St Mungo's and The Burrow
Draco rose very early, showered and changed into the clean robes that had been left in the closet in the small bedroom. In the sitting room, his father was sleeping on the sofa. He had heard his parents arguing long into the night and apparently no resolution had been reached. As quietly as possible, he left the cramped rooms and walked back up the hallway to the visitor's Tea Room. To his pleasant surprise, they were open. He ordered a cup of tea and took the elevator back down to the fourth floor.
The ward for Spell Damaged patients was quiet at this early hour. The sign at the entrance informed him that visiting hours didn't start until 8am, but he stepped on to the ward anyway and walked towards Hermione's room. At the center of the hallway was a large desk and five nurses sat around it, sipping their own hot drinks. One of them stood and said, "Excuse me sir, visiting hours are-"
Draco looked at her, and gave his best smile; his "lady-killer" he liked to think of it; and said with a conspiratorial half whisper, "She's my girlfriend". The nurse blushed slightly and returned the smile. She nodded to him; he gave her a flirty wink and went into the hospital room. Hermione was still fast asleep. The bathroom light had been left on and the door was not quite closed, providing a dim light in the room. He walked around the bed and set his tea on the side table closest to the window. He picked up the chair he had been pouting in yesterday and moved it beside the bed and sat down. He looked at her sleeping face. Although she had washed up and someone had been at work healing the cuts and scrapes she had received during the battle, she still looked like she had been through a war. She was pale and thin, and although the deep hollows were lessened, there were still purple smudges under her eyes. Her hand was resting beside her hip, palm up. He gently placed his fingertips in her palm. Her skin was warm and calloused. He didn't know the specifics of what she had been doing this past year, but it obviously had involved a lot of hard work. His fingertips stroked the rough surface a few times, then he slid his fingers across her palm and folded them around her hand. He sat like that, holding her hand and sipping his tea with his other hand. As she slept on, he relived the fight in their rooms last night.
"Lucius" his mother had raged, "I would rather spend a life in prison than force Draco to play a part in ONE more of your schemes! He has been through enough at our hands. He deserved to live his life as he pleases!"
"Well, my darling" he father sarcastically shot back, "That may well be exactly what you get. And as far as Draco leading the life he pleases, unless Azkaban pleases him, that will be impossible. Maybe our cells can be together and we can enjoy our happy family in the dungeons forever."
"No," she retorted stubbornly, "Draco will not be sentenced to Azkaban. He had no choice in his actions. He was protecting his family and he was being threatened by the Dark Lord. They will be merciful to him, I know it."
"Cissy," Lucius began, and she screeched at him.
"Don't you DARE call me that! You don't get to call me that EVER again!"
"Fine" his father said through clenched teeth, "Narcissa. This would not be forever. I am not asking Draco to marry the girl and produce broods of half breed children. He just needs to get her to go along until she can speak for us at a trial. After that, once we are all free, he can live any life he wants."
"So, you mean to trifle with the girl's emotions? Lucius, don't you think she has been through enough at our hands already? Haven't we inflicted enough damage for one lifetime? We deserve Azkaban, you and I, for what we have done to Draco alone."
"Narcissa, no" he whispered. At this point Draco was realized how exhausted he was. He left his parents to battle it out and he went to the small bathroom. He showered quickly and went to the smaller bedroom to sleep. Although he heard his mother continuing to argue against this plan, he had already made up his mind. He had grown up in the last four years, more than anyone knew. He realized that his father's course of action made sense. He knew what must be done. How many times had he heard this phrase? "Draco, you know it must be done". Kill Dumbledore, Draco, you know it must be done. Do the Dark Lord's bidding, Draco, you know it must be done. Watch Bellatrix torture this girl, Draco, you know it must be done. As distasteful as this plan was, he had done worse, for the sake of 'What Must Be Done'. Once it's over, he thought, I can finally do what I want. Let someone else take care of the things that must be done from then on.
After about two hours of sitting with Hermione, Draco was getting uncomfortable. He had wanted to make sure she woke to him holding her hand, but he was getting cramped and stiff. Just as he was just about to stand and stretch his legs, she began to stir. Her eyes opened and she looked around. "You're in the hospital" he said.
"Oh, right" she answered. He braced himself for her wrath. If the curse had worn off, she would be madder than a wet Manticore to find him holding her hand. But she just smiled. "You stayed?" she asked him.
He returned the smile. You love her, you love her, he thought over and over in his head. "Not all night. The Healer made me leave after you were asleep. But I made sure to be back before you woke up. It isn't even visiting hours yet."
"Did you sleep?" she asked him. She released he hand he was holding and reached out to touch his cheek. You love her, you love her, he kept repeating inside, to hold himself back from cringing at her touch. "You still look tired" she said.
"A little. I was worried about you" he responded. It was true that he hadn't slept much, but it was not worry for her that had disturbed his sleep.
"Draco, you're so sweet" she smiled again. Sweet? That was a new way to describe me, he thought. Her hand returned to his.
"Are you hungry?" he asked, in a concerned tone.
"Starving actually! I hadn't realized until you mentioned it!" she said.
"I'll go see to your breakfast then" he said. He stood up, leaned over her and kissed her forehead. "Don't go anywhere," he teased gently, "I'll be right back."
"I'll be right here" she replied, still smiling at him.
Draco managed to wait until the door shut behind him before he shuddered.
The Weasleys had all returned to the Burrow. Since the Dursleys had moved, Harry had nowhere to go so Molly Weasley insisted he stay with them. Minerva McGonagall had sent them a letter by owl the day after Hermione went into the hospital. The Death Eater that had attacked Hermione had been identified as Thorfinn Rowle and they were searching his home for any clues as to the curse he had used to attack Hermione. But the process was slow, as the house had many protective charms and traps set. Until then all she wanted them to do was wait.
"Bloody hell I will!" Ron protested, "I will not just sit around and do nothing while Hermione is in the hands of the bleeding Malfoy family!"
"Ron," his mother said as she took his hand, "We all love Hermione and want to help her. But Professor McGonagall and the others know the best way to do that. We need to listen to them." Ron jerked his hand back from his mother and stormed off to his room.
Later that day, Ron jealously watched Harry and Ginny together. Right now, they were sitting together on the sofa in the living room, heads bent over a book. They were talking quietly and occasionally one of them would laugh and they would look into each other's eyes. That should be me and Hermione, he thought bitterly, for the hundredth time. He felt like he had just found her, and they had taken her away from him. The bloody Death Eaters, he though angrily, will they ever stop causing pain? After everything we have been through, will we ever be able to feel like we actually won?
So, all they could do was sit and wait, he thought. It was killing Ron and he couldn't contain himself any longer. He jumped up from the kitchen table and started pacing between the living room and kitchen. He shouted to Ginny and Harry, "How can you two just sit there, while Hermione could be in danger! We HAVE to do SOMETHING!"
Ginny went to her brother, and grasped his upper arms and looked him squarely in the eye. "Ron. I know how scared and you are about Hermione. If it was Harry in the hospital I would be out of my mind with worry." Ron tried to shake her off, sure her next words were going to be telling him that waiting was all they could do. She surprised him by saying, "You're right, we need to think of some way to help her."
"How?" Harry asked as he came up to stand beside Ginny. "I doubt they will let us search Rowle's house with them."
"I have been thinking about that. What about the library?" she asked. "That's where Hermione would start."
"I don't think they will let us into Hogwarts" Harry said. "There has been too much damage."
"What about the Ministry?" Ron suggested. "They have to have archives, libraries, stuff like that. And we could be in London. Close to the hospital."
"We would need Ministry permission to be there" Harry said.
"Really, Harry? After all we have done, and all the Ministry has put us through, do you think they will say no?" Ginny asked.
"Right" said Harry. "Ok, let's contact Kingsley." Kingsley Shacklebolt had been appointed the acting Minister of Magic the evening Hermione had been admitted to the hospital. He sat at the table, drew his wand and said "Accio parchment, accio quill". The writing tools flew to him from the desk in the living room. He caught them and wrote the letter to Kingsley, asking for access to the Ministry archives, gave it to an owl for delivery.
The response from the Ministry had been immediate. They had been granted unlimited access to anything they wanted in the Ministry to try to help Hermione. Arthur Weasley arranged for them to have a small apartment in London where they could stay while they did their research. The next day when Arthur left for work at the Ministry, Ginny, Ron and Harry went with him. They arrived in the lobby by Floo and were met by a middle aged blonde witch. Her hair was pulled back in a severe style and she appraised them through half moon glasses.
"Hello Arthur" she said.
"Good Morning Anna" Arthur replied. "Anna Moon, this is Harry Potter, and my children, Ron and Ginny"
"I assume these are the 'researchers' Minister Shacklebolt informed me I am to allow unlimited access to my archives?" The three young wizards looked at each other. The witch's tone told them that she was going to trust them in her archives about as much as a flock of Pixies. "Come with me" she said shortly.
They bid Arthur goodbye with a promise to meet for lunch and followed Anna Moon to the elevators. After a rather long trip, they emerged into a cavernous hall in the bottom of the Ministry. There were shelves of documents as far as he eye could see. The room looked like it could hold the Hogwarts Quiddich field with the stands. The trio gaped in awe at the size of the archive.
"As you can see, our archives are quite extensive" Anna said with obvious pride in her voice. "Normally, no one but me and my staff would be allowed access to these documents. Requests for information go through the proper channels, and then I or one of my staff retrieves the documents and personally takes them where they are needed. This ensures proper handling and reshelving of the document. It is quite….unusual for anyone else to be in this archive."
"Unusual!" came a voice from a few stacks over, "It hasn't happened in living memory!" a wizard came to them from the stacks. He had short, spiky black hair and was grinning at them. "Phineus Burbage" he introduced himself and shook their hands.
"Burbage?" asked Ginny.
"Yes" he said sadly, "Charity Burbage was my cousin. I am proud to be helping the people that brought that damnable evil to an end" he finished fiercely. "I will be your escort while you are working in these archives"
"Yes, well," said Anna, not sharing Phineus' enthusiasm. "I will leave you with Mr. Burbage then. Phineus, I will be in my office if you need anything" and she turned and left.
"Blimey" said Ron when she was gone, "She doesn't seem too happy to have us here".
"Ah, don't worry about her" said Phineus. "She's been here as long as anyone can remember and she is a little overprotective of the archives. But, in her defense, there are quite a few priceless and irreplaceable parchments and books here. We must be extremely careful with everything. So, what are we looking for?" he asked excitedly. Ron explained the situation and how Hermione had been cursed.
"So we need information about spells and counterspells! Let's go!" Phineus seemed to be eager to help solve this mystery. He led them into the labyrinth of the archives. Harry made sure he kept the wizard in his sight. Although Phineus walked with purpose through this maze, Harry was certain if he got lost in this place, he wouldn't find his way out for days.
Their guide took them into an adjoining archive room, smaller than the hall they had just left, but still larger than the Great Hall at Hogwarts. "Here we are!" Phineus gestured grandly at the shelves in front of them. "The Spells Archive is in here." Shelves of parchments and books towered over them.
"Where is the spell section?" Ginny asked
Phineus laughed. "This ROOM is the spell section."
After asking the nurse about Hermione's breakfast, Draco started back to the room. Just before he reached the door, his mother called to him from the hallway by the elevator. He waved to her and she strode down the hallway to him. Trouble, he thought.
"What are you doing here?" she demanded.
"I am helping Hermione remember that she loves me" he told her.
"Draco!" she hissed, "I forbid you to do this!"
He took his mother's elbow and guided her to a quiet spot in the hallway, away from Hermione's room. He spoke in a low, determined voice. "Mother, I am of age and I can do as I please. Father was right; this is the only way to keep you, all of us, out of Azkaban. Please, mother, let me do this. For our family." He looked at her imploringly with his grey eyes.
She studied his face and realized he was set on this course. He knew once he pleaded with her, she could not say no. She had adored her precious boy from the second he first drew breath and could never deny him anything. She sighed and dropped her shoulders in defeat. "Alright, Draco. If this is what you want, I will help you."
He kissed her cheek and whispered, "Thank you mother". They walked back to Hermione's room together.
Her breakfast had arrived and she was tucking into the food. She hadn't eaten very well for almost a year and even the hospital food was delicious.
Narcissa put on a smile as she walked into the room. "How are you today, dear?" she asked. Draco moved back to the chair he had been sitting in when she had awakened.
Hermione put down the tea she had been drinking. "Narcissa!" she seemed pleased to see the older witch. "I am feeling better today. The rest I got last night really helped."
"I am so glad to hear that" Narcissa said, trying to sound happy. As much as her concern for this girl had become genuine, the plan her husband and son had designed was making her wary. There was a knock on the door and Healer Barnabus entered.
"Hermione, how are you today?" he smiled at his patient.
"I was just telling Narcissa, I think the good night's sleep helped a lot. I feel better than I have in a while."
"So, exhaustion is one of your problems. Let's try to repair the other. I would like to try just a couple of standard healing spells to see if any of them might work, ok?" the healer asked her.
Hermione agreed. The healer produced his wand from inside his uniform robes. "This won't hurt, I promise" he assured her. The first spell he tried was "Reparifors". He asked Hermione, "Anything different?"
She looked around the room and shook her head. "Alright, let's try another. Restit mentis" He looked questioningly at her. She shook her head again. Nothing had changed. "Memoria reditu" he tried next. Again, she shook her head, looking disappointed. She had always had such faith in the power of magic, and now that magic was failing her. A small tear rolled down her cheek.
"Oh, dear, don't worry" Narcissa said to her as she came over to the bed and took Hermione's hand. "It's only a start, right?" she looked at the healer.
"Of course" he assured them. "As I said, these are only general healing spells. I will have to do some more research and try to find a more specific spell to counter your condition. And more rest will help as well. Why don't you finish your breakfast? Mrs. Malfoy, Mr. Malfoy, may I speak to you in the hall?"
"Be right back" Draco told her. This time he lifted her hand to kiss before he left the room.
Once they were in the hallway, the healer's smile faded. "I will do some research to try to counter the curse she's suffering. But it could take months to find the correct counter-spell. I can keep her here for another couple of days to treat her exhaustion, but after that, I will have to discharge her. As I understand it, her parents are out of the picture, and she doesn't believe she can trust any of her former friends. If I discharge her, would you be willing to continue your guardianship of her?"
Draco and Narcissa looked at each other, considering this. Narcissa looked at Draco and raised her eyebrows. This is his plan, she thought, let him make the decision. He nodded slowly at his mother, and told the healer, "Yes. When she is discharged, we will care for her at Malfoy Manor as long as necessary."