Salvation

Narrator's POV

Draco enters the Eberkopf Bar. He looks around and spots a familiar face. He approaches her and greets her warmly.

"Hermione, nice to see you again," he says to her.

No response from Hermione. It doesn't take long for Draco to realize that his former schoolmate is not entirely sober.

"Hermione, are you okay?" he asks.

Still no response. He continues to inquire about why she's here, but again, there's no answer. He turns to Aberforth and asks,

 "Aberforth, how much has she had to drink?" "The bottle in front of her," Aberforth replies. "But that can't be healthy," Draco says. "Let the girl drink as much as she wants. Not everyone has such a perfect life, Malfoy,"

Aberforth contradicts him and turns away. Draco is overwhelmed by the situation. By now, Hermione has passed out, and she leans into Draco's arms. "Aberforth, do you know where she lives?" "No, unfortunately not, but you can't leave her here."

 Draco decides to take her to Malfoy Manor. He wraps an arm around Hermione and Apparates home. Hermione collapses on the floor of Malfoy Manor and begins to vomit her dinner. "Mother, come quickly," Draco calls for his mother.

"Draco, what's wrong?" Narcissa asks her son.

When Narcissa sees Hermione, she is visibly confused. She makes the vomit disappear and helps her son carry the girl to one of the guest rooms. Once in the room, she makes the dirty clothes vanish and dresses the girl in a clean nightgown. She leaves the room and looks for her son, who is pacing in the living room.

"Draco, why are you bringing a drunken Hermione Granger into our house?" she asks. Draco sees from his mother's look that she won't be satisfied with a brief explanation, so he begins to tell her everything. He tells her that it's not the first time, that he has often encountered Hermione in this bar, and every time, she was too drunk and numb to even recognize him. But this time was different; she drank herself almost unconscious, and Draco knew Hermione would never make it to her apartment.

 "Mother, I don't know what's wrong with her. She never talks to me, but I think she's not in a good place right now. We must help her, Mother. I feel guilty and responsible for her; I contributed to her suffering during school, and I don't think she's processing it in the best way," Draco says.

 "My Dragon, we can only help her if she wants it, you know..."

 "But Mother, you also helped Aunt Bella after Azkaban. She wasn't doing well either, and you helped her out of that hole. Please, let's try. We owe it to her, no, not just us. This whole community owes it to her. She saved us all, and now we have to save her, Mother," Draco insists.

"Draco, fine. I'll do my best," Narcissa says. After this conversation, Draco goes to his room, leaving a pensive Narcissa alone in the living room.

Narcissa decides to go to the west wing to visit her sister. Despite being late, she hopes to find Bella still awake. Draco is right; they need to help the girl. "Bella? Bella, are you still awake?" she whispers. "Cissy? Is everything okay with you? What are you doing here at this hour?" Bellatrix says, quite sleepy.

"Bella, we need to help her. You have to help her. Draco is right; we owe it to her." Narcissa is completely distraught. Bellatrix takes her sister in her arms, trying to calm her. "Cissy, who are you talking about? I don't understand anything you said." Bellatrix asks, confused.

After a few minutes, Narcissa has calmed down, and she tells Bellatrix everything Draco told her. "Bella, the girl is not doing well, and I don't know how we can help her, but we have to try," she pleads with her sister. "Cissy, you know if she doesn't want help, we can't do anything. But I agree; we have to try. But right now, we can't do anything. Cissy, go to bed now and try to get some sleep. I'll come to breakfast tomorrow, and then we can discuss everything." Bellatrix confirms. Narcissa says goodbye to Bellatrix and Apparates to her own bedroom.

She tries to sleep as best she can, but after a few minutes, she knows this night will be sleepless. She doesn't understand why the mind of the Golden Trio's brightest is in such a bad state. The war was won; Narcissa knows Hermione graduated from school with flying colors, and job offers were piling up. So why all this? The girl looks like she's fighting inner demons, and Narcissa fears that if no one helps her, she will lose the battle. Bellatrix looked similar shortly after Azkaban. Narcissa eventually falls asleep, but it's not a peaceful and restful sleep.

Hermione's POV

My head hurts, my throat burns, and my stomach revolts. I haven't felt this bad in a long time. I must have overdone it yesterday. I open my eyes and discover unfamiliar sheets. I look around and realize I'm not in my own bed. Where am I? I slowly get up and sit on this unfamiliar bed. I hope I didn't end up in bed with a stranger out of sheer loneliness. I walk to the door on wobbly legs. Behind this door is a long corridor, and at the end of this corridor are stairs leading downstairs. I hear voices from below, familiar voices, I think. I try to sneak down and see Draco Malfoy, Narcissa Malfoy, and Bellatrix Black sitting at a long wooden table. They haven't noticed me yet. The group is deep in discussion, apparently talking about me. I clear my throat, and all eyes fall on me.

"Good morning, Hermione. I hope you slept well. Come and have some breakfast with us," Narcissa greets me. Am I dreaming? "Lady Malfoy, that is very kind of you," I reply. I sit next to Draco and try to avoid all eyes. I turn to Draco and ask, "Um, excuse the awkward question, but why am I here? How did I get here, and did we sleep together?"

"For heaven's sake, no, we didn't sleep together, and I brought you here from the bar last night because I didn't know where you live," he explains. "Oh, I see. Thank you very much." I try to get a few bites down, but I quickly realize that my stomach is not ready for solid food yet. I feel everyone secretly watching me, as if I wouldn't notice. I feel uncomfortable, very uncomfortable. "Lady Malfoy, thank you for your hospitality, but I won't bother you any longer. I think it's time for me to go home," I thank Narcissa. "It was my pleasure, Miss Granger. You are always welcome here," she replies.

I get up and head towards the exit. I hear someone getting up and following me. I turn around and look Draco in the eyes.

"Hermione, are you okay?" he asks with a concerned look.

"Of course, I'm fine," I assure him.

"Hermione, please don't lie to me. Yesterday wasn't the first time I found you like this."

"Oh Draco, I had a reason to celebrate. I'm allowed to celebrate, right? I have a job interview," I say to him.

It wasn't even a lie; I do have a job interview at the Ministry. Even though that's certainly not a reason to celebrate. Draco doesn't completely buy this lie, but he finally lets me go. He mutters something about how I can talk to him anytime, but I don't really need anyone to talk to.

Once home, I go back to bed and fall asleep again. This morning has been exhausting and has drained a lot of energy.