Sound was vague, odd words and fragments of conversation that made no sense.
Swelling. Spine. Legs. Walk.
So she closed her eyes and fell once more back into the darkness, hoping that the next time she awoke, the world would make sense once more.
There was something wrong.
Before she registered where she was, the hospital wing. And the general overall way she felt, shitty. And the taste in her mouth, shittier.
She felt it in her stomach, in her gut.
Something was wrong. Missing. Not right.
As she awoke she became aware once more that she was heavily dosed with potions, if the sluggishness of her body was anything to go by.
She could turn her head, but her body felt like a lead weight and she couldn't even lift her arms.
Her eyelids felt weighted and her mind scrambled to remember how she ended up here, and she drew a blank.
She was about to call for Poppy when she caught movement in the corner of her eye.
Severus. He was sat in the chair beside her bed, and he looked exhausted as though he hadn't slept for a week. Odin, looking every one of his years, was sat with him.
Attempting to turn to face him, she was met with resistance and frowned down at herself as Severus shot up out of the chair, dislodging Odin with a startled caw.
"Hermione! Speak to me" There was so much panic in his face she wondered what the hell had put it there.
"What happened Severus? Why am I in the hospital wing? Why do I feel like something's missing" She managed to stumble out around her dry mouth.
He seemed to visibly relax at her first words, and she wondered just what he was expecting her to say.
Though from the sadness in his eyes, and the relief in his posture now she suddenly realised. He was worried I wouldn't be able to say anything to him...
"What happened" She repeated, as the feeling in her gut rolled again.
His eyes were sympathetic, and it looked as though he'd been crying, he opened his mouth as though to speak and then shut it again.
"Severus?"
"D-do you remember walking out with Weasley?"
She did. And everything preceding it.
"It was him Hermione. He was the one that hurt you, not Longbottom"
Her face blanched, but even as he said it, she knew it was true.
"How?"
"Polyjuice. He stole the ones from your quarters, and was impersonating Neville Longbottom, I discovered the truth when I used legillimency on him"
"He attacked me?"
"He did...there was a fight, he attacked us and threw a lot of dark stuff, even at Kingsley, he's been arrested. He's in Azkaban now"
Severus explained the duel the boy had engaged them in, the fiendfyre and dark curses, along with the severing Hex he'd thrown at Kingsley.
"Will he be alright ?" She'd asked worriedly.
"He'll have a scar, but he's been assured it makes him look roguish" Though the smile he offered was small and pained.
"What aren't you telling me Severus?"
He looked away, and once more she felt the pang of something .
"What aren't you telling me Severus? Someone got hurt I can tell, and why do I feel like this?"
"Ronald tried to find a weak link so he could make his escape. Gerard was on the floor, helping Kingsley when Ronald cast the Avada-"
"Gerard? " She asked with a gasp.
The hurt in his gaze as he met hers shook her, but her brain was still too muddled from the pain potion.
"Gerard is fine...Ronan pulled him out of the way just in time"
"But Ronan's fine right?" She asked, and she could hear the neediness in her own voice. She needed to hear he was alright, even though she suddenly understood the feeling of loss that had been plaguing her since she awoke.
"Ronan saved Gerard and he's fine, or he's hurt but he's going to be ok right?"
"Hermione..."
"Severus Please. Please tell me he's ok, he's going to be ok please..?"
He pressed his forehead to hers and cupped her cheek
"I'm sorry Hermione"
"No. No. No Severus you're wrong he's going to be alright... tell me you're wrong please, he has a mate and foals Severus please..."
She wept for a while, and was only aware of the feel of Severus's face pressed to hers and Odin as he settled on her pillow and tucked into her neck.
It was a while before she cried herself out, and Severus pulled back.
She attempted to sit up and once more was met with resistance.
"Why do I feel so heavy? like I've been hit by a train, what potions am I on?"
"It's not the potions" He said softly as he came to sit by her side.
Her eyes met his, and even Odin had his head dropped as though he could not meet her gaze.
"Why can't I move Severus?"
"The bed is charmed to restrict movement, to prevent you from aggravating your injury-"
"WHAT injury? Severus please."
He grabbed her hand and she squeezed his back, as she looked into his ashen face.
"Weasley hexed you in the back, but we're not sure what with, In all honestly I don't think it even was a hex as such, so much as it was a blast of uncontrolled magic fuelled by dark intent"
She suddenly became aware of the fact that though she could feel Severus's hand squeezing her own, and feel the magical bindings that held her to the bed, that was all she felt.
"Severus...why can't I feel my legs, why has poppy not healed me" She tried to remain composed, but the sight of Severus's teary gaze was undoing her. He was so strong, so brave why was he crying ?
"There are some things that are too delicate and complicated for even magic to heal, the mind being one of them which is why the Longbottoms are the way they are, and the other is the spine..."
She inhaled sharply at that and he took a deep breath before he continued.
"The magic weasley threw at you, hit you like a blunt force trauma, as if someone ran into you with a car. You have swelling around the L1 Lumbar Vertebrae in your spine, we're doing what we can to reduce the swelling, and we're hoping it's just that the swelling is compressing the nerves and..."
"And what?" There were tears in her eyes as she desperately tried to move her legs, her feet, her toes...anything by sheer force of will.
"We won't know for sure until the swelling goes down, but if you don't regain feeling once the swelling has gone it means the spinal cord itself is irreparably damaged...and you'll never walk again"
