Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter franchise, nor anything affiliated with it.
Hermione's POV
We've been in the hospital wing for about 4 days since we woke up, and Draco and I are both extremely restless. Draco more so than me seeing as how I'm actually allowed out of bed. Every time I look at him I can't help but feel guilty. It was because of me that he's in this predicament. Yes the only other options besides the bomb were death or torture, but I still feel guilty and there is nothing that he can say that will make me feel any different.
There hasn't been much for us to do since we have no homework and Madame Pomfrey doesn't like us to use our computers too often. She says that it rots your brain and damages your eyes, but I don't think anyone cares about that stuff. It keeps us occupied and prevents us from brooding on the memories and experiences that haunt our generation. So far the only things I've really done are finish off the two books that I had in my beaded purse at the time and listen to every single song that I have downloaded on my phone twice which amounts to about 550 songs.
I find it kind of funny how much music I listen to. I had time so I calculated how much time I spent listening to music. 550 songs is equal to about 2475 minutes if we assume that the average length of the songs are 4 and a half minutes long. That in turn is equal to 41 hours and 15 minutes. Almost half of the time I've spent in this infuriating hospital wing was listening music.
Although our friends have come to visit, none of them have been able to stay very long. Ginny, Luna, and Blaise haven't really had much time to stop by, and Harry has been kept very busy dealing with protests and filling in paperwork for it. However from them I was able to learn a lot about what's happened since we sent the rest of our class back to Hogwarts. And while the others didn't have much time, Neville has had more time than them. I remember one conversation in particular that I had with him.
"Hi Neville!" I say to him in a bit of a whisper as he walks to back of the Hospital Wing to see us. Draco's asleep right now as he's tired from his latest session of physiotherapy.
"Hey Hermione, how are you doing?" He asks in a polite manner, mirroring my volume level.
"I'm fine, how is the rest of the class doing? Did the portkey work?" I ask since no one has given me any information as to how the rest of the class has been. I'm worried that some of them haven't been doing very well because of how the incident at the airport might trigger their own mental and emotional problems.
"Most of the class hasn't reacted too badly to what happened but some of the kids had to take up McGonagall's offer for therapy sessions. They managed to get a therapist from St. Mungo's to help them. I think the main problem for most of the class is the fact that Professor Carrington is dead. It's really sad and the wizarding world is in a bit of an uproar about the whole situation. Most of the parents are worried about whether or not this will lead to another war, and if they might need to pull their kids out again if things get worse." I nod throughout his tirade and examine his body language. He seems more tired and just drained more than anything, another sign of the weight thrust upon kids our age.
"Yeah, well that's pretty much it in terms of news about the rest of us. How are you and Draco doing here? Has the food been okay? When are you guys being released?"
"It's been okay here. Not the best, but what can you do? The food's been the same as usual, I think it's the same food as the main hall which is great. Most hospital food is horrible, at least it is in the muggle world. We should be released in about three days or so."
"Wow that's good, I'll tell the others then when I see them." He replies.
"Neville, has class been cancelled for Muggle Studies or do we have a substitute professor?"
"Well the first day after the incident we had a small meeting with McGonagall about the therapy stuff and answered questions about what happened to help the Aurors. Then after that we've had free periods in place of class. However, McGonagall is looking for another person to fill the position because we all agree that the class has done the school a lot of good."
"That's good. I'm glad they aren't cancelling it, it was a lot of fun. I just hope she can find a good teacher who will be just as enthusiastic about the subject as Professor Carrington."
He nods in agreement before checking his watch and sighing. "I'm sorry to cut this short, but I should probably leave soon before I'm late for third period. Bye Hermione, get better soon!"
"Bye Neville!" I call out as he hurries out of the room. I glance back at Draco and place my earbuds back into my ears, continuing to listen to music like earlier.
It's sad how little I've done here. Draco hasn't done much more than me, though he's had to a bit more stuff related to the condition of his health. So far he's tried on some knee and ankle braces to find which ones fit the best and are most comfortable. He's also had to learn some breathing tricks and exercises to breathe in as much oxygen without exerting his lungs too much. In addition to that, he's had to start some physiotherapy lessons to help strengthen his ankles.
It was kind of sad to watch those as I saw just how much he's been affected by the curse. He can't really stand up and needs to use crutches in addition to the braces for the next month or so. It doesn't help either that the rubble from the blast crushed the bone in his right leg. It turns out that they couldn't use Skele-Gro to heal his leg as the curse is interfering with it. I thought Dark curses just blocked counterspells or similar tricks, I forgot that potions also trigger the same results. Draco tries not to let the pain show on his face, but I've gotten very good at reading the emotions in his eyes and body language.
It's just a couple more hours before we can go back to our dorm room and do what we want. I know Draco is dying to be out of this place. He can barely sit still even though it pains him to move much. I can't wait to be out since my casts have finally been removed. I was able to use Skele-Gro to heal my wounds, but my head wound will take a little longer to heal. I'm eager to get out and rush through the halls of Hogwarts again. Even if I have to walk much slower to accompany Draco, at least I'll be out and breathing the fresher air. The Hospital wing has always seemed a bit stuffy to me and it smells too clean.
I pull out my purse and check that I have everything before pulling out my earbuds and phone to listen to more music and calm my nerves. I really want to get out, but I'm also nervous about going back to normal life after the shock of the airport. The last time I had to deal with this much action and fallout, I had the summer to hide myself and rebuild my walls. I could hide from everyone and come out when I felt strong enough to. Now I can't do that, I have to go back to school and pretend that nothing's happened. I have to pretend that everything's normal when there are hundreds of subtle reminders everywhere that it isn't.
I play one of my more calming playlists but it does very little to ease the tension that's built up in my body. Eventually I give up and put my phone away. I start to tap on the side table when I hear Draco's voice speak up.
"If you're nervous why don't you try a Sudoku puzzle? I find that it calms me down and makes me focus just on the numbers. I have a spare book you can use." I look up and see him perched on the edge of his bed holding a small sudoku book out towards me. I quickly reach over and take it so he isn't in such a precarious position for too long.
"Do you know how to do them?" He asks me.
"Mostly, it's just using logic to place the numbers from 1-9 right? You just have to make sure that the same number can't appear more than once in a row, column, or box."
"Yeah that's pretty much it. Give it go. I'm pretty sure it won't be too stressful for you seeing as how you're very logical." I open the book and pull out a pencil to start working on it.
The beginning is really easy, but I soon get stuck with only 15 boxes left. I carefully write out every single possibility for each box, but it still takes me another 10 minutes to finish it off completely. I put my pencil down and see that Draco is massaging little circles on his left ankle. When he notices me looking he stops what he's doing, quickly puts his leg down, and asks me how the puzzle was.
"The puzzle was pretty fun. I actually feel way calmer now." He smiles a little and then speaks.
"You can keep that one, I have another 20 odd books in my room." He then pauses. "What time can we leave again? I remember Madame Pomfrey saying the time, but I forgot to make a note of it."
"We can leave at 11:30 after a quick check up. That way we'll be just in time for lunch." I say.
"Okay, so about another half hour then." He says.
"Yeah she should be here in a couple minutes to do the check up and provide you with the necessary potions and directions for when to have them and how much."
He nods then pulls out his journal. He quickly scribbles something down in there before packing up a couple small items into his bag. His bag looks pretty full so I ask him a question.
"Have you thought about putting an undetectable extension charm on it?" He looks up and seems confused for a moment then realizes what I'm talking about.
"No not really, I kind of like it the way it is because it allows me to train my brain to pack a lot of stuff into a small amount of space. When I really can't fit stuff in, I just shrink the objects down and put them in a small container so they don't get lost."
"Okay then. Hmm... have you ever played Tetris before?"
"No, I don't think so. What is it? I assume it's a muggle thing?"
"It's an app where there are bunch of pieces that have certain shape. You can rotate the shape 90°, 180°, 270°, and back again. You can drag them as they fall to fit them together. You clear lines by having a full line of pieces. I'll show you the app when we're released from here. I think you'll like it quite a lot, but be warned it is a lot more stressful than Sudoku because the pieces fall and they get faster."
"Cool, I'll make a note of it."
We sit quietly for another couple of minutes when Madame Pomfrey comes in. She's holding a small canvas pouch and some extra bits and bobs.
"Hello you two, finally getting out of here now aren't you? Well I just have to do a quick assessment of you guys before you can go." We both nod and she keeps going. She turns to me before giving me some directions.
"Ms. Granger, just follow my finger. Good, now just look at the light. Okay, now I just have to check the cut on the back of your head." She pulls the bandage away for what I hope is the last time and examines the skin there. "Good news, the skin has completely healed, but there will always be a thin red line there from scarring."
She then moves on to Draco once she's done with me. "Mr. Malfoy, you are free to go back to your school life once I'm done with you here, but don't hesitate to come back if you have any problems or questions. Remember that your physiotherapy sessions will be held in your common room every Tuesday and Thursday evening from 6:30-7:00 for the next few weeks. These are the potions you will need to take over the next few months. They will replenish themselves every night so you don't have to come and get a new batch every week. I have sent an extra set of braces to your dorm in case the ones you have now get lost or break. You have your crutches right?"
"Yes I do, they're behind the bed so they don't get in the way."
"Excellent, you two are free to go now. Good luck in class, I hope you get better soon Mr. Malfoy." With that she leaves the two of us to leave and head to the Great Hall. I quickly get off of the bed and help Draco get the crutches from behind the bed and position them. He wears the braces almost all the time so that it'll be easier to get up. His cast is still on, but he should be getting it off within the next two weeks. I'm about to take his bag for him when he says it's okay.
"You don't have to take my bag, I can carry it. It's easier for me to get something from it if it's on my person anyway." He blushes a bit from embarrassment.
"Okay sure. Just so we're clear, I'm not trying to insult your strength, I'm just trying to help."
"Okay." He says.
We get up together and I walk beside him as he struggles out of the hospital wing and down the hallway. We stop by our dorm to drop off our less important belongings. Once I help him set his stuff down we slowly make our way down to the Great Hall. I walk in front of him on the stairs to make sure he doesn't fall down. We soon arrive in the Great Hall and join our group of friends for the first meal we've had together in about a week.
"Hi guys!" I say as we sit down in our spots. I'm careful to make sure that Draco has sat down properly before sitting down myself. He leans his crutches against the tables and then places his bag between his feet. He soon helps himself to a large helping of pasta salad since the portions in the hospital wing are a little small. He devours it very quickly and soon grabs seconds.
"Hi Hermione, hi Draco." says Luna. She has a very thoughtful expression on her face today and I wonder what she's thinking about.
"Hey Luna. How has school been so far for the rest of you guys anyway?" I ask. Although I've heard Neville's side of things, I'm curious to know what else they've been doing and how each of them are coping.
"Well, Luna her has been acting as a junior therapist assistant to the lady they've brought in from St. Mungo's, and frankly Luna's been getting a much better result from most of the kids. She really knows how to make people feel better and get them to loosen up about their problems. It's also nice knowing that she's there are a friend as supposed to being forced to come here because that's where the work is. The therapist lady tries to make it all scientific but it doesn't help at all and just makes us confused." Says Blaise. I feel kind of awed by what he says. I'm very glad that Luna's helped so much with this.
"Yeah Luna's been great." I hear Ginny says. "I heard through some of my new friends in Slytherin that a lot of them have felt a lot better after talking to her about this and the war. They've finally found someone who won't judge them based on their past actions and experiences, but will instead help them become better people and listen with the intention of helping them. She's really easy to talk to and she just has a very calm air about her."
The rest of the meal is spent discussing the therapy sessions and how talking to a student is much better than talking to a person who was trained for the job. Draco spends most of his time eating and I just listen to everything that they talk about. Soon the early warning bell rings and Draco and I carefully walk up to our dorm to relax for one more half day before going back to regular classes.
Author's Note: Thank you all for reading my work. I'm probably going to have couple more filler chapters before the next big thing, but hopefully we'll be able to further the plot even further to my end goal. Thanks for all the support y'all are giving me, but please review! I love hearing feedback and comments. On another note, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is coming out November 16th 2018! To find more details check out Pottermore, I'll leave a link to it in my author profile for you guys. Have a great week, till next time!