Chapter 19
Prompt: Please
From the outside, their marriage looked perfect. Children who survived a war and found love along the way, finally married and allowed their happily ever after. They were an example of good things happening to good people. From the outside.
No one saw the bruises Hermione needed to glamour each morning. No one heard the vitriol spewed by Ron each night as he raged through another drunken stupor. Harry was enjoying his own newlywed bliss with Ginny and as much as she didn’t want to admit it, Hermione had nobody.
Well, she had nobody until two months ago when Hermione found herself in a muggle cafe with non other than Draco Malfoy. It began as an unexpected run in, a rushed and awkward apology, and had turned into a weekly tradition for coffee and scones each Friday morning.They had both come to find comfort in their tradition so Draco was surprised when Hermione didn’t show. He waited for two hours until admitting she was not coming. He tried to shrug it off but her absence nagged at him. That was how Draco found himself knocking at her door later that afternoon.
A loud bang erupted from behind the door and Draco pulled his wand. The door swung open to reveal a drunk Ron crowding the door frame.
“What the hell do you want, Malfoy?” he slurred, his breath rancid.
Draco peered behind him to see the sitting room in disarray.
Squinting his eyes, Draco pushed Ron backwards and followed his stumble into the apartment.
“Where’s Granger?” Draco asked, his voice raising and panic setting in.
A loud laugh burst from Ron as he struggled to stand.
“Hermione?!” he bit out.
“You break into my home and want to know where my fucking slag of a wife is?”
Draco saw red and didn’t even remember how he ended up straddling Ron’s torso, his wand digging into his throat.
“Please call her that again, Weasel. I’d love a reason to hex you int-”
“Draco?”
Hermione’s whisper interrupted his words and his eyes darted around until they found her. Slumped against a doorframe was Hermione, her arm twisted at a bizarre angle and her face marred in bruises.
A burst of accidental magic rendered Ron unconscious as Draco ran across the room to scoop up the witch he had grown to care for more than anyone else.
“Draco, what are you doing here?” She whispered, her voice weak.
Tears fell from Draco’s face as he rapidly accessed the severity of her injuries.
“You-you didn’t come to the cafe and I just felt something was wrong. I had to make sure you were ok.” He paused realizing just how ‘not ok’ she had been this entire time, the thought made him sick.
“Granger, will you let me help you? I can bring you home, get you a healer…”
The silence grew as Hermione stared into his grey eyes, thinking. Her mind was warning her about trusting him, their history and her marriage to Ron being enough to make her hesitant of any one. But, when she looked in his eyes and saw the sincerity there, something inside of her broke.
With a sight squeeze of his arm, Hermione gave a small nod and stood on her own.
“But first, can you please help me?” her eyes turned hard as she turned toward her unconscious husband.
Wandlessly, Hermione shot an incarcerous spell at Ron’s body.
“Please Floo the Aurors and tell them that Hermione Granger would like to file a report. Be sure they bring a healer and vials for memory extraction.”
Draco nodded as he walked toward the fireplace, his head swimming.
He had no idea what was to come but there was one fact he knew to be true. He’d do anything for her, today, tomorrow and all of the days that followed.