Chapter Three

Hermione hoped that Harry got his results in. He worked hard, and after everything he'd been through, he deserved it. Maybe this would help him move on past everything. She knew it wasn't as easy as all that, but he deserved to at least try and be happy. She was working on her own issues. She knew that she shouldn't depend on Ron and Harry so much for her own happiness, to deal with things… That's why she had found the post-war support group. She hadn't expected to find Draco there, though.

Hermione was surprised at what Draco was like now. Of course, he was different in the meetings than out of it. She had despised him before, but now… She wasn't sure about anything. He was still a pompous, selfish, arrogant git but he wasn't as obnoxious before. They certainly had no problems communicating, and he never hesitated to tell her what he thought even if he knew she would disagree. Actually, that had been part of the fun of it. Sure, he didn't think Muggleborns were scum anymore, obviously, but that didn't mean they agreed on everything.

At first, they had just started to talk after the meetings, and then he had invited her to have a drink… between friends, of course. Those simple drinks had been getting longer every time. She was starting to wonder if… but no. That wouldn't make any sense. She didn't want to let herself go there, even though it had been over three months since she had broken off the engagement with Ron.

Hermione went to work that day and put her mind to the task. She had a long list of things to get done today. It wasn't even a couple of hours when she heard whispering going around the office. She wished that they would stop that. It was terribly annoying. That is until she saw something out of the corner of her eye. Turning, she saw a familiar but unwelcome sight - the Lynx Patronus of Kingsley Shacklebolt, Minister of Magic. She had seen it once before, at Bill and Fleur's wedding. It hadn't brought good news then, and she had a bad feeling now.

Kingsley's voice came out of the Lynx's mouth. "There has been an accident. Harry's at St. Mungo's. Spell Damage Ward."

Hermione's hands flew up to her face. Her whole body shook. Tears started to stream down her face. If Harry went to St. Mungo's, that could only mean one thing - either it was very serious, and he knew he couldn't make it into the Infirmary at Hogwarts or he wasn't able to. Was he unconscious? How bad was he hurt?

Hermione jumped up at ran over to her boss. "Mr. Morgansen, I have to go now," she said. "I'm sorry, I'll be back if I can. I'm sorry!" With that, she left and ran out. She left the Ministry and went to a nearby alleyway and Apparated to Diagon Alley. There were Aurors around, and she knew that meant it wasn't good. Had Harry been here in Diagon Alley? If so, why?

Hermione tried not to think about it because she was likely to break down into tears. She needed to keep it together, just for a little bit longer. She found the joke shop and ran inside. There always seemed to be people in here no matter what time of day. She hoped that he was working today, but it was George she ran into. "George, where's Ron?" she practically begged.

"Oh, he's in the back, what's up?" George said, but she ran past him without another word.

Hermione ran straight into the employee area and into the back of the shop, with George right behind her. "Ron!" She cried as soon as she saw him. "You have to come. Now. It's Harry."

Ron froze in the middle of his work and looked up at her. "What's wrong with Harry?"

"I don't know. He's in St. Mungo's, I got Kingsley's Patronus," she said, all her strength beginning to wane. If anything happened to Harry… "Some accident. There're Aurors everywhere here."

Both brothers looked at each other. "That's what that commotion was earlier. There was some commotion not too long ago on the other side of the alley," he said, walking towards her. "Come on, let's go. George -"

George shook his head. "Don't worry about it. Go."

Ron grabbed her arm, and they went out the back door. Ron side-along Apparated her outside of St. Mungo's. The two of them made their way inside. They went straight to the lift, and up to the fourth floor, the Spell Damage. Ron grabbed the arm of the nearest worker. "Where is Harry Potter?" When she hesitated, he practically shook her.

"Fifth room down, the one with the most Healers in it," she said, and then quickly got away from Ron.

Ron and Hermione made their way straight down the door she had indicated to find it locked. There were four Healers in there, and a few more attendants helping them out. Harry was clearly not conscious. Hermione started to get frantic. They didn't understand. They didn't know what the problem was, and if she didn't tell them, then chances are he would die before they could help him.

Hermione started to slam on the door. One of the Healers nodded to the others, and then made his way out. "Mr. Weasley, Ms. Granger," he said. "I am Healer Brown. Mr. Potter is in bad shape, and we're trying to figure out what happened. As soon as I find out -"

"Please shut up and listen to me," Hermione pleaded, tears streaming down her face. "You don't know what's wrong with him. It has nothing to do with what happened -"

"Ms. Granger," Healer Brown snapped, "I understand that he is your friend, but I am one of the most experienced Healers on this floor. Do not tell me how to do my job." He turned to go back in the room.

"Then shut up and listen to her unless you want Harry's death on your hands," Ron said.

That got the Healer to freeze. He turned around. "That is -"

"He has a previous injury!" Hermione yelled before he could stop her. "He was hit by a dark spell by accident over a year ago. It was the reason why he quit the Auror Department. We had him treated elsewhere. There's a specific potion that can be used to lessen the effects, but as far as we know nothing else works, and if you try to do anything else, you'll only make it worse!" She said it all in one breath and found herself breathing heavily afterward.

Healer Brown looked at her for a second. "That does explain why our typical methods of dealing with and detecting attacks of this sort aren't working," he said. "What potion?" Hermione rattled off the list of the ingredients and how to make it. "We don't keep that one on hand, and I'm not familiar with it. It's similar to ones we have, though-"

"Harry has one at home," she said. "I'll go and get it."

Ron stopped her. "No, I'll get it. Where is it?" Hermione told him where Harry kept his potions.

Hermione felt like the wait took forever, but Ron returned quickly and handed the potion to Healer Brown. He disappeared into Harry's room. She looked over at Ron. She still hadn't stopped crying. "What if he dies? What are we going to do? It must have been bad; he wasn't conscious. They didn't know about the injury. What if -?"

Ron cut her off. "He won't."

"But what if -"

"Hermione stop," he said. "Harry's a survivor. He's not going to be beaten by some random attack in Diagon Alley. I wonder who it was, and what happened."

In a minute or so, Healer Brown came out of the room. The other Healers followed, and Brown stayed behind. "We have him stabilized; the potion worked. I wrote down what you said, and I'll have our potions maker make it. I have a feeling he'll need it."

"How bad is it?" Hermione asked, her voice shaking.

Brown sighed. "I won't lie to you," he told him. "Whatever spell hit him, it's bad. We got him stabilized, but he's very weak. The damage to his chest and lungs has worsened. What spell was it that originally damaged him?"

"It was some dark spell that can be put on an object and lashed out at other people," Hermione said. "It was an accident. We were told that it is designed to do damage to the chest and lungs no matter what, and cause heart-attack like reactions. Any spell to the chest will cause further damage. That's what we were told."

Healer Brown nodded. "Considering everything, it makes sense," he said. "The next twenty-fours will be key. If he makes it through the night, he'll probably live. He's very weak, though. The damage has spread and weakened his entire body. Now that we got the damage to his chest under control, we can do what we can to try and heal the rest of his body. We're going to keep spells on him to keep him breathing and keep his heart beating just in case."

Hermione's hands flew up to her face, as she tried to imagine what it would be like if Harry died. "He can't die. He can't."

"We'll do everything we can," Healer Brown said. "You can see him in a minute once I finish, but you'll need to make it quick." With that, he went back inside the room.

Hermione looked over at Ron, who put an arm around her. "He'll be okay, you'll see," he said. She nodded, and then shrugged off his arm.

In a few minutes, Brown came back out. "I've done what I can. For now, we just need to keep him under observation," he said. "You can go in and see him now. I'll be back shortly. I have to go contact our potions maker and give him the directions for the potion you recommended. If anything happens, get a Healer immediately. Now, if you'll excuse me."

He turned and walked away down the hall, leaving Ron and Hermione standing outside the door. Hermione walked in slowly. She had been friends with the two of them, Ron and Harry, for over ten years now. She wasn't sure what she could deal with either of them dying, even Ron. She approached Harry's bed and looked down at him. He looked incredibly weak.

Ron came to stand next to her. "He doesn't look good, does he?"

Hermione shook her head in agreement. "No, he doesn't," she told him. "And it could have been anything that he was hit with and might have caused the same reaction." She looked over at Ron. "And because of the public area in which this happened, it's going to be all over the Prophet tonight and tomorrow. That's going to be so awful for him."

Ron nodded. "Yeah, it will be," he agreed, "but we'll do what we can to help him like we always do."

Hermione nodded, and right then, a thought occurred to her. "I need to go," she said quickly. "I need to go see Snape."

Ron looked down at her, his brows furrowed in confusion, and shock was written all over his face. "What? Why?"

"Just call it a hunch," Hermione told him. "He'll want to know. Trust me. I'll be back. Can you stay here until I get back?" Ron nodded. "Thanks!" With that, she ran out and headed back to Diagon Alley.

~*o*x*o*x*o*x*o*x~

Severus was working on a few potions when he heard a knock at the door. No one came to the back door except for Harry and Lucius, and Lucius never knocked. Therefore, it must be Harry. He can't get the idea that I don't want him around, he thought to himself. Persistent bastard. He put his potions in stasis with a groan, and then went to the door. There was another knock as he neared. "Potter, how many times have I told you," he said as he opened up the door, "not to-" His voice stilled as it was not Harry Potter who was there, but Hermione Granger. "Ms. Granger, what are you doing here?" Her eyes were bloodshot, almost as if she had been crying.

"It's Harry, sir," Granger said. "He's…" She shook her head. "There was an accident, here in Diagon Alley. I don't know what happened yet, but he was hurt pretty badly. He's not conscious. They don't even know if he'll, I mean if he…" Tears started to form in her eyes again. "It'll be all over in the papers, too. It's just horrible."

Severus felt a mix of emotions. He was still confused as to why Granger had decided to come here. He didn't for a second think that Harry had decided to confess anything to her. Was she assuming things on her own? Why had Harry been in Diagon Alley? Was he going to visit the joke shop owned by the surviving Weasley twin? Or had he been coming to see him? He wasn't sure how he felt about that, but he did feel anger over hearing that Harry had been injured. He wanted to find who did it and… No, he shouldn't care that Harry was injured, but he did.

"Why are you telling me this?" he asked, keeping his voice even.

Granger didn't respond at first, and then very carefully, she said, "I just thought you might like to know, that's all."

"Well, I do not care what happens to Potter," he said, "although it is regrettable that he gets more attention for this than he already does."

Granger nodded. "Very well," she said. "I'm heading back to the hospital. I just… thought you'd want to know."

Severus simply shut the door in her face, only then allowing his anger to overtake him. His hands curled into fists, and he had to fight to resist the urge to go and hex someone to let out his frustration. Without going back to his potions, he headed upstairs to his fireplace. He grabbed a fist full of Floo Powder and threw it into the fire. "Malfoy Manor!" he called out, sticking his head in.

The drawing room of Malfoy Manor came into view, as did a nervous house elf. "Your Master. Now!" The house elf nodded and disappeared.

A moment later, Lucius Malfoy came into view and kneeled before the fire. "You called, Severus?"

"I need you to do me a favor," Severus said, knowing that owing the blond a favor wasn't necessarily a good thing. He shouldn't be doing this, but he had called the Manor before he could stop himself. "I need you to stop a story from appearing in the Daily Prophet. It would appear tonight and most likely tomorrow as well."

Lucius raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And what would this story be about?"

Severus instantly regretted doing this, but it was too late to turn back now. "Harry Potter."

"Of course it is."

Severus narrowed his eyes. "I don't know what you mean, Lucius," he told him. "He was involved in some commotion earlier and got himself injured."

"You were supposed to fuck him, not develop feelings for him," Lucius said.

"I haven't," Severus said, his anger showing in his voice. He didn't need to be lectured by Lucius of all people. "I merely think that Potter doesn't need any more publicity."

"You're asking me for a favor just for that?" Lucius asked. "Yet you claim to not have feelings for him? If you say so. Sure, I'll do it, but stop being in denial, Severus."

Severus pulled his head out, ending the Floo Call. He didn't want to hear anymore of Lucius lecturing him. Besides, he wasn't in denial, contrary to what his old friend might think. Harry, however, didn't need such publicity. His name was in the paper too much as it was. Besides, it was for the best that Harry stay out of his life.

Severus then went back to work; he couldn't get Harry out of his mind.

~*o*x*o*x*o*x*o*x~

Hermione went straight back to St. Mungo's and found Ron sitting next to Harry's bed. "Any change?" she asked him.

Ron shook his head. "No, none at all," he said. "Did Snape care that Harry was hurt?"

"No, he didn't seem to," Hermione said, but she still got the feeling that there was more going on there than either Harry or Snape were admitting.

They sat there for a while, not saying anything to each other. Hermione wasn't sure what Ron was thinking, but Hermione kept hoping that Harry would wake up. It was about then that they heard a knock at the door. It wasn't Healer Brown or any of the St. Mungo's staff. It was an Auror. "Mr. Weasley, Ms. Granger," he said solemnly. "I'm Auror Jacobs. I have come to update you on the case regarding the attack on Mr. Potter."

Of course, Hermione thought to herself, they'd want to keep us updated. We are, for all intents and purposes, Harry's family.

"I was just about to go and find someone," Ron said. "So, who attacked him?"

"It is still very early in the investigation, but we do know some things. Many witnesses saw Dennis Creevey confront him in Diagon Alley," said the Auror.

Shock ran through Hermione at that, and judging by Ron's expression, he was shocked, too. "Creevey?" Ron said in disbelief. "I don't believe that." It didn't seem something the boy they went to school with, who idolized Harry, would do.

The Auror shrugged. "Everyone agreed on that," he said. "The witnesses say he seemed erratic, accusing him of killing his brother. Apparently, Mr. Potter tried to reason with him and failed. That was when he started shooting spells, though the witnesses say it was erratic. It is possible that Mr. Creevey didn't mean to hurt him, but considering that Mr. Potter lost consciousness after that, and hasn't regained it, there's no telling. We're questioning his parents right now. We will keep you updated."

Hermione nodded. "Harry had a previous injury, which contributed to him losing consciousness," she said, "which the spell that Dennis used would have added to." Hermione knew that Harry wouldn't have wanted that information out. She also didn't want the Auror investigation to say that it was Dennis's spell, whatever it was, that caused Harry to be so seriously hurt.

"I'll make a note of that," Auror Jacobs said. With that, he left.

"At least, they came to keep us updated," Ron said.

"Yeah, probably because they didn't want either of us coming down to the Ministry and yelling at them," she said, "especially since you used to work there and I still do." She looked back down at Harry.

"I wonder why Dennis would blame Harry," Ron said. "Colin fought by choice. It wasn't Harry's fault."

Hermione shook her head. "No, it isn't, but he's not the only one. It's like Harry blaming himself for everything - sometimes, people just need someone to blame." That was when Healer Brown returned.

"I suggest you two go home," Brown said. "I understand, being very close to him, that you are concerned, but his condition isn't changed and isn't likely to change. He'll be unconscious for some time. I suggest that you go home. If anything happens, I'll make sure that you are alerted immediately. There's nothing you can do for him right now. If you want to stay, though, you are free to."

Hermione nodded, but she didn't want to leave. However, she did need to go back to work to talk to her boss. It might do her some good to get some work done and distract herself from how sick her best friend was. "He's right, Ron," she said, a sad tone in her voice as she took Ron out of the room.

"But -" Ron said as they left the room.

"He's right," Hermione said, as she gazed back through the doorway. "We can't help him. I'm coming back later, though, but I need to go back to work. I need to at least talk to my boss. I kind of ran off in a rush when I got Kingsley's Patronus."

"Of course, you did," Ron said, "and I'll go and talk to George and the rest of the family. They'll want to know."

Hermione nodded. "And I'll go and tell Andromeda."

"If you need anything, you know…"

Hermione smiled at Ron. "Thanks, Ron, I appreciate that," she told him. With that, they both left. She did appreciate it, but she didn't want Ron to get the idea that there was going to be anything going on between them. She had told him maybe, but now that time has passed… She still cared about Ron and didn't want him getting his hopes up only to get hurt again.

~*o*x*o*x*o*x*o*x~

Hermione had gone back to work to talk to her boss. She'd worked for the rest of the day, although she kept getting distracted and worried about Harry. She went to see him after she talked to Andromeda, but his condition remained unchanged. She didn't want to leave, but she knew that she couldn't just sit by his bedside making herself sick. The rest of the Weasley clan showed up little by little to visit Harry. It made Hermione smile to know how many people cared about him now.

Hermione was surprised, though, because when the Prophet came out that night, there was no article on Harry. Ron was confused too. It was about that time that Auror Jacobs came back to give them an update.

"From what we can tell, Mr. Creevey has not been the same since the war," he said. "His brother apparently snuck out of the dorms to fight in the battle and died. From what we found out yesterday, he blames Mr. Potter for his brother's death and not defeating You-Know-Who earlier. Mr. Creevey said he didn't intend to hurt him, but was merely upset and wanted to confront him. He also says, though, that he was enraged and lost control."

Hermione couldn't believe that such a kind, sweet boy could have fallen so far in just a few years. "What about his parents? What did they say?"

"Pretty much what I've been saying," Auror Jacobs said. "We sent someone familiar with Muggles to talk to them since Mr. Creevey's parents are Muggles. They said he hadn't been the same since that battle, but that they don't know much. He dropped out of school at the end of last year, though. They said he shows up every now and again, but that he's changed a lot."

Hermione nodded. It was hard to believe, but there were a lot of witnesses. Harry would feel horrible if - no, when he woke up - to know that Dennis blamed him that much. That would have been like George blaming Harry, and he clearly didn't. Sure, George was not the same, but he didn't blame Harry for Fred's death. Neither did Ron, or any of their siblings.

~*o*x*o*x*o*x*o*x~

Hermione went home that night and found herself unable to sleep very well. After all, Harry was supposed to be in the next room and instead he was lying, perhaps near death, in St. Mungo's. The next morning, there was no article either. This really got her confused as she went to see Harry. Ron was already there. He wasn't in his magenta robes, indicating that he probably had the morning off. There was no change in Harry at all. That was about when a familiar voice called her name.

"Hermione," the voice said. "Good, you're here." She turned to see Draco walking towards her.

"Malfoy -" Ron said, but she cut him off.

"Draco!" She cried. "You're here!" She was honestly surprised to see him.

He scoffed. "Of course I am," the blond said. "I work here, remember? I tried to come by and see you last night, but you had left already. I had to brew some new potion for our star patient." He slipped an arm around her shoulder. "Not doing well, I hear. How are you?"

Hermione leaned into him. She really appreciated that he was here, more than she could say and more than she thought she would. He had come to check on her to make sure that she was okay, and that meant the world to her right now. She could feel Ron glaring at them, though. "Thanks, I'm glad you came to see me," she said, "and no, he's not doing very well. He hasn't woken up, but he made it through the night, so that's a good sign." She took a deep breath. "You remember Ron?"

The two gave each other stiff nods, quickly muttering each other's last names as a way of greeting. "I need to be getting to work," Hermione said, "but Ron and I were just talking about why there was no Prophet article. It's strange, don't you think?"

Draco shook his head, a smug smirk on his face. "Not really," he said. She gave him a confused look as another familiar voice spoke.

"Because I asked Lucius Malfoy to quiet the article," came the familiar voice of Severus Snape from behind them. He looked at her and Draco but didn't say anything. "That's actually why I came here."

"I knew Father stopped it; I just didn't know why," Draco said. "I had to work late last night. Why would you ask him to do that?" Hermione elbowed him. "Ow, what?" She sent both him and Ron a quelling look.

"We should go," Hermione said. "I have to get to work and do something since I only worked part of the day yesterday." She didn't want to leave Harry, though.

Draco nudged her. "He'll be here when you get back. Go to work, Hermione. I'll let you know if something happens," he told her. "I'll see you later."

Hermione nodded, but Ron volunteered to stay behind. He glared at Draco as he walked off, which made her just roll her eyes. He hadn't grown up at all, had he? Draco hadn't glared at him at all, though he hadn't been overly friendly either. As she walked off, she glanced back to see Severus gazing in at Harry before he followed her out of St. Mungo's.