Memory

Written by StrawberryGirl87

In the heat of an argument Ginny Potter unleashes a wave of emotion and magic, willing for Harry to leave and to forget the pain and the argument. However something goes terribly wrong and Harry magically vanishes. Ginny and Ron leave Hermione with their children and set off in search of him. With no memory of who he is Harry ends up in the strangest of places. Drarry!

Chapter Eight – The Return

With Harry still a little confused and disorientated Draco apperated them to Hogwarts, he had taken Harry tenderly by the hand and the awareness that shot through them became a powerful force. The feeling that this ignited between them both was overwhelming. The contact was difficult to break even when they had to upon reaching the Great Hall where Hermione and the five children waited.

Hogwarts had always been the first place that Harry had considered a home and returning here gave him comfort and feeling of safety akin to that a small child would feel being at home with their parents. Upon seeing him enter Hermione and all the children rushed to him, almost knocking Harry to the floor in their happiness at seeing him again.

Then Hermione took them all by surprise by turning to Draco and hugging him, whispering thanks into his ear. She was truly grateful for everything that he had done for her friend. She didn't need to say anything else to him, one shared look told Draco that she knew exactly how he felt about Harry.

"Is anyone else here?" Harry asked and Hermione shook her head.

"Not really, only Headmistress McGonagall. She greeted us when we got here and said that we could stay as long as we needed. I didn't know what to tell her but she seemed to know that something wasn't right and said that she would talk to you in the morning." Harry nodded at her but he was unwilling to discuss this further when the children were present.

"I'll talk to her and explain everything that's happened but first we need to get the children up into Gryffindor tower so we know they're safe."

Hermione went to agree with Harry, wanting nothing more than the young ones to be out of harm's way but James stood up to lodge his protest. "I want to help you dad" He said with determination, "I want to help get mum back."

"No James, I can't let you do it. It isn't about your mum anymore. Whoever is hurting her wants to hurt me. I need you all safe and I need you to take care of your siblings and your cousins. I'm trusting you to look after them." Harry spoke, imploring his son to listen to him. He would never admit that he thought it would be too late to save Ginny. He couldn't voice that in front of the children. The last thing he wanted was for his children to become pawns in battle. He needed to preserve their innocence for as long as possible. Harry knew all too well what it was like to be used as a weapon in war, he would allow none of his children to be used in the same way.

Reluctantly James nodded. He was fourteen years old and knew that when his dad had been fourteen he'd already done a huge number of great things and had been about to take part in the triwizard tournament. All he wanted was to live up to his father's legacy but his attempts were thwarted at every turn.

He ushered Albus, Lily, Rose and Hugo out of the great hall, Harry and Hermione watching in silence as they progressed up the marble staircase towards Gryffindor tower. Hermione felt a sadness for Hugo and Lily who were supposed to first see Hogwarts as they arrived via boat with Hagrid. Nothing could be done about that now.

Harry then turned to Draco, "What about your family, where are they?" Harry asked, he didn't want Draco to suffer the way he was suffering right now, with his children in the middle of another impending war.

"They're travelling in France. My wife and I have an agreement, our marriage was one of convenience. I gave my parents the heir to the family name that the wanted and now we live separate lives in separate countries taking Scorpius on alternate holidays. This summer he is spending with his mother. There is no way that either of them can be used as leverage against me, they're too well protected."

Harry nodded, relieved and not missing the underlying meaning of Draco explaining that his marriage was one of convenience. "Good, if Ron is dead like you presume and Ginny taken over by whatever dark force is trying to take Voldemort's place then we're all that there is. We need to stop whoever it is before this gets any worse. Too many lives were lost last time, I won't let it get that far again," Harry said with utter determination.

"Why is this your fight Harry?" Hermione asked, "Haven't you been through enough, haven't we all?"

"I may not love Ginny as my wife but they went after her because of me. Whether I want this or not they came after my family, I can't just do nothing."

Hermione sighed in defeat, she knew Harry too well to know that he wouldn't let this go. She felt to tired, she needed to grieve for Ron not run off to fight another war. Harry would not let it lie, she knew that. She also knew that when the time came she would fight again, no matter how weary she felt. "Alright, but at least rest tonight, you need to let that potion work its way out of your system." She gave Draco a knowing look and the blonde flushed and couldn't meet her gaze. "I'm going to go and check on the children, make sure they're okay and give you two some space to talk things through."

Hermione had always known about how Harry felt. Ron might have been the one he rant to when his scar had started hurting but she had been the one who had found Harry sobbing on his wedding day. He had been scared, marrying Ginny out of duty because he thought that was what was expected and she was the best option of a real family that he had. She had begged for Harry not to go through with it, not to marry her but he had. Hermione could see the way Harry and Draco were around each other, all she wanted was for Harry to be happy.

When she was gone, leaving the two men alone together, Draco turned to see that his lover was crying. Instantly he took Harry into his arms to comfort him. Harry didn't attempt to resist, melting into the others embrace helplessly. Draco could have sworn that he felt the fear that Harry felt radiating off him as he cried silent tears.

Without a word Draco took Harry down into the dungeons so that they could have some privacy. He didn't want any interruptions so that he could show Harry how much he meant to him. He had an overwhelming urge to protect his Gryffindor mate and he just couldn't explain where that urge had come from. Taking Harry into the closet classroom he found he transfigured it into a comfortable bedroom. The Gryffindor didn't utter a single word of complaint as he was sat on the bed and Draco began undressing him.

When the two of them were down to nothing more than their underwear Draco crawled into the bed beside Harry, urging him to lie down beside him. This had been so easy when Harry hadn't been himself. Now he had his memory back there was an awkwardness between the two of them that Draco wanted desperately to get rid of.

"Do you remember the first time we made love?" Draco asked and watched as a delicious red flush creep up onto Harry's cheeks.

"I'd just woken up from a nightmare, you came into my bed and you held me while I slept," Harry said, remembering all too clearly.

"When we woke up I tried to resist you even though I wanted you so much. You told me that even though you couldn't remember your life that you wouldn't regret it but it's okay if-" Draco's words were cut short as Harry's lips sealed around his in a passionate kiss.

"I don't regret what we did," Harry said truthfully. "Tonight I've lost my best friend, I could have lost my wife too, there is another war coming and all I can feel is guilt."

Draco looked at Harry with confusion. "Why do you feel guilt? You have nothing to feel guilty about," He said adamantly.

"I feel guilty because despite everything going on around us and the danger we're in, all I want is you."