Questions of Science

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A/N: First of all, my reviewers deserve all the goodies in the world. Really, no seriously, you guys rock so much. Everything y’all say puts a goofy smile on my face and makes my brother think I’m looking up porn or something.

I really love your suggestions guys, I swear to the Malfoy name that I do, but just a head’s up, I’ve already written this fic out in a notebook that I used to write in during my polisci lectures. (If only my parents knew what kind of education I was getting). So while I do appreciate the suggestions, because it shows you’re thinking ahead, I just thought I’d let you know that this fic is already done, half in the notebook, half in my twisted head. :D So thank you all again for making this fic worthwhile to type and for giving me one more reason not to socialize with other human beings. :) Love y’all!!

On to the story!


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Chapter 3: I Can’t Help Crying

Hermione explored her entire wing of the house, starting with the living room that was painted and furnished in shades of gold and ivory. There was an extremely comfy couch, an antique coffee table, and, the biggest surprise of the night: a television.

‘Why on earth does Draco Malfoy have a television in his manor? You’d think it would spontaneously combust upon entrance to the house.’ Hermione thought to herself and continued to all the other rooms. Her bedroom was the nicest room of all. It was larger than her entire flat and had a king-sized bed covered in navy blue linens. She looked at the tag on the duvet and it read: 100 percent Egyptian Cotton.

‘Geez.’ Hermione thought. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever owned 100 percent anything.’

She found her clothes neatly hung and folded in the large boudoir against the wall. She pulled out an oversized Quidditch t-shirt that Harry had left at her flat. It was so comfortable that she bought him a new one and kept the worn out one that came down to her knees. It was probably the unsexiest thing she owned, and that was saying something.

She also pulled out a pair of knee-length flannel shorts that were more of a comfort item than pyjamas. A wearable teddy bear, if you will. She put on those pyjamas and lay back on the enormous bed, feeling quite small and unworthy in such luxurious comfort.

She looked at the clock on the wall and it read three am. Time sure does fly by when you’re exploring a wing of a manor. Being used to working nights at St. Mungo’s, Hermione wasn’t sleepy at all and was actually quite hungry. She would be having some sort of lunch/dinner meal about now because usually a shift ended or started at this time. She went into the kitchen she had just explored and found one of the body-expulsion-named house-elves staring at her, waiting in anticipation for an order.

“Um, which one are you again?” Hermione tentatively asked. This house-elf had large indigo eyes and had a greenish skin color.

“Me name is Poopy, Miss. Or you can calls me Poop like Master Draco sometimes does.” The house-elf said.

“I think I’ll stick to Poopy.” Hermione said, wanting to laugh at how ridiculous this conversation must have sounded.

“Would you likes to eats something, Miss?”

“Actually, I was just going to rummage around until I found something. You can go to sleep if you like. No offense, I just would like to explore the food options alone.”

“Of course, Miss. Anything you wish.” The house-elf bowed and quickly scurried off to an adjoining room.

Hermione looked around the kitchen and then her eyes settled on the pantry. She opened it up to find cans and boxes and bottles of almost everything she could imagine. She found a box of cereal that she had really liked as a child and poured a bowl of it, after finding the china bowls.

She opened the refrigerator and looked around for the milk. To her dismay, there was absolutely no sign of any milk. ‘Why is there no milk? Isn’t that an essential refrigerator item? He has smoked salmon and foie gras here, but no bloody milk? I doubt my cereal will taste very good with pinot noir.’ She thought as she eyed the rare and exquisite bottles and packages in the fridge.

She sighed and looked at her dry cereal. She really, really wanted to have some of that cereal, but it would be like sandpaper without milk. ‘There has to be some, somewhere in this house.’

She made up her mind to go and find the master kitchen and get the milk that she so desired. She left her kitchen and opened the double doors that led to the hallway. The manor lights had been turned off and it was almost pitch black in the hall.

Hermione’s wand was all the way in the bedroom and she decided that she could probably find the kitchen using the little moonlight that shown through sporadic windows located at the ends of the hallways. Plus, she didn’t want to wake anyone with the light from her wand.

So, in her lovely nighttime apparel, she ventured out into the hall and tiptoed until she found the stairs. Malfoy had told her that she was located on the third floor and she knew from reading about ancient manors that the master kitchen was always on the first floor.

She went slowly down the stairs until she reached the second floor. The stairs that led to the first floor were located on the other end of the hallway. ‘Whoever built this house must have wanted the inhabitants to exercise in order to get around.’ Hermione thought as she quietly walked down the hall. The hallway of the second floor closely resembled the one on the third floor, with many rooms and two wings. She passed by a pair of double doors, which were located near the stairway she just came from. She smiled to herself at the success of making it this far with no light.

She knew she had just jinxed herself when her bare foot caught on the end of the rug and she went flying to the floor, causing a vase standing on a column to fall down right with her. The crash and the vase breaking made a trillion times more noise since it was dead quiet in the house.

A few seconds later, the light in the hallways turned on and the double doors Hermione had just passed flew open. Standing in the doorway was Draco himself, wearing a navy, untied, silk robe, with just cotton pants underneath. He had his wand out in front of him and his hair was a bit messy, from sleeping.

“What the hell?” He said, blinking to get used to the light and then his eyes landed on the cause of the noise. “Granger?”

“I am so, so, so sorry, Malfoy. I will pay for the vase and I’m really, really sorry for waking you.”

“It’s ok.” He said, holding a hand out to help her up. “Did you hurt yourself?”

“No, I’m fine. I just tripped on that rug. I’m really sorry about the vase. You can take it out of my pay.” She said, while starting to pick up the shattered pieces.

“No, I’ll get it.” He said and waved his wand. The pieces landed in a pile and then disappeared.

“Goodness, I feel awful Malfoy, I really do.” She said with her hand on her chin, looking anywhere except the accusatory eyes of her employer. ‘Why does he have to look like a goddamn male model in that robe and pants while I clearly look like Oliver bloody Twist in these rags?’

“Don’t worry about it. We have enough vases in this house to furnish the Indian subcontinent.” He said, running his hand through his hair. “What are you doing up at,” he looked at the clock in the hallway, “three am?”

“I wanted to go down to the kitchen and get some milk for my cereal.” She said.

“But it’s three a.m.” he said.

“Yes, well I’m so used to being up at this hour because of my night shifts that I usually eat a meal right about now.” Hermione said, watching him roll his wand between his fingers.

“But it’s three a.m.” he repeated.

“I didn’t know a talking clock was another luxury I would receive at Malfoy Manor.” She said with a hint of a smile.

“I didn’t know a nocturnal healer was part of the deal.” He replied.

“Hmm. Well I’m really sorry I woke you.”

“Why didn’t you use your wand for light?” he asked with his eyebrow raised.

“I didn’t want to wake anyone up with the light.” She said, realizing how stupid that sounded.

“So tripping on a rug and scaring the living shit out of me was a safer alternative than waking me up with a light?”

“Yes, ok I’ll admit that wasn’t very smart, but what’s done is done.” She said. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m on a milk-hunt.”

“Good luck with that and try not to set off a bomb the next time you don’t want to wake anyone up.”

“I’ll try.” She said with a sugary smile.

He turned back into his room and closed the door. He left the hallway lights on, so as to not be awakened in a similar manner.

Hermione finally found her way to the master kitchen and after being accosted by 17 different house-elves, found the milk. She took the bottle with her and was promised by an over-eager house-elf that she would always have a fresh stock of milk in her kitchen.

She managed to make her way back to her wing, without tripping or waking up the world. She grabbed the cereal and sat in the living room eating it and watching the television.

She watched an infomercial for a vacuum that could work underwater and after she was finished with her cereal she forced herself to sleep, since tomorrow she would start the treatment for her patient.

Hermione awoke the next morning at nine am. She could always be counted on to be refreshed after only a few hours of sleep, a perfect characteristic for her job. She walked into the bathroom and did the necessities.

Even though she lived there, Hermione still had to look professional, since she was actually doing her job. She decided to wear black slacks and a lavender button down shirt. She left her hair down and clipped half of it back. She skipped the makeup and put her black heels on. ‘Isabelle would be proud.’ Hermione thought.

She usually wore scrubs to work and casual clothes out, but since this was a private patient, Hermione wanted to dress proficiently and with an air of class. Or, that’s what she told herself.

She grabbed her clipboard, Narcissa’s file, and the notes she had written previously. Hermione never bothered with breakfast, what with her body not being used to normal human mealtimes. She left her wing of the house and knocked on Narcissa’s door.

There was no response, so Hermione opened the door and checked inside. She didn’t find her, so she left the room and went to look for Draco. Maybe he knew where she was.

She went down the stairs and knocked on the double doors she had tripped by last night. There was also no answer. She wasn’t going to open his door and catch him half naked or worse, fully naked, so she went in search of a house-elf who could tell her where everyone was.

“Hello Snot. Could you tell me where I could find your Master or Mistress?” Hermione asked.

“They are out in the garden. They sits there every morning.” Snot replied. “I show you where it is.”

“Thank you Snot.” Hermione said and followed the house-elf down to the first floor and into the foyer, which had Greek columns and marble flooring. He then led her to two large glass doors that opened to a beautiful, fragrant garden. There was a plethora of flowers and plants that Hermione had recognized and some that she had never seen before. There were roses of every color and size, lilies, orchids, mimosa trees, multi-colored tulips, and Hermione’s favorites, gardenias.

She spotted Narcissa and Draco sitting in the middle of the garden, on intricately carved chairs and having tea at an equally intricately carved table. She walked up to the table and sat in an empty chair.

“Good morning, I hope I’m not interrupting anything.” Hermione said as she put her notes and clipboard down.

“No, you’re welcome to join us.” Draco said politely.

“Draco, could I possibly speak to you in private.” Hermione said, remembering not to call him by his last name, as to not upset Narcissa.

He got up and led her to the hedge maze, where they could talk without Narcissa overhearing them. He waited for her to speak.

“I wanted to start her mental conditioning today.” Hermione said. “Preferably right now.”

“You’re the healer; you can do whatever you need, whenever you need to.” He said.

“Yes, but I need to keep you updated on all the treatments I use. I’m going to try using an Interrogative Comprehension to get her used to the conditioning. You’re welcome to join us, but I need you to know that you may not interrupt us no matter what.” she explained.

“No matter what?” He asked with a puzzled look.

“She might become uncomfortable at points because of the questioning, but you absolutely cannot interfere even if she begs. I know that might be difficult for you to handle, but she really needs to do this on her own. It might upset you at some points, but if you’re going to stay and observe, I need your word that you won’t disrupt the proceedings.”

Draco looked hesitant. He did not like the thought of his mother being put through emotional stress purposely, but Hermione obviously knew what she was doing. She was a professional after all, despite wearing pyjamas that should have been used to wrap animal carcasses in.

He nodded hesitantly.

“I need you to say it Malfoy. It is imperative that she gets through this on her own, or her recovery could essentially never happen.”

“Ok, I promise that I won’t interfere.” Draco said.

“I’m going to have my quill automatically record your mother’s words, so I need your permission before I do that.” Hermione said.

“Yes that’s fine.”

“Great. We should head back before she worries.” Hermione said and began walking away from the maze with Draco following.

Hermione took the seat closest to Narcissa and Draco sat across from them.

“Where did you two go?” Narcissa asked, fiddling with a tulip.

“We went over to the hedge maze.” Hermione answered. “Narcissa?”

“Yes?”

“Did you sleep well last night?” Hermione asked.

“Very well. I had a nice dream about flying a broom, but I don’t remember much.”

“Not many people do remember their dreams. Usually, they remember funny ones or strange ones.” Hermione replied.

“Oh I do remember a funny one that I had a long time ago.” Narcissa said with a soft smile.

“Would you share it with me?”

“When I was pregnant with Draco, you know how they say that pregnant women have the strangest dreams, well in my dream I had just come back from the healer’s office and she had told me that I was going to have a girl. I told the house-elves in my dream to start painting the nursery pink and to buy all pink and white clothing. At the end of the dream, it turned out that I had a little boy instead of a girl so I put him in the pink room and dressed him in all the little pink clothes.” Narcissa said with a laugh.

Hermione smiled. “You know, a lot of women dream about what gender their baby will be. Your dream might have meant that you’ve always secretly wanted a little girl and you had a boy instead, but that you still loved him regardless.”

“I have always wanted to have a daughter, but when Draco was born, those thoughts left my head and I put all of my time and devotion into him. He was the cutest babe; chubby cheeks and the sweetest pink lips. He was like a little cherub.” Narcissa said as she looked at her son. “Now he’s a grown man but I still think of him as my little baby Draco.”

Hermione wasn’t really into dream interpretation but that one had been too easy to pass up. She also had a tough time getting the image of a cute little baby Draco out of her head. “Narcissa, would you like to try something?”

“Like what?” Narcissa asked.

“Well, since I’m going to be living here, I was wondering if maybe you and I could get to know each other better.”

“That sounds lovely. How do you suggest we go about doing that?”

“Well, let’s try a little exercise where we take turns asking each other questions. I’ll let you start and you can ask me anything you want, and I will answer truthfully. I’m not going to lie to you Narcissa, so you can ask about any subject or any topic and I will give you an honest answer, and I’d like for you to do the same.”

“Ok, that sounds nice. Is Draco going to join as well?”

“Well you already know Draco so it’s not really necessary and I know him from school, so it will be just the two of us.” Hermione said.

“What should I ask you first?” Narcissa wondered out loud.

“Anything.” Hermione said.

Narcissa thought for a moment. “Where were you born?”

“I was born in Essex, which is not too far from here.”

“I have a sister who lives there. I’m not allowed to speak of her.” Narcissa said plainly.

Hermione made sure this information was dictated by the quill to be used for future questioning. She decided to start out with a simple question.

“What was your favorite thing to do as a child?”

“Hmm.” Narcissa thought aloud. “My favorite thing was when my parents would take my sisters and me over to our cousins’ house. I was the youngest out of all of us and my older cousin, Sirius, would throw me on his shoulders and we would play all of these fun games all day. Every weekend I made sure that we got to go visit with them.” Narcissa said happily.

“I’ve met Sirius. He was a very nice man.” Hermione said.

“Yes he was. But then Lucy-Goosey told me that my older sister Bellatrix had hurt Sirius a few years ago. I don’t know what actually happened. Do you?”

“Yes Narcissa, I do know. It’s not very good news so do you still want me to tell you?”

Narcissa nodded her head.

“Five years ago, Sirius was killed at the Ministry of Magic by your sister Bellatrix. He died fighting for a cause he believed in dearly, so he died a happy man.” Hermione offered.

Narcissa just sat there thinking. “I miss him.” She finally said.

“I’m certain you do. He had a noble soul and I was pleased to have met him.”

“Can I ask you another question?” Narcissa asked.

“Of course.”

“Are you married?”

“No.” Hermione replied. “I don’t have much time to find a husband because I work at a hospital and it takes a lot of my time.”

“You shouldn’t get married.” Narcissa said violently, which made one of Draco’s eyebrows rise.

Hermione also noticed the harshness in Narcissa’s voice. “Why do you say that, Narcissa?”

“When you get married, horrible things will happen.” Narcissa said.

“Like what?”

“Like…like…horrible things.” She said pulling the petals off of the flower in her hand.

“Can you explain what type of horrible things?” Hermione asked.

Narcissa just shook her head.

Hermione decided it was time to head into the hardest part of the exercise. “Narcissa, are you married?”

Narcissa looked up from the flower and into Hermione’s eyes. “I was.”

“You were? What happened?”

“My husband died a while ago.” Narcissa said, her breathing becoming a bit choppy.

“How did he die?”

“I don’t know. He just did. I wasn’t there, but Draco tells me that he did die.” Narcissa said, as her eyes darted around the garden.

“What was his name?” Hermione asked, knowing that this could be the breaking point.

“I don’t know.” Narcissa said.

“I’d really like to know his name. I’m sure you know it since you were married for so long.”

Narcissa shook her head. Her lips turning into a pout.

“Is his name Lucius Malfoy?” Hermione asked.

Narcissa started to cry. “I don’t want to answer any more questions.”

Draco shot Hermione a dangerous look, but she shot him one back that reminded him that he wasn’t to interfere or do anything. He clenched one of his fists but stayed quiet and watched as his mother cried, his heart slowly constricting.

“Narcissa, it is important for you to say his name, for you to hear his name. It’s just a name and it’s not going to bring him back or hurt you. You don’t have to say all of it. Just say his first name.”

Narcissa shook her head again, sniffling. “He was a bad man. He was a bad man who did bad things.”

“Say his first name Narcissa, please.” Hermione said with more force.

“Lu...Lu...Luci.” Narcissa stuttered but then put her hands to her face. “I can’t! I can’t! No more! No more names or questions! Draco, I want to go inside.”

Draco looked away from the sight of his mother falling apart. It hurt too much and he knew that he couldn’t meddle because he had given his word.

“Narcissa, you can’t leave from this garden until his first name is spoken by you. I’m not doing this to hurt you. I only want to help you. When you say his name, it can be your way of defeating him just a little bit.”

Narcissa wiped her cheeks, but tears still flowed. “Lucius.” She whispered.

Hermione sighed, glad that this part was over. “Thank you Narcissa. I appreciate the fact that you told me his name. I’m sorry I upset you and I hope you can forgive me.”

“I had a hat named pepper, once.” Narcissa said, a schizophrenic fit about to begin.

“You mean you had a cat named pepper?”

“No it was a hat prime minister and it swam Draco after moonlight to go to bed now in a museum to the newspaper.” Narcissa said.

“Would you like to have some more tea, Narcissa?” Hermione asked.

“Yes, tea is yellow to the polaksitipitil.” Narcissa replied, the degree of the schizophrenic fit, slowly rising.

Hermione pulled a small glass phial out of her pant pocket. She got up from the table and walked over to where Draco sat. She bent down and slipped the phial into his hand. She placed her mouth near his ear.

“Put the potion in her tea without her seeing. It will make her fall asleep and ease the symptoms of this schizophrenic fit she is having. Come up to my office when she’s asleep.” Hermione said in a whisper and left the garden.

Draco nodded and had to suppress a shiver when she whispered in his ear like that. He didn’t think anything of it, because anytime someone whispered in his ear, it made him shiver, always involuntarily.

He slipped the potion into his mother’s tea while she was still babbling and he waited for her to drink it. He helped her up to her room when she started yawning and looking drowsy.

As she had told him, Draco showed up and knocked on the double doors to Hermione’s wing. She opened the door and led him into the office that he had set up for her. She took a seat behind the desk and he took one of the two seats in front of the desk.

“Did she take the potion?” Hermione asked as she wrote something down.

Draco nodded.

Hermione looked up at him and noticed that he was bothered.

“I’m really sorry Malfoy. I know that must have been hard for you to witness, but that’s probably one of the tamest exercises I have to complete. It will only get harder from here on out.”

“She does that a lot, you know.” He said as he stared into the fireplace on the right side of the room.

“Does what?”

“Sometimes when I’m speaking with her, she’ll talk normally, and then she’ll start making up words and saying sentences that make no sense. That’s when I first noticed something was wrong.”

“Incoherence is the symptom where she uses sentences that have no meaning and neologisms are the words that she makes up. This is very common in patients who have schizophrenia.” Hermione explained.

Draco sighed. “I don’t think I want to watch the treatments anymore.”

“I can understand why you wouldn’t want to, but I think you really should be there.” Hermione said, coming around to sit next to him.

“Really?” he asked, watching as she took the seat next to his.

“You need to see what brought her to this condition in the first place. It is beneficial to you as her primary caretaker and as her son to be there with her as she relives the memories that I am trying to extract from her. I really recommend you being there, plus, she seems to find comfort from you and it’s always best if she feels comfortable when bringing out these thoughts.” Hermione said kindly.

Draco sighed again. “Ok, fine.”

“I want you to know that I’m not as heartless as I may seem when I’m treating her. I have to detach myself from my emotions when I’m counseling a patient, so don’t think I get my kicks off of her pain or anything.” Hermione said. “When I first started my psychiatric rotation, I cried at home every day for seven months. I’m not even exaggerating. Every day, I would go home and just cry myself to sleep. There were so many people who were hurt, scared, lost, confused, and alone. My mentor had to train me rigorously so that I could separate my feelings from my work.”

Draco just stared intensely at her.

She continued. “I think I’m done for today. I don’t want to wear her out on the first day, although I might need to ask you some questions about her and what you remember of her before she was diagnosed.”

“That’s fine. How about after lunch, three pm? I have some business to attend to before then.” He said, standing up.

Hermione’s eyebrow quirked. “If you don’t mind me asking, what sort of business? I didn’t think the Ministry would ever let you have a job anywhere.”

Draco looked at her thoughtfully. “I do the finances for Hogwarts. Professor McGonagall hired me to take care of all the business accounts and financial advising for the school since I could never have a job doing something else. I don’t get paid because I don’t really need the money. My family’s assets and my inheritances from both the Malfoy and Black families are more than enough to last several generations. I do the work because it helped keep me from going insane.”

Hermione stopped her jaw from dropping. “I didn’t know that.”

“Yeah. I also read. Read almost every book in the Malfoy library. It’s rumored that we have more books than Hogwarts.”

“Really?” Hermione asked as her interest piqued.

“Yes, I prefer to read about the liberal arts though. History, geography, art, politics, theology. But that’s a topic we can save for another time. I’ll see you at three.” He said and left the room.

Hermione stared at the closed door and thought about what Malfoy had just told her. ‘I do the work because it helped keep me from going insane.’

He didn’t deserve to live like this. Nobody did. Hermione sighed and went back to reading what the quill had dictated during her treatment with Narcissa.


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A/N: ok, so so sorry for taking forever with this chapter. Things came up, but that is no excuse. All of my faithful reviewers, I really do love you all!!! Thank you so much!! I will update the next chapter ASAP!!

The title comes from the song “Gravity” by Embrace.