Work Text:
Hermione had been in the hospital all day. It felt like she had developed a rapport with the place at this point. She knew that the best coffee and tea were on the first floor, but the best vending machines were on the ground floor. She could not, for the life of her, eat the sandwiches offered in the hospital cafeteria. She had ordered her food via Uber Eats every day for the last three weeks. Her wallet wept.
So did her heart.
One of her uncles had been in the Critical Care unit in a Canadian hospital for the last three weeks. Hermione and her parents had gotten on the first flight to Toronto. A car crash, the nurse had said. Her father was listed as the next of kin. He had a complex relationship with his siblings, but in the end, he was always there when he was needed. Jean and Hermione refused to let him go alone. And so they went.
After the war, Hermione had managed to recover her parents’ memories with extensive Muggle and magical treatment. They had been apprehensive at first, but softened once her reasons were backed up by several history books and newspaper archives. The Grangers were nothing, if not thorough. Both studious and academic within their profession and their home, Hermione had to come from somewhere. Months after their memories returned, they decided to return to England while keeping a small flat in Sydney, where they could visit during the winter.
The doctors had tried everything they could, but during their initial diagnosis, they had discovered that Hermione’s uncle had problems with his lungs aside from the injuries sustained in the car crash. Not only that, but he had also caught two different infections, and the antibiotics weren’t working as the doctors had wanted. He had never woken up. The doctors had kept him sedated. Two days ago, they had sat down with the family and told them there wasn’t much else they could do except keep Thomas Granger as comfortable and pain-free as they could. Richard Granger then took the difficult decision to remove life support for his brother.
The night before, Hermione lay in bed unable to sleep. She felt a knot in her stomach and a migraine coming on. She thought of her uncle. Thomas had always been the funny one. Her father was a stoic man with a dry sense of humor. Thomas was the youngest and had benefited from a different style of upbringing and greater freedom, typical of siblings with a significant age difference. Richard had always been Thomas’ third parent. This time was no exception. Thomas taught Hermione to be fearless, whether it was learning how to do a cannonball in the pool or ride a bike without training wheels. Hermione had thought her uncle was built differently.
She felt so alone. Her cousins and other family members had only burdened the process, causing tremendous pain and stress to her already suffering father. As if his choice had been an easy one. The first time Richard Granger saw his brother with tubes all over his body, he wept uncontrollably. Jean then confided to Hermione that she had never seen him cry like that, in over twenty-five-plus years of marriage. She felt she had to be strong for her father, but who would be strong for her? She’d been sitting in that room every day for the last three weeks for at least ten hours, watching her favorite uncle be poked and prodded and drugged, her father carry the weight of the world, and of his family on his shoulders, her mother try to carry her father through the living darkness and the dark tunnel of grief that lay ahead.
She took out her phone. Draco had been an exceptional boyfriend throughout this whole endeavor. He didn’t understand Muggle medicine, but read enough to suggest questions she could ask the doctors during rounds. He checked on her during the day, but the time difference made the evenings worse, when the loneliness seeped into her bones. He had told Hermione he wanted to go, but he’d just recently been promoted to Senior Auror and got thrown in the field with more intensity than they both expected. She did not want Draco to risk his job for her. He had done so much to get to where he was. She took out her phone and checked her chat with Draco. She started texting him before she realized everything she was saying.
I feel really alone here, like, I know I’m not very good at asking for comfort, but I feel like a foreign agent in this whole mess. I don’t feel my Granger family is particularly good at comforting? My mum is, but she’s so focused on my dad that I feel a bit like I’m orbiting them. You always say I am very good at comforting, and I think that’s one of the things you worry about, no? I give, give, give until I empty myself out, and I don’t want that to happen here because I don’t have anywhere to land if it does. I promise I’m all right, Draco. I just miss you. Tomorrow is going to be a horrid day. I’m going to try to sleep now. Try being the keyword in that sentence.
She knew she was rambling. She knew Draco would worry about her lack of cohesiveness. She took a deep breath and put her phone away. Draco would be asleep by now. She would deal with his worries tomorrow. She stood up and went to change into her pajamas. Thank god this Airbnb was big enough for her to have her own bedroom and bathroom.
Twenty minutes later, she heard her mother’s voice. That’s odd, she should be asleep by now. Maybe she wanted a late-night tea. She had recently discovered the Sleepy Time tea and couldn't stop raving about it.
Hermione opened her bedroom door, wearing her golden under-eye patches and brushing her teeth. She couldn’t believe her eyes. Draco stood at the door, hugging her mom, with a weekender in his hand.
“Oh, Draco! It’s so lovely to see you,” Jean said.
“I'm sorry it’s under these circumstances. But, when Hermione told me what would happen tomorrow, I felt I needed to be here with her and with you.”
“You truly are one of a kind, Draco. Thank you. Richard is already asleep, but I think Hermione is still awake?”
“I'm awake,” Hermione said from her room, her toothbrush almost dangling from her mouth.
Draco smiled warmly at her, walked over to her, and kissed her cheek. “Hello, beautiful.”
“What are you doing here?”
“Hermione! Don’t be so curt to him! He flew here to be with you!” Jean scolded her.
Hermione shook her head. “I'm sorry. I’m just a bit shocked. I’ll see you tomorrow, Mum.”
“Good night, my dears.”
Hermione went into her room. Draco followed. She finished brushing her teeth while Draco unpacked and undressed. She removed her patches and finished her skincare routine. Draco usually slept in briefs, but for Hermione’s parents’ sake, he’d put on a t-shirt.
“What are you doing here?” Hermione asked again.
“You needed me, so I am here.”
“But your job? Robards? Draco, we talked about this…”
“Hermione, don’t worry about my job. It’ll be there for me when I get back. How can you say you have nowhere to land when you’re with me? I won’t allow it. While I am alive, I will never let you feel like you don’t have support in any way, shape, or form. You are in pain. Your family is in pain. Let me take care of you. I am here. I am not going anywhere.”
Something inside Hermione snapped. She fell to her knees, sobbing. Draco turned off the lights of the room with wandless magic, picked Hermione up, and carried her to the bed. It squeaked and dented with the additional weight of a second person, but Draco ignored it. He wrapped himself around Hermione, caressing her hair while she cried.
"You're here," Hermione said.
"I am here."
"How?"
"I had already gotten a portkey booked for tomorrow when you sent me your last message. I... managed to speed things up."
"Did you bribe anyone?"
"Don't ask questions you don't want the answer to, my love."
Hermione sighed. She didn't care about the Malfoy way of doing things today. It was good enough that her boyfriend was there, wrapped up in her.
"I did my skincare in vain. My face is going to be so bloated tomorrow."
Draco kissed her softly. "You are staggering, even when your eyes are red, and your face is a bit bloated."
"A bit," she laughed softly.
Draco kissed her forehead and whispered, "A bit."
Slowly, her breaths evened out, and Hermione fell asleep wrapped up in Draco’s arms. She was finally able to let go of the stress she felt. Nothing would prepare her for what would happen the following day, but at least she knew she had someone who would catch her when she crumbled.