A/N: I think I'm depriving you all of some romance. I tried writing some in. In other news, I have a book to finish by tomorrow for a paper that's due the next day on said book and I don't know if I'll finish it. Not writing at least a little something by Sunday didn't sit well with me so this short chapter will have to do for now. Sorry! Please enjoy.

Chapter 6: Confliction

Draco paced around the garden as he wondered, for the hundredth time, what Healer Alden, an apparent good friend and coworker of his (how the hell did that happen), had talked about with Granger and his parents. Before the man had arrived, Draco had sat heavily on a chair trying not to lose composure in front of one of the people at school who he didn't like. Luckily, or perhaps unluckily, the man had come through the floo network before he could ask why in the world Granger was at the Manor in the first place. That all happened a good month ago now.

Alden had since given Draco specialized potions that sped up memory restoration now that the Healer was certain Draco wouldn't collapse into a coma. Draco supposed that was good news. Unfortunately, the man didn't know if Draco would ever recover all of his memories without the knowledge of the combined spells Draco's uncle had hit him with. Draco was still pondering that information as well. But where did that Mudblood fit into all this?

In truth, with the past weeks having memories come gradually of the rest of his fourth year and most of his fifth, he had more on his plate to think about than her. Or he would if could stop having dreams with her in them. He refused to believe those were memories because of the impossibility of what he saw in them. Him and Granger a couple? The ideal was laughable, to say the least. But still, he wasn't entirely opposed to the ideal even though he knew he should be. He blamed it on his future self. "Future", because he was still, as opposed to two weeks ago when he was 14, a 15, and now almost 16, year old teenager even though his body was the build of a young man. He was greeted with mixed feelings when memories came up. Some were annoyance and disgust at himself. He felt like two different people when he remembered his past, especially concerning Granger.

His dreams first started out with them being civil, and then it progressed to them enjoying one another's company, then to open camaraderie and affection. But that wasn't the worst, or perhaps best, part of it. He had dreamed of them being together as a couple and snogging. Snogging! Who in their right mind would ever consider Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger as a couple and snogging one another? It was preposterous.

He turned sharply to pace in the other direction refusing to acknowledge the heat rising in his cheeks. As much as he would like to deny it, the feelings he had when he had dreams of her weren't of disgust or abhorrence. He was always positively giddy, much to his embarrassment. It wasn't very Malfoy to have "giddy" reactions, much less towards a Muggle-born. It was not to be borne.

He turned yet again as his mind assaulted him with recollections of his dream-self being affectionate towards Granger. The pleasure he felt when reaching out and taking her hand and entwining her fingers with his when they walked or sat by one another. Feeling his face break into a smile when her face would light up when they met, his delight that he had such an effect on her one he had never before known. His anxiety and racing heart when he had kneeled in front of her and presented her with the Malfoy engagement ring; impossible!

He knew his face was burning red even as he tried to calm his speeding heartbeat. He told himself there was no way on that green earth that he would ever even consider being bound to Granger in such a way. Perhaps his future-self had developed some sort of masochistic ideal of being affiliated with a Muggle-born he could never be with and Granger just happened to be in his presence. His parents had told him as much that she had helped his family rise in esteem since the war had ended. He still couldn't wrap his head around that piece of information, much less that You-Know-Who had actually come and gone. Sure, his memories told him that there was a strong possibility that he had come back, but some part of him was in denial.

He let out a frustrated sigh before going inside to badger his parents on more information that they were reluctant to give. Keeping information from him for the past few months that he couldn't remember had them more tight lipped than he had ever known. They told him they had to do it for his own good and now that they could tell him information, they seemed to not be able to do so with ease. He wondered if they were trying to keep themselves from reliving what had happened during the second war he could not remember. He slowly found himself not wanting to remember either. What he had done during the war would most likely give him mixed feelings again with his future-self and he wasn't so sure they would be as mixed as before. He had a feeling they would be in sync and the thought troubled him about what he could have done if even his parents seemed somewhat ashamed of mentioning the past.

He felt queasy as the twilight sky turned darker, signaling another night where either dreams or memories would pervade his mind. He quietly wished for the former to happen than the latter.

That damned Potter always sticking his nose where it doesn't belong. Served him right to have that prying nose broken.

Draco shivered as he remembered the face that gave him the mark on his arm. The fear was a cold shiver that traveled down his spine and into his appendages. That creature wasn't human. He had no choice in doing what he had to in order to save himself and his parents. Why couldn't he just do what he had to?

The dream of Hermione and him discussing business because his father was reluctant to talk to her still. He moved closer to her, noticing, not for the first time, how wonderful her perfume was on her. He wanted to stay in this dream but he couldn't. Not with his parent's lives in danger.

Yes, the cabinet. No one else had to be hurt if he could just fix it. He pushed the thought of the repercussions of what would happen should he fix it to the back of his mind. He couldn't afford to think about that.

Hermione holding on tightly to his hand as they sat together, speaking of things they needed to share with one another about what had happened during the war. What was that shiny scar on her arm? He felt such guilt and shame. But she didn't blame him. He didn't know it was possible to love someone even more than he already did in that moment. And he needed to tell her so. He needed to stay in this dream but he was pulled back by intense panic.

Everything was going wrong. Why couldn't anything just go the way they were supposed to? He had to finish his mission or else those he loved would be killed. It was too much. It was too much!

The old man. He didn't want to kill him. He didn't want to kill anybody. He was so defenseless, especially now without a wand. But he had the opportunity to save himself and his parents! But… but he offered protection. Surely if anyone could provide it, it would be Dumbledore. No, they're here! The Headmaster fell from the tower after being hit by the killing curse.

Back to that inhuman creature. Back to fear and cowardice.

Draco woke with a start, his clothes sticking to him in cold sweat. His mind was whirring and his heart felt as fast as a rabbit's. What had he done? What did he help do? Was it all a dream?

Even as he questioned, he knew everything he saw were memories. He put his head in his hands wishing a hopeless wish that he could forget his sixth year. There were gaps, yes; his fifth year had gaps as well. And what of Granger? How could there be something there with what he had done? He dreaded the night when seventh year would be remembered. With that monster in their lives, how could anything good happen? He had a feeling it wasn't one he ever wanted to know about. He knew, without doubt, that it involved Hermione. No. He wasn't ready to see it.

He didn't want to see it.

A/N: Hope you liked it. I wrote it in a very short period of time and it's really late night/early morning so please excuse mistakes. I knew I could have expanded the information on the scenes in here but I like how it turned out, personally. I have written a little bit of the next chapter about a week ago in a certain scene I think you all know of. It's not done yet, of course, but I think it's going to be good. Also, I've just been reading a lot of stories by the Author I mentioned a few chapters ago because she has a lot and I like them. Till next time!