A/N: Holy cannoli, happy Tuesday, everyone! I apologize for this being a couple hours late; today was... well, a day lol but I wanted to say thank you all so much for helping this reach 400 followers on FFN! It's the most I've ever had for a fic before, and I'm honored and excited to be sharing this story with you.
Chapter 30 - Five of Wands
A general sense of foreboding settled over the cabin as the hours passed.
It didn't help that Malfoy's Patronus hadn't returned; it didn't even help that Theo's high spirits had returned. He was trying to crack jokes, but they all fell flat between the three of them, and Hermione's gaze strayed to the cracked door more often than she cared to admit.
Every time a branch creaked outside, Draco shot up. His shoulders had been locked into a stiff set since he'd sent the Patronus out the window, and it put Hermione on edge.
"Malfoy, sit down. You're driving me spare. It's been less than twelve hours; they're on their way." Theo's voice held a rare note of irritation in it, and he huffed triumphantly when Malfoy spun around and plopped onto the other end of the sofa that Hermione had transfigured.
Hermione tried not to dwell on the sick dread that had settled deep in her belly, the worry that drew her shoulders up around her ears as though she could shield them from the bad news she was worried was inevitable. In an effort to distract herself, she stretched her hand out before her, watching the magic run the length of her splayed fingers.
If she concentrated just enough, she could feel the subtle nuances in it that allowed the tendrils to dance across her fingers. If she didn't know better, she'd say it was alive for how it seemed to caress her and weave amongst her fingertips. It sung with power, and Hermione was transfixed even as her worry ate her alive.
Anger still pulsed in her magic, amplified by the volatility of the powerful depths finally released within her, but it was tempered now by the small measure of understanding Theo and Draco had given her. Coupled with a fierce desire to explore its depths, she allowed the magic to coat her hands in a thin film of ice before she flexed her hand, watching it shatter.
"You're getting better at control," Malfoy observed from the far cushion. He seemed almost as transfixed by the magic dancing over her hand as she was, but his eyes flickered to hers.
She allowed a small smile, feeling the truth of his statement in her bones. "It helps," she mused, "to know that there might be an explanation to all this." Neither of the boys answered, so she chanced a glance at Theo. "Will you tell me what happened? To pass the time?"
His lips thinned, but he didn't respond, so she summoned her bag. With a wave of her wand, she summoned the stack of books she'd packed within and guided them to settle neatly before her.
Wrinkling his nose at the book stack as Hermione settled beside him to check his wound for the umpteenth time, Theo spoke, "Granger, I don't mean to offend you, but—"
"Then you ought to stop talking." She pressed the bandage against his arm harder than was necessary, and he flinched harshly. "And if you're not going to stop talking, then you could make yourself useful and explain all the things you haven't told me yet."
He inclined his head, but she didn't miss the shame that washed over his expression. "Where should I start?"
She waved the wand, watching as faint green glow settled over him and then sank into the skin of his abdomen. A good sign, then, that infection hadn't settled in. "I find the beginning is always a good place to start." She tried to force a sternness into her tone that was reminiscent of McGonagall, and when she arched an eyebrow, Theo's cheeks reddened.
He hummed to himself, watching her fingers dance over the wound. "I didn't want to help you; I just wanted to get Draco back to his tent before his father found out he'd left. Do you remember what he said?"
She froze over him, words all competing to escape but lodging in her throat. As much as she wanted the answers this conversation promised, she wasn't sure that she could handle them. Clearing her throat, she answered him. "They're after Muggles, Granger. D'you want to show your knickers off midair?" The words were burned into her memory from the number of times she'd played them over in the last twenty-four hours, the moment that Draco Malfoy had solidified himself as her enemy.
Beneath her, Theo shifted, a sad smile tilting his lips upward. "Not quite."
Affixing the last of the newest bandage, she settled backward onto her haunches. "Tell me."
Theo sighed. "It would be easier if I could show you."
A gentle prodding at her Occlumency shields accompanied the words, and Hermione reeled backward ungracefully, thudding to her behind as she looked up at him. "Do you mean— Legilimency?"
He nodded once. "If you see… it might help you remember. I don't want you to take my word for it; I know you, Granger, and I know you won't believe it until you remember it. And we don't have much time. I'll be healed soon, and we'll need to move on." He shifted, wincing as the stitches pulled tight. "You're the one who wanted to remember, Granger."
A gentle creaking behind her drew her gaze, and she glanced over her shoulder, watching Malfoy advance wordlessly. He settled on the end of the bed, watching her with a wary gaze.
This was the moment.
And although she was terrified of what she might learn, she wanted, more than anything, to understand, and so she nodded, rearranging herself on the floor as she lowered her Occlumency shield.
It was like shrugging off a winter cloak, shedding a downy jacket that had been soaked by a heavy rain and was weighing her down, and she reeled in the sudden lightness that filled her. When she looked at Theo again, his gaze had softened. Allowing this required a certain level of trust that he had earned, and by the look in his eyes, he understood the significance it had taken to do so. "I'm ready."
And then images flooded her mind.
Her breath stuck painfully in her throat as the scene pushed behind her lids, filling in the blanks she hadn't thought to question before. Pieces clicked quickly into place, everything settling into a new reality as she watched Theo take her hand, helping him to his feet. Then, suddenly, she was dragged back to the cabin, sucking ragged breaths through her teeth as she fought the onslaught of new information..
Both Theo and Malfoy's gazes were steady on her as she scrambled for purchase within the memories.
Theo's brows flickered up in surprise. "Do you remember?"
She carded through the new information, trying to distinguish reality from what had been substituted for truth, the images flickering through her mind again as she watched, but she shook her head. Draco's shoulders slumped incrementally. "It fits. It's—" She wracked her brain, trying to put words to the way it made her feel. "It's like a vase full of rocks; the memories feel full, they feel like they should be enough, but then that was like… it was like pouring a glass of water in the vase and watching as it filled in all the spaces I wasn't even aware were there until I looked."
Both of the boys considered her for a moment before Draco leaned forward, elbows coming to rest on his knees. A hand rubbed over the stubble as he eyed her for a moment, and then, "May I?" he gestured between them.
Adrenaline shot through her, flashes of altogether different memories assaulting her. Malfoy coming down the stairs to her cage. Malfoy directing Crabbe and Goyle to do what they could to her. Malfoy watching as Zabini broke her. Goosebumps raced one another up her arms, and Hermione fought the fear that coursed through her veins, the sharp desire to run. Malfoy's gaze darkened, fierce disappointment flitting across his features, and then Hermione's fear turned to determination and she straightened.
"Do it." Her voice was clear, though it shook slightly. She cleared her throat and tried again. "I want to remember—need to. Please."
Malfoy nodded and leaned forward.
The image unfurled slowly in her mind, and she balked at how gently he tread. She couldn't call it an intrusion—if she'd been in any other state than waking and hadn't asked for him to show her, she might have thought it was recalled of her own volition.
She quickly recognized the stone walls of the Room of Requirement stretching before her. The room was empty, but footsteps behind her drew her attention, and she turned, watching as she approached younger versions of Theo and Draco.
"It's no use, Granger. I can't make anything happen. It's just whisps." Theo's voice was sharp. She couldn't help the smile that lifted her lips at the frustration in his tone, walking hesitantly forward.
The memory of her smiled too, shaking her head at him. "Tell me what you're concentrating on."
An exasperated sigh escaped Theo's lips. "When I got my first wand."
It was a fond memory, she could tell, but it wasn't happy enough. "Think harder—what's the one thing that'll make you happy no matter what?"
Draco was the one to answer. "Mother used to chase me around the gardens when Father was gone." He cradled his wand between his fingertips, his eyes lost in memories with a hazy glaze. "Her laughter would ring out among the rose bushes, and I'd try to stay hidden for as long as I could—prolonging the moment to avoid returning to the Manor."
Memory-her nodded encouragingly, and her breath hitched in her throat as she watched Draco's grip on his wand tighten, a rare curving of his lips indicating his pleasure. "When she caught me, she'd wrap her arms around my waist and spin me in a circle." He smiled, then, the vibrancy of it catching her off guard, and the memory of her matched his smile with brilliant warmth. "She was radiant—so full of vitality and youth and happiness, and I never wanted the moment to end." His voice was wistful, and memory-her leaned forward, her eyes glittering, though she couldn't tell if it was with tears or anticipation.
"Try it now," she prodded, voice low.
With a deep breath, Draco paused. "Expecto Patronum." A whisper, barely there but still brimming with hope and happiness and a thousand other emotions lacing the words. A brilliant flare of blue light flashed from the tip of his wand.
For a moment, she couldn't tell what the creature was, but it sailed through the air between them. When it landed at his feet, a gasp emitted from his. "I did it."
And then they were laughing, Theo and Draco high-fiving each other, and Hermione watched as Draco shot her a private smile as he laced his fingers between hers.
She wrenched backward, slamming her walls up as questions hurtled through her mind.
What the bloody hell?
She didn't have a chance to question the sorrow that flit across Malfoy's face or the resignation that lit Theo's eyes as a whimsical voice issued through the air outside. In unison, they all whipped their heads toward the door. "Theo? Hermione?"
Theo was up, running haphazardly across the cabin, wound be damned. With a harsh wrench, the door flew open, illuminating a riot of bedraggled, blonde curls. He caught Luna up in his arms with a strangled sob and crushed her to him. Hermione felt her heart crack infinitesimally. The radiant joy in Luna's laugh shot through her like an arrow, lancing her heart and making her long for something she'd never had before.
"Theo, you're— gods, you're bleeding. What happened?" Luna's hands skittered over the wound on Theo's side, and when she pulled them away, sticky droplets of blood littered her fingertips.
And like the excitement had drained him of the rest of his energy, Theo wilted forward into Luna, and Hermione and Draco shot across the room, her arm jostling Draco's as they slipped them under their friend's shoulders.
"Shite." Theo's voice was pained, his skin a sickly shade of puce. Together, she and Draco half carried, half dragged him across the room and laid him carefully on the cot. When they set him down gently, his skin paled further. Dappled droplets of sweat sprang to life on his forehead, a grimace marring his features. Summoning a rag to wipe his forehead, Hermione leaned forward, only to have the rag wrenched out of her hand.
Luna was there, her fingers gently cradling Theo's chin. A knot formed in Hermione's throat as Luna wiped the moisture away lovingly. "You've gotten yourself in quite the predicament, haven't you?" The soft, conversational lilt to her voice couldn't quite mask the fear that Luna's tone held. "Heliopaths are quite bothersome," and then, in an undertone, "I missed you."
A soft hand closed over Hermione's shoulder, and she looked up into Draco's eyes, the grey in them impossibly soft pools of cashmere as he watched his friend embrace Luna again.
He swallowed hard, the column of his throat working up and down as she watched. "Let's give them a little privacy, yeah?"
They exited the cabin, both standing on the porch and staring out into the woods. Silence settled like a lead weight between them, and Hermione didn't know what to say. "Your mother—"
Draco sighed, running a hand through his hair. The unkempt ends stood up, and Hermione marveled at how the messy hair and stubbled jaw changed the wizard before her. Though his appearance was gruffer, the worried wrinkles crackling out from the corners of his eyes and the soft downturn of his lips as he stared out at the trees made him look gentler, and her heart opened infinitesimally to him.
"She was supposed to be with Luna." There was a sharp note of foreboding in his voice, an acknowledgement that he couldn't bear to speak aloud, and Hermione found she couldn't meet the sorrow-filled gaze that turned her way. Around them, the sun was setting, bathing the snow in a saffron hue and casting his features into sharp relief.
Turning, she rested her back against the railing with a sigh. "She's out there." Even as she spoke the words in uncertainty, the truth of them settled in her stomach.
When he shifted to face her, the vestiges of sunlight caught in his eyelashes, the subtle warmth turning them translucent, and she was struck by the deja vu that gripped her.
They were in the Room of Requirement, a fire glowing in the hearth as Theo and Luna laughed together on the sofa she'd transfigured from one of the hundreds of pillows that Harry had used for the meeting with Dumbledore's Army.
"It's coming," he said, his voice low and rumbling. Hermione glanced over her shoulder at him, his expression forlorn as he swept her hair over her shoulder and kissed her freckled skin gently. "We have to be careful."
She hummed, leaning back into the warmth of his embrace even as fear coursed through her. "I know."
They stared into the fireplace for a few moments, tangled around each other. "I'll find you. No matter where you are or what happens… I'll find you."
She blinked and the vision was gone. She was back on the porch, frozen to the spot, as Malfoy stared at her, brow furrowed. A dull pounding in her ears reminded her that she was at the cabin, that it wasn't a dream, and she stumbled backward a step.
"Granger?" Uncertainty coloured his voice, and she reeled backward at the sudden familiarity, the knowledge that she'd heard him say her name like that before, had heard him say her name in hundreds of other ways, each one more intimate than the last, and she raced from the porch. "Granger, wait!"
Snow weighed her feet down, the harsh cold of it sinking into their soft leather, so like the dream he'd woken her from weeks before, but she couldn't stop. The panic clawing up her throat told her that she needed to get away, now, as fast as she could, but her legs couldn't handle the movement in the cold. With a sob, she collapsed in a heap, snow soaking through her trousers, stealing the warmth from her legs.
Behind her, Malfoy slowed to a stop, his breath gusting from his throat as he peered down at her, and she felt a wave of tears break loose at the raw concern in his gaze. "Granger, what—"
"I remember." She could barely get the words out around the wells of emotion that threatened to bowl her over, but the sudden realization in Draco's eyes was her undoing, and she curled in on herself. "I remember us."
A/N: Yikes,I'd forgotten about that cliffie; I'm sorry (please don't kill me). Next week's chapter is extra long to make up for it.
Alpha love to LadyKenz347 and beta love to tofadeawayagain. Thank you both for your time and skill and words. I just love you both.