Fire and the Dragon

A/N: thank you to my first reviewers. I appreciate the support and constructive criticism. I will try to fix the paragraphs to make them more readable. For the record, this story has not been prewritten, I am making it up as I go along, so if you have any ideas please share them! I am so scared and nervous about posting my first fic, so thanks so much for reading!!



Ch. 3 The halls of St. Mungo’s were nearly deserted at this early hour of the morning. Severus ran to the emergency department with the unconscious Hermione in his arms.



He could barely feel her pulse anymore as he rushed to find the first healer he could. He rounded a corner and nearly bumped into a tall red-headed healer carrying a clipboard.

“You, this young woman was attacked in muggle London. She needs immediate attention.”



“Oh dear Merlin, of course, sir. If you will just follow me…” the healer brushed back some of Hermione’s curls and nearly stumbled. “but isn’t that, I mean, isn’t she Hermione Granger? Oh Lord, has Mr. Potter been informed?”



“Well spotted, forgive me but at the moment, my top priority is to make sure she survives, as should it be yours, it is not to call on the blubbering idiot friends yet.” Severus exclaimed, growing weary and angry at the healer’s non attentiveness. They finally reached a room where she was laid down on a comfortable bed.



The healer put his wand to his neck, which amplified his voice like a loud speaker, and announced, “This is Healer Jackson. We have a level 3 emergency in room 131. Please come assist immediately.” Within minutes the room was swarmed with no less than 7 healers, all bustling about and pushing him from the room.



With one last look towards the door, Severus began to make his way to the fireplace. He needed to speak with Prime Minister Shaklebolt right away. He grabbed some floo powder, stepped into the grate, and said, “Ministry of Magic” then he was swept away in a swirling vortex. Flying by grate after grate, until he landed, most ungracefully, on the shining floor in the atrium of the Ministry.



He dusted himself off and quickly made his way to the auror department. At 3 in the morning it would be up to them to contact Kingsley and take the necessary route to finding whoever did this. “Ha,” he huffed to himself. “it will only take me a short while and a lot of ministry lenience in order to uncover the truth.” He thought viciously to himself. All those years by Voldemort did not leave him with a perfect outlook.



As the lift opened, he walked into the department of magical law enforcement, hoping someone would be there instead of slacking off.



“Wotcher, Snape.” He groaned as he heard the voice of the last person he wanted to find here. “Hello, Nymphadora, I, or shall I say, someone, is in dire need of assistance. Ms. Granger was viciously attacked tonight by an unknown assailant.” He rolled his eyes as she took a sharp intake of breath. “Even though it was in muggle London, I believe the situation warrants further investigation.”



“Is she alright? Have you talked to Harry yet? He is the auror on duty tonight for muggings and other attacks.” Tonks started to babble and ramble on. “Mrs. Lupin, if you could please control yourself long enough to get people on the case, it would prove beneficial. Ms. Granger is alive, be satisfied with that and be sure this is taken care of.”



He left the office in a billow of robes. He had his own search to begin.



Back at St. Mungo’s, the emergency department had become a bustle of activity. Aurors had been called in to begin to assess the situation. With him knowing Hermione through the Order, even Kingsley was called in and arrived immediately. Harry Potter had been in his office finishing a few reports when Tonks came storming through the door in a frenzy. She told him that a young woman had been attacked in muggle London, and he was to go to the hospital to get information from the healers and begin a report before going in to see the girl. Then he was to turn the case over to another auror.



When he arrived, he looked around frantically for the healer he was supposed to be questioning. By the door, he saw most of the Weasley family. “Mrs. Weasley?” He began, then he looked around at all the redheaded family. “Where’s Ginny?” He began to panic.



“Oh, Harry dear.” She sniffed. “Ginny is fine, she is on her way, she went to go and bring Ron. We don’t know who it is” she said to his puzzled face. “Kingsley just flooed us and told us we should be here.” The matriarch tried to lead him to the waiting chairs with the other family, but he simply backed away, explaining he was here on work business and went to find that blasted healer.



He found him just down the hall, busy checking some fact in his books. “Healer Jackson?” he asked. The young healer turned to him with a somber face. “Yes, Mr. Potter, it is an honor, sir.” Harry flushed slightly and asked him to explain the girl’s condition and what happened earlier.



“Well, when she was brought in, she was barely alive, poor girl.” Harry’s hand scratched down what was said. “Her injuries are quite extensive. Cracked skull, deep wound to the back of the head, no less than 12 hand shaped bruises on her neck, legs, arms, and torso, 3 broken ribs, fractured right hand, deep laceration to the left leg, multiple scrapes and minor bumps, it is apparent that she was sexually assaulted, her vagina was torn from a rough entry, and there was a carving on her chest with the letters m-i-n-e.”



Harry sighed, the poor girl, hopefully they would catch whoever did this quickly. “Do you know the girl’s age?” The healer hesitated, “We are guessing near 21.” Harry’s heart clinched, he probably went to school with this girl. “Thank you sir. When she wakes up, I would very much like to question her.”



“If she wakes up,” the healer said to noone in particular. “that has yet to be determined.” Harry’s jaw dropped, “what do you mean ‘if’? you are healers, aren’t you supposed to heal people when they come in?” Healer Jackson sighed and began to explain that with such extensive injuries, if she doesn’t wake in the next 3 days, it is likely she will never wake. But she is lucky still that Professor Snape was there to find her and bring her in with time to save her life.



Harry’s head snapped up, “Snape brought her here?” The healer nodded. Harry was just about to walk away when the healer said to him, “I’m so sorry Mr. Potter”.



“Well I wonder what he meant by that” he wondered as he made his way back to the young girl’s room.



Tonks and Kingsley were talking in low voices when he approached the door. “Harry, you can’t go in there, you don’t want to go in there, yet.” Kingsley said in his low voice. Harry noted that he looked tired and weary.



Harry was just about to argue when a young healer opened the door and he caught a glimpse of brown curls that he recognized instantly. The Weasleys and the rest of the occupants of the hall broke into shocked tears as Harry screamed out “NOOOO HERMIONE!!!!”