Kingsley was intrigued when he was approached by Molly and Arthur and informed a mystery man claiming to be Hermione's fiancé had moved her into a private wing of St Mungo's. Kingsley had made it clear to the couple that if everything was above board and the hospital were satisfied whoever moved Hermione was indeed her fiancé, there would be nothing he could do without getting into some sort of legal proceedings. However he did agree to visit the hospital, partly to appease the couple and partly to satisfy his own curiosity. He knew Hermione personally and knew nothing of a fiancé so the whole thing was baffling.
It was the middle of the afternoon before Kingsley managed to find time to go to St Mungo's and rather than heading up to the private wing of the hospital he headed to the administrative offices. There he spoke to the head of the hospital who reassured him that the person who had moved Hermione was indeed her fiancé, and they had proof in the form of a marriage licence. Kingsley knew that if a marriage licence had been issued there would be a record of it at the ministry, but rather than just head back to work and find out who Hermione's fiancé was he decided to pop up to the private wing in the hopes he could either see Hermione or speak to her fiancé.
"Minister Shackelbolt. What can I do for you?" The mediwitch on the desk asked with a warm smile when she spotted the acting Minister for Magic approaching her.
"I was hoping to see Hermione Granger, although I know I may be missing from the list of people authorized to see her," Kingsley replied.
"Yes, you are," The mediwitch replied. Without even checking the list she knew the Minister wasn't on it. "However, Miss Granger's fiancé did leave a message saying that if you showed up, he would talk to you. If you want to take a seat in the family room, I'll go and inform him you're here."
The mediwitch pointed Kingsley in the direction of a dark blue door that stood just beside the reception desk. Unlike the door to the ward, that was actually located behind the desk, the door to the family room was accessible without having to pass through the hatch in the reception desk. Kingsley guessed the room was for visitors that didn't have permission to actually enter the private rooms hidden behind the desk.
While the mediwitch headed off to find Hermione's fiancé, Kingsley followed her directions and headed into the family room. He was totally puzzled as to how Hermione's fiancé even knew he would be turning up. While he may know Hermione through the Order, they weren't particularly close so there was no reason her fiancé would think he would visit her.
Kingsley was still puzzling over what was going on when the door opened and a familiar wizard entered the family room. Kingsley was rather taken aback by the identity of the wizard he was presuming was Hermione's fiancé and it took him several seconds to regain his voice.
"Draco?"
Draco smiled politely at Kingsley. "Hello Minister. I'm sure you've got lots of questions, so maybe we should sit down."
"Of course." Kingsley nodded as he took and seat, with Draco settling down in the seat opposite him.
"Before I explain why I moved Hermione, I thought I might tell you a bit about our relationship," Draco said. "I'm guessing you're rather shocked to find out we're a couple."
"I think shocked is putting it mildly," Kingsley replied with a low chuckle.
"Our relationship began back in school," Draco explained. "I won't bore you with all the details, but we were working together on a school project and became friendly. Romance developed from there and by sixth year we were very serious about one another, despite our rather awkward situation regarding the war."
"I imagine that would complicate things a bit," Kingsley mused.
"It did," Draco confirmed. "Before I left in sixth year we made a pact that if we both survived the war and I didn't end up in Azkaban that we would get married. Obviously we both survived and thanks to my father I'm a free man, so we officially got engaged."
"You're not a free man thanks only to your father," Kingsley interrupted. "I won't deny that Lucius's help with his fellow Death Eaters was a part of the decision, but I don't believe a custodial sentence was ever an option for you, not once we knew what you'd been through. Everyone involved in the decision not to send you to Azkaban agrees that you were stuck within Voldemort's clutches and could do nothing to escape. We also all agreed that if given the chance you could become a great man, free from any connections with the dark arts."
"I appreciate your belief in me," Draco replied, rather taken aback by Kingsley's statement. The only other person outside his family to show so much faith in him was Hermione, and even then he thought she may be biased because she loved him.
"I'm sure Hermione shares that belief, otherwise she wouldn't be with you," Kingsley said. "Now, you were saying about how you got engaged."
Draco nodded, getting his mind back to where it was supposed to be. "Once we were sure I wasn't going to Azkaban we got engaged and applied for a marriage licence."
"That was weeks ago, why doesn't no-one know about the pair of you?" Kingsley asked.
"We didn't think it was appropriate at the time," Draco explained. "The war had just ended, people were grieving and one of the Weasleys wasn't certain of surviving. Hermione didn't want to make it appear as though she was rubbing her happiness in people's faces. The last thing we wanted to be doing was celebrating when people were still suffering, so we decided to wait until things were more settled. Last week the licence came through, and when I spoke to Hermione before I left on Friday she was planning on telling her friends about us."
"Did she tell them?" Kingsley asked. According to Molly and Arthur no-one knew who Hermione's fiancé was, but maybe someone did know and was keeping quiet.
"I have no idea," Draco replied. "I went away to see a friend on Friday. It was just coincidence that Father overheard Arthur Weasley talking about Hermione at the Ministry yesterday. That was how I knew she was in here."
"So, why have you moved her and barred her friends from seeing her?" Kingsley questioned.
"I'm not sure her fall was accidental," Draco admitted. "She was very clear that she was going to tell her friends about us over the weekend, then she ends up in here."
"You think she told someone, they reacted badly and pushed her down the stairs," Kingsley stated, not believing any of her friends would do that.
"I don't know what to think," Draco replied. "But I do know her engagement ring is missing. She was wearing it on Friday, it's not at the penthouse and the mediwitch who treated her when she was first admitted swears she wasn't wearing a ring when she arrived at the hospital."
"So where is it?" Kingsley frowned.
"That's what I would like to know," Draco said. "That is the reason I'm not convinced this was an accident. If it was an accident she would have been wearing her ring."
"If you're so sure Hermione's fall wasn't an accident, why haven't you reported it?" Kingsley asked. He agreed that the missing ring was suspicious, but he was unsure why Draco hadn't voiced these concerns earlier.
"I don't want to cause trouble. I've moved Hermione and barred anyone from seeing her as a precaution. Until she wakes up and can tell us what happened, I'm not going to go around accusing people," Draco answered. "But on the other hand I wasn't going to leave her where she was in case someone had pushed her and they tried to get to her again."
"I have to say the missing ring worries me," Kingsley sighed. "But like you, I'm loathe to point fingers unless we have proof. I don't believe any of the Weasleys, and I include Harry in that, would hurt Hermione."
"I don't want to believe that either, but until I know the truth no-one will be visiting her," Draco insisted. "If you want, you can come in and see her and feel free to talk to the Weasleys and inform them of what's going on."
"Will I be able to tell them how Hermione's doing?" Kingsley asked. He knew their names weren't even on the list to receive information about Hermione, so he wasn't sure if Draco meant he could inform the family about him but not Hermione.
"Yes," Draco answered with a nod.
"And how is she doing?" Kingsley questioned as they stood up and began to make their way out of the family room.
"The healers took another look at her earlier this afternoon," Draco replied as he led the way past the reception desk, greeting the mediwitch as he did so, and through the doors that led to the private rooms. "They're confident she's getting better. Her brain activity is more powerful than both Friday and Saturday and they're hopeful she's on the verge of waking up."
"Will she be able to remember what happened?" Kingsley asked.
"Until she wakes up, we have no idea," Draco replied, stopping as he reached the door to Hermione's room.
Draco opened the door to his fiancée's room and Kingsley followed the young wizard inside. Hermione was lying in a crisp hospital bed and Narcissa was sitting at her bedside reading snippets of the Daily Prophet out loud to the unconscious witch. When she spotted Kingsley, Narcissa shut the paper and got up to greet the Minister.
"I agreed to let Minister Shackelbolt come and see Hermione," Draco explained to his mother when she shot him a puzzled look.
"I assume Draco has informed you of our worries," Narcissa said to Kingsley.
"He has," Kingsley confirmed. "And I'm more than happy to discreetly look into it if you wish. I know until Hermione wakes up we can't progress too far, but I can at least quiz the Weasleys. I know the family pretty well, and I'm sure I'll be able to tell if anyone's reaction to the news Hermione is engaged to Draco is false."
"As long as you make it clear, I'm not accusing anyone," Draco told the Minister. "I don't want Hermione to wake up and find everything is a mess. Just let them know I'm doing what's best for Hermione, and hopefully when she wakes up she can tell us exactly what happened."
"Let's hope so," Kingsley replied, looking over to where Hermione lay. As he was watching her, he was sure he spotted her hand twitching. "Did you see that?" He asked as Draco brushed past him and went up to his fiancée's beside.
"Yes," Narcissa answered as Draco clutched at Hermione's hand and spoke quietly to her. "I'll go and get the mediwitch."
While Narcissa went to get the mediwitch, Kingsley moved closer to Hermione and found she was beginning to stir. Her movements were only slight and her eyes were still closed, but there was no doubt about it, she was waking up.
"Do you mind if I stick around for a bit?" Kingsley asked Draco as Narcissa re-entered the room with the mediwitch, who immediately rushed over to check on Hermione before hurrying back out to get her healer.
"Why don't we all head to the family room," Narcissa suggested when Draco gave Kingsley permission to stay.
"You go," Draco said, not tearing his gaze from Hermione. "I'm staying with Hermione."
Knowing it would be better to give Hermione some space if she was waking up, Kingsley and Narcissa headed to the family room. On the way they picked up a coffee from the refreshment machine, before they settled down to wait for news. In the end they were waiting for nearly an hour and a half before Draco entered the room, looking relieved and wearing a smile.
"She's okay," He announced, sinking into a chair next to his mother. "She's sustained no serious damage, although she might suffer from headaches more often than a normal person. The healer says they want to keep her in the hospital initially as she recovers, and of course they want to be sure there's going to be no side effects from her fall. However, if things go well she could be released in few days."
"What about her fall?" Narcissa asked. "Can she remember anything?"
"It was only mentioned briefly as she fell back to sleep almost immediately once the healer had finished examining her," Draco replied. "From what she can remember, she went to The Burrow but no-one was home. She then heard a noise from upstairs and went up in case someone was upstairs. But from there onwards it's a blank, she can't even remember if she reached the top of the stairs."
"Will anymore come back to her, or is that it?" Kingsley asked.
"The healer didn't know," Draco shrugged. "He said it's entirely possible that's all she'll ever remember, but he also said that once she's been awake longer and is more alert that she might remember more. All we can do is wait and see."
"Keep me informed, and I'll look into what exactly happened at The Burrow," Kingsley said as he stood up. "I promise, if someone pushed her, we'll find out who and why."
"Thank you," Draco smiled at the Minister for Magic. "If you want to come back and see Hermione, feel free. I'll put you on the list. I can also arrange for her friends to see her, providing that's what she wants."
"I'll let them know, thank you," Kingsley said, before the trio left the family room.
While Draco and Narcissa headed back to Hermione's bedside, Kingsley headed back to his office. He wanted some time to think before he went to The Burrow and approached the Weasleys. He didn't want to believe that one of the family had hurt Hermione, but he had to admit there was something suspicious about her accident. Especially the fact her engagement ring was missing. Why would someone take her ring? It just made no sense to Kingsley, but he was determined to get to the bottom of Hermione's accident and discover the truth.
