Chapter 30
On her nightstand was a silver box, with a note card propped up against it. For you, with love, You-Know-Who the voice read along with her.
"Thank you," Hermione said, opening the box. Inside was another necklace, this one was a silver chain with the same black/red beads on it as the other one. The beads were spaced out evenly around the necklace and in the middle was a silver heart with a small capital "D" carved in it. It can stand for anything you like. Dark Lord, Dark Arts, or if you prefer, Draco Malfoy
* * *
Hermione, Ron, Ginny, and Seamus were walking down the hall to breakfast the next morning. As they neared the Great Hall, Hermione caught a whiff of the bacon, and suddenly felt very dizzy.
"Oh, smell that, would you?" Seamus said. The others agreed that it smelled wonderful.
"I'm so hungry," Ron remarked. Hermione stopped walking, she couldn't take it anymore. Her stomach was rolling over and over.
"I left something in the room, I'll catch up," she said, and ran off before anyone could decide to follow her. Running straight to the nearest bathroom, Hermione made a beeline for the toilet and emptied the contents of her stomach. She felt immediately better, and decided she must have just eaten too much the night before.
Heading off to the Great Hall, as soon as the scent of food caught her nostrils, she was dizzy again. Feeling weak, she turned slowly and started to head back towards the bathroom, but knew she wouldn't ever make it. She gave it her best shot, putting one foot slowly in front of the other as her field of vision became narrow until the could only see small square of the floor. One more step and she collapsed, right into Draco Malfoy's conveniently outstretched arms.
Draco looked around, but he seemed to be the only person in the hall at that point in time – everyone had already gone on to breakfast. So he did the best he could and lowered her gently to the floor with her head in his lap.
"Come on Hermione, don't do this to me now, please," he begged her limp body, lying on the cold Hogwarts stone floor. "Get up, come on, wake up," he instructed, patting her face. Finally after what seemed like an eternity, Hermione's eyes fluttered.
Her face was pale, and her eyes were glassy. She seemed disoriented but quickly pulled herself together.
"What happened?" she asked. Draco shrugged.
"One second you were headed to breakfast and then the next you were keeling over," he said. Hermione looked around.
"Thanks for staying with me," she said. "Funny, my head doesn't hurt from hitting the ground," she mentioned pointedly.
"You didn't give me much of a choice. You kind of decided to pass out in the same bit of space I was occupying at the time," he told her. She laughed gently. "Feel better?" he asked, noticing some color come into her cheeks. She nodded and he helped her stand up slowly.
They started walking towards the Great Hall, Draco keeping a close watch on Hermione. He noticed that the closer they got, the paler she grew.
"Are you alright?" he asked her. She shook her head yes, but then shook it no. "Here, sit down," he told her, and helped her to sit down. "Do you want me to get a teacher?" he asked.
"No, stay here," Hermione whispered. Her head was throbbing.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"My head hurts, and I'm dizzy. I haven't felt this bad since, well, you know what I mean, right?" she asked. Draco looked down into her eyes, eyes that were begging him to understand. He closed his eyes briefly, willing his mind to remember what she was talking about, and suddenly it came to him, clear as though it had happened the previous day.
"I don't feel so well all of a sudden," she whispered. Draco took her arm again.
"You're fine," he lied. He knew all too well what she was going through. "It passes," he assured her. She turned to look at him.
"What passes?" she asked, suspicious.
"Time heals all wounds?" he suggested. "I didn't mean anything in particular."
"I feel really sick," she said, pausing to steady herself. Her head was spinning, and her stomach felt like she was going to be sick if she took another step.
"Lean on me," he instructed, wrapping his arm around her. He watched the color drain from her face and his heart when out to her. He knew exactly what she was going through. "It's easier if you don't fight it," he whispered. Slowly the color returned to her cheeks and she stood up on her own. For a fleeting second, Draco wondered if she had won. But when she turned to look at him, her eyes flashed red, and he knew she was losing.
Draco forced his eyes open, and he looked back into
Hermione's eyes, his heart pounding. For a brief second, he thought he saw her
eyes flash red, but then promised himself he'd imagined it.
"I remember," he said, trying to swallow the lump that was rising in his throat. "Can you stand?" he asked. She shook her head no. "Please, for the sake of all that is sacred, let everyone be in breakfast," he said, raising his eyes upward. With that, he bent and lifted Hermione into his arms and quickly carried her across the school towards their lounge. He laid her carefully on the sofa and sat next to her.
"Aren't you going to eat?" she asked. He shook his head no. "You can go on, I'll be alright," she promised.
"Don't worry about me," he said. "I can grab something before potions," he told her.
"I'm feeling better already," Hermione commented. Draco nodded.
"You look better, at least," he said. She blushed, which made him laugh. "You must be alright," he teased. He reached absently for a lock of hair that had fallen into her eyes. "All of your blonde is gone," he informed her.
"I know, I need to get Pansy to fix it," she said, examining the ends of her hair.
"Nah, leave it," he said. "I like it better this way."
"I'm going to have her straighten it again," Hermione warned him, "Because it's so much easier to take care of that way."
"Fine, have it your way," Draco laughed, just thankful that she had recovered from whatever was ailing her.
"Deal," she agreed. She sat up very slowly. "Thank you for taking care of me, Draco. I think that goes above and beyond the call of a potions partner."
"Hermione, we're friends and you know it," he scolded her. A smile broke out on her face.
"It's still nice to hear you say it, Draco," she said. Then a thought crossed her mind. "What time is it? Are we going to be late for class?" she asked, a note of panic coming into her voice. Draco laughed.
"We have plenty of time. Besides, we're prefects, we're allowed to be a little bit late to class," he assured her. Hermione rolled her eyes at his last comment. She stood up and brushed herself off.
"Well, I'm going to head on then," she decided. "But I have to stop and get my books, so I guess I'll see you in potions," she said, giving him a smile before she left. Draco watched intently as she walked away. He had made himself remember something, which was a small victory, but it was a victory enough. And it told him something that he had hoped not to have to worry about. He and Hermione were definitely under some kind of memory charm.
But even that didn't bother him as much as it should have at that particular moment. The memory of Hermione in the hall had brought back the thoughts that had been going through his mind at the time. He was shocked to find that they were very similar to the thoughts that had gone through his mind before she'd asked him to remember. Closing his eyes Draco concentrated on bringing them back.
They were all just the same as he remembered. Her skin and how it was so soft to touch. Her eyes and the amazing amount of emotions she could convey with them. How sweet she smelled when he had her in his arms, and how amazing it felt to hold her there.
* * *
Draco's eyes flew open. He had to focus. Looking around him carefully, he made sure that no one had seen him daydreaming, especially not Professor Flitwick. Not that the tiny instructor would have minded much, but Draco didn't want to take the chance.
"You miss her, don't you?" a voice said. Draco turned to see Pansy sitting behind him.
"Yeah," he said softly, and gave her a small smile.
"She'll come visit over Christmas break," Pansy reassured him. Draco bit his tongue. She'd thought he was talking about Breena. Breena had been the furthest thing from his mind. Failing to see any need to correct her, Draco faced the front again and vowed to pay attention as though his life depended on it.
After the class was over, he hurried to the kitchen and got a few pastries from the elves. Saving one for Hermione, he hurried down to the potions classroom so she could eat it before class started.
He found Hermione already setting up the supplies for that day's class.
"I've got a surprise for you," he said, with a huge smile on his face. Hermione looked up, with her eyebrows raised expectantly.
"Oh? And what might that be?" she asked, taking a break from her work. Draco pulled the pastry from his pocket.
"It's peanut butter, your favorite," he said, handing it to her. Hermione took it and held it for a minute.
"Peanut butter?" she asked wearily. Draco's smile faded.
"What's wrong? Isn't Peanut butter your favorite?" he asked. Hermione was turning pale again. "I thought you said you loved peanut butter!"
"You don't have to say it so much," she said, holding the pastry away from her.
"Say what?" He asked. She gestured to the pastry. "Peanut butter? Don't be ridiculous, Hermione. Hermione?" Draco watched as she dropped the pastry and ran from the room with a hand clamped firmly over her mouth. "What the hell did I do wrong?" he asked himself, quickly picking up the offending breakfast roll before the professor saw it.
"Trouble in paradise?" Professor Snape asked, in his usual slow drawl. Draco spun around, startled.
"You might say that, yeah," Draco sighed. "All I did was say the words peanut butter, but apparently I said it too many times."
"She looked rather ill, Mr. Malfoy," Snape intoned. Draco sighed.
"I know, she was sick this morning too. I thought I was doing the right thing, she was too sick to eat breakfast, but then she was fine before class so I thought she'd be hungry by now, but I guess she's not as fine as she was," Draco decided. Snape raised an eyebrow and drifted towards the front of the classroom.
Hermione returned to class soon after it had begun, and managed to stay fine throughout the remainder of the class. She and Draco finished their potion and the write up with plenty of time left over.
"I'm sorry about earlier," Draco said. Hermione shrugged.
"It's alright, you were just being thoughtful. Don't worry about it. I just must be sicker than I thought," she sighed.
"Miss Granger, Mr. Malfoy, how is the extra credit coming along?" Professor Snape asked, gliding up behind them.
"Just fine, Sir," Draco lied. Snape raised an eyebrow, catching the confused look on Hermione's face.
"Is that so?" Snape asked. "What foods have you decided to experiment on?"
"Well, chocolate, pean-uh, actually, chocolate was the only good one we had come up with so far, but we've mostly just been gathering-"
"Wool. You've been wool-gathering, Mr. Malfoy. Have you actually put any work into this?" Snape asked.
"Yes sir," Hermione spoke up.
"Well, then why haven't you compiled a list of foods yet? I would think you would have found a plethora of things to work with," Snape said. "I have seen many excellent reports on this subject, many of which include foods such as bacon, and cheese, and peanut butter, in addition to chocolate. Really think about this, there are so many possibilities," Snape let his speech trail off as Hermione dashed for the bathroom again. Draco shot Snape a look. "Don't get cocky with me, Mr. Malfoy. Trust me on this."
Draco sighed and looked away. Snape smiled at him and moved on to observe the other students. When Hermione returned, class was about to be dismissed for lunch.
"Miss Granger, please see me after class," Snape called out to her. Hermione nodded and made her way to her seat. Draco rubbed her back briefly, and then left with the other students to wait outside the classroom for her.
Hermione took her time walking to the front of the room. She wasn't sure what Snape was going to say, but she was pretty sure she didn't want to hear it.
"Miss Granger, you have always been an exceptional student, and I have no doubt that you always weigh your options carefully before making a decision. So I want you to know that I don't want to imply anything, but I think you should probably make a visit to Madam Pomfrey, and I would do it sooner than later," Snape told her, "That's all."
Hermione nodded her head and left the room, her cheeks burning. Draco was waiting outside the room.
"What did he say?" Draco asked, seeing her face flushed with embarrassment.
"Nothing. I have to go get something from my room before lunch, so I'll see you there," she said, and hurried off.
"Hermione, you can't go without me, what if something happens to you?" he asked.
"I'll be fine, don't worry," Hermione assured him. She hurried up to her room and pulled out a spell book that Mrs. Weasley had given her one year. Wishing she'd had the foresight to memorize the spell, she quickly whispered it and swished her wand in a circular motion. Nothing happened, so she tried the spell again to achieve the same results.
Turning the page in the book, she confirmed her fear. It had been over four months since her last period. Feeling her knees grow weak, she sat down on the bed. Four months? Where had she been four months ago? An icy feeling grew in the pit of her stomach. She had no idea. She couldn't possibly, not with all the memory problems she'd been having lately. Nauseated again, she slowly made her way to the bathroom where she vomited for what seemed like the hundredth time that day.
After she had regained her strength, she made her way up to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey took one look at her and quickly led her to a bed.
"Now what seems to be the trouble, dearie?" she asked, taking Hermione's temperature. "No fever," she remarked.
"I've been sick all morning, dizzy, and a headache. Every time I get near food I feel nauseated and usually vomit. It just started this morning," Hermione paused. "I think I might be pregnant," she added. The older woman's face grew more serious.
"Do you remember when your last period was?" she asked. Hermione shook her head no.
"Over four months," she said. Madam Pomfrey clicked her tongue and pulled a screen around her.
"Lift your shirt so I can see your abdomen," she instructed. She then swished her wand with a similar motion to Hermione's earlier one, and whispered the words to a pregnancy testing spell. Upon seeing Hermione's abdomen glow with a bright white light, she frowned. "Miss Granger, you have taken muggle studies, correct?"
"Yes, I have, why?" She asked.
"Sit up, dearie; let me explain something to you. Now, I don't know what your mother, or your grandmother, or friends have been telling you, but there's only one way a woman can get pregnant," Madam Pomfrey began. Hermione blushed.
"I know how it works," she assured the nurse.
"Hermione, you haven't even engaged in sexual intercourse, why are you so afraid of being pregnant?" Pomfrey asked. Hermione looked down at her hands.
"Well, I've been having trouble remembering things lately, and so I thought it might have been possible that I forgot about it, you know?" Hermione tried to reason. The witch's face grew serious again.
"What kind of memory problems?" she asked, "Little things or big things?"
"Entire events," Hermione said. "I can only remember little pieces. And it's not just me, its Draco too," she remembered, hoping that would help her story be believable.
"Draco Malfoy? Hermione, have you been using drugs?"
"No! I wouldn't do that, and neither would Draco," Hermione's answer was so sure and so quick that the nurse didn't doubt her.
"This is a serious problem, Miss Granger, I'm going to have to take you and Draco to see Headmaster Dumbledore," Madam Pomfrey said, standing up.
"There is no need, Poppy, I have come to her," Dumbledore said, entering the room with Draco in tow. He gestured for Draco to sit in the chair next to Hermione. "I feel like it may be time to tell you both something very serious. I had hoped that you would have more time, but it seems to have become a pressing issue. Professor Snape came to me directly after he sent you here, Miss Granger, and asked me to share this with you and I'm afraid I cannot ignore his reasoning. You both must understand that this is a very serious matter and you must trust me. Are you willing to do that?" he asked. Hermione shook her head yes, and Draco nodded as well. Dumbledore stood up and walked across the room to the window.
"You both have been placed under a very strong memory charm as a direct result of something that happened a few months ago. I have neither the power, nor the desire to remove this charm, so you must trust me when I say that it was for the best," Dumbledore told them. Hermione and Draco exchanged glances.
"Can you tell us what happened?" Draco asked, leaning forward.
"I'm afraid I cannot. That will return to you with time, through dreams and memories like you've been having. It may disappear entirely, or it may eventually all return to you. The charm works differently on each individual," the headmaster explained. Hermione sighed.
"So, what's wrong with me?" she asked. Dumbledore smiled.
"That I cannot say, Miss Granger, but is likely to return to you. Now, I believe you must rest, and Mr. Malfoy will collect your assignments from your teachers," he responded. She nodded and Draco left the room with Dumbledore.
"If I have a suspicion, will you confirm it for me?" Draco asked Dumbledore. The elderly man looked at Draco and smiled again.
"Unless it is not correct, in which case I may have to deny it," he said with a twinkle in his eye.
"Were the rings a gift?" Draco asked. Dumbledore's smile faded.
"They were indeed," he agreed. Draco looked down at his hand, where the ring had returned. He didn't remember putting it back on, but there it was anyway.
"They're engagement rings, aren't they?" Draco asked suddenly. Dumbledore nodded, and turned to face Draco.
"An old proverb tells us that out of misfortune must come something fortunate, and just the opposite," Dumbledore told him, before turning to face the entrance to his office. Draco walked away feeling somewhat cheated. He was thankful that the headmaster had at least confirmed a few of his suspicions, but he still had so many questions.
* * *
Hermione stayed in the hospital wing for about a week. Madam Pomfrey finally released her on the last day warning her to take good care of herself and to be attentive. The diagnosis had been a particularly nasty strain of flu, and as for her period, Madam Pomfrey had requested that Hermione keep track of her cycles and return in three months to have them regulated.
"Girls your age can have irregular patterns for any number of reasons," the nurse had said. Hermione left the hospital wing and headed straight for Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Pansy was waiting for her there, and they straightened Hermione's hair and added a few layers.
"Breena was really good at cutting hair," Pansy mourned. She sighed and muttered a quick hair-drying spell. Hermione turned to look at herself in the mirror.
"Thanks, Pansy, it looks great," she said, smiling. Behind her, Myrtle hovered closer.
"Hermione, I heard that Draco got you pregnant," she cackled. Pansy turned to Hermione in shock. Hermione shook her head.
"I'm still a virgin, I assure you," she replied calmly. Pansy let out the breath she'd been holding.
"So then tell me, Hermione, how is it that you have him so captivated?" Pansy asked. "He's usually into girls who are more um, promiscuous," she explained. Hermione shrugged her shoulders.
"I don't think I have him captivated at all. He's just my lab partner," she begged. Pansy rolled her eyes.
"Like I really believe that," Pansy said. "You two spend a lot of time together. Don't play dumb with me, I know he sneaks out late to see you," she said. Hermione shrugged again.
"We're just friends," she said firmly, "and we probably won't ever be more than that."