Disclaimer: Bloody hell...
Ron watched Draco carefully. He hadn't moved since he'd kicked Tori out.
"Malfoy?" Draco closed his eyes.
"I was going to be a father... I was going to be better than my father." Draco chuckled and looked over to Ron. "I guess that means I wasn't meant to a father..." Ron frowned.
"Every man was meant to be a father..." Draco looked out the window.
"Every man except me..." he murmured. Ron frowned but said nothing. He didn't want to even begin to imagine what Draco was going through. True, he had made it his life's goal to loathe the man in the bed next to him, but now... this man wasn't the same sadistic bastard Ron had hated in school. It seemed that from the time Draco had met that girl and now, he had grown up and faced a harsh reality. Ron found himself feeling sorry for the blonde. Ron looked at Draco. That wasn't the same man who had only a few weeks ago called Hermione a whore. This man wasn't the same pompous git that thought purebloods were the superior race and that all else was shit. This wasn't the same young man who, only a few years ago was the most wanted deatheater in all of Europe. This man was defeated. This was a man who had lost all purpose to go on in life and was just waiting for death to take him and hell to consume him.
Was this the reason Hermione had wanted to help him? Had she seen the same weakness that Draco was showing right now? The same weakness that looked so out of place that Ron almost couldn't recognise him. Was that what had driven Hermione into doing what she had done? Risking everything, even their friendship, to save Draco from the pain of having to face what he was going through right now? All of these questions racked Ron's mind when the door opened. Distrupted from his train of thought, Ron looked up and smiled.
"Hey, Gin," he greeted. She grinned and ran over to her brother, embracing him tightly. Ron gasped. "Dammit Ginny. I'm not dying." Ginny gave him a look that clearly told him that it wasn't funny. He smiled.
"Nice to see you, too," he said, pulling away from her. She sat down on the side of the bed.
"How do you feel?" she asked, searching his face for any sign of ailment. Ron shook his head.
"I'm fine, Gin. I'm in the hospital now, I'll be up in no time." Ginny looked slightly relieved and glanced over to Draco. She was about to say something when Ron stopped her. He grabbed her arm and shook his head. Ginny nodded with understanding, but gave Draco a worried look.
"He needs to talk to her," she whispered. Ron shrugged.
"He kicked her out, Ginny. How eager do you think he could possibly be to talk to her?"
"I can hear you, you know," Draco drawled, his eyes glued to the window. Ginny hopped off of Ron's bed and walked over to Draco's. Ron watched the exchange carefully, not trusting Draco's emotional state at the moment. Though, come to think about it, I never trusted his emotional state, Ron thought.
"It's not her fault, Malfoy," she whispered. Draco finally looked in her direction.
"What makes you think I was blaming her?" Ginny frowned.
"But, she said-"
"I don't give a rat's ass what she said. I'm telling you what I'm saying. I don't blame her for anything," Draco snapped, glaring at Ginny. She took a step back out of shock. Draco looked down at his hands.
"I don't blame her for what happened," he repeated, much more quietly. "I blame myself..."
Tori jumped when Mrs. Granger sat down beside her.
"Did he hurt you?" she asked. Tori looked up surprised.
"Who?" she asked.
"That younger one... what's his name, Draco?" Tori looked completely taken back by the woman's forwardness. Tori studied the woman's face for a moment then relaxed a little.
"Once..." she muttered. "He's only hurt me once... at least physically anyway." Mrs. Granger frowned. Tori turned to the woman.
"You're Hermione's mother, aren't you?" she asked. The woman nodded.
"Yes I am."
"Do you know how she is?" Mrs. Granger shook her head.
"No... we haven't gotten any word on what's been going on." They were silent until the Healer reappeared from the corridor. Everyone stood, crowding the woman. She held up her hands for silence before she began to speak.
"I suggest all of you go home and get some rest. We have been able to stabilize Harry and Hermione's condition, but," she stressed, before anyone could say anything. "Their state is still far from safe. They are dangling on the brink of life and death and we still have no way of getting them back."
"What about Malfoy? You said you needed someone familiar with the curse. I'm sure Malfoy is." The healer shook her head.
"I'm not permitted to do that. Mr. Malfoy is a patient and therefore not able to do practice on other patients. Besides, Mr. Malfoy is not permitted to use Dark Magic, especially on Mr. Potter. I just can't let him do that." Mrs. Weasley grabbed the lady.
"I don't care! Hermione and Harry risked their lives for that man, now it's his turn to save them! I will not let those two die if I can help it!" The healer looked torn. She looked around at all the anxious faces and then sighed.
"I'm sorry... I just can't..." With that she walked off, leaving the room full of silent, defeated people.
"Shush!"
"Oy! You stepped on my foot."
"Suck it in."
"Will you two shut up! Someone could hear us!
"Sorry."
"Yeah, sorry."
"It's ok. Just don't be so loud. We don't want to wake up the whole bloody hospital, now do we?"
"Nope."
"That would get us arrested."
The sound of feet could be heard padding quietly up the stairs and down the corridor. The sound of a door opening could be heard and then the blast of loud snoring filled the hall.
"Shut the door," hissed the third figure. The one closest to the door closed it and sniggered.
"Do you think Hermione's ever woken up to that? Ow! What?" The third figure glared at the second.
"That's not funny." The first figure smiled but said nothing as the headed to the second bed. The third figure shook the prone body on the bed. It flinched and then sat up.
"What?" he snapped. The first and second figure glanced at each other and then spoke.
"We need your help," they choursed. The man in the bed raised an eyebrow.
"Five days ago you wanted to beat the crap out of me, now you want my help?" The first figure advanced but the third stopped him.
"Stop it! This isn't about us anymore. This isn't about family rivalry! For just this once can we please put our differences and hatreds aside... please," she begged. The man in the bed shrugged and the other two did the same. The woman took a deep breath and took out a long thin piece of wood. She handed it to the man in bed.
"You're the only one who can save them now..."
Four figures exited the room, two of them helping the fourth, who was much weaker than the others. They traveled down the corridor softly, careful not to make a sound lest they wake the other occupants of the hospital. Walking up the stairs they reached the critical center. Bypassing the oblivious secretary and the chatting nurses, they reached the room of choice. The third figure opened the door queitly and gasped at what she saw. There on the two beds were two figures. Oblivious to the world around them, they lay there, labored breathing obvious. Though there were no physical wounds, they were extremely pale, sweat matting down their hair and adding to the whole sickening scene. The party entered.
SECURITY BREACH! SECURITY BREACH!
Ginny gave a loud shreik and whirled around. The alarm continued, waking patients on the levels below and above. Fred looked out the door and saw two Healers running in their direction. He slammed the door and looked at the others.
"We got company!" Someone pounded on the door.
"Open up! You're not supposed to be in there!" yelled one of the men on the outside. George glared at his sister.
"An alarm! They have an alarm!" Ginny franticlly fumbled for her wand. She pointed it at the door. There was a faint click. She looked at her brothers.
"Of course! I mean, of course they have security. They wouldn't want anyone harming Harry or Hermione!" she yelled over the alarm. She then turned to the prone figures on the bed.
"Come on!" They moved over to them and Draco raised his wand. He paused.
"I'm not sure this will work," he said. Ginny took his hand.
"You can do this... You have to," she whispered. Though he didn't catch the last part, he understood and turned back to the two in bed. Closing his eyes, he raised his wand and began to say the incantation he had been taught since his initiation into the circles of hell.
"Abissi di inferno, sentire mio urlare,
Portare questi anima eliminato di tuo impugnamento,
Poich‚ fuoco e cenere dovere non essere loro casalingo,
Terra quieto attenzione loro richiesta,
Dare alla luce il morire,
Da loro demonio gabbia,
Lasciare loro andare,
Lasciare loro essere libero!"
Harry's scar glowed for a moment and Hermione's hair lifted of of the pillow and then it stopped.
Creack! The four whirled around as the door was blown open. In entered several Aurors, wands raised and four Healers.
"Drop your wands now!" yelled one of the Aurors. They all dropped their wands lifting their hands into the air. Ginny tried to explain.
"You don't understand, we were trying-"
"Explain it to the Ministry! I don't want to hear your sad story!"
"Arrest them!" shouted a healer. Ginny yelped as magical rope binded her, Fred, George and Malfoy. One of the Aurors smiled as they led Draco out the door.
"I've waited all my life to capture you," he said. Draco rolled his eyes.
"You've wasted your time... This time I'm actually innocent..." Draco's voice dropped off, as he stopped all of a sudden. His escort tried to shove him but after one menacing look and a quiet threat of dismemberment, the Auror stopped also. Draco cocked his head to the side.
"You hear that?" he asked. Before anyone could answer he whirled around and stared at the beds, eyes wide. Hermione's hand was in the air, reaching for someone, anyone. She was whining. One of the Healers ran to her side and took her hand.
"Hermione, can you hear me?" asked the Healer. The woman continued to mutter and then her eyes flew open. She snatched her hand away from the healer and scooted back as far as the pillow would allow her. She looked around at all the faces, eyes wide with fear.
"Where's Harry?" she asked.
"I'm right here," came the faint answer. Ginny gasped as Harry propped himself up with his elbows. He looked around the room curiously.
"What the hell's going on here?" he asked. Both looked as if they had just woken up from a long nap. Tired and ready for information. Except... Hermione looked back around.
"Who are you?"
A/N: Oh I had sooooo much fun writing this chapter! I may not have killed them, but I gave them something worse! I am so cruel! I love it! Oh, and if you were wondering what the hell Draco was muttering, here's the translation. It was in Italian! I was really surprised by all the negative vibes towards Draco. You cant blame the poor man. He's grown up in an enviroment where he was taught to hate anything less than him, even someone of the same blood. (Weasleys) He's always had a nasty temper and mood changes. (Mood changes sort of like Harry) And he just lost his son. I'd be pissed too. A little sympathy?
Depths of hell, hear my cry
Bring these souls out of your grasp
For fire and ash shall not be their home
Earth still heeds their plea
Bring forth the dying
From their demonic cage
Let them go
Set them free!
ronandmion4ever: Oh, gosh! I hope your ok now! (Frowns with extreme worry for reviewer.) I'm sorry it started raining... if thats a bad thing, i don't know? I personally like the rain... but thats not the point!
x-Drama-Queen93-x-: I know! He's got to be boiling inside for the fact that he didn't kill his father for that reason instead of the fact that he was just going to kill Hermione. Not that that's a bad reason to kill someone it just... well you know what I'm trying to say:-)
(No Name) : I've always thought about that. If Draco was ever good, wouldn't he want to be a better father than his father ever was?
Coconut Girl: Tori will come back later, right now, Draco's got himself in some deep shit. I gave you your wish, they lived!
Wesker888: I'm getting a weird feeling Draco Malfoy isn't your favorite HP character. Just a feeling. Man the harshness, but then again, it's the way you feel so I totally respect that. I'll just add that he so happens to be a sexy slimy haired son of a bitch.
Chapter Tease:
"I'm not stupid, I know I'm a witch," Hermione stated, crossing her arms. Harry nodded.
"Yeah, and I already know I'm a wizard... What's the point to this?" He asked. Arthur looked at Mad Eye and then back at the two before him.
"Can you give us a moment?" With out waiting for an answer, Arthur and Mad Eye left the room. Arthur turned to the man.
"They know who they are, Moody. What does that mean?"
"That they just don't remember any people... They don't remember anyone..." Both men looked at each other, the same gut wrenching thought running through their minds.
"Oh no..."