Manhattan
Chapter Two
All of Manhattan and Hermione just had to run into Draco sodding Malfoy. Draco sodding Malfoy, who has to be close to the bottom of the list of people that Hermione might've wanted to run into.
Hermione slams her kettle down onto the stove in the flat she's rented and twists the burner knob on with probably a lot more force than is strictly necessary. Hermione knows that she has to call Harry. She also knows that realistically, the chances of Draco Malfoy compromising her location in a way that would matter is comically low– but then again…
While Hermione waits for her water to boil, she groans and pulls out her mobile phone. She hates the stupid thing, but Harry had insisted that she needed to have an easier way to contact him than by owl or floo.
Hermione presses and holds the number two button– Harry's speed dial.
"Hey, 'Mione," Harry says on the other end of the line when he answers.
Hermione exhales, rubbing her temples with her free hand.
"I ran into Draco Malfoy today," Hermione states, deciding to just jump right into the point of her call. When it comes to this, Harry usually prefers that she's to the point.
There's a pause on the other end of the line.
"Harry?" Hermione questions when the pause lingers.
"I didn't know he was in the States. Damnit."
Hermione frowns. She knows that Harry will probably want to move her again now. She's only been in New York for a month, but it's been comfortable. She really doesn't want to have to relocate again.
"Wait, actually, this might be okay," Harry says, and though he can't see it, Hermione raises an eyebrow as if to question him. "Malfoy is an Auror, isn't he? I could contact the MACUSA and have him briefed on your situation. Not that I think he would tell–"
Hermione thinks she's heard just about enough.
"Oh, absolutely not! We're not telling Malfoy anything. I ran into him for two minutes in the middle of Manhattan. I'll probably never even see him again!"
Hermione hears Harry sigh heavily on the other end of the line.
"He saw you, 'Mione. Either I involve the MACUSA, and him, or I relocate you again. You know what Kingsley would say."
Hermione groans, jumping slightly when her kettle starts to whistle.
"Fine," Hermione acquiesces– quite reluctantly, if she says so herself. "But we do this my way."
Hermione stands with her arms crossed and her foot tapping against the hardwood floor of her apartment, eyeing her best friend with as much disdain as she can muster. She understands that Harry is doing all of this for her and for her safety, but why Draco bloody Malfoy?!
"I'm sorry, 'Mione, but this is the way it has to be. It's– he's still looking for you."
Hermione sighs heavily.
"I know I don't keep you updated on what's going on on my side of things, but he's still looking for you. I know that you thought I overreacted by sending you to Australia, but I promise you, 'Mione, I didn't. He's– I've never seen him like this. He's made threats."
Hermione scoffs, rolling her eyes.
"I know he's made threats. I was the one with the black eye and the fractured jaw, remember?"
Harry raises his hands as if to note surrender.
"I know, I'm sorry," Harry frowns, removing his glasses and pressing his fingers to his eyes in frustration before replacing the wire frames onto his nose. "I just want to protect you, 'Mione."
Hermione huffs and sits down on her sofa, arms still crossed over her chest.
"I know, Harry, and I appreciate it, I do, but I can't hide forever. I won't."
Harry nods, his eyebrows furrowing.
"It's not forever– just until we get him under control."
Hermione doesn't get to respond– not that she has much to say to that– because it's then that her floo activates, roaring to life with green flames.
Draco Malfoy arrives in Hermione's sitting room, dressed in his full Auror robes. His eyes flit back and forth between Hermione and Harry, confusion etched on his features. Hermione takes this confusion to mean that he hasn't been given any information yet. Great.
"Malfoy," Harry greets, standing from his spot on the sofa. "Please, sit."
"Potter. Granger," Malfoy responds, warily, as he shrugs his outer robes off and takes a seat in an armchair across from the sofa.
Hermione takes notice of Malfoy's over-the-shoulder wand holster. It strikes her as a bit odd, as she knows that Harry stores his wand in a specialized pocket within his Auror robes. Perhaps the U.S. Aurors have different uniform regulations. How interesting.
Hermione also notices that Malfoy is looking directly at her, not at Harry. This was definitely a mistake.
"Has your captain filled you in at all on the situation?" Harry asks, presumably to see where he should start with explaining.
Malfoy shakes his head, crossing his arms over his chest.
Hermione realizes with a start that Harry is about to explain everything to her childhood bully. She also realizes that Malfoy seems far more professionally detached than she might've expected given the circumstances. It has been five years, however, and she supposes that Malfoy is a professional. Maybe.
In any case, the blonde wizard sits quietly in the armchair, waiting for someone to speak.
"Right, well," Harry begins. Hermione tries to breathe, but it suddenly feels like something heavy is sitting on her chest. "This is a matter of safety. Specifically, Hermione's safety. So, you'll understand that I'm taking this seriously and that I expect you to as well."
Malfoy nods once, urging Harry to continue on.
"Eight months ago, Hermione was attacked."
Malfoy's eyebrows raise minutely, and Harry turns to Hermione, deferring to her to tell the rest of the story. Hermione assumes that this is because Harry isn't sure what she wants to share– not because he doesn't know the story.
Hermione takes a deep breath.
"Eight months ago, I broke off my engagement with Ronald," Hermione begins, although that's not the beginning of the story. "He had been drinking– Ronald is an angry drunk. We were fighting. We fought a lot, actually. He started drinking after the War– after Fred… but it got worse over time. It got even worse when he was rejected from the Auror programme again two years ago. I– I thought I could help him."
Hermione looks down at her hands in her lap. She knows that this isn't her fault, but that doesn't stop her from feeling like she abandoned her friend in his time of need. Harry had pointed out once that she could likely only save one of them, and that she had to choose herself– after all, Ron would choose himself, too.
"He– Well, I– I realized that we wanted different things. When he was sober, he talked about marriage and children, and how he would apply for the Auror programme again, and get through this time. I knew that he wouldn't– he kept failing the mental health evaluations."
Malfoy makes a humming noise that Hermione assumes is agreement.
"As his drinking got worse, so did his temper. I never thought he would hurt me. I kept trying to get him to stop drinking. I loved him, so I felt like I had to try– like I owed it to him to try."
Hermione frowns. She understands now that Ronald's drinking was not her responsibility and that she couldn't have forced him to change if he wasn't ready. It was a hard reality to accept, but she eventually had– approximately eight months ago.
"The night I told him I wouldn't marry him, he snapped. He was already drunk, and I knew I should've waited until morning, but I just wanted to get out. I gave him back the ring and told him that I wouldn't marry him and I think he was just so angry, that I suppose he lost control of his magic. I– I don't fully remember it. I remember a vase shattering, and a picture frame, too– and I remember hitting the ground. I hit my face on the coffee table."
Hermione looks to Harry now. This is pretty much the point of the story where he can take over. Harry reaches over and squeezes Hermione's knee before beginning to talk.
"Because Hermione's injuries were technically an accident, the DMLE couldn't do much. Hermione stayed with Gin and I for a couple of days, but Ron was uncontrollable. His drinking got even worse after she left, and he started making threats– like he would drag 'Mione back to their flat by her hair if she didn't come home with him, among others which were worse than that. It became clear to me that she was not safe, not even with me."
Malfoy leans back in his chair, his eyes still fixed intently on Hermione, even though she isn't the one speaking.
"I arranged with the Ministry to effectively smuggle 'Mione out of England without fanfare. The only people who know of her location right now are myself, Kingsley and now you," Harry states, eyeing Malfoy harshly. "She spent the last six months in Australia, but had to leave when Ron got too close. He never actually found her, but he started making comments like he knew where she was, so I moved her here. I wouldn't have if I had known that you were here."
Malfoy scoffs, rolling his eyes at Harry.
"The reason we decided to involve you in this situation is because you saw her. She was at risk again, unless we briefed you on why it is so imperative that nobody knows her location."
Malfoy raises an eyebrow again and it surprises Hermione how bothered he seems. She's nowhere near an expert on Draco Malfoy's body language, but his arms are crossed and his jaw is tight– classic signs of discomfort or vexation.
"So, your entire life was uprooted because the Ministry failed to prosecute a violent man for injuring you?" Malfoy sneers, his gaze trained back on Hermione now. "What exactly are you hoping to gain from including me in this?"
Hermione opens her mouth to say 'absolutely nothing' when Harry speaks instead.
"If we have to make an Unbreakable Vow to keep you silent about Hermione's whereabouts, we will, but that isn't necessary so long as you agree to keep this information to yourself," Harry begins. "Otherwise, you're clearly much closer to her here than I am, so I would appreciate it if you could be open to being available to her if she needs an Auror. I have already gotten clearance from your captain for you to assist the Ministry on this, so long as it doesn't affect your work on other cases."
Hermione cuts her eyes to her 'best friend'. Oh, absolutely not. No way in this world or the next is she about to let Draco sodding Malfoy become her babysitter.
Malfoy seems to mull over the information he's just been given for a moment before responding.
"Yes, I'm available should Granger need an Auror," Malfoy states, uncrossing his arms, leaning his elbows on the arms of the chair he's sitting in. "I do need to know, though, what the Ministry, or anyone in England is doing about Weasley and his penchant for injuring witches whom he's supposed to protect?"
Hermione's eyebrows scrunch together. What exactly is that supposed to mean?
"Unfortunately, he's a private citizen. There's not much we can do. Gin, George, Charlie and I have been trying to get him into a rehabilitation facility for alcohol abuse, but because he hasn't done anything illegal, it has to be voluntary– and he's not volunteering," Harry responds, frustration evident in his voice.
"Granger?"
Hermione looks up. She hadn't been expecting to be addressed– especially not by Malfoy.
"I'll give you my floo address, my mobile number and where you can find me in the Auror offices, should you need to," Malfoy states, maintaining eye contact with Hermione. She doesn't even get a moment to question the fact that Draco Malfoy owns a Muggle mobile phone before he speaks again. "I take my job seriously. I'll discuss this in as little detail as possible with my captain when I return to the offices, but my assumption is that she will want me 'on-call', so to speak, for your case alongside my standard caseload."
Malfoy stands from the armchair and replaces his Auror cloak around his shoulders. Harry stands as well and, in a surprising twist of fate, reaches out to shake Malfoy's hand. The irony of such an action is not lost on Hermione.
"Thank you, Malfoy," Harry says, sincerely.
Malfoy nods, quickly shakes Harry's hand and adjusts the clasp on his cloak with his free hand.
Malfoy reaches into his trouser pocket and pulls out what appears to be a business card. He holds it out for Hermione to take. Her fingers brush his as she does and she's surprised by how warm his skin feels. One word which she has always associated with Draco Malfoy is cold. The warmth of his touch jars her slightly, even despite this being the second time she's touched him in the past week.
"My mobile number and the floo address for my office at the Auror building. I'll give you my personal home address as well."
Hermione nods, unsure of how exactly to process the fact that Draco sodding Malfoy actually seems concerned with her well-being. Logically, Hermione understands that protective duty is part of his job as an Auror, but it's still slightly unnerving that a man, whom she has zero fond memories of, despite knowing him since age twelve, is so forthcoming with his help– to her specifically.
"I will check in with you once I speak with my captain, so give my mobile a ring so I have your contact."
Hermione nods dumbly as the blonde man says a quick goodbye to her and Harry before he disappears back through her floo.
What the bloody hell just happened?
Hello, friends! Happy Tuesday! (:
So, here we have our first chapter in Hermione's point of view. From here on, the chapters will alternate points of view between Hermione and Draco.
Let me be clear that Ron is our villain in this story, but I do not hate the original character from the original source material. He's not my favorite character, and I absolutely do not like him for Hermione, but just because I made him my villain here, that doesn't mean that I hate him or anything of the like.
That said, Ron is not the main part of this story. He's why we have a story, but he's not the main character or even a large part of the story. I know I said that in the last chapter, but I want to reiterate that. This story is first and foremost a story about Hermione learning to feel safe again and learning to love someone who treats her kindly.
Hermione specifically, in this story, is a bit unreliable and her thoughts bounce around a lot. This is a common effect of domestic violence or abuse- one I am intimately familiar with. For this reason, Hermione (and Draco, too) may seem a bit OOC from what we know them to be like from the original source material, but I think they maintain the majority of themselves, if a bit altered due to circumstance.
And for a bit of fun, this is a no-first-names fic. :P
And last, thank you to everyone who has already favorited or followed this fic. The response has already been overwhelming and I'm so excited to share the rest of this story with you all. Please review if you feel so inclined. I love reading reviews. (:
All of this to say, thank you for taking the time to read this chapter, it means the world to me, and I will see you all again in a week. (:
