Author's Note: Hi, Merry Christmas! Hope you like this new chapter! Sorry, sorry for not updating earlier.
St. Mungo's Hospital II
Hermione's Point of View
"Healer Pye, please……a life is at stake here." I begged.
"Ms Granger……I……I can't, it's against the medical laws of the wizarding world, decree one hundred……"
"To hell with the decree, it's a life, an innocent life……"
"But fresh unicorn blood is needed to save him, which we do not have in the hospital. We only have blood extracts, from unicorns that have died from……"
"Then we'll keep him alive with the blood extracts first, until I find fresh unicorn blood."
Healer Pye stared at me, as if I was the Dark Lord. "How?" he squeaked before adding in a horrified tone "You're going to kill a unicorn!"
I replied in a slow, determined voice "I have a way. My parents are muggle dentists; they know how to do a simple surgery to draw blood out without letting the unicorn bleed to death……"
"What? How do you know? You never tried it. Nor has any great Healer before our time. A unicorn is a very magical creature. You are telling me you are going to cut the creature and then sew it with muggle threads and needles……I mean, this is, this is barbaric……" Healer Pye was spluttering at me, his expression vexed and he was pacing up and down.
"You will be violating the wizarding law. You will be branded a murderer……" he added, looking at me.
"You are refusing to let me save him. You are already a murderer." I countered firmly, my eyes blazing at him.
"What? I, I……I'm not, and you can't save someone like that. Have you ever thought of the consequences Ms. Granger? He will have a cursed life, you know that." Healer Pye was very indignant now.
"But we are not killing the unicorn……"
"But what happens if the unicorn dies? Your parents never operated on a unicorn. They are not even wizards, they are muggles……they have never even seen a unicorn before. And even if the unicorn doesn't die……" and he trailed off.
"And what?" I demanded.
Healer Pye rubbed his temples. "Ms Granger, we do not know for sure what the after-effects of unicorn blood are. But medical history recorded that wizards who kill unicorns for their blood, in order to save their own lives, suffer from spasms, extreme pain, and chills. Their lives are no better than dead. They might be alive, but their days are torturous. Do you want to put Draco Malfoy through this? After all, he suffered enough in Azkaban, you saw his condition."
My throat went dry. "But we are not killing the unicorn. Wizards kill unicorns for their blood because there is no other way. However, muggle medicine is much more advanced. We perform surgery, and do blood transfusion. It's proven, and it's worth a try." I insisted stubbornly.
"Even if the boy lives, his life is prolonged temporarily only. Three to five years at most if his illness could not be cured. There is still the possibility that he will suffer the after-effects, and then what? What if he could not take it? Can your conscious live with that?
"It will be on my conscious as well if I let him die without exhausting all possible means to save him." I said coldly.
"You……" Healer Pye sank to his chair, a defeated expression on his face.
"I will take full responsibility, you can say I stupefy you, perform the Imperious curse, whatever. Just let me do this. There is a possibility it could work." I pleaded.
I continued "All I ask of you is to stall for time. You continue to keep him alive, with the unicorn's blood extracts, and I do my part. Think about it, if I……we succeed, it could be a medical breakthrough, think about what it could do for your career."
Appealing to one's self-interest……if that doesn't work……
"Ms Granger, you underestimated me! I am not an ego-oriented, fame-chasing scoundrel, unlike my counterpart, Healer……" Pye was suddenly very worked up.
"Then do it because it is right; because it will help save an innocent person from an unjust death. Healer Pye, we are his only hope. He has no one else in this world. We have to do it." I finished strongly.
Healer Pye slumped back in his chair. "You never give up, do you, Ms Granger?"
"Healer Pye, my will is made of steel."
I had less than twelve muggle hours, as this is as long as the blood extract could prolong Malfoy's life. I convinced Hagrid to capture a strong, yet docile male unicorn for me. He managed to lead the creature to his hut. My parents, already waiting there nervously, sedated the animal and managed to draw blood from it with a syringe.
The procedure was relatively quick and it did not seem to have caused any distress on the unicorn. However, as we are cautious about hurting the creature in the first place, we did not dare to draw too much blood. I insisted that Hagrid care for the unicorn until it is truly well. "The unicorn must not die" I stressed to Hagrid.
I apparated back to the hospital and handed the unicorn's blood to Healer Pye. Healer Pye remarked that the amount of blood is not quite sufficient, but I explained that this is as much as we dared to draw from the unicorn.
Standing there & watching Healer Pye administering the unicorn's blood to a dying Draco Malfoy, I could only hope & pray.
Author's Note: Hi, hope you do like it. Please leave me a review, thank you very much.