CHAPTER FIVE

Draco was in the middle of the best sleep he had in months. He woke up too soon to the sound of empty bottles clinking together. He opened his eyes to find Hermione was no longer next to him.

"Come on, come on." she whispered to herself as she fumbled around under the bed. She didn't notice that Draco was awake and ran out of her room to the kitchen. Draco was intrigued by her suspicious behavior and quietly followed her down the stairs. He watched her rummage through the cabinets and cupboards for a while before realizing what she was looking for. Draco walked down the rest of the stares and went into the kitchen. Hermione was in a panicked state and was tearing the place apart trying to find a bottle that wasn't empty. All she needed was a little to put her back to sleep. She couldn't handle another nightmare.

To her fortune, she found a bottle of brandy that had been tucked away on a shelf. She screwed off the lid and was about to take a drink before she was interrupted by Draco.

"What are you doing?" She ignored him and continued to take the drink. She was stopped when Draco held her wrist in an attempt to shut down the action. She resisted him and pushed him away hard. He stopped her again.

"You can't keep doing this. I hate seeing you like this."

"What are you my boyfriend now?" Hermione mocked him "You're going to take care of me and make sure i dont ruin my life? Well guess what, it's already ruined. I don't need your help!" she was practically shouting at him as she struggled to get out of his grip.

"I'm not- stop, you're going to hurt yourself!"

"Why do you care?" Hermione started to cry. "Isn't that like your family's greatest wish? To rid all mudbloods like me?"

"You're being irrational. Put the bottle down." Hermione continued to thrash and kick at him. She acted as if nothing was going to stop her from taking that drink.

"Put the fucking bottle down, Hermione!" He was yelling back at her now.

Harry was standing at the kitchen door. He came out to see what all the commotion was.

"What the hell is going on here?" he startled them both. Draco let go of her wrist making her drop the bottle. It fell to the floor and shattered at their feet. "Is he hurting you Hermione?" Hermione shook her head trying to hold back the tears.

"I was just trying to-" Draco was interrupted. Harry was furious.

"Don't make me regret letting you stay here." He pulled out his wand and held it to Dracos neck. Draco tried to swallow the lump in his throat. He was terrified. "Hermione, go back to your room." Hermione left without thinking twice about intervening. She was still upset at Draco for trying to stop her.

"I should've killed you in the bathroom when I had the chance."

"Please, Harry." Draco shut his eyes hoping he would let up a little. "I was just trying to-"

"I don't give a damn about what you were trying to do! If you lay another hand on her I will fucking kill you." Harry lowered his wand and pushed Draco into the counter. "Ron and I are leaving tomorrow morning to go visit his parents. I want you out of here by then. In fact, I never want to see you again." Harry meant to turn away but stopped and punched Draco as hard as he could in the face knocking him out. Draco laid on the broken glass until the next morning.

***

Draco woke up with an icepack pressed to his eye by Hermione. He couldn't remember how he got on the couch but he could remember how he got like this. He quickly sat up.

"Hermione, I have to get out of here. If Harry sees I'm still here, He'll-" Hermione cut him off.

"Don't worry. They already left. I told them I would wake you up." Draco's eye was throbbing. He felt humiliated. He was supposed to be the one to kill the guy and here he was getting beaten by him.

"You're not going with them?"

"I decided to stay back and watch the house. They only agreed because I said I would make sure you didn't squat here while they were gone."

"I better get going then. I think I've overstayed my welcome."

"They won't be back for at least a week I'm guessing. You could stay here longer if you'd like." Draco didn't know if he should accept her offer, but her kind eyes made it hard to say no. "I'm sorry about last night." She went back to nursing his swollen eye. "I was feeling ill."

"Don't worry about it. It's not your fault." Draco tried to comfort her. "How do I look?"

"Like hell." Hermione laughed at him.

"Think you could fix it for me?" Hermione's face went pale. She couldn't remember the last time she had done magic or even recited a spell.

"I don't think I can." She put the ice pack back on his eye. It was the best she could do. "It's been ages. My wand has been over in that drawer collecting dust." She nodded her head in the direction of the dresser across the room.

"You could give it a try. Weren't you like the best witch in our grade? How bad could you be? Even if it doesn't work, I don't think I could look any worse." Hermione laughed and got up to get her wand. She grasped the end and held it to his eye.

"Let's see if I remember this one." Draco was nervous but was willing to try anything to take the pain away. "Oh yeah!" Hermione looked as if a lightbulb went off in her head. "Episkey."

With the motion of her wand, Draco felt the pressure of his black eye go down. He cringed at the uncomfortableness of his skin healing itself. When it was over he got up and looked at himself in a mirror that was hanging on the wall.

"Hey! You did it! I look good as new." Draco said, checking himself out. "Are you sure you haven't been practicing?" She blushed and looked down at her wand. She had almost forgotten what it looked like and how it felt in her hands. Her face lit up and it looked like she remembered another spell.

"Accio gin." out of nowhere a bottle of gin flew across the room and ended up in her grasp. She smiled proudly at herself as she took a drink. Draco frowned at her looking disappointed.

"Maybe you were better off with it hidden away." Hermione shook her head and took another drink.

"I don't know who you think you are trying to stop me. You've been drinking just the same as me."

"It's different when you're an alcoholic."

"I'm not an alcoholic!" she snapped at him "It just helps me sleep and take my mind off things." she looked embarrassed and was in denial. Tears started to well up in her eyes. Draco walked over to her. He wondered how she could've let herself get this bad. Hermione started to cry.

Draco put his hand up to her face and kissed her softly. She tasted of liquor but her salty tears faintly masked it. When he pulled away her eyes were still shut and tears kept pouring out. Draco slowly took the bottle from her hand and placed it on the coffee table. He turned back to her and embraced her. She held onto him, finding it hard to keep herself up. Draco shushed her and tried to get her to calm down. He wiped away her tears and she opened her eyes to look at him.

"I'm not trying to tell you what to do," His voice was soothing. "But maybe you should take a little break. At least for today." Hermione cursed him for being so convincing. She silently agreed even though she wasn't so sure how long she would last.

Draco and Hermione spent the day reminiscing over their times at Hogwarts. They laughed at how immature they were their first few years. Draco even mentioned the time she had punched him in the face the day that Buckbeak was supposed to get executed. The conversations brought her back to a simpler time. Oh how she wished she could go back in time. Too bad she gave up her time turner after she was done with her third year classes.

As the evening rolled around, they were sitting at the dining table eating dinner. Draco had prepared it and he had impressed both of them. He wasn't that keen on cooking but Hermione seemed to be enjoying it. She couldn't remember the last meal she had. It had taken her no time at all to finish her plate.

"How are you feeling?" Draco asked, hoping she had forgotten all about the concept of alcohol. Hermione put her fork down.

"Honestly, I'm sober and it's scaring me to death." Draco knew his ideas were too good to be true. She looked up from her plate and flashed her big brown eyes at him. In two seconds flat she was squeezing Draco's thigh. He felt as if he was about to be manipulated. He was right.

"You know I was thinking." she squeezed harder "Maybe we should go out tonight. It could be like a last hoorah for me before I quit for good." She felt bad for lying to him but she couldn't go any longer without having a drink. Draco knew she was lying but he really couldn't think straight with her hand on his leg. He remembered what she had looked like all dressed up the night before and would do anything to see her like that again. He shook her head at her and gave a half smile.

"I suppose, but this is your last time and I'm going to stick around to make sure of it. Or at least until Potter comes back." She laughed. She couldn't believe he said yes. She excused herself from the table.

"Go get ready then." She left him at the table and went to her room.