Draco had managed to keep the routine of sleep, but he could only guess that his mother, father and Hermione were taking a slight blow to it all. Where Draco was able to somehow keep in a deep sleep, they were somehow able to keep up with getting him to take the right potions through the night until they saw the healer. Where Severus had been due back, he had taken two extra days and was expected to be back sometime this afternoon. But he found that each time he woke up he felt mentally better. Though he would see where the exhaustion took over towards the three people that were with him constantly. Usually, two of them had dark circles under their eyes and most the time it was Hermione, though he suspected that came from her reading and trying to find more on what was going on.
But as they sat eating breakfast, Draco's was a little heartier since later this afternoon he was going into St. Mungo's for his appointment. He wasn't sure if they were going to let him eat and at the same time Draco honestly didn't want to eat. He had been tired of tossing his meals so much this past week and didn't want to have it happening again. "I hope Severus get's back in time before I have to go into St. Mungo's." Lucius looked at his pocket watch and gave a nod. "I'm sure that he'll make his appearance before then so we know he's safe and then I'm sure a massive study session will take place." He looked over towards Hermione and saw her rub her eyes. It seemed like his mother and her were the ones waking and getting him to take his potions last night.
"Maybe after breakfast we should go to the sitting room?" He suggested. Lucius followed his eyes and a smile tugged at his lips. "I think we could probably do with a bit of time inside; it does look like it's going to pour again." Hermione gave a small nod to Draco as she took a bite of her toast. Draco kept eating more bacon and his mother took to fighting back a yawn as she poured more coffee into a mug. They finished their meal in silence and then after finishing off his juice he took to standing up. He grabbed ahold of his cane and walked towards Hermione taking her arm with his and leading her off towards the sitting room.
Draco took a seat on the couch with Hermione and looked towards the window. The gray clouds certainly seemed to be calling for a storm. He felt Hermione lean her head on his shoulder and watched as she tucked her feet under her and opened her book. He glanced at the page and found he had very little interest in it and instead wrapped his arm around her and looked towards the fire. He couldn't help but start to wonder what they were going to be doing tonight. And what would happen if nothing had changed. Before he knew it, he heard his father clear his throat and he looked over towards him. But where he had been in his own little world and worry, he had not noticed that he could hear the slowed breathing of Hermione.
He looked at the beautiful woman that was pressed against him with her head on his shoulder. What had he done to deserve her? He had always been such an ass to her and was always so hateful and here she was the only one to show that forgiveness exists. He pressed his lips to the top of her head and glanced over towards his parents to see that Narcissa was pretty much in the same state. She was the one that was constantly checking on him and making sure that Lucius was up in time to give potions. Her head had drooped forward, and Lucius was in the middle of finding a quilt. Wordlessly he walked towards Draco and handed him one of the ones before giving his wand a wave and letting Narcissa slowly rise off the chair and letting her drift towards another couch. He adjusted her to where she'd be comfortable and then laid a blanket over the woman.
Draco knew all too well that his mother would awaken and be disgruntled that they had let her sleep and to have her sleep in the sitting room was a whole other thing. Hermione, he knew, would just wake up bleary eyed and giving him short smile before she worried what his parents thought. But he couldn't help but grin a bit as he found himself digging into his robes and pulling out one of the phials. He popped it open and tilted his head back draining it. He was sure at some point it would be like an addict. He would not be able to survive without them if this was going to be how it went.
Draco leaned back a bit and let the heat of the fire keep him warm as he heard the thunder rumble in the distance. He'd let them rest for a bit and then he'd be more than happy to wake them up and watch both of their reactions. He shut his eyes and listened to the crackle of the fire, the sound of Hermione breathing and the approaching storm.
He didn't know if he had dozed off or if he was just in his own mind but suddenly the voice in the room made him jump a tad. He looked at Hermione to make sure she was still sleeping and sure enough she was. Her mouth hung open just a tad as she kept sleeping on. He glanced towards his mother to see that somehow she had a leg hanging off of the couch and an arm thrown over the arm of the couch and her head was tilted back at a weird angle and he couldn't help but shake his head and suppress a laugh. "I went through several." His head turned towards Snape as he sat in a chair next to his father, both had a glass of whiskey. Snape made eye contact with Draco and all he could think was he must have fallen asleep, though he didn't feel that sleepiness trying to take over.
"Several what?" Draco asked. Lucius looked toward Draco and then two his wife and then back over at him. "Several different bookstores. Some I had to search a little longer for to make sure I made the trip worth my while." So where had the man gone? Several shops made sense to Draco, he figured that Snape would be digging through every book he could find that might give a little of a tip to what he was looking for and if he could get them back over here it made it even better for them. He knew Severus wouldn't let Draco down, much less Lucius. He felt Hermione stir and found himself grinning a bit as a realization seemed to dawn on her that she was half laying on him and that she was in the sitting room. What seemed to have sealed the deal was her eyes on Snape. She immediately sat up and adjusted her robes and tried to act as if nothing happened.
Draco gave a small chuckle as Snape continued. "I went through a few states and came across several and have them all with me. The elves have started store them away for us." Hermione's attention was focused so much on what the man was saying. "Did you get a chance to read any of them?" Snape looked over at her. "Sadly, my time was spent searching for these volumes not reading much into them." Hermione nodded a bit and then looked over towards Narcissa. Draco couldn't hold his laugh back at the look that Hermione had on her face seeing his mother so undone. She looked over at Draco and tried to act natural as his mother stirred at his laugh.
The woman jerked herself awake properly as she noticed what was wrong with the situation. Immediately her hands were going to her hair as she sat up stiffly, trying to get her hair calmed down. Lucius and Severus both shared an amused smirk as Narcissa shot Lucius a death glare. Oh, he would certainly here it later. "What have you found out?" Narcissa asked quickly. Snape spoke with her for a bit about his findings of books but that he had not started the search for them. And from that point there was nothing that was going to stop his mother as she went towards where he said the elves were stashing them.
The rest of the day Draco kept rested on the couch as he watched Hermione researching on and off. Lunch Draco had taken a smaller portion of things before going and having a shower for his appointment. He had just finished dressing when his mother knocked on the door. "It's time to head out Draco." He felt himself twinge a bit. There was something about going through with this that had him a little unsure of what to do. He gripped his cane and started out towards the front door. He met his father and looked over at his mother and Hermione. Somehow, it was planned that Draco would be accompanied by his father and that the women would stay. It was just to make sure he got there safe since he was going to be there for the night.
Draco wrapped his arms around his mother and felt her kiss his cheek before he smiled at her. "It'll be fine mother. I promise." He then turned to Hermione and gave her a kiss. He felt her wrap her arms around him and hold him closer to her. He couldn't help but return the favor as he let the kiss linger. "Sleep well tonight." He released her and gave her hand a squeeze before moving off towards his father. Draco walked with his father making his way down to the gate. He listened to the small clack of his cane hitting the path and then as they reached the gate, they both turned on their heels and took off.
Draco and Lucius stood outside St. Mungo's and before they went to step through the glass Draco looked at his father. "You know, I think I'm going to marry that woman." Lucius jerked a bit and looked at his son wide eyed. He watched his son's smile grow. "Yeah, I think I am." Draco stepped through the glass and after a few moments his father followed. He walked with Draco down the hall. "Don't you think you are jumping ahead of yourself?" Draco gave a shake of his head and continued to smile. "After being in two wars and nearly dying I think I'm at the right pace, if anything I'm running behind." He seemed to have left his father baffled as they continued over towards where he was meeting with his mediwizard.
"Welcome back Mr. Malfoy." He heard the familiar voice. Draco gave a nod to the mediwizard. "Afternoon sir." He was led over towards a whole different room than last time. This time it was larger, and they had more staff at the ready this time. Draco was starting to feel a tad uncomfortable over the whole situation as he looked around the room. "Alright, Mr. Malfoy, if you'll just go ahead and put on the gown, I'll have someone in in just a moment." Draco gave a nod and then looked at his father as he started to undo his robes. "It'll be fine Draco." He heard his father's words. He felt a little better. "Ca- "He found his words cut off just by how his mind overthrew himself. Taking a steadying breath, he pulled the gown on and looked out towards the door where the witches and wizards were passing. "Can you stay?"
Lucius knew that his wife would worry but at the same time he knew very well that she would understand. Draco was scared and he wanted someone there. "Of course." With the confirmation Draco set his cane to the side and sat on the edge of the bed. It was only moments later his mediwizard returned, but with a group of others. "So, I see you got yourself a new piece of equipment." Draco tried not to look over at the cane and gave a nod. "I take it the pain has not lessened?" Draco could only shake his head. He needed to find his voice. "No, it seems to be on a constant twinge. I just figured the cane would help me with longer walks." Lucius cleared his throat and soon started to explain where Draco had left the office and after their day of wondering Diagon Alley he had been in large amounts of pain.
Draco was thankful he had asked his father. He was in a different mind set and seemed to be able to give the information where Draco was ready to forget bits of it. He listened to his father speak with the wizard and soon he was lying on his back as they were starting to stretch his leg once more. "We are just going to see if it has changed for the worse." To all their displeasure things had not gotten any better. At certain points thing seemed to be on a worse side. Draco gripped the bed and his eye were shut tight as he growled at their bends. Draco felt his father's hand on his shoulder and tried to keep it all in as he felt them bend his leg in a different angle. "I believe we'll be keeping you for the evening Mr. Malfoy." Draco let out a strained breath as he felt his leg being set back down on the bed. He tried to catch his breathing up and kept a tight grip on the mattress.
"The only thing is tonight we won't be giving you potions. We'll give you tad bits to try and ease harsher pains that may occur, but we are trying to figure out this whole thing and some of the potions may block an explanation." Draco couldn't speak. He was trying to control his breathing but the squeeze on his shoulder told him his father understood. This was going to be a very long night that he didn't think that either one of them were going to be ready for. After a few moments he got his breathing in order and when the group had given him a moment he looked up at his father. "You don't have to stay. You can go home and make sure mother is alright." He saw his father's mouth twitch and knew the answer. Lucius pulled up a chair and sat next to the bed.
As the first set of doctors returned Draco watched as two of them drew wands and stepped forward. Lucius stood up and called for a halt. They all looked at him confused before he pulled the lead mediwizard away from the group. Draco kept still and listened. He could hear pieces of the conversation. "Pain seems to trigger it." When that phrase passed his ears, he knew what his father was referring to and he felt his stomach sink. He had not thought anything of that. Since Severus had given him some potion to help him with it while he was sleeping, he had not worried since the last attack. Now he had to worry