𝐌𝐎𝐂𝐇𝐀 | 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦

twenty

Ginny yawned, stretching her hands over her head and rubbing her eyes. Harry was snoring in the chair next to her, his head falling onto his chest. Blaise was out of the room on a work call- none of them had left Draco and Hermione's sides.

Ginny was about to turn her tired eyes back to her stack of papers when a soft voice said, "Gin?"

Ginny assumed it was just Harry before she remembered that he was asleep, and her head shot up. "Mione?!"

And it was. Hermione was struggling weakly to sit up, blinking sleepily in confusion. Ginny bolted out of her chair to her friend's side, pushing her back onto the bed while at the same time trying to get Harry's attention. Hopeless, really. Hermione said, "What's- Draco! Where's Draco?"

"He's right there, Mione," Ginny said, pointing at the next bed. Draco was still asleep, his pale face serene- the least stressed that Ginny had ever seen him, save when he was around Hermione. "He's alright."

Ginny didn't know that but she chose to keep that information to herself. Discreetly, she pushed the button for the nurse while speaking to Hermione, who was frowning, bemused. "But he took a killing curse."

"We don't know exactly what happened," Ginny explained quietly, "but he's still alive."

"It must have been me," Hermione gasped. "The occulmency... I gave him my magic."

"Your magic?"

"Yes- I was gone too because a witch's magic is like her lifeforce," Hermione explained. Ginny rolled her eyes. Fresh out of a coma and she was already giving an educational lecture.

The nurse bustled in, shoving Ginny out of the way to get to Hermione. Ginny retreated into the corner as the nurse began to ask questions, shaking Harry awake. "Harry. Harry Potter!"

"Wha-what?" Harry asked, disgruntled, glasses skewed on his nose as he jerked awake.

"Hermione's awake."

Harry's eyes widened as he caught sight of Hermione speaking to the nurse. "Is she alright?"

Ginny shrugged. "She seems fine... we'll see what the nurse says."

Harry's mouth twisted down into a worried frown even as he tried to appear optimistic. "She has to be."

Ginny pressed her lips together and sat back down, Harry's wordless but still-comforting presence at her shoulder. She sighed and looked at the ceiling. She had to be.

Blaise had joined them by the time they were rejoined by the nurse, who had kicked them out of the room. Harry and Blaise were sitting against the wall like children in timeout, and Ginny was pacing. Her head snapped up when the door opened and the nurse stepped out.

"Is she-"

"She will be fine," the nurse said gently with a nod. Ginny let out a half-relieved exhale, half-sob, and Blaise rushed to her. Harry blew out a breath.

"Thank Merlin."

"They both need a lot of time to recover," the nurse said, interrupting. "It seems as if Ms. Granger had used her very magic to revive Mr. Malfoy just before he slipped away- they are both surviving on the scraps of her magic. That being said, she will be fine- both of them will be fine, but it will be months- years, maybe, before they are fully recovered."

Harry blinked, trying to comprehend that Hermione was out of commission for a long time. That was going to drive her up the wall. The nurse began again, "They will
most likely not be able to use magic- and if they do, at first, they will need to be around each other. They will be crutches for each other- Mr. Malfoy absorbed Ms. Granger's magic, so he will need to be around her until his own magic replenishes. Like I said, that will take a long time."