Chapter One: Solstice
The first time she saw him him the sun was barely out.
Hermione was sitting on the sand, letting the water that reached the shore soak her feet and slowly bury them. She couldn't sleep past four am, the walls of the living room suddenly too small, too close, too daunting. So she ran outside and started crying, and through her tears she swore she could see Fred's smile and Tonks' magenta hair. Next to her Lupin was waving and Lavender seemed too preoccupied with her hair. Colin was just taking photos, like always. Photos of the pink sky, photos of the sea, photos of the mist that surrounded them. And then, beyond all that, there was Draco Malfoy.
Hermione blinked back tears and rubbed her eyes. Malfoy wasn't supposed to be there; he didn't belong in her memories of the deceased. But there he was, standing in the distance looking at the waves, his hands in his pockets and his white-blond hair moving with the breeze. He was blurry and hazy like the rest of them, but he wasn't looking at her, and Hermione sobbed harder, big fat tears streaming down her eyes and landing on her hands. She was sure she must be losing her mind, so she forced her eyes shut and lay back on the sand, trying to erase all images from her mind.
She woke up hours later in the sofa, most likely thanks to Harry who was sleeping on the carpet transfigured as a mattress on the floor next to her. She started to think that it had all been a dream and her eyes were swelling up again, so she took Harry's hand and tried to fall asleep, hoping they would wake up together in a moment when the air would be easier to breathe.
The first time he saw him the sun was burning bright in the middle of the sky.
Harry was floating in the sea, feeling the skin of his face stinging from too much sun, but he still couldn't be bothered to leave. The water was cool and soothing around his body, rocking him back and forth and allowing his mind to focus on the external feelings and nothing else, because anything else would make Harry remember, and he didn't want to remember. Not when the sun was so graciously blinding him while the waves took him far away, all surrounded by water where his body didn't feel so heavy with memories.
Only, he didn't want to go too far away, because that would mean leaving Hermione behind and Harry couldn't do that. He started to panic suddenly, scrambling to look around and find the shore and the house. The sun was mercilessly blazing, and combined with the salt water it made his eyes hurt, but eventually he managed to make out the outline of Fleur's family summer cottage in the distance and he relaxed somewhat. It was far, the sea had taken him very deep and he couldn't touch the ground, but thankfully Harry knew how to swim, so he started to go back.
After a few strokes, he stopped in his tracks, only moving his arms and legs to stay above the water. He saw someone standing by the shore, but it wasn't Hermione and it wasn't close to the house. The person was on the opposite side, almost where the beach ended. It was still very hard to see and the light reflecting on the near-white sand made it impossible for Harry to detail this person, but the few things that he could make out made his heart thump fast. It looked like Malfoy, but it couldn't be him. Why would Draco Malfoy be there?
Unless. Harry's heart really sped up now, his mind racing with possibilities, each one worse than the last. They had found their location somehow and had come for them. Harry didn't have his wand on him and Hermione was alone in the house, completely unaware that an attack was imminent. He started swimming again, forcing his body to go as fast as possible, not caring about the water in his eyes and mouth, and not stopping until he could feel the sand under his toes. He finally looked up again, expecting to find Malfoy at the entrance of the house, holding a wand to Hermione's temple, but he was shocked to see that no one was there. Harry didn't stop swimming and running with difficulty as his eyes trailed across the shore all the way to the end of the beach and back, but it was all empty. He finally reached the shore and collapsed on his knees, coughing and fighting for breath as his head pounded painfully.
He thought he heard Hermione call his name, but it might have been another hallucination, so he didn't look up until he felt her arms around him.
"Harry." She pushed his hair out of his face and slapped him on the back to help with his coughing fit. "You're burning up. I think you might be having a heatstroke, we need to get you inside now."
Hermione helped him up and walked him back towards the house. Harry wasn't worried about his temperature or the fact that his entire body was hurting, though. Right before crossing the threshold to the house, he looked over his shoulder at the beach, and when Hermione closed the door, it all went black.
