As The World Falls Down

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story. I did not write any of the lyrics at the beginning of the chapter. This story is for entertainment purposes only.

MAJOR HALF-BLOOD PRINCE SPOILERS

Summary: Lucius Malfoy has lost everything. He only has the young witch who comes to his aid, but will happen when he remembers who he is, and more importantly, who she is?

ONE MORE WARNING: MAJOR HALF-BLOOD PRINCE SPOILERS. DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU HAVE READ HALF-BLOOD PRINCE

Chapter 3 - Echoes

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And I am you and what I see is me
And do I take you by the hand
And lead you through the land
And help me understand the best I can
And no one calls us to move on
And no one forces down our eyes
And no one speaks
And no one tries

Echoes by Pink Floyd

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"Are you okay?" Hermione asked the older man, helping him sit down on the small couch as soon as they apparated into the room.

Lucius winced, his hands wrapped around his leg quickly. He was trying to catch his breath, but his lungs felt full and heavy. "I don't know. It hurts, yet I can't feel my legs. Does that make any since?"

Hermione nodded. "Surprisingly, it does. That is a side effect of the Cruciatus curse."

"Hermione, I'm going to go get Remus." Harry said from the other side of the couch.

Hermione looked up. "Right now?" she asked, her brow furrowed. She didn't notice the blue color staining Malfoy's lips.

"Yes." Harry replied, his teeth clinched. "Right now."

"Harry, I know what I am doing." Hermione replied, grabbing his shoulder and pulling him into the small bathroom off of the living area. She quickly shut the door.

"You are helping a known murder, and rapist. Or did you forget about that?" Harry snapped.

Hermione paled under the harsh bathroom light, and Harry instantly felt ashamed.

"Of course I haven't forgot that Harry. I will never forget it, as long as I live." she snapped, her voice breaking. "But the fact remains that we have one of the strongest Death Eaters in our living room with no memory of who he is. If we can heal his body and use him to the Orders advantage, then it's something we should try."

Harry shook his head. "I don't understand you…"

"No, I don't understand you. Why do you hold so much hatred inside Harry?" she asked, her voice gentle now. "Why can't you see past your anger and hatred towards Lucius Malfoy to see what a chance this is for us? I am the one who has the right to hate him most of all, and I if can see past the anger, than you should have no problem."

Harry sighed. "I'm still going to get Remus."

"Fine. He needs to know what is going on anyways. I'm going to go try and heal Malfoy's legs." Hermione said, reaching for the door handle.

"You need to come with me." Harry said.

She turned. "I'm not going with you. You can go get Remus, and I'll wait here and heal Malfoy."

"I'm not leaving you alone with him Hermione." Harry growled.

"He can't do nothing to me Harry. He doesn't even remember anything. I'll be okay." Hermione insisted, opening the door.

Her eyes widened as she looked over to the couch. Lucius had slumped over, passed out. Sweat was rolling down his pale and bloody face. His breathing was labored, his chest heaving with the effort to take in air.

"Oh no!" she cried, clutching her wand. Lucius Malfoy or not, she couldn't let someone die in front of her. "I shouldn't have left him alone."

Harry stood in the doorway, watching his friend run to heal the man who had ruined her life in more than one way. Shaking his head, he quickly called for Hedwig. Maybe Remus could talk some since into Hermione.

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"Hedwig! Come down here!" Remus called cheerfully as the owl flew in circles around the Burrow. Hooting, the bird slowly circled down, holding her leg out.

"From Harry?" Ron Weasley asked, slumping back down in his chair and petting the owl. She must have flown fast, her body was covered in sweat and she was trembling.

"Yes." Remus replied, unfolding the letter.

"What is it?" Ron asked.

"I don't know. He wants me to go to your flat immediately." Remus replied, feeding Hedwig a crumb of bread.

"I was on my way home anyways. Let's go." Ron said.

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"Come on." Hermione muttered, waving her wand over Lucius. "Wake up please."

Harry stood against the wall, his arms folded across his chest. He was torn between satisfaction that Lucius Malfoy was in this state, and a nagging guilt and sorrow because Hermione was clearly upset.

"Shit." she said, her eyes blurring with unshed tears of frustration. "There has to be something I can do, something I am not thinking of."

"WHAT IS HE DOING HERE?" Ron yelled out, appearing beside Harry with a loud crack.

"Hermione picked him up in the park." Harry replied, his voice cold.

"SHE WHAT?" Ron cried out, just as Remus appeared on the other side of Harry.

"Harry, what is going….." he trailed off as he noticed Hermione franticly waving her wand over Lucius Malfoy.

"Hermione thinks he lost his memory. He was hit with the Cruciatus curse, and there is something wrong with him. She insisted we bring him home with us. She thinks it will help the Order." Harry said.

"Malfoy lost his memory?" Ron repeated, his voice clearly showing his amazement and confusion.

"Hermione believes him. I'm not so sure." Harry said.

Remus left the two younger men and walked over to Hermione, resting his hand on her lower back. With his other hand, he reached up and covered her hand that was clutching her wand. He lowered it gently to her side. "There is only so much you can do Hermione."

She looked down, and only then noticed Malfoy was not breathing. Tears were trickling down her cheeks. "I hate him as much as Harry does. I hate him more than anyone else. But I can't let anyone die in front of me without trying." she explained.

"I know it's hard to see anyone die, but you did all you could Hermione." Remus said gently.

"I could try more spells. There has to be something else Remus, help me." she begged.

Sighing, Remus removed his hand from hers, leaving his other hand on her back. "What have you tried?"

"I tried all the healing spells I could think of. I don't know what else to do. I even tried Notinos." she said. "It's the strongest healing spell I know, and it didn't work."

Remus reached into his pocket with his free hand, grabbing his wand. "Let's try again. Maybe if we both try Notinos it will be strong enough."

Harry's mouth fell open as he watched Remus help Hermione in trying to save Lucius Malfoy. He had hoped Remus would be the voice of reason Hermione would listen to.

Hermione's hand trembled as she raised her wand up again. "Notinos!" she cried out with Remus.

Lucius twitched. Just a small shake, but his body moved. "It worked!" she cried, moving away from Remus at once to cast the spell over Lucius' lungs and then heart and legs.

"Wha….." Lucius mumbled, trying to wake up.

"Sshhh… Just sit still till I am done." Hermione said gently. "Thank you." she whispered, looking up at Remus.

"What are you doing?" Harry snapped at the werewolf, walking towards the couch.

"She is right Harry. Having a wizard with the kind of power Lucius Malfoy has on our side is a good idea." Remus explained.

"But what happens when he gets his memory back?" Harry snapped.

"Maybe he won't mate." Ron spoke up from the back of the room.

"Not you to!" Harry cried, spinning around on his friend. "Have you all gone mad? Don't you know who this is?"

"Yes Harry. But think about this. If he doesn't get his memory back, we can have full access to his home, all the secrets hidden within it. We can have access to his magic, and his books and charms." Remus explained.

"Are you okay?" Hermione was asking Malfoy behind them.

He opened his eyes slowly. "What happened?" he croaked out.

"The curse had overtaken your heart. I think we healed it all now." Hermione explained gently.

"She saved your life Malfoy, Merlin knows you didn't deserve it." Harry snapped, spinning on his heals and stomping out of the flat.

Ron looked over at Hermione. "I'll go talk to him. I think he sees where this could benefit us, he is just hanging on to his anger." Ron looked over to Remus. "Stay here with her, I don't want her alone with him."

Remus nodded as Ron left the flat also.

"Thanks you Remus." Hermione said, sitting down across from Lucius.

"I think you are doing the right thing Hermione, I really do. But I want you to be careful. You know what kind of monster this man is." Remus said.

"Monster?" Lucius said, his voice still weak from the couch. "What are you guys all talking about? What was that mans problem with me? Who am I? Why do you all act afraid of me? And why does everyone in this room seem to hate me?"

Hermione looked over at Remus, her eyes full of uncertainty. Remus shrugged. He wasn't sure what to say either.

Before Hermione could try to answer any of his questions, Lucius spoke again. "How old am I? Do I have a family? Kids? A Wife? This is so damn frustrating. I don't know anything."

"Calm down. You heart and body both are still weak. You need to take an easy. I'll answer all your questions, I promise. Right now you need to sleep." Hermione said gently, standing up and walking to the couch. "Can you stand?"

Lucius sighed. "I think. But don't think you are going to get away with pushing my questions aside. I want to know everything." He said, pushing himself off the couch.

Standing on his newly healed legs, Lucius swayed, instinctively, he reached out to grab Hermione for support. He was surprised when she flinched, a look of pure terror on her face.

He dropped his hand back to his side, trying to balance himself. "I'm sorry. I thought I was going to fall."

She shook her head, her cheeks burning pink. "No, I'm sorry. Of course you need help. I just… I forgot for a moment."

"Forgot what?" Lucius asked as she took his arm over her shoulder.

"It's nothing. Remus?" she said.

Remus quickly took Lucius' other arm, and they balanced him between the two of them as they walked back to her room.

"He can sleep in here. We don't have a guest room. It's a little girly, but it will do." She said, reaching over to open her bedroom door.

They got Lucius on the bed, and Hermione conjured up some blankets. "Are you okay?" she asked. "Warm enough?"

"I'm fine." he muttered, sleep already finding his body. "Thank you."

"Your welcome." she replied gently, closing the bedroom door.

Remus was standing out in the hallway, and she gladly welcomed his embrace. "Are you okay?" he muttered.

"Yes. No. I don't know. It's so confusing. It's him, but it's not. When I see him, it reminds me of everything, and yet he didn't do any of it." She said, trying to put words to her confusion. How can you hate someone so much? And yet not hate them at all? And how can you feel such revulsion and sorrow for one person?

Remus led her down the hallway and back to the kitchen. "I'll make some tea." he said, "You rest for a moment. How is your arm?"

She rubbed her arm absently. "It's fine. I forgot about it actually."

"So what do we do with him?" Remus said, setting a warm cup of tea in front of her, and pulling his own chair out.

"I just don't know…" Hermione mumbled into her cup.

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And to answer a question some of you might be asking, no Hermione is not seeing Remus. They are just good friends.