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Hermione had not given up on her mission for the house elves. Not at all. She had simply seen the need for different methods that didn’t terrorize the elves and a better marketing approach than SPEW. So while she had not given up, she no longer hid clothing for unsuspecting elves to find. Instead, Hermione focussed on passing legislation to protect elves from abuse and provide safe working conditions, pay, and time off. And she was late. Hermione was late to the Wizengamot. It had taken her months to get a bill in front of the Wizengamot and, of course, she had picked last evening to come down with a mysterious illness. She had been up shivering and sniffling all night. She would be fine. She could rest after presenting her bill.
Hermione ran, or tried to run, down the halls of the ministry after what had felt like the longest lift ride in history. She had transfigured her pajamas into something resembling formal robes and done her best to tame her hair by pulling it back. She skidded to a stop outside the chambers of the Wizengamot and took a deep breath to compose herself before stepping into the chambers ready to defend her bill with vigor and, hopefully, minimal coughing. The house elves needed this.
She stopped short upon entering the chambers. Cho Chang from the Department of Mysteries was speaking. Cho had been up to speak before Hermione, but her time slot should have ended 15 minutes ago. Why was Cho still speaking?
‘Yes, as I believe I have clarified, this project is just in nascent stages and changing the safety protocol before completing a full analysis would pose risks to our researchers.’
‘Thank you Dr. Chang. Any further questions?’ Kingsley asked, directing a glare toward Draco Malfoy who was sitting with her colleague Daphne. No one rose to ask follow up questions. ‘Alright then, we move on to the next order of business. A amendment to the house elves act of 1648 presented by Hermione Granger’
Hermione stepped out in front of the Wizengamot and began the speech she had been practicing for days. ‘Minister of magic, distinguished members of the Wizengamot, house elves have been living peacefully helping and protecting wizards for centuries with minimal protection from the law…’
And it was done. Hermione had presented and defended the house elves bill. Seven months of work and years of planning. She held her breath as the vote was held. She knew it would be close as the more conservative members of the Wizengamot were not supporters of advancing creature rights. She counted the hands going up in support, 25, 26, 27! That was above the threshold needed to pass her bill! Hermione glanced up to see Daphne grinning and flashing a thumbs up. She felt a moment of excitement before the aches and sleep deprivation which had been abated by the adrenaline of her presentation hit her and her vision swam. She grabbed onto the rail surrounding the chambers. She would be home soon.
‘Congratulations, Hermione! We knew you could do it!’ Harry, Ginny, and Ron surrounded her giving her quick hugs. ‘Dobby would be so happy’
Kingsley came down to the floor and congratulated her as well, then the Wizengamot had to continue on with its session. Hermione excused herself to go home, take some potions, and collapse into bed.
This hallway had always seemed so much shorter and the lights had never been this bright before. Hermione made it to the lift, but felt herself fall as the lift jerked into motion. She heard someone calling her name, but they seemed far away and the lights were so bright. Everything could wait, she needed to sleep, she gave in and fainted.
Hermione came to in St. Mungos, an older mediwitch hovering over her and her body bathed in the gentle glow of diagnostic spells. ‘You’re awake. Don’t try to sit up’ the mediwitch warned as Hermione looked about the room trying to gain her bearings. ‘You have a case of dragon-pox. Normally this is quite mild and would pass in two to three days, but you have let yourself get run down and seriously dehydrated, so I wouldn’t be surprised if you were down for a week.’ Seeing the dismay in Hermione’s eyes the mediwitch continued ‘Don’t give me that look. All you young people are constantly on the go and it does your health no good. Take some time off; you need it. Now rest a bit and I will be back with your next round of potions later.’ With that the mediwitch left the curtained area and Hermione was alone. She did feel better, still exhausted and a bit woozy, but her limbs were no longer aching and her head had stopped pounding. She made another attempt to sit up and looked about for her beaded handbag.
‘Hey Granger, the mediwitch said you might still be awake’ Malfoy said, popping around the curtain.
‘Who are you?’ That is not what Hermione had intended to say. She had a lot of questions, but this was not one of them. She was very familiar with the blonde who had taken a position in the ministry law office and often liaised with Harry and Ron. But, her brain was working slowly, her thoughts flowing like molasses and she was left staring rather stupidly at Draco which was very unlike her.
He laughed in response then handed her a cup of ice water which made Hermione suddenly realize how thirsty she was. ‘Granger, I am offended. Here I thought I had made enough of an impression for you to remember me.’
‘No. Yes. I mean… Why are you here?’ Though their relationship had improved significantly since Hogwarts and they might be called friends at this point, they were not close friends and it would have made more sense for Harry or Ginny to be at the hospital with her.
‘Mmm. You fainted into my arms’ When she still looked confused he continued ‘I was behind you leaving the Wizengamot chamber when you fainted. I brought you here as we cannot have the Brightest Witch of Our Age dying on us. Brilliant presentation this morning, by the way, congratulations.’
‘I have dragon pox, so I wouldn’t have died’ She winced. That sounded ungrateful, but she was too tired to care right now.
‘Glad to hear it.’ He appeared to be amused, but Hermione wasn’t sure why.
‘Have you seen my bag?’
‘Ah, yes, I have it right here,’ he returned her bag, making Hermione feel more secure. She always felt that things would be alright as long as she had her bag. ‘Also, I have owled Potter and Weasley, and I expect one of them to arrive shortly’
They sat awhile in silence and eventually Hermione drifted off again.
She awoke to loud voices in the hall.
Draco was still sitting beside her cot and smiled upon seeing her awake.
‘Dr. Esmarlo left some potions for you to take. Do you want them?’ Hermione nodded, struggling to sit. Draco slid an arm around her and helped her up before handing her two shimmering bottles which she downed.
‘What time is it?’
‘Little past three in the afternoon. You have been out for a couple hours. Are you feeling better?’
Hermione nodded
‘Good. Then, I am going to go grab Dr. Esmarlo to take a look’ He ducked out from behind the curtain as Hermione rubbed her eyes and tried to stretch a bit.
A moment later the mediwitch stepped around the curtain. ‘I see someone is awake. How are you feeling? Any stiffness in your neck?’ She asked as she began casting diagnostic spells.
‘I am feeling a bit better, though still exhausted. My neck feels fine, but my throat is sore.’
‘Good, good. Your fever has broken. I expect you will need a few days of rest to heal, and that means real rest’ she said with a significant look. ‘With that it looks like you will be good to go home. Get someone to look after you for a couple days. Here is a script for some potions. Take both three times daily, they may go down better with food. Do you have any questions?’
‘How long will I be contagious?’
‘Probably just a day or two more, wait until the cough subsides before mixing with anyone who hasn’t already had dragon-pox. Anything else?’ Hermione shook her head ‘Then I will go get your young man and we can get you out of here’ And then she was gone before Hermione could protest.
Draco reappeared ‘Let’s get you out of here Granger.’
‘Didn’t you owl Harry and Ron? Where are they?’
‘So… It turns out neither of them had dragon-pox growing up. I know, surprising with the number of Weasleys running about. I have had dragon-pox, so for the time being you are stuck with me, though I believe Molly has already sent more soup to your apartment than you will ever be able to eat.’ He looked a bit nervous, as if he thought Hermione would reject help from him.
‘Sorry to be such a bother. If you can just get me home, I am sure I will be fine.’
‘You are not a bother, couldn’t be. Let’s get you home, get some soup in you, I will pick up your potions, and then we will see what happens.’
Hermione nodded, this seemed like a good plan, she really just wanted to curl up with Crookshanks and sleep for a whole week, possibly two. She took a moment to straighten up as Draco checked her out of the ward. Then he helped her up and together they made their way to the floo.
Hermione collapsed the moment they entered her apartment.
‘Whoa’ Draco caught her and held her up ‘Let’s get you into bed’ Normally Hermione would have been worried that he was seeing her apartment in such an untidy state, but she was too tired. After being practically carried to her bedroom she collapsed on the bed and was asleep before Draco even left the room.
She awoke to the sound of something shattering and a curse from the kitchen. She sat up ‘What? Is everything okay?’ she called out
‘Everything is… it is fine. Just stay in bed.’ Came the terse reply
‘What happened?’
‘Nothing. Though, your cat is evil and may be plotting to kill me.’ Draco said coming into the room with soup. ‘Sorry to wake you. I thought you might be hungry and it is time to take more potions.’
Hermione, who was in fact quite hungry, reached for the bowl. ‘It smells amazing. Thank you’
‘Well, I can’t take credit, Molly is a great cook. I am going to grab your potions’ The blonde exited the room.
Hermione ate a couple bites of soup, food had never tasted better. Draco reentered the room with potions and tea. ‘Here make sure to take both’
‘I know!’ Hermione did not like being treated like a patient, even when she was sick. She didn’t like the feeling of not being quite in control.
Draco quirked an eyebrow at her. ‘You feeling any better?’
‘Yes, quite a bit better than this morning. And, thank you Malfoy. Thanks for, you know, taking me to the hospital and this’ she lifted her cup of tea towards him without meeting his eyes.
‘Anytime Granger.’