It had been hours since Draco had been checked into St. Mungo's and there still was no word as to what was going on. Harry sat beside her in the waiting room, while she waited for the Healer's to come with some sort of news.

"What happened?" he finally asked seeing as she was finally calm enough to answer questions.

"When I got to the office Fin was already there, they were arguing. Fin told Draco that he knew who we were, that he had known all along. He said that Draco didn't deserve me and that the only reason Draco wanted to be with me was because of Henry. And then he said he released us from our past. I felt this stabbing pain and when it was gone…" Hermione couldn't find the words to finish.

"When it was gone?" he pushed needing to understand.

"So was Helena. It's like she never excited, I still have all of her memory's, I can still remember everything, but she gone. It's like this part of me is missing Harry, like I will never be whole again."

"And then what did Fin do? Why was even here? The American delegation isn't due to arrive till next week."

"I don't know why he is here, but as soon as Draco started to come around, he just left."

"I'll see if Ron can track him down." He said trying to reassure her.

"Why did it affect him differently?" she sounded desperate.

"I don't know the answer to that question, Hermione I wished I did."

A healer from the Janus Thickey Ward appeared beside them a moment later with a grim look about him. "You are the one who brought Mr. Malfoy in?" he asked as he took the seat next to her.

"Yes, how is he?" she asked a bit out breath. Her heart was beating so fast she thought it might just beat right out of her chest.

"How do you know Mr. Malfoy?" he asked.

"I am…" she didn't know how to respond. What was she to Draco? Was she his girlfriend? They hadn't put labels on what it was that they were.

"She is his girlfriend," Harry said saving her the trouble.

"It appears that Mr. Malfoy is suffering from short term memory loss, well sort of. He knows who he is, knows what day of the week it is and what month, but he can't remember why he was where he was. He knows he owns DM International, but he doesn't understand why he is in London when he should be in New York, and he keeps asking for his fiancé Emily Chamberlin."

Hermione's heart sank, if he thought Emily was still his fiancé it meant that he didn't remember her or at least not who she really was to him. "I don't understand, why can't he remember." Harry squeezed her hand gently as if to say it would be ok.

"I need to know more about what happened to him." the healer said softly "Before I will be able to understand how to help if I even can."

"Do you an office?" Hermione asked? "Because what I am about to tell you is going to sound crazy."

"Why don't you follow me back up to the ward we can have more privacy there."

She told this complete stranger everything, from how Henry and Helena had met, to the curse that Cassandra had placed on them, every life they had been forced to endure since. She told him of the portrait and the legend the American's told about the two lost lovers. How Fin who had been a descendent of Cassandra had released them of the bonds that connected them to the past. When she was done the healer looked more than a little shocked and skeptical. He had never seen a case like this before in his twenty years of healing and wasn't sure how to help or where to even start.

"But you say that you can still remember all of this." He asked

"I didn't black out, it was painful, but I didn't have the same reaction."

"I want to speak to this Fin person you have talked about. If he was able to break the curse, then maybe he knows more about what the original curse entailed."

"My people are looking for him now." Harry said.

"Until I can gather more information there isn't much, I can do for him except keep him under observation."

Hermione hung her head in defeat. She had been right everything had changed, and she didn't think it would ever be the same again.

Two weeks past and there had been no change in the state of Draco's memory. They had tracked Fin down, but he hadn't been able to tell them much of anything. It wasn't like his grandmother had written down the spell she had cast. Bill had stepped in to see what he could do to help, but without the original spell he could only guess that this was yet another punishment for them both. They would be free, but one would not remember, it was the ultimate way to tear the two apart.

The conference had come and gone; the task forced had been pushed through with a three quarters majority. Training was to start the day after Christmas, she had been given an accommodation for her hard work and a promotion to Deputy Head of International Magical Cooperation. The world kept spinning while she waited. Nothing however would prepare her for the final blow, the day after the conference was over Draco returned to New York with Emily.

She had everything she had wanted when moved to New York, she had gotten the promotion she had been working towards since she had started at the Ministry five years ago, she had been freed from what she once thought of as chains that connected her to a person she didn't want to be. Yet after getting what she had thought she wanted at one point she realized that all she ever wanted was to understand why. Now she did, and she wished none of this had never happened.

Eight Months Later

It had been a hell of a year for Hermione Granger that was for sure. Along with the new position came new responsibility's. For starters it meant more travel, she had been gone more in the last six months than she had been in the five years previous combined. She had traveled all around the world and back for the exception of the United States, anything that dealt with the US was handled by Percy who was head of department.

The work she was doing helped provided as a nice distraction from what was going on her personal life, which wasn't much of one outside of her closest friends. She hadn't dated since Draco had left with Emily, and she had no desire to start anytime soon. She was done with the love game, the only thing it had ever done was bring her misery. No, she was focused what was going on around the world and what she could do to make it a better place for future generations. When anything related Draco or his company came up in the paper, she tossed it into the trash not able to bring herself to read about what was going on in his life. She wouldn't let her friends talk about him in her company and most got the hint that anything to do with Draco was off limits. Hermione was moving on the only way she knew how.

Quidditch World Cup was only days away and Hermione's plate had been full for the last month trying to make sure everything was going to go off without a hitch. It was England vs. France and it was revving up to be one of the biggest World Cup's in history. The work had been nonstop for months, between finding the sight for the new stadium, all of the lodging accommodation's and international portkey's. The end was in sight though and Hermione promised herself a nice long holiday once it was all over with.

It was Thursday evening and Hermione was exhausted when she came through the Potter's fireplace. It had been months since she had moved out of their place and into her own small flat not too far away, but they still tried to have dinner together at least once a week. It had been Ginny and Harry who had gotten her through the worst of it. "Ginny…Harry," she called out from the small sitting room.

"In here," she heard Ginny call from what sounded like the kitchen. Hermione made her way down the small hall poking her head around the corner to make sure the coat was clear. She had walked in on them naked one to many times for her to not check to see if the coast was clear. It seemed though Harry wasn't home yet.

"Where is Harry?"

"Working late as usually, I can't wait for this stupid Cup to be over. He has worked so much overtime since England made the play off's last month. I am ready for everything to get back to normal."

"I will second that. I have been dealing with the French Minister all day long, the man is a piece of work." Hermione said laughing as she took the glass of wine Ginny offered her.

"Well it looks like it will just be you and me for dinner tonight." Ginny said with a smile. "We haven't had a girl's night in months, why don't we have dinner out."

"Can we do sushi please?" Hermione asked excitedly.

"Only because I love you, and I know this week has been hell for the Ministry trying to get everything done in time." Ginny said with a smile. It was the true mark of their friendship, Ginny hated sushi but always caved when Hermione asked for it.

Thirty minutes later, they were sitting at her favorite sushi bar at a table near the back. Ginny had been right it had been ages since they had a night just to themselves. Hermione had just started to dig into her first roll when Ginny made a face, while she looked at something over her shoulder. "Come on Gin you can't make that face every time someone east a piece of raw fish." She laughed turned to see what Ginny had been looking at.

Her heart stopped the moment as her eyes landed on the tall blonde man who had just walked through the door with Blaise Zabini. To say she was unprepared to see him was an understatement, she quickly turned around and ducked her head. "What is here doing?" she whispered to Ginny.

"World Cup probably." Ginny said still watching the two men who had chosen a table three rows over from them.

"I am so stupid, of course he would come for the cup. Why didn't I think that was a possibility?"

"Because you have tried to avoid all thoughts of him since December." Hermione shot her a glare. "Well you have, you won't let any of us talk about what happened, and you sure as hell aren't looking into what has been going on with him. The cup doesn't explain why he is in muggle London though."

"I brought him here once, the day we found the office space for DM international."

"That would mean…" Ginny said softly.

"I doesn't mean a damn thing Ginny."

"Should we go over there and say hello." She asked Hermione.

"Heaven's no, it has been eight months of radio silence. Besides he doesn't remember, and I am not about to go over there and make a full of myself. Merlin only knows what Emily told him once they were back in New York."

"They broke up." Ginny rushed out as if she had been dying to tell Hermione this for months, which of course she had.

"What?"

"In February, it was all over the American papers. He has been living back in London full time for nearly a month now."

"How do you know what the American papers had to say about them."

"Well I may or may not have found a way to have them delivered internationally."

"And you have kept this to yourself for the last six months."

"Merlin no, I told Harry and Ron and of course George you know he is a big gossip." Ginny laughed but then stopped when she saw the look on Hermione's face. "Look, I did what you asked, I didn't mention him, and no one has talked about what happened in months. I just wanted to keep tabs on him, for your sake."

"Have they seen us?" Hermione asked when she had no comeback.

"No, I don't think so."

"Good, now let's get out of here before they do. I have too much to deal with right now and the last thing I need is a run in with Draco Malfoy."

….

It was almost elven when Hermione got home from Harry and Ginny's, after taking the rest of their order to go Hermione and Ginny high tailed it out the little restaurant before they were seen. The amount of wine Hermione consumed after getting back to Ginny's place was a new record for her, and yet it had done very little too dull the throbbing pain that had settled in the middle of her chest at the sight of him.

She had been to busy rummaging around her in her purse for her keys to notice the man sitting on her front stoop until she was right in front of him. Her breath hitched as she looked down at the one man she hadn't been able to forget since she was sixteen. "Hi," she said when it was clear he wasn't going to speak.

"Hi." He said standing front his spot on her front step.

"What are you doing here?" she felt lightheaded from all the wine and was having a hard time trying to focus on the fact she was face to face with him for the first time since everything had happened.

"I saw you tonight, but you rushed out of there before I could speak to you." He said as he put his hands in his pockets.

"Oh." Was all she could manage as they stood there and stared at each other.

"Look I have wanted to approach you since I came back to London I just didn't know how."

"How did you know where I lived?" she asked because she wasn't sure how she was supposed to respond to his last comment.

"Potter." Of course, Harry would get involved, the damn man didn't know how to keep his nose out of her business. "Before you get mad at him for telling me just know that he didn't want too. But you are the only one with the answers that I am looking for."

"Why don't you come in." she said moving past him to make her way up the steps and to open the door. He followed behind her silently, as she made her way into the small two bedroom flat she had bought after her promotion. Dropping her bag and coat by the door she made her way through the small sitting room and towards the kitchen where she pulled a bottle of wine from the small shelf and a glass. "Can I offer you anything to drink?"

"Wine is fine." He said before perching himself on one of the stools at the island that sat in the middle of the kitchen. Taking another glass from the shelf she opened the bottle and poured a little into each glass.

"What is that you want to know." She asked after placing the glass in front of him.

"I feel like something vital is missing," he said looking into the glass of wine as if it held all the answers he was looking for. "Like this piece of me has been misplaced but I don't know where to begin to look for it, I just know that every time I think about it, it leads me to you.'

She couldn't remember a time in which he looked more somber. He looked like person who had lost his way and didn't know to get back. "What if I told you that you and I go way beyond just rivals from Hogwarts." She said after a moment it been eight months since that day at the DM offices, eight months since everything had changed. Though she had tried to lock all the bad memory's away there was no escaping what the two of them had shared no matter how short of a time it had been this time around.

"What do you mean."

"When I was in America, I was told a story about a young couple who had lived centuries ago, a witch and a wizard who had fallen in love. He was promised to another to another witch though." She began to play story of Helena and Henry in her head once more as she spoke, she could feel the emotions that they had felt she could almost smell that spring morning in that lavender field. "He didn't care though because he had found his one true love, and on the day of his wedding he ran away with her. The bride he had left behind was heart broken so she set a curse into motion that would last centuries."

"Sounds tragic." He mused as he took a sip from the glass finally deciding that it wouldn't be able to give him the answers he was looking for.

"It was." She said simply taking sip from her own glass and turning to look out the dark window, as if not looking at him would make this moment any easier.

"What happened to them?"

"Though their human flesh was long dead, their souls lived on, when they were reborn in each new life they would once again find each other but only to be ripped apart once more."

"What were their names?"

"Henry and Helena Eason."

"Did they ever find peace?" he asked softly as if he might already know the answer but hoped he was wrong.

"No, they haven't. Or at least I don't think they did."

"You talk as if you knew them." His voice was soft as if he was waiting for the final blow.

"I do or I did." When he looked confused, she went on "I am Helena or rather I was Helena before the curse was broken.

"None of this explains why I feel like I am missing a piece of myself Granger," he said in a clipped tone she had heard him use so often when they were still at Hogwarts.

She sighed "You feel like you are missing a piece of yourself Draco because you are Henry or you were. The part of you that is missing is Henry. But you don't remember anything about the curse or the past. I can feel a hallow place inside of myself to, it where Helena use to be."

"If this is all true then why can you remember, and I can't."

"I wish I had the answer to that, but I don't. Only theory's that do no one any good."

"So, help me remember," he said after a long pause.

"I think it might be better if I showed you." She said with a sad smile. "I have Harry's pensive, after everything that happened last year, I couldn't keep them bottled up in my head, I had too…" she let her train of thought go.

"I have hurt you…" he said as if realizing this for the first time.

"When I was in New York, you showed me away to lock her away from the person I am. For the first time since Helena had awoken from what I can only describe as a deep slumber, I could separate my feelings from hers, and I fell for the man that you had become."

"I broke things off with Emily not long after I went back to New York." He said Hermione tried to act as if she didn't already know this, she wasn't sure if she had managed it or not. "She wouldn't talk about what had happened to me and the healers were afraid of what the truth might do to my state of mind. Emily was ready to pick up where we had left off, but I could tell that there was this big elephant in the room. I knew that I loved her, I just felt like there was something more out there than her and I. Like I would be settling if I stayed with her. And I had this unexplainable pull towards you."

"Look it is late, and I have early meetings in the morning, let me get through this weekend and the World Cup and I promise that I will show you the memory's and you can do what you want them." She couldn't handle where this conversation was going.

"Will I see you there?" he asked as he stood from the stool.

"At the cup?"

"I bought a box for DM International."

"I'll be in the minster's box. So maybe we will run int one another."

He nodded before he turned and headed for the door. He stopped just shy of it before turning to look at her with a sad smile. "I dream of you most nights. I dream about a life I didn't think I would ever be able to have." and then he was gone.