Someone holds me safe and warm,

Horses prance through a silver storm,

Figures dancing gracefully,

Across my memory.

Chapter 2: Lacarnum Inflamarae

"So… what is your name?" the girl asked.

Draco chose to ignore her and pretended like he hadn't heard her.

So she asked again. "What is your name?"

Once again he ignored her and kept walking, looking straight ahead.

"Hello? Are you deaf? I asked you what your name was!"

Still he gave no reply.

"I don't see why you have to be so rude. The least you could do is answer this one question. Common courtesy and all that."

Draco quickly spun around and glared at her. "My name is my business and I don't see how it is any of yours!"

The girl, taken by surprise at his sudden halt, came crashing into the front of him.

"Well maybe I would just like to know the name of the man that is supposedly rescuing me." She shouted back, not understanding why this man why he was being so difficult to get along with. It was only then she realized how close she was to him. She was glaring up at him, her lips on millimeters from his. She could smell his cologne, sweet, but with a little bit of spice. They both seemed to notice the closeness at the same time and each took a step back.

After her little outburst, Draco had no doubts that this was indeed Hermione Granger. The way her eyes turned from soft to fiery, and the way she thought she was so god damn righteous left no uncertainty that it was her. The bane of his existence. What am I getting myself into? He asked himself. Why the hell did I tell her she could come back to the manor, why am I even helping her? But Draco knew why. He was not the man that he used to be. He was not so cold, and unfeeling. He smiled now, he laughed, it came so naturally he wondered how he could have lived his whole life without experiencing such feelings. But seeing her, finding her like this, so vulnerable and scared, caused the old Malfoy to return. There would always be that unspoken hatred, although they had formed an alliance during the war, he would never forgive Potter and his friends for all the cruel things they had put him through. True, he had been just as, if not more vindictive than them, but it was only because he was lonely. He'd never had any real friends, on his first day at Hogwarts he had offered Harry his hand in friendship but had been rejected, and that had stung him more than he would ever admit to anyone… especially himself.

---::---

She glared at his back, shooting daggers, not understanding at all why he was being so cruel, so intolerable. He didn't even know her! They had been walking for what seemed like hours and it was beginning to grow cold and dark. She could hear him muttering and cursing ahead of her.

"How much further?" she called out to him but as per usual she got the same response. Silence.

"DAMN IT!" he swore so loudly and so suddenly that she jumped a bit, taken by surprise at his outburst.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

He stopped walking and turned around to face her, his eyes blazing. "We must have taken a wrong turn somewhere." He told her.

"We?" she asked accusingly, "I am merely following you."

He grunted.

"I have no idea where we are going; you're the one who got us lost."

"We're not lost okay? We are merely… misdirectioned."

"Misdirectioned? That's not even a word!"

"Well…" he trailed off, struggling for a comeback, there was something about this girl that made him lose his bad-ass wit that he carried around with him.

"Whatever. The point is we are not lost. If I could just see something in this damn darkness then I would have some clue as to what direction we need to head in."

"Right… MmmHmm, sure." She said sarcastically. "Well since you obviously have no idea where we are, I don't plan on going any further with you. There could be a hole that one of us fall in and break our ankle. Then what would we do?"

He stayed silent for a moment and she was waiting for him to come up with some sort of argument. But that never came.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." He conceded rather reluctantly.

Personally, she was getting rather sick and tired of his grumpy persona. Was it that hard to even try to be a little friendly? Obviously for this man, it was.

"Malfoy. Draco Malfoy." He said softly, she almost didn't hear him.

"What?" she asked, surprised that he had been the first to speak.

"My name." He replied. "It's Draco."

She smiled, believing she was finally getting somewhere, and relieved that at the moment he had decided to be civil.

"Well, it's very nice to meet you, Draco."

---::---

Draco groaned inwardly. Great, now I am stuck out here all night with her. And it's bloody freezing!

Draco pulled out his wand and pointed at the ground, "Lacarnum Inflamarae" and a fire lit up on the ground.

"That should keep us warm." He said, turning to the girl.

She stood there, wide-eyed. Glancing quickly between the fire and Draco, looking at both strangely.

"How did you do that?" she asked.

"What do you mean how-" Draco began to ask before making an o shape with his mouth. "Uhh…" he trailed off.

She looked at him, the fear obvious in her eyes. "What are you?" she whispered.

Draco scoffed at this. "I am a wizard." He said proudly, knowing that this girl, with no memory, would most likely be completely freaked out by this. He knew that there was no way that this girl could be a muggle, charms had been cast around the entire forest and manor that prevented muggles from coming within 3 miles of the estate. Conscious or not.

She smirked at him. "A wizard?" she didn't even bother to try and hide the laughter in her voice.

Draco glared at her indignantly. "Yes, a wizard, that's right. And you might be interested to know that you are in a fact a witch." He waited with baited breath for her reaction. He had missed the days where he could torture Potter and his friends with mindless mind games.

"So, let me get this straight. You're a wizard, and I'm a witch. And you have some strange, magical powers that allow you to just light a fire."

"Oh, not just fires, I can do much, much more."

She let out a small laugh. "You know, I thought when I first met you that you were a little strange. Tell me, when was the last time you took your medication?"

Draco just looked at her.

She started to back away. This man was obviously some kind of escapee from some mental place, and there was no way she wanted to spend anymore time with him. Lost or not.

"Where are you going?" he called out after her. A hint of desperation in his voice. I should be glad that she wants to rid herself of my presence.

"Away from you, you psycho!"

"You'll get lost!" he hated the worried tone that was so god damn obvious in his voice. What happened to his cool, hard demeanor? Damn, why do I have to sound so concerned. I don't care… okay, maybe just a little. Since when did I grow a conscience?

"I thought we already were, what difference does it make?" she turned around now and faced him.

"But it's not safe out there! It will be safer if we stick together, even just until it gets light."

"What makes you think I will be safe with you?"

He looked at her dumbfounded for a moment.

She sighed. He did have a point. "Alright." She groaned reluctantly as she headed back to where the fire was still burning brightly.

---::---

Draco watched this girl through the corner of his eye. She was curled up next to a log sleeping. How can she be so peaceful when she is sleeping… but such a bloody pain in the ass when she is awake?

Draco had no idea what he would do when they arrived back at the manor the next morning. Take her to St. Mungo's I suppose. Honestly, he couldn't wait to get rid of. She was so annoying and there was now no doubt in his mind that this was most definitely Hermione Granger, who else could it be? She was exactly as he last remembered her, she even had that same bossy tone in her voice that grated on his nerves like fingernails on a blackboard.

She mumbled a bit in her sleep and moved slightly. Draco looked up at her quickly, making sure she was still asleep; the last thing he wanted was for her to wake up again. He smiled to himself as he remembered her face when she had seen the fire and how he had told her he was a wizard. What a classic, that is going straight into my Pensieve when I get home. He thought, allowing a slight chuckle.

---::---

She lay there next to the fire, pretending to be asleep, but every now and then she would crack her eye open slightly, to take a peek at the blonde man sitting across the fire from her. A wizard? She thought to herself. Why does that not even sound strange? I mean, it's weird, but for some strange reason, a small part of me believes him about being a wizard. But me being a witch, impossible, I could never do anything like that but he, that was amazing.

"In the morning." She mumbled as she moved slightly, getting more comfortable and drifted off into sleep.

---::---

There was a wide open field, the grass was long and she ran through it carelessly, the tips of the blades gently caressing her thighs and the top of her right hand that she was running through the tips. Someone called out to her and she spun around. There stood the boy with messy black hair and a scar the shape of a lightning bolt on his forehead. He smiled at her, and she laughed. She began to race towards him, but she was grabbed at behind by someone. They wrapped their arms around her waist and hoisted her up into the air, spinning her around. She began to laugh even harder. They gently set her down and she turned around to see who it was. It was her red headed friend from her previous dream. He smiled warmly at her and pulled her into a friendly hug. The black haired boy soon joined them and the three of them began to run through the field together. Then there was a clap of thunder and the rain began to fall heavily. Bolts of lightening lit up the sky. The earth began to shake and tear apart, she reached out for her two friends, but she could not reach them, they were slipping away, falling between the cracks in the earth.

"No!" she screamed, but they had disappeared from her sight. Then she heard an evil laugh, that chilled her to the bone and made her knees feel weak, as though she were about to collapse. There standing before her was a man, towering high above her, staring down at her with red, snake like eyes. She looked up at him with fear, and quickly spun around and began to run, trying to escape him, but she could not. Everywhere she turned here he was, in front of her, waiting for her.

"You cannot escape me young one. There is no use trying. You are mine. And I will find you."

And everything was black.

---::---

The first cracks of dawn had barely reached over the horizon when Draco was suddenly awoken unceremoniously by an ear piercing shriek. Draco sat bolt upright and his eyes flew immediately to the young girl, curled up in the fetal position, screaming. He panicked, what was he supposed to do? He rushed over to her and gently shook her shoulders. She trashed against him, still screaming, tears pouring down her cheeks. Draco was quite alarmed. He tried shaking her gently again and called out to her. "Wake up, it's just a dream, you're safe, you're safe." He tried to soothe. Slowly she began to open her eyes. He looked down into her chocolate eyes and attempted what he hoped to be a comforting smile, but he wasn't quite sure if he managed. The girl burst into tears and grabbed at Draco's shirt, clinging to him and sobbing into his chest.

"Shh." He whispered, trying to calm her, rubbing her back up and down gently. He had no idea what he was doing. Obviously I have been possessed by some kind of… well something that makes me compassionate. That is the only reason I am comforting this girl. He told himself.

After a few minutes the girl seemed to pull herself together. She stopped crying and pulled away from Draco.

When Draco looked into her face, he felt something pull at his heart. She looked so distraught, so vulnerable. Her eyes were red and puffy and her cheeks were tear stained.

"Are you alright?" he asked her.

She nodded her head. "Yes," she replied shakily. "I just had a bad dream."

"It must have been some dream."

She just sniffed and nodded her head again.

Draco stood up and dusted his hands on his legs. "Well come on, I think I know where we are going now. When we get back to my manor, we can find someone who can help you." He told her as he reached out a hand for her to hold.

She smiled up at him weakly. "Okay."

---::---

It was a little over an hour before they reached Malfoy Manor. Draco led the girl straight into the kitchen to get some breakfast, where they met a very distressed looking Narcissa Malfoy.

Her face was drawn and pale and tearstained. The moment she saw Draco she leapt out of her chair and pulled him into a tight hug.

"Mum? Alright?" he gasped out.

She pulled away and held him at arms length. "Where have you been? I was worried sick about you. I thought… oh I…" she began before breaking down in tears again and collapsed back into the chair she had been sitting in. she hadn't even seemed to have noticed the strange looking girl standing in her kitchen.

"I'm sorry mum." Draco apologized. "But I got lost after I found this girl here." He explained.

Narcissa looked up and finally noticed this girl. "Merlin, you poor child, are you alright?" she asked her and stood up.

She just nodded.

"Uh, Mum, she seems to uh, have lost her memory."

"Draco dear, she looks very familiar."

"Yes, I think she might be Hermione Granger but I am not sure."

Narcissa nodded. "Don't worry dear. You must be exhausted. Let me take you upstairs and you can have a shower and get cleaned up."

"Thank you Mrs…" she trailed off, unsure of the Lady's name.

"How rude of me! Narcissa Malfoy, but you can call me Narcissa."

"Thank-you Narcissa."

"Draco, could you please ask the House Elves to send up a breakfast tray to the guest room? Thank-you." She said not waiting for a reply and therefore not leaving any room for him to argue. She knew how temperamental he could be.

Narcissa led her upstairs. She couldn't help but stare, the house was, well there was no other word for it, amazing. Narcissa led her into a large bedroom. She pointed to a closed door. "You can have a shower and get changed in there. There should be a bathrobe inside. I'll send out for some clean clothes for you, they should be here within the hour. Now, if you don't mind, I am a trained Medi-Witch-"

"A what?"

"Nurse." Narcissa said hastily, forgetting that the girl ha no idea about the wizarding world. "I would just like to have a quick look at you, to make sure there is no serious damage."

She nodded, feeling only slightly uncomfortable at the idea.

She stripped herself of her clothes; she tried to cover herself as best she could.

Narcissa smiled at her kindly. "There's no need to be embarrassed. I'm a nurse, trust me, I've seen old men naked, trust me, there is no need to be uncomfortable."

She couldn't help but smile at this.

Narcissa felt around her ribs, down her arms and legs and her back. Well nothing seems to be broken, but after you've had a shower, some food, and some rest, we'll take you down to St. Mungo's to be checked properly by a Healer."

"A what?"

"A Doctor."

"Oh."

"So, just jump in the shower, take as long as you need. Your breakfast should be here by the time you get out and clothes shouldn't be long." Narcissa smiled as she got up to leave the room.

"Narcissa?" she called out.

Narcissa turned around "Yes dear?"

"Thank-you."

Narcissa smiled and inclined her head before walking out the door, closing it gently behind her.

She walked into the bathroom and closed the door. She sucked in her breath. The bathroom was massive. T had a toilet and a hand basin, a shower, two spas with multiple taps, which she thought was very strange, and a ridiculously large bath, about the size of a 25 meter swimming pool. She longed to have a bath, but knew it would take too long to fill up.

She got into the shower, noting the towels and the bathrobe waiting on a rack beside it. She was shocked that the shower was quite large and could quite easily fit another two or three people in there. Like with the spas and the bath there were multiple taps. She easily found the hot and cold water taps and turned them on. She let out a moan as the warm water hit her body, soothing her aching muscles and joints. She closed her eyes as she stood under the running water as it ran down her neck and back, washing away all the dirt and blood. She turned the temperature up, and she looked at the other taps wondering what they were. One tap had Sh on it, and the one next to it had a C. she turned the Sh tap and a white glob of gooey stuff fell onto the floor of the shower, she turned it again, this time her hand there ready to catch it. She lifted her hand up to her nose and smelt it. It smelt like a mixture of strawberry and cinnamon, her only thought was that it must be shampoo. She began to lather her hair up before rinsing it out. She then looked at the one with a C on it. If the other one was shampoo, then this one was most likely conditioner. She turned the tap and another white glop fell out onto her hand. She put that into her hair and let it sit for sometime, while looking at the other taps, eventually she found one to be soap and she quickly washed her body, carefully avoiding some bruises and tender spots she still had. When she got out of the shower she quickly dried off and wrapped her hair up in a towel. She put on the bathrobe, surprised at how short it was; it only reached about halfway up her thighs. She walked out into the room to find a tray sitting on the vanity. She sat down and lifted the lid. There was a large assortment of fruits and a few pieces of toast. It was only then that she realized how hungry she was, it was hardly any time at all before she had devoured the entire tray.

"Well I see someone was hungry." Came a drawling voice form the doorway.

Surprised, she quickly spun around to see Draco leaning against the frame of the door, smirking at her. She realized she still had the towel on her head and quickly yanked it off. She ran her hands through her hair quickly, glancing at in the vanity mirror to make sure it didn't look too tragic.

"Did you want something?"

"Mother sent me up to give you this." He said as he threw a parcel at her.

She picked it up from the floor next to her where it had landed. "What is it?"

"Clothes." He said as he spun around and walked away.

"What is his problem?" she muttered as she began to unwrap the parcel.

---::---

Draco quickly walked away from her room. Did you see how soft and creamy her legs… argh!!! Draco screamed in his mind. What am I even thinking? The sooner we take this girl to St. Mungo's and she is out of my house, the better. He thought. There was just something about this girl, something that just annoyed him so much, that he could not stand it. The way her voice was so innocent, how her eyed widened when she was listening to someone talking, the way she always bit her bottom lip, the way her hair fell around her shoulders, the way her lips… ARRGH!!! He mentally slapped himself. He lifted his hands up to the side of head and groaned.

"Are you alright dear?" Narcissa asked her son as he walked into the kitchen.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He huffed as he flopped down into a kitchen chair.

Narcissa rolled her eyes at him. "Would you like a drink?"

"No thanks." He replied.

"How's the girl?"

"Still breathing. Unfortunately." He added under his breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing." He said quickly.

"Well, when she gets down, we'll leave for St. Mungo's straight away; hopefully they will be able to help her."

"Mum, she has no idea about the Wizarding World; wouldn't we just be better off to take her to a Muggle hospital?"

"No Draco, I wouldn't even know where one is! But I do worry, are you sure she is not a muggle?"

"I found her in the forest. Father put a charm on it years ago to prevent any muggle coming near it."

Narcissa looked sad for a moment as she remembered her husband. Draco was worried that she would begin crying, and then he had no idea what he would do. For the past few weeks he had tried to avoid his mother as best he could, without being obviously rude though.

She took in a shaky breath and said, "Yes, well, your father was a very clever man."

Draco nodded. "He was."

There was an awkward silence. Draco didn't want to say anything that was likely to upset his Mother, simply because it pained him to see her so hurt and lonely. She watched her carefully out of the corner of his eye. He was surprised to see a smile light up her face. "There you are dear." She said. "Are you feeling better?"

"Yes, much. Thank-you."

Draco turned to look at the girl standing in the doorway, his breath caught in his throat. She was wearing low hipster jeans and a black tank top.

"Do the clothes fit?" Narcissa asked. "I wasn't too sure of the size."

"They fit perfectly." She assured her.

Draco grunted. If you ask me, they are a bit tight; they show off every bloody curve. Draco thought in his mind.

"Well, we'd better head off then. Tom's already waiting by the car."

"The car? Why are you taking the car?" Draco asked in an accusing voice.

"How else would we get there Draco?" Narcissa asked tightly.

She glared at him over the girls head.

Draco thought for a moment and then realized what she meant. "Of course." He said quickly. "Well good luck. It was nice meeting you."

"What do you mean 'Good luck', you are coming with us. You were the one that found her, you will need to be there to answer some questions."

Draco rolled his eyes and groaned. "Do I have to?" he whined, sounding more like a 4-year old than the 19-year old he was.

"Yes, you do." Narcissa told him firmly.

"Fine." He grumbled as he followed them out to the car