A/n: You readers might hate me for this, but there is reasoning for what happens in this chapter. You will understand in the end, I promise! Leave a review and let me you're your thoughts anyway, even if you are upset with the turn of events! Thanks again to my beta Tessa Cresswell!

Disclaimer: All Harry Potter characters belong to J. K Rowling.

Disclaimer: You've probably seen plots similar to this in multiple books. Hopefully this story will be just a tad different :)

Part 1: Wrong, 1999 (Life Six)

Draco Abraxas Malfoy and Hermione Jean Granger

She bolted back through the main doors to the school. Upon entering, she had to collapse on the floor. Half-running half-jogging back to Hogwarts was tiresome work and she almost thought she would pass out. But the notion to go speak to Draco was high and after only a few minutes rest she was up again, her breathing almost back to normal. She would check his dorm first and then begin searching other places; wherever the blond had gone to exactly was beyond her, but she was certain she could find him if she only tried.

She wasn't quite sure what to say to him yet, and that forced her to walk slowly instead of hurry along the corridors to his room. That "I love you" declaration still seemed a bit farfetched in her mind, but there was most certainly something there. If a kiss with Krum set her mind spinning for the arrogant blonde than that had to be a sign, yes?

Hermione was careful to quieten her steps a bit as she heard voices. If someone was having an argument it was her job as Head Girl to do something about it and make sure nothing got out of hand. Pausing to lean against the wall and listen, she was alarmed to hear what she did.

"You will stay away from her," said the voice of Snape, which only caused her eyes to widen in alarm. Great, now she would have to avoid that hall entirely; something about Snape still worried her, and she would heed Malfoy's words to stay away from him.

"Of course," came the reply, freezing her in place Merlin, she knew that voice, needed to speak with that voice, and the words spilling from his mouth were like a slap in the face. What was Malfoy doing speaking with Snape?

"I don't understand why you didn't listen to me in the beginning."

"Nor do I."

She backed away slowly. Now she had to be hearing things. Snape had probably heard her coming and decided to fuck with her mind. Malfoy was probably back in his room, dwelling on thoughts as usual. Without waiting to hear what else would be said, she turned and hurried off, no longer caring if someone heard her footsteps.

"Malfoy," she called, banging against the heavy picture. Damn her, she should've learned his password. "Malfoy, please open up! I know you're in there." The person inside the portrait glared at her.

"Do you mind," the man snapped, someone she had barely paid attention to when coming there before.

"Sorry," she said, dropping her arms. "I just need to speak with him."

The person inside the portrait sighed. "He isn't here; hasn't returned since breakfast this morning. Perhaps you should try looking elsewhere."

Her heart sank a degree. He wasn't there. Backing away, she nodded slowly. "Thanks," she said quietly, turning quickly away. She should probably wait for him there in case he returned, but she didn't want to. She dreaded thinking where he had been while she was away figuring out her real emotions.

Her next idea was that he had gone to wait for her by her dorm so they could talk. She still refused to believe that he had been speaking with Snape. Hurrying quickly to her next location, she carelessly ran into a figure that was rounding the corner, the force propelling them both into the ground.

"I'm sorry," she immediately said, sitting up in the corridor to brush herself off. Reaching over to make sure she hadn't harmed whoever she hit, her hand froze. Well of course they would find each other like this!

"Granger, watch yourself," Draco said coldly, his tone catching her off guard. Even when he was pissed his tone was filled more with anger, not ice. He stood and did not offer to help her up. By the time she had gained her footing, he was already starting away.

"Malfoy, wait! I needed to talk to you!"

He scoffed, pausing in his steps. This gave her the chance to rush up and grasp his wrist. Immediately, he shook her off and spun around. "Well, I have no reason to speak to you, Mudblood. Couldn't you tell by my rudeness? I have no desire to hold any sort of conversation with you, so leave me alone and stay out of my way." He ripped his wrist from her grasp, giving her a hard shove away from him.

Hermione's eyes widened. "Did you just call me a Mudblood? You haven't called me that in ages-"

"Yes, and I thought it was time to dig into my old bag of names," he snapped in return, crossing his arms.

"But why? What's wrong with you Malfoy; you're acting strange. I know you are angry at me about earlier-"

"Yes, angry," he replied, pulling out his wand. She had hers out in a moment too, ready to defend herself. In the shadows she could only vaguely make out his face, but there appeared to be very angry lines forming there. What in Merlin's name was wrong with him?

"Do you know Granger that I have spent the better part of six centuries chasing after you? Pathetic really, when I realized that you would never even want me. And it's obvious, considering you ran off to go see that bastard Krum-"

"That's exactly what I came to talk to you about," she cut in, shaking her head quickly. "Yes, I went to see Krum, yes I didn't stay here but it made me realize-"

"Realize what? That you're going to let him shag you now?"

"Draco," she explained, not even noticing that she used his real name, "Where are you getting these ideas? What's wrong with you!? Why are you being so crude? I heard you speaking with Snape earlier-"

He lunged at her then, pinning her to the pillar behind her. Immediately, Hermione's eyes filled with alarm. What did he think he was doing? He got so protective when anyone was around but this kind of behavior was alright? What the fuck? Again, the shadows concealed the better part of his face.

Something is definitely wrong here.

"What did you hear," he hissed, pressing her into the pillar. She found her arms pinned, her guard dropped. After all this time of speaking the Draco she may have not learned to love him but she had thought she could trust him. Obviously, that was not the case. "What did you hear us saying?"

"Does it matter," she spat back, her eyes livid. He couldn't just flip emotions this quickly; there had to be some sort of reasoning behind it. "I thought you wanted me to stay away from Snape because we agreed he had hidden motives! But you were corresponding with the supposed enemy! Whose side are you on anyway? What good does it do you to tell me about my past, our past, if you only seek to turn on me? You could've done that without telling me anything, so why the sudden attitude change!?"

Draco blinked slowly at this, fighting his inner battle. Part of his mind wanted to pull away because he could see he was hurting her, but the dominate part of his mind at the moment, the part that he couldn't control, decided not to care. Her questions were getting to him, but he found himself powerless to do anything but sit back and watch the horrors unfold.

His body slammed her into the pillar again, her head snapping back to hit the hard concrete as well. Instead of letting her head fall forwards again, a pale hand came to lock around her slim throat, and he was powerless to stop his actions.

"Stop talking," he snarled, his tone furious. "Stop fucking talking and listen; we're not going to talk again, and you're going to stay as far away from me as you possibly can."

At that, he stepped away and let her body fall forwards onto the stone coughing, her airway having been cut off for a moment. Through tangles of brown hair she looked up at the man she had come rushing back to Hogwarts to see. A line of blood fell past her eyes, splattering onto the stone below her, and it was then that she realized he had cut her forehead.

"Don't ever mistake us as friends again," he bit out, turning without a second glance. The compassionate, real side of Draco's mind fought to get out and rush back to her, to fall at her side and make sure she would be alright and comfort her, but he could do nothing as his body turned away, leaving her on the stone floor.

Hermione for her part did not try to stand until long after Draco's footfalls were gone. There was a small puddle of blood beneath her face by that time, but she did nothing to clean the mess as she pushed off her hands and knees to sit on her bottom, eyes large.

What the fuck was that? Why was he so physical, so mad?

Deciding it would probably be best to not linger in the corridor in her condition, she scrambled to grab her things. Her head hurt- it was bloody horrible actually- but she paid it no mind as she retrieved all of her things into her hands and stood. Everything was slightly blurry as she headed off, but knowing that she couldn't quite go to the hospital wing and explain what had happened until she understood it herself, she was careful to head up the stairs towards her room.

It felt like he had stabbed her. All those sweet remarks of his had been fake, or so it would seem. She had practically felt his love radiating off of him at times; it was so strong. And she had seen his feelings in action more than once in her past lives. It couldn't be fake, but something was different now; horribly, horribly different.

She arrived soon after to her room, ignoring the concerned look her picture gave her as she entered. She hardly cared that she had missed classes all day, probably worried her friends and stood someone up after he kissed her. There was only one person she could really focus on right now; Malfoy.

Suppressing emotion until she was healed, she hastily fixed the cut in her forehead, taking a sip of a potion she kept handy in case something happened and had the gash gone in but a few minutes. It was only after she was fixed and knew that she was in the safety of her room that a choked sob escaped her mouth.

What was wrong with him? What changed? He had never been so hard, so cruel to her even before he got his memory back. What in Merlin's name could have made him go from caring to hostile so very quickly?

A second sob escaped her lips. She had rushed back to the school to see him, and he had practically beaten her up. She was foolish to believe that he wouldn't hurt her; look where it got her. She wrapped her arms around herself as she lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling. Absolutely foolish.

But he was with Snape before this, right? Their conversation seemed odd; the short bit I actually bothered to listen to. Perhaps he did something…

I hope he did something. I hope Malfoy's true colors aren't beginning to show through. If they are, then I would rather not remember anything at all.

She blinked back another waterfall of emotion. He was different tonight, but the questioned remained as to why. If it had something to do with Snape, then it could be dangerous for her to go question the greasy-haired old man. But she didn't have much of a choice really; if this was Snape's doing then it would have to be undone. Malfoy wasn't cruel; he had never come across as abusive. Something was certainly wrong here.

He still hurt you.

Sighing, she rolled over and buried her face into the pillow. This was not how tonight was supposed to turn out. She could only hope that tomorrow, she could sort things out.

Draco wanted to kill himself. He hated what had happened, but as he stood in the shower he found he could not break out of the curse. He could do nothing but fight with his own mind for dominance. He should've known Snape was up to something.

Hermione kept flashing through his mind as his body bathed against his will. Her large eyes, those looks of fear that passed over her face when she realized something was different about him. But mostly, it was the sounds that were getting to him.

Like the sound of her head hitting the pole behind her when his body shoved her against it a second time. That sickening thud that kept echoing in his mind. He would never forget that nose, and that it had been done by his own body was almost too much.

Worst of all, was the blood. He could see through his eyes at least, see the red liquid dripping from the cut he had inflicted on her forehead when the uneven stone of the pillar cut her.

She had bled because he couldn't control himself, and he was sure she was terrified of him now.

What have you let happen you bastard?

The man sat at this desk, twirling his wand back and forth on the wood. A dark smirk covered his face, his eyes dancing with dark joy.

Draco was foolish. He should've known that there was something unusual going on from the moment their conversation began. Snape was a man who let little become revealed about his motives, so when he began questioning the blonde about his time with Hermione, Draco should've become more alert. But no, the boy was foolish and let his guard down for a moment, and that had been his undoing.

Snape could only imagine what befell poor Hermione when he found her. Now that their trust was severed, it would be far easier for him to begin wreaking his revenge. Draco had after all caused him a lot of trouble when he was Alabaster; now it was time to pay.

And what better form of torment was there then through love? They were getting closer, everyone could see that- whether they accepted the idea or not- and that made them vulnerable. A relationship had never really been there between them before, and although Snape knew nothing of the events that actually kept those two together throughout time, he knew it was something tragic. Although, it didn't really matter to him. So long as he could use their growing emotions to his advantage he didn't care.

So step one; crush their trust and sever their communication. Step two; get her alone. He would make Draco Malfoy know what it was like to suffer.

And to this, he smirked again. Really, the blonde should've known how to throw off the Imperio curse better. Now he was under Snape's control, and there was no telling what he would do with that sort of power.

I guess we will just have to see. Their relationship is going to self-destruct before it can begin. I'll make sure of it. And when the link between them is broken because she can no longer trust him, it will be the end of her.

Part 2: Suffering in Misery, 1863 (Life Five)

Rafe Dax Malfoy and Hannalore Marie Hollingberry

Six year old Liam sat in his mother's arms. His father was out again, and had left after another angry stint. The child understood very little about why his father was so mean, only that his mother feared him. And Liam did not want his mother to fear anything; certainly not her husband. He was glad that the man was gone at the present, off again in search of more to drink. Father always drank.

He assumed father had left because Aunt Indigo was present. Whenever mother's family came over the man made himself scarce. Aunt Indigo was older than his mother he knew, but she did not look like it. He thought they looked the same age, however old that was. But today, the women both seemed very on edge, and they kept speaking in hushed tones when they thought he was too distracted by the new book daddy had given him.

At some point during their whispers, Aunt Indigo turned to him. "Liam, will thou fetch me my coat? I shall be going soon."

Hannalore's son was all too eager to reply. With a father that rarely paid him any mind, it was not often that he was asked to do anything or paid attention to by really anyone but his mother. Sometimes his mom would start talking to herself, and she would mention a man he had never met; someone named Rafe. When she did this, she seemed sad, but somehow happy as well. He enjoyed those moments when she looked happy. Leaving the two women alone, he was quick to find his aunt's sweater, ignoring the fact that they had servants who could retrieve it for her.

He was slower when he returned. The two adults were still speaking and he did not want to interrupt. When he did that when father was around the man would quickly become angry. Aunt Indigo was not an angry person, but he did not want to chance anything. With his quiet footsteps, he was able to hear more, and that was how he caught onto their conversation.

"Leave," his aunt was saying, her voice sounding very tight. "He shall not return for many hours. He treats thou awful; I can see it in thou face. Comest stay with mine husband and myself, and we shall keep thee and Liam safe. Dost not put thyself through this anymore."

"Liam needs a father," his mother argued, and he slowly went to press himself into the wall to stay out of sight. She would be upset if she discovered he was eavesdropping. "I shall tolerate this life for him."

"Liam needs a home, not a cell! Thou must see this! It will do no good to remain here; comest with me. I shall have my husband protect thee. Our brother will help. Griffen hates this man as well."

"It dost not matter. Liam needs a father, and I shall provide one. I have but my own friends to ensure that we will remain alright."

"Thou should have married a man who would treat thou as is expected, not degrade. Thou made a poor choice in men." A chair slid back, indicating that his aunt was standing. Deciding that it would be bad to wait any longer, Liam made his presence known.

The rest happened quickly. Aunt Indigo left in the same carriage she arrived in, sparing few words. Liam watched his mother carefully, hoping she would not sound so sad again. He always hated when she did.

It was after Aunt Indigo had been seen off that Hannalore finally turned to her son and fell to her knees, pulling him into a tight hug. Surprised, the child hugged her in return.

"Oh Liam, I never wished for thou life to be so hard."

Part 3: Conversations, 1999 (Life Six)

Draco Abraxas Malfoy and Hermione Jean Granger

The following day Hermione was quiet. She did not have potions class, but still became partners with Malfoy in a number of classes. He was cold, often not speaking with her at all. When she had passed him a note in their second class, he promptly burned it, letting the hot paper fall back on her wrist. She had jerked away, glaring at him through hurt eyes. She couldn't very well bring up the topic of his sudden mood change in class unless they used a note, and since he chose to deny that option he was only going to make it harder. She wished he wouldn't be so strange.

If she had the ability, she would use magic to drag him into an empty classroom sometime during the day, but that could look a lot more suspicious than just leading him someplace. They always had their Head duties to cover that with, but magic would make it look strange indeed. If she was physically strong, she would move him herself, but that wasn't an option either. She would just have to wait at this point.

But waiting was hard. She was on edge all day trying to figure out what was wrong. She had a few ideas, but none of which she wanted to focus on. They were all horrible, and would cause even bigger problems before things could be solved.

And she had a feeling this all evolved around Snape. The question was what he did and how she could fix it. But she wanted to speak with him still, even if Malfoy wouldn't be around to help. She would face him though, if it meant figuring out what had happened. Everything had been about to look up between her and the blonde, and it was all ruined now that his attitude was different. But despite everything, she could not believe it was him. It was too cold of a front to be his true colors after all the changes the war had brought on. There just had to be an outside influence, and she was determined to figure it out.

During dinner that night, she studied the teacher's table carefully. When Snape made to leave, she was quick to excuse herself. Her friends thought nothing of it, and even Ginny was content to think that everything was alright since Malfoy remained still in his seat, speaking with some of his Slytherin friends. But despite this, grey eyes could not help following the brunette out the door.

Draco yearned to follow. He was no fool, and his eyes were constantly scanning the room. The dominant part of his mind had no problem stepping aside to let him watch over her, seeing as there was no demand to keep her from doing so. But seeing Hermione leave when he did caused his heart to speed up. She was a smart girl and had to be piecing things together. But he did not want her alone with him; they still didn't know his complete intensions, and that in itself was terrifying. He wanted to jump up and make sure she wasn't alone, but he could do nothing. The spell had a hold on him, one he still had trouble fighting off. If only he could.

He needed to be there to watch her. After yesterday he could hardly tolerate himself, but he still didn't want to know that someone else had hurt her again. But she was out of sight, and all he could do was inwardly panic about what was going to happen, while the corrupted half of his mind held another animated conversation with Pansy.

"Professor Snape," Hermione called, hurrying to catch up to the Professor. He seemed to be heading in the direction of his classroom, but stopped long enough for her to catch up.

"Is there something I can help you with Miss Granger?"

She paused. Well, of course she had something he could tell her about, but to jump right into the topic would be foolish. Actually, being alone with him would be foolish as well. Thinking on her feet, she spat out a lie, "I actually have been reading up on some very complicated potions in the library these past few days. I was hoping that since classes are over for the day that you would accompany me up there to have a look at them." In a nice, open space with a nearby librarian and plenty of Ravenclaws.

Snape raised an eyebrow, giving her a look that made her think he could perhaps see through her entire lie. She certainly hoped not. "And what kinds of potions are these?"

"The rare kind," she replied, keeping her responses spaced. She could pull a book of potions out of the library with ease, but she needed to get him to follow her upstairs. The space would be private enough to pry at his mind and see if he would give anything away, but open enough to allow her an easy escape if he became more than she could handle. After all, she wasn't sure what to expect, and especially not if he had his memory back. She could really use Draco right about now.

Her answer was evasive in his opinion, but he refrained from saying anything about it. She wanted to talk, and so did he. It would be best to mess with her mind as he waited for the opportune moment to wreak his revenge. "Please make this quick Miss Granger, I do not have all night."

Pleased that he was at least going to go along with her idea, she nodded quickly. Without saying a word she turned and started in the general direction of the library, prepared for the long walk, all the while fully conscious that she was putting herself in a dangerous situation by having him behind her. And Snape seemed to sense her unease. He came to walk at her side, and she wasn't sure if this was better or worse.

Don't overthink this. Overthinking kept you from accepting Malfoy to begin with. And now something horrible has happened to build up an obstacle between us. I just have to make sure I can get to the bottom of this before something else happens.

She ran her fingers over her wand, hidden in an easily accessible pocket of her cloak. She wanted it close, just in case.