Hey all! Thanks for the reviews! One author note: This is primarily an HG/DM fic but there will still be HG/RW moments as I imagine Hermione's not in the easiest position right now. It's not realistic for her to completely be objective.
Draco apparated back to Hermione's house only to find it empty except for a hasty note she had left on the table.
At the Ministry Library.
-Hermione
Brilliant, he thought. There was no indication of when she would be back. No words of affection. He hastily wrote that he was going to the Manor and that she should join if she was back early enough but he know she wouldn't. She wouldn't be back that night and maybe not the next night either. She'd fall asleep at her desk looking for any excuse to prove that Ron wasn't back. Draco sighed, wrote a new note, and sent it with Hermione's owl to Blaise.
Need to talk- meet me at the Manor.
-DM
Draco stepped out of Hermione's house and apparated a block away to the Manor. Once inside, he made a beeline to his study and opened a bottle of brandy. Not stopping to fill the glass, he took a swig out of the bottle. Setting down the bottle, he leaned over his desk and let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. It hadn't been 24 hours yet since Weasley was back and he already knew there were problems with him and Hermione. She was already avoiding him. He grabbed a glass near him and launched it at the door out of anger.
"Fucking Weasley!" He shouted angrily before flicking his wand to repair the glass and summoning it back to him to fill with brandy.
"Er-it's just Blaise?" A voice said as his study door opened. "You okay, mate?"
"No." Draco responded surly, sitting at his desk. "Weasley is back."
"Which Weasley? You know there are like, a hundred of them, right?" Blaise cocked an eyebrow and taking a seat across from Draco.
"Ron Weasley." Draco looked down at his glass.
"Come off it, that's not funny." Blaise replied seriously and began to fill his own glass.
"Do you see me laughing?"
"Wait." Blaise leaned forward, setting his glass down on the desk. "You're serious?"
"Yes, provided that the ministry can prove he is who he says he is. Which, I think they will be able to."
"Where the fuck has he been in six years?" Blaise asked incredulously and then more seriously, "Who did we bury?" Draco shrugged.
"I didn't really stick around for answers to be honest."
"What about Hermione? Where is she? Why aren't you with her?" Blaise was obviously questioning him as a partner.
"She is at the Ministry researching how someone could be posing as Weasley." He rolled his eyes and took another sip of his drink.
"She doesn't think it's him?"
"More like she doesn't want it to be him. Probably because she doesn't want to have to figure out how to end things with me." Draco looked down at his glass, pitying himself. Blaise reached across the table and slapped him in the back of the head.
"What the fuck, Blaise?" Draco squinted and rubbed the back of his head.
"This isn't about you Draco!" Blaise was clearly angry. "Sure, it's not an ideal situation but come off it. She's allowed to be weird for a second. Don't you remember how they used to be? Weasley and Granger were inseparable. This is someone she spent months surviving with. This is someone she's seen almost die countless times, someone who has saved her life. She is allowed to feel however she wants. You just need to support her. Don't make this about you." Draco clenched his jaw but didn't respond. "I'm serious, Draco."
They sat in silence for a minute while Draco thought about what Blaise had said and sipped on his brandy. He knew he had been thinking selfishly but it didn't stop the worry he was feeling. It especially didn't help that he and Hermione had only been together a year, which felt like nothing compared to the history she had with Weasley.
"You're right. Sorry." Draco grunted. Draco knew Blaise was right but he couldn't help but feel that he was too.
Ron and Harry walked in silence to St. Mungo's. Ron was exhausted, shuffling his feet as they walked and fighting sleep the whole way. He knew now that he should have gone to the ministry first but once he had made it back to London, he hadn't wanted to see anyone besides her. Hermione. It was almost like his body had pulled him to their house. He should have known that they would have faked his death to prevent anyone looking for him. He should have known after six years, it was unlikely Hermione wouldn't be suspicious when he showed up on their doorstep but he hadn't been able to think of anything besides seeing her face again. And now that he had, he regretted it. The look of pure hatred she had had during her brief interrogation of him had crushed him in ways he was refusing to show.
"You know Hermione is almost certainly at the library researching concealment charms and polyjuice potions right now."
"I know," Ron replied flatly. Harry stopped walking and turned to look at him.
"I believe you Ron." Harry awkwardly wrapped Ron in a hug and Ron jumped. He didn't know what to do. It'd been a long time since someone had been physically affectionate with him.
"Thanks, Harry. Trust me, I wish I wasn't me right now."
"I know the feeling." Harry and Ron chuckled as they walked on. "You know you're going to have to tell Hermione and I what happened. Not now, but, we have to know. You know that right?"
"Yeah." Ron looked down. "Yeah, I know." They continued walking before Ron quietly added, "So, Malfoy and Hermione…"
"Yeah, er-We don't have to talk about that if you don't want to." Harry said hastily.
"How long?"
"Er- like a year or so?" Ron nodded, not saying anything. He had always figured Hermione would move on but he had hoped she hadn't. How many nights had he lay looking at the ceiling of his cell trying to conjure an image of her up late reading, her laughing at his jokes. Every night he had prayed to dream of her. He prayed to retreat into a world where were they were alone again.
"You and Ginny?"
"Married." Harry waved his finger at him to show his wedding band. "We have one on the way."
"Wow. And mom? George and F-? George." Ron corrected, shaking his head.
"Everyone is alive and well." Harry put his hand on Ron's back and guided him into the hospital. He left Ron by the wall and asked the first employee he saw for Healer Longbottom. Moments later, Neville was bouncing out into the corridor looking for Harry.
"Harry! Is everything okay?" Neville asked, quirking an eyebrow.
"Neville, I need you to treat a patient but I need you to be quiet about it. Can you do that?"
"You know I can Harry. Are they here?" Neville looked around the waiting room and spotted a homeless-looking man by the wall. His eyes moved quickly past him not seeing that he was Ron.
"Yeah, can you show us to a room? Come on Ron." Harry motioned for Ron to follow him and Neville's eyes widened but he said nothing. Once in the room, Neville asked Ron if he would like a bath before he examined him. An immediate yes escaped Ron's lips. Neville showed him into the adjoining bathroom and let him know he would be right outside if he needed anything.
Ron peeled away the dirty layers he was wearing and let them fall to the ground. He had never been more excited for a bath. As he lowered himself into the tub, he watched as the water turned brown and then clear again. He had forgotten that the Mungo's tubs washed away dirt and bacteria immediately and refilled with clean, herb-filled water. He relaxed, setting his head against the back of the tub and closed his eyes. Running his hands over his arms he felt his skin under the pads of his fingers. It didn't feel like it was him anymore now that he was marked with various bruises and scars. His mind flashed back to his vicious beatings.
"Blood traitor." WHACK! "After all this time." WHACK! "You disgust me." WHACK!
Ron's eyes flew open and breathed in. He pulled his long legs up to his chest placing his forehead on his knees. "You're not there. You're not there. You're not there." He repeated, rocking lightly and trying to concentrate on his breathing. Once his panic subsided he began to scrub himself, trying not to look at the marks staining his body.
His hair was by far the dirtiest part of him. He dunked his head in the water and ran his fingers through it picking out leaves and twigs that were stuck in the tangles. The water once again turned brown to clear and Ron wondered exactly how much dirt was on him. After he finished shampooing, his hair until it was no longer a ruddy, burnt orange but back to its natural violent orange. It was so long now that he could put Bill's mane to shame. The feeling of running a comb through his hair cause tears to spring in his eyes unexpectedly. It was just such a normal thing to do after six years of so much pain.
"Get it together Ron." he told himself putting on the robe Neville had left him. He walked to see Harry sitting in a chair next to a hospital bed. Neville was not there.
"Neville will be back in a minute." Harry said as Ron climbed into the bed. Ron nodded and stared up at the ceiling out of habit and Harry remained quiet. He always appreciated that Harry never had to fill the silence with talking.
By the time Neville returned, Ron had counted 78 tiles in the ceiling. "Do you want me to leave?" Harry asked to which Ron shook his head.
"Okay Ron," Neville said, "In order for me to treat you, you'll have to tell me a bit about your physical condition since you've been missing. I will need you to kindly step on the scale for me." He pointed to a magic scale next the the bed and Ron gingerly stepped onto it. "If at any point, you feel uncomfortable or want to stop, let me know."
"Fifty-five kilograms." Neville said aloud. Even Ron, who'd always been thin, knew this was unhealthy. His hand unconsciously felt the hollow of his stomach. His mother was going to lose it when she saw him. "So, you are underweight but it's nothing we can't fix." Neville pulled out some chocolate and handed it to Ron who nibbled at it tentatively. Harry had never seen Ron hesitate to eat before and it disturbed him.
"Okay, I'm going to do a full body scan. I just need you to lie back on the bed here." Neville pulled out his wand and hovered it over Ron.
"It looks like you've had several broken bones that have healed incorrectly and some nerve damage from-"
"The Cruciatus Curse. Yeah." Ron finished his sentence. Harry felt like he was going to be sick at the thought. He had expected Ron to look better after his bath but without the dirty rags on, he could now see how truly terrible Ron looked. His gaunt, skeletal frame was something out of a muggle horror film. His eyes were red from lack of sleep and his eyelids, 's pale blue veins were visible under his translucent skin and he could see his bones sticking sickly out from under his skin.
"Right." Neville didn't look much better but kept his voice upbeat nonetheless. "You'll have to stay here a few days so that we can heal you but after that, you'll be able to go home."
"Wherever that is." Neville didn't respond. He just handed him a sleeping draught sadly and watched as Ron drifted to sleep.
