The Anti-Cupid (Oneshot)
Title: The Anti-Cupid
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Not for the faint of heart (mental instability).
Summary: She never did do the right thing when it came to crushes, it seemed. She wouldn’t be where she was right this second had she just acted on her first instinct. Hermione looked around the small, dank, windowless room and sighed.
Yes, just as last time, it had all started off so innocently.
Notes: Written for greenschist's prompt at luvlikerocketz. Her prompt was Drabble: The anti-Cupid.
Banner courtesy of niika at The Dark Mark Forums
The Anti-Cupid
Part I: Innocence
It had all started so innocently.
After working together for the last three years, desks touching, Hermione had found she could actually work easily with Draco Malfoy. It was something unexpected, weird even, but she found comfort in it now. He was her partner - Auror partner - and they had to trust each other implicitly. That trust had formed a bond of friendship between them that even Ron and Harry couldn't dispute.
All of this, however, was expected. One couldn't spend day after day working with the same partner and not find some sort of common ground, especially after saving each other’s lives on more than one occasion.
What Hermione hadn't planned on was the intense romantic feelings that had overtaken her strong-willed common sense.
No rational, headstrong, and intelligent witch would date, let alone have feelings for Draco Malfoy. Draco was a playboy, a serial dater, a heartbreaker. He was the exact opposite of what a rational, headstrong, and intelligent witch should be looking for in a mate.
But Hermione couldn't help herself - she never could. Every time she saw him lean back in his chair, rub his hands through his already perfectly-mussed hair, and announce that he was exhausted, Hermione wanted to straddle his lap, run her hands through his hair, and pronounce a way she would help him wake up.
It’s what she should have done. She never did do the right thing when it came to crushes, it seemed. She wouldn’t be where she was right this second had she just acted on her first instinct. Hermione looked around the small, dank, windowless room and sighed.
Yes, just as last time, it had all started off so innocently.
♠ ♠ † ♠ ♠
Part II: Mandy
Mandy had been the first girl Draco had dated after Hermione realized her feelings for him. She could still see her shapely, little body and perfectly blond hair that made all the men swoon. Hermione had hated her. She was always coming into the office, strutting around in her short, little skirts, rubbing herself against Draco in very inappropriate ways.
Draco had seemed to like it, though Hermione was sure any man would, but he didn’t see what was really going on. Mandy was only after his money. Hermione knew she didn't appreciate him. All the long, sultry looks she gave him when they were having lunch in the cafeteria meant nothing. The way she blushed when he held her hand riding the lift to the Atrium after work was just a ploy. The way she kissed his lips gently and smiled at him when she left by floo was her way of weaseling her way to his money.
Hermione saw it. She understood.
And Mandy had to go.
It was a simple plan really. Hermione had done her homework and found that Mandy worked at the new bar on Diagon Alley as a bartender (of course she did). It had been harder to find out her schedule, but a few well-placed “Bug Bytes” from Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes caught all the information she needed from a private conversation between Draco and Mandy.
Some would say it wasn’t Hermione’s nature to eavesdrop - let alone go to such extreme measures to find out information on a friend - but she knew she was doing it to help Draco. He was so mesmerized by Mandy the Slag that he couldn’t see straight. Hermione was simply helping him out.
The evening approached and Hermione put on a spectacular Glamour Charm, matching a perfect physical description of Mandy, but with brown hair and a prettier face. Hermione knew that women like Mandy - beautiful and shallow - always flocked to women exactly like themselves. Then Hermione Apparated to the bar and sat down, looking absolutely miserable and defeated.
On a Tuesday evening, the bar wasn’t busy, so Mandy had extra time on her hands. Just as Hermione had suspected, Mandy took an instantly liking to her. And after spending a full two hours at the bar, pretending to drink and get sufficiently wasted on firewhiskey, Hermione started spouting off to her about her new ex-boyfriend.
"And then, do you know what he told me?" Hermione slurred.
"What?" Mandy asked, leaning onto the bar and looking absolutely horrified at the things Hermione had been telling her about the gorgeous blond prat that had recently dumped her.
"He said he was dating someone else!"
Mandy was flabbergasted. "No!"
"Yes!" Hermione did a perfect impression of Mandy's shocked face. "He said he preferred her over me!”
“That bastard!” Mandy answered. “Did you hex him?”
Hermione shook her head and continued to look pathetic and defeated. “No,” she sniffled. “He means too much to me.”
Mandy patted Hermione’s hand. “I know it sounds cliché, but you’re better off without him,” she said. Hermione wanted to scoff at her poor attempt at sympathy, but instead she just nodded her head and sniffled again. “Did he tell you who it was?” Mandy asked.
Hermione nodded again. “It wasn’t someone I knew,” she muttered “M-something. Maggie? Marnie? Mandy? Yes! Mandy! Mandy McWhorter!"
Hermione watched in delight as the one and only Mandy McWhorter shot up from her slumped position against the bar and visibly went through multiple emotions in quick succession: shock, disbelief, embarrassment, understanding, and anger. And when she mumbled an apology, turned on her heel, and left the bar, Hermione actually took a drink of her firewhiskey, hissed as it burned going down her throat, and reveled in happiness.
When Draco came in the next morning, he had looked awful. Hermione had asked him if he were okay and after minimal prodding he was spilling his guts about Mandy breaking it off with him the night before, truly confused by her explanation of another woman, him being a complete arse, and how she never wanted to see him again.
Hermione had dismissed his obvious disappointment in the breakup as simple confusion that someone had broken up with him, and not the other way around. In all the appropriate places, Hermione had cooed and gasped and finally told him that Mandy must be a nutcase to think that Draco was cheating, he had been nothing but attentive to her.
And when he had finished his story completely, Hermione had given him a hug, noting the way he held her tight against his body, and buried his face into her hair. Hermione smiled to herself. It wouldn’t be long now and Draco Malfoy would be hers.
♠ ♠ † ♠ ♠
Part III: Jenny
Hermione had masked her disappointment when two months later Draco had not only failed to ask her out, but was talking about a new girl, Jenny.
A week after that, Hermione realized that Jenny was not going anywhere anytime soon.
Two weeks after that Jenny was in the office, just like Mandy had been three months before. Hermione had to hand it to Draco, at least she was a brunette and seemed much more intelligent than Mandy, but Hermione knew she was all wrong for Draco.
Jenny was a pureblood, brought up with all the proper upbringing of a pureblood princess, including the snooty, all-holier-than-thou attitude. Jenny looked at Hermione like she was dirt on the bottom of her perfect Jiminey Choon stiletto and Hermione hated her for it.
Jenny had to go.
It was obvious that Draco had no taste in women and it was Hermione’s duty as his friend to help him. It had been so easy to get rid of Mandy; it would be just as easy to get rid of Jenny.
Hermione Apparated just outside Jenny’s flat and looked around. The street was dark and wet after the rain, but there were no people milling about. Not that there would be at 3:00 AM.
Hermione pulled her wand out of her jacket sleeve and tested the flat for any occupants and wards. Jenny wasn’t home, and Hermione thought she was an idiot for not warding her home. A quick Alohomora had her door open and Hermione slipped inside.
She rolled her eyes immediately when she scanned the large, open flat. Jenny’s home was decorated as snooty as she was; Persian rugs lined the floors, antiques and paintings covered the walls, and the white leather furniture looked as if it had never been sat on.
Hermione ran her hand along the back of the loveseat as she made her way through the sitting room quietly. She had known Jenny wasn’t going to be home this evening. She was a healer at St. Mungo’s, working the night shift. Hermione had gotten the information from a friend of a friend who just happens to work in the same department. A little further digging - though not quite enough to truly challenge Hermione Granger - had given Jenny’s address and now here she was.
Hermione walked down the darkened hallway and stopped at the first door on the left-hand side. Instinct told her it was Jenny’s bedroom, and when she pushed open the door she knew she was right. The room was decorated the same as her living room, though it looked as if Jenny didn’t like to make her bed. Hermione chuckled at the irony.
She moved over to the far side of her bed, the side that had the covers pushed back and away, and knelt down beside it. She extracted a small vial from her jacket pocket and grinned. She set the vial on the side table, pulled on a pair of sterile gloves she had nicked from the evidence room, and then carefully opened the vial.
With a glint in her eye that would make a werewolves skin crawl, Hermione dumped the invisible contents of the vial onto Jenny’s bed, before replacing the lid. She put the empty vial back in her pocket and retraced her steps back out of the flat, casting removal spells as she went along.
Having Auror training definitely had its advantages.
Hermione had known it would take a couple of days before the breakup officially happened, so she wasn’t surprised when a week later Draco came in, his face showing disgust.
The conversation was quicker than the one with Mandy had been - and Hermione had really wanted some details to revel in - but she got what she needed. The flesh-eating virus that Jenny was now infected with didn’t have an immediate cure; it was a special form no one had ever seen (Hermione inwardly cheered - she hadn’t been a potions genius for nothing). Jenny was in quarantine and didn’t want to see Draco anymore.
Hermione had a harder time hiding her delight than she had with Mandy, but comforted Draco just the same. He didn’t hug her as long either, but the quick contact was all Hermione needed.
Soon he would realize he wanted her and no one else.
♠ ♠ † ♠ ♠
Part IV: Alyse
A Muggle! Draco had chosen a Muggle over her!
Three months after the demise of Draco and Jenny’s relationship, Draco was dating Alyse… Alyse the Muggle. It made Hermione want to hurl furniture out of a window.
Had she not dropped a million hints over the last three months? Had she not done everything in her power, without asking him out herself, to get Draco to notice she was interested? It made her want to scream!
Hermione wouldn’t even have known about Alyse, had she not overheard Draco talking to Ron about her. Apparently, no one was telling her anything these days and the only way she could get information about anyone was by covering herself with a Disillusionment Charm.
Alyse was going to end immediately.
Hermione had thought it through completely. As long as she didn’t get caught, there would be no legal ramifications. Alyse had no family, besides her aging grandmother that she took care of. Hermione was convinced, however, that said grandmother was far too old to miss her granddaughter for long before she kicked the proverbial bucket, so there would be no guilt.
It hadn’t been hard to get Alyse alone. She had a courier drop a note at Alyse’s office. It was from Draco asking her to meet him at Worthington Park after her grandmother had gone to sleep. Hermione had waited for hours in the small park, sitting upon a swing, watching the children and their parents come and go. She couldn’t help but see herself as one of those moms, holding the hands of a small boy and a small girl, exact replicas of her and Draco. She couldn’t wait until that day.
“Draco?” Alyse’s tentative voice broke through Hermione’s reverie and she stood slowly from the swing.
Hermione took the time to look over Alyse, who was now standing in front of her, a look of shock and fear plastered on her pretty, little face. Alyse was tall, blonde, and thin, but she didn’t hold herself like Jenny did and she simply looked smarter than Mandy. Hermione was going to enjoy this.
“Draco isn’t here, love,” Hermione smiled. “He sent me instead. He does, however, send his condolences.”
Alyse was visibly shaking and Hermione fed on her fear.
“Who are you?” she asked, her voice trembling.
Hermione’s smile widened. “It’s truly none of your concern.” Panic settled into Alyse’s eyes and before she could turn to run away, Hermione had drawn her wand and shouted, “Transporto Fugitives Insula.”
A strangled cry erupted from Alyse’s mouth as her body was pulled through an opening in time. Hermione blew her a kiss and silently wished her well as she traveled on to her own private island.
Draco didn’t come to work the entire week after Alyse’s disappearance. She had heard, through use of her trusty Disillusionment Charm that he was helping head up a search team for Alyse. She had also heard that Draco was the prime suspect for her disappearance because of the note he had sent her earlier in the day. Hermione’s heart rate had increased dramatically until she heard that he had a solid alibi. Her Draco could not go to Azkaban or a Muggle prison. How would they get married and raise a family that way?
When Draco returned to work, Hermione tried to talk to him about where he had been. Unfortunately he was extremely tight-lipped about the entire event and refused to talk to her. She did note the sadness in his eyes, but was sure it was because of the stress of being a suspect for a short time.
Hermione, knowing that hints were no longer enough, asked if he’d like to have dinner with her that evening - a bold step that she was sure would work in her favor - but Draco turned her down, stating that he had a lot of work to do.
There had been no hug.
Hermione would get her hug.
♠ ♠ † ♠ ♠
Part V: Fury
In the year following Alyse’s disappearance, Hermione became rapidly more obsessed with Draco. And it seemed that no matter how much she tried, or how much she hinted, he pulled further away from her. They barely had a work relationship anymore, let alone a friendship. Normal women would have taken the hint, but not Hermione; it only intensified her feelings for him. It was a challenge - and Hermione never shied away from a challenge, especially one with such a great prize.
So, as time went on, she had his cloak bugged with a “Bug Byte”, so she could hear everything going on with him when he was away from his desk.
She had snuck into his flat and set up “Bug Bytes” in random locations as well, to make sure she didn’t miss anything when he was away from the office.
She had started following him around the Ministry - under a Disillusionment Charm, of course - to keep tabs on him, especially when he stopped talking to her about non-related work subjects.
And when all that no longer seemed to be enough for her, Hermione started following him around after hours as well. One night, when Draco had come in very late from a night out with the boys and, in his inebriated state, forgot to put up his wards, Hermione had come inside the flat and lay beside him in bed. She watched him sleep all night and forced herself to leave early the next morning, just as the birds were chirping outside his window.
She had tried repeatedly after that to get in each night, but found she couldn’t concentrate on getting his wards lifted to do so, and ended up alerting him to her presence - though, he didn’t know it was her.
But then Hermione’s world crashed.
”Ms. Granger?”
Hermione lifted her head to see the head of the Auror department, Sharkey Steelheist, standing beside her desk. She noted that Sharkey’s nose was turned up in disgust as he looked down at her and felt a wave of anger sweep through her body. How dare he-
“Ms. Granger, we need to talk.”
Apparently, Hermione was no longer doing her job to the best of her abilities and was moved off of fieldwork all together. Sharkey explained that he felt she was a little burnt out on the job, which could happen to anyone, and wanted her to take a little time to rest. He felt desk work and paperwork would be a good way to cure her.
What Sharkey didn’t realize was that putting her on desk duty, and taking away her access to Draco as her partner, put her into a full-on uproar or fury. She held it in, however, until later that night.
Sharkey - and every other Auror who worked the investigation - didn’t know who or what had attacked him on his way home that evening, but he was going to be spending a fair amount of time in St. Mungo’s recovering.
Hermione had smiled the entire way home that evening.
♠ ♠ † ♠ ♠
Part VI: Kathryn
One year and three months after Alyse’s disappearance, Hermione followed Draco out from work. Draco, Hermione had found, was a creature of habit. Each evening he would leave the Ministry by foot and head towards his flat. On the way Draco would stop at Stelina’s Café and pick up a tall, non-fat, caramel latte, butterscotch scone and the evening edition of the Prophet. When he passed by the fountain at the corner of Wilshire and Freedmont streets, he always threw in a penny and stopped to mumble under his breath a plea for Alyse to be found alive. That last little bit always made Hermione roll her eyes. And finally he would make it to his flat, open the door, and check left and right, enter, close the door, and ward the house immediately.
However, on that particular evening, Draco turned the opposite direction of his flat after leaving the Ministry. Hermione, stunned, almost didn’t follow, but caught her bearings just in time. Draco was already hurrying down the street, glancing at his watch.
Hermione scurried behind him, completely thrown off her game, and feeling overly aggravated that she had no idea what was happening. After an extremely brisk three blocks, Draco stopped in front of Daryl’s Pub. Hermione watched as he checked his reflection in the window and then opened up the pub door.
Hermione knew she couldn’t walk into the pub Disillusioned, so she hurried down the alley beside the pub, lifted the charm, performed a Glamour Charm on herself, and transfigured her work attire into something more pub appropriate.
Hermione watched them dine and with each passing minute, with each shy touch, she felt her body shake with anger and bile rise into her throat. Two hours had passed and Hermione couldn’t take it anymore.
In a huff, she left the pub and stalked her way back to the alley she had transformed herself in earlier. Pulling her wand out of her purse, Hermione quickly blasted away a couple of garbage cans to dispel some of her frustration.
There may have been a cat in there somewhere, as well.
Another ten minutes passed and finally she heard Draco’s voice leave the crowded pub. Hermione snuck up to the side of the building to watch their parting exchange. Though, afterwards, she knew she shouldn’t have done that.
Draco pushed her hair back behind her ear and smiled - a smile that should have been for Hermione. Her blood boiled.
But when he leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers, Hermione saw red. Gripping her wand tightly in her hand, Hermione willed herself to stay calm long enough for Draco to leave. She watched in anticipation as he kissed her one more time and then let her walk off. Hermione kept her eye on her until Draco finally turned his back and went back towards his flat.
Eyes narrowed, Hermione took off after her.
It had all started off so innocently. Hermione really only wanted to scare Kathryn away. She had never planned on doing what she did. But it had been too easy and she had deserved it.
”What do you want from me?” Kathryn cried, tears streaming down her face. Hermione hated crying; it was such a weakness.
Hermione, who had removed her Glamour Charm, no longer caring if Kathryn or anyone else knew who she was, dropped down in front of Kathryn and sneered, “I want you to leave him alone.”
Kathryn tried to back away from Hermione and the rancid smell of her body and breath, but was unable to go far since she was tied tightly to the chair. “Who?” Kathryn shook.
Hermione cackled and stood to pace in front of her again. “You know who, whore, you know who.”
“I don’t,” Kathryn started, but was instantly cut off.
“Stop!” Hermione screamed and pointed her already sparking wand into Kathryn’s face. “You know who!”
Kathryn sobbed, her eyes never leaving the tip of Hermione’s wand, and her entire body shaking in fear. It fueled Hermione further.
“You’re nothing to him, you know?” she said conversationally, as she pulled up a chair and sat across from Kathryn, her wand still pointed. “Just another fuck. Draco doesn’t actually date women. He just fucks them.”
Kathryn continued to tremble, while Hermione talked. She needed a way out.
“You see, Kathryn,” Hermione said her name with disgust, “Draco wants me. He always has. He’s just confused. He doesn’t think that I want him like I do. He’s blind, like all men.” Hermione looked at Kathryn and smirked. “And that’s why I have to get rid of you.”
Hermione could see the fear multiply in Kathryn’s eyes and it made her heady with excitement. This would be so much better than it had been with Alyse. Hermione pointed her wand at Kathryn and she watched her close her eyes tightly, her chest heaving with sobs.
Hermione grinned and laughed as she flourished her wand and conjured a small knife. “Sorry, Kathryn,” Hermione said as she set her wand down on the table and held the knife in her hand. “I’m going to have to torture you.”
♠ ♠ † ♠ ♠
Part VII: Healing
Hermione shook her head. It really had started off so innocently. It always did.
She moved away from the picture of Kathryn, and all the others, posted on the grey wall and over to the table in the middle of the room. She sat down, opened the manila folder and started reading.
There was no testimony from Mandy, simply because Hermione hadn’t done anything terrible to her. Instead she pushed the empty piece of paper with Mandy’s name on it out of the way and started with Jenny.
I’m permanently disfigured from the neck down. Even magic can’t fix what she did to me. I’m just lucky she it’s patchy. I can, at least, cover them with Glamour Charms…
She’s disturbed and should probably get some serious help. Locking her up in Azkaban, no matter what she’s done, isn’t going to help her…
Jenny, though she said she forgave Hermione, now had a protection order out against her. Hermione just shrugged.
I had received a message from Draco earlier in the day. I was a little confused because he had never left me a message by courier before, but I just thought he was busy at work…
I knew I was in trouble the minute she looked at me. Her eyes were wide and wild. I had never seen someone like her before…
I don’t know how it happened, but I ended up on a nice, little island. Unfortunately, there was nothing to eat and I didn’t have anything with me other than the clothes on my back…
She needs help. Is someone helping her?
Yes, Alyse, someone is helping her, Hermione thought as she pushed aside her testimony. Hermione heard Alyse had to be Obliviated her after her interview. She was lucky she wouldn’t have to remember the event any longer, unlike Hermione.
She snuck up on me as I was walking into my flat. She scared me to death…
She smelled horrible. Her hair was disheveled and knotted in so many places I’m sure she would have had to cut them all out. Her teeth were yellow and caked with food and her breath smelled like rotting garbage. Her clothes were stained and I’m sure she hadn’t showered in ages…
She used her wand to tie me to the chair. Each time I shifted slightly, the knots would tighten. That was when I knew I wasn’t going to make it out alive…
I’ve never been so terrified in my life. I kept trying to channel as many survival tactics as I could, but it was just so hard…
I don’t remember much after she conjured the knife. I think I passed out and woke up when I felt her carving it into my skin… Victim required a 20 minute break to gather herself
I just wanted it to end. In the back of my mind, I could tell Draco was there, but it wasn’t until I woke up in St. Mungo’s and heard what had happened did I truly believe it…
She needs help. A lot of it…
Kathryn’s words rolled off Hermione’s back. She knew she had been losing it, she just couldn’t stop herself. Draco was like a drug, but Hermione had been in “rehab” for the last two years. She could handle all of this now.
She was a great friend and partner, but I never thought of her as anything more…
Whenever I brought a girlfriend to the office, she’d follow us around and act funny. I guess I should have taken that as my first clue…
I don’t know why - maybe it was the way she would smirk whenever Alyse’s name came up - but I was sure she had done something with her, I just couldn’t prove it. I started distancing myself from her then…
She stopped showering and brushing her teeth, she constantly smelled like a mixture of body odor and bad eggs. Her hair was never combed and it looked worse than when she was a kid and didn’t know anything about the right way to tame it. She looked like she had stopped sleeping; she constantly had large bags under her eyes. Everything about her was shifty…
I knew it was her watching Kathryn and I in the pub; her Glamour was horrible and I could have smelled her a mile away. I realized while having dinner with Kathryn that Hermione had to have been following me for months. That smell never went away. It was a disturbing thought…
I realized, after I left Kathryn to go home, that I should have walked her home. That smell - that familiar, rancid smell - was gone when I went home that night. It’s when I knew I had to get to Kathryn…
Seeing her standing over Kathryn like that, it made me sick. Kathryn was so cut up and unconscious. Hermione had blood all over her and was just carving initials, and words, and obscenities into Kathryn’s skin like it was something she did every day. She looked happy about it…
I just want her to get help. She needs help…
Draco’s words were comforting, but in a friendly way - not like it had been before. She had been told that Draco and Kathryn had gotten married a year after she was admitted into St. Mungo’s. At the time, it had panged her slightly, but not as it would have at the peak of her obsession. She knew then that she was healing. She wanted Draco to be happy. She was glad he was able to move on from what she had done to him and his friends.
Reading his words now proved that she was better. She wanted to be better. She wanted to be Hermione again.
Hermione closed the folder and looked over at the 2-way mirror. She knew he had been watching her, observing her, to note her reactions from seeing their pictures and reading their words for the first time. Hermione knew she had passed because she felt nothing.
In therapy over the last two years, she had worked through her obsession, her hatred, her indifference, her guilt, and finally her suffering to get to this point. She had said she was sorry, now she was ready to move on.
But would they let her?
The door opened and he walked in.
♠ ♠ † ♠ ♠
Part VIII: Interrogation
“What is your name?”
“Hermione Granger.”
“How old are you?”
“Twenty-five.”
“Where are we?”
“In a padded room in St. Mungo’s insanity ward.”
“How long have been you been in St. Mungo’s?”
“Two years and some-odd days.”
“What did you do to find yourself in St. Mungo’s?”
“I caused mental and physical pain to multiple women because I was obsessed with Draco Malfoy.”
“Are you still obsessed with Mr. Malfoy?”
“No.”
“Are you positive?”
“Yes.”
“The Prophet has dubbed you ‘The Anti-Cupid’. How do you feel about that?”
“I feel they were probably right, at one time. But I’m a changed woman.”
“How will you deal with being known as ‘The Anti-Cupid’ for the rest of your life?”
“The same way I dealt with being ‘the brightest witch of our age’ and ‘the brains of the Golden Trio’. I won’t let what others say about me effect the person I am today.”
“But you did do that at one time.”
“The Second War and the constant danger I was put in being an Auror after that caused a mental block. I never thought I’d be a victim of post-traumatic stress, but I was. I know that now. And I’ve worked through it.”
“If you were freed today, what are your plans?”
“I’d like to go home and be with my family. They promised to bring me in and look after me when I got out of here. I’d like to find a new job - preferably working with flowers - and I’d like to live a normal life again.”
“Why flowers?”
“They represent new beginnings. I think everyone deserves the chance to start again.”
“Will you continue your daily therapy treatments?”
“Absolutely; they have been my life saver.”
“One last question, Ms. Granger, do you feel like you are cured?”
Hermione looked at him. “I really, really do.”
♠ ♠ † ♠ ♠
Part IX: Harry
Hermione watched as Harry addressed the Board of Release and brought them his findings. She knew she was in good hands; Harry was the best psychologist in all of Britain, he would get her released.
Besides, she was healed.
“As you can see by her chart and the progress she’s made, Hermione Granger is definitely healed of any post-traumatic stress disorder she may have incurred from the Second War and her job as an Auror, resulting in her obsessive nature and attachment to Draco Malfoy. I feel, at this time, it would be safe to send Ms. Granger back into the world, but armed with a team of therapists - me included - to monitor her progress. She has plans to live with her family again, who assure me she’ll be under lock and key for the first few months as she adjusts to living back in the real world and as a personal friend, I plan to spend as much time with her as needed.” Harry stopped to look each board member in the eye. “I am asking you to let Hermione Granger live a normal life again.”
Hermione kept the solemn look on her face, but inside she was shouting with elation. She may have slipped up this time, but she was getting her second chance.
♠ ♠ † ♠ ♠
Part X: The Anti-Cupid
Hermione walked out the front doors of St. Mungo’s for the first time in two years, three weeks, five days, seven hours, and twenty-three minutes. The breeze was the same as it had always been, the grass was the same color green, and the sky was the same endless ocean of blue, but it all felt and smelled and looked so much better than Hermione ever imagined.
Freedom was liberating.
“So, how does it feel?” Harry asked as he followed her out into the warm sunshine.
Hermione smiled. “It’s wonderful. I feel so free.”
Harry chuckled and hugged her. It felt so good to be hugged again. “It’s because you are free ‘Mione.”
There was something about the way her hands felt across his back, the smoothness of his dress shirt that caused Hermione’s senses to heighten. It had been too long.
Harry pulled away. “Let’s get you home,” he said with a twinkle in his eyes that Hermione hadn’t seen in the two years she’d been locked up inside that wretched hospital. It warmed her heart. “I bet your parents will be excited to see you.”
“I’m excited to see them,” Hermione answered. “You should stay for dinner.”
Harry grinned as he walked to her to the Apparition point. “I just might.” He grasped her arm in his and Hermione felt a tingle shoot down to her fingertips.
Before they were sucked into the dark, empty space, Hermione asked, “How are you and Ginny, Harry?”
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Not for the faint of heart (mental instability).
Summary: She never did do the right thing when it came to crushes, it seemed. She wouldn’t be where she was right this second had she just acted on her first instinct. Hermione looked around the small, dank, windowless room and sighed.
Yes, just as last time, it had all started off so innocently.
Notes: Written for greenschist's prompt at luvlikerocketz. Her prompt was Drabble: The anti-Cupid.
Banner courtesy of niika at The Dark Mark Forums
The Anti-Cupid
Part I: Innocence
It had all started so innocently.
After working together for the last three years, desks touching, Hermione had found she could actually work easily with Draco Malfoy. It was something unexpected, weird even, but she found comfort in it now. He was her partner - Auror partner - and they had to trust each other implicitly. That trust had formed a bond of friendship between them that even Ron and Harry couldn't dispute.
All of this, however, was expected. One couldn't spend day after day working with the same partner and not find some sort of common ground, especially after saving each other’s lives on more than one occasion.
What Hermione hadn't planned on was the intense romantic feelings that had overtaken her strong-willed common sense.
No rational, headstrong, and intelligent witch would date, let alone have feelings for Draco Malfoy. Draco was a playboy, a serial dater, a heartbreaker. He was the exact opposite of what a rational, headstrong, and intelligent witch should be looking for in a mate.
But Hermione couldn't help herself - she never could. Every time she saw him lean back in his chair, rub his hands through his already perfectly-mussed hair, and announce that he was exhausted, Hermione wanted to straddle his lap, run her hands through his hair, and pronounce a way she would help him wake up.
It’s what she should have done. She never did do the right thing when it came to crushes, it seemed. She wouldn’t be where she was right this second had she just acted on her first instinct. Hermione looked around the small, dank, windowless room and sighed.
Yes, just as last time, it had all started off so innocently.
♠ ♠ † ♠ ♠
Part II: Mandy
Mandy had been the first girl Draco had dated after Hermione realized her feelings for him. She could still see her shapely, little body and perfectly blond hair that made all the men swoon. Hermione had hated her. She was always coming into the office, strutting around in her short, little skirts, rubbing herself against Draco in very inappropriate ways.
Draco had seemed to like it, though Hermione was sure any man would, but he didn’t see what was really going on. Mandy was only after his money. Hermione knew she didn't appreciate him. All the long, sultry looks she gave him when they were having lunch in the cafeteria meant nothing. The way she blushed when he held her hand riding the lift to the Atrium after work was just a ploy. The way she kissed his lips gently and smiled at him when she left by floo was her way of weaseling her way to his money.
Hermione saw it. She understood.
And Mandy had to go.
It was a simple plan really. Hermione had done her homework and found that Mandy worked at the new bar on Diagon Alley as a bartender (of course she did). It had been harder to find out her schedule, but a few well-placed “Bug Bytes” from Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes caught all the information she needed from a private conversation between Draco and Mandy.
Some would say it wasn’t Hermione’s nature to eavesdrop - let alone go to such extreme measures to find out information on a friend - but she knew she was doing it to help Draco. He was so mesmerized by Mandy the Slag that he couldn’t see straight. Hermione was simply helping him out.
The evening approached and Hermione put on a spectacular Glamour Charm, matching a perfect physical description of Mandy, but with brown hair and a prettier face. Hermione knew that women like Mandy - beautiful and shallow - always flocked to women exactly like themselves. Then Hermione Apparated to the bar and sat down, looking absolutely miserable and defeated.
On a Tuesday evening, the bar wasn’t busy, so Mandy had extra time on her hands. Just as Hermione had suspected, Mandy took an instantly liking to her. And after spending a full two hours at the bar, pretending to drink and get sufficiently wasted on firewhiskey, Hermione started spouting off to her about her new ex-boyfriend.
"And then, do you know what he told me?" Hermione slurred.
"What?" Mandy asked, leaning onto the bar and looking absolutely horrified at the things Hermione had been telling her about the gorgeous blond prat that had recently dumped her.
"He said he was dating someone else!"
Mandy was flabbergasted. "No!"
"Yes!" Hermione did a perfect impression of Mandy's shocked face. "He said he preferred her over me!”
“That bastard!” Mandy answered. “Did you hex him?”
Hermione shook her head and continued to look pathetic and defeated. “No,” she sniffled. “He means too much to me.”
Mandy patted Hermione’s hand. “I know it sounds cliché, but you’re better off without him,” she said. Hermione wanted to scoff at her poor attempt at sympathy, but instead she just nodded her head and sniffled again. “Did he tell you who it was?” Mandy asked.
Hermione nodded again. “It wasn’t someone I knew,” she muttered “M-something. Maggie? Marnie? Mandy? Yes! Mandy! Mandy McWhorter!"
Hermione watched in delight as the one and only Mandy McWhorter shot up from her slumped position against the bar and visibly went through multiple emotions in quick succession: shock, disbelief, embarrassment, understanding, and anger. And when she mumbled an apology, turned on her heel, and left the bar, Hermione actually took a drink of her firewhiskey, hissed as it burned going down her throat, and reveled in happiness.
When Draco came in the next morning, he had looked awful. Hermione had asked him if he were okay and after minimal prodding he was spilling his guts about Mandy breaking it off with him the night before, truly confused by her explanation of another woman, him being a complete arse, and how she never wanted to see him again.
Hermione had dismissed his obvious disappointment in the breakup as simple confusion that someone had broken up with him, and not the other way around. In all the appropriate places, Hermione had cooed and gasped and finally told him that Mandy must be a nutcase to think that Draco was cheating, he had been nothing but attentive to her.
And when he had finished his story completely, Hermione had given him a hug, noting the way he held her tight against his body, and buried his face into her hair. Hermione smiled to herself. It wouldn’t be long now and Draco Malfoy would be hers.
♠ ♠ † ♠ ♠
Part III: Jenny
Hermione had masked her disappointment when two months later Draco had not only failed to ask her out, but was talking about a new girl, Jenny.
A week after that, Hermione realized that Jenny was not going anywhere anytime soon.
Two weeks after that Jenny was in the office, just like Mandy had been three months before. Hermione had to hand it to Draco, at least she was a brunette and seemed much more intelligent than Mandy, but Hermione knew she was all wrong for Draco.
Jenny was a pureblood, brought up with all the proper upbringing of a pureblood princess, including the snooty, all-holier-than-thou attitude. Jenny looked at Hermione like she was dirt on the bottom of her perfect Jiminey Choon stiletto and Hermione hated her for it.
Jenny had to go.
It was obvious that Draco had no taste in women and it was Hermione’s duty as his friend to help him. It had been so easy to get rid of Mandy; it would be just as easy to get rid of Jenny.
Hermione Apparated just outside Jenny’s flat and looked around. The street was dark and wet after the rain, but there were no people milling about. Not that there would be at 3:00 AM.
Hermione pulled her wand out of her jacket sleeve and tested the flat for any occupants and wards. Jenny wasn’t home, and Hermione thought she was an idiot for not warding her home. A quick Alohomora had her door open and Hermione slipped inside.
She rolled her eyes immediately when she scanned the large, open flat. Jenny’s home was decorated as snooty as she was; Persian rugs lined the floors, antiques and paintings covered the walls, and the white leather furniture looked as if it had never been sat on.
Hermione ran her hand along the back of the loveseat as she made her way through the sitting room quietly. She had known Jenny wasn’t going to be home this evening. She was a healer at St. Mungo’s, working the night shift. Hermione had gotten the information from a friend of a friend who just happens to work in the same department. A little further digging - though not quite enough to truly challenge Hermione Granger - had given Jenny’s address and now here she was.
Hermione walked down the darkened hallway and stopped at the first door on the left-hand side. Instinct told her it was Jenny’s bedroom, and when she pushed open the door she knew she was right. The room was decorated the same as her living room, though it looked as if Jenny didn’t like to make her bed. Hermione chuckled at the irony.
She moved over to the far side of her bed, the side that had the covers pushed back and away, and knelt down beside it. She extracted a small vial from her jacket pocket and grinned. She set the vial on the side table, pulled on a pair of sterile gloves she had nicked from the evidence room, and then carefully opened the vial.
With a glint in her eye that would make a werewolves skin crawl, Hermione dumped the invisible contents of the vial onto Jenny’s bed, before replacing the lid. She put the empty vial back in her pocket and retraced her steps back out of the flat, casting removal spells as she went along.
Having Auror training definitely had its advantages.
Hermione had known it would take a couple of days before the breakup officially happened, so she wasn’t surprised when a week later Draco came in, his face showing disgust.
The conversation was quicker than the one with Mandy had been - and Hermione had really wanted some details to revel in - but she got what she needed. The flesh-eating virus that Jenny was now infected with didn’t have an immediate cure; it was a special form no one had ever seen (Hermione inwardly cheered - she hadn’t been a potions genius for nothing). Jenny was in quarantine and didn’t want to see Draco anymore.
Hermione had a harder time hiding her delight than she had with Mandy, but comforted Draco just the same. He didn’t hug her as long either, but the quick contact was all Hermione needed.
Soon he would realize he wanted her and no one else.
♠ ♠ † ♠ ♠
Part IV: Alyse
A Muggle! Draco had chosen a Muggle over her!
Three months after the demise of Draco and Jenny’s relationship, Draco was dating Alyse… Alyse the Muggle. It made Hermione want to hurl furniture out of a window.
Had she not dropped a million hints over the last three months? Had she not done everything in her power, without asking him out herself, to get Draco to notice she was interested? It made her want to scream!
Hermione wouldn’t even have known about Alyse, had she not overheard Draco talking to Ron about her. Apparently, no one was telling her anything these days and the only way she could get information about anyone was by covering herself with a Disillusionment Charm.
Alyse was going to end immediately.
Hermione had thought it through completely. As long as she didn’t get caught, there would be no legal ramifications. Alyse had no family, besides her aging grandmother that she took care of. Hermione was convinced, however, that said grandmother was far too old to miss her granddaughter for long before she kicked the proverbial bucket, so there would be no guilt.
It hadn’t been hard to get Alyse alone. She had a courier drop a note at Alyse’s office. It was from Draco asking her to meet him at Worthington Park after her grandmother had gone to sleep. Hermione had waited for hours in the small park, sitting upon a swing, watching the children and their parents come and go. She couldn’t help but see herself as one of those moms, holding the hands of a small boy and a small girl, exact replicas of her and Draco. She couldn’t wait until that day.
“Draco?” Alyse’s tentative voice broke through Hermione’s reverie and she stood slowly from the swing.
Hermione took the time to look over Alyse, who was now standing in front of her, a look of shock and fear plastered on her pretty, little face. Alyse was tall, blonde, and thin, but she didn’t hold herself like Jenny did and she simply looked smarter than Mandy. Hermione was going to enjoy this.
“Draco isn’t here, love,” Hermione smiled. “He sent me instead. He does, however, send his condolences.”
Alyse was visibly shaking and Hermione fed on her fear.
“Who are you?” she asked, her voice trembling.
Hermione’s smile widened. “It’s truly none of your concern.” Panic settled into Alyse’s eyes and before she could turn to run away, Hermione had drawn her wand and shouted, “Transporto Fugitives Insula.”
A strangled cry erupted from Alyse’s mouth as her body was pulled through an opening in time. Hermione blew her a kiss and silently wished her well as she traveled on to her own private island.
Draco didn’t come to work the entire week after Alyse’s disappearance. She had heard, through use of her trusty Disillusionment Charm that he was helping head up a search team for Alyse. She had also heard that Draco was the prime suspect for her disappearance because of the note he had sent her earlier in the day. Hermione’s heart rate had increased dramatically until she heard that he had a solid alibi. Her Draco could not go to Azkaban or a Muggle prison. How would they get married and raise a family that way?
When Draco returned to work, Hermione tried to talk to him about where he had been. Unfortunately he was extremely tight-lipped about the entire event and refused to talk to her. She did note the sadness in his eyes, but was sure it was because of the stress of being a suspect for a short time.
Hermione, knowing that hints were no longer enough, asked if he’d like to have dinner with her that evening - a bold step that she was sure would work in her favor - but Draco turned her down, stating that he had a lot of work to do.
There had been no hug.
Hermione would get her hug.
♠ ♠ † ♠ ♠
Part V: Fury
In the year following Alyse’s disappearance, Hermione became rapidly more obsessed with Draco. And it seemed that no matter how much she tried, or how much she hinted, he pulled further away from her. They barely had a work relationship anymore, let alone a friendship. Normal women would have taken the hint, but not Hermione; it only intensified her feelings for him. It was a challenge - and Hermione never shied away from a challenge, especially one with such a great prize.
So, as time went on, she had his cloak bugged with a “Bug Byte”, so she could hear everything going on with him when he was away from his desk.
She had snuck into his flat and set up “Bug Bytes” in random locations as well, to make sure she didn’t miss anything when he was away from the office.
She had started following him around the Ministry - under a Disillusionment Charm, of course - to keep tabs on him, especially when he stopped talking to her about non-related work subjects.
And when all that no longer seemed to be enough for her, Hermione started following him around after hours as well. One night, when Draco had come in very late from a night out with the boys and, in his inebriated state, forgot to put up his wards, Hermione had come inside the flat and lay beside him in bed. She watched him sleep all night and forced herself to leave early the next morning, just as the birds were chirping outside his window.
She had tried repeatedly after that to get in each night, but found she couldn’t concentrate on getting his wards lifted to do so, and ended up alerting him to her presence - though, he didn’t know it was her.
But then Hermione’s world crashed.
”Ms. Granger?”
Hermione lifted her head to see the head of the Auror department, Sharkey Steelheist, standing beside her desk. She noted that Sharkey’s nose was turned up in disgust as he looked down at her and felt a wave of anger sweep through her body. How dare he-
“Ms. Granger, we need to talk.”
Apparently, Hermione was no longer doing her job to the best of her abilities and was moved off of fieldwork all together. Sharkey explained that he felt she was a little burnt out on the job, which could happen to anyone, and wanted her to take a little time to rest. He felt desk work and paperwork would be a good way to cure her.
What Sharkey didn’t realize was that putting her on desk duty, and taking away her access to Draco as her partner, put her into a full-on uproar or fury. She held it in, however, until later that night.
Sharkey - and every other Auror who worked the investigation - didn’t know who or what had attacked him on his way home that evening, but he was going to be spending a fair amount of time in St. Mungo’s recovering.
Hermione had smiled the entire way home that evening.
♠ ♠ † ♠ ♠
Part VI: Kathryn
One year and three months after Alyse’s disappearance, Hermione followed Draco out from work. Draco, Hermione had found, was a creature of habit. Each evening he would leave the Ministry by foot and head towards his flat. On the way Draco would stop at Stelina’s Café and pick up a tall, non-fat, caramel latte, butterscotch scone and the evening edition of the Prophet. When he passed by the fountain at the corner of Wilshire and Freedmont streets, he always threw in a penny and stopped to mumble under his breath a plea for Alyse to be found alive. That last little bit always made Hermione roll her eyes. And finally he would make it to his flat, open the door, and check left and right, enter, close the door, and ward the house immediately.
However, on that particular evening, Draco turned the opposite direction of his flat after leaving the Ministry. Hermione, stunned, almost didn’t follow, but caught her bearings just in time. Draco was already hurrying down the street, glancing at his watch.
Hermione scurried behind him, completely thrown off her game, and feeling overly aggravated that she had no idea what was happening. After an extremely brisk three blocks, Draco stopped in front of Daryl’s Pub. Hermione watched as he checked his reflection in the window and then opened up the pub door.
Hermione knew she couldn’t walk into the pub Disillusioned, so she hurried down the alley beside the pub, lifted the charm, performed a Glamour Charm on herself, and transfigured her work attire into something more pub appropriate.
Hermione watched them dine and with each passing minute, with each shy touch, she felt her body shake with anger and bile rise into her throat. Two hours had passed and Hermione couldn’t take it anymore.
In a huff, she left the pub and stalked her way back to the alley she had transformed herself in earlier. Pulling her wand out of her purse, Hermione quickly blasted away a couple of garbage cans to dispel some of her frustration.
There may have been a cat in there somewhere, as well.
Another ten minutes passed and finally she heard Draco’s voice leave the crowded pub. Hermione snuck up to the side of the building to watch their parting exchange. Though, afterwards, she knew she shouldn’t have done that.
Draco pushed her hair back behind her ear and smiled - a smile that should have been for Hermione. Her blood boiled.
But when he leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers, Hermione saw red. Gripping her wand tightly in her hand, Hermione willed herself to stay calm long enough for Draco to leave. She watched in anticipation as he kissed her one more time and then let her walk off. Hermione kept her eye on her until Draco finally turned his back and went back towards his flat.
Eyes narrowed, Hermione took off after her.
It had all started off so innocently. Hermione really only wanted to scare Kathryn away. She had never planned on doing what she did. But it had been too easy and she had deserved it.
”What do you want from me?” Kathryn cried, tears streaming down her face. Hermione hated crying; it was such a weakness.
Hermione, who had removed her Glamour Charm, no longer caring if Kathryn or anyone else knew who she was, dropped down in front of Kathryn and sneered, “I want you to leave him alone.”
Kathryn tried to back away from Hermione and the rancid smell of her body and breath, but was unable to go far since she was tied tightly to the chair. “Who?” Kathryn shook.
Hermione cackled and stood to pace in front of her again. “You know who, whore, you know who.”
“I don’t,” Kathryn started, but was instantly cut off.
“Stop!” Hermione screamed and pointed her already sparking wand into Kathryn’s face. “You know who!”
Kathryn sobbed, her eyes never leaving the tip of Hermione’s wand, and her entire body shaking in fear. It fueled Hermione further.
“You’re nothing to him, you know?” she said conversationally, as she pulled up a chair and sat across from Kathryn, her wand still pointed. “Just another fuck. Draco doesn’t actually date women. He just fucks them.”
Kathryn continued to tremble, while Hermione talked. She needed a way out.
“You see, Kathryn,” Hermione said her name with disgust, “Draco wants me. He always has. He’s just confused. He doesn’t think that I want him like I do. He’s blind, like all men.” Hermione looked at Kathryn and smirked. “And that’s why I have to get rid of you.”
Hermione could see the fear multiply in Kathryn’s eyes and it made her heady with excitement. This would be so much better than it had been with Alyse. Hermione pointed her wand at Kathryn and she watched her close her eyes tightly, her chest heaving with sobs.
Hermione grinned and laughed as she flourished her wand and conjured a small knife. “Sorry, Kathryn,” Hermione said as she set her wand down on the table and held the knife in her hand. “I’m going to have to torture you.”
♠ ♠ † ♠ ♠
Part VII: Healing
Hermione shook her head. It really had started off so innocently. It always did.
She moved away from the picture of Kathryn, and all the others, posted on the grey wall and over to the table in the middle of the room. She sat down, opened the manila folder and started reading.
There was no testimony from Mandy, simply because Hermione hadn’t done anything terrible to her. Instead she pushed the empty piece of paper with Mandy’s name on it out of the way and started with Jenny.
I’m permanently disfigured from the neck down. Even magic can’t fix what she did to me. I’m just lucky she it’s patchy. I can, at least, cover them with Glamour Charms…
She’s disturbed and should probably get some serious help. Locking her up in Azkaban, no matter what she’s done, isn’t going to help her…
Jenny, though she said she forgave Hermione, now had a protection order out against her. Hermione just shrugged.
I had received a message from Draco earlier in the day. I was a little confused because he had never left me a message by courier before, but I just thought he was busy at work…
I knew I was in trouble the minute she looked at me. Her eyes were wide and wild. I had never seen someone like her before…
I don’t know how it happened, but I ended up on a nice, little island. Unfortunately, there was nothing to eat and I didn’t have anything with me other than the clothes on my back…
She needs help. Is someone helping her?
Yes, Alyse, someone is helping her, Hermione thought as she pushed aside her testimony. Hermione heard Alyse had to be Obliviated her after her interview. She was lucky she wouldn’t have to remember the event any longer, unlike Hermione.
She snuck up on me as I was walking into my flat. She scared me to death…
She smelled horrible. Her hair was disheveled and knotted in so many places I’m sure she would have had to cut them all out. Her teeth were yellow and caked with food and her breath smelled like rotting garbage. Her clothes were stained and I’m sure she hadn’t showered in ages…
She used her wand to tie me to the chair. Each time I shifted slightly, the knots would tighten. That was when I knew I wasn’t going to make it out alive…
I’ve never been so terrified in my life. I kept trying to channel as many survival tactics as I could, but it was just so hard…
I don’t remember much after she conjured the knife. I think I passed out and woke up when I felt her carving it into my skin… Victim required a 20 minute break to gather herself
I just wanted it to end. In the back of my mind, I could tell Draco was there, but it wasn’t until I woke up in St. Mungo’s and heard what had happened did I truly believe it…
She needs help. A lot of it…
Kathryn’s words rolled off Hermione’s back. She knew she had been losing it, she just couldn’t stop herself. Draco was like a drug, but Hermione had been in “rehab” for the last two years. She could handle all of this now.
She was a great friend and partner, but I never thought of her as anything more…
Whenever I brought a girlfriend to the office, she’d follow us around and act funny. I guess I should have taken that as my first clue…
I don’t know why - maybe it was the way she would smirk whenever Alyse’s name came up - but I was sure she had done something with her, I just couldn’t prove it. I started distancing myself from her then…
She stopped showering and brushing her teeth, she constantly smelled like a mixture of body odor and bad eggs. Her hair was never combed and it looked worse than when she was a kid and didn’t know anything about the right way to tame it. She looked like she had stopped sleeping; she constantly had large bags under her eyes. Everything about her was shifty…
I knew it was her watching Kathryn and I in the pub; her Glamour was horrible and I could have smelled her a mile away. I realized while having dinner with Kathryn that Hermione had to have been following me for months. That smell never went away. It was a disturbing thought…
I realized, after I left Kathryn to go home, that I should have walked her home. That smell - that familiar, rancid smell - was gone when I went home that night. It’s when I knew I had to get to Kathryn…
Seeing her standing over Kathryn like that, it made me sick. Kathryn was so cut up and unconscious. Hermione had blood all over her and was just carving initials, and words, and obscenities into Kathryn’s skin like it was something she did every day. She looked happy about it…
I just want her to get help. She needs help…
Draco’s words were comforting, but in a friendly way - not like it had been before. She had been told that Draco and Kathryn had gotten married a year after she was admitted into St. Mungo’s. At the time, it had panged her slightly, but not as it would have at the peak of her obsession. She knew then that she was healing. She wanted Draco to be happy. She was glad he was able to move on from what she had done to him and his friends.
Reading his words now proved that she was better. She wanted to be better. She wanted to be Hermione again.
Hermione closed the folder and looked over at the 2-way mirror. She knew he had been watching her, observing her, to note her reactions from seeing their pictures and reading their words for the first time. Hermione knew she had passed because she felt nothing.
In therapy over the last two years, she had worked through her obsession, her hatred, her indifference, her guilt, and finally her suffering to get to this point. She had said she was sorry, now she was ready to move on.
But would they let her?
The door opened and he walked in.
♠ ♠ † ♠ ♠
Part VIII: Interrogation
“What is your name?”
“Hermione Granger.”
“How old are you?”
“Twenty-five.”
“Where are we?”
“In a padded room in St. Mungo’s insanity ward.”
“How long have been you been in St. Mungo’s?”
“Two years and some-odd days.”
“What did you do to find yourself in St. Mungo’s?”
“I caused mental and physical pain to multiple women because I was obsessed with Draco Malfoy.”
“Are you still obsessed with Mr. Malfoy?”
“No.”
“Are you positive?”
“Yes.”
“The Prophet has dubbed you ‘The Anti-Cupid’. How do you feel about that?”
“I feel they were probably right, at one time. But I’m a changed woman.”
“How will you deal with being known as ‘The Anti-Cupid’ for the rest of your life?”
“The same way I dealt with being ‘the brightest witch of our age’ and ‘the brains of the Golden Trio’. I won’t let what others say about me effect the person I am today.”
“But you did do that at one time.”
“The Second War and the constant danger I was put in being an Auror after that caused a mental block. I never thought I’d be a victim of post-traumatic stress, but I was. I know that now. And I’ve worked through it.”
“If you were freed today, what are your plans?”
“I’d like to go home and be with my family. They promised to bring me in and look after me when I got out of here. I’d like to find a new job - preferably working with flowers - and I’d like to live a normal life again.”
“Why flowers?”
“They represent new beginnings. I think everyone deserves the chance to start again.”
“Will you continue your daily therapy treatments?”
“Absolutely; they have been my life saver.”
“One last question, Ms. Granger, do you feel like you are cured?”
Hermione looked at him. “I really, really do.”
♠ ♠ † ♠ ♠
Part IX: Harry
Hermione watched as Harry addressed the Board of Release and brought them his findings. She knew she was in good hands; Harry was the best psychologist in all of Britain, he would get her released.
Besides, she was healed.
“As you can see by her chart and the progress she’s made, Hermione Granger is definitely healed of any post-traumatic stress disorder she may have incurred from the Second War and her job as an Auror, resulting in her obsessive nature and attachment to Draco Malfoy. I feel, at this time, it would be safe to send Ms. Granger back into the world, but armed with a team of therapists - me included - to monitor her progress. She has plans to live with her family again, who assure me she’ll be under lock and key for the first few months as she adjusts to living back in the real world and as a personal friend, I plan to spend as much time with her as needed.” Harry stopped to look each board member in the eye. “I am asking you to let Hermione Granger live a normal life again.”
Hermione kept the solemn look on her face, but inside she was shouting with elation. She may have slipped up this time, but she was getting her second chance.
♠ ♠ † ♠ ♠
Part X: The Anti-Cupid
Hermione walked out the front doors of St. Mungo’s for the first time in two years, three weeks, five days, seven hours, and twenty-three minutes. The breeze was the same as it had always been, the grass was the same color green, and the sky was the same endless ocean of blue, but it all felt and smelled and looked so much better than Hermione ever imagined.
Freedom was liberating.
“So, how does it feel?” Harry asked as he followed her out into the warm sunshine.
Hermione smiled. “It’s wonderful. I feel so free.”
Harry chuckled and hugged her. It felt so good to be hugged again. “It’s because you are free ‘Mione.”
There was something about the way her hands felt across his back, the smoothness of his dress shirt that caused Hermione’s senses to heighten. It had been too long.
Harry pulled away. “Let’s get you home,” he said with a twinkle in his eyes that Hermione hadn’t seen in the two years she’d been locked up inside that wretched hospital. It warmed her heart. “I bet your parents will be excited to see you.”
“I’m excited to see them,” Hermione answered. “You should stay for dinner.”
Harry grinned as he walked to her to the Apparition point. “I just might.” He grasped her arm in his and Hermione felt a tingle shoot down to her fingertips.
Before they were sucked into the dark, empty space, Hermione asked, “How are you and Ginny, Harry?”