A/N: Hey y'all! Quite a disappointment the last chapie was. I only heard three voices! What u didn't like it? Anyway exams are over and summer's here…and I plan on finishing my story soon. I hope. Can't wait till July 21st can u? the suspense is killing me. And I have mixed feelings: to be happy (that we finally get answers) or not to be happy (because Harry Potter will be done. No more waiting for books)? For as Shakespeare says: That is the important question. Well, enough of my philosophy, on with the story. Cheers:
Chapter 11:
"Hermione, please! You have to eat something. Anything!"
Ginny sighed in frustration. The youngest Weasley daughter had very little patience. Hermione, on the other hand, barely even opened her eyelids, still under the influence of the pain killing potions.
"Just go away." She whispered.
"You need to eat this."
"What good will it do?" There was no purpose after what happened to Hermione, or so she believed.
"Oh, Hermione please…" Ginny felt her heart ache. She had to get to the core of Hermione's problem! It was the only way to try to heal her.
"No, I really mean it. It's this feeling I have. Something…I don't know. I feel like something's missing. I wish Roger would've just finished me off there and then."
Two tears leaked from Hermione's eyes. The feelings were indescribable. Hermione knew what it possibly could be, but she wouldn't admit it, not after all theses years.
"Hermione! Don't say that! Don't ever say that! That's what that good-for-nothing slime wants you to think! Hermione, you can't give up now! Not after all you've been through! You survived the war, you can survive this. Not to mention the fact that you survived McGonagall's N.E.W.T.S with barely a scratch on you! Doesn't that count for anything?" Ginny tried to cheer her friend up, but all that came out of her was a wan smile.
Silence reigned for a moment. Ginny thought, for a moment, that the only way to cure Hermione was another chance…and not just Hermione.
"He still loves you." Ginny murmured hesitantly.
"No he doesn't. I lost my chance a long time ago. My pride wouldn't just let me be happy. I lost my chance." Hermione repeated, her sunken face now more pronounced then ever.
"He loves you Hermione! He would do anything for you…" Ginny exclaimed.
"What would he want with a person like me? An idiot stupid enough to believe all those lies and follow them blindly." Hermione muttered. Ginny, somewhere inside of her, knew this was a good thing. At least Hermione was showing some emotion! Now, all they needed was a push to the right direction. Yes, Harry had asked Ginny not to get involved, but Harry wasn't here now was he? Speaking of which, Ginny should better give Draco some instructions. The house elves as well. The house would be chaos, she didn't know how they would manage. Oh, how she wished she didn't have to leave! Not when Hermione needed her most…Damn that Roger…I wish he would jump off a cliff…and land into a pit full of poisonous snakes…
Ginny shook her head clear of her murderous thoughts. She had a bigger task ahead of her, telling Hermione she had to leave for a while. And trying to prevent Hermione from starving herself to death.
"Just a bite Hermione it won't do you any harm." Ginny persisted.
Hermione wouldn't even open her mouth. After half an hour she drifted off to sleep.
Ginny sighed. "Well, I better go pack then. Harry's supposed to come any moment now." She muttered to herself. She nodded to Stubby, the house elf in charge of monitoring Hermione.
"Is miss wanting anything?" Stubby asked, bowing so low his forehead nearly touched the floor.
"Just notify me when she wakes. And make sure you give her her potions this evening as I won't be here to give it to her myself."
"As you wish miss." He bowed once again as Ginny left the room.
"There will be no need for that." A crisp, no nonsense voice rang across the corridor. Ginny whirled around to see an old lady walking towards her. Decked in lavender robes with an emblem of two wands stitched across, with graying hair tucked neatly into a bun, she was clearly a nurse. She reminded Ginny faintly of Professor McGonagall. But what was she doing here? Ginny quickly whipped out her wand and aimed it at the nurse, who looked astonished.
"Well I never-!" She started to say when Ginny cut her off.
"Who are you? And what are you doing here?" She snarled, pointing the wand at the nurse's throat.
"If you would be so kind to remove your wand from my throat, I might consider answering your question." The woman responded, her nose in the air. Her voice, prim, proper, and pretentious was exactly what Ginny was expecting. She doubted this woman had ever smiled in her life.
"I don't remember giving you a choice." Ginny said sweetly. "I'll give you one now. Either you answer my question, or I hex you like no tomorrow." She gave her a smile that would have melted butter, but only made the nurse frown.
"What a vulgar child you are! Does your mother know you're walking around threatening innocent old ladies such as myself, young lady?" She reprimanded, sounding like she was talking to a moody teenager. That was the final straw for Ginny. She was not going to stand around being scolded by a stranger who could be Roger for all they know, not to mention snobby.
"What I am and what my mother knows is none of your business!" Ginny hissed. "That's it. I guess you've already chosen." Ginny raised her wand, prepared to do some serious damage when Blaise came down the stairs. After taking the scene in front of him, he raised one elegantly arched eyebrow.
"Threatening old ladies now Weasley?" He chuckled. "Scaring the wits out of grown men wasn't enough?"
If looks could kill, Blaise would have been dead seven times over.
"Blaise, what is this heathen child doing? I will not be manhandled I tell you!" The nurse declared vehemently. Ginny's jaw dropped.
"Heathen child? Who you do you think you are lady?" Ginny did a double take. "You know her?" She asked an amused Blaise. He nodded. Ginny didn't move a muscle.
"Wipe that smirk of your face boy. This is not a laughing matter!" The woman scolded. Blaise looked ashamed. Blaise looked ashamed?!
"Yes senorita." Blaise muttered.
Ginny looked back in wonder. Who was this woman? As if Blaise had read her mind, he stepped forward.
"This is Nurse Abigail, Weasley. Abigail, this is Ginny Weasley-Potter." He made the introductions.
"You're the girl who married that Potter boy." The nurse, Abigail was her name, looked as if she was trying to recall something. "Your father was Arthur Weasley?"
"You know my father?" Ginny asked.
"Yes, but not personally." Abigail seemed to look at Ginny differently. "You seem to have survived much horror and pain. You might just turn out like your father. A great man he was."
Ginny dropped her wand to her side and held her stomach.
"Yes, yes he was…" She spoke softly. She cleared her throat. "You still haven't told me what you're doing here. How did you go past the defenses? Does Draco know you're here?" Her voice sounded strong again as she shot off questions. "Where is Draco anyway? And what are you still doing here Zabini?"
"Making sure Draco doesn't go mad." Blaise drawled.
"And you?" Ginny persisted.
"I am taking charge of Miss Granger's care." Abigail's voice became brisk again. "Yes Mr. Malfoy does know I'm here."
"What? Take care of Hermione?" Ginny looked shocked. And then livid. "Who the hell are you to waltz in and make decisions all by yourself?" She started on Blaise. Blaise knew exactly what was coming, so he quickly ushered Nurse Abigail into Hermione's room. "This is the room of the invalid, Abigail. I'm sure you would like to see her surroundings and the condition of the patient."
"Hermione is not an invalid or some patient! She's my friend! How could you think that you could leave her in the care of an uptight complete stranger?! What does she mean to you anyway?" Ginny rounded on Blaise, furious.
"She's the one Draco chose to fall in love with." Blaise interrupted her tirade. "I may not approve of his taste-" He raised a hand to stop more abuse from a red faced Ginny. "But he cares about her, and therefore my responsibility to insure her wellbeing. That's what she means to me."
Ginny silently, albeit furiously, waited for him to finish.
"And Abigail isn't a complete stranger. Uptight yes, but stranger, no. And she is fully qualified to take care of Hermione, and she is fully trusted to keep her mouth shut." As Ginny opened her mouth to object, Blaise cut her.
"Weasley, stop ignoring the facts. Yes Hermione is an invalid! She's been through more than any of us have. She needs extensive care and an expert in healing. And frankly, you don't have what it needs to give out either. On the other hand, Abigail is the best in her profession. She can give what you can't."
"How can you be so sure she'll be good for Hermione?" Ginny asked heatedly.
"Because she is the one who nursed me back to health when I was a moment away from death!" Blaise bellowed. Ginny looked taken aback at this rare display of temper. She must've hit a nerve.
"I'm sorry. But you have to understand, Hermione is the closest thing I ever had to a sister, and I can't just leave her like this." Ginny tried to calm herself down.
"Draco and the house elves won't be able to take care of her alone. This is the best arrangement, and I've never been wrong before." Ginny shook her head at the arrogant tone Blaise finished his sentence with. Once a Slytherin, always a Slytherin.
"I need to think this over. And I need to talk to Draco." Ginny seemed confused about what to do.
"He's in his office talking to Potter." Blaise started walking back the way he came from.
Ginny didn't need to be told twice. She started walking briskly, matching Blaise's long strides easily. They walked in silence.
When they reached the door to Draco's private office, Blaise stopped and turned to Ginny.
"Draco and I have agreed on not mentioning my…err…for a lack of a better term, resurrection to Harry." He drawled turning back into his old bored self.
"Why not?" Ginny asked.
"Because he won't trust me and therefore we will waste time trying to explain the situation. That, and the fact that I want to stay dead." Blaise stated matter-of-factly.
"Actually I would appreciate it if you didn't mention it to anybody." He added as an after thought.
Ginny said nothing and stepped into the room.
Draco had his back to them, peering into the two way mirror Harry had given him since Hermione was moved to Malfoy Manor.
"You let a complete stranger into the Manor! What in Merlin's name were you thinking?" Harry was yelling. Draco ran a hand through his already tousled hair.
"Harry, just hear me out! She's not a perfect stranger, she's a …she's an old family friend. And she can work miracles…" Draco responded.
"An old family friend? With the reputation of your family, she's probably a Dark witch." Draco flinched like he had been hit. Harry immediately regretted saying that.
"Look mate, I'm sorry I shouldn't have said that. It was uncalled for and I apologize. I'm just stressed out." Harry paused to rub his jet green eyes, which looked like they hadn't had seen much sleep for a while. "Fred and George's store was hit yesterday." He sighed.
"What? Are Fred and George okay? Did the bastards do a lot of damage?" Draco stopped looking surly and became alert. Ginny held her breath.
"They're fine. And I'd say the twins' defense gimmicks they had put around the shop probably did more damage to the bastards than they did to the shop." Draco chuckled and Ginny let out her breath. But then Harry's face became very grave.
"And… Godric's Hollow was attacked last night."
Not a sound was to be heard as this startling new piece of information sunk in. Ginny gasped and flew to Draco. Taking the mirror from him, Harry's face disappeared. But it came back as soon as Ginny called Harry's name in the mirror.
"Are you fine? Is Dobby fine? What happened? Why didn't you tell me?" Ginny paused for a breath. She seemed to be asking a lot of questions these days and she was getting tired of being in the dark.
"Hello dearie. Yes I'm fine. Dobby's missing, but we'll track him down soon. And I didn't tell you because I knew how you would react. Someone didn't tell me you were in the room."
"I didn't know she was in the room!" Draco responded indignantly. Blaise just watched all this drama unfold quietly.
"Now to more important issues. Ginny, you know what to do. There's a slight change of plans of course, since I won't be able to come, and I want you to Apparate to 12 Grimmauld's Place, do you understand? Everyone's there. We've set up decoys in the Burrow, since it's the last place left not attacked." Harry sounded like a general.
"Yes fine."
"And now about this nurse thing. Pass me Draco dear."
"Harry, she's…she's okay." Ginny decided. "And Draco's right. Hermione needs special care none of us can give her. She needs this." Blaise smirked at her. She ignored him.
Harry seemed to contemplate this.
"Does Draco trust her?" He finally asked.
Draco looked at Blaise, who nodded.
"Yes, I do." Draco told Ginny.
"Yes he does Harry."
Harry hesitated. "Okay. No harm can come out of this so it's worth a shot. Just tell Draco to keep a close eye on Hermione."
"Easy for him to say! He's not the one stuck in this awful mansion not being able to do anything." Draco muttered. Ginny smiled. She was wondering when Draco was going to say anything about being cooped up.
"Draco says he wants a piece of the action." Ginny relayed to Harry.
"Soon, tell him. We're going to catch that bastard and when we do…" Harry trailed off.
Everyone said their goodbyes, and Ginny left. Blaise stood up and went to see if his clothes had arrived yet while Draco ventured downstairs…
A few days later…
Abigail had put the Healing Iniuria to use immediately, and now Hermione had to take a bath three times a day. The potion had shown effects on the wounds, mainly stopping the flow of blood, and numbing the pain for a while, so now Hermione didn't have to be put into a drug induced coma. This was both good and bad; good because Hermione was showing progress in lifting her own spoon. Bad because she would wake up screaming every night from her dreams, no matter what Draco or Abigail gave her. She was also not eating and she would pretend to sleep every time Draco tried to come and see her. It ended up with Draco being banned from the chambers, since Abigail believed that it was better if Draco stayed away. Until one day, when she caught him staring at a sleeping Hermione.
"You really do love her, don't you?" She asked softly, startling an unsuspecting Draco.
She didn't need an answer. One look at his eyes was enough.
"But what use is it anyway? All it brings is a stab through the heart." Draco said bitterly.
"Don't give up. Hope is still there." And she left him to prepare Hermione's bath, a plan concocting in her brain. If only…
Abigail used her wand to float Hermione to the bath. She was surprised to find That Hermione was wide awake. She was more surprised when Hermione addressed her.
"I'm awfully sorry. I've been absolutely selfish and childlike lately. Not to mention horrible, even after what you're doing for me. And it's very kind of Dr…Malfoy to do what he's doing." Hermione sounded like her old self, prim and proper but Abigail could see it was just a façade, just another defense mechanism Hermione had put up against those who cared about her.
"Oh Hermione it's what we have to do. You deserve to be in the best hospitals but sadly…" Nurse Abigail trailed off tactfully. Twenty years of service had taught her when information was needed and when it wasn't. From what she gathered, Hermione had been battered emotionally and physically, and therefore information was banned.
"Roger is still out there…" Hermione completed.
"Astute as always my Gryffindor bookworm." Draco muttered, not daring to take another step inside the spacious bath room. Hermione might be an emotional wreck but her intelligence was still there.
Silence settled on the dark room. Hermione lost what grasp she had on the present. Her eyes dulled.
"Where did it go?" Hermione whispered, staring in front of her.
"What dear?" Nurse Abigail asked, occupied with washing the wounds and adding the mixture to the bath water,
"Everything. When did it go so horribly wrong? Where did it all go? Ginny I was the smartest witch at Hogwarts! What happened?" Hermione seemed so lost on her thoughts she thought she was talking to Ginny. Nurse Abigail paused, and then stood up and left the room leaving Draco to deal with Hermione. Draco shook his head in fright. What had he gotten himself into?
Hermione didn't even seem to notice that the nurse had left the room. Anguish, pain, bewilderment, regret, sorrow, such a strong sense of loss, it just overwhelmed her…
"No. No, no, no, no, no, no NO NO NO NO!" She held her head, trying to chase out the demons. Rocking back and forth, looking for an answer, anything, tears streaming down her face. "No, nononono NOOOOO!" She was screaming. Memories were tearing through her heart, Roger's dagger was stabbing her over and over again, the bruises were too much to cover. She looked right and left. Where to go? How to escape? Were the demons ever going to leave? She started thrashing through the water. "NO…NO…NO…NO….NOOOOOO………"
It was like a knife was being dragged through his heart. Draco couldn't bear seeing her like this. He couldn't keep a distance. Before he even knew what he was doing, he had taken of his shoes and jumped into the bath, holding Hermione from doing any damage to herself. He held her tightly against him, rocking back and forth, as if he could somehow absorb some of Hermione's pain.
"It's fine. Shhhhh….you're okay now Hermione. I'm here now…." Draco whispered soothingly into Hermione's ear, wishing somehow, he could take it all away. "It's ok luv. He's gone now. No one will ever hurt you again. Shhhh…"
They just stayed there, Draco leaning on the enamel bath tub, a sobbing Hermione held tight against his broad chest, for what seemed like infinity…the bathwater had gone cold when Draco heard steady breathing. Hermione had fallen asleep in his arms, her wet hair fallen against her face. Draco's breath caught in his throat as he gazed upon her. Slowly, carefully, he brought a hand to her face…and caressed the ivory skin, tucking her hair behind her ear, to see her face better. She seemed peaceful, like a fallen angel. Time seemed to have stopped as he gazed down at her face.
When Draco finally came to his senses, he realized Hermione was completely naked, and he was fully clothed in a bath. His loins tightened. As a blush crept into his pale face, he accioed a couple of towels, wrapping Hermione in them, did a quick drying spell on himself before picking up Hermione gently in his armed and taking her to the bed. After pulling up the covers, he turned around and tried to dress her magically. After he was sure she was completely dressed he turned around and drew the covers up to her chin, smoothing them down. He hesitated, then planted a soft kiss on her forehead. As he turned to go, he heard a soft voice…
"Please don't go." Hermione whispered softly.
He turned around. She was barely awake. How could he bear to be this close to her after holding her so gloriously in his arms? It would be torture trying to keep his distance.
"Please…I don't want to be alone…"
Draco resigned to her plea with a sigh and settled himself into the chair next to hers and prepared himself for a long night.
Hermione slipped back to sleep but soon she was twitching from unfathomable horrors. Shaking like a leaf, she would scream out…Draco was soon holding her again, and unbeknownst to both of them, they drifted of to the most peaceful sleep, side by side…
A/N: Sooooo…..what do u guys think? Lots of talk. I don't like dialogue much but I didn't have a chance since I wanted to explain a few things. Finally some Draco Hermione action aye? Draco seemed shy…but that was only because he respected Hermione. Whatcha think of Nurse Abigail? And the last scene was courtesy of mawii, who had promised to write it for me, but she didn't so I ended up writing it. I hope I did well…
Oh PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW. Last chapter I only got 3 reviews so I thought that maybe you didn't like it. SO all you shy ones please come out! I accept criticism!
Oh and I'd like to give the "MOJO Award For Best Reviewer" to a very special reviewer who has lifted my spirits and never failed to review for any of my chapters from day one and the name of that reviewer is…….
Drum roll please!
this-recurring-dream!!!!
Yaay! clapping and hooting She deserves it!
AND A BIG THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO SHOWED INTEREST IN THIS STORY OF MINE…Luv ya guys, u truly are the best…miss ma friend prongs…
I'll see you in the next chapter of "What Time Can Never Heal."
Toodles!
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