Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Les Mis. I don't make money from this fic.
October 19, 2000 London, England - Hermione and Theo's Office
Draco stood behind Hermione, leaning slightly on the desk and reading over her shoulder. He knew she hated that, but he'd proven to her that it saved time and just made sense. As such, she allowed it, but only given that he maintain some semblance of personal space. Draco was usually pretty good about that, but sometimes, like today, the text was too small or too messy to make out from his perch above her. Because the document they were examining was rather important, he forgot all about personal boundaries. He braced one hand on the desk in front of them, the other resting on the back of her chair. He bent his neck toward the document, reading carefully without realizing he was playing with one of Hermione's curls. She didn't seem to notice, or if she did, she didn't comment on it. Her face was scrunched up in concentration as she tried to comprehend the words on the page.
Draco had noticed when they worked that Hermione had a habit of talking to herself. He'd teased her about it at first, but when they'd started reading these more important documents together, they'd fallen into the habit of commenting upon the work to each other aloud, as they read at nearly the same pace. Draco knew exactly which part had Hermione frowning so disconcertingly.
"Is that possible? I mean, it lines up with my research on the time-turners, and I think it's within the realm of possibility." Hermione said, tracing her finger over the phrase that had stumped her.
"'Particle acceleration as a means to time travel.' Hermione, you're going to have to explain that one." Draco said, shaking his head. Theo, at his desk across from them, raised his head at that.
"Particle acceleration? I thought we ruled that out?" he asked Hermione, questioningly. Hermione sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"So, in physics, there is a theory called the theory of relativity. Part of this theory is a concept called time dilation, which is the difference of elapsed time as measured by observers either moving relative to each other or positioned differently in relation to each other from a gravitational mass or masses. It explains why two clocks will read different times after undergoing different accelerations. The concept holds that the faster an object moves through space, the slower time moves in relation to an outside observer." Hermione explained to Draco.
"The theory we rejected was the if you sped up the particles in a human body to approaching light speed, you could essentially time-jump without it affecting your physical age." Theo interjected.
"We ruled that solution out because we feared that the instantaneous deceleration would cause a shock wave that would kill the subject." Hermione said, looking over to Theo. "But this theory, the one I'm reading about, suggests it would be possible to create a device that would not only be able to accelerate the particles, but that it would be able to adequately decelerate the particles to minimize the shock of a sudden full stop." Theo's eyebrows shot up, and he stood, rounding his desk and taking the paper from Hermione, scanning it quickly.
"This has some merit. Not precisely sure how to use it as of yet, but the theory is sound. Highly experimental, but sound." Theo said, his eyes alight.
"I have an idea of how to use it." Draco said, wonderingly. "The time-turners and the tempus device both used forms of wormholes stabilized with spellwork. For the time-turner, you could only go back so long because of the spells provided the energy required to open the wormhole, and the regulations in place prevented enhancing those spells. For the tempus device, it's unclear where the energy comes from to sustain the wormhole, but it should be significantly less than required for the time-turner because the wormhole doesn't need to remain open, because the user doesn't take the device with them as is the case of the time-turner. The particle accelerator could, theoretically, be used to bring the subject back from the past." Hermione's eyes lit up, and Theo gasped.
"Draco, that's brilliant. We have a direction, then." Hermione said, taking up her quill and immediately beginning to jot down notes on the pad in front of her. "We've still to find the original schematics for the tempus device, and a more in-depth analysis on how it works. We'll have to either locate or develop schematics for the accelerator, as well. We need to notify Robins of our findings in our reports, and-" her quill was plucked from her hand. She stared dumbly at the paper for a moment before looking up at Theo.
"And you need to calm down before you have an aneurysm." Theo chuckled. "First things first, we need to find the schematics. Robins knows that's what we're doing currently, and he'll get a report when we have something new to tell him. As of yet, this is all speculation." Theo said, returning to his seat. Hermione took a deep breath and nodded.
"You're right. I'm keeping the list, though. Can't hurt to have the big picture view handy, you know?" Hermione smiled. Draco shook his head and picked up a stack of folders that Hermione and Theo had finished with; he needed to file them away soon, otherwise he wouldn't be able to lift the pile. He made that mistake once and had spent the entire day separating the papers that he'd scattered all over the archives floor into their original folders.
He adjusted his grip on the stack and headed for the door when the door sprung open, catching him off guard and sending the pile of documents flying from his hands. His heart stopped for a split second before Theo, ever the quick thinker, pulled his wand and sent the falling papers back into their stack, before they placed themselves neatly on the edge of his desk. Draco nodded at Theo for the quick thinking before turning and scowling at the cause of the accident. Harry Potter stood in the doorway, his eyes fixed on Hermione.
"Watch where you're going, Potter. I've got enough problems without having to resort about a thousand pages of research." He said, throwing a glare at him. Harry ignored him though, a frown on his face.
"Hermione, may I have a word with you? In private?" Harry asked, his voice a little too rigid for Draco's liking. Wasn't he supposed to be her best friend? Draco noticed Theo's back straighten in his chair, his eyes finding Hermione. Hermione herself just frowned, putting down the document she'd picked up.
"Whatever you have to say, Harry, you can say it here. They'll hear us no matter where we go down here, any way, and I've got rather a lot of work to do." Hermione said, motioning to the stack of papers next to her. Harry glanced at Draco and Theo warily, but must have decided their opinions were negligible.
"Ron's sent me. I've been playing nursemaid to him for the past two days. He says you left Tuesday night and haven't been back home since. He's worried sick, 'Mione, pacing the floors, all of it. He said he didn't understand why you didn't come home. Gin threw a fit, reminded me a bit of her mother, actually. Honestly, I couldn't make heads or tails of his story. Ron seemed pretty shaken up, he was all over the place. What happened?" Harry asked her.
Draco clenched his jaw tightly. He didn't know? Weasley hadn't told him the story? But then, Draco supposed, why would he? Self preservation demanded he paint himself in the best light, and that light didn't include the part where he had hurt his girlfriend, intentional or not. He felt his hands curl into fists at his side as he watched Hermione's face. It had changed from a soft frown to a blank mask. A front, void of all emotion. All but her eyes. It was there that Draco could see the war raging in her mind.
"We had an argument, Harry. It got a little too heated and I left so it would stop." Hermione said, carefully.
"Why didn't you come to me?" Harry asked, sounding almost hurt. Hermione smiled sadly.
"Because Ron did, didn't he? I knew if I came to you, he would follow me. Then there's Ginny." Hermione told him. Harry winced.
"Yeah, best you weren't there to hear what she had to say. You know the Weasleys. Hot headed and don't mean half of what they say when they're angry." Harry said. "So when are you going home? Ron's going mental."
"I'm not, Harry. At least, I'm not going back home to Ron. I'm breaking up with him. Haven't had the strength to actually write the letter and have him meet me yet, but it's over." Hermione looked down. Harry stood there, frowning.
"What? Just like that? You're breaking up with him because of another stupid fight?" Harry questioned, and Hermione didn't meet his eye, but just nodded. Draco saw a tear fall down her face and he lost the ability to remain quiet.
"You're awfully thick, Potter." He said, tensely. Harry's head snapped up to Draco.
"Sod off, Malfoy, this doesn't involve you." Harry said coldly.
"I reckon it does, as it was my house she showed up at Tuesday night." Draco called. He saw Hermione cover her mouth, heard the sounds of her sobs increasing, and his eyes met Theo's in a split second. His eyes told him everything he needed to know, and in a moment, they were springing in action. Theo bounded up from his desk, around to kneel on the floor beside Hermione. Draco knew Theo'd dealt with Hermione's panic attacks before, so he occupied himself with Harry, grabbing him by the wrist and pulling him bodily out of the room.
"Hey, what's going on? What- what happened?" Harry asked, looking past Draco, through the open door to the office where Theo was murmuring softly to Hermione, just as Hermione fully broke down.
"She's having a panic attack, Potter. She's been through a rough two days, and you bursting in here and demanding to know when she'll be home didn't help much." Draco explained.
"What do you mean? She and Ron have fights all the time! I've never seen her react like this to one." Harry muttered.
"Theo has." Draco said simply. "Where do you think he learned to recognize the signs? Where do you think I learned to recognize the signs?" Draco shook his head. "And this fight wasn't just any fight, Potter." Harry turned to look at Draco.
"What do you mean?" He asked, almost desperately. "I haven't been able to get details out of Ron. Did she tell you what happened that night?" Draco nodded.
"She showed up at my house, her face bruised and bloody, stumbling about like a drunk, though she hadn't had anything to drink." Draco told him. Harry gasped.
"What? Ron didn't say-" Harry shook his head. "Who hurt her?"
"Of course Ron didn't tell you, Potter, even if it was unintentional. Hermione was insistent about that, she kept saying he didn't mean to, it wasn't his fault, it was an accident. Accident or no, Weasley hurt Hermione. In the heat of a moment, he shoved her back into the wall and the spice rack fell on her head. Cut her up in a couple spots, gave her one hell of a bruise on her face, and a mild concussion." Draco informed him.
"He- he hurt her that bad?" Harry seemed to struggle with the concept. "And he didn't tell me? And worse, she didn't tell me?" Harry began pacing. "She seemed fine just a few weeks ago, rattled, maybe, but after I talked with Ron, things seemed to settle down. I thought she was doing okay."
"Potter she hasn't been okay for quite some time. She come to work on more than one occasion, just since I've been here, crying. If she wasn't crying then, you could tell she'd been. Theo always tries to cheer her up, but that's not the same as being okay. If I can see these sort of things, if I can tell how not okay she is, Potter, you have no excuse."
"I'm her best friend." Harry asserted weakly. Draco could tell he wasn't too sure about that anymore.
"You might have been, once. But now I think that role belongs to Theo." Draco turned, watching Theo and Hermione interact. He was smiling up at her, wiping the tears from her face. Draco heard Harry curse behind him.
"I've been quite dense, haven't I? How the hell am I going to make up for this?" Harry murmured.
"Don't walk away from her now." Draco said, without looking at him. "She's going to need you when she actually breaks up with him. Go talk to her," He looked over at Harry, nodding his head back towards Hermione. "And don't be such a dunderhead this time around." Draco managed a small smirk at that. Harry took a deep breath and nodded, heading toward the office. He paused before he got there, turning back to Draco.
"Thank you. For taking care of her and setting me straight." He told Draco. Draco merely nodded once and watched the man enter the office. Theo glared at him at first, but then met Draco's eye from across the room. Draco nodded to him, and Theo relented, standing with a final squeeze of Hermione's hand. Theo joined Draco in the time room just outside the office, where they could watch Harry and Hermione's interactions while still giving them a bit of privacy. The corner of Draco's lip twitched up when Hermione threw herself into Harry's arms.
"She's gonna be okay." Draco muttered softly, as much for Theo's sake as his own. Theo sighed, but nodded his agreement.
"How's your mother?" Theo asked, not looking at the other man. It was Draco's turn to sigh.
"She's not eating. The Healers have suggested moving her back to the Manor and making her comfortable. They're not expecting her to last more than a few weeks." Draco said quietly. He felt a hand on his shoulder. Theo wasn't one to apologize for things he couldn't control. Instead, he'd offer the comfort and support his friend needed.
"Thanks." Draco said, checking his watch. "I've got to go. It's her last night in the hospital and I'm hoping I can get her to eat something." Theo nodded.
"I've got this under control." He motioned to the office. "She'll understand."
Draco knew she'd understand. Even when she was dealing with so much shit on her own, she always understood that he was going through hell as well. He clapped Theo on the back, then turned away from the office, allowing his mind to go blank as his feet carried him to the familiar halls of St. Mungos.