Crimes Against Nature

Chapter 28 - Draco's POV

I needed to get us out of here. He was slowly killing her and I couldn’t let him keep hurting her. My auror training kicked in. I was glad he hadn’t thought to search me. I had an extra wand but I needed to get to it. I pulled on the chain as quietly as possible and found I could almost get my hand through. I tucked my thumb in as much as possible and pulled the shackle off. I felt something break but I had gotten it off. I grabbed the wand and made it full size. I unlocked the other shackle and made my way to Hermione as quietly and quickly as possible. I undid the ropes, careful not to hurt her any more and picked her up. “Come on love we’re almost out. You’ll be okay. I promise.” I located my main wand and set a tracker spell on it. I spied the weasel’s stolen wand and set one on his too. I apparated directly to the entrance of the ministry and ran in. I dashed to my office, thankful that there was no one around to see us considering I was covered in blood and was carrying an unconscious woman around.

I sent a patronous to Harry and a minute later he ran in. “Harry I need to take her to hospital. You need to track my wand, he still has it. That’s how he found us. I don’t know how he managed to put a tracker on my wand but he knew where we were. I had to use my back up wand” Harry looked at Hermione in my arms and picked up the blanket I had had on my couch and threw it over her. “I don’t know how they tracked your wand, but the minute you used the back up we at least knew you were okay but that something was holding you up. We were waiting for you to come back after our phone call, when you didn’t appear quickly we were worried. Take her to the hospital and set up the wards on the entire hospital. Have some of the nurses help you if you need it. Make sure you they have a look at your injuries too please. Go!” I apparated out of my office and into the hospital.

I felt like I was reliving the same day from 9 months ago. Except this time it wasn’t just Hermione Granger, brightest witch of our age, survivor of the second wizarding war and best friend of Harry Potter, that I was bringing to the hospital. This time I was bringing in Hermione Granger, the love of my life and I was fucking terrified of what would happen. I rushed towards the doctors, my hand and my side were killing me but I’d hold on until I knew she was okay. Doctors and nurses swarmed us and took over. One took her from my arms and set her on a bed. Another pushed me aside as they connected breathing tubes and another connected IVs to her.

A fourth nurse, a tiny old lady, took my hand and guided me away from her. “No! I can’t leave her! She needs to be safe. I need her safe!” I yelled out. The tiny nurse nodded. “You need to set up the wards my dear. She’s in good hands. Just give them time to get everything sorted and then you can be by her side again. Now come on, you have injuries we need to check too.” She pulled me towards a patient room and guided me to the bed. She waved her wand over my face and I could feel the cut on my face healing. “Where else are you hurt dear?” I held up my hand and a cast appeared on it after the bone was set in place. “Anywhere else?” I nodded. “I think my rib is broken. The pain is starting to catch up.”

She turned away from me to pick up some tape. “Off with the shirt then dear. We need to have that looked at as quick as possible and we need to clean you up. You can’t go back to her room covered in blood. You’ll give the poor girl a fright.” I removed my shirt and she began examining me. “Mhhm, you have 3 broken ribs and 2 that are severely cracked. Now, you gave to be very careful not to move around too much. If you’re not extra careful, you could finish breaking those too. I don’t think you want 5 broken ribs.” She finished taping me up and handed me a clean shirt that I put on quickly. I thanked her and pulled my wand out. I began reciting spells for the wards. She joined me in setting up the wards. When I finished I sat in the waiting room for some news about Hermione. I filled out her paperwork and waited.

After waiting for 2 hours, a doctor finally walked out. “Are you the auror that brought in Miss Granger?” I nodded and stood up. “Very well, Miss Granger is stable. She has 2 broken ribs and countless bruises. She’s currently on oxygen to help her because we noticed she had been choked multiple times for several minutes. She’s lucky she didn’t get brain damage  The burns she sustained will go away with time and antibiotics but for now she’s going to have to stay here for several weeks. Some of the burns are worse than others. The worst ones are on her wrists, neck and ankles. We’re worried about the healing and would like to keep her sedated for the following 3 weeks to see if it helps. You can go see her now.” He showed me the way to her room.

Seeing her lying in the hospital bed was too much to handle. I could see all the bruises and burns on her body. I sat on the chair next to her bed and cried silently. I wished she could wake up so I could see her smile at me. I felt my phone ring and answered it. “Malfoy! You need to help Harry find Ron. I’m on my way with some aurors to watch over ‘Mione. I’ll be there in 1 minute.” I hung up and waited for Ginny to arrive.

When Ginny got there she almost ran to Hermione’s bedside. “How is she?” she asked delicately. I explained everything and watched as she grew angrier and angrier. “Draco, you need to fucking catch him. I’m tired of Ron. We all are. The whole family is fucking pissed.” I nodded in agreement. “I know. Trust me. When I find him, I’m going to rip his fucking face off” I told her, balling my fist. That’s when she noticed my cast. “Wait, did he do that? Is that a bruise on your face? What the fuck happened?” I explained to her that Ron had taken both of us and that I hadn’t stayed to fight him because I was more worried about Hermione’s wounds. She looked between us and it finally dawned on her. “Go catch him and come back to her. I’ll stay here with her and protect her.” I thanked her and ran out. I would find that asshole if it was the last thing I did.

Two weeks had passed since I had taken Hermione to the hospital. I hadn’t been back since. We were still searching for the weasel. He would pop up and the disappear again. Today I had woken up determined to catch him. I was done waiting. I apparated to back to the ministry and met with Harry. “Have you found him?” I asked desperately. “We’re tracking your wand right now but we can’t just ambush him. Ron is smart and knows dangerous curses. We need to be careful.” I looked at him with exasperation. “Potter we don’t have time. Hermione’s in the hospital in a fucking coma because of him. He needs to pay. Either we go now or I go by myself.” Harry sighed. “Fine. Let’s go.” We appeared to where ever the weasel was hiding. “Homenum revelio” I casted quietly. Weasley’s location was exposed. We crept up quietly to where he was. “Stupefy!” I casted. He dodged it and ran. He threw curses at us that we kept evading. This went on for a few long moments.

“SECTUMSEMPRA!” I heard Weasley shout. I saw the curse fly towards Harry and pushed him out of it’s way. It hit me square in the chest. I fell to the floor consumed by pain. I was laying in a pool of blood but I could hear Harry fighting.

“EXPELLIARMUS!” shouted Harry. I saw wands fly by with half closed eyes. “Petrificus totalus!” I heard a heavy thud. Harry ran to my side. “Malfoy stay awake. Hermione needs you. She’s going to wake up soon and ask about you. Ginny told me the doctor said they would wake her up tomorrow because her burns were finally healed.” He was waving his wand over me casting healing spells. The spells weren’t working and the lacerations the curse had caused kept reopening. The pain was too much to bear and I passed out.