Welcome back! Here is Chapter 9. This one is a little on the shorter side, but if I didn't break it where I did, it would be exceptionally long in comparison to the others.
Shout out to my reviewers for Chapter 8: LillsBills, SLYNNR, Ditte3, and buddybuddy96. You guys are the best!
oOoOo
Taking a seat on her couch, Hermione let out an exasperated sigh. What a terrible day. Actually, it was a good day until after lunch. Then everything kind of went downhill.
Letting her head fall back on the pillows, she felt like breaking open her emergency bottle of wine and downing it all in one go.
One of her patients, one that she had struck a friendship with, had a terrible tonic-clonic seizure. If you had asked her yesterday if Melody Andrews could be prone to seizures, she would have said no. The mother of 3 was in her ward because she was having erratic, and prolonged bouts of total paralysis. This episode was the diametric opposite of every episode documented in the last several months. And the worst part of the entire event was that Hermione gave her an anti-seizure potion, only for the seizure to become even more severe.
It had taken some creative thinking to find a roundabout solution. But she and her team had done it. By using mild potions, a calming draught and an outpatient procedure sedative, they were able to reduce her thrashing to minor twitches in her fingers, until the episode had passed completely.
With St. Mungo's upgrade to TRMRS, Total Room Magical Recording System, she was able to get print outs from the patient and the monitoring equipment in the room for review. The system recorded all magical movements and events, as well as syncing with the equipment for a complete and comprehensive log of what occurs, around the clock. She was then able to identify triggers or symptoms to isolate the cause of what happened. A very useful system, however very time consuming to review since there had been two Healers, one resident, and close to 5 nurses in the room at any given time, as well as the patient and the monitoring equipment.
It also didn't help her day any, having to contact Melody's family. Her husband, Burton, has not been the most supportive, or understanding, of spouses she has dealt with. Adding in that he is essentially a single dad to three boys, under the age of 8, she could only imagine the stress the man was under. Still, the floo call had been emotionally draining.
The one bright spot of her afternoon was centered around her last missive from Theo.
Melisandre, having left a couple hours earlier from her nap, looked less than enthused to be on another mail run. After landing directly on Hermione's work, she scratched at the letter with her free leg, to remove it from the ties, before taking back off through the window once she was successful. Hermione didn't even have a chance to aid the bird. All that remained was the slightly shredded parchment and the feeling of dealing with one of the haughtiest beings she had ever met. Picking up the slightly decimated letter, she couldn't help smiling at the fact that he was still responding.
Hermione,
I bet you lunch, you just need to call her. She's probably in the room with you.
Slytherin Theo
P.S. - The hat only needed minor convincing to keep me out of Ravenclaw.
Hermione couldn't help but laugh out loud at this last message, startling her co-worker Max as he walked past the door to her office.
"Sorry Max!" She waved at him while trying to keep the laughter down. He was looking at her curiously, as he hadn't heard her laugh in a long time. "I'm fine, I promise."
He seemed to take that as the truth and bid her goodbye.
Giving Theo's suggestion some thought, she figured it wouldn't hurt to try. "Tansy?" She asked, quietly, feeling a little foolish.
Without delay, there was a pop directly to her right that had her practically flying out of her chair. The little elf was looking at her expectantly. "Merlin's saggy pants, Tansy." Her hand flying to her chest. Her heart was beating erratically. She was going to pick somewhere expensive for that fright.
The elf snickered, "Miss called Tansy? What can Tansy be doing for Miss Hermininy?"
"Well, I wanted to let you know what was happening. Have you been around this whole time?"
"Thank you, Miss, but yes, Tansy has stayed close by." The elf replied unapologetically.
"To me or my office, Tansy?" Hermione asked, unsure if she should be upset about the possible intrusion in her life.
"You, Miss. Tansy closed the kitchen window this morning Miss. It is going to rain today." Again, this was said completely unapologetically.
Yup. Upset. She was mildly upset. "Boundaries, Tansy. Boundaries. I would have preferred that you told me. But thank you for closing the window." She rubbed her eyes with her right hand.
The elf looked at her quizzically. "Tansy doesn't go into the bathroom when Miss is using it, Miss."
Hermione snorted. "Well, there is that." She responded.
It was at this point that she was alerted to Melody's episode.
Which brings her back to her emergency bottle. Honestly, her day was crazy and unexpectedly taxing. Now she just needed to get off the couch. Her comfy, comfy couch.
However, as she was talking herself into getting up, a crack of apparition rang outside her door followed by a thud of someone dropping a large box, hitting the door as it connected with the porch. As quickly as it came, a subsequent crack rang out again. Thank Merlin she lived in Muggle London with a peephole. Resigning that she actually did have to get off the couch, she got herself up, stretching like a cat as she walked to the door. Placing her eye to the glass she didn't see anything. Her hair fell down as she pulled her wand out of her makeshift bun. Cautiously, she opened the door and at the sight in front of her, let out a blood curdling scream.
"Shite. Shite! SHITE!" Throwing up notice-me-not wards with expert ease, she dropped to her knees.
The body in front of her was all bones and skin, but the silver-white hair stood out in stark contrast to her dark stained porch. There was no mistaking it was him. In front her was the battered body of Draco Malfoy.
But it wasn't that he was there, no, it what had been done to him.
His body was a palette of scars, cuts, bruises, and burns. Hermione could only think that the story behind each of them was one she didn't want to know. Crouched down near his face, his right eye has swollen shut and his lip was split, but the most damage here was to his nose. No longer straight and defined, it had a wave to it that suggested it has been the target of many fists. Hermione tentatively stretched out two fingers to feel for a pulse. Praying to Merlin that he wasn't dead; she searched his throat. When she couldn't feel one, she started to panic.
"No, no, no… you can't be dead!" As carefully as she could, she slid her left hand under his neck, her right on the upside, placing her fingers on both sides of his jugular, looking for the arteries. It was then that she felt a very faint throb beneath her left forefinger.
"Oh! Thank Merlin! Thank God! Hold on Draco!"
Hermione threw a additional concealment charm over him and ran to the floo.
"Harry! HARRY! HARRY POTTER! COME HERE NOW!" She was screaming like a banshee, but none of that mattered.
"TANSY!" She screeched the name.
The elf popped in only to zero in on the door frame and the wizard beyond.
"Master Draco!" She started to wail.
"Tansy!" Hermione grabbed the elf by the upper arms and got her to focus. " I need you to go to Ginny Weasley. She is one of the Holyhead Harpies Healers. Tell her it's an emergency and to bring all of her potions!" The elf took another look at her wizard before popping out of the room.
Whipping around to her couch, she quickly transfigured it into a double bed. It finished transforming as the floo roared and a frantic wizard stumbled out.
"Hermione! …" The wizard was cut off by the apparition of the elf and the only Weasley girl.
"Harry, oh thank Merlin!" The red head was relieved she wasn't being called here for him. Tansy, not even paying attention to the conversation around her, was staring at Malfoy, as if she was hesitant to approach him.
Frantic, Hermione redirected their attention to her. "Malfoy's here! Someone just dropped him on my porch! He is barely alive!" She said all of this as she ran back to the porch, the panic evident in her breathing and voice. Waving her wand, she removed the concealment charm to reveal the broken heap of a wizard. The audible gasps didn't slow Hermione down.
"Petrificus totalus! Wingardium leviosa!" She shouted, freezing and lifting him. Ginny had already retreated into the living room to empty her bag and grab the potions she knew she needed. Harry had taken to capturing wand images to record the porch and the injuries to his childhood enemy. They had never been friends, but no one deserved what Malfoy had clearly been through.
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I appreciate each of you reading this story. It is my first long length story. Please leave a review and let me know what you think and where you would like to see this go! I have a pretty broad outline but am open to suggestions!
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