Disclaimer: I don't own anything at all in the Harry Potter universe.

Courage to Find the Strength

Chapter 22

Hermione had paced the glade alone for so many hours that night that she wore a bare track down into the earth. Back and forth her feet took her while her hands nervously tore apart various bits of vegetation she kept picking in a nervous bout of energy. Her heart was beating rapidly due to the anxiety she was under as she pessimistically went over everything that could have gone wrong tonight. The only thing that kept her from racing back to Hogwarts and leaping onto Harry's Firebolt in a desperate attempt to physically retrieve Draco from Malfoy Manor herself was the overwhelming fear of him arriving back at this spot while she was gone. She shuddered to think of what would happen if he happened to apparate back in the glade without her here, even more so when she considered what would happen if Snape was the first person he encountered. So, she viciously tore more leaves from an overhanging tree and continued her frenzied ripping. Just when Hermione thought she'd gone mad, a flicker of movement on the other side of the glade caught her eye. She snapped her head around just as Draco and Dobby apparated. For a moment, time stood still as they held each other's gaze. Then, before she knew it, she was racing into his arms.

Dobby, for his part, stood there and scratched his head as the two embraced. Then, blushing as it slowly dawned on him this was a private moment, he turned his back to them and allowed them some time to themselves.

Draco had his hands in her hair holding her face under the fury of his kisses. Her hands were entwined around the back of his neck, returning the pressure. When they finally paused to draw breath, Hermione was about to speak, but Draco silenced her with a finger to her lips.

"Not now, 'Mione," he tenderly whispered. "I've got to get to Dumbledore before I, um, before."

"Draco! What is it?!" Hermione caught him as his body suddenly sagged against hers.

"Quickly! I don't have much time!" he urgently whispered, swinging an arm around her neck for support. She practically dragged him out of the forest as he used all his remaining strength to fight the curtains of his mind as they slowly closed once again.

When she reached the edge of the forest where it bordered Hogwarts grounds, she bellowed, "HAGRID!"

A short distance away, the front door to Hagrid's hut burst open. "Hermione?!"

"Hagrid! Over here! Quick!"

In a few giant strides, Hagrid had rapidly crossed the distance. "What's goin' on here?" he questioned, concerned.

"No time! Get him to Dumbledore quick!"

"But maybe the hospital wing is where."

"NO! NO TIME! Dumbledore now, please, Hagrid!" Hermione practically screeched.

Without another word, Hagrid scooped up Malfoy and raced across the grounds into the school proper. Hermione kept up as best she could, but as she had hoped, he quickly outdistanced her. Hagrid could really move when he needed to.

Snape had been pacing the halls as well, particularly outside the entrance to Dumbledore's office. Against the wall, Harry and Ron were sitting on the floor. The boys were whispering to one another and pointedly ignoring the agitated mumblings of the Hogwarts professor. However, they shot to their feet when Hagrid came bounding up the stairs three at a time and making a mad dash in their direction. Snape swung around and all three could see Malfoy in the giant's strong arms, his face screwed up in pain. Without a moment's hesitation, Hagrid spoke the password to gain entrance to Dumbledore's office and mounted the steps, this time four at a time. Snape was right behind him, and Harry and Ron were hot on his heels.

"You two! Stay put! This is NO place for the likes of you!"

"BUT!" They both protested and only stopped when Snape raised his wand at them.

"You know I will if I have to," he flatly said, and they knew he spoke the truth.

Just as the entrance closed and the great statue slid back into place, Hermione skidded to a halt next to her friends, panting and leaning with one hand on the wall to catch her breath. "Where.where is he?"

Ron and Harry exchanged looks. "He's up there," Ron motioned at the statue.

"Snape wouldn't let us go with him," Harry explained, but knew he sounded pathetic as soon as it left his mouth.

Hermione looked dumbfounded for a moment. "Well?!"

"Well, what, 'Mione?" Ron asked.

"What's the bloody password?!" she shrieked. Harry's expression grew grim as he nodded.

***

Dumbledore was expecting them as Hagrid and Snape burst into the office. "Quickly! Over here!" he motioned towards a couch in a corner of the room. "Set him down here. Easy now, Hagrid, easy."

Dumbledore leaned over Malfoy and smiled kindly down at him. "Draco? Are you still with us?"

Draco slowly opened his eyes and weakly nodded.

"You've got to fight it as long as you can. I'm going to need you aware of what's happening. I assume you came here for my help?"

Again, Draco nodded, tremors beginning to appear in his arms and legs due to the strain he was under to remain clear.

"Let me see the Mark," Dumbledore gently said as he pushed up Draco's sleeve. Upon seeing the skull, Hagrid gasped and turned his head, and a queer look came over Snape.

"Nasty sort of business, this, but not out of my realm of expertise." Dumbledore glanced over at the Potion's professor whose hand went unconsciously to his own forearm.

Just then the door flew open, and Hermione, Ron, and Harry intruded uninvited.

"What the devil do you think you're doing?! I said OUT!" Snape yelled. Hagrid gaped, but Dumbledore's eyes never left Draco's.

"We're not leaving," Ron adamantly stated. His and Harry's eyes were locked onto Snape's in a contest of wills. Hermione, on the other hand, was staring at Malfoy.

"Oh yes, you are!" Snape advanced toward the trio but stopped when a voice croaked out behind him.

"Her.mion.eee," Draco weakly said as he tried to reach for her. Hermione practically pushed Dumbledore out of the way in an effort to reach him as quickly as possible. As soon as her hand clasped his, strength seemed to pore into Draco, and he was soon able to sit up a little.

"Severus," Dumbledore said, "I agree that Harry and Ron must go, but Hermione may stay."

At the look Dumbledore gave them, they knew it was useless to protest. "If you need us," Harry pointedly said to Hermione.

"Yeah, if you need us," Ron said, then turning to glare at Snape. Hermione nodded back at them with tears in her eyes as they left. Then, she turned her full attention back to Malfoy who was regarding the whole scene with an odd sort of expression.

As the door shut and Hagrid and Snape gathered around, Dumbledore placed a hand on Draco's shoulder. "We need to begin as soon as possible. Time is running out."

Draco squeezed Hermione's hand and nodded back up at the Headmaster. "Ready when you are."

***

Time passed, and soon the sun was clearly visible through the tower windows at the end of the hall. Harry and Ron knew they'd missed all their morning classes, but they didn't care. A number of students passed, but none said a word, somehow understanding it wasn't appropriate. Hagrid had gone and come back several times, but refused to utter a word about the proceedings upstairs. About an hour early, they'd almost gone back in when they'd heard Hermione's voice scream out Draco's name, but in the silence that followed, they warily sank back down to their waiting positions. Harry briefly wondered if this is what Muggles experienced in the waiting rooms at their hospitals. A short while later, the entrance opened, and an exhausted Hermione stumbled out, tears on her cheeks. They immediately assumed the worst until she broke out into a grin.

"He's going to be okay!" Even Ron sighed in relief though he'd never thought he'd lived to see the day that he was glad Draco Malfoy wasn't dead.

"What happened in there?" Harry asked, no longer able to contain his curiosity.

Hermione sighed. "I can't talk about it."

"Dumbledore made you promise, huh?" Ron asked.

"No," she shook her head, "I just can't. It was too..terrible to talk about just yet."

Harry instantly put his arms around her, and she sagged into them much like Draco had earlier in the glade. "Sleep, you need some rest," he said as he led her away to the Gryffindor dormitories.

"We all do," Ron agreed, following them.

***

Hermione spent the better part of the week skipping her classes and staying by Malfoy in the hospital wing. When her teachers protested, a few words from Dumbledore smoothed things over. For Malfoy's part, he just slept, but it was for the most part a restful, healing sleep. Harry took the seat next to Hermione during Madam Pomfrey's short visiting hours. He reached over and handed her a sandwich. "You're not eating," he stated.

Hermione absently began chewing on the sandwich. In between mouthfuls, she said, "I forget to."

Harry sighed. "So, what's the deal? What happened over at the Manor?"

"Voldemort," Hermione whispered, finally having the strength to talk about what Draco had cried out in his frenzied, almost mad explanations during that horrible night and morning. "He's poisoning magical creatures with radiation. He's figured out some way to do it, but Draco was starting to get really bad, and he wasn't making sense at that point."

"And Dobby?"

"Oh my God! I forgot about Dobby!" she cried. "The poor thing! Is he okay?!"

Harry smiled. It was a rare event when Hermione Granger forgot something important. "Yes, he's okay. Ron, Hagrid, and I have been consoling him with a little help from Dumbledore. After he told us what he saw, Dumbledore put a Memory charm on him so he wouldn't have to relive it. And Crookshanks is fine, too."

Hermione looked away, and tears started streaming down her cheeks. Her fists clenched on the blanket covering Draco.

"I hate him," she stated.

"What?" Harry looked alarmed.

"Voldemort. I hate him. I've never wanted to commit murder before, but now."

"It's like this hatred burning deep down in you that you think if you don't do something it's going to burn you completely up."

Hermione gazed at him in wonder. "So this is how you feel about what he did to your parents?"

"Sometimes. Him and Pettigrew. But, you have to control it or else you're no better than them."

Just then, Draco stirred and mumbled something. Hermione reached for his hand. "What is it, Draco?"

He mumbled again, louder. "I don't understand," she said. Harry was watching him intently.

Suddenly, Draco bolted up in bed screaming, "THE BLOOD! BLOOD EVERYWHERE!" Both Hermione and Harry were startled enough to yell out with him, bringing Madam Pomfrey racing in. Then, Draco started sobbing. "I didn't even know her name. I didn't even know her name."