Waiting | Lucius Malfoy

Chapter Thirty-Six | Love and Legacy

 Darkness had always been a comfort to Guinevere. She enjoyed the night sky more than anything that daylight could offer. She preferred to black out her room so that not a speck of light could enter while she was sleeping. She'd always preferred the look of black coffee. Dark was comforting, it wrapped you up in a way that light could not. She'd always longed for dark and yet now, in this moment, she wanted light. She wanted brightness. A yellow sun cascading through the clouds. An early morning walk. Light. She wanted it to be light.

Guinevere opened her eyes, her head pounding under the harsh lights overhead. She looked around attempting to gain some understanding of her surroundings and found that she was in St. Mungos. Not a good sign.

"Miss Grace! You're awake. Glad to have you back with us." She blinked a few times and her eyes focused on a young man with kind eyes, donning a white coat.

"How did I get here?"

"I'm sure it must be frightening to wake up in the hospital, Miss Grace. I'm Healer Greenway." She tried to speak, her throat constricting. He smiled. "It's okay. Take a moment," he said softly.

"Nice to meet you, I guess." She shrugged, or more so attempted to shrug, feeling her arms tightening. She looked down to discover a host of runes spread out over her forearms. Healer Greenway nodded in understanding.

"Ah, yes. Your illness was a tricky one to diagnose. We had to bring in Healers from further afield, but we've managed to get you back in almost fighting shape."

"My illness?" Guinevere croaked, her throat dry.

"Mr Malfoy said that you had collapsed and weren't responding to do any sort of revival spell. He brought you here and we discovered that your magic had experienced a surge. He explained your bond and that you've recently spent time apart before reconnecting in quite an interesting manner. It seems that your body didn't know how to respond to the energy it was equating and well, here we are."

"Right, excellent. Just another psychotic side effect of the bond."

"Miss Grace, to be frank - you're lucky to be alive. It appears that the magic behind your bond felt that there was a threat to it and it turned inwards, attacking itself."

"Am I okay? Do I need-" Guinevere was panicking, her vision starting to flatten as she willed herself to keep calm.

"You're alright. Mr Malfoy did the best thing by bringing you here. You'll need to take it easy for a few days, but I don't think you'll feel up to doing much, so that should be fairly simple."

"Okay, good. I just think I need-" She could feel her eyes closing again, and her eyelids felt heavy. She found herself drifting in and out of consciousness for a period of time - which she had no way of determining due to a distinct lack of clocks in her room.

Her eyes opened once more and she squinted, attempting to get used to the light again. "Healer Greenway?" She called, as firmly as she could manage. He quickly entered the room, holding his wand towards her, urgently casting diagnostic charms over her head. She looked up and saw bright white lights - a good sign.

"You're looking better, Miss Grace."

"That's actually what I was hoping to speak to you about. Would it be possible to continue my rest at home? I don't like it here." She muttered, before adding, "No offence."

Healer Greenway chuckled. "Mhm. I think we could allow that. Do you have someone you could call in case of an emergency? Your next of kin is listed as Draco Malfoy, is that still accurate?"

Guinevere grimaced, sucking in a breath of air. Healer Greenway paled visibly. "No, actually. Could you-" She stopped, wondering who was best to put down as her contact. "Put down Theodore Nott, please. I don't think you'll be calling him, but just in case." Greenway nodded, calling in a junior healer and alerting her of the change.