Hermione headed to St. Mungo's early the next morning with Ron and Juliette, all three eager to meet the new arrival. They were met by Mr Weasley in the busy-as-ever reception area. Thankfully, they didn't need to wait in the growing queue which was now held up by a a woman with a huge beak who was squawking loudly at the receptionist.
"I told you already, FOURTH FLOOR SPELL DAMAGE!" the receptionist screeched back as the three greeted Arthur.
"Hello Grandpa!" Hermione said a little loudly so that Arthur could hear her over the squawking woman.
Arthur grinned and gestured toward the lifts. Once inside, he pressed the small button bearing the number six and finally spoke.
"That's better! That woman has been here since we arrived. The healers took her up to the fourth floor in the same lift as Molly and I earlier but she must have gone back down. Merlin knows why, the reversal spell is fairly straightforward for human transfiguration."
"Never mind that, Dad!" Ron scolded. "How's the baby? How are Ginny and Harry?"
"Fine, fine. All fine. James looks just like Harry, not a drop of Weasley in him though his eyes are pretty dark blue, Ginny thinks they'll be brown like hers," he smiled fondly.
The voice in the lift announced their arrival on the sixth floor and the group stepped out into the bright corridor. The walls were decorated with moving cartoon pictures of pygmy puffs and puffskeins. There were also paintings of flying phoenixes carrying pink and blue bundles, Hermione assumed this was their equivalent of storks delivering babies in the Muggle world; the effect was very cute.
They walked a little way along the corridor until they reached a door that bore a sign with Ginny's name on it. Arthur, who had been leading the way, stopped and turned to face the other three.
"I'll just nip in and tell Molly you're here. Only two visitors are allowed in at once so she'll have to tear herself away," he smiled as he entered the room.
"You two go in first," Juliette said to Ron and Hermione, who opened her mouth to protest. "It's fine Harry is your best friend, I'll go in when you're done Hermione."
Mr and Mrs Weasley came out of the room at this point, the latter grabbing her son in a tight hug and sobbing into his shoulder.
"Oh, he's beautiful Ron," she said, pulling away and wiping tears from her eyes, "my first grandson! Go on, get in there and meet him."
She ushered Ron into the room and Hermione followed chuckling. It was a small and cosy room. The walls were plain and most of the space was taken up by a bed, a few chairs around it. In one corner there was a white nursing chair in which Ginny sat, cradling a bundle wrapped in blue blankets. Harry stood by her side, both new parents looked exhausted but were gazing happily at their son. The picture was so perfect that Hermione didn't want to interrupt; Ron, however, was less tactful.
"Alright you two," he announced, grinning.
"Alright," Harry beamed back.
Hermione rushed over and hugged Harry tightly, kissed Ginny on the cheek and congratulating them both before peeking at the baby in Ginny's arms. Arthur was right; he was exactly like Harry. He had an array of black hair which was already standing on end at less than one day old. His face was round, his cheeks were pink and his eyes were shut tight.
"He fell asleep when Mum was holding him," Ginny explained.
Hermione took a step back so Ron could see his nephew.
"Looks just like you mate," he said to Harry, "poor thing."
"I said the same thing to Ginny," Harry replied, laughing.
"Do you want to hold him?" Ginny asked her brother.
"Let Hermione first, I can see she's dying to," Ron said, nudging Hermione forward.
She didn't object and took the baby from Ginny into her own arms, marvelling at how light he was. Ron summoned the chairs closer and both him and Hermione sat down, Harry perched on the arm of the chair Ginny was in.
"So," Harry began awkwardly, "there was-er, something we wanted to ask you both while you're here"
"Hmm?" Hermione said, still staring at baby James.
"Well," Harry continued, "we'd really like you both to be James' Godparents."
"Really?" Hermione said, looking up. "I'd be honoured!"
"Me too," Ron said. "Definitely. Can I buy him his first broom like Sirius did for you?"
"We'll see," Ginny laughed.
Hermione left the hospital shortly after. Though she could have stayed for hours, she wanted to give Juliette a chance to see James before the rest of the Weasley's arrived. Not wanting to go home, she used the fireplace in the reception area (now bird woman free) to floo to the Leaky Cauldron. She spent the next few hours shopping for baby clothes for James and left with several bags full, her favourite purchase being the white outfit covered in golden snitches; knowing Harry and Ginny would love it.
She apparated home and put the bags on the guest bed in the spare room of her flat; she would take them to Harry and Ginny when they were home, they suspected it would be some time later today. She closed the door behind her and headed to her small kitchen, craving a warm mug of tea. Her craving, it seemed, would have to wait, for as soon as Hermione filled the kettle she felt the sensation in the pit of her stomach that told her she was about to be taken away. Sighing, she braced herself and soon her kitchen disappeared and she was somewhere entirely different.
The where turned out to be Hogwarts; more precisely the Astronomy Tower. Draco was already there, looking paler than usual and pacing the floor.
"Draco?" Hermione asked tentatively.
He whipped his head around, startled by her appearance. His expression was that of a rabbit caught in a headlight; eyes wide, darting around. He turned away from Hermione without saying a word, more focused on the stairs behind them.
Hermione looked over his shoulder and soon discovered what it was he had been looking for: himself. Sixteen year old Draco ascended the stairs and stepped on to the landing of the Astronomy Tower. Just like the version of himself he couldn't see, he began pacing. Their expressions were identical, only the slightly longer hair, more defined cheekbones and stubble-lined chin on the older Draco set them apart.
Hermione now knew which memory this was. She glanced out of the window and an eerie green light that was being cast downwards on the tower confirmed it. The Dark Mark was out of sight above her head and she knew this was the night Dumbledore died. She desperately did not want to see this, it had been bad enough imagining it in her own head when Harry described what had happened all those years ago, now she would see it first hand.
"Dammit!"
Draco's voice made her jump. She turned away from the window to see him, wand in hand, scrunching his face up in concentration; he was trying to apparate.
"You know that won't work," she told him quietly.
"It has to," he hissed. "I can't stay here and watch this."
She was about to reply; to tell him that their trips didn't work that way, they couldn't just apparate away because they didn't want to see. She was going to suggest that he try going to another part of the castle, as he had at Malfoy Manor. However, the words did not come; her speech was interrupted by two brooms whooshing past her head and coming to a stop mere feet away from where she stood. One of them was carrying Dumbledore, the other seemed to be flying of it's own accord; Hermione knew that Harry was there with them, under his invisibility cloak.
In the few seconds since their arrival, Dumbledore's wand had clattered to the floor and a now petrified looking Draco was holding his own wand in a shaking hand, pointed at Dumbledore's face.
Like a car crash, Hermione found that she couldn't not watch the scene unfolding before her eyes. She had never felt such a rush of sympathy for another person as she did watching Draco listen to Dumbledore trying to save him, telling him that the Order of the Phoenix could protect him and his family despite their Death Eater status.
She remembered that she was not alone in watching the memory, a rush of guilt washed over her and she scanned the room to see if Draco was still there. She saw him sitting on the stone floor at the top of the stairs, his arms around his knees and his head down. He didn't even look up when Snape ran past him and stood by young Draco's side. Hermione sat down next to Draco on the floor and put a hand on his shoulder, he shrugged it off without a word.
"Severus...please..."
The desperation and pleading in Dumbledore's voice was unlike anything Hermione had heard before. She knew that he wasn't begging Snape to save his life but for him to end it but that did not stop the tears from falling. She squeezed her eyes shut and, in an infantile gesture, put her fingers in her ears. She did not hear the words that ended Albus Dumbledore's life but the flash of green was so bright that it still penetrated her eyelids. She opened her eyes to see chaos; people were running and shouting, Harry had appeared now that the body bind hex was broken and he was able to take off the cloak, he sprinted past Hermione and Draco on the floor and after the Draco who had just raced down the stairs dragged by Snape.
Now that they were alone, Hermione reached out to Draco again, touching his shoulder in what she hoped was a comforting gesture. This time he did not shrug her off; he showed no acknowledgement at all. Hermione watched him closely, unsure of whether she should stay silent and wait for him to speak or say something first.
She had just decided on the latter when the scene around them changed. No longer were they sitting on the light grey stone floor of the Astronomy Tower, the surface on which they sat was now dark and wooden.
Yet again, to Hermione's horror, she and Draco were in the drawing room of Malfoy Manor. As usual, the room was barely lit giving it an eerie feel. The fire was roaring and yet the room was still cold. She and Draco were alone but Hermione could hear voices coming from beyond the open door that presumably led to a hallway. She quickly stood up and crossed the room, her footsteps completely silent on the hardwood floor. She looked out of the door into the hallway beyond to see Snape, Draco and his parents. Narcissa was hugging a shaking Draco, Lucius tore her away and grabbed his son by the shoulders.
"Did you do it?" he hissed. Draco said nothing. "Draco! Did you do it?"
"It is done Lucius," Snape said coldly.
"Severus?" a voice came from behind Hermione, one that she would recognise anywhere, that she hadn't heard in many years; the voice of Voldemort.
Snape walked past her and into the room toward a figure who was standing facing the fire.
"Yes, My Lord?"
"The boy, did he do as I asked?"
"No, My Lord, but it has been done. He is dead."
"Bring the boy to me."
Snape turned to leave the room when Voldemort spoke again.
"And Lucius. Bring him too."
As Hermione watched Snape walk past her, Draco rose from the floor and approached her at the doorway.
"I'm going, I'm not watching this," he told her when she looked at him questioningly.
He stepped forward but was immediately thrown back by an invisible force. He landed noiselessly on the floor and quickly got back on his feet.
"What the...?"
He stretched his hand out and tried to reach into the visible hallway but it was as though the doorway was filled with glass, for it too bounced back.
"It won't let me out. You try," he demanded of Hermione.
She tried to reach her hand past the doorway like Draco had but it too was thrown back.
"It's like a force field, keeping us in this room. We mustn't be able to get away from this memory."
Draco swore and stormed to the far side of the room, taking a seat on the floor for the second time. Moments later, Snape entered the room again, younger Draco and his father following him. They stood on the large green rug in front of the fire, facing Voldemort's back.
"You may go, Severus. You have served me well tonight."
"My Lord," Snape murmured before leaving.
Finally, Voldemort tuned to face the two male Malfoys, his expression as cold as it ever was.
"Draco, Severus tells me you failed to complete the task I assigned to you. Tell me, did you not want Dumbledore to die? Were you in support of him?"
"No, My Lord," Draco mumbled.
"Then tell me, were you too scared to kill a defenceless man?"
"No, My Lord."
"Then I'm curious Draco. You boast to your friends about wearing the mark of Lord Voldemort-yes, I've seen it in your thoughts-and yet you will not do my bidding. I do not like my followers defying me, Draco. This cannot go unpunished. Don't you agree, Lucius?"
"I agree, My Lord." Lucius said almost inaudibly, not looking at his son or Voldemort.
"Then surely, Lucius, you won't object to being the one to do it?" Voldemort said with a cruel smile.
"My-My Lord?" Lucius finally looked up.
"Oh yes, Lucius. You must teach your son that Lord Voldemort knows no mercy. I think three times."
"Please, My Lord. I can't-"
"But you will, Lucius. If you know what is good for you and your family, you will. Now."
"Father?" Draco asked as Lucius turned to face him.
Not meeting his son's eyes, Lucius Malfoy raised his wand and pointed.
"Crucio," he whispered.
Draco fell to his knees, a scream escaping him. He writhed in pain on the rug for what felt like an eternity.
"No!" Hermione yelled though only one person could hear her and there was nothing he could do to help.
Finally Draco's scream stopped. Hermione watched as he pulled himself up onto all fours and began to crawl away like a wounded animal.
"Again!" Voldemort shrieked.
"Crucio," Lucius whispered again.
Twice more Hermione heard Draco being tortured, for she now faced the grey stone wall, unable to watch any more. Twice more she heard his screams and twice more she heard the high, cold laugh of Voldemort.
The screaming stopped for the last time and Voldemort swept out of the room, his humourless laugh still echoing around it. Hermione took one final look at the blonde boy, looking so small and helpless as he curled in a foetal position now in the middle of the gleaming wood floor, before she turned to face his older self.
"Draco?" she whispered.
He did not reply, his eyes were still on himself though it seemed they were looking straight through him. Hermione spoke again.
"Draco? Please talk to me...I know what it's like..." she began, snapping Draco out of his trance.
"YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!" he roared, making Hermione jump. "YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT WAS LIKE!"
"Draco, please, I-" Hermione pleaded.
"You what Granger? What could you possibly say to make me feel better?"
"Nothing, I just-"
"Exactly. Nothing. You know nothing about me, or what my life was like back then. I'm done with these memories, I'm fucking done. Why is it always my shit that we're watching? Am I being punished or something? Was being crucioed by my own father not enough? Just don't even try to give me your sympathy Granger, because I don't fucking want it."
Hermione was so shocked at Draco's outburst that she only realised the churning feeling in her stomach that meant the memory was over as the Manor disappeared. She was left standing alone in her kitchen, tears falling down her face.
hello! Hope you all enjoyed this chapter, please do me me know your thoughts :)