HI readerss!

Sorry - It has been a while since I last updated,, been busy with school and blah blah:L The holidays are coming up quitee soon though, so when they come, I will be able to update more and moree often! big yay;) Anyway, I completely completely failed my maths exam:L which is just frustrating, but I will have to get over it. Anyways, you don't want to sit and read my sop story about failing my maths exam! So, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and btw, if you get confused in Draco's bit where Hermione is telling, just skip back to the first chapter, and hopefully will make more sense, if you've forgotten! yeah, so, enjoyy!

Oh, and by the way, I named this chapter after a Rascal Flatts song! If you don't know who they are, okay, go look them up on youtube, there songs make me cry:L but they do some happy ones to! anyway, yeah, thats why it is called that, hehe;)

Enjoy!

Chapter 7 - These Days

Hermione

My hands were folded across my chest, and my hair was still knotted in a plait over my shoulder. I was wearing a silk dressing gown, the smoothness of it cool against my skin. I was still very wobbly on my own two feet, and when I had tried to get up, to open the windows, I had stumbled after taking three steps, falling to the ground with a crash, causing Ginny to run in, flustered, and clearly disturbed from her sleep. I had apologized and apologized, but she had insisted that it was absolutely fine, and that it wasn't a problem. She had helped me back into bed, before going on to open the windows, letting in a light breeze, that just lifted my whole mood. Ginny had then left, again telling me whenever I needed her, just to shout out, and she'd be there.

I was left now, though, to just think, and be alone, which I hadn't been since I had been awake. I still didn't know any of the people who were caring for me, but Ron trusted them, so I trusted them. There was a small part of me that recognized something about them, Ginny and Harry that was. Harry's piercing green eyes struck something in me, I just couldn't decide how and why they stirred that something up inside me. Ginny's fiery red hair also sparked something inside me. I couldn't explain it, because I hadn't ever met them in my life... Unless-

My thoughts were interrupted by footsteps and hushed voices outside the door. I bit my lip, worried about who was lingering behind only a door at such a time in the morning. From the light coming from outside, I could tell that it was about five o'clock in the morning, but for all I knew it could be earlier, or even later than that. When I heard the creak of the door, I swallowed hard, and adjusted my robe, fiddling with the tassels that tied it together. When I saw Charlotte's face pop around the door I immediately relaxed, letting out a prolonged sigh.

"Hermione." She smiled as she walked towards me, her cheeks a rosy pink colour. "How are you feeling?"
"Well, I tried to get up earlier," Charlotte frowned as I said this, but allowed me to continue. "But I fell. Ginny had to help me back into bed. I wanted to open the windows, see?" I rushed to explain, to cover myself.
"I see, Hermione." Although she could hear me, I knew she wasn't really listening.
"What is it?" I asked, wondering what it was that was distracting her.
"You have a visitor." She was still frowning, as she handed me a glass of cool, iced water.
"Who?" Names ran through my head, was it Emily? Alex? How had they even found me here?
"You'll see in a minute." She was now standing by the door. "I'll be next door, Hermione. Just...call if you need anything." With that, she swept out of the room, leaving me, waiting for whoever wished to see me. I could hear voices again, but turned my face towards the soft wind coming from the open window, taking in deep breaths. After several minutes, I twisted my head back to the door, to see a figure standing there.

He wore black, leather, very expensive looking shoes, that had square points at the tips, and laces that were done up tightly. He was wearing black, dress trousers, that had a straight iron crease down the front, I assumed he must have come from work as I reached his white shirt and smart jacket, that matched his trousers. His hands were in his pockets, and the top two buttons of his shirt were undone. When my eyes reached his face, my heart stopped in my chest. Memories of last night came rushing into my head, how I had seen him, on the bridge. How I had just walked up to him. The man from my dream. The man who loved me. His silvery blonde hair was ruffled, and fell around his eyes, obscuring them slightly. His skin was so unbelievably pale, but the were dark circles beneath his eyes, that stood out on his pale complexion.

I couldn't breathe, it was as though I just forgot to do so. When my throat began to burn, my eyes began to water, I could feel myself getting more and more lightheaded. I gasped, fighting for air, only just realizing how strong the need had become to breathe. I keeled over, coughing and spluttering. I felt a hand rubbing circles into my back, and I stopped, tensing up. The hand was removed from my back, and I slowly sat up again. I pulled my robe tighter around me, and nervously bit my lip. I shuffled backwards, into the mound of pillows, the man was now sitting on a stool next to the bed.

"Hu- Hullo." I choked out, deciding to break the silence. He was staring at me, which made me wriggle, I felt a flush taking over my body as his eyes surveyed every inch of my body.
"Hello." His voice was smooth and controlled, unlike mine had been. A hint of a smile played on his lips as he answered, and I had to restrain my mouth from hanging open.
"I'm Hermione." I attempted to speak with more confidence, and taking a deep, though it be shaky, breath. "It's uh- nice to meet you." It just didn't feel like it was only the second time I had met this man. There was no longer a small smile upon his lips, and an expression of sorrow and grief.
"You too." He was gazing at my lips, but I couldn't look away from his eyes. They sparkled, reflecting every ounce of light that found their way into their depths. "So how are you feeling?" He still refused to meet my eyes, and if I was honest, I was scared if he did, I would drown in his.
"I am feeling better thank you-" I began, but he cut me off before I could say any more.

"What happened to you last night, Hermione?" He pleaded, finally lifting his head so his eyes were boring into mine.
"Uh- I," I stuttered, overwhelmed by the emotion in his eyes and voice. "I don't know." I admitted, letting out a prolonged sigh. He shook his head, and took my hand that hung limply off the bed, and squeezed it gently. Tears stung at the corners of my eyes, threatening to spill down my cheeks. "I don't know." I repeated, my voice on the verge of cracking.
"Sshh," He whispered, leaning forward and catching a stray tear that had fallen down my cheek with his thumb, and tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. "Hermione-" I was sobbing now, racking my brains, trying to remember what happened completely, not just somebody else's explanation.
"Mmhmm?" I answered, letting go of the hand that clutched mine, to wipe away the tears that rolled down my cheeks and nose. "What is it?"
"It's just-" He pursed his lips and squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. "Hermione, why don't you remember?" He again looked me in the eyes, making me shiver all over. He sounded the same way he sounded in the dream. Desperate, and utterly broken. I almost felt like I owed him an explanation, as to what had happened. From what I had been told, I had just told hi that h was a man who loved me in my dream, before collapsing in his arms. I frowned and allowed him to take my hand in his.

"When I was seventeen, I was in an accident." I took a deep breath, as he frowned, obviously confused. "A car crash. Both my parents were killed, and I had severe injuries to my head. I have no memories from the time I was about eleven to when I was in the crash. They were never able to find anybody who knew who I was, the school I went to, or where I lived. I was completely alone. I was put back into school, to catch up on all I missed, but, well, I was able to pass my exams easily, with A* grades. I met Alex, who helped me to achieve more for myself." I went on to explain what had happened in my life, how I was friends with Emily, living with Alex. I didn't tell him, however, about the dreams. He nodded, absorbing all the information I fed to him.
"You don't remember...anything?" His forehead was creased, and he wore a worried expression all over his face. I had told him exactly what I had told Charlotte, avoiding telling them about the dreams, and more importantly, how he was in them.
"No." I answered, shaking my head as he continues to stare in disbelief, and confusion. "Is something wrong?" He was staring at me as if I were crazy, which made me squirm, and sidle away from him.
"No, uh," He looked away, embarrassed. "Sorry." Something inside me stirred when he said that word, satisfaction, almost pride. I tried to restrain a smile, but it crept onto my lips nonetheless. "What?" He nudged me playfully, his thin lips stretching into a tight smile. This soon resided, though, and his face creased and folded into the same expression of hurt and worry it held before.

"Hermione?" He asked feebly, his voice cracking slightly. When his eyes met mine, they were glassy, brimmed with tears that looked as if they were about to overflow.
"Yes?" What did he want to ask me this time? He swallowed hard before speaking.
"What happened? When you collapsed. What was happening to you? I know it had happened to you before, so don't try and lie to me." I bit my lip, wondering whether or not to trust him. The man in my dream. I opened my mouth to speak, but then closed again abruptly. He rubbed my thumb softly, encouraging me to go on. I took another deep breath and opened my mouth once again.

Draco

"Charlotte?" She spoke louder than she had earlier, her eyes focused on the door behind me. I turned my head so I was looking over my shoulder, to see a small blonde head poked around the door, eyes glistening.
"Yes?" She smiled, stepping past the heavy, wooden door, and quietly shutting it behind her. "Is there something the matter, Hermione?" The smile dropped from her face, and was replaced by a look of worry and concern. She hurried over to where we sat, but stopped when she saw our interlinked fingers. She blushed, her cheeks turning a rosy pink colour. I pulled my hand from Hermione's, and stood up, allowing Charlotte to sit on the stool I had occupied. She nodded in thanks as I stood at the end of the bed, my arms folded. Without Hermione's hand not in my own, I felt empty.
"Yes. There is." Hermione took a deep breath, her hands trembling slightly in her lap.
"What is it, Hermione?" Charlotte asked, tilting her head to one side, and taking a hand and placing by Hermione's body.

Then she told us everything. About how she had the dreams every night since the accident, how she had to take medication to stop them from haunting her each night, but they never made any difference. She told us how at first they only consisted of flashing lights, crashes and bangs, screams of the dying, but eventually she could see almost everything. She told us exactly what happened. Exactly.
"Someone was bound up, at the top of a clock tower, and all I could do was try to get to them, whoever they were." She explained frantically, going on to tell us about how she ran into the girl, then the little boy, Alex, and how brave Neville was. How she ran up the tower so fast, so determinedly. "When I reached the door, I lifted my stick, and ran through it. That was were I saw them, the two blonde men." Her vision flitted between Charlotte and I, but Hermione pointedly tried not to look my way. "The man I was looking for. He was there, sprawled out on the floor, suffering. A man was towering over him, called me a 'Mudblood'." I winced, I knew all to well what she would tell us would happen next. "I begged him to let the boy go, told him it was all my fault, that I had given him some kind of concoction to make him fall in love with me. I dropped my stick, surrendering, but when I looked up, and tried to fight back, to approach the two men, from his stick, the older man threw a red light which hit me like a thousand knives slicing me from the inside out." Hermione screwed up her fists. "I can still feel it when I wake up, the despair and agony that flooded me. The two men were father and son, I think, only, the son...I was in love with him. When the pain was taken away, my body was numb, and somehow, I was lifted into the air, like a puppet, hanging limp.

"The boy, he was fighting to get towards me, but his father was holding him back, with all the force he could." I swallowed hard as Hermione continued. "Eventually, he shot ropes from his stick, which tightly bound his son, stopping him in his tracks. I tried to escape where I was levitating in the air, as the father told me how our side had lost, how we were fighting for a worthless cause. So I turned to a star, a star that at night, I still look for, it comforts me." Hermione trailed off slightly, her gaze meeting mine. "Then the boy asked his father if he could speak to me. He told me he loved me. Everything about me, down to the last things that I hate the most about myself. They were the things he said he loved the most." I had to lean against the bedpost to stop myself from falling over right there and then. "He was crying, I was sobbing." Hermione eyes were brimmed with tears, her breath shaky. "We were released from whatever enchantment we had been placed under, falling to the ground in a heap. Then - Then we just ran to each other, held each other. Told one how we loved them through everything and anything." She didn't have to say any more. I knew what she would say. "I went over to the father. Then it went black, and I was falling. Then I would wake up - My body aching." Hermione sniffed, blinking back tears.

"When I was with Ron, well, that had never happened before. He winked at me, then suddenly the ground wasn't there, and the world was gone. I was smaller, and was desperately searching crowds. When I saw a small raven black head, accompanied by a small red one, I had just ran to them, and engulfed them in a hug. The boy with raven hair, he had round rimmed glasses. I asked him about his scar hurting. The red haired boy, I shouted out, scalded him for not returning my...owls." She trailed off slowly, her eyes looking slightly glazed over. "I don't know what happened yesterday, though. I really don't...know." She let out a deep sigh, wiping a single tear from her cheek. "He was called Ron- and Harry..." She appeared to be lost in her thoughts.
"Sshhh..." Charlotte whispered soothingly to a tightly wound up Hermione. She pulled the sheets over her delicate body, and gently closed Hermiones eyelids. Hermione snuggled into her pillow, and before my eyes, fell into a deep sleep. I turned to look at Charlotte who was reading something from an old, dusty book. She smiled as she read, before nodding and shutting the book, the grim look returning to her face.

"I think I know what is wrong with Hermione." Charlotte whispered, turning to face me. She stood up, and took my arm, leading me over to the corner of the room.
"You do?" I uncrossed my arms and could feel my heart pounding in my chest.
"Draco-" Charlotte bit her lip. "You knew every word she was going to say, didn't you?" I pursed my lips tightly, nodding stiffly.
"And?" My heart was still racing.
"They are memories. Seeping back into her mind, inching their way back into the nothingness that fills her head when she sleeps."
"What do you mean? How is this happening to her?" My head was overflowing with questions, all bubbling in the back of my throat.
"When, the incident happened, when what she can't remember from her dream, occurred, her memory was completely erased. Or at least, that was what I so thought had happened. Hermione was and is much stronger than anybody gave her credit for." Charlotte stated matter-of-factly, a hint of a smile on her lips. "She hung onto something, something that is making her remember. Only she doesn't understand, or know exactly what she is remembering, or that they are memories at all. They come to her at the time her body is most relaxed, so they can fight their way in. They can also be triggered by something, like when Ron winked, she remembered a time where she made contact with him. Keeping up?" Charlotte asked as she flipped through yet another book, glancing up at me as I spoke.
"She always was strong." I murmured, the cogs spinning in my mind. "Always." I coughed softly, clearing my throat. "So, her mind is infested by one, in particular memory, that is of the night she lost her memory? Only, not all of it was destroyed, but you don't know why?" Charlotte nodded, but didn't say another word. "Okay..."

I looked over to where Hermione slept, her porcelain skin creamy and silky. So peaceful she looked while she slumbered. All I wanted to do was to hold her in my arms, to feel her lips on mine, her breath on my cheek. I tore my eyes from here, to see Charlotte staring at me worryingly. I shook my head so my hair fell into my eyes, scowling at her. I stormed out of the room, my emotions now taking over. I didn't know why I felt angry and frustrated, but as I fell onto a sofa, all I wanted to do was cry my eyes out until my body was numb. Hermione. My Hermione. She was still inside, locked away. Somewhere. Leaving only a shell behind. My head was in my hands, my eyes squeezed shut.

All the pieces of the puzzle were finally coming together, everything was making sense. Seeing her in the state she was in...it made my heart physically ache. I missed her, still. So much. When I heard the creak of the door, and footsteps on the wooden floor, I looked up. Ginny was padding softly towards me, now dressed and showered, but still had dark circles underneath her eyes. She sat down next to me, taking my hands from where they held my head, forcing me to look properly at her, as she held my wrists.
"We'll find a way to help her." Ginny stared into my eyes, her hands loosening around my wrists. She let her hands fall, and lightly resting them on my thigh. When I didn't reply, she spoke again. "I miss her too, you know." She sighed and lent into me, her breathing steady, a continuous rhythm.

"They are memories, Ginny." I whispered after a few minutes of silence. "Her dreams. They're memories." Ginny clasped one of my hands in hers. She didn't say anything, but I knew she was thinking the same thing as I was.

We will get her back.

So there we go! Her dreams were memories. But you already knew that, right? Anyway! Sorry this chapter was quite abit shorter, but I have an idea for the next one, which needs a whole chapter, then we will get some proper PROPER DRAMIONE action! woo , yay:DD ahaa, well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I will try to update sooon!

And I have to ask this, but please reveiw! I would appreciate it so much:)

So until the next time - Goodbye!

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