Hermione was panicked and upset. She'd just received a call from a Muggle hospital saying that her husband had been hit by a car. Hermione sighed. How could Draco be so reckless? She knew that there was no chance of bailing him out of there until he's fully recovered. She won't even be able to have him transferred to St. Mungo's, as it's not a hospital Muggles acknowledge. Healing him with magic was out of the question.
She rummaged through Draco's drawers, searching for some Muggle paperwork that the nurse had asked for. She couldn't Accio it as she'd charmed it against Summoning Charms. As she poked around, she cursed her idea of casting Anti-Summoning Charms on important paperwork. She finally found it and managed to pull it out of the stuffed cabinet. But as she did so, several papers fell out to the floor.
She was about to stuff them back into the drawer when something caught her eye. She examined it closely. It was a photograph of a beautiful seductive-looking girl. Hermione felt nauseated. She checked out the rest of the papers and gasped when they turned out to be love letters. She couldn't help reading them one by one. Tears welled up in her eyes.
By the time she was done with them, she felt numb. She choked as she sank onto the floor. She couldn't stop the sobs that followed. She just sat there hugging her knees, crying on the floor in the middle of her bedroom.
She was still sobbing uncontrollably when a figure appeared at the doorway.
"Mum?" Rose Malfoy called, confused.
Hermione looked up at her daughter and started crying even harder.
Rose hastily approached her mother who was curled up on the floor and asked worriedly, "What's wrong?"
"Mr. Malfoy, you've got visitors," the nurse informed.
"Oh, yeah, thanks," Draco responded, blinking from his reverie.
Hermione entered the room and closed the door behind her. She walked over to where Draco was lying down.
"Hey, Love," Draco greeted her, smiling.
Hermione just stared back at him emotionlessly.
Draco's expression turned into one of confusion.
Hermione fidgeted with her fingers and took Draco's hand. She put something there and closed his fingers around it. Draco brought his fist closer to his face and opened it. In the middle of his palm was a ring.
He shook his head at her, confused.
"Take it. It seems you've lost yours, and I don't want mine anymore," Hermione said coldly.
For a moment they just stared at each other speechlessly. Draco surprised, Hermione resentful.
And then Hermione couldn't hold her composure any longer. She looked torn as she whispered, "How could you?" Then she ran out the door, out of the hospital, and into the streets.
Meanwhile, Rose and Scorpius Malfoy were seated in the hallway, waiting. They were very surprised when they saw their mother run past them, followed by their father – still dressed in hospital robes with tubes sticking out all over his body.
"Hermione! Wait!" Draco called out to her from the hospital's front double doors.
Hermione, who had already reached the streets, turned back and shook her head.
"I can't keep waiting for you. I'm tired of it."
"I can't lose you…," Draco pleaded. And then he collapsed.
Hermione's eyes widened in fear. Luckily by that time the nurses had caught up with their escaped patient, and were professionally taking care of him.
Draco blinked and forced his heavy lids to open. He was dazed by the bright light. And then memories started surging into his mind. He felt dizzy. Was it all real?
He tilted his head sideways and recognized the person sitting next to him. Hermione. She looked half concerned and half betrayed. So it was real.
"You stayed," he croaked.
"I'm stupid. I should've left when I had the chance," Hermione scoffed at herself and looked away.
There was a moment of silence before Draco spoke up, "Hermione, please let me explain."
"There's nothing to explain about," Hermione retorted.
"Please, Hermione. I made a mistake. I was stupid. I—…," Draco trailed off.
"That doesn't sound like much of an explanation to me," Hermione scoffed again.
Draco sighed, "Look, she's nobody! I wasn't thinking straight at that time. We were having a fight!"
"Didn't you think about the kids?" Hermione raised her voice.
"You told them?" Draco asked, incredulous.
"Just Rose. I figured Scorpius wasn't old enough to understand," Hermione snapped.
Draco sighed exasperatedly and ran his fingers through his silvery blonde hair, "Why did you do that?"
"Well, she deserves to know!" Hermione insisted.
"She – that whore – was my past, Hermione! I don't even think about her anymore!" Draco responded with an outburst.
"Then why do you still keep her letters and photograph?" Hermione demanded, still refusing to look Draco in the eye.
"That's because I've completely forgotten about her!" Draco insisted, and then he paused. "Do you have them with you?"
"Yes, why? You want to read them?" Hermione asked bitterly.
"No. I want to prove you something," Draco said collectedly.
Hermione turned to look at him with narrowed untrusting eyes.
"Put them on the floor," Draco instructed. And then he added, "Please."
Hermione did as was told.
Draco took out his wand and cried, "Incendio!"
Flames instantly licked up the parchment, and within seconds they were nothing but ash, leaving a dark burnt mark on the floor.
For a moment Hermione looked surprised, but then she collected herself. She pointed her wand at the mess and whispered, "Tergeo." And it was gone.
She had tears in her eyes as she wheeled to face Draco and say, "But you still aren't married."
"What?" Draco asked, confused. Then his eyes brightened with understanding.
"If you're talking about my – our wedding ring, I've always had it with me." He reached in underneath his hospital clothes and pulled out a ring, chained around his neck. "I thought it would be safer kept this way. Besides, it would be closer to my heart," he smiled weakly as he explained.
Tears fell onto Hermione's cheeks.
"Let me wipe away your tears," Draco murmured as he reached to wipe the tears off her cheeks with his fingers, disregarding Hermione's slightly pulling away.
"How can I trust you, after all this?" Hermione whispered.
Draco searched her face, and then said, "Give me a second chance. Please. I promise – I swear I won't disappoint you."
Hermione hesitated. "One chance. That's all you've got," she snapped. She was about to leave the room when Draco called out, "Wait! You forgot something."
Hermione turned around and approached him wearily, "What?"
Draco reached for her hand, "Your wedding ring."
Hermione looked away but didn't resist as he slid it into her finger.
Then she wordlessly left the room.
Rose was flipping through the TV channels as she sat beside her father's sickbed.
"I'm sorry you have to waste your Easter holiday at a hospital," Draco apologized.
"That's okay, Dad. You didn't choose to get hit by a car," Rose smiled at him.
"Yeah… But that was so reckless of me…," Draco said.
"Hmm...," she mumbled. Then she sighed impatiently and whined, "Can't we use a little magic? Just to accelerate the healing a little?"
"You don't know how I wish we could," Draco rolled his eyes. "But these Muggle Healers, they're very attentive! Remember your Mum tried it the other day, and they got all suspicious and did a series of check-ups? Ridiculous."
Rose sighed and continued to search for a good TV show they could watch.
"Rosie?" Draco suddenly called, breaking the silence.
"Yeah, Dad?" Rose turned and faced her father.
"About the other thing… I'm…really, really sorry for letting you down. I'm so embarrassed and you don't know how much I regret it," Draco said morosely.
Rose stopped what she was doing and stared at her father for a long moment before replying, "You should probably say that to Mum."
"I have," Draco informed her. "She's willing to give me a second chance. How about you? Can you forgive me?" Draco asked hopefully.
Rose pursed her lips thoughtfully, and then she said, "Of course. Everyone deserves a second chance." She smiled timidly, and then got back to the remote in her hand and the TV screen before her.
Author's Note:
Inspired by and dedicated to my friend who's going through some tough moments in life. Be strong :)