Hermione gulped at the large, seething creature coming toward her. "I-I was just, I was just looking-"
"You were about to touch that ring!" He stopped right in front of her and grit his sharp teeth. "Do you know what will happen if you were to touch that ring?"
She shook her head rapidly. "No, I wasn't going to touch it I swear."
"You would've doomed us all!"
"I meant no harm!"
"Why else would you be lifting the glass? Were you trying to steal it?"
She pressed her eyes shut trying to maintain composure. "No!"
He dropped to his fours and circled her like a true predator. "Why'd you come here? You knew it was forbidden."
She stood still and held a shaky hand over her wand in her pocket. Her eyebrows were scrunched together as she tried desperately to come up with an explanation. "I…I"
"I-I-I" He mocked.
"You prat!" She huffed and threw her arms to her sides. "Don't you dare mock me! I want to know what it is you're hiding. There are several things you refuse to tell me!"
He rolled his stone-colored eyes and stopped at her side. "You never could keep your nose out of other people's business, could you? You always had to be a know-it-all right, Granger?"
She stopped huffing and turned toward the Beast. "What do you mean I never could? Did I know you before the curse?"
He got up onto two feet and stood towering over her. "Did you know me?" He chuckled and shook his head. "You still haven't put it together? The pictures, the names, the wand…Hell, you were tortured right in this damn Manor!"
Her head began to ache as she desperately tried to piece everything together. She was never tortured here; she had never been here.
"What are you talking about? I've never stepped foot in this Manor before today."
He scoffed and started walking toward the nightstand. "Figures, the one supposed brightest witch of my generation, can't even remember who I am."
He sounded almost defeated. He opened the top drawer and pulled out a folded piece of paper. He blew away the dust. He took his time to get to her and looked her dead in the eyes.
"Beaver, Bushy-haired freak, know-it-all, teacher's pet... Does that ring any bells?" He asked.
She took a step back. "So, you went to Hogwarts" she scoffed. "Big deal so did most wizards."
"You would do well to remember, I'm not like every other wizard." He punctuated his words with a shove of a folded-up newspaper.
She took the paper and began reading it. The main headline read as Death Eaters Due Date.
Today marks the day of the Malfoy family trial. The family is being tried for aiding and housing the Dark Lord, third-degree murder of several muggle-borns, attempted murder of Albus Dumbledore, and several uses of an Unforgivable Curse.
Hermione took in a shaky breath as she glanced up at the Beast. He kept his eyes on the paper and she continued to read. The paper had a still picture of the family: Lucius Malfoy, Narcissa Malfoy Nee Black, and their eighteen-year-old son Draco Malfoy. Alarms went off in her head at his name.
While his father Lucius Malfoy has already been sentenced to the dementor's kiss, the results have yet to be announced for Draco Malfoy (shown above). Draco Malfoy was inducted as a death eater in his sixth year. The boy was tasked with the murder of headmaster Albus Dumbledore. He was also tasked to provide an entrance for the death eaters to enter Hogwarts. Despite Draco Malfoy's last-minute aid to the Order of the Phoenix; his character should still be questioned.
"He's a coward that Malfoy, I reckon he believed we would win. Wanted to make sure he made it out of the war alive and free." –Ron Weasley
"I think he was scared more than anything. If I had been in his position, well I'm not entirely sure what I would've done. Can't know for sure if he did try to fight against it." -–Harry Potter
"Draco Malfoy was horrid as a child, but he's still a child. We all are. None of us deserved what happened in the war. If you had seen how terrified he looked and that house. I think we've all suffered quite enough." –Hermione Granger
She re-read the last quote.
Hermione Granger
She didn't remember his trial or saying this quote. She didn't remember being in this house. The paper shook in her hands. They all had said something about him, she knew him, but why. Why couldn't she remember? Her breaths were heavy. She looked back up at the creature. He scowled at her. His lip curled up slightly.
"Draco Malfoy?"
He gestured to his being."In the flesh and fur."
"Why can't I remember you?" She took some cautious steps backward. "I-I don't remember saying these things about you. I don't remember you as a child. I can't—I can't even remember this house. I've been here before! You said I was tortured here!"
She stopped her steps and looked back. She was closer to the doorway than he was.
Several uses of the unforgivable curses
She swallowed a lump in her throat. "Were you the one to torture me in this house, Draco Malfoy?"
His brows knitted together in confusion. "What? Why on Earth would you think that. I wasn't-"
She didn't wait for the rest of his response and dashed out the door.
.
She ran and ran as fast as her feet could take her until she reached her room. She fumbled with the handle in her rush and looked up to see someone dashing down her hallway. She threw the door open and ran toward the edge of her bed. She reached under and pulled out a long rope made from sheets and clothes she had tied together, tying one end to the bedpost. She grabbed the other end and chucked it down the window.
"Granger what do you think you're doing!" Eris screeched.
Hermione already had one leg over the window when she whipped her head toward the rug-woman.
"I'm sorry, I do hope you all find a way to lift the curse but," she grabbed the makeshift rope tightly in her hands, "I have to go."
She forced her eyes shut as she fell down the makeshift rope. The fabrics billowed with the speed of her descent. She willed herself to open her eyes before she slammed into the concrete floor. Eventually, several yards before the ground she opened her eyes and gasped.
She tightened her grip on the spiraling fabric and counted down to when she needed to jump. "3…" The ground seemed to be growing. "…2…." The fabric was running shorter "….1!" She gripped tight to stop her fall and then jumped down.
She landed on the balls of her feet into a roll before surging back up and whipping her head left and right. She panted as she struggled to see the gate that lay toward the foot of the manor. The sun hung directly over her highlighting the several feet of concrete she'd have to cross. So, she ran. She ran with all her body. She remembered the last time she had run like this, during the search for Horcruxes as they desperately tried to avoid the snatchers. Her lungs burned as she inhaled deeply.
Almost there
Whoever decided the excessively large manor needed an excessively large front lawn was a git. Finally, her hand grasped against the large cold iron gate. She wrapped both hands around the handle and desperately tried to pry it open. It was heavier than the night that she first arrived.
She was starting to make the process when she heard several voices shouting her name. They pleaded with her not to leave, to rethink this. She squeezed through the opening she had made in the gate and kept running.
Leaves and stray branches skimmed her ankles as she ran through the forest. The fallen leaves crunched against her shoes. The air was crisp, and her simple sweater and jeans barely keep her warm. She breathed harder with each step, never looking back.
She had reached a small clearing in the woods and finally came to a halt to listen. She no longer could hear the pleading voices of the manor. She sat on a small stump to catch her breath and collect her thoughts.
A curse had happened that erased the memory of everyone who resides in the manor from the entire wizarding world. Everything seemed to remain intact by this except for the transformations. She appeared to have known everyone within the home decently well. The paper was a year after the battle of Hogwarts. It has been nearly seven years since then. How could an entire group of people be erased from the minds of the rest of wizard kind for seven years?
She continued walking west of the manor in the hopes of finding her old camping spot. She trudged along with the foliage and let her mind continue to wander. How did the ring fit in all of this? Perhaps it is the tool the enchantress used to curse them all. Perhaps it was left as a reminder. Hermione hadn't heard anything about a witch going mad, although it seemed as though she wouldn't remember even if she had.
Then there was the torture. When Hermione had first walked into the manner it felt cold and oddly familiar. However, it didn't seem like she had fond memories. She had plenty of scars from the war, any one of the ones she had forgotten about could've been the result of the forgotten torture. She rolled up the sleeves of her jacket. She had several small faint lines from cuts on her hands, but she had a long silvery line on her arm that had healed with time. It was jagged and seemed to take the shape of random symbols she couldn't make out. Perhaps it was that one.
She stopped her theorizing when she heard movement in the forest. She reached for her wand in her pocket and gasped. It wasn't there. It must have fallen when she jumped from the window. She groaned and slowly stepped in the opposite direction of the noise. She walked backward keeping her eyes trained on the leaves around her, hearing them ruffle.
"Ow! Shit shit shit," she hissed.
She had stepped into a hole in a hollowed fallen tree. Her ankle was surely strained. She tried pulling it from the hole with the sheer force of will to no avail. She tried pushing the tree down while lifting her leg and winced. Then she heard a faint growl from the trees.
She stopped her motion. The growl grew closer, and she heard more trees ruffle to the side of her. She looked around herself to see if she could use anything. She picked up a few rocks but knew she would likely die at the hands of whatever animal was lurking around.
Eventually, she saw a snout and then ears. The wolf was too small and furry to have been a werewolf. Even so, a real wolf was just as dangerous. The leaves stirred and another grey wolf followed the first. Hermione stood still unable to fight or flee she stood frozen. They growled as they stalked closer to her. She heard more leaves rustle and knew she was doomed. More of the pack would appear and eat her alive. She shut her eyes and braced herself as the two began to run toward her. They launched themselves at her in mid-air.
She squeezed her eyes shut tighter and tensed every muscle in her body. She heard more running from her side and almost cried thinking the rest would appear to devour her. She felt the claws graze her body. As soon as they did, they were gone. She opened her eyes to see the two wolves in a battle. She gasped.
"Beast?" She whispered.
The Beast had been the other creature in the forest, not more wolves. She watched in worry as he tousled with the two on the ground. He pried one of the creatures off his chest and kicked the other's leg. The wolf howled in pain while the other tried to bite and scratch the Beast. Hermione threw the rocks she had gathered toward the lower wolf already in pain. It growled and stumbled onto its feet.
The Beast then stood to his feet and threw the wolf in hand against a tree. As the other one had changed its course to Hermione, the Beast pounced on it and threw it toward the other. Both stumbled back up and whimpered in pain. They retreated into the woods after a low growl from the Beast. The Beast panted and finally turned to look at Hermione.
"Well, seems you didn't get too far." He drawled between breaths.
She scowled and tried again to get her foot out of the tree.
He rolled his eyes and walked over to her spot. He tilted the dead tree back, careful to step away from her foot. Then, he brought his clawed foot over and stomped down on the tree breaking it in half.
Hermione pushed off the top half of the tree and freed her ankle. She smiled at the Beast for a quick second before remembering why she had run into this tree.
"Thank you, for that." She brushed her jeans of the invisible dirt. "I, I have to leave still."
"Granger, you can't possibly think you can run on that ankle." He scoffed and placed his paws on his hips.
"I'll be fine." She began to walk on her ankle before crying out and collapsed to the ground. "I just– I just need a second… Ouch."
The Beast rolled his eyes and hoisted her off the ground. One arm under her knees, and the other around her shoulders. He began walking to the manor.
"No, let me go! I will not go back there!"
"You can hardly walk, let alone make the day-long journey to the nearest town. No, not until your ankle gets better. Besides, I know you left your wand. I assume you would like it, correct?"
He looked down at her as she silently glared back. He nodded at her lack of protest and continued on.
A/N: This chapter is essentially my baby. Literally fostered it for the longest time. Is it perfect? No not by any means but its done so enjoy! Excuse any errors I am publishing this post-fever-induced nap. Love ya! :)
