AN: Super late update. University unexpectedly swept me away, and I also forgot I had already written this chapter so please forgive me, dear readers. And R&R, because your reviews truly motivate me. What's next? What do you think Luna's memories will reveal? And what will Draco do with them once he has read them?

Your humble author,

Nova

Chapter 8

Draco stood outside of Luna's office, staring at the kitschy sun sticker she had pasted to her door. He shifted anxiously on his feet, scowling now at the happy, bright golden sun that winked back at him. Growling, he knocked on the door before he could change his mind, and waited.

"Come in, Draco," Luna's breathy voice called.

Not bothering to be surprised, Draco opened the door and was immediately assaulted with a mixture of not unpleasant aromas and colors of strange objects. "Luna," Draco said, clearing his throat and walking towards the chair she had gestured to.

She looked up from her work and stared at Draco expectantly.

"I'm here-"

"For Hermione, yes," Luna interrupted, setting her quill down. She looked behind Draco at the door that he had left open, and he heard it faintly click shut. Then, she turned her attention back to him. "Yes, Hermione. A very interesting case, wouldn't you say?" Luna looked like she already knew the answer, and perhaps knew much more than Draco wanted her to.

"Yes," he awkwardly responded. In the following silence, Draco heard the tick-tocking of not one, but two clocks, and resisted the very strong urge to locate the offending instruments.

"Yes, well? We all have things to do today, Draco," Luna said, her flighty demeanor having settled into a more serious one.

Draco shifted in his seat, suddenly even more uncomfortable with probing Luna's mind. It was clear that they were professional rivals. Both were on the cutting-edge of medicine, but while Draco sought to find modern magical cures to difficult ailments and maladies, Luna reverted to tweaking alternative magical remedies with newer, previously undiscovered ingredients and techniques. Unkind words and glares were often exchanged at meetings and award dinners and in hallways, and they didn't have the best working relationship, especially with the head of the department constantly pitting them against one another. Needless to say, in Luna's brightly colored, strangely aromatic office, Draco was out of his element. But he pushed forwards anyway. "I've just finished reviewing Neville Longbottom's memories and have come to collect yours."

Luna merely pulled a small glass vial from within her violet, flowery robes and handed it to him. She continued to look at him expectantly. When he stared at her, at a loss for words, she sighed and smiled. "Draco Malfoy, you won't find everything you are looking for in my memories. I've only given you the ones from the time I was interned with Hermione," Luna said, smile faltering. She brightened again. "I suspect you will find things you would rather not see in them." A deep sadness quickly flashed in her eyes and she stopped smiling. "I hope you don't think differently of me after you've caught a glimpse of the person I was then. I know we've had our rivalry in the past- and that it is still ongoing- but you are respected for your ability to uphold the standards of patient confidentiality. I expect that, in Hermione's case, this includes me? You will protect my secrets?"

Draco, quite frankly, was taken aback by Luna's words and demeanor. Too late, apparently, he realized that Luna was no longer the happy-go-lucky girl of Hogwarts who was fascinated with oddball findings. Instead, she had become a serious woman on the vicious pursuit of life-saving remedies. And while she didn't seek the recognition Draco coveted, she despised the fact that the attention his work brought to him detracted from the value of her own revolutionary ideas. All of this occurred to Draco in the space of a second, and he nodded shortly, ashamed of his actions regarding Luna in the past.

Luna eyed him thoughtfully, smiling as she did so. Draco had the impression that Luna was a predator, and her next words confirmed his suspicions. "I don't ask for pity, Healer Malfoy. Merely your confidentiality. I wouldn't want you to slow your life-saving research on my account."

Draco's eyes widened. "How did you do that?" he asked, not sure if he should be amazed or afraid. He did have his Occlumency shields up, after all.

Luna merely sat and waited for him to ask a question that was relevant to his research.

"Oh, yes. Right. Sorry, being in your office is so disorienting and distracting," Draco mumbled, looking around again. "That infernal ticking sound.. Anyway, I need to know why you didn't bring Hermione to me when you found out that she was ill."

"Because I'm also a healer, as you may have noticed."

"Yes, well you certainly didn't offer her the normal course of treatment."

"Remind me again what that entails. As a practitioner of alternative magic, I sometimes forget."

Agitated, Draco struggled to keep his calm in the face of her blitheness. "It means," he said through clenched teeth, "that instead of hospitalizing her, you kept her isolated and probably didn't provide her with the proper treatment."

Luna laughed breathily, her voice filled with derision. "I provided her with the best care possible, considering the circumstances. She explicitly asked me to keep her situation under wraps. You will understand why a witch of her celebrity and status wouldn't want her condition getting out," Luna said.

"Then what caused you to bring her in?"

"Because it took me some time to figure out what you are just now beginning to realize, Draco."

"Yeah? And what's that," Draco asked, afraid of the answer.

"That the answer to this riddle lies with you," Luna said, her eyes suddenly drained of whatever brevity. It seemed that the burden of her close friend's ailment was a heavy one to bear, and instead of feeling relief at being able to hand it off to a colleague, it seemed that Luna was feeling guilt and fatigue.

Draco had the queer feeling that his struggles with finding the cause and cure of Hermione's curious disease were far from over. He knew that, although at the surface, Luna's words seemed to be words of confidence, they actually were a large clue to what had happened to Hermione. "Instead of beating around the bush," Draco sneered, drawing on his old confidence and swagger instead of succumbing to the strange effects of Luna's office, "why don't you tell me what you mean?"

Unaffected, Luna simply gestured to the bottle of memories that she had given to Draco. "I imagine you'll find what you're looking for in what I've given you. I've also seen to it that you receive my documentation on Hermione's condition as soon as you have finished reviewing those memories. You should begin now. The medically induced coma that you have pushed upon her, while slightly restorative, is only just, and will do little to stop the curse once it takes full effect."

Chilled by the revelation that this disease could worsen, Draco stood up abruptly. He was lightheaded, but fought through the fog of his mind just to part with final words. "Self-medication, Luna, while helpful, is a dangerous path. I'd be happy to write you a prescription for your thoughts. You know, I lived through the war too."

Draco made to take his leave, but before he could escape the aromatic torture of Luna's office, she spoke. "Though you share his name, you are not your father's son, Draco Lucius Malfoy."