AN: "Please don't let their world blow up into a million pieces." "Is something bad going to happen?" "Let nothing bad happen I beg you." : )
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{ 25 }
I woke Sunday morning to find the bed beside me empty and the sheets cold. The sun was just starting to crest the horizon.
I found Hermione sitting in front of the fire in the sitting room. She was wearing my quidditch captain shirt, black leggings and thick green socks. Her hair was still damp and wavy from a recent shower. She had her brown leather notebook in her lap. She seemed to be drawing something.
My foot scuffed against the floor, alerting her to my presence. She lifted her head from where it rested against the palm of her hand. Her eyes met mine.
"Did I wake you?" She asked quietly. She closed her notebook and moved her feet out of the way so I could sit beside her. Then she stretched her legs out so they were draped across my lap.
"Not at all. How long have you been up?" My hand settled on her calf.
"An hour. Maybe two? I don't know. I couldn't sleep."
Her eyes had a haunted look to them. It was rather obvious she had a nightmare.
"What did Potter and Weasley say when they saw you wearing my team shirt yesterday?" My lip tilted up in a smirk. I would have loved to see the look on their faces when they saw it. I bet Weasley's face turned bright red.
She huffed and rolled her eyes.
"I'm sure you can imagine. Do you think…" She paused and picked at her dark red fingernails. "Do you think that maybe…I've been too hard on them?"
She looked up at me through her eyelashes.
That feels like a trick question. I averted my eyes and stared into the fire instead. It seemed the safer alternative.
Do I think she has been too hard on them? Possibly. They were inseparable for years, and yet she has barely spoken to them for months.
On the other hand, they don't know half of what she's been dealing with on her own. The one time she tried to talk to them about it, they insulted her and fed into her insecurities.
I cleared my throat.
"You do, don't you?" She asked quietly. She swung her legs around and settled her feet on the floor. "When you were dancing with Luna, they came over to the table."
I waited for her to continue. It took several long moments before she took a deep breath.
"Harry, he told me he misses me. And Ron…" She wiped her palms against her leggings. "Ron said that I looked beautiful and happy. And he said he still hates you, and if you hurt me he will happily string you up by your neck."
She wiped at her eyes as she took a shaky breath. I rubbed my hand across her shoulders and rubbed her back in small circles. Until she shrugged me off and stood, pacing away from me.
"It's just…it sounded like, maybe, I don't know." She ran her hands through her hair and gripped it tightly. "Maybe, they do care about me?"
I had to stop myself from snorting out loud. I did roll my eyes, though. Lucky for me, she was behind me and couldn't see it.
"But…if that is true…" She rubbed her hand over her heart and took a ragged breath. "Oh, Gods! Draco, if that's true…"
She took a gasping breath. Then another.
"Breathe, Hermione." I moved to her side as soon as I realized she was on the verge of an anxiety attack.
She gripped the front of my shirt and took a few long, slow breaths. I wrapped my arms around her and closed my eyes for several seconds.
I can't believe I'm about to do this. Defending those two morons goes against everything in me.
"Hermione, Love. Of course they care about you. They are your best friends. They have been for years."
She shook her head side to side.
"Draco," she swallowed thickly and looked up at me with sorrow filled eyes. "They will never forgive me for what I've done."
My heart stopped for a moment. What does she think she has done that they won't forgive?
Falling for their enemy is probably at the top of the list.
It doesn't matter. I'm fairly certain they would forgive her for anything.
"There is nothing for them to forgive. You haven't done anything wrong."
She blinked quickly, pushed away from me and started pacing again.
"I have kept so much from them." She ran her hands through her hair. "When they find out, they'll hate me."
I swallowed hard around the lump in my throat. I don't know if she's right or not. Would they be able to forgive her for keeping her secrets?
"You are going to tell them?"
I sat on the arm of the couch and watched her pace. I have to wonder, what all has she kept from them? How many of her secrets do I know that they don't?
Does she still have secrets that she has kept from me?
"Do you think I should?" She stopped pacing and turned to stare at me.
Again, that is a trick question. Should she tell her moron friends about the devastating assault that changed her forever?
It's none of their business. They don't need to know. I certainly haven't told Theo and Blaise about my own assault.
On the other hand, if I were them, I would want to know.
"I think that is your decision to make."
She threw her hands in the air and dropped her head back in frustration.
"That was no help at all."
She resumed her pacing.
I don't know what she wants me to say. Whatever I say, it will probably be wrong.
I sighed deeply and ran my hand through my hair.
"Alright." I caught her wrist as she paced in front of me and pulled her into my arms. She sighed as she leaned against me. "Do you want them to be a part of your life going forward?"
I held my breath as I waited for her to reply. Slowly, she nodded her head and whispered "yes."
Of course she does.
"Then I think you need to tell them, when you are ready to." She started to pull back, but I held on tighter. "If they don't forgive you, then that's on them. But they deserve to know what you've been dealing with on your own for so long."
She sighed again. Instead of pulling away, though, she sank deeper into my arms.
"I know." She spoke so low that I barely heard her.
After a long moment, she nodded her head against my shoulder and took a deep breath.
"Right then." She stepped back. With her decision made, she already looked more relaxed. The anxiety, at least for now, had drained away.
[ - - - ]
The Great Hall was buzzing with activity when we stepped through the doors for breakfast. Unusual for a Sunday morning.
It seemed everyone was still talking about the quidditch game, at least at our table. I took my seat next to Theo. I wanted to ask him how things went with Lovegood after I left the dance, but I held off. It would wait till we aren't somewhere so public.
I looked across the hall to the Gryffindor table. I expected to see Hermione sitting in her usual spot, but she wasn't there. I let my gaze roam down both sides of the table.
What the fuck? She walked in beside me. Where did she go?
I scanned the table again. Potter and Weasley were there. I checked the Ravenclaw table. Luna was sitting by herself.
Finally I spotted her. She was standing at the end of the Hufflepuff table talking to Professor Bones.
Her eyes darted across the room and met mine. One side of her lips tilted up before she turned back to Bones.
"Draco?" Pansy's hand slammed down on the table in front of me. "Are you even listening to me?"
"No." I turned my focus on the raven haired witch sitting across the table. "What do you want?"
She tilted her head to the side.
"Have you seen the Sunday edition of the Prophet?" She tapped her fingers on the table in agitation.
"Why would I read that rag?" I know better than most that anything printed therein is nothing but lies.
She pursed her lips and sighed in exasperation.
"Maybe because you are on the front page?" She dropped the paper on the table in front of me.
Sure enough, there was a picture of me, catching the snitch at the game.
Nice. I smirked to myself and skimmed over the article which detailed my victory over Potter.
I flipped the paper over to the bottom half of the front page and my heart stopped. Below the article about the game, there was another picture. Hermione and I, dancing together at the ball. Our eyes were locked together as we moved flawlessly across the floor.
That settles it. As of this morning, my parents, along with everyone else in Wizarding London, know that Hermione and I are together.
Perfect.
I sighed to myself as I watched the image of us dancing together across the page. My lips tilted up on one side.
"Can I keep this?" I asked Pansy.
She glanced around the table in what I can only describe as frustration. Beside me, Theo was trying not to laugh.
Blaise picked up the paper and examined it.
"That is an excellent picture. Too bad it isn't in color."
Tracey walked up and stood next to Pansy. She had an evil grin stretched across her face.
"Looks like your Father will finally know the truth, blood traitor." She tossed her hair over her shoulder and walked away with a bounce in her step.
"You know she's right." Pansy pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Tristan's mother took pictures also. She is supposed to send us copies." I chose to ignore Pansy and Tracey, and responded to Blaise instead.
"Nice." He handed the paper back to me.
"You have all gone crazy." Pansy shook her head, rolled her eyes and laughed. "Blaise with Susan Bones all night. Theo dancing with Lovegood. And you, Draco. Giving up everything for Granger, of all people!"
Perhaps she is right. Maybe we have all gone crazy. To be honest, it feels pretty damn good.
"The thing is, we only get one life to live. What has playing by their rules gotten us? Nothing but misery." I pushed my empty plate back and leaned forward. "It's time to make a decision. Keep playing by their rules, or say fuck that and do what makes you happy."
I kept my eyes locked on hers for a long moment before I stood from the table.
"I've made my decision, Pansy. It's time for you to make yours."
I picked up the paper and walked away. I am done having the same conversation over and over again.
Maybe now people will realize that I'm not going back.
Hermione met me at the door.
"You okay?" She asked. Her hand slid into mine. Naturally, like it's always belonged there.
"Absolutely." Every eye in the room was on us. I tugged her closer and whispered in her ear. Then I brushed my lips against hers.
"You do realize everyone is watching, right?" She smiled against me and pressed her lips firmly against mine.
"Seriously you two." Weasley snorted from behind us. "No one wants to see that."
Hermione released a small laugh and stepped back. I kept hold of her hand as we stepped through the door into the hallway.
Weasley and Potter followed us out of the Great Hall. Hermione's hand squeezed around mine.
A warning, maybe.
They continued to follow us upstairs. I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach when the stairs moved to take all four of us to the third floor.
"Are you sure about this?" I asked quietly as we waited for the staircase to finish its arc. "Do you want me to be there?"
The look she gave me was clear.
Don't be a fucking moron. Of course I want you there.
"Alright. Just thought I would ask."
I swallowed hard around the lump in my throat. I'm not sure I want to be there for this.
These two idiots have no idea what's about to hit them.
And I am not sure at all that she is ready for this.
[ - - - ]
We sat in the lecture room. Potter and Weasley sat at the table across from us.
"Is this about the project you are supposedly working on for McGonagall?" Potter asked first.
"No." Hermione cleared her throat. She wiped her hands across her legs nervously. "I need to tell you some things. And it isn't going to be easy, for me to say or for you to hear."
My hand found hers under the table. Our fingers laced together and I rubbed small circles against the back of her hand with my thumb.
"What kinds of things?" Weasley's eyes darted from her to me and back to her again.
She cleared her throat. Her hand tightened around mine. The fingernails on her other hand tapped against the tabletop.
"Things that I've been hiding from both of you for a long time." Her voice shook, just a little. Just enough. She rubbed her hand over her chest.
"Are you alright, Mione?" Potter asked carefully.
She took a deep breath and nodded her head.
"I'm getting there. Slowly." She let her lip tilt up on one side. "It's a process."
This is such a bad idea.
"Something happened to me at the end of sixth year." She forged ahead, determined to tell them her darkest secret. "It was bad. Really, really bad."
Potter and Weasley looked at each other. Concern etched across their faces.
"Mione…that was a year and a half ago." Potter's brow crinkled.
She nodded her head and kept her eyes on the table.
"I know." Her voice was barely above a whisper. Tears leaked from her eyes.
Damn it. She isn't ready for this. She should have waited a little while longer.
She made up her mind, though. She's going to tell them no matter what.
"I…I was attacked." She squeezed her eyes shut. She was holding my hand so tight that my fingers were tingling. Tears streamed down her face now. "I…I was…raped."
She released my hand and covered her face with both hands as a sob ripped from her throat. I curled my arm around her waist and pulled her against me.
Harry and Ron stared at her in shocked silence. The color had drained out of both of their faces.
"You're alright." I whispered in her ear. "You are safe."
She nodded against me and took a few deep, shaky breaths. Slowly, she wiped the tears from her face and raised her eyes. She looked from Harry to Ron.
Neither of them said a word. They were still too surprised, too shocked by the news.
"There is more." She focused on the tabletop and picked at her fingernails.
"That might be enough for today." I rubbed small circles across her back.
I can tell their questions are starting to form. Any minute, they will ask.
Who? Where? When?
She pushed her hair back. Her hands were shaking, but her breathing was somewhat steady.
"After…he told me…he said that if I told anyone…" She gripped her hair tight in her hands. "He would find me. He said…he would find my parents…"
Fuck.
She never told me that part.
"Merlin and Salazar." My hand tightened around her waist.
"I had to protect them." Her eyes met mine briefly. They were red and puffy and tears continued to fall from her hazel depths. She turned back to her friends, but kept her gaze on her fingernails. "I obliviated them. I changed their identities and sent them to a different country. A different continent."
Potter dropped his head into hands. Weasley stood and walked several steps away before returning. He put both hands on the table.
"You obliviated your parents?" He asked incredulously. "After sixth year?"
She nodded slowly.
"Yes." She covered her face again, trying to hide herself. "They don't know that I exist."
"Damn it, Hermione!" Potter slammed both hands on the table as he stood.
She flinched at the sudden noise.
"Easy, Potter."
"Easy? You want me to take it easy?" He stomped away, running both hands through his hair. "After that?"
"You…you were with your parents…this summer…" Weasley sank back down in the chair. "You told us…you were traveling with them."
She didn't respond to him. She didn't need to. She had lied. She knew it. They knew it.
"Is there anything else?" Potter leaned against the wall and glared at her. At us. "Other life altering events that you've kept from us? That you've lied to us about?"
She started to tremble.
"There is, isn't there?" His head fell back in frustration. "You know what? I'm going to agree with Malfoy on this one. That's enough for today."
His back slid down the wall. He sat on the floor with his knees up in front of him.
"No." Weasley shook his head. "I want to know all of it."
Her right hand drifted to her left arm.
Honestly, she is holding up better than I thought she would. Or she is holding it in, waiting to break down when they are gone.
"I told you this wouldn't be easy." She wiped at her eyes.
"Why? Why would you keep this from us?" Potter asked.
Hermione sighed. She rubbed her temples.
"I was scared." She stood and paced back and forth behind the table. "I was hurt. Embarrassed. Humiliated. Angry. Depressed."
Harry stood quickly and crossed the room to stand in front of her. His hands were balled into fists. Tears fell from his eyes.
"If you had told us, we could have…" He hesitated, searching for words, grasping for a solution that would have made it all better.
"Could have what, Harry?" She crossed her arms over her chest. "Protected me? Kept me safe? It was already too late for that.
"I tried telling you, so many times. I just couldn't do it." She dropped her head into her hands. "I'm so sorry."
Potter's eyes darted to me. Then he took a step forward.
"I'm going to hug you now, Mione." He took another small step towards her. "Don't break my arm or anything."
Her shoulders shook as she tried to laugh through her tears.
His hands landed on her shoulders and slid around to her back. She stood stiff as a board for several long seconds before she collapsed into him and cried on his shoulder.
He whispered something in her ear. I couldn't hear what he said, but she nodded her head in agreement.
Weasley gave them a minute, then he walked over and tapped Potter on the shoulder.
I sighed to myself as I watched Weasley hug Hermione also.
She needs her friends. I don't have to like them.
Maybe I should just go? Give them some time? She doesn't need me here now, right?
She doesn't need you at all now. She has them.
I stared at the table. It's good. This is what she needed. I helped her get to this point. My job is done.
Except my heart is being squeezed inside my chest by a vice.
I'm not ready to lose her.
Hermione's hand on my shoulder almost made me jump. She sat beside me. Her hand traveled down my arm and she laced her fingers through mine.
A calm energy flowed through my body, starting at our joined hands.
I leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Alright?"
She nodded and leaned her head against my shoulder.
"I am. But it isn't over." She sighed.
Potter and Weasley sat down across from us once again. An awkward silence settled over the table. No one knew what to say, myself included.
The only other secret that she has kept from them, that I know of anyway, is that she has an aunt and uncle in the States, and that's where she was over the summer.
By comparison, that secret seems fairly benign to me.
After several minutes, she cleared her throat and took a deep breath.
"At Malfoy Manor, you know Bellatrix interrogated me…and t…torchered me." Both of her hands were shaking when she pushed her hair back behind her ears.
I felt my eyebrows crinkle in confusion. They were there. Not in the room, but surely they heard her screams. A shiver ran down my spine as a memory of her scream echoed through my mind.
"We remember." Weasley glared at me, confirming that yes, they heard while they were locked in the wine cellar.
"The thing is…" Her right hand clasped around her left arm.
My stomach dropped.
Could she have actually kept that hidden from them?
How?
"She did use the cruciatas curse." Her voice was shaking. "But that wasn't all she used."
My stomach rolled as she pushed the sleeve of her sweater up to her elbow. The bright tattoo was revealed little by little. She laid her arm across the table. And waited.
It's difficult to see because of the tattoo. Until you see it. Until you know it's there. Then you can't un-see it.
Weasley saw it first.
"What the fuck, Hermione!" His hand settled over her wrist. She flinched, but didn't move her arm.
The moment Potter saw it, his eyes hardened. He stared at her arm for a long moment, then he raised his eyes and glared directly at me.
"You." He growled.
What happened next seemed to take place in slow motion and all at once.
Potter stood so fast that his chair fell over backwards. His wand was in his hand before I heard the clatter of his chair hitting the stone.
Hermione stood and drew her own wand as she pushed herself between me and the table.
It only took half a heartbeat for me to catch up. My own wand was in my hand before I even knew what was happening.
In a matter of seconds we were all in defensive positions. Hermione kept herself in front of me, facing off against her two best friends.
"Let me be very clear, Harry." Her voice was hard, clipped. "I am not telling you any of this so you can somehow blame Draco. I'm telling you this because you told me last night that you miss me. And I miss our friendship, too. I am working through my trauma, learning how to cope with the things that I've survived. Part of that is to stop denying what happened to me. That is why we are here."
His nose crinkled and he glared at me over her head.
"Hermione, he stood by and let this happen to you. Hell, he watched it happen! How can you forgive him for that?"
She swallowed thickly. Her left hand reached back and found mine.
"There was nothing to forgive, Harry."
"He was right there, and he didn't stop her!"
"You were right there, too!" Her voice echoed off the stones surrounding us. "You didn't stop it either!"
Potter's wand fell to his side. His eyes widened. He looked like she had physically struck him.
"You never even asked me what she did to me. I didn't try to hide it. You saw the bandage. I wore it every single day." Her voice shook.
I lifted my hand to cover hers and slowly lowered her wand to point at the floor.
"Hermione. That's enough." I need to stop this before she says something she will regret later. "He's right. I did see it. I relive it almost every night. It took a long time for me to come to terms with the fact that I couldn't have stopped it. Not without getting both of us killed."
I kept my eyes on Potter, talking more to him than I was to her. I've already had this conversation with her. More than once, actually.
"The truth is, we failed you that day. All of us. You were incredibly brave. You never cracked. You never told her what she wanted to hear."
"No. That isn't true." She shook her head quickly and stepped away, turning to face me as she did. "I'm the one that failed, Draco. I wasn't brave. I was done. Done fighting. Done living."
She wiped angrily at her eyes, turned and took several steps away.
"Don't you see?" She turned back around and faced me. Tears streamed down her face. "I wanted to die. I wanted her to kill me before…before he could do it again."
Her hand clutched at her chest. She took a shallow, gasping breath. Her wand clattered to the floor and rolled under the table.
"Fuck." I rushed forward, closing the distance she had put between us. I cupped my hands around her face and searched her eyes. What I saw there made my heart stutter. Fear. "Damn it, Hermione. Breathe."
It was too late. She was looking at me without seeing me. Sucked into the memories of that day.
"He was going to. He told me, when she was finished with me…he said…"
"Come on, Love. Breathe."
A short gasp, a quick intake of air. Not nearly enough.
Her eyes rolled back in her head.
She collapsed into my arms.
"Damn it!" I caught her…barely. She was completely limp. Lifeless.
I dropped to the floor under the sudden weight. Pain lanced through my knee as it struck the stone beneath my feet.
"Is she breathing?" Potter asked. I looked up to see him and Weasley both kneeling beside me on the floor.
"Barely." Weasley answered. "We need to get her to Pomphrey."
I was frozen. Flashes of my nightmares came rushing back. Visions of her dead body in my arms. My stomach rolled.
I picked her up and laid her on the table. Her skin was cool and moist to the touch. Her chest rose and fell in short, shallow breaths. Her eyes were closed, but I could see them moving back and forth quickly beneath her eyelids.
"Hermione. I need you to listen to me. You don't belong in that place. You belong here, with me. Listen to the sound of my voice. Come back to me."
I pushed the hair from her face and covered her hand with my own.
"Malfoy. We should take her to the hospital wing." Potter laid his hand against my arm.
I wish Hermione had actually taught me her self defense moves. I would love to break his nose right now. I have no doubt she would have if the roles were reversed.
"I think you've done enough already." I turned and glared at him. My wand had joined Hermione's on the floor somewhere, otherwise it would be pointed at his head right now. "Just leave."
"Not bloody likely." Weasley scoffed.
Hermione's hand tightened around mine. Not much. Just enough. A pulse of pressure that told me she was still aware on some level.
"That's it. Listen to my voice. Breathe." I kept muttering words in her ear and rubbing my thumb across her wrist.
Potter and Weasley did not leave. They paced back and forth, taking turns staring over my shoulder.
"Malfoy. This isn't normal. I'm going to get Pomphrey." Potter couldn't take it anymore. I can't blame him. It had been half an hour with no change.
I released a deep sigh. My head and my knee were throbbing. My own anxiety was causing my heart to hurt in painful, stabbing pulses with nearly every inhale.
"Not Pomphrey." I squeezed her hand gently. "Where did my wand go?"
Weasley picked it up from under the chair I had been sitting in earlier.
I had to close my eyes and really focus. It took two tries before my patronus burst to life and disappeared carrying a message for Edinfield and another for Professor Bones.
"Hermione needs help. Third floor lecture room."
"Has she done this before?" Potter settled into the chair on the other side of the table.
"Anxiety attacks? Yes. Quite often. But this?" I shook my head. "I've never seen her like this before."
My own hand was starting to shake against hers.
I leaned in closer and spoke just loud enough that her idiot friends could hear me.
"Edinfield and Bones are on their way. They'll know what to do. Just…just listen to my voice and come back to me."
Her hand squeezed around mine. Harder this time, and for several seconds before she relaxed.
"Potter and Weasley are still here. They refuse to leave. You were right, you know? They do care about you."
"Of course we care about her," Weasley scoffed. "Have you been telling her we don't?"
I rolled my eyes. Of course he would blame it on me. This one, I had nothing to do with.
"Just the opposite, actually." I sighed and rubbed my temple. "I'm not sure that either of you can appreciate the toll that all of this has taken on her. The level of depression she has been experiencing. She convinced herself that she is completely alone."
"And where do you fit into this, Malfoy?" Potter leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. "Why would she tell you these secrets of hers before she told us?"
I skimmed my thumb across her wrist in small circles. Her breathing had evened out and some color was starting to return to her face. To be fair, she didn't actually tell me about her assault or the level of torture she had endured.
"We have a lot in common." I cleared my throat. "Maybe we just recognized that in each other."
He was prepared to ask another question, but the sounds of stone against stone as the stairway settled into place stopped him. Moments later, two sets of footsteps echoed down the hall.
Bones and Edinfield rushed through the archway shortly after. Their steps faltered as soon as they saw us…her.
"What happened?" Bones asked.
I should have felt relief that they were there. Instead, my own anxiety just got worse. Involuntarily, my hand tightened around Hermione's as I tried to take a deep breath. My other hand rubbed against my chest, trying to ease the ache there.
"She did that," Weasley motioned towards me. "Then she passed out."
"How long ago?" Edinfield pushed Potter aside and took his chair. He picked her hand up and held his fingers against her wrist.
Hermione's other hand tightened around mine.
I couldn't answer him. The pain in my chest was too intense.
"About forty minutes ago." I heard Potter answer him, but it sounded like he was far away.
Fuck. Pull it together or you'll be lying there beside her.
I drew in a deep breath, despite the pain. I focused on the rise and fall of her chest and timed my breaths with hers.
Around me, I could hear Potter and Weasley telling Bones and Edinfield what had happened. I didn't pay any attention to the words. I just focused on breathing, until finally the anxiety began to decrease.
"Okay there, Malfoy?" Potter asked when I lifted my head after several long minutes.
"Fine." I cleared my throat. "I think she's coming out of it."
The pulses of pressure against my hand had started to get longer, tighter. Until finally, finally, she gasped and her eyes flew open.
She held my hand as tight as she could. Her eyes met mine.
"It's okay. You're safe. We are at Hogwarts, on the third floor."
She blinked several times and took a long breath before blowing it out slowly.
"Oh, Gods," she whispered. "What…what happened?"
Her eyes darted around and she saw Bones, Edinfield, Potter and Weasley standing around her.
"Oh. Gods." She rolled towards me, almost right off the edge of the table and sat up quickly. "No. Fucking Hell. This can't be happening again."
I ran my fingers through her hair and rested my forehead against hers.
"Merlin and Salazar, Witch. You scared me to death." I took a deep breath and released it slowly.
Her hand squeezed mine.
"Draco." Her voice was a rough whisper.
"I'm right here." I took another measured breath.
"Can you make them leave?"
I huffed out a short laugh and shook my head.
"Trust me. I tried." I looked around to the rest of the group. "They wouldn't go."
She wiped her eyes and pushed her hair back behind her ears.
"I don't want them to see me like this."
I understand. I really do. She wants to keep up the facade that she is perfect.
"It's a little late for that, Love."
Her lip tilted up on one side. She rolled her eyes and sighed.
"Miss Granger." Healer Edinfield stepped around to stand behind me, facing Hermione. He waited for her to look up at him.
"During our first session, I tasked you with putting together a trusted support system. People you can count on whenever you are struggling. Do you remember that?"
"Yes." She picked at her fingernails and released a deep sigh.
"This is your support system." He motioned to everyone in the room. "We aren't going anywhere."
AN: Not so fluffy this time around. Sorry about that. But Hermione is accepting the things that have happened to her and she's reaching out to Harry and Ron, which is kind of huge. Also, the word is out to the rest of the Wizarding World thanks to the Daily Prophet.
I love reading your reviews, so let me know what you think.
I have the next five chapters complete. I'm thinking there will be around forty chapters total. Maybe. So stick with me. We are getting there.
Until next time.
-mezy