Chapter 12
Why is the potion working so fast?
What ingredients and steps were taken and used to make the potion?
Where do they get their ingredients?
Who made the potion? Are they trustworthy?
Am I being poisoned?
Note to self: Increasing headache behind the eyes and across the forehead.
Note to self #2: get my glasses.
Who is the mind healer?
How can it help me?
What will happen?
Will it hurt?
Am I going insane?
Her train of thought just kept on going in a never-ending stream that flowed onto the page before her. She had tried to look for a book, crosswords anything really, to take her mind off of the problem lying ahead. She felt like she was losing her mind and the banging headache was definitely not helping her. She closed her eyes and massaged her temples lightly but was brought out of her thoughts by a small knock on the door.
In through the door came a massive mess of black hair and a pair of round spectacles.
"Hi, Harry," She smiled at him.
"Hey 'Mione." He smiled back at her and walked to the bed where he embraced her. "How's it going? What're you up to?" He asked and moved the paper at Hermione's crossed feet before sitting down. "I just saw Fred and the Healer by the entrance talking to some blond guy. I think I might know him from somewhere - but I'm not sure," Out of habit, he picked up the piece of paper and started reading.
"Just… Brainstorming my thoughts, I guess. I couldn't find anything to do, so I tried letting it all go, like we did back in Dean's forest."
"That's great!" He smiled up at her, and continued reading, "I mean -" His eyes moved down the page and his eyebrows furrowed. She knew exactly what bulletpoint he was at. "Why do you think you're going insane?"
"The fact that I don't remember my own -" She started nibbling at her lip and fumbled with a loose thread at the bottom of her shirt, "Harry, I don't even remember being pregnant. There are even people that I know I should remember, But it's just fog. I'm supposed to know certain things, yet I feel so dumb and insufficient all the time for not knowing. Sometimes I get these thoughts like I'm remembering an important birthday or whatever, but then it slips away from me! It's driving me nuts, Harry!"
"Okay. Well, we can start off slowly and see if there might be any obvious holes? With your super-brain and my obviously dashing looks and ability to handle an entire auror-department, we can figure this out!" She was laughing by the end and he winked at her. "Sure, let's see where this gets us." She said smiling, and removed her piece of paper from the bed. She was about to remove the pen as well, but Harry grappet it instead, and pulled out a small notebook from his robes. She looked at him with a thousand questions painted all over her face. Why would he bring a notebook?
"I can see the wheels turning in that pretty head of yours 'Mione. Just relax. I'm technically at work right now, so I'm just taking notes if you should remember anything of importance." He smiled reassuringly at her while leaning over and touching her cheek tenderly, "Is that okay?"
She leaned into his touch and closed her eyes for a moment, feeling his love for her seeping through their bond, and nodded. "I guess I just forgot about the real world where people have jobs they have to do. I'm sorry."
"Don't be, I know it's not easy for you right now. But how about we get started?" He asked her, and moved a strand of hair behind her ear before removing his hand.
"Let's do it. What do you have planned?" She asked all business-like and Hermione-y, wanting to do her very best.
"I was thinking we start out from the most recent and then just move backwards from there. So, what is the last thing you remember, before waking up here?"
"Hmm… I think I remember floating… In darkness? And fireworks - everywhere. And… feeling really comfortable and nice. I remember smelling George - He smells like apples and Gunpowder." She abruptly realized that she had said the last part out loud and embarrassingly covered her very-much-reddening-face. "Merlin, I said that out loud didn't I?"
Harry chuckled but assured her that he was absolutely fine with their relationship. "I just want you to be happy, Hermione. Nothing less."
"Although that looks incredibly cozy, Potter, you might not want to poke around her brain before a professional has taken a look."
Harry must have sensed it before it happened, because it really happened too fast for any other logical explanation. The instant the very-well-known voice started talking, her head whipped towards it and Harry held one of her hands, while her other reached out towards the nightstand where her wand was supposed to be.
"It's okay 'mione. It's okay. He's okay." Harry said, slowly and with as much certainty as he must have been able to muster.
"What in the actual fuck are you talking about Harry, and why does the ferret know I'm here?" She said, high enough for everyone in the room to hear, yet low enough for them to know that she would instantly rip out Malfoy's throat if he came within 3 meters of her. She may be bedridden, but she could be deadly if she wanted - with or without a wand.
"I can clear that one up." George said, "I was supposed to talk to you before the idiot (he pointed his thumb in the general direction of the blond, with a slight snort) came in here, but it seems he was too curious about your reaction - AGAIN, to wait in the hall." He walked over to her, clearly being more relaxed around her than he was the day before. He sat down at the side of the bed where he wouldn't sit on neither her nor Harry. He took a careful hold of her chin, and pried his eyes from Malfoy and to himself. "I'm sorry, I didn't know that he would be here, but this isn't as bad as you think." A single tear leaked from her eye, and he removed it with his thumb before taking a hold of the hand that Harry wasn't holding.
"I know, love, I know. You both went to Hogwarts to finish 8th year, yeah? (She nodded) Did he do anything to you then? Anything at all? (she contemplated for a second, but then shook her head) Great. Since school, Malfoy became a mind-healer and potioneer, one of the best to be exact. He tore down the manor, built something new out there, and is now growing a lot of different ingredients that I buy from him for the shop. He has been under the loop for so long, that I don't think the dude has ever been so clean in his life." George smiled reassuringly and she heard Malfoy snort in the background, making her snicker.
"If I'm not mistaken, he was also in on making the potion that revealed your location." He removed his hand from her, and took off his ring, showing it to her. She gasped and her hand flew to her mouth, covering it.
"You.. You're wearing it?" She took a hold of her own ring in its chain.
He nodded. "Night and day. Do you trust me, Curly?"
"Always."
"Draco Malfoy is one of the good guys. It will probably hurt like hell, but will you let him help you? Harry, Healer Magnus and I, will be here the entire time, every time."
"You promise?" She said, her voice so small it could have come from anyone but her. But her big brown eyes boring into his, made no mistake.
"I promise."
"Now that that's covered, I need you guys to leave the bed and let me have a look at the patient." Draco said, walking to the bed and holding his hand out for her arm. She looked questioning at him, but carefully laid her arm in his hand.
"I see the potion worked - albeit, not completely. Any cold sweat? headaches? soreness? general uncomfortableness?" He was talking faster than she had expected, but she caught his thought flow instantly. He seemed to be so deep in thought and it was obvious he was comfortable in his field. He was pinching softly at the reminder of the scar and the outer-tissue, prodding and feeling.
"Some increasing headaches, and then I just feel sort of... Overly emotional, I guess. But the headaches might as well be because I've been writing without my glasses. And the emotion could just be because of -"
"Overly emotional - how? Describe it to me."
She looked to George who nodded at her and mouthed "trust him" to her. If he trusted her former schoolmate, then perhaps she could, too?
"Most of the time I feel... Fine? But then suddenly my head explodes, and everything starts to itch, like I need to get out of my skin to be - to be okay. I feel like I don't "feel" enough, but then I feel too much. I'm not even sure if that makes sense…" She reached over and took the piece of paper that Harry had been reading earlier on, and gave it to Malfoy who instantly started reading. "Am I really going insane? It's like there's pieces of a puzzle missing, but every time I try to remember them, I lose it again. It's right fucking there! Right at the tip of my tongue, but I can't - I can't - Why can't I remember?" She was losing it, that much she was sure of. The tears were openly running down her cheeks, running with her mind and all the things that she was SUPPOSED to remember, but simply couldn't...
"I get it, trust me on this if it is the only time, you'll ever trust me; I really do get it." He breathed out like he was trying to calm himself, she looked up into his eyes which looked grey like a raging thunderstorm. "I trust you", she thought to herself.
He looked over his shoulder at her healer, "did you do a locus-charm?"
"I did. I found nothing apart from the glass in her leg. Did I miss something?"
"I don't know. Maybe not. Hermione, I'm going to touch your neck and head. Let me know if anything feels uncomfortable or out of place. Okay?" He looked her straight in the eyes, and when he saw whatever he was looking for, he put a hand on each side of her face; the thumbs in front of her ears, index fingers behind and the rest of the fingers sprayed down her neck. She was surprised by how gentle he was, gentle and attentive. She pulled back slightly, and his hands were gone; put up, in front of her, palms up. "You okay? Did it hurt?" he asked.
She shook her head and closed her eyes for a few seconds. "No, I-I'm fine. I was just surprised. I'm fine."
So very slowly, he put his hands back in their previous position. He started moving them gently around her neck-, jaw- and ear area. He moved her head from side to side, up and down. At some point he stood up and sat behind her once she had scooted forward to make space for him.
"I'm getting nauseous… And slightly dizzy." She said slowly, trying to stay upright.
"In general, or was it just when i touched you.. here?" He asked while moving his hands back to their earlier location just inside her hairline, somewhere near her spine.
"Just there."
"Can someone go grab something for Hermione to vomit in, She might do it." He said to no one in particular. A few moments later, a small tub was placed in front of her. "Now, Hermione. This will probably be excruciatingly painful, or it will feel like it is getting hot. I don't know. Prepare yourself for the fact that you might vomit, might faint, might end up paralyzed, or you might not feel a thing. Are you ready?"
She took a deep breath and locked eyes with Harry, while whispering "I'm ready."
"Magnus, I need you in front of her, ready to catch her or keep her steady - whichever comes first." His Colleague nodded, and moved without a word to sit in front of her patient. They had worked together on previous occasions and both knew how the other person worked and handled their patients most efficiently.
"Weasley, Potter, while I have my hands on her, you will at no time what-so-ever, touch her, the bed or myself. This is experimental, and if I touch the wrong pressure-point, this could go very, very wrong. are we clear?" Both Harry and George nodded their consent. "Hermione; Try to sit as still as possible. This will take a maximum of 5 seconds if I'm correct. Please hold your breath if you can." He took a deep breath and softly cracked his own neck, "Please count to ten for me, and then take a deep breath, and hold it."
"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6… 7… 8-"
"Hermione?"
"What are you going to do?" She whispered. "I know I'm supposed to trust you, but if there's a possibility I might be paralyzed after this shit, then I want to know about the details." Her voice grew steadier. In the back of her mind, she knew that she was overanalyzing the hell out of the situation. But wouldn't anyone?
"I'm doing an incision into your brain to possibly remove an unknown spell or object." He said, authority evident in his voice. "Any more questions, or are your schoolbrain back in full-functioning alert-mode?"
"I don't know if I can do it..." She half said, half whispered. Why was she so uncertain if this could really help her? If she had something foreign in her brain, then it needed to come out one way or the other. Right? "Is there any other way to do this? Someway… Safer?"
"No. It needs to get done as fast as possible,unless you want to live with it. Seeing as we don't know how long this has been inside you, we don't know what we will happen, and we don't know what it has damaged up until now. It needs to go."
"10."
"What?" He was clearly taken aback by the certainty in her voice. There was no stagger this time.
"JUST DO IT ALREADY!" She yelled at him, and felt a sharp pain at the back of her neck. She froze instantly, not because she wanted to but because she simply couldn't move. This is it. She felt the pain propelling down her spine, her headache intensified. Did she just throw up?
Then nothing. Her sweet, sweet nothing was back.
…
"Don't fucking move!" Draco yelled as he saw both Weasley and Potter moving closer out of the corner of his eye. Hermione had all but fallen into the ready arms of Magnus after emptying her stomach in the tub. Well, he did like it when he was right.
As if on cue, he found what he was looking for. With a simple twist of his wrist, he watched as the red flowing substance followed his wand out of the cut in her scalp and into the vial he had removed from his coat. He made quick work of checking one last time for any more substances that shouldn't be there. Satisfied, he closed up the cut and healed it.
He removed himself from behind Hermione and he and Magnus laid her down. They made eye contact, and with a nod he once again pointed his wand at his former classmate. "Renervate" He thought to himself, and saw her immediately waking up. She blinked a couple of times.
"Before your brain starts processing, I need to assess the situation. Just do as I tell you and we will be done quickly." She nodded and he went to her feet.
"Please raise your right leg first, and then the left." She did.
"wiggle your toes," She wiggled her toes.
"Lift your right arm, and then the left afterwards." She did that as well.
He pinched her leg without warning, and she yelped. "What the hell?!"
He snickered and started to explain. "Good news; Your body is working as it should, which means that the operation was a success. I extracted this from your brain (he showed her the vial with the flowing stuff in), and once we're all done here I will examine it. Now to answer your questions, Which I am sure are many. Do you remember writing this?" He showed her the piece of paper she had written earlier and she nodded.
"Some of the obvious questions has been solved.
#1, I am the mindhealer,
#2 and 3, I made your potion with ingredients mainly from my garden, but whether or not I am trustworthy or not will be up to you.
#4, At this moment I am not sure why it worked this fast, but my guess is a fusion between the ends of gillyweed and poison Ivy picked within the second hour of a Bloodmoon.
#5 (he put up his index finger to make a point) No, you are not being poisoned. If I wanted you dead, you would not be alive now considering where I have just had my wand." He raised an eyebrow at her, challenging her to contradict him.
She sat up in silence, put her hands up in obvious surrencer and told him to "please continue". He liked this Granger, but he really hoped that she would get some of her feistiness back with time. This semi-fragile person was no fun picking at.
"#6 The potion is a modified healing potion combined with a strong pain potion. Five other ingredients - I mentioned two of them before - were used to strengthen its abilities against cursed objects or curses in general.
7# Removing the substance from your brain may have opened up your memories, but we will find out about that in a moment. It could also result in you being more controlled emotionally. Any questions?"
"What happened, before, when it all went black?" She asked, glad that he was taking the time to answer all of her questions.
"You reacted to the pain of me opening up your skull, by vomiting and then fainting. Your reaction is normal and as we tested before, there was no damage to your spine or nerves. Only time will tell, how your mind will heal from whatever was inside of you. But apart from that, you'll need some serious therapy-sessions based on what you've been through."
"What I've been through… How much does he know? I thought we had an agreement!" She yelled out to the room, perhaps more in the direction of Harry or Magnus.
How much did he know? Only what he had read in her journal prior to this meeting, but it seemed she wasn't aware of that. Magnus interrupted his thoughts.
"He knows that I gave you the potion yesterday for your scar, as he was the one to make the potion. Other than that, he can only have read what was in your file from '98 as the rest is only in my personal notes right here." She lifted a notebook for Hermione to see, and the brunette visibly relaxed.
"Is there something here that I should know about?" He said, slightly irritated that he was being held in the dark for something he maybe ought to know.
"How much do you plan on being involved in my wellbeing and recovery while I am here?" Hermione asked him straight out, her eyes cold as steel. Had he ever seen her as determined before? Definitely not since the battle.
"For as long as you lot will let me, it seems." He answered after a moment's silence.
"Swear to it." Hermione whispered.
"What?" He must have heard her wrong. She couldn't possibly-
"You heard me. Make the unbreakable vow. Me being here, does not only concern me, but also my friends and those I consider family." 3rd time's the charm it seems. Even now, he would do anything for her friendship. What in the bloody hell had he gotten himself into this time?
"Do it then." He walked straight to her and put forth his arm for her to take. when no one in the room except for Hermione moved, he barked at them: "Somebody do the bloody spell so we can get back to work. I won't stand here all day."
Harry pulled out his wand, took a while to think of his words and then pointed his wand to where he and Hermione were now clasping each other's wrists. He silently did the spell and a glowing bond appeared around their arms and hands.
"Do you, Draco Lucius Malfoy, swear to never speak of anything seen or heard inside these walls, to anyone but us?"
"I do."
"Do you swear, to never reveal the location of Hermione Jean Granger, for as long as she or anyone else can be harmed, because of its revelation?"
"I do."
"And do you swear that you, to the best of your abilities, will aid Hermione, George and I with information, should it possibly help in bringing back Hermione's full freedom?"
"I will."
Harry ended the spell and the glow disappeared for their linked arms. He let go of her and flexed his fingers. Nothing really felt different… Yet he recognized that everything he thought he knew, was about to change.