The Last Black (Hermione Granger x Male Reader) Vol.2

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT: Marcus Hughes

I'd passed out on the way to the hospital wing and didn't wake up until evening. I wasn't alone when I woke up though. Sat in the chair to my right was Hermione, one of her hands was intertwined with my own, her other holding open a paperback; her brown eyes skimming the open pages. Mum sat opposite on my left, an empty box of tissues beside her. "(Y/N)!" She exclaimed once my eyes had fully opened. I tried to sit upright, but the cast around my left arm prevented me from being able to push myself up.

"Pomfrey said you should wait a while before trying to move too much," Hermione said, holding a glass of water with a straw up to my lips. I sipped from it and looked to my mum.

"I need to see Dumbledore," I told her, "I need to see him right away." I managed to summon enough energy to shuffle upwards and sit upright - much to Hermione and my mother's discouragement.

"You need to rest," my mum said, "you can see Dumbledore when you're better."

By this point I had already crawled out of bed and began to struggle into my uniform which had been cleaned and folded over the partition separating my bed from the rest of the hospital wing. "You can either sit there and argue with me or help me get dressed!" I grumbled, trying to get my broken arm into the left sleeve of my shirt. Mum looked defeated and got up to help, but Hermione beat her to it. The casts on my right leg and left arm made it practically impossible to slip them into any piece of clothing. "Pass my wand," I instructed anybody who was listening. My mum chucked it over from my bedside table and I quickly performed a severing charm on the shirt sleeve and trouser leg which were proving difficult. I slid my wand into the inside pocket of my robe, checking the phial was still there, and then grabbed the walking stick leaning against the partition with my healthy hand.

Hermione and mum followed me all the way up to the hidden steps to Dumbledore's office. It was late evening, and the corridors were desert. It took me a solid hour to get to the statue of the griffin, although if I wasn't so proud and accepted help walking, it could have taken about half of that time. Mum wanted to come up with me so she could give Dumbledore a piece of her mind, but I shut down this idea swiftly. "I can take care of myself," I said.

"Clearly not!" She argued, "look at the state 'taking care of yourself' has gotten you into." I ignored this comment and used one of the passwords I had memorised from the piece of parchment Dumbledore had given me. The statue begun to rotate and slide upwards, and so I took a step forward and let it carry me up to the headmaster's office.

I wasted no time on knocking and waiting to be invited in. Instead, I simply stumbled into the office, where Dumbledore was holding court with both McGonagall and Rosenquist, the sound of my walking stick hitting the floor echoing off the round walls. All three pairs of eyes turned to look at me. Professor Rosenquist got up out of her chair and tried to offer me some help towards the table, but I refused any aid.

"She knows then?" I asked, gesturing to Rosenquist with my healthy arm.

"I hope you realise you gave us no other choice when you went to the alchemy laboratory this morning in your state," said Dumbledore.

"Werewolf or not, you're still the most talented student I've ever had the pleasure of teaching," Rosenquist smiled, "besides, I don't really care about that sort of shit." McGonagall flashed her a look of discouragement as the profanity left her mouth, Dumbledore just smiled.

"And The Order?" I asked.

"I was already part of The Order," Rosenquist practically laughed, "who do you think's been helping Charlie Weasley recruit from abroad?"

She must have been back home in Sweden during the summer holidays doing the same as Charlie had been doing in Romania.

"I was more surprised at hearing you'd been given permission to join," She said, "never could I imagine Hazel Black giving her son so much responsibility!"