Narcissa slowly blinked, groaning softly from the bright light as she tried to move her hand to cover her eyes, only to find out that she had been restrained to a hospital cot.
Upon hearing his mother groan, Draco rushed to her side and held her hand. "How are you feeling mother?" he asked with a soft smile.
"Like I was run over by a herd of Erumpants. What happened? Where is Hermione? And why am I restrained to a hospital cot? " Narcissa croaked out in a scratchy voice.
"Mother, after watching Hermione get sent through a portal, they had to restrain you because you went feral. I'm not sure about the details because Luna hasn't woken up yet to tell us, but that is what we've come to understand. They wanted to be sure that you didn't wake up while still in a feral state," he explained with sad eyes.
She sighed and looked away from him. A tear fell from her eye as the memories came flooding back. "Yes, that about sums up what happened," She sighed forlornly. "Are they going to release me from these bonds anytime soon?" Narcissa turned back to her son, questioning him with a look of defeat.
"They will want to get all of the information on what happened and to make sure that you won't go feral again. After that, they should release you. Although, given the circumstances, I can't blame you for how you reacted," he said as he pushed some hair out of her eyes.
"It seems my being happy in this life is not in the cards for me, Draco. Maybe I'm just meant to be alone. Might as well just accept it and not bother trying anymore…" she choked around a sob.
"Do you really believe that? Because I don't think you do. Especially considering all that you did to keep me and yourself alive during the war. You fought so hard to keep us safe as well as look for a way out of that mess. I know it's not quite the same as this, but as far as we know, she's still alive and waiting for you to come get her. Hermione would not be so quick to give up and leave you in some other dimension alone. She would fight tooth and nail to get to you. I know it's a Gryffindor thing, but still I can't imagine that you wouldn't do the same for the one you truly love," Draco said with a soft smile.
"Honestly, I don't know what I believe anymore. I know that I've never been happier with anyone like I am with Hermione, but it's an endless battle that I'm just so tired of fighting. It will just end in heartbreak, anyway. Everything always does," Narcissa said depressedly.
At that moment, another voice spoke up about their opinion on the matter. "You shouldn't give up so easily, Madame Black. Draco is correct, Hermione would stop at nothing to get you back. She'd already be out of that bed looking into every avenue to find a solution, which for the record—I might have, but if you're giving up, I suppose we'll just have to go rescue her and Harry ourselves and leave you behind to wallow in your self-pity," Luna said with a tired look on her face.
"In truth, Miss Lovegood, I don't believe you. How am I supposed to live with myself? She told me she loved me just before getting sucked into that BLOODY PORTAL! How am I supposed to go on?! Knowing that she loves me but sacrificed herself instead of staying? How am I to deal with that when she didn't even give me a choice?" Narcissa said through gritted teeth.
"Try being married to an even worse martyr. I can't believe her audacity. How. Fucking. Dare. She?" The voice of Ginny's annoyed sarcasm rang out from a little further down the room as she approached the group.
"This isn't about you, Ginerva," Narcissa said as she turned her ire onto the newest occupant of their small circle.
"Sure. Though let's keep in mind that my idiotic husband is over there with your alpha. So one can only imagine what kind of shenanigans they'll be up to over there without us to keep them in line," Ginny said, as Ron joined them as well to see what was going on.
"I'm glad you find this so amusing," Narcissa sneered.
"I find it unbelievably stupid, is what I find it to be. Hermione used to keep these blockheads in line, now she's gallivanting off worse than them. Harry didn't have a choice, whereas she did. I'm saying we need to get them back, only to give them a piece of our minds, ourselves," Ginny explained with a tired sigh.
"You could've fooled me. Hermione is my Alpha and she is incredibly protective. She, in fact, did have a choice. And she chose to save me. Do I wish she consulted me? Oh, absolutely. Do I wish I could change what happened and sacrifice myself instead? One hundred percent. But I can't. So here we are. And if I ever see her again? Alive? Giving her a piece of my mind is the last thing I'll be thinking about doing."
"Fair point, but don't you want the option of doing any of that? If so, you need to come with the rest of us on the rescue mission. You too, Draco. I'm guessing we'll need you in this," Ginny said as she looked over her shoulder to Draco who nodded in agreement.
"What makes you think she'll even want to see me? After my reaction at the portal, or rather, lack thereof? I'll only be a burden anyways."
"Because I've seen the way she looks at you. You're everything to her and none of us can say that we've ever seen her look at anyone the way she looks at you. Besides, with how much destruction you did here, I'm sure you're more capable than you think," Luna informed her.
"You don't know that! I didn't even reply! She must think that I don't love her back."
"Madame Black, I grew up with Hermione. I fought by her side through most of the war. Believe me when I say that I've never seen her look at anyone the way she looks at you. She always had her nose in a book all throughout school, not to mention there was no time during the war for anything other than survival. Then after, she just dedicated herself to more studies, and eventually work. She lost her parents during that stupid pointless war. I don't think she's ever felt love like what she has with you for anyone other than them. There's a small handful that might come close, but nothing like how she is with you," Ron said with a soft smile.
"I'll believe you when I see it," Narcissa scoffed.
Draco stepped up and dispelled her bindings, grabbed her arm, and yanked her up from the cot. "Well then, it seems the only way to prove it is to do it, mother. So we're going to do some more research into Luna's theory and get our loved ones back. I'm not going to give you a choice in this because I refuse to watch you wither away like you did in the war. So let's go!" Draco said as he dragged her out of the medical ward of the Ministry with the rest of the group trailing behind him. Narcissa growled, but brought up no resistance or argument to Draco's ministrations, and let herself be man-handled by her son.
They followed behind Luna as they headed to her office in the Department of Mysteries. She rummaged around in her desk for a sheet of paper. She wrote a quick note, then sent it through a tube, which was quickly answered when a small file drawer appeared before the blonde. She opened it, reached in, and pulled out a plank of wood that looked ancient. The well-sea-worn plank of broken wood had some writing on it that could barely be made out by the group. She put the plank into an extended pocket of her robes and quickly left the office with the rest of the group. "Madame Black, I feel it's safer to talk about this at your place, if you don't mind," Luna said in her airy lilt.
Narcissa sighed, waving her hand in the air with her consent. The group headed to the Floo network and traveled to Black Manor one by one.
When the last of the group arrived, they all sat down on the available seating, while Narcissa asked Dolly to bring some finger sandwiches and tea for everyone. Luna continued to stand and waited for everyone to settle in. "Alright, Madame Black, I believe that from this point we are to procure Excalibur. Is that correct?"
"Yes, that is what we were told. If we were unsuccessful in dealing with the three Harbingers of Chaos, we were to find Excalibur and find someone to wield it. Honestly, Hermione and I both agreed that the best possible candidate to do that is Draco," Narcissa said as she sat back into her chair with her tea, sipping it slowly.
"Me?! Why would you think that I would be the one to wield the sword? I don't think that I'm the one to do it," Draco panicked..
"The parameters to wield the sword are particular, and out of the people that we know that could fit into them, it would be you. Trust me, Dragon. It will be alright. You're the one to do it," Narcissa said with a soft smile directed at her son.
"Now that we have that taken care of, we can proceed. In some research that I did in the past for another mission, I came across a piece of King Arthur's ship Prydwen. I've kept it in a safe place until there was a better use for it. There is a legend that goes along with this—hat is, with the right spell and song, one could summon the ship from the depths of the ocean then travel to Avalon, since it's the only ship that has ever been there and come back. There are two songs to do this. One to get there, and one to get back home. So, I feel that is the best plan of action to move forward. Unfortunately, I don't have any information on what the spell work or songs are, but I'm sure we can figure it out."
"If I had the ring of knowledge we could have used that, but Hermione was wearing it before we left," Narcissa sighed sadly.
"I did see a staff upright in the middle of the battlefield. Does that help?" Ron asked as he scratched his head in thought.
"Wait, the staff of Merlin is still on this plane?" Narcissa, shocked, whipped her head toward Ron.
"Yeah, just standing straight up in the middle of the battlefield. I thought it was a little weird but didn't think much of it, considering all the things we've seen over the years."
"Then we must retrieve it quickly! Because if Hermione left it here, then she probably left the ring as well, knowing that we would come searching for her and Harry," Ginny shouted excitedly.
"I'll go collect it," Narcissa said as she slowly got up from her chair, placing her tea cup down on the coffee table.
"Someone should go with you. Just in case." Luna spoke as she noticed her demeanor.
"I'll travel with my mother," Draco stated as he rose up along with her.
"Sounds good. Come back here and we'll continue to find information on this matter," Luna said with a bright smile.
The two blondes apparated away in an instant.