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Draco's POV
It's been 2 day since I woke up and I should be getting out of this hospital wing this afternoon after classes finish. I put down my pencil and parchment on my side table since I'm finally finished writing the final outline for the muggle studies project. I smile as I remember how Hermione roped me into doing it.
I'm sitting up in my bed when Hermione walks in. It's about 12:00 so she's probably just come from lunch. She walks in slowly at first with her head down, but when she looks up and sees that I'm awake she freezes before running over and gives me a huge hug. She squeezes me really tight, so I tap her shoulder to get her to stop.
"I. Can't. Breathe."
She immediately releases me and turns bright red. "Sorry." She squeaks out.
"It's alright." I say slightly out of breath.
"What time did you get up today? I came by around 8 this morning to check on you!" She says.
"I got up around 9 I think. Madam Pomfrey just finished checking me over so you're timing has worked out pretty well."
"Okay, that's great. I'm so glad you're finally awake. By the way you're going to have to help me with muggle studies. We've started a new project and you and I are kind of leading it as well as doing it." I'm kind of confused about this so I clarify with her.
"Wait, so McGonagall found a new professor?"
"Not quite. The day after Harry dropped by and you got injured here, I approached McGonagall with an idea on what to do for the rest of the semester because we have a little less than a month before exams if we don't include the winter break and we haven't done any prep whatsoever for it and we're missing almost 5 units of the course!
I proposed that all students would pair up and research a particular unit. They would then present it to the class using muggle technology or techniques. Each class would be supervised by the prefect or heads in the class, unless they are in fourth year or younger. If they are in those grades, a prefect or head with a spare period during that time would supervise them. I've been given the job of overseeing the whole project and setting up the rubric. That's due tomorrow if we want to go through with it. I also have to mark the presentations and if I have to do it, you are going down with me."
"Well then, what have you gotten yourself into, and I guess me as well?" She laughs and shakes her head.
"A big mess, but at least we'll have an easier time with exams. I'd hate for the school to all fail an entire course just because we couldn't find someone to teach the course after..." I know what she's referring to of course. It still seems unreal that Professor Carrington actually died that day. I don't think it's fully sunk it yet, and I don't think it ever will. Even if it does, I'm probably too calloused to care as much as I should. I've seen too much death over the last few years for it to impact me as it would have in say second year.
I rest my hand on hers to comfort her. "It's alright Hermione. None of it was your fault, you're experiencing survivors guilt. You did your best, I did mine, even Professor Carrington did hers. However at the end of the day, skill and effort makes no difference in who does and who lives. It's not for us humans to control, because if it was no one would die and the world probably would have ended eons ago.
She smiles to herself and teases me. "Are you trying to be philosophical Draco? Or are you just trying to make yourself sound wise? You don't have to pull a Dumbledore on me." I reflect back on my words and realize that it was quite cheesy, but hindsight is 20/20. Suddenly I remember what I was planning to ask her once I saw her.
"Hermione, what day is it? I forgot to ask Madame Pomfrey this morning when she did a check-up and I left my bag in the common room when Ron attacked so I don't have my phone."
"Oh! Um... today is Monday, so about 2 days since Harry visited us. Do you want me to bring your bag down for you the next time I visit?"
"Yeah, that would be great. I've spent all morning sitting here and getting bored."
"Alright then, I'll do that. I should be able to get it down to you just after classes." She then pauses, but decides to say something else. "Has Madame Pomfrey told you exactly what effect the incident with Ron has on your physical state?"
"Yes she did. We're looking into possibly getting a type of modified... 'walker' I think it's called. I'll continue to wear my braces, but that way I can lean on it when I'm walking and if we are in a place where we'll have to stand for a while, I can sit on it. It's not that large and is very light and easy to collapse. I can collapse it on the stairs and levitate it up with me. I could even shrink it and put it in my bag. In terms of 'treatment', healing spells still aren't working. She's increased my potion doses and added some extra potions on top of what I have now. I also have to do an extra therapy session on Saturday from 8:30-9. I personally find them kind of pointless and just really tiring, but she insists that they do 'wonders' for you."
"Well then. The walker sounds kind of cool, though I assume you still refuse to use a wheelchair?" I chuckle a little bit when she says the last part.
"It took a lot of negotiating for her to even get me to grudgingly agree to use a walker, a wheelchair is out of the question. My pride won't allow it."
"I thought so." We fall into a spell of silence before a question pops into my head.
"Hermione, do you have any spare parchment, a pen or pencil, and a rough outline of what you want to do for the muggle studies classes? I just thought of some ideas and I was thinking maybe I could help you plan it out since I have nothing to do here anyway."
She looks up at me and replies. "I do, and that would be wonderful. I've had some rough ideas for due dates, but I haven't quite had enough time to finesse them yet." Then she reaches into her purse and pulls out her folder of parchment and hands me few sheets as well as a pencil, a paper clip, a small folder with the details of the project in it, and copy of the calendar for the school year.
I take it from her and place the items on my bedside table. As I do this Hermione checks her watch and quickly gets up. "I'm sorry Draco, but I have to head to class. It starts in just under 4 minutes. It's been really nice and talking and seeing you again. I'll come back before dinner, and I'll have your bag. Bye!"
I then reply more succinctly with a "Bye Hermione!" as she rushes out of the hospital wing.
I'm pulled out of my thoughts when I hear steps coming from the entrance to the hospital wing and I look up to see Hermione walking in. She has a huge grin on her face and she walks over as quickly as possible without running. When she finally reaches me, she starts to speak.
"Finally getting out right?"
"Yeah, I already let Madame Pomfrey do her examination earlier so we're pretty much good to go. I just need to unshrink and then open up my… 'walker' and then we can leave."
"Cool, I finally get to see it." I cringe a bit and then pull it out of my little pouch that I use for shrunken objects. I cast the necessary spell and then open it up. I still feel embarrassed by the fact that I'm using it, but there is no way for me to get out of it. Once it's ready I swing my legs off the bed as gently and as fluidly as possible and push up to standing. I almost fall over since I haven't gotten up much today. I lean heavily on the walker and we both make our way out.
Since most of the students are at dinner, it's pretty quiet and there are few people around to watch me struggle through the halls. We get back to our room with little fuss and while we're getting the portrait open, Blaise appears next to us.
"Hey guys. Hermione, I brought you the two plates of food like you requested." She smiles in gratitude before Blaise then turns towards me. His eyebrows shoot up a bit when he does. "Draco, how are you man? You look like you're 60 years old or something." He says biting back a chuckle.
"Yes, very funny." I say in an unamused tone. I glare at him and he just smirks back.
"Well, I'd better go back down before Pansy comes looking for me. Draco, you better start joining us for meals, she keeps stalking me trying to figure out where you are. She won't leave either Hermione or I alone and it's getting pretty bad." I groan as I realize that I still haven't had time to talk to her like I said I would, but in my defence she was supposed to Owl me with possible meeting times. I really don't want to have to talk to her, in my current state she'll probably be all gooey and talk about how 'it's all the stupid mudblood's fault' or something like that.
"Thanks Blaise, we should be able to join you guys tomorrow. Bye." Says Hermione.
"Bye Hermione, bye Draco, hope you get some good rest before school tomorrow!"
"Bye Blaise." I say as he turns and walks down the hallway, leaving Hermione and I alone again.
We enter our dorm and let the portrait swing shut behind us. I walk over to the couch and practically collapse on it. My legs hurt a lot previously, but it's so much worse now. All my leg joints produce a jolt of pain every time I put weight on them and I constantly think I'm going to collapse in the middle of the hallways. I don't, but I'm still worried that I will one of these days. It's even harder as well because when I breathe too deeply I feel a dull ache in my chest. I have to be very careful to keep my breathing even and as shallow as possible so I don't strain them while they're still healing.
Hermione puts the plates of food on the kitchen counter and then goes up to her room to drop off her binder and textbooks in her room. When she gets down, she sits on her couch to face me.
"So how was your first trip outside the Hospital wing?" She asks.
"It was not as easy as I thought it would be. I'd kind of gotten used to my knees and ankles, but they're even worse than before and I know have the added strain of my hip joints being weak as well. I'd say it's the worse it could ever get, but that's just asking for it. I feel like I'm 80 years old, like Blaise said earlier, in terms of physical state. I can't wait to see what I'll be like when I actually get that old."
"Wow, that's pretty bad. Don't worry, we're working as hard as we can to fix the curse and find a 'cure' to it. We'll find something eventually." She then gets up to bring the food over so we can eat dinner, but while she's up we hear a knock at the portrait. She diverts her path and goes to see who's out there. I can't see anything from where I'm sitting, but I can still hear.
"Oh hello Headmistress, what are you doing here? Is something wrong?"
"Sorry if I'm intruding, but can I come in? I have to talk to both you and Draco in private and I thought this would be the best time and place to do it."
"Of course. Please, come in."
"Thank you."
They both come over to the living room area and Hermione guides McGonagall to one of the couches. She then walks around the coffee table and sits down next to me.
"Hello Mr. Malfoy, how are you doing? Recovering well?"
"Well enough, though I could be better."
"Of course, that's to be expected. Her eyes and tone betray a king of sadness that I would not have thought McGonagall could direct to me. I guess she's still shocked from finding the three of us that day.
"So what did you want to talk to us about?" I ask.
"Well first of all, I think you both did a wonderful job on the creation of the rubric and project outline. Classes for muggle studies started today, and we will begin work on the project by Friday at the latest. Thank you for taking the time to ensure that our students have a complete education. However, what I really wanted to talk to you two about is Mr. Weasley's final sentence." I must say, I'm quite curious to know how they're punishing him. It would be nice for Weaselbee to finally deal with the consequences of his actions.
"They have finally decided that since our Muggle Studies program has managed to lessen blood prejudice by a considerable amount among the students, he is to attend Hogwarts for the second semester. I was quite opposed to the idea at the beginning, and I still am, but there is very little I can do about it. They have given him more restrictions for his time here and they are the following; he will attend classes with the Eighth year, he will have restrictions placed on his wand that prevent him from casting certain spells, he won't be allowed to go to Hogsmeade until he can earn the right to do so, and he will be sent to Azkaban for 6 months after the school year if he cannot prove that his opinions have changed . I wanted to inform you both on this as it will probably affect you two the most. Particularly you Mr. Malfoy."
We fall into an awkward silence. I stare at my hands and think about this. I am quite opposed to him coming here, but like McGonagall said, there is nothing that can be done. It will make my life considerably harder, but there's no point in letting him have that much of a hold on me or my life.
"I just wanted to let you know ahead of time so you aren't surprised when he gets here. He will be placed in the same room as the eighth year Gryffindor boys, and hopefully they'll keep a close eye on him. If either of you have questions or concerns please feel free to Owl them to me and I'll do my best to answer them. I must be off now, have a good evening. I'll show myself out." She then gets up and leaves us sitting on the couch together.
Hermione and I don't talk for a while. At some point she gets up and gets our now lukewarm food from the kitchen counter and sits back down next to me. Eventually we both through unspoken consensus eat our meal in silence. When I'm done with my food, I neatly place it on the table and place the cutlery on the plate as quietly as possible. I'm not quite sure that it's fully sunken in that Weasley will be in the same building as me for almost 5 months. Hermione finishes her food as well and takes both our plates to the sink to wash them. By the time she comes back I've pulled out my laptop to do homework and take my mind of its thoughts.
"Draco, I think I might do my homework in my room tonight. I need a bit of time alone to process everything. Are you going to be okay by yourself?"
"Yeah sure, don't worry." I give her a small smile and she responds in kind.
She then picks up her purse from the couch and goes up to her room. I sit for a while on the couch just staring into space not thinking about anything. I come out of my daze and realize that I just lost about 20 minutes doing that. I decide that I can't concentrate down here and pack up my stuff to take it up to my own room.
When I finally get up the stairs I feel like just listening to sad and depressing music. I open up YouTube and find my sad playlist. One of my favourite ones on it is a song called Birthday Song by Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness. It acknowledges the fact that people do feel sorry for themselves, but we have to keep going and push forward even when we don't feel like it.
You can pick yourself up
You can start walking straight
Tonight you're the life of the party
When the bar lights come on at your paper parade
You don't have to chase down the moon
'Cause I'll leave the light on for you
I sit down at my desk with my laptop and check my email. There's only a few emails there and they're just from websites that send out weekly newsletters.
It's not your birthday
And it's not the fourth of July
Tomorrow's a work day
You've got a life and a spaceship to fly
You've got a woman and a beautiful yellow-haired daughter
Come back to earth, kid
You know that you can't chase the stars underwater
I feel like doing something that would express my feelings with this song and pull out a set of coloured inks.
You can play all the notes
You can write all the words
You headlined in all the big cities
But when the spotlights are off and the crowds have gone home
You could be going home too
I start with a dark blue and use an ink brush instead of a quill. I colour a line across the top and decide to paint a sunset, something relatively simple to start with.
It's not your birthday
This isn't Mardi Gras either
Tomorrow's a work day
You've got a life and a spaceship to fly
You've got a good job and a beautiful yellow-haired daughter
Come back to earth, kid
You know that you can't chase the stars underwater
I slowly make the colours more and more red, by shifting the tone of the colour a little lighter with every horizontal stroke so that it reaches a deep purple.
It's not your birthday
You should be done waking up on the floor
Come back to earth, kid
Don't you know you're not a kid anymore?
You married a good girl
She gave you this beautiful yellow-haired daughter
Come back to earth, kid
You know that you can't chase the stars underwater
I let the mood of the song guide my colours and soon I have a rough painting of what I was going for. It's not perfect, but it captures my mood well enough. I cast a drying charm on it before closing all of the ink pots and putting all of it away.
No, it's not your birthday
It's not your birthday
It's not your birthday
It's not your day
So blow out your candles
It's better than letting them burn out
As the song fades out, I realize that there's a part of the song that I never noticed before. At the very end of the video, you can hear a faint snippet of Amazing Grace. It's an old church hymn that even wizards have heard. It's almost like they wanted to end the sad song with something more hopeful. As I think about it, it's almost like they're trying to say that there's light at the end of the tunnel. Maybe like the song, there's a light waiting for me as well, at the end of my own tunnel of life. Maybe like my painting, the sun is setting but it will rise again someday.
Author's Note: I'm sorry I went overtime by a day. I realized that I got a bit caught up with the plot and story recently, and decided to put another song in like at the beginning. I hope it was okay, it took me a while to flesh this chapter out properly. Thanks for all of your support guys. Please review and give feedback, I live for it. Have a great week guys, till next time!