Draco's conversation with Blaise had almost made him forget his comment about Hermione's rotting leg.
Almost. But not quite.
He had definitely not wanted her to know that he'd been checking her out. That's why he had commented on her leg so rudely. He knew she didn't need to be reminded of it, and he felt bad for his unwarranted viciousness. She hadn't done anything to bother him besides look good. He felt the urge to apologize, and the urge bothered him greatly.
Logically, he knew that it wasn't a good idea to make Hermione not want to see the only person that she could see. She needed to see him. He didn't want her to feel negatively towards him. Emotionally, he did not want to apologize, because he hated admitting that he had done anything wrong.
He couldn't recall a single time where he had ever apologized to anyone for anything, ever. He had never felt any reason to apologize for anything until now. It was odd, because whenever he had offended her in school, with much worse insults, he had never felt remotely guilty, but now, for just one hurtful sentence, the guilt was intense. He wanted to tell himself he only wanted to apologize to keep his job, but he knew that wasn't true. She wasn't going to say anything to Astley. Draco genuinely felt bad.
Hell, he knew her situation sucked. How would he feel if the circumstances were reversed? If he had contracted a deadly disease while doing a job that wasn't even his? If he had her taking care of him? How helpless would he feel, having to call on her every time he needed help? If there was one feeling Draco hated, it was helplessness. He had constantly felt it when Voldemort was still alive. Given Hermione's strong and independent personality, he was willing to bet that helplessness didn't sit well with her, either.
He really, really didn't want to apologize. It would show vulnerability and weakness. But his feeling of guilt wasn't going to go away with no help. Groaning, he cracked his fingers as if preparing for a fight and gave himself a pep talk. "You can do this."
He entered Hermione's room. She looked rather surprised to see him. She was sitting up in bed with a book propped up on her knees. She glanced at him once, and then looked back down at her book.
If he's going to be so rude, I'm not going to go out of my way to be nice to him, she thought angrily. I won't start a fight, but I also won't start a conversation.
Draco cleared his throat. She didn't look up. He cleared it again. She still didn't look up. He cleared it a third time, obviously loud. Without looking up, she said, "You should summon yourself up some cough drops, Malfoy." Her tone was ice cold.
"I…" he said, scratching the back of his neck furiously. He was getting annoyed that she wouldn't look at him. "I have something to say." He cleared his throat again, thinking he had never felt more uncomfortable in his life.
"Spit it out. I'm trying to read."
"Well…" Draco really, really didn't want to do it. He was trying to convince himself not to. It was like having a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other. Well, not exactly an angel. Just a less malicious devil. One side telling him not to apologize, to just leave and be done with it, the other side telling him to just make it quick and get it over with.
When Draco's indecisive neck scratching became unbearable, Hermione looked up. She was glaring at him furiously. "If you have something to say, do it. If not, leave. And get yourself some anti-itch potion, for Merlin's sake." Her gaze returned to her book.
Draco spoke as quickly as he could, and his words came together as one. "Granger, I'."
"What did you say?" she asked, glancing up. Her eyes were narrowed, her expression curious. Did he say what I think he said?
Draco took a deep breath, forced himself to remove his hand from the back of his neck by clenching both hands behind his back, and tried again. "I said, I'm sorry for what I said about your leg. It was…" he paused, searching for a word. "Insensitive of me."
Hermione's mouth dropped open, though neither of them took any notice of it. Hermione was too stunned to pay attention to her facial expression and Draco was looking at his feet as though he was a child. His hand inadvertently drifted back up to again scratch the back of his neck.
"What?" Hermione said again, after a long pause.
"I said –"
"No, I heard you. Just. Wow. Draco Malfoy apologizing. To ME. Wow."
"Yes, well, I'm just trying to be professional, and –" Draco's embarrassment was rising, and he was regretting his decision to apologize.
Hermione's face broke into a smile as she interrupted him. "I forgive you."
"You do?" Draco asked, looking up.
"Of course."
Of course. As if it was obvious that she would forgive him. As if she didn't have multiple reasons to despise him. If he'd known apologizing was so easy, he might've tried it a long time ago.
He sat down on the trunk next to Hermione's bed, as though exhausted from the whole ordeal. He sighed deeply. "Well, that was easier than I thought it would be."
Hermione tried to put a deep meaning behind her next sentence, tried to chock it full of hints. "When people apologize for things they've done wrong, it is a sign of maturity. And a mature person will respond by forgiving the apologizer in question. Even years after the fact." What she was referring to, of course, was to Draco's foul treatment of herself all throughout school, and of his association with the death eaters, and almost getting Ron poisoned. Draco didn't catch the hint.
"What do you mean, 'years after the fact'? It's only been an hour."
Hermione sighed. "I was just speaking in generalities." So much for that.
"Oh. Okay." Draco shrugged, completely oblivious. "Well, I thought you'd like to see this." He flicked his wand, conjuring up a copy of The Daily Prophet. "You've got the front page," he said, pointing to it.
It was true. A large picture of Hermione dominated the front page. She recognized the picture. It had been taken in the Hogwarts kitchens about a year ago, when Hermione had worked alongside the house elves to prove her support of them. It hadn't ended particularly well; the house elves liked her, but they simply did not want to be paid for their work. In the picture, she was kneeling down amongst a mob of house elves, and she was smiling happily while the elves merely looked anxious to get back to work.
LONDON WOMAN INFECTED WITH DEADLY DISEASE
This past Monday, employee of the Ministry of Magic's Department for Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures Hermione Granger was attacked by an infected Crup. The attack resulted in the infection of Granger with the rare and deadly disease known as Crupulus.
Hermione Granger is an esteemed member of the community. Ex-girlfriend of The Boy Who Lived, Harry Potter, she helped him on his mission to destroy you-know-who's various horcruxes. In fact, in the Quibbler-exclusive interview Potter gave about said horcruxes four years ago, he states that he "couldn't have done it without Hermione."
Granger also holds importance in the hearts and minds of various magical creatures with less-than-human intelligence. Centaurs, mermaids, goblins and house elves from all over the country come to talk to Granger about their problems, whether they be important or not. Many wizards and witches have stated the opinion that Granger's work is unimportant. Specifically, esteemed wizard Howard Hulkens, who works as a deadly creatures executioner for the Ministry, states that Granger's work is "unneeded, a complete waste of effort and money." He also states that the creatures Granger considers as equals to humans are "stupid, dirty animals, nothing more, and should be treated as such."
It seems that despite Granger's great achievements, fate will not spare her. Crupulus is currently classified as an incurable disease. Saint Mungo's is working on a cure, but the outlook is not good. Magical creatures everywhere may have to consider what they will do in the future, with no Hermione Granger to help them.
The infected Crup that attacked Granger, known as Karma, has since been put down, and not even Granger could argue that it was unjust.
-Rita Skeeter
The caption underneath the picture read: Granger, with the house elves at Hogwart's kitchens. Granger has tried many a time to get house elves "fair wages," but has not been successful.
Draco had been worried that the article would anger Hermione. Remembering their previous talk about Rita Skeeter, Draco thought she'd be writing to the Ministry as soon as she finished reading to tell them that Rita was an unregistered animagus. However, when she set the paper aside, she had the complete opposite reaction: She burst out laughing.
Draco was confused, to say the least. "How did that article manage to make you laugh?"
"Poor, poor Rita," Hermione managed to get out through her giggles. "Trying to anger me while at the same time staying honest so that our deal would be upheld." Hermione snorted. "I mean, honestly? Howard Hulkens? She quotes that moron to try and upset me? He barely graduated from Hogwarts. He's only employed by the Ministry because his father hired him!"
Draco began laughing as well. He knew Hulkens, and she was right: he was a moron. "Well, I'm just pissed that I didn't get mentioned. But I guess she was scared of singling me out as a poor healer specifically, so she instead just labeled all of St. Mungo's as incompetent. 'The outlook is not good,' honestly. How in the hell would she know?"
This caused Hermione to laugh even louder. When she leaned over, clutching her stomach, Draco thought it was because of her excessive laughter. Upon getting a closer look at her, he saw that her facial expression was one of intense agony. She stopped laughing completely, now overtaken by groans of pain. Draco guessed she was experiencing painful stomach cramps, and that her laughter had probably brought them around. His laughter died away right along with hers, and he summoned a pain potion, which she quickly consumed.
Her face still showed the pain from the stomach cramps, but she was no longer clutching herself. She looked scared that it might happen again. "I wonder if that's what pregnancy contractions feel like," Hermione wondered out loud, while she wondered to herself if she would ever get to feel a pregnancy contraction.
Draco knew that the answer was no, knew that Crupulus cramps were far more painful than pregnancy contractions, but didn't have the heart to tell her. He had noticed that her expression had quickly gone from one of fear to one of utter sadness. If he had to guess why, he would guess that she had just realized she may never live to experience pregnancy. The idea made Draco feel like his stomach had been twisted into a knot. No one deserves to die so young. He only wished he had realized that before he'd sided with Voldemort.
He'd been going to point out that if she ever did experience pregnancy cramps, they'd be nothing to her after the Crupulus. Instead, he merely shrugged, saying, "I couldn't tell you," and excused himself so she could have some time alone.
Hermione's Crupulus symptoms had been occurring pretty regularly. Over the past three days, Draco had had to give her multiple pain potions, cure a few instances of coughing, and fill her up on water. Her appetite was also decreasing, though the effects of it didn't yet show in her weight. The pain didn't appear to scare Hermione much anymore; she expected it, was used to it, and knew that it would be over quickly whenever it happened. Still, Draco couldn't help but wonder how long it would take before the symptoms would begin to develop a resistance to the various potions and spells he could provide.
The episodes only reminded Draco that he had a very limited time in which to either save Hermione, or watch her slowly die.
---
Astley was waiting in Draco's office when he returned there. "Draco," Astley greeted him, standing. "How are you feeling?"
They exchanged pleasantries for a while, but it didn't take Astley long to get to the point of the conversation.
"How is your work on the Crupulus coming?"
Draco showed Astley a stack of notes that was sitting on his desk. He was quite proud of the amount of work he'd accomplished so far. He read three giant tomes about Crupulus in less than a week, and his notes themselves were almost equal to a book. Astley nodded in approval.
"When will you commence testing?" he asked. Draco shrugged.
"I have a few ideas for potions, but I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to test them," he told Astley honestly. As far as he knew, the only way to test if the cures worked would be to give them to Hermione, and that was a risk because he could never predict the side effects they would have. Astley seemed to arrive at a similar conclusion.
"It is problematic," he said, scratching his chin contemplatively. "But I suppose if the potions have no dangerous ingredients in them, there is no harm in having Miss Granger try them. The side effects can't be worse than the Crupulus." Draco nodded slowly. There seemed to be no other solution. "We'll have to get her permission, of course, but I can't see her denying it." Again, Draco nodded.
"I'm very proud of the work you've accomplished so far," Astley told Draco, knowing he thrived on praise. "At this rate, Miss Granger will be cured and headed home by the end of the month."
Draco smiled modestly. "Well, maybe not that soon."
"In any case, I want you to take the rest of the day off. You've been here for almost a week now."
"A day off? But what about my research, and the –"
"As you've said, Miss Granger has roughly six months. One night off won't hurt." Astley smiled gently. "You're working too hard. I'll assign Simon Baker to her for the afternoon. He's a good healer; he can handle it."
"Well, I'll need to talk to him first," Draco commanded. "Make sure he knows what to do."
"Feel free, Draco, feel free," Astley said, standing to leave. "I shall check in with you again in a couple of days."
"Alright," Draco said, standing to leave as well.
"And Draco?" Astley said, glancing back. "Try to have some fun. You need it."
Draco nodded, but inwardly sighed.
It looked like he would be going out for drinks with Blaise after all.
---
Draco tracked Simon down in the employee's lounge, where he was chatting up one of the female healers.
"Baker, we need to talk." Simon followed Draco out of the room, looking slightly disappointed. He knew better than to say no to Draco, though. They were acquaintances, but Draco still wouldn't have allowed it.
Simon followed Draco to a secluded stretch of hallway and raised his eyebrows expectantly.
"You're going to be taking care of Hermione Granger," Draco stated. Simon nodded; Astley had already told him. "Well, there's a few things you should know," Draco continued. Again, Simon nodded, slightly impatient. He wondered if the female healer would wait for him to return.
"She's very headstrong. Don't try and force her to eat; she's likely to eat more if you don't say anything. She likes doing as many things for herself as she can, so don't try fluffing her pillows or some shit. She needs plenty of water, so make sure you get her it. The pain she experiences is intense, so summon the pain potion quickly and don't dawdle when you hear her alarm." He emphasized this point. "When you're taking care of her, she is the most important thing. Not chatting up other healers. Do you understand?"
Simon nodded again, more forcefully this time. He wasn't enjoying getting lectured; he knew how to be a healer. "You know, I vaguely remember you telling me you hated her less than a week ago in the cafeteria. But it sounds to me like you're rather concerned about her well-being."
Draco scowled. He and Simon usually got on all right, but Draco felt very irritated at the moment. "She's my responsibility. I don't want to be blamed if you make mistakes."
Simon scoffed. "Fine, whatever. I get it. Anything else?" Simon barely refrained from adding a sarcastic your majesty to the end of his question.
"If anything unusual happens, anything you aren't prepared for, contact me immediately." Draco shoved a small mirror into Simon's hand. "Speak my name into the mirror and you'll be able to talk to me. Is that clear?"
"Yes, Draco," Simon said exhaustedly.
"Do you have any questions?" Draco prodded, not entirely satisfied.
"No." Simon had a few negative things he wanted to say to Draco at the moment, but given his bad mood, Simon knew better than to risk it. Actually, he knew better than to risk talking back to Draco even if he was in a good mood.
"Fine," Draco said, for some reason feeling frustrated. "I'll be back by midnight."
Without responding, Simon turned and walked back towards the employee's lounge, hoping the girl was still there.
Not knowing why he was feeling so uneasy, Draco sighed, turned on his heel, and apparated into Blaise Zabini's apartment.
A/N: Next chapter: Drinks with Blaise. Will Draco meet a girl smart enough for him? Will Blaise meet one horny enough? Will Simon have to request Draco's help through the mirror?