Chapter 15

By the time they made it back to the table Hermione was shaking with repressed anger. It seemed everyone had an opinion about the former Slytherin students that they didn't even know, and she vowed, not for the first time, to harbour some changes in the Wizarding World. She hoped Theo actually did get a law degree so they could start making transformations and drafting laws right off the hop.

Draco took her hand when she sat and squeezed to get her attention, and she met his eyes slowly.

"Did something happen?" he asked, looking concerned.

"Just some bitch who thinks her opinion matters," Ginny said, taking a hearty swig of her drink. "I put her in her place, though."

"Thank you, Ginny," Pansy said, trying to keep her face calm. Theo looked worried, like he might jump to his feet and run for the hills, but Pansy shook her head and then smiled, managing quite a funny rendition of her new friends' gallant loo defence.

Hermione gripped Draco's hand a little tighter until their food finally showed up, but Pansy had moved past the moment and seemed to be fine now.

The table collectively sat back as their meals were placed in front of them, Hermione's mouth watered - she was starving. She pulled out her wand though, still uncomfortable with ingesting anything she hadn't checked. The spells came back negative and she dug in, happily eating her meal as everyone around her continued chatting.

Something deep inside of her chest warmed - she couldn't explain how happy she was that her friends were trying - and succeeding - in getting along with Draco and his. It felt like things were finally settling into place.

After dinner, everyone began going their separate ways. Harry seemed eager to get Ginny home since Molly and Arthur had the children for the night, rushing a quick hello and goodbye with his boss on their way out of the restaurant, but Ron was reluctant to leave with Lavender, who had spent the entire meal ignoring everyone and eating her food in silence.

"Let's stay for dessert," Draco suggested quietly to Hermione, wanting to spend some time alone. She agreed easily and they said their goodbyes to their friends with hugs and smiles and promises of, "yes, yes, we absolutely mustn't wait so long before meeting up again."

Once they were alone, it wasn't long before the waiter was setting down plates of decadent Banoffee before them, and Hermione habitually pulled out her wand and cast her usual spells.

But she sat back in shock when the dessert on her plate shimmered, her detection charm coming back positive for Amortentia.

Draco stiffened in her peripheral vision and she turned to him, staggered. The fury in his eyes was shocking. He was on his feet before she could even utter a word, gripping her plate tightly in his hand before storming away.

Hermione was flabbergasted - despite regularly checking, she no longer actually expected her food would be laced with anything. Her legs started to go numb with anxiety.

"Who made this dessert?" Draco asked as he barged his way into the kitchen. "The table of eleven?"

"I did," a cocky man with a huge moustache responded, swaggering over. "Is there a problem?"

"Yes there's a bloody problem," Draco almost roared. "It's been drugged!"

"Not by anyone in this kitchen, it wasn't," the man shot back, gripping the plate and pulling it from Draco's hand. He set it down and started waving his wand over it, casting so many detection spells Draco's head was spinning.

"Amortentia?" The chef said, looking up at Draco in complete shock. "None of my people would do this, I can assure you of that, but if it makes you feel better we can question every staff member. I'll also be contacting the Aurors about this."

"That will suffice," Draco snarled. His voice sounded angry but truly he was terrified. How could this have happened? "This was my girlfriend's plate, and I'll be taking her home now; the Aurors may speak to her there if they wish. You'd better ensure you get answers, because I'll be coming back later to hear everything you've learned."

The chef was nodding, already sending staff out to find the Aurors, and Draco turned away, his stomach churning as he hurried back to their table to get a pale and shaking Hermione to the Apparition point as quickly as possible. Home at last, he ran them a hot bath and cuddled her within it until she warmed up, gently washing her hair and easing her fears.

—-

Hermione squealed with delight as she tore open a letter, the owl who had delivered it already flapping away into the frosty air. Fall was almost over, the trees around the property boasting colourful, crisp leaves that would very soon be replaced by limbs and snow.

"Finally," she said, turning toward him in excitement. "I've been waiting for this information for months now! There were rumours a while back about a Fwooper colony moving into a forest just outside of Cheshire and I've just had it confirmed! I need to move quickly if I want to get my hands on any of their moulted feathers."

"Fwoopers?" Draco repeated, concern filling him. He'd heard the rumours about their song causing people to go mad his entire life and, especially after the restaurant debacle, which the Auror's had learned absolutely nothing about during their investigation, he wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea.

He also knew Hermione would go whether he approved or not. And it wasn't his place to make decisions for her, especially about her business.

"I have my charmed earmuffs, Draco, don't worry – like the ones Professor Sprout gave us for repotting Mandrakes. I'm not going into this blind; I've been trying to confirm the rumours for a while now, and if they're false and there's nothing there, then at least I'll have tried."

"Of course," he responded amiably. He did appreciate her drive; it was one of the things he loved about her. "Best get dressed then," he said with a smile.

"What are you and Scorpy going to get up to today?" she asked curiously as he followed her to their bedroom. "I was planning on taking him to visit Molly but that'll have to wait, now."

"I think we will just stay here, I have a few things to get done anyway and he was so cranky this morning I was glad when he finally went for his nap. Plus I could use a nap myself, we were up at least three times last night."

"Have a nap while he naps," she suggested as she pulled on a pair of denims. "I knew you got up two times but I must have slept right through the third."

"I was hoping for that since you were home from work late last night."

"I had a long day. I wasn't expecting so many people to drop off resumes with the hope of working for me."

"Of course there were tons of people, you're Hermione Granger!"

She rolled her eyes at him as she pulled a thick jumper on above her blouse and strapped her wand into the holster on her forearm Draco had given her.

"I was going through resumes all evening, but I think I've got it narrowed down. I had to sort out who actually had the knowledge to run an Apothecary and who was just wanting to work for me because of my name."

"Anyone I know?" He asked, leaning casually against the doorframe as he watched her search for her earmuffs.

"Probably not, they're all a couple years younger. However, one of the last names was Sallow, which I feel like you'd at least be familiar with, but he graduated the year before last so he would have only been a first year when I went back to finish my finals."

"A Sallow? Really?"

"I know," she said with a small sigh. "I don't want to judge him based on his last name, though, so I'll meet with him and see how it goes."

Draco nodded in understanding. They'd all grown up with too much judgement and he and Hermione in particular were trying to do better. They didn't want to raise Scorpius with the same prejudiced and judgy mind set.

"I shouldn't be gone more than a few hours," Hermione said once she finally had her earmuffs in her hands. "I can apparate directly there and back, and I shouldn't have too many problems finding the feathers since they're fluorescent in colour. If they're there at all."

"I'm going to nap while you're gone," Draco said, exhaustion lacing his tone. "If Scorp lets me, at least."

"Do it now while you can," Hermione said knowingly before giving him a soft kiss. "I love you and I'll see you soon!" She said with a grin as he flopped back onto their bed.

"Love you too," he mumbled, his eyes already closing.

Hermione watched him affectionately for a moment before going to the nursery and whispering goodbye to Scorpius.

She materialised outside the forest that was confirmed in the letter she'd received, which included a map, and was immediately knocked off her feet with a spell to the chest, her earmuffs flinging out of her hand.

She groaned in confusion, blinking up at the mostly bare treetops and overcast sky for a moment before she realised she'd been hit with an expulso spell.

She blinked again before immediately jumping to her feet, the pain from the spell fading as her adrenaline spiked and she pulled her wand into her hand with a practised flick of her wrist, pulling it from the holster strapped to her arm.

Another spell shot out of the trees, an expelliarmus, she thought disjointedly as she dodged it expertly.

"Depulso!" She shouted, aiming for the area the light shot at her from, not knowing whether she'd hit anyone or not.

"Diffindo!" Another voice called, this time from her left, and the spell sliced through her upper arm painfully.

"Shite," she cursed, thinking to apparate away the next second but suddenly spells were ripping toward her from two different areas.

"Protego!" She yelled, her shield springing up around her as she tried to get her bearings. She could feel blood pouring from her arm but ignored it as she looked around, trying to spot somewhere she could get enough cover to apparate from.

A huge dark haired man, tall and hulking, stepped out of the treeline to her left and began making his way toward her with his own shield covering him, a grin on his lips.

A bombarda hex flashed toward her and smashed her shield into glittering shards of light as she was focused on the man advancing toward her. She sent a quick stupefy at him, but he blocked it with a laugh.

Hermione quickly put up her shield again, an incendio missing her by inches.

"Accio!" She yelled, summoning the huge man, who started in surprise at her odd move, and before he knew what hit him she yelled "Descendo!" And he smashed down into the frozen ground hard enough to wind him.

"Bitch!" Another voice growled and a different man, much smaller than the first, started sprinting toward her, his wand flashing so quick she could hardly discern between the spells he was using.

The dark haired man got back to his feet, audibly growling in frustration before he disappeared and apparated directly behind her. He pulled Hermione backwards, lifting her bodily from the ground and she began to feel the pull of apparition so she thrust her foot backwards, catching the man in the groin.

He groaned in pain and dropped her as his hands covered himself and she flung up another shield as she started running away.

The smaller man started shooting arrows from his wand as she broke into a run, trying to get far enough away from the chaos exploding all around her to apparate away. An arrow smashed her shield to pieces and pierced through her right thigh from behind, causing her to scream aloud as the pain ripped through her.

She stumbled forward and crashed to the ground, the pain in her leg almost unbearable, and another spell hit her.

This one was clearly an Unforgivable, the cruciatus ripping through her painfully as she screamed aloud, but it thankfully only lasted for mere moments.

Whichever man had cast it was obviously unable to keep his attention focused long enough to incapacitate her for long.

"Bombarda!" She stuttered as she climbed back to her feet, but it went wide and left a deep gouge in the ground metres away from the fight.

A green killing curse sailed past her ear, missing her by inches and rightfully scaring her. They weren't messing around.

"Don't kill her!" A deep voice raged. "We need her alive!"

Hermione whimpered, blood pooling into her shoe as she took another arrow in the side, piercing through her above her right hip. She grit her teeth and finally got behind a tree that blocked her from their view.

More curses exploded around her but she wasn't waiting around to find out what it was they wanted with her. She twisted into apparition and landed on the path outside her house, her cries echoing around her in the sudden silence.

She was bleeding heavily and starting to feel light headed, but she forced herself to her feet and limped up the gravel pathway to the front door. Fire burned through her leg, hip and her arm, a bloody trail behind her as she stumbled, her chest heaving with pain from the initial expulso spell that'd smashed into her. Fuzzy from blood loss and pain, she barely noticed when she tripped and her knees smacked into the tiny stones beneath her.

Draco groaned and rolled out of bed, looking forward to when his son would sleep through the night and he could finally get some rest. He'd be shocked if he'd managed ten minutes of sleep, a notion grumpily confirmed with a quick tempus charm.

He made quick work changing Scorpius' nappy and got him buttoned back into his sleeper before making his way to the kitchen to find a bottle. He had just finished making it when the wards alerted him to Hermione's presence.

Odd. She hadn't been gone long at all and they'd both figured it would take a couple hours for her to find the Fwoopers' moulting area, never mind to collect the feathers.

Scorpius was lying quietly in his bassinet, so Draco set the bottle on the counter and approached the front door quickly, hearing Hermione's cries echoing from the front of the house.

—-

Something was definitely wrong, but nothing had prepared him for the sight that met him.

"Merlin, Hermione!" He rumbled, hurrying out of the front door to aid her. "What the fuck happened?!"

He could see an arrow in her leg and another through her body, blood staining her denims and shirt, a trail of red following her up the gravel pathway. More blood was soaking the arm of her jumper and her eyes were wild, panicked, and she was attempting to get to her feet but was so jittery she was struggling.

"It was a trap," she moaned, limping. She was shaking so hard he could feel her tremors against him as he looped an arm around her shoulder and guided her forward.

"Let me get Scorp, we're going to St. Mungo's."

Hermione nodded jerkily, her teeth chattering. He had a feeling she was going into shock.

Draco rushed into the kitchen and summoned Scorpius' semi-packed nappy bag, grabbing the bottle he'd just made and putting a lid on it before tossing it in. He lifted Scorpius into his arms and hurried back to where Hermione was swaying on her feet.

He held Scorpius to his chest with one arm and pulled Hermione to him with the other, urging her forward into the Floo and casting a few quick spells to make the travel as comfortable as possible. She was trembling and bleeding and looked absolutely terrified, the fear in her eyes making his stomach clench with helpless rage.

He tipped some powder into the hearth and called out their destination, holding both Scorpius and Hermione close to his body to ensure the travel didn't affect them too badly.

They finally stopped spinning and stumbled out into the bustling hospital. Hermione was tinged green and holding his arm in a vice grip. He gently urged her forward toward the Welcome Witch.

When the woman saw Hermione, her eyes widened in shock, rapidly assessing her injuries before sending out an immediate message with her wand.

Her eyes then turned to Draco, who Hermione was still gripping onto desperately as she shook, a tiny blond baby pressed comfortably against his chest.

"I'm going to get Harry as soon as you're seen," Draco said, avoiding the woman's confused stare. "Maybe Ginny can take Scorpius for us while we're here."

As if hearing his name, Scorpius began to fuss, little whimpers breaking free as tears gathered in his eyes. He was probably starving.

Hermione nodded and pulled out her wand with shaking, bloody hands; her otter patronus sprung from her wand and broke into two separate streaks of light.

"Please make sure Harry and Ginny Potter are able to see me immediately, along with Draco and Scorpius," she told the Welcome Witch, who floundered between looking excited at the prospect of Harry Potter visiting, shock that Hermione was there in the first place, and anger and disgust at Draco.

Before she could decide on a response, a team of Healers turned the corner into the lobby, descending on a weakening Hermione.

She had lost so much blood from her wounds that there was an actual puddle on the floor beneath her. They pulled her away and Draco tried to follow, but was blocked before he managed a few steps.

"Approved visitors only," the security guard snarled at him.

Scorpius started to wail in earnest now and Draco finally looked around, seeing the crowd of witches and wizards in the lobby watching the entire scene closely.

"I'm the one who brought her in," Draco started, trying to stay calm. He knew if he did anything that could possibly even be perceived as a threat he'd be kicked out of St. Mungo's in the next breath. "I need to be back there with her."

"You're not an approved visitor," the guard grunted, seemingly ready to cause a scene. Draco let out a breath and clenched his jaw tightly, glaring at the guard and weighing his options before he finally made a decision. As much as he wanted to demand that he be let back with his girlfriend, he didn't need to give anyone a reason to hex him or send him packing.

Especially since he had a crying Scorpius settled in the crook of his arm against his chest. He grudgingly went back to the waiting area, dropping into a chair and cradling Scorpius in his arms tightly, trying to both give and receive comfort with their baby.

Scorpius calmed for a moment before he started screaming again. Draco remembered he needed to eat and pulled the already prepared bottle from the diaper bag, popped the lid off, and coaxed the nipple into his son's mouth. His movements were perhaps excessive, due to his combined fear and rage, and a witch waiting nearby froze for a moment, watching him warily.

Scorpius drank greedily while Draco seethed in his chair. He had no idea what the hell had happened, all he knew was that Hermione was injured, attacked, and had definitely been in shock before she'd been taken deeper into the hospital.

And the way everyone was looking at him like he was the one who had harmed her, the strangers in the waiting room giving him and their son a wide berth. They glared at him still, but he was at least thankful no one had approached him or said anything disgusting directly to him.

"Draco!" A voice called, interrupting his silent panic, and he looked up and saw Ginny with James on her hip rushing toward him.

"Hermione sent a patronus. It didn't make much sense, but I did get that she was here. What happened?"

"I don't know," he answered truthfully, taking the empty bottle from his son's mouth and laying him across his shoulder to burp. "She went to source ingredients while I was home with Scorp, and she wasn't gone for more than fifteen minutes before she was back… Something just felt off so I went to see what was happening. She was hurt badly, but she was in shock so I didn't press her about it, I just rushed us here."

Ginny's eyes were wide. James was clutching her around the neck tightly, looking scared.

"Do you want me to take Scorpy while you go sit with her?"

"They won't let me back there," he answered angrily, but tried to rein himself in. It wouldn't do any good to get mad and make people think even worse of him.

"What?" Ginny's face immediately darkened, and for the first time since she approached Draco she looked around. The entire lobby was watching their exchange closely, no one even trying to hide the fact that they were eavesdropping.

Ginny's eyes tightened into a fierce glare as she looked around, hitching James up higher onto her hip.

"I'm calling Harry," she informed Draco suddenly.

"I think Hermione sent him a patronus as well, but if your message didn't make much sense I'm sure his wasn't much better."

"Errr… Mr. Malfoy?" another voice interrupted, and Draco turned immediately.

A Healer was standing there in lime green robes, wringing his hands nervously as he approached.

"It's usually against our protocol to allow anyone back who isn't on an approved list, but Ms. Granger is throwing a right fit about you, and we'd really like to get her sorted out, so if you could just follow me?"

"Finally," Draco growled, shifting Scorpius in his arms as he lifted the nappy bag to his shoulder, whispering voices breaking out around them, obviously rife with speculation.

He and Ginny followed behind the Healer, who led them to Hermione's private room, Scorpius fussing the entire way.

"Draco," Hermione breathed as they entered the room, her eyes still wild but her breathing regulated.

"Are you okay, love?" He asked, dropping the bag on a chair as he made a beeline to her side.

She nodded but he could see tears flooding her eyes. Her arm was still sliced open but he was happy to see that the healers had at least gotten the arrows out of her.

She was sitting in a gown, her wounds bleeding into bandages that had been haphazardly applied.

She reached for Scorpius and despite her injuries he passed the baby over, marvelling at how their son calmed once in her arms. He was only two months old, but seemed to know when his family was all together.

"Has he eaten?" She asked quietly, her eyes downcast.

"Just now. He's fine, I think he was just a little distressed because of the tension." She nodded and turned to her friend.

"Hi Gin, thank you for coming. I meant to ask you to take Scorpius but I would really rather him be here with us. They still need to heal me but I've been given a calming draught and he's so young–he won't really understand."

"I'd be here regardless," Ginny assured, but James was squirming in her arms, wanting to be let down to see Hermione.

Before Ginny could release him, another Healer entered the room and took up beside Hermione's bed.

"Let's have a better look at your injuries and try to get them sorted properly. Then I can hopefully send you home with some potions and instructions."

Hermione nodded but refused to let Scorpius go.

"Is there any lasting damage?" Draco asked worriedly, watching in fascination as the Healer used his wand to clean and close the cut on her upper arm, a small red line left in its wake.

"You're definitely going to have some aches in this arm, but the leg and the wound in your body cavity are what have us the most concerned. The arrows obviously caused through-and-through wounds, which means we have to do the healing in layers. The arm wound was mostly superficial and definitely the easiest thing to heal. The spell to your chest caused us a bit of worry, but none of your ribs were broken so I believe it's only going to cause some deep bruising.

You're definitely going to have to take it easy the next couple of weeks, Miss. Granger, and you'll have, at the very least, a couple different balms to apply to the puncture wounds. Now, I don't expect you'll remember all this, but I've got a parchment for you and I'm sure your young man can remind you as well." He nodded to Draco, including him in the conversation.

Draco nodded back, relieved it wasn't anything too serious. He had been utterly terrified.

"Okay," he breathed. "We can handle this, Hermione," he said reassuringly, watching as she dropped her tearful face into Scorpius' tufts of hair. "I can cover brewing for the next few days, so don't worry about that."

He looked up to see the Healer watching him oddly, an eyebrow raised like he wanted to ask what exactly Draco was even doing there. The man's eyes shifted down to Hermione, who was snuggling Scorpius into her chest with the ease of practice, and Draco could see the questions in his eyes.

"I can't have any potions that will make me drowsy," she said after a moment, looking up at her Healer. "Obviously I have a baby to take care of."

"Hermione," Draco sighed, "if the potions cause drowsiness it's fine. You need them to get better. Scorpius is mine, too, and I know how to take care of him."

"I won't budge on this, Draco. I'll take whatever he gives me as long as it doesn't make me drowsy."

"Hermione, come on,"

"No," she snarled, and then suddenly started crying in earnest. "I thought I was going to die and never see either of you ever again. I - I just need comfort from both of you, okay?"

Scorpius started whimpering against her chest and Draco sighed, acquiescing with a nod as he wiped her tears. He could understand her fear and he wouldn't begrudge her taking whatever comfort she needed.

The Healer watched them for a moment in fascination, suddenly seeming to realise that the small blond baby was theirs.

He cleared his throat and started working on Hermione's puncture wounds, but warned it would be a lengthy process as he had to actually heal them from the inside out, ensuring each layer of muscle, tendons, and tissue were cared for.

Hermione grimaced and rubbed her cheek against Scorpius' head again, holding him tightly as she held Draco's eyes. She didn't look as scared now, but he could tell that whatever had happened had frightened her deeply.