For the next week the time seemed to drag for Hermione. Even though the week had been experienced in little bursts of events here and there, she still felt as though she had lived through the entire seven days minute by agonising minute. Hermione was now so in tune with her royal counterpart that her own thoughts and feelings only surfaced occasionally, on a whole she was so immersed in the story that she didn't really bother trying to distinguish between her own feelings and the ones belonging to the Queen. She also never had to search her memories to find out what had happened as the memories were always fresh in her mind.
At the current moment in time Hermione was sitting in the council chambers, where the King and his advisors were discussing the running of the kingdom. Over the last week Hermione had taken to spending her days in the room as she knew when news of the returning knights arrived it would be brought straight to King Severus. King Severus hadn't opposed Hermione's presence like she initially feared he would, instead he was quite happy for his wife to be present. Hermione suspected the King allowed her presence as he knew she was worried about the safety on the knights, although she hoped he didn't know the real reason she was so worried.
Hermione had long since gotten bored of the talk around the table and had tuned out. Instead she was thinking about Draco and what would happen when he returned. Hermione was trying not to think about the fact he could be the injured knight, instead she was preferring to remain positive. Either way she was determined to fix their relationship once he returned, he was too important to her for things to continue in the awkward way they had been.
After nearly another half hour of sitting in the council chambers Hermione decided to return to her chambers. She was getting a headache and just wanted a bit of peace and quiet. After telling the King she was leaving Hermione had just stood up when the double doors flew open and a knight burst into the room.
"Sir Draco's party have been spotted." The knight gasped. "They should be here in less than an hour."
Since hearing about the group of knight's imminent return extra lookouts had been posted so the group would be spotted as soon as they were in sight of the castle. From the vantage points of the towers in the castle most of the surrounding area could be seen clearly as everyone searched for some sign of the returning knights.
"Could you make out what state they were in?" King Severus asked.
"No, they're still too far away." The knight shook his head in response.
"Right, I want everything ready for when they arrive." The King announced, springing into action as he began making preparations. "Get the physician on standby."
"Is there anything I can do?" Hermione asked.
"I don't think so." The King replied.
Leaving King Severus to get organised Hermione left the council chambers. Now she knew Draco was on his way home she intended to be there when he arrived. She also knew Ginny would want to be there to check on Sir Blaise's health so she went in search of her maid to tell her the latest news.
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A little over an hour after the first sighting of the returning group Hermione was waiting with Ginny and the King on the steps of the castle. Several knights had been sent to meet the incoming party and they now knew one of the returning knights was being carried on a stretcher and was in a bad way. Unfortunately they still didn't know the identity of the man who was injured and Hermione was hoping it wasn't Draco.
The second the party entered the courtyard King Severus rushed forward to see his men while Hermione scanned the group looking for the familiar head of platinum blond hair. Because the group now consisted of the returning knights and a few knights that had gone to help it was hard to find who she was looking for. As the crowds began to part slightly Hermione spotted the stretcher, with a knight lying on it looking extremely pale. Both Hermione and Ginny breathed a huge sigh of relief when they spotted the knight was Sir Vincent.
"Get Sir Vincent to the physician this instant." King Severus's booming voice rang out over the noise in the courtyard.
As four knights, who had just rushed out from the castle, took hold of the stretcher holding Sir Vincent, Hermione got her first glimpse of the other returning knights. Sir Blaise, Sir Theodore and a couple of other knights ambled into sight, looking tired and dirty but perfectly healthy. Sir Gregory looked to be nursing a cut to the cheek and another few knights also had minor scrapes and cuts.
Continuing to scan the crowds in search of Draco, Hermione suddenly spotted a flash of blond hair at the rear of the party. Hermione audibly gasped when she spotted the handsome blond knight, his left arm was wrapped up and placed in a makeshift sling while he had a nasty gash on his head, which looked like it had been bleeding profusely.
Hermione's instincts were to run to Draco and hold him, but she composed herself and remained standing on the steps. As King Severus approached Draco, Hermione watched as her husband and former lover spoke to each other. When the King turned to address a few of the other knights Hermione managed to catch Draco's eye, the couple shared a tentative smile before the blond turned round and headed in the direction of the physician's chambers.
While Hermione watched Draco leave the courtyard, Ginny excused herself and went over to Sir Blaise. Turning her attention to her maid and her knight, Hermione was once again jealous of the embracing couple. She would have given anything to greet Draco in that way and to let him know how much she had missed him, instead she would have to try and grab a moment alone with him later.
"Come on, let's go back inside." King Severus arrived back at Hermione's side and ushered her away from the courtyard.
"How's Sir Vincent?" Hermione asked as she let the King lead her into the castle and turn towards the council chambers.
"Not good." The King sighed. "He's barely alive."
"Is everyone else all right?" Hermione questioned.
"A few scrapes and scratches, nothing too serious." King Severus replied. "I've asked Sir Draco to come and let us know what's happening once he's seen the physician."
Arriving at the council chambers the King and Hermione settled down to wait for more news. After a few minutes Ginny arrived and as she spoke quietly with Hermione, the King tried to get a bit more work done. After a while he gave up and the three of them lapsed into silence as they contemplated what was happening with the physician and his patient.
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When Draco entered the council chambers, nearly three hours later, Hermione was shocked to see he still hadn't sought treatment for his wounds. When she questioned him he just shrugged, claiming the physician was too busy trying to save Sir Vincent and he wasn't important. Hermione was not impressed that no-one had bothered to look at Draco, she knew for a fact that several of the maids had been sent to help the physician with any minor injuries that might have occurred.
Taking matters into her own hands Hermione had sent Ginny for some water and medical supplies. When Ginny had returned Hermione had told Draco to sit down and she would sort him out. When the Knight tried arguing that it wasn't the Queen's place to fix him up the King told him to let her do what she wanted. That was how Draco found himself sitting in the council chambers, talking to the King while the Queen gently tended to his head.
"What happened with Sir Vincent?" The King asked. The beginning of the conversation had dealt with the bandit situation and how Draco and his men had driven them off their land but now the King wanted to know about his injured knight.
"One of the bandits cut him down with a sword." Draco replied, trying not to wince as Hermione cleaned the dried blood from the wound on his head. "The bandit was lying in some long bushes and Vincent didn't see him. He was hit right above the ankle, it was so deep you could see the bone."
"How's Sir Vincent doing now?" King Severus inquired.
"Not good." Draco sighed, clearly upset by what his friend was going through. "The physician had to amputate his foot and when I left he couldn't guarantee he would survive the night."
"That's awful." Hermione said softly. While she may have been tending to Draco head, which luckily wasn't half as bad as it looked, she was still listening to the conversation.
"The physician is very skilled, if anyone can save Sir Vincent then he can." The King said, trying to sound positive. "How about you? How did you get hurt?" He asked Draco.
"I was just hurt in the fight." Draco replied. "The arm injury occurred as I stopped a second bandit trying to kill Vincent while he was lying on the floor."
"Speaking of arms, I need to see yours." Hermione said. "Can you remove your armour and shirt or do you need help?"
"I can wait to get this looked at." Draco protested. "You don't have to do this."
"I want to." Hermione replied, fighting the urge to reach up and kiss the blond knight. "Please let me take a look."
"I would let her." The King interjected. "She's pretty stubborn and I doubt she'll take no for an answer."
"I won't." Hermione agreed. "I'm doing this so it'll be easier if you go along with it."
Knowing it was pointless to fight the Queen, Draco complied with her request. After removing his make shift sling Hermione helped him off with his armour and shirt. While Draco continued to talk with the King, Hermione began unwrapping the bandage on his lower arm. Hermione winced at the sight of the long, deep gash that ran from his elbow to his wrist. From the angle of the wound she figured that Draco must have held his arm up to shield himself and Sir Vincent from their attacker. As Draco and the King spoke about upping the security on the northern borders, Hermione cleaned Draco's wound and re-dressed it.
"I'm done." Hermione announced. "Although I'm not sure why your arm was in a sling, a simple bandage would have sufficed."
"I twisted my shoulder at the same time, the sling was to stop me moving it." Draco explained.
"How's your shoulder now?" Hermione asked, reaching up and gently caressing his shoulder. "Do I need to put it in another sling?"
Draco experimentally rolled his shoulder a few times, wincing slightly but managing to move just fine. "I think it's okay. I just need to rest it I think."
"I think resting's a great idea." King Severus said. "Go back to your chambers and rest and don't worry about your duties tomorrow, take a day off."
"That won't be necessary, Sire." Draco protested.
"That was an order not a request." The King retorted.
"Thank you, Sire." Draco bowed his head before standing up and shrugging his shirt back on. He then picked up his armour and after saying goodnight he left the council chambers.
Hermione watched Draco leave and while she wanted to run after him, she didn't. Instead she said goodnight to the King and she and Ginny headed for her chambers. Once there Ginny did her duties at the speed of light so she could rush off and see Sir Blaise. Hermione didn't mind Ginny being so eager to see her lover, she only wished she was in the same position and could go and see Draco.
Settling into bed Hermione thought about the conversation she wanted to have with Draco. Despite what she had earlier said about putting him in an awkward position with the King she wanted him to know that she wasn't opposed to repeating what had happened down by the river. For nearly two weeks she hadn't seen or spoken to him and for the last week she had been terrified something had happened to him. All that had put a new perspective on things and Hermione knew that if he had being seriously hurt or killed she would always have regretted that she ended things when he was clearly still willing to continue. Hermione was going to wait and see what he said but if Draco was still up for furthering their relationship she wasn't going to oppose it any more, however if he wanted things to remain as they were she would respect that decision.