"I think this area will suffice for all your research needs Granger," Draco said as he watched her take in the room.

She surveyed the room one last time before finally meeting his eyes. His smirk turned into a smile and tipped her head. "I think this will do quite well Draco, thank you."

He cleared his throat before guiding her to a desk. "We have everything you could possibly need, just ask."

She nodded her head. "Will you be able to answer questions I have then? I know you can't

speak fully about the curse, but there have to be some details you can divulge."

He sighed and pulled over a chair across from her. "Ask away."

"Did the enchantress tell you how to break the curse?" She asked while dipping her quill in ink.

"Enchantress," he scoffed. "Is that what Apollo told you?"

Hermione quirked her brow. "So she wasn't an enchantress, was she a witch at all?"

"I can't reveal that part of her identity."

"Interesting… So her magical being identification is important to the curse." She mumbled as she scribbled on the parchment.

"Hmm, you gathered that pretty quickly." He nodded in appreciation.

"Thanks, now back to the original question. Did the curse caster tell you how to break the curse? Are you having trouble succeeding or do you simply not know what the solution is?" She asked.

Draco tongued his cheek and turned away from her before answering. "She had listed her reasonings for the curse and instructions yes. I find myself unable to follow them through on my own I require assistance from others."

Hermione nodded and wrote more details down onto the parchment. "So the curse affected everyone who was living there at the time. None of you are related from what I gathered. Most masters of manors live with family, not friends. Did their inhabitance have something to do with the curse?"

He shook his head and turned back to face her. "No, you're wrong I am related to Andy and Teddy. Andy is my aunt, Teddy is her grandchild. The others are my childhood friends and were only here temporarily for a celebration I had thrown. They had brought enough items for an extended weekend. No one was anticipating their stay would have been more than a few days."

"I know the feeling." She drawled.

He rolled his eyes and shrugged. "Thanks to the curse none of them had to borrow clothing from me, unlike some. Where is that from Granger, my fifth year?"

Her cheeks grew red as she looked down at her clothing. "Well, it's not like you're exactly fitting into it now are you?"

He scowled at her remark and said nothing.

Hermione cleared her throat and continued on.

He had retrieved several books for her upon request. Once her ankle had healed a bit more, he would provide a solvent. The magical salve was only for small injuries and he was concerned it wouldn't properly heal unless her body had done part of the job.

They spent the rest of the day chatting away about the curse and the library. How he attained all the books, and whether or not he had attempted to read them all.

"I can't have read them all, there are more books here than days I've been alive. You'd have to be a maniac to have read them." He jested.

She shrugged. "I've been called worse over my bookworm tendencies. Give me a solid two years in here, I'm sure I would make a fair-sized dent in your collection."

He chuckled and closed the book he was reading. "Time for you to devour something other than these books Granger."

He extended his hand to help her up. She took it and propped herself up with her crutches.

"Malfoy, I have one last question."

He grinned and shook his head. "Of course you do, go on."

She turned her head to the side curiously. "Well, you know the way to break your curse. You said it required assistance. Do you think I will be able to help you break it?"

He stared at her silently, pondering the question. Something glimmered in his eyes that she could not place. He nodded his head. "One way or another Granger, I do think that only time can tell."

She nodded her head and followed him out, writing that onto her paper.

Over a week had passed and Hermione had gathered a fair amount of information about the curse. She had also figured out most of their real names. For some reason, that was a stipulation of the curse. Theo had a strange liking for his fake name, so she continued to use it. She had been lounging on a chair in the living room when Draco stopped in front of her.

"Granger," he greeted.

"Malfoy"

He stood stiffly before asking. "I was wondering if you'd like to accompany me to my mother's gardens. The winter star lilies are in bloom. Eris and Blaise are there already, I thought you might enjoy it."

She closed her book and set it on the chair. "Winter star lilies, I don't think I've ever heard of those."

"Oh, I don't think you would. They were specially bred for many pureblood women. My mother and I believe the Greengrass family, are the only ones who still possess them in Britain. They only bloom in Winter and for some reason, the manor's increasing cold temperature has encouraged their rapid blooming."

"Oh, that sounds fascinating then, lead the way."

He extended his arm out to her and she looped her arm around it. Her ankle had healed well, but extended periods of walking still bothered her. They walked arm in arm out the doors to the gardens until they stood next to Eris and Blaise.

"Oh, you made it," Eris said.

Hermione realized that Winter had come sooner than expected. Snow had fallen around them, and the trees surrounding the property were now barren. Draco directed her attention to a row of flowers.

The flowers looked like they were made of glass, the bit of snow that had fallen over them made them glimmer. When she walked closer, they were almost iridescent.

"Oh wow, Draco they're beautiful. I've never seen anything like it." She admonished.

He gave a lopsided grin and walked closer to her to inspect the flowers himself.

Eris stopped Blaise from walking forward and pulled him over to a set of bushes.

"What I wanted to keep looking at the flowers."

She rolled her eyes and gestured to the two in front of them. "They seem to be getting along a lot better than before don't you agree?"

"Oh." He watched them laugh and chat about the garden. "I suppose they are."

"Do you think she'll be able to break the curse the traditional way?"

"Do you think Draco knows if that's even an option?" Blaise asked.

"Doubtful"

They turned back toward the pair who were now throwing snowballs at each other. Hermione laughed loudly as Draco brushed the snow off his robes. He reached toward the ground and launched a giant snowball at her shoulder, knocking her to the ground.

"Draco! Try to remember you're a lot stronger now, less you break the witch." Blaise called out.

He shrugged and ran over to help her up.

"I could see the curse broken quite soon Blaise."

"Why I'm inclined to agree Pansy."

.

.

"It's done!" Luna shouted triumphantly.

She rolled up the rug and cast a light as a feather charm over it. Miraculously, it worked. She started packing up her items for the journey back to the manor. She made sure to include a compass and a map of the land. If her magic were to stop working, she would need to know how to escape. She gathered Crookshanks Junior in her arms and set out.

She walked the same path she had taken with Hermione. The trees were no longer covered in warm orange leaves. The air smelled crisp. She set up camp for the night. The easiest way to find the castle was to wait for the hinkypunks to take her again. She tied the rug to the cross bag she carried. Crookshanks lay in the center of the tent while she sat at the entrance.

"I'll be there soon Hermione, I promise. I hope fate has been kind to you," Luna whispered to the night sky.

She looked back at Crookshanks Jr. wistfully. "Was it just me or did the Beast seem…familiar? His mannerism and speech, I know it. I just can't put my finger on it. Perhaps I've just forgotten."

Crookshanks licked his paw in response.

She waited hours for the hinkypunks to appear, but none came. The blond witch sighed. She retreated inside her tent and pulled out the map. She marked her current location and as much of the path she remembered taking. The map didn't show any estate, but rather a large set of land that many magical creatures inhabited. She rolled up the map and placed it into her bag. She would go searching for Hermione in the morning.

.

"No there's no way I would forget that. Moody turned you into a ferret?" Hermione leaned further into the pillows on the couch.

It was just large enough for Draco and her to sit on each side comfortably, as long as no one tried to pull their legs up.

"He did, it was horrible. Lesson learned I will never shoot a spell at a wizard's back, but that was a bit unnecessary." Draco said before he took a swig from his glass.

Hermione clicked her nails on her own glass of fire whiskey. "It's—it's just so weird to think that you were so involved in our lives and we've completely forgotten about you. I remember Buckbeak having to be killed for maiming a student but when I try to remember who, I can't. "

"Well, maiming is a bit of a stretch." He raised a paw to scratch the back of his head. " I tended to exaggerate a lot as a child."

"So I am realizing," she mused.

"Odd, how the curse picks and chooses which memories to eliminate. It would make more sense if I was faceless in each rather than simply erasing them."

"Maybe it's dependent on the person, or the memory itself."

"How so?"

"Well, I have no memory of this manor at all prior to this year. I should've remembered something that intense, and yet I don't."

Draco sucked his cheek and thought. "Maybe for the memories too personal to have a nameless wizard attached to, maybe those memories simply disappeared."

"Perhaps. Do we have any personal memories together?" She asked innocently.

"Like prior to the curse?" He managed to ask.

Hermione quirked a brow and studied him. His eyes were so human. It was as if she could see him thinking. Slowly his animal appearance began to fade away, revealing the former man. She recognized it from his photo in the newspaper. She didn't have much time to study him before. He was rather handsome in human form. A strong jaw and pale hair almost the same shade as his fur. He wasn't as massive as his beast form was but he was still fairly tall.

She shook the thoughts from her head. "Yes, prior to the curse. Anything immediately before might help."

He nodded. "Um, the week before my birthday I ran into you at the Hogwarts memorial when it was first created. Does that ring a bell?"

She furrowed her brows. The memorial would've been seven years ago and she had been there quite often.

"I was visiting the grave of a dear friend of mine, Vincent Crabbe. You were replacing the flowers of a friend nearby. We started talking about him. Does that," he cleared his throat, "does that trigger any memories for you?"

She had talked to him about a friend he had lost and she didn't even remember it. She knew Crabbe Senior had a son, but she didn't remember being close to him. "No, I'm sorry. I wasn't even aware that he had died."

The man nodded his head and regained his beastly form once more. "It's alright if anything that actually makes sense. You were with me when he died. He was one of my closest friends. If you had remembered him, you would've remembered me."

"Draco, I'm sor-"

"I think it's time for us to get some rest." He stood up from his seat on the couch and started walking toward the door. "Sleep well, Granger."

"Goodnight Malfoy"

A/N: ... hi guys it's been a while haha... ANYWAYS hope you enjoyed this chapter! I finally found the drive to continue writing, funny enough I already had this part written, just needed to post it onto here. Currently working on the next Chapter :) Enjoy!