"I have to go find Draco," Hermione said as she tried to get up from the bed.
Ginny held out a hand to stop her as Blaise said, "The Healers won't let you leave right now."
"I'd like to see them try to stop me," Hermione said in a frustrated tone. "He needs to know that I'm okay!"
"She has a point," Ginny said as she looked back at Blaise who had been standing at the foot of Hermione's bed. "Draco felt so guilty about what happened and he probably thinks she's like him now."
"I know, but at the same time we can't exactly smuggle her out of the hospital, and what if her wound reopens?" Blaise asked.
"We can stop and get my bag at home first," Hermione said. "I have a first aide kit for werewolf bites in there."
Blaise sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. Before he could say anything in return though, the door behind him opened and everyone turned to see two people rushing into the room.
"'Mione!" Harry ran over to the edge of her bed with a worried look on his face. "Are you alright?!"
"I'm fine, what-"
She paused as she realized just who had come in with Harry. Ron was lingering near the door still, his gaze going back and forth between Blaise and Ginny. He finally settled on Blaise with a glare and said, "I'm surprised to see you here."
"Funny, I was going to say the same thing," Blaise retorted, crossing his arms against his chest.
"What are you doing here?" Hermione asked angrily to Ron.
Ron stopped glaring at Blaise to look at Hermione with a concerned expression as he said, "I came to make sure you were okay."
"Well I'm fine so you can leave," Hermione said icily.
Taking a step forward, Ron began to open his mouth but stopped when he saw his sister glaring at him. She turned to face him fully before saying, "You shouldn't be here, Ron."
"And why not?" He fired back. "I think I have a right to check on someone I care about!"
"You lost that right when you stepped out on your marriage with her assistant!" Ginny exclaimed.
Ron was about to argue when Hermione exasperatedly asked, "How did you even know I was here?"
"It was in the Prophet," Ron answered, cringing slightly at the glare Hermione shot his way.
"What are you talking about?" She asked angrily.
"He's right," Harry said with a nod. "There was a short article written saying that many people saw Ginny bring you in here last night. What happened?"
"It was just an accident," Hermione answered through gritted teeth. "I splinched my arm on the job."
She saw Ginny glance at her while Blaise's eyebrow went up but she ever so slightly shook her head. The last thing she wanted in that moment was for them to figure out that she was bitten by a werewolf, and then having to explain why she herself was not a werewolf.
Ron took a step forward, grabbing her attention then and asking, "Is there anything we can do? Anything you need?"
"Honestly, I just want some peace and quiet," She said, trying to calm herself down. "Please leave, Ron. I'm under a lot of stress right now and I do not want to see you."
His shoulders dropped as he lingered for a moment, but then nodded and quietly left the room. As soon as the door shut, Harry turned back to Hermione and said, "I'm sorry, I tried to tell him that coming here wasn't a good idea."
"Why did he?" Blaise asked before nodding towards Harry. "Good afternoon, by the way."
Harry nodded in return and shrugged. "I'm not sure why he did. He's still with Claire so when he suddenly showed up to my door with the Prophet in hand, I was caught off guard. But I also wanted to come check on Hermione so I figured this way if anything I could make sure he didn't do something stupid."
Hermione frowned at the mention of Claire and then sighed, leaning back against the bed. "I'd really rather not talk about him and my ex-assistant."
"Understandable." Harry sighed and looked down at her then. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine, Harry," She answered with a small smile. "Don't worry. I'll be back at work on Monday."
He nodded after a few moments and then straightened up. "Good. Well, just let me know if you need anything, or if he decides to bother you again."
"Will do!" Hermione watched as Harry walked out of the room before letting out a heavy sigh.
Harry was surprised to see Ron lingering outside of the room when he walked out, but he frowned and after shutting the door asked, "Why are you still here?"
"I'm worried about her," Ron said quietly.
"I get that, but you can't stay outside of her room," Harry said. "Like they said, you shouldn't be here."
"I just wanted to make sure she was alright," Ron said. "I know I shouldn't be here but I still care about her, and I thought the worst when I saw the article."
"Does Claire know you're here?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.
Ron shifted uncomfortably but didn't answer, putting his hands in his pockets and looking down at the floor. Harry shook his head and said, "This isn't right, Ron. If you're with her, you need to stop thinking about Hermione."
"Harry, I know I messed up bad," Ron said. "I'm trying to just focus on Claire and be a good partner for her but when I read that article...I realized just how much I still love Hermione, and how much of a mistake it was to do what I did."
"It shouldn't take an article in the Prophet for you to realize that," Harry said sternly.
Ron gave him a defensive look and then gestured towards him. "Well what about you and my sister?! You cheated on her too! I don't see why I'm the only bad guy here!"
"Yeah, I did cheat on her but I came clean about it," Harry said. "Admittedly a little late, but we talked it through and we both agreed that we did not love each other as partners anymore. She didn't break up with me, I didn't break up with her. It was a mutual decision and we're both happier for it. If you hadn't dragged out this entire process, Hermione might be more willing to be friendly towards you."
Rubbing the back of his neck frustratedly, Ron closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Yeah, you're right. And I know I've messed things up between us as well, and I'm very sorry for that."
This caught Harry off guard and he blinked. "Yeah, you did. I mean, you threatened to tell Ginny that I had cheated on her."
"I wasn't going to tell her," Ron sighed. "I was just angry and embarrassed, and I wasn't thinking straight so I lashed out at the nearest person."
Harry crossed his arms against his chest. "That doesn't really excuse it."
"No, I know." Ron sighed again and shook his head. "For what it's worth though, I really am sorry for how I handle things and how things have been between us. I'll see you around."
He turned away to leave then and Harry watched him walk down the hallway and turn a corner, still surprised by what had happened. It was rare for Ron to apologize for anything he did unprompted like that, and from the look in Ron's eyes, Harry knew he had meant it.
Hermione rubbed her face in frustration and sighed, looking at Ginny and Blaise. "Do you think they'll release me soon so that I can go find Draco?"
"I'm not sure," Blaise answered. "Though we haven't actually told them you're awake..."
"They also didn't say that we needed to notify them that you were awake," Ginny shrugged with a grin.
Hermione sat up excitedly and then faltered. "I don't even know where to start looking though..."
The door suddenly opened again and everyone turned to see Lucius Malfoy standing in the doorway. "Ah good, I have the right room!"
"Lucius!" Hermione gaped at him. "How did you know I was here?"
He shut the door behind him and draped his robe over his arm as he walked towards the three of them. "Draco came to visit me."
Perking up at this, Hermione quickly asked, "Is he alright? Where is he?"
Lucius frowned then and sighed heavily through his nose. "I'm afraid he is rather distraught from the events of last night. And I don't blame him."
He then turned to Blaise and Ginny, who discreetly moved slightly behind Blaise and shifted nervously.
"Good to see you again, Blaise," Lucius greeted pleasantly before looking at Ginny. "And Miss Weasley; I must say, your last quidditch game was unfairly judged. That last goal should have definitely gone to you."
Both Blaise and Ginny stared at him in shock and he simply chuckled before turning back to Hermione. "Draco has disappeared though, and I was hoping he had come back here but it's apparent that he hasn't."
"Do you know where he could have gone?" Hermione asked worriedly.
"There's a number of locations that he could have gone to," Lucius said. "We have properties all over Europe. Admittedly though, he definitely favored the one located in southern France."
Hermione moved to pull herself towards the edge of the bed, wincing slightly as she put weight on her right arm. "Would you be able to show me where it is?"
"Absolutely, I can even take you there," Lucius nodded. "Though in this case, I would recommend giving him a little time to process everything before going to him. After all, he's just infected you with lycanthropy, and he's feels tremendously guilty about it-"
"But I don't have it!" Hermione exclaimed quickly. "It wasn't transferred to me!"
Lucius stared at her. "What? What do you mean?"
"The potion that Draco took prevented the lycanthropy infection to be passed on to her," Blaise explained. "The Healers have done tests and haven't found a trace of it in her blood."
Hermione nodded at this and Lucius's eyes went wide. "That's tremendous!"
"Yes, but Draco doesn't know this and he's the one who needs to know the most," Hermione said sadly. "I can't even imagine what he's thinking right now..."
"Which is why we are going to go find him," Lucius said. "Do we need to stop anywhere before we start searching? Would you like to change clothes first?"
"No." Hermione shook her head as she stood up and tested her balance slightly. "I just want to go find him."
"Is it safe for her to be travelling when she's still healing?" Ginny asked nervously.
"I'll heal when I know Draco's alright," Hermione answered stubbornly.
Blaise scowled at her. "You're not going to do much good if you show up bleeding from a fresh werewolf bite that reopened. What about your bag with the werewolf bite kit in it?"
Hermione sighed impatiently before saying, "We aren't that far from my house actually; I can just summon it and it'll be here by the time we get outside."
"Yeah, that won't cause a frenzy," Ginny muttered as they left the room and began making their way through the hospital.
Blaise chuckled at this as they quickly walked through the front doors without bringing attention to themselves. Once they were outside, Blaise turned to Lucius and said, "We'll leave the two of you to finding him; it might be overwhelming if the four of us suddenly show up when he least expects it."
Lucius nodded and Hermione hugged Ginny tightly before giving Blaise a hug as well and stepping back. "I'll let you guys know when we find him."
With a nod, Blaise took Ginny's hand and then the two of them disapparated. Lucius then looked at Hermione and held out his arm with a slight smile. "Shall we?"
A/N: Sorry for a shorter chapter but I hope you all enjoy! <3