Raise Me Up

"Mum it's me, could you open the door please?" Draco said knocking hurriedly.

"Draco love! What are you doing here?! Hermione and you have to be at court today!" Narcissa admonished, her voice surprised at seeing her son and grandson at the Manor door. "Draco? Draco… wha…" her voice trailed off as Draco walked into the house with a grim look on his face, his jaw clenched tight.

"What happened son?" Narcissa asked concerned.

"Hermione…. Gods! I can't even talk about it!" Draco said furiously, running a hand through his messy blond hair, "I had to get out of there or I would have strangled her!"

"What happened?" Narcissa soothed gently.

"She contacted Astoria…. Mother…. Mother! Why don't you look surprised by this!?" Draco demanded seeing a wry, slightly guilty look appear on his mother's face.

"Astoria came by the house when Hermione was in Mungos." Narcissa revealed hesitantly.

"And you didn't think it was relevant to inform me about this!?" Draco snarled angrily, "God you and Hermione! The both of you are UNBELIEVEABLE! Mother that woman has fucked with my life for four years or have you forgotten?!"

"Draco! Language!" Narcissa said shaking her head, "Draco she wants to help with the trial and you know she could be an expert witness! Oh darling don't be difficult! It's for the best!"

"'Don't be difficult' mother! Did you even listen to me when I talk? The woman is a leach of the worst kind. You should know she sold most of your jewelry when we got divorced…"

"Draco go home, we will talk about this later. You and Hermione are required to be at court at 10:30; finish up for the day and we will all then sit down and see what it to be done." Narcissa said firmly, putting one hand on Draco back and pushing him towards the front door.

"Mother! MOTHER! I'm serious this is way beyond the line!" Draco said moving away from Narcissa.

"DRACO!" shouted Narcissa finally, "Trust me I'm serious too, we will talk about this later. You will be with your wife through this trial and you will go now, do you understand young man?" she said through gritted teeth.

Draco glared at his mother and looked pointedly at the stroller which had Scorpius tucked into it, "Look after him mum, I have no interest in him hearing any more shouting matches between me and Hermione or between you and me for that matter. We'll be here at six and don't bother to cook anything, I'm certain we won't be staying here that long." He said coldly and walked out of the door.

Thank Merlin there was no hard liquor in the house thought Hermione despondently, she was curled up in a tight ball on her and Draco's bed. It was almost ten and if he didn't come now then she knew that Draco was not coming at all. Aware of the sharp stab of pain her chest she tried to suppress it.

She had to get up…. And get dressed she thought blankly; Blaise was coming by in fifteen minutes to brief her about what was going to happen today. He said they wouldn't be in court for more than an hour today because today was merely the reading of the charges which he was sure that Ron's lawyer would try to get dismissed and then from the next day on they would move to trial.

Walking over to her closet she picked out an old, drab gray suit. It was lose and unflattering, not bothering with any makeup other than a bit of concealer to cover the redness around her eyes and cheeks she pulled her hair up into a tight, restricted chignon that made the harsh panes of her already thin elfin face look even more stark. Her hands moved quickly and efficiently as she avoided looking at her wedding and engagement rings.

Finally she looked into the mirror and saw her reflection and shuddered; she looked cold. Her eyes were like stone; blank, she had fought hard with her tears to make them like that; it was perfect, no unnecessary swirling of emotions and tears.

It would be a cold day in hell before she cried in front of a pack of media wolves, Ron Weasley and his slag of a lawyer. She may have decided to forgive Ron but that didn't mean she wanted him to see any sign of her weakness. The rest of her face looked pale and lifeless, her skin stretching like translucent gossamer over her cheekbones and her lips were pursed into a straight line.

It was time…

A sound from the outer rooms indicated someone had just entered the flat and Hermione moved slowly towards the living-room with the sense of gloom rising and settling over her like a thick black cloud.

On the couch sat Draco, his face stony and equally blank. Hermione felt a surge of joy and almost rushed over to him but the first words out of his mouth stopped her.

"I'm just here because of the trial. We have to display a united front." He said tonelessly.

"Draco if you would just let me explain!" Hermione cried out imploringly.

"We are going to my mother's house this evening, you can explain there. As it turns out my mother knew about Astoria too. Funny she never thought to mention it to me." He sneered coldly.

For a second Hermione was transported back to her Hogwarts days when Draco had almost always worn a similar expression on his face while looking at her. A cold shiver of suppressed agony crawled up her spine and settled uncomfortably in her belly.

"Please don't speak like that…." She whispered; her voice painted in hurt and her eyes drawn away from his as she looked at the ground.

Draco looked confused for a second and frowned, "Like what?" he bit out.

"Like the way you used to when we were at Hogwarts, it makes me feel…." She let her words trail of as her eyes misted over.

Damnit! She swore inside her head. She promised herself she wouldn't cry and here she was fighting with the wretched tears like a ninny again.

Draco just shook his head and scowled, "Come on, I told Blaise I'd get you to the Ministry. Let's go." He said blandly, walking towards the fire place without looking back to wait for her.

Hermione sighed and cursed herself, looks like she had lost him….

…..

A/N: REVIEW! Please, oh and about the banner? Does anyone wanna do that?

2) AND OMFG! 50 chapters! So did not expect this story to get this far!, just a 110 or so reviews to to get to a 1000!

BUT SERIOUSLY 50 CHAPTERS! GOING CRAZY HERE!