"Where are we?" Draco asked the moment they reappeared in a brightly lit room.
"A friend's house," Hermione replied. "Blaise, set down Ron over here. As soon as I'm done with him I'll get to you, okay?"
He nodded. "Take your time."
Hermione began wrenching off Ron's shirt. The bullet was lodged deep in his back and was about the size of an acorn. He wasn't bleeding and there were no traces of blood, but something must have happened, as he couldn't move.
Hermione figured it must have been filled with poison. She knew that pulling something poisonous from the body would allow the poison to spread more quickly, so she pulled out her wand.
"This might be a bit uncomfortable, Ronald," she said quietly. She knew he would have been protesting if he could move or speak, but since he could do nothing, Hermione froze all of the blood within his body.
She only had a few moments now, so she worked as quickly as possible. She dislodged the bullet and a crystal of frozen blood dripped from the spot where the wound was. Examining the crystal of blood, she spotted a mysterious purple substance floating within it. She figured that was what was stunning him.
Taking a deep breath and raising her wand, she performed a spell she usually used for snake bites. It would remove the venom of the snakes, so she hoped it would remove the poison. She was running out of time.
Nothing happened. It was because the blood was frozen. She knew that.
"Alright, Ron, you're going to have to work with me. I don't know if you can, but if you can I want you to hold your breath. That will make this run more smoothly. On three, okay? One...two...three!"
She unfroze his blood and Ron's chest rose a bit as he attempted to hold his breath. As quickly as she could, Hermione performed the spell.
"Someone go into that cupboard over there and get me a cup!" Hermione exclaimed.
Harry did this, nearly slipping as he slammed it on the table.
Out of the wound in Ron's back flowed a stream of purple. Hermione directed it into the cup. The second the last of it was out, Ron exhaled in a loud bellow and collapsed back on the bed, completely spent. Hermione patted his arm. "I'm sorry about that, Ron. Can you wiggle your fingers and toes for me?"
Ron obliged, but he kept his eyes closed and didn't speak.
"Very good. Why don't you rest now?" She patted his arm lightly and then turned to Blaise. Through his calm exterior, Hermione knew he was frightened after what he just witnessed. She smiled at him reassuringly.
"Don't worry," she said. "Yours shouldn't be as crazy as that. Why don't you sit down and I'll get to work?"
Blaise nodded and sat down, rolling up his sleeve so Hermione could get to the cut in his arm. She worked methodically for only about a minute.
"Can you wiggle your fingers for me?" she said, standing up.
Blaise lifted his arm and did what she asked.
Hermione smiled. "Perfect. Let me just patch up the cut and then I'll get to Ron."
As she was bandaging Ron's cut so it wouldn't get infected, though, something soared right passed her head.
Hermione jumped and Draco's wand was up to defend her in a split second.
"Who there?" came a voice.
"Meg, it's me!" Hermione called out, ducking as another vase soared past her head. "It's Hermione!"
"Hermione?" The voice was quiet and timid.
"Yes, Meg," Hermione said, grinning as a tiny old Asian woman stepped into the room.
The lady adjusted her big glasses and squinted her eyes. Then her face brightened and she wrapped her tiny, shriveled arms around Hermione's waist.
"Hi, Meg," Hermione said, hugging the little lady back.
"Hermione," the lady said, snuggling into Hermione.
"We just needed a place to fix up my friends," Hermione said. "We'll be leaving in a few minutes. Sorry for intruding."
"Intruding?" said Meg. "No! You need to introduce me to husband. I cook dinner."
Hermione smiled. "That's very thoughtful, Meg. Thank you."
A few hours later, when they were all full of food and ready to collapse, Hermione announced that they would be staying overnight, and they were all grateful.
Hermione lay awake in bed that night, staring up at the ceiling. Draco rolled onto his side, noticed she was still awake and propped himself up on one elbow.
"'Mione?" he mumbled, kissing her cheek. "Is something wrong?"
She sighed and shook her head. "No. Nothing's wrong."
He leaned over her, looking down into her face. "I don't believe you. Tell me."
Hermione's heart felt heavy. "Getting the last ingredient...it's going to be dangerous."
"More dangerous than giant scorpions, sea witches and angry Santa Clause?"
Hermione laughed once, very quietly. "Yes. More dangerous. And I just...I'm not exactly sure I want to put everyone through it. It could scar them all for life. I don't want to be the cause of them being traumatized."
"Hermione," Draco said, as if he were trying to explain why the sky was blue to a pesky child. "We're all here for you, no matter what. We realize how important this all is, and we would never leave you to do it all by yourself. Do you understand?"
Hermione smiled up at her husband. "Yes."
"Good." He kissed her gently. "Now, I want you to go to sleep, and tomorrow, we'll get through this."
Hermione hoped he was right.
…
Very short chapter…sorry about that…
But I hope you enjoyed it, anyways! ^^ I was a little distracted while I wrote it, (I wrote it on Friday night – Saturday morning during a thunder storm in a camper and a tree right next to my camper got struck by lightning) so please forgive me for any mistakes I may have made. Ciao! ^^
