The two wizards moved toward Draco but Hermione was faster. She whipped out her wand and stepped in front of Draco.
"M'am, get out of the way," the large one said puffing out his chest. "You're interfering with Auror business. We can arrest you for that."
"Don't take another step," Hermione threatened. "Mr. Malfoy has permission to use magic within the restrictions of his work in this program."
"I think she's making that up," the small one said to the large one. "Seems she's got a soft spot for him, perhaps between her legs."
Draco growled and tried to move past Hermione but in the blink of an eye she had the two mens wands in her hand and had them pinned against the wall.
"What did you just say?" she asked menacingly.
"You will be arrested!" the small one squeaked. "Attacking an auror comes with a high penalty!"
Just then the doors flew open again and Harry and Seamus came in wands raised.
"Bloody hell," Harry said, dropping his wand and Seamus did the same. "What are you doing?"
"They came to arrest Draco for using a wand," Hermione said calmly. "When I told them that he was permitted to use magic for his work they raised their wands at me," she tossed them to Harry. "And said I had a soft spot for him, perhaps between my legs."
Harry turned and looked angrily at the two men. "Let them down, Hermione," Harry said calmly and with a flick of her wrist the two men dropped to the ground.
"Hermione?" the large one repeated. "As in Hermione Granger?"
"Oh bugger," the small one said.
"Stand," Harry commanded and the two men slunk to their feet.
"If we could just explain-" the large one started to say but Harry cut him off.
"You two were specifically assigned to Mr. Malfoy because you were supposed to be able to not screw this up," Harry told them. "And yet, here you are, attempting to arrest him in direct violation of not an order from me but an order from the Minister himself allowing Mr. Malfoy to perform magic while working with Ms. Granger."
The small one tried to speak but Harry continued over him. "Additionally, you insulted Ms. Granger, implying that she was less than a professional. That angers me on a personal level as she is one of my best friends in addition to a professional level because Ms. Granger is the only expert in her field. You have caused an embarrassment for the Auror department. Apologize. Now."
"We're sorry, Ms. Granger," the two men mumbled.
Harry cast a look at Draco then looked back at his two men. "Apologize to Mr. Malfoy as well."
Everyone in the room's eyebrows went up at Harry's request.
"But sir-," the large one started and then one look from Harry stopped him.
"We're sorry, Mr. Malfoy," they grumbled.
"Good," Harry said. "Now return to the office, Seamus will be the one to decide what disciplinary action to take."
Seamus grinned as he followed the two men out of the room who were walking with their heads down.
Harry turned to Hermione and Draco. "Are you both alright?"
"We're fine, Harry," Hermione said, giving him a hug. "Thank you."
"How did you know to come?" Draco wanted to know.
"When an auror is attacked it sends an automatic signal to our office," Harry told him. "When Hermione went after the two rookies, Seamus and I happened to be in the office and when I saw it was St. Mungo's, we came immediately."
"How did it go?" Harry asked, eyeing the giant container with the black sludge. "And what the hell is that?"
"That's the Cruciatus in a physical form," Hermione told him. "We won't know until Greg wakes up if it worked."
"We think it did," Draco added, looking at Hermione. "Someone is just a little apprehensive to admit it."
"I just don't want to get anyone's hopes up," Hermione replied giving him a look.
"Let me know what happens," Harry told her, giving her another hug. "I better get back and make sure Seamus doesn't have them doing anything too terrible."
Harry nodded to Malfoy and walked out of the room.
"Let's get out of here," Draco said, grabbing Hermione's hand and leading her out of the room. "Before someone else tries to arrest me or something else happens."
Hermione laughed and followed him out of the room.
Two hours later Hermione and Draco walked into the patient wing, showered, fed, rested, and changed. They walked quickly and stopped outside of Greg's door. Hermione took a breath and Draco opened the door. They walked in and saw Greg, sitting up on his bed, Millicent at his side.
"Hello," Hermione said tentatively.
Millicent's head whipped around and before anyone could react she launched herself at Hermione and wrapped her in a huge hug. Draco looked alarmed and unsure what to do as Millicent squeezed his girlfriend. She let go abruptly and looked at Hermione.
"Thank you," she said. "Thank you."
"Uh, you're welcome?" Hermione replied uncertain. Millicent was one of her patients who had always been distant, the hug was a shock.
"How are you feeling?" Draco asked Greg.
"Like I had a curse ripped from my body," Greg said with a chuckle. "But I've been awake for about an hour and a half and I haven't had one episode."
Hermione immediately pulled out her wand and went into healer mode. She grabbed the chart from the wall outside his room then moved next to him on the bed. She asked him a series of questions, all of which Greg answered with positive responses. When she was done, Hermione broke into a huge smile.
"We're going to have to monitor you closely," Hermione told him.
"But…?" Greg asked.
"But it seems that we were able to completely remove the curse from your body," she replied with a grin. "The spell was a success."
Draco felt a wide grin spread across his face and he walked forward and shook Greg's hand. "Welcome back," he said and Greg smiled back at him.
"How long will he stay?" Millicent asked quietly.
"It's still going to be a bit," Hermione told her kindly. "We still have the effects of the other spells to work out but given that the majority of his episodes were from the Cruciatus curse we can at least give him a better quality of life. We also need to make sure it won't come back or anything like that."
"It could come back?" Greg asked, suddenly worried.
"It's highly unlikely," Hermione told him. "We removed every bit of the curse from your body. I just want to be safe."
"So when can you do the spell on me?" Millicent asked.
Hermione looked so caught off guard by her question Draco nearly laughed.
"We'll see how Greg does," Draco said, answering for Hermione. "Then we'll talk about doing it to the rest of the patients."
Millicent seemed satisfied by his answer and moved to sit on the bed with Greg. Hermione still looked shocked and hadn't moved.
"We'll go," Draco said, looking at Hermione. "Let us or Luna know if you need anything."
"Thank you," Greg replied. "Both of you."
Draco led Hermione out of the room and took the chart from her hands and placed it back on the wall.
"Are you alright?" Draco asked, turning Hermione so she was facing him and ran his hands up and down her arms.
"We're going to be able to do the spell on the others," Hermione said, looking up at him with tears streaming down her face. "We're going to be able to do it on all the others."
"I thought that was what you wanted," Draco replied, worried. "Why are you crying?"
"I never thought we'd find a cure," Hermione told him, sniffling. "I never thought I'd be able to give them or give me a life without an episode."
Draco felt his heart swell with love for her. In all the excitement he'd nearly forgotten that curing Greg meant a cure for her as well. He enveloped her in a tight hug and held her as she cried. He whispered that he loved her, that he was proud of her, that he was happy for her. Once she stopped crying, she pulled out of his arms and took his hands in hers.
"I could not have done this without you," she said with a watery smile. "Draco, I'm so proud of the extraordinary man that you've become."
"I couldn't have done that without you," he replied.
"Let's go tell Harry," Hermione said excitedly. "He'll be so thrilled."
"Actually there's something I need to do," Draco told her. "I'll meet you back at your flat later."
"Alright," Hermione answered, puzzled.
They walked out of the wing. Draco gave her a quick kiss before they separated, Hermione to the auror department and Draco, waiting until Hermione was gone, flooed to Malfoy Manor. Inside he walked through the house and found his mother out in the gardens. Her back was to the door so he came up behind her and surprised her with a kiss on the cheek.
"Draco, you scared me half to death!" Narcissa said with her hand over her heart. "Is something the matter? Why are you home?"
"I live here," Draco replied, taking a seat next to her on the long wooden bench she was sitting on.
"Hardly," Narcissa answered. "I can't even remember the last time you spent the night here. You're always with Hermione."
"I need to talk to you about her," Draco told her. "I need to ask you something."
"What is it?" Narcissa asked, looking at her son with concern. "Has something happened?"
"I'm in love with her, mother," Draco told her and watched as his mother teared up and put her hand over her mouth. "I want to marry her but I need to know if you're okay with it."
"Okay with it?" Narcissa replied, removing her hand from her mouth and staring at Draco. "Draco Malfoy marrying that girl would be the second smartest choice you ever made."
"Second smartest?" Draco asked, puzzled. "What was first?"
"Changing your life when you were released from Azkaban," Narcissa told him. "I'm very proud of the man you've become."
"Hermione said something similar earlier," Draco told her with a smile. "So you approve?"
Narcissa opened her mouth to answer but changed her mind. "Jake," she called and the house elf appeared at her side. "Fetch me the white jewelry box from Gringotts."
Jake's eyes went wide. "Yes, mistress!" He disappeared.
"You're sending him to Gringotts?" Draco asked her. "Why?"
"I have something I want to show you," Narcissa told him.
Jake reappeared 20 minutes later and handed the small white box to Narcissa. "Thank you, Jake," she said and Jake disappeared.
She opened the box and took out a smaller, dark green box. She handed it to Draco.
"What is this?" he asked, turning the box over in his hand.
"Open it," Narcissa told him.
Draco opened the box and saw a ring with a ruby and an emerald next to one another together as though they were the ying and yang symbol, surrounded by a circle of diamonds sitting a gold band.
"That's the Black family ring," Narcissa told him. "It hasn't been worn in nearly a hundred years since the line has yet to have a male heir that lived long enough to propose. Perfect isn't it? For you and your Gryffindor."
Draco closed the box and put it in his pocket. He rose and gave his mother a kiss. "Thank you," he told her. "I need to go."
Narcissa took his hand in hers and squeezed. "Good luck," she said.
Draco began to walk away then turned around realizing he'd forgotten something. "We cured Goyle by the way," he called over his shoulder. "I'm sure Hermione will want to cure you next. I'll talk to you later!"
Narcissa sat in shock as she listened to Draco's footsteps fade away. A cure she thought with awe. A cure. With hope in her heart, she rose from the bench and went back into the house, wedding plans flying through her head.
A/N: Yeeeeeee! I can't believe it, I can't believe it's almost over. One more chapter and then an epilogue left. I'll just want to say a quick thanks to everyone who reviewed, read, followed, and favorited the story. I never imagined this kind of reception and I'm so glad that Erin convinced me to share my story with all of you. Thank you for all your kind words and support, it means so much! :)