A/N: One hundred percent AU. Harry and Ron left Hermione behind to look for Horcruxes and then Hermione's mandatory presence at Hogwart's is requested.

Pairing is Hermione/Draco, rated M for themes of profanity, perhaps smut, torture, and death.

Let me know what you think :)? X

MEMOIRS OF AN UNTOLD STORY

CHAPTER EIGHT:

THE AFTERMATH

oOo

Draco doesn't know what the hell he's doing as he pounds down the corridor but he's sick of Pansy and he's sick of pretending and he's sick of feeling so goddamn shit. He tries to wipe the smudged lipstick all over his mouth and looks at his hands in disgust. Pansy was such a bitch. It wasn't even that she was pretending to dumb and arrogant and nasty just to fit in with Slytherin or the new take over. No. That's who Pansy actually was. She'd sell her own mother if it meant she would survive the upcoming battle. Draco sighed and ran his fingers through his hair in desperation. He could go back to the Head's Dorm but what if Granger was still up? She'd probably make some stupid remark about why he was back when he said he was going to be out all night… But did he really have anywhere to go?

It's not like he spoke to Blaise much anymore… And going to the Slytherin Dorm would be too much like old times. It wasn't old times anymore. Draco sighed again and made his way towards the Head's Dorm. He'd just have to hope that Granger was in her bed or something. It was nearly midnight anyway, and she was always in bed before Midnight. Draco turned a corner and came to a stop at the Head's portrait door. "Beedle the Bard" he muttered, reminding himself that he did have to change that. He didn't want Pansy sneaking in anymore. Draco took in a deep breath and walked inside, hearing the door close behind him. He looked around and saw that it looked empty. He smiled with relief and walked into kitchen and poured himself something strong.

As he walked back into the doorway, the glass he was holding slipped out of his hands and smashed into tiny little pieces when he saw Hermione's lying body on the floor behind the couch. Before he could even think straight, he darted forwards and looked down. "Granger?" Draco nearly barked from desperation. He bent down and saw a trickle of blood leading from Hermione's nose all the way down her face to the bottom of her neck. "Granger?" Draco carefully lifted up her head and opened her unconscious eyelids to see her thick black dilated pupils. "What the hell happened?" Draco snapped, desperately wanting her to just be awake and talking her babble again. "Shit. Fuck. Shit" Draco propped her up, "Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. We're gonna have to go to Madam Pomfrey-".

"No!" Hermione gasped, rising up suddenly. She had gripped Draco's arm and was squeezing it, "Don't take me to Madam Pomfrey" she struggled to keep her own head up, "They'll know what I did, they'll kill me and…" she trailed off and rested her head in Draco's arms again.

"Granger?" Draco was frowning, "What the hell is going on? What did you do? Look, you could be dying, we have to go to Madam Pomfrey, she'll know what to do, she'll fix everything" he cradled her and managed to stand up with her in his arms. As he looked down, she almost looked sort of angelic, if it wasn't for the blood and all. As Draco began taking a few more steps, Hermione suddenly snapped back to life and gripped the back of Draco's neck painfully.

"Please don't take me to Madam Pomfrey" Hermione was mumbling like a crazy person, "All I need is sleep, okay? Just let me sleep… Please" as soon as he looked into her chocolate eyes he realised her pupils weren't so dilated. Her brown orbs begged his grey blue ones and he suddenly found himself relenting.

"Okay" Draco sighed, walking towards her room, "But if you end up dying in the middle of the night, I will resurrect you and kill you again myself" he swiftly opened her bedroom door while still carrying her and put a foot inside. Suddenly, smoke took over his nose and got into his lungs and he had to step away, coughing. He looked down to Hermione, who he figured was already sleep but shook her just in case.

"I'm not controlling!" Hermione suddenly jerked awake, looking around in confusion. She blinked and looked up at Draco. "What's going on?".

"That's exactly what I'd like to know!" Draco snapped, "Why are you going crazy? Why are you bleeding? And why the hell does your room spell like an Opium lab?".

"A spell went wrong" Hermione muttered, closing her eyes again, "It said… I'd be, a little out of sorts when we…".

"Granger?" Draco snapped again.

"Let me sleep!" Hermione gasped, annoyed but mostly out of it.

"But your room is…" Draco trailed off uselessly and shook his head. He reached over and closed her door again, grateful that he could no longer smell the smoke. He looked over to the couch and then down to Hermione and sighed. "Cannot believe I'm doing this" Draco gritted his teeth as he walked towards his bedroom. He opened his door and walked inside, placing Hermione on the bed.

Draco pulled his fresh clean green Slytherin sheets over Hermione's body and watched as she murmured something he couldn't understand. Draco found himself just watching her, wanting to be sure she was still breathing. In sleeping form, she was peaceful and delicate and so angelic, (even with dried blood on her face), a definite contrast to her waking form where she was powerful, strong and definitely not angelic. Looking at her now, she even looked a little vulnerable. Draco let out a deep breath and looked around his room before he turned and walked out, closing his door behind him.

Draco rubbed his face tiredly and glanced over to Hermione's bedroom door. What the hell had happened tonight while he away? And what spell had she done? Had she done it alone? Is that why she seemed so happy he wasn't staying here tonight? Draco sighed and went to lie down on the couch, resting his eyes. As he lay there he wished he could stop thinking about her and her face and her features and her fiery personality but he couldn't.

He couldn't at all.

oOo

Draco fluttered his eyes open and yawned. He looked over to the clock on the wall and saw that it was nearing 6am. He sighed, and glanced over to his still closed door. Draco rubbed his eyes and slowly sat up, stretching. He walked into the kitchen and poured himself some coffee, gulping it down. Before he knew what he was doing, he walked towards his bedroom and opened the door, seeing Hermione was asleep. He froze for a second, to make sure he could hear her breathing and when he did, he sighed and quietly walked towards his drawers. He grabbed some clean clothes and glanced back to Hermione, unsure of whether or not to wake her up. He decided to let her sleep and walked back out, closing the door behind him.

As he made his way towards the shared bathroom, his thoughts drifted back to last night and if it hadn't smelled so bad in her room, he probably would have gone and searched it. Draco locked the bathroom door and turned on the shower, stripping himself. He noted to himself that he definitely had to find out what the hell had happened last night and almost cursed himself for leaving the Head's Dorm at all. Surely Her-Granger wasn't stupid enough to try and escape? If anyone ever found out, she was likely to be flared alive… Why would she risk it? So far, apart from Alecto and her craziness, Granger had been pretty safe here.

Draco shook his head and began washing his body and hair under the shower. If Granger was going to be sleeping all day he'd have to go to McGonagall and get permission, lest Snape or Alecto be on the war path or her stupid friends Weasley and Longbottom to think something was wrong with her. And he hadn't completely ruled out that last one either. Spells backfire all the time but to this extent? Something definitely had to be up.

Draco turned off the shower and stepped out onto the bathmat and began drying and dressing, his mind completely somewhere else. By the time he had done this, his short blonde hair had dried and he walked back into the common room, looking around for his books. As he walked to the kitchen, his eyes drifted to his closed bedroom door and his thoughts swerved back to Hermione. He grabbed himself some toast from the magic plate that produced food from the counter and took a single bite. Then, silently, he put the rest of it in the bin and strode towards his room, opening the door.

Just when he was about to scream at Granger to get up, he found himself wordless, staring at her sleeping form. She was so… Draco shook his head and instead walked to his table, grabbing a piece of paper. He hurriedly scribbled something down and walked up to his bed. Making sure he could still hear her breathing, he put the piece of paper on the small table next to his bed and turned, taking a deep breath. He walked out of his room, closing the door behind him and heading for the portrait door. As he opened it and stepped out, he nearly went crashing into the annoying form of Pansy Parkinson. Draco rolled his eyes and ignored her sheepish smiles, making sure the portrait door was shut behind him.

"Whatever it is, Pansy…" Draco began, shaking his head, "I'm really not in the mood" to his annoyance, Pansy didn't give up and instead, began walking in step with him, which was hard to do.

"Drakey" Pansy almost whined and Draco didn't hide his grimace "You were really weird last night… Is something wrong?".

I realised the only reason I ever touched you in the first place was to spite… a bitter voice inside his head hissed and disappeared.

"No" Draco answered, voice bored and unpleasant.

"I can understand your pain, Drakey" Pansy continued dumbly, "I'd go crazy with disgust as well if I were living next to a mudblood".

"Don't you have someone else to bother?" Draco spat horridly, "Theodore maybe? What about Blaise? Did his 'nice guy' act finally stop and he told you what he really thought of you?".

"Blaise?" Pansy raised an eyebrow, completely disregarding Draco's tone and insults, "Why would I want to talk to Blaise when the only guy I want to talk to is you? Besides, Blaise is still asleep!" she giggled.

"Asleep?" Draco composed his shocked expression immediately, "He's the last person to miss classes, even when he's ill".

"Well, he came in the Slytherin common room last night, just moments after you left actually - I'm surprised you didn't see him! - and he looked ghastly! His nose was bleeding and everything. He almost fainted! Theodore and a few other guys had to help him into his bed and he's slept ever since. Theodore he tried to wake him up this morning and he wouldn't budge. Something about 'having to sleep it off'… Whatever 'it' is… Maybe he has a hangover or something".

Draco's blood ran cold and he froze in place, Pansy stopping her walk too to look up at him. "A nose bleed?" he had a sudden flashback to seeing Hermione's blood trail from her nose to her neck. "That's interesting… That's very interesting…".

"I mean I know you guys have drifted apart, Drakey, but to act like you never passed him as you left the common room is absurd! There's only one way in and out of the common room, you were moments apart, you must have saw him!" Pansy babbled.

"I didn't!" Draco snapped unexpectedly.

"Okay" Pansy rolled her eyes in a tone that suggested she didn't believe a thing he was saying, "Maybe he was invisible or something?" she giggled, mocking him slightly.

Draco was going to tell her to fuck off when he felt a shiver go down his spine… "Yes" Draco's eyes narrowed into slits, "He must have been" and without another second wasted, he spun on his heel, walked away and left Pansy's confused expression behind.

oOo

Draco strode into the Slytherin Common room like he owned it, passed all the students who were looking at him in confusion and intrigue and marched up the stairs towards the Boy's Dorm rooms. He walked up to the very top, passing multiple doors until he got to the one he wanted. His hand snapped the door open and he looked around. It was completely empty, except for one bed. Draco's eyes found Blaise and he stormed forwards and ripped the covers from his peaceful form. Blaise groaned and snapped his eyes open painfully.

"I told you I was sleeping-" Blaise cried out, stopping immediately when he saw Draco. Blaise yawned and sat up, rubbing his eyes and wanting to scream out in pain every time he moved an inch, "What the hell's going on?" Blaise snapped hoarsely, suddenly feeling very cold without his cover.

"Last night. Explain" Draco looked like he was about to rip Blaise's eyes out. He threw Blaise's cover to the other end of the room and turned back, face full of thunder.

Blaise's heart started to beat with nerves but he shrugged, looking indifferent, "I don't know what you're talking about".

"Oh really?" Draco barked, "Why don't I drag you all the way over to my bedroom, where Granger is currently residing because her room stinks of a backfired spell? Want extras? You have all the same symptoms as her, so start talking. Right. Now".

"Symptoms?" Blaise asked confusedly, trying so hard to keep his eyes open and his body awake.

"Bloody nose. The fainting. The exhaustion. The need to sleep" Draco spat at him, "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to put two and two together. I know you and her were in her room last night, doing some kind of spell, and I want answers".

"Why you getting so defensive?" Blaise shook his head, suppressing the urge to yawn. "Nothing happened last night so drop it".

"Is that why, according to Pansy, moments after I left the common room, you went in? It's funny because I never saw you" Draco put his fists into a ball, "It's almost as if you were invisible, wasn't it?" he shook his head "You think I'm stupid? I saw Granger sneak out the other night, does that have something to do with you as well? And when I found you taking her to Madam Pomfrey? What the hell is going on Blaise?".

Blaise winced and looked away, painfully trying to stay awake.

"Well if your not going to tell me I might as well go get Alecto then" Draco smiled evilly, "If anyone can get answers out of people, she can" he spun around to walk away.

"Wait" Blaise gasped, his voice vacant of any tone or energy.

Draco sighed and spun around, waiting.

"I'll tell what happened" Blaise muttered quietly, "I've wanted to ask Hermione out since last year, that's why I was talking to her when she first fainted after Alecto attacked her, but she dismissed me. That's why I took her to Madam Pomfrey… While there, I slipped her a note asking her to meet me at midnight, that's why she snuck out. We talked, we sort of argued and she left" he took a painful wheeze from his chest "When Pansy told me you were staying with her last night I took an opportunity and went to see Hermione… She was in her room and sorting her potion vials. She told me to leave, I made a joke, she laughed, and before I knew it, I was helping her with her potions. Except… When I went to kiss her, one fell and knocked into the other, they exploded and we got hurt. I guess the exhaustion and nose bleed was part of the side effects" he took another sigh and looked up to Draco.

Draco's face was unreadable but he silently walked over to where Blaise's covers had landed and picked them up. "You're a horrible liar" he muttered as he threw Blaise's covers at him. Without another word, he exited the dorm and stormed down the stairs and out of the common room.

oOo

Hermione stirred in her sleep and blinked her eyes open. Wow. That was one of the best sleeps she'd had in ages. But… Whose scent was that? Hermione's head snapped up so hard she felt a sharp pain go through it as she realised she wasn't in her own bed… Whose bed was this? She looked down and saw the Slytherin bed covers and her eyes widened. She looked around and it finally clicked. She was in Draco's bedroom, in Draco's bed. Hermione slowly sat up and gaped. What the hell was going on? She tried to remember last night with Blaise and then… Did she faint? It all came back to her and she remembered Draco picking her up, wanting to take her to Madam Pomfrey but she had protested… Why did he put her in his bed?

And why the hell does your room spell like an Opium lab? Hermione suddenly remembered his words and she looked up frowning. Had he put her in his bed because her room stank? She gulped with confusion and looked down, seeing a note on the small table. Grabbing it, her eyes scanned it and in Draco's neat concise handwriting were the words; 'Your room stinks. Put you in here. Don't touch anything. Going to get McGonagall to excuse you from classes. - D.M'

It was cold, clear cut and sharp; just like him. Hermione shook her head in shock and crumpled the note up, slowly standing up. She tucked the note into her pocket and looked down. Was that dried blood on his pillow and sheets? Her stomach curled at the thought of Draco Malfoy realizing a Mudblood had bled on his sheets and before she knew what she was doing, she raced from his room into hers, while noticing happily that the stench of potions was nearly all gone, got her wand from her drawer and ran back into Draco's room.

Hermione raised her wand above Draco's stained and messy bed sheets and said, "Purgo", hoping Blaise's spell from last night would work just as well for her. The tip of her wand began to glow and the light fell from the wand to the sheets. It covered the bed sheets completely and before her eyes, the bed sheets rearranged themselves neatly. When it was over, she looked down and saw no dried blood or mess. Quite pleased with herself, Hermione nosily looked over Draco's room once before leaving it and closing the door behind her. She glanced to the clock and her eyes widened when she saw the time; 7.09pm. She had slept the whole day away?

Hermione shook her head, went to put her wand away and padded to the bathroom. As she turned on the shower, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and grimaced. There was dried blood running from her nose down her neck. She suddenly frowned. If Draco clearly saw she was bleeding, why did he put her in his bed in the first place? Didn't it bother him? She sighed, troubled, and hopped into the shower, appreciative of it's boiling water.

When she stepped out, she felt clean and energized and a whole lot better than last night. Hermione poked her head out of the bathroom and riskily walked back to her room naked, closing the door behind her. She changed into clean pyjamas, brushed through her damp hair and sat on her bed, sighing. She ignored her stomach rumbling and opened her top drawer, making sure her crystal necklace was still there. It was. She quickly checked under her bed to make sure the golden chalice was there with the other 3 crystals inside and sighed relief when she saw it hadn't been touched.

Hermione boredly walked back into the common room and to the kitchen, seeing the usual magical trolley with reproducing hot food. Hermione grabbed an empty plate, a fork and took some chicken, potatoes and peas onto her plate and went to sit down in the common room. She looked around boredly as she ate and sighed. She was used to feeling lonely but it was getting to the point were she was feeling sorry for herself and her heart leapt up when she heard knocking on the portrait door.

"Just coming!" Hermione called and rushed to open it, her heart jumping with joy when she saw a worried Ginny standing there.

"You're alive!" Ginny gasped, stepping in to hug Hermione.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Hermione frowned, closing the portrait door behind them.

"I haven't seen you all day! Or Blaise!" Ginny cried, "We thought the spell had gone horribly wrong and you'd both died and rotted here!".

"Sorry to disappoint" Hermione forced a strained smile, "The spell did work, it just had some side effects. I fainted and had to sleep all day. I presume Blaise had something of the same if you haven't seen him all day either".

"Are you okay?" Ginny looked at her pale friend.

"Yeah" Hermione nodded, "I'm fine! I hope Blaise is okay too".

"I'm sure he is" Ginny joined Hermione on the couch, "So you didn't get caught or anything, by Malfoy?".

Hermione hesitated and thought about whether or not to tell her about being found unconscious by Draco or put in his bed but reason won out, "Nope. Didn't get caught. As far as I know, he doesn't know a thing. He did smell the explosion so I might have to come up with some kind of fake homework potions backfire thing".

"Explosion?" Ginny gaped, glancing back to Hermione's room.

"It wasn't huge or anything, like a mini explosion" Hermione reassured her, "But it was pretty powerful. It's no wonder I felt so wiped out".

"Can I see the crystals?" Ginny's eyes lit up.

"Sure, they're pretty cool" Hermione led Ginny into her room and pulled out the chalice from under her bed. She pulled out the three crystal necklaces from the chalice and gave one to Ginny. "One's yours. Could you slip the other two to Neville and Luna somehow tomorrow?".

"Absolutely" Ginny put the other two crystal necklaces in her pocket and zipped it up, looking enchanted at the one left in her hands.

"Me and Blaise tested it out, we could hear each other's thoughts" Hermione explained, "You can only hear each other's thoughts when one or more people are wearing the same crystals".

"So I can't hear everyone's thoughts?" Ginny looked a little disappointed as she put her crystal necklace into her pocket as well.

"Nope" Hermione smiled, "You can only hear the thoughts of the other person or people wearing it. That's why it was so brilliant. We could all be the Great hall, having dinner with hundreds of other students and nobody would know we were having a private conversation with our thoughts".

"Can you only hear the other person's thoughts in the same room or can it be anywhere?" Ginny frowned, looking over to Hermione.

"I'm not sure" Hermione looked puzzled herself, "The book's spell wasn't specific. It was about enchanting an object or objects that don't have a spell. It was more like a wish. One that came true with magic. A lot of magic. I wished for the crystals to be enchanted to hear the other wearer's thoughts… I didn't say anything about distance limitation so maybe. We'll have to test that out one day".

"Well, you really outdid yourself, Hermione" Ginny praised her friend, walking back out into the common room.

"But be careful, when Blaise and I put the crystals on, they each glowed, like they were connecting with each other… It wasn't a lot, but maybe noticeable so try wear a thick heavy jumper over it, and tell the others" Hermione added carefully.

"I'm so glad we're still helping Harry, even if we can't be with him" Ginny sighed sadly, looking down, lost in her own thoughts.

Just when Hermione was going to say something comforting, the portrait door swung open and Draco arrogantly strode in, looking from Ginny to Hermione in surprise. Hermione noticed how Ginny almost took a defensive stance as Draco stiffened. The awkwardness could be cut with a small sharp knife.

"Can I speak to you alone?" Draco asked Hermione coldly.

"Ginny was just leaving" Hermione nodded back and she looked up to Ginny.

Ginny looked back warily, "Hermione… I can…".

"It's okay" Hermione gave her a reassuring smile and walked Ginny to the portrait door as Draco stepped away. "I'll talk to you tomorrow" she went in to hug Ginny and whispered in her ear, "Don't forget what I told you about the crystals" she pulled away and watched Ginny step outside. Hermione closed the portrait door over and finally looked up to Draco.

"So" Hermione took a deep breath, "What do you want to know?".

As Draco's clouded eyes met Hermione's, he folded his arms.

"Everything".

There may have been slight confusion in the last chapter. In no way did Blaise or Hermione 'offer up their souls' at all. What I was trying to do was get across that magic is neutral, it's how the user choses to use that magic, to channel dark or light magic. And the spell they needed to do was so powerful it needed to be channelled by both sides, dark and light. Hermione channelled the light while Blaise channelled the dark, but in no way did they sell their souls or anything like that. Okay we good? Good.