A/N: Hope you enjoyed the last chapter. Here's the new one, enjoy!
Rating:
Disclaimer: You should know by now whom Harry Potter belongs to.
Title: Amnesiac
Chapter Three: July Fourth
Hogwarts Castle, Scotland
Draco sat on a smooth rock, watching the lake octopus lazily stretch its tentacles. The weather was fair and clear, the perfect kind for a good Quidditch match. And God, he wanted one. Wanted to ride in the air, facing off an opponent just as determined as he was to get the snitch first. Wanted to leave the ground, leave all of his thoughts and memories behind and to have blessed nothingness. Only to live the moment.
Draco sat up and leaned against the tree by the rock. And remembered. It all came back in fragments, but only because he knew that he didn't want to remember back as if it were a film. Walking down the street. Brooding. Stopped by men he knew… men who knew his father. The sun beating on his head and back. The sweat forming on his body.
Then… Screams and yells as both he and the Death Eaters faced off. An explosion. Fire everywhere and sirens. Sirens from the muggle police racing toward them. Flashing lights and people scrambling away. Some were burned. And one was dead.
It ended.
Draco pressed the heel of his hand to his head, willing it stop. Hermione. Hermione had no idea who she was. She had no idea. He remembered that her left hand been injured, a broken bone or two, concussion. Cuts and bruises. And worse of all was when her mind was wiped clean. No memory of her life whatsoever. Amnesia. Even the most powerful of magic could not bring back what her mind refused to remember. Many had considered it a tragedy to lose someone that way. To Draco, it was starting over. It had been like starting over for Hermione as well.
But she had no say whether she wanted the life of a brilliant witch or a brilliant muggle. She had no choice. I can give her a choice, Draco thought, brows furrowing. I can give her a choice. Give her back what's hers. Give her back what my father stole away.
I've already started.
Draco got up, stretched his body. And went to the nearest telephone to book the fastest ticket to Virginia via muggle airplane. It really wasn't possible to Apparate across the Atlantic.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Westchester County, New York
Hermione pulled into her parents' driveway, forgetting at once all about the accident on the freeway. Her parents' lovely Georgian house was a two-story affair, painted a light blue and was enhanced with the newly manicured front lawn. Flowerbeds blossomed with life and beauty in the heat of July and under the care of Katherine Granger.
She saw smoke coming from behind the house and silently smiled to herself. It was obviously her father's turn to cook. Sliding out of the car, Hermione could hear the beat of music from a portable stereo and the chatter of friends and family coming from the shaded backyard. Hermione quickly ran around the house and saw her father struggling with the barbeque and her mother sitting serenely at a wooden patio chair, sipping lemonade. People, all ages and sizes surrounded them both.
"Dad!" Richard Granger turned and his eyes lit up as he spotted his only daughter sprinting toward him in jeans and blouse, her hair flying behind her. She flew into his arms and hugged him tightly. "There's my little girl." Hermione pulled away and looked at him, taking in the silver in his brown hair and the crow's feet at the sides of his eyes as well as the friendly expression that was now full of love. "Getting a bit old now, Dad?" Hermione laughed, touching his hair. He grinned. "Is that a way to talk to your own father? You did give me some of those white hairs."
"Indeed. I believe I did as I well." Hermione turned at her mother's voice and ran into her arms, the same as she did with her father. "Mum." Katherine looked over her daughter's shoulder to her husband's eyes, smiling. "Oh dear, you do grow fast, don't you?" Hermione grinned. Her mother had said the same thing every year ever since she moved to Virginia. She topped her mother by three inches, her height gained from her father's side of the family. Hermione had also gotten her brown hair and eyes from her father, though her eyebrows and nose were from her mother.
"Did you bring your neighbor with you? Alex, I believe his name was?"
"Yes, mother, I brought him. Was there a specific reason why you wanted him here?" Hermione asked suspiciously. Her mother had been playing the matchmaker ever since Hermione had gotten out of college.
"Well, he is a nice boy. And I quite like him. Charming, don't you think, dear?" Katherine said, shooting her husband a look.
"Of course. Very nice. Hmm. I think I'll go back to the barbeque. Leave you women alone to talk about…things." Hermione raised her eyebrow as her father quickly went back to burning hotdogs. "He hates cooking," Hermione said. Katherine chuckled. "Yes, he does. Forever burning and forgetting things on the stove. The only things relating to obtaining food that he knows of is sticking it in the microwave or ordering take out." She shook her head. "Very pitiful sometimes."
"Hmm. That's what I do." Katherine looked at Hermione, bemused. "And that is the only thing I regret having you inherited from your father. Everything else is lovely. Ah, is Tricia here?"
"Oh, she hates when people call her that. Trish, yes she's here. I picked her up at Boston."
"Oh… I don't quite see her here…"
"She's the one with the purple and blond hair."
"Changed her hair again?"
"Yes." And standing rather close to Alex, Hermione noted. She was introducing him to friends and other relatives, but standing close enough to look possessive. Was Trish interested in Alex? Hermione had no idea how that would work out. The both of them were so different. Alex was cool and polite, but friendly. Trish was outgoing, casually rude most of the time and took lovers as often as changing shoes, though she did try to make some of them more serious, hence the Bryan disaster. Hermione shook her head. It was better if she didn't think about relationships since she didn't have much luck in that area.
"Hey, Mum, I'm just going to go get a hotdog and attempt to eat it-"
"Even my daughter turns on me," her father muttered. Hermione laughed. "I have faith in you, Dad." Hermione snagged a hotdog from one of the picnic tables and did indeed try valiantly to eat it. The meat was burned and hard and Hermione voiced this to her father. "Why thank you, my dear daughter. Now go away and leave me here alone to sulk with the hotdogs."
And thus, Hermione spent the next five hours talking, laughing and socializing with old friends and relatives that she hadn't seen since Christmas and New Years.
"Aunt Hermy." Hermione felt a tug on the back of her blouse and turned. There stood a seven-year-old girl, the product of her cousin's marriage. "Hello there."
The child stood there a bit nervously, obviously intimidated by her height. Hermione bent down on to her haunches and stared into her blue eyes. "Your name's Lauren, isn't it?" Hermione already knew her name.
"Uh-huh." Lauren had a pair of blond pigtails draping her thin shoulders, having escaped the baby fat stage of childhood rather quickly. She's going to be beautiful when she grows up, Hermione thought, feeling pride settle in. The boys in the neighborhood are all going fall in love with her, once she hits puberty. "Are you having fun?" Lauren looked around the party.
"Not really", was her soft answer.
"Why not?" Lauren thought seemed to think before she answered. "Everybody's a grown up. I have nobody to play with." Hermione smiled. "Here." Hermione offered Lauren a hand. "We can go inside the house and see what we can do together."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So how was it?" Hermione laid down on the couch in the living room, flinging an arm on to her eyes. "Very exhausting."
"You enjoyed seeing everyone?"
"I forgot why I was so happy to have moved to Virginia. Oh yes. So that everybody in the neighborhood wouldn't try and match me up with their son or brother or cousin…"
"Well, nobody's ever seen you in a relationship. Come to think of it, neither have I."
"Don't remind me, mother. It gives me a feeling of inadequacy. This reminds me that I can't even stay in a relationship for very long makes me feel that I've disappointed a lot of people. I mean, how am I going to get married?" Hermione heard a sigh from her mother. "It wouldn't matter to me if you never have a boyfriend or lover. As long as you're happy, I'm content." A pause. "You work too hard." Hermione sat up. "No, I don't."
"Yes, you do, dear. Nobody knows a person better than their mother."
"I do not work too hard."
"Then why does Alex tell me that he's noticed you come home very late? Or the bags under your eyes?" Hermione sighed, defeated. It was no use arguing with her own mother. "Alright. Maybe I do overwork." Katherine eyed Hermione. "Not 'maybe'. You do overwork."
"Okay. I'll cut back on the work."
"
That's good. You better. You're staying over tonight?"
"Yeah, if that's alright with you. I'll just use my old room. Trish can sleep in my room since Alex is staying over too."
"Yes, that sounds good. I've already cleaned out the dust. Do you need any extra clothes?"
"No. I've brought a few spares over. I'll be going to shower now. Lauren's a wonder," Hermione said, a smile tugging at her lips.
"Ah, you saw little Lauren today?"
"Yeah. She's going to break hearts when she grows up." Her mother smiled back.
"Yes. She will."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Today was fun. Didn't you have fun?" Trish asked, flipping through a Cosmopolitan magazine. Hermione typed away on her laptop, the keys clicking softly.
"Hellooooo…."
"Quiet." Trish rolled her eyes at Hermione's back.
"Don't roll your eyes at me." Trish hissed. She's good, Trish thought, secretly impressed.
"Don't you ever take a break, girl?"
"Considering that you really won't make any intelligent conversation with me at this moment, no."
"Well, thanks so much. You make me feel so great. Just like a delinquent."
"Consider it based on your thing for Enrique." Hermione continued to type away on the laptop.
"Why do you always pick on him? I mean, he's hot, he can sing-"
"I don't care. Go to sleep. We're leaving early tomorrow."
"Whatever you say, Hermy." Trish grinned when Hermione started pounding the keys.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Have you packed everything, dear? Water, snacks? After it is a long drive back," Katherine asked, her eyes filled with motherly worry as Hermione dragged a bleary-eyed Trish to the car. Alex trailed behind, silently worshipping the cup of coffee between his hands. Hermione would have given anything to have some coffee. Anything.
"Yes, mom. We have everything. Trish, haul your ass up and get in the car." Trish yawned, missed the door and rapped her head sharply against the edge of the door. The cool morning air at five o'clock a.m. at the Granger residence was filled with ripe curses of the ungodly hour as well as various inanimate objects before the BMW convertible pulled out of the driveway and raced to the highway.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kennedy Airport, New York
Draco glanced at the clock overhead Customs and sighed. Muggles are so slow, he thought, resigned. He had made sure that he hadn't brought over any suspicious magical objects. His wand was tucked safely inside his duffel bag where he carried everywhere with him. The muggles would most likely dismiss it as a trinket.
Draco sighed again.
Soon, he was seen exiting the airport and hailing a limousine.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hermione gripped the steering wheel in defense to Trish's horrible off-key singing. Alex was blissfully asleep. Lucky bastard, Hermione thought sourly. She envied those who could just drop off to sleep wherever they were with a passion. And she closed her eyes briefly as Trish hit a particularly high note. Well, at least I don't have to stop at Boston, Hermione thought. Trish would be staying with her during her summer vacation from the university.
Later, it took another hour for Trish to stop the singing before Hermione jammed into the CD player a rock band. "Hey, don't hit anyone, Hermy. You're driving too fast." For the first time since they left, Hermione laughed. "I've been driving too fast all my life, Trish. Even you should have caught on by now."
"Hey, don't want the next exciting episode of Hermy Granger's life with another car crash."
"Shut up."
Trish laughed.
"Leave me alone, you evil mean person."
"By the way, did you ever find out that guy's name?"
"The guy who drove in front of me? That guy?" Trish rolled her eyes. "Who else?"
"Yeah." Trish waited a beat.
"So?"
"What?"
"Oh my God, Herms! Stop the act and just tell me what his name was!"
"Why do you want to know?"
"I don't know. Just tell me." Hermione riffled around for a moment, searching for the piece of paper with the man's name. Finding it under her water bottle, Hermione lifted it to her eyes and read off the name out loud.
"James Pearson. Happy now?" Hermione felt her mind twitch at the name. She had heard of the name before. No, read the name. She knew she had never met the man or she'd have known. Quickly, Hermione dismissed the thought. She'd have time to think about it once she got to Virginia.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Draco stepped out of the Lincoln Town car and asked the driver to wait for him. He nodded at turned back to a newspaper. Draco only stood there for a moment, taking in the sight of the Georgian house with its pretty lace curtained windows and small driveway. He knew she would spend the American July Fourth at her parents'. He hoped she would still be here, staying the day after on the fifth. Walking slowly, as if the air was water, Draco raised his hand to the door and pushed the doorbell, hearing it go ding-dong. And like a dream, the door opened to reveal a pretty woman with red hair and green eyes. She was slim, dressed simply in a white t-shirt and jeans. Hermione's mother, Draco thought.
She raised her brow at the sight of the handsome man standing at her door before she realized who he was. Wordlessly, she gestured him inside. Leading the way, she led him to a spacious living room. Before Draco could open his mouth, she said, "I know who you are. Please, sit down. Would you like tea or coffee?"
Draco found his voice. "No, thank you." She nodded and sat down across him on another couch. "So, Mr. Malfoy, are you here to apologize what happened nine years ago? I'll have you know, I don't blame you for what happened. It was beyond your control," Katherine said, crossing her legs and staring him in the eye. He met the stare. "No, I'm not here to apologize, though I have spent several countless moments regretting that I couldn't stop it. I… I came here to see her," he said softly, knowing she knew what he meant.
She understood. "She isn't here. She left early this morning back to Virginia. She should have gotten back by now," Katherine replied, checking her watch. Draco nodded. "Thank you."
"Draco." For the first time, she used his first name. He stiffened when she touched his hand. "I truly don't blame you for what happened. I spoke to Professor Dumbledore. He explained everything to me." Draco knew the Grangers had met with Dumbledore, knew Dumbledore had urged them not to blame him. "I want Hermione to remember everything. I suppose you could say that I do feel responsible for losing her memories. I want to help her remember."
A/N: Sorry for the long delay in posting this chapter. Not much happened. Sorry. But I'll get to it. Next chapter… READ AND REVIEW FOR GOD'S SAKE AND GIVE ME SOME IDEAS.
Rating:
Disclaimer: You should know by now whom Harry Potter belongs to.
Title: Amnesiac
Chapter Three: July Fourth
Hogwarts Castle, Scotland
Draco sat on a smooth rock, watching the lake octopus lazily stretch its tentacles. The weather was fair and clear, the perfect kind for a good Quidditch match. And God, he wanted one. Wanted to ride in the air, facing off an opponent just as determined as he was to get the snitch first. Wanted to leave the ground, leave all of his thoughts and memories behind and to have blessed nothingness. Only to live the moment.
Draco sat up and leaned against the tree by the rock. And remembered. It all came back in fragments, but only because he knew that he didn't want to remember back as if it were a film. Walking down the street. Brooding. Stopped by men he knew… men who knew his father. The sun beating on his head and back. The sweat forming on his body.
Then… Screams and yells as both he and the Death Eaters faced off. An explosion. Fire everywhere and sirens. Sirens from the muggle police racing toward them. Flashing lights and people scrambling away. Some were burned. And one was dead.
It ended.
Draco pressed the heel of his hand to his head, willing it stop. Hermione. Hermione had no idea who she was. She had no idea. He remembered that her left hand been injured, a broken bone or two, concussion. Cuts and bruises. And worse of all was when her mind was wiped clean. No memory of her life whatsoever. Amnesia. Even the most powerful of magic could not bring back what her mind refused to remember. Many had considered it a tragedy to lose someone that way. To Draco, it was starting over. It had been like starting over for Hermione as well.
But she had no say whether she wanted the life of a brilliant witch or a brilliant muggle. She had no choice. I can give her a choice, Draco thought, brows furrowing. I can give her a choice. Give her back what's hers. Give her back what my father stole away.
I've already started.
Draco got up, stretched his body. And went to the nearest telephone to book the fastest ticket to Virginia via muggle airplane. It really wasn't possible to Apparate across the Atlantic.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Westchester County, New York
Hermione pulled into her parents' driveway, forgetting at once all about the accident on the freeway. Her parents' lovely Georgian house was a two-story affair, painted a light blue and was enhanced with the newly manicured front lawn. Flowerbeds blossomed with life and beauty in the heat of July and under the care of Katherine Granger.
She saw smoke coming from behind the house and silently smiled to herself. It was obviously her father's turn to cook. Sliding out of the car, Hermione could hear the beat of music from a portable stereo and the chatter of friends and family coming from the shaded backyard. Hermione quickly ran around the house and saw her father struggling with the barbeque and her mother sitting serenely at a wooden patio chair, sipping lemonade. People, all ages and sizes surrounded them both.
"Dad!" Richard Granger turned and his eyes lit up as he spotted his only daughter sprinting toward him in jeans and blouse, her hair flying behind her. She flew into his arms and hugged him tightly. "There's my little girl." Hermione pulled away and looked at him, taking in the silver in his brown hair and the crow's feet at the sides of his eyes as well as the friendly expression that was now full of love. "Getting a bit old now, Dad?" Hermione laughed, touching his hair. He grinned. "Is that a way to talk to your own father? You did give me some of those white hairs."
"Indeed. I believe I did as I well." Hermione turned at her mother's voice and ran into her arms, the same as she did with her father. "Mum." Katherine looked over her daughter's shoulder to her husband's eyes, smiling. "Oh dear, you do grow fast, don't you?" Hermione grinned. Her mother had said the same thing every year ever since she moved to Virginia. She topped her mother by three inches, her height gained from her father's side of the family. Hermione had also gotten her brown hair and eyes from her father, though her eyebrows and nose were from her mother.
"Did you bring your neighbor with you? Alex, I believe his name was?"
"Yes, mother, I brought him. Was there a specific reason why you wanted him here?" Hermione asked suspiciously. Her mother had been playing the matchmaker ever since Hermione had gotten out of college.
"Well, he is a nice boy. And I quite like him. Charming, don't you think, dear?" Katherine said, shooting her husband a look.
"Of course. Very nice. Hmm. I think I'll go back to the barbeque. Leave you women alone to talk about…things." Hermione raised her eyebrow as her father quickly went back to burning hotdogs. "He hates cooking," Hermione said. Katherine chuckled. "Yes, he does. Forever burning and forgetting things on the stove. The only things relating to obtaining food that he knows of is sticking it in the microwave or ordering take out." She shook her head. "Very pitiful sometimes."
"Hmm. That's what I do." Katherine looked at Hermione, bemused. "And that is the only thing I regret having you inherited from your father. Everything else is lovely. Ah, is Tricia here?"
"Oh, she hates when people call her that. Trish, yes she's here. I picked her up at Boston."
"Oh… I don't quite see her here…"
"She's the one with the purple and blond hair."
"Changed her hair again?"
"Yes." And standing rather close to Alex, Hermione noted. She was introducing him to friends and other relatives, but standing close enough to look possessive. Was Trish interested in Alex? Hermione had no idea how that would work out. The both of them were so different. Alex was cool and polite, but friendly. Trish was outgoing, casually rude most of the time and took lovers as often as changing shoes, though she did try to make some of them more serious, hence the Bryan disaster. Hermione shook her head. It was better if she didn't think about relationships since she didn't have much luck in that area.
"Hey, Mum, I'm just going to go get a hotdog and attempt to eat it-"
"Even my daughter turns on me," her father muttered. Hermione laughed. "I have faith in you, Dad." Hermione snagged a hotdog from one of the picnic tables and did indeed try valiantly to eat it. The meat was burned and hard and Hermione voiced this to her father. "Why thank you, my dear daughter. Now go away and leave me here alone to sulk with the hotdogs."
And thus, Hermione spent the next five hours talking, laughing and socializing with old friends and relatives that she hadn't seen since Christmas and New Years.
"Aunt Hermy." Hermione felt a tug on the back of her blouse and turned. There stood a seven-year-old girl, the product of her cousin's marriage. "Hello there."
The child stood there a bit nervously, obviously intimidated by her height. Hermione bent down on to her haunches and stared into her blue eyes. "Your name's Lauren, isn't it?" Hermione already knew her name.
"Uh-huh." Lauren had a pair of blond pigtails draping her thin shoulders, having escaped the baby fat stage of childhood rather quickly. She's going to be beautiful when she grows up, Hermione thought, feeling pride settle in. The boys in the neighborhood are all going fall in love with her, once she hits puberty. "Are you having fun?" Lauren looked around the party.
"Not really", was her soft answer.
"Why not?" Lauren thought seemed to think before she answered. "Everybody's a grown up. I have nobody to play with." Hermione smiled. "Here." Hermione offered Lauren a hand. "We can go inside the house and see what we can do together."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So how was it?" Hermione laid down on the couch in the living room, flinging an arm on to her eyes. "Very exhausting."
"You enjoyed seeing everyone?"
"I forgot why I was so happy to have moved to Virginia. Oh yes. So that everybody in the neighborhood wouldn't try and match me up with their son or brother or cousin…"
"Well, nobody's ever seen you in a relationship. Come to think of it, neither have I."
"Don't remind me, mother. It gives me a feeling of inadequacy. This reminds me that I can't even stay in a relationship for very long makes me feel that I've disappointed a lot of people. I mean, how am I going to get married?" Hermione heard a sigh from her mother. "It wouldn't matter to me if you never have a boyfriend or lover. As long as you're happy, I'm content." A pause. "You work too hard." Hermione sat up. "No, I don't."
"Yes, you do, dear. Nobody knows a person better than their mother."
"I do not work too hard."
"Then why does Alex tell me that he's noticed you come home very late? Or the bags under your eyes?" Hermione sighed, defeated. It was no use arguing with her own mother. "Alright. Maybe I do overwork." Katherine eyed Hermione. "Not 'maybe'. You do overwork."
"Okay. I'll cut back on the work."
"
That's good. You better. You're staying over tonight?"
"Yeah, if that's alright with you. I'll just use my old room. Trish can sleep in my room since Alex is staying over too."
"Yes, that sounds good. I've already cleaned out the dust. Do you need any extra clothes?"
"No. I've brought a few spares over. I'll be going to shower now. Lauren's a wonder," Hermione said, a smile tugging at her lips.
"Ah, you saw little Lauren today?"
"Yeah. She's going to break hearts when she grows up." Her mother smiled back.
"Yes. She will."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Today was fun. Didn't you have fun?" Trish asked, flipping through a Cosmopolitan magazine. Hermione typed away on her laptop, the keys clicking softly.
"Hellooooo…."
"Quiet." Trish rolled her eyes at Hermione's back.
"Don't roll your eyes at me." Trish hissed. She's good, Trish thought, secretly impressed.
"Don't you ever take a break, girl?"
"Considering that you really won't make any intelligent conversation with me at this moment, no."
"Well, thanks so much. You make me feel so great. Just like a delinquent."
"Consider it based on your thing for Enrique." Hermione continued to type away on the laptop.
"Why do you always pick on him? I mean, he's hot, he can sing-"
"I don't care. Go to sleep. We're leaving early tomorrow."
"Whatever you say, Hermy." Trish grinned when Hermione started pounding the keys.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Have you packed everything, dear? Water, snacks? After it is a long drive back," Katherine asked, her eyes filled with motherly worry as Hermione dragged a bleary-eyed Trish to the car. Alex trailed behind, silently worshipping the cup of coffee between his hands. Hermione would have given anything to have some coffee. Anything.
"Yes, mom. We have everything. Trish, haul your ass up and get in the car." Trish yawned, missed the door and rapped her head sharply against the edge of the door. The cool morning air at five o'clock a.m. at the Granger residence was filled with ripe curses of the ungodly hour as well as various inanimate objects before the BMW convertible pulled out of the driveway and raced to the highway.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kennedy Airport, New York
Draco glanced at the clock overhead Customs and sighed. Muggles are so slow, he thought, resigned. He had made sure that he hadn't brought over any suspicious magical objects. His wand was tucked safely inside his duffel bag where he carried everywhere with him. The muggles would most likely dismiss it as a trinket.
Draco sighed again.
Soon, he was seen exiting the airport and hailing a limousine.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hermione gripped the steering wheel in defense to Trish's horrible off-key singing. Alex was blissfully asleep. Lucky bastard, Hermione thought sourly. She envied those who could just drop off to sleep wherever they were with a passion. And she closed her eyes briefly as Trish hit a particularly high note. Well, at least I don't have to stop at Boston, Hermione thought. Trish would be staying with her during her summer vacation from the university.
Later, it took another hour for Trish to stop the singing before Hermione jammed into the CD player a rock band. "Hey, don't hit anyone, Hermy. You're driving too fast." For the first time since they left, Hermione laughed. "I've been driving too fast all my life, Trish. Even you should have caught on by now."
"Hey, don't want the next exciting episode of Hermy Granger's life with another car crash."
"Shut up."
Trish laughed.
"Leave me alone, you evil mean person."
"By the way, did you ever find out that guy's name?"
"The guy who drove in front of me? That guy?" Trish rolled her eyes. "Who else?"
"Yeah." Trish waited a beat.
"So?"
"What?"
"Oh my God, Herms! Stop the act and just tell me what his name was!"
"Why do you want to know?"
"I don't know. Just tell me." Hermione riffled around for a moment, searching for the piece of paper with the man's name. Finding it under her water bottle, Hermione lifted it to her eyes and read off the name out loud.
"James Pearson. Happy now?" Hermione felt her mind twitch at the name. She had heard of the name before. No, read the name. She knew she had never met the man or she'd have known. Quickly, Hermione dismissed the thought. She'd have time to think about it once she got to Virginia.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Draco stepped out of the Lincoln Town car and asked the driver to wait for him. He nodded at turned back to a newspaper. Draco only stood there for a moment, taking in the sight of the Georgian house with its pretty lace curtained windows and small driveway. He knew she would spend the American July Fourth at her parents'. He hoped she would still be here, staying the day after on the fifth. Walking slowly, as if the air was water, Draco raised his hand to the door and pushed the doorbell, hearing it go ding-dong. And like a dream, the door opened to reveal a pretty woman with red hair and green eyes. She was slim, dressed simply in a white t-shirt and jeans. Hermione's mother, Draco thought.
She raised her brow at the sight of the handsome man standing at her door before she realized who he was. Wordlessly, she gestured him inside. Leading the way, she led him to a spacious living room. Before Draco could open his mouth, she said, "I know who you are. Please, sit down. Would you like tea or coffee?"
Draco found his voice. "No, thank you." She nodded and sat down across him on another couch. "So, Mr. Malfoy, are you here to apologize what happened nine years ago? I'll have you know, I don't blame you for what happened. It was beyond your control," Katherine said, crossing her legs and staring him in the eye. He met the stare. "No, I'm not here to apologize, though I have spent several countless moments regretting that I couldn't stop it. I… I came here to see her," he said softly, knowing she knew what he meant.
She understood. "She isn't here. She left early this morning back to Virginia. She should have gotten back by now," Katherine replied, checking her watch. Draco nodded. "Thank you."
"Draco." For the first time, she used his first name. He stiffened when she touched his hand. "I truly don't blame you for what happened. I spoke to Professor Dumbledore. He explained everything to me." Draco knew the Grangers had met with Dumbledore, knew Dumbledore had urged them not to blame him. "I want Hermione to remember everything. I suppose you could say that I do feel responsible for losing her memories. I want to help her remember."
A/N: Sorry for the long delay in posting this chapter. Not much happened. Sorry. But I'll get to it. Next chapter… READ AND REVIEW FOR GOD'S SAKE AND GIVE ME SOME IDEAS.