Chapter 26

To no one's surprise, Hermione Granger returned from the hospital the day following her admission. And she didn't even have to threaten any of her co-workers into releasing her. Due to the potions and the healing charms she had been administered, she had been as good as new the following day, and despite Draco trying to convince the staff to keep her another day, much to her chagrin, she had been released.

Of course if she were a muggle and admitted to a muggle hospital, then that would have been an entirely different story. If that were the case, she probably would have stayed in the hospital a minimum of a week, and have her arm plastered and placed into a cast for it to heal. And she probably would have a bunch of bandages covering her body from her injuries.

She had always wanted to be a healer or a doctor. Especially when she was younger and had no idea about magic or anything of the sort. She had wanted to become a doctor and help cure people, despite her parents attempting to push her into dentistry. She used to always carry a toy doll she had been given and diagnosis various diseases or injuries to her toy along with an appropriate course of treatment.

Magical medicine was different. There was a lower mortality rate when it came to healing, as the majority of illnesses and injuries could be treated. Despite that however, there were a plethora of magical diseases and side effects that weren't as easily cured, and she had found that it was something she wanted to study and eventually make a career out of during her fifth year.

Despite her health, Draco and Harry had refused to allow her to do anything for herself. Ginny, along with Molly, had created enough food so Hermione wouldn't even have to cook for the next several days, including all her favourite dishes. Harry had talked to her supervisor and arranged for her to have the next week off, much to her dismay. However it was her boss who ultimately demanded Hermione not show up to work, and concluded that if she tried to as much as set foot through the door for anything work related, she would send Hermione straight home. Draco, on the other hand, was a different story.

He barely left her side since she woke up in that hospital bed, and went out of his way to make sure she was always comfortable. He took Scorpius to distract him every now and then to give Hermione some time to herself, and demanded she ate all her meals in bed, despite feeling perfectly fine.

And after a day, she couldn't take it anymore.

Yes, it was wonderful that he cared enough about her to ensure that she was fine at all times, but it got frustrating. She may have been in pain still, but she was more than capable of getting up and doing things for herself. She was an adult, for Merlin's sake!

"Draco, I'm not going to break," she finally snapped, when Draco had attempted to carry her down the stairs when she insisted on eating dinner at the table. "I'm more than fine making my way down by myself," she said, wriggling out of his arms, attempting to stand on her own.

Her point was not proven when she immediately winced in pain.

"Would you stop being so stubborn?" Draco glared at her, "I'm trying to help you, you infuriating witch! Would it honestly kill you to admit that you need help and that you're not fine on your own? Look at you! You can barely stand on your own!"

It didn't help that she was now leaning heavily against the bed post in an attempt to support herself; to the point where nearly all her weight was pressed against it.

"At the very least, let me help you down the stairs," Draco tried. "Just lean on me."

"Why do you care so much?" she found herself asking, despite herself. "You don't see Ron and Harry here trying to help me."

Draco snorted, "Because they're both terrified you'll keep your promise of hexing them if they tried to help you anymore."

"And you're not?" she raised a brow.

"Of you?" Draco laughed, "Absolutely. But despite knowing how well you can hold your own, it won't stop me from trying to help you."

Her heart melted slightly at that as she looked up at him affectionately. And as she caught herself doing that, she mentally scolded herself. She wouldn't go there; it was only the potions addling her mind that was causing herself to irrational ly attempt to grow close with the pale blonde man.

But despite that, she allowed Draco to wrap an arm around her waist, as he placed her left arm around his firm shoulder blades. As they began to make their way down the stairs, she could feel her breathing grow heavier as she leaned more and more on Draco. But if he noticed or minded, he didn't say a thing, only holding her closer to him.

She could smell parchment on his body, along with sage and a musky scent, and she tried not to take in a deep breath as she inhaled it.

As she sat down at the table, she heard the floo sound in the other room. She must have had a look on her mind saying she wanted to go answer it, but when Draco saw her, he shook his head.

"Stay," he ordered, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I'll go see who it is, and then bring them back here. But there is no way you're getting up on your own."

He remerged with his mother a few moments later.

"How are you feeling?" Narcissa asked her in a concerned tone. "I wanted to visit you in the hospital, but didn't want to raise any flags in doing so."

She felt touched at the fact that the woman whom she was only starting to know seemed to care about her far more than her own parents seemed to. But with that said, she was glad they didn't show up to the hospital as it would have resulted in a round of 'I told you so's' and having the same argument again for what felt like the hundredth time.

"I'm fine," Hermione said, shooting a look at Draco, "But I would be better if your son left me alone for a few moments and trusted that I could handle myself."

Narcissa chuckled at that, as she sat down across from her, while Draco began to grab plates of food for the three of them, as the rest of the household had gone over to the Burrow to plan their next steps, much to her disappointment.

"I'm afraid I cannot do that," Narcissa said, sitting ever so sophisticatedly in her chair. "As I must admit that you appear as if you require his assistance."

She scowled at that, as Draco placed a plate of roast beef in front of her.

"Thank you," she said in a somewhat reluctant voice.

"I must admit, that article this morning certainly seems as if it will help our case," Narcissa told them, causing Hermione to look at Draco with confusion.

"What article?" she demanded, as Draco looked hesitant to tell her.

"Padma Patil agreed to write a piece for us on what's happening," Draco told her, "It just mentions that this elitist group is attempting to abolish the Ministry and use backward thinking, and that it would defeat the purpose of doing so as the entire reason that we switched from that system was due to the corruption that it was filled with."

"And that you were injured in their rallying attempt to gain supporters," Narcissa chimed in.

She looked at Draco furiously, "You threw around my name for an article?"

"To greater the effect of it!" Draco protested, "If they see that the extremists hurt you then they're going to be less willing to join up. It's painting them exactly how they are: as a violent movement who will stoop to low measures in an attempt to gain the support they seem to believe they deserve. Do you know how many letters poured in this morning for you in an attempt to make sure that you were okay? All these people were concerned for your well-being, and in addition to this, we seem to have the majority on our side at the moment!"

She looked up at him in wonder, "Seriously?" she couldn't help but ask. "I mean I know the media loves flaunting our names around, but I didn't think it would get a response that strongly."

"Comes with being one of the heroes of the Wizarding world," Narcissa said nonchalantly. "Now, we must think about how to go from here, which is where I assume the rest of this household is."

Draco nodded in agreement.

"Draco!" Narcissa said, as if she suddenly remembered something, "You wouldn't believe who I ran into the other day in Diagon Alley! Astoria Greengrass, you remember her, right?" Narcissa paused.

She glanced over Draco who disinterestedly nodded, "I do. Her older sister was in my year; Daphne."

"Yes," Narcissa nodded, "She's certainly blossomed into a lovely young lady. She was asking about you, and if you would be at the Parkinson's Gala next week. I informed her that you would be."

"Oh?" Draco asked, "I wasn't aware that I would be," he said pointedly.

"Nonsense," Narcissa said, and Hermione began to feel very uncomfortable as she could see where Narcissa was pushing the conversation. "It's more than time for you to mingle with society your age. It's your responsibility!"

She also couldn't help but feel slightly jealous at the fact that Narcissa was blatantly attempting to push her son into mixing with other women his age, when he clearly didn't express an interest in that sort of thing.

Draco snorted at that, "I'm well aware of how those galas are, Mother. I went to more than enough of them as a child."

"Bring Hermione, if you need company," Narcissa pushed, "But I expect to see you there."

Draco glanced over at her warily, and she could see uncertainty in his eyes.

"Are you sure that's a good idea right now?" Draco asked pointedly, "All things considered? I mean we're facing a greater threat, and you want us to go to a charity foundation gala?"

"Because it will be publicized!" Narcissa said in argument, "How else do you expect the rest of the world to see that you care about them if you don't attend things like these? Do you even know what it's for? War Orphans. Besides, the two of you could use a break from everything going on around here, don't you think?"

"I guess it could be good to go to it," Draco said reluctantly, "There will be a large group of people there, so at the very least we could use it as an opportunity to get to see what others think of everything that's been happening lately."

He glanced over at her before continuing, "You don't have to go if you don't want to," he added softly, "I wouldn't hold it against you. I could always just ask one of my mother's friends' daughters to accompany me, as I don't know what your stance on the event would be."

"No!" she said suddenly, "I mean you don't have to do that. I want to go with you," she admitted. "You're right, it would be a good chance to talk to others; like a recon mission to gather information. And at the very least, we'd be supporting a good cause, right?"

He smiled at her, as Narcissa clapped her hands together, "Wonderful! I'll come by once I have the tickets and hand them over to you. And Hermione, if you'd like I can help you get ready for the event, and give you a few pointers."

"That's not necessary!" Hermione protested, but Narcissa waved her off.

"Nonsense. I want to. I expect you promptly at the Manor Tuesday afternoon to begin prepping. Draco can pick you up there."

She wordlessly nodded in agreement, as she wondered what the hell she had just agreed to.

Draco was sitting in the Leaky as he took a sip of his firewhisky, as he waited for his company to join him. He looked down at the watch on his wrist, as he impatiently tapped his foot on the ground.

As the dark haired man slid into the booth, Draco couldn't help but let out an annoyed huff, "You're late." He said with an air of irritation.

Marcus shrugged nonchalantly, and Draco could already feel as if it was going to be a very, very long night full of his former Quidditch Captain and his entitled attitude.

"Well?" Marcus demanded, "Are you finally going to tell me about it?" he asked diving straight into demanding answers.

Draco raised his hand to silence the man; there was no way they were talking about this in public without a few precautions. He cast a quick muffliato to give them some privacy so that others wouldn't eavesdrop in.

"As we discussed last time, I believe that due to your heritage, there are certain people who would be interested in such a thing," Draco said slightly formally.

Marcus snorted, "That sounds like an understatement. The last time we talked, you made it sound as if people were going to kill me because my family used to be on some the council."

"Because they are," Draco said grimly, "We believe that there's a group out there who are trying to reinstate the council so they can manipulate it once more to suit their needs. If anything, Potter and the rest of us believe that they're trying to form a dictatorship."

"We?" Marcus asked him incredulously. "As in the wonder trio? When did you get associated with Potter and his crew?"

He could feel Marcus watching him, so he decided to pick a safer route, "He's my partner on the Auror force team," Draco said simply, hoping that it would sate his once mentor's curiosity.

"I see," Marcus said, in a slightly clipped tone, and Draco could tell that he didn't really believe him all that much. "Go on."

"Just be careful, alright?" Draco said in a worried tone, "I think they already got to Pansy and a few others, and she was lucky enough to walk away with just a few scratches. But who knows what kind of punishment they may dole out now for refusing."

"How do you even know any of this?" Marcus pressed. "From what I've seen, no one knows anything about them other than the fact that they're a mysterious group that's popped up, and are trying to gain control. Yet you seem to know some pretty detailed facts."

"I'm afraid that's confidential," Draco said firmly, as his jaw set. He knew his friend was a Slytherin, and that despite the 'evil' label, they definitely were all cunning. Regardless of what he planned on doing with the information, it was safe to say that telling his former housemate the truth wouldn't be the wisest of ideas.

"What's confidentiality between two old friends?" Marcus pushed, trying to get more information.

"I cannot tell you, Marcus," Draco insisted. "Just be safe, alright?"

Marcus gave him a disappointed look but stood to leave, "I just hope that you know what you are doing, Draco. You don't want to accidently end up on the wrong side of history for a second time."

And with that, Marcus stalked out of the Leaky Cauldron, leaving a very confused and slightly suspicious Draco in his wake.

Hermione was sitting on the couch, leaning against Harry as they watched a muggle program on the television that the two of them had spent an afternoon charming in an effort to bypass the problems technology had with magic. Scorpius and the other two boys were playing with a few toys on the ground, and she felt her eyes grow heavy as she started to drift off to sleep.

It had been a long day, despite not actually doing anything major that day. Her body still hurt, but after taking her pain potions at the appointed times, it had been significantly reduced to a manageable state.

Harry had his arm around her and was deeply engrossed in the Doctor Who re-run currently filling the screen before them.

As the episode was about to reach its climax, Ron burst into the room, and blocked the telly, causing her to protest in annoyance.

"There's a riot occurring in Diagon Alley," Ron said grimly, as he cut off her complaints. "They're saying that you staged your accident in an attempt to sway people your way and to paint them as villains."

"But that's not true!" Hermione said in protest, as she struggled to sit up.

Harry looked worried at the fact as he grabbed his wand from the side table beside him and immediately stood to his feet.

"We have to go," he said to her as he kissed her on the forehead, "Tell Ginny that we'll be late."

"If the protesters said that about me, then it couldn't possibly be any safer for you out there!" Hermione argued, as she stood up gingerly.

"That doesn't mean that we can hide out here while the rioters tear apart the alley!" Ron argued, "There are so many innocent people there, and from what I heard, they're violently attacking those who are attempting to detain them. The Aurors need all the help they can get right now."

"Promise me you'll try to stay safe?" she whispered. It wasn't supposed to escalate this quickly. They were supposed to have more time. But it seemed as if they would have to face the darkness that had been lingering over them for the past few weeks far sooner than any of them had anticipated.

She only hoped that this time through the outcome would be on their side.