Disclaimer; I own nothing.

A/N Hi all, here is your update. I am sorry to say that there are only two chapters left after this one so I had better get to work on writing my new stories ;) Happy reading and don't forget to review.

Rescue and Healing

Harry and Draco had been riding through the night sky for almost an hour. Draco's mind was racing with thoughts of what could have happened to her. Or for that matter what was happening to her. What if they got there and it was the wrong house? Did Pansy have a secret keeper? No, if she did his owl couldn't have found her. Suddenly his raven feathered owl started a slow and steady decent.

'Thank Merlin' he thought, he was chilled to the bone, and soaked too from the misty clouds they flew through. The vast countryside appeared before them as they headed towards a tiny village in the near distance. All he could think about was finding her, and cursing her soon to be ex into oblivion. He leaned into his broom, more determined to get to her before anything happened.

Steven's attention had lapsed for just a brief moment, and Hermione took full advantage. He had let his wand fall to the floor as he came, using all of his strength on her. Her eyes saw it fall as if in slow motion. She knew that is was now or never. She took a deep breath, and reached her hand out to scoot the wand with her fingers. She felt it under her hand, she had a hold of it, and he still hadn't noticed. He was trying to catch his breath; his head was buried in her long hair.

"Oh Hermione, I missed you so much. No one can compare to you." he breathed in her ear. She had a firm grip on it now. With as much force as she could spare she pushed him off of her with every last ounce of strength she had. He fell backwards into the bars, he reached for his wand. His stunned face fell when he realized it was not in his hand, or anywhere to be seen. He looked up at Hermione, who was now pulling on her shorts and what was left of her top. He heard her mutter something and point the wand at her stomach. She was holding his wand firmly in her right hand and she turned it towards him. She smiled.

"Now Hermione, let's not do anything foolish love." he said in his old charming voice. She laughed at him, lying naked on the floor. His own wand was pointed directly at his throat. He swallowed heavily and looked back into her fierce brown eyes. He had never seen her look so determined, so cold.

"Foolish?" she asked in a high pitched girly voice that did not belong to her. "I don't intend to do anything foolish." she started moving towards the door, and he stood up to follow.

"Take one more step Steven, and you will know the meaning of the word foolish." she said with such determination it sent chills up his spine, but he continued to advance on her. She walked backwards out the cell door and closed it behind her. She waved his wand and locked the door. He stood at the door reaching through the bars to her.

"Hermione, come on. You know I love you. I don't mean to do the things I do to you. It's out of love, out of the respect I want to gain from you. I just want us to have the perfect marriage." his voice cracked with the fake tears he put forth.

"The perfect marriage?" she asked. "You think beating me up constitutes the perfect marriage? You think degrading me, pushing me, RAPING ME, makes me respect you? DO YOU THINK KILLING OUR BABY MADE ME LOVE YOU?" she screamed. She was losing control; tears were streaming down her bruised face.

"YOU KILLED OUR BABY!" he screamed back. "YOU DIDN'T WANT IT ANYWAY, IF YOU HAD JUST PRETENDED TO BE HAPPY NONE OF THAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED!"

He had hit a nerve now. She took a deep breath and decided to let out all of her emotions that maybe the only way she could heal.

"I didn't want the baby because I was afraid you would do the same thing to him or her as you do to me. I didn't want to bring a baby into this world with you as a father. I couldn't even stand you touching me anymore. Every day I felt less and less like myself. I was a prisoner, secluded from my family and friends. I hated you, but more I hated myself. I never thought I would allow myself to be treated like that, but no more. I am done. We are getting a divorce. I hope they throw you in Azkaban and toss out the key." she said shaking.

"Hermione, please. Let's give it one more go. I love you! I can change! Come back!"

She turned on her heels and faced him again, her ribs and stomach were aching, her face was on fire and her thighs were covered in blood. So much anger and hate built up inside of her. All the years of abuse and degradation had taken its toll. She felt the monster of hate and rage rumbling inside her chest roaring to get out.

"At first when I saw you in that muggle club hitting on every available woman I was hurt. But I soon realized that I am in love with someone else. And if he is still out there somewhere I am going to find him. He is more of a man than you will ever be. Hopefully someone comes here and finds you, oh wait, the house is unplottable. I guess you will rot here." she smirked.

"Who? That Malfoy? No one will ever have you Hermione. I will find you." his dark eyes flickered in the dim light.

She felt strange; the monster of hate had erupted. She pointed the wand at him and started;

"Cru…" but then her true voice interrupted. She would be no better than him.

She looked down and saw the pool of blood at her feet. She felt very dizzy.

"Goodbye Steven." and she started up the steps. But before she got to the top, she passed out.

Harry and Draco landed in the yard of a small white house in the middle of nowhere. The owl was pecking at the window furiously. And when no one answered, he pecked the letter off of his leg and left it on the porch before looking at Draco expecting a treat. Draco tossed him one and he flew off. Harry and Draco looked into the windows and could see no one in the dark rooms.

"Alohamora" Harry whispered and the white oak door creaked open.

"Do you think this is it?" Harry asked him.

"I don't know, but we will find out." he said entering first. He lit his wand and looked around. There on the mantle were pictures of Pansy and her family waving happily from the frames.

"This is her house." he whispered. "Where should we start?"

"Upstairs" Harry said. And they walked over to the staircase. They crept up quietly so as not to alert anyone of their presence. The hallway was deserted, as were all the bedrooms and the bathroom. They walked back downstairs and into the living room, nothing. The kitchen and the bath were empty as well.

"Only the basement left, I guess he keeps to what he knows." Harry said. They walked through the kitchen to the cellar door. It was partially open. There, on the top step, bloodied and broken was Hermione. Draco bent down to check her pulse.

"She's still alive." he said through tears. He picked up her limp body and lifted it onto the kitchen table. Draco cradled her head in his arms and wept over her. Harry ventured into the basement.

"Oho" he yelled, Draco momentarily let Hermione lie on the table and he ran down the cellar steps. They both found themselves staring at Steven Shanly, sleeping on the floor of an 8 by 8 cell. Both Harry and Draco looked at the odd sight and wondered how it had come to be. Harry looked at Draco and laughed at the sight of such a tall powerful man, huddled in a small ball in the corner.

"I am going upstairs to owl the other Aurors, so they can escort him to Azkaban. I will keep watch over Hermione, you keep an eye on him in case he wakes up." he ran up the stairs leaving Draco looking at Steven. Draco pointed his wand at him and shot a blue jet which hit him in the rear. Steven jolted awake looking around at his unfamiliar surroundings. Draco threw a smirk in his direction. Steven stood up and looked over at the blonde who had previously punched him on their last encounter.

"Let me out of here." he said firmly, trying to be intimidating.

"Oh I will. Just as soon as the other Aurors arrive to take you Azkaban." he sat in the chair that Steven had conjured just hours ago. He crossed his arms across his chest casually twirling his wand in his hand.

"She is my wife. My property." he said seething.

Draco contemplated his words for a moment, trying to think of the best way to respond. He wanted to tell this coward, this murderer, this thing who dare call himself a man that he had been treating his wife to something she had not experienced in their so called marriage.

"She will be your wife, your property no more." his smirk returned to his lips. Steven's face was red and his veins bulging.

"You will never have her Malfoy, she loves me deep down. I have her heart and her soul. I have broken her spirit and saw the beautiful obedient angel that stepped forth out of that broken body. You are merely her 'knight in shining armor' she looks at you adoringly for saving her, but she will come back to me. She cannot live without me, she needs instruction and punishments." his voice was low, and sounded unsure.

"Oh, but Steven if you only knew. She does not need you. She does not need any man. I consider myself lucky to call her a friend. I merely showed her that life is more than following instructions; I showed her that she can dance, dress up, have fun, and have passion in her life, all without you. I showed her that she is smart, funny, beautiful, sexy and she deserves better than a coward who can only hit women." he kept twirling his wand, looking directly into Steven's dark eyes.

"I LOVE HER." Steven screamed.

"SO DO I" Draco yelled back, realizing what he had just said, he heard footsteps coming down the stairs slowly. 'Damn, Potter just heard me say I love her.' but when he turned around, he was face to face with Hermione. She was looking at him with tears in her eyes.

"I thought you were dead." she whispered her hands touching his face. He wrapped his arms around her small frame. She winced because of her broken ribs. Draco looked at her, anger brewing again.

"I was so worried about you. When I woke up, you were gone." tears ran from his stormy eyes.

"I love you Draco." she brushed her lips against his.

"I love you too." he returned smiling from ear to ear.

Steven looked on at them; more rage was building inside him than he had ever felt. She was right in front of him, confessing her love for another man. She looked so happy, so different. Like when they first met. Hermione turned her gaze to meet Stevens. She smiled a wicked smile and then ran her hands through Draco's white blonde hair.

"Did he hurt you?" Draco asked, his eyes turning a molten steel color, the color of rage.

She nodded.

"It doesn't matter love, I can heal. He is going to be put away, and everything he did was physical. You would have been proud. I never shed a tear. I stood up to him, I thought you were dead." she broke off tears falling freely. He looked at her, she was a mess.

"Do you want me to heal you?" he asked.

"No, not until the Aurors get here I want proof so he goes away for a long time." Draco sat down on the chair and pulled her on his lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck and sat there showering him with little kisses while they waited for Harry to return. Draco looked into her big brown eyes. He brushed her lips his own, licking her upper lip. Nothing would make him happier than to make love to her right there in front of him. Show him how she could become alive with passion when she was with him. His mouth turned into a smile as he thought of her screaming out his name. She noticed his smile. He was so beautiful when he smiled.

"You should do that more often." she said.

"What?"

"Smile." she replied

"If you only knew what I was smiling at." he whispered in her ear. She turned red, but smiled back thinking of the same thing.

Inside the cell, Steven felt like vomiting over this display. She was flaunting it. She had committed adultery, and she would get away with it. He should have killed her in the cell, and then killed himself. That way they could be together in the after-life. It was a romantic idea, but too late. His fate was now sealed in Azkaban.

They heard Harry upstairs talking to some Aurors, and they knew that the time had come to turn Steven over. Even thought the Dementors had abandoned Azkaban long ago, it was still a place that was feared amongst wizards and witches everywhere. A steady line of Aurors came down the stairs, wands all at the ready. They surrounded the cell and one of them opened the door. And like the coward he was he begged for them to spare him. His tears and pleading fell on deaf ears. One large wizard bound him with invisible ropes. Another one gagged him. His eyes pleaded silently with Hermione as he was drug past her and Draco. She gave him a satisfied smile. Harry nodded at the both of them before following the others up the stairs. Draco scooped up Hermione and carried her up. Harry had told them to apparate to the ministry at once. Draco assisted Hermione to apparate she was too weak to do it on her own. She felt a strange sensation something like being pushed through a tube. Moments later they were in the ministry lobby. Just ahead of them they saw Steven being pushed down the hallway towards the Auror headquarters. She looked over at the man she once loved, loved enough to marry and put up with all of his abuse for these last years. A tear fell silently down her cheek. It was finally over for her marriage. Harry told her that her divorce would be granted in the morning, and she would be free. Draco took her towards the ministry nurse so that she could be healed before he took her back to the manor.

The nurse was looking her over mended her ribs and nose first. She had a large lump on the back of her head from the concrete wall. The nurse waved her wand and it was mended as well. She felt the scrapes on her back healing too. She felt whole again, except for the large amount of blood between her legs. Her shorts were covering most of it; Draco just thought it was from her nose. She had not told him about the rape yet. Luckily she had preformed a contraceptive spell shortly after. She did not want to bear that bloodline.

"Draco, can you leave us alone for just a moment?" she asked sweetly so she could talk to the nurse on her own.

"Sure." he said letting go of her hand but not before kissing is softly. He left the room and shut the door behind him.

"Everything alright dear?" the nurse asked as she fumbled with some dressings.

"No, I didn't want to say anything in front of him, but something else happened to me tonight." she felt very ashamed at what had happened.

"What dear?"

"My husband, that they took away to Azkaban tonight, well before I could get away he raped me." she started sobbing into the nurse's shoulder. The nurse patted her back soothingly.

"Do you need a contraceptive spell?" she asked.

"No, after I grabbed his wand I preformed one. I always used to do one after…" she broke off again. "I think he ripped something down there." she motioned towards her shorts.

"I see." the nurse said. "Well here is a robe. Strip down and I will take a look in a minute. Are you planning to tell the Auror's about this? After all it is a crime." Hermione thought about it for a minute.

"Yes, I think so, but I need to tell my escort out there first. Can you send him in?" The nurse nodded and opened the door motioning for Draco to come in.

"Everything okay?" he asked worried.

"No, I need to tell you something. I don't want to relive the whole day, but something happened right before I was able to escape. I need to tell you and Harry." she looked down at the floor. This was going to be harder than she thought.

"What did he do?" he asked eyes narrowed.

"He…he…he ripped off my clothes, and…raped me!" she hid her face in her hands. The look of horror and rage on Draco's face was indescribable. His pale skin flushed red, and his fist balled up in anger.

'I had him alone in a cell.' he thought. 'I could have killed that cowardly scum. Why didn't I?' Hermione looked to him for some comfort, but rage had taken over. He stood up and paced the room, thoughts of murder and torture raging through his head. Tears were rolling down her cheeks; the look on Draco's face was reminiscent of Steven's when she had done something wrong. She looked at his normally beautiful face, now clouded with anger. And she was scared.

"Are you hurt?" he finally whispered. She nodded.

"The nurse is going to look me over in a minute. I just wanted you to know. Can you tell Harry for me? I don't think I can bear it." she started crying again.

"I will tell him." Draco said, rubbing her hand with his. He stood up to leave and find Harry.

"Draco?"

"Yes."

"Are you mad at me?" she barely got the words out. He looked at her lying on the examining table. She had mistaken his anger with that bastard with anger towards her for what had happened.

"Oh Hermione." he said falling to his knees at her bedside. "None of this is your fault. Why would I be mad at you?"

"You just seemed mad a moment ago." she sobbed. "I didn't know if I should tell you."

"I am mad. I am mad that I wasn't there to protect you, that I couldn't stop him from taking you. I am mad that he violated you without your permission. I am mad that he hurt you. I am mad at lots of things, but never at you." he held her trembling hand in his. He had tears in his gorgeous stormy eyes. She continued to cry, griping his hand tightly.

"I didn't cry, the whole time. I was strong wasn't I?" she said in between sobs. He nodded at her trying not to think of her enduring what she did, and keeping her hurt inside. Just then the nurse came back in.

"Ready?" she asked Hermione. She nodded.

"Tell Harry for me then?" she asked.

"I am going right now. I love you." he said. Those words sounded weird coming from him. He had never told another living soul that he loved them. He had practically shouted it back in Pansy's house. That had shocked him. He walked down the dark hallway towards Harry's office where they were keeping Steven. The door swung open and he saw Steven seated in front of Harry's desk. They had removed the gag charm and were interrogating him about Pansy's whereabouts. They didn't know if she helped him willingly or he had Imperiused her or something worse. He was outright refusing to cooperate. Harry looked up and saw Draco coming in the door.

"Oi Draco, how is she?" Harry asked.

"I need to talk to you, in private." he said motioning towards a brooding Steven. Harry called one of the other Aurors to keep an eye on Steven.

"What's up?" Harry asked as they walked.