After being unconscious for forty eight hours the first thing Narcissa became aware of was the quiet sound of voices talking. With the pounding in her head it took her a few minutes to recognise the voices as belonging to her husband, son and daughter-in-law. Wondering what on earth Draco and Hermione were doing in England, Narcissa groggily opened her eyes, letting out a small groan as the light made her head pound even more.
"Cissa." Lucius jumped up at the sound Narcissa had emitted and hovered over his wife, checking she was okay. "She's waking up. Draco, go and get the healer."
Narcissa was vaguely aware of someone exiting the room, but her focus was on Lucius. Her husband looked tired and she could see the concern in his eyes as he gently brushed the hair back away from her face.
"You're alright, sweetheart." He said softly. "Don't try and speak. The Healer will be here any second."
Narcissa wanted to ask what was going on, but she didn't have the energy for questions. Instead she shut her eyes and listened to what was happening around her. Just after she shut her eyes she heard the door open and a feminine voice she didn't recognise asked Lucius what had happened.
"Narcissa's awake." Lucius replied. "Well at least she was. She opened her eyes."
"If you give me a few minutes, I'll check Mrs Malfoy over." The healer said as Narcissa opened her eyes yet again.
Once her family had left, Narcissa was thoroughly examined by the healer. The longer she was awake the more responsive she was becoming and after the healer issued her a pain relief potion she began to feel a lot better. She could also remember what had happened in Diagon Alley, and why she was in hospital. Although she was rather shocked to hear it was now Monday afternoon and she'd been unconscious since Saturday.
"I'm satisfied there's no major damage." The healer said as she finished her examination.
"Does that mean I can go home?" Narcissa asked hopefully. She disliked hospitals and would much rather be recovering in her own bed.
"Not today." The healer chuckled. "I want to keep you in overnight for further observation, but I see no reason why you can't be discharged tomorrow. Providing of course that you rest for the remainder of today. You've had a traumatic experience, and you need to rest."
"I don't have the energy to do anything but rest." Narcissa said, already exhausted by her examination and brief talk with the healer.
"How's your head feeling?" The healer checked. "Do you need any more pain relief?"
"It's throbbing, but it's better than when I woke up." Narcissa said.
"That's good." The healer nodded. "Let someone know if the pain gets worse. You had a hefty knock to your head and before we discharge you, I need to be sure you're not nursing any permanent damage."
"Can I see my family now?" Narcissa asked.
"Of course, I'll show them in."
On her way out of the room the healer let Lucius, Draco and Hermione back in the room, although she did warn them that Narcissa was to rest and she wasn't to be overexerted. She also warned them not to question Narcissa too hard and to let her memories of her attack come to her in their own time.
"You're back with us." Lucius smiled at the sight of his wife propped up in bed. "You really had us worried."
"Sorry." Narcissa said as Lucius gave her a gentle peck on the cheek before settling on the bed beside her. "I'm sorry for dragging you two over here as well." She added to Draco and Hermione.
"You don't need to apologise." Draco reassured his mother as he took a seat beside her bed. "We're just pleased you've woken up."
"I can't believe it's being two days." Narcissa said.
"Let's not dwell on that." Lucius said. "The important thing is that you're awake now."
"Did the healer mention when you would be getting out?" Hermione asked.
"She wants me to stay in overnight, but if everything's alright I should be able to go home tomorrow."
"That's excellent news." Hermione smiled at her mother-in-law.
"Yes it is." Lucius agreed. "The Manor just isn't the same without you."
"I know the feeling." Narcissa told her husband. "That's why I went to live in France with Draco. Without you, it just wasn't right in the Manor."
"If you two carry on like this, you're going to make us feel as though we're intruding." Draco joked. "You're like lovesick teenagers, and it's rather nauseating."
"Draco, stop being so mean." Hermione tutted at her husband as she gave him a gentle slap. "You should be pleased your parents are still so happy together after all these years."
"I am, I just don't need to hear them spouting mush about how much they've missed each other." Draco retorted.
"I'm so lucky that I've got such a romantic husband." Hermione said, rolling her eyes at Draco.
"Will you two stop with the bickering." Lucius ordered the couple, before turning to his wife. "Are they always like that?"
"You get used to it." Narcissa smiled wearily.
"You look tired, Narcissa." Hermione said, studying her mother-in-law. "Do you want us to leave so you can rest?"
"Not yet." Narcissa said. "I want to know what's been happening. Have they caught the thief yet?"
"Thief?" Lucius frowned. "What thief?"
"The one that took my bracelet." Narcissa replied. "I was fighting him off when he pushed me and I fell. I felt the catch snap as he pulled it off my wrist."
"Those bumbling idiots, not doing their job correctly." Lucius cursed. "They never raised the possibility of a robbery."
"Who?" Narcissa questioned.
"Harry and Ron." Hermione answered. "They're the Aurors in charge of the case. They were trying to say you were attacked because of Lucius's release, so I had to go and speak to Kingsley this morning. He promised they would take the matter more seriously."
"Yet they still never asked if anything was missing." Draco said. "Incompetent arseholes."
"I think we need to see if anything else is missing." Hermione suggested. "At least when we inform the Aurors that Narcissa is awake we can tell them why she was attacked."
"The mediwitch who first got Narcissa settled into the room stored all her belongings in the cupboard in the corner." Lucius said, pointing at the wooden cupboard that stood over the other side of the room. "No-one ever mentioned robbery as a possible motive, so I never thought to check them over."
Once Draco had retrieved Narcissa's belongings from the cupboard, he tipped them out onto the bed and Lucius sorted through them. Sure enough a sapphire and silver bracelet Narcissa had received on her last birthday from Draco was missing. Lucius confirmed he would have noticed the missing piece if he'd ever been asked to check her belongings since Narcissa wore the bracelet most days and he'd noticed she was wearing it on Saturday.
"I guess I should head to the Ministry and inform them of the situation." Draco said.
"Make sure it's tomorrow or later when they come and see Narcissa." Lucius told his son. "I'm not having them disturbing her today. She needs to rest."
"Don't worry, they'll not be back today." Draco promised. "I'll tell them to visit the Manor tomorrow afternoon."
"Do you want me to come with you?" Hermione offered as her husband stood up and grabbed his jacket.
"I'm fine." Draco said, refusing his wife's offer. "I'll not be long anyway. Why don't you head home and when I'm finished we can go out for dinner. I'm sure mother and father wouldn't say no to a few hours alone."
"That sounds like a great idea." Narcissa said. "You two go and have fun. I don't want you worrying about me."
"We'll be back first thing in the morning." Draco promised his mother as he kissed her goodbye.
Hermione also said goodbye to Narcissa before she and Draco left the hospital room, leaving Lucius and Narcissa to spend some time together. While Hermione headed off to the Manor, Draco headed to the Ministry. Even though it was beginning to turn into evening he suspected there would be someone in the Auror Department that he could speak to. If he was lucky it might not even be Harry and Ron, meaning he wouldn't have to deal with them yet again.
Draco's hopes of not having to deal with Harry and Ron again were soon shattered when he entered the Auror Department and found the two Aurors standing talking to Kingsley. All three men looked up at Draco's arrival, and while Harry and Ron greeted him with an unwelcoming glare Kingsley smiled at the blond wizard and asked how his mother was.
"Mother's awake." Draco told the Minister. "Hopefully she should be discharged tomorrow."
"That's excellent news." Kingsley said, genuinely happy that Narcissa was okay.
"I've also got another bit of news." Draco said, turning his attention to Harry and Ron. "Mother wasn't attacked because of Father's release, she was robbed. Her bracelet is missing. The thief pushed her over when she tried to fight back."
"Why didn't someone say something earlier?" Harry asked the blond. "You've wasted a lot of our time."
"We've wasted your time, that's rich." Draco snorted. "You were the two that never bothered to ask about anything like that. How on earth was Father supposed to know Mother had been robbed?"
"Draco's right, you should have checked this earlier." Kingsley told the two Aurors before either one had a chance to respond. "Especially given the spate of robberies we've had over the last eighteen months."
"No-one's ever been hurt before." Ron argued. "How we were supposed to think about the robberies? It looked like a straight forward attack."
"I suppose you have a point." Kingsley said thoughtfully.
"What's going on?" Draco asked. "What robberies are you talking about?"
"For the last eighteen months we've had a series of robberies." Kingsley explained. "They usually occur in Diagon Alley, or other crowded public places. Someone bumps into the victim and slips a bit of jewellery off them. Half the time the victim doesn't know it's missing until after the thief has long gone. The few people who were aware they were being robbed at the time were taken by surprise by the attack and didn't fight back."
"But mother did and she was hurt." Draco sighed. "I hope you have some leads on this thief."
"We wish." Harry snorted. "Even though we have descriptions and pictures of every piece of jewellery we know he's stolen we haven't found a single trace of it. We even have a few of our undercover agents looking into the possibility they've been sold on the black market, but so far we're coming up with nothing."
"You people really know how to keep the streets safe, don't you?" Draco muttered sarcastically.
"They would be a lost safer if all the Death Eater scum was locked away." Ron retorted with a glare.
"That's enough." Kingsley stepped in between the two men before things got totally out of hand. "Draco, when will it be possible for Harry and Ron to speak with your mother?"
"They can come to the Manor tomorrow afternoon." Draco replied. "I can also find you a picture of Mother wearing her bracelet."
"Thank you, we appreciate the help." Kingsley said.
"Could you give us a description of it before you leave?" Harry asked, deciding to ignore his dislike of the Malfoy's and remain professional. "That way we can log it in as missing today and add the picture tomorrow."
Draco nodded, happy that at least one of the Aurors on the case was being professional. While Ron continued to glare at Draco, he gave Harry a description of Narcissa's stolen bracelet. He also gave the pair a rough time to visit the Manor the following day before he left the Ministry and headed home to Hermione.
