After twenty-four anxious hours, Draco's vitals and brain activity started to even out and the healers agreed to slowly start lifting the induced sleep charm. They wanted him to wake slowly so as not to overwhelm his already fragile state.
"And what about his memory?" Narcissa questioned, brushing her hand over Draco's forehead,
moving his fringe to the side.
"We're confident he'll eventually recover his full memory," the healer tried to reassure.
Narcissa and Lucius looked at him in horror as Hermione said, "What do you mean 'eventually'?"
"Well, the mind is a delicate thing," he started to explain. "Think of it like a completed jigsaw puzzle that just got knocked to the floor. Some pieces will stay connected but many will scatter and need to be pieced back together. A few may slide under the wardrobe and-"
"Thank you. We get the metaphor," Narcissa interrupted.
"Just take it easy with him. Surround him with familiar faces, objects, stories, etcetera. Let him recover it all at his own pace though. Trying to force a memory will most likely only frustrate him and prolong the recovery." The healer looked between the three of them. "Any other questions? When they shook their heads, he smiled and said, "If any other concerns pop up don't hesitate to let us know."
Hermione sighed and looked down at Draco, briefly placing her hand on his cheek. She tried to focus on the warmth that still flowed through him instead of his eerie stillness.
"More waiting," she murmured.
Narcissa reached across the bed and gently patted her arm. "Why don't you go home and try to get some sleep. You look like you're ready to fall over."
"No, I'm fine," Hermione insisted. "I want to be here when he wakes up."
"I'll take care of it, Narcissa." Lucius turned and aimed his wand at the uncomfortable, straight-back chair she had been occupying and transfigured it into a short chaise lounge. "Lie down and close your eyes, Miss Granger, before we have to find a room in this building for you."
Hermione knew that she must look like a wreck. She'd been able to doze off once or twice on the hospital chair but any shuffle of feet or scrape of the door would break the trance and send her heart racing.
"Thank you," she whispered, giving Lucius a weak smile.
Curling up on the makeshift sofa, Hermione fell asleep almost as soon as she let her eyelids come crashing down. It wasn't a great sleep but at least it was sleep. It was punctuated with dreams of Draco staring through her with the blankest of stares, while Harry turned his back and walked away.
A violent sneeze dragged her back into reality and she yelped. Pulling her knees in tight, Hermione tried to take deep, slow breaths as she attempted to stop her heart from racing. Narcissa knelt down to her eye level and her piercing gaze searched Hermione's face for...Hermione didn't know what. Maybe she was trying to figure out if her son's girlfriend had truly gone around the bend.
"Are you all right?" Narcissa asked.
"Bad dream," Hermione said, slowly stretching out her legs and sitting up.
"Why don't you go to the cantina and get some tea?" Narcissa suggested, standing up. "And some soup, or even just a piece of fruit? You look a bit peaky," she fretted, placing a cool hand against Hermione's sweaty forehead.
She wanted to protest but it came out as a yawn. Deciding it wasn't worth the fight, because, honestly, she had no fight left in her, Hermione nodded and dragged herself to and out the door. She was only vaguely aware of the actual journey to the cantina before she found herself staring up at a menu. It took a few blinks before the jumble of letters and numbers rearranged themselves into food options and prices.
"Thank you," a familiar voice lilted over the latch-clang of the till.
Looking to her left, Hermione watched as Harry balanced a small tray in one hand while the other shoved his coin purse into a robe pocket. She went unnoticed as Harry made his way to an empty table and sat down, his back turned to her. Pushing her nightmare into the sanctioned demon corner of her mind, Hermione walked up and lightly tapped his shoulder.
There were so many things that Hermione wanted, and attempted, to say. In the end, all she could get out was a strangled, "I'm sorry," before dissolving into tears. Harry jumped from his seat, cursing when his knee smacked the table, and wrapped his arms around her. "I'm sorry," she repeated, sobbing into his robes.
"You have no reason to be," Harry said, smoothing a hand over her hair. "You're right, Draco never should have been out there with us."
Hermione sniffled and shook her head. She stepped back, wiped her eyes, and said, "No, you were right. He's an adult and once Draco Malfoy sets his mind to something it would take a supernatural force of nature to change it."
"I think in this instance we can both be right and both be wrong."
"I'm just so…" Hermione trailed off as she ran her hands through her hair, which was more frizz than curl by that point. "So scared," she finished in a whisper.
Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out a hair elastic. Hermione couldn't help but laugh as she took it and secured her hair into a bun.
"Why on earth was that in your robes?" she giggled.
"You never know when it will come in handy. Case in point," he said, gesturing to her hair. "Here, sit down." Harry pulled out his chair. "I'll go get you some food."
"What time is it?" she sighed when Harry slid a tray laden with a bowl of tomato bisque, a sausage roll, and a cup of tea in front of her.
"Um…" Harry shook his sleeve to uncover his watch. "Nine-thirty in the evening."
Hermione broke up a handful of crackers and dropped them into the bisque. She and Harry sat and ate in comfortable silence and she was able to make it halfway through the meal before her name being called startled her. She coughed and sputtered on a spoonful of soup as she turned and saw Lucius at the cantina entrance.
"He's awake."
In a matter of seconds, Hermione and Harry had shot out of their seats and were following Lucius through the halls, back to Draco's room. Before he opened it, Lucius pulled a black handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to her.
"You still have a bit of dinner on your chin," he said, eyes flicking down for the briefest of seconds before he nodded at her and pushed the door open.
Hermione hastily wiped at her chin and turned to Harry for approval. "You're good," he laughed, placing a hand on her back and ushering her into the room.
"Here they are," Narcissa said in a gentle, sing-song voice. "Draco, do you remember these faces?"
Draco was sitting up in bed, several pillows placed behind him for support. He looked away from Narcissa and studied the three of them as they came to stand at the foot of his bed.
"I think so," Draco said and he pointed to Lucius. "That's Father."
Hermione caught the small intake of breath from Lucius at the word 'father'. She frowned, wondering when the last time Draco had addressed him as such, face-to-face."
"Potter. What are you doing at my sickbed?" Draco gave Harry a confused and slightly disgusted glare.
"Because I've been worried about you and I need to apologize," Harry said, twisting and fidgeting with his fingers.
Draco stared for another few seconds. "Potter, are we friends?"
"I hope so?"
"We'll see." Draco finally turned his eyes to Hermione. An odd, crooked smile twitched at his mouth. "I know you."
"You do?" Hermione asked, moving around to his side.
"Yeah." He paused and studied her face. "I can't remember your name but I know you. You're somebody important."
"My name's -"
"Don't," Draco interrupted. "You're important. I'll figure it out."
Hermione slipped her hand into his and squeezed. It took all her self-control to not throw herself on him. Instead, she held onto his hand and sighed, "Okay. You remember me. I'll take it."
Draco looked at their hands and that foreign grin flashed across his face again.
That night, Harry convinced Hermione to come home with him to have a shower and sleep. She didn't fight against his offer, knowing there wasn't much she could do for Draco at that moment. Also, her head was aching for a pillow.
She returned bright and early the following morning. Draco was asleep and Narcissa greeted her with a smile and a wave. She nudged Lucius awake and signaled for him to follow her. At Hermione's side, Narcissa whispered, "We're going to head home and give you some time alone with Draco today. We waited so he wouldn't have to be alone should he have woken up."
Hermione nodded and watched as they crept from the room and quietly pulled the door closed. She curled up on the chair and studied Draco's face. There was more color to his cheeks now that he'd had a chance to eat actual food. She let her fingers flutter over his fringe, pushing it away from his eyes. He still didn't stir so she pulled a book from her purse and tried to get comfortable on the hospital chair as she lost herself within the familiarity of Pride and Prejudice.
"Who did that to your neck?"
Draco's voice pulled her away from Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. She ran her fingers over her neck, realizing that her glamour charm had long since worn off and her necklace of bites had been on full display for the past two days.
Despite the instant flush, Hermione decided to answer honestly and said, "You did.
"Why would I do that to you?
"Because you wanted to." Hermione felt her face grow hotter. "And because I wanted you to."
"Oh. We have that kind of relationship?"
"Yeah, we do. It's, um...it's pretty great."
"I can't wait to remember it." He stared at her with that crooked smile. "Can you tell me more about us?"
"Sure." Hermione set her book aside and unfurled her legs. "First, that is not your real smile."
Draco let loose a barking laugh. "You're criticizing my smile?"
"No, just making an observation. That smile is perfectly fine, it's just not yours."
"What does my real smile look like?"
"Your typical smile is kind of a smirky smile, like…" Hermione tried to contort her face into the image of Draco in her mind. "Sometimes accompanied with an arched eyebrow like you're challenging someone to question your amusement."
"Like this?" Draco raised one of his brows.
Yes," Hermione giggled. "But your real, true smile is beautiful. It makes a person feel like they're the only one in the world. I won't even attempt to impersonate that one."
"I can't wait to remember you." He attempted the smirky smile, making Hermione giggle again. "Tell me more."
And so she did. She told him about their school days and how they hated each other. She told him about slapping him in their third year and how she, Harry, and Ron used Polyjuice to sneak into the Slytherin common room during their second. At one point, Harry arrived with a breakfast tray and several thick photo albums sent over by Narcissa.
"Are Potter and I really friends?" Draco asked after Harry had left.
"You were the best man at his wedding."
"If you say so."
Around dinner time there was a knock on the door. No one immediately came in and Hermione got up to go answer it while Draco gave it a quizzical look. When she opened it, she was surprised to find Blaise Zabini on the other side. He smiled and stepped back so that Hermione could join him in the hall.
"Hello, Hermione," Blaise said, holding out his hand. "It's nice to finally officially meet you."
Hermione shook his hand and replied, "Nice to finally meet you, too, Blaise."
"How's Draco?"
"Umm, fuzzy on a lot of things," she answered, biting her bottom lip.
Blaise gave her a sad smile. "He doesn't remember you?"
Hermione shook her head and forced back the tears that had been on the edge of spilling so many times that day. "He knows he knows me, but I'm like this shadow in the corner of his mind that won't take shape."
"Yet."
Hermione let out a little laugh. "Yet," she agreed.
"Narcissa let me know what happened and told me that now might be a good time to visit with Draco. Is it?"
"Yes, of course," Hermione said, stepping to the side and gesturing to the door. "It'll be good for him to see another familiar face. I don't know if Narcissa mentioned it but don't try to force him to remember anything. The healers said it's best for him to recover it all on his own time."
"Thank you." Blaise nodded and disappeared through the door.
Hermione wandered down to the cantina and got herself some dinner. She got pulled into a conversation with an elderly wizard about the crazy weather that England has started summer with and then an hour later was back outside of Draco's room, nursing a cup of tea. It wasn't long after that that Blaise exited.
"How did it go? Did he remember you?" Hermione asked.
"Not right away. He sat back and listened to me talk about our Hogwarts days. It wasn't until I laughed about something that something clicked in his brain and he shouted, 'Blaise!'."
He let out a deep, baritone laugh and Hermione could see how that unique sound would be hard to forget.
"Don't worry, Hermione. You're in there," Blaise reassured, patting her arm. "Keep doing what you're doing and something will click you back into place.
"Thank you, Blaise."
Two days later and Draco still couldn't remember Hermione's name or anything about their relationship. When Harry brought Ginny and James to visit, his memory of their friendship finally clicked into place. He was even able to conjure Ron's name from a corner of his mind when he saw Ginny's red hair.
Hermione tried not to take it too personally but it was getting harder and harder. With each recovered memory that wasn't her, her heart sank lower and lower. Self-doubt started creeping through her defenses, making her fear that perhaps their relationship hadn't meant as much to Draco as she thought.
Draco fell asleep in the late afternoon, after listening to Hermione tell story after story while he perused through his tenth family photo album. Deciding that a nap seemed like a good idea, Hermione conjured a pillow, pulled the elastic from her hair, and laid down on the transfigured chaise lounge for a nap. She woke not long after to someone saying her name.
"I'm fine, Lucius," Hermione mumbled, rolling over.
"Please never call me that again."
Hermione's eyes flew open and she found Draco staring at her, a very familiar smile gracing his face. She slowly sat up and asked, "Were you the one calling my name?"
"Hermione Granger, the girl who bested me in every class. Hermione Granger, the girl who slapped me for being a dick. Hermione Granger, the girl who irritated me to no end." Draco reached out his hand as Hermione walked over to his bedside. "Hermione Granger, the woman who I have, against all odds, fallen in love with."
"You remember me."
"I'm sorry it's taken so long."
Hermione burst into tears and Draco's face fell.
"What's wrong?" He tugged on her hand, trying to bring her closer.
"I thought-" Hermione swallowed and tried to catch her breath. When she did speak, barely a whisper came out. "I was so afraid."
Draco pushed himself up and moved over, patting the space beside him. "I'm sorry. But look, I'm fine. Alive and healthy."
Hermione sat down so that she was facing him and grabbed his hands. "No, I was afraid of the reason you couldn't remember me."
"Which was because…?"
"Because I didn't mean as much to you," she whispered, letting a fresh set of tears roll down her cheeks.
Draco leaned forward and caught her lips with his. "You mean everything to me."
"You remembered Ron before me."
"Shit," he sighed, resting his forehead against hers. "I'll make it up to you, promise."
Hermione let out a relieved sob and wrapped her arms around his neck. Draco pulled her close and held her tight.
"You know I still need to yell at you for being an idiot, right?" she mumbled against his neck.
"Can we raincheck that and talk about something else?"
Hermione released her hold on him and moved so that she could lay beside him. "What else would you like to talk about?"
"How about the fact that you thought I was the Heir of Slytherin and went so far as to sneak into the Slytherin common room?"
Hermione laughed. "Okay, in my defense, I didn't actually sneak into the common room. That was Harry and Ron."
"Uh-huh." Draco gave her an unconvinced look. "Who brewed the Polyjuice?"
"Yeah, that was me."
"If it was all your brilliant idea, why weren't you there with them? I can't imagine you just throwing those two to the wolves."
"Because I was…" the rest of her sentence was lost as her face flushed and she buried her face in his chest.
"I'm sorry. Did I hear something about a cat?"
Hermione let out a pitiful whine. "Merlin, kill me now." She huffed and said, "I was supposed to be disguised as Millicent but it wasn't her hair. It was cat hair. I turned myself into a fucking cat and had to spend a month in the hospital wing!"
Draco burst into laughter, ignoring Hermione's death stares.
"Careful, sweetheart, you're in a very delicate condition," Hermione grumbled as Draco tried to catch his breath.
"Nothing about me is delicate," Draco replied, wiping actual tears from his eyes. "And serves you right for thinking I was the bloody Heir of Slytherin."
"Tell me we didn't have a sensible case against you."
"I'll concede that point only because I have several days to make up with you." He pulled her close and kissed her soundly. "I get so few on these trips already. I can't believe I wasted half of it not knowing who you were."
"If you ask nicely I might be able to extend my trip," Hermione said, running her fingers through his hair.
"You already extended your trip, didn't you?"
"Do you really think I'd leave tomorrow with you still in the hospital, not knowing who the hell I was?"
"I don't know what I'm thinking anymore. Maybe you can find a way to refresh my memory?"
Their memory-refreshing kiss was interrupted several minutes later when Harry walked in.
" 'Mione, I know you really want him to remember you but I don't think the healers would approve of this method," Harry teased, shaking his head in mock-disapproval.
"Perfect timing, Potter," Draco groaned, letting his head drop back against the pillow. "What can we do for you?"
"Nothing. I just came to give you some...news. I'll let you decide if it's good or bad."
"What's happened?" Hermione asked, sitting up.
"Rodolphus passed an hour ago."
"Good riddance to bad rubbish," Draco sighed, running a hand through his hair before pinning Harry with an intense stare. "Did my mother have anything to do with this?"
"Yes, but not directly." Harry tossed his robes onto the chaise lounge and sat down in the chair next to the bed. "She was his only next of kin and the healers had to talk to her before pulling all of the life support spells and charms. From what I gather, she was not very heartbroken about having to make the decision."
"I refer you to my previous statement," Draco said, relaxing once again.
Hermione frowned. "I'm not saying Rodolphus didn't get what he deserved but you seem disappointed, Harry."
"Not necessarily disappointed." Harry ran a hand through his hair and blew out a breath. "After seeing what he did to my friends and colleagues, I hope the bastard rots in hell. But I was also hoping to see him put on trial and extract some of his memories from the past decade. He obviously had gathered a small cult following and we need to find out how far it spread."
"We still have some of his accomplices from the other day alive, right?" Draco asked.
"Yeah, three of them."
"Better than nothing. At least we have a place to start."
"There is no 'we', Malfoy. You are relieved of all on-site Auror consulting, permanently," Harry said."
Draco nodded and closed his eyes. "Probably for the best."
Hermione rolled her eyes and looked back at Harry. "I should wait to slap him, shouldn't I?"
"At least until I've left the room. I've seen where the slapping between you two leads," Harry answered and Draco chuckled.
"Bugger off then, Potter."
Harry let out an irritated huff but stood up. "Glad to have you back to normal, Draco. See you later, Hermione." He bent down and kissed her cheek before grabbing his Auror robes and striding from the room.
Hermione laid back down beside Draco and stared at him for several minutes before he became unnerved and asked, "What's wrong?"
"What finally made you remember me? Blaise said when he was visiting that it was his laugh that finally broke through to you. What was it about me that finally let the pieces fall into place?"
Draco smiled and twisted one of her curls around his finger. "Your hair."
"My hair?"
"Yeah. When I woke up and looked over at you, your hair was all over the place and I just instantly knew who was underneath that chaotic nest of curls."
Hermione brought a hand up to her hair and thought back to how it had been the past few days. She hadn't had the energy to fight with straightening the madness so she had kept it all pulled back in an elastic until she had laid down for a nap.
Draco covered her hand with his.
"I'm sorry I was impulsive and stupid and made you worry. Can you forgive me?" Hermione squeezed his hand and nodded. "And can you please never call me Lucius again?"
She gave him a small smile and took a deep breath.
"At the risk of overstepping some family boundaries, may I offer some advice?"
"I don't know if I could stop you if I wanted to."
Hermione shook her head. "We grew up in two very different environments and I'm not going to pretend like I completely understand your family dynamics, so if you would rather I keep my advice mum I can respect that."
Draco went silent for a moment as he stared at her. Finally, he rested back against his pillow and said, "I can't promise I will take the advice but you've piqued my curiosity."
"Let's not call it advice then. We'll say 'my observations'."
Draco nodded.
"Your father was really worried about you. Surprisingly, I think he was also worried about me but, most importantly, mainly you. I think he was afraid of the possibility of never getting to reconcile things between the two of you and it kind of broke him."
Draco looked away and shook his head. "Lucius Malfoy looks out for one person- himself."
"He's changed Draco. I know the kind of person he was in the past and I can see the difference between that man and the one I've gotten to know over the last few days. I hope one day you're able to give him a chance to show you."
"Hermione-"
"And if you can't," Hermione interrupted, grasping both his hands, "that's okay. No one can tell you how to feel or who to forgive. I just wanted to offer up my two cents."
Draco let out a slow breath and nodded. "Thank you."
Hermione laid down and snuggled against him as he wrapped his arms around her. "Thank you for coming back to me."
"It'll take more than a few jinxes to get rid of me, Granger."