Chapter Four
The rain was still pattering on the windows of the hospital room when Harry opened his eyes. It had been the sound of a squeaking hinge which had pulled him from his memories and brought him back to a reality even more frustrating.
"Potter, you awake?" Malfoy asked, leaning against the door frame, his arms crossed over his chest.
"Yeah," Harry muttered, shoving his glasses to their rightful place on the bridge of his nose. "Yeah, I'm up."
"What about her?" He nodded to the unconscious woman between them.
Harry shook his head. "No change."
Malfoy nodded slowly, digesting this. "No change," he repeated softly to himself.
"How's Gin?"
"Better," he answered, "the Healers say she could go home as early as tomorrow."
A wave of relief crashed over Harry. "That's excellent."
"It is," Draco nodded, taking a few more steps into the room. "It is excellent."
A moment of silence passed over the two as Harry looked once again at his cataleptic companion. As happy as he was that Ginny was suffering no long-term effects of the Dark Magics, he couldn't help but feel jealous of her condition. Each day that passed with no change, Harry felt himself growing more and more hopeless. He sighed and dropped his head into his hands.
Malfoy noticed this and closed the door. "Look, Potter, I know on record I have to say that I don't give a Niffler's ass if you beat yourself up for the rest of your life over what happened…"
Harry rolled his eyes. "Thanks, Malfoy."
"And don't get me wrong, I don't care…not really. But I feel I should tell you that you look terrible…when was the last time you were home?"
"I don't need to go home."
"You're no good to anyone like this."
"What if she wakes up?" Harry looked up and pierced Malfoy with his dark green eyes. "What if she wakes up and I'm not here?"
Malfoy sighed and ran a hand through his glossy blonde hair, "If she wakes up, she's going to need you in better shape than you're in." He paused, choosing his next words carefully, "And if she doesn't…then other people are going to need you to be in better shape than you're in. Either way, you've got to get out of here."
Harry digested Malfoy's words, staring at the unmoving body before him. "Maybe you're right."
"I'm always right," Malfoy snapped instantly, a brief sardonic grin appearing on his face. "Go home. Take a shower for Merlin's sake…sleep in your own bed. Come back in a day or so."
"If anything-"
"If anything changes," Malfoy cut him off, "we'll owl, we'll Floo, we'll make sure you know."
Harry got to his feet and approached the patient. "I'll only be gone a little while," he told her softly, bending down to press a kiss to her forehead, "I promise." He made it to the door before he stopped. "Malfoy?"
"Hmm?"
"Was that the only reason you came down here?"
"No, actually," Draco dug into his pocket, remembering his original mission. "Here," he produced a sliver chain with a heavy charm on the end; the charm was a glass, apple shaped vial, trimmed in heavy silver-symbols etched into the glass. "What do you want to do with this?"
Harry stared at it for a long minute. "Where did you get that?"
"A few Aurors recovered it…it's been emptied and cleaned so it's not going to be doing anything anytime soon."
"Until someone else figures out how to use it."
"Right," Malfoy agreed edgily, "which is why I'm asking what you want to do with it."
Harry sighed. "I don't ever want to see that thing again. Take it down to the Ministry. Have them take care of it." He left without another word.
Malfoy waited until he'd gone down the hall to the Apparation point before approaching the patient himself. "C'mon, Granger," he said quietly, "Find a way back...Potter needs you." He briefly touched her shoulder, her messy curls just brushing the tops of his knuckles. "They all need you."
He found himself sitting next to her, suddenly grateful to be away from Ginny's room and the waves upon waves of Weasleys who swept in every hour. It was quiet here, peaceful…a place where one could gather his thoughts in tranquil silence. Draco found himself, however, not being able to gather his thoughts…not without his eyes falling to the woman before him. It was hard to believe it was her-Hermione Granger, the brightest witch of her age, a perpetual thorn in his side all the while he was growing up, the brains of the operation. Granger, now vegetating in a coma, life draining away from her with every breath she took.
What a waste, he thought with a shake of his head, his silver eyes returning to the charm in his hand. He didn't blame Harry for wanting nothing to do with it-he felt a little ill just holding it. Could it really have only been a few weeks ago that they would have given their lives to have it in their possession? He set it down on the bedside table, no longer wishing to think on what that charm was capable of.
Malfoy looked at Granger and then to the charm and then back again.
What a waste indeed.
***
The news of the slaughter at 1294 hadn't gone over well. Hermione had looked up expectantly toward the fireplace as they'd Flooed in. "Well where are they?" she asked, rising to her feet.
The four men exchanged somber looks. "We were too late," Harry said after a moment's silence.
Hermione's brow furrowed. "Too late? You mean..."
"They were gone," Ron said quietly.
"Gone? Well maybe they're just in hiding," she began to pace, twisting a curl around her finger. "Maybe they went to the Ministry for help after I spoke with them... Yes, of course, that makes the most sense. We'll just have to contact the Ministry and tell them our suspicions. They'll help us, I know-" her rambling was cut short by Harry's hands on her shoulders. She met his eyes with a steady gaze. "They've just gone into hiding, Harry," she repeated; the tremble in her voice betrayed her firm gaze.
"No," he shook his head. "They're dead. I'm certain of it."
"You can't be certain..."
"He killed their whole family," Ron cut in angrily. "Little brother, grandmother, parents and all. They're dead, Hermione. Now whoever's got their bodies has everything he needs and I didn't even get a warning this time." He shook his head and cut between them toward the front door. "Sodding useless...as always." The slam of the door rattled the picture frames on the walls.
Harry glanced up to see that Ginny, Luna, and Neville had been hovering in the doorway from the kitchen. Behind him, Fred cleared his throat. "I think I need a drink," he said bluntly. "Then maybe we'd better have another look at those books."
"Yeah," George agreed quietly, grabbing a few volumes on their way into the kitchen. "I think I'll start with Nothing: Abridged this time."
"Oh, that's a good one," Ginny commented lightly, watching as Luna slipped quietly out the front door.
Ron was sitting at the top of the outside steps, tossing a rock from one hand to the other, his wand lying next to him. Luna closed the front door softly behind her and stood quietly for a moment, waiting for him to acknowledge her.
"Look, Hermione, I don't want to talk about it," he grumbled, wrapping his fist around the rock.
"She's inside," Luna corrected, sitting next to him. "May I sit?"
Ron shrugged. "I still don't want to talk about it," he repeated.
"That's all right," she said, her tone remaining even and serene as always. "I just needed some air."
"Yeah."
The silence grew thick between them and Ron began passing the rock between his hands again. "They killed that whole family," he said after a few long minutes.
"I know."
"I've never seen anything like that." Ron shook his head. "It was just...senseless." Luna nodded and carefully put a hand on his arm. "Why didn't I see it?" he asked himself aloud. "All the other ones...every last one...slaughtered right before my eyes. Why not these two?"
She gave his forearm a supportive squeeze. "Maybe they're not dead. Not yet."
"The family'd been dead for days," he said quietly. "Whoever it was must have cloaked themselves somehow. Kept them hidden from..." he shrugged, "from whatever I have."
"That doesn't make you useless," she reminded softly. "It only makes them one step ahead."
"There was something else," he said after another long pause. "A feeling I had, looking at those bodies. Whoever did it..." he shook his head again. "They weren't just..." he paused again, searching for the right words. "They were having fun."
Luna turned and looked toward the street. Above them, the night sky had begun swirling with dark clouds that blanketed the stars. "A storm is coming, Ron."
He nodded darkly, matching her gaze. "Storm's already here."
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