Hermione hid in her flat the rest of the weekend. She had no desire or motivation to go out in public. While she knew it was ridiculous, she felt like everyone knew. Everyone would be talking about her and looking at her as if she had a scarlet "A" displayed on her jumper. She was ashamed of herself. She was angry with herself. She didn't quite know how to handle the extreme self-loathing she was feeling.

She had requested the entire weekend of the wedding off from work due to wanting to enjoy down time with her friends after such a joyous occasion, but she needed work now more than ever.

She truly found her calling as a healer. She loved what she did. Much like in the muggle world, the wizarding medical field was challenging, rewarding and always changing. Hermione loved that even after studying and becoming a professional in her field, there was always more to learn and discover. She was well respected at her job and loved being able to help people in need.

After a long weekend alone with herself and her degrading thoughts, she was relieved to be apparating into work on Monday morning. She needed a distraction and the hospital would be perfect. She gave herself a little pep talk, telling herself to leave her mistakes in the past, it was a new day and she needed to carry on with her life.

With a loud crack, she was in the employee lounge, ready to be Healer Granger and save lives, not ruin them. She put her belongings neatly in her locker and flicked her wand towards the coffee maker. She always worked better on caffeine. As she was grabbing her mug, the moving picture of a discarded newspaper caught her eye.

"GOLDEN TRIO WEDDING CELEBRATION!"

The headline alone made her groan. The war was years ago, yet Harry, Ron and herself would always be known as the Golden Trio. While they all did well for themselves in their respective fields, nothing they did was ever front page worthy. Or even newspaper worthy at all! The wizarding world seemed to have never lost their obsession or curiosity about the three of them- she understood Harry of course, he was Harry Potter after all, but she didn't like the attention, she never did.

She smiled to herself, knowing Ron was probably glowing after the newspaper article. He LOVED attention. Hermione glanced at the picture of Ron and Lavender coming down the aisle after saying "I do." Lavender was looking up at Ron with love and admiration while Ron held her hand tightly with his fist raised in the air, looking like the had won the lottery. It was a picture full of love and happiness and for a brief moment, Hermione forgot about the terrible thing her and Ron had done and was genuinely happy for him.

Hermione grabbed her coffee and left the paper on the table without reading the article. She took a deep breath and exited the locker room, ready to work and think of anything but Ron.

"Is he going to be okay? Blimey, I didn't know! I thought it was clear. Harry, I didn't know!"

Any hope Hermione had was suddenly squashed as she heard Ron's voice. She stood with her back against the lounge door, soaking in the scene in front of her- it was complete chaos. The hallway was filled with people. Multiple Aurors, Harry and Ron included, fillied the tiny space, covered in soot and blood. Some of them had bandages on, while others bled freely from scratches painted across their faces and arms. Mediwizards and healers were trying to tend to them, but they were having trouble as the Aurors couldn't stop arguing with each other. A stretcher levitated past her quickly with healers surrounding it. She couldn't see much, only red stained sheets.

Hermione watched in shock for a brief moment before starting to take action.

"Harry? Harry! Are you okay?"

The sound of her voice immediately got his attention. Harry broke free from the crowd and rushed over to her. He was covered in dirt and blood, but she couldn't figure out where it was coming from.

"It is not mine," he said, as if he was reading her mind. She breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank Merlin! What happened? Is everyone okay?"

Harry slid his hand through his naturally messy hair, making it stick up even more if possible. "We got a lead on a dark wizard we were hunting, but it was an ambush. We were hit hard, I'm not even sure with what. I think a muggle bomb, I couldn't even begin to guess, definitely some dark magic I've never even seen before."

"I swear, I thought it was clear, Harry, you have to believe me!" Ron rushed over to them, covered in dirt and looking panicked.

"I know, Ron, it is okay mate, nobody knew. It was impossible to know. This isn't your fault." Harry placed a comforting hand on his shoulder and Hermione gave him a once over. "Are you hurt, Ronald?"

Before he could answer, someone shouted loudly from the other end of the hall. "Healer Granger!"

Hermione turned in the direction of the double doors where the stretcher had just passed through. "We need you, stat!"

She was worried as she ran down the hallway. She had worked with Healer Hubble for a few years now and she had never heard him sound so concerned. Hermione burst through the doors and was taken aback by the sight.

Draco Malfoy was on the bed in front of her, covered in blood and his face scrunched up in agony. Healers and mediwizards surrounded him, hands above him while they spoke spells under their breath, trying to stop the bleeding.

"Have you ever seen anything like this?" Healer Hubble asked, watching the man in front of them. "Every time we close up a wound, another one opens. We can't bloody stop them!"

Hermione stepped closer to the bed, trying to get a better look. She watched as the wounds were healed by the witches and wizards around her, only for another cut to open in a different spot on Draco's body. She looked up at this face, surprised to see him staring at her. The pain was evident in his eyes. They were a bright green and full of water that was spilling over. He was gritting is teeth while he kept writhing on the bed. For the first time in her life, she wanted to help him.

She pushed her way through the witches and wizards so she was next to him. Hermione placed her hands on a wound and started reciting a spell. She kept her eyes on his, trying to will him to stay calm. As she healed his cut, another one gashed open. Malfoy grunted in pain, gritting his teeth hard, heavily breathing in and out, blood and saliva flowing from his mouth.

"Bloody not working, Granger."

She nodded at him quickly, trying to think. They had to keep healing the wounds or he would bleed out, but every time they did, he was suffering from another gash. Hermione knew he was in complete agony and she couldn't think fast enough. She was trying to remember a study she read by a wizard in Egypt about dark magic injuries.

She looked back at Draco and he looked like he was about to pass out. She wasn't sure if it was from the pain or blood loss, but she needed him to stay awake.

"Malfoy. Malfoy! Look at me!"

He opened his eyes but quickly squeezed them shut in pain. WHAT had that article said? Was it backwards? Say the spell backwards? Merlin, she was going to kill him.

"Malfoy! DRACO!"

Draco opened his eyes and tried to keep them open the best he could. He felt like he was getting stabbed over and over again and he was starting to welcome the idea of death. He watched Granger as she talked to herself, clearly trying to figure out what to do. If he wasn't knocking on death's door, he would have found how frazzled she was amusing.

"Okay!" She took a deep breath and looked at Draco. "Okay, I'm going to try something."