October 2011

Hermione was a sucker for puzzles. Always had been. And so as a Healer for St. Mungo's she worked in the Critical Care Ward where she tended to comatose patients. Most of them became that way because of magical mishaps. That department was tied for first place as patients' first stop whenever admitted to St. Mungo's. It was after Healers didn't know what more they could do that they ended up under Hermione's supervision. The other first place stop was the emergency room.

That had happened to be Draco's first stop and now she was standing over his bed.

Hermione was chewing on her bottom lip as her eyes stared at Draco over his chart. He had been attacked on his way home with a spell that no one knew how to counteract. That same spell was slowly killing him. If they didn't figure out what to do within the next few days Draco would be dead. But as she looked around at where they were, she sadly knew that he already was. The Critical Care Ward was the end of the line. A patient either came out of it here or they never did. Families usually paid to keep their loved ones in the ward for as long as they could in hopes that he or she recovered. Draco could certainly live out the rest of his days there with his wealth, but seeing as the spell was eating away at him…

"Hermione, Harry's here to see you."

Hermione turned to one of her fellow co-workers and nodded. She returned Draco's chart to its proper position and walked out into the hallway. Harry was standing there with his hands in his pockets and gave a grim smile.

"Anything?" Hermione asked. Harry shrugged.

"You could say that. We found the guy who attacked Malfoy."

"And?"

"He's dead."

Hermione's face fell. She opened her mouth to speak several times but fell short at every turn. "How?"

"Guess he felt bad about what he'd done." Harry sighed. "Drank so much he literally poisoned himself. Alan 'Lenny' Shultz was his name."

A flashback instantly crossed her mind to the time when she and Draco had both been attacked by someone named Lenny. If her memory served her correctly he had been a drunken mess back then as well. She swore and then ran her hands through her hair. "I can't help Malfoy without knowing what spell he used."

"No luck tearing through your books, huh?"

"None," She groaned bitterly. "At this rate Malfoy's going to die."

"Well, at least he wouldn't be able to kill you." Harry grimly joked. Hermione felt herself shrink in fright, but then Harry grabbed her shoulders and immediately apologized.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up. I just… It was a bad joke."

"…It's fine." Hermione said eventually. She took a deep breath and smiled to ward off the tension. "It's fine, really. I just wish he didn't have to die the way that it seems he will."

Peter always knew when something was wrong with Hermione. As for Hermione, it always irritated her that he knew when she was upset. Tonight she had just wanted to stew in her juices, but she could tell that she was ruining "quality time" and he wasn't going to let her get away with it.

"I just feel terrible that there's nothing I can do about it." Hermione finished after explaining why she was brooding. "With the others, I know it's a lost case. It's sad to say, but they are."

"And Malfoy isn't a lost case?" Peter asked. Hermione shook her head.

"The cure is out there, but I just don't know where to look. If I did he'd be up and talking already."

"Where have you looked?"

"In every last book I own." Hermione grumbled. "The ones here at home, ones at my office in St. Mungo's, the hospital library…"

"Might I make a suggestion? You say Malfoy was hit with an unknown spell, yes? How about checking unknown books?"

Hermione eyed Peter suspiciously, but all he could do was shrug and told her to think about it. She knew what he was suggesting, but it was something that she simply couldn't do. Most Dark Arts books were "unknown" for a reason and that same reason was why a Healer couldn't find them in any hospital. But the more Hermione thought about it, the more tempted she became. Her failures in finding a cure for Draco led her to believe that it was in a book she had banned herself from ever viewing.

Fears of the future had plagued her ever since learning about it. It had haunted her so much that her reading habits had drained significantly. She had been so afraid to read something that she shouldn't. To become interested in something that she shouldn't. But the only reason that Hermione had shown up the next day at Malfoy Manor and rang the doorbell was because the timeline had been broken. It had been seven years since Alex had tried to kill Draco and if the future still held then she should've been born by now. And so, there she stood, holding her breath as the front door was answered.

"May I help you?" A man in a butler's suit answered. Hermione was surprised. She had expected Avery the house elf to answer the door. Any house elf actually. She hadn't once fathomed the thought that Draco had people tending to his Manor.

"Hello," Hermione greeted. She was wringing her hands anxiously and pinched herself to stop. "My name is Hermione Granger and I'm a Healer at St. Mungo's. I've been tending to Draco Malfoy."

The butler arched a brow at her words. "Has he died?"

"No, no, he hasn't. But he will if I can't find a way to help him."

"And you're asking me for that help?" The butler asked in confusion. Hermione sighed.

"Yes and no. I think Dark Magic was used to send him to the hospital and nothing I've read thus far can help him. I believe something in his home might."

At that the butler huffed. "I know what you're insinuating Miss Granger. And for your information this is a reputable home. You won't find what you're hoping for in here."

The butler tried to close the door on her but Hermione stuck her foot between the door and the doorframe to prevent it from closing. It hurt tremendously, but it served its purpose. "I didn't mean to offend your employer, but you and I both know that the Malfoy family line is far from reputable. Now I don't know about you, but I couldn't live out the rest of my life knowing that the key to Draco's survival was behind the very walls I lived and I did nothing to help."

The butler was obviously conflicted. Hermione stared at him, internally pleading that he would heed her words. She smiled shortly after as he opened the door wider and let her inside. "You mustn't tell a soul what you see or allude to how you came to your final conclusions on Master Malfoy's condition."

Hermione nodded as she followed the butler throughout the Manor. It seemed bigger than the last time she was here. But then again she had been confined to the dungeons and really hadn't had the chance to explore the home. They walked up the stairs and went neither left nor right. They continued straight down the corridor at the top of the landing and entered the sixth door on their left. Hermione was in awe of the expansive library that she and the butler had just step foot in. The entire room was lined with massive bookshelves and spaced out with large ceiling to floor windows in between them.

"Miss Granger?"

Hermione turned. The butler had walked over to one of the shelves and was standing directly in front of it. "Are these it?" She asked. The butler merely smiled tauntingly and shook his head.

"No, it's not. This is merely the door."

"The door?" She repeated. She watched as the butler pulled back one of the books. As though straight out of a movie scene the bookcase in front of her disappeared. What lay behind it was incredible. It was a room just as big as the one they had previously stood. It was lined with the bookshelves just the same minus the windows and in the corner of the room was a staircase that could take someone both up and down. It was then that Hermione realized that it was a magically expanded area comprised of three floors.

"How in Merlin's name am I going to comb through all of this?!" Hermione exclaimed as she surveyed her surroundings.

"The catalog would be a good place to start." The butler lazily drawled. "It's over there, near the staircase. I will come check on you in an hour. Nothing leaves this room." The butler warned and then turned his back on Hermione in order to exit the library.

One hour… It would take Hermione a full week to simply comb through the bottom half of one shelf. One hour? She sighed and walked over to the catalog. The allotted time would have to do. She sincerely doubted that the butler would let her come into this room again.

And so she got to work. She was overwhelmed with the catalog just as much as the library itself. However, she was happy to know that the library's floors were aptly divided. The top floor were books on theory, the floor she was on contained information on magical artifacts, and the bottom was a mixture of potions, spells, hexes, and curses. To hold so much Hermione expected the bottom floor to be much bigger than the others and she was right. As she went downstairs she found it to be nearly three times the size as the other floors and her heart sank lower. Hermione could see it. Centuries upon centuries of Malfoys placing their precious books here. And when there wasn't enough room they simply expanded it until it became the masterpiece that it was today.

There was a catalog on this floor as well which made deciphering which books were about potions, spells, hexes, and curses easier. Hermione already knew that Draco hadn't been attacked with a potion, but that still left different types of magic for her to go through. She sighed and did the only thing she could do: started reading.

Hermione combed through book after book, starting first with curses since she considered those to be the most malicious. At each page her heart leapt into her throat. Not because she thought she had found what had been used on Draco, but because of the amount of magic she never knew existed. It was amazing really. Old magic that had been long forgotten. Magic that defied laws of nature. And magic that was utterly terrible to use on any being, human or otherwise. And yet amidst her feelings Hermione couldn't help but feel impressed with what she read. The magic that she was reading about wasn't simple. It was complicated in theory as well as execution. She thought of the witches and wizards who not only invented these curses but also used them to be extraordinary.

Although she wasn't wearing a watch Hermione knew that more than an hour had passed. She counted her blessings as she worked diligently. Her distraction was only disturbed once when she heard the butler's voice from up above.

"Find anything useful?"

Hermione's teeth instantly set on edge, but she didn't look up as his comment was absolutely dipping with sarcasm and mocking. "Try asking me that again but this time with a straight face."

The butler chuckled. He had descended the stairs now and had casually strolled up to her, his eyes lingering over the books piled around her. "I suppose this means I'll be seeing you tomorrow."

Hermione lifted her eyes from her reading in surprise. "You're going to let me come back?"

"You haven't finished your work so yes, I'll let you come back." The butler nodded. "What you said at the front door was…convincing. I've known Master Malfoy since his infancy. If he were to die I…" His words trailed. Hermione watched as his stoic composure faltered, but a quick clearing of his throat steadied him. "It would be most unfortunate."

Hermione smiled at him. "I'll be here same time tomorrow then."

Hermione learned that the butler's name was Welford and he met her at the door the next day. She had gotten there bright and early and picked up where she had left off. And when that day was a failure she went to work the day after and then straight to Malfoy Manor when her shift was finished. Draco was getting worse. Hermione had determined that he would be dead by the end of the week and so she worked with even more fervor. To her surprise even Welford resigned himself to sit across from her at the large, well-polished table and pulled books onto his lap. His gaze was looking even more worn than hers was.

"This is hopeless." Hermione suddenly sobbed tearlessly. She placed her head in her hands and massaged her eyes with the bottoms of her palms.

"You care for him." Welford commented. Hermione nodded.

"I care for all of my patients."

"I didn't say that you care for your patient. I said that you care for him."

Hermione paused. Her thoughts flickered to the Draco of the future. She thought of how sad he had looked when he spoke of her. How broken he had seemed when saying that he loved her, but essentially couldn't save her. Yes, she cared for him because at some point in his life he had cared for her.

"Miss Granger?" Welford called to snap her from her reverie.

"Sorry," She blinked. She smiled warmly and then brought her eyes back down to her book. Her eyes poured over the next few pages as vehemently as the others when she stopped. She picked up the book in her hands and clasped the book tightly. She had to reread it several times before she rose from her seat, knocking back her chair in the process. "I found it… I found it!"

Welford looked up at Hermione's exclamations in alarm and watched her as she gathered her things from the floor.

"I have to go; I found it!"

Hermione knew she couldn't take the book with her and let her eyes pour over the page once more so that the words could sear into her brain. After one last read she fled from the library. She ran through Malfoy Manor's halls and out the door without closing it. Once Hermione was beyond the gates she disapparated and found herself on St. Mungo's property. She knew better than to run through a hospital, but this was no time for formalities. Hermione ran past patients, visitors, and coworkers who called her name. She burst through the Critical Care Ward and surprised the two Healers that were there.

"Hermione, what are you doing here?" One of them asked, but she ignored her. Hermione went straight to the cupboards in the backroom of the ward and began pulling ingredient after ingredient. She crushed what needed to be crushed with fury, cut what needed to be cut sloppily, but effectively, poured in what needed to be poured in with occasional spills, and then used her wand to bring everything to a quick boil. A speedy cooling spell calmed the potion and a second later it was in a glass bottle for easy transportation. Hermione was quickly back in the middle of the ward with her coworkers staring at her in bewilderment.

Hermione went over to Draco and opened his mouth. She tossed the potion in as best as she could without spilling until all the contents were down his throat. She stood still with the bottle in her hand and counted the seconds that passed in agony. She was holding the bottle so tight that her hand was numb. The bottle dropped and shattered the moment Draco opened his eyes and he sat up, gasping for air.

Draco stared wildly at his surroundings, his eyes eventually settling on Hermione while her own were glistening with fresh tears. "What's happening?" He asked. Hermione on the other hand couldn't for the life of her answer his question. There was only one thing that she found was able to leave her lips.

"It worked."

Author's note: Draco's alive! But unfortunately Hermione had to turn to a Dark Arts book in order to help him. What was it that Draco's future self said? One book and one spell? Well, there goes the book…

-WP