Chapter 6

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Hermione was tired. Her eyes were drooping, her limbs ached, and it seemed like a thin layer of sweat was permanently on her brow no matter how many times she wiped her sleeve against her forehead.

It had been a gruelling couple of hours. First they were dispatched into teams, some in charge of holding up the unstable building structures, others in charge of rescue, others to look after healing those who wouldn't otherwise survive, until the ambulances or doctors arrived, and a final group in charge of Obliviating memories so that the victims thought they had somehow clawed themselves to safety.

Kingsley had put her on the team with the final stage because of her proficiency for memory charms, and Harry was one of the many Aurors that made up the rescue teams. Sometime between the collapse of a building and moving on to their next destination she lost him in the herd of injured, yelling, moving bodies. He managed to find her while she took a breather as she sat quietly on an abandoned street drinking bottled water to quench her thirst.

"Can I have some?"

Squinting at the bright sun that created a halo around her friend, she handed him the bottle. "Any casualties?"

Harry let out a tired grunt as he sat down beside her. "Not many. Better than India anyway."

"That's good." She wiped her brow again, her eyes falling on the absolute devastation that was before her. "It looks like the end of the world."

"I know," he mumbled as he passed the bottle back to her. "I spoke to Kingsley about Malfoy."

"And?"

"He thinks we should get an expert."

"What kind of expert?"

He shrugged. "No idea."

Hermione looked thoughtfully at the rubble that seemed to be all around the city. "Do you think one of those dreams of his happened last night?"

Harry stayed silent for a moment, his brow furrowing in thought before he said, "There's a way we can find out."

"How?"

He stood up, preparing to go back to the rest of the wizards in Muggle clothing who were resting behind concealment charms. "The Aurors who guard his block. Andromeda told me that, apparently, the dreams are more like nightmares."

She stood up beside him, dusting her clothes to remove the concrete dust they had been sitting in. "You mean he probably gives some indication."

Harry nodded. "I'll talk to Andromeda. Maybe Narcissa might know something about last night."

Hermione eyed her best friend curiously. "Is that why you agreed to help her get daily visitation rights? So if anything happens, she would be the first to know?"

Harry grinned, his head ducking in a small bow. "I knew she would want to go every day. You remember what she's like. She smothers Malfoy so much that I'm surprised he was even allowed to leave her side and attend Hogwarts. If there is anything that needs to be known, Narcissa knows it."

She couldn't help but grin at her friend's logical plan. "Why, Harry Potter, I'm suitably impressed."

He grinned. "Why always with a tone of surprise?" he teased.

Shaking her head, she started walking back towards the rest of the wizards. "Come on. We have a bit more work to do."

Harry matched her stride for stride, his expression grim. "Let's just hope that we don't lose anyone else."

Hermione silently nodded her agreement.

"Granger," Draco began courteously as he sat in his designated chair; one of four, he noticed. One currently unoccupied. He then turned his attention to the spectacled, messy-haired wizard who had been pacing when he had entered. "Potter."

Potter looked at him carefully, appraising his appearance from head to toe. "Malfoy. I see you're looking better."

Draco chose to ignore the thinly veiled insult as his glance fell on the only other person in the room. "And who might you be? Potter's bodyguard?"

Potter sighed despondently as the man twitched in his seat. "This is Professor Ryer. He's a decorated Auror, as well as a leading expert in Memory Modification Charms in Germany. He has graciously agreed to help us with your... situation."

The introduction was so politely inclined that Draco had to fight the effort to vomit out his disgust. "My situation?" he questioned snidely, his eyes falling on Granger.

Granger simply kept her eyes on Harry as she seated herself in one of the two wooden chairs. Some things never changed; she still looked at Potter like he was some bloody hero. Potter, ever the man in charge, chose to ignore Draco's question and instead turned his attention to the other man. "Professor, would you like to talk to him?"

Professor Ryer pulled out a fair bit of parchment before he faced Draco. "Now, Mr Malfoy, I understand that you've had a few dreams recently. Can you explain them to me? In detail, please."

Draco simply stared at the man who did not have a German accent, before he turned to face the only woman in the room. "Granger, tell me if I'm wrong; but what makes you think that I've been under a memory modification spell?"

Granger looked at Harry briefly before she spoke. "You had another of those dreams last night, didn't you, Malfoy?"

It took all the years of being a Slytherin for him to school his features into an image of detached boredom, even though his very being was shaken in surprise by what she just said. "What makes you say that?"

"It had something to do with wind, I'm guessing," she said confidently, ignoring his previous question.

This time, Draco couldn't hide the incredulity out in his voice. "How did you-?"

"There was a tornado in Washington last night," Potter continued. "Roughly the same time you were having your...nightmares."

Draco quickly glanced at the guard who was standing close to the exit and couldn't help but notice the slight quirk of his lips. They had heard him, then. He wasn't nearly as quiet as he thought he had been. "I don't understand what this has to do with Memory Modification Charms, Potter."

This time, it was Granger who answered. "Neither did we. We first thought you were exhibiting signs of a seer. But that didn't make much sense. How was it that you had certain elements in your dreams that matched the natural disasters that were happening around the world? Millions are injured, thousands are dead. The earth is breaking. And somehow, you know what's happening when it's happening. A seer sees the future, but you seem to be seeing the present as and when it happens."

"And how is it that you know what my dreams entail?" The last he remembers is lying to her about what he was dreaming and when he was dreaming it. The two members of the golden trio looked at each other; and from that one look, Draco knew who it was who sold him out to the Boy Who Lived To Annoy Him. "My mother," he snapped, disgusted by the very idea that she chose Potter over her own blood.

"Actually, it was Andromeda," Potter stated smugly. "It wasn't difficult for her to get the information from Narcissa. All she had to do was ask."

"You still didn't tell me how you came up with the absolutely brilliant plan of memory modification," Draco said sarcastically.

"I was the one who actually suggested it, Mr Malfoy," the Professor who sat opposite him stated politely. "In my time in Germany, I found several cases where wizards or witches could do things but have no idea why. I soon realized that they had the answers within them. We just had to know where to look."

"Then you're going to ravage my mind then? Going to use Legilimency on me, are you?" Let them try. Snape had taught him well. He wouldn't have been able to stay alive for quite so long had it not been for that one important skill.

The Professor had the audacity to chuckle. "Oh no, Mr Malfoy. Our minds are way too delicate for that. I think if you studied the magic of Legilimency , you would know that I can only penetrate the mind so far as to the memories that you yourself are conscious of. Now the ones that you don't know exist...now that is another story."

"And how do you propose you find out these memories, Professor," Draco spat in disgust.

"By a simple charm." The Professor pulled out his wand and held it up for Draco to see. "If I may?" he asked politely.

Draco couldn't help but sneer, even as Potter looked at him with that forever-perfect hero expression of his. "You have no choice, Malfoy."

Apparently, he really didn't. For at that moment, the Professor mumbled a few choice words - which in all honesty sounded like rubbish - only to lift the wand once then place it down with a wide grin across his face. "Ah! As I suspected. You have been put under a memory modification charm, Mr. Malfoy. To be honest, quite a few, actually."

Draco stared at him in disbelief. "Potter, where did you get this ol' kook? Couldn't you have found someone who actually knows what he's doing?"

"He's not lying, Malfoy," Granger said, almost sounding awestruck. "Your head glowed."

"I'll keep that in mind when I join the bloody circus then."

"Mr Malfoy, I assure you, you are currently under several Memory Modification Charms. This means we have our work cut out for us. To undo a memory modification charm is extremely tricky. They are not your average Obliviate charm where a memory is simply wiped clean. Someone has placed false memories in your mind. And we need to clear your fake memories from the real ones for this endeavour to succeed."

"And what makes you think my dreams have anything to do with these 'fake' memories?"

"We don't know that it does," Potter stated diplomatically. "But would you rather stay with fake memories or real ones?"

He hated it when Potter was right. He hated it when Potter was anything. Actually, he hated Potter most of all. "What do you think?" he asked Granger. She might be Potter's lackey, but she could always think for herself. Funny how he knew that about her.

Granger looked at him incredulously for a moment, her expression startled. "I think you should co-operate. No one wants those memories, Malfoy. And I'm sure you would want to get rid of them."

"Fine," Malfoy said with confidence. "I'll do it. But only if Granger sits in during these sessions."

He didn't miss the look of incredulity that Potter sent Granger, his very being excited by the prospect of annoying and confusing his arch nemesis.

"I hope you don't mind, Mr. Malfoy, but I would rather see you alone. I need a mind that is open to remembering and is not privy to any distractions."

Malfoy narrowed his eyes haughtily. "Did I stutter when I demanded what I wanted, Professor?"

Taken aback, the Professor leaned forward, dropping his voice to the tone of confidence. "Removing these memory modification charms can be very demanding, mentally, as well as physically. And as much as I respect your need to have someone in your best interest while we work on this, I have to warn you that this will take several sessions and will not be easy. If anything Mr Malfoy, I'm afraid that one wrong move my hinder your existing real memories."

That last sentence practically told Draco exactly what he wanted to do, or rather didn't want to do. "Forget it then," he snapped, scandalized by what they intended on putting him through. "I'm not doing it."

Granger's eyes widened. "Malfoy-"

"Don't even try, Granger. I am not going to agree to some whack job spell that could turn me into a vegetable." He looked at the world-renowned charms expert. "That's what you're saying, isn't it? I won't be myself once you're done prodding my brain."

The hesitancy in the man's stance told him exactly what he wanted to know.

But he couldn't help but look at Granger as she pleaded with him. "Please, Malfoy. I promise, you'll be safe. This is your chance to save so many people who are dying."

"I'm sorry," Draco began sarcastically. "But the last time I checked, there was no connection between what's in my head and the bloody disasters in the world. You're just planning to go on a wild fishing expedition, and ruin me in the process."

"Look, Malfoy," Potter said sternly. "You're not the only one to go through this. There are others who have had to make sacrifices for the good of the world-"

"Oh, are we back to talking about you, Potter? Three seconds before you mentioned your greatest self-sacrificing activity. How proud I am of you."

"Malfoy," Potter sneered in warning.

Draco paid no heed. Instead, he stood up and gestured to the guards. "We're done here." And leaving the three flabbergasted, he left the meeting room with a guard on either side. He had no intention of becoming a martyr. He had done enough of that for his family. He certainly wasn't prepared to do that for the sake of a bloody hunch.

TBC