Hello Everyone,

I hope you all had a great week. I'm terribly behind on my term papers but I'm the Queen of Procrastination, which means I've been writing this here story. Finally, there is some action. :)

Enjoy your week and thank you for all the lovely reviews and PM's.

Chapter Eighteen

My dear son,

thank you so much for your letter. I wish it had come bearing better news. Why have you not informed me of this earlier?

It was to be expected that some of us wouldn't take well to being stripped of our status and privilege. However, that does not give them the right to treat you like this. It is shameful and cowardly. I am very proud of you for standing up to them despite everything. I floo'd Minerva late last night to inquire about your well being. She assured me that ever since she has been made aware of the situation, she has taken care to protect you from your peers.

I can't believe that it is Hermione Granger of all people who is fighting to help those who bullied her in school and supported her tormentors.

I have called on several people who, I think, are qualified to do the job you and Minerva described. Alas, I fear that the list of candidates is rapidly shrinking. Minister Shacklebolt has given me two days to find someone suitable. If I can't, I'll have to ignore your wishes and take the job myself. It seems Minerva has talked to him because of the severity of the situation. He isn't very pleased but he "convinced" me to take care of the situation.

I am trying my best but a lot of people are either deceased or have changed their views about muggles only to save face. Some people are still grieving their losses or taking care of their few remaining family member. Lastly, there are those that are either awaiting trial in Askaban or helping their family prepare for those trials. In my hope to honour your wish of not accepting the position myself, I have asked even Horace Slughorn to consider it. As you can imagine, he didn't take well to the idea and to be honest, I don't believe he would have been the right choice. I have also written to your aunt, not so that she can take the post, but to ask if she knew of someone. Sadly, she had to decline.

Draco, I know you don't want me to but I'm sure we could find a way to deal with the situation. Ever since you've gone back to Hogwarts, I have had the whole manor to myself and not much to do. I'm slowly going crazy, I need something to keep me occupied. I tick all the boxes and I would like to help, if not for you, then for all the others that are scared by their house mates. Slytherin house deserves better.
Please get back to me quickly, the Minister is breathing down my neck.

On the other matter, I have finally managed to bring myself to go into her room. I have gone through her things but there was no obvious hint as to which curse or curses she used on that poor girl. I will go through the books that were in her room to see if I can find anything. I am hoping that she kept the resource of her curses close to avoid anyone learning of them or even how to break them. At the first sight of valid information, I will contact you.

Until then, remain strong and walk proud, as befits a Malfoy.

With Love,

Your Mother

Draco folded the letter and put it back into the envelope. He had just woken to the smell of coffee and had found a mug of the same on his bedside table, along with a note that said to call for Nooky if he wanted something to eat. The letter had been sitting right next to mug.

Draco stretched his heavy limbs and wiped the sleep from his eyes before getting out of bed. He would burn his mother's letter. It wouldn't do for others to find it and use it against him or worse, Hermione finding out about Fleur's request. He wasn't awake for long enough to decide which of the two would grant him a quicker death. He checked the time and realised he had slept longer than intended.

Meanwhile, Hermione and Fleur found themselves having lunch in the stands of the new Quidditch stadium. With all that had been going on lately, they wanted time to themselves and some fresh air.

Fleur had brought sandwiches from the kitchen, and some pumpkin juice. Hermione had thought to bring a blanket for them to keep warm. And so they sat, nibbling their food, wrapped in warm wool.

'Do you think Narcissa will take the job?' Fleur asked. She had mixed feelings about the whole affair. She truly thought that the woman was the right person for the task. Also, she knew that she would have to talk to Narcissa, swallow the bitter pill, actually ask her for help and thank her for it. It would be much easier to do if the witch worked in Hogwarts, but she didn't trust her as far she could throw her and she didn't want her around Hermione.

'I don't know, love. Draco objected vehemently. I'm not sure Narcissa will go over his head and accept. Why do you ask?' Hermione asked as she snuggled closer to Fleur, who wrapped her arms around her.

'I don't like the idea of Narcissa at the school. It is bad enough that you 'ave to see Draco all the time,' Fleur admitted.

Hermione remained silent. She had thought about it too and the thought made her uneasy but she knew that she was safe in Hogwarts. Nothing would happen to her here, especially when Fleur was around.

'Let's not talk about it now. Can we just enjoy the fresh air and quiet?' Hermione requested.

'Of course, chérie. That is what we came 'ere for after all,' Fleur relented and pulled Hermione to sit in front of her between her legs. She put her hands on the young woman's shoulders and began kneading.

Immediately, Hermione closed her eyes and enjoyed the treatment.

'What have I done to deserve being spoilt like this?' Hermione asked, while humming contently.

'Maybe I just like my 'ands on you?' Fleur grinned before putting her lips to Hermione's exposed neck.

'Mhmmm, maybe I like your hands on me too,' she agreed as Fleur moved down, relaxing the muscles along Hermione's spine.

''ow does that feel?' Fleur asked as she dug her fingers into Hermione's lower back.

'Way too good. It reminds me of Shell Cottage and how you always took such good care of me,' reminisced Hermione.

'I'd like to believe that I still do. 'ow is your arm? You 'aven't let me look at it for a while,' Fleur asked and tried to keep the tone casual.

'Is that what you're trying to do?' Hermione asked and whirled around to look at Fleur furiously, 'trying to butter me up so you can go on about that dreaded wound again?'

'Chérie, please don't be ridiculous. I wasn't trying to butter you up. I was only trying to do something nice. Sorry for being concerned about your 'ealth,' Fleur shot back.

This had been brewing for a while. Every time, Fleur had tried to steer the conversation in this direction Hermione had evaded her or deflected her questions.

'There is no need to concern yourself with my health. I'm perfectly fine. I won't let a stupid scratch keep me from living my life and I suggest you do the same.'

'A scratch? The last time I saw it, it was completely inflamed and looked infected. If you won't take care of it, then let me do it. You can't just ignore it! It'll just get worse.'

'It will get worse, no matter what anyone does, Fleur. There is no cure for this, get used to it!' Hermione was irrationally furious at Fleur's attempts to care for her. The anger just flared up disproportionally and there was nothing she could do about it. The young woman got up from the bench and stared daggers at the French witch.

''ermione! What are you talking about?' Fleur said, completely taken aback. 'I will not "just get used to it"! I will not accept this. And neither will you, do you 'ear me?'

Emotions were flying high. Neither of them wanted to quarrel but they both had no idea where else to put their feelings.

'This is not your problem. You don't get to decide what I do or don't with this. It is my cursed wound, my damn arm and my bloody pain, so back the fuck off, Fleur!'

Fleur didn't have an answer. The force of Hermione's words had knocked the wind out of her and she raised her hands in surrender. Millions of thoughts raced through her heads. She was acutely aware of how bad this must be affecting Hermione if she used such strong language, especially directed at her and if she just had resigned herself to give up the fight against this. This was not the Hermione she knew. Something was very, very wrong.

The young woman didn't wait for an answer. She turned around and took off at a run.

Fleur wanted to go after her, she wanted to hold her and keep her safe. She wanted to make it all go away. But she knew she couldn't. She had nothing to make this better. It was not in her power to keep the love of her life protected and safe. And this was the thought that broke her. The feeling of defeat filled every last bit of her. She had lost a fight that she hadn't been ready to give up.

Minutes later she was still on her knees, sobbing uncontrollably. This was how Ginny found her. She landed her broom and gently touched Fleur's shoulder.

'Fleur? Fleur, what happened?' the redhead asked. She grabbed the blanket that was lying around and wrapped it around the mess that was Fleur Delacour, then rubbing soothing circles on her back.

It took several minutes more until she had calmed down enough to lift her head and wipe away the tears and snot from her face.

She saw the concern in Ginny's face but didn't know what to say.

'What happened? Where is Hermione?'

'We had a fight. I just want to 'elp. She doesn't want me to.' Fleur cried.

'What are you talking about? Ginny asked, concerned about her best friend and, and as much as she hated to admit it, about Fleur too.

'Her arm. I can't find anything to 'eal it. The 'ealers couldn't find anything either. I know she is in pain but 'ermione basically told me to forget about it.' Fleur sobbed.

Ginny's face turned into a grim expression. It didn't sound like her friend to just ignore problems like that.

'How about we go back to the castle and warm you up before we come up with something to help her?' Ginny asked and helped the blond witch up.

Hermione had returned to the castle at a run and out of habit went to the fifth floor. There was a little hidden nook that she had always curled up in when she had fought with Ron or Harry. It was her misery corner for when she wanted to be alone.

She felt utterly ridiculous. She was Head Girl and a teacher, for Merlin's sake and yet she sat in a corner and cried her eyes out. It was long overdue, though. Ever since she noticed her arm getting worse she had just pushed the thoughts aside. She didn't want to think about any of it or find a solution to yet another problem. She had solved enough problems to last her a lifetime. She just wanted to be done with it. And so, for the first time in her life, Hermione had stuck her head in the sand.

When the pain had gotten too much, she had secretly relieved Madam Pomfrey of some of her pain potion. By now the pain had become constant and not even the pain potion helped enough. It was an unnerving, throbbing kind of pain that incessantly reminded her of that night in Malfoy Manor, it made her feel helpless. She had tried to help Fleur find a cure but had reached the end of her abilities and patience much sooner than the French witch.

When she noticed the wound becoming infected, she stopped Fleur from taking care of it and did it herself. She had even resorted to putting glamours on the wound, so it wouldn't look as bad as it did.

Hermione was mortified, knowing Fleur had seen it. Even in its prettified state it didn't look good.

She consoled herself by thinking that at least it was only her left arm. Things would be much worse if Bellatrix had chosen to mutilate her wand arm.

Hermione pressed herself further against the wall and hugged her knees to herself, stifling her sobs with the sleeve of her jumper. She was cold but she didn't care. Despair seemed like the only important thing right now.

There was a silent knock on the door. When Ginny opened she found Fleur in her doorway, still looking gloomy but much better after a hot bath.

'She's still not back?' Ginny asked quietly. Fleur just shook her head.

'I 'ad 'oped she would show up 'ere.'

This time it was Ginny's turn to shake her head.

For the first time ever Ginny would have preferred it to be a school night. Then at least they could hope to see Hermione in class the next morning. Alas, it was Saturday and Hermione would have more than a day to hide.

'Do you want to stay for a bit?' Ginny asked.

'No, thank you. I'd rather take a walk through the castle, maybe I'll find 'er.'

'Oh Fleur, the castle is huge and that's not even considering the school grounds. You won't find her if she doesn't want to be found,' Ginny said.

'What if she's just too proud to come 'ome? I don't want her cold or worse, in pain, sitting on the cold stone floor somewhere. Will you 'elp me look?' Fleur pleaded. The waiting was killing her. Clearly, there was something wrong with Hermione. She couldn't just sit and hope for the best.

'No, Fleur,' Ginny said very calmly, 'I know it is hard to wait but you have to agree that Hermione is perfectly capable of taking care of herself. I'm sure that part of why she's still not home, is to prove to you that she will not fall apart if you're not there to take care of her. I know you only mean well, but she's done it before and she'll do it again. Hermione needs time to process. She'll come to you when she's gotten over her pride.'

Fleur remained silent. She knew that Ginny was right. She nodded in defeat and turned to leave but Ginny kept her back by the shoulder.

'She loves you. Don't ever forget that.'

Hermione hadn't had a wink of sleep. Her eyes burned from crying and lack of rest and her body protested loudly when she unfolded herself and stood to stretch. She felt utterly defeated. All she wanted was to seek comfort in her girlfriend's arms but she wasn't in the mood to have her fuss about her arm, so she went to the library instead. She found a table as far from prying eyes as possible and picked a book at random from the pile that someone had left.

'Crown law for wizards'

Hermione raised a sceptical eyebrow and began reading to distract herself from the pain in her arm. Without her morning dose of pain potion to take the edge off, it would drive her mad in no time. She faintly noticed Madam Pince and a student enter the library but she was hidden well enough to remain unseen.

At lunchtime, a house elf appeared at her side with a sandwich and some pumpkin juice.

'With kind regards from Ginny Weasley,' he had squeaked quietly before disappearing again. Hermione smiled in spite of herself. Ginny knew her too well and it was clever to send a house elf. This way she could let her know that she wanted her to have her space but she would also know immediately if anything was seriously wrong.

After devouring her sandwich, Hermione opted for another book from the pile next to her.

'Court tactics for beginners'

Had Hermione been quite herself, she would have tried to find out who had collected these particular books. But as things were, her mind was too busy avoiding Fleur, her arm or anything related to that. And so she whiled away the hours.

'You wait here. If she's still there, I'll bring her here. If she's not, we'll keep looking. She's had enough time to hide,' Ginny decided before she left Fleur in her quarters. Fleur had been chewing her ear off all day and she had done her best to remain patient. But even growing up with six brothers didn't compare to listening to the worries of the French woman without pause.

The helpful elf had told her that Hermione was last seen in the library, so that's where they started their search.

She systematically walked through the aisles until she found the witch she was looking for. Her clothes were crumpled and her hair was a mess. Ginny decided she looked pitiful and she hadn't even seen her puffy eyes yet.

Carefully, she walked closer. She didn't want to startle Hermione, but she didn't want to give her the chance to run, either.

She stopped at the opposite end of Hermione's table and cleared her throat before sitting down uninvited.

Hermione turned her head and pulled her face into a frown. If Ginny was here, it was likely that Fleur was somewhere near too.

'I want to be alone, Ginny,' she sighed.

'No, you don't. You want to be with people who love you and who would do anything for you if you'd let them, people who spent one hell of a night worrying about you. But you're too damn proud to admit that. So you sit here looking like you've spent the night cuddled up with one of Flich's old mops,' Ginny whispered. They were in a library after all.

Ginny could see Hermione's temper rise, but she wouldn't let her out of this.

'Don't you dare tell me what I want to do or not. I can take care of myself and I want some space. There is no need for you to be worried,' Hermione hissed.

'Hermione, I'm warning you. I will not leave here unless you come with me. You know how stubborn I can be and you can't get past me because you'll lose in a fight. Be reasonable and just come along,' Ginny said, angry that Hermione refused to see reason.

In one swift motion, Hermione jumped up from her seat and drew her wand. Only she didn't. Her wand wasn't where it was supposed to be.

Ginny hadn't moved. She was twirling Hermione's wand between her fingers, triumphantly smiling at having outwitted the star pupil.

But basking in her success, she didn't react fast enough when Hermione made a run for it. She had meant to cut off her escape route but now all she could do was grab Hermione by the first thing she caught to keep her from running.

A deafening scream echoed through the library. It was an awful shriek of pain and not even Madam Pince thought to shush the unruly student. Instead, she jumped up and found Ginny Weasley hovering over her favourite student.

'I'm so sorry, Hermione. I didn't mean to hurt you. I'm so so sorry,' Ginny repeated herself over and over again, while trying to assess the damage. But Hermione had rolled into a ball, protecting her arm. She had her eyes screwed shut and gritted her teeth in agony.

Madam Pince jumped back up from where she was crouching and barked orders at the only other student present to get Madam Pomfrey. Stat.

Ginny was still apologising and Hermione was still curling up in pain.

'Stop repeating yourself, Miss Weasley and tell me what happened,' Madam Pince demanded.

But Ginny knew that Madam Pince wasn't in the know about Hermione's arm and stopped apologising as requested but didn't tell Madam Pince anything.

Luckily, the nurse arrived before the librarian could utter any more demands. Madam Pomfrey shot her newest patient a concerned look before calling out to a house elf who promptly materialised next to them.

'Can you please take Miss Granger and myself to the hospital wing.'

Before anyone else could say anything the three of them were gone. Ginny used the moment of distraction and sprinted out of the library, leaving a bemused Madam Pince behind.
Ginny didn't run directly to the hospital wing. She made a quick detour and burst open the door to Fleur's quarters. The French witch jumped from the sofa in alarm.

Ginny was panting heavily but managed to breath a hoarse 'come' to the other woman. Immediately, they were on their way to the hospital wing. When they arrived, Madam Pomfrey was administering a potion to a still writhing Hermione. Judging from the tray next to the hospital bed it was the second vial of pain potion and Ginny knew it must be bad. She knew first hand how potent these were. Fleur, still catching her breath, was at Hermione's side in no time.

''ermione, I'm 'ere. It's going to be alright. Madam Pomfrey will 'elp you,' Fleur felt completely helpless. All she could do was watch the nurse trying to limit Hermione's pain before assessing the actual wound.

When Hermione had enough potion in her to will herself to lie still to be examined, Madam Pomfrey exposed the young woman's arm and found freshly stained bandage, with a steadily growing red patch. Fleur gave her a worried look, there was no time to explain the whole story.

Ginny cut in, 'It's a cursed wound she still carries from the war. Nobody has managed to heal it yet and I fear I might have made it worse by grabbing Hermione by the arm.'

'You what?' Fleur hissed dangerously.

'She was trying to escape, it was all I could grab and then the damage was done. I'm sorry, Fleur'

'You know that...' Fleur started her reprimand but was cut short by the gasp that came out of Madam Pomfrey's mouth.

All three women looked at the wound. It wasn't just inflamed and bleeding from the recent accident, it was suppurating and badly infected. It was no wonder it hurt. Fleur didn't understand how it could have gotten worse so fast and gave Hermione a confused look.

The young woman was in too much pain and too drugged to deny anything.

'I concealed it with a spell,' she weakly whispered.

Fleur wanted to be angry, furious even. She felt betrayed by the secrecy and obvious distrust but she was too concerned for Hermione's health to express any of that.

When Madam Pomfrey dabbed at the wound to soak up some of the pus and blood, Hermione once again wailed in pain.

'Hermione this is not going to work. I don't know why but my pain potion isn't working well enough and I need to take care of this. I will give you another potion, it's an anaesthetic and will knock you out for a few hours while I take care of you.

As she turned to get her supplies Ginny could hear her mutter under her breath, 'And here I was thinking this might be a year where she wouldn't end up in the hospital wing for once.'