"The what?" Every voice in the room replied at the same time looking confused between themselves. Hermione scanned through the paragraph I'd pointed at and I watched as her face went pale.
"Wait, a phoenix is a good creature so how can it be a curse?" Harry said to the room at large as everyone looked equally thoughtful on the prospect. Blaise must have left whilst I was gone but Ginny and Harry remained by Hermione's side. Normally, Madam Pomfrey wouldn't allow visitors this late but then again, people very rarely said no to the boy who lived. I took a deep breath trying to find a way to explain how terrible this truly was.
"Well, the fire, the explosion that Hermione thought she caused? She did. The curse basically means that if she's threatened or her life is in mortal danger an explosion will remove the danger close to her and she will be reborn from the ashes of destruction her explosion causes." There was a pause as the others digested this information, Hermione still staring into space.
"But… if she can't die by being attacked, then surely that's a good thing?" Ginny said timidly after a few moments. I could see why she might think it wasn't the worst curse, but she hadn't quite grasped the strength of it. All eyes in the room flicked back to me as if waiting for an explanation.
"Because, she'll destroy everything in the vicinity when her life is in mortal danger. That means she has no control over it at all, the explosion could kill all of us or anyone unfortunate enough to be around her when it happens. You know how little was left of the house when she was in danger before. Her journey to recovery was so long, and even then she was right to avoid magical help because in the moments after the explosion, when she's most hurt, her body could take magic as a threat and do the same again. It's an incredibly rare curse but the only recordings of it show mass destruction. Essentially, she's a ticking time bomb." I finished slowly stepping closer to Hermione's bed and taking her hand carefully.
Again there was a moment of silence as the penny dropped and we all realised how bad this was. It was Harry who spoke first this time.
"How did she… how did she become cursed?" He said quietly and I could tell looking at him that he was questioning whether or not he really wanted the answer.
"It's my fault… I used dark magic to save her and rearrange her memories, all dark magic has consequences, when Hermione reversed it the curse was triggered there was so much dark magic rebounding in her body that the phoenix curse anchored itself in her trying to protect its vessel." I replied hating that I'd referred to Hermione as a vessel. I hated the fact that once again it was my fault, I had caused this pain.
"It'll be ok. We'll find a cure. We have to." Harry said. He always tried to look on the positive side of things even when everything looked bleak. Hermione nodded slowly and closed her eyes. Either she was trying to rest or she just wanted us all to think that. She needed to rest and now, more than ever, she had to be protected until we beat this curse.
****The next day****
I sat next to a sleeping Hermione as Scorpius played with his toys at my feet. It wouldn't be long before he would start using magic if the rest of my family were anything to go by. He would be two in July and everyone in my family showed early signs of magic by the age of two. I couldn't help but dread the havoc his little mischievous mind could cause.
"Thinking about our drama free year?" Hermione said softly as she came to and blinked a few times to adjust to the bright hospital wing. I chuckled at her words but couldn't help being a little concerned about what our future held.
"We're going to find a cure for you Hermione." I replied taking her soft hand in mine. Part of me wanted to savour every moment I had with her just in case things did go wrong, I'd already felt the pain of losing her once and I knew I never wanted to suffer that again.
"I'm not worried, there are worse things…" She said trailing off and trying to sound positive. She was always the last one to give up, but this felt a bit like she was giving up.
"Like what? We have a curse that we know very little about and that puts you at risk of hurting people and traumatising yourself. We don't know how to control it and beat it, forgive me for being a little scared." I blurted causing Scorpius' big eyes to stare up at me a little confused. Hermione squeezed my shaking hand as I bowed my head and sighed loudly.
"Dray, it's ok to feel scared. Listen, in the muggle world there are these illnesses, terrible illnesses, it doesn't matter how old or intelligent or rich you are these diseases can kill you. Those are terrible and there's nothing magic can do to help those people; hope is all they have. So, when we get to that point, I'll be worried, but all my curse means I can't die, and I run the risk of hurting people. When we run out of things to do… then and only then, do we worry about the future ok?" I couldn't help the lump in my throat as I looked into her beautiful brown eyes, she was so strong and never failed to amaze me.
"I just don't know where to go from here." I replied slowly accepting that I was at a loss for where to go from here.
"We're at Hogwarts Draco. We're safe here so as long as you don't annoy me, we'll be ok, I'm not gunna blow." Hermione smirked as she spoke, and I couldn't help but laugh.
"Oh I don't know about that, I can't promise I won't annoy you." I smirked making Hermione giggle. Whatever was coming, we'd go through it together.
*****The coming weeks***
Over the next few weeks Hermione was healthy and in many ways we almost forgot the curse was a risk. We spent as much time as a family as possible and the rest of our time was divided between school, prepping for exams and trying to think of ways to find a cure for Hermione. We'd considered removing her memories again but it was hard to know what would be considered an endangering of her life and what risked causing another incident.
The others were great too, as much as weasel hated me he quickly became smitten with little Scorpius and was more than happy to spend time with him as way of being part of the group. Blaise and Harry spent as much time as possible trying to find a way out of our situation and Ginny tasked herself with keeping Hermione safe and relaxed. Before long our final exams were approaching and the focus more than ever was on getting through it together. Hermione was in charge of our study schedule and we set up the Heads common room to allow us all to study together, we ate, slept and studied and before long we were walking out of our last exam. The sun was shining bright and Hermione had a slight tear in her eye.
"Hey we've got a few weeks before we officially leave, now is the time to enjoy it." I whispered wrapping an arm around her shoulders as we watched Harry, Blaise and Ron happily discussing their answers to the exam.
"I just never pictured the day we would leave. I guess I never thought it would happen." She smiled weakly as if accepting at last that we would have to say goodbye to the place we'd called home for so long.
"Me neither but what one hell of a journey it has been." I muttered as we made our way to the heads common room once more. It felt good to know we could enjoy Hogwarts for a little while before we had to say goodbye. After the war, I knew I'd have to come back because I couldn't let the last time I saw this place be when it was at its worst. Stepping into the common room I noticed a note on the sofa and looked at it curiously, maybe it was from my mother, congratulating us on finishing.
Picking up the scroll I read it aloud and everyone in the room froze in dread.
Draco,
Didn't think the Mudblood got rid of me that easily did you? I have your little muggles where it all started. Tick Tock, you have 24 hours. Come alone.
*******End of Chapter****
Omg ! Loved writing this chapter! Another cliffhanger! I didn't want to have too many filler chapters but we are getting close to the end now guys! Interesting stuff incoming! Read and Review xoxo
