Chapter 20

Lucius starred at the floor of the infirmary, the silent white room was slowly starting to get to him. It was about one in the morning and he'd been sitting in the same room for three days, watching his son lay unconscious in the bed next to him. He looked over at his normally immaculate wife, her hair was now fraying out of its bun, her clothes were rumpled, and her eyes were red and puffy from the tears that wouldn't stop. Lucius reached across his son and grasped her hand, squeezing it lightly. "Please Cissa, go home. Get some sleep and come back in the morning." He pleaded, knowing that she must be exhausted. The witch just shook her head though, "I have to stay here, with him, he needs me." Her voice was hoarse and her eyes turned back towards her son. "He was supposed to be safe here." She almost whispered, Lucius left his seat and walked around the bed before kneeling in front of Narcissa. Grasping both her hands in his he looked up at her. "He is safe here. Yes a terrible thing happened, but his healing is handled by Pomfrey who is a fantastic healer, and Dumbledore will find out who did this to him and they will be handled properly." His voice was firm, leaving no room for argument. Narcissa sniffed once and Lucius wiped her eyes. As the man stood from the floor there was a pained groan from the other side of the room, both adults looked quickly and Lucius made his way to the middle of the room. Hermione groaned again and Narcissa called for Madame Pomfrey. The Mediwitch ran out of her rooms, wrapped in a dressing gown, hurrying to Hermione's bedside she started ordering the Malfoys around. "Lucius, help me sit her up, Narcissa get a picture of cold water please." Both adults jumped into action, Lucius slowly slid his hands under the girl and lifted her slowly as Poppy stacked pillows for support. Hermione's painful gasps were hard to hear. "Hermione?" Poppy asked while running some diagnostics. Her brown eyes shot open and she pulled in a startled gasp, as if she had just been woken from a nightmare. "Poppy?" She croaked, her voice was so hoarse that the name was barely above a whisper. "I'm right here, how do you feel?" Poppy asked, Lucius back away as his wife returned with the picture and a glass, together the two women helped the young girl drink. He reclaimed his seat next to his son and watched as Madame Pomfrey started working on the girl.

Poppy retired to her office as the sun rose, her night was spent healing Hermione and figuring out what damage the noxious gas did to her and the others. Lucius was still sitting awake, his wife had fallen asleep next to him a while ago. He watched the girl from across the room, and was surprised to find that since she had been awake her eyes barely left the bed to against the wall to Lucius' left, where Severus laid. He was even more surprised when his own name left her lips, "Mr. Malfoy?" It was barely above a whisper, "Yes, Ms. Granger?" He responded, "Last time we met, you asked me if I could ever find it in my heart to forgive Draco." He thought for a minute, remembering when Severus introduced them in the very room. "I did." He said, the room was quiet for a minute. "I forgive him, for everything." Her voice had a little more power behind it now. "No one deserves this." Through out her declaration her eyes never left Severus' sleeping form.

Hermione woke up again around lunch time, she and Madame Pomfrey had a discussion about how the gas effected her body. It had acted like a neurotoxin, she was currently paralyzed from the waist down, but Poppy assured that it would fade with in the next few days. For now she was bedridden though, which was fine for her, she spent the time catching up on her homework. The Malfoys were here a lot, Narcissa spent most of her time next the Draco's bed where as Lucius switched between sitting next to Draco and sitting next to Severus. Hermione's eyes lingered on the form of the Potion Master, she knew she was in deep but she hadn't realized just how deep. She ran back into a toxic room, risked her life, and ended up in the hospital wing for a man who barely treated her better than the other students. She felt eyes on her and glanced up to find Mr. Malfoy watching her, a deep blush spread across her face and she quickly went back to her charms homework. Poppy was still refusing to let visitors into their little curtained off area, so the only company Hermione had was the mediwitch and the Malfoys. Narcissa fussed over Draco the entire time she was there and Lucius spent a lot of time up in Dumbledore's office, Hermione assumed there was some sort of investigation going on, and she wasn't wrong. During one of her check ups the curtains parted and the headmaster and Lucius stepped into their makeshift room. Hermione looked over at them as Poppy continued her diagnostics. "Good Afternoon Poppy, Ms. Granger." Dumbledore said with a smile. "Albus, Mr. Malfoy." Poppy greeted both of them. The headmaster sat down on the bed next to Hermione's while Lucius stood at the end of her bed. "Poppy, would you mind if Lucius and I had a moment alone with Ms. Granger?" Dumbledore asked the mediwitch. "I guess, I was just about finished anyway." she said while finishing the diagnostic spell. "I'll be in my office if any of you need me." Poppy said before leaving the room. Hermione looked at the headmaster, "We need your help Ms. Granger," he said gently "We've started a full investigation on the accident, and our questioning has gotten us no where." Hermione's heart sank, it had been on purpose after all. "I'd love to help you sir but I really don't know how, I don't know anything about what happened." She explained. "Well see Ms. Granger, I think you did, you just don't realize that you did." Dumbledore said gently. Lucius stepped forward at Hermione's confused look, "With your permission we will take your memory of the day and watch it through a pensive." He told her. The witch thought for a minute, "Who would be watching it?" she asked. "Only you and I if that's what you wanted, though Mr. Malfoy was hoping to be able to see what happened as well." Dumbledore explained. Hermione looked towards Lucius , then down at her lap, before nodding. "Ok, lets do it."

Hermione was surprised when Lucius lifted her from her bed and held her as they flooed into Dumbledore's office. He carried her to a chair and Dumbledore brought the pensive over and placed it in between the three of them. "Now, I need you to think about that afternoon." The headmaster said as he placed the tip of his wand on her forehead and Hermione focused hard trying to remember everything she could as Dumbledore slowly drew his wand away from her, pulling the memory from her mind. The silvery wisp slowly fell into the pensive and the headmaster leaned over it gesturing for Hermione to do the same. She place her hands on the edge of the bowl before glancing over her shoulder at the blonde wizard standing behind them. Hermione gave a gentle nod and Lucius stepped up to the pensive as well. Dumbledore counted to three and they all dipped their heads, Hermione had never used a pensive before and she never planned on using one again, she could feel herself standing in Dumbledore's office but it also felt like she was falling. She closed her eyes and waited for the dizziness to stop, when it finally did she reopened her eyes and found herself standing in Severus' private potions lab. She looked around and almost jumped when she saw herself sitting at the table, leaning over a cauldron. She watched as her memory self would look at the potions book, back at the potion, then out towards the the classroom. Hermione followed where the other her was staring and blushed deeply when she saw that she was starring at Severus. Hermione looked towards Lucius and saw that he had noticed the same thing, as it reoccurred a few times. Dumbledore was watching as much of the classroom he could from where Hermione had been sitting. "Now Ms. Granger, what can you remember happening?" Dumbledore asked gently. "I-I don't know. I was focused on the potions." Hermione stammered. "Think back, anything you can remember could help us figure out who did this to you and Draco." the headmaster said while placing a hand on her shoulder. "And to Severus." Lucius said, stepping a little closer to them. Thinking about the man she secretly harbored a crush on filled her with a little bit more determination. She stood behind her memory self and thought back to every little thing. "They were working on polyjuice potions. Professor Snape and given every apprentice set ingredients, all they had to do was measure them out and add them in the proper order." She explained, remembering how Severus gave the instruction when the night started. She watched as her professor walked around the classroom, watching all the students. Once he reached the front again he went to write on the board. Then she heard it, a knocking sound and a quiet swear. She remembered what happened next. "One of the students dropped their lacewings flies, all onto the floor." She said as memory Severus strode out of their view. "They're useless now, Professor Snape was livid." They could hear the potion master reprimanding the student but couldn't make out what he was saying. "He sent the student to get more," A metallic ringing sounded through the room and from where the three were they could see the student walking away from Draco's desk, who was now bending over and picking up a knife that the mystery student knocked off. Draco walked over to the sink to wash the knife. The mystery student walked into the the students store room, and that set off alarm bells in Hermione's head. "He's not supposed to be in there, Professor Snape had set out extra ingredients in case of mistakes. There's no reason for him to go in there." She explained. They watched as the student removed a jar from the shelf and peaked around the wall of the store room. Severus must have been at the back of the room because the student walked into the classroom and as casually as he could, emptied a jar into Draco's cauldron on the way back to his own desk. Hermione gasped slightly and she saw Lucius tense up behind her. Draco returned to his desk and he glared at his cauldron before turning to Severus with his hand raised. Hermione knew what happened from here and closed her eyes. She swore she could almost smell the smoke again, the cauldron exploded and her ears rang just as they did that day. Suddenly the ringing stopped and she was back in Dumbledore's office. "We didn't find out who it was." Lucius said dejectedly. "No but we can narrow it down," Dumbledore started "It was a Ravenclaw," he said, Hermione could remember seeing just the slightest blue glimmer from their crest on the robes. "What did he use?" Hermione wondered out loud. "Dragon scales." Lucius said, "They're use in a lot of lower level potions but are incredibly volatile when mixed with certain plants, like knotgrass." Dumbledore nodded and turned to Hermione, "We're one step closer now thanks to you." She blushed lightly. "Mr. Malfoy will return you to hospital wing now and we'll let you know when we have more information."

Once back in her bed she thanked the blonde man. "No, thank you Ms. Granger. I know you didn't go back in for him, but my son is alive because of you." Hermione's eyes widened a little. "And the closest man I have to a brother is alive because of you as well." Lucius said quietly. "He'd never say it but he'd be flattered to know you care so much." Hermione stuttered at this "I-I-I don't know what-" Lucius put a hand up, "It's ok, your secret is safe with me." He winked at her before flooing back to Dumbledore's office. Hermione let out a breath a collapsed back onto her pillows and put her hands over her face before groaning. Severus was going to be the death of her.

A/N Guys I'm so sorry I didn't realize how much of a cliffhanger I left this on. Big life changes made it hard for me to sit down and write. I got married and moved and of course the state of the worl right now isn't great. But have a chapter. I hope you like it.