A/n: Greetings my lovelies. I present to you Chapter 20. I would like to dedicate this to Juu Malfoy, Neferatu and my beta Gia1802.
Disclaimer: Damn DAS you ain't no JKR
Monday morning greeted our couple with Hermione still wrapped up in the comfy blankets on Draco's bed, while he was readying himself for work. As he was shuffling between the closets and the bathroom, Hermione opened her eyes to catch a glimpse of a shirtless Draco in just his dress slacks with his hair damp and disheveled. 'I can wake up to that sight every morning,' she thought a small smile playing on her lips. While she started to stretch and stir, Draco took a few strides towards her, sitting on the edge of the bed he leaned in to bury his head in the crook of her neck to plant kisses there.
"Good morning love, did you sleep well?" Draco asked leaning back to button his shirt.
"Mmmm-Hmm, very well." Hermione replied with a bright smile, reaching to fix his shirt collar.
Chuckling at her, Draco said. "Very good then. Listen Emily will be by around ten to help you while I'm at the office. I will try to leave early to make dinner."
"Who's Emily?" She asked her brows furrowed.
Giving her an understanding smile Draco simply explained. "She's the nurse from the doctor's office that I hired to help you while I am not here for the next few days."
"Oh, Draco you didn't have to do that. I can manage until you come back home... I." She said as Draco cut her off.
"Woman, the last thing I need to come home to is you on the floor with another sprained ankle. Use the help." Draco said sternly.
"When did you get so bloody bossy?" Hermione said with a pout.
Giving her a wicked smirk. "Oh, love, I learned it from you." He said leaning over to kiss her nose.
Sitting in the Great Hall, Hermione had her head buried in her Alchemy text book. She was absent mindedly eating her toast when she felt a sudden presence next to her. Looking up she was met with the face of Blaise Zabini, his obsidian colored eyes were filled with concern.
"Good morning Blaise." She said. "Are you okay?"
"Have you read the Prophet today?" He asked skipping the pleasantries and getting to the point of his appearance.
"No... (turning her head to Seamus) She said. "Oi, Sea, can I take a look at the front page?" Seamus obliged and levitated the paper towards her. Picking it up she was met by the ghastly sight of Lucius Malfoy's face looking drawn and full of disdain. She dropped the paper as if it had scalded her hands. Blaise picked it up to show her the headline.
"He's out, Granger, Lucius is out of Azkaban." He said with a coldness to his tone.
"Does Draco know? I have not seen him this past weekend..." She started to question but Blaise cut her off.
"He was at the Manor... he... Granger he's been quiet. Too quiet ... scary quiet. You have to..." It was her turn to cut him off.
"Take me to him." She said her voice laced with worry. She knew when he shut himself off to the world it was when he needed someone the most. Draco was complex, he spent years building walls and facades to hide his true feelings and mask any hurt or pain. To have to face the man that breed and beat into you the prejudices and the dishonorable loyalties of his own beliefs day in, day out from birth. To be offered as a proverbial sacrifice to a mad man with a vicious vendetta against people with the same shared lineage as himself. The man that spoon fed Draco messages of hate against people he had now come accept even befriend. Even with all that you still idolized and adored and called that man 'Father', he was his hero, a disillusioned hero. To face the conflict of emotions both love and loathing, that kind of truth made Draco scary quite.
Blaise led Hermione into the Slytherin common room and up to the dorm that he shared with Draco. The curtains were drawn around the four poster bed. Blaise just nodded in the direction of Draco's bed, Hermione nodded in affirmation.
"Oi, D, you have a visitor," Blaise called out.
"Go away, I'm in no mood for company," Draco said.
Hermione turned to Blaise and placed a hand on his chest whispering that he should leave, she could handle Draco alone. Tilting his head, Blaise made a move to exit the room. Once the door was closed Hermione placed a silencing charm on the room. She tentatively approached Draco's bed and with unsteady hands drew back the side curtain. Draco was lying on the bed, legs stretched out and crossed. His arms behind his head and eyes closed. Hermione just let her eyes drag down the sight of his form.
"Draco." She said a slight shake in her voice due to the anticipated backlash of invading his privacy, plus the total disregard for his request to be left alone.
"Granger." He said dryly. Opening his eyes to look at her. His eyes seemed to glow in the low light piercing into her own, sending a shiver down her spine. Hermione cleared her throat then spoke. "I read about your father's release. Blaise said you saw him over the weekend..."
At that statement Draco sat up, huffing in irritation he cut her off by saying."Bloody nosey Italian git."
"Draco, Blaise is your friend and he cares, as do I." Hermione chastised him. Draco just glanced at her, locking his jaw he scowled. "You care." He grit out the words.
"Y-yes, Draco, I care about you. We're friends... at least I..."She began to say but was cut short as Draco grabbed her face, her lips just centimeters from his own. Their eyes dancing between each other's lips and eyes. His grey orbs tracing the curves of her face. Hermione nervously bit her bottom lip. Just then Draco let go of her face and wrapped his arms around her shoulders pulling her close to him in a hug. He said to her in a low tone."We are, Granger, we are."
"Tell me what happened this weekend?" She asked still locked in their embrace.
"I'm still a fucking coward." His voice muffled as he spoke into her shoulder.
Moving away to break their hug, Hermione looked to catch Draco's eyes. "What do you mean? You are not a coward." She tried to reason.
"Are you kidding me Granger, look at these." He said, grabbing her sleeve that covered her "Mudblood" scar pulling it up to expose it and then lifting up his own sleeve to show off his Dark Mark side by side. "How am I not a coward. These are perfect examples of my attempts at self preservation and... I... I did it again." He continued putting her arm down.
Hermione pulled her sleeve down to cover the scar. "These marks don't mean anything. You cannot give them power over you. Draco, you didn't carve that word into my arm." She was cut off by Draco.
"I know that but I just watched that bitch do it. I stood there watching, too scared to stop her, too much of a self preserving coward to go against my family. He would have killed me and my mother if I stopped it. I... I'm not brave, I'm not a hero Granger." Draco argued.
She looked at him, taking in the full measure of what he had said to her. "Fine, Draco Malfoy, you are not a hero. You are an indirect hero,'' He cocked his eyebrow at that. ''By your
'self preserving' actions that day, it kept both you and Narcissa alive. By staying alive you were both able to help Harry defeat Voldermort. That ineffective action that you call cowardly, actually was a benefit to everyone in the Wizarding World. So, for you to say that you are not a hero is false. You have nothing to be ashamed of Draco." She said holding his shoulders and giving them a reassuring squeeze.
Draco pursed his lips as he thought about what she said. Then the memories of the weekend flooded his mind and he huffed in annoyance again. "I can accept your reasoning there, even though I can never forgive myself, but what happened this weekend may take me even longer." He stated.
"What happened?" She asked again.
"I... I let my self preservation take over my judgment again." He huffed laying back down on the bed.
"What do you mean?" She asked pressing him to explain himself.
Letting out another heavy sigh he said. "I am not used to being... financially unstable."
"What?" She questioned, wondering what that had to do with anything.
"I can't be poor like the Weasleys, Granger." He said gruffly.
"Draco, that's unkind..." She started and he cut her off.
"It may be unkind, as you say, but again... look at me... I've never known life any other way, Hermione. My family has always been wealthy, only now I know where most of this wealth came from and what type of people it was used to fund, it makes me sick. But, I could not say no. I could not stop myself from signing the papers and taking over my family's fortune. Now I have several vaults at Gringotts full of blood money." He said annoyance laced his tone.
"Oh..." Hermione replied. "So you are upset that you've stayed rich?" She asked.
Draco glared at her. "It's more than that Granger, I'm angry I let him manipulate me in to taking over the tainted fortune. I'm mad at myself that I once again, was too much of a coward to change my fate. I can't break the cycle." He explained.
"You should wash the money then." She stated simply.
Looking at her incredulously. "The money is not actually dirty you know." He said dryly.
It was now her turn to huff in annoyance. "I know that jerk, I'm saying if you feel that the money you have has 'bad energy' then change it. Start investing the money to where it can do some good and that you can turn a profit from. Bring in money with good energy that has and can help better people's lives. There are so many people you can help." She said with a victorious tone.
Draco paused contemplating just what she had said. It made sense, he would invest in companies around the globe that were beneficial to mankind and in turn wash away the bad energy of the money with the good. No wonder this woman is the brightest witch of our age. Sitting up from the bed Draco regarded Hermione. Then threw his arms around her. "Thank you... my friend." He said in a more relaxed tone.
"That's what friends do Draco." Hermione simply said.
Draco arrived at his office, walking up to Ruby's desk he greeted her with a small smile. "Good morning Ruby, I trust you had a good weekend." He said.
"Good morning, Mr. Malfoy, my weekend was well and yours?" She replied. With that his expression changed as he spoke.
"Come with me please." He said ushering her into his office.
"Is something the matter?" She asked as he guided her to sit on the sofa. Putting away his coat and levitating his briefcase to the desk he took a seat on one of the chairs next to where Ruby sat on the sofa.
"Something did happen but for now I would like you to keep it between the two of us." He began.
"Of course Draco dear. You know what you tell me goes no further." Ruby said in an understanding tone.
He gave her a light chuckle, "You know, you sound like your cousin when you call me by my given name, whenever the Headmistress of Hogwarts would say it." He said with fondness. Ruby smiled at that. "Do you recall at any time after the first Wizarding War, witches or wizards afraid of using their magic?" He asked.
Ruby regarded him as she carefully thought, she slowly said. "There were... rumors... mainly about a few Muggle-born witches and wizards would simply stop using their magic. Some were said to have left the realm altogether. Most concluded that it was easier for them to do than Purebloods since Purebloods knew no other way of life. Why do you ask, dear?"
Draco pursed his lips at this and said. "Hermione is afraid of magic, so much so that she as not used it in almost three years."
"Oh my, that is rather unfortunate. Minerva said she was the brightest witch for her age and quite powerful too." Ruby said sympathetically.
"I need to know what happened. After graduation things were pretty much set for the both of us really. We did drift apart as our lives after Hogwarts progressed but I had no idea what she had been through since then.'' Taking a deep sigh he said. ''Ruby, clear my schedule for the day. I have to go see Potter and get to the bottom of what happened to Hermione."
Ruby flashed a proud smile at Draco. "Yes sir, I will shuffle things around for you and request the port key immediately. Charles should have that for you in about half an hour." The two of them stood together, Ruby gave Draco a pat on the arm, and left his office.
In half an hour Draco was at the British Ministry of Magic. He bypassed the insufferable receptionist Angelica and headed straight for Harry Potter's office. Draco didn't bother to knock this time, walking right in and taking a seat, his grey eyes shooting daggers at Harry.
"Do come in, Malfoy." Harry said sarcastically.
"Why didn't you tell me that Hermione's afraid of magic." Draco began as he put aside any pleasantries.
"It was not for me to tell, which, judging by your presence she has already," Harry replied.
"Yes, after taking a tumble down a flight of stairs,' Harry's face blanched out of shock as he was about to stand Draco continued. 'Relax, she's fine, just a sprained ankle is all, but it could have been worse."
"Look, I wanted to tell you but it had to come from her, she swore me not to say anything," Harry said relaxing in his chair once more.
"What happened?" Draco asked.
"I thought she told you?" Harry questioned.
"No, she told me that she was afraid of magic and that she had a break down, I want to hear the whole story of what happened." Draco stated dryly.
"You should ask her." Harry said.
"Oh fuck this run around when we talk Potter, tell me what the fuck happened to my girlfriend before she moved to New York so I can help her.' Harry sat silent. 'Potter I love her, this fear changes nothing. I want to help her, help me help her"
Sighing loudly, Harry began to relay the events of her first major breakdown. "She was training extra hard to get into the Auror program. She wanted a change and a chance to get away from home while still working for the ministry. The position she'd had at the time did not afford that, plus with the news of her infertility coupled with her failed relationship with Ron she needed a more hands on kind of fight.
During one of our practice sessions things were going good, it was a normal session the drills were going smoothly. Then she lost focus for a second. Something flashed in her mind. A hex caught her in the same area that the injuries she sustained from the curse Dolohov hit her with when we were in the Ministry right before the war. Then it went downhill from there. She let the memory of that night take over her mind. I knew she was exhausted. I saw it in her face but she just said 'everything was fine' and I left it alone. When one of the other trainees tried to check on her... I didn't think anything of it, the girl had long, black curly hair and when she knelt down to check on Hermione her hair brushed against Hermione's arm. She said when she looked up she thought it was Belatrix. She started screaming like she did that night. We...we did everything to try to calm her down, she was so far in her mind of the things that happened to her.
Draco I swear, I didn't know that would happen to her. I didn't know that she was pushing herself so hard. Between the mental exertion, keeping up with her job, the break up with Ron, lack of sleep, training and the haunting from the past. She just lost it. Hermione knows wandless magic, she was using it against the other trainees to 'escape'. We had to sedate her before she hurt herself or anyone else.
I've never seen her that broken. I didn't even know she was leaving until the I walked in on her packing up her office. Harry laid out the events for Draco. The only thing both men could do after Harry concluded his story was to just sit in silence and let the situation absorb in.
"Funny she said years ago that the Wizarding World didn't have the means to help themselves cope with traumatic events. She wanted to change that." Draco said finally breaking the long pause of silence.
"She was able to set up the ground work for it but it never really came to fruition after she left." Harry replied there was a heavy pause before Harry spoke again. "Malfoy... what changed?"
"What do you mean?" Draco asked.
"When did you realize..." Harry was cut off by Draco.
"She cared about me in spite of all my flaws. After years of trying to tear her down she took the time to build me up. Hermione is my lighthouse. I was a ship adrift on the dark sea and she was the lighthouse to guide me home. She even called me an 'indirect hero' once, no one has ever called me a hero in my life. She made me want to become a better man. I in turn want to be the best man for her." Draco stated.
Harry took a moment to regard his old nemesis. Taking in the fact that the man before him now was no longer the spoiled, self-preserving git. "I trust if anyone can help Hermione overcome her fear of magic, it's you." Harry said.
"I appreciate your time... Harry." Draco said as he stood up to head towards the door.
"Thank you...Draco." Harry replied.
Draco arrived back to his office. Taking the time to make a few notations and readying some files for work the next day. He checked the time and sent a quick text to Hermione.
Hey love, finishing up now.
Heading to the butcher shop then home to you.
Yours always, DM
As Hermione read the message she thought of how his proper manners seemed to shine through every aspect. She let out a sigh as she stretched out in the sofa. Emily was just in the other room draining the bath. Walking in to check on Hermione, she offered her some tea. "That would be lovely Emily, thank you and thank you for all your help today." Hermione said with a smile.
"Oh you are very welcome, Hermione. It was my pleasure." Emily replied proceeding to the kitchen to make the tea.
"Draco said he would be home soon." Hermione called over the Emily.
"That works out well, I'll have enough time to change before dinner with my folks. Their anniversary is tonight." Emily said making pleasant small talk.
"How many years have they been together?" Hermione asked.
"Today will be thirty-five years strong." Emily said brightly. "I'd love to have a relationship like theirs. Meeting the right person is tough now-a-days." She finished with a shrug of her shoulders.
"Very true, but don't worry the right one will come along." Hermione smiled at her and she was handed a cup of tea.
"You seem to have found Mr. Right." Emily said with a chuckle.
Hermione chuckled at that. "If you knew our history, you never would have guessed he was." She replied sipping her tea.
A little while later Draco walked in. "Honey, I'm home." He announced. Emily met him at the door to take the grocery bag from him. Draco gave her a nod and wink in appreciation. Walking over to Hermione, he sat on the edge of the sofa. "I've always wanted to say that. How was your day?" He asked placing a kiss on her forehead.
Hermione laughed at him. "I'm glad it was to me. Today was good, Emily is a great help. How was your day?" She asked.
"You know the usual make a deal, change the world." He said nonchalantly waving his hand in the air. "I'm just going to change and get dinner started. Steak tonight." He concluded grey eyes sparkling as he looked at Hermione.
"You're the chef, love." Hermione replied smoothing her hand on his cheek.
Draco rose up from the couch to head to Emily. "There'll be enough for three, care to join us?" He offered.
Emily smiled at him and said. "That is very kind, Mr. Malfoy, but I have dinner plans with my parents."
"Very well Emily, enjoy your evening." He replied with a smile.
As Emily walked out she said to Hermione. "Same time tomorrow, Hermione?"
Hermione gave her a bright smile. "Yes Emily, same time."
A/n: So we close on Chapter 20. I do hope you all liked it. I feel this was so much better than the last. Thank you all for taking the time to read, fav, follow and review.