Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

Memory

Chapter Four: The Truth Emerges

Scarlet peered at his cut anxiously in the moonlight. After Draco had pulled her away he had pulled them both up to the cliff and sat down. She followed suit and sat down in front of him, pulling a small pouch from a pocket in her skirt. She always had a first aid kid with her, she did have little kids around her often. She looked worried as she inspected Draco's eye. He had a cut right above it that was bleeding and he looked like he might have a swollen eye.

Draco, however, sat there unaffected. He was pissed to say the least. He couldn't stand being hit. But, even more he couldn't stand that Jason had been so unaffected by his actions. He had laughed right in Draco's face. That had never happened to Draco. And, he had called Scarlet a whore. Draco had only snapped like that once in his life. Only once had he ever lost control of his actions and wanted to kill so badly.

Scarlet was silent as she tended to the small cut on his head, kneeling in front of him. Draco stared at her neck while she fussed with his cut. It was tensed and slightly pink and Draco knew she must be really upset. Her face looked slightly pinched, frowning as she dabbed something on his cut. She was closer to him the she had been since he first met her. The fragrance she must have applied earlier was tickling his nose and he couldn't help but notice that she smelled like honeysuckle.

Even when she was worried she was beautiful.

Draco reached up and grabbed a piece of hair that had fallen out of her pony tail, weaving it through his fingers. Scarlet froze for a second before looking down and meeting Draco's eyes. It was in that second that she paused that Draco knew, whether she was Ginny or not, he was falling in love with her.

It was that realization that prompted him to do what he did next. In a move that was just as swift as when he pushed Jason against the tree, but much more gentle Draco pulled Scarlet's lips to his, placing both hands on either side of her face.He kissed her gently and was relieved that she didn't push him away. Slowly he deepened the kiss, as she sank down, her hands holding on to his forearms. She deepened the kiss for a second before pulling his hands away from her face. She sat back, his hands in hers, blushing slightly.

"I'm sorry about Jason." she whispered quietly.

"I can't really blame him, seeing as how I would feel the same." Draco told her.

Her blush deepened, but a small smile was on her lips. She looked up at him concerned, "Does your eye hurt a lot?"

Draco shook his head. "No, it doesn't hurt at all."

"How can it not hurt? You were bleeding."

Draco leaned back against a tree, pulling Scarlet with him so that she ended up leaning into his shoulder. "Pain comes in many forms, and physical pain I'm use to."

"How can someone be use to physical pain."

"I'm willing to be boxers and wrestlers are use to physical pain."

"But you aren't a boxer or a wrestler. Are you?"

"You're right, I'm not." Draco agreed. He sighed, "But at the same time, I'm use to it."

"How do you get use to pain?" Scarlet asked. "What kind of situation does that?"

Draco paused, unsure of what to say. "You know the first time you fall and scrape your knee, and it hurts. But what really hurts the most is when you see it bleeding. It's a mental game really. Pain, it's only temporary. Pain doesn't last forever."

"But it still hurts."

"Not if you have to get over the pain." Draco replied. "My father wasn't a nice man and weakness was not to be tolerated. The first time I fell and scratched my knee I cried like any little kid. After a talk with my father, I never cried from pain again. By the time I was fifteen physical pain didn't bother me anymore. It was the only way I could have survived."

"I'm sorry for you then." Scarlet told him. "That you had to learn to deal with physical pain."

"It's a useful skill to have."

"Still, I don't want to imagine what you had to deal with to get through that."

"Peoples pasts aren't always pretty."

"I don't know mine." she told him quietly.

Draco tensed, "Why not?"

"Five years ago I was found in the woods around here. For the next six months I was in a coma. When I woke up I just couldn't remember my past." she shrugged against him. "That's my deep dark secret, and sometimes I wonder what deep dark secrets I really have but can't remember."

"What do you think would happen if you ever ran into anyone from your past."

"I don't know. It isn't like I would know, would I?" She sighed, "The doctors said that seeing someone from my past might help trigger my memory."

"Do you want to remember?" Draco asked her.

"I've thought about that a lot." Scarlet told him. "And I just can't help but think that it isn't normal for someone to just wind up in a small town by accident. It isn't normal to be so hurt and broken that someone goes into a coma for half a year and can't remember a thing. Some thing major must have happened to cause that. Something bad. Maybe it's better off if I don't ever remember my old life. I mean, I'm happy here. I'm safe. If I remembered my past, would I be happy? Would I be safe?"

"What if you did get here by accident though?" Draco asked. "What if you left behind a happy life and a good family?"

"I can't live my life wondering what if, because then I would never feel complete."

"And you feel complete not knowing about most of your life?"

"You block out pain so that you don't have to deal with it. Pain isn't a good thing. I blocked out my past so that I don't have to deal with it. Obviously my past isn't a good thing."

"One thing I've learned is that your past will always come back to haunt you."

Scarlet nodded, "I know."

"And yet, you're running from it anyways?"

She met his eyes and shrugged, "What other choice do I have?"

"Leave this place and search for your past." Draco told her. "Find your old life."

"And what if there is nothing for me to go back to?" Scarlet asked. "What if I can't find my past?"

"Then at least you tried."

"Tried and failed."

"What's the point to trying to just fail?"

"That's like asking what's the point to living if you're just going to die? It's what you put into it that counts."

"So what? I go looking for my past and even if I fail I'm a stronger person?" Scarlet asked. "I'm not sure if it's worth it."

"It is." Draco told her. "Knowing your past is always worth it."

"And what if in my past I'm a horrible person?"

"You could never be a horrible person." Draco told her.

"You barely know me. How would you know whether I'm a good or bad person?" Scarlet asked him.

Draco gently reached forward and lifted Scarlet's chin up so that she had to look at him. "Trust me when I say that I know you could never be a bad person."

"You don't know me."

Draco took a deep breath, "I think I might."

Scarlet drew away from him, "What?"

"I think I might know you from your past. I wasn't sure before."

Scarlet stood up, "You don't know know anything. And anything you think you know, you're wrong about."

She turned to leave just as Draco stood up, "Scarlet-"

"No." she replied shaking her head, "Don't talk to me ever again."

Draco watched her as she ran away from him, and he felt like dying. He shouldn't have told her, but it was the right thing to do. Now he just didn't know what to do. He sat back down, knowing better then to run after her. Ginny hadn't liked being chased and he was willing to bet Scarlet felt the same way.

He hadn't expected her to tell him that she knew nothing of her past. He hadn't expected her to be so against finding out about his past. He hadn't expected her to run away from him, or to react that way. And know he didn't know what to do.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Scarlet ran because it was apparently what she did best. How can someone pretend they don't know you and then just claim that they might indeed know her. Who does that? Who is so fake? If he knew her why didn't he just say so to begin with?

"So, when you walked up here you thought you might know me. Do you?"

"I've never met a Scarlet before."

She stopped short at the memory. He had skirted around the question. He had known all along and he hadn't told her. Why hadn't he told her before? Why didn't he just tell her then that he knew her? Why did he have to lie to her? Why had he lied?

She started to walk again, trying to convince herself that he had been lying to her. Trying to convince herself that he didn't actually know her. But try as she might, she knew he hadn't lied to her. She knew that he had been telling her the truth about knowing her.

It didn't change the fact that he had tricked her. It didn't change the fact that he should have told her straight off that he knew her. It didn't change the fact that she didn't want to know her past, not anymore. She paced back and forth angrily on the path in front of her. Who did he think he was to just come into her life and throw it into an uproar?

She stamped her foot angrily before continuing her circular route. What good did it do him to tell her that he might just know her? For that matter, what good did it do her? She had just turned to pace in the opposite direction when she heard him behind her. She glanced back quickly before hurrying her pace.

"Petrificus totalus!" she heard him yell behind her. And for a minute she wondered what that meant.

Draco cursed himself after casting that spell, and he hurried to catch her. He caught her right before she hit the ground and he gently lowered her the rest of the way.

"I'm sorry, really I am." Draco told her as she glared at him. "But I have to explain to you. If you promise not to leave I'll take the spell off. Just blink once if you'll stay."

She glared at him for a few minutes before slowly blinking. Draco released the spell on her and she scrambled away from him. "What did you do to me?"

"I need you to let me explain." Draco told her. "Please."

She glared at him, "Fine, talk."

"The first thing you need to realize is for me to tell you about her, I have to tell you everything and it's a long story." Draco told her.

Scarlet nodded, "I'm listening."

"When I was younger I went to a school called Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

"What?"

"It's a school in Britain." Draco replied. "There are some people in this world who can really create magic, like you just saw me do. It was how I petrified you."

"If there are witches and wizards in the world why doesn't anyone know?"

"Can you imagine what would happen if the wrong person had a really powerful wizard at his disposal?" Draco asked. "It would be a disaster." He sighed, "Anyways, while I was at that school I met a girl named Ginny Weasley. In school we were never friends, we hated each other. A war started right before I got out of school. A man called Lord Voldermort had ruled once before and he had risen to power again. I joined a group called the Order of the Phoenix. i did a number of different things for the Order, some that risked my life and some that didn't. Earlier when I told you I made potions when I was younger, I was serious. My main skill helping the Order was making potions. I was one of the best potion makers, Ginny was another one of the best. So she and I got put on a job together. Most days we would work together from sun up to sundown. Occasionally I would be out of town because I also acted as a double agent. I was in the inner circle of the Death Eaters, the bad guys. And so I would have to go to their meetings and go on their missions and then report back to the Order. But, when I was working on potions I did have to work with Ginny day and night. We spent a lot of time together and we started to get along. It wasn't long after that that we started to date and fell in love."

Draco paused, wondering how to tell the next part. "I was away on one of my missions when I heard the news. Ginny Weasley had gone on a mission, delivering potions to a base camp in the middle of nowhere and she hadn't returned. I waited for months for word of her and I never got it. Her family gave up hope. I think it was easiest on them. I can't imagine what it must have been like for her parents to wait day after day, week after week for word of their only daughter. They held a memorial service and I didn't attend. I couldn't. Instead I went out to a bar and got plastered that night, trying to drink away my pain."

Draco paused again, glancing at Scarlet to see how she was doing "Ginny had a large family. Six brothers in all. Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, George, and Ron. Ron and I were in the same year and we never got along. Fred and George are twins and were always nice to me but I always new that they would kill me in a second if I hurt Ginny. Percy was a git, pure and simple. He died in the war, not realizing until too late that he had been wrong. Charlie's a dragon tamer. And Bill is the coolest guy I've ever met. Her family is great to me, they still invite me to their family events."

"Her brother Ron had a best friend named Harry Potter. When Ginny was younger she was in love with Harry Potter. He was a hero to the wizarding world because he had defeated Voldermort as a baby and he was the only one who could defeat him again. The two of them had another best friend, Hermione Granger. The three of them were unstoppable. Between the three of them they won the war. Voldermort was vanquished exactly twenty two days after Ginny's memorial service."

"What does this have to do with me?" Scarlet asked.

Draco looked at her, making eye contact with her. "Ginny was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. She was short and thin. She had a perfect peaches and cream complexion, her skin kissed by freckles. She had long red curly hair and the most beautiful brown eyes, edged in gold."

Draco reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He flipped it open and pulled out a picture. "Ginny Weasley; you, I think."

Scarlet took the picture from him, and he could see she was shaking. She stared at it silently, her eyes not blinking.

"Are you okay?" Draco asked her quietly.

She looked up at him glaring, tears in her eyes, "Who the hell would be okay right now?"

She leaned back and buried her face in her arms, her shoulders shaking gently. She didn't make a sound but Draco knew she was crying. What he didn't know was how to handle it. After watching her uneasily for a couple of minutes he got up and moved beside her. He gently put his arm around her, pulling her against him.

They sat there for a while, even after she finished crying. Both of them too content to move and neither one of them wanting to feel alone.

"What do we do now?" She asked him finally.

"I take you home and you go to sleep and don't worry about anything until the morning." Draco told her. "And if you want I'll let your parents know that you aren't dead."

"Who am I?" she asked him. "What am I suppose to answer to? Scarlet or Ginny?"

He kissed her gently on her forehead, "Tomorrow, we'll figure everything out."

(Thanks to: Kasoula, linkin-park-at-heart, Calla-ForEvEa, inuthims, princess cyther, Beauty Eclipsed, MorningBreaker, JassXOXO, Alexandria J. Malfoy, louey31, squirrel-wrath)