Chapter 21

Draco stood frozen as it all began to dawn on him. He had slept with Hermione Granger. Hermione was married, though, and had to have been at the time. About two years ago her engagement and marriage had been all over the tabloids, and if she were to get divorced, he was sure he would've found out from the same source. She froze as well, her mind going a mile a minute. Why had he even taped her in the first place? Last time she checked, he would've never touched her. He wouldn't have even known it was her. No one but close relatives knew she was going to rehab. He took a deep breath, trying to figure everything out. He had slept with a married woman. But it wasn't his fault! She never once said it, and Blaise joined in; he wasn't to blame.

Hermione slowly stepped backwards, away from Draco. She was not ready for this confrontation. Her brain was still trying to come back into the real world. "What are you doing here, Malfoy?" she finally voiced.

There was a pause before Draco spoke up. "I could ask you the same thing, Granger," he spat, crossing his arms.

"I asked first," she replied smoothly, standing up straight and puffing out her chest.

"Considering where we are, I think it's quite obvious," he told her dismissively. "And I hope I won't be seeing you much more."

"That doesn't answer my question, Malfoy."

"It's none of your business."

"Fine. Then you needn't worry about why I'm here," She said and turned to walk away. These next two months weren't going to be easy for anyone, not even the other patients.

"Mr. Malfoy, come this way and I can show you to your room," a worker said, having waited for their conversation to end.

Draco turned and observed the woman. She was certainly an older woman, probably her fifties. He said nothing as he grabbed his suitcase again and followed the woman up the stairs to the bedrooms.

"You'll be starting detox effective immediately," she explained to Draco as they walked. "For the next week you will remain in your room with monitoring to make sure nothing happens and you remain safe."

Suddenly, the week ahead seemed less of a good idea. If someone had to stand outside of his room, Draco wasn't sure if he wanted to take part in the 'detox'. As they walked, he thought about the impending week and what could possibly happen to him. Certainly he wouldn't die, but he hadn't done any research whatsoever and had no idea what to expect. It did prove as a frightening task because he had no knowledge of what was going to happen to him, but now it was too late. He had already signed in and promised himself he would get over the problem. Besides, there was no chance he'd be able to leave now. Yes, he could sign himself out, but where could he possibly go? Astoria would still be at the manor and if he were to return, all hell would break loose, so he was stuck.

"Here is your room," the woman told Draco with a soft smile. It was like she was trying to tell him not to worry, but internally he was panicking.

"Thank you," he said quietly while she opened the door for him.

Slowly, he walked into the room, as if it would delay what was going to happen. Though he never would be able to stop what the week entailed. The room was very simple, waiting for him to decorate it to his pleasure. He wouldn't be doing much to it, he thought. He hadn't really brought anything to decorate the room with. No pictures to hang or put around the room. He didn't care, though. The plan was to stay there for the minimal amount of time possible and then leave.

Just like he had expected, detox was the worst thing he'd ever experienced. Draco was barely able to move out of his bed, so he had to use a bin next to his bed to throw up so he didn't do it on himself. All of his meals, which he could barely stomach, were delivered to him. Which was just his luck, because Hermione had been given the job to deliver the meals to those who couldn't leave their beds.

Hermione nocked gently on Draco's door and opened it when she heard a grumbled, incoherent response. She knew Draco was in detox, but to see him in the state he was, shocked her beyond belief. He was even more pale than usual, making his hair seem like it was a dark color. His shirt was soaked through with sweat and his room smelled…horrible. The smell of vomit was prevalent and it mixed with the smell of sweat. She hoped that someone would come to freshen the room so he wouldn't have to live with this smell for the rest of his week.

"I've brought your lunch," she spoke softly as she picked up a tray from the cart of food and set it on his nightstand.

Draco opened his eyes at the voice and looked at the woman in his room. He let out a groan at the fact Hermione was seeing him in such a state. He wished no one would be able to see him this way. Few people had, but he was still embarrassed by the fact. He looked like death warmed over.

"Just take it. It won't be much help to me," he muttered as he rolled onto his side, his back to her.

"You have to eat something," she encouraged. "It'll help you."

Hermione stood where she was for a moment longer, just watching him as he shivered from a fever. She felt bad for him that he had to go through the pain, even though he had bullied her through all their school years. Having been through it herself, she knew what it was like, and would never wish the pain on someone else. Silently, she left the door, closing the door gently behind her to leave him to his privacy. Continuing down the hall, Hermione did her job.

That was the only day that Hermione had to deliver meals, and she didn't mind it. She didn't like seeing the people struggling through their week of detox. Some were just starting and didn't show many signs, while others were several days in and were in another world. At least some of them were able to detach themselves from the pain and think of another time.

Not soon enough, Draco was out of detox. When it was all over he felt…relieved. His body was still trying to recover from the pain he had been in, but he felt so much better. There were no words to describe the way he felt. After checking in with the doctor about medications and therapy before he was allowed to go around the house. Of course before he did anything, he had to shower. The week had been too much and he needed to wash away everything that had happened to him. All that was left now was to find Hermione and have a talk with her. They needed to talk.

That morning, Hermione had independent therapy with her doctor, so when Draco went looking for her, he couldn't find her. Eventually giving up, he decided he would sit in the main area and just wait. Surely she was bound to come down sooner or later. Unless she kept herself cooped up in her room with piles of books. He snorted at the thought and shook his head as he leaned back in the comfortable armchair. To pass the time, he looked out the window. It was a clear day out. A few birds were to be seen, but not much else. During his detox, Draco had clothes all the curtains of his room and refused to look outside, but now it was nice to see the outdoors and all the life around them.

After a very productive therapy session, Hermione felt a little more relieved. It always made her day better when she was able to talk about her problems. Every other day she attended her independent therapy and on the opposite days she went to group therapy. It was the plan she and her doctor had settled on, deciding that was the best route for her, and it truly was. She was almost two weeks into her therapy now and it really proved to help her some.

Over the two weeks she had made a few relationships with others in the house. It was a little difficult at first since she wasn't the best at social situations, but it worked out perfectly. Some of the people had been through similar experiences and others were more different, but they could all relate. She made her way to the main area where most of everyone passed their time. When she walked in she spotted the blond by a window, gazing out. From his behavior few days prior, she decided to leave him alone as she went to one of the friends she had made during the days.

"Hey, Margret," Hermione greeted the woman as she sat beside her on the couch.

Margret had come out of an alcohol addiction similar to Hermione. Though reasons were different, the girls found themselves very similar in the way their addiction grew.

"Oh, hi, Hermione," she replied with a gentle smile. "Where have you been all morning?"

"Independent therapy," she explained with a shrug. "It was really good, you know? I think we got a lot done," she told her happily as she leaned back.

While Draco was looking out the window he heard a familiar voice…one he had heard many times while at Hogwarts. He looked away from the window and began to search the room for her. Once spotting her with another woman, he stood and walked toward the pair.

Clearing his throat to get their attention, he began to speak. "Can I talk to you Granger?" He asked, clearly uncomfortable by the prospect.

Hermione frowned slightly at the presence and his question. She had wanted to spend her morning with a few of her new friends. "I suppose so," she said quietly as she stood up. "What is it?"

Draco glanced at Margret before looking back at Hermione. "Somewhere else."

"Oh, yeah…of course," Hermione mumbled as she lead him away from Margret to a table near the side of the room with a few chairs around it.

They sat across from each other and stayed silent for quite sometime. Hermione stayed silent since he was the one who wanted to talk, she figured he should initiate the conversation. Draco stayed silent because he wasn't exactly sure what he wanted to say to her. After what seemed an eternity, he finally decided on the words he wanted to use with her.

"What happened?" Draco spoke softly as if he were trying not to frighten her.

Hermione let out a quiet sigh, debating on whether or not she would tell him her story. Why would he even care? It didn't affect him whatsoever. "It's nothing," she replied.

"Something must have happened," he urged. "Something had to have snapped."

"A lot all at once. Too many details. You wouldn't care." Sure, she had spoken about it briefly in her independent therapy, but didn't need the whole world knowing what she lost. For now she wanted to keep it private.

"And if I said I would?"

"You'd be lying. You've never cared about me."

"Well maybe I'm just curious," he stated.

"Then it's not reason enough. I don't have to share," she said simply and went to stand.

"What if I told you what happened to me?"

Hermione looked over his face for a moment. He was genuine. Clearly he wanted to know what happened to her, but she wasn't sure she was ready to tell Draco Malfoy of all people. "Fine," she replied quietly as she sat down at the table once again.

"It was a drug addiction," he began slowly. "It was the day after my father's funeral. It was all a mistake. Some guy was just offering it to me, so I bought it. Started as cocaine. I tried a few things, but it was mainly just cocaine. My mother hated the fact, but I kept doing it. She then died. Astoria only put me in here because she wanted kids," he said with a slight snarl. "I don't see why she likes the things."

Hermione nodded slowly, looking down at her hands. "Ron and I went out one night. I just like the way being drunk made me forget things…so I kept doing it. Our marriage is on thin ice."

Draco realized Hermione wasn't ready to share all of the details, so he didn't press. They sat in silence once again, before Draco spoke up to break it.

"You cheated on him," he whispered.

"How'd you know?" She asked quickly, looking up at him with wide eyes.

"We may have…done things." Hermione frowned as she tried to remember when she had ever slept with Draco. She could barely remember the time while Ron was away. "Why?" he asked.

"I…Ron and I hadn't been intimate for so long. Not even a hug. I craved human intimacy," she whispered, feeling ashamed for cheating on her husband. "But you're in a relation ship. You must've cheated as well," she pointed out, looking up finally to meet his gaze.

"That's true," he muttered. "It was advice from my father. Said it would help with my feelings toward Astoria."

The two talked for quite some time. In fact, they talked all morning, and through lunch. It seemed like they had a lot to catch up on, though they treaded the waters lightly. Hermione still had to keep her secrets and Draco wasn't one to reveal all the information, but they managed to have a thorough conversation about the past several years since the war. When asked again about why she started her addiction, Hermione easily revealed her firing, though kept out all details about her baby.

A/N So? What did you guys think? They're finally getting clean and having a relationship! Don't forget to leave a review and let me know what you thought. Hope you enjoyed!