Love and Other Misfortunes

Chapter 11

When Hermione woke up she was lying in a hospital bed.

Shifting, she sat up slowly and glanced around. She was in a private room, a few feet away a healer and Emeliory Bogfeld were speaking to each other in low hurried voices. They both turned and came towards her quickly when they saw her awake.

"Miss Granger," Emeliory said, "I'm glad to see you're conscious. You were a bit touch and go there for a while. Once the healers managed to stabilise you, we weren't quite sure what would happen."

"How long was I unconscious?" Hermione asked.

"Forty-six hours," answered the healer. She was a stout woman who cast a highly complex diagnostic charm over Hermione and then inspected it. "We were going to wait two more and then try to enervate you."

They were both staring at Hermione with somewhat apprehensive expressions. As Hermione stared back, the events leading to her arrival at the hospital began flooding back. She realised with horror that the bond with Malfoy felt unnaturally still.

He wasn't there. He wasn't anywhere even remotely nearby.

"Where's Draco?"

The two women glanced at each other, their expressions nervous.

"At the manor, in a magical coma utilizing a stasis charm." Emeliory said hesitantly.

"What?" Hermione practically shrieked as she made get out of bed.

"Hold on, Miss Granger." The healer held her down and Hermione tried to wriggle out of her grasp.

"He saved me! He bit me because I asked him to," Hermione was seething with rage. "What on earth have you done to him?"

"Yes. Yes. We know," Emeliory said. "Miss Granger, you remember what he did in order to save you, don't you?"

"We bonded," Hermione said promptly, then paused, "but, not—" she racked her mind trying to place exactly what happened. "It wasn't completed—That couldn't have been it."

"Yes." Emeliory nodded, seating herself on the edge of the bed, her expression serious. "Draco performed part of the bonding process in order to save you. He tethered your life forces in order to keep you alive and then utilizing that partial bond he somehow forced a transformation in order to get you to St Mungos in time."

Hermione stared at her while she continued.

"But—that bond is not intended to be only partially fulfilled. Once you were no longer on the verge of death, Draco would become compelled to try to finish the process. It's a biological necessity for him. It wouldn't be possible for him to just keep avoiding it out of sheer determination as he has been for the last several years. He knew that, so he agreed to be kept away from you and placed in a magically induced coma to keep him away."

Hermione stared in horror.

"But—we're bonded now," she said in confusion. "Why? What exactly is the point of that?"

Emeliory hesitated. "To give you some time—to come to terms with it. What comes next," she paused, trying to phrase it delicately, "it may be hard handle, given the suddenness for you."

The healer, still reviewing parts of Hermione aural diagnosis, snorted and muttered, "Although, I wouldn't recommend taking too long. We're violating a fundamental element of bonding magic. There's a chance that if his magic breaks through, he'll blow up the entire manor."

Emeliory poked the woman to silence her.

Hermione was staring down at her hands.

What came next.