She had to get Draco to the hospital. She doubted his brain was getting enough oxygen. How long before there was permanent brain damage? She needed to get him out to the apparition point. Or the floo. The floo was closer and didn't have the risk of splinching.
"Levicorpus," she muttered, allowing the spell to raise Draco's body up to shoulder height. His arms dangled awkwardly behind him and his head flopped grotesquely back. His eyelids opened to expose unseeing eyes. He isn't dead, she told herself. Not dead. Not dead. She resisted pushing his eyes closed.
Slowly she walked Draco's body to the floo. She didn't have enough control of the spell to move him into the fireplace. She had just decided that she would have to drag him into the fireplace when a hand touched her shoulder.
Ron was beside her, smiling gently. "I'll help you." He grabbed the floo powder and then looked at her questioningly.
"New York Wizard Hospital," she supplied shakily.
Between the two of them, they hoisted up Draco's dead weight. They half staggered into the fireplace. Ron threw down the powder and yelled their destination.
As they squeezed through the floo system, she scraped her elbows on the walls of several fireplaces. Hermione worried that a particularly small fireplace would spit one of their team out before they had made it to the hospital. However, with only a few scratches each, they finally made it to the hospital's floo station.
They stumbled out into the reception area that Hermione barely remembered from her last visit. Almost immediately, a healer rushed towards them.
He summoned a floating gurney and they assisted in sliding Draco onto it. Once she was no longer supporting Draco, her body started shaking. She barely noticed when Ron gave her a supporting arm. The healer was firing questions at her and it was all she could do to focus enough to answer. When he stopped his questions, she realized there was something she hadn't told him. Or, at least, she didn't think she had.
"It was yellow," she told the healer. "The spell was yellow."
"Yes, yes," the healer replied. "No visitors beyond this point. Go check in over there." He made a vague gesture to their left and then disappeared with Draco behind a set of double doors.
Her shaking was getting worse and she barely could understand the paperwork she had been given.
Ron gently took it from her hands. "I'll fill out everything I can," he said.
Hermione nodded. She pulled her knees up against her chest and curled into the chair. She rocked back and forth, trying to slow her breathing.
Ron poked her shoulder. "Hey, Hermione. What's Malfoy's address?"
Hermione stopped rocking and glared at him. Why was he poking her? What was his problem?
Ron raised his eyebrows. "Hermione?"
Right. He was trying to help her. She took a steadying breath and tried to remember what he had been saying. "Er... I don't know Draco's address."
Ron muttered something that sounded like 'good.'
She narrowed her eyes at him. "I love Draco," she almost snarled.
Ron raised both hands in front of him. "Okay, okay. I kinda bloody got that from the way you were crying over his body."
She stiffened.
He slowly reached out and rubbed her shoulder. "He is going to be okay."
She scowled. "How could you know that?"
He shook his head and grinned. "Because he'll do it just to spite me."
She choked on a strangled laugh that quickly melted into sobs. Hard, body-wracking sobs.
Ron pulled her against him and she pushed into his arms. She forgot why it was such a bad idea to hug Ron and took any comfort he gave her. At least, until she came to herself enough to be embarrassed. Slowly she sat back into her chair, shooting Ron hesitant looks. He didn't say anything, though. He merely patted her hand, picked up the paperwork, and continued filling it out.
The next several hours passed mostly in a blur. When Draco was finally moved to a normal room, Hermione discovered that Ron had left and Luna was there instead. Draco wasn't conscious yet. The healers said there wasn't much more they could do. The spell had been identified and countered. He had been given as many potions as he could handle to restore his body's functions.
She slept in fits, jerked awake by nightmares of what had happened the night before. At some point, Luna had disappeared and Ginny had arrived. When Hermione was awake enough to acknowledge her presence, Ginny pushed a mug towards her.
"Tea and some muffins. Eat. You need them," Ginny said.
Hermione propped herself up in the chair she had been trying to sleep in. "Thank you," she muttered sleepily. Everything hurt and several joints cracked as she stretched.
"What's the news on Malfoy?"
Hermione nibbled at a muffin. "His vitals are normalizing but he hasn't woken up yet. The healers say a specialist will come in the afternoon to do more extensive spell diagnostics."
"It's nearly noon. Have you tried to wake him up?"
Hermione glanced over towards Draco. The horrible yellow-green tinge of his skin was mostly gone. It had been replaced by a near-white pallor, though. The healers said he was probably sleeping off the spell's effects. She hoped he was just asleep. But what if she couldn't wake him up? What if there were effects the healers couldn't fix? She bit her lip.
"Go on," Ginny said softly.
Finally, Hermione pushed herself out of her chair. She stood next to the bed for several moments before she brought her hand up. Slowly she slid her fingers along his pale cheek. "Draco?"
He didn't even stir.
She squeezed his hand, stroking her thumb along the back of his hand. "Draco. Wake up."
Again, she didn't see any response.
She turned back to Ginny. "He probably just needs to sleep longer," she said, hoping Ginny wouldn't notice the quaver in her voice.
Ginny smiled sympathetically. "Probably."
Disheartened, Hermione returned to her chair, perching on its edge.
Ginny pushed the tea towards her. "Come on, drink."
Hermione picked up the tea but couldn't seem to force herself to bring it to her mouth. She blinked rapidly to stop the tears that were forming.
"He might just need the sleep right now," Ginny said encouragingly.
Still staring into her mug, Hermione nodded mutely.
Ginny stayed until Hermione finished her tea and muffin. There were a couple of stilted attempts at conversation until Hermione finally confessed she wasn't up to the company.
Ginny didn't seem bothered by this and got up to leave without a fuss. At the door, Ginny paused and looked back at Hermione and Draco. She shook her head and smiled. "How strange it is that things ended up like this. Before, none of us could have seen him doing something heroic like that."
Hermione nodded, unsure what else to say.
"He'll be okay," Ginny said before waving a little and closing the door behind her.
Hermione turned her attention back to Draco. She supposed Ginny was right. It was hard to remember exactly how she had felt about Draco when they had met here in America. She definitely hadn't trusted him. Couldn't have even imagined trusting him with her life like she did. Like she had just last night.
She supposed it was strange. And a little terrifying to care about someone that much. She had come to rely on him so much. He helped her get through the bad memories and potion problems. She didn't want to have to go through all that without him.
What was more, she wanted him to chase his own dreams. He was going to be an amazing Healer. The potions he created were going to help the whole Wizarding world, she just knew it. She wanted all that for him.
But he was so pale. Paler than before?
"Signum Vitalis," she whispered.
Yes. The colors were worse than the last time she had checked. She was out in the hall before the thought had fully formed. She ran up to the head healer, breathless and barely able to express her concerns.
The healer touched her shoulder in assurance. "The specialist is due in the next fifteen minutes. We'll make sure Mr. Malfoy is the first patient he sees."
Hermione nodded before rushing back to Draco's room. Every couple minutes she would recast the vital signs spell, just to be sure nothing changed.
When the Hex Specialist arrived, Hermione was ushered outside of the room.
At first, Hermione paced back and forth in the hallway. Then one of the healers had taken pity on her and told her it might take several hours. The healer directed her to a small cafeteria on that floor with a chocolate section.
Ah, yes. Chocolate. The universal healer right after tea. She bought a few chocolate frogs and found a seat by a window. As she opened one, she was reminded of a conversation she had had with Draco about chocolate frogs. Something about him not eating them when he was younger. What had he eaten instead? Maybe she should bring him some to tease him.
Her hands shook as she worked at the box. She stopped. Draco was going to be fine. Whatever had happened to him, he was alive. They would figure it out. It wouldn't end like this.
She used her wand to immobilize the frog, no longer in the mood to deal with charmed chocolate.
She stayed in the cafeteria for as long as she could stand. Eventually, the chocolate woke up her stomach enough for her to go back and grab an actual meal. However, once it was finished, she couldn't resist going back to Draco's room.
She checked with his healer, who said that the specialist was done. The spell's effects had been neutralized but it had damaged his normal systems. Due to the nature of the counter-spells, they couldn't give him anything else. He probably would be fine, the healer reassured her, but he was still very weak.
His room was again empty except for Draco, asleep. She returned to the chair and watched over him until she fell asleep as well.
When she woke up next it was dark and the hospital was quiet. Or, as quiet as it got in a hospital. She turned on the bedside light to check on Draco.
His color seemed better, but the light was a soft yellow that might be giving him more color than he had. Part of her wanted to shake him and ask him what he had been doing, throwing himself in front of the spell like that. Or, at the very least, why he hadn't left when she had told him to.
She ran a hand along his forehead, gently pushing away his stringy hair. "You should have made a run for it," she whispered. "I can protect myself, even against three people."
He shifted a little in the bed and Hermione's heart froze. Her breathing sped up as she looked for any other signs. "Draco?"
His eyes fluttered and then opened. He looked around the room in confusion until his gaze landed on her. "Hermione," he rasped.
She grabbed the water on the table and held the straw against his lips.
He rolled a little towards her and tipped his head down so he could take several swallows of water. Then he collapsed back against the bed. "Hospital?" he asked. His voice was still hoarse but not as raspy.
She nodded, trying to fight back tears. "Oh, thank God," she whispered.
He gave her a self-deprecating half-smile. "Yeah."
She reached out for his hand and he gripped it hard.
"I thought you were going to die," she whispered, immediately tearing up.
"Hey, it's okay now," he said. He tried to reach for her with his other hand, but the angle was too awkward.
Hermione wanted more contact as much as he seemed to. She knelt on the arm of her chair, the movement giving her enough height that she could lean over the bed. She crooked one arm on his chest, using it to pillow her head.
He reached up and brushed away some of the hair that had fallen into her face. Then his hand slipped to the back of her head, a tender expression lighting his face.
"Thank you, Draco," she whispered.
He made a little nod, as if it meant nothing. Then he went back to slowly stroking her hair, almost putting her to sleep. Finally, he said, "You're wrong, though,"
She blinked, confused.
"I couldn't have run. It would have made me the same coward I was in Hogwarts."
She frowned. "No, it wouldn't have. I know that if there had been any way you could have protected me you would have. You didn't need-"
He shook his head. "You knew that. But now I also know I'm that kind of man."
She paused. She didn't really want to be arguing with him right now. He did have a certain sort of point, even if she thought it was stupid. "Okay."
He raised an eyebrow. "Really?"
She shrugged a little. "If it lets you believe in yourself. But no more stupid heroics to prove yourself."
He inclined his head, as if to concede the point. Then a bemused smirk crossed his face. "But don't you want me to turn into a Gryffindor?"
"I already have enough idiots for friends," she said with a smile. But then her smile broke and she hunched her shoulders. "And... I can't handle seeing you like that again."
His face softened and he reached for her face. Seeing his hand shake, she touched it with her own, steadying it until he reached her cheek. Her tears ran even faster.
With his thumb, he gently wiped away a tear under her eye. "Sorry," he murmured. His gaze followed the path of another tear as it slid down her cheek and collected on her bottom lip. "I am so sorry, Hermione."
"All is forgiven," she whispered.
He closed his eyes for a moment and swallowed. His whole body seeming to relax.
A wave of affection washed over her for the man he had become. For what he had done for her. Their heads were already close but she stretched forward as far as she could.
At her movement, his eyes opened. He smiled a little and brought his head up to meet hers in a gentle kiss.
Given the hospital bed and Draco's weakened state, it wasn't that bad of a kiss. She didn't need more than that at the moment. Just Draco touching her and alive. In any case, when it came to make-up kisses, they would probably have plenty of chances to out-do this one.
...
All that is left is the epilogue! How crazy is that?
What did you guys think of this last chapter? This is the first time I've ever tried to wrap up such a long story so any feedback about strengths/weaknesses would be really helpful! I'll be posting the epilogue in the next day or two so look out for that :)