AN: I'm so sorry for being gone for so long. I've been so busy this summer, and when I have been writing, I have been working on a Dramione one-shot (hopefully, you can enjoy that in the near future). Thank you to everyone still following this fanfic, particularly my reviews riaroo400 and Dancing-Souls (Dramione truly does rock!), I love reviews and yours with fantastic, so thank you so much!
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Chapter Thirty Nine: Keeping Going.
"Granger?" Malfoy whispered, "I know you want to impress everyone, but not at the cost of setting back your recovery." His arm was secured around her waist, while he held one of her hands to stabilise her. Hermione had one hand braced against the wall and her teeth were stubbornly set to lock her jaw in determination.
"Open the door, Malfoy." She commanded sternly and adjusted her grip of his hand and on the wall.
Slowly, he eased the infirmary doors open, some hesitation causing him to second guess his decision to allow her to push her rehabilitation so far in such little time. But as he gazed at the determined young woman in his arms, he knew not to underestimate her abilities or her stubbornness. Reaffirming his decision internally, he readied himself and Hermione to venture out of their almost prison.
The stark white paint of the walls of the safe house hallway was sharp on the eye and felt clinical and claustrophobic to remain in. While the various rooms of the Order's underground bunker were decorated to be warm and comforting, the hallway was designed to be an assault on the senses; glaringly bright and confusing. The doors appeared to blend into the walls and the lighting created the illusion that the floor, walls, and ceiling were blended together. It was designed to bewilder anyone unprepared for the optical trickery and make it near impossible to find rooms without prior knowledge of the layout.
After spending so many long hours in the infirmary, the appearance of which was modelled to mimic the infirmary at Hogwarts, the corridor's design was blinding to Draco whenever he exited the room. He blinked owlishly and strained his eyes to see the subtle lines indicating doorways and the corridor's dimensions. Using his memories of the bunker, he soon found himself adjusting to his surroundings quickly.
The aim of today's rehabilitation was to test her distance endurance and her ability to walk on various surfaces in different surroundings. It had been Hermione's idea to push for this goal so soon. In the past week, she had managed to successfully stand alone, even shuffle forward without help, and she could walk with aid the length of the infirmary. Draco wasn't sure if she was pushing to be recovered before Ron and Harry could branch out on a mission without her or if she simply wanted to heal quicker, but her persistence was paying off, though resulted in restless, painful nights for his patient.
Nodding to herself, she squeezed Draco's hand tighter to indicate she was ready to move on. He planted his feet in a firm stance and watched her take a tentative step forward. Pain shot through her toes, up her legs, and faded as it reached her waist. Draco's antidote was slowly releasing the heavy pain weighting down her legs, meaning that with every day that passed, she could move more and more. From Draco's calculations and Hermione's optimism, they had predicted she would soon have full capacity of her legs back. Hermione merely wished there would have been a similar solution to her sight.
After moving several feet away from the infirmary, allowing the doors to shut once more, Hermione braced both of her arms against one of his and she smiled at him hopefully. He knew her expression well; she wanted to push further than planned. Slowly, he inched forward and she took a careful step to follow.
Suddenly, a door barged open further down the corridor and Ginny strode out with Dean. Both Gryffindors stopped immediately on seeing the two in the corridor and stared. Hermione's unseeing expression moved to face them and she smiled tightly, in an attempt to reassure them of her progress.
"Hermione!" Ginny hurried forward with Dean and hovered on the other side of Hermione, "You're walking!"
"I've been walking for a while, actually." Hermione announced proudly, "Draco and I have been practicing together."
"I can't believe it, you're walking!" She repeated her response. Upon her loud exclamation, other members of the Order exited the room also and stood to watch Hermione's careful progress down the hallway.
When Draco and Hermione had reached halfway down the corridor and most of the Order stood around watching in awe, Draco felt Hermione beginning to stumble against him and her ragged nail began to dig painfully into his forearm, as she tried to hide the throbbing pain coursing through her legs. Pausing Hermione's movements, Draco held her firmly still. From the stiffening of Hermione's backbone, Draco knew she wanted to argue with him to continue, but he squeezed his arm around her waist in warning. He knew, if they took even one more step, she would be in unbearable pain. Already, he could feel her pain shaking with strain and she had pressed her smile into a pained grimace, which she tried futilely to hide.
"There's pain relief potion in my pocket." He told the nearest Order member. Mrs Weasley quickly retrieved the vial from his trouser pocket and carefully administered it to Hermione, who gratefully took it.
Aware of all of the eyes on them, Draco held her protectively close. He knew she would not appreciate everyone watching when she would inevitably crumble in agony. Making eye contact with Harry, Draco allowed Potter to aid him in quickly retreating with Hermione. The doors of the infirmary swung shut behind the three, shielding her from view, and as if on cue, Hermione let out a pained whimper.
"We've got you, Hermione." Harry murmured to her in reassurance, as they lifted her onto her infirmary bed.
"Harry…" She moaned and turned away and hung her head down to hide her quiet cries, unable to allow anyone to realise how hard each step was for her to take.
As soon as Hermione was placed comfortably on her bed, Draco quickly backed away from the emotional scene. While Hermione appeared to trust him, Draco knew Potter and most of the Order still did not, causing an awkward tension between the defector and the junior member. Slipping into the chair behind the desk, he pulled the textbook closer to continue reading and planning.