To the casual observer, it may have looked like Draco Malfoy simply blinked out of existence, an empty nothingness inhabiting the chair where he had once sat, but for the Slytherin himself, it was as if the Sensieve had tumbled into the room, roiling past an oblivious Pansy and Blaise in great clouds of silver mist that invaded the common room and thickened till he could no longer make out the sofas just a few feet away from him. Then, he simply wasn't there anymore, the mist thinned, and he was stood near a lake, their lake. Edwards scuffed leather boots sank into the soft mud of the shoreline, large shirt hanging loosely its thin material hardly keeping out the chill of the night. Mina was beside him and the ache that had been searing a hole in Draco's chest for days seemed to have passed onto the warrior, settling just as it had for Draco; unwelcome and uncomfortable.

"What did you say?" Edward swallowed thickly, his voice rough and broken.

"I am going to marry, Arden." She said the words evenly, every one of them slicing through his skin like a well-placed dagger.

"You don't mean that." His fingers closed around thin air as he reached for her, and she slowly, but purposefully stepped away. He stared at his hand and the expanse of space surrounding it certain that could not be solid anymore, just a flimsy transparent outline of a hand that could slip through anything because she couldn't have stepped away from him. That wasn't Mina.

"I do." The implication of those two words had him scowling.

"But Arden, he's – you - you do not love him."

"I believe it was you that told me there are more important things than love."

He laughed bitterly at his own foolish words, she had to know that he hadn't meant them, not really. He hadn't known then what it could feel like then, fumbling too deeply in the darkness of the world to ever believe that anything as wonderful as light could ever breakthrough. But it had, she had, like the sun peaking past a storm cloud hell-bent on havoc and he had seen something beautiful in the way they melded, moved as one. That was love, and it was more than anything he had ever felt, more than anything he had ever expected to be offered in his life. He opened and closed his mouth, struggling to tell her this, but he was no poet and he settled on simplicity, on honesty.

"I was a fool then."

"You were not. Arden and I are the same…"

"Don't, please-" Their names together was a horror to hear, "you are nothing like that man. Mina, all you have told me about him…"

"You cannot persuade me otherwise, please just accept this."

"You did not come here expecting me to accept this." It wasn't a question not really, but he still wanted an answer, any answer. "I stayed because of you, everything I'm doing now is because of you, because of us. You think I would end it all now just because you say so?"

"It has to end; it is the only way."

"The only way? The only way to what?" She paused, biting her lip and he stepped into her space, "To what, Mina?"

"To keep you safe, to keep everyone safe." She covered her mouth quickly, her other hand hastily brushing away her tears. Edward reached for her, heart pounding in his chest when she did not resist but let him pull her into his arms. He pressed a fierce kiss into her hair, breathing her in.

"You do not need to save anyone, least of all me. It is my job to protect you."

"Please don't make this more difficult than it has to be. There is so much that you don't, can't understand."

"Then explain it to me, let me understand. I know I am not a learned man, but I'm not a fool, tell me and we will find another way, together." She slumped against him them, her brow furrowing and fresh tears falling down her cheeks, as if she wanted nothing more to give in, to pretend that there was another way for them.

"There is no other way." She shook her head, her voice hardly more than a whisper.

"You don't know that."

"Yes, yes I do," She pulled herself away from him, and he felt the cold wind chase away the warmth of her, leaving him shivering. "You say he and I are not alike, but you do not understand."

"Mina…"

"I am one of them." Her words rang in their small clearing and Edward froze.

"What are you saying?" Mina lifted her head, green eyes meeting blue.

"I am a witch."

Edward stepped back, her admission dealing a blow that he had not been prepared for.

"What?"

"I am a witch and I belong with my people."

"Why – why didn't you tell me?"

"What difference would it have made, Edward. What would you have done?"

Her questions weren't fair, they prickled at his skin making him itch with annoyance. Frustrated, he turned from her, pacing quickly over the damp earth. How could he know what he would have done? How could he see what difference it would have made between them? All he knew was that her revelation had left him feeling hollow, he had opened himself to her, cut open his chest, and let all the darkness spill into her lap. She had all of him. All the parts of him, broken and messy and she had kept everything back.

"Edward, we both have to make sacrifices, and this is mine."

"Sacrifice? Or the simpler decision?"

"Simple?" She recoiled, offended.

"I do not deign to know what is in your heart, because clearly, I do not know it, but being with your people does not seem like a sacrifice to me, are you sure you aren't just shrugging off the heavy burden of a man you have grown tired of."

Mina did not speak for the longest time, quelling the anger that shook within her before she even attempted to speak.

"You believe that what we had was a lie?"

"How could I not, Mina? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Do you despise me so, now that you know?"

"Despise you? I do not know you."

"Everything in my heart for you is true, everything I offered and gave to you was true. There was no lie, Edward, only omission."

"How are they different."

"They are wholly different."

He could not argue with her, though all of him wanted to, he did not possess the words. So, he settled on one, pausing to look at her, eyes pleading that she change her mind and take back all her words. They could go back to how they were before; they were strong enough.

"Why?"

"I must." Her heart ached as she watched him begin to pace again.

"What does he have over you?" He watched her face become guarded, knowing that his question had skirted close to the truth.

"Nothing."

"Do not lie to me."

"Edward, I have made my choice. I do you this courtesy considering everything we have meant to each other, but that is all it is, a courtesy, not an opportunity for you to try and change my mind or to save me. Believe me, I do not need rescuing."

"I won't let you." He was moving quickly towards her, not knowing what he planned to do but knowing that he needed her to stay with him, needed her to calm down so she could listen to sense.

"Edward, please…"

"I won't…" The wand was in his face the moment he reached to grab her arm, making him stumble back. It was delicate and beautiful just like her, but dangerous, he could feel it.

"Don't make me use this."

"Mina, please."

"There's too much at stake, you have to understand. All I want is to be with you, to disappear, and have no one ever find us again. But these are my people and I have to protect them."

"Mina," He reached for her again but found that his limbs were frozen in place, held fast by some unseen force. Her delicate hand reached forward and cupped his cheek, catching the tears shimmering there. "Know that I love you, and I will always love you," she pressed her forehead against his, "In some other world we are together, you and I, always." Edward strained against the spell as she stepped away from him.

"Mina, don't do this." His words echoed into silence as she disappeared.

It took several minutes for the spell to wear off, and Edward fought it every second that it clung to him, he strained against it with all his strength, collapsing breathless on the ground when it finally let him go. Struggling against the rubbery feeling in his limbs, he staggered towards the treeline, stumbling pathetically as he sobbed Mina's name, willing her to come back. He thrashed at the dense foliage, knowing that she wasn't among them, knowing that she was no longer anywhere where he could reach, but searching for her anyway, relishing the small slices of pain as he clawed at thorned branches, ripping them out of the way. Anger fuelled him; all deep and dark and burning like no fire ever could. It settled deep in his gut and ripped out his throat as an anguished roar that startled several birds from the quiet trees.

He hurried towards the camp, footsteps heavy and full of purpose. He would find her; he would find wherever this Arden lived and he would steal her back. There would be no denying him, no running from him, no fighting what they were together. The hold that Arden had over her would crumble into dust, he would kill it, end it, wipe it from the earth, from between them. He palmed one of the runes that Bear had given him, stepping through the magical barrier with ease. It was a handy safety precaution, but one that made him uncomfortable, especially with the knowledge that magic, the very thing that formed the barrier around them, formed a far more insidious and despicable barrier between him and the woman he loved.

Nearing the camp, he paused. Rhylan would normally be there waiting for him, just on the outskirts having heard him trudging through the undergrowth. But there was no Rhylan and it was too quiet, a hush that wasn't settled, it was something else. Hunkering down Edward made his way towards the clearing, orange light of their small fire painting the leaves into autumn. His eyes widened at the sight that met him.

Rhylan was pressed against the large trunk of a tree, Bear attached at his throat, the man's large hands curling almost possessively round the back of Rylan's thighs. For a moment Edward thought that perhaps they were fighting, preparing himself to shout across the space and stop whatever madness had taken over them. But his mouth snapped shut and he blinked several times as he watched Rhylan tip his head back, a choked moan escaping him.

"Quiet, you'll wake the kid," Bear grumbled, chuckling slightly as he lifted his head and pressed his lips against Rhylan's. The gesture was soft, delicate, and loving as though they had done it a thousand times before and were simply sinking back into the known, the familiar.

He struggled to process what he was witnessing, thinking dazedly that Rhylan had never had to be asked to be quiet in his life, always slinking in the shadows, never quite present. In Bears arms there seemed to be more about the man than there ever had been, solid and sure of himself, gripping at the large man's head, fingers brushing at the dark tattoos that littered Bears skin. Bear didn't break the kiss, fumbling at the laces at the front of Rhylan's trousers blindly, his hand disappearing down the front of them, a satisfied grin breaking out on his face as the smaller man melted in his embrace.

"Like tha'?" Rhylan sucked in a breath between his teeth nodding quickly, a flush to his cheeks that made him look younger. Edward shook his head, turning quickly from the scene, he didn't like the intimacy, hated the way they so brazenly and blatantly loved each other, regardless of who and where they were.

"How bout I use my mouth?" The question had Edward rushing away, not wanting to hear anymore. He kept walking, till there was nothing but darkness around him and no sign of the camp. The anger was there again, burning something fierce through his body. He felt sick with it, sick with them and the way they held each other.

He drew his daggers, swinging them through the air, no grace, no training, just hate and hurt fuelling his limbs, slicing the air as he wanted to slice the world apart. He thrust his daggers forward with such force that he stumbled, crumbling to his knees, a large root digging into his flesh painfully. The stab grounded him, dragging him back into his body with a shudder. He knew that he didn't hate Bear and Rhylan, or what they had together. They were stupid for risking their lives as they did. If anyone else had caught them they would surely hang for what they were doing, but he could not hate them. What he hated was their bravery. The world didn't want them, it thought they were crimes against nature, that their act was a sin, and they would be punished by God. But they were doing it anyway.

In the quiet of the forest, moonlight dancing between the leaves he realised there was no going after Mina now, she had made her decision, her eyes burning with a fierceness that had burnt him out. He stared at his scratched-up palms, little drops of blood leaking from them like tears, and he despised them for their weakness, for their fragility. He despised them for doing nothing. Bear and Rhylan had no thought for the world that hated what they were together. In their own space, they'd made the world different and he was alone. All he had now was the memory of how sweet love could taste, how beautiful it could look, and how much it hurt when it was ripped away from weak hands.

Wahh I love Bear and Rhylan, and I love writing them. I sort of wish I wasn't as constrained by the memories and could explore them being together a little more, but hey ho, hope you like it. Three more songs from the Memoria Playlist:

1. Chimera - Raw silk - Okay so this is a super obscure one that anyone who isn't a fan of rock or metal will not like. But I got so much inspiration from this song, especially the chorus, got some serious beef to it. Mainly helped with the Sensieve memories.

2. Jenny of Oldstones - Florence and The Machine - Again the memories, and gotta love her voice right.

3. Island - Svrcina - Just amazing to listen to when I'm getting in Draco's headspace.

I'll stop blathering on now, hope you like it, and again thanks so much for reading and being patient with me, your support and comments mean so much :)