All characters are property of JK Rowling and I do not make a profit from this story.

Beta: Roman's Sundial

Chapter Thirty: The Person and the Vessel

Hermione Granger – Present Day

January 22, 2000

It had been a few weeks since the attack at St. Mungo's, and thankfully, other than a minor hiccough here and there, there had been no other attacks. St. Mungo's, however, still had not been restored as the entire fifth floor had caved in and caused damage throughout the entire building. All the sick and injured witches and wizards were currently being treated at Hogwarts by Madam Pomfrey and some Healers, but for the safety of the students, there were absolutely no visitors allowed. Madam Pomfrey had fixed Hermione's broken wrist right away, healed the injury to Frank's head, and fixed all of Neville's injuries, whatever they had been. (All Hermione had seen was blood, but he was too determined to help others to bring attention to his injuries at all). Ginny currently laid next to George, Remus, Tonks, and Magdalena at Grimmauld Place, and Frank and Alice Longbottom were currently at the Longbottom residence, being watched by Neville's grandmother. Since Gilderoy Lockhart had no family, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and a few Order members held a small service for him and had him buried at a local cemetery. Andromeda had survived the explosion but was now in worse shape than before. She was still unconscious, and currently being treated at Hogwarts under the careful eye of Madam Pomfrey and Healer Martus. Teddy was still being looked after by Molly and Jessica at the Burrow and, for the time being, Amelia's appointments were being held at the Burrow with special visits from Healer Martus himself. A few days after the explosion at the hospital, Hermione had taken Draco to Viktor's estate permanently, but since then, she had yet to visit him in his wing. A part of her felt bad that she had him locked in there with nobody for company apart from Rango, but surely he could understand, with everything that was going on right now. It was well passed midnight when she walked through the front door of the estate. She had moved in not too long ago, but between her watches for the Order, helping at the hospital wing at Hogwarts, and attending Order meetings, Hermione had yet to sleep there. Most days, she slept at headquarters, too tired to take all the apparating points required to get to Bulgaria.

"There you are," came Viktor's groggy voice.

"Oh, you're up," Hermione said surprise. "I hope I didn't wake you."

"Not at all, I vas vaiting for you, but I thought you veren't going to come home again."

Hermione shivered at the word home. "Sorry, it's just been so hectic," she said.

He nodded in understanding. "You must be so tired," he said. "Come to bed."

"I'm going to grab a shower first, I'll see you in a bit." Hermione grabbed her dressing gown and headed to the shower, allowing the hot water to pour over her for what felt like hours. She finished up, get dressed, and headed to the kitchen to get a glass of water, when she saw Viktor standing there, in nothing but his undergarments. "Oh!" she said surprised.

"Come to bed, Hermione."

"I-I was just going to get some water," she stammered.

"I already got you a glass; I remember you telling me you always haff a glass next to you when you sleep."

"Thank you," she said, then, seeing as though she did not have a choice, she followed him into the master bedroom. She had assumed that moving in with Viktor would also mean sleeping in the same bed as him, but now that it was time, she felt incredibly uncomfortable. She slid into her side of the bed and laid at the very edge of the bed, hoping that Viktor would not roll closer to her.

"You know," he said into the darkness. "I do not haff a disease."

Hermione laughed nervously. "I'm sorry, Viktor, it's just that-"

"I already know," he said to her. "And I vill not try anything vith you until you are ready. But it is a little offensive that you von't get close to me."

Breathing a sigh of relief, Hermione inched a little closer to him. "Thank you," she breathed. It did not take long for Viktor to fall asleep, but Hermione was wide awake. There was way too much going through her mind, particularly Ginny at that precise moment. How many more were going to fall under the curse, and would they ever figure out the countercurse? Sighing, Hermione knew exactly what she had to do, and she needed to stop finding excuses. Getting up as quietly as possible, she made her way out of the master bedroom, and down the hall to the west wing. She quietly opened the door and wondered how she was going to wake Draco up, when a voice made her jump nearly two feet.

"What are you doing here?"

"Merlin's beard, Draco! You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"Sorry," he said smirking. "It is my wing after all, isn't it? I assumed you would expect to find me here."

"Well, obviously, but I thought you would be in bed."

"I was getting a drink," he answered.

"It's so dark in here, can you light a candle or something please?" Draco lit a candelabra near him, and Hermione jumped again. "What are you doing? Put some clothes on!" she screamed.

"Well, I wasn't expecting company, was I? And for the record, I am wearing clothing."

"You're in your underwear!"

"So?"

"Draco, go and put a dressing gown on, now!" Hermione had turned her head away and waited in his sitting room until he finally returned. He had hardly gotten dressed though; all he did was put on a pair of pants, but he remained shirtless. "Really?" she said to him.

"What can I do for you?" he said, smirking.

Hermione took a deep breath. "You're mad at me, so why don't you say whatever it is that you want to say."

"That's not why you came in here," Draco said, sitting across from her. "So why don't you tell me what you want, Granger."

"Back to Granger, I see," she said, more to herself than anything. She had come in here for a reason though, and so, she steadied her breathing, and asked the question that she needed to know. "I need the counter-curse to Abracadabra."

Draco almost lifted his head to look at her, before staring back down at his hands. "No."

"Please."

"No."

"Draco, I know that you know. Crabbe is still here because of that curse, I know he is, and I need you to help me."

Draco kept his head in his hands. "Hermione, I- No."

"You what, Draco? You what?"

"I can't."

"Yes, you can, Draco! Do the right thing, save all those people!"

"I gave my father my word! There are many things that get passed down from father to son and only from father to son. I'm supposed to pass it down to my son or take it to my grave, but that's it."

"Pass it on to your son? And you honestly believe that someone would marry a man who could have saved countless lives but chose not to?"

"She wouldn't know," he said sadly, still not looking at Hermione.

"You're unbelievable, Malfoy!"

"Malfoy?"

"Yes, Malfoy! That's what you are, aren't you? A pureblood, mudblood hating, Malfoy! Well, I know that you know, and you can take it to your grave, but I will make sure no witch ever marries someone like you!"

"You were supposed to be that witch," he said quietly.

"Seriously?" she shouted. "You're going to start that now? Fine, Malfoy, yes I was supposed to be that witch, or at least I thought that I was supposed to be that witch, but you and your mother made it very clear that a mudblood would never become a Malfoy."

"Don't call yourself that."

"That's what I am, Malfoy! You said it yourself!" Hermione was screaming so loud, that she was thankful she had casted muffliato on the west wing.

"Don't call me Malfoy, please? Not you."

Hermione studied Draco for awhile. She had thought she knew him when they were dating, but it turned out that she did not. Sitting here, however, she saw the vulnerable Draco that she used to know, and she could see that he was in pain. "Draco," she said calmly, sitting on the arm of his chair and placing her hand on his shoulder. "I know who you are, the real you. I don't care about the façade you put on for your friends and your parents. Please, help me."

"My father…"

"Is in Azkaban, and he will never know you told. I won't even tell the Order how I found out, I just want to help my friends." She grabbed his hand and held it between hers. "Will you please help me?"

Draco Malfoy – Present Day

January 22, 2000

It hurt Draco to see the pain in her eyes, but it also brought comfort to have her so close to him. He fingered her hands as she held onto his, remembering all those times that he used to hold her close. He knew that he was falling right into her game, yet he couldn't seem to stop himself; being so close to her felt way too good. Perhaps though, he could use the situation to his advantage. "Hermione, all I have is my word. Even if my father isn't around anymore, it's still my word."

"I understand, but sometimes we need to do things we don't like…"

"For the greater good?"

"Well, I was going to say as long as the end justifies the means, but yes, for the greater good. There is such a thing as the greater good, you know, Grindelwald just doesn't understand the proper meaning of it."

"I truly don't know all of it; my father only gave me some details."

"That doesn't matter; whatever you do know can still help." When Draco didn't reply, Hermione tried a different tactic. "I wish I had some incentive to give you, other than the fact that it's the right thing to do. I can't promise that your hearing will turn out the way you would like and I can't find a way to release your father. There isn't much I can offer you in return for helping me."

Oh, there is plenty you can offer, Draco thought to himself. To her, however, he said something else. "Ten questions."

"What?" she asked, looking confused.

"In return for me telling you what you want, I get to ask you ten questions. Any ten questions that I want, and you have to be honest, no matter what."

"You can ask me one question, and I will answer truthfully," she responded.

"I'm betraying my father and all I get is one question?"

"Fine, two."

"You've got to do better than that."

"Two is very fair, Draco, considering they are open-ended."

"I'll go to eight, but that's it." Draco watched her weigh out her options; he knew he had her.

"Five, but they have to be yes or no questions," she said, arms folded across her chest.

"Deal!" he said, eager to find out some things that he had been wondering.

"Okay, you first. Tell me what you know."

Draco sighed. "Okay, so the enchantment to remove the spell is simply the original spell backwards."

Hermione nodded. "That I know."

"How?"

But she shook her head. "Just like I won't reveal to anyone the information I get from you, I won't reveal the information I get from elsewhere, either."

Draco nodded in understanding. "So, I guess you know how the spell works?"

"I have an idea. It seems as though the soul is gone from the body and in order to restore it, I need to bring the body to the soul and mutter the counter-course."

"You're on the right track. It isn't really a soul, though. Our bodies work as vessels but that's it. Our person is what is inside of us. When the spell is cast, it removes our person and only leaves behind our vessel."

"Its left behind its shell."

"Pretty much."

"What happens if the body gets damaged while the person isn't inhabiting it?"

"Nothing. See, that's the beauty of the spell. The spell wasn't created to trick people into thinking they were dead, it was created to help wizards who were in a deathly situation. All they had to do was cast the spell on themselves and regardless of whatever was about to kill them, won't succeed. Once the threat was gone, someone, usually a family member since the spell is kept within a family, will come and recover your vessel and take it back to your person."

"So Crabbe casted the spell on himself before he fell and that's how he survived."

Draco nodded. "I didn't know about the spell at the time so I really thought that he was dead. My guess is that Goyle told Crabbe's father and he rescued him."

"But how? The room was destroyed."

"I don't know. I never asked him so that I don't give away the fact that I know about the spell."

"Makes sense," said Hermione. "So where are the persons being kept?"

At this, Draco frowned. "I truly don't know. My father didn't get a chance to tell me; as he was filling me in, a guard came and my time with him was up. I swear it's the truth!"

Hermione studied his face for a long time. "I believe you," she finally said. "This does confirm my theory though, and I think I know what I have to do next. Thank you so much, Draco!"

She made to leave, but Draco called out to her. "Where are you going? My five questions?"

"Fine," she said, sulking. She sat on the chair opposite him, and folded her arms across her chest.

"Maybe you should take some Veritaserum, to ensure you're being honest."

"I've given you my word, Draco, and I've trusted you. Now it's your turn to trust me." She rolled her eyes when he didn't respond and said, "I swear on my magic." There was something powerful when a witch or wizard swore on their magic, and so, smiling, Draco took his seat and prepared his first question.

"Have you ever had sex with anyone?" he almost blurted out.

"Seriously? That's your first question?"

"I believe you are to respond with either a yes or a no, Ms. Granger."

"No," she sighed, annoyed with the questions already.

"No? So you've never had sex with Krum?"

"Is that your second question?"

"NO!" he shouted. He thought his next question through carefully. Had she not slept with him because she didn't want to have sex with anyone or because she didn't like him as much as she was letting on? He needed to test his theory, and so he asked, "Do you plan on living here with Krum forever?"

"No," she said. Seeing his face, she added, "as kind as Viktor has been, I would prefer to have my own place, with the person I am dating, of course."

"Of course," Draco said, smiling. He knew what she was trying to imply, but he picked up on the fact that she had said person she was dating, instead of "Viktor Krum." Still, he had to be sure… "Do you love Viktor Krum?"

Hermione drew in her breath. After a really long time, she whispered, "No."

Breathing heavily, Draco slowly approached her chair and asked, "Do you still love me?"

Barely audible, causing Draco to lean in very close, she said, "Yes."

His heart racing, Draco asked his fifth and final question: "Will you give me another chance?"

Hermione's eyes were watering. "I… I…" he reached for her hand, but she quickly pulled away. "I have to go," she said hastily, and ran out of the room as fast as she could.

Harry Potter – Present Day

January 23, 2000

Tonight's Order meeting was just about to start, when Harry saw a frantic Hermione shuffle in. "Am I late?" she asked, coming up to him.

"No, we're just about to start, though. Is everything alright?"

"I didn't get much sleep; I have a lead on the Abracadabra curse."

"Really?" Harry asked excitedly.

"Yes, I may have an answer by tomorrow."

"That's great, Hermione! Until tomorrow, then." He walked away from her and nodded to Kingsley, indicating that it was time to commence the meeting.

"Welcome, everyone," Kingsley said, addressing the Order members in the room. "Since our last meeting, I am happy to announce two positive pieces of news. The first is that there have been no attacks on the magical world or the muggles world, in over a week." At this, everyone in the room had clapped and cheered. Despite Harry not showing up as planned with Grindelwald, the violence had been considerably low. "The second piece of news is that St. Mungo's has finally been restored and we can safely move the patients back."

"Will they be safe there?" Neville asked right away, thinking of his parents.

"As safe as anywhere," Kingsley answered. "No place can ever be fully secure, but security will be much tighter and the Auror department is involved now, so there will be constant Aurors on duty."

"Not to mention the Order, as well," Harry reassured him.

"Now, Mr. Potter and I have decided that the best time to start transferring patients back to the hospital would be during the upcoming trials."

"Why is that, Minister?" asked Molly.

"There is a potential that some, if not all of Grindelwald's supporters are on the list being tried. Since they know that we do not know who they are, they will turn up for their regulatory review hearing, thus having to leave St. Mungo's alone. Now, Minerva and Poppy will take care of things on their end at Hogwarts, while myself and Healer Martus will look after things at the hospital. We need this transfer to go smoothly." Kingsley nodded towards McGonagall, letting her know that she could now take the floor.

"On the day of transport, I will be creating a small circle within the Hospital Wing that will allow for apparition inside and outside of the castle. Similar to what we do when we prepare apparition lessons, the circle will only be wide enough to permit three people at a time. Once the transfer is complete, I shall close it up again for the safety of the students."

"Terrific plan, Minerva."

"Thank you, Arthur. Now I know many of you will have guard duty, and some of you will be on the review board, but I would require the rest of you to help me apparate the patients back and forth."

"No problem," said Angelina.

"Absolutely," said Charlie.

"Minerva, as Minister of Magic, I must request that two Aurors be present as well, to guard the temporary apparition point."

"Of course, Minister."

Kingsley nodded his thanks. "There isn't much to say other than that, I suppose. Until next meeting, stay sharp."

"Harry," came Hermione's voice, hurrying over to him at the end of the meeting. She looked around to make sure nobody was listening before speaking. "Draco gave me plenty of intel on the spell," she told him. "But I need to talk to Crabbe to find out one more thing, then I should be able to wake them all up!"

"You're a brilliant witch, Hermione! Let's go ask McGonagall." Harry and Hermione made their way over to McGonagall who, thankfully, was alone. "Professor, I need to ask you something."

"Yes, Potter?"

"We need to do something at Hogwarts, but that's all I can really say."

"Well, doesn't this sound oddly familiar," she said sarcastically. "Both of you, I presume?"

"Just me," said Hermione quickly. Harry gave her a look but said nothing; he trusted that she knew what she was doing.

"And do you wish to tell me what you're looking for this time?"

"Sorry, Professor," said Hermione.

"You were right before, I must trust that you are right again. When do you require entry, Ms. Granger?"

"After the hearing, please."

"Very well, arrive at the hospital wing first, then. It will look as if you were one of those helping us transfer the patients."

"Thank you, Professor."

"Yeah, thanks." Harry turned to Hermione once McGonagall was gone. "You sure you know what you're doing?" he asked her.

"No, but I'm the only one who can do this."

Remus Lupin – The Past

October 31, 1981

It had taken a very long for Remus to come to terms with that had happened. When he first arrived at James and Lily's, he couldn't walk through the front door for nearly an hour. Finally finding the courage to walk in, he never could have been prepared for what he was going to see. Just inside of the front door, laid James Potter, one of his very best friends. From the scene in front of him, he could only assume that James had tried to hold off Voldemort while Lily ran with Harry. He bent down and closed his friend's eyelids, spilling tears as he did so. Remus had been on his way to see Sirius, actually, when he had received Dumbledore's owl of what had happened. He had explained that Harry was alive and taken to a safe place, but that James and Lily hadn't made it. He also informed Remus that he made it so that nobody would come to the house and it was his, Remus', responsibility to arrange the burial for the Potters. Prior to coming to the house, Remus stopped at the small cemetery outside of the church at Godric's Hollow, and after much contemplation, secured to graves side by side for Lily and James. Walking away from his dearest friend, Remus headed upstairs carefully (as half of the floor was gone), and turned into Harry's nursery. The entire room was destroyed. Remus fell to his knees in shock, wondering how a small child like Harry had survived this. He was extraordinarily pleased, of course, but stunned nonetheless. That was when his eyes fell upon Lily, and he could no longer control his emotions. Laying neatly on the ground, Lily looked almost as if she were asleep. Knowing the truth, however, Remus was horrified to see her so helpless and so… Gone. Her red hair was sprawled around her head that had he not known better, he would have assumed it to be blood. Her hair was the only thing that looked out of place however; the rest of her looked much too peaceful. There was no way Lily had fallen into this position, but surely Voldemort didn't reposition her. Remus instantly drew his wand, knowing that someone had been in the house. Shaking his head moments later, however, he pocketed his wand once more. Dumbledore had said that someone had come to collect Harry; clearly they were unable to just leave poor Lily in a heap on the ground. After what felt like hours, Remus was finally able to start pulling himself together, and proceeded to prepare his friends for their final resting place.

Author's Notes: Sorry about the delay in posting this week, but I had assumed that it was going to be a busy week which is why I gave you two chapters back to back last weekend. If this upcoming week looks busy (I'll take a look at my schedule) I'll give you an extra chapter tomorrow to make up for it!

So, this chapter answered some questions.. Draco finally spoke, and we also found out where Hermione's heart lies.

The next chapter is a HUGE chapter in terms of importance. You will:

1. Find out something important about the countercurse

2. Meet a new character that is going to have quite the impact on this story (and will tie in to one of Rowling's storylines)

3. Have an answer to something never touched upon by Rowling. - What do I mean by this? JK Rowling has informed us through Pottermore that there is something called the Sacred Twenty-Eight. I take this information and answer many questions about it. It was something I was always curious about and so I decided to come up with my own answers!

Going off of point number 3, if there is something you want to know about, let me know and I will incorporate it for you!

Thanks as always, and please keep reviewing!

(Oh, Ginny lovers, what I had meant was that her big scene may not be for another 10-15 chapters; but you will still hear about her before that!)