Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Les Mis. I don't make money from this fic.
October 17, 2000 London, England - Hermione and Ron's Flat
Hermione shouldered her way through the door, a few bags of groceries in her hands along with her work bag and her purse thrown over her shoulder. She made her way to the little kitchen to put the things she'd bought away, allowing her purse and work bag to fall into one of the chairs at the table. She sighed, exhausted from the day.
She'd spent most of the day at the Manor, working her way down the three-page appendix with Draco and searching the library for each work listed one at a time. It had been a gruelling process that left her with a headache and tired eyes. After she'd gotten finished with the last page for the day, she had dropped by the office to drop off her report of the day's activity. Theo was still in, as he had worked most of the day on figuring out the rest of the Tempus Memoriam documents and taking care of a bit of paperwork. She'd left her report with him, as he had to turn in his own to Robins' office before he left, and headed to the store.
She knew that their flat was sorely in need of some real food, as the past couple nights, she and Ron had been dining on microwave mac and cheese and ramen noodles. She drug herself up, putting away the bread and the milk, but leaving out what she'd need to make dinner. She'd planned on fried chicken with garlic and herb roasted potatoes. She was actually home early for once, and she was feeling pretty good, if tired. But there was a tug in her stomach, a little suggestion in the back of her mind that it was too good to be true.
That little suggestion proved itself correct when she heard, or rather, felt Ron enter the room. He carried himself in a manner which exuded disgust as he walked up behind Hermione, his arms crossed over his chest. He towered over her and for a moment, Hermione was a little scared.
"Where were you today?" he asked scathingly. She blinked up at him.
"What do you mean, where was I, I was working." she told him, frowning.
"You weren't in the office, Hermione. Where were you?" Ron said, rolling his eyes as though she'd been caught red-handed.
"You're aware that my job requires real-world data, Ron. I'm not always in the office during the day. Besides, Theo was in all day today, except maybe lunch." she said, taking a step back from the man to restore some sense of personal space.
"You weren't in all day, Hermione. I came by to drop off some lunch. I thought maybe you'd stepped out to go the the bathroom, so I waited outside until Nott came back. He said you were out of the office all day." Ron said, matter-of-factly.
"And he was correct, Ron. I was out of the office all day. As in, I was unavailable to be in the office for meetings all day. I was hip-deep in research in a musty old library most of the day, Ron." Hermione said.
"What library?" Ron asked. Hermione cursed.
"You know I can't answer that. I'm sorry, Ron, I really am. I'm literally unable to tell you. And what's worse, I'm not able to tell you why I can't tell you!" Hermione said, on the verge of tears. Ron's blue eyes were icy as she tried to make him understand her distress.
"And how do I know you're not lying? How do I know you're not sneaking around, having a bit of fun while you're out of the house?" He asked, scathingly.
"Ron, you're the only person I've ever been with. You're it! And I don't want anyone else." Hermione was sobbing now. She wanted him to see how badly his accusations hurt her, wanted to show him that she was his, and only his.
"Yeah? Well you sure don't act like it. You haven't slept with me in nearly two months, Hermione. A man's got needs. What am I supposed to do?" Ron said, hotly.
"Use your hand. You honestly expect me to come home from a twelve hour shift, a mind-numbing, exhausting day, and take care of your needs?" Hermione asked, her voice shrilling higher and higher the angrier she got.
"Of course I do. I took care of yours when I was an Auror, working the same hours you were." he yelled, stalking closer to her.
"No, Ron. I have never once asked you for sex after work." Hermione said, coldly.
"Well you sure as hell didn't complain while I was shagging you senseless!" He said, his face getting redder by the second.
"I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, but it has always been just that: a gift. I'm done arguing about this, Ron. I just want to eat and go to bed." She said, turning away from him and attempting to step around him. He grabbed her arm roughly, squeezing it a little too hard.
"No, Hermione. That's all you do these days. Eat, sleep, and work. It's like you're not even here, like I'm not even here." Ron shouted.
"Every time I'm home, you get angry for me not being home. What do you want me to do, Ron, quit my job? Stay home, cook and clean and be a proper housewife?" Hermione scowled.
"Sure! See, that's the most reasonable thing you've said all night. Why don't you do that?" Ron said, throwing his hands up in the air.
"Because I'm not a housewife, Ronald!" Hermione shrilled. "Not yet. I want to be out there, making a difference. There's so much left to be discovered, and I want to discover it. And I can't do that cooped up in the house, knitting sweaters and breeding children." Ron's temper burst at the last line. She hadn't meant it as a jab at his mother, but he obviously took it that way. He glowered at her, shoving her away from him hard and turning away.
She fell backward, her head hitting the wall with a bang, causing the wooden spice rack above her to come crashing down on top of her. He turned back to her, horror in his eyes. She looked up to him, feeling a distinct pain under her eye and along the side of her face. She raised a hand to the puffy, hot skin and her fingers felt sticky with fresh blood. She looked around her at the scattered jars and bottles, some of which had been glass and now lay shattered across the floor.
"I'm leaving." Hermione said, suddenly. She said it calmly, pulling herself up and dusting her dress off. Ron stared at her dumbly, his eyes glued to her face where she could feel her pulse in the growing bruise along the side of her face. She picked her way carefully through the shattered glass and scattered herbs and gathered her work bag and purse from the chair she had deposited left them in earlier and left the kitchen, heading for the door. That seemed to wake Ron from his dumbfounded horror and he called out to her.
"Hermione, wait! I didn't mean to hurt you, honest." He said, grabbing her wrist again to spin her around. Hermione was quick, though and as he spun her, she drew her wand, pointing it in his face and causing him to stagger back.
"Don't." She said, brown eyes burning into his. "Don't touch me. I'm leaving now, before this escalates further. Don't follow me." Hermione said, storing her wand back in her robes and exiting the flat quickly.
She walked down the dark street quietly, thinking. Where was she to go? The obvious first choice was Grimmauld Place. Harry would take her in in a heartbeat. But she was unsure about Ginny's reaction to the fight, and if Ron did come looking for her, that would be the first place he'd check.
Her next choice was Theo. He'd told her several times that if she ever needed somewhere to crash, he had a spare bed for her. However, she'd never actually taken him up on the offer, and so she had no idea where he lived, and she couldn't very well write him with no owl. She supposed she could stay at the Leaky, or perhaps The Three Broomsticks, but she really didn't want to be alone, let alone around so many drunks.
So that left one place. Hermione turned on the spot, the familiar sensation of being squeezed through a rubber tube overwhelming her senses and she felt herself land on the cobbled walkway leading to Malfoy Manor. She took a deep breath and tapped wand on the gate, knowing it would open for her. When Draco had been reinstated as the owner of the Manor, he'd updated the charms to allow her and Theo access to the Manor.
She walked up the walkway to the front of the manor slowly. She could feel the pounding in her head getting worse, and she stumbled once or twice getting up to the door. She knocked loudly, knowing Draco would have been alerted the moment she crossed the barrier around the property. He opened the door with a confused look that soon turned to one of anger.
"Hermione, what happened?" He demanded, opening the door wider and ushering her in. She stumbled again, nearly falling on the marble before Draco caught her around the waist.
"Easy, there." He said, holding onto her as he shut the door. He walked her to the sitting room, helping her stay upright before helping her sit and sending a message to Theo via patronus. He looked her over, examining the bruises she'd sustained to her face looked her over for any other injuries. He noticed her wrist was slightly swollen and red as well.
"Weasley did this, didn't he?" Draco asked, softly. Over the past few weeks, Theo had explained to him why Hermione came in upset so often, why she cried in the mornings. Draco had learned to leave her be if she was irritable, to let Theo handle the fallout. Hermione nodded, feeling a little shell-shocked. Yes, she was glad she wasn't alone. That was the thought on her mind when she heard the soft whoosh of the floo.
Theo was suddenly beside her, his hands on her face, his eyes checking her for signs of damage. Hermione noticed he was shaking, noticed his blue eyes were icy, nearly murderous.
"Theo," Hermione murmured, her voice sounding small and far away. "It's okay. I'm fine. Calm down." Draco laughed once, reappearing on the couch beside her, a cool rag in his hand that he used to wash the sticky, half-dried blood from her face.
"I'd listen to her, Theo. I really don't want to have to break you out of Azkaban." he murmured, dabbing a thick, yellow paste on Hermione's bruised face. She recoiled at first, but Draco cooed softly, holding her hand, while Theo pulled her hair out of the way. Theo smiled a bit at Draco's comment.
"Who are you kidding, Draco? You'd be in there with me." Theo said, darkly. Draco allowed that.
"Can you talk about what happened, Hermione?" Draco asked, finishing with the bruise removal paste. She took a deep breath, nodding. Her headache was staying pretty constant now, and she could think a bit clearer now that the pain in her face was easing a bit. She slowly told the men what had happened, trying her best to keep from bursting into tears.
"How could he be so careless?" Theo asked, outraged. He was pacing the floors, unable to stay still. Draco sat beside Hermione, his white-knuckled fists balled up in his lap.
"I'm not mad at him for hurting me. Not really. It was an accident, you could see it in his face." Hermione said, meaning every word of it. She knew he hadn't intended to harm her. But then she supposed the road to hell was paved with good intentions.
"Hermione, he shoved you into a wall, which led to a pretty significant head injury. There's a cut or two close to your hairline that will likely leave scars. You can't tell me that you're honestly thinking of staying with someone who did that to you?" Theo said, exasperatedly.
"I don't plan on staying with him, Theo. We've had too many arguments that have escalated too far. I can't live like that anymore. I'm just saying that I don't think Ron is an abuser. He was terrified that he hurt me, ran after me when he'd snapped out of his horror." Hermione sighed. "Ron's a good man, in the end. He's just not good for me." Draco squeezed her hand comfortingly. Theo seemed placated with her assessment and finally sat down on the other side of her.
"You'll be staying with me until you've got it settled, then." He said, assertively. Hermione grinned.
"So glad I have a choice in the matter." She chuckled, elbowing him playfully.
"His spare room's actually quite cozy, Hermione. You might not want to leave." Draco smirked.
"Like you, mate? Hardly left it when you stayed with me." Theo snipped back, relaxing a bit.
"Rooming with a prat like you, why would I want to?" Draco chuckled when Hermione shook her head amusedly.
"If it's all the same, I don't think I'm up to travel tonight. Would you mind terribly if I crashed here tonight, Draco?" Hermione asked, her chocolate eyes meeting soft grey.
"Hermione, you showed up at my house covered in blood and bruises, tearstained makeup everywhere, and looking a right mess. You told me in detail about how your boyfriend shoved you into a wall, and then just stood there. I examined the damage, patched you up, and called for backup from Theo, just in case I couldn't handle this. Do you honestly think I'd have a problem with you spending the night?" Draco asked her, mock-exasperation clearly written upon his face. Hermione watched the light in his eyes dance with the half smile he wore.
"You're still too much of a mystery to me. Never know how you're gonna react." She shrugged. He and Theo both laughed at that.
"Well, Hermione you're more than welcome to spend the night, but Theo's going to hate me." Draco said, grinning. Theo leaned forward, so he could see past Hermione, and frowned at Draco.
"And why, may I ask, is that?" He inquired warily.
"She's got a head injury. You and I will have to take shifts staying up to monitor her. Wake her up every two hours, all that." Draco chuckled when Theo groaned.
"Sometimes, I really hate you, Draco." Theo muttered. "But then there are other times that I'm just thankful that you're not a complete dunderhead."
"I'll take that as a compliment." Draco winked, coaxing a giggle out of Hermione. Her stomach chose then to imitate an Ukrainian Ironbelly and both men burst out laughing at her shocked expression.
"Right," Draco said when he could breathe, "I completely agree, Hermione. Let's eat."