Catalyst

Disclaimer: Not mine.

A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed!




Hermione awoke with a wicked pounding in her skull and a mouth full of cotton. She rolled over, struggling to sit and push herself out of bed, suddenly hit with a wave of confusion as she looked around. She wasn’t in her own bedroom or her own flat at all, but in a lavishly decorated room that was totally unfamiliar to her. The sudden crack of apparition startled her. A tiny house elf was standing next to the bed, a vial of some sort of potion in its hand.

“Master Draco says you is to take this, Missy.”

Hermione moaned and buried her face in her pillow, the events of the previous evening flooding back to her as she heard his name. She finally lifted her head at the insistent prodding of the elf and gulped down the potion. In hindsight, she realized she ought to have been a bit more suspicious of a potion provided for her by a Malfoy, but she figured that had we wanted to do her harm, she’d already provided him with more than enough opportunities. In the end, she was glad for her impulsiveness, feeling her head clear and her mouth moisten as relief from her hangover filled her system. The little elf indicated the direction of her bathroom and apparated away.

She leaned back into the comfort of the downy pillows and soft materials, musing on the events of the last twenty-four hours. She’d been dressed up by her best friends, set up on a blind date with a man who expressed sheer horror at the very idea of dating her, thrown herself at a lecherous former classmate, changed her mind midstream, nearly been raped, only to be rescued by Draco Malfoy, of all people. In short, it had not been her typical Saturday evening. She hadn’t even seen Malfoy in years, had no idea what he was up to or why he had intervened on her behalf. She cringed at the memory of what he had interrupted, terrified to think of what would have happened had he not. She never would have pegged Malfoy as the rescuer in that type of scenario, honestly, but he had looked like a sort of avenging angel, silver eyes flashing as he threw Nott off of her.

She had no idea what to make of any of the wildly impossible situation and opted for putting her thoughts on hold while she cleaned up. She found the bath to be exactly what she would expect for guest suite in Malfoy Manor. No expense had been spared in the opulent washroom, from the marbled surfaces and gleaming gold fixtures to the thick, heavy towels sitting piled neatly around the huge tub. She filled the tub with steaming water, experimenting with a few of the taps to achieve a combination of sweetly scented suds. She luxuriated in the bath, dreading the moment that she would have to leave the suite and face her rescuer. While she was grateful to him for his actions the previous evening, she very much wished that she were not currently indebted to Draco Malfoy.

‘If only it had been anyone else,’ she thought hopelessly. She couldn’t imagine facing him this morning, knowing what he’d witnessed and that he was fully aware of exactly what he had saved her from.

* * * * *




She really needn’t have worried. Draco had no desire to see her in his debt, or see her at all for that matter. He had woken early that morning and gone out for the day, leaving instructions for the house elves to see to all of her needs. He was nothing if not a good host, after all, no matter how unwanted the guest.

In truth, he hadn’t wanted to bring her back at all, but he knew he couldn’t leave her there, given her state and the fact that she’d already proven herself inept at taking care of herself. It wasn’t that Draco blamed her for Nott’s unforgivable treatment of women, just that he had expected Hermione Granger, of all people, to be intelligent enough NOT to get plastered and throw herself at his mercy. He’d watched the proceedings skeptically, noting that she seemed willing enough, but that something was definitely off with the girl. The suspicion grew as he watched her teeter off behind him until he gave in to his instincts and followed, guessing correctly that things would quickly spiral out of control.

After he had thrown Nott off, he had been torn between lashing out at the drunken Granger and killing her attacker. When she had looked at him and burst into fresh tears, only to pass out moments later, he had settled for dumping her in a guest bedroom at the Manor and returning to guard Nott until the aurors arrived, informing them that the victim was currently in a drunken stupor and could be found sleeping off the effects of the alcohol and shock. They’d taken him into custody and gone to the mansion, performing the basic examination spells on Hermione’s sleeping form and asking for her to contact them as early as possible. Their annoyance at the obstacle was evident, but the diagnostic spells had given them the evidence they needed- revealing bruises all over her body from his grip and Nott’s DNA all over her clothing and torn knickers, as well as on her skin underneath. All they needed was her testimony.

It was enough to make Draco’s blood boil. He was disgusted by Nott’s obvious intentions. He was livid with Hermione Granger for being so uncharacteristically stupid. And he was quite irritated that he had somehow been dragged into all of it. Shouldn’t the honor of playing hero to Granger’s damsel-in-distress have gone to Potter or Weasley? Where the fuck were they when she had thrown herself on his lecherous ex-classmate? He wanted nothing to do with any of it. He had no desire to be pulled into the overdramatic and emotional world of the Golden Trio, and was definitely going to avoid any further interactions.

* * * * *



By the time Hermione had gotten out of the bath and dressed, it was nearly afternoon. It was only as she sat contemplating exactly how impolite it would be to sneak out undetected that she noticed the note sitting on the otherwise clear desk. Her eyes flicked quickly over it, her face paling as she realized that she would be expected to recount the events of the evening to the aurors. Shame and humiliation flooded her mind as she imagined trying to explain her behavior in her dealings with Nott.

She quickly reminded herself that SHE was not the one being accused of rape and flooed to the Ministry.

She arrived and was just checking in when she found herself accosted by a frantic-looking Harry Potter. He dragged her to his office, ignoring her protests and pushing her into a chair, locking the door behind them. She continued to sputter as he turned towards her, green eyes flashing with an unreadable emotion.

“Are you alright?” He cut her off with his question, striding over and kneeling before her, grasping her wrists. “I was off-duty last night so I didn’t know until this morning when I got here and I couldn’t get into the manor and…”

He was interrupted by a hand swiftly covering his mouth. Hermione smiled gently at him. “I’m fine, Harry.”

He appeared reassured temporarily and then his face darkened again. “Why didn’t you tell me Hermione? What happened? Did Oliver have something to do with it? I never should have tried to set you two up.” He looked so truly distraught that Hermione temporarily forgot the nightmares of the past 24 hours and allowed herself to be wrapped in the warmth of the love of her friend.

“You didn’t do anything wrong, Harry,” she replied honestly. “I liked Oliver very much, he just made it clear last night that he hadn’t known it was a date and wasn’t looking for a relationship.” She smiled self-deprecatingly. “It was painfully evident that he was not interested. No, don’t,” she continued, waving away his objections, “that isn’t what’s important now.”

“I just went a bit mad. I suddenly felt so frustrated, that even after an army of my friends dressing me up and pawning me off I still couldn’t so much as land interest in a single date.” She looked down at her hands. “We both know that very few men have so much as looked my way in the last few years, and I just wanted to know that someone, at some point, could find me attractive. So I went looking for that, and I found a bit more than I expected. Didn’t realize until too late that it wasn’t what I wanted at all.” She smiled at him ruefully, waiting for the verbal backlash.

Instead, she found his gaze penetrating and sorrowful. “Hermione, we made you feel that way. We should never put so much pressure on you. We just love you so much we wanted to see you happy. You are beautiful and wonderful and I’m so sorry that we made you feel that way.” He hung his head, looking stricken.

Years of being best friends with Harry Potter had educated Hermione about his guilt complexes and she knew that it needed to be nipped in the bud. “You did nothing wrong and what happened last night was noone’s fault except my own. And Nott’s,” she added as an afterthought.

Harry’s head snapped up. “Don’t be ridiculous, Hermione. You can’t believe that it’s your fault.” He looked incredulous. “Look, I won’t pretend to be happy that you went out alone to a seedy bar in search of male attention. But that in no way mitigates the fact that you were attacked.” He was looking frustrated and Hermione decided to change the subject.

“Imagine, Harry, Draco Malfoy being the one to defend me.”

“I’d like to speak with him actually,” Harry replied, frowning. “Was he home when you left?”

Hermione bit her lip nervously, suddenly realizing that it had indeed been unforgivably rude of her to pass out in a guest bedroom of her rescuer’s home and then floo out without so much as a goodbye, much less a thank you. She just hadn’t had the faintest idea of how to thank someone that had spent six years tormenting you, only to rescue you from being raped five years after the last time you’d spoken.

“Actually, I don’t know. It was just so awkward and I wanted to get here as soon as possible so….” She trailed off.

He watched her intently for a few moments, sensing her distress. “Don’t worry about it, ‘Mione, I’ll take care of it. Are you certain that you’re alright though?”

She reassured him once again that she was fine and allowed him to lead her to the offices of the aurors handling her case. He left her in their care, promising to stop by later.

* * * * * *




Several hours later, Hermione was curled up on her sofa in front of the fire, wrapped in a blanket, when a very agitated and disheveled Harry Potter and Ron Weasley came through the floo. They stumbled out, covered in soot, brushing themselves off as best they could. Ron bent over her, wrapping his arms around her and squeezing her tightly for a moment before speaking.

“I’m glad that you’re okay,” he said simply, his blue eyes sincere.

“We’ve been to see Malfoy,” Harry told her, clearing up any confusion as to their disgruntled expressions.

“Why did you go to see him?” Hermione asked carefully.

“We wanted to thank him,” began Harry dryly, “though in hindsight that was perhaps not the best idea we’ve ever had.”

“What happened?”

“Well, for starters, Malfoy gave us a dressing-down that puts my mum’s howler’s to shame,” Ron began. “It started out as a lecture about how we weren’t watching out for you and how we ought not to let you out by yourself when you so obviously lack any sort of common sense,” he went on, quoting Malfoy’s exact turn of phrase obliviously.

“What?” Hermione screeched.

Harry glared at Ron. “He just means that we should look out for you because we’re like family and we love you. And he was right about that, by the way, promise you won’t be visiting any more seedy bars in the middle of the night by yourself.” His green eyes beseeched her.

Hermione ignored him. “What else did he say?”

“He told us that if we really wanted to thank him we’d keep you on a shorter leash to prevent him from having to get involved in our lives again the next time you got into trouble.” Ron reverted once more to reliving Malfoy’s exact words, his blue eyes annoyed, completely oblivious to the effect that his bluntness was having on Hermione.

“I can’t believe that bastard!” she fumed, now thankful that she hadn’t had to face him that morning. “Of all the arrogant, presumptuous…”

While she was lost in her tirade, Harry took the opportunity to deliver a swift kick to Ron’s leg, causing the redhead to yelp in surprise. “I can’t believe you told her all of that!” he hissed at his friend. Ron shrugged helplessly. “She did ask what he said,” he pointed out, trailing off at the expression on Harry’s face.

“What are you two whispering about?” Hermione snapped at them, whirling around and ceasing her pacing.

“Nothing!” Harry replied quickly. “I’m starving. It’s late. Let’s go get something to eat.”

Hermione stormed off to get her shoes, still grumbling under her breath, though by the time she found them, her anger had receded a bit. The three friends went out to dinner together and she found herself gradually relaxing, drinking in the easy companionship and normalcy of their company. She let the comfort of the moment wash over her, easing away the stress of the past two days.

* * * * * *




Hermione did her best to fall back into her routine over the next few days, knowing it was important if she wanted to move past the terrifying experience. She continued to throw herself into work and found herself occupied by Harry, Ron, and Ginny in any free time that she had. She had put thoughts of the events of the weekend as far out of her mind as possible, though she had occasional pangs of panic when she remembered the possibility of having to face her attacker again. She had almost entirely removed Malfoy from her thoughts as well, finding her emotions regarding him to messy to even contemplate. He had gone from the cruelest boy she’d ever met to her reluctant savior to… whatever he was now given his comments to Harry and Ron. She supposed none of it mattered since he evidently wished to distance himself from her as much as possible.

On Friday Harry came bursting into her office, looking wildly happy, that Nott had confessed in exchange for a lessened sentence and that there would be no trial. The tension that Hermione had been trying to ignore all week broke and she nearly collapsed in relief.

“I’ve been trying to put it from my mind but I guess I was dreading it more than I thought,” she explained slowly as Harry watched her sink into a chair. “So that’s it?”

Harry nodded, smiling. “It’s done with. Since it was attempted and his first offense, at least that has been reported, and there was a witness, he’s only going to be in Azkaban for a few months.” He watched her carefully, hoping she wouldn’t be upset by the brevity of the sentence. He frowned as her face contorted not with anger or worry, but with guilt.

“Azkaban,” she whispered hoarsely. “I just can’t believe it. I know that he was horrible, but if I hadn’t come on to him…”

Harry cut her off. “Hermione, if you hadn’t come on to him, he probably would have pushed himself on someone else. He’s probably been preying on women for years according to Malfoy.”

At the mention of Malfoy, her face dropped further, as she was torn between guilt at completely ignoring his rescue and fury at his implications that she needed a 24-hour monitor to keep her out of trouble.

Harry, seeing her distress, changed the subject. “Well, either way, it’s got to be a relief that you won’t have to testify. Let’s celebrate- the work day’s almost over anyway.”

He looked so genuinely eager that she agreed, ruffling his messy black hair and smiling fondly at him. “Thanks Harry.”

They left to find Ginny and Ron and share the good news.

a/n: Please read AND review! Thanks so much to those who left reviews for Ch.1! *sends hugs*