Draco groaned as he awakened to the pain coursing through his body. He felt like he was floating in a sea where each drop, each sensation burned him as it came in contact with his skin. He tried to sit up, and a tidal wave of fresh agony engulfed him. Falling backwards, he settled for opening his eyes- and still saw only darkness. He reached up a hand to touch his face, and found it swathed in bandages.

A soft, gentle grip pulled his hand away from his head and set it back down next to him. In the midst of his suffering, he faintly registered the fact that he was lying on something soft. A soothing voice issued from above him.

"Lay still, Draco. You've been badly hurt."

It was a woman's voice. Kind and caring, it held no trace of the suffering his mother's had before she-

A fresh wave of pain engulfed Draco as snippets of memory flooded back into his battered brain. Narcissa, screaming as she was tortured by death eaters looking for her son. Her lifeless body, slumped against the wall like a broken doll. The heartache of his mother's loss overwhelmed him, and he sunk back into oblivion.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Ginny Weasley sighed, and leaned back into her husband's strong arms. Harry pulled her closer to him, running his hands through her long hair.

"How is he?" he asked, kissing her forehead. Ginny turned to him, her eyes sad and bloodshot.

"He's in a bad way. I've gotten him stabilized, but this is beyond my skill to heal. Three broken ribs, a punctured lung, shattered leg and collarbone… those I could deal with. But the internal injuries, and his eyes… we'll have to take him to St. Mungo's to fix that. And even with their work, I doubt he'll ever see again."

Harry could see the toll that Malfoy's healing had taken on his beloved. He pulled her over to a couch and sat her down in his lap, where he began to rub her back.

"Ginny, you know we can't take him to St. Mungo's. They'll find him there."

"They wouldn't attack him in a hospital, would they? A man as helpless as this?" Ginny gestured to the bandage-swathed form on the bed and looked up at her husband, shocked. He sighed and pulled her closer to him.

"He was facing three on his own when we caught up to him. He'd already killed one, but he must have gotten out a call for help. They were death eaters, Gin. They weren't just going to kill him. I swear, they'd 'crucioed' him so many times before we got there, I don't see how he was still fighting. We took them out, but… not before they'd gotten his eyes. There was nothing we could do for him but bring him back here. They killed Narcissa, too." Harry's head slumped onto Ginny's shoulder as he looked hollowly into space. His tone was one of utter defeat.

Ginny squeezed him into a tight embrace.

"Harry, I didn't know you cared so much about him." Harry smiled wanly and looked up into her hazel eyes.

"You're gonna kill me for telling you this, Gin." She looked at him, intrigued, and he said into her shoulder "I…uh… had a huge crush on him when we were in school…."

Ginny sat up so fast she nearly fell off his lap, and burst out laughing. Harry picked her up and sat her next to him, wrapping his arm around her.

"Shhh. You don't want to wake him up, dear."

Ginny looked worried.

"I know- but Harry, we've got to find someone to heal him. I don't have the skill." Harry looked over at Draco's battered form.

"Hermione will take him," he said.