Warning: Themes of mental health issues in this chapter [and in future chapters].


Chapter Two – The First Session


By the time Hermione saw Malfoy again six months had passed, and she was thrilled that Healer Leland had considered that she had done a good enough job that she had promoted her from intern to an official Psych-Healer. Now as she stood in the break room with the other official healers, Psych-Healer Granger had never felt prouder of herself.

'Here comes another resignation.' Psych-Healer Neville Longbottom said as he sipped his morning coffee. Hermione turned around to see Healer Quinn enter the break-room, her eyes and face blackened with tear-laced mascara.

'I can't do this anymore! Malfoy's an animal! A fucking animal!' Healer Quinn cried, wiping her runny nose on her coat's sleeve. She was headed for the exit.

'Healer Quinn! Healer Leena Quinn! Stop running away like a coward!' Healer Leland called after her. Her face seemed to have more wrinkles than Hermione remembered seeing her as having when she first started her internship. Joanna Leland was fast enough to catch up with the distressed young healer.

'Joanna, I'm so sorry but I just can't do this! I quit!' Healer Quinn shouted at her now ex-boss. She freed her arm from Leland's firm grasp and ran out of the break-room and towards the exit.

Every healer in the room watched Healer Leland's face go from annoyed, to sad, to completely blank. Although Joanna never looked surprised. Everyone at the Asylum knew that there wasn't a single healer there that had lasted more than two months once they were assigned to the patient Draco Malfoy.

'What am I to do?' Healer Leland murmured to herself, quiet enough that only Hermione, who had been sat in the chair closest to the middle-aged healer, thought that she was the only one who had heard her.

'Why don't you let Healer Granger take over Healer Quinn's work?' Healer Napier suggested. Hermione scowled at her. Healer Anastasia Napier had been a thorn in her side since the second day of Hermione's internship. Despite the fact that Hermione could not remember doing anything wrong either in her job or to the thirty-year-old woman personally, Napier had always seemed to loathe her. Napier went out of her way to undermine all of Hermione's opinions and made fun of her ''muggleborn'' status (although Hermione could tell that she was always wanting to use ''mudblood'' instead of ''muggleborn'' by her tone) despite the fact that Napier was a Half-blood with a muggle father herself. Napier also loved to point out fact that she was far wealthier and had (in her opinion) a much more thorough education at Beauxbatons than Hermione had at Hogwarts. Hermione had considered reporting her to Joanna, after Neville had suggested it, but hadn't done so, not wanting to be seen as a trouble-maker in the early days of employment.

'A most interesting proposal, Healer Napier.' Healer Leland replied to Napier, who smiled wolfishly.

'Healer Leland, you can't be serious!' Neville gasped. 'Malfoy would kill Hermione. He hates her and has done throughout school.'

'Please do not talk back to me, Longbottom.' Healer Leland snapped, like she was a Hogwarts professor. Neville reddened and said nothing. 'I am well aware of Healer Granger's previous relationship towards the patient, as we've had many drinks together over the course of her internship.' Joanna flashed Hermione a small smile, to which the younger witch returned.

'Although, the singular thing I had deduced from Healer Quinn's two months of working with Mr Malfoy is that he no longer seems to remember anything from his years at Hogwarts, his adult life, and he out-right refuses to talk about his childhood. However, since the first day of Healer Granger's internship, Draco Malfoy has began uttering sentences of at least three words.' Healer Leland said. 'It seems she has awakened his voice - yes, I don't know how I didn't reach this conclusion earlier. Healer Granger?'

'Yes?' Hermione squeaked.

'From now on Mr Draco Malfoy will be your primary patient for the foreseeable future, is that clear?'

'Yes, Healer Leland.' Hermione said, noticing how Joanna used the words "is that clear" rather than "do you agree" which was the far more common term the healer used.

'Good. Your break time's over. I want you to see Mr Draco Malfoy right away, Healer Granger. Nurse Kowalski is head nurse on The Lily Ward at the moment.' Healer Leland said before heading out of the break-room, probably going to her office so that she can have another Malfoy-fuelled meltdown in her office.

'You don't have to do this 'Mione.' Neville told Hermione gently. 'Just refuse.'

'And lose the job I've worked so hard for?'

'Hermione, you don't understand.' Neville said, shaking his head. 'Luna worked here up until four months ago, when she was told by Leland to take on the Malfoy case. He completely butchered half of Luna's face and he didn't even use any magic. She's still in St. Mungos now, that's why you haven't seen her. Leland sends in female healers in the hopes he'll have a soft spot for them but she's too damn blind to realise that that is far from the fucking case.' Neville said, his voice rising into a shout as he spoke. It made Hermione tremble when Neville swore, he hardly ever did. But she understood that there were several rumours the two were casually dating over the years. Neville's reaction seemed to confirm these rumours as he began to cry at the memory of Luna's own agony and sorrow.

Hermione wrapped her arms around her friend and patted his back gently as he cried into her white coat.

After ten minutes, Neville's sobs subdued a little and he released her from his embrace.

'I'm so sorry Neville, but I have to go.' Hermione told Neville and went to leave.

'Finally. Another minute I would have to report you both to Leland for defying her orders.' Anastasia Napier said.

'Oh, shut it Anastasia.' Hermione retorted grinning as she knew how much Anastasia Napier hated being called her full-forename much preferring 'Anna' or 'Stacey'.


Hermione walked like she was on a death march to The Lily Ward. Her breath was rising and falling rapidly with each step of her heels. How on earth could anyone expect her to heal Draco Malfoy? The boy who had taunted her, humiliated her, who hated her throughout Hogwarts? It was a real fucking joke, and Hermione felt angry at Leland for making her, of all people, go through with it. Clearly the Asylum didn't abide by the same ethics that muggle mental health hospitals did – Hermione had always thought that you weren't allowed to have any sort of personal relationships with your patients.

Nurse Kowalski, an overweight African-American man, was stood outside the entrance to The Lily ward. 'Healer Leland says that I'm to escort you to your new patient'. To Hermione's surprise, Kowalski was one of the few members of staff that didn't hold a ghost of fear in their eyes at the mention of Malfoy's name. Instead Nurse Kowalski just smiled at her before opening the entrance doors.

'If I were you, I'd let him start whatever the Hell he calls a conversation.' Nurse Kowalski whispered in her ear as they walk towards Malfoy's cell. 'It worked best that way for Healer Quinn.'

'Thanks for the tip, Nurse Kowalski.' Hermione whispered back. Kowalski holds out a large hand for her to shake.

'Call me Barney, please. Nobody except Leland calls me "Nurse Kowalski".' Nurse Barney Kowalski says as Hermione shakes his hand. 'I'm Hermione.' Hermione said in reply.

'He's – Draco Malfoy, I mean – has been alright for most of today. He's been a bit – well, a bit, err, depressed I guess is the word, since Healer – I mean Miss Quinn quit. He's been less hostile than usual since I've been on duty. I'd like to say I'm his favourite, as I don't bother or pester him more than I really have to.' Kowal - Barney said.

They had reached Malfoy's cell. Malfoy was lied on his bed looking almost lifeless as he was that still. Both Barney and Hermione cleared their throats to acknowledge their presence but that provided zero response. Hermione couldn't see his face under the thick and heavy blankets, which in this instance reminded Hermione of a corpse being in a morgue.

'Mr Malfoy, I'm, I'm Psych-Healer Hermione Granger, you might remember me from sch-school. I would be very grateful if we could have a little chat.' Hermione began, completely disregarding Barney's advice after five minutes of Malfoy being utterly unresponsive to any more subtle forms of communication.

Hermione turned and saw Graham Montague lied on his cell-bed under the thick white blankets.

'Help – I've cut my self – look at the blood!' Montague shrieked and suddenly a piece of sperm was flung right passed the cell "glass" and straight onto Hermione's unfortunate cheek. Hermione could have puked as she wiped the offensive substance off with a bit of her white coat.

She turned back to Malfoy and was shocked to see his upper-body upright in his bed. Malfoy moved in almost snake-like movements over the edge of his cell, looking her in the eyes before looking back at her cheek.

'Grrraanngggeerrr.' He whispered before he sat up off his stomach and crossed his legs. 'That was terribly ugly what just happened to you, but you do look so attractive when you're mad.' Draco Malfoy said. He sounded so sane almost, a lot more like the snarky boy she'd met at Hogwarts all those years ago. But Hermione was not paying attention to Malfoy's words. No. Hermione was paying her attention to the bloody Chester smile that had been freshly cut into his face.

She quickly turned to look towards Barney for advice on how to proceed but he and the other orderlies that had been standing around for such a assistance where too busy dragging Montague to solitary confinement. Hermione winced as she watched a much-older orderly beat Montague's face violently to the ground.

She turned back to Malfoy, who was a much better alternative, to the grotesque sight of the staff beating their patients. She'd tell Healer Leland later.

'Why did you cut your face Mal – Draco?' Hermione asks quietly.

'Are you so sure I did?' Draco's cold smile did not meet his grey eyes.

'Who else would want to hurt you?'

Draco shrugged: 'You tell me, doctor.'

Hermione didn't know what to say to that, thus she changed the topic of conversation. 'Do you know why you're in here?'

At that question, Draco hissed like a literal snake and flinched away from her. His face went from a kind of curious expression to an impossibly blank one.

'Okay, you don't have to answer that if you don't wish to. Do you want to talk a bit about your past? Any part?' Hermione urged. Draco's face remained as perfectly blank as a world-class poker player.

'Do you want to talk at all?'

No answer.

Hermione asked a series of typical-therapy questions she had had drilled into her brain during her training as an intern. Draco didn't even so much as blink – which petrified Hermione.

In the end she had to give up and went to Healer Leland's office to report her failed therapy session.

Healer Leland merely nodded at her narrative of events, scribbling in the countless notebooks on her office desk. 'To me it sounds like an extremely successful therapy session, considering the nature of your patient.'

'What? Healer Leland Malfoy – I mean Draco Malfoy spoke no more than twenty words to me – that isn't exactly a successful first session. I think maybe you should appoint -'

Healer Leland silences Healer Granger with a slam of her notebook as she stands. 'No. don't even consider asking me to appoint someone else as Malfoy speaks to no one but you, Healer Granger. To suggest otherwise is ludicrous. With Healer Napier, Healer Lovegood, Healer Abbott and all the other bloody healers I've sent to take care of him have come back bloody or in body bags. With you, it's different. End of story. Leave my office now and go home, Healer Granger.' Healer Leland almost shouts before sitting back in her desk chair.

Hermione turns to leave, shocked, before she remembers. 'Healer Leland?'

'What now?'

'The orderlies in The Lily Ward. Today – they – they beat up Graham Montague, a patient.'

Healer Leland shrugged. 'I suppose after all of this, that is the least of my problems. Now please, go Hermione.'


Authors Note: That my readers is a early Easter present from me. Please leave a review, positive or constructive or both, in the review box below, and please check out my other fanfiction stories, if you haven't already.

Also, a "Chester Smile" is a term for a cut in the lips, very much alike Heath Ledger's Joker smile in The Dark Knight.

Love,

Lavendercrystals xx