Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Through the Son	By : Marionne25 Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 15949 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and am not making any money from this story.

Chapter List
- 19
- 20
- 21
Chapter Nineteen
The Invitation

“Come in.” Draco answered without looking up from the parchments he had been scribbling on.

He had been spending the rest of his after-lunch time in his small office writing reports about his present patients.
His afternoon had been free of patients and other duties and he was thankful that the first availability of the room for Hermione’s therapy session was nine the following morning.
He had all the time for himself and to catch up to his own piling up paperwork.

The door gently opened and in came a middle-aged woman who brings in and out packages and letters for Healers at the hospital.
She entered and moved to his and handed over a small package by his table.
Draco only nodded and thanked her and she left without a word and only a very small smile.
Draco could only guess that she knew him from the war of course.
He finished writing two more paragraphs before looking up at the package that the woman had left.

It was in emerald and black lining.
He could already guess what it was.

Sighing heavily, Draco pulled the ribbon apart and was showcased was a nice silver ring in shape of a serpent with an emerald stone over it and the emblem of his family crest was over the small black box.

A larger scale envelope was next to it – his father’s invitation for the Masquerade Ball he was really trying to push through as his welcome home party.

Draco sighed and rolled his eyes wondering where in the depths of hell his father could have gotten such gallant finance support to fund and suffice for the party he tried so hard to stop from happening.

“I also got one.” Harry said to Bill over the cafeteria in the Ministry of Magic.
He waved a large envelope in front of him that Bill quickly recognize.

Apparently, Lucius Malfoy was holding a special Masquerade Ball in his manor and every head employee of the Ministry of Magic is invited to his grand event.
Harry being Head Auror was invited and expected to come and Bill who was presently one of the heads in the department that cared for magical creatures were also invited to the event.

Lucius Malfoy obviously wanted an all-out celebration where all the heads of each government branch would be present in recognition of his ‘back to society’ stage of his life.

“Are you going?” Bill asked through a mouthful of vegetables and potato salad.
“Are we supposed to go?” Harry asked him being invited in such an occasion for the first time. “Are we required to go?”
“I supposed not.” Bill said. “But I’ll ask Fleur because if this place will be filled with those rich people – I may find a person or two who might be interested in funding out department. Caring for magical creatures isn’t that easy and the money in the bag isn’t always full so-“
“Hermione will murder me if I go to this thing.” Harry said. “She clearly despises everything that is about the Malfoys.”
“She still hasn’t forgiven them?” he asked Harry. “I mean I know it’s not easy but..”
“She hasn’t.” Harry simply said. “And I don’t think she ever will.”

Silence passed them.

They knew of Hermione’s long history of hatred for the Malfoys especially for Lucius Malfoy who had been the sole reason for her parents’ deaths at the time of the war.

She would never-ever forgive them Harry was very sure of that fact.
They continued on their meals with Harry still thinking if he should be going to the ball that was going to be held at the Malfoy Manor.
Ofcourse Hermione would never want to attend that – what with the horror and memories the manor has given them.
Dobby was only the tip of the iceberg on that memory for him.

But what of what Bellatrix Lestrange did to Hermione?

No, not in a million years will Hermione step back on that place ever again.

“Oh great, you’re finally here. I’m so hungry.” Hermione greeted from her bed the moment Harry arrived at the hospital.
He was carrying a small box of workload that he planned to do overnight at the hospital.
One look at him told Hermione he didn’t have any of the food she had asked him to bring and expected him to buy for her.
“Where’s my pie?” Hermione asked him. “Where’s my dinner?” she asked demandingly.

Harry entered the room and settled his things over the couch for the guest in the private ward and turned to Hermione.
He had a package of food in his hand but that quickly told Hermione that it wasn’t what she was expecting.

“Well, I was sort of given orders that you were in a sort of diet and that-“
“Where’s my food?” she demanded clearly.

Harry looked slightly scared and disappointed at the same time.
He had been given a notification that Hermione was to undergo a special food diet to enable her to gain strength and stamina for her to be able to cope better for the therapies she was to undergo.
“I sort of received a note in regards-“
“That stupid, idiot – Malfoy put you up into this, didn’t he?” Hermione asked with a sharp gaze.

Harry didn’t say anything.
He heavily sighed and walked over to her bed.
“Your diet is actually healthy, Hermione. And Malfoy said-“
“Malfoy said what?” Hermione demanded of him. “Is this how it’s going to be, Harry? You’ll let Malfoy tell you around?”
“Malfoy’s not telling me around!” Harry rounded up on her.

He didn’t mean it.
But Hermione already looked slightly hurt and he too was surprised at his own outburst.

In truth?

He was tired from work today and had been tired these past few days tending to her needs and whims included but he never said anything about these things because he always promised to take good care of her and he wasn’t going to let her go just because she was being stubborn.
But lately, it all feels too much for him.

“Harry-“
“Look, ‘Mione.” Harry said walking to her bed and staring closely at her. “Listen to me. You’ve got to hear me out. You’re going to be alright but in order for you to get out of this hospital in a faster pace, you’ve got to listen to what Malfoy tells you. He’s not telling you around nor is he doing the same thing to me – he’s doing his job, Hermione – he’s a Healer. And based on what I see, he’s bloody good at his job.”

Hermione was silenced.

She remained staring at Harry with a blank gleam in her eyes.
And that’s what always scared him.
She always had that look over her face – after the war, after her losses – that look in her facial features, in her eyes – that scared him.
Because in the long years they’ve known one another whenever she wore that look over her face, there was something she wasn’t telling him – there was something she was thinking that he would never know about.

“Hermione-“
“I’m not hungry.” Hermione quietly said withdrawing from him as he had expected. “I want to sleep early. Use the small lights if you’re going to work the night away.”

And with that, she sank back into the bed and covered herself under the sheets.
Harry stood there, unmoving and almost desperate to remove the sheets over her.

He knew that she didn’t it the whole day and only the tray of pudding had been touched from her hospital food over the corner.
She had been hungry and had been obviously waiting for him to buy her something decent to eat.
But he couldn’t just always give in to her whims – not when it was no longer healthy for her.

No, even if she gets mad at him he was going to do what was right because as far as he could tell, he had let her be in these long years to go and stay in the dark and mourn for the losses she and the rest of them weren’t going to gain back no matter how much tears they would shed.

“Aren’t you the Malfoy heir?” asked a voice.
Draco turned up from the tray of food he had been consuming for late lunch.

It was two hours after the usual lunch break but he had decided to eat at later time in order to avoid the crowd at the school cafeteria and have enough time to study.

He no longer had classes for the whole day and so a little lunch break would do him well and he could spend the rest of the hours at the library.
There were two dark haired boys staring down at him at the cafeteria table.

“I’m Draco Malfoy, yes.” Draco quietly answered trying his best to keep a straight face and at the same time not sounding to be arrogant.
He didn’t want a fight.
He wanted a peaceful life at the academia.

“So, aiming to be a Healer, huh?” they asked staring and pointing down at the ID tag he had over his white uniform.
“Yes.” Draco quietly answered again. “Looks that way.”
“Why do you have to study Malfoy?” one of the boys asked as they both settled in front of him.

Draco didn’t answer.
He knew that tone and he knew where this was going.

“We asked you.” the other boy had said nudging his tray of food.
Still, Draco didn’t answer.

“Arrogant little daddy’s boy.” mocked the other boy. “What do you think? Being here in another country will evade you from paying off what you and your family owes the Wizarding World?”

Draco stared up at them.
They were the two boys he had bested earlier at the subject-debate in the classroom.

He had won over the grading points and had let the two boys gain nothing.
They obviously wanted some sort of pay-back from him.
He didn’t know them personally but by the way they were acting, it wasn’t only grading points he owed them.

“Look.” Draco began. “Whatever it is-“
One of the boys pulled his tray aside and scattered every bit of food all over the table.
There were only very few people at the cafeteria but had ignored what was going on.
They were now standing over the table and was staring at Draco with their wands out.
Draco remained unmoving and not wanting to meet their eyes again.

“You can’t just leave the past like that, Draco Malfoy.” said the boy twitching his wand near Draco’s face to threaten him. “Do you know how many lives your family has destroyed?”
“I can’t put back what has been done.” Draco quietly answered them with a look of determination over his face.

Under the table, his fists were clenched together as he tried to restrain himself from pulling his wand out.

“Nice burn over your face. At least some of your features let you be reminded that the world turns around and it’s not always that the Malfoys are on top.”

One of them swirled the one around and he pointed it over Draco’s bag.
The zipper gave away and all of Draco’s books and parchments fell over the floor where the bits and remains of his scattered food also lay.
Draco sighed heavily but he still didn’t move from his place.
He didn’t want to do anything that will put attention to him that will put his academic life into smithereens – it was the only thing he had at the moment.

“Mind your place and boundaries, Malfoy.”
The two boys laughed out loud at the sight before them and started to leave.
They were a few tables away from them when one of them turned around and about and called Draco out.
“In case you’re wondering, Malfoy – your father trampled all over my grandfather’s business until he died out of ill-feelings for a business he had spent his entire fortune and life with from which your father just took without the slightest bit of remorse for an old man.”

And with that, they left Draco alone to his messy table and clouded thoughts.

The following morning, Hermione found herself in a wheelchair being wheeled down by Harry towards the therapy ward.
She was to have her first main sessions that morning and with Draco nevertheless.
She and Harry had not spoken as much since the previous night’s argument where Harry had spent the rest of the night down the cafeteria that was open for 24 hours and had worked there and left Hermione alone in the room.

“Are you going to the Ministry today?” Hermione asked him as they went down two more corridors.
“Yes.” Harry simply answered her. “After your therapy, Kingsley expects me to report today at the office. Fleur and Bill noted that they’ll be visiting and accompanying you after lunch.”

Hermione only nodded and didn’t say anything.
She knew that Harry was still feeling bad about her and was still against her little vendetta against Draco Malfoy.
They finally reached the double doors that lead to the therapy ward.

“Harry-“
“Malfoy said that the therapy session will take about two or three hours, depending on your stamina and the way that your body will respond to it.”
Hermione watched him settle the chair around and was still obviously avoiding her gaze.

“Harry-“
“After your therapy, a Medi-Witch will pick you up and bring you back to your room but if Fleur and Bill are already here by that hour, they’re going to take you from this ward. I’ve already left them instructions-“
“Harry, talk to me.” Hermione pleaded gently grasping his hand.

Harry stopped moving and stared down at her.
Their eyes finally meet.
He was so filled with emotions that she knew were for her.

“Harry.”
“Hermione, I’m only trying to make life better for you.” Harry quietly said. “And there are things you wouldn’t like about it but it’s only for your best.”
“I know.” Hermione said looking away from him. “You just.. I just need time.”
“I’m giving it to you.” Harry quietly said. “But you’ve also got to give chances to the people and circumstances around you.”
“You’re not asking me to give Malfoy a chance, are you?” she asked him with a raised brow.
“No.” Harry said gently putting her arm down away from him and turning to the door. “I’m asking you to behave yourself as a person because he’s your Healer and there’s nothing we can both do about it.”

Hermione bit her lower lip and drew her hand back as Harry pushed the double doors and gently pushed her chair inside.
It was a large therapy room unlike the one she had been in before.
There were a few bars and other exercise equipment in the room and a couple of cabinets that she supposed were lockers for the patients.

“Potter. Granger.”
Hermione looked up at Draco who greeted them with a small smile.
She looked away from him, obviously still very much displeased about the whole situation.

“Bill and Fleur might wait for her outside after her therapy.” Harry said wheeling the chair properly with Draco’s help.

“Yes, sure.” Draco replied gladly. “They can surely wait outside. I don’t think we’ll take long at her first day. I still need to watch her stamina and stabilize a routine that will be apt to what her body could do and will respond into.”
Harry nodded as Draco helped him out and moved the chair towards one of the bar grills from which Hermione would later start her exercise on.
If Harry would take a closer observation through all of it, Draco was being the professional he expected him to be.

He already knew that his job wasn’t easy and working with Hermione was another different and difficult matter at hand and the way he was handling things, Harry was surprised at himself that he actually was glad that Draco was the one handling her.
Despite Hermione’s disinterest with Draco and his records as Healer, Harry had heard a great deal of him and his abilities and how good he was at what he was doing at his chosen profession.

“I’ll see you later, ‘Mione.” Harry quietly said, holding her hand and kissing her over the head as he always does.
Hermione only nodded and listened as Harry left them both alone in the room.
She looked up and Draco was writing over his chart again.
“We’ll do a few stretches first.” Draco said as he turned back to her and pointed over the elevated bed in the middle of the room.
He moved behind her and slowly wheeled the chair towards it and patted over the matted bed.

“You settle over here and then we’ll start out with the stretches.”
“You expect me to climb that?” Hermione asked with a raised brow.
“No.” Draco said rolling up his sleeves and lowering himself to the level of the wheelchair. “I expect you to hold onto me because I’m going to carry you to get you up there.”
“I’d rather climb, thanks.” Hermione haughtily said ignoring his arms that were already outstretched and waiting for her to hitched on.

“You’re wasting time.” Draco said nodding towards his outstretched arms again. “It’s not even going to take a minute, Hermione.”
“Oh, Hermione now, isn’t it?” Hermione asked him with an obvious lash at the end of her tongue.

Draco heavily sighed and shook his head.

“Miss Granger.” Draco slowly emphasize with all the patience he could possibly try to stretch out. “I need to carry you over to the bed. Climbing will take so much time. Please allow me to assist you by carrying you.”
Hermione stared back at him with pure hatred.
She crossed her arms and looked away from him.

“I’m either climbing or we don’t do this at all.” Hermione snapped at him.
Draco stared at her for a moment and Hermione gave him a challenging glared.
He looked like he had been restraining himself since day one but Hermione was just really being very difficult and trying his patience to its edge.

“You know what..” Draco said as he straightened his sleeves and rolled them up. “Potter told me that I can do whatever it takes to help you out and get you back on your feet.”

“I’m sure he did.” Hermione said shaking her head and mimicking Harry’s facial expression.
“Yes, he did. So I’m quite sure he wouldn’t mind at all if I do this.”
“Do what?”

And Hermione soon found out.
She yelped, unable to stop herself and grasped Draco painfully over the arms in her fear of falling.

Draco had suddenly edged towards her and without warning, had scooped her in one strong go in his arms and took her out from the chair and settled her over the bed all the while that she was yelling at him.

It took him less than a few seconds to do it and the hatred and fear over Hermione’s face was just priceless.
Hermione was angrily lashing at him with curses and words as he moved to set the chair away and aside from the bed.

His back was turned to her so Hermione had a hard time seeing that Draco was struggling not to laugh out loud with what he had just done.

“You are absolutely not allowed to do that again!” Hermione angrily said, almost yelling at him.
She was fuming in so much anger that she was already red in the face.
Draco on the other hand, was as calm as fuck.

It angered her even more.
“Are you listening to me?” Hermione said as she watched him settle in a couple of compress and mats at the end of the large bed. “Are you listening to me, Malfoy?!”
“I can hear you alright, Miss Granger.” Draco quietly replied without looking up at him and rolling his sleeves back down.

He was trained to do this.
He had been trained to control patients who were either violent or physically challenging and at the moment, Hermione was both.

He continued to ignore her and he knew that it was angering her even more.
But what could he do?

Their fights would never end if he paid her back with the same unnecessary attention she had been giving him since day one.

He turned back to her and asked her to settle back over the bed and just to stretch her arms and legs into one direction.
Hermione was still angry, but she followed all the same.

“I need you to lift yourself a little.” Draco said as he grabbed a small slightly flattened pillow that she had to lay her backside on.

Hermione stared up at him before stretching herself out with his guidance and she tried to carry her weight up with Draco’s help.
He didn’t say anything nor was there any expression over his face but Hermione felt very conscious when his hands had passed her backside as he settled the pillow right there to elevate her hips area.
Draco managed the small task and helped her stretched her arms and legs down again.
“We’ll start with your arms first.”
“Incase you haven’t noticed Malfoy, my arms don’t have any problems.”
“By beginning with your arms, you’ll have a sense of rhythm of the movements we would be doing. It would set the temperature over your body and guide your whole system into the breathing pattern.” Draco said as if he didn’t hear her comment.

Hermione eyed him but followed all the same.
He moved to the other end of the bed at the right side area and helped her to stretch her arms.
He moved and stretched them out in certain and slow angles while counting and asking her to breathe in and out while counting as well.

He did the same with her other hand and she slowly and wordlessly follow.
He could hear her breathing patterns change at certain movements giving him the diagnosis that there were certain in-depth pain in the muscles around her arms from which she ignored or rather didn’t notice at all.

“How are you feeling?” Draco slowly asked as he moved to the other side again.
Hermione was breathing heavily and was slightly sweating.
“Oh, I’m feeling just fantastic-“
“Please answer as necessary, Miss Granger.” Draco quietly said as he read through the chart, wrote something and stared back at her.
“I could hardly breathe when we were doing some of the third stretches.” Hermione said, staring back up at him. “But other than that, there wasn’t much pain at all and I could breathe normally.”
“There were some hidden fractures over here.” Draco said, pointing the end of her quill along the side of her arms.
“What do we do with it?” Hermione asked him.
“Compress and we continue with your therapy. It would be better in no time. Do you think you’re ready to try out with your legs?” he asked her.
“Give me a moment.” Hermione breathlessly answered.
“Alright. I’ll get you a glass of water.” Draco said before Hermione could protest he already moved and walked to the next room.

She watched him disappear from view and breathed out her exhaustion.
He had been right to start the exercises with her arms because the stretches were already too exhausting and painful for her to endure.
She wouldn’t admit it to his face, but she was now slightly impressed by his knowledge over what he was doing.
He seemed to know his job and his patients very well.

Finance and education didn’t seem wasted over the Malfoy heir after all.
And his hands – they guided and handled her with such gentleness that she didn’t really expect from him.
He held her in such a way like he knew where exactly it pained her and where to properly handle each and every inch of her.

“Stop it, Hermione.” Hermione muttered to herself, shaking her head and realizing the thoughts she was being led to.
“You alright?” Draco’s voice suddenly came.

He was back and he held a glass of water for her.
She only stared back at him hoping that he wasn’t good at reading minds.
“I wouldn’t poison you.” Draco said offering the glass again.
“I didn’t say you would.” Hermione said grabbing the ice-cold water with her eyes gleaming at him. “And neither did I say that you could.”

Draco watched as she went and drained the glass in one go.
Draco looked away as he realized that his eyes passed her lips, her jawline and the lump in her throat that moved and pulsed as she drank and swallowed the water.

“Thanks.” Hermione said stretching her hand out and handing him back the empty glass.
“Right.” Draco said taking it from her and settling it aside.
He walked back to her and stared down over her legs under her hospital dress robes.
“So.. Right..” Draco said shaking his previous thoughts away again.
Hermione seemed to be too conscious herself to notice the change in his tone and the way he stared down at her.

“Let’s begin with your left leg?” he asked.
“How about on my right since you’re already on my right side?” Hermione sarcastically said.
“Right. Right first. Right.” Draco said, heavily breathing and moving to the lower end of the large bed.

He guided her gently to move closer to the edge of the bed and asked her to move her right leg part from the other.
“I’m going to have to guide you from here and you’re going to have to attempt moving it this way.” Draco said as he gently pointed over the side of her thigh and to her lower limb area.

Hermione didn’t look comfortable at the idea of it but she nodded all the same.
“Just breath in and this time around, you’d have to count until five. We’ll stretch it out and then bend gently and back a few more times. If the pain is too much let me know, alright?”
“Yeah.” Hermione said unable to breath intensely as she felt Draco’s fingers slowly ran and settle beneath her thigh and his other hand running gently to her lower limb.

She knew that this was physically needed to be done through her therapy but for some reason, she couldn’t exhaust her thoughts away and she hated herself for it.

She bit her lower lip to keep herself from making unwanted or unnecessary sounds at that very moment when his hands were just beneath her right leg and were unconsciously making tingling sensation all through her body.

“Are you alright?” Draco asked her seeing the concern over her face and the way her brows furrowed as if she was concentrating very hard on something.
“I’m fine.” Hermione answered steadily, looking away from him.
“Is it painful?”
“No.”
“Is there an uncomfortable sensation in the muscular area?”
“No.”
“Are you sure-“
“Yes, I’m fine. Let’s do this.” Hermione said unable to stop herself from feeling completely irritated at his questions.

The whole situation was uncomfortable enough without him having to keep on asking questions after another that was making her feel even more anxious and uncomfortable about it all.

Although at this rate, whatever Hermione was feeling was nothing compared to what Draco was feeling himself.
His fingers and whole arm were already sweating beneath his hospital uniform and his forehead was filled with beads of sweat.

He was nowhere comfortable into doing this whole part in the therapy.
He had to handle her gently and yet in a firm way to ensure that her muscles were doing what they were supposed to be doing and he himself should stay and remain focused onto whatever her body was doing and if it was synchronized and coordinated to their counts and to her breathing.

The task was nowhere near easy itself and the pressure of their whole situation wasn’t helping at all.

Draco took time to stretch either of her legs and repeated the whole process a few more times with different cycle in breathing patterns and stretches.
once he’d finished, Hermione was already too physically exhausted and was in slight pain to even notice how sweaty Draco had already been.

“Breath in and out. I’ll get you some water.” Draco said as he let her whole body go and quickly turned away from her.
Hermione nodded and felt the pain around her legs and hip area where the damage had been done worse of all.

It took a while for Draco to return with her refilled glass of water.
This time around, Hermione took it without a word nor any hesitation and drained the ice-cold water he handed her out of her thirst and exhaustion.

“You alright?” he asked her seeing the redness around her cheeks.
“I’m okay.” Hermione truthfully answered. “But that was draining.”
“You’ll get used to it.” Draco said with a small smile. “We took more than an hour. You’ll last longer next time.”
“Yeah. I think I’ll need a lot of sleep when I get back into my room.”
“I’ll have a warm compress prepared for you back in your ward before you go to sleep. I’ll also have some chamomile tea brought in for you so you can sleep well.”

Hermione nodded at his instructions and watched as he intently scribbled back over her chart, eyes moving left and right as he wrote away.
She looked at him and the way he handled the whole situation.

Looking back and thinking, he might have been just as uncomfortable as she was but he was just doing his job.
He was just doing his job – that was what Harry had been reminding her from the beginning.
She shook her head and bit her lower lip.
She obviously owed Harry a large sort of apology.
How childish and idiotic she must have been over the past few days.
“Ready?” Draco’s voice interrupted her thoughts again.
He had wheeled the chair back next to the bed again and was smiling at her in a sort of way.
She nodded wordlessly at him.

He moved to the bed and was sort of ready to help her climb down when Hermione had automatically flung her arms around his neck.
He stopped for a moment but not before Hermione could notice the hesitation.
Without second thought, Draco let Hermione place her arms around his neck and as gentle as he could, carried her off the bed and brought her back down onto her wheelchair.

Hermione laid herself back onto the soft feel of her comfortable chair and sighed heavily as she looked forward into going back into her room and sleeping the rest of the morning after that tiring therapy session.

Draco wordlessly took his chart and placed it over the small pocket at the back of her chair and gently wheeled her around and out of the therapy room.
As they went off their way back towards Hermione’s room they both didn’t notice something – the time it took for them to reach Hermione’s private ward had been the quiet and peaceful time they had shared together without having to lash at one another or say something unkind or rude towards the other.
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Through the Son