3.
He had never been to a Muggle hospital before. It was a different thing.
"Good evening," Ginny smiled graciously at the nurse. "We're here to see Hermione Granger."
"Good evening. Sorry, but there is Mrs Knott now."
"Mrs Knott knows we're coming."
"Okay," the girl nodded. "Miss Granger is resting now."
"Thank you."
"Mrs Knott?" Draco blew up as they walked away. "Pans?! Pansy knew?!"
He glared at Ginny. He just wanted to explode with anger, but he was angrier with Pansy, who had ignored him for the last eight years, and she was aware of everything that was happening. He didn`t know what happened to Granger then and believed that his friend was exactly kept in the dark, and therefore didn`t go to reconciliation. Now he didn't understand anything.
The brunette was sitting on the sofa, slouching through some magazine. It was a little strange to see her in such an environment. She seems to be so calm and focused. Draco was used to seeing his friend in perpetual motion, in some kind of fuss, but now she was completely different. There was genuine calm and excitement in her. She was flustered, but it quickly faded when Pansy spotted Ginny and Draco.
"What the heck?" The girl hissed, jumping up to the arriving visitors. "What is he doing here, Ginny?"
"The same, Pans!" Malfoy replied furiously. "Theo said you were supposed to be with your mother."
"It's none of your business, Draco!" For the first time in many years, she turned to him directly. "Get out of here! Go away, otherwise, I'll take you out myself!"
"Shut up both!" Ginny hissed. "You forget where you are. You will deal with that outside the hospital."
Malfoy turned towards the Weasley but forced himself to remain silent. She was right. The hospital wasn`t the most suitable place to sort things out.
He didn't understand what was driving Pansy. He didn't understand anything now.
He tilted his head and watched her. Until now it seemed to him it was impossible to be so bright and kind. Draco tried to prove to Hermione that sometimes you need to be tougher to fight back the unfair life that usually hit without warning.
But he also knew that Pansy would never harm her. She wasn`t the kind of person who scattered her friendship around. Draco was glad his friend saw the same in Hermione as himself.
"We can go," the girl approached him. "I had to promise Pansy we'll spend the whole weekend together, but she wouldn't mind me leaving now."
"When I told you it would be nice for you to start hanging out, I didn't think I'd have to win you back," Draco rolled his eyes theatrically. "It seems she`s trying to take you away from me..."
"Might feel like that to you, Malfoy," He heard Parkinson's voice, coming up from behind. "I really can't talk to Hermione, because you always drag her away somewhere."
"I won't let you." Pans grabbed his arm. "You won't go there. And, Ginny, we'll talk later."
"I don't need your permission," he pushed his friend away. "You knew what was going on with her and where she was, but you chose to remain silent all these years.
"And you never bothered to find out and chose to marry Astoria."
Malfoy`s got full lungs of air to answer his friend's scolding remark, but he was overwhelmed by a heartbreaking scream that disturbed the peace of the corridors. Pansy immediately turned around and ran towards the nearest doors, and the nurse followed her into the room.
He couldn`t move because he recognized this voice. He had once heard this cry, which got under the skin and made his heart stop. That was how Granger once screamed when Bellatrix tortured her on the floor of the Malfoy Manor. It was exactly the same cry: full of fear, despair, panic and pain.
Malfoy froze for a few seconds before rushing into the room.
She lay on the floor, crumpled in pain and clutching at Pansy's arm, which held her hand while the nurse gave her the injection. There was little left of the Hermione he remembered.
There were no curly hair or almost invisible freckles on pinkish skin. Those sparkling caramel eyes and luscious lips were gone. She was a simple skeleton, on which pale, and in some places, even yellowish skin had been clumsily pulled. Dull hair is braided in a thin braid, and the arms and legs are in fresh bloody markings.
There was a pool of blood on the floor underneath her, in which she smeared her white cotton shirt. Hermione closed her eyes as the girl injected her with the drug, and Pansy stroked her head, saying something in her ear. The brunette could hardly hold back her tears, and Malfoy couldn`t understand what had happened to Granger.
"My dear…" Pansy whispered as the nurse left the room. "I'm sorry that I went out ..."
"It's okay," Hermione croaked in response and turned her head towards Malfoy. "Hello, Draco."
It seemed to him as if he died at that very moment. Her voice was like a sharp blade that went through the throat and all internal organs. He hadn`t heard her for so long, hadn`t seen her for so long. He had already buried her in his mind, although his heart denied it in every possible way.
He took a step towards her as all his bones cracked and his hands trembled. It all looked like a nightmare. Malfoy never thought he would see her this way and in this condition. The girl he loved all his life. Probably, the sight of a dead Astoria didn`t horrify him as much as the half-dead Granger.
"Hermione..." He touched her hand. "Granger..."
"Leave us," the girl choked out, looking at Pansy and Ginny. "Please."
They walked out in silence, and Malfoy felt two pairs of eyes were looking at his back. Looks like he didn't even expect it to be hurted that much. The news of Granger's death would hurt him hellishly, but it could be drowned out by strong alcohol; the news that she got married and now lives a happy life raising two children would hurt him, but he would be glad to know she is doing well.
But seeing her like this is a new kind of torture. The Cruciatus is nothing compared to that.
"I'm glad to see you, Draco," she`s going in too deep with her own words.
"What happened to you, Granger?" He kissed the back of her hand lightly.
This day was so warm and good. There was a belief in a bright future. He raised his head to the sun and breathed out with a kind of relief: everything was over, they can be happy now. They are free now.
"Hi." He pulled Hermione toward him as she appeared in front of him. "I love you, Granger. You have no idea how much I love you."
She remained silent in response and tried to extricate herself from the tight embrace of the guy. He looked at her and touched her chin with his fingers to look into her eyes, but she turned away. Granger looked different from her usual as if it was just her shadow and not herself.
"Something happened?"
"You're free now, Draco." She took a few steps back and lifted her head. "We are both free now."
"What are you talking about?"
"We're breaking up," Hermione said dryly. "Now everyone has their own life, which we can live as we want."
"What?" He held out his hand to her, but she took a few more steps back. "What are you talking about? I want to live my life with you."
"We are not right for each other. I don't need you, I'm better off without you."
"Granger, what happened?"
"I don't love you, Draco! I'm in love with another! I don't need you!"
She ran away, and he remained standing still. Malfoy didn`t run after her, and when he saw her again, she was sitting in Goldstein's arms. That's who could make her happy, that's who could make her smile.
They locked eyes for a second in the Great Hall during dinner, and his heart once again shattered.
What he didn't know was that her heart and soul had long since turned to dust because of a curse that was already running through her veins with might and main. She was dying right at the very second when she tried to pretend happiness and carelessness.
"You're alive," Hermione whispered. "I'm glad you're alive."
He didn`t understand her. He wanted to hear some explanation from her: why she was here, what happened to her, but she only answered with some vague phrases that didn`t bring any clarity to what was happening.
"What happened to you, Granger?" He liked to call her like that. Only from his lips, her surname sounded like a short form of declaration of love. "Tell me, I'm asking you."
"I just got sick. I was seriously ill."
This wasn`t an answer, it was a common excuse. Malfoy knew her like the back of his hand, and even eight years later he could make out her lies perfectly. She didn`t know how to lie, although she believed that sometimes she succeeded, and he only closed his eyes so as not to destroy her illusions.
"I`m not…"
She closed her eyes and breathed heavily. She fell asleep. The attack wore her out, and she just fell asleep. Draco put his head on her hand and began to cry softly. He did not cry at Astoria's funeral, but then he simply couldn`t hold back his tears.
"Sleep, Granger," Malfoy kissed her forehead and left the room.
Ginny and Pansy were sitting on the couch, their eyes fixed on the door, and as soon as he appeared in the hallway, they immediately jumped to him. He was about to say something but saw several silhouettes approaching.
"Great," Malfoy quipped. "Have you decided to arrange a reunion at the hospital?"
"Don't think we're glad to see you," Ron blurted out.
"So, you were all aware. And you, Potter? Did you interview Skitter knowing she was lying here?"
"If it hadn't been for you, Malfoy, none of this would have happened," Harry replied quietly. "Say "thank you" that I didn`t smear you against the wall with my own hands when I learned that you are to blame for what happened to her."
"I would say "thank you" if you bothered to explain to me what I am to blame!"
"Calm down!" Blaise interrupted the conversation. "Let's not here. I'll explain it to Malfoy myself."
It seemed that none of them had ever felt such intensity and tension as they do now. Each of them, except Malfoy, were the keepers of the secret of Hermione Granger. And only two, Blaise and Theo, didn`t share the general hatred of him, because they were his friends.
Zabini led him outside and held out a cigarette and lighter.
"I understand them," the mulatto began. "They are all her friends. I guess if I were more of Granger's friend than yours, I would hate you too."
"It would be nice if I understood the reason for their hatred because now I hate them no less than they hate me. They all knew what kind of relationship I had with her, they also knew that I was looking for her, but no one bothered to tell me what happened to her."
"She wanted it that way."
"And you knew too," Malfoy said angrily. "You, too, knew she was alive and where she was, but you didn't even give me a hint, just derailing the conversation every time when it came to Granger."
"It wasn`t my secret."
"And what was the secret of your "best friends" club?"
"Did Narcissa ever tell you about the Malfoy family curse?"
"I remember something like that," Draco thought for a second. "It seems she was telling some kind of tale about the fact that one of my ancestors was cursed by an old witch for burning their estate."
"These are not fairy tales, Malfoy," Blaise stubbed out his cigarette butt. "There really was an ancient curse on your family that struck any Malfoy who fell in love with a Muggle-born witch. The witch whose estate your ancestor burned down was a Muggle-born, and she didn`t respond with sympathy to him. Therefore, your family has kept the tradition of tying the knot only with purebloods."
"Stop! Blaise, what are you talking about?"
"The truth, Malfoy. Your family curse must have touched you because you decided to fall in love with Granger..."
"But I'm alive," interrupted Draco. "Here I stand and smoke ..."
"Because she lies there and dies. Narcissa told her about this curse, and Hermione decided that since she is the cause of this curse, because if you didn`t fall in love with her, then everything would be fine, then she needs to somehow solve this problem," Zabini raised his eyes and looked at the starry sky. "She became the catalyst for this curse, she also became its neutralizer."
He couldn't believe what Blaise was saying. It was too incredible, stupid, and so obvious. Granger again decided to sacrifice herself, but she didn`t ask anyone. Didn't she understand that this life hadn't given up to Malfoy if she wasn't in it? Didn't she think he would hate his life when he knew its value? This was the whole Gryffindor nature of Granger: to fearlessly rush into a burning flame for the sake of someone.
He once accused Potter and Weasley of putting Hermione in danger every time, because they couldn`t sit on their asses, but it turned out he was no better. Now he understood the hatred with which Pansy and Ginny were looking at him; also understood why Blaise and Theo continued to talk to him; he couldn`t know what was happening behind him.
But there was something he would never understand: why had his mother not told anything? Why did she let Granger sacrifice herself or was she unaware of her plans? But she had to guess when she saw her son was alive and well-being, but the Gryffindor-girl disappeared from the radar. For so many years, Skeeter continued to scribble articles in the Daily Prophet, asking the same question: where did the Golden Girl go?
"I have to talk to her." Malfoy finished his cigarette. "I have to ask her..."
"Seriously? Do you want to ask her why she did this?" Zabini dropped an eyebrow. "Would you do differently? Would any of us all have acted differently? Do you think I wouldn't do that for Ginny, or Pansy for Theo? Potter and Weasley would have done the same if their other halves were involved. This is the lot of lovers: to make sacrifices for the sake of the one who makes your heart beat faster.
Zabini was right. Right, in every word, but it didn't make it easier. Malfoy knew he would have done the same for Granger without hesitation, but what was he to do with her victim now? Live on as if nothing had happened? He perfectly understood he could only come to her ward every day, and just watch her slowly die.
"What do the doctors say?"
"I don`t know why the curse didn`t kill her immediately, although it seems to me that she knows the answer to this question. Doctors don`t understand what is happening to her, so they just give painkillers injections. This all helps her for a while."
"Why is she in a Muggle hospital?"
"She spent several years at St. Mungo's Hospital, under the supervision of Goldstein, but someone saw her there and we had to use Obliviate on the unfortunate one," Blaise spoke quietly. "The healers couldn`t help her, although Pansy was looking for the best of the best around the world. Granger wanted us to take her to this dubious establishment, although the money here is being fought unreasonably."
"Who pays for all this?"
"Pansy with Theo, me and Ginny, Potter. Each of us wants to make it easier for her, but no improvement has been observed."
It all sounded like a lousy show with a bad ending, but it was real. Malfoy believed he couldn`t save Astoria, but it turned out that even earlier he couldn`t save his Granger, and she, in turn, gave everything to keep him alive.