The Marriage Decree

Chapter 20: Memories?

Draco wakes up in the middle of the night, his head in agony and he has no idea why. He tries sitting up but the movement sends a pain shooting across his forehead, making him wince. He reaches his arm across the bed trying to feel for Hermione but his arm falls off the edge of the bed, which confuses him. He risks opening his eyes, pushing through the pain as he glances around the unfamiliar room. There's a white curtain pulled around the bed he's in and a soft light coming from somewhere near the foot of his bed. Closing his eyes, to try and block the pain out, he pushes himself up into a sitting position on the bed, swinging his legs over the side. The tiled floor is cold beneath his feet as he slowly stands, hand grasping his pulsating forehead. Slowly, he shuffles his way to the end of the bed, throwing the curtains back to reveal an empty room and a door, where the soft light's emitting. He carries on towards the door, pulling it open to reveal a familiar corridor. He turns to face the door and spots a board next to it states the patient within the room as 'Draco Malfoy'. He's in St Mungo's hospital.

"Mr Malfoy, you're not supposed to be out of bed. You're not stable on your feet yet." A man he assumes is a nurse, coming out of another patient's room, tells him.

"I can walk just fine." He snaps at the nurse, bringing his hand back up to his forehead. The pains getting worse.

"Come on Mr Malfoy, let's get you back into your bed and I'll go fetch you another pain relief potion." He tells him softly, guiding him back into his room.

"What happened to me?" He asks as he's lowered into his hospital bed.

"Didn't your wife tell you?" He questions.

"Hermione's been here?" Draco asks in return.

"Of course she was, she's very worried about you. You've had a few visitors actually. Mr Arthur Weasley and Mr Bill Weasley brought you here, then Mr Potter arrived with your wife and then Mr Ron Weasley showed up although there was a bit of a commotion with him. He left the hospital shouting about something or other. You stay there and I'll be back with your healer and a pain relief potion." The man tells him before leaving him alone in the dark room.

A few minutes later, the man returns with another man, who he assumes is his healer, and a bottle of pain relief which he gladly takes. He can feel the potion drowning the pain in his head instantly.

"Hello, Mr Malfoy. Do you remember me?" He asks, taking a piece of parchment and a self-refilling quill out of his pocket.

"No." He answers truthfully.

"Good, good." The man mutters as he writes something down.

"Why is my memory loss good?" Draco asks with a frown.

"What is the last thing you remember?" The man asks, ignoring his question.

He tries to think back. He and Hermione had been going to the Burrow for dinner. "Hermione and I went to the Burrow for dinner." He tells him.

"Excellent." He mumbles, writing something else down.

"What is 'excellent'?" He questions, becoming annoyed.

"Well, Mr Malfoy, my name is Healer Matthew and you were admitted to us yesterday afternoon with a fractured skull. We managed to stop the bleeding and stitch up your wound in the intensive care unit before moving you up here. When you woke up, you didn't even know your own name let alone who your wife was or what you had been doing earlier in the day. We gave you some potions to fix your fractured skull and the large cut on your forehead and you fell straight to sleep. Now that your memories of after your accident have returned and your injuries have healed, you'll be discharged with a few pain relief potion later in the morning." Healer Matthew explains.