Obliviate

Five years had passed since that night at the Astrology Tower. Five. Draco Malfoy could still feel the cold wind hitting his face mercilessly, he could still remember how shiny the stars had been and how the moonlight enlightened every single thing around him. It could have been a perfect night… but those were dark times, there was war and he had to protect Hermione Granger.

If he had known a few days prior that sometime later after that night he would continue to be a fugitive, he would have never casted that spell; but he didn't know it back then and that was his ultimate desperate act. Draco was still clueless about how it was that he ended up liking Granger and actually, when he examined the situation carefully, none of the happenings that worked as a reason made any sense. After being named Head Boy and Head Girl it was inevitable to get closer, exchange words every now and then.

Then the stupid and funny fighting came and finally, somehow they became studying mates. Draco attributed his lack of pure blood behavior –because if he could've had it any other way, he was sure he would've never befriended Granger– to the emotional and physical exhaustion that came with being a Death Eater. Serving the Dark Lord was going to get him dead sooner or later, and the little moments he shared with the witch were the only ones he felt happy or alive again. Draco hated to admit it, even to himself.

Of course, the situation was not oats and honey entirely. They studied together when they were at their common room, but most of the times they did it at the library; at different tables and never facing each other. They sent papers with notes to avoid talking, and whenever Granger got his papers, he noted a silly smile coming to life in Hermione's face… as if the simple fact that it had been him the one who had sent the note was enough to make her happy despite whatever he could have written. That concerned him.

What if Granger had developed feelings for him? Of course that was not part of the problem, the simple thought was exquisite; the brightest with of her age, best friends with Potter and Weasel and besides, a Gryffindor… in love with him? A Slytherin? Unthinkable! The problem relied on the fact that coming to realization of her feelings –or at least having the little hunch– had made him notice his own. Because, Merlin help him, he felt something too.

And yet again, thanks to his physical and emotional exhaustion, he couldn't fight those feelings. The rest was history; they had started to sneak out and kiss behind certain doors, the written notes now had barely something to do with potions… and if the situation was appropriate, they would go out on a date in Hogsmeade.

He couldn't have asked for anything, those were amazing months; months that didn't last enough. War exploded soon after and she ran away with her friends. He also took his place beside his father and The Dark Lord; after all, that was how things were supposed to be; how they were meant to be. And whenever a glimpse of doubt crossed his mind, all Draco had to do was to look at his forearm and stare at the mark to remind him who he was and what he had to do.

Potter had proved out to be sneakier than he thought, and Voldemort was rather proceeding in a very slow manner, as if he was waiting the perfect moment to put one of his plans into motion. If something was not of his liking, he would stop and put the whole mission on stand-by. Said pauses gave the Order time to prepare, gave the resistance the time get armed; they had provided them the chance to train and to get stronger.

That's how the war went for a year and a half. Draco had never seen so much darkness, blood and sorrow in his life. The Malfoy Manor had become the spot for torturing muggles, mudbloods and half-blood's; he could listen to all the crying and yelling during the whole day, every day. He didn't torture them, but that didn't deprived him from having the chance to look at them, some muggles held some type of necklace with a cross at its end.

Their hands were shaking while they clutched the necklace and to Draco's surprise, they murmured meaningless words non-stop as they held it. Later on he learned they were praying or trying to talk to their god. And where the fuck was it? Surely no god would like to see its advocated suffering. And it was then, watching them beg for their lives, that Draco lost his faith in humanity, he knew that after this dark era, things would never be the same. Some wounds would never heal.

He constantly thought of Granger. Draco wondered if she too would ask that god for help… he wondered in what state she could be. Of course she was alive, they were still looking for her, but the mere thought of Hermione being injured or about to die froze his blood, and he tried to desperately get her out of his mind. And then he ran away from the Manor.

Draco fled out of his house and escaped from everything that had something to do with the magical world. He knew he would have to keep moving and that he would probably be chased down for the rest of his life, but there was no way he could keep tolerating that misery for one more day… On the other hand, a small part of him was hoping to run into Hermione; Draco wanted their paths to cross again badly.

And so it happened. During one of the darkest afternoons he had ever seen, walking through a forest in Norway, Draco thought he had heard some footsteps. They were in the middle of autumn and the leaves and branches were crunchy. With extreme careful, Draco took out his wand and just when he was about to attack he ran into Weasley's stupid face.

He recognized him because of the eternal horror expression that seemed to be forever latched to his face; because everything else in him was unrecognizable.

Ronald was barely the lad he used to be, he was incredibly thin, his hair was long and the bags under his eyes were huge. His rather about-do-die appearance shouldn't have fooled him though, because Ronald was more awake than ever and his reflexes had improved. Before Draco could finish his recognition, Weasley had him petrified and was dragging him back to wherever the hell he was supposed to be at.

After being dragged a short distance to some sort of tent and still under the spell, he was faced with the curious stare of Harry Potter and the dagger-look of Weasley. He was very aware of how much they hated him and how they had suspicions about his relationship with Hermione. They had given Draco those looks before, but now that he was defenseless he was beyond awkward.

Then he heard her voice.

"Guys, who is that you got there?" she had asked as she approached.

Draco wanted to move, to run away… anything. It was the first time they would see each other after a very long time and she was going to see him petrified. Amazing.

When Hermione entered the tent and was standing next to him, Draco noticed with despair that her expression hadn't changed. Her face blank as if that was the first time they saw each other.

"Who is this?" Hermione asked folding her arms around her torso.

Then it hit him. When was the last time he had taken a look in a mirror? The last time he had gotten his hair cut? For fuck's sake, all he could manage to do was shaving. Everything else was a long and distant memory. Maybe he was as changed as Weasley was… maybe that's why Hermione didn't recognize him.

His hair was long too, shoulder length maybe. He probably had bags under his eyes too, he hardly ever slept nowadays. The only thing Draco was sure of was that he was not thinner; if he wanted to survive he needed energy. And even though the war had taken away all of his appetite, he forced himself to eat in order to keep going. To keep running.

"Don't you know? 'Mione, this is Draco Malfoy…" Potter said with caution.

Draco never took his eyes off of Hermione. The reaction he had been waiting for finally stroke her. Her eyes welled up with tears and her lungs seemed to have stopped working. Hermione fell to her knees just beside him and then she placed her head on his chest.

"Why the hell are you keeping him petrified?!" Hermione yelled.

Potter lifted the charm off of him and before he could even think about it, his arms circled around her. They held each other for what felt like ages. Hermione eventually stopped crying, but tears still rolled down her face.

"I thought-I thought you were dead…" she started "So many days, months… without knowing anything…"

"I'm sorry. I was really worried about you, too. I'm so glad I found you "Draco said holding her tighter.

Weasley cleared his throat and broke the bubble.

"So it's true, then?" he asked.

"What?" Hermione replied as she brought her head out the crook of Draco's neck.

"You and him. Back in Hogwarts we thought it was a lie, just rumors… But this- this encounter could only mean you both drank a love potion or that you really were together," Harry explained.

Nor Draco or Hermione said anything.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Harry continued.

"I don't know. Would've you been okay with it?" she asked.

"Probably not. Not at first, but we love you and we would've eventually accepted all of…" then he motioned toward Hermione and Draco" this."

Ron's eyes went back and forth between Draco and Hermione, assessing the situation. Everything was just to incredibly queer, it would take him years to get used to the idea that they had been together in the past, and it would take him even longer to accept that they still had feelings for each other. Honestly, Ron would've never imagined Draco Malfoy was able to have feelings. The fucking ferret was a Death Eater. He is a Death Eater still.

"Why the fuck aren't you dead or locked up in Azkaban?" Ron spat with a hateful tone.

"Ron!" Hermione scolded.

"Shut it, Hermione. Answer," Ron looked straight to Draco "Why?"

Draco took a deep breath and sat properly on the ground. Inside the tent it was warm, they had a small fire going on and there was a sweet smell of cocoa filling the whole space, he thought it felt like Christmas.

"I ran away. I'm a fugitive." He explained dryly.

Ron chuckled bitterly.

"But of course, that's the only thing you're good at. Running away. Being a fucking coward. We should kill you right here and now" Ron's voice became angrier and angrier with every word he spoke.

"Come on, Weasley. This time you won't take me by surprise."

For a moment, Draco forgot he had Hermione in his arms and he stood up quickly, searching his pockets for his wand. Then he remembered Weasley had taken it away from him right after he petrified him.

"Oh, you're looking for this?" said Ron as he held Draco's wand right in front of his face.

"Oh," Draco mimicked "who made you believe I need my wand to fight you?" and just like that he walked the distance between him and Ron and punched him hard on the face. There was a "crack" and Draco hoped it had been Weasley's nose and not his knuckles what made the sound.

"Stop it, both of you!" Hermione shouted and grabbed Draco by the shoulders. She turned him around and slapped him "Nice to see you again, love. But touch Ron or Harry, and I swear I'll kill you" she threatened him.

Meanwhile Harry was helping Ron on his feet; he had fallen backwards due to Draco's punch. His nose was now bleeding and despite the astonishment Hermione's slap had gave him, Draco couldn't help but smirk.

"And you, Ronald, don't you ever dare to start a fight again. It's stupid to think you…" then Hermione cut her speech off.

"To think I what?" Ron asked as he shook Harry's hands off of his shoulders "To think I stand a chance against this bloody idiot? I knocked him down before!" he shouted.

"That doesn't mean you can do it again, Ron!" and just like that, Hermione confirmed Ron's thoughts. She still believed he wasn't good enough, she still saw him as the clumsy little boy who couldn't afford to pronounce "Wingardium Leviosa" in the right way.

"I'm sick of you all," Ron said before exiting the tent "to hell with you, Hermione."

Draco stayed with them a couple of days. He learned Ron had recently come back and he had helped Harry to destroy the locket horcrux. They were planning on going back to Hogwarts. As they made their way back, Draco could feel the excruciating pain of the dark mark, Lord Voldemort was calling him back and refusing the call made him feel like his arm was being cut open; then pain increased with every second he kept calling.

Somehow he made it through. When they arrived to Hogwarts, Potter was called to the Dark Forest by the Dark Lord and he went. Hermione stayed at the castle with him and Weasley, along with the rest of the Order. They all fought against the Death Eaters. Even then Draco knew there was little hope for them, most students were defenseless against the dark magic Death Eaters were taught; some spells didn't even required a magic wand to be performed. For Merlin's sake, Draco himself could perform wandless magic.

It was then, when he was running across the hallways, when he saw Hermione cornered. Draco immediately went to her rescue. He won against the two Death Eaters that surrounded her; he used an Avada to Hermione's surprise.

"I'm sorry" was all he could say. Draco knew Hermione would've never expected him to use that spell, but desperate times demanded desperate measures, and he was not going to take any risks when it came to protecting Granger.

Peace didn't last very long; soon after those Death Eaters were defeated, another group approached. They were probably six or seven and Draco was afraid they wouldn't make it against them; so he grabbed Hermione's hand and ran away. He made them turn to the right, behind a column and apparated them to the Astrology Tower.

"Hermione, they know about us. They know," Draco said between sharp breaths.

"How do you-" she started, but Draco kept talking.

"I hope you know I'd do anything to protect you, and I also hope you know they do not ignore this. They know how much you mean to me…" Draco looked up and glanced at the stars for a couple seconds.

"I would do anything to protect you too, Draco. But-" Hermione tried to speak again, but she was interrupted.

"Exactly. I cannot let you do that. The easiest way to get to me is by getting you. Hermione, they want me dead as much as they want to capture you for Merlin knows what. I cannot let them use you…" Draco approached and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Draco…?" Hermione asked looking right into his ice blue eyes.

"We're running out of time. Granger, you need to forget about me. You need to go on with this war as if you and I never happened. I won't let them use you to get to me; I won't let myself be the something holding back, you need to get out of here alive. And you need to forget me to do that," Draco assured her.

"But that's impossible. Draco, I'm not going to leave you. Not now,"

He didn't let her finish, he just bent forward and kissed her with everything he had. Draco wrapped his arms around her and delighted at the sensation of her body against his own. Hermione kissed him back with tenderness; Draco noticed she was crying… he noticed he was crying too. Hermione was now aware that this was goodbye; she had finally understood his intentions.

"Veritaserum will be useless. They can't make you confess something you don't remember, can they?" Draco said smiling bitterly against her lips.

Hermione gasped and kissed him again, a small peck on the lips.

Then Draco freed himself from her grasp and took a few steps backwards. His eyes were still watering and blurring his vision, but his resolution and determination didn't change.

"I love you. I do this because I have to protect you, know this Hermione" he said and pointed his wand at her.

"I love you too, Draco…" she cried.

Even with his hand shaking, he pronounced that horrible, horrible spell.

"Obliviate"

War ended that same day. He took off with his parents.

Today was the day it would be six years since he had made Hermione forget about him, about everything they had. Draco sometimes wondered how she was; who she was with… he hoped she was happy, because he still loved her. Because it didn't matter how much it hurt him to remember, nothing would be worse than forgetting her.

He loved her.

Hey! So uhm... this is un-betaed, so I'm truly sorry if you spot any typos, as always, checked the best I could.

This is not new to you, but here it goes: PLEASE LEAVE REVIEWS! Makes writers happier!

Also, I'm planning this to have a second part. But that's only if you'd like me to write it, if not, I could just leave it here. Let me know, please (aaahhh I'm just begging for reviews here, aren't I?) Okay, well, that's it! Take care and thanks for reading! Xx.