry repeated. "What brings you here?"
Narcissa opened her mouth as if to answer but instead, vomited blood. The boys all jumped back but Hermione rushed forward just in time to catch Narcissa as she passed out in the chair.
"Unbind her," Hermione snapped, holding Narcissa up.
Without questioning her, Harry unbound Narcissa and Dean helped Hermione lower her to the floor.
"What's wrong with her?" Ron asked, looking on from a distance.
"I don't know," Hermione replied, moving her hand to Narcissa's neck. "Her pulse is there but it's pretty weak. We need to find out what's been done to her."
"Well let's try Malfoy," Seamus suggested. "He's, quite literally, the lesser of two evils."
Harry nodded and turned his wand to Draco. "Enervate."
Draco opened his eyes just as slowly as Narcissa had and stared back at Harry.
"Malfoy," Harry greeted, solemnly. "What brings you to us?"
But Draco didn't respond. He simply stared past Harry.
"Malfoy?" Harry tried again but got no response.
"Oi, Malfoy," Ron shouted, stepping toward the Malfoys. "Answer him."
Draco simply stared. Seamus walked over and waved his hand in Draco's face. Draco didn't even blink.
"What the hell is wrong with him?" Seamus asked, looking back at Harry and Ron.
"Looks like we're going with option number 3," Harry said, pointing his wand at Lucius. "Enervate."
Lucius' eyes snapped open and he immediately whipped his head around until his eyes landed on Narcissa on the floor.
"What have you done to her?" he demanded, fighting against the restraints. "She's been through enough."
"What's wrong with her?" Hermione asked, cutting off Harry before he could answer.
"Cruciatus," Lucius replied, looking at Harry. "Repeatedly. Consistently. For helping you."
"Why are you here?" Harry asked.
"My wife," Lucius replied. "She helped you, you owe her a debt. I thought I'd come to seek repayment."
"We could release you," Ron retorted. "Help your wife and no one else. She's the only person who helped Harry. Neither you nor your son did."
Before anyone could reply to Ron's statement, Narcissa began to stir. Lucius' eyes immediately snapped to his wife. Narcissa's body began to shake violently. Acting quickly, Hermione cast a cushioning spell under Narcissa and moved to hold her head. She kept a tight grip on her until the seizure passed.
"She needs help," Hermione snapped, looking at the boys.
"So we take her back to headquarters," Dean suggested. "Leave the other two here."
"Or we leave them here to die," Ron chimed in. "We owe them nothing and they have nothing to offer us."
"Information," Lucius said, suddenly, his eyes trained on his wife. "The Malfoy family has always been in the inner circle. Help my wife and I'll give you information."
"He's lying," Ron argued. "He'd never help us."
Narcissa stirred again and began to cough. Hermione managed to sit her up before she vomited up blood, more blood than the first time.
"Harry," Hermione snapped, looking to her best friend urgently.
"We bring them all back," Harry decided, ignoring the protests from Ron. "We'll let Kingsley and Professor McGonagall decide what to do with them. Dean, why don't you and Seamus take Narcissa," Harry suggested. "Ron and I will take Lucius. Hermione, you can take Malfoy."
Hermione rose from the floor, seemingly unconcerned with Narcissa's blood that had gotten onto her clothes. Dean and Seamus moved onto either side of her. At Harry's nod, they carefully picked her up and apparated away. Harry and Ron then moved to either side of Lucius.
"I need to grab some books from the living room," Hermione told him. "I just need to put them in my bag."
"We'll wait," Harry said, giving her a smile.
Hermione hurried out of the room and returned a few minutes later, her bag slung across her back. She walked over to Draco and stopped next to him. She placed a hesitant hand around his wrist, tightening her grip when he didn't respond at all. He simply continued to stare blankly.
"Let's go," Harry said, giving Hermione a nod.
With a pop, they apparated out of the safehouse and back to headquarters.
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Exactly 17 days after the Battle of Hogwarts, Draco still hadn't said a word. In fact, none of the Malfoys had. As soon as the group arrived at headquarters, Lucius and Draco had been placed in holding cells and Narcissa had immediately been taken to the medical quarters. No one had had a chance to speak to any of them though because the Death Eaters had stepped up attacks. There had been one nearly every single day since the Malfoys had shown up at the safehouse and everyone was so busy fighting to stay alive, nothing had been done about the Malfoys other than ensuring that Narcissa Malfoy stayed alive. That of course, was Hermione's doing, who'd gone to medical every day that she was able to check in on the woman's treatment. But otherwise, the Malfoys had been left entirely alone. But, after an especially bad battle where they lost several new members of the Order, Kingsley and McGonagall gave Harry the all clear to see what Lucius Malfoy had to say. Hermione and Ron joined Harry as he went downstairs into the basement where the holding cells were. They were greeted by Dennis Creevey, who was the guard on duty for the cells.
"That was fast," Dennis commented upon seeing the three of them in front of him. "And not who I expected."
"What are you talking about?" Hermione asked, confused.
"I just called up to medical," Dennis replied. "Malfoy just collapsed in his cell. Hasn't eaten a thing since they got here though. Guess our food isn't up to their standards. Not that he's complained about it. Hasn't said a word the whole time."
"Open the door," Hermione demanded, rushing past Dennis and into the holding cells.
She shrugged off the chill that passed through her as she moved quickly down the hallway that was lined with metal cells on either side. They looked like something straight of a medieval times, she thought to herself. She hurried to the open cell door and quickly dropped next to Draco. She checked for a pulse and breathed a sigh of relief when she found one. Suddenly Neville Longbottom and Hannah Abbott appeared in the doorway.
"He hasn't eaten," Hermione told them as they joined her at his side. "But his pulse is strong. An IV ought to be enough."
"We'll take him up," Neville said, rising to his feet. Together, she and Neville levitated the unconscious Malfoy out of the cell. Hermione followed them out and joined Ron and Harry who were standing outside of Lucius' cell.
"He should be fine," Hermione told Lucius, raising an eyebrow when Lucius snorted.
"He's weak," Lucius replied. "Let him die for all I care. Narcissa insisted he come. I would have left him behind."
Hermione stood with her mouth hanging open in response.
"We're here for the information you promised," Harry said, looking sternly at Lucius.
"Where is my wife?" Lucius asked. "No one will tell me anything."
"She's being taken care of," Harry replied. "She's been in our medical quarters since we arrived."
"I want to see her," Lucius demanded.
"No way in hell," Ron answered. "You promised us information, you're going to give it to us."
"I'm not going to give you anything until I see my wife," Lucius replied.
"And we're not going to let you see your wife until you give us information," Ron shot back. "Information that we verify is true."
"Well then it appears we're at an impasse," Lucius told them.
"Give us a moment," Hermione requested, looking at Lucius but her face was expressionless.
"Hermione, you can't be serious," Ron argued.
Hermione gave a pleading look to Harry. "Trust me," she said. "Give us a moment."
"We'll be at the end of the hall," Harry said, pulling Ron away with him.
"If you think you can get information out of me on your own, you're sorely mistaken," Lucius told Hermione, giving her a suspicion look.
"I've checked in on her every day since you arrived," Hermione told him. "I can tell you how she is but I expect you to hold up your end."
Hermione and Lucius stared at one another for several minutes until Hermione could see Lucius' face change just slightly.
"How is she?" Lucius asked, quietly.
"She's stable," Hermione replied. "That's been the best anyone has been able to do because our medi-witches and wizards keep getting sent into the field. Two of our newest trainees were killed. If you help us, we can better help Narcissa."
Lucius didn't respond for a moment, instead he stared at Hermione.
"I want to be kept up to date on her condition," Lucius told her. "For every day you update me on her condition, I'll give you information."
"Deal," Hermione replied. "You'll get your update once we verify the information you give us it true."
"We have an agreement, then," Lucius replied.
"I can also let you know how your son is doing," Hermione offered but immediately regretted her words when she saw Lucius' entire body tense.
"As I believe I mentioned, he's weak and useless," Lucius replied. "If you want any information from me, you'll refrain from mentioning him again."
"But he's your son," Hermione began to argue but Lucius cut her off.
"He's no son of mine," Lucius replied. "Now if you wish for me to give you information I suggest you bring back Mr. Potter and let's get this over with."
Rather than arguing, Hermione turned and called Harry over.
"We've come to an agreement," Hermione informed he and Ron when they reached her.
"Okay," Harry replied, looking to Lucius. "Tell us what you know."
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Exactly 27 days after the Battle of Hogwarts, the Order had won a few small battles but Hermione felt she'd won the greatest battle of all. She'd gotten Draco to speak. Granted, all he'd said was "fuck off, Granger," but it was more than he'd said since the Malfoys had arrived. You see, Hermione had bothered him every single day since they made the agreement with Lucius. Kingsley and McGonagall had decided that, in his current state, Draco wasn't a threat so he sat, day by day, at his mother's side. Unmoving, unspeaking, just staring. So, day by day, Hermione talked to him. She talked to him about his mother's condition, she asked him about what had happened to him, she told him about the weather. And, day by day, he ignored her. Until today, when she decided to toss aside manners and simply asked him what he'd done to make his father hate him so much. That had drawn a jerk of his head and the nasty words from him - something Hermione was quite proud of. She was equally surprised when he used her name rather than mudblood. Progress, she thought, and she'd see how far she could push it.
"I think we may actually be able to heal Narcissa," Hermione told Harry and Ron over dinner that night.
"Who cares?" Ron replied, his mouth full of bread.
"We should," Hermione answered. "We made a promise to help her, we should honor it."
"Hermione's right," Harry said. "Plus so far the information Lucius has given us has been helpful but it hasn't helped us take down the Death Eaters. He's holding back. If we cure his wife, he might actually give us information that will end this war."
"Whatever," was Ron's response.
"Great," Hermione said, pleased with how easily the boys had given in. So she decided to push her luck. "Oh and I want Malfoy to help."
"WHAT?!" Ron shouted, spitting food across the table.
"Honestly, Ronald, manners!" Hermione explained.
"You cannot be serious," Ron sputtered. "Malfoy helping is out of the question."
"What makes you think he'd actually help?" Harry asked. "He hasn't done anything."
"No one has given him anything to do," Hermione countered. "I think this could be good for him. You know he's smart, he always was."
"But we still need your help," Ron implored. "You're as good with planning attacks as you are with healing."
"I'll split my time," Hermione promised. "Which will be easier to do if I have help caring for Narcissa."
"I think it's a good idea," came a voice from behind them.
They looked up to see Minerva McGonagall standing at the entrance to the dining room.
"Might as well put Mr. Malfoy to work if he's going to be here."
"I agree," Hermione said, beaming at McGonagall.
"We're very low on supplies," McGonagall told Hermione. "So you'll have to be...creative in what you do."
"I know," Hermione said, excitement dancing in her eyes. "I'm looking forward to the challenge."
Hermione rose from the table and threw McGonagall a smile, before rushing out of the room. She was eager to get started. She hurried into medical and saw Draco asleep in the chair next to his mother. An uneaten sandwich in front of him. She walked over and shook him awake. His eyes flew open and silver met brown.
"I need your help," Hermione said after a moment.
Draco broke eye contact then and stared at his mother.
"I think we can heal your mother," Hermione added, noticing how he tensed at her words.
There was silence between them before Draco spoke.
"How?"
"I'll need you to tell me exactly what was done to her," Hermione replied, carefully. "Once I know that, I have books that we can go through to see if we can find a solution."
"Books?" he spat, looking from his mother to Hermione and rising from the chair. "You want to rely on books to try and undo what's been done to my mother?"
"As a starting point, yes," Hermione replied, firmly, refusing to back down when he moved toward her. "But from there we'll use what we know, talk to some of the healers, and figure out a way to cure her."
"You don't know that she can actually be cured," he accused. "You're just going to use my mother as an experiment."
"I'm trying to help her," she countered, her frustration beginning to seep into her words. "I want you to help me, help her."
"Why do you want my help?" Draco asked, insecurity flitting across his face so quickly that Hermione may have missed it if they hadn't been so close together.
"You're smart," Hermione replied, with a shrug. "You always were. Besides it's not like you have anything else to do."
Instead of answering Draco just stared at her, as if he was trying to read her intentions through her facial expressions. Hermione left her face expressionless and simply stared back.
"Okay," he relented. "Where are the damn books?"
"There's one more caveat," Hermione told him, holding up her hand to stop him from talking when he opened his mouth to argue. "You have to eat."
"What the hell do you care if I eat?" Draco asked, confused.
"I don't," Hermione replied. "But I'm not going to do all this work to save your mother only to have you die from something stupid like not eating. So, you help, you eat."
"Fine," Draco relented, rolling his eyes. "You win, Granger."
"The books are in my room," Hermione said, giving him a small smile. "Why don't you eat that while I go grab them?"
When she got back, they settled around the open bed next to Narcissa's and began to read.
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Exactly 37 days after the Battle of Hogwarts, Hermione was bleeding. She laid on the ground, stunned, and she could feel the blood gushing from her side. Pain was shooting through her entire body. The trap they had laid based on Lucius' information had worked but, in their panic, one of the Death Eaters had managed to catch her off guard and now, she was bleeding badly. Harry's face came into her view right before she passed out.
Hermione came to for a moment when they arrived at medical. Hannah was rushing around shouting orders to Neville and she could feel them lift her body onto a hard bed. She felt Neville open her mouth and pour a potion down her throat. As she passed out again, she thought she caught a glint of blonde hair out of the corner of her eye.
The next time Hermione woke up she didn't immediately open her eyes. Instead, she took stock of how she felt. The bed she was on was comfortable and she only felt a slight pain in her side. What caught her attention though wasn't what she felt but what she heard. It sounded like someone was pacing directly next to her bed. Whoever it was wasn't just pacing, they were also muttering under their breath. Hermione opened one eye and was surprised to see a rather angry looking Draco running his hands through his hair. She opened her other eye.
"Malfoy?" she rasped, questioningly, watching as he whirled around to face her.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" he shouted, advancing toward the bed. "You could have gotten yourself killed."
"What?" Hermione managed to reply, but Draco cut her off.
"If you die, my mother will never be healed," he ranted. "We just figured out the combinations of spells we need to potentially do that and you go and nearly get yourself killed. You can't help my mother if you're dead!"
"Malfoy," she said, calmly. "I'm just fine."
"Do you know how much blood there was when they brought you in?" he asked, his demeanor changing from angry to distraught within seconds. "It was everywhere."
Hermione managed to get herself into a sitting position and she gestured for Draco to come closer to her. When he did, she reached out and took his hand. "I'm fine," she repeated. "I'll be back up and running tomorrow and we can do the spell on your mother."
Draco looked down at her hand for a moment before a sound near the entrance to medical had him slipping his hand out from under hers.
"Get better," he muttered, before slipping out of her room.
A moment later, Harry and Ron appeared in her room.
"You're awake!" Ron exclaimed, rushing over and giving her a hug. "I'm glad you're okay."
"I am too," Hermione replied, hugging him back.
Harry walked over and gave her a hug as well.
"How are you feeling?" Harry asked.
"I actually feel fine," Hermione told him. "Hannah and Neville did a great job."
Harry and Ron exchanged a look that had Hermione raising her eyebrow. "What?" she asked. "What is it?"
"Hannah and Neville couldn't stop the bleeding," Ron told her, solemnly. "We thought we were going to lose you."
"But I'm fine," Hermione said, confused. "What happened?"
"Malfoy happened," Harry replied. "He came over, shouted at Hannah and Neville that they were killing you, then disarmed Ron and used his wand to not only stop the bleeding but heal you completely."
"Malfoy healed me?" Hermione asked, stunned.
"Just about lost his shit when he saw how badly you were hurt," Ron added. "He was covered in your blood and didn't say a word about it. Guess he's really invested in keeping you alive so you can heal his mother."
"Yeah," Hermione murmured, pensively.
"Lucius got a bit pissy too," Harry told her. "We went down to give him an update on Narcissa and demanded to know what the hell we were doing down there instead of you. I think he almost looked concerned when we said you were hurt. What have you done to the Malfoys?"
"Helped," Hermione replied, vaguely. "I'm valuable to them because I can help Narcissa. They need me."
"It's weird," Ron commented.
"Yeah," Hermione said, with a laugh.
"Well, we'll let you get some rest," Harry said, giving her a smile. "We'll check in on you in the morning."
Hermione settled back down in the bed and drifted to sleep thinking of Draco.
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Exactly 47 days after the Battle of Hogwarts, Hermione and Draco were ready to try to heal Narcissa. It had taken Hermione longer than she wanted to heal from her own injuries but Draco had sat with her every single day, going over the books they'd read and their notes from conversations with other healers. Gone was the Draco Malfoy who had first arrived at the safe house. Now Draco challenged everything Hermione said. He questioned her, never questioning her intelligence, merely her reasoning. He made her think and she did the same for him. This, of course, led to shouting matches between them. Their arguments could often be heard throughout medical and more than once, Hannah or Neville had come to yell at them for disturbing the pease. But together, they'd refined their initial plan and now knew exactly what combination of spells they would use and who would do what. It would take both of them and a lot of their magic to pull it off but Hermione was confident that they could do it. Hermione had even managed to convince Kingsley and McGonagall to allow Draco to have his wand back to do the healing. By their calculations, the work would have to be done in stages and would take a number of hours to do so they decided to do it at night, with silencing spells up, in order to reduce the number of people who might be inconvenienced. When the time came, Hermione handed Draco his wand.
"Are you ready to do this?" Hermione asked, nervously twirling her wand in her hand.
"Are you?" Draco countered, his hand tight around his wand.
"We have a plan," Hermione replied. "It's a good one."
"It is," Draco acknowledged.
"So let's get started," Hermione said, confidently.
Hermione and Draco moved so that they stood on either side of Narcissa's bed. She'd been in a magical coma since the day before in order for her to be unconscious during the healing process. Hermione looked across at Draco and he nodded tersely. Hermione leaned forward and, with a muggle surgeon's precision, made a long slice down the center of Narcissa's body. Draco used a quick spell to freeze the blood to keep it from flowing. Hermione breathed out when she saw the damage.
"This is worse than I thought," Hermione told Draco, looking up at him.
"Well then we better get to it," Draco replied, determined.
Together, slowly but surely, they began to repair the internal damage. Organ by organ, they alternated healing the organ and the area around it in addition to assuring that magical coma kept Narcissa's blood flowing. After six hours, they were both drenched in sweat and Hermione could feel herself beginning to feel faint. She looked at Draco and saw that his already pale skin was devoid of any color at all.
"We need to close her up," Hermione said. "Take a break."
"We haven't gotten to her brain yet," Draco replied, looking at her. "We aren't done."
"We talked about this," Hermione reminded him. "We need to take a break. We've already done way more than we should have."
"Okay," Draco relented. "Let's close her up."
Together, they restitched Narcissa's body back together. When they were done, Hermione walked over to the empty bed next to Narcissa's and hopped up onto it. Draco moved and sat down next to her. They sat in companionable silence before Draco spoke.
"I did this," he said, quietly.
"Did what?" Hermione asked, far more calmly than she felt.
"This," Draco replied, gesturing to his mother. "That's why my father hates me. I did this."
"Malfoy, this isn't your fault-," Hermione started to say but Draco cut her off when he slid off the bed and moved so he was standing directly in front of her.
"I failed Lord Voldemort," he shouted, the guilt all over his face. "I'm the reason my mother lied for Potter. I fucked up and instead of punishing me, they made me watch while they did this to my mother. They tried to make me do it but I couldn't. So then they did it to her. Hours and hours of the Cruciatus Curse. Because of me."
Draco slid to the ground and, placing his head on his knees, began to sob. Hermione slid off the bed and onto the floor next to him. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into her so his head came into her chest.
"This is not your fault," she whispered fiercely, cutting off his objections with a shake. "This. Is. Not. Your. Fault. No one forced them to torture your mother. That was their choice, not yours."
"But I failed," Draco whispered, choking on his tears. "I failed and she paid the price."
"And now we're fixing it," Hermione said, pushing Draco back so she could look him in the eye. "You are healing her and she's going to be just fine."
Hermione wrapped her arms back around Draco and held him as he purged the years of despair. She ran her hands through his hair, murmuring quiet words of encouragement until his breathing evened out. When she felt him pull away, she released him. Draco stood and held out his hand to her. Hermione took his hand and Draco pulled her to her feet. But he didn't let go of her hand. Instead, he linked their fingers together and Hermione looked up at him curiously.
"Thank you," he said, quietly, looking down at her.
"For what?" Hermione asked, confused.
"Everything," he replied. "Everything that you've done for me, for my family. We never did anything to deserve kindness from you, me especially. So thank you."
"You're welcome," she answered, giving him a small smile and squeezing his hand. "You ready to finish this?"
"Yes," Draco said, releasing her hand. "Are you sure you can do the spell?"
"Yes," Hermione told him, determined. "It works similar to a muggle MRI, I'll basically just be taking an image of her brain."
"I really have no idea what that means," Draco replied. "But if you think it'll work, I trust you."
Hermione did her best to hide her surprise at her words but he caught the look on her face.
"You have to know that I trust you at this point," Draco told her, wryly. "Don't you trust me?"
"I do," Hermione replied, without missing a beat. "Of course I do."
"Good," Draco replied. "Let's finish this."
Hermione moved to the top of the bed near Narcissa's head. Focusing all her energy, she cast the spell. She moved her wand the whole way around Narcissa's head. When she was finished, she pointed her wand at the wall opposite Narcissa's bed and, with a wave of her wand, an MRI scan image appeared on the wall. Hermione and Draco walked over and examined the image.
"Granger, what are we looking at?" Draco snapped, when she was quiet for too long. "This doesn't look like the pictures."
"It's fine," Hermione said, the tears beginning to stream down her face. "I don't know how it's possible, maybe the spell just never hit with enough force that it hit her brain directly, but it doesn't look like the pictures because it's perfectly healthy. Her brain is fine."
"So what does that mean?" Draco asked.
"It means we're done," Hermione said. "Now, we wait."
Hermione moved and sat back down on the empty bed. Draco sat down next to her. Hermione didn't hesitate to hold out her hand and Draco slid his hand into hers. They sat in silence, holding hands, waiting to see what would happen next.
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Exactly 57 days after the Battle of Hogwarts, Narcissa Malfoy stepped out of medical and, with Draco's help, began to make her way down to the holding cells. Hermione and Draco had sat by her side anxiously for two days before Narcissa woke up. But Hermione could still remember the moment Narcissa opened her eyes.
When Narcissa woke up, the first thing she saw was her son. She opened her arms and burst into tears. Draco rushed into her open arms and Hermione slipped out of the room as they reunited.
Hermione had gone out into the hall and run into Harry and Ron.
"What's going on?" Harry asked, noting the tears streaming down Hermione's face.
"She's awake," Hermione replied, smiling through her tears. "Narcissa Malfoy is awake."
"You did it," Ron said, stunned. "You healed her?"
"Yeah," Hermione said with a half laugh, half sob. "Yeah I think we did."
Harry opened his mouth to say something but closed it and looked past Hermione instead. Hermione turned and saw Draco in the doorway.
"My mother would like to speak with you," he said, stiffly, pointedly not looking at Harry and Ron.
"Okay," Hermione replied, turning away from Harry and Ron after giving them a smile.
Hermione went back into the room and found Draco helping his mother into a sitting position.
"Thank you, Ms. Granger," Narcissa said. "Thank you so much."
"You're welcome," Hermione answered. "Your husband will be thrilled to see you."
"I'd like to see him as soon as possible," Narcissa said.
"As soon as you're well enough, you can," Hermione promised.
True to her word, Narcissa was now moments away from being reunited with her husband. Hermione nodded to Dennis who opened the door to the holding cells. Harry and Ron also stood nearby still not trusting the Malfoy family. Hermione and Draco led Narcissa down the hall to Lucius' cell. The door to the cell swung open and Lucius was pacing anxiously on the other side. As soon as he saw Narcissa, he enclosed her in a huge hug. He then looked over her head to Draco and held out an arm for his son. Hermione watched with tears silently streaming down her face as the Malfoys became a family again. Lucius released both Narcissa and Draco, sliding so Narcissa was leaning on him. He put his hand on Draco's shoulder and looked at Hermione.
"Ms. Granger, it is rare that I find myself in a position to both apologize and give thanks," Lucius said. "But with you, both are more than deserved. I apologize for every believing you to be inferior solely because of your blood. And I thank you for proving me wrong."
"You're welcome," Hermione replied, smiling through her tears.
"There's something I've been keeping from you," Lucius told her. "I'm not proud of it and I'm certain my wife will be angry with me for doing so but you have to understand, she was my top priority and I didn't feel I could play my hand until I knew for certain it would benefit me."
"I understand," Hermione answered. "What is it?"
"You will want to get Mr. Potter for this," Lucius replied. "Perhaps the Weasley as well."
"Harry, Ron," Hermione called down the hall and, seconds later, the two of them came sprinting down the hallway wands raised, nearly tripping over themselves to get to her.
"Lucius has something to tell us," Hermione informed them, giving the boys a scolding look for their extreme reaction.
"Yes?" Harry asked, tucking his wand away.
"You've been having trouble finding out who is organizing the Death Eaters," Lucius began. "When you take out this person, the entire enterprise will fall."
"How do we know that's true?" Ron asked. "That wasn't the case when Voldemort died, why was it different?"
"Because this was Voldemort's contingency plan," Lucius replied. "If he were to be injured, this person would take over and would continue his work. He never anticipated dying."
"So who is it?" Hermione wanted to know. "And how is it they can bring about the end of the Death Eaters?"
"Bellatrix," Narcissa said, giving her husband an angry look. "My sister is who you want."
"Bellatrix is dead," Ron said, with a shake of his head. "My mum killed her."
"She can't die," Lucius told them. "What you saw was her making an escape."
"But how?" Hermione asked. "A horcrux?"
"No, she removed her heart," Lucius explained. "It's old, old magic. It goes back to the first pureblood wizards. The spell physically rips the heart from the wizard's body and it's stored in a safe place. As long as the heart is in tact, the wizard cannot die."
"So we have to find her heart," Harry said, frustrated. "How in Merlin's name are we supposed to do that?"
"I don't know," Lucius admitted. "She never told anyone where it was. The best way to keep a secret is to tell no one."
"There has to be some way to figure it out though," Hermione commented.
"Mum, can you think of anything?" Draco asked, joining the conversation for the first time. "Somewhere she could hide it?"
"I don't know," Narcissa said. "We haven't been close in such a long time. I wouldn't even know where to look."
"What about somewhere you went as kids?" Hermione suggested. "Or somewhere that was important to her?"
"Our grandmother's cabin," Narcissa murmured, the realization dawning on her. "We went once, years ago, I don't even know if it still exists, but if it does, that's where she'd go. Bellatrix was Grandmother's favorite."
"Where is it?" Harry asked, urgently.
"Corrachadh Mòr," Narcissa replied. "It's the westernmost point in Scotland. Grandmother liked feeling as if she was at the ends of the earth. There's only one problem."
"What's that?" Ron asked.
"Only someone with Black blood can apparate directly there," Narcissa told them.
"So I'll go," Draco volunteered. "Take Granger with me. We'll go, destroy the heart, then you lot can go charging in and save the day."
"As soon as Bellatrix is dead, all the enchantments around the Potter house will fall and you'll be able to enter," Narcissa told them, but, when she received blank looks in response she glared at her husband.
"Oh and the Potter home in Godric's Hollow is their main headquarters," Lucius said, hurriedly, inching away from his wife's glare.
"So Harry and Ron can gather the troops and go there," Hermione cut in before anyone could react to Lucius' words. "Malfoy and I will go and destroy the heart."
"Okay," Harry said, after taking a beat to control his anger. "Let's finish this."
Harry and Ron hurried out of the holding cells. Draco hugged his parents quickly and, after his mother told him exactly where to apparate, he walked over to Hermione. He held out his hand and Hermione took it without hesitation. Together, they walked out of headquarters and, once they were outside, Hermione closed her eyes as Draco apparated them away.
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Exactly 67 days after the Battle of Hogwarts, Hermione, Ron, and Harry walked into the grand ballroom at Malfoy Manor for the first ever Orphans of the War Fundraising Gala. Hermione scanned the room, looking for Draco. She found him almost immediately, standing with both of his parents near the front of the room. He seemed to sense she'd entered because nearly as soon as she saw him, he turned and smiled at her. It reminded her of the first time she'd seen him truly smile - the day they destroyed Bellatrix's heart.
They'd apparated directly to the cabin and, although it looked like no one had been there in years from the outside, the minute Hermione and Draco stepped inside they knew someone had. Within minutes they found a small, ornate chest with the Black family crest on it hidden under a loose floorboard. Together, they broke the enchantment that sealed the chest and, Draco used fiendfyre to destroy it when a simple incendio wouldn't do. Hermione didn't like it but dark magic could only be eliminated by more dark magic so she relented. Unfortunately, Draco lost control of the spell and the entire cabin ended up going up in flames. Draco and Hermione made it outside just as the cabin exploded. Together, they put out the fire and, with the ashes burning behind them, Draco had smiled at her. A genuine, full smile. Unable to stop herself, Hermione had lept into his arms and kissed him. He'd returned the kiss with equal vigor and Hermione felt joy spread through her heart.
She felt the same joy every time she saw him. When Draco reached her, he gave her a quick kiss on the lips.
"Hi," he murmured against her lips, giving her another kiss before he pulled back a little. "You look gorgeous in that Gryffindor red."
"Hi," she breathed back, rising up and giving him another quick kiss.
Draco slid his arm around her and nodded in greeting at Harry and Ron. Harry and Ron nodded back. Hermione resisted the urge to roll her eyes.
"Hermione, you look gorgeous," Narcissa said, approaching the group. "Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, good evening."
"Good evening," Harry replied, cordially. "Thank you so much for hosting this, it means a great deal."
"We're happy to do it," Lucius said, coming up and wrapping his arm around Narcissa. "We're happy to have our home back. I'm sure you understand how that feels."
"I do," Harry acknowledged.
Hermione could see him thinking back to when they'd captured all the Death Eaters in his childhood home. The house had stood exactly as it had since the last time they'd been to Godric's Hollow, with the Death Eaters occupying the basement space below the home. When the enchantments fell, the Aurors were able to secure all the Death Eaters without causing any damage to the Potter home. The Death Eaters were all in Azkaban now and Hermione hoped that that was enough closure for her best friend.
"I see Kingsley making his way to the front for his Minister of Magic speech," Hermione commented. "It looks like things are about to get started."
"We should take our seats then," Harry said. "I see Ginny and Lavender are already at our table."
Harry and Ron walked over to join their girlfriends as Narcissa and Lucius moved toward their table. Hermione went to follow her friends but Draco held her back.
"What is it?" Hermione asked, looking up at him. "Is everything okay?"
"I got the job," Draco told her, barely containing his excitement.
Hermione threw her arms around his neck and squealed with excitement
"When did you find out?" she demanded to know.
"McGonagall just told me this afternoon," Draco replied with a laugh, giving her a squeeze before pulling back. "Not all of us can be the very first person the headmistress calls when she's looking for new Hogwarts professors."
"So back to Hogwarts for both of us," Hermione said, linking her hands around his neck. "Will you follow in Snape's footsteps and terrify all your Potions students?"
"Will you follow in McGonagall's footsteps and turn yourself into a cat in front of your Transfiguration students?" Draco countered, grinning at her.
"I guess we'll figure it out as we go," Hermione replied, rising up to her toes and giving Draco a long kiss.
Draco returned the kiss with equal vigor and slid his hands down to link with hers. Hand in hand, they watched as Kingsley took the stage.
"You know," Draco whispered, sliding his hand down to Hermione's ass. "We could sneak away while he's talking. No one would notice we were gone."
"Draco!" Hermione scolded, fighting to keep a smile from her face. "After."
A/N: Favorite & review, plus check out my other writing! A one-shot sequel to The Flint File is coming soon! :)