Narcissa had been alone since Lucius went to Azkaban, and even more alone when Draco was home. She hadn't told anyone about Draco's...problem, yet. She barely wanted to admit it to herself, but the signs were noticeable, they had been for a couple of years now. she gently knocked on Draco's door, she hadn't seen him in a few days...usually that was when he was at his worst when she found him.

There was no answer. Narcissa sighed and turned the doorknob, of course it was locked. She reached into her pocket and, with shaking hands, pulled out her skeleton key. She unlocked his door and slowly pulled it open. The room was dark and very secluded. Which it wasn't always, just in pass few years. She looked around his room for him, she was nervous of where she might find him this time, or even how she might find him. For all she knew, she could find him dead any day of the week.

She slowly walked into his room and noted he was not in his bed, which meant he had to be in his personal bathroom. When this had all started, she pleaded and begged Draco to change rooms, one without a personal bathroom, so he couldn't hide what he was doing so easily. But he had argued and said awful things to his mother until she cried and let him be. He never apologized and he avoided her as much as possible.

She opened the bathroom door slowly and found her son. He was awake, which relieved his mother, and was sitting on the counter of the sink. Eyes completely unfocused, his hair was messed up and in every direction possible, and his mother could tell he hadn't showered in days. At least his eyes aren't red this time. She thought to herself.

Narcissa entered the same room with him and looked him in the face. She couldn't tell if he was dazed or if he was just ashamed to look at her. He had promised he would stop, but he refused help. Said he could do it on his own. She put her hand on his cheek, but he jumped when she touched him. He moved his face out of her hand and sat on the floor, as far away from her as he could get.

"Draco...please." Narcissa begged.

"Please. Leave." Draco said through clenched teeth. His mother didn't listen to him and continued to look at her son on his own bathroom floor.

"Draco. You promised. You-"

"I bloody know what I promised! I don't need you to remind me." Draco said to his mother. "You don't want to help me. You never did, I'm not stupid, mother. If you really wanted to help me…you would have, but no. So, really…it's your fault." Draco said in a hushed tone that was almost dangerous.

Narcissa shook her head, "No, Draco you didn't want help. I tried to get help, but you simply said-"

"I don't recall sending me off to some 'therapy' place helped. You dumped me there."

"You agreed to go. After weeks of begging, you finally agreed to go." Narcissa said, she hated it when Draco made her feel guilty. He knew it was her weak spot, yet he continued to push it until he got his way.

"I agreed, yes. But did it help? No, and it is your fault!" Draco hollered a lot louder.

"Draco, no it's not! But if you blame me for this, then fine! Blame me!" Narcissa said as she left the bathroom, with her only son still sitting on the bathroom floor.

"I already have!" She heard Draco yell before it was followed by the slamming of the bathroom door.

Narcissa walked out of his room and up to her own. Sure, she blamed herself for Draco. But, even after his words, she knew he hadn't meant it. Or, she liked to think he didn't mean it. Hopefully, he never meant any of the things he's said lately.

All of this had started about two years ago, when Lucius was sent to prison. Draco was good…for the first few weeks. Then…he started to fight with his best friend Blaise Zabini, Narcissa could never pinpoint what exactly happened between the two of them, and she never asked. Draco had apologized to Blaise two weeks after their fight, but they were never the same. Narcissa always wondered if Blaise had found out about Draco's new problem and tried to talk him out of it. She never knew.

After their fight though, Draco started…taking things. Very, expensive things, mostly from his father's office. But only from there because his mom would never notice things were missing, but she had. First it was little things, his old school books, and his father's figurines. But, slowly it progressed until he was taking the things out of his father's desk. Like, the Malfoy family ring, or the hand painted portrait of the late Black family.

Draco always knew that they had money, but he couldn't bring himself to ask his mother to lend him money for this. Also he knew she would never give him the money for it. So, he decided to make his own money for it. But, he didn't want to work…so he stole from his own mother. Sure, at first he felt guilty, but…the feeling soon left once he got what he wanted. Him and his mother, who were once very close, started to argue over every little thing. At first, Narcissa was confused at his random outburst, but just passed it off as a teenage thing. But it just got worse and worse. She became extremely curious when she found out he had quite Quidditch. It was three months after he quite that she had found out, and only because the coach had owled her, saying how sorry he was that Draco quite, because he had a lot of potential. When she asked him about him quitting he simply just said he had no interest in it any longer. "I never liked it much, anyway." he had said. Which Narcissa knew was not true. He had liked Quidditch since the day he could ride a broom.

He started to break curfew every night, and he even started hanging out with his other 'friends', Crabbe and Goyle. And a couple of other people whom she had never met nor seen in her entire life. If, by some miracle, Draco was home, he was always in his room…with his 'friends.'

One night, after they had left, she went up to Draco's room to ask him what he would like for dinner, and she caught him in the act. He panicked when he saw her enter his room and he didn't know where he could put the pills without her seeing them first. All of the normal hiding places were surely to be seen by her now.

She forced him to hand them over to her, and he argued and fought with her until she lost her temper with him and slapped him. She had felt guilty for days, but Draco never came around her, only stayed I his room and Narcissa knew that the boys were back but she didn't say anything. That was when he started to always lock his door.

One evening when Narcissa was sitting alone in the drawing room she heard footsteps approaching the door to the room. In the doorframe stood Draco. He looked like he was about to faint, he was sweating, and he swayed on his feet. After he said he wasn't feeling very good he collapsed on the ground and Narcissa rushed him to St. Mungo's, where he spent a number of days. When he was there he spoke with his mum about him getting help. He had promised he would get help. She had believed him, for she had seen a piece of the old Draco, which proved to her that he was still in there somewhere.

She had believed he would quite.

After he was released from the St. Mungo's she took him to a rehab center for muggles, and wizards. They placed him in his own room and day after day he would go to therapy, eat, and sleep. His mother would come visit him every two weeks, but after two months of withdrawal he begged her to get him out. Begged her to take him home, that he would do better, that he missed her and wanted his own room again.

She had believed him and took him home.

He was good for about two weeks, but then his 'friends' showed back up one day when Narcissa was out. He started it again then. But, he told her right off when he had started again, and she was disappointed. He then started to argue with her again and stay away. Narcissa only blamed herself, which she knew she shouldn't do.

She was in her husband's office setting up the floo network again. This thing had been out for years now. She didn't know who else she could ask for help. Blaise had tried and given up, Pansy…just stopped caring, and his 'friends' now only encouraged it.

Once it was set up she stepped into and clearly said the place where she wanted to go. The green flames roared around her and soon she was in a different setting completely. A nice little flat in uptown muggle London. A room that was nicely decorated was very much comfortable.

The couches matched, the fireplace was beautiful, the paintings on the walls were color coded with the walls, and the carpet tied everything together.

"Hello?" Narcissa heard the owner of the flat say from down the hallway. Narcissa waited in the dark before the form of Hermione Granger came into the living room. Narcissa knew that no matter what, Hermione Granger saw good things in everyone, even her son. She had witnessed it.

"Mrs. Malfoy?" She asked, a little apprehensive.

"Yes, Dear. I have come to ask something of you." Mrs. Malfoy said.

"Uh, it's a little late. Could this wait till tomorrow?"

"No, I need to do this before I lose the courage to ask. You, see…it's my son."

"Did something happen to him?" Hermione asked and crossed her arm over her chest. It's not that she was very worried something had happened to him, but just because she didn't like the guy didn't mean she had to always hate him.

Hermione could still remember the last time she had seen the famous Draco Malfoy. It was about a year after his hearing, so a year ago. He looked different, but Hermione couldn't put her finger on what was different. He looked a little different, and was with his old friends, Crabbe and Goyle, which Hermione thought was a bit odd. She was walking down the street in Diagon Alley when she saw him and his goons. Draco had simply nodded to her when he passed, which shocked her. He didn't insult her, or even say a thing. A simple nod.

"Could we discuss something, dear?" Narcissa asked.

"Would you like some tea? Maybe, some coffee?" Hermione asked and pointed her thumb towards her flat's kitchen.

"Oh, no thank you. For what I have come to ask of you is enough. I am sorry to come here so late at night, but you see…it was urgent."

"Do, sit down." Hermione said and gestured to one of her couches. Narcissa nodded her head in thanks and sat down on one of the two couches.

"Now, Miss Granger…I really don't know how to say this. But, it…I can think of no one better. I've tried many things, but never what I have already had in mind. And I completely trust you, a lot more than Draco's friends." She had whispered the last part.

Hermione squinted her eyebrows together and looked at her. Confusion was written all over her face. "Mrs. Malfoy, what are you asking of me?"

"I doubt you know, not many people do…but Draco, my only son, has had a hard life, what with his father constantly over his shoulder and the lies Lucius would always tell him. Lies that were very much not true. But, Draco wont listen to me when I say they are lies. Calls me the liar."

"Yes, I know how Malfoy's father is." Hermione said and nodded her head.

"Well, perhaps that is what everyone knows these days, but what many people don't know is…Draco went…is going through a…phase some might say. He has turned to…oh what is it muggles say. Drugs."

"I'm sorry." Hermione said as she covered her mouth. Never in her life had she thought Malfoy would turn to drugs.

"Please, don't be. He's been to the hospital many timees, to a therapist, Blaise has tried to talk to him, but they only fight, and nothing is working." Narcissa said and looked down at her hands in her lap. She could feel her face getting hot and ready to start crying. She had been crying a lot more than she would actually like.

"So, what, may I ask, did you have in mind?"

Narcissa took a deep breath and brought her head back up, "Well, darling, you see…I have come to the decision that Draco needs…to be secluded. Away from his so-called friends, away from me, the manor, away from the access to the drug he has been getting, just needs to be away. I plan to send him far away."

"To where?"

"To the Malfoy private island. It's off the coast of Fiji about thirty miles of sea in all directions."

"That would be a very wise decision, Mrs. Malfoy."

"Thank you, but that is not why I came here. Not for your opinion over my plan, although I envy it very dearly. I came here today…because Draco will need some looking after. At least for the first few weeks. At most the next few months."

Hermione could feel where the conversation was going, and she didn't really like it.

"Mrs. Malfoy, I-"

"Miss Granger please. Please look after my son. He doesn't want me around and he'll need the best help he can get, especially when he has another withdrawal. And you're the only person, besides myself, I know who can see goodness in him."

"Another?" Hermione asked before she thought about it.

"Yes, you see he relapsed after he got out of an institution. Two weeks after he got home, his friends came back around when I went to see Lucius. I came home and…he asked to speak with me, and he said he had started again."

"Who's to say he wont relapse when he comes back?"

"No one. But maybe, I can convince him when he is…well enough that he should think about moving away from here. If not, I'll think of another thing."

"And…you want me to do what, again?" Hermione asked and shook her head, trying to wrap her mind around the entire idea Mrs. Malfoy had proposed. "You want me…to go to…a secluded island…with Malfoy…to help him get over his…addiction."

"I like to say his problem. But, yes, that is the basic idea."

"Mrs. Malfoy, I cant just drop my whole life. I have a job, I have bills, I have friends and family."

"I will pay you very big money. I will take care of your bills while you are away, and as for your friends and family, tell them what you wish. You could even tell your friends you are going a full paid for trip from your late Aunt Penelope. And your parents the truth."

"And…when would I leave? Mrs. Malfoy, you must realize that it is an awfully hard thing to do. To leave the life you have and become…a personal servant to the-I'm sorry-to the git who terrorized me in school."

"Miss Granger, I know Draco can be…a bit of…a jerk. But before he formed his problem, he had changed. He was nicer, even to the house elves. Which is something. Every now and then…you can, or I can, still see that boy. The one who had to grow up too quickly and has had lies handed to him since he was a boy. Please, give him a chance. He is everything to me, and I couldn't loose him over this."

Hermione sighed, "You will pay me, to…baby-sit?"

"Yes, just to make sure he doesn't start back up once I've moved him, and to make sure he doesn't try to hurt himself in some way. And, someone who is just around to keep him company. And you wouldn't be completely alone, there will be a few house elves there to help keep the place clean, to do the shopping, and to cook."

"Mrs. Malfoy, I am humble of your offer, but I'm not sure I could be stuck on a island for weeks with your son."

"You may come and go as you please. But, please if you do leave and come back…please don't make it longer than three days. He tends to get worse after a few days. And I fear he will…be at his worst when he is alone."

"How much?"

"30,000 Euros."

Hermione pondered the thought for a moment. She could use the money, and Mrs. Malfoy would pay the bills for her, she could ask Ginny or Luna to keep her flat cleaned for her, and she knew her parents would encourage her to go and help someone. Even if it was the boy who sent her home crying every holiday and break.

"Let me think about for a few days." Hermione said.

"Thank you for hearing me out. Please owl me when you are certain of a decision." Mrs. Malfoy said as she stood up from the couch and walked back to the fireplace.

When she was gone Hermione realized she had some serious thinking to do.

"Hermione, he's a slimy git who has killed people! How can you stand up for him?" Ron had asked her after the Malfoy family hearing.

"Because, Ronald, unlike you, I can see he hasn't done anything wrong. Same for his mother. They are both innocent and you know that! You are just too blinded by your hatred towards to see the truth."

"He has picked on you numerous times, called you numerous names, and attempted to kill Dumbledore, yet you stand up for him?"

"I could never live with myself, Ronald, if I had participated in sending him to Azkaban just because of our childhood. I would never send him to Azkaban because he called me Mudblood years ago."

Ron sighed and shuffled his feet, "I don't find him innocent. We just cant prove he has actually killed anyone. Yes, we can trace the spells shot from his wand, but that doesn't mean he cant use someone else's wand to kill someone." And with that said he walked away and down the hallway. Hermione rolled her eyes at her boyfriend before looking down the other side of the hallway. She saw Mrs. Malfoy standing there. She nodded towards Hermione and walked away.

Hermione thought of the look on Mrs. Malfoy's face. She had heard every word that was exchanged between Ron and her. Maybe that was why she had come to Hermione for help. Because she had stood up for Draco Malfoy when Ron was threatening to send him to Azkaban.

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