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Chapter Twenty Eight: Permission.
Outside the cottage morning dawned, but Hermione was finally dozing in bed, content with her night. Malfoy watched her twitch occasionally in pain, but she never roused as he considered what he'd agreed to. Only now she was sleeping, back to be vulnerable and weak, did he realise how impossible a challenge they faced. Not just her recuperation, but getting the Order to agree to him training her up. They'd hate the idea, they'd want to mollycoddle her, they would never agree to her ridiculous plan.
Yet, that made this all the more appeal to him. Only he could rehabilitate her, build her strength and resilience back up. Only he could understand how quickly he could help her regain her legs again. Only he could show her to fight blind to the standard she was when seeing her attackers, being of equally matched magical power and stubbornness to push oneself to one's limit. Only he would be able to do this. And he would prove he was worth this, he was capable of this, he was just as good as any of the Order, better even. The thought made him smirk as he stirred a potion and set out parchment, quill, and ink pot to refine Granger's plan for her healing.
Lupin strode into the Infirmary a while later, surprised to find Draco alone with Hermione. Quickly and quietly, he went to Hermione's beside to check her health, ensuring the former Death Eater hadn't hexed the Witch into further injury or death. Malfoy rolled his eyes at this, but held his tongue against retorting Lupin's suspicious assessment with sarcasm and a smirk. He had to remind himself that their doubt was to be expected and snidely replying would only provoke their distrust further.
"Morning Draco." He finally greeted him, wandering over to observe his potion making, "I didn't expect to see you here so early."
"Granger was lonely." Draco responded with a quirk of his lips, keeping his eyes on the potion.
"She's been awake?"
"Yes." Smacking the side of his knife down to crush five seeds, he noticed Lupin tense at the reflective light off the blade, "Quite irate really."
"Irate?" The Older Wizard frowned, no doubt thinking Draco had provoked such a response from her, "And was that?"
"She's frustrated." He shrugged, as the answer really was simple when considering the Witch in question, "She doesn't appreciate being confined to a hospital bed."
"Ah, our Hermione always was energetic." The past tense of Lupin's state made Draco roll his eyes, clearly the Gryffindors had already resigned their Princess to the useless heap.
"Quite." He nodded, playing along, "She was and still can be." Crossing his arms and facing Lupin, Draco squared his serious gaze on him, "She wants to fight."
"Of course she'll want to fight, Hermione always was a stubborn Witch, but she can't. I think I can speak for the whole of the Order when I say that regrettably." Lupin nodded sadly, "She is an extraordinary Witch, it's such a shame…"
"Such a shame you're all giving up on her." Draco finished.
"What are you saying? That she can fight in her condition?" He frowned, "I may not be as experienced at Dark Arts, but I know enough of these spells to know they are hard to heal. Hermione may well never see again, or walk."
"I can teach her to walk." Malfoy pointed out, "I've been working on this potion for nearly a week and I think it's finally ready. It should fight the hex on her legs. It'll be slow and painful, but I can make it work."
"And her blindness, she won't see until Bellatrix is dead." Draco ground his teeth as Lupin pointed out the flaws, the things he couldn't heal and would hinder their challenge, "We can't be giving her too much false hope. Even I can admit Bellatrix is a skilled dueller, her madness making her an unpredictable opponent, absolutely lethal."
"But not infallible." Having trained under Bellatrix for several years now he knew how dangerous she was to spar with, she was vicious and unrelenting; her strength in performing the cruciatus curse made her a cruel dueller to lose to. But he knew she would die, whether in battle or by age, and Granger would see again. Though, in the meantime, she would have to adjust to her new circumstances. His penance was to help her. After all his years of bullying the Bright Witch, he owed her this much, "Granger is the Smartest Witch of her age, she can still fight blind."
"Can you finally admit that?" Lupin chuckled, "Back in Third Year you'd have rather died than confess she was smarter than you." He could still see the pompous, misguided boy strutting about Hogwarts, raving about Mudblood inferiority. How times had changed.
"I never said she was smarter than me." Malfoy said pointedly, "Only that she has more magical potential than most of the dunderheads we went to school with." Stirring the potion clockwise three times, he smiled at it, "And she's clever enough to work with this, to overcome her torture. She is still of use for the Order."
"She may be." Nodding, Lupin sighed, "But she can't fight any longer. In her condition, she's not fit to fight, and she would only be a liability on the battle field. We have to remember the safety of the Order as a whole. No one would be safe if we're constantly watching her back too."
"So much for Gryffindor loyalty." Draco sneered. Lupin's face contorted with anger and frustration, wishing he could retort, but he couldn't. How could he prove their loyalty when to prove it would only prove fatal in his eyes? Instead, he scowled and walked out of the infirmary, wishing beyond hope that the Golden Trio had never been capture, and Hermione never tortured. Malfoy only smirked and turned back to his potion, his point proven yet he still seemed to lose his challenge.