AN: This is the saddest chapter I have ever written in my whole life
AN: This is the saddest chapter I have ever written in my whole life. :( But please read it, IT IS VERY IMPORTANT. And it is long because there had to be a lot of descriptions and vivid pictures.
But I promise, I won't allow my story to end sad. :)
Please leave reviews:) And thanks for the reviews on the past chapter!
"Hurry up! Hurry up! We'll be late!! OIE!!" Fred was bellowing downstairs.
"DON'T BOTHER TO FIX YOURSELVES UP, YOU'LL STILL LOOK THE SAME!!" George added.
"EHEM GINNY, EHEM!!" Fred added, laughing.
"OIE!! WHO ARE YOU GUYS TALKING TO!? YOU SOUND WEIRD!" Draco called back; then made his way towards Ginny and Hermione's room.
"WE ARE NOT!!" Some twin answered back.
He knocked. "May I come in?"
"That's Draco. He's the only one who does that. Everyone else here just barges in." He heard Ginny say.
"Come in." Hermione called back.
Draco opened the door and went inside. "Aren't you guys done yet? Harry and Ron are already downstairs, nicking all the possible food they can." He said as he helped Hermione pack her trunk.
"I bet their trunk looks like hell." Ginny said as she finished her hair.
"We all set?" Draco asked after some time.
Hermione and Ginny looked around. "Yeah. Let's go."
Draco carried both girls' trunks and went out.
"Thanks by the way." Hermione said.
"No problemo."
"WOHOHOW!! MACHO MAN!!" Fred immediately said once Hermione and Ginny came down the stairs and into the kitchen, followed by Draco carrying two heavy trunks.
"Yeah yeah follow me I'm supreme, can you please open the door?!" Draco said impatiently.
"Oh yeah!" Fred hastily opened the door so Draco could put the trunks inside the borrowed Ministry Car.
"Come on, come on, time to go! Ron, Harry, nick any more food and you'll get as big as Dudley! Ginny, stop looking at the mirror! Harry, look at her! Hermione, you've brought all your books, okay?! Geez Luiz now let's go!!" George said to everyone. "Hut hut hut!!"
Everyone scrambled for everything. Finally Ron and Harry followed orders, going through the threshold, followed by Ginny and finally Hermione.
Draco was there, waiting by the car, looking really handsome. He was so tall, so lean and perfect, with striking silver white hair that looked glorious right now, being hit by the morning sun. What made him even more perfect was that he was staring directly at Hermione, smiling. His silver eyes glowing from the sunlight.
Hermione's stomach was doing flips at the moment.
"You look really beautiful today." He whispered in Hermione's ear, making Hermione feel a bit ticklish and sheepish.
"Stop staring Draco, it's rude." She said, as Draco took her hand and got in the car together.
The car ride was silent, for some reason the twins were quiet, while Ron ate, Harry and Ginny slept.
Hermione looked out the window, watching as tree after tree passed, house after house, chasing the sun.
She felt something fall on her shoulder, which made her look around.
Draco Malfoy's beautiful face rested on her shoulder, sleeping.
Hermione smiled, she stroked his hair, admired him for some time, before resting her head on top and sleeping too.
"OIE OIE OIE! I'M NOT CARRYING YOU TWO IF THAT'S WHAT YOU THINK!!" George was bellowing, trying to wake Hermione and Draco up.
"Come on, come on! You guys will be late!" George was now shaking Draco, since Hermione woke up already.
"Draco, Draco, we're here." Hermione shook him gently, immediately Draco started stirring.
"Right well, go on, through Platform 9 and ¾ now." Fred was saying, pushing Ron and Harry.
They were finally out of the car, and inside King's Cross. Draco was holding Hermione's hand, each carrying their trunk.
"This is it, we're off to Hogwarts!" Draco said. "We're going to have the best last year, I promise." And he kissed Hermione's cheek, Hermione instinctively feeling the locket that lay a little above her chest.
She could smell Draco's scent again, and she wished time would go by real slow… so slow that curing him would never happen.
"Right then, that's Ginny, Ron and Harry. Where's Hermione and Draco?" Fred called out.
"Here." Hermione said as Draco moved forward and held her by the hand.
"After you, Mione." He said. Hermione gave a weak smile and went through the barrier, the last thing she saw was a tall handsome boy smiling at her, his silver blond hair vivid and his scent still reaching Hermione…
"Remember, we have to separate, okay? We can't let the Wizarding people see us together, they don't know yet, alright?" Hermione whispered in Draco's ears, who gave an obedient nod.
They managed to separate while going on the train, but Harry lent Draco his invisibility cloak so Draco was able to help Hermione with her trunk.
He followed her all the way to the compartment with Harry, Ron and Ginny.
"Draco, not here. Go back to Pansy." Hermione said sternly as Draco sat down beside her.
He gave the invisibility cloak back to Harry, and locked the compartment door.
"It doesn't matter, I'll go back to them later. So how does it go again? I'm supposedly Pansy's boyfriend?" Draco asked as he stroked Hermione's hair and held her hand.
"Yeah. We never knew why you liked her anyway." Ginny said.
Draco shuddered. "Now, I wonder too." He said, kissing Hermione on the cheek. "Okay, I have to go, see you soon 'Mione. Bye guys." He stood up and left the compartment. They distinctively heard someone cry, "Drakie! There you are!!"
"You know Hermione, you can still make the best out of today. Spend time with him under the invisibility cloak or something." Ginny was saying, nodding her head.
"He's too tall for that invisibility cloak. And besides, we won't have much time anyway, he's going to be healed right after the welcome feast."
They spent the next few hours in silence.
"Welcome back students! Welcome to another year of magical education!" Dumbledore was announcing, his eyes twinkling as usual, the Great Hall filled with hungry, excited and happy people.
Draco was at the Slytherin table, having a hard time with Pansy Parkinson, who would occasionally stroke his hair and wrap her arms around him.
Through out Dumbledore's speech he tried hard to keep eye contact with Hermione, smiling or else rolling his eyes at the girl beside him.
But over the Gryffindor table, she wouldn't react as much as he'd expected, and she seemed to try her best to not look at him.
"What's wrong Drakie poo??" Pansy cooed in his ears. He shuddered.
"Nothing." He said impatiently, still looking intently at the girl who wore Merlin's Silver Locket.
"…And now, let us enjoy the food that has been prepared! Bon Appetite!" Dumbledore clapped his hands, and instantly food appeared everywhere, laughter, noise, and the clinking of utensils lingered around the Great Hall.
Draco tried his best to catch Hermione's eyes, but every time he tried, Hermione never seemed to bother, and did a good deal of avoiding him. He couldn't eat well.
"Professor McGonagall spoke to me before entering the Great Hall. She said instead of going to our dormitories, we are to go directly to the Hospital Wing. Lucius and the twins will be there, I think. And Dumbledore and Snape. Draco already knows, he has Harry's cloak." Hermione said flatly while staring at her food. It unusually looked dull and uninviting.
Ginny, Ron and Harry just nodded in agreement.
"….Are you here?" Hermione called quietly to no one in particular. The Entrance Hall was utterly quiet, it was deserted. Everyone was at their common rooms and dormitories, but she was waiting at the Entrance Hall for Draco.
Suddenly she felt something touch her hands, and the moment she looked down to check, she saw a familiar hand she loved to hold.
"Yes, I'm here." Draco suddenly whispered, so that Hermione felt shivers down her spine as Draco removed the Invisibility cloak from the rest of his body.
"Don't!" Hermione said suddenly. "People might see you…" She said.
"Nah, don't worry about it. Everyone's gone off to sleep. The school's ours now." He said, as he embraced Hermione.
"Why do you worry so much?" He asked her as he continued to hold her in his arms.
Hermione didn't want to answer, she didn't want to think. She couldn't, Draco Malfoy was holding her as if he would never be able to again, and Hermione tried to push back the voice saying It's true It's true It's true.
"Nothing. It's just me." She smiled, still being wrapped by Draco's arms.
"Well then, let's go." He said, letting go of her and taking her by the hand.
They were making their way towards the Hospital Wing… all was silent now, all was quiet. Hermione pleaded Draco to go there as slowly as they could, and Draco obeyed without question.
Finally they reached the door towards the moment of truth, and Draco opened it cautiously.
Several heads turned towards them. Fred and George were there, silent but assuring. Harry was holding Ginny's hand, expressionless, Ron seemed confunded. And there was Lucius Malfoy… looking sad but comforting and Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape, silent as the night.
Dumbledore stood nearest the bed, his familiar twinkle in his eye strangely lost, looking grave but sure. "Welcome, Miss Granger, Mister Malfoy."
"Good evening Professor." Draco said as he entered and led Hermione towards them, holding her hand.
Lucius Malfoy kept averting his eyes to and from their hands, jerking and twitching, while Snape looked at them as though he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"What are we here for?" Draco asked Dumbledore politely.
"Mr. Malfoy, you do remember the night when you awoke from a comma, seeing me, your father, the Weasleys and Miss Granger?" Dumbledore asked slowly.
"Yes…." Draco said uncertainly, holding Hermione's hands tighter.
"Do you remember why?"
Draco looked around. "All I know is that I lost my memory… I fell off an escalator… and I lost my memory because… I had this charm on me that backfired or something…" He said uncertainly.
Lucius Malfoy gulped and closed his eyes.
Beside him, Draco could feel Hermione shaking, he looked at her, she was biting her lip.
"What's wrong?" He asked.
She shook her head vividly. She didn't speak.
Draco looked at the others.
"Mr. Draco, I'd like you to lay down, if you please." Dumbledore said calmly.
"But why?" He asked, suddenly nervous.
Dumbledore closed his eyes. "To ensure that your memory will be absolutely back to normal." He said.
"But am I not normal now?!" He asked defensively.
"You are, but your memory is not. Do not forget, that you don't even remember Pansy Parkinson. Probably some other people too…" Dumbledore trailed off.
Draco looked at Hermione. His silver eyes searched hers, looking for her reassurance.
If it was the last thing Hermione could give Draco, she'd give it good. If he wanted to be assured, she'd assure him, even if it was the last thing she ever wanted to do.
"Go on, it's for your own good." She croaked, the heaviest words she ever spoke.
Draco looked at her, smiled and said, "Okay." He let go of her, and went to the bed.
Again Hermione felt that familiar feeling, wishing that for just this once, Draco would doubt her.
There was no turning back now.
Hermione made the heaviest steps of her life that night, walking towards the bed where Draco lay, smiling at her, oblivious that after tonight Hermione wouldn't even be a simple memory. For she couldn't be one.
Dumbledore leaned closer to Draco, whispering something in his ear, and immediately, Draco closed his eyes, as though asleep. Hermione felt a strong urge to slap Dumbledore, she wanted to see those silver eyes for as long as time could allow.
Dumbledore straightened up. Looked at Hermione, nodded sympathetically, and slowly, he raised his wand, and made it rest on top of Draco's head.
Instantly Draco let out a fresh wail, piercing and loud, so that Hermione's hair on the arms stood up.
She couldn't look at the boy, she could tell he was in pain. She was shaking now.
Suddenly something white shot out of Draco's head, and it flashed right in front of them. It hovered, so that it looked like a giant television in mid-air.
Hermione's stomach went cold. She had a feeling she knew what would appear there….
And right she was, for across the magic screen every memory of Draco's summer came flashing one by one, so that it seemed to torture Hermione slowly… slowly…
Draco sat up from the bed, looking sheepish and funny, staring at a bushy haired girl… His lips were moving, saying something that made the group of people stunned.
Hermione bit her lip. She was shaking. There was no sound from the screen, so that the lack of sound made the memories seem even more and more far away…
But she knew that memory as clear as could be, that was the first time Draco woke up... the first time he said she had very beautiful eyes.
Hermione rocked back and forth, drawing in quick breaths.
Draco was sitting on the bed, a quill at hand, writing on a little brown notebook that seemed too familiar to Hermione…
"No..no.. make it stop…make it stop…" Hermione said to no one in particular.
But the screen went on again, not caring how it made Hermione feel, and how it caused Draco to scream in pain, though his eyes remained tight shut. Dumbledore's wand never left his head.
And then they were washing the dishes… Hermione and Draco unusually close for the first time… until Fred appeared… he said something… they all said something… and then Draco was going up the stairs… Then they entered a room, everyone was in a circle… And there was a bottle lying innocently at the middle…
Hermione was shaking violently now. "No." She whispered again.
She blinked back her tears, she couldn't breathe now. She had to clutch the bed's sides.
They were laughing, everyone in the circle was laughing while the bottle changed colors… blue… red… green… Ron went pink… Harry went pink… Everyone was laughing… and then the bottle stopped at Draco… at Hermione…
Draco was writhing in the bed. Hermione finally looked at him, and immediately tears started rushing down her cheeks.
"He's in pain… he's in pain… Dumbledore! He's in pain!!" She was screaming, although it was hard to compete with Draco's wails, and she clutched harder on the bed's sides.
They were running… running in the lawn… running after an ugly looking gnome… laughing and talking….
Hermione screamed along with Draco. "Make it stop! MAKE IT STOP!" The memories were hurting her.
"Miss Granger!!" Professor McGonagall tried to hold on to her.
"Let him be!! Let--him--be…." Hermione begged no one in particular, tears obscuring her vision and the screen that caused her agony.
It took a lot of people to restrain Hermione, she kept sobbing and sobbing.
And Draco threw the gnome…he was smiling stupidly… and then he fell… the gnome hit Hermione… Draco ran towards her… and then… they were real close… and the stars were right… and then… Draco kissed her…
"NOOOOOOOOO!!" Hermione let out a high pitched scream. Draco was writhing more than ever, the sheets were starting to get tangled.
Hermione understood now. The closer the memory to Draco's heart, the more painful it was for him.
And the more painful it was for him, the more painful it was for Hermione, too.
"JUST LET HIM--BE!!" She was crying and crying, kicking back Snape's attempts at holding her stationary, punching McGonagall and not caring whether she hit her glasses.
"YOU'RE…. HURTING…MY…DRACO…." She said breathlessly, tears strolling down, she pushed back the hands that tried to keep her still, and she rushed towards Draco, crying into his chest.
He was writhing and Hermione tried to comfort him.
And then Draco was at the attic with the twins, Ron and Harry… and then it morphed into a Muggle mall… and he fell again… down the escalator… And then the Muggle mall morphed back into the Burrow... and he was making his way towards his room… he opened the door and…
There was Hermione, reading his little brown notebook… and there was Ginny…
Hermione was sobbing into Draco's chest. "It's okay Draco… I'm here, I'm here! Stop screaming… stop writhing… everything will be alright…" And she sobbed deeper into his warm body, because her words couldn't convince even herself.
And then there were different scenes of Hermione not minding Draco… Draco not minding Hermione… Hermione was having her hair fixed by Ginny….. they went out the room…. And Draco and the twins were there… the lights went out…. And then she was inches away from Draco….
"Stop it!! Draco.. don't let them hurt you…" She was sobbing into his ear, even if the screaming Draco could not hear her.
And then Hermione was blindfolded… entering the restaurant…Draco took her hand… he led her to the table… and they ate… they laughed… He was holding her hand… and then… They were in the middle of the dance floor… swaying slowly…so close to each other… each of them singing parts of a song… and then… Draco kissed her… and Hermione kissed back….
"STOP IT!! STOP IT!! STOP IT NOW!!" Hermione said frantically when Draco suddenly gave his highest scream yet, writhing so bad Hermione was thrown to the floor.
She tried to stand up, shaking, punching and letting go of whatever hands tried to help her, and she lunged at Dumbledore.
"YOU--ARE--HURTING--HIM!! LET HIM BE!! LET--HIM--BE!!" And she was sobbing into Dumbledore's body, shaking and clutching his robes…
"Removing a person's memory was never easy… Forgetting was never painless." Dumbledore said painfully.
Hermione continued to sob as the screen changed memory again.
They held each other while going down the kitchen… they ate cereals together…
He was dreaming of his father…
Hermione woke him up … and he hugged her as he fell asleep…
"He's… he's… in pain… My Draco's in pain…" She sobbed, throwing herself at him, so that she could comfort him… hug him… hold him… be with him.
Draco was at the Malfoy Manor with Fred… he unlocked a drawer… and there was Merlin's Silver Locket…. He got his Firebolt,he held Fred's arm and disappeared in a whirl of darkness… and He was running across the lawn.. Hermione was sobbing.. he wanted to hug her…to comfort her…And he hugged her…
Then they were flying..
"NO!!" Said a hysterical Hermione.
And finally the broom stopped in mid-air… Draco changed his sitting position… they were smiling and laughing… Hermione did the same… and suddenly they were sitting side by side on a magic broomstick…facing the moon and the stars…
Then Draco drew out a locket… and he let Hermione wear it… the glow lighted… and there it was… DM and HG inscribed on the locket… and she kissed Draco… kissed him like there was no tomorrow..
"AAAAAAH!!"But it didn't come from Hermione...
Draco was screaming as loud as ever, until Lucius started trembling.
Draco was writhing, screaming in pain, as though every memory that was being erased caused him to experience how sad it was without it…
"STOP IT! STOP IT NOW!!" Hermione said so viciously that she plunged towards the wand that caused all his suffering, she tried to disconnect it from Draco's forehead… but it wouldn't budge.. Her tears were wetting Dumbledore… her tears splashed down Draco's sheet… she herself was drenched wet.
"LET-GO--HERMIONE!!" Fred wrapped his arms around Hermione and started pulling her.
She wailed and screamed and kicked… she punched and cried until her tears seemed to never end…
"WHAT—HAS--DRACO--DONE?! STOP--H-HURTING—M-MY--D-DRACO-- I-IT--IT'S CAUSUING HIM--P-PAIN…" She sobbed, letting go of Fred and swinging her arms at Draco, hugging him despite his various attempts to throw her off so he could have space to writhe in pain….
"Draco, Draco??" She said, looking at his closed eyes. "Don't let them hurt you… I'm right beside you… can..can you feel me?!" She said hysterically, crying harder when those eyes wouldn't respond nor acknowledge her…
Ginny, Ron and Harry were speechless… shocked at how greatly affected their friend was… and they suddenly had no emotion left in them to do anything else. They were just there… feeling cold and dull… looking at a Hermione who cried beside a Draco she wished to bring back to consciousness.
Snape was silent. He never saw Hermione like this. He never saw the two students who hated each other suddenly share same emotions. Draco was in pain, and the girl was in pain, screaming and crying into his unconscious body, clinging and clutching on to him, as though holding him would never let him go away...
He dropped his head and looked anywhere but at the two lovers.
Finally the last bits of Draco's memory came to view… he was trying to steal glances and looks from the girl he loved… and they were hugging... they were walking down the empty corridors.. hand in hand… the whole school at their command… It was just the two of them…He opened the door to the Hospital Wing...
Suddenly Draco screamed the most painful and piercing scream he could, he suddenly sat up from the bed… Hermione startled, He was sat for a split second.. and he fell, he fell gracefully, back into his pillows… lying peacefully and silently, as though barely seconds ago it was impossible that he was in pain.
He looked untouched and pure.
It seemed almost ludicrous to believe that he was screaming and writhing in extreme pain just seconds before.
Hermione looked at him. It was silent, except for her sobs, and the quick succession of her breath.
"D-Draco? Draco?! Are—are you okay?!" And she leaned closer, she held Draco's face in her hands. "Talk to me…" She said, searching his eyes. "It's over now… they can't hurt you… I won't allow it anymore… Draco…?" And she sobbed some more, hoping he would wake up and smile at her, tell her that he felt her all this time… tell her that he could feel her embrace… and that he was thankful she comforted him while in pain…
And suddenly… suddenly he opened his eyes, and Hermione lit up when she saw those silver eyes again…. And she just stared into his eyes, while he stared into hers, no one spoke. She was right in front of him, tear-strained and harassed, looking as though she just went through hell.
"Draco?" She said, trying to get something out of him.
"What are you doing, Granger?!" He said coldly, shaking her off.
Hermione never thought she could hate the sound of her last name more than tonight, and everything that happened was lost in a whirlpool of color, because her vision began to obscure again, and she was crying more than she had ever had that night, for tonight,
The very thing she prayed wouldn't happen, had happened.