A/N: This chapter is longer than the last two, I hope you guys like the direction this is going and for those of you have reviewed you should know I giggled like a loon from your lovely words, bless you all!
-x-x-x-x-
It was close to nightfall when she woke up, pulled from unconsciousness with all the grace of a ballet dancer with two left feet. Launching herself into a sitting position and reaching for her wand with reflexes acquired after a year on the run, it was safe to say she scared the ever living daylights out of the two boys who sat on either side of her hospital bed.
"Bloody hell!" cried Ron, who had previously been holding her hand before it was swiftly yanked out of his grasp, and then, "Hermione, you're awake!"
On the other side of the bed Harry Potter stood quickly, rushing to Hermione's side and wrapping her in a hug so tight she could hardly breath. The young boy had suffered so many losses in his life, so many losses that very day that the grief was sure to hang over him for years and years to come. He knew however, without a doubt that had he had to count Hermione among those who had sacrificed their life in this godforsaken war that grief would have overcome him. The bushy haired girl that had stubbornly kept him alive through all these years and stood by him in the face of every danger imaginable, would have been the final straw, so when she woke he couldn't keep the tear that fell from his eye nor did he try.
"Hermione," he whispered, with such relief that the girl in question had to quickly wipe away a few tears of her own, "It's over, we did it, it's over."
Hermione let out a ragged sigh, relief washed over her in waves, it was over. After all these years, all the fighting and all the losses, they were finally done. Voldemort could take his backwards beliefs and horcruxes and shove them up his ass, they had won. Hermione couldn't help but think of the days ahead, where there was no need to run, no need to seek out objects hosting the vilest type of dark magic and no need to scavenge the woods just to find enough for her and the boys to eat that night. Instead she could now live an exceedingly normal life, filled with her friends and completely average troubles, like how many more books she could buy before there were too many for her bookshelf.
"You scared us good there, Mione," Ron said from behind the pair, leaning in to give her a good hug once Harry had released her.
Hermione looked up at her two best friends from the bed she was seated in, Harry's face was lined with worry and tiredness but she could see his green eyes shone with relief, Ron too looked like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders but there was no mistaking the grief that surrounded the two boys.
"How long have I been out?" she asked warily, she felt as if she'd been laying in bed for years, her muscles now exhausted, gone was the adrenaline that had flooded her body when she first woke up. She felt weak and tired and absolutely drained.
"We're not entirely sure, they found you passed out next to Malfoy after the fighting had stopped, that was about six hours ago," Ron said, sitting down in his chair again. Only six hours? Hermione thought bewilderedly, her body was telling her she'd been there for a lifetime. Wait, Malfoy!
"You said Malfoy, where is he?" Hermione asked quickly, the boys glanced at each other before looking back at their friend.
"He's here too, Mione, we thought you might want a bit of privacy first when you woke up," Harry said slowly, indicating the curtains surrounding her bed, "The Malfoy's are quite keen to speak to you though."
"Yeah, they've been almost as worried about you as we have," Ron said, obviously confused, "Do ya' know why?"
The pair once again stared at Hermione, waiting for her response, when she was still quiet, pondering how to explain to them what had happened, Harry spoke again.
"Kingsley told me you and Malfoy were both unconscious outside the castle for hours while the battle was going, he said Lucius and Narcissa defended you both against everyone, they stood guard for hours, cursing anyone that got near, Death Eaters included."
Hermione sighed, it seemed that spell she had used had worked, she remembered the cord of magic that had connected her and Malfoy before she had passed out. If he was here in the hospital wing then there was no doubt her spell was doing what she had needed it to, otherwise Draco Malfoy would have already joined the list of names of the fallen. She made to swing her legs over the edge of the bed and nearly made it before Harry rushed back towards her, grabbing her firmly by the shoulders.
"You can't get up, you've been hurt, you need to rest," He said, staring into her eyes.
"I'm fine Harry, I swear. I have to see Malfoy and then i'll explain everything to you," She said to him pleadingly. Harry looked unsure for a moment but his trust in the girl won out and he helped her stand up, giving her his arm to lean on should she need it. Hermione took it gratefully and began to shuffle towards the front of the bed, Ron walked ahead to pull aside the curtains for them and a rush of noise filled the air around them. Hermione realised the boys must have cast silencing charms around her bed to stop the noise from disturbing her and once again she was overwhelmingly grateful for the pair. They'd been through so much together, she thanked whichever gods were listening for bringing the three of them together. Harry began guiding them to the left as Ron turned around to talk to them.
"I think I should go be with my family now, they've set up on the grounds outside, they'll be glad to hear you're okay Mione," he said, leaning in to give her a quick kiss on her hairline and then looking at Harry, "See ya' soon mate." Harry nodded solemnly then watched as their red haired friend walked towards the exit.
"Fred didn't make it," Harry whispered softly into Hermione's ear, she gasped, tears once again springing to her eyes. Hermione could never have prepared herself for the loss of one of the Weasley's, her adoptive family. They had been nothing but accommodating and had showered her with love from the moment Ron had introduced her to them, treating her as one of their own without hesitation. To lose Fred would be a massive blow, she couldn't even imagine how they were feeling, especially George, to lose a twin would be an entirely different type of heartbreak. War is absolutely shit, Hermione decided rather petulantly. Such a beautiful and loving family should never have to suffer as they have.
There was no more time, however, to anger herself over the unfairness of the situation as Harry had led them all the way to a bed in the far corner of the hospital. Without realising, as they'd gotten closer to the bed, Hermione's strength had slowly started to come back, she no longer needed to lean on Harry's arm to stay upright and was now inching closer to the bed on her own. Peering down she saw the figure off Draco Malfoy, looking very much like he was in the middle of a very deep, peaceful sleep. She didn't have much more time than that before the two occupants on either side of the bed noticed her appearance, Narcissa Malfoy rushed quickly towards Hermione, hesitating slightly just as she reached her before wrapping her arms around Hermione. Hermione stood awkwardly, arms hanging limply by her side before she reached up with an uncertain hand to pat the woman gingerly on the back. She didn't know the Malfoy matriarch very well, but the impression she had gained from word of mouth, brief glimpses and articles in the Prophet, was that Narcissa was a proud and confident woman. At this moment in time she looked nothing like the image Hermione had created in her mind, she looked every inch the worried mother, there was still the poise and grace of a born and bred aristocrat but, in her distress over her son, she had let slip the mask, showing an uncharacteristic amount of vulnerability.
"You wonderful, wonderful girl," Mrs. Malfoy was repeating over and over again, still thoroughly smothering Hermione, "Thank you so much."
"Narcissa, you're going to suffocate the poor girl," Came the firm voice of Lucius Malfoy from behind his wife. Hermione glanced over the slim shoulder of Narcissa to assess the elder Malfoy. Though his voice had conveyed a certain power, he looked much like his wife, worried and distressed but overall, Hermione thought, the man looked resigned. He looked much older than his young forty-five, years of servitude had aged him, worry lines decorated his face and his shoulders were slumped, defeated. His hair on the other hand was still the pale white that all Malfoy's were known for, the same shade as his only son who was currently laying motionless beside him.
"Of course, of course," Narcissa said rapidly, moving back to stand in front of her husband, folding her hands demurely in front of her. Hermione stood in place, shocked by the behaviour of both Malfoy's, only to be even more floored when Lucius took a step forward, extended his hand and said, "I believe we owe you our deepest gratitude, young lady, we are in your debt and if there is any way we can repay you, do let us know."
For the second time that day, Lucius's words and actions struck Hermione dumb, she opened her mouth to speak before closing it again. She could hear Harry behind her, sputtering at the scene unfolding before him, she could only imagine his confusion.
She gathered herself together in the blink of an eye, slipping her hand into Lucius's larger one before speaking softly.
"Nonsense, he saved my life just a surely, it was the least I could do, you owe me nothing."
Lucius nodded swiftly, releasing his grasp on her hand and reclaiming the seat he had occupied before her arrival seemingly grateful to have been excused by Hermione of further social interaction.
"Hermione, what did you do?" Harry asked in awe, his curiosity finally peaking, what would cause Lucius Malfoy, of all people, to act civil around his best friend? No slurs about her blood, no condescending looks or insults spat into her face.
Hermione glanced back at her best friend, unsure how to explain the lengths she had gone to save the life of his childhood rival. He would scold her, told her she had been reckless and idiotic and not at all like the Hermione he knew, but she knew in the end he would understand. He would have done the same thing given the circumstances, she was sure of it.
Before she could begin explaining, Poppy Pomfrey came storming up to the group to do just what she was expecting Harry to do when she explained herself.
"How could you be so careless with your life Miss Granger! What you did was exceedingly dangerous, you're lucky to be standing here right now, come to think of it, why aren't you in bed?" All of this was said in hushed tones, so as not to disturb any of the other patients, which heavily reduced the effect the healer had intended but there was no mistaking, she was furious. Hermione, however, simply stared at Pomfrey defiantly before replying, "And if I hadn't done it, Malfoy here would certainly be dead."
"Well he isn't out of the woods just yet missy and neither are you, it's a long road and he's going to have to fight every step of the way," Madam Pomfrey stared pointedly at Hermione, before she sighed and added, "it was very brave, love, I just wish I could have been consulted before you took such a drastic step."
"There was no time, it all happened so fast, he was hit and the curse was eating away at his magical core, there was nothing else I could do," Hermione reasoned.
"I don't even know how you knew that particular spell, it's old magic, and not particularly light," the healer said, raising her eyebrow speculatively. At this Hermione faltered slightly before countering with "I read a lot,"
"Spell's like that certainly aren't in any of the books at Hogwarts," Pomfrey retorted and Hermione mumbled something about the many books in the Black Library.
"Bit of light reading, hm?" Pomfrey asked before finally relenting, "No matter, it's done now, all we can do now is make this as easy as possible for you and ,"
"Hermione," Harry suddenly burst out, he had stood by and witnessed the whole interaction, only becoming more and more confused. Why were the Malfoy's being so nice why did it sound like Pomfrey was implying Hermione had used dark magic? How did it affect Malfoy, and what did the healer mean when she said making it easy for Malfoy and Hermione? All these questions raced through Harry's head before he settled for repeating his earlier question.
"What did you do?" Hermione took a deep breath before she turned to face Harry fully.
"I bound mine and Malfoy's magical cores together to help fight the curse he was hit with."
-x-x-x-x-
A/N: so, I in no way believe that the Lucius Malfoy of canon is a good or noble character who should be forgiven but in my story i'm going to play around with him, change his reasons for doing things and actions to suit who I want him to be. Also some of you might be confused as to why they'd let a known Death Eater hang out in the hospital wing, that will be addressed in the next chapter, I think at the moment everyone's just a little bit shell shocked and not operating at their best, that's my excuse at least!
Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter!