Chapter 2 - 1097 words
Hermione wakes up on Sunday morning to a loud, obtrusive, and completely unwelcome noise. As her mind breaks out of it's sleep-boggled state, she recognizes the sound as someone calling her on the floo. She groans as she rolls over and gets out of bed. Who could possibly be calling her at, she checks the clock on her nightstand, 8 AM on a Sunday?
She throws her hair up in a ponytail and walks to the main room of her flat, where her floo was installed, full ready to give whoever it is a piece of her mind. What she sees, though, changes her mind real quick.
The head of none other than Draco Malfoy is sticking through her fireplace, looking altogether too worried for her liking. Even though they all get on now, Draco is never one to show his emotions - always keeping in place his 'Malfoy Mask,' so if he is noticeably worried, at 8 AM on a Sunday, then something is really, really wrong. She mentally steels herself for bad news, before crossing the room and dropping to her knees in front of the floo.
"What's happened?" she asks, "Where are you? Is everyone alright? Is someone hurt?"
He takes a deep breath, lets it out, and schools his featues into a much more neutral expression before answering each of her questions in turn, "Auror raid gone wrong, St. Mungo's, no, and yes." Hermione feels her heart stop for a second.
"I'm coming through," she says, not even bothering to change her clothes, brush her teeth, or even comb her bushy hair into submission before standing up and walking through into the hospital.
Along with Draco, Ginny and her partner, a 26-year-old Senior Auror named Emily, are already there. There, per say, is what appears to be a waiting room. The only person missing is...
"Where's Harry?" she asks, clear worry in her voice, "Where is he? Is he hurt? What happened?"
"Miss Granger," Emily speaks up, "I need to ask you to calm down. I will explain everything once everyone is here."
The way she says it makes Hermione want to scream-and-yell her into oblivion, but Draco must sense that, because before she gets a word out he puts an arm around her shoulders and guides her into a seat on the other side of the room. As she sits, she looks over at Ginny to see her staring at a spot on the floor like it holds all the secrets of the universe. Yes, this is bad.
Not a minute later, Ron and Pansy burst into the room, looking completely distraught. Taking a quick scan of the room, Ron must also notice Harry's conspicuous absence, because he asks, "What's happened? Is Harry alright?"
Miss Calm-and-Collected speaks again, "Please, Mr.Weasley, Miss Parkinson, sit. I will explain everything." Ron seems like he might protest, but his worry must get the better of his anger, because he sits down beside Pansy.
Finally, Emily tells them what's going on, "Late last night, we had planned a raid on a known maker and trader of illegal potions. We had been on him for a while, but just managed to actually track him down to a location where we'd be able to capture him. The plan was simple. Ginevra and I would come in through the main entrance to distract the man, and the client he was with, while Aurors Potter and Malfoy came in the back, thus creating a blockade. It was a textbook raid, in and out, easy as pie - or at least, it should have been. Someone from the Ministry - we're still trying to find out who - tipped them off. They were waiting for us. When Ginny and I came in, there were ten of them, not two. I tried to warn the others, but there was just no time - no way. It was an unfair fight. Ginevra," here, she pauses for the first time since she began, to give a small, proud smile to her partner, "Managed to send for backup, but it took time for them to get there. Two of the rogues cast a particularly nasty compound-curse towards Malfoy. There was no time for him to block it; Potter jumped in front of him. When the others got there, we were able to take all the criminals into custody, and Potter was rushed to the hospital. That was about three hours ago. He is still in critical condition."
When she's finished, everyone simply sits and stares at her. Ron looks as if he might faint. Hermione risks a glance to her left, at Draco, to see him looking like he would very much prefer to be dead than be sitting here. Ginny is still staring at the floor, most likely blaming herself. Pansy is crying silently into Ron's shoulder. Hermione can't help it, she grabs onto Draco and begins to sob into his shirt. Normally, he would say something slightly insulting and shake her off, but today he only moves his arm from her shoulder to her waist and holds her while she breaks down. She cries harder.
Pansy is the first one to speak. "Can we, uh...w-when can we s-see him?" she stutters out. Emily, who had been almost robotic throughout this whole thing, finally seems to crack. Her shoulders slump and she heaves out a sigh. Her face softens a bit, and she looks at each of them in turn as she answers, "I don't know. You're welcome to stay here as long as you like, and leave whenever you like, but I have to get back to the office to file the paperwork. It's a miracle no one's came and fetched me yet. I'll make sure that the Healers know to inform you if anything changes," she pauses to take a deep breath, and then continues more quietly, "I-I do hope that Potter's alright. He's a good man - young, a lot of life ahead of him."
"Yeah," Hermione thinks Ginny is the one who says it, but she's not sure. Hermione feels herself nodding in agreement anyway as Auror Emily turns and walks out of the room. She's not sure how long they sit there in silence before Draco gets up and calmly and quietly excuses himself to the restroom.
Despite his attempt at secrecy, when they hear the screaming and sobbing from somewhere down the hall, they all know that it's him, and not some patient that's in pain. They don't say anything when he gets back, though. For today, they will spare his Malfoy pride.