Let's Remember It All
CHAPTER FOUR – Returning
To nobody's surprise, Hermione began to complain about missing school just nineteen hours after waking up.
When she first mentioned it, Harry grinned and looked at Ron with his hand outstretched.
"What's going on?" Hermione looked between the two of them, her eyes narrowed.
"Ron said it would take you at least three days for you to mention school work, but I said less. And I was closer." He added happily. "So he owes me two galleons."
"How long did you guess?" She asked.
"Ten hours." He replied, placing the money Ron had reluctantly handed over in his pocket.
O
Malfoy assumed that on his return to school, Hermione would stop plaguing his thoughts. He had assumed wrong.
The strangest things reminded him of her. If, for example, he was sat in a lesson, and the teacher mentioned something completely irrelevant, she would pop into his head, biting her lip in worry.
Her two bodyguards returned to school two days after she had woken. The summer term had just begun, and very few people had heard about the accident, though most knew she was in hospital, so, inevitably, the rumours began.
As the week progressed, the stories began to get more and more ridiculous. On Monday, Pansy Parkinson was telling the Slytherin common room that she had been picked up by the 'Mudblood Patrol' to be 'dealt with' at the Ministry.
By Tuesday evening, Parvati Patil was informing people that she had been hoodwinked by You-Know-Who, and was now in Azkaban with Veritaserum pumping through her veins.
In the Great Hall the next day, the whole school was whispering about how the 'Granger girl' had been Imperiused and was now on a killing spree somewhere in North Yorkshire.
"I heard that the Dark Lord did it as a joke, to spite Potter." Blaise Zabini spoke, his dark hair falling across his eyes when he leaned forward.
Pansy shrieked with laughter. "Oh, wouldn't it be wonderful it the Dark Lord killed her…" She said, maliciously. "That would show Potter!"
"She's too close to Scarhead." Nott pointed out. "Nobody will ever touch her at this rate."
"So how come the Prophet's saying she's having spasms in her sleep? And that disfiguration on her face…" Pansy shuddered. "She was ugly enough already-"
"The Prophet's lying." Malfoy interrupted, staring moodily at his food and pushing it roughly around his plate.
"What do you mean 'lying'?" Blaise turned to stare incredulously at him.
"Well, Zabini, when someone lies they say something that's not true." He smirked as the darker boy threw him a filthy look and Pansy let out another shriek. "She fell off a broom." Malfoy said.
Nott snorted. "Granger? On a broom?"
Pansy narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "How do you know, Draco?"
Malfoy stared very determinedly at the pea that he was trying to balance on the end of his knife. "Oh, the usual, Father heard the story when he was at St Mungo's. Making a donation." He added, for validity.
Blaise and Nott looked at each other, unconvinced, and Pansy raised an eyebrow.
O
The first time Hermione saw Malfoy after she returned to Hogwarts was, ironically, during a Quidditch match. It was the final; Grffindor versus Ravenclaw, and Hermione was sat on the top-most bench, on her own and reading a book.
She wasn't really paying attention to the match, and she was trying very hard not to look down. (The accident hadn't helped her overcome her fear of heights.)
"Look at Granger. Could she be any more of a loser?" Hermione heard Pansy's spiteful words but didn't look up. "God, if I had hair like that I'd probably kill myself!" She snickered and Hermione saw, out of the corner of her eye, her and Malfoy about five metres away from her. "I mean, it's not even like any guys dig that look! I guess she's just too ugly to care." Pansy shrugged and leaned back against Malfoy's arm.
A tear rolled down Hermione's cheek and she brushed it away angrily.
Malfoy saw the movement and turned to look at her. Hermione caught his gaze and dared him to mock her. "She's not bad." He shrugged.
Hermione's heart tightened. 'Had he actually just said that?' She thought, disbelievingly.
Pansy nearly fell off the bench in shock. "Not bad?" She screeched. "Not bad?! Draco Malfoy, take that back! You're talking about a Mudblood here! A Potter-worshipping, know-it-all, brown-nosing Mudblood!"
Malfoy winced when she shouted the last word. "I'm perfectly aware of who we're talking about, Pansy, but still. I think she's pretty."
Everything fell away. There was nothing in the world except her and the blond boy sitting near her, watching her out of the corner of his grey, grey eyes.
Pansy gaped at him. "She's not pretty! She's an ugly, fat, bushy-haired, flat-chested prude!"
"Shut up, Pansy. Just because you open your legs at every opportunity does not mean that your opinion is the only one that matters." He said, his tone sharp. Then he got up and walked away.
He didn't look at Hermione once.
O
Blaise approached him that evening.
"Er, Draco?" He said, nervously. "Can I talk to you?"
"Depends." Malfoy replied. "Does what you have to say have any relevance to my busy and interesting life?"
There was a silence for a few minutes, and Malfoy thought Blaise had gone, until, "You called the Granger girl pretty."
Malfoy stiffened. 'Shit.' He thought. "So? That's really none of your business, Blaise."
Blaise visibly hesitated, and he took a deep breath before continuing. "Actually, Pansy said you'd say that. And she said…"
Malfoy looked round at him, bored. "Well? Either finish that sentence or sod off, Blaise."
"She said… that she knows."
"Knows what?"
"Christ. This sounds stupid… Pansy said she saw you when you didn't do it." Blaise turned and left.
"Saw me not doing what?" He shouted after him. "Blaise! Not doing-" Malfoy went very white as he realised what Pansy was talking, albeit indirectly, about.
O
Hermione walked through school for a couple of days like she was the Black Plague. Corridors emptied around her, and even the Gryffindors seemed to want to avoid her at all costs.
A week after her return to school she was distraught. Nobody wanted to know her apart from Harry, Ron, Ginny and Neville – who probably hadn't heard the rumours anyway, so didn't know any better.
"Just let it blow over, Hermione. Next week nobody'll think you're Voldemort's ambassador at Hogwarts. No sweat." Harry said one morning at breakfast.
"I can't let it go- I want people to know I'm not under the Imperius! This is absurd; if I turn around and look at the other tables everyone will go silent. They're all talking about me!" She wailed.
Ginny screwed up her nose like there was a bad smell. "Why do you care what they think? You know the truth, we know the truth, there's no problem!"
Hermione sighed. "I guess. But I wish there was a way to show everyone I'm not being controlled by You-Know- oh, sorry Harry, Voldemort."
"You could write to him and ask him to release a statement to the Prophet saying so." Ron grinned.
She rolled her eyes. "Hilarious, Ronald, as usual. But-"
At that moment, an enormous blast of noise echoed through the castle that shook the tables so much bowls of cereal and plates of scrambled eggs clattered to the floor.
Ron, who had fallen off the bench, appeared over the rim of the table, his face white. "W-w-what in the name of Merlin was that?" The four of them – Neville was doing his best to run away from the noise – joined the surge of students streaming out of the Great Hall.
They didn't have to look very far.
A scream from outside drew them into the biting morning air. Across the main doors, underneath the green and glittering Dark Mark, were the words:
"You think I'd use a Mudblood to do it? Be suspicious – but not of her."
Hermione had gone very white. "That means…" She whispered. "It says…"
"Be suspicious." Harry said, horrified. "It means that, someway or another, Voldemort's at Hogwarts."
O
The Slytherin common room was, for once, completely silent. The whole room was looking at the window, where Draco Malfoy had just disappeared from view.
"What's he doing?" Nott whispered angrily. "What's the point in us all being here? We could help him!"
"No, we couldn't. Draco's an independent operator." Pansy snapped. "Besides, if he told us to stay here; he had a good reason. So we stay."
Nott scowled, but didn't move.
A few minutes later, there was a huge 'bang', and the Slytherins jumped.
"What was that?" Blaise muttered, going to the window and peering out.
Pansy, who had screamed when she heard the noise, scrambled up from the floor and grabbed his arm and dragged him back to the leather sofa. "You heard what he said, Blaise, stay where you are and don't look out the window."
"Who is he to tell us to sit like muppets in the common room while he's out there, having all the fun?" He asked, fiercely.
"He's Draco Malfoy. And I'm sure whatever he's doing, it isn't fun."
O
In fact, Malfoy was flying over the top most leaves of the Forbidden Forest, as hard and as fast as he could. After ten solid minutes of it, he turned sharply and flew back the way he had come, a look of satisfaction on his face.
When he arrived back at the castle, he avoided the crowd outside the doors and slipped quietly down to the dungeons.
A sea of hostile faces met him when he entered the common room. "Where in hell have you been, Malfoy?" Nott demanded in an aggressive tone.
Malfoy turned slowly to look at him. "Not that it's any of your business, Theodore, but I've been flying."
"Flying?" Nott repeated, narrowing his eyes.
"Yes, Nott, flying. It's what happens on a broomstick. I assume you're familiar with a broomstick." He added, when he saw the blank look on the younger boy's face.
"Shut it, Malfoy." Nott snarled, and made to walk away, but Malfoy grabbed his arm and twisted it back.
"Watch your lip when you talk to me, alright? I think you forget who you're talking to sometimes." He smirked, and bent Nott's arm back even further. "So, politer in future. Got it?" Nott grimaced in pain but nodded. "Good. Anyone else got any problems with me flying when I want?" He addressed the others. "Right answer." He said, when no-one spoke.
A/N: I know it's been a while, but I've had this chapter (and the next one) finished for a while, but I wrote them by hand and then promptly lost the notebook they were in. I wasn't overly pleased with this chapter when I read it back to myself, and I know I've confused some people, but hopefully everything will become clear soon. Please review, feedback means the world to me! (That and my cat.)
Anyone who hasn't yet, please check out my latest project, "Dramione: The Truth Behind The Obsession"!