Early hours of the morning, Thursday, July 22nd, 1999
Draco slowly awoke to the sound of faint breathing next to him and indescribable pain coming from every part of his body. He opened his eyes, confused as to where he was, and looked down at his aching body to see tens of bandages and bruises scattered everywhere on him. He knew by the looks of the room that he must be in St. Mungo's. He remembered bits and pieces of why he would be in the hospital, he knew he had been cursed, but that was it.
Hearing the quiet and slow breathing coming from his left again, he looked over to see Aurora peacefully sleeping on a chair beside his bed. He had never been so happy to see anyone, and for a moment he forgot about the immense pain pulsing through his body. She looked so sweet and calm but he knew the worry that he must have put her through over the past few weeks. Draco tried to envision what must have ran through her mind when she was informed of him being injured. Especially because he didn't even know exactly what happened to him.
All he remembered was that very familiar male voice and the spell that he knew but he couldn't put his finger on what it was. Hoping he would remember with time, Draco laid his head back on the pillow and closed his eyes not wanting to awake the lovely woman who sat beside him.
As if somehow sensing the slight movement around her, Aurora woke up after a very uncomfortable nap in the plastic chair next to Draco's bed. Opening her eyes, Aurora noticed her hand still entwined with Draco's pale hand and she lightly squeezed it. To her surprise, she felt a light squeeze back. She smiled and looked up to Draco's tired face. He was awake now and smiling back at her.
"I missed you," Draco said quietly and earnestly.
"I missed you too, how are you feeling?" Aurora asked caringly, knowing that with the amount of injuries inflicted on him that he must be hurting very badly.
"Awful, I don't know what that curse did to me." Draco said, wincing from remembering how much pain he was feeling in every inch of his body.
Aurora reached to the table next to her and grabbed a little bottle filled with a light purple liquid inside it, "The healer came back while you were still asleep and told me to give you this when you woke up for the pain. She told me that they don't know what else to do for you right now because of your injuries, she said that they were unlike any she had seen before. The healers were all quite confused."
"Thank you. I don't remember what curse I was hit with, I know I heard it, but I can't remember it." Draco took the bottle from Aurora's outstretched hand, for a quick moment their hands touched and he was reminded of how much he missed her and how much he wanted to be close to her. He quickly drank the potion, it tasted horrible, but within seconds he started to feel the pain lessen. He was thankful for Aurora's presence, because even her just being there was helping him feel better.
"The healer also said that you should rest some more after taking the potion since it is very strong," Aurora mentioned quietly.
"Alright," Draco said, he did not really want to sleep because he was finally back with the girl he had been so anxious and impatient to see for weeks.
"Do you still want me to stay with you?" Aurora asked, hoping he would say yes because she did not want to leave his side.
"Yes, of course I do." Draco said, taken aback that she would even think that he would want her to leave. He recalled how he never wanted to leave her to go on the mission, all he wanted to do that morning he left was to stay with her. That night they had slept next to each other was the best night of his life, so far. He hoped that there would be many more nights and moments like that with Aurora.
Taking a chance, Draco held out his hand, inviting Aurora to lay on the small hospital bed with him. Aurora took his hand gently and somehow knew what he meant. She carefully climbed up on the bed next to him and laid close to him. She tried not to hurt him as she laid against him and rested her head on the soft pillow next to his.
Draco thought to himself about how even though Aurora looked exhausted from waiting for him to wake up and being so worried, she still looked beautiful. He still thought that she was the most beautiful woman he had ever set eyes on. It was amazing to him that someone as stunning and as sweet as her would ever have feelings for someone like him. He knew he wasn't nearly what she deserved, but he knew that she was the one he wanted and he would do his best to be what she deserved. Draco knew that he felt something for her that he had never felt for anyone before, love.
Aurora looked into Draco's gray eyes and thought about how much she had missed seeing him. She never knew she could begin to care about someone as quickly as she did for Draco. She was worried sick for him the whole time he was away. There was something special about him, she thought, he was unlike any man she had ever met before. He was so handsome yet he was kind and shy.
For the first time in weeks, Draco leaned in close to Aurora and kissed her lightly. Her lips felt like silk on his. Sensing her kiss him back, Draco deepened the kiss and he felt her tongue timidly touch his. Aurora's heart beat faster as Draco kissed her, she had so longed to kiss him for so long.
The kiss lasted for what only seemed like seconds, when Aurora slowly pulled away and smiled at Draco. She didn't want to stop kissing him but she knew that he needed to rest and she didn't want to be the one to slow his recovery. Aurora lovingly laid her head on his shoulder and waited for sleep to come.
. . .
That voice, it was so familiar, but whose was it? And that curse, the wounds felt almost identical to another Draco had experienced before.
Draco heard it over and over in his mind, he tried focusing in on the tone and the sound of the word but he couldn't. The memory wouldn't come. As he dreamt, he relived the moment again and again but the memory was blurred and contorted.
Draco was awoken by the sound of the hospital room door gently shutting and clicking into place and two pairs of light footsteps in the room. He opened his eyes to see a young woman he assumed to be the healer looking after him and his partner, Phil. Also, he noticed that Aurora was no longer in the little bed with him. He knew they must have asked her to leave, but he missed her presence and wished that they had let her stay.
"Good morning, Mr. Malfoy, how are you feeling?" The healer asked sweetly.
"I'm alright, the potion helped quite a bit." Draco explained.
"Draco, do you know who cursed you?" Phil asked, butting in, obviously wanting to get to the bottom of the whole situation.
Draco looked to him and shook his head, "No, but i recognized his voice. I'm hoping it will come back to me in time."
"We captured many of Dolohov's and Greyback's followers but they all claim that they didn't curse you, not that we can believe them anyway. Dolohov is still in questioning." Phil explained to him.
"And Greyback?" Draco asked curiously. He hoped that they had at least captured him, he did not want his first mission to be meaningless.
"He is dead." Phil informed him succinctly.
"Good." Draco replied, relieved at the news.
"Mr. Malfoy," the healer interjected, "upon further inspection, we can cure your wounds without knowing what curse caused them. But, I am sure the Ministry would be interested to know what curse has stumped us."
"Yes, if you do remember, be sure to inform us of what it was, and who said it," Phil added, "I better be off now, the Auror department had got their hands full with all of our new captures, no one will say a thing." After that, Phil apparated from the room with the sound of a crack.
"Were going to give you a few different potions to take for your different lacerations. You should be all healed up in a few days," the healer explained.
"Am I able to go home now?" Draco said hopefully, he was already quite sick of laying in the hospital bed.
"Yes, but we would suggest that you not apparate. You can use the floo network, there's a fireplace down at the end of the hall to your right," the healer informed him, "oh yes, and we also sent your girlfriend home this morning too."
"Thank you." Draco said as the healer left the room. Sitting on the table next to him was a set of his clothes that Aurora must have brought back for him while he was still asleep.
Cautiously, Draco got out of the bed. His body felt sore and bruised. He gingerly changed into his regular clothes and started to walk out of the room. He noticed that he had to walk with a sort of limp because of one of the larger gashes in his leg. Making his way down the hallway to the fireplace, he noticed that compared to the other patients he could see on the fourth floor, he was lucky. Curses can cause some nasty injuries, and the fourth floor was for those who were in the most critical condition.
Finally making it to the fireplace, he grabbed a handful of the green powder, and disappeared home.
. . .
Friday, July 23rd, 1999
Finishing work at precisely six o'clock, Aurora left Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes as quickly as she could. All day she had been thinking about Draco. Since the day before she couldn't stop thinking about him. After not being able to see him for weeks, all she wanted to do was go see him.
The night before, Draco had sent her a letter asking her to come by his house after work. Aurora was anxious to see him again and she wanted to be there with him to make sure he was feeling better and healing up well, but she was also nervous because she knew she was beginning to have really strong feelings for him. She didn't know if she had started to feel so seriously about their relationship too soon, it had almost been two months since their first date but she didn't have any previous experience with men. Out of insecurity, Aurora decided to wait to say much about these feelings because she wanted to be sure that Draco felt the same.
Aurora disapparated from Diagon Alley to the friendly neighborhood that Draco lived in. She rather liked the area, there seemed to be many families with children and everyone she passed either gave her a friendly smile or said hello. Approaching Draco's home, Aurora knocked on the door, she still wasn't quite comfortable simply apparating into his house.
Hearing Draco's familiar footsteps coming to the door, Aurora smiled, she thought it was amazing how even just anticipating seeing Draco's handsome face could make her so happy and giddy.
Draco opened the door and smiled at Aurora and let her inside and immediately pulled her into an embrace. He held her close and buried his face in her hair, she smelled so nice, he thought, like flowers and a sweet scented perfume.
"I'm sorry," he said as he hesitantly let go of her.
"What for?" Aurora asked as she looked up at him.
"For worrying you all that time, and for somehow managing to end up in the hospital on my first mission," Draco apologized, almost embarrassed for his incapability to stay safe while he was away.
"You don't need to apologize for that, it's your job. It's not your fault that you got hurt, from what I heard you did exceptionally well." Aurora said, trying to console him.
"You're right, it is my job. It's my job to make up for everything my family did and helped with during the war. I need to do this." Draco explained to her, but in all honesty, he didn't know what else he would be good at. It was almost like this is what he was always supposed to do.
"Well what do you do now that you're home?" Aurora asked, hoping he wouldn't say that he was leaving again.
"I'll work at the ministry in the Auror department, mostly helping other Aurors question the Death Eaters they have captured and help organize other Aurors missions. Since I was injured, they won't send me on another assignment for a while. I'm hoping I'll be assigned a permanent partner soon." Draco informed Aurora. He was utterly relieved that he didn't have to leave again for quite a while.
"I'm not going to lie, I'm glad you won't be going anywhere anytime soon." Aurora blushed as she admitted her relief.
Draco smiled at her words, "And why is that?"
"I really missed you and I wanted to be with you again." Aurora said shyly. She wanted to tell Draco how she felt about him no matter how shy she was because she didn't want him to think she was losing interest.
Draco took Aurora's hand and held it gently and said, "There wasn't one day while I was away where I didn't think about you or wish I was with you."
"Really?" Aurora asked, smiling at him and holding his hand back.
"Of course." Draco said as he smiled back at her. He reached up his other hand and stroked her cheek softly and kissed her tenderly.
Aurora's heart always raced whenever Draco kissed her. She felt so happy and the butterflies in her stomach went wild. Just being close to him made her whole day. There was no doubt in her mind, she loved this man.