Watch Me Stand
Ch. 4 – What To Do
Hermione didn't know what to do. She had very little experience in these situations. No, that wasn't right. After the war, the aftershock had sent many people into hysterics. They had also found many people that had been held captive by Deatheaters and were psychologically damaged. She had just never been any good with handling them. She reached her handout to comfort Malfoy, but then thought better of it. In his state any physical contact could be taken as a threat. She stood there, panicking for a minute, until she got an idea.
"Draco," she said, soothingly. She had no idea if this would work, "Draco, It's okay. I won't hurt you."
It didn't seem to be working. He looked like a little baby, sitting there in the corner, rocking and crying. Hermione racked her brain for new ideas. What… baby…
Hermione started to sing, or at least tried to sing, a lullaby. She didn't really know the words and wasn't the best singer. But the singing still worked. Malfoy's hysterics began to subside. Not long after, he began to breathe normally. Hermione decided that it was safe to approach him.
She walked up to him slowly, trying to appear non-threatening. Draco didn't move; he continued to rock slowly, curled up in a small ball. She reached her hand out and touched Draco. He flinched away. She tried again. This time, Draco scooted far out of Hermione's reach. She resolved to give up. She still needed to inform Ms. Weasley of the recent developments.
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"What should we do?" Hermione had found Ms.Weasley in the kitchen. She had promptly informed the woman of the situation and Ms.Weasley wanted to check it out for herself.
"I don't know if there is anything we can do yet," Ms.Weasley was leaning over Malfoy with a concerned look on her face. She had seen these types of cases before, but never this bad, "He has to trust us before we can help him. There is nothing else I can do unless I have his consent."
"So, we are supposed to make a Malfoy trust us?" Hermione said, incredulously.
"Yes," was Ms.Weasly's curt reply, "And the first thing you can do is get some food for him. That boy is a walking corpse."
Hermione simply nodded obediently and left the room. As she left, she saw Ms. Weasley trying unsuccessfully to touch Malfoy. It was like watching a scared chihuahua that jumps at every little noise. It would have been funny if it weren't so sad.
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Hermione stood, staring at the pantry. What is the world was she supposed to get him? What would he want to eat? It needed to be non-threatening… Non-threatening… What food is non-threatening? Could a food be non-threatening? The only thing she could think of was a sandwich. Was a sandwich threatening? It didn't matter. Malfoy was getting a sandwich. It was all Hermione could really make anyhow. Now, the question was: what kind of sandwich? What do we have? She thought. Hermione shifted through the contents of the pantry. They had cheese, turkey, ham, tuna, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, three types of bread… She grabbed a couple of different foods. Hermione flew together a ham and cheese sandwich with lettuce and tomatoes. She had been on the fence about the tomatoes (blood), until she realized how silly she was being and tossed them on. She also poured him a cup of milk (the boy could use the calcium) and put a cookie on the plate too. After what he had apparently been through, Malfoy deserved it. It felt really weird to think that, she mused. She arranged them all on a tray. All ready, Hermione smiled.
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When Lupin came home from work (he was working at the ministry as a representitive for the werewolves) Tonks was waiting for him. She was sitting on the bed when he came in. He could tell she was perturbed. Lupin had to be careful when she was in this mood. Tonks was the kind of person that you avoided getting mad at all costs. When she was mad, on one was immune to her wrath. Lupin struggled to think of what he had done to get her this irate. He came up blank. Was it something he said? Lupin couldn't think of anything. What should he do? The direct approach would be best, he thought.
"What is wrong, Dora?" Lupin asked kindly.
"Don't take that tone with me! You know perfectly well what you did!" She said accusatorily. " And don't call me Dora!"
"No, honey, I don't," Lupin sat down next to her, reaching his arm around her. Tonks stood up abruptly and spun around to face him.
"Why did you want to get rid of Malfoy?" she shouted.
"What?" Lupin was genuinely confused.
"UGH!" She threw her hands up in the air. Seizing a blanket, she grabbed Lupin's hands. He complied easily. Tonks then bustled him out the door and into the hall. Roughly, she handed him the blanket, "You're sleeping on the couch," she said and slammed the door.
Lupin stood in the hallway for a full minute, stunned. He had no idea how to react. He could not, for the life of him, figure out what was wrong with Tonks. What had he done to upset her? Maybe she is PMSing he rationalized. Shifting the blanket in his grasp, he glanced, unseeing, down the long hall towards the den. I guess I'm sleeping on the couch.
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Hermione paused for a minute to re-adjust the tray she was carrying. On some days this hall could feel like it went on forever. It was a good thing she had put down the tray because at that very moment the door not two meters away slammed open. She watched as Lupin came reeling out of the door holding a blanket.
"You're sleeping on the couch," she heard Tonks voice sternly say.
Hermione moved back a step as the door slammed shut. When she saw that Lupin wasn't moving, she picked up her tray. Her plan was to pass him and get to the guest room before he became aware of her presence. That plan was not to come to fruition. Hermione straightened up just as Lupin looked down the hall. Her movement caused him to snap out of his daze.
"Oh," He said surprised, " I didn't see that you were standing there." Realizing what she was carrying, he dropped his blanket "Let me take that for you. It must be heavy."
Hermione let him take the tray with a quiet thank you. She pointed to where she was going and they headed down the hall in companionable silence. It was easy to see how the war had affected everyone. When Hermione used to talk all the time to whoever would listen, she now stayed quiet, only talking when she really had something to say.
"What are we supposed to be doing here?" she whispered, almost incoherently.
"What?" Lupin asked, as much out of the fact that he could not hear what she said as the fact that what little he heard did not make sense.
" I feel that there is a reason they came here. I'm not saying they came here consciously. You know I'm one to believe in fate… but… there is no other explanation. I mean… look at the odd."
"I don't know."
At this point, the pair had reached their destination, the room where Malfoy and the girl resided. Lupin passed the tray back to Hermione. She arranged it comfortably on her shoulder. She walked the last few steps toward the door. Reaching for the doorknob, she paused. She turned to look at Lupin.
"Thank you," She said. She did not turn around. The two stood like this, facing each other. Neither moved. Neither wanted to leave the comfort of the other's company. Hermione was the first one to move. She turned back to the door.
"Wait!" Lupin said quickly, taking a step forward. Hermione turned around, "Good luck," she gave him a confused look, "I hope you can find the reason… the reason they are here."
"So do I."
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Sorry this is so late, maybe if I had more reviews, I would update sooner… Just a suggestion…