A/N: Thanks for liking this fic ^_^, I'm liking this story more and more too you guys and that's why, I'm updating it very fast ^_^

Disclaimer: I solemnly swear that the characters depicted in this story are not mine =)

Chapter 3 - Help

"Are you alright Hermione?"

"Yeah...still shaken up is all.." Hermione said "..by the way..Caleb, have you eaten breakfast?"

He shook his head in reply moving closer to her as they sat on the velvet couch in the living room. Caleb kissed Hermione's forehead and embraced her tightly.

"It's been a few days..why don't you go out?" He asked.

More than a few days, it has been exactly a week since she encountered Draco in the parking lot of Brent shopping center. Hermione took a leave from work and holed herself up in her one bedroom flat in Brook road, Dollis hill. Passing the days by reading and re-reading her favorite books.

She snuggled to him more closely and said, "I just...I'm scared..what if I see him again..?"

Caleb smirked, reassuring her that he'd punch him again if that happens. Hermione laughed and replied, "Stop that..he seriously got hurt!"

"Why? He deserved it..who the hell is he anyway?" He asked, "You're ex?"

She laughed again at her question, "Are you crazy? Maybe I did have exes, but not ones from London!"

"Yeah, yeah...about that" He hesitated, but pursued in asking her anyway, "..can't you tell me more about your life in Australia?

..I mean..no friend of yours knows what you did there, and as your fiance, I think we ought to talk about it some time" He said.

Hermione let go and embraced the couch pillow instead. She sighed and buried her face on it as she mumbled.

"What? I didn't catch that" Caleb said.

"I said...I don't really want to talk about it" she retorted, "also, I have little memory of the time I spent there, so just let it go..okay?"

Caleb looked a little hurt that her own fiance would not tell him about her. He would like to at least know more about her past, seeing that they have been engaged for 6 months now and to be wedded in June. It won't hurt to know your future wife's past right?

Sensing this, Hermione looked to him and smiled weakly "Hey..I'm sorry..it's just..I can't.."

"..It's nerve wracking..you know" he said, "to not know about your past...and that guy! He said he'd known you!"

The fear in Hermione's eyes returned. Indeed Draco has in fact, disclosed to her that she knows him and had just forgotten about him. He even said something about having a friend called Potter.

"He mentioned another guy's name..." Caleb stated, "...what was it again...hmm..Peter?..Pierce ..?"

"Potter.." she corrected him.

"Is that a surname or a first name?" He asked, "because if it's a name, then it's a bloody crazy one."

This made her laugh again, he loved that about him. That even though they were in a fight, he always has a knack for making her laugh, he always had the longest patience and a fast turn around when it comes to arguments.

"Stop making a joke out of his name...or her name!" He nudged him.

"Sorry, sorry...It's just that, it's really kind of funny." He replied. "Oh, would you look at the time." They turned to the wall clock in the kitchen wall, the time read past 11 am. "I better be leaving or my sister's going to have a fit if I don't pick up the things she'd ask me to buy..ugh, such a pain." He groaned as he stood up.

"Call me when you get home okay?" Hermione said. Caleb smiled and gave her a quick kiss on her forehead before he left.

She lingered her eyes on him as he walked to his car which was parked in front of the flat, sighing as she felt a prickling pain in her heart. Hermione felt bad for keeping him in the dark. But she doesn't want to talk what had happened to her back in Australia to anyone. And she herself doesn't even know exactly how her life was before she left there.

Standing up, Hermione went inside of her room and locked the door. The room was big but has only practical furnitures in it. Her queen sized bed was near the window, adjacent to a lounge chair and wardrobe cabinet. She had a couple of drawers beside her bed, one for her lamp and books and another for her keepsakes. On top of it were pictures of her and Caleb from their first through the second year of their relationship. Next to it were pictures of her and her parents who have stayed in Australia for good.

She stopped to gaze on it for a minute, "I miss you both..." she said as she hugged the picture frame before returning it.

Over to the lamp table where the books she reads were, was a small golden key with a ball chain. She took it in her hands and went to her bed.

Sitting on top of the bed, she pulled the dark blue covers away, thrown the pillows aside and folded a third of the mattress, revealing a small 12x12 inches box contraption within the bed frame. Hermione installed this contraption for safety keeping of her most valued items and even Caleb doesn't know of it. Probably because she never really allowed him to go inside her room.

Hermione traced the shape of the key hole with her fingers and took a deep breath. She inserted the golden key into the hole and turned it to the left until she heard a soft clicking sound. Hermione closed her eyes before opening the box.

"I can do this..." she said to herself. This isn't the first time she is opening the box, but it has been a very long time since she did. The very first time she saw its contents were when they were given to her by her parents before she left for London.

Opening her eyes, she lifted the box lid until where the hinge stopped. Inside of the box were small boxes, books, papers, inks and quills. On the upper right of the box was a red and yellow striped scarf, folded neatly to reveal some sort of an emblem. A golden medal with four sections, each with an animal. A lion on the upper left on red background, a silver serpent on a green background on the upper right, a badger on a yellow background for the lower left, a golden eagle on a blue background on the lower right and joining them is a black capital 'H' in middle.

Hermione pressed the fabric and felt its softness against her palms. "I wonder where my parents bought you..." she took it and held it over her chest. It made her feel warm...complete. She placed it beside her as she thought to make use of it since it's winter season.

The books, however, she couldn't make out the markings as they were all faded due to time. Hermione decided to take the thickest one out of the box. Turning it sideways, the only letters left on the spine were: 'Ho-r-s, - -i-ry'.

The book was somewhat moldy and difficult to open as the pages started to stick together. However, as she held it, a small spider came crawling on her hand and threw the book with the spider across the room to her surprise. Dusting off her hands, she closed the box lid and rearranged her bed.

Hermione went over to the now opened book and noticed a paper sticking out of it. It was folded and have clearly been there for ages as its edges were already darkened to a brown color and brittle. Sitting down the wooden floor, she took it out and closed the book.

She flipped over the note and found her name written on it in a beautiful calligraphy. Upon realization, her heart raced and her body trembled.

Careful not to tear the fragile paper, Hermione unfolded it, as she read the first lines, she felt her breath leave her, the beating of her heart somehow stopped.

'I miss you..Hermione...
I'm tired...It's suffocating...'

She held her hand over her lips to try to stifle the sob that was beginning to crawl its way out of her. "What is this...?" she asked, "Who wrote this..?"

A tear rolled down her face and she quickly folded the paper and inserted it back in the first pages of the book. Hermione looked at it for a while. There were thousands of questions she wanted to ask, questions even her parents, after giving these to her, weren't able to answer. All this time, she felt an emptiness in her heart. The pain she tried to bury when she had met Caleb came surfacing again. No matter how hard she tried, no matter how long she thought of it, her years in Australia was but only a fraction of a memory. Like she had skipped eight years of her life. In her heart she knew something was missing, there was a longing even Caleb can't give her.

Hermione rocked back and forth on the floor, weeping as the feelings she tried to forget keep rushing back to her.

"Please...anyone..."

She sniffed

"...Help me...please..."