Chapter 20 - Reunion

St. Mungo's.

Once again in the hospital, but this time, I'm not the one in the bed.

Draco.

I sit beside him, his hand in mine.

He's sleeping, seeming so calm and peaceful after the draught they gave him.

And I've been by his side since we left the beach.

We left the beach.

I take a deep breath and let that thought sink in.

The horrors the basement, the uncertainty of surviving to the next day, the feeling of being lost, forgotten, of waking up trapped inside my own mind.

We left the beach.

We left it all behind.

I just wish I could make myself believe it.

He's here. He's safe.

And after everything that's happened, it seems like a miracle.

The Death Eaters from the beach were arrested, and they apparently seemed pretty ready to talk about others still in hiding in exchange for a reduced Azkaban sentence.

It's over.

But things will never be the same.

After what happened to us, the world has changed. It's different.

And I can't quite explain it, this feeling, this fear, this loss.

"How's he doing?"

My head whips toward the sudden voice.

It's Harry.

"He'll be alright," I reply, hiding my jumpiness behind a hopefully sturdy voice.

He steps into the room and sits in the chair in the corner.

"How are you doing?"

I take another deep breath and think about that for a moment.

Am I alright?

"We'll see."

Harry's the one who doesn't seem to be okay. He's beating himself up over this.

I've seen it for a while now, that he blames himself for whatever reason.

"It's not your fault, you know," I tell him. "None of it. I knew what could happen when I left those clues, I knew how long it could take to find me. And you've done a lot of good. Saved me, Draco, stopped the return of Voldemort, and will be responsible for the capture of the remaining Death Eaters."

He just looks at me.

"It's not your fault. And, I don't know what Ron has been burdening you with, but I don't blame you for any of it," I finish.

There is an agonized silence that fills the space between us, and I can see it in the pain filled expression on his face that he doesn't believe me.

"I broke the rules," he starts to explain in a small, choked voice, his eyes now focused on the floor as to avoid my gaze. "You asked me if you could work on figuring out some sort of package outside the ministry, by yourself." He swallows. "It wasn't allowed."

"Listen to yourself Harry. I asked. Me. I knew the risks. I asked to do it alone," I assure him.

"But I used my position to allow it. Everyone was busy and didn't have time to do it by the book. There should have been at least two people looking at it, it should have been locked in the ministry and its existence hidden. I broke the rules Hermione. And you were taken because of it."

Now I know.

At least why Harry feels guilty.

Ron has been blaming him for everything.

"I don't care if you broke the rules. I still don't blame you. I knew the risks, I still asked. I'm one who initiated. Thought I could handle it on my own." I pause for a moment. "I'll admit, it wasn't a great decision on my part. There was a lot going on and I thought it could turn out to be absolutely nothing. But that bad decision was on my part. I was smart enough to know I shouldn't have asked." I hate that I put Harry in this position. "It's done now, in the past. We just have to deal with it and move on with our lives. Please, just don't take this on yourself."

His eyes finally meet mine.

"Please," I say softly. "We don't need another victim in this. Yes, there were circumstances that lead to a terrible situation, but it's no one's fault except the ones who took me."

Freedom.

I see it as his features relax and I wonder why I never started this conversation earlier, when we were at that safe house.

"Okay," he nearly whispers.

"Okay?" I repeat.

Harry nods. "I think. . . Ron and I . . . we've been so caught up in how we contributed to what happened. I went over it again and again in my head, wishing I could go back. I think I forgot who the villain really was. I ended up catching the Death Eaters only to continue chasing myself down." He pauses. "We'll be okay, right?"

I give him a small smile.

"Things will be different. I don't know if it'll be a good thing or a bad thing, but we'll work through it. Always do," I tell him.

He glances at Draco.

"And you're sure about this, about him?"

I nod. "Yes."

"Alright," he says. And I am so thankful for him. "I can trust you." I am so thankful for his naïve spirit when it comes to his friends. He makes it clear that he doesn't trust Draco, but he trusts me, and that's enough for now.

Things are changing, have changed, and Draco is a part of that change. I think Harry understands that.

"Where's Ron?" I ask.

Harry sighs. "He's having a rough go right now."

"What do you mean?"

"You were right, and after everything you went through, he didn't fully believe you and he thinks he made everything worse. He didn't treat you like he should have," he explains.

It's so like Ron to avoid his problems, to stay away when he's feeling hurt and ashamed.

But we can fix this.

My perspective has been altered, my world turned on its head, and it will never be like it was, but this, I believe can be fixed.

Draco begins to stir.

"I'll leave you two alone," Harry says, standing to leave.

"Thanks," I reply, then turn my attention back to Draco.

Slowly he opens his eyes and looks at me.

Blank.

His expression is blank.

"Who are you?"

And my breath freezes, eyes wide.

He doesn't remember? He doesn't remember anything? He doesn't remember me?

My heart drops to my stomach leaving a gaping hole in my chest.

This can't be happening!

I need him to remember!

Then I see the smirk.

"Kidding. I'm kidding."

I let the breath out and my jaw drops.

"Oh. My. God. Draco Malfoy! That was mean! How could you do that?"

"Sorry. That was pretty bad, wasn't it," he admits.

I shake my head, astounded.

"It was there. I took it." He cringes thinking back on his words. "Really shouldn't have."

"No," I take a deep breath to steady myself, pressing a hand to my forehead. "I take it you're feeling fine."

"Oh, no. I feel like I've been ripped apart by my limbs then roughly stuck back together again," he tells me. "But I've been feeling that way for a while."

"It took us a while to find you," I say softly.

"But you did. And you were able to do everything I knew you could. The reason I sent you that package. You did it," he says with a smile.

Yes, we did it, we found him, we stopped the Lestranges' scheme. But I can't help wondering what comes next. If his whole goal with me was to stop them and that goal has been fulfilled, where does that leave us?

"Yes," I whisper. "But what now?"

His smile drops.

"That's up to you."

"What do you mean?" I ask.

He glances down at our intertwined hands.

"You remember it? All of it?"

I still don't understand, but nod.

"You've been out for a while now. It all depends on what you want," he tells me. "When we were there, we only had each other."

"What are you saying?"

"Once I'm better, if you want, I can leave. You have your friends now. I understand if you don't want someone like me around," he says.

"Don't want someone like you?"

"You said, well, I guess you thought was more like it, that you couldn't trust someone who lived the life I did," he clarifies. "And I understand. What I was a part of, the things I was made to do, you just don't get over it. And I remember how horrible I was to you, the things I said and did. . . I wouldn't blame you for not wanting to see me anymore now that we're not depending on each other for survival."

My heart sinks.

Our minds were connected.

Neither of us knew how it worked.

I knew I hurt him there, being able to feel what he felt.

He heard what I was thinking.

"Draco, I couldn't remember things. At that point, I only knew that you were on the other side, that you bullied me, hurt me. But now, I know so much more," I say. "And yes, maybe things are different now, but that doesn't imply what happened means nothing. I think we should revisit this in some time."

"Time?" his face turns hard, masking what must be a strong emotion and I realize how he may have taken my words.

"Oh, no, not time apart. I don't think I can handle that right now," I explain. "I meant, revisit the conversation after some time of seeing how this works."

He exhales a long breath of relief.

We're together. We're safe. And now, we can finally start over and maybe even try to make something of the mess we've been in.

He smiles and squeezes my hand.

Maybe, it'll be beautiful.


Author's note:

Hello everyone! I'm really sorry this update has taken so long, it was a crazy busy weekend and I just didn't get around to editing until yesterday.

It is finally revealed why Harry is blaming himself and partly why Ron is blaming him for what happened. What did you think? I know, it's a little cheesy, but hey, I was in the mood for cheesy :P

What are your thoughts on the Draco - Hermione reunion?

Thank-you so much to those who reviewed the last chapter! It was the one that I was the most concerned about, being the climax and what you've been waiting for. It means so much!

I hope you have a great rest of your week!

(PS: I'm going to add this in just because it's fun to say. I turn 21 today! Sounds weird 'cause I still feel 16. What happened? XD)