Chapter Eight: A Little Therapy Never Hurt
A/N: *sees mob and runs away* I'm so sorry for having kept everyone who originally put this story on their alert hanging on for a long, long time. I had stopped writing fanfics for a long time and did other stuff but a good friend of mine got me to write fanfics again, so here it is, a new chapter. Most of it was written way back and some was written this week. I apologize for any grammatical errors and feel free to comment however you wish, I kind of don't mind seeing as I've kept everyone waiting for ages. Enjoy. (I own nothing but the plot.)
After reading that unsavory article, Draco and Hermione were incredibly convinced that they needed to get their bond under control. If they got the bond under control then it would be easier for them to handle any hounding from the public and they would seem more rational, therefore making their legal situation a more pleasant one as opposed to appearing to be a couple that were ruled only by lust.
Galatea took them to what appeared to be an exercise room and cleared it of almost everything in it. She prepped the room with a spell to make sure the hardwood floor felt like a comfortable mattress. She had asked Draco and Hermione to dress in comfortable gym clothes and they appeared in this fashion. Both wearing sweats, sneakers and comfortable work-out shirts.
"I'm aware that right now you two are very much in love and don't feel the need to kill each other. Today we are here to get you two to duel. I want both of you to search for a memory prior to the bond in which you were angry towards your significant other or even when you disliked them."
Hermione thought of the first time Draco had called her a mudblood and the time where he had made her teeth grow to gargantuan proportions. How she had hated him back then!
Draco thought of every single time she had answered a question like the insufferable know-it-all she had been. He also brought to mind the punch she had thrown at him during their third year. Not only did he dislike her but also, he was incredibly jealous of her and of everything she did.
Noting their frowns, Galatea said: "Good. Now use that as your fuel and when I give the say so, commence the duel."
The two stood at opposite sides of the room and drew their wands. Galatea gave the say so and the two tried their wands…they did nothing. When Hermione lost her patience, she used her wand as a projectile and hit Draco right in the center of his forehead. He rubbed the spot momentarily and then threw his wand at her. It struck her chest and Hermione became even more agitated than she already was.
Unknown to her, a hairbrush found its way to her hand followed by one of her stiletto's, a bottle of cologne and a knife. Without noticing, as she was in a trance due to the bond, she made all the objects fly at him with her raw magic. She was in a state of complete rage and looked like a force to be reckoned with. Draco, also in a trance, dodged every single one of the things that was being thrown at him…but then the hairbrush hit him, almost breaking his nose.
He threw the objects back at her with just as much anger as she had had when she threw them at him. The difference between their dodging methods was that Hermione ducked and dove out of the way of what he was throwing and managed to miss all of them. They continued their war and while conscious they still remained in the trance that the bond had placed upon them. The anger and the violence were controlled by something outside themselves. They could hear, see and feel that what they were doing was untoward but try as they might, they couldn't do anything to stop it.
"Your bond is getting rid of all the bad experiences of the past. Anger, sadness, betrayal…it's all being expressed in this manner. Eventually your minds will speak all the wrongs you have done to each other since you became bonded. This trance you are in, this connection, will break once everything is out in the open."-Galatea explained.
Galatea then took out her clipboard and made some notes. The hitting rampage continued and then turned into a yelling fit. They took turns speaking the personal crimes they had committed against each other, according both to the bond and to their innermost feelings. Hermione screamed out first.
"You humiliated me in front of all my friends!"
"You denied my very presence within a room!"- He responded
"You kept me as a dirty secret!"
"You kept ME as a dirty secret…and you joked about my manhood."
"You left me!"
"You didn't want to go away with me!"
"You don't come to understand that when you 'died', you killed me along with you!"
"You killed our child! You married another man!"
By now they were both in angry tears and their wandless fighting had stopped. Hermione was leaning against one of the walls and Draco was on his knees.
"I'm sorry"-they said in unison.
As Galatea watched the interaction, she smiled. They were going to heal quicker than she had anticipated. She urged them together and told them to put their hands together. Once they did this Hermione's dragon and Draco's otter met through their intertwined hands and cuddled against one another as if to soothe each other's pain. The owners of the tattoos became wide eyed at the interaction between the dragon and the otter. Even when they made love that hadn't happened and because they were not fond of hand holding, they had never seen it. Galatea smiled knowingly and explained: "Your markings will always crave to be with each other. It is a way to strengthen the bond and assure it of its validity. They can only be together when you hold hands, so even in private, you must start getting used to holding hands."
"Are we healed now?"-Hermione asked.
"Of course not! What, you thought a bit of violence would cure you?"-They nodded.
"Ha! You've a long way to go. You are managing good time nonetheless for a case as severe as yours. I have other tasks prepared for you."
"Such as what? Actually beating each other to a pulp? I'm not keen on hitting a lady, I'll have you know."-Draco informed her.
"Don't be stupid, Draco. My next task will manage the bond's self-control. Now, because your bond has been at extremes all the time, we have to get it back to neutral. Until I say so, you two are not to be intimate with each other except for kisses that last less than five seconds and holding hands. Your bodies will learn control at the same time your marks make up for lost time. You two are also not going to have irate fights. All disputes will take place in a civilized manner-this means no yelling."
"What happens if we slip?"-Hermione said as she sat on Draco's lap.
"You mean WHEN we slip."-Draco responded with a playful smirk.
"Oh you won't fail. I'll be putting you under a spell that makes sure that you do as you've been told."
"The Imperious is illegal."
"Yes Hermione it is, but that's not what I will be using. It's a spell created by one of our therapists. All it does is assure no sex or overly angry fights take place. You'll most definitely want to but you'll be unable to do it. Now get up, you have an appointment with Dr. Isley. She's been expecting your visit."
The pair didn't question what they were being told and just followed Galatea onto another floor of the building and to the door of a Dr. H. Isley. Galatea opened the door, told them not to ask a single question and pushed them inside.
The room was not what they had expected. They knew Dr. Isley was a psychiatrist and had therefore expected a room with a sad color and a generic couch to sit on with a generic desk. Instead, what they found was a bright and warm office in rich browns and Burgundies. The couch, that was in front of a well crafted and intricate desk, seemed like something out of a magazine in a lovely beige fabric. They entered the room and sat on the couch and found that not only was it stylish and befitting of the room they were in, but comfortable as well.
A beautiful, auburn haired woman entered the room. She looked very professional; her hair was wound tightly in a stylish bun and she wore a sensible pencil skirt, blouse and pumps. Though she was a very attractive woman, she was not flaunting it and her face and countenance demonstrated that she was a kind woman and that she looked worried for the troubled pair.
"Hello, my name is Harper Isley. No need for introductions, sweethearts, I know very well who you are and why you are here."-she said in a gentle and sincere voice. "Now, I'd like for both of you to tell me something very basic…why do you love your significant other."
Draco and Hermione briefly looked at each other and then back at Dr. Isley. Hermione spoke first:
"Well, Dr. Isley-"
"Please, call me Harper."
"Harper."-Hermione tested out. "Well, Harper, I love Draco because who he is fascinates me. I love the way he is. In my opinion, he's the world's greatest actor. All the while in school he appeared to be so full of hatred and scorn to everyone that didn't have his same ideals, but that wasn't really who he was. He seemed to be so against muggles, muggleborns and half bloods and in the end he is for them. I love him, because he's had to sacrifice everything just to keep his loved ones safe and because, despite the fact that he faked his own death, he has always had my best interest at heart. He is sweet, kind, loyal, possessive, pessimistic, stubborn, passionate, vain and spoiled, but I take the good with the bad and I wouldn't change him for anyone else in the world."
Harper looked at her with a small smile and asked: "His being vain and spoiled doesn't bother you?"
"Of course it does. But he's not obsessive about getting his hair just right as he was when we were teenagers and the spoiled factor filters down to him spoiling all of his friends and the last I heard, he spoilt his house-elves as well, though that might have been to make me happy."
Draco smiled. "I do spoil my house-elves though not entirely because I want to make you happy, though that is partly the reason. I spoil them because I've become attached to the little buggers."
Harper smiled. "Draco why do you love Hermione?"
Draco thought for a moment: "At first I wasn't sure why I loved her. When I was a teenager part of me just couldn't understand how I loved her but I know now what I didn't when I was younger. I love Hermione because she is the woman who makes me be the best man I could ever be. I love her because she is a strong woman, who can take the most wretched things in the world and search for something positive within them. I love her for her beauty, both inside and out and because she never gives up. She didn't even give up on me…not really. She says she did but I know she didn't…I could feel it."
"And by this do you mean that you felt Hermione's pain at you being gone whilst you were in France?"-asked Harper.
"Yes, I could. It hurt me to feel her pain and it hurt me to be away from her and part of me feels like I can never forgive myself for doing that to her."
"Draco, you have to come to terms with your decision. At the time you thought that what was best for Hermione was to leave her, because you didn't want her to be cast out of the society that she formed a part of, correct?"
"Well yes but I also wanted to go somewhere where the few Death Eaters left around wouldn't get to her. I just wanted Hermione to be safe and I wanted to start a family with her."
"That is very understandable Draco. You made your decision and the events that followed were the ones that had to happen. Hermione care to explain what went through your mind in those days?"
Hermione looked near tears now. She knew that Draco felt badly for what he had done and now it was her turn to tell him how horrible she felt for having an abortion. "When Draco and I had that big row, I thought we would've just patched it up by the end of the week and I wasn't sure what I was going to do about Ron. Then when I heard he died, I felt like I had been stabbed in the heart and I felt like I couldn't breathe. I knew that if I had settled the argument with Draco we would have found some way to be together and by now we'd both be parents to a five year old. But it was just the thought of everything that would happen without him that lead me into a pit of despair and I just…reacted. I did something that I will always regret."
The pair looked at each other and then embraced. They felt like slowly but surely, those things that bothered them…those things that had been buried underneath lies and lusts for so long, were finally beginning to heal. In fact, all the problems had surfaced and now seemed to be healing and actually changing the way the felt inside. Their session with Harper went on for about an hour and when they were finished, the doctor sent them to their quarters to get some rest and told them that tomorrow they would have another session and Galatea would help them out with other tasks.
When they looked at the clock, they noticed that it was almost five in the afternoon. They went to their room and found that a small dinner had been served for them. They ate their dinner in what was a very comforting silence, all the while holding hands and letting the gaping wounds in their souls feel better. Eventually they were in bed and were cuddling when Hermione said:
"I'm sorry for everything, Draco."
He took her face in his hands and said: "It is I who's sorry for everything, pet. It's more my fault than yours."
"No, Draco. We are adults, we make our own decisions and we both made rash ones based solely on what we were feeling at the time."
"Well alright, so then I forgive you and you forgive me. Alright?"
"Yes, alright."
They shared a quick, loving kiss and fell asleep expecting a full day of healing tomorrow.
