Shades of Grey

Chapter 18

When the witch opened her eyes, she really disliked how white everything looked.

Walls, floors, bedspread - white. Thick bandaging around her arm? White.

The wasn't exactly an ordinary hospital room at St. Mungos, but not a regular bedroom either.

It looked like a hotel suite - there was even a kitchenette in the corner.

She shifted to sit up on her elbows, studying the room for clues on where she could be.  

Admittedly belated, she realized there was a man slouched in a chair next to her bed asleep. He had messy black hair, circular glasses, and a curious scar on his forehead.

There was a badge pinned to his robes and she squinted to read it.

Head Auror
Harry Potter

She recognized that name! The wizard was famous, wasn't he? It was more than that though... he was important to her.

The wizard snorted awake and when she and the bright green eyes found one another, he fell out of his chair with a yelp.

She bit her bottom lip to stifle a laugh. 

"Hermione!"

The wizard stood up, blushing. He was grinning at her and she swore his eyes were bloody twinkling.

Hermione. An odd but fitting name for her, she thought.

As she continued to study him, his grin faltered.

"Malfoy is going to bloody kill me for being here and not him. I just sent him out to grab takeaway."

Malfoy. That was a name with a lot of feelings attached. A pompous name with money, yes? But she felt warmth, literal warmth that she blushed upon hearing his name.

"Er - shit. I should get a Healer, right? Right. I should text Malfoy but then he'll come back without food..."

Flustered and mumbling to himself in a way that was also enduring, Harry Potter turned away to leave.

"Is... is Hermione my name?" she asked softly, her voice cracking from lack of use.

The wizard slowly turned, his expression now pained but he managed a sad type of smile.

"Hermione Jean Granger is your full name," he replied, his voice gentle. "I'll be right back with a Healer."

Hermione Jean Granger. Jean sounded like a family name. Perhaps her mother's?

A kind woman returned with Harry. "My name is Healer Susan Bones. I have been your primary Healer while you've been with us at St. Mungos."

Hermione tilted her head. She was familiar. Not like Harry or the name Malfoy, but familiar nonetheless.

"I'm going to run a few tests and then go through a few questions. If you fall asleep, that's normal."

Seemed rude, but okay.

What they discovered was unsurprising but promising. Her brainwaves weren't quite normal indicating she may be prone to seizures, and her memory wasn't the best but they were hopeful with time she would recover.

People were just tricky at the moment. She knew she liked to read and did well in school. But she didn't know if she had siblings, a life partner, parents...

Healer Bones didn't want to overwhelm her with too much information, but she'd been at St. Mungos for a month from "the incident".

They had her in a medically induced coma for two weeks so her mind could heal, intravenously injecting her with experimental potions approved by Harry.