The next hour was dreadful for Draco. It consisted of giving everyone in the hut/ hospital thing a measure of Cure-All followed by various amounts of hacking and vomiting. While he could forgive the small child, he was less tolerant of the young men. Instead, while Hermione and Arike comforted those coming out of their comas he brought fresh bowls and piled the ones already filled with disease in the corner.
"Well have to burn those." He offered to the chief when the last hack had sounded and everyone had resumed sleeping. "While I am not sure what caused all this, every trace of it must be removed or it could come back."
"I will do that. Thank you Colleague Malfoy. Your help was essential."
"I was simply a pillow." He deflected. It was all too raw. Being so close to death, the death of more children. He sunk down the nearest wall to rest on the floor, his dark robes were hot and now dust covered.
"She told me what you did." Arike stated. "I know you English men are spirit touched but to fly into a monsoon. You must really love her for that."
"Ha." Malfoy scoffed at the very thought. " love? No, Granger twisted my ankle. She has something I need, that's all."
Arike simply nodded and set about starting a fire in the center of the village. Hermione gathered the last of the bowls together and stacked them with the rest before settling near him. "Has he ever seen anything like that?"
"No." She shook her head. "They are incredibly intelligent people too. They know the animals and illnesses of this country forwards and backwards. It's why they were so shocked when they couldn't identify it. Even worse when I couldn't."
"Will they be alright?" He was staring out across the beds. 28 of them. 28 lives saved at the risk of two. Could he argue with the math, even if one was his life?
"It looks like it. Adio is already up and has started calling for her mother." A brief silence passed between the two of them as the once silent hospital wing began to fill with chatter.
"I think it's time we go home." Hermione offered him her hand as she stood up. He stared at it a moment before brushing it aside using the wall for support. She just sighed and let her hand fall to her side.
"Agreed." He coughed out, feeling worn down. Together they walked out of the hut back into the village. He was now realizing it was all a cover. That all the primitive huts likely contained the same bungalow feel of the hospital if not better.
"Why do they hide like this?" He asked, not sure if he would get an answer. "Every single one of the people in there was highly magical. They could move to a city and do quite well for themselves. Especially if magic is known here."
Hermione shook her head. "They can't. This is a haven village, it must appear entirely muggle and harmless. They were set up by the ministry years ago. There are still some parts of Central Africa that have only known dark wizards and only know magic at its worst. When they turn out their magical children, they get taken in here, if they are found."
"What do you mean if they are found?" He questioned. Glancing around, what he had taken for an over abundance of children had a different spin on it when you look at it as the orphanage it was.
"Oftentimes the children are turned out onto the savannah. So that the spirits may take them back. Usually the ministry or a village like this one will find them. But not always."
"That's barbaric!" He thought of a child left alone in the wild land before him. "All sorts of horrid beasts live out there."
"It is. And they are trying to change it. But change is slow. If you had only known magic after seeing Voldemort would you ever want to use it? Or see your children use it? I think not. They stay here until they get their dream to Uagadou, then sometimes they come back for breaks."
He couldn't help but bristle at the comment. But it did make him think of every time he saw his parents', or aunt's, or just a random stranger's face twisted in pain. Every time he heard a dead body thunk hard against the ground. No, he could not honestly say that he would have any interest in magic at all except to be far away from it.
"Let's go." He stalked away from the village passing by the fire as he went. He nearly jumped out of his skin when a large hand clutched his arm slightly above his mark. Arike was staring intensely at him.
"You are dark Draco Malfoy. The sick black magic coats your very bones like a tar. It sits deep and dormant now but marks you. Sister Hermione is smart. She is brave and skilled and strong. But make no mistake, if something happens to her. There will be no place on this earth you can hide where the family will not find you. Is that clear?"
He was shaken by the sudden warning from an otherwise very gentle man but refused to lose his composure. "I am quivering. Best of luck with your recovery. And I hope we never meet again."
He stomped off to wait by the tree they arrived under, adrenaline pumping. His body and mind were both worn out with the excessive stress of the past week. He desperately needed a day off.
The tapestry drifted in the wind, bending with the grass and allowing small peeks of the rising moon behind it to filter through. Now that the sun had gone down he transfigured his robes back to normal. Granger had told him they were apparating back though he wasn't sure how. It would take many jumps and a lot of magic.
Well let her exhaust herself. He thought to himself. I've done more than enough favors for the day.
When she finally wandered up, the sounds of soft laughter and joy followed her. The moonlight reflected off her airy robe making her look ethereal and at peace. It put him in a right sour mood. "About time. If you intend to party the night away in this wasteland at least tell me how to get home first."
She smiled as she rolled her eyes. "Can't get to me tonight Malfoy. I have cheated death and walked away alive. Come on."
She sauntered up to the tapestry and opened it again. To his curiosity she let it fall out of her hands and drape closed again. She repeated this four times before pulling out her wand and waving him through.
Suspicious, he drew his and stepped cautiously into the opening. He was not in the old rug shop but instead exiting the employees bathroom in a middling to clean, crowded pub. The familiar sounds of English ringing in his ears. So surprised that he nearly fell when Hermione apparated them into her workshop.
"It surprises me to say it, but good job today Malfoy. You saved a life, many in fact. Thank you." He sneered.
"Whatever I am going home." He swiftly started for the fireplace, dreaming of a warm bath and soft bed.
"Slow down." Hermione chuckled out. She met his look of exasperation with one of amusement. "Don't you want your potion?"
He froze. "The Cure-All? I thought we used it all?"
He had every intention of dragging Theo through the skies this weekend to brew his own batch, though he should get the rest of her recipe too.
"Two left they're yours." She smiled and levitated the vials over to him. The dark purple twinkling in the tube like liquid amethyst. A small scrap of parchment containing the recipe was tied to the stopper. "One for you in case you got infected and one for… well, whatever you are hiding."
"Hiding? I am not hiding anything." He responded ruthlessly. She had no business thinking they were friends just because he didn't let a worthless brat die. He snatched the vials and some floo powder. "Keep your mudblood nose out of my business."
And with a flash he was home. Holding what he desperately hoped was the answer to at least one of his mistakes, leaving another behind for later day.
