Author's Note: This story is dedicated, once again, to Lu Mezenga, lovely BETA e to my friend Stefanie, 'cause none of my OCs would be fun enough if they weren't based in anyone but her. I do not own anything, queen Jo has all these rights. R&R :)
Chapter 11:
As soon as Draco apparated with Stefanie and Hermione at the hospital, two nurses rushed towards them to help. One of them levitated Hermione and left with her body.
"Where are you taking her?" Draco tried to go after them, but the second nurse stopped him.
"Calm down, Sir, Alex is going to take care of her. Do you have any injuries?" the nurse asked them.
"I think I broke my wrist," Stefanie said.
"Come with me, then," the nurse replied and turned to Draco. "What about you, sir?"
"I'm sorry, what?" Draco, who had been looking at the path the other nurse, called Alex, made with Hermione, realised that the second nurse was talking to him.
"Are you hurt?" the girl asked again.
"I'm fine, just take care of them," he said referring to Stefanie and Hermione.
"You're not fine! Your dad tortured you, didn't he?" Stefanie interfered. "He may look fine, but he is not. Can you ask someone to take a look at him?"
"Torture? Why didn't you say anything, sir? Come with us. I'll ask a medwitch to examine you," the nurse said.
Stefanie and Draco followed the woman to the elevator and she took them to the right floor. They walked through a big hallway, until they reached a door.
"You can wait here, sir. The medwitch will be with you in a few minutes," the nurse said opening the door. "You can get in, if you want."
Draco looked inside the small practice with a stretcher in the middle of the room and some medical things on a workbench.
"Come on, please, don't tell me you are afraid of medwitches or hospitals," the nurse rolled her eyes. "Seriously, there are 5 year olds who are braver than you. There is nothing to be afraid of. So, just get in there."
"I'm not afraid, I just don't like places like this," Draco replied and Stefanie suppressed a small laughter.
"Don't worry, I'm sure he'll manage," Stefanie smirked.
"All right, stay in there and the medwitch will be here soon," the nurse repeated and slightly pushed Draco in.
He tried to say something in return, but the nurse had already left shutting the door behind her.
"That's just fucking great!" he mumbled to himself.
He wasn't feeling bad or anything. His father had tortured him, yes, but Draco didn't care any more. He had already kind of got used to it and the Cruciatus Curse didn't have a long effect on him. Lucius was dead and Draco couldn't believe it. Stefanie had killed his father and yet, he wasn't angry with her. She saved him and his mother, which was much better and he was grateful she had come with him.
"She may be a pain in the ass sometimes, but she turned out to be quite helpful," he said, although he would hardly admit it in front of her.
"Hello, Mr..." someone said suddenly and Draco turned around surprised.
"Malfoy, I'm Draco Malfoy," Draco answered the medwitch who just entered the room.
"What exactly happened, Mr. Malfoy? Sam told me your friend said you were tortured," the medwitch frowned.
Reluctantly, Draco told the medwitch part of the truth. The medwitch examined Draco with her wand and gave him a potion, which made him feel much better, as he didn't have any serious injuries. Once he was released, he waited for Stefanie at the main hall and she didn't take much longer.
"How's your wrist?" he asked as she sat besides him.
"It was healed with the power of magic, can you believe it?" she joked and he smiled. "Do you have information about Hermione?"
"No, but I asked one of the nurses to keep me updated on her situation. Apparently, a medwitch is taking care of her," Draco answered. "What is really pissing me off is that the aurors are late! Where the hell are Potter and Weasley yelling at me for having Hermione almost killed? I mean, aren't they supposed to do their job?"
"Do you know what I just realised?" Stefanie said and he looked at her. "You call Hermione by her first name sometimes, but never in front of her. Why?"
"I don't know. Habit? She was never my friend and we always called each other by our last names. She never called me by my first name either," he shrugged.
"And when are you telling her that you like her?" Stefanie asked.
"I don't."
"I mean, really like her," Stefanie continued.
"I don't really like her."
"Then why did you save her?"
"Because I couldn't let her die!" Draco answered.
"So you care about her?" Stefanie smirked.
"You can say so," he replied.
"If you care, it means you like her," Stefanie grinned.
"Just shut up, okay?"
"All right, but I'll tell you this, you can lie all you want, but it's not me who you're fooling, you know? It's your chance of happiness you're letting pass by."
"Don't you ever get tired?" Draco complained.
Stefanie finally took it as a chance to be quiet, but the silence didn't last as long as Draco wished it did.
"I wanted to apologize, you know, for killing your father and stuff," she looked down.
"You saved me and my mother, not only from death, but from a horrible future we would have with him. I will never thank you enough," he replied.
"So, you're not angry with me?" she asked confused.
"Angry? No. I feel sad because of my dad, but the relief to know that he's never coming back is much bigger."
"I still feel bad."
"Don't be, seriously," he smiled.
"Malfoy!" someone yelled and he got up to see Harry and Ron rushing towards them.
"What did you do to her?" Ron yelled and pressed him against the wall.
"Me? Nothing!"
"Then, why is she almost dead on a hospital bed?"
"First, she's not almost dead on a hospital bed. Secondly..." he started.
"Oh Merlin! I cannot believe that I'm standing besides Harry Potter," Stefanie squeaked. "And Ron Weasley. It's such an honour. Now I already met the whole Golden Trio."
"Who's that? Your accomplice?" Ron let Draco go and pointed his wand to Stefanie.
"Sure, like I would get a partner who worships the Golden Trio. I'm not as stupid as you," answered Draco.
"Who is she, then?" Harry asked with his command voice.
"Hi, I'm officer Bech, but you can call me Stefanie," she smiled. "Draco and I are just friends. We are friends, right?"
"Let's see, you killed my father, but you helped me save Granger and you saved my life," Draco pretended he was considering the proposal. "Yes, I guess we are friends."
"So, the knife on Lucius Malfoy's neck was yours?" Ron crossed his arms.
"It is mine and I'd like it back if you are done with it."
"You can have it back, as long as you make Malfoy talk to us. The story Mrs. Malfoy told us is still a bit blurry," Harry said.
"I have nothing to hide and Stefanie will be able to confirm my story, but if you don't believe us, you can always turn to Granger, I'm sure you will believe her," Draco said.
"We've been looking for Hermione for days, where were you?" Ron asked.
"How about this, I'll tell you everything that happened and you can ask questions in the end, in case you were too stupid to follow the story," Draco said. "I promise I'll collaborate."
"Fine, let's go," Harry replied.
"Just another thing, I'm giving my statement here. I won't leave the hospital until I'm sure Granger is fine," Draco crossed his arms.
"Why?" Harry asked.
"None of your business, chosen one. Are you listening to me or not?"
Harry and Ron agreed. They asked a nurse for an empty room, so they could talk freely. They also asked to be informed if anything happened to Hermione and the nurse promised to tell them when they were able to see her. On the empty room, Draco told Harry and Ron everything with some help from Stefanie. At the end, the two aurors were still a bit suspicious, and if they hadn't seen Lucius' dead body, they wouldn't have believed it at all. Besides, Draco story matched what Narcissa told them when they were at the Manor.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Stefanie, who was the closest to the door, opened it. The nurse who had arranged the room for them looked inside and all of them stared at her.
"I'm sorry to interrupt," she said a bit embarrassed with everyone looking at her. "But Miss Granger had just woken up and you can see her now. I'm here to take you to her room."
Harry and Ron left first and they were followed by Stefanie and Draco. There was an awkward silence at the elevator and when they got to Hermione's room, the nurse turned to them.
"She was badly hurt, but definitely out of danger. However, I must warn you not to overwhelm her with anything, all right?"
They nodded and Harry entered first and Ron was about to follow his best friend and he turned to Draco and blocked the way in.
"You heard the nurse, Hermione is fine and you have nothing to worry about. You don't have another death on your hands. You can go," Ron said.
"I'm not going away until I see her. I was trying to save her, not kill her. Besides you are the ex-boyfriend. Are you sure it's me who doesn't belong here?" Draco replied.
"Merlin, how old are you? Five? Just get inside," Stefanie interfered after a second of silence.
She pushed Ron out of the way and they entered they room after her.
"I can't believe, you actually went to Australia!" Harry was saying.
"I told you I was going, no matter what," Hermione replied.
She was lying down on a bed, but she seemed much better. She didn't have any more blood on her face and the cut on her forehead was gone. She just looked tired and Draco was relieved she was fine.
"Hermione, I was so worried and I'm sorry for all the awful things that I said before you left. I promise I'll be a better boyfriend..." Ron said laying in to hug her.
"Ronald, this is not the time to talk about this," she replied hugging him back. "Now, let me see Stefanie and Draco."
"So, we are on first name basis, Hermione?" Draco approached her bed. "I mean, after everything we've been through together, are you sure we are ready for a more intimate relationship?"
"I forgot how funny you are not," she replied. "How are you? What happened after we arrived at the Manor? What about you, Stefanie? Are you okay?"
"We are fine, don't worry," Stefanie smiled. "Well, as for what happened, here goes the short version: Draco's father escaped from prison with the help of his lover, Liz, who is the same bitch who sent those men after Draco. She was working with Lucius, isn't that his name? Anyway, we got to the house..."
"Manor," Draco corrected her. K
"Manor, house, whatever. So we got there by a portkey and Draco's father tried to kill Draco's mother. But I woke just in time to throw a knife at Lucius and kill him. Liz tried to kill me for killing Lucius, but Draco shot her and saved my life. Then, you were almost dead and we brought you here," Stefanie finished without even breathing.
"Lucius is dead?" Hermione and Draco nodded. "I'm sorry, Malfoy."
"Don't be. The bastard had it coming," he replied.
"Anyway, I'd like to thank you, both of you, for saving my life and for helping me to find my parents," Hermione continued.
"It's all right, you saved my life too, so I guess we are even. I'm sorry we didn't find them," Draco answered.
"Well, I'm not sorry. If you have lost all your hopes, I haven't. My friends are still looking for them. I'm sure they will find something that will lead us to your parents, Hermione," Stefanie said. "And it was my pleasure to help you. If I hadn't gone with you, I would've stayed at the station doing paper work."
Draco and Hermione smiled. Stefanie was a bit crazy, but they were going to miss her.
They stayed a little more with her, until a medwitch kicked them out. They were almost at the exit, when Draco turned to Harry.
"Guns, Potter!" he said. "Muggle guns. Why the hell didn't you think of that at the war? They are quite useful, you know? I can't believe that not even Granger thought of that."
"I think you need to rest, Malfoy," Harry shook his head.
He and Ron apparated leaving Draco and Stefanie alone.
"Will you be okay?" she asked.
"Yes, but where do you think you're going?" he answered.
"I'm going home."
"How?" he crossed his arms.
"Apparating, stupid," she rolled her eyes.
"You can't do that. The Ministry of Magic has blocked every way out of the country, stupid," he replied.
"How did you get to Australia, then?"
"By plane," he shrugged.
"I don't have the time to stay in a plane for 24 hours," she complained. "Or the money."
"I know how you feel. But for now, I can help you. You can stay with me and my mum. Take a shower, because we both need it badly, and eat something. And then we can figure out what to do with you," he suggested.
"And how are you doing that?"
"Don't worry, I'll..."
"Manage," she completed his phrase.
"Definitely," he laughed.