i just don't know what happened. i was typing away and all of a sudden i realized i had three chapters in front of me. so i present to you ::drum roll, peal of trumpets:: the UBER-update! that's right, three complete chapters for your reading enjoyment. por favor leyen y revista, en ingles si posible. adios!

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Chapter Thirteen

A Blinding Flash of Insight

Hermione had always thought that if she ever did regain her memories, they would all come back in a blinding flash of insight. No such luck. But as Harry led the way through the school's myriad corridors, memories jumped out at her from around corners.

That was where Ron had punched Draco for calling her names. Over there was a slight crimson stain left by the Heir of Slytherin. The memories were disjointed and entirely out of order. Oh well, at least she was getting somewhere.

Hermione walked forward past the large statue of the bird lost in thought. One of the men cleared his throat. She turned to see them standing on the pedestal. She took this latest bit of madness with equanimity and stepped up on the platform. The staircase jolted to life, depositing all three of them at a rather unassuming door.

Dumbledore was waiting for them.

"Ah, Miss Granger. I'm glad to see you up and about. The same goes for you Mr. Weasley, Mr. Potter." Hermione immediately trusted this hairy old man. Not just because he looked like the clone of Father Christmas, but because she knew that he would have all the answers.

"Thank you sir." Hermione replied easily.

"Now I know you must have many questions, so I shall try to answer some of them, hmm? Take a seat."

They all did. Hermione vaguely noted the décor. It resembled a library, with occasional occult object lying about casually to prevent the room from looking too normal. A silver perch for a rather large bird stood empty, with a couple scarlet feathers littered around the base. Hermione wondered absently where the parrot was.

"Hermione," Dumbledore's voice brought her back to earth immediately. "I fear that the person who knows the most about what as happened to you, is you. A great deal about that night remains a mystery, mainly because only you three survived." He paused to allow them to consider this.

"Voldemort tried to work a spell. The key component of this spell was blood. Sacrificed blood. Every human carries within themselves a tremendous amount of mystical energy. Witches and wizards tend to have a bit more of this energy simply because they are working with magic all the time. Death releases this energy, and dark wizards can use this energy to augment their own. Violent death releases much more energy than natural death." Dumbledore shook himself out of lecture mode with an effort. "The point is Voldemort tried to kill you to use this energy."

"No, he tried to get you to kill us." Ron interrupted. He had his eyes fixed on one of the feathers. "The Imperius Curse."

"He said to kill us and then yourself." Harry added.

"Anyway," Ron continued, "you couldn't break the Curse. But I guess you managed to reinterpret it."

"I tried to kill myself first." Hermione finished. In another 'blinding flash of insight' moment, the Dream came back to her, in perfect clarity. "Sorry 'bout that."

Dumbledore maintained his silence during this exchange. Suddenly, Hermione remembered his presence. "So why can't I remember any of this?"

"Physical trauma from your wound, emotional distress, the rather chaotic aftermath of Voldemort's demise. A combination of factors most likely. The mind is such a strange thing." Dumbledore replied serenely.

"Voldemort's dead?" Hermione was vaguely surprised at herself for saying the name, but couldn't remember why yet.

"You bought us time to instigate the plan we had ready." Harry replied. "Plus, when you screwed up his spell, it hurt him pretty bad. So yeah, he's dead." Ron snorted, as if this was a rather large understatement.

"So, how do I get my memory back?"

"Memory is a tricky thing." Dumbledore said slowly. "Your memories were not erased, simply buried. You must dig them out. There is no spell for this." He paused to allow them to process this.

"You're saying that I've got to jog my memory?"

"Why can't you just cast a spell?" Ron burst out. Dumbledore gazed at him steadily.

"Too much magic is what brought about this mess in the first place." He turned his gaze back to Hermione. "I believe your memories have already started to assert themselves?"

Hermione thought of the walk down the corridors. "Ever since I saw Harry and Ron at the bus stop, I keep getting these flashes. Just bits and pieces, nothing very exciting. Doing homework, sitting in class, walking down the hallway, people flying on broomsticks…" Hermione trailed off searching for the name of the sport, "Quidditch."

Dumbledore beamed at her. "You see? It will take some time, no doubt, and it will be rather frustrating, but you will remember it eventually." An idea seemed to occur to him. "Why don't you take a walk around? I always find that physical activity helps me remember what I've forgotten."

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Hermione stepped off the staircase, feeling like she was stepping out of a dream. Harry and Ron also appeared rather dazed. They set off walking automatically and found themselves in the entrance hall.

"Er, well…" Ron gave up. This was terribly hard. It was worse than talking with a complete stranger, because at least with the stranger, you know where you stand.

"I know!" Harry said suddenly. "The library. We spent plenty of time there. It's as good as place to start as any."

Hermione had always had a secret weakness for libraries. Not even being stabbed, hit on the head, and spending five years as a muggle could change that. She thought that there was something very awe-inspiring and humbling about rows upon rows of texts, each filled with a special energy and vitality, as if the writer had poured some of himself into the page.

Harry and Ron watched her wander off into the stacks, with a very familiar expression on her face. "That's our 'Mione."

"What, did Hermione become too much of a mouthful for you, Ron?" Hermione's voice echoed up out of a canyon of books. Harry and Ron grinned at each other. That was almost exactly what she said the first time Ron had used the nickname.

Hermione emerged from the shelves with a large leatherback volume. "I wanted to find this for some reason and I can't remember why." She turned it over so they could see the cover.

"Ancient History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot." Harry read aloud. "It was a homework assignment, the day you disappeared; an essay on Egyptian wizards and their effect on the muggle world." Harry wondered absently why he remembered that.

Ron stifled a snigger. "Y'know what 'Mione? I reckon this is the first time you've ever forgotten a homework assignment."

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After the library they went to Gryffindor Tower. It wasn't a conscious decision; it was just where they usually went after going to the library.

"Didn't there used to be a table here?" Hermione was standing by one of the windows, looking at the large open space in the usually cluttered common room.

"Er, yeah." Ron replied. "Toward the end of the year it got broken by a fourth year, remember?"

"That's right; he was practicing a levitation charm and overdid it. Smashed it into a million pieces on the ceiling." Hermione looked up at scorch mark on high stone ceiling as the memory passed before her eyes like a movie. The three of them had been sitting on the other side of the room when the large, smoking table shot up into the air. The heavy oak shattered, raining fragments on the entire room. The boy had gotten detention for it.

Hermione looked down to see Ron and Harry grinning at each other again. "Are you going to do that every time I remember something?" She teased.

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Hermione paused next to the statue of Godric Gryffindor on the way to the Owlery.

"What is it?" Ron asked. Hermione just shook her head.

"Give me a second, I'm trying to remember." Hermione stared at the statue for a full minute. Ron got a horrible feeling that he knew what she was trying to remember. The night Hermione was kidnapped by the Dark Lord; the last place she'd been seen was in this corridor.

All of a sudden Hermione dropped to her knees and began feeling around underneath the base of the statue.

"Hermione, what are you…" Harry began, but cut himself off when Hermione sat up, brandishing her wand triumphantly.

"I can't believe that's still there. The house elves will be furious once they realize the missed a spot." Ron grinned.

Hermione frowned. "House elves." She remembered something about house elves. Now what was it? Ron and Harry exchanged nervous glances.

"Er. Never mind. Hey do you remember the time you made the sleeping potion for Crabbe and Goyle?" Harry said quickly before Hermione could remember her indignation and S.P.E.W.

Hermione was momentarily distracted by the question, but only momentarily. Instead of looking off into space, she focused on something over Ron's shoulder.

"Hagrid." She said to herself. The alarmingly large man turned at the sound of his name, dropping the large sack he was carrying unceremoniously to the floor.

"Harry! Ron! Good to see yeh!" Hagrid hailed them. He had just come in the doors, and was standing fifty feet away. He seemed to be squinting at Hermione. "What might you be doin' here…" He trailed off as he came within range. "Hermione?"

Hermione felt herself go a bit pale. Her memories of this man were like a catalyst, releasing all the rest in a rush. It was rather dizzying. Her feet didn't seem to be touching the ground anymore. Literally.

Hagrid swept her up in a giant hug, reassuring himself that she was indeed solid. "Hermione! You're...but…how?"

"The rumours of my death were greatly exaggerated." Hermione managed to say, after she got her breath back.

Hagrid insisted that they would all have a cuppa. He radiated happiness all the way back to his cabin at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. He also kept looking up at Hermione to make sure she hadn't faded away.

Hermione looked around the small cabin. It seemed so much smaller than before. Perhaps it was the presence of three full sized adults rather than three teens. Maybe it was just not having been here in five years.

"Now then," Hagrid clasped his large tankard of tea thoughtfully. "Hermione, what have yeh been up to these past years."

Hermione opened her mouth, and to her great surprise, found a strange story about being in hiding tumbling out of her mouth. For some reason, she couldn't bear to tell the truth to this man looking at her like a paternalistic mammoth. Harry and Ron were strangely silent during her recitation. Hermione suspected they were biting their tongues.

The gist of the story was the Hermione's life was somehow in danger after they defeated You-Know-Who, so she went into a sort of witness protection program. Hagrid accepted the story without comment but there was an amused light in his eyes that told her he saw through the deception.

After the explanation, Hagrid launched into a tale involving Nifflers and some first years and suddenly it was just like the old days. They might have reminisced all the way into the night, if the conversation hadn't been interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Professor! Good to see yeh. I'm 'fraid there isn't much room left." Hagrid stepped back to make room.

"Thank you Hagrid. Ah, I thought I might find you three here." Dumbledore said. "Hagrid, I'm afraid you left something in the entrance hall. Mr. Filch requested that you remove it."

"Blimey! I forgot all 'bout it. I'll be right back." Hagrid swept out the door. The cabin began to feel a great deal larger.

"Will you be staying with us tonight?" It annoyed Hermione that the first thought in her head was ~What will I wear? ~

"I should go back." Hermione remembered her job back in the muggle world and winced. "My captain will have a fit if she figures out I've dropped off the face of the planet."

Dumbledore smiled as if he expected that. "I imagine you have a few loose ends."

They met Hagrid outside. He dropped his burden in the garden to give them all a hug. The sack twitched a few times before becoming inanimate again. "Now don't you wait five years for another visit." Hagrid admonished, as they bid him goodbye and walked off Hogwarts grounds, to Disapparate back to London.

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Questions, comments, critisicms, complaints? Review, my friend, review.

.•´¨`•»¦«•Kerowyn•»¦«•´¨`•.