Disclaimer: Of course, these lovely characters do not belong to me. I do borrow them for my idea.
Thank you to all of you kind followers and the reviews. There were so many and I'm glad you love the chapter as much as I do. Divorce is probably my favorite chapter so far, although I'm not done. That being said, yes, they did get divorced as the title of this chapter will reveal. I do think there are unresolved matters and healing to do on both sides and they will get time for that. That being said, this is a Dramione, so don't you worry, just endure. :) If you watch closely you still find things connecting them.
First year as divorcees
November 1999 – Draco
The kiss.
He struggled against the force holding him down. There was a hand on his cheek. He didn't realize dementors had hands. He pressed his lips together as much as he could, but he wasn't even sure if that would keep the dementor from performing the kiss. Surely it wasn't a regular kiss.
"Draco!"
His eyes sprung open and his hand was around the intruder's throat before he fully comprehended his surroundings.
"Draco, stop!" His mother's voice was strangled and his eyes widened in horror. He dropped his arm, moving away from her. To her credit she didn't seem afraid, simply concerned.
He took a few minutes to calm and didn't resist when his mother summoned chocolate for him to eat. Slowly the warmth returned to his body. He already knew that he wouldn't be sleeping anymore for the rest of the night. It was his routine. Go to bed as late as possible. Wake up in the early hours of the morning due to a nightmare and being miserably tired for the rest of the day.
"I will owl Healer Gramberger for suggestions on a mind healer."
Draco opened his mouth in protest, but his mother stopped him.
"And you will meet with whoever he suggests, until I feel you had a good night's sleep."
He stared after her as she left the room. There had been a night when he slept quite well just a few weeks ago, but he would rather be kissed by that dementor in his dream than tell his mother.
December 1999 - Hermione
She had brought her parents back to England a few weeks ago. The week after becoming a divorced woman, she had decided it was time to bring them home. Mainly because she didn't want to be holed up at the burrow and Grimmauld Place and she still hadn't found a job that would satisfy her and gave her the chance to train. That Malfoy episode still seemed to cling to her on these occasions.
When she had gotten back to Australia she had received progress reports, only there really wasn't any. Seeing her parents hadn't been any easier than on her last trip. The memories came and went, especially anything that had happened after her 5th year. The only thing keeping her going was the move itself. Knowing they would be closer so she could frequently visit. Narcissa had delivered a list of handpicked places, with the most excellent caregivers. After much research on her own and a lot more of Narcissa's help, she had found an institution, which functioned as a caregiving place for wizards and muggles with strong ties into both worlds. Squibs trained in muggle medicine and healers worked hand in hand to provide the best care possible.
Watching her parents, in this new environment, broke her heart. At first, she came every day, but crying herself to sleep wasn't how she wanted to lead her life and Molly had finally encouraged her to try a once a week pattern.
Christmas 1999 - Hermione
Being divorced at 20 had certainly not been her life goal, but here she was. The year and a half being married to the Malfoy heir had left her more confused than she cared to admit although she had rarely seen him. Of course, Kingsley had explained that he had no way of knowing if parts of the bind would stick with her, but she was just glad that it was enough to get rid of Malfoy and his name on her records. The minister had even expressed his hope that the bind would be lifted completely.
However, Christmas was awkward. With her parents being in at the home she had only visited them for a few hours. A small lunch quiet lunch. Stepping into the craziness that was Weasley family right after had been much to take. With Victoire starting to crawl and her cheerful parents announcing baby no. 2 the chaos seemed perfect.
She did catch herself glancing over to the youngest Weasley boy more often than she cared to admit. Ron had yet to ask her out after her divorce and while Ginny did her best to involve her in all the activities it just didn't feel right.
"He'll get to it." Ginny popped up next to her, giving her an encouraging smile. Of course, the redhead had noticed the glances. However, she also noticed her brother glancing back, whenever Hermione managed to be distracted.
"We are back to this whole pre-Lavender state." She huffed and glared over at Ron.
"He didn't date if you are worried about that."
Her heart hurt at that, and she gave Ginny a weak smile. She hadn't told the redhead that she was more concerned about her own feelings than for Ron's. Somehow she had expected this huge change after the bind was lifted, but it didn't come. She had a feeling it had to do with her sleeping with Malfoy and the realization that she should have never given in to that want became clearer every day.
January 2000 - Hermione
Her eyes darted to the Healers by the bed. They were going through lots and lots of terms that she had never heard before and gave instructions of what do to next. It was her first day and she knew that she would spend her night with the books given to her earlier. It had been after finding her parents that she had decided she wanted to be trained in the medical field rather than being part of the machine called ministry.
As she worked on her application it turned out that the hiring wizard at St. Mungos was also much less concerned about her connection to the Malfoys. He knew, he made that clear, but he pointed out that in the end, every human life was equal when it came to saving. As long as she was willing to live by that standard he was willing to give her a try. That of course didn't mean that everyone around saw her in the same light.
She shuffled out of the way, as the Healers walked out of the room just to follow them at last. Not before throwing a last glance at the patient. The look in his eyes reminded her much of the one she saw in the mirror after one of the panic attacks she had had.
February 2000 - Hermione
It was awkward. More awkward than their first first date. He had grabbed her hand as they walked out of the small restaurant he had chosen. Walking around in Diagon Alley to stop at an occasional display. One was thinking to talk to one of your best friends over dinner was a natural thing. But this wasn't. They had been silent for far too long to make it any less awkward to speak.
"We should apply to the Guinness Book of Records for the most awkward silence."
"What's that?"
She glanced at him, glad he had asked before taking it as something negative. During her eight-year at Hogwarts, he seemed to always take the unknown she mentioned and turn it into a fight.
"It's a Muggle Book for records. Like who can go without breathing the longest, who has the longest nose or the reddest hair." She tried in teasing him.
"So Harry would hold one of most attempts by trying to have Voldemort kill him?" She stared at him, leaving out a relieved breath when she saw the grin appear. "Sorry, it is still too early to joke like that, right?"
She nodded softly, before replying: "And we are the most awkward first date."
Now he nodded, without his expression turning sour. Instead, it turned into a cheeky grin.
"We will have to tell the world about our first date last year, when they ask."
Her expression softened as she realized that he anticipated telling someone about this. She declared it a good sign and failed to mention that she found last year's date only slightly less awkward.
March 2000 – Draco
"What do you do all day?" He glared at the healer. His mother forced him to meet with the wizard twice a week and talk. He met and sometimes he talked, but he didn't give anything away that really concerned him.
For this particular question he decided on a staring contest. What did the man think he would be doing. He was still on house arrest and would be for another year and a half. To keep his mind focused he did reading, he walked around the house and grounds for hours and flew around on his broom to exercise, and to satisfy his mean side, he was unnecessarily rude to anyone but his mother.
"I think deciding on a trade and preparing for it, might help you to move on."
"Sure." It was clear that he didn't mean the word he was saying, but he didn't care. It might not have been obvious to the man draining his vault with these sessions, but nobody would let Draco Malfoy in as a trainee.
April 2000 – Hermione
Easter was probably the most awkward holiday for them all – at least when it was this late in the year. Two years ago at this time, they were close to breaking into Gringotts and the Final Battle was only days away.
What made it loads better, however, was Ron's arm wrapped tightly around her. Their dates had been less awkward with their increased frequency and she was happy to report that this was the first big Weasley gathering that she was attending as the girlfriend of a Weasley. Of course, Ginny was even happier to tell anyone that wanted to hear about this. For her, it was a dream come true to have Hermione as an almost sister-in-law, and here she was. However, when it came to Hermione's range of feelings they were still far away from being in-laws. This thing with Ron needed to develop slowly, turn from friendship into a romance, and most importantly jump the barriers the bind had left behind. She could feel it working, as they both tried and encouraged each other, but if he'd asked her today, she would say no to marriage. While she had managed to stuff all the thoughts on Malfoy to the back of her mind, they were still there.
May 2000 – Draco
His eyes were on the drawings the architect had provided. Narcissa had announced a few weeks ago that she wanted to redo the whole Manor. She was tired of the bad memories in all her former favorite rooms. It was one thing Draco could agree to. It would be much easier to eat when it wasn't in the room where former Hogwarts professors had been killed and crashed into the dining table.
What he hadn't expected was his interest in the whole process. He inspected every detail on the paper and had even been able to make some suggestions to improve them. The much older wizard had been reserved but after doing his own calculations agreed on everything.
He was an old Italian pure blood. Not very involved in the war, as he had retreated to his homeland, but he had been open enough to work on the Malfoy Manor, while any British wizard refused.
"Signor Bianchi, may I speak to you?" Draco hadn't been this nervous since before his trial when he finally looked up. It had taken him weeks to find the courage.
"Draco, more suggestions on this room?" He was standing in the middle of the former drawing room and the younger wizard noticed with relief that it already looked much different from the night his ex-wife and her friends had been captured.
"No suggestions." The rooms that had been used by the Dark Lord just needed to look completely different that was all he required and he was sure he would still not use them.
The other wizard looked at him than waiting to hear the reason for the conversation.
"I…" a stuttering Malfoy, it was a good thing that nobody but an old man could witness this. "I would like to learn your trade from you."
Bianchi stared at him with surprise, which immediately had Draco regret the spurt of courage. He stared at a spot on the floor, only to realize it was where Granger had been tortured. His stomach twitched, as the color trained from his face.
"Excuse me."
"Signor Malfoy, I would insist that you are a bit more convinced of your drawings when you present them to me in the future than you seemed to be of your idea now."
The blond stopped at the door to turn to the architect.
"It would be my honor to pass my knowledge along to someone with a true eye for buildings. Now, I understand that your studies will have to be based at home for now?"
"Yes they would be. But I can owl everything to you and I have traveled extensively in my younger years, so I have seen other styles."
The older man nodded: "Why don't we start with the Manor. I understand these rooms on the main level are a bit of a sour spot for everyone, so I'd be happy to complete them. But maybe you can take charge of the other levels under my supervision?"
Draco fought the strange urge to hug the man and instead nodded in agreement.
"That would be a great honor, Signor Bianchi."
June 2000 - Draco
He froze. The familiar tingling feeling hadn't come to him in a long time and really it shouldn't be there now. He exhaled and tried to focus on the parchment in front of him. He was in the middle of a drawing for his parent's wing but he couldn't focus on the numbers he needed. He rubbed his eyes, resisting the urge to try and move into her mind to find out what was bothering her. If that even was still possible.
It was late. He tried hard to return to the calculations by the drawing and finally, the tingling became less apparent. He wondered if she had gone to bed holding the necklace. He knew he should have taken it back from her, but mother had insisted. He shuffled the scrolls to the back of his desk and stood. As he walked back to his bedroom rather than apparate, he made up his mind and when he had placed himself on the bed, he let his mind wander over to hers. So it did still work. He needed to put research about canceling this connection on his list of things to do. He was lucky she indeed seemed to have fallen asleep which made it considerably easier to move around her memories.
He stopped at a memory from earlier in the day. Granger seemed to have been at St. Mungos. He remembered his mother mentioning she was learning to be a Healer. He was stunned by the feeling of hurt that came with the memory and made his way a little further back. There was a young man, whose age indicated that he would have been in Hogwarts when Draco had been there. Granger had been asked to perform a check on him and tell the other healers what she felt the problem was.
The young man was unconscious at the beginning, but then his eyes popped open and caught side of Granger. Disgust was only the first emotion. But fear was what seemed to cause the feeling of hurt in the young witch. She stepped back as the accusations of working under Malfoys spell to kill him started. The boy went on and on and Draco finally took the luxury of memories and jumped past the vivid details. He listened more closely again as Granger seemed to be in front of her superior.
The atmosphere was different but certainly not better. She was apologizing and even summoned the paperwork from Shaklebolt proofing their divorce. All she got was a harsh nod and orders to go back to work.
"Those bloody idiots." He murmured realizing too late that it would probably end up in her dreams. He pulled out of her mind quickly, staring into the dark of his room.
July 2000 - Draco
"Draco I told you, this room will not be touched."
He glared at his mother since her back was to him. Her hand was on the silly old makeup table almost caressing it.
"I'll have to redo the whole level if you want this to stay."
"Well then you'll have your work cut out for you, don't you?" She turned around, her glare not quite as icy as his own.
"Mother, just put the furniture in one of the new rooms."
"No." She took the steps closer to stand by his side to give him another pointed look and then walked to the door.
"This better not be about Granger.", he muttered quietly. One of the reasons why he wanted to change this room was the fact that it very much reminded him of his ex-wife and that one night of weakness and sheer lust.
"It is not about Hermione, although I promised her she could retreat in here, whenever she wished."
He turned when he noticed the soft shaking in his mother's voice. She stared at a spot on the wall, seemingly reminiscing about something.
"This was my room when I first married your father. I put it together, it was the only thing that was mine."
His glare softened, not quite sure what his mother meant though. She had never shared her beginnings as a Malfoy with him as she had with Hermione last year.
August 2000 – Hermione
She felt her throat tighten as she walked along the hallways. She was well aware of the stares and why they were directed towards her. It was just another couple of turns to the Aurors office she kept telling herself, trying hard to control her breathing. A witch entered the hallway and Hermione wanted to cry when she saw her pale, as she recognized her. It had been two years since Voldemort's false announcement. How could they still believe it? Even her divorce had been almost a year in the past.
When she arrived at the door of the Aurors office, she felt a slight shock upon touching the handle. She was still staring at her hand when the door opened from the inside and Harry stood in front of her.
"Mione, what a nice surprise."
She lifted her eyes from her hand, to where Harry's hand now was seemingly unaffected by the door.
"I came to surprise Ron. I thought maybe we could grab lunch together." She curled her fingers, testing the feeling of the tips against her palm. "You are welcome to come too."
"Let me get Ron. I'll have to leave early tonight, so I won't leave for lunch today." He smiled at her, before carefully shutting the door behind himself, as he went on his search for Ron.
Hermione blinked and before she could come up with more explanations, she grabbed the door handle with full force and pulled it. This time there was no doubt, the shock came from the handle and as she didn't let go immediately she could feel the slow burn on her hand. She retreated her hand just as Ron opened the door.
He had the decency to look concerned, before speaking.
"Are you okay? There are security wards." He reached for her hands carefully inspecting the burns. Of course, she could heal them with a flick of her wand, but her mind was still spinning on what she thought she had discovered.
"They just have gotten more careful since the war." He tried a grin. "I mean there were these three teenagers who broke into Voldemort's security system here and Gringotts…"
She laughed bitterly, allowing his peck on her cheek.
"So Harry said you wanted to grab lunch together?" A soft nod was her reply. "Let me grab my valet."
While he was gone Parvati came up. From what Hermione had heard she was with the Daily Prophet as a reporter, but she had never cared to really keep up with her. Her former roommate returned a polite greet with a smile that looked as forced as Hermione's probably did but didn't stop.
Hermione opened her mouth to warn her of the shock, but the girl was past the doors before she could even start. She still stood there with her mouth open, when Ron returned. He seemed oblivious and so she decided to swallow her doubts - for now.
September 2000 – Draco
"So how are you feeling since you have started working for Bianchi?"
Draco's glare intensified at the question. He still hated these sessions. Of course, he had noticed that the nightmares had become less, but he would never credit the mind healer for that. He hadn't been around a dementor for almost a year, and surely that should be enough to not dwell on them as much. But then again, it was easy money for the other wizard to poke around in the horrors a former Death Eater and Azkaban prisoner would carry with him.
"I enjoy the work." Maybe that would get him to tell Narcissa that he was healed.
"What do you enjoy about it?"
"The solitude." He had narrowed his eyes. While it was intended to annoy the mind healer as he was clearly disrupting this attribute, it wasn't a lie. He enjoyed being able to work and create and since it was his own house, for now, he didn't have to worry about anyone else.
"Have you considered what it will be like to do this work for other wizards?"
He rolled his eyes, before gazing out the window. "Nobody will hire me." His current hope was to be able to work in the background under Bianchi's name, so nobody knew it was truly a Malfoy who stood for the design.
"How does that make you feel?"
He growled.
October 2000 - Hermione
"So how is your work going?"
She glanced up from her hands and wondered if it really mattered what she answered. It seemed like there was always great advice and lots of more questions. So would it matter if she didn't answer this particular one in honesty? She only came because she wasn't entirely sure if McGonagall would have been satisfied with any therapy that lasted less than a few years.
"I'm learning a lot." She did spend most nights studying her textbooks. It gave her comfort and lots of things to think about that weren't related to her being an outcast or her lingering feelings for a certain ex-husband that she couldn't quite place.
"Do you still think it's the job you want to do?" She glared at the mind healer before she could keep herself from doing so. She was surprised to see that causing a chuckle.
"It will help me understand my parent's condition and find a cure." And it was a job where at the end of the day it didn't matter that for some time her paperwork had identified her as Hermione Malfoy. Just as long as she was willing to pull long shifts, deal with bad pay, and treat contagious magic folk.
"So your goal is it to work at a place similar to your parent's home?"
She stared at him for quite a while. She had actually never considered working at such a place. The research was much more her thing.
"No, I don't think so." She watched as the mind healer jotted a note.
