Severus Snape first reaction when he saw Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley standing outside the door to his personal chambers just before curfew was anger and excitement; Anger that these two Gryffondors had the audacity to actually knock on his door this close to curfew and excitement because he was certain one way or another he could manage to give them detention and take quite a few house points from them. Then his eyes had drifted back to fall upon Neville and the man who had save his godson, the man who was looking after his godson like no one ever had, putting him before themselves. As he took in their expressions he forgot about his previous emotions and felt worry beginning to set in like a slow acting hex, "Is Draco alright?"
Hermione took the initiative, since both Neville and Ron looked like they wanted to flee, and said, "Yes Professor, Draco is alright, but we need your help if we are to help Draco regain his memories."
For a moment Severus just stared at her, his expression completely blank, which seemed to unsettle both boys, but then his eyes narrowed and his gaze turned calculating, which was a common expression when dealing with Slytherins. Eventually Severus held the door open for them to come in. Hermione had to drag Ron in, and Gabriel followed just a step behind, with Neville hesitantly taking up the rear. They were all a bit surprised to find that Snape's private rooms where not decorated in Slytherin colors, nor where they decorated like his classroom, dark and horrifying. No, Snape's courters where furnished is shades of brown, the walls were done in beige, the floors were a dark cherry wood, with several russet rugs with gold edging. There were two chairs and a loveseat surrounding the fire made of soft leather the color of chocolate. It was not at all what they were expecting, nor was the roaring fire that made the room toasty warm.
As soon as the door had closed behind them Severus turned on them and practically snarled, "What exactly is it, that you need my help with?"
Hermione jumped a bit at the venom, but she quickly squared her shoulder, took a deep calming breath and said, "As you have probably already heard, when Draco woke up he had no recollection of who he was, and only one memory prior to waking up in the infirmary. Gabriel believes that the only way to restore Draco's memory entirely is to discover what the memory is of, what it's about and what it means. Draco told us about the memory, he said he was in a forest, running, and he could hear a flower. We've already established that the memory is likely prior to his transition in the Forbidden Forest. We thought that if perhaps Draco could identify the flower he was talking about we could discover the location of his memory, so we asked Neville for help. He managed to get a few images of likely flowers together and we showed them to Draco."
At this point Nevilled handed the notebook over to Hermione who quickly flipped it to the image Draco had paused on, and handed it over to Severus as she said, "When he saw this image he said it reminded him of the flower from his memory but that it wasn't right, and then he muttered, 'Andromeda, Aries, Bellatrix, Carina, Delphinus, Draco, Gemini, Hydra, Indus, Lucius, Mensa, Narcissa, Orion, Perseus, Taurus.' And when we questioned him on it he shut down, we were hoping perhaps you could tell us what that means and perhaps help us figure out what the flower is in Draco's memory."
Severus stared at the image of the flower before he asked, "Did he say anything else about the flower."
Neville hesitantly said, "He said that it sounded like they were crying but not like a person would, and they reminded him of himself even though they were all different colors."
Severus sighed and handed the notebook back to Hermione, before walking over to a cabinet as he asked Gabriel, "Would you care for a drink?"
Ron looked gobsmacked as he watched Severus walk over to a cabinet and with a swish of his wand it opened and two glasses of amber liquid floated to his hand, before the cabinet closed on it's own without anyone having gotten a good look at exactly what was inside. Gabriel took the offered glass and they both took a seat in the chairs near the fire. Hermione quickly sat on the couch next to Severus and said, "You know, don't you? You know what he was talking about and you know what type of flower he was talking about."
Severus stared into the fire for a moment as he took a sip of his liquid. After a long moment of silence Severus turned his gaze to Hermione, his eyes narrowed in a glare and he asked, "Why is it so important that he remembers? Perhaps it would be better if his memories stayed forgotten."
Gabriel leaned forward and said in a quite solemn voice, "If the Waylon magic did not feel that he could bear the weight of his memories in time, than it would not have left any memories for him to use to piece together his past."
Severus closed his eyes as he gently shook his head and said, "In light of his current condition, I do not think it is possible to 'bear the weight of his memories', let alone advisable."
Hermione said, "It's not a condition, being a Waylon is as much a part of him as being a Witch is part of me."
Severus snorted and asked, "If your parents had taught you your entire life that magic was evil, the work of the devil, would you still have come to Hogwarts, would you still have bought a wand if it meant becoming the one thing your parents hated and feared above all else. You certainly would have at least hesitated, even if you didn't believe their words."
Hermione frowned and asked, "I don't understand the premise of your hypothetical sitation let alone what it has to do with Draco."
Severus continued speaking as though he had not heard her, "Now what if your whole life your parents had taught you that you are only worth the purity of your blood. What if they had taught you that magical creatures were worth less than then a rusty bottomless cauldron, less than a hexed broom, less than mud. What if you parents ingrained in you since birth that you were perfect, but only because you were a rich, smart, and most importantly a pureblooded wizard. What if you believed your parents. They told you not to touch that vase or you would get hurt, and they were right. They told you to stay away from those dirty redheaded children because they'll hurt you, call you names and maybe even hit you, and they were right. They told you to stay away from that boy, because he'll be just like his father and shun any kindness you offer, and they were right. They told you not to take a class on beasts taught by a beast, because you'll only lose house points and get hurt and they were right. They told you that the only way to make friends was to buy them, and to always keep the money flowing or they will turn on you, and they were right. What if your parents told you that werewolves were dangerous, that they might seem like good people, they might even treat you well in class, but when the moon rises they show their true colors, and you wished so much they were wrong, because even though he obviously favored other students he still treated you well, he still helped you overcome your fear, but then he nearly ripped your throat out, and you realized your parents were right again. Then what if the first time you ever had a crush on a girl, she made you so happy and she was just so beautiful, but when your parents found out that girl was a quarter Veela, your mother voiced for the first time how disappointed she was in you for being so naive as to have believed you truly had feelings for a girl who was so obviously using her filthy creature allure to try and swindle you, because creatures like that will do anything to get their hands on your money. You wanted so much for her to be wrong, prayed she was wrong, and the next time you saw that beautiful girl she asked you to take her shopping, asked you to buy her all sorts of expensive things and you realized that once again your parents were right. They told you so many things, and they always seemed to be right so you can't help believing what they say is the truth. You believe it when they say that those creatures are worth less than mud. Would you be able to handle it if you be able to handle it then if you found out that you were one of those creatures?"
Hermione had tears in her eyes as she said, "I didn't know… but surly his father made an exception for Waylon's, most pureblood families do."
Severus shook his head and said, "The Malfoy family is very old fashioned, any creature or muggle blood was considered tainted, and for generations they even tested their potential wives to be certain that they were pure-blooded without even a trace of muggle or creature blood in their system."
Hermione bit her lip as she tried to fight back the tears that were welling up. She had suspected as much, she had heard Lucius and Draco rant about how much better purebloods were but she hadn't really understood what that would mean for Draco now that he was what his father would consider a creature. Hermione for the first time began to wonder if perhaps it would be better if Draco didn't remember. It was then that Gabriel said softly, "I'm afraid that one way or another Draco is going to get his memories back, and it would be better if we were there for him when they do come back. I believe with our help he may be able to find a healthy way to cope with his memories."
Severus sighed, he had suspected as much, and his only hope of helping his godson was telling them secrets he had sworn never to reveal. Severus took a long swallow of the fiery liquid to fortify himself, before saying softly, "Malfoy Manor was built around a garden, not just any garden but a garden that was once connect to the realm of the fae, as you can imagine this is a well hidden secret, and I was only informed of the fact when Lucius named me Godfather. Other than myself and the Malfoy's the only people that ever knew this fact where the Black family, simply because they are so closely tied to the Malfoys, even before Lucius and Narcissa got married."
Severus now had the others undivided attention as he went on with a little less hesitance, "Every lunar year a different flower grows within the walls of one particular garden in Malfoy manor, and although the other gardens grow all of the flowers all the time, none are as vibrant and as powerful as the flowers that grow within these walls. Most Malfoy's are named after the flower that bloomed during their birth and occasionally if a very powerful wizard is born than their flower might bloom more than once. The most common to bloom flowers are Andromeda, Aries, Bellatrix, Carina, Delphinus, Draco, Gemini, Hydra, Indus, Lucius, Mensa, Narcissa, Orion, Perseus, and Taurus, but since Draco's birth only his flower has bloomed. It was both a blessing and a curse for Draco, for when Lucius was in his rational mind he would rejoice that he was blessed with a son so powerful that his namesake continued to bloom, but when Lucius was not in his rational mind, which he never was if he had even a drop of liquor in his system, he would grow so furious with his son for making only his flower bloom and depriving everyone else of the joy of seeing their own flower."
Hermione had given up fighting back her tears as she asked, "That's horrible."
Severus shook his head and said, "It would not be so bad if Draco was like all of his ancestors before him, cold and practically heartless, but Draco was never either of those things. He felt more in a single breath than Lucius has in his entire life. Narcissa and I, we tried so hard to protect him, and I hoped, prayed even, that perhaps outside of Malfoy Manor he would flourish and be able to freely express his emotions, but I'm afraid the opposite happened. He was promptly labeled the ice prince, because he so rarely showed even a hint the emotions he thrived on as a child. Since he came to Hogwarts I've only ever seen flashes of emotions that should not be there, fear, sorrow, and anger. I tried to get him to show some real emotions on so many occasions but it was as though he had stamped them out, I even tried, once or twice to try and look in his mind to find some way to free him from the prison he created, but he had somehow managed to not only block his emotions but his mind."
Hermione was pressing her face into Ron's shoulder in an attempt to hide her tears, as Ron asked, "You mean like occlemancy?"
Severus shook his head and said, "No, even when someone is using occlemancy you can still get a glimpse into their mind, with Draco it's as though he's not even there, I can't even feel him there."
There was a long silence, except for the sound of Hermione's quite sobs, until finally it was broken when Neville asked, "So the flower Draco remembered was the flower he was named after?" He waited for Severus's confirming nod before asking, "In Draco's memory he said the flower's were crying…"
Neville stopped there, unsure exactly how to phrase his question, but Severus must have gotten the just of it because he said, "The children and the flowers formed a sort of bond. If a child were hurt or killed while their flower still bloomed than the flower would wither and on those occasions usually the flower would never bloom again. If a child were healthy and happy than the flowers were vibrant and plentiful. If a child were devastatingly depressed, the flowers would droop and some would even weep. I can assume that the forest of Draco's memory is the one on the grounds of Malfoy Manor closest to the garden."
Gabriel said, "Thank you Severus."
Severus narrowed his eyes and asked, "For what?"
If Gabriel noticed the angry bight to Severus's words, he did not show it as he said, "I was not certain how Draco managed to suppress his Waylon magic for so long, and based on what you've told us, I believe I have finally discovered my answer. Many have theorized that Waylon magic is strongly tied to emotions but the truth is, a Waylon's emotions are their magic. Draco somehow managed to turn his emotions off and by doing so he essentially turned off a part of himself, the Waylon part."
There was a short moment of silence as they all tried to digest Gabriel's words. The three Gryffindor's jumped when the silence was broken by rapid, panicked knocking on Severus's door. Severus sighed and said, "It's probably one of the Slytherin's, wait here."
Severus got up, dropping his glass on a side table he walked to the door, his wand out. They were all surprised when Severus opened the door a crack so he could peak out, when they heard Harry's voice shout out, "He's gone!"
Burning Memories
