"Who?" Hermione asked, outloud.

Then, remembering that he couldn't hear her, she wrote it on the piece of paper. A minute later, Blaise held up the pad of paper again.

Goyle, Flint, Greengrasses, Pucey

"All the younger Death Eaters," Hermione murmured. "The last ones Kingsley obliviated are the first ones to remember."

"What do we do?" Millicent asked, concerned.

"Nothing yet," Hermione said, as she scribbled another note to Blaise.

"What did you tell him?" Susan asked.

"To keep an eye on them," Hermione replied. "All of them."

"Hermione, is it time to…?" Millicent began but Hermione held up her hand and stopped her.

"Not yet," Hermione replied. "But soon. Get everyone here, I want us to make sure that the plan is foolproof before we spring it on the others."

"I'll get them," Susan told her. "It's almost time for the shift change so both Dennis and Padma should be here soon."

"Millicent, now that we know who's remembering, keep an eye on them," Hermione instructed as Susan left the room. "If they do anything out of the ordinary, let me know immediately. I'm going to run and fill in Ron and Harry then go back to Asylum."

With a nod, Millicent turned her back to Hermione and Hermione ran out of the room into the workspace. Harry and Ron had the evidence boxes from Kingsley's home spread out across several of the desks.

"I need to go back to Asylum," Hermione told them, rushing over. "Blaise just let me know that some of the younger Death Eaters are starting to remember. I need to go talk to him and find out who and what they remember."

"Hermione, it's getting late, did you even notice the time?" Harry asked. "Why don't you just go in the morning?"

"I need to find out as soon as possible," Hermione replied. "I'll just come back home whenever I'm done there."

"Why don't you just stay there?" Harry asked. "Stay in your house."

"No bedroom," Hermione reminded him.

"There is now," Harry replied, simply.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, surprised.

"It was only a matter of time before they started remembering," Harry said. "You're going to need to be on the ground there when they do. So I figured you might as well have somewhere to sleep. Ginny's been over there all day making your house an actual house."

"Harry Potter, I love you," Hermione said, throwing her arms around his neck in a tight hug.

"You haven't seen what Ginny's done to your house yet," Harry said, grinning as he returned her hug. "You may not thank me after that."

"I'm sure it's fine," Hermione said, pulling back. "Thank you so much."

"And this means you don't have to stay with the Malfoys," Ron pointed out. "No need to go back into that snake pit."

"Yes, of course," Hermione said, ignoring the feeling of disappointment that caught her by surprise. "Anyway, I have to go! Bye!"

Hermione rushed out of the workspace and, within a few minutes found herself back in her house in Asylum. At least, it should have been her house in Asylum. Ginny had truly outdone herself, Hermione thought with a small laugh. The floors were a deep hardwood that gleamed, as she wandered through the house she saw gorgeous furniture, bright light fixtures, and even art on the walls. Hermione thought she heard music from upstairs. She ascended the winding staircase and followed the music into what she assumed was now her bedroom. A large bed was the only piece of furniture in the entire room. Ginny lay on the bed with her eyes shut, humming along to the music that was playing from a radio Hermione could see propped up on the window sill.

"Working hard, or hardly working?" Hermione asked, looking at her friend with a smile.

Ginny opened her eyes but didn't move. "I've exhausted myself," she said. "But your house looks fantastic if I do say so myself."

"It does," Hermione replied, gratefully. "Thank you, Ginny, for doing this."

"I'm happy to help," Ginny said, finally sitting up on the bed. "I thought this was probably all you'd need in your room. If you had any kind of company..."

"Company?" Hermione asked, pushing away thoughts of Draco in that room. On that bed. "What do you mean?"

"Oh please," Ginny answered, dismissively. "Hannah told me all about the vibes between you and Malfoy."

"There's nothing going on between us," Hermione said, unconvincingly. "Nothing at all."

"Is he still good looking?" Ginny wanted to know, ignoring Hermione's answer. "He may have been a complete and total ass at school but he was always good looking."

"Ginny," Hermione replied, helplessly but Ginny kept on going.

"I mean he's a bit blonde for my taste, but hey, whatever works for you!"

"Ginny," Hermione said, stopping her. "It would never work. He doesn't know who he is - he doesn't have his memories. As soon as he did, he'd remember that he hated me. I'd be taking advantage of him."

"If I didn't have Harry, I wouldn't mind taking advantage of him…" Ginny murmured as Hermione's eyebrows shot up. "What? I'm married not dead."

"Ginny,' Hermione said, weakly. "It wouldn't be right."

"So find a way to make it right," Ginny replied, with a shrug. "Even the playing field somehow."

"How would I do that?" Hermione wanted to know.

"I don't know," Ginny said, sliding off the bed and moving toward Hermione. "But if anyone can figure something like that out, it's you."

Ginny threw her arms around Hermione in a quick hug before releasing her.

"Now, I'm going to go home and take advantage of my husband if he's made it home," Ginny said, giving Hermione a grin. "I've put on a little weight and it's all gone to my breasts. Time to use it! Enjoy the room!"

Without giving Hermione the chance to respond, Ginny bounded out of the room and, a minute later, Hermione heard the whoosh of the portkey. With a shake of her heard, Hermione went back downstairs. She'd check in with Malfoy, she decided. See if they'd had any luck finding Theo. If not, she'd come back here and get some sleep. Hermione made her way down the street and, within minutes, raised her hand to lift the knocker on the door of the Malfoy home. Before she could knock, the door swung open and, to Hermione's surprise, Blaise was on the other side.

"Blaise!" Hermione exclaimed, giving him a quick hug. "How are you doing?"

"Just fine," Blaise said, with a smile. "I was actually hoping to run into you. Do you have a moment to talk?"

"Of course," Hermione replied, trying to look past Blaise to see if anyone was behind him.

"Draco is in his room," Blaise told her. "I was just leaving. We can talk here on the porch if you like then you can go in and see him."

"That's fine," Hermione said, giving him a smile. "What's going on?"

"All the younger Death Eaters are having significant memory return," Blaise told her. "They're frightened, they think they're having vivid dreams, and most of them seem to be fighting remembering."

"Fighting remembering?" Hermione asked. "What does that mean?"

"They don't want to remember," Blaise said. "They have good, simple, happy lives here and it seems they're fighting to hold onto that feeling and ignore anything that threatens that."

"What do they need?" Hermione wanted to know. "What can we do?"

"Ideally, I'd say you need to give them their memories back or perform a better memory charm," Blaise replied. "But if neither of those are possible, I think someone needs to talk to them and let them know what's happened."

"We can't do that," Hermione said, with a sigh. "Any of that. We can't give back their memories, another memory charm would possibly irreparably damage their brains, and we aren't ready to talk to them."

"What the hell are you going to do then?" Blaise asked. "The more they remember, the more of a danger they become not only to themselves but to each other and to this place as a whole."

"I know, I know," Hermione said, shaking her head. "But for now, I just need you to keep them talking to you and keep a close eye on them. That's the best we can do. Can you handle that?"

"Yes," Blaise told her, begrudgingly. "But I don't know how much longer me doing that will be enough. I hope you have a plan."

"I do," Hermione promised. "I just need more time."

"Okay," Blaise replied.

"What about Malfoy?" Hermione asked, trying to keep her tone neutral. "Is he remembering?"

"He has flashes," Blaise told her. "Most of his memories come to him as dreams. He doesn't like to talk about it though so I really don't know how much he knows."

"What about Pansy?" Hermione wanted to know. "She was obliviated right before you were supposed to be. Surely if the others are remembering, she is too."

"She hasn't said a word," Blaise said. "And knowing Pansy, she would. Maybe Kingsley's spell holds stronger on weaker minds."

"Maybe," Hermione murmured. "But maybe you should check in with her, just to be sure."

"I can do that," Blaise replied. "Anything else?"

"No," Hermione said. "But I'll be here tonight so if anything happens, come get me and we'll deal with it."

"Sounds good," Blaise answered. "Good luck, Hermione."

At that, Blaise walked off the porch, leaving Hermione behind. They were running out of time, she thought. They needed to find Theo sooner rather than later. It was likely he had more of his memories back than the others and perhaps that was leading to his actions. She needed answers and right now, Theo was the only person who might be able to provide them. She turned to ask Blaise about the search but he was already long gone. Hermione turned and knocked on the Malfoy front door. A couple minutes later, Draco appeared wearing nothing but pajama pants.

"Granger," Draco greeted, raising an eyebrow. "Care to come in?"

"No," Hermione said, cooly. "I just wanted to see if you'd found Theo."

"We couldn't find him anywhere," Draco replied, frustrated. "Wherever he is, he's doing an excellent job of hiding."

"Where did you check?" Hermione asked, curiously."

"Damn near everywhere," Draco told her. "We even went through most people's homes. Unsurprisingly Nott, Senior wouldn't let us in but Blaise and I snuck into Theo's room through an open window and it doesn't look like he's been there a couple days. There's a few more places along the woods we could probably check but it got dark so we called it a night."

"Well I better call it a night as well," Hermione said, taking a step back as Draco took a step forward.

"Come inside, Granger," he requested. "I'm sure my mother would insist that you stay here."

"I recently had the house fixed up," Hermione told him, taking another step back. "I'll be staying there. Goodnight."

With that, she walked as calmly and quickly away from him as she could. She turned and saw him standing in the doorway, his eyes following her. She ignored the naked desire in his eyes and turned her back to him. She quickly went down the street and into her house. She went upstairs and noticed a small dresser that hadn't been there before. On top of it was a note that read: Thought you might like some of your clothes - Ginny. With a smile, Hermione opened the top drawer and her mouth dropped open. It was filled with lacy underwear and lingerie.

"Ginerva Molly Weasley!" she exclaimed, slamming the door shut.

She quickly opened the second drawer and was relieved to find leggings and t-shirts along with another note that was simply a piece of paper with a heart drawn on it. With a shake of her head, she pulled out a pair of black leggings and a red Gryffindor t-shirt. She changed clothes and slid into the bed. Draco was the last thing she thought of as she drifted off to sleep.

She couldn't breathe. There was a hand over her mouth, something over her body, and she couldn't breathe. Hermione's eyes shot open, thinking she'd been dreaming, but she immediately realized she hadn't.

"Don't scream," a harsh voice whispered next to her ear. "I'll take my hand off your mouth if you promise not to scream."

Hermione nodded as her heart pounded in her chest. The hand was removed and the body lifted off of hers. She sat up and, through the moonlight, was able to make out a form at the end of her bed. Her wand was under her pillow, she knew. She always slept with it there, a habit from the war she'd never managed to break. All she had to do was…

Stupefy - the spell came and all of a sudden she was frozen sitting up. Stupid, she'd thought, cursing herself. Of course whoever it was would know she would go for her wand. But Hermione had begun to teach herself wandless magic. No time like the present to try it. She focused but her concentration was broken when the figure moved toward her again. As her eyes adjusted, Hermione could finally make out the face of the person in her room.

"You need to listen," Theo said, his face close to hers. "You need to fucking listen."

Hermione sat quietly, working through the counter spell, as Theo began to pace.

"I've been having dreams," he said, running his hands over his face as he walked the length of the room. "But they're real. Voldemort, Harry Potter, Hogwarts, the Death Eaters, all of it. It happened, didn't it? Didn't it?"

"Theo," Hermione said, cautiously, watching as his head snapped towards hers. She kept her eyes on his as her hand closed around her wand. "Theo, you need to calm down."

"How did you?" he began to ask but stopped. "Of course you removed the spell. Of course."

"Theo, let me help you," she said, but was cut off when he began to laugh, maniacally.

"Help? HELP?" he shrieked, staring at her. "That's all anyone wants to do. All they want to do is help me. I didn't want help before and I don't want your help now."

"Who tried to help you before?" Hermione asked, suddenly alerted to what he was saying.

"No one can help," Theo continued, beginning to pace again. "No one can help because I'm a Death Eater, the mark is gone from my arm, but I know it was there, I remember it being there. I remember it."

"We removed the mark," Hermione said, calmly. "I figured out a way to do it about six months after you all moved here."

Theo suddenly stopped pacing and stared out the window. "I didn't do it, you know," he said, sounding almost dazed. "I didn't poison them, I really thought it was Blaise. I thought he wanted to kill them all. I don't want to kill them all."

"I believe you," Hermione told him. "Theo, I believe you and you need to let me help you."

Theo turned his gaze away from the window and looked Hermione dead in the eye. A sneer came over his face. "I remember. I remember you, you filthy fucking mudblood. Avada-"

"Expelliarmus!" Hermione shouted, whipping her wand out from under the pillow and catching Theo's wand in her hand as it soared away from him.

"You mudblood bitch!" he screamed, lunging at her. "I'll fucking kill you."

Before she could react, he was on top of her. He grabbed her by the hair and knocked her head against the headboard while twisting her arm that had his wand over her head. He released her arm with his wand and managed to land a couple of blows before Hermione sent him flying off her. He crashed into the wall of her bedroom and slumped to the floor unconscious. With a sob, Hermione cast a quick binding spell and, after making sure the ropes were secure. She ran from her house, both wands in hand. She ran blindly and, without thinking, found herself at the Malfoy's door. She could feel the tears streaming down her face and her body began to shake as the adrenaline that had fueled her left her body. She managed to raise the knocker and wrapped her arms around her body, holding herself together. The door opened a minute later and a disheveled, agitated Draco Malfoy was on the other side.

"Granger, what the hell-" he started to say, before he took a good look at her. "Granger, what the hell happened to you?"

"Theo," she managed to sob, before she felt her legs give out from under her.

She would have hit the floor if Draco hadn't stepped forward and caught her. He easily lifted her into his arms and carried her into his home, kicking the door shut behind him. Without hesitation, he carried her upstairs and into his bedroom. He set her down on his bed and sat down next to her.

"Granger, you need to tell me what happened," he said, urgently. "What do you mean Theo?"

Hermione took a deep breath to steady herself before explaining everything that happened. She watched as Draco's fists clenched when she described how Theo had attacked her.

"Did he hurt you?" Draco wanted to know, keeping his fists in his lap.

"He just scared me," Hermione told him, reaching out and covering his clenched fists with her hand. "I'm okay."

"I'm going to kill him," Draco seethed, wrenching his hands away from Hermione and standing next to the bed, looking down at her. "I'll fucking kill him."

"Draco, no," Hermione said, firmly, rising as well. "What we need to do is arrest him and leave the board to deal with him. That's the right thing to do."

"You think I give a shit about the right thing to do?" Draco shouted.

Before Hermione could respond, Draco's door flew opened and both Lucius and Narcissa were in the doorway.

"Language," Narcissa said, mildly. "And do stop shouting."

"Mother-" Draco started to reply but stopped when his father shook his head.

"Ms. Granger, we've called Sheriff Goyle and sent him to your home to fetch young Mr. Nott," Lucius said, his expression giving away nothing. "I assure you the matter will be handled."

"Thank you, Mr. Malfoy," Hermione said, cautiously. "I'd like to speak to him if possible."

"He'll be placed under arrest immediately," Narcissa told her. "No one will be able to speak to him until the morning of his hearing, which will likely be tomorrow."

"I'd like Blaise to take a look at him," Hermione replied, changing course. "I believe Theo was suffering from a mental breakdown and I think Blaise should evaluate him."

"He's not crazy," Draco snapped, in response. "He knew what he was doing when he went into your home probably the same way he knew what he was doing when he framed Blaise and poisoned all those people."

"I'll take it to the board," Narcissa said, with a tone of finality. "Ms. Granger, we'll be in touch with you in the morning."

Narcissa gave Draco a look before exiting his room, followed closely by Lucius. Hermione watched as Draco walked over to his bedroom door and closed it. He locked it and put up a silencing charm.

"I should get going," Hermione began but was cut off almost immediately.

"Out of the question," Draco told her, firmly. "You're staying here."

"Malfoy, you're being unreasonable," Hermione replied. "It's my home and I'd like to go back."

"You WANT to go back?!" Draco asked, his eyes practically bulging out of his head. "Five minutes ago you were collapsed on the porch and now you want to go back there?"

"Yes," Hermione replied, raising her chin in challenge. "It's my home, I won't be run out of my own home."

Draco strode toward her and was about to shout but stopped. Hermione looked at him curiously as his eyes widened as he looked at her arms. She looked down and saw that bruises had begun to form where Theo had grabbed her. In fact, she could see a mark where each individual finger had been. Seeing the marks, she could all of a sudden feel his hands on her again and she slid off the bed onto the floor. Draco was next to her in an instant, pulling her into his lap and wrapping his arms around her. Hermione didn't cry but she let herself be held and, as he did, the fear that had come back seeped out of her.

"Stay," he whispered quietly. "I'll sleep in the chair. Just stay."

"Okay," she whispered back. "Okay."

But neither of them moved as Draco continued to hold her and Hermione tried desperately to hold onto her rationality and ignore the wonderful feeling of being held by Draco Malfoy. With a sigh, Hermione pulled away and Draco released her. He stood and helped her to her feet. She made the mistake of looking up at him and when brown met grey, she felt the pull between them. Draco's eyes dropped to her lips and after the briefest pause, closed the distance between them. He kissed her lightly, his lips floating over hers, barely touching her but at the same time she could feel them there. For a moment she forgot and she moved in, putting more pressure into the kiss. She felt his arms tighten around her waist and she slid her arms up his chest and around his neck. His mouth slanted over hers and she welcomed his tongue into her mouth. Draco's mouth left hers and began to trail down her neck. When he drew back, she opened her eyes in confusion only to see him pressing light kisses down the bruises on her right arm. He moved to switch arms when Hermione yanked her left arm away from him as reality came crashing back down. He looked at her, confused, and Hermione felt tears well into her eyes. Mudblood was carved into that arm. She'd never been able to remove it and it stood as a stark reminder of everything that had happened; everything Draco couldn't remember. Sensing something was wrong, Draco drew her into his arms into an embrace. Instinctively, she wrapped her arms around him.

"Come on," Draco said, quietly, releasing her.

He turned and pulled the covers back on the bed. "In you go."

Hermione hesitated but she was suddenly hit by a wave of exhaustion. She climbed into the bed and Draco pulled the covers up to her chin. He gave her a kiss on her forehead.

"I'll be over there if you need me," Draco said, pointing to a small armchair that looked terribly uncomfortable for someone of Hermione's size let alone someone of Draco's size.

Ignoring logic and reason, Hermione pushed the covers back and slid over in the bed. Draco gave her a questioning look but, when she nodded, got into the bed too. He laid down so he was facing the ceiling and Hermione rolled over so that her back was to him. The silence enveloped them.

"Thank you," she whispered quietly a few minutes, without turning over. "For everything. You didn't have to do this."

When Draco didn't answer, she rolled onto her other side, thinking he'd fallen asleep. Instead, he'd managed to silently move onto his side so that now they were facing each other. Draco reached out and caressed her face.

"I care," Draco said, quietly. "I did have to do this."

Hermione felt a physical pain in her heart at his words. "I care too," she said, honestly, refusing to think of all the possible consequences of admitting that to him. "But I can't do this."

"We'll talk about it in the morning," Draco said, opening his arms to her in invitation for her to snuggle in close to him. "You can tell me whatever it is that's making you apprehensive and we'll talk it out. I'll tell you everything that's wrong with me and you'll forgive me for it. It'll even out and you can stop running away from me."

"Even the playing field," Hermione murmured, an idea forming in her mind.

She moved into his arms and sighed as they closed around her. Tomorrow everything would go to hell, she knew. But at least for tonight, they'd have this. She closed her eyes and let the sound of Draco's heartbeat lull her to sleep.

When she awoke the next morning, she woke up alone. Hermione took a moment to breathe in his scent, listen to him shuffle around the bathroom, the way the light filtered into the room. She wanted to capture it all in her memory before she destroyed it. She knew when she'd awoken what she was going to do. When Draco came out of the bathroom and smiled at her, she knew it was the right thing to do. As he walked over to the bed, she sat up. He slid into the bed next to her and looked at her curiously. She took a deep breath and looked him in the eye. It was time to tell him the truth.

A/N: Is the truth REALLY the best thing here?! What's Hermione thinking?!