Nox // Dramione

Conversation

Draco laid on his cot, twirling his wand between his fingers, and glowered at the ceiling.

The long term quarantine ward was made up of cubicles; boxed in, from floor to ceiling, with clear glass panes. Each cubicle had only a cot with a plastic mattress, a toilet, and a shower. Draco felt as though he had been locked up in a much cleaner version of Azkaban. 

At least the clothing wasn't lime green. He and Granger had been dressed in a unisex white shirt, white sweatpants, and white socks. She'd also arranged for each of them to have a desk placed into their small cubicle. They'd both pushed the desks against the wall that they shared, so they could see each other, and talk through the glass pane. 

Currently, Granger was writing in her journal, with methodical, perfect penmanship. 

"Can you stop sighing?" She asked, without pausing in her writing.

"Perhaps the Director of the hospital should invest in thicker walls," Draco tossed his wand up in a spin, and then caught it. 

Granger smacked her pen down on the paper and scowled at Draco. "If you're bored, you could help me with the illness guide that you proposed to the Minister." 

"Nobody asked you to write a thesis on the illness, Granger. I'm just waiting for you to finish so I can add the proper steps for containment that the community can easily follow," Draco tossed and caught his wand again. 

"I just want people to have all of the proper information," Granger chewed her lip.

Draco sighed, and pushed himself off of his cot, sauntering across the cubicle, and falling into the uncomfortable plastic chair by his desk. "One thing about getting people to follow protocol, Granger, is to keep everything short and simple. Tell them what they need to know or they're going to end up not reading the information and that will be a failure on our part. Tell them what the illness does, why they should be cautious, and what the symptoms are. They don't need the science shit." 

Granger scoffed at him, "The science part is very important!"

"It's important to you, Granger, but that's why it's your job to fix the problem. The wizarding community hasn't faced a disease outbreak like this since the first wave of Dragon Pox."

She sighed, and rested her palm against her face. "I'll try to cut it down, a little."

"Cut it down a lot. Put it into a paragraph." 

"A paragraph?!" She was outraged. 

Draco snorted, and unrolled a piece of his own parchment. He dipped his quill in ink, and began listing necessary protective measures, who to get in contact with in case someone falls ill, and containment procedures. 

"Do you think the Aurors have finished clearing out the Hamlet, by now?" Granger murmured, after a few moments of working in silence. 

Draco shrugged. "There were a lot of Inferi. If they're being as cautious as needed, it'll probably take a few hours."

"Why do you think that house was so protected?" 

"What do you mean?" Draco put down his quill. Clearly Granger was back to her plethora of questions, and he wouldn't have any peace until she was satisfied. 

"That rune circle was etched into the floor, so that when we stepped over the threshold, the Inferi would rise... but look at this.." Granger drew a photo out of a manila folder that was lying next to her arm on the desk. 

When she shifted, he noticed the thick pink scarring on her left arm that read, 'MUDBLOOD' in deep, crooked lettering. She saw his eyes upon it, and she dropped that arm beneath the desk, her face marbling into an expressionless cast. She smacked the picture against the glass.