After Draco cleared her, it didn't take long for St. Mungo's to grudgingly clear her as well. The pack healer came by and listened with a sour expression as Hermione explained that she wasn't interested in taking any of her potions.
"I'd like to see him try to practice magical medicine," the pack healer grumbled under her breath after she caught onto the thinly veiled insults Draco had thrown her way. Then her eyes turned to Hermione and her face softened. "Not that I blame you, dear. It is a perfectly natural reaction to your experience here. Please understand that we did everything we could for you and are personally very concerned for your health."
Hermione smiled awkwardly. "I'm sure you did. How could you have suspected that I had changed into a werewolf when it was several days until the full moon?"
"Yes. Yes, of course, dear," the old woman said, looking relieved that Hermione didn't blame her.
Hermione got several similar admonishments from the St. Mungo's staff, as she started making noises about leaving. Although the staff wasn't happy about it, Harry and Hermione finally convinced them to discharge her that same day. Harry had apparently talked her into staying with him and Ginny for the time being. Harry announced that he was taking care of Hermione and that Teddy should return to his Auror duties.
It felt odd to leave Hermione so quickly. Maybe it was just him, but he thought sharing the full moon had bonded them in some way. In any case, he wasn't sure what his Auror duties were now that he was kicked off of Lilith's case. He knew what he wanted to do and that was find out anything and everything Hermione knew about the Moonlight Killer. Given that she hadn't said anything about her attack, it seemed she didn't have any new information. Still, there had to be something.
He stood at St. Mungo's apparition point, staring where Hermione and Harry had been. Surely Harry would bring her in for questioning? Then he could just wait to see a transcript or pensieve. There was a part of him that was sure that the answer lay inside her memories. Maybe he could draft up some of his own questions just to make sure Harry didn't miss anything. That would sort of be Auror duties, right?
Teddy apparated to the Ministry and found Hasan at their desks.
"How did it go?" Hasan asked.
Teddy flashed him a tired smile. "Well, she is alive." Then he lowered his voice. "And definitely a werewolf."
"Not that that is a surprise, given everything."
Teddy shrugged. "I suppose I still hoped we were wrong somehow. That she didn't have to go through being a werewolf."
"You think it really will be that bad?" Hasan asked. "She was well-loved before all this. Won't she be hailed as the returning war-hero and all that?"
Teddy grunted noncommittally. "They didn't do it with my dad. They talk about him with more respect than they do about other werewolves. But they act like sacrificing himself in the final battle was the best thing that he could have done with his life," he said bitterly.
Hasan winced. "I didn't realize it was that bad. Sorry, Ted. What do you think we can do about Hermione? To make things better for her?"
Teddy sighed. "I don't know. I wish that this killer wasn't a werewolf because that is just going to stoke up hysteria about werewolves right as everyone finds out that she is one."
Hasan leaned back in his chair. "Well, I suppose we can make sure we are there for her."
Teddy raised an eyebrow. "We?"
"Yeah, make sure that the werewolves are treated fairly during this investigation. And make sure that she realizes there is nothing wrong with being a werewolf." Hasan glanced over at Teddy and said sternly, "because there is nothing wrong with being a werewolf."
"Yeah, I know," Teddy mumbled, feeling guilty.
