Disclaimer: I own nothing

A/N: Is anyone still out there? I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter, it's kind of the start of some things that need to happen to propel the story forward. I hope that makes sense. In any case, let me know what you think! And sorry for the wait! I hope this was worth it!

Chapter 14

Hermione
Present

They apparated into the manor directly and Hermione yanked her hand away as soon as she had steadied herself on her feet. "Who the hell do you think you are?"

"Last I checked, your husband," the man drawled and she bit her tongue to keep it from moving, from saying things she might regret later. before she turned on her heel and started off down the hall and up the stairs. She heard him growl before his heavy footsteps sounded behind her, "'Mione."

He was following her and his hand snaked out, wrapping around her waist and drawing her back. She reacted first, her palms slapping against his chest as she tried to pull herself away from him once more but he held tight.

"Stop," he commanded.

She huffed but stopped fighting, hoping he would let her go once she had, instead he held tighter, his fingers settling along her hip like they belonged there and she wanted to scream.

"Let me go," she swore dangerously. "now."

"Not until you listen to me," he said, none too gently.

"Why?"

"Because you lied to me, I think the least you can do is hear me out," he barked and she sighed but kept her mouth shut. "You're right, you do deserve answers but there's a reason no one has been giving them to you. The healers don't know what's wrong with you. You shouldn't even be here Hermione, you should be locked up in a room like Gilderoy Lockhart. Those same healers are worried if we overwhelm you, if we tell you too much it will confuse you or plant memories that aren't real in your head. It's the reason everyone has been keeping a distance. They had hoped that if you got back to your routines that something might spark, might bring them back but they aren't- they aren't optimistic now. I mean, it's been weeks-"

He trailed off then, letting go of her and turning as he ran a hand through his blonde hair and Hermione braced herself as she opened her mouth. "I've had some…things come back."

"What?" he asked, turning abruptly to face her.

"I mean, there was the thing with Leo obviously but today I saw something, with Ronald."

Draco's face hardened, "And you didn't think to tell me?"

"I didn't-"

"You lied to me, about where you were going. Was it because of that?" his voice rose and she felt her irritation mount.

"No, I lied to you because I knew you would act like this." She shouted back and she saw a look of surprise flash across his face before he quickly cleared it up. "You say the healers don't want to confuse me? Well, I'm already confused Draco. I didn't tell you about Ron because I knew how you'd react, and obviously I was right."

He inched forward then, his breath fanning across her face as he spoke lowly, "You don't understand-"

"No, you're right. I don't understand;" she countered quietly, "So help me. Help me understand Draco."

He closed his eyes, a crease forming between his brows, before he finally opened them up once more, meeting her gaze as he whispered, "I'm trying, you have to know that."

She shook her head sadly, "I don't know anything."

He was quiet for a beat before he reached out, his hands finding her hips once more as he leaned down, his forehead pressing against hers, "You know me Hermione. You do. You just… have to come back. Come back to me."

The air was heavy around them, the silence broken only by the sound of a distant clock ticking from somewhere deep within the manner as she tilted her head to look up at him through her lashes, her own voice breathy as she replied, "I'm trying."

And then his lips were on hers, his fingers trailing lazy circles upon her exposed flesh as the motion set her skin on fire and she found herself leaning into the kiss, her own fingers tangling in the soft hair at the nape of his neck as she pulled herself closer to him and for a moment, she was free. The bounds of her memory loss were gone as she felt whole in his arms, like the missing part of her had been filled by his mere presence flush against her body. The high was over too soon however as she pulled away, chewing on her lip as she shook her head.

"I'm sorry… I can't."

She left him standing in the hallway as she made her way back to the guest room and shut the door behind her, sliding down the closed door as she heard his heavy footsteps approach before they quietly moved further down the hallway and she heard his door open and close and she desperately wished for him to come back.

DRACO
Past

He stared down in disgust at the Daily Prophet sitting beside his half empty cup of tea, the headline boldly proclaiming "Auror Weasley confirms Mysterious House Elf Murderer Dead" as a picture of Blaise moved underneath. He had watched the picture for what felt like hours, it was an old one, taken years previous and he was pretty sure it was some wizard reporter's attempt at catching himself off guard who just happened to catch the photo of his best friend.

He felt sick.

"I don't care what he's doing, put him on now." Hermione ground out and Draco looked up to see her gesturing wildly with one hand while the other held her "fone" to her head. She had explained that it was a muggle contraption that made it easier to stay in touch as she pushed something or other and then held the thing to her head. "Ronald, since when does your secretary answer your mobile?... No, it's fine but... No, listen, I don't care." Draco smirked at her back as she snapped into the bloody thing, her voice reverberating around the room. "Please tell me you didn't go to the Daily with the story… Ronald, you can't possibly know that."

Draco swallowed hard, turning to look out the window of his bedroom, the sky was beginning to darken and it looked as dark and foreboding as he felt.

"No, you listen to me Ronald Weasley… Ron… Ron?"

She swore loudly and Draco turned to her, a half smirk playing on his lips at her outburst and she rolled her eyes.

"Well, what did he say?" Draco asked.

She straightened her shoulders, looking him square in the face, "He said it's an open and shut case and there was no reason to continue causing a panic. Draco, he said they found his fingerprints on the knife that killed his elf."

Draco clenched his jaw so hard he felt it pop, "He wouldn't-"

"Yes, but-"

"No," it was his turn to snap, "You don't understand. Blaise's mum was never around and when she was she always had a new man. Blaise was alone and that elf, she raised him. He wouldn't harm her and whether you want to believe it or not, I don't."

"Draco-" she started quietly but he shook his head, heaving himself up from his bed and crossing the room, throwing open the doors to his armoire and yanking out a clean pair of robes.

"Not everyone is my father Hermione, not everyone wants to hurt other people or their help, and Blaise, he was a slytherin but he is a- he was a good man." His heart clenched a little at his slip up and he ignored it as he reached down to unbutton his pyjama top, grimacing at the pain that it brought.

"You're right," she was suddenly there, right before him and she reached out to push his hands away gently. "Blaise wasn't your father and neither are you. If you say that Blaise didn't do this, I believe you. We'll get to the bottom of it."

He nodded, his breath hitched a little as she finished undoing the buttons on his shirt and finally looked up at him, her dark brown eyes meeting his, "Thank you."

His words seemed to break the trance and she pulled away from him, turning back to where she had left her mobile on his bed and picked it up as he continued dressing in his robes, the need to do something nearly suffocating.

"Harry…" Hermione said and Draco paused, turning to note the small smile on her face, the pinched look from her previous phone conversation gone, and he tried to tamp down the feeling that it seemed to stir up within him. Unwilling to think about it. To acknowledge it. "Yes, we read it… Do you believe it?... No, no I guess not… Right, well, if you could pull out your chosen one title for a little bit, I may need it. No, nothing like that I'm just… going to go to Blaise's and check it out… Right, wouldn't dream of it."

She ended the conversation on a laugh and Draco was there, pulling on his robe as he picked up his wand from where he had left it on his beside table.

"What are you doing?" she asked as she met his gaze.

"Going with you," he answered as though it were the most obvious thing in the world and really, it was because even if he could, he wouldn't leave her to do it alone and he had a feeling she felt the same.

HERMIONE
Present

She had known, as soon as she saw his face fall, that she should have told him of her returning memories. She should have, but she didn't and she didn't want to think about the reason why. She couldn't.

Sighing she gave up on the book she had been reading and slipped out of bed with it, grabbing her wand out of her pocket and casting a light as she left her room. Her thoughts were to go to the library to return the book but instead she found herself walking towards the children's rooms. She stopped by Leo's first, smiling as she saw him cuddled up in his bed with his beloved blanket tucked under his chin. In his sleep he looked so much like a darker haired version of his father and Hermione leaned upon the door frame for a moment, smiling as she looked at her sleeping son.

Before long, she heard a noise, coming from the room across the hall and down a door and she moved towards the open door to Lyra's room to see Draco sitting in the rocking chair, Lyra nestled on his lap with her head tucked under his chin as they rocked together, the only light coming from the soft glow of the stars twinkling on the ceiling.

She stood silently, half hidden behind the door frame as she watched her husband rock their daughter and it was only after a moment that she realized he was singing to her; the words leaving his mouth brought tears to her eyes as she remembered the same words coming from her mother's mouth when she was a child and had woken up from a bad dream. He looked up suddenly and met her gaze, unspoken words passing between them before he stood up, carefully, and settled Lyra against him. He gently kissed the mop of messy white blonde curls upon her head and lowered her down into the cot before he backed out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

They stared at each other, in the light from her wand in the middle of the hallway before she finally broke the silence, "That song-"

"You sing it to her. Have since she was born, Leo too. When she wakes up at night it calms her down, gets her to go back to sleep."

She nodded, chewing on her lip as he shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked on his heels.

"About earlier-"

"I'm sorry-"

They both spoke at the same time and Draco nodded, allowing her to go first, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about the memories…"

She didn't elaborate and he didn't question it.

"You're right though." He said with a shrug, "I would have gotten angry. I did. I.. you deserve answers. I know that as much as you but I'm… I'm scared. I'm afraid that if I give you too much-"

He trailed off, his eyes on the floor between them and she felt her heart clench and ache at the same time, the urge to put herself in his arms nearly unbearable and she wished, for just a moment that her old self, the one she couldn't remember, would make an appearance, if only to comfort the man before her.

But she didn't and instead, Hermione reached out, grasping his fingers in hers and giving them a light squeeze.

"I'm not asking for everything. We can… start small?"

Her words gained his attention then, his gaze meeting hers and for a second she forgot how to breathe before he finally nodded, "Okay."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," he smirked and she felt herself smile in return as he continued, "Meet me in the library in ten?"

She agreed, letting go of his hand to go back to her room to return her book, and she couldn't help but think that maybe, just maybe, there was hope for them yet.

A/N: I won't call anyone out because I'm an adult but to person who sent me the private message asking me to just hurry up already because it's too slow, I'm sorry but I'm trying to make this as realistic as I can despite it being, well, fantasy. I love each and every one of your reviews and pm's and I honestly do take them all to heart and I LOVE hearing your theories. (one or two of you have actually tiptoed around the bigger picture.) However, I know you're impatient to figure it all out but I won't half ass it just to get it over with and Hermione isn't going to immediately jump into Draco's arms. Moving into the manor was a huge step. Please remember, everyone else has had years and years to come to terms with "Dramione" in this story whereas Hermione only remembers up to the end of the battle. Hope you all can understand and please, review!