It was like a scene out of a horror movie.

I watched as Draco pulled the one book I didn't want him to ever open off of my bookshelf, my stomach flipping and dropping. Instinctively, I went for my wand. I didn't know if it was to summon the book or to Stun him, but he was faster, his reflexes much more in tune from his Auror training.

I knew what he'd written in that book and that I hadn't bothered to conceal it after I'd Obliviated him. When I'd first come back to work, my fingers would trace the letters of the note he'd written on the inside cover. This book was worth tens of thousands of Galleons — maybe hundreds of thousands — and he had written in it and given it to me for Christmas. Thinking back, I remembered being furious that he'd desecrated such a rare text but, over time, that little note came to mean so much to me.

When he said there used to be a copy in the Manor, my heart stopped. How had he known it was gone? Did he look for it after he woke? Or did he just know its value and wonder where it was?

As he opened the cover, his eyes immediately cast down, and I could see them moving back and forth as he read. I waited with bated breath, watching as he took in the words he'd written nearly two and a half years ago. What I was not prepared for, however, was what happened next. Setting the book down on my desk, he held up a strip of photos for me to see.

And then the memory crashed over me, Narcissa in my office, talking about how I should have a conversation with Lucius if I wanted to know how he'd found my parents, how she'd saved those photos from being thrown away. In that moment, I wished she hadn't, that she'd just let the physical reminders of the memories vanish with the rest of the rubbish they'd cleared from Draco's bedroom.

Now I'd have to explain…

I quickly closed the door, knowing that this wouldn't be a quiet conversation.

"Granger, when is this from?" he asked quietly, so much more quietly than I ever would've expected.

I felt tears welling in my eyes, and I was panicking. I knew I needed to answer him, but I'd never really prepared for this moment. Unsure of what else to say, I squeaked out, "We need to go to the Manor."

And it made sense to me. This wasn't my original plan. It had been Lucius and Astoria's.

"The Manor?"

I nodded and gestured to the book. "Tuck the photos back in and bring the book with you. Your father… He needs to be the one to explain all of this. I can't. I won't."

Draco suddenly grabbed my arm, pulling me towards him. As soon as his skin touched mine, my blood sang, despite the roughness. When I was closer to him, standing nearly flush against his body, he looked down his nose and hissed, "When, Granger? Please tell me when."

We hadn't been this close since Falmouth, and I couldn't stop my eyes from glancing at his lips, the same way I had in the photo. With a slow inhale, I tried to pull it together.

"This was in September," I murmured. "September of 2005."

His eyes widened marginally. "September 2005. About a year and a half after I married Astoria."

As his brain started putting the pieces together, I felt sick. Even without the actual memories, it wasn't a difficult mystery to solve. In fact, it was quite simple.

Mentally, I berated myself for keeping that bloody book with those ridiculous fucking photos in the office in the first place. I squeezed my eyes shut, and a tear slipped out. Instinctively, Draco reached forward and brushed it away, but after he touched my face, he recoiled like he'd been burned.

"I had an affair. With you," he said, correctly deducing the implications. I nodded in confirmation, keeping my eyes closed. "For how long?"

"It doesn't matter, Draco—"

He cut me off. "It does matter, Granger! We had an affair, and I can barely even remember speaking to you, let alone…"

The moment he realised exactly what had happened, I saw anger and hatred bloom in his eyes. When he asked his next question, I well and truly lost it.

"We had an affair and you Obliviated me, didn't you?"

There was no point in lying to him; he'd already seen the proof. I looked him squarely in the eyes, tears running down my cheeks, and replied, "Yes, I did."

Our hearts both shattered at the same time, pieces falling to the floor and mixing together again. For a split second, I thought this meant reconciliation or acknowledgment of our mutual feelings.

And then he stepped back, pulling away and taking more pieces of me with him. I could barely breathe, the edges of the room blurry from my tears.

"Granger, you had better start fucking explaining. Now."

I was frozen in place, my eyes unable to look away from the expression of rage he wore. "We need to go to the Manor," I said again. "Your father—"

"—has nothing to do with this!" he shouted, prompting me to throw up a Silencing Charm.

Glaring at him, I took a step forward, moving back into his space. "Your father has everything to do with this, Draco. Look at the photos. Do you honestly think the girl in those photos, the one who looks so in love, would've given that up without a good reason?"

He examined me closely, with more scrutiny than he had in years, and I felt myself blushing. He appeared to be thinking, completely at a loss for words.

"I know you're angry with me right now. I promise after you hear the whole story, you're going to be glad you won't see me everyday anymore," I murmured.

He narrowed his eyes at me, recalling something. "Potter and Blaise both told me that you'd been through a bad break-up and that was why you had been struggling last year. They meant us? I'm the wanker of an ex-boyfriend they went on about?"

A completely inappropriate laugh escaped my lips as I continued to cry. "Yes, it was you."

"How long, Granger?" he questioned.

With a sigh, I confessed. "From your b-birthday in 2004 until October of 2005."

At my admission, he looked absolutely horrified. "So the whole time I was married? We started things up that fast?"

I nodded, knowing he didn't need me to say anything more. He was bright enough to put it all together.

"But what about Astoria? Granger, please, I need to know—"

He seemed genuinely distressed that he'd hurt Astoria, and it knocked the wind out of me. I thought he had been getting closer to me, that he still felt something.

But maybe I was wrong.

"I'll tell you everything, but your father needs to be there. I need him to tell you why all this happened. I can't — I won't take all the blame for it. I just won't."

Like a ton of bricks, the implications of my statement came crashing down on him. "October of 2005. My accident… There was no accident, was there?"

I shook my head, not able to look at him while I confessed.

"That must have been one hell of a Memory Charm. I was fucking unconscious for days."

Glaring at me, he picked up the book and the photos, his eyes lingering on them. I wandlessly summoned my handbag, and we walked out of my office. Blaise was waiting right outside the door, likely concerned that I'd been in there alone with Draco, a Silencing Charm in place. When he realised I'd been crying, he immediately stepped forward, grabbing my arm.

"For Salazar's sake! Will the two of you stop grabbing onto me?" I snapped. "I don't like being manhandled!"

We drew a few stares from other people in the DMLE — Mel in particular — but nothing fazed Draco. He simply stood toe to toe with Blaise, speaking to him as if no one could hear the conversation. "Did you know, Zabini?"

I quickly interjected. "Blaise, we're going to the Manor to talk to Lucius. Do you want to come, as well?"

"I'll take that as a yes, then," Draco commented.

Blaise looked at me and, after a second, realised what my pointed comment meant, especially when paired with Draco's question. He looked at the book in Draco's hands and pursed his lips, likely remembering that it had been a gift I treasured. I just nodded, trying to relay that Draco had found out about everything. He was about to learn all of our secrets, all of the lies he'd been told over the past year. It was likely that he'd end up hating everyone involved — anyone who knew anything — from his family to Blaise to Harry and Pansy.

And me. Especially me.

"Hermione, do you want me to go get Harry?" Blaise asked, earning himself a furious glare from Draco.

"Of course Potter was bloody well in on this," he hissed, and I quickly cast a Muffliato, not wanting the other people in the department to hear the vitriol that was sure to come. "And you, Zabini? You went along with this because you wanted her for yourself? Are you happy to have my sloppy seconds?"

I was absolutely mortified.

We were in the middle of the DMLE, surrounded by our co-workers, and Draco was ready to explode. Looking to Blaise, I said, "Go to Grimmauld. Tell Harry we're going to the Manor and that I'll be by afterwards. It's nearly five, so we're not leaving outrageously early."

Blaise immediately strode to the lifts, leaving me to deal with an irate Draco. I looked up at him, but his face was hard and angry. The man who usually gazed at me with pining and adoration was gone. Knowing how much physical touch had always meant to him, I reached out and laid my hand on his arm, but he yanked it away from me petulantly.

"Do not touch me, Granger. Don't you fucking dare."

When the tears threatened to start spilling again, I retraced Blaise's path, moving quickly and exiting the department with Draco hot on my heels. I could feel his stare burning into my back. In his eyes, I'd seen the rage and confusion, the desire to both scream at me and press me against a wall, to circle back to the first time we'd ever really touched.

But, of course, he didn't remember that.

The lift ride was uncomfortable, Draco's anger and self-control radiating off him in waves. I bit down into my lower lip, trying to keep the tears and the explanation at bay. A few times, he looked over at me, and I made sure to meet his eyes.

It was too much. Everything about this situation was so much harder than I ever could have imagined it would be.

When the lift doors opened, I walked out quickly. As always, Draco let me take the lead. I didn't look back to see if his arm twitched with the desire to wrap around me or simply settle a hand at the small of my back. I didn't want to know.

Silently, we made our way to the Floo, stepping in side by side and shouting our destination.

There was no time to warn Lucius and Narcissa. We unceremoniously arrived in the entrance hall of Malfoy Manor, and Draco turned his ire on me immediately. "I want to know everything, Granger! I want to know what really happened to my fucking head, and I want to know what made you think you had the fucking right—"

Draco was suddenly silenced, though his lips kept moving. I turned towards the staircase and saw Lucius standing there, wand pointed at his son. He looked at me questioningly, panic written all over the lines of his face. "I take it he somehow found out?"

Confirming his worst fears, I swallowed hard and nodded. "Narcissa brought me some photos you found, and I had them tucked inside a book Draco gave me ages ago. He recognised the book and opened it before I could stop him. I had forgotten about the pictures."

The irony was not lost on me — I had forgotten something, and that little slip was going to lead to Draco remembering everything.

Draco stomped his foot indignantly and removed his wand from his pocket, aiming it at his father. Lucius released the Silencing Charm and Draco's voice boomed into the room. "—must be fucking nice to know what's going on! I'm glad you two somehow became such great friends!"

Before he began speaking, Lucius took a deep breath. "Draco, please calm down. We will tell you everything and return all of your memories now that you know—"

"I want to know why they were fucking taken in the first place!" he bellowed.

Narcissa swept into the room, quickly evaluating the situation. She walked over to Draco, laying a delicate hand on his chest. "Draco, I know this is upsetting. I was upset when I found out, too. Let's all sit down."

Lucius looked to his wife. "I think you should go and retrieve Astoria."

This was getting more and more uncomfortable by the minute. I was going to be trapped in the Manor with all the Malfoys and Blaise, reliving some of the worst memories of my life.

Watching the man who I'd loved more than anything start to hate me.

Nodding, Narcissa made her way to the Floo, calling out Draco and Astoria's address before vanishing in a flash of green flames.

I watched as Draco flinched, clearly not expecting his wife to have been in on the deception. "Astoria… she knew? She knew about the affair?"

"Of course she did. Why else would she have kept you from going back to work for so long?" Draco closed his eyes and pressed his fingers against his temples. I wanted to comfort him, but I knew it would be unwelcome, just like it had been in the Ministry. I didn't want him to try to pull away again, so I turned to Lucius. "Blaise will be on his way shortly. He Floo'd over to see Harry and let him know I'd be by after."

"And will Aurors knock down my doors again?" Lucius asked.

Shaking my head, I replied, "No. I'm just… I won't be able to be alone tonight."

Draco scoffed. "You have your wonderful boyfriend, Granger. I'm sure he'd be more than willing to stay with you."

Warily, Lucius suggested we head to a sitting room. Before we had the chance to, though, Blaise came through the Floo and was at my side in an instant, wrapping his arm around my waist.

When I pulled away, he was hurt, but I couldn't stand to be scrutinised by Draco right now and he was watching my every move. His grey eyes were filled with both jealousy and confusion, his feelings for me not allowing him to truly hate me yet.

Whatever was going through his mind, he fell into stride beside us. "I stand by what I said, Zabini. You let her do this to me so you could swoop in and pick up the fucking pieces. You wanted her for yourself."

"Well, I did a really shit job of it then, Malfoy," Blaise snarled in response. "You don't even know what you're fucking talking about."

Lucius halted abruptly and turned around. "You're all nearly thirty bloody years old! Stop this nonsense immediately! If Ms. Granger decided to start a relationship with Blaise, that's none of your concern, Draco! You're a married man."

"I still want to know how you fit into all of this, Father. I mean, I thought you'd done all you could to ruin my life when I was a teenager, but I was obviously wrong."

Lucius' mask faltered for just a moment before he continued down the never-ending hallway. "Draco, I did what I've always done. I kept our family together."

Draco lips twisted into a cruel sneer. "Funny how your decisions always seem to affect my life more than yours."

As we entered the sitting room, Draco snapped his fingers and summoned an elf. Sensing the tension in the room, it cowered, looking to Draco for orders. My stomach turned.

"Firewhisky," Draco barked. "I need a drink."

I wanted to protest, to tell him that was the worst possible thing to add to the mix, but his hard glare stopped me. Regardless of my opinion, I couldn't fault him for his anger right now. I took a seat on a small settee and Blaise lowered himself down next to me. Our arms were touching, the space just large enough to accommodate the two of us.

When Narcissa and Astoria walked into the room, the first thing I noticed was how pale Astoria looked. The smugness I'd seen on her face in Diagon Alley was gone; she knew everything was crashing down around her — around all of us. Every carefully constructed lie and pillar of their relationship was crumbling under the weight of Draco's anger.

"Where is my son?" he snapped, causing her to look up at him. Her eyes landed on the whisky glass in his hand.

Narcissa spoke when Astoria couldn't. "He's in the nursery with Flora. She's going to look after him while we talk."

I was glad that Scorpius wouldn't be subjected to the conversation — or screaming match — that was about to happen. He was the only innocent one in all of this.

Calming just a fraction, he nodded. "Fine. Now that we're all here, who wants to begin?"

I looked to Lucius and Astoria, but neither of them said a word. They were going to leave it to me to explain, and my anger rose. If I'd known that, I could've taken him to my house and spoken to him privately before dealing with everyone.

"Malfoy, sit down," Blaise said. "This is going to take more than a few minutes to explain."

Draco glared at him. "I still fail to understand why you're here."

"I'm here for Hermione," he answered, not hesitating at all.

"Of course you are," Draco mumbled, taking a gulp from his glass.

In that moment, I wanted to use Legilimency on him, to slide into his mind and see what he was thinking, what he was feeling. If I had any idea, I might know how to start this conversation. But he was so volatile right now, emanating anger from every single pore.

"Where do you want me to start?" I asked quietly.

His eyes landed on me, boring into mine. I wanted to look away, but I didn't. I let the connection that I'd suppressed for so long overtake me, letting him see my emotions clearly.

"The fucking beginning. I want to know how this all started!"

Swallowing hard, I nodded. I wasn't sure how much Astoria, Narcissa, and Lucius already knew, but they were about to find out everything.

"The night of your stag party—"

Before I could finish, he roared in frustration. "I thought you said my birthday!"

"Listen to me!" I yelled back. "Don't interrupt if you want to know!"

He looked away, and my gaze roamed the room. Astoria's lips had parted in shock, but Lucius' hadn't. I was starting to understand that someone had told Lucius about the first night at the Leaky — I just didn't know who.

"The night of your stag party," I began again, "we were all at the Leaky. I was there separately, and I got really drunk. I… Hannah gave me a room, and I tried to use my key on your door…"

My voice trailed off as his eyes refocused on me.

"And we had sex?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yes. I mean, it's a bit more complicated than that, but that's the gist of what happened."

"And the morning after?"

"When I woke up, there was a note on the bed beside me," I answered. "You… I have it still, at home, if you wanted to see it."

Blaise cleared his throat. "I came to get you. We talked, and you decided it would be best if you went through with the wedding. You didn't want to leave Astoria standing at the altar alone."

This was news to me; I had thought Draco woke up beside me and panicked. His note had been lovely and apologetic, but I didn't get the impression that anyone else had intervened.

A sob tore through the uneasy silence. Astoria had broken already, and I hadn't even gotten to the worst parts for her. "And all this t-time, I thought it h-had started after we were m-married."

Draco turned towards his wife, his face a jumble of conflicted emotions. He was angry, concerned, confused… and probably a myriad of other things.

"Okay, so I married Astoria," he said. "What happened afterwards?"

"You"—I looked to his wife, her face still covered with her hands—"I don't think this is a good idea, discussing the ins and outs of everything with everyone in the room."

"Fine. We started things up again on my birthday," he snarled. "How the fuck did I end up Obliviated?"

I swallowed hard and then my lips parted to speak. However, Astoria's voice came through before I could.

"I g-got pregnant with Scorpius," she said, her voice trembling. Tears fell from her wide blue eyes. "And I t-told you. I thought you'd st-stop seeing her. You d-didn't."

His face fell, clearly hating himself for what had happened years ago. Now that he was a devoted father, he probably couldn't imagine being terrified and angry when he'd found out they were expecting.

"And since you didn't stop seeing Ms. Granger, Astoria came to me," Lucius added, the remorse he felt clear on his face. "I approached Ms. Granger—"

"You threatened her," Blaise spat.

"And look how nicely it's worked out for you," Lucius retorted before turning his attention back to Draco. "I persuaded Ms. Granger to erase the relationship from your memory so you could focus on being a good father to your son."

Lucius' words were too much for Draco. He snapped.

"And what the fuck would you know about that?!" he bellowed.

Looking down at his hands, Lucius replied, "I know that being there for your son is important. I've learned a lot about what not to do."

Draco's face softened momentarily, but then his anger clicked back into place. "Fine. So you went to Granger"—he looked at me and I held his gaze—"and then what?"

"I'd had enough," I admitted. "I'd been the other woman for over a year. I couldn't keep doing it. I waited long enough for us to take the final trip we'd planned together, and then—"

"You took it all away without even talking to me," he interrupted. "Didn't you?"

There wasn't a point in lying to him. I stood and nodded in confirmation, taking a hesitant step forward. "It's not as simple as that, Draco."

He crossed the room quickly, standing in front of me and leaning down towards my face. "Oh, is that so? Are you going to try to tell me that you loved me?"

"I did," I bit out, his bullying, condescending tone pissing me off. "I loved you more than I have ever loved anyone."

Draco looked taken aback, so I reached out to touch his arm. He was standing so close to me, and I wanted nothing more than to run away, but I needed him to understand it hadn't been easy for me to do this.

Recoiling, he pulled back again. "No. You're a fucking liar."

"Why would I lie?" I asked.

"You fight for the people you love," he snarled, glaring at me. "If you loved me, you wouldn't have let me go."

Lucius cleared his throat. "She's not lying, Draco. She didn't want to do it. I… forced her hand."

His eyes darted between us and then over to Astoria. "And you? What did you have to do with all of this?"

Her lips quivered. "I spoke to your father about the affair when it didn't stop," she began. "I went along with the plan. I gave Hermione some of my memories and asked her to find the same ones in your head—"

"So you were in on it?"

"Why wouldn't I go along with it?" she asked, her voice cracking. "I just wanted my husband back. I was pregnant, Draco."

At her words, my stomach churned, remembering how I'd felt the day Draco told me.

"And you told me you weren't sleeping with her," I added. "You promised me—"

He swallowed more whisky.

"Fine, so I was a bastard," he barked. "What right does that give you to alter my fucking mind?"

"None," I replied. "Absolutely none."

My response surprised him and, quite frankly, it shocked me, too.

"Then why do it, Granger?" he asked, his voice dangerously low. "Why not just tell me to fuck off?"

"Do you think I hadn't tried that multiple times before?" I spat. "That I wanted to do something like that to the man I loved?" Taking a step back, I continued. "You make me weak. When it came to you, I couldn't say no—"

I felt an arm curl around my waist and smelled Blaise's cologne. While I'd pushed him away earlier, I welcomed the support now. I was a hair's breadth away from falling apart.

From being the one to drop to my knees and beg for forgiveness.

Draco's eyes landed on Blaise's hand and travelled up to meet his gaze. "Enough, Malfoy. There were plenty of mistakes made by everyone involved—"

"Mistakes?" Draco shouted. "You took my life away. She took my memories, the woman that I have wanted to be with since I was a teenager. And now you are fucking her! You were supposed to be my best mate, but I guess Granger's cunt—"

"Draco!" Narcissa scolded, but he didn't stop speaking.

"—is good enough to make you forget all about that. Or did she Obliviate you, too?"

Blaise stepped in front of me, blocking me from Draco's view. "I said that's enough, Malfoy. Why don't you talk to your wife and your father before you put all the blame on Hermione?"

As always, he was protecting me, stepping in when I needed him. He wanted to save every broken piece of me.

Much to my surprise, Draco turned to Astoria. "How long did you know?"

She wiped at her eyes. "I'd known since September of 2004, so almost a year before I approached your father."

He looked to Lucius. "And when did you approach Granger?"

"August," I said quietly. "He sent you and Astoria to Paris for the maternity photos."

Lucius nodded in confirmation. "Draco, you need to understand—"

"I do not need to understand, nor do I want to," he hissed. "Everyone who was important to me was in on this scheme!"

"Draco," Narcissa began, "I'm sure you can see that this is an extremely simplified version of events."

"And what part did you play, Mother?" he asked.

Lucius quickly intervened. "None. I didn't involve her in it at all. She didn't know until Ms. Granger had started the process."

He looked at his mother. "Why didn't you tell me after the fact?"

"I didn't know how to fix it," she admitted, her tone apologetic. "And then Scorpius was here, and I just — I didn't want to lose you."

I saw his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed. He was angry, but he wasn't going to lash out at Narcissa. I knew that Lucius and I would be bearing the brunt of his frustrations.

"Fine," he snapped. "So Granger Obliviated me. I want it undone."

Stepping out from behind Blaise, I said, "It's not that simple. I used a different type of Obliviation. Have you ever used a Pensieve?"

Draco shook his head.

"What I did — it was like removing memories to examine them in the Pensieve. You're going to have to watch them all. There's no way to just reverse it."

"The holes and gaps," he said, something becoming clear to him.

I stepped closer, looking up at him. "I have the memories but, as someone who has lived with them for the past two years, I—" The words caught in my throat, and I didn't know how to get them out. "They're not easy to live with."

"I want it all back," he stated firmly. "I want to know what happened between us."

My eyes filled again, and when I blinked, tears slipped through my lashes. He watched as they tracked down my face, and I could tell he was holding back, wanting to wipe them away. He was angry, but he still felt something for me.

My heart sped up at the thought, and I knew what I needed to do.

"I'll show you, but I think we need to talk to the healer first."

Draco slammed his tumbler down on an end table before looking back at me. "Why do we need a healer?"

"Because memory removal isn't simple," I said, trying to keep my voice calm even though I was anything but. "I don't know if we can do it quickly or if it needs to be over time or—"

He growled in frustration, cutting me off.

"Fine, Granger! I'll see a fucking healer, and then you can decide if or when I get my memories back. Because why should I have any say in the matter!"

Before I could reply, he had turned and was striding towards the door, not looking back.

"Draco!" I shouted, but he didn't acknowledge me.

And my heart broke into even smaller pieces than it had before.

Author's Note: I was completely overwhelmed by the response to chapter 33. Thank you all so much for your kind words. I know several of you realised the photos would come back into play. I had that scene written for over a year, so it feels good to finally have it out in the world!

As always, feel free to reach out to me! Even though I'm not answering comments, I am reading every single one and love you all!