April 10th, 2003
Harry and Ron returned to find Hermione standing in front of a bubbling cauldron, her hair tied up in a messy knot and a look of concentration on her face. The look was vastly different from the blank stare they normally found her with.
"Boys!" she chirped, her eyes darting up, bright and round. "I have a list of ingredients I need you to bring me from the Order's supplies. I have an idea…"
"Oh, that's never really a good thing," Ron whispered to Harry, who responded with a laugh and a jab of his elbow
"I want to help the Order. I know I'm not ready to be back out there but I'd like you to bring people here." She flourished her hands in the air, gesturing wildly at her mostly empty cottage. "I know you'll have other safe houses equipped to take the more serious cases, but I'm just sitting on my hands around here. I can take on minor cases and they can stay for recovery. I've been in those houses, they are no place for healing."
"Hermione, you aren't a healer…"
"I know that, Ronald." She narrowed her eyes at her friend with a withering curl of her lip. "But I know basic healing spells. I know I can offer something, especially if you run and get me these ingredients." With a wave of her hand, the paper flew off the counter and into Ron's chest.
"Hermione, are you sure you're up to be taking care of other people?" Harry asked softly. Her eyes shot to her messy haired friend, his eyes carefully examining her like she was on the verge of spontaneously exploding.
"Of course," Hermione rushed, her eyes darting back to her cauldron. "If I can't be out there with you, then this is what I can do. I don't want Luna going to a safe house to recover — those places are awful. Threadbare blankets, canned food on dusty shelves… no." Hermione gave a firm shake of her head. "She'll stay here. She should be ready in a week or so, and then she can decide what she wants to do." Her jaw was set as she turned towards her friends, who were looking at her a bomb that might detonate at any moment. "Can you bring the supplies or not?"
"We'll run this past Mad-Eye and Lupin. As long as they give the go-ahead, we will bring back whatever we can get our hands on," Harry conceded, and Hermione nodded, stirring the brew in her cauldron.
Hermione carried a tray of broth, crackers and Blood Replenishing Potion towards her room, where Luna was sleeping.
She set it down on the end table and lowered the sheet where Luna's wound was. She lifted the bandage and was relieved that her near fatal wound had been reduced to a shallow cut; the edges were pink and puckering: the beginning of a scar.
Hermione stared down at her friend – her face still abnormally pale while waiting her much needed potion – the deep purple circles under her eyes were stark in comparison to her translucent skin. War was etched into her once kind features, a hardness she would never have imagined on Luna.
With a gentle touch, she pried Luna's lips apart, slowly pouring the contents of her pain potion into her mouth. She removed ointment she'd acquired from the chemists when she'd accidentally clipped her finger on a butcher's knife a few months back. It wasn't near as powerful as a magical version, but it was something to aid in her fight against infection.
She grabbed her book, Healing & Herbology: A Guide to Healing Plants, and perched on the armchair in the corner.
She made it to a particularly dull chapter on Doxy Venom when Luna began to cough and stir in her bed.
"Luna?!" Hermione dropped the book at her feet and rushed to her friends side. The Blood Replenishing Potion had worked; Luna's skin was back to its original color, her lips once again pink and missing the blueish hue.
"Hermione?" Luna's voice chimed happily, its usual distant quality present. "Is that you?"
Hermione was wiping tears away furiously while she laughed at nothing in particular. "Yes! Oh Luna, you have no idea how happy I am that you're alright."
"Quite. Although I could use a glass of water."
Hermione handed her the cup on the nightstand and helped her sit up on her elbows to drink.
"How are you feeling?"
"Fine, mostly. A bit tender around the middle. Do you know what happened?" Luna's eyes were bright and curious, her lips tugging up into a familiar smile. One would never have suspected that she had been on the brink of death hours before.
"I'm afraid I don't have any specifics; they didn't mention anything other than that you'd been hit with a slicing curse. You've been out for almost two days."
"Did we get Draco?"
"Draco?" Hermione paled at his name; she hadn't heard it in a long while. Her mind flashed back to the woods, to him immobilizing her and leaving her in the brush to listen to…
"Draco. Draco Malfoy. That was the mission: to extract him."
"Extract him?"
"Yes, our team was sent out to bring him back to Headquarters. I wonder if we got him before I was taken out…" Her eyes wandered about the room, drifting along the decor, completely oblivious to the shake in Hermione's hands.
"Oh, they didn't mention," she managed with a thick gulp. "Why were you trying to capture him?"
"I'm not sure… I'm never given that level of clearance. I only know that we were not to harm him—stun or petrify only—and bring him back as soon as possible. Will Harry and Ron be coming back?"
"Yes, I imagine so." Hermione was trying to ignore the million questions bouncing around her head, knowing they would go unanswered by Luna. "I've requested some supplies, so hopefully I can help others in your situation. They were going to get approval and then come back, so maybe tomorrow?"
"Oh ok. Might I have some of that broth? My stomach is busy as Blibbering Humdinger."
"A wha— oh, yes. Here, let me help you…"
Hermione gripped Luna under her arms and lifted her to sitting, fussing over her as she winced. Drawing her wand, she levitated the bowl in front of her, and Luna brought the spoon to her lips again and again, sighing in contentment as the warm broth trickled down her throat.
Hermione was chewing on a thought, a question she wasn't sure she wanted to ask. Her curiosity gave in.
"How is it out there? Are you managing alright?"
"Alright." Luna's sweet smile ignited a warmth in Hermione's It's… different than before. It seems like we are doing better, more successful missions. It's a bit overwhelming at times, how their numbers can be so great. There's so much hate in the world; it's exhausting to fight it constantly."
Hermione felt a stab of guilt twist deep in her belly. She should be next to them, fighting with them. Even at the thought, a cold sweat spread over her body, and she felt her pulse quicken. She wasn't ready, not yet.
"We have more information now, and it seems like we are getting close. Close to what, I'm not sure… but closer, surely. Do you know my dad? He didn't make it…"
"Oh Luna! I'm so sorry… no one told me. I… I had no idea…" Hermione's heart ached as she watched her friends face frown for maybe the first time.
"He had an honorable death, one he would be proud to call his. He saved me." Luna let a rare tear fall and wiped it away quickly before smiling at Hermione, "Even if we win this war, the cost is too high. Not just in those we lost, but in our souls. They are cracked and damaged, and I don't know if they'll ever be whole again. We've given more than we could afford to pay, I fear."
"I couldn't agree more… I… I hate not being out there with you all. I just don't want to cause anyone else's death. I froze… I froze, and Lav—"
"You had a human moment, Hermione Granger." Luna squeezed her hand and regarded her with soft, loving eyes. "They shouldn't cost people their lives, but in today's climate, it is the norm, I'm afraid. My last human moment landed me here, with no idea who I left behind in the field; the one before that cost me my father. You are still a tremendous person with a giant heart. Don't you forget that."
"Thank you, Luna. I'm so sorry about your dad; he was a good wizard."
"The very best." She smiled and continued with her broth.
Luna was resting comfortably – now upstairs – so Hermione could change the linens and prepare the room. She had decided that this room would no longer be hers, it would be triage. The room was just off the entry, and it's wide windows poured light in through most of the day. On the north wall was a closet with shelving from top to bottom, she packed it full of clean linens, potion and and Muggle first aid items.
The kitchen and dining room were next to be revamped. In a severe emergency, one she did not expect would be brought to her, the table could easily be utilized and she stocked the nearest cabinet with items that might be needed to suture or bandage a bleeding wound.
Finally, she put out a basket of ripped linens to serve as quick bandages as well as some Muggle supplies she had run out for earlier: hydrogen peroxide, LiquidSkin, rubbing alcohol, pain pills, cold packs, and other miscellaneous items she had bought in bulk. They couldn't rely on magical items alone—they would run out too quickly. Simple injuries would have to be treated the old fashioned way, there was no getting around it.
Standing back, she examined her makeshift hospital, chuckling to herself. Who knew if anyone would come—maybe the other houses could handle everything. But if they couldn't, she'd be prepared.
A knock on the door sliced through her reverie, and she turned to make her way towards the door. She opened it a fraction and smiled at her guest.
Neville.
He was sporting a black eye that was nearly swollen shut, bruises smattered down his handsome face. Two of his fingers were taped together, and he entered the cottage with a slight limp to his gait.
"How are you, Neville?!" She wrapped him in a hard hug and loosened her embrace when he wheezed slightly.
"Brilliant, Hermione. How are you holding up?"
"Better than most, I'm afraid. Here to see Luna, I assume?" she smiled at her unkempt friend.
"Hope you don't mind. The guys told me where she was." He grinned sheepishly.
"Of course, she's right upstairs. But I wonder if you might help me with something after?"
"Anything. What's up?"
Hermione shifted her weight back and forth, a nervous tick. "I want to start a garden."
"A garden? I don't know that I'll be much help with that... "
"You were always brilliant at Herbology, Neville."
"What kind of garden are you thinking?"
"A healing garden. I want to grow plants that can heal injuries like the one Luna has and the ones you have now. Potion ingredients and what not. I know the stores must be low elsewhere—who has time to grow them? Well," she shrugged, "I do. Would you help?"
"I can certainly try. Knowledge is a bit rusty — there's not much use for Herbology these days." He gave her a wry smile and jogged up the stairs.
For the first time in months, Hermione was beginning to feel like herself again.
A/N: Endless thanks to Ravenslight for helping me work through these chapters!
Draco is coming!
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