Chapter 4
Hermione had been planning to meet with Theodore early Monday morning to discuss her acceptance of the case but her morning clearly wasn’t going to go as she had anticipated.
When she entered work that morning, she was met with blood all over the floor. The alarm went off as she stepped off the elevator, calling all personnel to the emergency ward. She ran towards the ward, barely taking time to throw her hair up as she went. She hadn’t planned any patient work today, just some paperwork and checking on potions. She hadn’t even come with her proper belt that held all her emergency potions.
As she rounded into the emergency ward the sounds of screams reached her ears. People were everywhere all covered in blood, whether it was their own she had no idea. All those on the beds seemed to be in auror robes. Hermione immediately set out to look for Harry. In her search she came across Theo. He was leaning over a boy who couldn’t have been more than 12, his stomach was cut so deeply that his organs were being held in with Theos hands. Hermione stepped forward and pulled her wand. She started the process of sealing the wound, something she would usually do after checking for curses. This boy didn’t have the time for that though.
“What the hell is going on”
Padma stepped up and addressed Theo, Hermione to occupied to speak to.
“Another werewolf attack. The raid was a trap. They don’t know who is behind it yet but they’re pretty sure it was Greyback. By the looks of the people they’re bringing in he is recruiting. I didn’t get much information, but I will get a full brief once things have settled”
It was then that Hermione noticed the bite over the boy's shoulder. She made a mental note to brew twice as much wolfsbane for the next full moon. It seems as though they will need it. Werewolf attacks have been a regular occurrence since the battle. Greyback had managed to get out before anyone could catch him and had almost immediately started targeting small towns. Up until this point though he hadn’t been actively trying to build his numbers. Nothing about this situation made Hermione feel good, he was clearly planning something. Harry had been actively trying to track him for months, he definitely would have been there today.
Padma stepped up to Hermione's side and placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Hermione, I can take over. Harry is over by the door, you should probably go see him,”
The air left Hermione's lungs. Her spell was fading. Was Harry okay? Was he hurt? Why was he even here? He wouldn't be unless he had to be. Hermione couldn’t slow her mind, too many possibilities and outcomes for her to consider. She felt ready to spiral before Padma continued
“He isn’t critical, he is hurt though”
Hermione made her way around Padma without speaking. She began almost running towards where she knew Harry would be. He had been the closest thing she had to family after losing her parents, she couldn’t bear the thought of him being hurt.
As she walked up to him sitting on one of the beds, she saw it. The bite. It was small but was clear. Harry had been bitten. Her eyes glazed over as her steps faltered. How was she going to explain this to Ginny?
“H-Harry?”
He turned to her and smiled; the same smile she had seen almost every day since she was 11.
“I’m okay Hermione, don’t look so worried”
“But you–”
“I know. I know what I am now.”
Hermione swallowed and took a steadying breath. This wasn’t so bad. Being a werewolf didn’t change who Harry was. Yes, it made things a bit complicated, but they could work with it. Remus had been just fine; Harry would be too.
“Are you hurt anywhere else?”
Harry shook his head. Hermione just nodded and moved to stand beside him. She reached out and took his hand. He didn’t look at her but she could tell he was struggling to keep it together.
“What am I supposed to tell Ginny?”
He sounded so defeated.
“I don’t know. I do know that no matter what you tell her she is going to be there for you. Just like me”
He turned to her, and a single tear flew down his cheek. A choked sob coming from his mouth before he looked down again. Hermione pulled him into a hug so tight she was afraid she may be hurting him. He just held on in kind until Hermione spoke again.
“You’re going to be fine. I will help you and Ginny will too. You’re not alone in this, you will never be alone in anything”
Hermione pulled back to wipe his tears from his face. He looked at her and took a breath.
“You need to get back to healing, there is too many people who need you right now”
She looked around the room taking note of a new stream of patients entering.
“You’re right. Come get me if you need me, okay?”
Harry nodded his head and dropped his hands from her waist.
“Send a Patronus to Ginny too, she should be here”
“Of course”
Hermione smoothed his hair before turning to walk away as Harry pulled out his wand. She had work to do.
It had taken all morning for the team to get almost all the new patients into stable condition. Hermione was checking over the young boy she had treated earlier when Theo approached her.
“He came in with Harry. Apparently, it was when Harry got bitten. He tried to stop the kid from getting bitten, absolute suicide mission”
It made sense; it was exactly like Harry to do something so risky. He had done many things over the years that you could call a suicide mission.
“He saved him nonetheless”
They stood in silence as they both went over the boy's notes and ran evaluation charms over him. His wounds were healing well, even the bite. He should wake up within a few days. He hadn’t had anyone come in for him, he likely is either an orphan or his family was hurt too. They would have to look around for anyone who knew who he was.
“I want to take the case. I thought about it, and I think it is the most logical choice”
Theo froze in the middle of casting another evaluation charm on the boy's stomach wound. He looked up to Hermione who had now stepped back and sat in the chair beside the bed.
“Really? You’re sure you want to?”
Hermione nodded in response and Theo let out a breath. Relief was evident in his face as he too stepped back from the boy. He sat down on the chair opposite her on the other side of the bed.
“I will organise a consultation for this week, thank you Hermione. You have no idea how much it means to me that you’re trusting me on this”
“You’re family, it’s what I am here for. You need my help so, I give it”
Theo looked at her with the most care she had ever seen on his face. Hermione realised that she had never actually referred to Theo as such. She had known it for a long time but never voiced it to Theo himself. The longer she looked at him she seen the guilt behind his eyes.
“Did you get that brief? What happened with the raid?”
Hermione knew Theo wasn’t one for what he referred to as the chick flick moments. So, she changed the topic swiftly to save him the silence she knew would follow.
“Yeah, uh. It was supposed to be a routine check. There were reports of some sightings of death eaters by the locals. Obviously given the full moon they were cautious of werewolves, but the report was completely routine. It would have been far different had there been any, so they checked it out. When the team arrived, they were attacked. Greyback and his followers jumped out of the woods and killed the whole team. They sent out a Patronus in time and that's when Harry's team arrived. It was 100% Greyback, he was seen”
Hermione hadn’t expected such an organised attack. Usually, Greyback attacked randomly and without any kind of tactics. His development left her shaken, it made him a whole new threat. The flame of anger she had suppressed after talking to Harry ignited. The whole situation was a set up to ambush aurors, likely targeting Harry. It was well known by now that Harry had taken up a job leading his own team. It really was only a matter of time before that fact became a weakness.
“I will brew more wolfsbane for the next full moon. We're going to need it and I doubt there will be enough in circulation otherwise”
Theo nodded and moved his attention to the boy in the room, returning to his evaluations. Hermione took that as her que to leave and made her way out of the room.
The hospital was in complete disarray after the events of the day. Many families were still waiting in the halls for information on their loved ones. Hermione decided she would make her way to her office in the hopes of getting at least a little work done. Just as she rounded the corner and her door came into sight, she noticed a man standing beside it. His head was leaning back against the wall, his eyes closed. As she approached, she confirmed she didn’t know this man at all. He was alerted to her presence by her footsteps and rushed to move off the wall. He can’t have been older than 30, his hair long and bushy. Much like Hermione's had been before she learnt to tame it.
“Miss Granger, may I have a word with you in private?”
Hermione racked her brain for any recollection of the man but found nothing. He can’t be a patient of hers.
“Of course, come inside. I have a few minutes before I’m needed with a patient”
The lie came out so easily that Hermione hadn’t even thought it through. If this man was unknown, she thought it best to keep his time with her very limited.
“Wonderful, I should only need a moment”
They both moved inside the office. Hermione had loved her office, she thought it the best part about having her “management” position. Theo had insisted that she have her own space to work, and she could hardly refuse once she had seen the bookcases that lined the walls. She took her seat behind her desk as the man sat in one of the chairs opposite.
“My name is Michael. I am the head lawyer for Tiberius Nott. I came to discuss the possibility of your presence at the next section of the trial”
Hermione wasn’t particularly fond of viewing the death eater trials. She hadn’t made an effort to attend any of them, even for Theo's father. Theo had never asked her to attend as he didn’t attend himself.
“I fail to see a reason why I would need to attend the trial”
The man smiled in what Hermione thought was a very practiced way. She had seen Pansy give the exact smile to many pureblood associates whom she never liked.
“It would be highly beneficial to his image. I am to believe you are good friends with Theodore Nott. It would be a great help to his father if he had some well-known faces on his side”
Hermione, of course, knew Theodore couldn’t give a damn what happened to his father. If she was being honest, she felt the same. Theodore had told her small stories about his childhood during late nights in the office. Even from the small insights she couldn’t muster any sympathy for the abusive man.
“I’m sure it would be”
The man cut her off before she could even continue
“I have been made aware of your situation. Your inability to remember 10 months of the war makes you ineligible to witness. Had this not been the case I would have asked that of you”
It was something Hermione had tried not to think about since the war. The night that they had been found by snatchers had been burned into her mind. It still startled her how she could just have a whole chunk of her memory missing. After she had awoken in the middle of the battle she went into fight or flight. Her adrenaline had pushed her until it finally ended. When it did, and she had discovered just how long she had been missing, she began to look for ways to find things out. It had been Harry who had advised that maybe leaving good enough alone was okay. After all, they didn’t know what she would find. It could be something she wouldn’t even want to remember. After a long conversation with Ginny and Harry after her breakup with Ron, she had decided it was enough. She moved forward and tried to ignore that black hole she felt whenever she thought of that time. She had already been aware of her inability to witness in a trial. Not long after the war ended, she had been called as a witness for Theo as they were classmates. She was eventually ruled as unreliable due to her issues with memories.
“I would have to discuss this with Theo, it is his choice whether I go or not”
The smile faltered on the man's face before he stood, dusting off his pants.
“Of course Miss Granger, I hope to see you there. I shall not use any more of your time, I am sure you’re very busy”
The man walked out without even looking to Hermione for a response. The sigh she let out after the closing of the door was tantamount to the stress she now felt settling on her shoulders.