A/N: So I know it hasn't been that long, but I'm getting ready to wrap up the story in about two chapters, so please review and give me ideas if you would like. I hope you've enjoyed reading!
.::Chapter 11 – Haunted::.
Hermione Granger was lost. She glanced around widely, too disoriented to use any magic she would have normally attempted to use in order to place her location if she was thinking clearly. She had found it impossible to apparate, and so had decided to travel on foot. She walked along lonely country roads, and down busy sidewalks in the heart of bustling cities, Muggles staring strangely at her wizarding robes which she was too tired to change out of.
At last, she reached a tiny pub in Diagon Alley. An inn stood nearby, and she made her way inside, thankful she at least had a few gallons with her. Reaching the front desk, she requested a room and slipped several gallons from her pocket, handing them to the sullen-faced young woman across from her. The woman handed her a key, staring at her disheveled appearance before turning back to the papers she was filling out. Hermione ignored the look and walked toward her room, her feet dragging on the steps. Reaching the room, she pulled the door open slowly.
Inside was a tiny, sparse room with hardly room for the one small bed that sat in the corner. She didn't care – instead, she took her wand and lit the fireplace swiftly, warming the room, and fell into the bed, pulling the cold sheets around her shivering form. Without another moment's hesitation, she closed her eyes and drifted off into a heavy sleep.
Hermione tossed and turned in the bed, her silent cries echoing hauntingly inside of her head. Not only had she regained the memory that Zabini had attempted to take from her, but she was starting to dream of old memories, memories she and Draco had both purposely erased from each other's minds with a quick spell. Her pathetic past, the mistakes she had made – she and Draco had both decided that they would forget them forever and go on with their lives. Why had they come back to haunt her now?
The rain poured down heavily along the abandoned streets of the neighborhood, shallow puddles lining the streets. A lone figure, pulling a dark cloak tighter around their shivering form, made their way down the street, dodging the puddles at their feet. Their wand was out and they jumped at any small noise – the person was obviously terrified, either at where they were or at what they were doing. Reaching a small house beside many others, the figure raised their hand and knocked on the door apprehensively.
A dim light hit the pavement as the door creaked open, revealing a man with sallow skin, greasy black hair, and a hooked nose standing at the doorway, staring down in slight surprise at the figure before them. After exchanging words hurriedly, the figure in the cloak darted into the doorway, followed by the pale-skinned man. He closed the door with a snap.
"Miss Granger," said a low, familiar voice, "I'll have to ask you to explain yourself."
Hermione threw the hood of her head and shot Snape a brave look, although he could tell that she was terrified. She pointed her wand at Snape's chest. "I know you have him here," she said sharply, as Snape glanced down at her wand almost lazily. "Tell him I want to talk."
Snape looked back up at her, his eyes borrowing through hers, trying to find the reason why she had come, putting herself in such danger. He knocked her wand out of her hand, sending it clattering to the floor, and deftly pulled out his own, holding it to her throat. She trembled.
"I could kill you, you know," he said. "It was very foolish of her to have come all this way for Draco. If I summoned Death Eaters to my side right now you would die swiftly. So tell me, why did you come?"
Hermione eyed the wand at her throat in fear, but looked courageously back up at Snape. "I wanted to find him and…and bring him back."
Snape's lips curled in amusement. "Bring him back, Miss Granger?"
Hermione nodded defiantly. "Yes. No one else would believe it, but after hearing what Harry said, I know that Draco's not like his father at heart. He's not evil like V-Voldemort, and he's not a murderer like you." She said this with more confidence than she felt inside, and Snape twitched angrily. He raised his wand, but before a spell could leave his lips, Draco entered the room, staring at the two in shock.
"Granger?" he said disgust, but Hermione could tell there was none of the spite or revulsion in his tone that used to exist before he left Hogwarts. His eyes flicked quickly over the scene, and his hand traveled to his own wand.
"Miss Granger would like to talk to you," said Snape, lowering his own wand. Hermione looked up at Snape in surprise, but did not test her luck. Draco raised an eyebrow.
"Well, I'm sorry," said Draco, attempting to sound like he didn't care, "but the air in here is starting to stink, and I personally don't want to get any closer to the source." He stopped when Snape's harsh gaze fell upon him.
"Draco, I believe you misunderstood me," he said softly. "Miss Granger merely wants to talk. I think you should make it clear to her...forcefully…where your loyalties lie." Draco looked puzzled for a moment, and then his eyes widened, glancing down at his wand. Hermione instantly attempted to pick up her wand, but Snape deftly stepped on it, breaking it with a light snap. Hermione was trapped.
"No…" she whimpered. Draco seemed frozen.
"Draco," hissed Snape, "you have one chance to prove yourself in the Dark Lord's eyes by killing the Mudblood. He might forgive your past…mistakes…if you do."
Draco raised his wand, his eyes focused on Hermione. She looked desperately for a way out, but there was none. Her eyes locked on Draco, pleading with him. He opened his mouth and shouted a spell…
…"stupefy!"
Snape fell to the floor with a heavy thud, his robes billowing as he fell. Hermione let out a soft shriek, then realized what Draco had done for her.
"…why?" she started, but Draco stopped her.
"Just get out of here, Granger," he snapped, glancing worriedly at Snape. Hermione nodded, muttering a thanks to Draco, and flew out the door. There was fear in her eyes, but also confusion. What had Draco just done her?
Hermione sat up in bed and let out a shriek. Why had these memories come back to haunt her now?
Late that morning, Hermione was jolted from her sleep by the loud knocking on the door of her room. She rubbed her eyes sleepily, disoriented for a brief moment, then, slipping on a sweatshirt and slipping her feet into her shoes, stepped out of bed and stumbled toward the door.
"Who is it?" she asked groggily, rubbing her eyes, and remembering her dream last night with a sinking feeling of horror in her heart. It was still drizzling outside, and although Hermione had no way of knowing what time it was, she guessed it was late.
"Miss Granger, you need to be out of her by noon," said the clipped voice of the witch Hermione had paid last night, "unless you plan to stay here another day, in which case you'll need…"
"No, that's fine," Hermione shouted back, taking once look at her appearance through a mirror to her side. She had hardly any money left with her at all, and she could barely afford to stay here another night, as cheap as it was. Noticing her hair, she attempted to smooth it down, but to no avail. Flinging the door open, she stepped around the shocked-looking witch and turned a corner, walking down the stars into the busy pub below.
It was so crowded that nobody seemed to notice Hermione, which she certainly did not mind. As she walked toward the door, still shaking the last bit of sleep from her eyes. She realized she had no idea where she was going, except back to Harry. Perhaps, now that she had rested some, she would be able to apparate the rest of the way back to Harry's house, if indeed he were there.
She sat down at the bar for a moment, trying quickly to collect her wits. The dream last night had her worried and shaken, and remembering things she had promised never to remember again. Resting her head in her hand, she couldn't stop her weary mind from wandering back to the things she was suddenly remembering.
Hermione Granger sat at the bar of the nearly-abandoned Hog's Head. Hogsmeade had been everything but destroyed in the past months during the war with Voldemort. Being here was extremely risky for Hermione, but she had managed to slip away from Harry and Ron to see Draco. Nobody knew of her visit to him those many nights ago, when he had saved her life.
"Draco," said Hermione, watching as a tall, slender figure walked closer to her spot at the Hog's Head, his sleek blonde hair combed back slickly like it normally was. He looked careworn and weary, but still proud, like the Malfoy he truly was. "You got my letter, then?"
"Yes," said Draco coldly, taking a seat beside her. "I only have a moment. What was it you wanted?"
Hermione's eyes widened. "I don't know why you saved my life last night, but I wanted to thank you…and I wanted to tell you something."
"You called me here merely to thank me?" Draco said angrily, his cool blue eyes narrowing at the girl sitting before him. "After I risked so much to even be here. Why? I don't know. I was barely able to convince Snape that the stunning curse was poorly aimed and meant to hit you. I'm fortunate enough to know some Legimency, or else Snape would be able to see right through me."
"Draco, please," said Hermione, looking up at him with sadness. "After last night, I know you aren't bad at heart." Draco made a disgusted snort at this comment, but allowed Hermione to continue. "You could leave the Death Eater's and rejoin the other side!" she said eagerly, hoping he would listen to her. "You don't have to do this simply because your father wants you to. You can be different."
"Once you join the Death Eaters," said Draco bitterly, "there is no turning back. The Dark Lord does not deal with betrayal lightly. There is no place I can hide that he can't find me. And I have no guarantee of protection, now that your precious Headmaster is dead." He sighed, running a pale hand through his hair. "What do you want, Granger?" he asked impatiently.
"What I want," pleaded Hermione, tears welling up in her eyes, "is for you to realize you aren't a Death Eater, really. I want you to come back to the light and fight for good. And I want everything to go back to the way it was before."
Draco smirked dispassionately at the figure before him. "Sometimes we don't always get what we want in life," he remarked, standing up and walking toward the door "Do not contact me again. If we are seen together we will both be killed. We are on two different sides of this war. Nothing will ever be the same again. It's time you learned that.
The door swung shut, leaving Hermione alone in the dimly-lit bar.
Hermione let a lone tear trickle down her cheek at the memory. She had purposely erased these memories from her mind and from Draco's mind, afraid that they would come back to haunt him. Normally her spellwork was impeccable, but during the war she had been so weak and tired. She stood up, wiping the tear from her cheek.
As she made her way toward the door of the pub, she noticed a familiar figure sitting at the bar, holding a dusty bottle of firewhisky in his hand, taking a deep drink. The others in the bar sat at a safe distance from the figure, dressed in muddy, threadbare clothing. He was pale, and his face was blank and unreadable.
"Harry!" exclaimed Hermione weakly, turning from the door and running to Harry, tears of happiness and relief in her eyes.
Harry turned and looked at her with dark eyes, grey bags of exhaustion and pain lining the bottoms. His brilliant green eyes were now only a mere muddy green and even his normally unmanageable jet-black hair was limp and flat. Then he turned away, downing half of his drink in one gulp.
Hermione approached him eagerly. "Harry, it's me, Hermione! I'm all right, see?
"Yes, I saw when I visited you," said Harry dryly, finishing his firewhisky with one final gulp. "I hope you two are happy. Now get out of my sight."
"Please, Harry!" Hermione pleaded, tears in her eyes, "I'm sorry. Draco said I had to say that or he would kill you. I did it to protect you!"
"You told me you loved Draco," spat Harry heatedly. "After Ron died you save you! To save your worthless skin!" he yelled, throwing his empty bottle of firewhisky at Hermione's head. She ducked just in time, gasping as it shattered against the opposite wall. "Get out!" he yelled.
Hermione, white with fear, took one last horrified look at Harry and fled from the bar, tears running down her face. She sprinting through the streets wildly, not paying attention to where she was going until she reached a dark, abandoned street.
"Hermione!" said a familiar voice. Hermione turned around to find Ronald Weasley staring at her with that loveable, stupid look on his face.
"Ron!" exclaimed Hermione, flinging her arms around him. "Harry said you were dead!" she said through her sobs. "He said…"
"Hermione," repeated Ron urgently, "listen to me. Harry lied. You have to come with me. I have something to show you."
Still shocked, Hermione let Ron pull her along down the street, wondering what she was going to find, and why Ron was alive.