Hermione found herself hunched over a table in the back of the Leaky Cauldron, a bottle of fire whiskey in her hand. Her work robes had been thrown over the chairs. Her satchel scattered across from her. She was very much alone. She'd had a rough day. A colossal issue had appeared at work, and to top it off, her divorce from Ron had been finalised. That was like a kick in the gut.
The divorce hadn't been unexpected. It had been a mutual decision. Their marriage had basically been over for the last 3 years. At the time, they'd tried their best to keep it together, but you can't always fix what's broken. Things had been fantastic initially; they truly loved each other, then things began to fizzle out. The first cracks began to emerge just before Hermione fell pregnant with Hugo. They'd started fighting a lot, overwork and Ron's frequent work abroad for the Aurors office, She was trying her best to balance work and raise Rose, but she felt alone.
Then when they found out about her pregnancy with Hugo, things began to look up. Ron had reduced his hours at work to help out with Rose and Hermione. The fighting had stopped, and they felt just like newlyweds. Then, one night, two years after Hugo was born, she found herself looking at Ron as he sang Hugo to sleep; she suddenly felt an awful feeling overcome her. She realised that she wasn't in love with him. Hermione loved him, but she wasn't in love, and a piece of her broke inside. She didn't realise that Ron was beginning to feel her pull away at the same time. The very next day, the two sat down together and talked. Ron, who was usually very proud and didn't like to admit when there were problems, asked her if she'd be willing to go to marriage counselling, and for the sake of their family, she said she'd go.
They tried their best to fix their relationship over the next two years. They frequently went to counselling and made a habit of being honest about how they felt. It wasn't enough because marriage shouldn't be that much hard work. So they decided that it was over and made the tough decision to divorce, something they planned to keep quiet from the public. They were indeed successful; the public knew nothing. If they were required to attend any events, they showed up together. It didn't feel good, but it had to be done.
So here she was, drowning her sorrows in fire whiskey. The kids were with Ron at the burrow for the night. Ron had temporarily moved back home while he was finalising the documents for his new place. She was so happy that the Weasleys still welcomed her with open arms despite her marriage breakdown. Molly had told her that she was and will always be family regardless of what happened. From the moment they'd entered her life, they'd been family.
Ginny had offered to join her in the Leaky Cauldron, but Hermione insisted that she was okay and was just heading for a quick drink before she went home. That had never been what she'd planned. She was utterly alone, the rest of the noise fading in the background.
She had no idea how much she'd drank, but looking at the bottle, it had been a considerable amount; tomorrow was Saturday, so it didn't matter. She'd been in the Leaky Cauldron for about 3 hours, and it was coming up almost 10:30. She slammed the bottle down on the table, knocking over the shot she'd just poured, "Shit!" she hissed, jumping aside to avoid the flow of the drink before grabbing some tissues from her bag. "Granger?" Her eyes shot up to see Draco Malfoy standing in front of her, his cloak pulled over his head, "Bugger off Malfoy." She snapped; she did not feel like dealing with him.
After the war, Hermione had spoken up in defence of Malfoy at the trials. She may have despised him, but she could not deny what he'd done for Harry at Malfoy Manor had probably saved all of their lives. Her eyes were opened up after the war. As she watched Draco and the other death eaters go on trial, she realised that he had been a child who'd been pulled into something they shouldn't have had to do. Whether or not he'd really wanted to become a Death Eater, he'd had no choice either way. Hermione hated to admit it, but when she looked at Malfoy, she could see the similarities between him and Harry. Both their lives had been decided, and a plan was set out by the adults in their lives.
Draco did not move; he watched her as she poured herself another shot, knocking it back before filling up a new one. She was just about to drink when Malfoy snatched it out of her hands, "Granger, how much have you had to drink?" she shrugged at him. They may not have been friends, but as they worked together, they had grown civil. She shrugged her shoulders, trying to grab the shot back. She watched as he downed it, placing the glass back on the table. She thought that's he'd leave, "Seriously, Granger, why are you drinking alone? You're usually flanked by Potter or Weasley." She noted the grimace on his face as he mentioned Ron, then she didn't know what happened, but her face dropped, and she couldn't stop the tears that had begun to flow. Draco was utterly taken by surprise.
"Ron and I divorced." She choked out, her sobs turned to sad laughter, "I can't believe I'm telling you this. She watched as Draco sat down at her table, conjuring up another shot class. If there was anything Draco knew, it was heartbreak. Perhaps her heartbreak wasn't the same as the one he experienced, but he understood. He poured them both a drink, offering her the glass. She gave him a small smile, "Bottoms up." They clinked their glasses before both downing the shot. He poured her another drink, "I'm sorry." Hermione could stop the small snort that escaped, "Never in a million years did I think I'd be drinking with you and have you say sorry." Draco smiled at her, "I really am sorry. For what it's worth, it does get better, it's slow progress with a lot of ups and downs, but it does get better." He patted her arm before quickly withdrawing it. He wasn't lying; it did get better. Draco had lost Astoria during the birth of their second child, the healers did their best to save both her and the baby, but it was too late. Draco had withdrawn a lot in the months that followed her death, a bottle of fire whiskey offering some comfort. Draco's colleagues had been understanding and had taken on extra work to give him time to heal and adjust to raising his son by himself. While their situations were vastly different, it felt nice to have someone understand her. People in happy marriages wouldn't understand.
The two continued to drink in silence; they didn't have much in common, and forcing a conversation was not something either wanted to do. Over the next half an hour, Draco noticed just how drunk Hermione was. Her eyelids dropped, and she was struggling to sit straight. He started to clear the table; much to her protest, she had tried to grab the whiskey from him. "Granger, do you think you can stand?" Hermione nodded, grasping the sides of the table to help her, but she was just too unsteady on her feet. Draco went over, wrapping an arm around her waist. "What's your address, Granger? I think you're done for the night." The tears started to fall again, and Hermione clung to Draco. "I don't want to go home. I'm alone." He nodded in understanding, "Alright, what's Potters address?" She gave him the address. He knew a pub close to the house. Draco drew his hood up before apparating both of them to just outside the pub.
Hermione's eyes grew heavy, "I'm tired." She stated, she just wanted to sleep. Her legs were growing heavy. She was slowly dropping from Draco's grasp, "Come on, Granger, stay with me." But his effort was futile. She had passed out; he let out an exasperated sigh before lifting her up, "Bloody hell!" he huffed as he hauled her into his arms. He was thankful that Potters house wasn't too far away. Once at the door, he adjusted her in his arms, freeing his hand so he could knock. He gave a short knock before hearing some shuffling and cursing from behind the door. "Who in god's name is knocking at this hour?" he heard Potter huff. The door swung open, revealing a pyjama-clad Harry. "Malfoy, what the fuck….is Hermione okay?" he rushed out, helping Draco with Hermione. The two of them crossed the threshold before Harry directed Draco to the spare room at the back of the house.
With Harry's help, Draco placed Hermione gently on the bed. Harry went to pull her shoes off. Harry had never seen Hermione like this. Not in all their years of friendship. Now that Draco's arms were finally free, he was able to drop her bag on the floor next to the bed. Harry pulled the blankets over her, and she instantly curled up into them. The two shut off the light before heading out, closing the door behind them. "Thank you, Draco." Draco gave Harry a slight nod. "I wasn't going to leave her there. I didn't start drinking with her, but I definitely played a part in her current state." Harry smiled at Draco. He wanted to be a little annoyed, but he couldn't as Draco had brought her here. "Why didn't you take her to her house?" Draco let out a sigh, "She said she didn't want to be alone." Harry's eyes widened in surprise, had Hermione told him about the divorce. Her marriage was not something she openly talked about. Let alone the divorce. "Did she tell you?" All Draco did was nod his head.
"Look after her. I know what heartbreak is like. I know what it can do to you. Do not let Granger drink away her feelings. That's not a path anyone should take…trust me." Yet again, Malfoy had surprised Harry and himself. While they had been enemies growing up and Malfoy had said some awful things, he had changed, and he genuinely was concerned for her.
Harry led Draco to the front door. "Thank you, Draco. Thank you.". This time Draco smiled at Harry, "It was no problem."; and with that, Draco left.