Previously on 'The Redemption'... Nagini was gifted, Cho has her careers consultation with her head of house and against his better judgment, Tom agrees to hop on a broom.

Chapter 24- Unravel

It was halfway through Cho's internship at St Mungo's Hospital and she could honestly say she loved it. There was always something to do or see, and Cho found that the notebook that she carried with her was already filled to the brim with notes and spells that she could use in the future. The Healers and nurses were all very kind to her, patiently filling her in on specific maladies, symptoms and treatments. Although overwhelming in the beginning, Cho found herself in a routine of arriving by portkey in the late afternoon and helping here and there till 10:00 at night.

Her favourite ward was always paediatrics. More often than not, the children there would be under the hospital's care after a malfunctioning magical toy or accidentally using their parents wand. They would be fixed up quickly but for those that stayed overnight, Cho visited them and read them their favourite stories as they fell asleep. She never thought she liked children, but seeing them reminded her of the family she missed. For Cho, caring for others was comforting in a way that nothing else could be.

Her least favourite ward was the one that dealt with mentally unstable patients. It was terribly unnerving in there, with one moment filled with silence and the next moment rampant with screaming and yelling. It made her feel uneasy since the patients were usually so far gone, they couldn't be healed. The helplessness of their situation made it hard for Cho to be optimistic about their condition.

It was with great trepidation that Cho swung open the double doors to the ward, hugging a clipboard to her chest while her other hand tightly grasped her wand. Healer Davidson said it was highly unlikely that anyone would actually attack her but a prepared stunning spell won't go amiss either.

Her job was to check in on the patients and to ensure they were still there. It seemed like a basic and unnecessary task but people always seemed to disappear if they didn't conduct regular checks. Walking methodically through the wards, Cho greeted the patients and ticked their names off the clipboard as she went. Some greeted her back while others sat in stony silence. Her smile never wavered though, as she was determined not to show how nervous she was.

She stepped in through the last room, a private room that was more spacious than the rest, with gilded furniture and the smell of expensive cologne loitering in the air. Several vases of fragrant flowers dotted the room. Flipping a page, she scanned the list of names for the one that belonged.

"Mr Malfoy?"

She registered the name a split second later, her eyes widening in surprise as she realised it was Abraxas sitting on the armchair and staring listlessly out the window. He looked much worse than she had last seen him at Hogwarts. His white blonde hair was dishevelled and overgrown, touching the bottom of his collar. His skin had taken an unhealthy hue to it, the skin under his eyes puffy and purplish. But the most unsettling part was his eyes – a grey blue that was blank and unseeing.

Feeling a surge of sympathy, Cho once again wondered what had happened to him. She wondered if there was a cure. Looking down at his file, the lines for "cause" and "treatment" was frustratingly blank.

She sat down across from him, perching on the edge of the cushy armchair "Mr Malfoy? Abraxas?"

He didn't seem to hear her, continuing to look out the dark window at nothing in particular. She scooted a little closer, placing her clipboard on the table beside her.

"Abraxas? It's me, Cho Chang. Do you remember me from school?" she asked softly, reaching out to touch his hand.

Abraxas suddenly sprang back, his eyes wild and panicked as he watched her.

"I didn't do anything! I swear, I swear, I swear…" he muttered feverishly, running his hands through his hair with a manic intensity "I didn't, I didn't…"

He continued to mutter, backing away in the corner till he reached the wall. He slid down it, burrowing his face in his arms and muttering about things Cho didn't understand. Slowly, as to not scare him, Cho approached till she was kneeling beside him.

"No one is going to hurt you here Abraxas. You're safe" she cajoled in soothing tones. She tried her luck and gently patted him on the shoulder, relieved when he didn't shrink back or start yelling. After a few minutes, the mutterings came to a stop though he was still shivering. Conjuring a blanket, she draped it over his hunched shoulders.

"Abraxas?"

He looked up, his eyes wide and childlike "Do I know you Miss?"

She shook her head, deciding that the last time she had told him the truth, it had backfired terribly.

"No, but I'm here to help you. Will you help me too?"

He studied her for a moment, tugging the blankets tighter around himself. Looking unsure, he nodded, a crease between his brows "If I can"

She sat down more comfortably on the floor, her back against the wall as she deliberated on how she was going to ask questions without scaring him. She decided to ease him into the conversation with something she knew interested him.

"Do you play quidditch?"

The seemed to set him off. Cho and Abraxas talked about different brooms, players and games for a long time. Judging from what he spoke about, it seemed that he was trapped in a more child-like state of himself. He would sometimes talk about Hogwarts but would evade some topics completely which Cho suspected was the result of traumatic events.

Almost 20 minutes had passed and he was still talking. She needed to hurry up- it was getting close to 10:00 PM and the Healers would have expected her to be back a long time ago. Swivelling her body so it was angled towards him, she met his eyes.

"So, What house did you say you play quidditch for?"

He replied easily "The best house of course – Slytherin!"

She smiled at him, genuine interest saturating her tone "And were the people in your house nice? Did you like them?"

His grin faltered, confusion swirling in the grey depths of his eyes "I don't- I don't know"

She tried a different tactic "Who were your best friends?"

He frowned "I don't remember their names"

Cho pressed on, careful not to over tread the boundaries "What about people you didn't like? Was there anyone who was mean to you?"

"There was one boy. He was never kind. He always hurt people but I can't remember his name… I can't remember his name"

His frown deepened as he struggled to remember and Cho was confident that he was about to tell her when all of a sudden, he lunged at her, gripping both her forearms with more force than she thought possible.

"Get out of here and don't come back" he growled, his eyes manic but strangely lucid. He was beginning to terrify her but she refused to back down. She was so close to finding out who the perpetrator was.

"Malfoy, let me help you! Tell me who did this to you"

"You put me in here!" he yelled, shaking her "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be here!"

Cho firmly kept her grip on her wand even as confusion began to swamp her. What had she done to Malfoy? Their brief encounter was exactly that – brief. Nothing Cho had done or said would have caused this.

She forced herself to remain calm, blinking back tears as his fingers dug into her flesh "Malfoy, I can help you if you tell me. Please, just give me a name"

He laughed, the sound hollow and hysterical "You can't help me Chang, you can't even help yourself"

What did that mean? But before she could ask, his eyes had glazed back over and his grip on her slackened till it dropped completely. He blinked a few times, rubbing at his eyes furiously before realising Cho was still there.

"What are you doing here?"

Shaken by what had transpired, Cho didn't know what to think anymore. Despite never telling her the name, she had at least gleaned a few clues as to who the culprit was. He must be in Slytherin house and by the sounds of it, perhaps a bit older in order to inspire such fear in Malfoy. Off the top of her head, she couldn't think of anyone – perhaps she could ask Tom to look into it since he had been friends with Malfoy.

Cho stood up and offered her hand, giving him a grim smile "Just visiting".

Tom could see she was distracted by the way she was continually swirling her porridge around in her bowl. Pollux sat beside her, obviously talking about quidditch tactics judging by the parchment he was waving in front of her face and his over excited hand gestures. He hadn't seen much of her lately, ever since she started her internship at St Mungo's. While she was there at night, during the day she was in classes, doing homework or at quidditch practice. Tom didn't realise just how much of his spare time he usually spent with her till she was constantly unavailable. It made him feel increasingly uneasy not knowing who she was with or where she was. He would never voice his opinions though, knowing that she would just laugh and assure him that he's being paranoid.

She got up from her seat, giving Henry a warm smile and excusing herself from the table. Not bothering to be subtle, Tom followed her out of the Great Hall, catching up with her just as she was about to ascend the stairs.

"Cho"

She stopped, turning around with surprise "Oh hello, Tom"

Tom didn't like the distance between them or the way Cho continued to stand there on the staircase instead of joining his side like she always did. There was definitely something on her mind and Tom just hoped that it wasn't anything incriminating to what he had done.

He cleared his throat, feeling uncharacteristically awkward around her "How have you been lately?"

She gave him a tired smile and Tom couldn't suppress the twinge of jealousy that erupted when he saw how different it was to the one she directed at Pollux.

"Good, though I'm a little behind on school work. I was just about to borrow some books for potions before class. Would you like to join me?"

She held her hand out, wiggling her fingers in invitation. Tom acquiesced, walking beside her as they made their way up the familiar route to the library.

"How is your work at St Mungo's?"

Tom didn't necessarily approve of Cho's pursuit to be a Healer but he did appreciate her intelligence and putting it to good use. He also couldn't deny that she would be a good one in the future for she was the most compassionate person he had ever known, or had bothered to get to know.

Half expecting Cho to start talking about how fantastic her internship was, Tom was slightly worried to see her looking troubled. He gently tugged her hand to a stop, making sure that she was facing him.

"What's wrong?"

She nibbled the edge of her lip, debating whether she should say anything. She knew that the wise thing to do would be to go to Professor Dumbledore or Headmaster Dippet but she couldn't ignore the genuine concern in his dark eyes. She could trust Tom, she thought to herself. He would be able to help her.

"Is there anyone who would want to hurt Malfoy?"

Tom froze, his expression carefully blank as he chose his next words carefully "Why the sudden concern? I did not know you were friends with him"

She brushed her thumb over the back of his hand, frowning at the ground slightly "We weren't, not really. He seemed pleasant enough though when I did meet him on the odd occasion"

"You spoke with him more than once?"

His sharp tone caught Cho by surprise, and she looked at him questioningly before deciding to tell the truth "Only twice. Once when I came out of the Hospital Wing and then at St Mungo's tonight"

"And what did he say to you?"

His low tone sent uncomfortable shivers across Cho's body while the intensity of his gaze made her mouth run dry. His grip on her wrists blossomed with pain and as she looked down, she realised that the fading bruise from her Christmas incidence bore an uncanny shape to that of Tom's slender and large hands…

She suddenly wrenched her hand back, her head throbbing with unwelcome familiarity. There was something wrong, something she was missing and all knew was that it felt like her head was splitting open and it was fast becoming very hard to breathe.

Tom watched the pain in her eyes with something akin to fear, lurching forward to catch her when she began to sway and fall.

"Cho? Cho!"

She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to stop her vision from blurring and struggling to find his voice in the midst of it all. How did she get that bruise? What happened on Christmas? Why weren't her memories coming back like Madam Reed said?

Forgetting all about Malfoy, she stumbled backwards and out of his grasp before blindly running down the corridor, not hearing Tom's calls or the murmuring of students who watched her go.

A/N: I'm back from the US! (it was really fun - Chicago was my favourite despite the well below freezing temperatures!) Actually, I've been back for 2 weeks now but uni literally started the morning after my plane landed so I've been busy...

As always (and I know I always say this) thank you guys for your endless patience. I know it's frustrating to wait for 1 month+ for a chapter update that's not terribly long but I thank you for it anyway. You guys are the best.

Anyway. I hope you liked this update and if you did or if you have comments/predictions, let me know :)

Love,

DecoyDream x