Chapter 26. St. Mungo's

POV Hermione

Her face was streaked with tears. It had been 24hrs since Draco's burst of accidental magic. He had been so out of control that Kingsley had been forced to stun him. The courtroom had sustained severe damage. Thankfully only a few people were injured in their escape. She hadn't left his side since he had arrived at St. Mungos, much to the chagrin of the healers. When it had happened, she tried to rush to him, hoping she could calm him with the tether, but Fred and George had swooped in and pulled her out of the room, refusing to let her go.

"We promised him we would keep you safe, no matter what, you are not going back in there!"

"I can help him! I just have to get close to him so he can hear me!"

"No! If his uncontrolled magic hurt you he would never forgive himself!"

"I can't just leave him there!"

"Theo and Pansy have him, and Kings will stun him if he has to."

Kingsley had stunned him a moment too late, a fireball had erupted from his body leaving him with burns across his arms and hands. She had yelled at the Minister for 30 minutes for that mistake.

"If I was going to be prevented from assisting him, he should have been stunned immediately not after he is injured by his own magic! Honestly! What was the hope Kings? You know it's impossible to stop a bout of accidental magic when it is to the magnitude that his was!"

"Hermione, may we please speak privately in my office?"

"No! We may not! I am perfectly fine right here, because once I am finished with you, I will be going to Draco!"

"I'm sorry, really I am, I was trying to keep from stunning him,"

"And now look where we are! I don't want Draco seeing any more of those memories! Move us to another room and let's get back to it! I want this done and over so Draco and I can go home!"

"I'll see what I can find."

A knock at the door pulled Hermione from the memory. She wished she had been more collected than she had and not embarrassed Kingsley in front of the entire Ministry, but she would not apologize for her behavior.

"Come in."

Rita Skeeter sauntered in and took a seat beside her, "How is he doing?"

"They plan to wake him up tomorrow."

"Will there be any permanent damage?"

"There is a burn up the left side of his neck that they are saying may scar. He's going to hate that."

They sat in silence for a moment, Hermione rubbing circles into the back of Draco's hand. Rita broke the silence rummaging in her bag before pulling out a folder.

"I don't want to bother you with an interview, but the Prophet is very keen to get an article out about what happened, so I've made a packet of just a few questions, it's nothing super detailed as I witnessed most of it myself, so don't stress over it. If you can just fill it out when you're ready and owl it to me, I will use that instead. They want it out for the morning run, I can do it without the interview , but I do think it's important for people to hear your words so they don't think he's unstable or violent."

"Is that what people are saying?" she gasped, heat flooding her veins.

"A few. They would say anything no matter what he did, but it's important that we don't allow them to infect other people's opinions."

She nodded her head and took then outstretched folder. "I'll do it tonight when Theo and Pansy return."

Rita reached out and squeezed her hand, "I'll head out then. I have another separate article about the trial to get done as well. I won't interview for that so don't worry your swotty little head."

"Thank you Rita, you've been a big help."

"Well, I don't very much want to end up in a jar again do i?" she said with a laugh. Hermione returning it with a laugh of her own.

The door clicked shut and Hermione returned her attention to Draco. She looked down at their entwined hands and caught her first glimpse of the dark mark on his arm. She had almost forgotten he had it, clearly keeping it heavily glamoured at all times, even around her. It made her sad, but she couldn't blame him, she had her own scar she kept glamoured as well. She lifted the sleeve of her jumper, revealing the angry red lines of the MUDBLOOD carved into her arm, reached out, and pressed her scar against his dark mark. The lights flickered, startling her.

Oh!

She darted her gaze around the room, "Draco? If I had thought about the possibility that you would be floating around me, like I did you when I was out, I would have talked to you before. It makes sense that you are, since it happened to me. I hope it wasn't as scary in the beginning for you," she crawled up into the bed beside him, "I'm sorry I won't be here in the morning when they wake you. The Healers think it's risky that you might panic at the sight of me, and I understand their reasons. Erm… I'm going to the Ministry in the morning anyway. Kingsley called the Wizengamot in tomorrow, were gonna get the Ron's memories done so this can all be over. He doesn't seem to think it would take long. They verified my memories and all that while clean up was being done. Don't worry, Pansy, Theo and the twins will be there with me. They said I didn't even have to come, but I think I need to see his memories. If I don't, I will wonder what he was thinking, or what did he do while he was gone? Did he talk to Harry, and what did Harry say? I know you will be furious with me, but we will deal with that later."

She flicked her wand, dimming all but one small bedside lantern, before covering herself up. It was only midday but she hadn't slept well since it happened. Not much else to do anyway, she was confined to this room unless she had an escort, and all of hers were currently assisting as the Ministry. Flicking her wand one final time to black out the window she snuggled down against Draco's side, wrapping her arm around his middle.

"I feel like I should sing to you. That's what brought me back to you, but…. I don't even know what song I would pick."

She stroked his chest, tracing his scars with the tips of her fingers. She knew the largest one across his chest was from the Sectumsempra Harry had irresponsibly shot at him. She should tell Draco about the tongue lashing he had received from her for that, figuring he would find it funny.

"All the songs that pop into my head are such cheesy muggle songs, I think you would never wake up if I sang them to you." She laughed, "Why is it embarrassing? You did it to me and it was fine. I should just do it, not think about it. Spit it out. Whatever song comes out, comes out. Alright…"

The door burst open, "Whew! You won't believe the chaos at the Ministry right now!"

Well. So much for that.

"Mummy Weasley nearly got herself arrested after the Aurors put the weaselette in restraints after she attacked Pansy and me."

"WHAT?!"

"Darling don't fret, it was wonderful. She and mummy were shouting about, raising all kinds of trouble wanting the DMLE to arrest Draco for what happened. We were just walking by on our way out when weaselette spotted us and began calling us all possible names you can imagine, ordering that Auror Dawlish cart us both off to Azkaban as well."

"She did not!" Hermione shouted, appalled by her former friends behavior, "Name calling I expected. Rudness and lack of empathy sure, but to try and have you hauled away to Azkaban for supporting me? No. I could not have seen that."

"Granger, she sent you a howler while you were supposed to be healing. How are you surprised?"

"I… I don't know. I guess I just always have that hope that she will change her mind."

"Not to burst that bubble further Hermione, but things got nasty between her and the twins as well." Pansy said, taking the seat beside the bed, "Mrs. Weasley started crying and Ginny told them they were dead to her. We tried to comfort them, but I think they just need a day or so to grieve and process the official banishment from their family."

"This is all my fault."

"No! Don't you start that again! This is Weasley's fault alone!" she said, taking Hermione's hand, "You… How do I put this?" she looked to Theo for help.

"They call you the brightest witch of our age—the golden girl, if you please. It's not just about your intelligence. You light up a room when you enter, spouting that big brain knowledge and flaunting your unwavering loyalty. People like the Weasley's, who, for lack of a better term, are nobody, latch on to people like you because you can bring them to heights they have never known, and this all threatens that. That is why they lash out. Weasley tarnishing the family name will bring them all down with him, twins included. Do you think they were joking about changing their name? No. They were talking to the Minister about it today. Potter is in that Weasley mindset too, but the difference with him is that he doesn't want to go to the top, he wants to spread out. He wants to love everyone and bring them all up beside him, so his betrayal is more sad, cause he can't even see it himself. When he does, he will hate himself, and you do not have to forgive him because you are the victim here. That's my long way around saying that. You, Hermione, are the victim, you need to accept that."

"Okay." She exhaled, "I will try to remember what you said."

They both hugged her and Theo planted a kiss on the top of her head.

"We are going to head home, but we will see you first thing in the morning."

"Will you both be okay to see the rest of the memories?" she asked nervously.

"Of course Granger" Theo chimed, "Listen we were as enraged as Draco when we saw those memories yesterday, and we are willing to burn the world to the ground for you, but we are not in—" Pansy pinched the back of his arm hard. "We're not sleeping with you so we can keep our emotions in check better. However if you are offering, I would be willing to—"

"Alright! Goodnight Theo, Pansy, I'll be ready by 7."

"Goodnight Granger."