Ginny sighed heavily as she watched Hermione take the teapot back to the kitchen to refill it. She blinked when Hermione pulled a vial from her pocket and emptied it into the teapot, and then proceeded to put the tea in on top of it. Hermione brought the pot back to the table and sat down.
"Hermione, what are you doing?" Ginny asked, her pulse speeding up a bit. Hermione frowned and looked puzzled.
"What are you talking about?"
"What did you put in the tea?" Hermione paled. Ginny realized too late that Hermione hadn't had a drop of tea since she'd arrived – she'd consumed the cookies, and that was it.
"Nothing, Ginny."
"I just saw you do it." Her head began spinning as she stood. "What was it? What have you done?" The longer Hermione took to answer, the more panicked she was becoming.
"It wasn't anything that will hurt you, I swear," Hermione said, her tone pleading. She stood and followed Ginny out of the dining room into the family room. "I promise, Ginny, I would never do anything to hurt you!"
"What have you done?" Ginny whispered, sinking down onto the couch as her vision went blurry. Hermione knelt in front of her.
"It was just a simple potion," she explained soothingly. "It's going to relax your muscles."
"Why?" Ginny's throat was beginning to feel dry. Hermione bowed her head in shame before speaking.
"I want Ron back," she said simply. "And if you come back to us, he will too."
"He won't," Ginny croaked. Her eyelids were getting heavy… so heavy… it wouldn't hurt to close them for a moment, would it?
"We've got to take that chance," Hermione said, her voice turning determined, even as a hot tear slipped down her cheek. "I have to do this, Ginny. If I don't, Harry might take even more drastic measures, and considering what the two of you know, they would be warranted. Please just relax and let me do what I have to do."
"Whaaa…" Ginny's voice slurred. She knew what she wanted to ask; her brain was fuzzy, but she was still capable of rational thought. She just couldn't get her body to cooperate – instead of running out the door, all it would do was lie on the couch.
Even though her eyes were closed, Ginny was painfully aware of the noise of Hermione moving around her. "I know that you're wondering what I'm going to do, but I promise it won't hurt a bit. I've just got to concentrate."
Ginny had no other choice but to listen as Hermione rifled through the pages of a book. She heard Hermione pull a chair up in front of Ginny. She almost thought she could hear Hermione chewing on her fingernails, a nervous habit that she'd never outgrown.
"I'm not going to hurt you," Hermione repeated softly. "I'm only going to modify your memory a bit, so that when it's all over, you'll be right back with us, where you belong." Ginny's throat constricted as Hermione's words penetrated her.
She was going to lose Draco.
All of the wonderful things that had happened to her in the last three weeks were going to be erased. Draco's memory, her engagement, and her relationships with Pansy, Lucius, and Narcissa were going to be eradicated. She could feel the tears stinging beneath her closed eyelids.
It hurt to think that a former best friend could do something so terrible to her, but at the same time, she almost understood Hermione's reasoning. If she lost Draco, wouldn't she go to such lengths to get him back? She felt a tear slip down her cheek, and almost immediately, Hermione wiped it away.
"You mustn't be sad, Ginny," she said. "Malfoy will go on and live his life, and you'll both be fine. This is best for everyone involved, really it is. You'll see." Hermione raised her wand and glanced down at her book one more time.
"Memorie Raderan!" Ginny heard Hermione cast the spell, and a split second later she heard two crashes.
"What in the bloody hell-" her heart began to race. That was Ron's voice! "Gin, are you-" his voice died, and she felt him grab her wrist. He felt for a pulse and almost sobbed with relief when he found one. A split second later, Ginny heard more voices.
"Did you find her?"
"Is she all right?" Ginny's heart thudded wildly. Pansy and Draco were there, too, and she still remembered them! Hermione's spell hadn't worked!
"Sweet Circe," Pansy muttered, eyeing Hermione's limp body on the floor. "What in the hell happened here?"
"Are we too late?" Draco asked, rushing to Ginny's side. He pushed Ron's hand away and felt for a pulse. "She's alive, but why isn't she moving? I swear to Morgaine, if the Mudblood has hurt her-"
"She looks fine," Ron said, frowning. He turned her head to one side, then to the other. "I don't see any marks on her."
"What would Granger have done to her?" Pansy wondered aloud. Ron thought for a moment, then turned to her.
"Check the food. She wouldn't have attacked Ginny straight off; she would have used something else."
"Like what?"
"An enchanted item, or a potion, maybe," Ron said, standing up. He moved to where Hermione was lying and gently rifled through her pockets. He pulled out a small, empty vial. "Potion." Draco's eyes widened, and Pansy gasped in horror.
"What do you think it was?"
"Sleeping draught, maybe?" Ron guessed uncertainly. "Hermione's really good with potions. There's got to be a reason she wanted Ginny immobile, though."
"Why is she on the floor too, then?" Pansy asked. Draco arched an eyebrow, and then held Ginny's left hand up.
"Granger must have tried to attack her with some sort of spell, and it backfired."
"Why do you say that?"
"Because this ring is enchanted for protection of the wearer," Draco said, smirking triumphantly. "She could have been tricked into ingesting a potion, but the ring is very basic protection against any sort of harmful spells. It's not terribly strong protection, but apparently it was enough in this case." Ron gave him an odd look.
"So you're saying that whatever spell Hermione tried to use on Ginny backfired onto her?" Draco nodded.
"Let's wake her up," Pansy suggested, nodding at Hermione. "And then we'll know what spell she used." Draco rolled his eyes.
"Really," he said scathingly. "Pans, did you pay any attention to our teachers at Hogwarts?" She looked confused as Draco picked up Hermione's wand, then held his wand in the other hand.
"Priori Incantato!" The three of them watched, horrified, as the words "Memorie Raderan" appeared in the air. Ron raised his wand and pointed it at the glowing words.
"Deletrius," he muttered. The words dissipated, and they stared at each other in silence.
"I've never heard of that spell being cast successfully," Pansy said, her voice full of awe. "Is she powerful enough that it may have worked, and just made her unconscious from the effort?"
"She is," Ron said, grudging admiration in his voice.
"So how do we know if it worked?" Pansy asked despairingly.
"We'll have to take Ginny back to the Manor and just wait until she wakes up," Ron said. He shot a look at Draco, and found that the blonde was staring longingly at Ginny.
"And if it did work?"
"I don't know," Ron answered honestly. "It all depends on how much Hermione intended to erase and replace."
"Replace?"
"When you erase someone's memories with Raderan, you have to replace what you've taken, otherwise you cause permanent brain damage. It's not like Obliviate, where it just sort of lets the brain forget the memories. With Obliviate, the memories are still in your brain somewhere – you just can't remember them. With Raderan, the memories are gone," Ron explained.
"How do you know so much about it?" Pansy asked curiously. Ron's cheeks turned pink as he averted his eyes to the unconscious figure on the floor.
"I found the spell when I was doing some poking through Hermione's work files one night. She'd brought them home to work on them, and I went through them. When I asked her about it, she explained it to me." Draco turned his eyes to Ron.
"The Ministry has had Granger researching this?" Ron nodded, and Draco looked at Pansy. "That means that they're planning to use it. Possibly on captured Death Eaters, after they've gotten information from them." Pansy paled considerably.
"Merciful Morgaine," she whispered. She watched as Draco picked Ginny up and cradled her in his arms.
"We'll finish this conversation at home. There's no telling whether this place is safe to talk about this. Can we apparate from here?" he asked Ron.
"You can apparate out, but not in," he said, nodding. "But I thought you couldn't apparate into the Manor?"
"I can't," Draco said, shaking his head. "But I can apparate to the grounds. So can you. Why don't the two of you go ahead of me and find …" his voice died as he looked around, and Pansy nodded.
"I know what you're saying," she said, grabbing Ron's arm. "What should we do about her?" she asked, gesturing towards Hermione.
"Nothing," Ron said, sighing heavily. He met Draco's eyes. "I have a feeling that this is what Harry was talking about, so that means that he probably already knows we're here. He'll know the second we're gone, too."
"Can he blame this on us?" Pansy wondered.
"No. Hermione's wand will show that she cast the spell," Ron said. "Not to mention we have this." He held up the empty vial before sliding it in his pocket. "Better grab her wand to make sure that Harry doesn't take it and delete the spell." Pansy bent and grabbed the wand from the spot where Draco had tossed it.
"We'll see you back at the Manor," Pansy said, nodding at Draco. He gave her a curt nod and watched as she and Ron disapparated with a loud pop. He grabbed Ginny's cloak and wrapped it around her, and with her in his arms, disappeared as well.