Ginny paced back and forth down the hallway outside of Hermione's closed room, chewing anxiously on her fingernails. It had already been half an hour since she had brought Hermione to St. Mungo's, and there was no update on Hermione's condition. The waiting was driving her insane.
As much as she tried to push down the guilt, it still returned in waves every few moments as she remembered the look on Hermione's face. And then there was the blood...shivers ran down her spine as she remembered seeing Hermione's bloodstained shirt from holding her injured arm against herself. She paused and stared up at the ceiling in frustration, trying to hold back tears. She had caused her best friend to be bitten by a werewolf, and now she didn't even know if Hermione was going to survive.
The sound of hurried footsteps caught her attention and she looked to see Blaise turn the corner and look around. When he spotted her he immediately raced towards her and she fell against him, finally releasing the sob she was holding in as he wrapped his arms around her.
"It's all my fault!" She cried, burying her face into his shirt. "She wouldn't have gotten hurt if I hadn't distracted her!"
He pulled away slightly and she saw the worried look on his face as he said, "Ginny, you can't think like that. This wasn't anyone's fault; she happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"But I made her look away from him!" Ginny wiped her face roughly and looked back at the door to Hermione's room. "She wasn't paying attention to what he was doing!"
"And you know that she would not want you to blame yourself for this," Blaise said gently before gesturing towards the chairs against the wall. "Here, let's sit down and try to calm you down a bit."
He led her over to the chairs and she sat down, immediately putting her head in her hands. "She's going to hate me if she lives through this..."
"Stop that," He said firmly. "Hermione's going to live through this, you know that, and she will never hate you."
Ginny was quiet for a few moments before she took a ragged breath and sighed it out. "I'm really scared, Blaise."
Reaching to gently rub her back, he sighed. "I know; I am too."
They sat in silence for a few moments before she took another deep breath and sat up, looking over at him confusedly. "How are you here right now? Shouldn't you be with...?"
She didn't want to say Draco's name for fear of someone hearing but Blaise understood who she was referring to.
"I put an incarcerous spell on him and cast so many shields that Umbridge herself couldn't blast her way through," He said with a half-smile. "I watched Hermione as she put her shields up that first time she spent a full moon with him, and I took a page from her book while doing mine. He'll be alright there and there's no chance he'll get out."
The door to Hermione's room suddenly opened and they both perked up immediately as three Healers in lime green robes filed out with the last one stopping in front of them.
"Could you two please join me in the room?" He asked, gesturing back towards the open door.
They stood up and Ginny quickly walked into the room, looking sadly at her friend who was currently lying in the bed unconscious. Her right arm was bandaged between her wrist and elbow, but other than that she looked normal. The Healer shut the door behind him and sighed as he stopped at the foot of Hermione's bed.
"We have sealed the wound with powdered silver and dittany, and while it was a deep wound, Miss Granger will pull through," He explained.
A small wave of relief hit Ginny but she crossed her arms and leaned against Blaise as she asked, "She's going to be a werewolf now though, right?"
The Healer's mouth formed a thin line as he sighed deeply again. "Yes. A werewolf bite will always result in the victim becoming infected."
Blaise squeezed Ginny's arm and nodded. "When do you think she will wake up?"
"Well, we did give her a few pain potions as well as a sleeping potion so it may be a little while," The Healer explained as he looked back at Hermione. "The odd thing is that most victims will experience some sort of minor change, be it growing a tail or fur. Miss Granger did not go through this change yet. Of course, there is still time for it to happen."
"We'll stay with her and will report if something changes," Blaise said quietly.
The Healer nodded and then gave them a small smile. "It's a miracle that she is alive; many muggleborns do not survive a werewolf bite. It looks like she is going to pull through though so do not worry."
Ginny went to stand by Hermione's side as the Healer turned to leave the room. Blaise grabbed his arm before he got to the door and quietly said, "Please make sure that word of who she is doesn't get out; this could be very detrimental to her career."
The Healer smiled then. "Of course, sir. We never reveal the identities of werewolf victims for their safety."
He left the room then and Blaise looked over at Ginny, who was staring sadly down at her best friend. As he walked over to her she looked up at him sadly and he shook his head.
"Stop," He said gently. "She would not be happy if she knew you were blaming yourself for this."
"It's really hard not to," Ginny said, looking back down at Hermione and leaning slightly against the bed railings. "Though I can't imagine how Draco will take it..."
"They both knew the risks of what would happen when they began dating," Blaise said. "And if anything, now they won't have a reason to avoid each other during the full moon."
"I suppose not..." She shrugged slightly and then ran a hand through her hair, trying to shake away the remaining feelings of guilt.
Ginny ended up falling asleep in one of the unused beds that was in the room, which the Healer seemed alright with when he came in to check on Hermione. Blaise waited to make sure that there wasn't any change in Hermione's condition and then watched as the Healer left the room again before walking over to the bed that Ginny had claimed.
"Hey," He said gently, waking her up. "It's past sunrise, so he'll be changing back soon. I'm going to go check on him."
"Okay," Ginny said sleepily before leaning up to give him a kiss.
He quietly left the room and quickly made his way out of the hospital before disapparating and landing in front of Draco's manor. There didn't seem to be any sign that Draco had escaped which made him breath a sigh of relief as he undid the enchantments on the front door and walked in.
There was an eerie silence throughout the manor that he tried to ignore as he continued undoing the enchantments he had set around the door leading to the cellar. After a few moments, he made it down the stairs and then paused when he reached the bottom.
Draco was sitting against the side wall with his knees propped up and his head in his hands, unmoving. Blaise frowned sadly and began undoing the shields against the bars.
The blond looked up at him then with an empty look in his eyes. "Did I...?"
Blaise paused and sighed. "Yeah."
"Is she...?"
"She's alive," Blaise said quickly. "She was still asleep when I left St. Mungo's. Ginny's with her."
Draco ran his hands over his face. "Thank Merlin I didn't kill her..."
Blaise removed the shields from the cell bars and opened the door, watching as Draco stood up slowly and made his way over as quickly as his aching muscles would allow. "Come on, I want to see her."
Not even five minutes later after a quick change of clothes, Draco and Blaise landed in front of St. Mungo's and rushed inside. Blaise led him towards Hermione's room and they both entered, Draco freezing when he laid eyes on Hermione.
She was still unconscious, and Ginny stirred slightly from the other bed as she heard them walk in. "Oh, hey. She's still asleep."
Blaise looked at Draco and put a hand on his back, gently pushing him forward towards Hermione's bed as Ginny stood up with a yawn. "The Healer came in about an hour ago and said she was healing fine."
"Has she changed yet?" Blaise asked.
"Not yet, and the Healer is actually very surprised by that," Ginny said before looking at Draco sadly. "How are you feeling?"
Draco didn't answer as he continued to stare down at Hermione sadly. Ginny looked over at Blaise and he frowned before shrugging slightly. Draco pulled away from them then and went to stand next to Hermione, taking her hand slightly.
"I can't believe I let her get in harm's way," He said quietly.
Ginny shook her head and went to stand at the other side of the bed. "Draco, you didn't let her do that, she made the choice to be there to make sure you were okay. The only reason she got hurt was because I distracted her."
"Ginny," Blaise interrupted quietly. "We've been over this."
"No, this is my fault," Draco said, straightening up slightly. "Her being with me put her in danger, and I was an idiot to think that everything would be okay. And now look at her...she doesn't deserve this. She's never going to forgive me for hurting her and infecting her."
Blaise sighed as he looked at Draco. "She knew the risks and still wanted to be with you. I doubt this will change her feelings for you."
"You don't know that," Draco said as he looked up at Blaise. The pain was clear in his eyes as he went on. "And even if her feelings do change, I wouldn't blame her. She's going to be a werewolf for the rest of her life now because of me. I'd hate me too."
"Draco, don't say that," Ginny said.
"It's true though." Draco gave Hermione one more sad look and then took a step back. "I don't want to put her through any more hurt and pain."
Blaise's brow furrowed and Ginny stared at the blond. "You better not be doing what I think you're doing."
Draco frowned. "She would have been better off if she had never gotten involved with me."
"Don't you dare," Blaise growled. "Don't you fucking dare."
Everything came crashing down suddenly on Draco as he looked back at Hermione, and his chest tightened. This was a new kind of pain, one he hoped he would never feel. His worst fears had happened; he had hurt the woman he loved, and it was entirely his fault.
He took a ragged breath and tore his eyes away from Hermione as he said, "I can't do this. I need to go."
He turned and immediately left the room with Ginny and Blaise staring after him in shock. Ginny went to run after him but Blaise grabbed her arm gently.
"Wait, just let him breathe for a bit," He said firmly.
"He was going to break up with her while she was still unconscious!" Ginny exclaimed angrily. "He needs some sense knocked into him!"
"Just calm down and think about what he's going through right now," Blaise said, putting a hand up. "He's still processing the fact that he bit her, and the guilt with that must be really affecting him."
Ginny's shoulders dropped slightly and she sighed. "Do you think he really meant it?"
Blaise shook his head. "I seriously doubt it. He just needs some time to calm down."
The door opening again made them both jump and the Healer walked in with a clipboard in his hand. His brow was furrowed, and he looked up at them.
"Oh good, you two are here," He said as he shut the door behind him.
Ginny and Blaise looked at each other worriedly before she looked back at the Healer. "Is everything okay?"
"That's the thing..." The Healer lifted one page and read it over before lowering it back down and sighing. "So far everything is fine."
Blaise gave him a confused look. "If everything is fine...what is the problem?"
The Healer was quiet for a moment before his eyebrows shot up and he tilted his head to the side, rubbing his neck. "We've only run one test so far and need to run a few more to confirm, but it appears that Miss Granger does not have any trace of lycanthropy in her blood."
A/N: I wanted to start off the new year with a new chapter, and I hope you all enjoy! <3