DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter, I simply like dabbling in the world! Please don't plagiarize this story.

CHAPTER ONE: UNEXPECTED VISITS

~ 6 Years Since the End of the Second Wizarding War

"Come on! It's a Friday, and I know your shift ends early today. You'll have fun!"

"Katie, as great as that sounds I should really head home. You know I've been working late shifts this entire week, I need a break!" The young witch pleaded with her coworker. It was the end of a long, exhausting week and as much as Hermione loved Katie, she wasn't in the mood to do anything but curl up in front of the telly with a nice cup of cocoa. "Besides, I have to feed Crooks!"

Katie rolled her eyes, scoffing lightly. "Like we both don't know that you have his food charmed to refill automatically in case you get held up here."

Hermione grinned lightly, not denying the girl's accusations.

"Very well," Katie pouted dramatically. "If you're alright with leaving me alone to wander into the dangers of London all by my lonesome, by all means."

"The only thing you're in danger of, Katie Bell, is getting ravished by the next handsome bloke you ensnare in those clubs," Hermione goaded, already familiar with her habit of drawing in men like bees to nectar.

"All the more reason for you to come!" She insisted enthusiastically. "It's about time we put an end to your dry spell, don't you think?"

"Katie!" Hermione cried, unable to decide whether to laugh or be indignant.

This exchange had become a weekly habit of theirs. After the war, Hermione had dived head first into the art of healing; she'd seen too much violence and carnage and having the power to heal helped her feel in control. She'd quickly become close with Katie Bell, who was just a year ahead of her in Hogwarts. Looking back, Hermione had to admit her friendship with Katie had been one of the best things to happen to her. She'd never had many female friends at Hogwarts, and hanging out with the easy-going witch had really helped her flourish not just professionally, but in her personal life as well. In their earlier years, Hermione would often take Katie up on her pleas to go enjoy the nightlife together, but ever since she'd been promoted to Head Healer of the Trauma Ward, her work load was draining more and more of her energy.

"Healer Granger, emergency in the trauma ward. Calling Healer Granger. You're needed in the trauma ward."

"Ugh..." Katie groaned at the repetitive call. "Off you go again."

"You know, if I didn't have such shy trainees, I might feel confident enough to let them deal with at least half these cases they keep dragging me over for," Hermione admitted wearily, sliding out from behind her desk.

"Healer Granger. Emergency in the trauma ward. Calling Healer Granger."

Before Hermione could take another step, a blinding silver light shot into her office, landing on top of her desk. Hermione felt her heart drop- they hadn't used patronuses for communication since the days of the war, at least not in her field. When the ball of light materialized into the magnificent stag belonging to her best friend, Hermione could hardly control the fear coursing through her veins.

"Hermione," Harry's panicked voice called out to her. "We need you, there's been a werewolf attack. Please, hurry!"

Hermione was out the door, shooting down the hall long before the patronus had the chance to dissipate. Katie followed on her heels, but Hermione couldn't process anything other than her singular goal to get to that ward.

She turned the corner and her first glimpse of Harry made her blood run cold. He was leaning heavily against the nurse's counter, and he was drenched in blood. She sped up, breaking into a run.

"Harry," she cried, studying him closely for tears in his clothes or claw marks and bites, though it was difficult to discern through the blood. She ran her palm over his torso and shoulders, reassuring herself and taking inventory of him. Harry gently grabbed her elbows, pushing her away.

"It's not my blood 'Mione, I'm okay. It's-"

"Oh thank god," Hermione choked out in relief.

"Hermione!" Harry said sternly, shaking her a little to get her attention back. "It's Draco, he's been mauled. I need you to help him."

It was then that Hermione finally saw past her best friend to her team of trainees fussing over a body on a stretcher. Even with the mangled mess of a body that was laid out unconscious, and the copious amounts of blood seeping into the white sheet under him, Hermione could still recognize the platinum blonde hair that could only belong to a Malfoy.

Her previous panic settled, she immediately sifted into her Healer mode, calmly taking charge of the situation.

"Davies, get a supply of blood replenishing potion and dittany. A lot of it. McDonald, I need you to get a run of his vitals."

Her trainees ran off to do her bidding while she finally took the chance to step closer to the bed. Katie stood on the other side, grimacing as she took in Malfoy's mangled body.

"All right, well clearly he's been ripped apart... We need to get his clothes off to better assess the damage."

Katie nodded, in agreement before barking out, "Kent, help move this bed into a private room."

The young, cocky Wizard straight out of school sneered at Katie. "Aren't you in pediatrics, Bell? Should you even be here."

"Do as she says, or you can say goodbye to your healing license right now," Hermione warned in a deathly calm tone, her eyes not wavering from the inventory of injuries she was observing Malfoy for.

Kent blushed in embarrassment before wordlessly transporting the bed into a private room.

"We already gave him a blood replenishing potion when he got here," Healer Davies said as she rushed back to her side. "But judging by how quickly he's losing blood, I got you a few more."

Hermione nodded wordlessly, taking one of the potions and tipping it carefully down Malfoy's slightly parted lips. She looked up at Katie, giving her a slight nod before they began carefully peeling back the layers of dark Auror robes that had begun to cling to Malfoy's skin by now. When they had his entire torso uncovered, Hermione grimaced. Katie looked away for a second, taking a deep breath while trying to visibly calm herself. From the doorway, her younger trainees, Natalie McDonald and Elias Stephen rushed away from the room as their stomachs betrayed them.

Hermione couldn't even blame them, it truly was a gruesome sight, incomparable even to some of her worst war memories and hardest trauma patients. Malfoy's torso was littered with slashes of claws, which had clearly dug deeply into his skin. It looked as if he'd been flayed; there was more open and raw meat than there was skin that remained intact. She scanned his body for a bite, since it was a werewolf's venomous saliva that turned wizards. And just as she'd expected, there was a clear crescent shaped bite mark on the curve of his muscle on his bicep.

"Dittany," Hermione requested, her voice shaking ever so slightly.

When there was no vial placed in her outstretched palm, she turned to see Davies trembling, his eyes wide in shock.

"Davies!" His eyes snapped to his supervisor in surprise before he fumbled with his tray full of potions, shakily handing her a vial of dittany.

"Katie, can I count on you?" Hermione asked seriously.

"Of course," Katie nodded solemnly, getting her wand ready.

And so they worked for the next half an hour, with Hermione sealing the open wounds and Katie checking his bones and organs for internal damage. It was a painful thirty minutes with the famous Harry Potter pacing the halls, glaring in frustration at the trainees who'd fled the room and had been unable to tell him anything useful. When the door to the private room finally opened, Hermione stepped out to get Harry. Katie was still at Malfoy's bedside double checking his vitals.

"How is he?" Harry asked, immediately rushing up to Hermione.

"Stable," Hermione said with a deep exhale. "We've addressed the direst injuries for now, and then hopefully when he wakes we can help with pain management."

Harry looked over her shoulder at the uncommonly pale man in the bed. "It was supposed to be me you know." Harry spoke in a tortured voice. "The werewolf was coming straight at me, and of all the moments he could've possibly chosen Draco decided to be stupidly brave."

Hermione looked at Harry in askance. Did he try and distract the wolf like she'd done in their third year?

"He ran straight for the wolf and tackled it before it could reach me."

Hermione's jaw dropped in shock. Draco Malfoy tackled a werewolf? For Harry Potter, at that? Finally getting a hold of herself, she noticed a curious crowd of nosy coworkers and trainees gathering near the room; after all it wasn't every day Harry Potter stirred up a commotion in the trauma ward.

"Come inside," Hermione said, tugging Harry into Malfoy's room. "You need to explain what happened tonight. It's not a full moon, how did he get attacked by a werewolf?"

Harry grimaced. "We've been on Greyback's trail for a while now, but every time we got close, it would go cold."

Hermione stiffened immediately. "Greyback did this?"

"No, he didn't." Hermione almost let out a sigh of relief. "But we're assuming it was someone in his old pack, someone close to him since he had the power to shift outside the full moon."

"But if he was only partially shifted," Hermione pondered, looking back to Malfoy, "Does that mean he's been infected?"

"I don't know, 'Mione," Harry grinned half-heartedly. "You're the person I usually go for answers to questions like that."

"I mean Bill was mauled by Greyback outside the full moon and he doesn't transform," Hermione thought aloud. "But then again, Bill was clawed, he was never bitten. Malfoy was bitten tonight."

"I should've done more," Harry berated himself quietly.

"Harry no-"

"Hermione-" Katie called in alarm. Harry and Hermione both turned quickly to see Malfoy begin to spasm in his bed, tearing open some of the freshly healed wounds.

Hermione was immediately at his bedside, drawing her wand to do a sticking charm on him. His movements cut through her magic like a knife through butter, steadily becoming more frantic.

"The sticking charm isn't working," Hermione said in shock.

Baffled, Harry and Katie both tried as well only to come up with the same results.

"No- Get off-"

They all froze at Malfoy's guttural protests. Hermione stepped forward, gently putting her hand on his bare shoulder in a rare spot that hadn't been torn apart by claws.

"Malfoy you're safe, you're at St. Mungo's," she said soothingly. His agitated state did not ease, and he merely started twisting in his bed violently. "Katie can you grab some physical restraints? If he keeps this up, he's only going to hurt himself," she called over her shoulder.

"Malfoy," she tried again gently, cupping his neck while trying to steady him with her other hand on his shoulder. "Malfoy it's-"

She barely blinked as his eyes shot open in panic, his arms reaching out and ensnaring her wrists in a painful, vice-like grip. He pulled her closer, forcing her to lean over him, her face as close to him as it'd ever been.

"Granger-" he gasped out in a pained voice, guttural with its overuse. Despite saying her name, there was confusion in his gaze, as if he couldn't quite recognize her.

Hermione felt Harry rush over to her side, ready to pry her out of Malfoy's grip. When he tried to calm Malfoy enough to coax him into letting her go, he merely let out a feral growl, pulling her even closer. His grip on her wrists tightened and she gritted her teeth against the sharp pain as he ground her bones together.

Reaching out with her fingers, she shakily placed her palm on his chest. He calmed for a brief moment, his eyes widening in shock and- if she wasn't mistaken- a flicker of relief. But before he could react, she was already murmuring an incantation, putting him to sleep. When his hands slackened, Hermione withdrew, rubbing her wrists and wincing at the pain.

"Hermione, are you okay?" Harry cried out in concern.

"I'm fine," she murmured. "I think he was just panicked and disoriented."

"Did you hear him though...?" Harry asked anxiously.

"Yeah," Hermione responded in a resigned tone. "That growl was a bit too animalistic for my liking."

"I've got the restraints!" Katie gasped, rushing back into the room. "Oh- I guess we don't need them anymore," she said, noticing Malfoy out cold.

"Oh no, we definitely still need them," Harry said, shaking his head in disbelief at the turn in events.

Katie noticed the discombobulated expression on both their faces, and proceeded to work her charm. She smirked as she held up the magically reinforced restraints, "Can you imagine his outrage when I tell him I got to tie the infamous Draco Malfoy down in bed?"

~o~o~o~

I really felt the need to start writing this story, especially since Dramione is my favorite pairing!
I hope you guys like the premise of this story, please let me know what you think! For all my Promise to the Past readers, I am still continuing that story, so don't fret!

~ Mischief Managed