All Characters belong to JK Rowling

Part XIII:

Breathe, just Breathe:

Draco grabbed her shoulders and shook her soundly, even though that did not seem to help. He remembered once hearing if a person could talk, then they could still breathe. He said, "Can you talk?"

She was shaking all over, and her breathing was akin to short, little, hitches. She could not speak, so she shook her head no. He picked her up and ran down the stairs, both of them only in towels. He ran out the front door, the cold air blasting his skin. He yelled, "DON!"

Don and Nick were roaming the outer walls of the yard, in their animagus form. When he was a wolf, Don was brown, and very large. Nick was slightly smaller, with longer hair, and three brown paws and one white. Both wolves looked at each other. They jumped the fence, turning back to men, running toward the sound of Draco's screams. Don reached out for Hermione and said, "What's wrong?" He rushed her back in the house.

"She said she couldn't breathe," Draco said, clearly upset.

Don placed her on the couch, in a sitting position. He told his brother to see if there was a paper bag in the kitchen, if not, transfigure something into a paper bag. Nick ran out of sight, returning in a flash with a paper bag. Don held it up to her mouth and nose and told her to breathe deeply. Soon, she was no longer hyperventilating.

Nick took off his shirt and put it around her shoulders. She put her arms in the sleeves. "What caused this reaction?" Nick asked, sitting beside her on the couch.

"I remembered something, something from my dream. Something about drowning," she said, sobs breaking through each word.

"What were you doing when you remembered, and can you tell me what it was you remembered?" Nick asked. Draco and Don stood in front of Hermione. She turned to look at Nick.

"I was taking a bath," Hermione said. Don looked at Draco, standing there in a towel, and raised his eyebrows in question. Draco gave him a two-fingered salute. Hermione continued, "And Draco said something about not letting me drown, and that's when I remembered something about drowning in my dreams. The water was so cold, and everything was black, and I couldn't breath."

Nick took her hand and said, "You drown in your dream, or Helga does?"

"I don't know. I assume it is I. I don't really recall," she said, her tears ending.

"We need to hypnotize you now, while it's fresh," Nick said, but not looking at Hermione. He was looking at Draco.

Before Draco could voice his opinion, Don yelled, "No, not now. Let her rest."

Nick stood and said, "The sooner we find out what Helga wants, the sooner we can put both her and Salazar's souls to rest. This will be beneficial for not only Hermione and Draco, but for our brother as well."

Draco said, "I agree with Don, not today. Come on, Hermione." He took her arm, and led her upstairs. She looked back at Nick with a sorry expression on her face.

Later that day, Hermione sat by the fireplace, reading a book. Draco walked up to her and said, "Do you think you would be alright if I went to visit my mother for a few hours?"

"No, that's fine, but remember, she speaks to my mum and dad a lot anymore, and they don't know anything about what's going on, so don't let her know anything, either," she warned.

"The dogs are still outside, so whistle to them if you need anything," Draco said, sarcastically. He added, "You do know how to whistle, don't you? You just pucker up and blow."

She smiled and said, "That line is from an old Muggle movie, you know."

"You don't say?" he rolled his eyes. He leaned down and said, "Give me a kiss, Granger. Just pucker up, no need to blow." He kissed her lips, and she lightly smacked his face.

"You are a cheeky, bugger," she said.

"You shock and dismay me with your language," he joked. He waved and walked outside. Bill had wards up against Draco and Hermione disapparating from the house.

As soon as she was sure he was gone, she put her book down and stood from her chair. She walked over to the window. There was the light brown wolf with the one white paw. She opened the door and called out, "Nick?"

The wolf looked at her and ran toward the house. He turned to a man and said, "You called?"

She smiled and said, "Where's Don?"

"He went to tell our parents about Paul. We were putting off telling them, because they have already suffered enough, losing Terry," he explained.

Hermione felt terrible for their family. She asked something that she had not even intended to ask, "Why are you doing this for us? Risking your lives, to save Draco and me?"

"Hermione," he said, taking a deep breath, "I really can't tell you that right now. I wish I could, but it is not my story to tell. I am sorry. Now, what can I do for you? Wait a minute, where's Draco?" He was suddenly worried.

"He went to the Manor, to see his mother," she said.

"NO!" Nick shouted, "He shouldn't have left here! Moreover, I am alone, so I cannot follow him and watch you as well. Why did he leave?"

"I think he just missed his mother," she said truthfully.

"Hermione, go back inside now, I have to think for a moment," he said, smiling weakly at her.

"Wait," she said as he was turning around. "While we are alone, do you want to do something?"

He grinned and said, "I don't know what you have in mind, but I will remind you that Paul's the brother in love with you, and I have a girlfriend whom I love very much." She looked shocked and he said, "I'm kidding. What are you suggesting?"

"Put me under hypnosis again. Help me discover what's happening," she suggested.

He thought for a moment and then said, "I don't think so, not just you and I alone. If something would happen to you, I wouldn't be able to live with myself."

"Please, Nick. It might be our only chance."

"Hermione, I feel such a deep connection with you, maybe there's another way, where you can stay conscious, and I can discover what's going on, if you would allow me to," he said.

She nodded and opened the front door wider. He stepped inside.

What Nick Discovered:

Nick and Hermione walked in the living room of Shell Cottage. They sat beside each other on the couch. He said, "Hermione, I believe I could easily use Legilimency to extract your memories and emotions that you have felt during your dreams."

"I didn't know you were a Legilimens?" Hermione said.

"Yes and a very good one. Sometimes I can ascertain emotions from people without even maintaining eye contact. Sometimes I can just touch them. Other times the connection is so strong, all I have to do is enter a room with them. I feel that connection with you. I'm told it is a gift, although it has also been a curse at times as well. Imagine growing up, feeling what people really felt, and then being confused when they said they felt something entirely different. I learned that people lie very early in my life. It caused a lot of confusion, to my young impressionable mind," he said with a sad smile.

"It almost sounds more like you are telepathic, or a mind reader. I don't really believe in that," she said.

He leaned over, winked and said, "I knew you were going to say that."

She smiled and said, "Fine, you have me convinced. What do you need me to do?"

"Nothing. Just relax, hold my hand, and look deeply in my eyes," he said.

She did as instructed, and said, "You're eyes are an amazing colour of blue. Almost azure," she said.

"Enough flirting," he laughed, "I told you it would never work between us." She hit his arm slightly, and took his hands again and looked into his dark, azure blue eyes. Hermione took a deep breath and started to relax. Then, the onslaught began.

Hermione had just come back to Hogwarts. It was still summer, and she had four more weeks of vacation left, however, she was anxious to return. Truthfully, her parents were driving her crazy. They had bought a new house, moved in, opened their office back up, and was now planning her wedding. She just needed the peace and quiet that Hogwarts offered. She lied to them and said she was required to go back early.

She also missed Draco, so much. It hurt how much she missed him. As soon as she arrived back to the school, Professor McWhorter found her, and told her that they had finally gotten permission to excavate the site of the original Hogwarts castle, and that they had already found several artifacts. She always thought Hermione was one of the best students she had ever taught, and she desperately wanted her help with the excavation. Hermione was thrilled.

The first day back, and already something to take her mind off missing Draco. She dropped her things off in her new room, and followed Davina to the site. Hermione was fascinated with everything they had found so far, even though it only amounted to a few items. One of them, a long pewter cylinder with runes written on it, especially caught her eye. It had a familiar marking on it. Hermione asked if she could examine the runes. Davina was elated, and told her to take it up to the castle and examine it at her leisure.

She took it to her room. She started looking at her Ancient Runes textbook, from her school days. Only a few of the markings were similar to those in the text. She took a piece of parchment, and copied all the runes found there. She wrote the translations of the recognizable ones above the appropriate runes.

Something was bothering her about one in particular. It seemed so strangely similar to the runes on Helga Hufflepuff's cup. In fact, it might be the exact same rune. She had not looked at the cup for over two years. She was afraid of the cup; she did not even know why she had kept it. She went to the bottom of her trunk, which was in the corner of her bedroom. She opened the trunk, and removed the false bottom. There were two secret compartments in the bottom. One, she kept mementos from her childhood, the other she kept the cup.

She removed the cup from its hiding place, and unwrapped it from the black scarf, which had covered it since the day she destroyed the Horcrux. She held the smooth, golden chalice in her hands. She was still afraid of it, to this day. She walked over to the pewter cylinder, and put the cup on the table beside it. The runes matched. How odd. Maybe the cylinder belonged to Helga as well.

Hermione did not know what prompted her, but she placed the cylinder on top of the cup. Strange. They fit together, almost as if they were made to fit. The cylinder covered the cup completely. Hermione removed the cup from the cylinder. She wrapped the cup back up in the scarf, and placed it back in the trunk. She walked back toward her table, and picked up the cylinder. It grew hot in her hand. It was so hot, that she dropped it to the floor. She suddenly felt nauseated and dizzy. She fell down on her knees, landing on the floor.

When she awoke, she had no memory of what happened. What was she doing on the floor? She sat up, and tried to remember what she was doing before she woke up. She could not remember a thing. The last thing she remembered was sitting at her table, and opening up her Ancient Runes book, to examine the runes on the cylinder.

It must have been the heat.

That was what she told herself.

That night, she had her first nightmare.

She woke up, exactly at 2:14 am, shaking and sweating profusely. She went to open her window. She was having trouble breathing. She breathed in the night air, drinking it with an unbridle thirst.

She finally went back to sleep. When she woke up the next morning, she had scratches on her stomach. There were three scratches, right across her lower abdomen, which resembled fingernail marks. She must have scratched herself, somehow.

That was the first night.

The second night, she woke up at 2:15 am. She was sweating again, and she felt her face. It was wet with tears. Why was she crying? That night, she had red marks on both arms. The next morning, they turned to bluish/green bruises.

The third night, she woke up at 2:13 am. She woke up, screaming. She leaned over in her bed, and threw up right on the floor. She could not sleep the rest of the night. She went and took a hot bath, and then wrote a letter to Draco. She just told him that she loved and missed him. She went to the owlery, and called for her owl, Athena. She attached the letter to her leg.

The dreams (nightmares) continued for two weeks before she saw the Medi-witch. She thought all the bruising and marks were odd. She even had a terrible deep scratch on the top of her right hand and a large purple bruise on her left hip. Madame Pomfrey told her she was suffering from stress and she was having night terrors. She saw no signs that Hermione had been cursed and hexed. Just good old-fashioned stress.

That diagnosis did nothing to relieve her. The nurse gave her a sleeping draught, which she would take that night. She went to her classroom, to work on her lesson plans, but she took out the cylinder instead. Why did she have an uneasy feeling that the cylinder and the night terrors were related somehow to Voldemort's Horcruxes? She did not know why she thought that, but she did.

That day, Draco came back. She told him about her bruises. He did not seem too concerned, so she would not let on how upset she was.

That night, again at 2:13, she woke up crying, once again. Draco tried to calm her, but she had the worse dream ever that night. She could not remember it, but she knew it was bad. She told Draco she never remembered her dreams, but that night, she lied. She did remember them, if only a small bit. She remembered seeing a woman, with long blond hair, and a man, with dark hair and a beard, and water. A lot of water. That was all she remembered.

Nick stopped the session. Hermione was upset when he let go of her hands. "Was this the first time you remembered the connection between the cup and the cylinder?" Nick asked.

"Yes," she said, "I didn't even remember bringing the cup out of my trunk until just now. At least now, I know why I've always felt the dreams and the cylinder were connected to the Horcruxes. Do you think the cylinder was made to protect the cup?" She asked.

"No," Nick admitted, "I think the cylinder was Helga's Horcrux."

As soon as he said that, another flash of memory came to the front of her mind.

Questions and Answers:

"You think Helga's soul wasn't in the cup with Salazar's?" Hermione asked.

Nick hesitated, he said, "I told you I have abilities. Since Paul has been in his coma, I have been able to see things, things that only he knows, but because of his unconscious state, has not been able to relay to us. Only Salazar's soul was in the cup. I am sure of that now. I think hers was in the cylinder, the protective sleeve, and I think you released them both when you placed them together."

"Then why aren't their spirits aware of each other? His seems to border between thinking she died that night in the cave, and thinking I am she. I don't know what hers thinks, because I haven't felt her presence in a long time," said Hermione.

"I don't think she's gone. I think she still visits you," Nick began, "but, I also think she doesn't want to scare you, so she's not made you aware of her visits. I think the times Salazar thinks you are Helga, are the times she is inside you. She wants to get a message to him somehow, what that is, I'm not sure."

"What does he want?" she asked.

"I'm afraid to find that one out and I have no clues there either," Nick admitted.

Hermione stood up and shouted, "Then we've done no good here today! We are no closer to finding out the truth!"

He stood beside her, "You are so wrong, Hermione. We found out a lot. Let's not tell the others what we have found out, not yet, okay. Maybe in a day or two, we can try this again. Help you remember your dream. I think that will tell us the most."

"Try now!" she urged. She already was beginning to remember her dream, and she wanted to know the rest.

"No, you need some rest, and so do I. Using my skills tires me sometimes," he said. He went to walk outside, but Don entered the cottage at that moment.

Don said, "I was worried. You left your post."

Nick looked at Hermione, and then to his brother, and said, "Hermione needed to talk to me for a minute."

"About what?" Don asked.

"She wanted to ask me how Paul was," Nick lied.

Don looked at him suspiciously. Hermione could tell Don knew Nick was lying. However, Don said, "Where's Draco?"

Hermione spoke before Nick, maybe he wouldn't see through her fabrication. "He's upstairs, resting. He didn't get much sleep last night."

Don was better than Hermione gave him credit. Maybe he was a Legilimens, too. Don looked upset and said, "Now try telling me the truth."

Hermione was the one who looked upset now and said, "Fine, he went to the Manor to see his mum."

"He shouldn't have gone anywhere!" Don yelled. He grabbed Nick's collar and pushed him outside. He looked at Hermione and said, "I'm putting a locking charm on the door, so you can't leave either. I'm going to go and get Draco." He slammed the door shut.

At the Manor, Draco had been having a nice time visiting with his mum. He had to lie to her, things like, 'yes, everything's going good', and 'Hermione loves the gown you picked out', even though Draco didn't know they had picked out a gown for Hermione. He visited for over an hour, then told his mother he needed to look at the family records, and were they still down in the family vault.

"No, darling, they are up in the library, actually," Mrs. Malfoy told him.

"Why are they in the library?" he asked.

"That very nice Mr. Boot, your mentor, was here yesterday. He asked me if he could see them, and I didn't see the harm. I had one of the house elves bring all five of the massive tomes upstairs to the library so he could examine them."

"How would he know we even kept extensive family records?" he asked.

"Sweetheart, he's a pureblood too, so I'm sure his family does the same thing. I told him the oldest tomes were written in runes, but he said he would be able to translate," his mother said.

"Mother, I wish you hadn't let him look at them," Draco said, upset.

"I'm sorry. They just list our family tree, and birthplaces and death dates, marriages. There's nothing personal in there," she explained.

A small little elf walked into the large lounge and told Mrs. Malfoy that Master Draco had a visitor. Draco stood up. Who knew he was here?

"I'll go see who it is, mother," he left the room, and headed toward the front doors. Outside stood Don Boot.

"Draco, I can't protect you if keep running away," Don said.

"I'm safe here," Draco started, but then he realized something. How could Don Boot just come up to their front door? Not just this time, but when he came to look at their records. Malfoy Manor had more wards and charms protecting it than perhaps even the Ministry. "Don, how is it you are just able to casually stroll to our front door and ring the bell?"

"Your wards do not keep out family members, isn't that right?" Don asked.

"Correct."

"You've answered your own question," Don said, adding, "Now, tell you mother goodbye and come with me."

"What are you trying to say?" Draco yelled.

"I really will tell you what I know, even though to do so desperately goes against centuries of secrets. Please, you are not safe here," Don said.

"I'm not afraid of some ghost!" Draco shouted.

"Neither am I, so do you really think that's what I mean?" Don was upset. Draco told Don to stay there. He went to tell his mother goodbye. She wanted to know if she would see them at Christmas. He really couldn't promise her anything. He told her he would write soon.

He went to the door again, and Don said, "We have to get back to the cottage; I'll meet you outside the cottage door."

Both men apparated to the front garden. Nick, once more a wolf, was roaming the yard back and forth. Don gave him a warning look, and used his wand to open the door. "After you," he said to Draco.

"Why did you lock the door with Magic?" Draco asked.

"So you won't be able to escape again," Don said.

Draco asked, "Are you coming in to tell me your secrets?"

"Yes, just go on in the cottage, and I'll be right behind you," Don said. Draco thought he sounded truthful, so he walked in the door. Hermione was waiting for him. Don slammed the door shut and once more locked it with magic. Draco turned and banged on the door. He heard Don shout, "Soon, Draco. I will answer your questions soon, just not today."

Draco kicked the door. "Damn, him!"

Hermione walked up to Draco and put her arm on his back. "What?"

He whipped around. He told her about how Don had visited his house yesterday, and examined their family archives. Something he found within them must have prompted him to come to her room at St. Mungos, point a wand at them, and force them to go into hiding. He also told her about his cryptic reference to being related to him, somehow.

Hermione was as confused as Draco. She asked, "Do you want some lunch?'

"Are you cooking?" he asked.

"Do you want to cook?' she asked back.

They walked to the kitchen. As the soup was simmering, Hermione stood at the stove, wooden spoon in hand. However, she wasn't paying any attention to the soup. She was trying to figure out how she could tell Draco what she and Nick discovered today, even though Nick didn't want anyone to know yet. She was so distracted in her thoughts, that she didn't realize the soup started boiling over. He walked up to the stove, turned off the burner, and removed the saucepan.

"Do you want to burn the soup?" he asked.

"Is that possible?" she laughed.

"Why are you so distracted?" he asked, pouring the soup into two bowls. He sat at the table, and she joined him. He handed her a spoon. She didn't answer him right away, so they both just started eating.

After several long moments, she prompted, "Draco?"

"Yes?" he asked annoyed.

"Nick helped me remember some things today, while you were gone," she said timidly. The reaction she got from him was worse than she imagined. He turned the table over, spilling soup, and throwing dishes everywhere. Hermione stood up quickly, and backed toward the cabinets.

"That was stupid!" Draco yelled.

Hermione pointed to the mess on the floor and said, "No! That was stupid!"

He walked up to her and grabbed her shoulders. "It's too dangerous. Each time we have been under hypnosis, something bad has happened!"

"Draco, if you would have given me a minute, before you destroyed the kitchen, I would have explained," Hermione began, "he used Legilimency on me. He saw into my memories, and helped me to remember things, which I had suppressed. I was not in any danger, whatsoever, and he did not push me, either. When I was tired, he quit. It was my idea, not his."

"What did you remember?" Draco asked, coming up and putting his hand under her chin.

She actually remembered more than Nick revealed, so she walked to the living room and sat on the couch. She asked Draco to join her. She would tell him everything that she remembered.