The next morning was typical except the men were again preparing for some excursion, which made Mrs. Malfoy take on the fake cheeriness that revealed she was quite nervous. They left shortly after breakfast, which left the house fairly quiet. Hermione got on with her chores. It was raining so she didn't spend much time outside. Neville wasn't there today. She ate lunch downstairs with the elves once Mrs. Malfoy had finished. She didn't think she had said a single word all day. She only really spoke with Neville and her voice was starting to recover from the slight rasp it had picked up over the last few years from the general lack of use.The weather seemed to darken quite dramatically in the afternoon. She had stood in one of the window bays and watched it roll in for about half an hour. As she was returning to work, a commotion was breaking out downstairs. She stood and listened for a while. She wouldn't go unless she was called. It wasn't any of her business and she didn't really care anyway. She heard the little bell calling her a minute later and started to head downstairs. There were mediwizards coming in through the fireplace and even Professor Snape was running."You," Professor Snape said, "Go get some towels. Quick girl."Hermione understood that Draco had been hurt. She could tell from Mrs. Malfoy's expression. A look of utter horror and grief and Hermione suspected the woman could not call if it had been her husband. Hermione turned and headed towards the linen cupboard. The Mediwizards' rush indicated that the injury was fairly serious. Maybe he was dying. Did she hope he would die, she wondered. She acknowledged that it would be a relief to her if he did, but was she prepared to wish him dead?She had no idea of the kind of things he did when he left here, he could well deserve to die. She certainly thought so when he had let the Deatheaters into their school to kill Dumbledore. She returned upstairs with an armful of towels. Professor Snape took them from her and told her to go to the potions store for a list of ingredients.She did as she was told and returned. She was told to stay out in the hall in case they should need something."You promised me he wouldn't get hurt." She could hear Mrs. Malfoy strained voice."There was an unexpected ambush," Lucius Malfoy's clipped tones responded."How could you let this happen? You promised me," Mrs. Malfoy continued but Draco's painfilled cry drowned out any response. She could hear Mrs. Malfoy starting to sob.Hermione didn't know how to feel. Part of her wanted to feel sympathy for a human being in pain, but part of her thought he deserved every ounce of pain. It would be devastating for Mrs. Malfoy to lose her son, but it had been equally devastating from all the parents of her Gryffindor schoolmates when the civil war was at its height. She decided that it was easiest to not feel anything at all. Instead she turned her attention to towards the garden and let her mind dwell there.Draco's cries went on for a while, then quieted. Eventually Lucius left. His faced was strained, but haughty as always. Then Professor Snape came out carrying a wrapped up Draco with Mrs. Malfoy in tow. The mediwizards left as well. No one paid her any attention, which suited her fine. She didn't make eye contact with anyone. Obviously he was going to survive. Again, Hermione felt confusion about whether she was glad or disappointed. Beside Neville, he was the only person she really knew in the world, even though he was horrible on every possible level.She went in to clean up the room. There was a good amount of blood. The towels were soaked and discarded, the settee had a large patch soaked into the green damask. There were also pools on the floor. She piled up the towels and carried them downstairs to return with a bucket and sponge to clean up the ruby red blood on the floor. Some had gotten on the silk carpets, which would be difficult to get out. So this is what all the fuss was about, she thought. Blood. Nothing special about it. It smelled metallic, was sticky and she hated having her hands in it.There was nothing she could do about the settee. It would have to be destroyed. Maybe she could start a bonfire on the grounds and burn it. If she had a wand, she could just vanish it, but those days were long gone.The elves came up to help her move the settee outside and carry the large rolled up carpet downstairs. She spent the next two hours scrubbing blood out of the carpet, then had to serve dinner. Draco wasn't in his usual seat, but Professor Snape was staying. Mrs. Malfoy eyes were puffy and red from crying. There wasn't any conversation at all and hardly anyone ate. They could feast downstairs tonight, but Hermione knew that the elves would be too upset to eat. It would fall on her and Stina to clear a much as they could. Hermione ate all she could and even filled up her little food store. To her surprise, Draco called for her. She went upstairs to Draco's room. He was lying on his bed without his shirt. She could see healing wounds all across his chest and belly. They were starting to knit but they were still looking fairly raw. Bright red slashes contrasting against his white skin."You should go lie down, Mother. You're overwrought.""How could I possibly sleep when you are injured," she said ready to start crying again. The strain still making her voice high pitched and nasal."I'm fine, Mother. Go lie down. The mudblood will take care of me."Mrs. Malfoy noticed her presence in the room and looked back at Draco."Go sleep," he continued. "I'll see you in the morning."After a moment, she nodded and swept out of the room."She's not very good with injuries," he said to Hermione when his mother had left. "When I was little, she would call over the entire senior staff of St Mungo's every time I got a papercut. You will need to swab the wounds with salve."Hermione sat down on the bed and picked up a piece of cotton. He didn't react when she touched one of the wounds. He must be on some kind of painkiller, she determined. His eyes were a little glassier than usual, like they were when he had drunk a little too much. He sighed and leant back with his forearm behind his head. The wounds were still healing and the salve was helping the healing process. The wounds were mostly on the right side of his body."There was an explosion. I got hit by the shrapnel.""Not a word I expected you to know.""We have learnt lots of words lately," he said bitterly, watching her as she swabbed the wounds one by one. "It was some kind of weapon.""The man in front of me had his leg shredded," Draco continued. Hermione suspected that he was a little proud of his wounds."Anti-personnel mines," Hermione said. "Never used here.""There used now."This was news to Hermione. It was fairly extreme measures on behalf of the muggle military."Father is furious," he continued. "Never knew the muggles had such a range of weapons. We seem to be stumbling onto new ones every day. We've taken quite a few losses."Hermione didn't say anything. She certainly was not going to volunteer any more information that might help."But we're learning to search and destroy them fairly quickly. Muggle weapons are no match for magic."I wouldn't bet the house on it, Hermione thought to herself."Pretty hard to search for something you can't see," she said."They're easy enough to find if you know what to look for. Get me a whiskey." Hermione checked her immediate reflex to argue and walked over to the decanters. She chided herself for her thoughts, it is what she would have done if it had been Harry or Ron. He wasn't her friend, actually she hated him. She needed to get some distance back. At least he won't be touching her tonight. Whatever potion was keeping him relaxed and pain-free would ensure that he wasn't capable. She returned to the bed and handed him a large glass of whiskey."Would you have been sorry if I died?" he asked, again leaning back on the bed.Hermione didn't answer, but started to swab the wounds again."Answer me," he ordered."No," she said without looking up. She could feel tension in the muscles under her fingers. When she finally did look at him, he was turned away looking at something on the other side of the room. He was quiet for a while after that, but Hermione could tell that his eyes were growing heavy. Blood replenishing potion was healing whatever deficit he suffered, but his body had still incurred a substantial trauma. He would probably sleep for most of tomorrow. His eyes were fluttering closed and Hermione sat as still as she could in case she woke him up again. As soon as he'd fall asleep, Hermione was going to go. She sat for a full five minutes before slowly getting off the bed. She carefully placed a blanket over his exposed skin and made to leave."Stay." She heard him say as she was walking towards the door. Hermione narrowed her eyes in annoyance, but returned to the bed as ordered. He made her get in before grabbing his wand and extinguishing the lights.He was so tired that he was snoring slightly. She had never heard him snore before and it only fed her annoyance. She would be a lot better off if she could return to her own bed. It had been quite a while before she'd slept in it now. Maybe he will grow tired of her soon. Maybe a near-death experience will urge him to actually get a girlfriend and leave her alone.
