Part XXV:
Where am I?
Hermione woke up and didn't know where she was. She looked around, confused. She looked at her hands, which were covered in bandages, as were her arms. She was in a great deal of pain. She felt like she had sunburn on her face and arms. She tried to sit up, but her mother rushed to her side and said, "Lie back down, sweetheart."
"Mummy?" Hermione asked. "What's going on. Where am I?"
"You're in that Wizarding Hospital, I can't recall the name," her mother told her, stroking her hair. She bent down and kissed her forehead. "You father is here as well. I should go tell him that you're awake."
"Wait, why am I here?" Hermione begged.
"There was an explosion in your Potions class," was all her mother said.
Her father picked that moment to come back to her room and he stood on the other side of her bed.
"Daddy, what happened? Mum said there was an explosion," Hermione questioned.
"Yes, there was, and you suffered very bad burns to your face, chest, arms and hands," her father said, touching her hair. He came to stand next to her mother and looked down at his little girl with such sadness that it almost broke Hermione's heart.
"What about the others?' Hermione just realized. OH! What about Draco, she just thought.
"Well, two were brought here with you, and one is being treated at the school," her father told her.
Hermione thought for a moment. That was only four, counting her. "That's only four, and there were five of us. Where is the other student? What happened? Tell me."
Her mother looked at her father and he bent down to her and whispered, "One of the students didn't make it, sweetheart. They died."
Hermione was soon crying. Please, not Draco. "Who died, Daddy?" she asked, through her tears.
Before he could answer his daughter, a Healer came in and said a spell over Hermione, assuming she was crying from the pain. Soon, she was fast asleep. She never heard who had died.
When she woke up again, she could tell it was night time outside. She looked for her mum and dad and didn't see them. She called out, "Mum, are you there?" Harry Potter got up from a chair in the corner of the room and came to stand by her bed.
"I'm not your mum, but will I do?" he asked, smiling down at his friend. "Your mum and dad were very tired. They travelled by plane all the way here from Australia, and they've been at your bedside for the last two days. Mrs. Weasley finally convinced them to go back to the Burrow for some food and sleep." As Harry spoke to her, he had his hand on her shoulder. He was afraid to touch her anywhere else, because of her burns.
"My dad said someone died; who died, Harry?" Hermione asked, looking up at him.
"Terry Boot," Harry said softly.
Hermione started to cry again. She would have cried no matter who he said, but as soon as he said, 'Terry Boot', all Hermione could think about was how mean she had been to him, and how she told him she hated him, and how she really didn't, and now he would never know.
"Who else is here, at St. Mungo's?" Hermione asked him when her tears subsided.
"Draco and Michael. Luna is at Hogwarts, in the Hospital wing," Harry said.
"Are Draco and Michael hurt badly?" she was afraid to ask that question, but she had to.
"Draco's not as bad as you, I dare say," Harry said, leaning over her and fixing her covers. "Draco has burns much like yours, to his face, chest and upper body. Michael and Terry took the bulk of the explosion. Michael has burns on 90 percent of his body, and he is in very critical condition, and Terry died in the explosion."
Hermione began to weep again. She said, "Harry, this wasn't just an accident. This was murder."
"We know. Luna explained everything. We'll figure out what's going on, I promise. However, for now, you need to concentrate on getting better. Ginny and Ron are both outside, and they both want to see you, but you're only allowed one visitor at a time, besides your parents," Harry explained. "Who may I send in first?"
"Ron," she said.
After visiting with her friends, she was tired. The healers came in and performed some more spells, gave her some potions, and applied new bandages. Her parents came back and spent the night in her room. About four in the morning, she heard the door opening to her room. She quickly looked over at her parents, who were both asleep in chairs by the window. She looked back toward the door. The room she was dark, and the light from the corridor made the person appear to be merely a dark outline at first, almost a shadow. As this stranger walked closer to her bed, she saw it was Draco.
His face was red and blistered. It was shiny, like they had applied some type of ointment on his skin. His hands and arms were wrapped, but not quite like hers. He came into the room, stood by her bed, and looked down at her. He reached tentative fingers to her arm, and let them rest there as he said, "Gee, Granger, some people will do anything for attention." He tried to smile, although he felt the smile on his face was artificial and fake.
"Have you heard about Terry?" Hermione managed to ask.
The smile left his face and he said, "Yes, I heard. I actually knew about it before we were brought here. He died instantly, they say."
She started to cry again. He reached over and caught one of her tears with his index finger as it rolled down her face. He rubbed his finger gently down to her chin and then moved his hand away.
"Have you met my mum and my dad?" Hermione asked.
"Yes, they came and saw me in my room yesterday. I think you dad wanted to do the old, 'so you're dating my daughter routine', but he took pity on my present condition. I might have moaned a few times more than was necessary while he was in there." He smiled at that honest admission. She smiled too. Draco added, "They seem like really nice, decent, people."
"Has anyone told your parents?" she asked.
"Right after it happened, they actually let my mum come see me," Draco said, sounding incredibly sad and depressed, "but she only got to stay for an hour. It was good to see her, even if it wasn't ideal conditions."
"This wasn't an accident, you know," Hermione said.
"Listen, Granger, there's plenty of time to play detective. Right now, just concentrate on getting better. I know it's hard to turn off that massive mind of yours, it's almost like trying to turn off the sun, but I'll have the healers put you in a coma if you don't give it a rest right now." He actually seemed serious.
"No coma necessary. Harry told me the same thing," she relayed.
"I should go back to my room. I get to go home tomorrow," he said, bending over her small frame and kissing her forehead.
"Home?" she asked. Was he going back to the Manor? Wasn't he returning to school?
Draco said, "Yes, home, back to Hogwarts." He smiled once more and gingerly touched her cheek. "What did you think I meant, little one? I'll stop by again before I leave."
"I want you to stay a while longer, please, just until I get to sleep. Unless, you're too tired," Hermione reasoned. "You probably are, I'm sorry; go back to your room."
"No, I'll stay a while. I'm not tired," he lied, as he was incredibly tired. Draco took another chair that was in the room and put it right next to her bed, and held her hand until she went to sleep.
Do you hear me?
Draco stayed by her bed until dawn. Her mum woke up once and came over to her daughter's bed. She stood behind Draco's chair and put her hand on his shoulder. He didn't know what to make of that. He acted unaffected, all the while, he was curious as to her purpose. Her mum said, "I know she loves you a lot. She's written to us about you. I know you love her as well." She bent down and kissed the top of his head and then she moved around him and kissed her daughter. She turned back around, put her hand on Draco's cheek, and smiled. She moved her hand to the back of his chair and said, "Promise me you will take care of her when we go back to Australia."
Draco looked up at her and said, "There's not much I feel I can do in my life, not much I feel in control of, but the one thing I can do is promise you that." She smiled once more and left the room. Draco stood up and left as well, to go get a couple hours of sleep.
Later that day, right before Draco was discharged, he came back to her room to tell her goodbye. She looked up at the door as he hesitantly walked into the room. She asked her parents to give her a moment alone with him. He sat down on the edge of the bed and put his hand on her blanket-covered leg. "Draco, promise me something," Hermione requested. He laughed and she asked, "What's so funny?"
"You are. You and your mum are a lot alike. She said the exact same thing to me earlier. She made me promise her something also," he confessed.
"What did you promise her?" Hermione inquired.
"Well, now that's between her and me," he said, smiling, "but, go ahead and tell me what I must promise you."
Hermione said, "Just promise me that you'll take care of yourself, and keep your eyes open. Don't trust anyone. Just stay safe. I don't want anything to happen to you."
He stood up, leaned down, and kissed her forehead. "I promise." He stood there, with his hand on her arm, and he suddenly got an image of Terry's girlfriend. He thought about the pain she must be going through right now. She was probably sad, and crying, and missing him. He thought how terrible it must feel to bury a son, like Terry's parents had to do. He thought of Michael, who lost his best friend, and who may lose his own life. Terry Boot's life was over. He was to be buried deep in the ground, too soon, and for no good reason.
"Draco, what's wrong?" Hermione asked, as he was staring off into space. When he didn't say anything for a while, she said his name again.
He finally looked at her and said, "I promise. I'll take care of myself." He also added, "I will always take care of you." He was worried about something, so he thought he would say what was on his mind, "Your parents aren't going to insist you go back with them, are they?"
"No, they don't even know what's been going on. I have asked everyone not to talk about it to them. They think this was just a tragic accident," Hermione said, somewhat sadly. Then she said, "Draco, I love you so much, please, I need to say this again, but please don't die."
"I love you, too, and don't worry, haven't you heard, only the good die young, so I should have a nice long life," he said with fake ease.
"I feel so badly about Terry. I treated him so dreadful and I told him I couldn't forgive him. I told him he was no longer my friend," she said, with a cry.
"He really thought highly of you. He knew you didn't hate him," Draco confided in her. It was what she needed to hear. He said, "Well, Professor Weasley is waiting to take me back, so I should go."
"Home?" she asked.
"Yes, I told you before, back home to Hogwarts." He kissed her once again and turned to leave. He walked out of her room, feeling like an empty shell, hollow and void of thought and feeling, empty of all conscious contemplation, and all mental capacity. He wouldn't feel complete again until Hermione came home as well.
The Good Die Young:
Hermione left the hospital two weeks after the accident. Professor McGonagall decided to hold a memorial service for Terry the day after she got back. Michael was still in the hospital, but he was doing much better.
It was a beautiful day, sunny and warm. Winter was gone and in its wake, suddenly was spring. It made no sense, that in the season of rebirth and growth, a young man's life was being recognized because it had ended.
All of the students gathered in the Great Hall. The Hogwarts choir sang a beautiful song. Professor Flitwick gave the eulogy. Terry's parents and older brothers came to the service. It must have been very hard for them. They had the actual burial three days after he died, so coming here to Hogwarts must have been a painful reminder of what they had lost.
After the service was over, Hermione walked up to Terry's parents. His mother was crying, and his father looked close to tears. She said, "I'm Hermione Granger, and I want you to know how special your son was to me. He was a true friend, and a moral, righteous, giving man, and I'll miss him terribly." His mother turned her head and let out a loud sob. Terry's father actually hugged Hermione. She walked further up the aisle and saw three men, who besides being different ages and sizes looked like carbon copies of Terry. They must have been his brothers. One of them hugged her as his father did. The second one shook her hand. The third, which appeared to be the oldest, took her elbow and led her a few steps from his family.
He said, "My name is Don and I want you to know that we won't rest until we find out who did this to all of you. Just a few days before he died, Terry wrote to me and said that you hadn't yet forgiven him, but he understood. He felt like he had betrayed you. He made me vow that I would find out who was responsible, and bring them to justice. I want you to know, Miss Granger that I'm going to do just that for my little brother, and for you."
Hermione started crying and she threw her arms around this stranger and cried and cried. He held on to her. Sometimes comfort was best found in the arms of a stranger. Draco came up to the pair and put his hand on Hermione's back. He took her arms from around the man's neck, cradled her in his arms, and let her cry. He was close to tears himself.
He held Hermione as he looked over at a dark girl with long straight black hair, and dark brown eyes. She was crying and one of Terry's brothers came up and embraced her. Draco assumed it was Terry's girlfriend. He looked back at the girl in his arms, and then once again to the other girl. Life was unfair. He didn't want Hermione ever to go through the anguish that Terry's girlfriend appeared to be going through.
Draco started walking toward the main doors, with Hermione still crying beside him. It was chilly out, not cold, but he took off his robe and put it around her shoulders. He held her hand and walked with her to the lake. As they stood out looking at the rippling water, she said, "This is the place where I almost lost you."
"Yes, and this is the place where I thought I lost you. I thought you were dead and buried in an icy grave," he said with remorse. He looked down at her and said, "I promised your mum that I would keep you safe, but how can I keep you safe, Granger? I mean, I took a simple walk on a frozen lake, and I was almost killed. You served a detention, and you were almost killed. We did a potion assignment, we were almost killed, and one person was killed. How can I keep you safe with odds like that?" His voice cracked, and he was becoming visibly upset. "When something as simple as a walk holds the possibility of death, none of us will be safe ever again."
"But Draco, we could hide away in a stone fortress, and we could die. You can't stop living because you're afraid of dying," Hermione preached, looking up at him.
He grabbed her so suddenly that it almost scared her. He put his arms tightly around her, for he never intended to let her go. "I thought last year was hell. I thought I was scared, but nothing compares to how I feel now. Last year I only had to worry about myself, now I have to worry about you, and that scares me so much more. I'm scared. What type of man am I, if I admit to being scared?"
He let her go and started to walk briskly away from her. She followed. She said, "You want to know what type of man it makes you? It makes you a strong, honest, giving, loving man. It makes you the man I love."
He turned back toward her and said, "What are we going to do for spring break? Easter is only a week away, and I can't stand the thought of being here. I feel helpless here."
"The Weasleys invited both of us to come to the Burrow for the break, but Bill also thought we might like to go to Shell Cottage. He and Fleur will be visiting her family in France, and he said we could stay there. He said he thought we could use some time alone, and away from everything," Hermione stated. "I think we should definitely do one of the two."
"Where is Shell Cottage?" Draco asked.
"It's on the coastline, and it sits up on the rocky shore, with the sea down below. We spent some time there last year; Ron, Harry and I. I think we should go there," Hermione suggested.
"Is it safe?" he wondered out loud
"Bill used to be a curse-breaker for Gringotts, remember? He probably has every know ward and enchantment know to wizard kind set up at that place," she said.
He sighed and said, "I think that sounds nice. Let's go there."
She sat down on a rock and shivered as the March winds blew a cold breeze past her. He sat down next to her and grabbed her hand. She asked, "Have you ever read the Muggle book 'Death Be Not Proud'?"
"No, what's it about?" he asked.
"It's by an American author named John Gunther, and it's a true story. He wrote about his son's struggle with a brain tumour and his death at age 17. It just tells of real life struggles that a family goes through when they lose a child, and what it's like when a life is cut short. I've been thinking about it for the last couple of days. Terry's life was cut way too short," she said poignantly, looking down at her hands, which she had clasped together, resting in her lap.
Draco put his arm around her and she leaned into his chest. She said, "It's just so sad when a person loses their life so young, because you never know what they could have accomplished, what was in store for them, and for others who knew them. I know one thing though, he changed my life, and for the better."
"I know that my life was also better because I knew him," Draco said, sincerely.
"How so?" Hermione wanted to know.
"He was one of the few people my own age, besides you, that talked to me like an equal. He didn't fear me; he didn't look down on me. He just talked to me. I've never had a male friend before who liked me for me," Draco said, looking out at the lake.
Hermione leaned closer and put her head on his lap and started to cry. He stroked her hair. She said, with her head still in his lap, "I still feel bad about the way I was with him toward the end, but I need to remember the good times we had, not focus on the bad times."
He lifted her body from his lap and said, "Stroll with me, Granger." He stood up and offered her his hand, and they strolled around the lake, each lost in their own thoughts, and living with their own regrets.