Author's Note:Here's the next chapter! I updated faster aren't you proud?! By the way, I ABSOLUTELY LOVE the reviews I've been getting. Thank you so much for all the support, you guys really seem to love the story, and are really into it! I know there are some unanswered questions and they will be answered with time, be patient! In the meantime, enjoy the story!
The Missing Piece Chapter Nineteen
Day: 43
The first feeling Hermione Granger registered when she woke up that morning was that of exposure. Still in a sleepy state, her brain slowly registered the feel of the blankets against her the skin of her most private parts. Light poured through from somewhere, hitting her eyes and making them squint the slightest bit. Slowly, the events from the previous night dawned on her, and she opened her eyes to what she could see as Malfoy's bedroom. Hermione smiled to herself, immediately tucking her face inside the pillows to hide it, from who, she did not know. All she knew at that moment was that it felt as if her memories were never gone, and this was just another morning, waking up in the house of the love of her life.
"Morning, love."
Hermione raised her head to look at the blonde man standing at the doorway. His voice was raspy, so it must not have been long since Draco had gotten out of bed. She blushed lightly at his words, looking down at the soft sheets. She heard his footsteps approach the bed and she lifted her gaze to his, watching him sit beside her.
Malfoy caressed her cheek with his right hand, looking lovingly into her eyes, smiling.
"How did you sleep, 'Mione?"
"Comfortably." Hermione replied, kissing the hand on her cheek out of instinct. She blushed, having done the action without thinking, completely unsure as to how he would react.
Light shock showed in Malfoy's eyes, but they softened immediately, and he leaned forward and placed a small peck upon her lips.
"Potter stopped by today. He wanted to tell you he went to St. Mungo's to report the healer, and have her replaced."
There was no way to stop Hermione's childish grin. Her heart swelled with joy, and her eyes sparkled at the prospect of never dealing with the healer again. She clapped her hands in excitement.
"That's so great! But wait, how did Harry know I was here?"
"He stopped by your place and found you weren't there. He came here, looking for you. I told him you were sleeping."
Hermione blushed. Harry must have inferred Hermione had spent the night at Malfoy Manor. There was no hiding the fact he probably knew she and Malfoy had slept together. Her thoughts flashed to Ron, and his reaction if harry told him, but she dismissed those thoughts once Draco rose from the bed, to allow her to get dressed for the day.
"Meet me in the Library when you're all dressed. I have something for you." Malfoy said with a loving smile. She found something in his eyes as he looked at her one last time before leaving the room. He looked at her as if he was telling her, "welcome home, welcome back to my heart." The corners of Hermione's lips rose slightly, giving Malfoy a slight smile.
She didn't regret what she had done the previous night. It was magical, fulfilling, and for the first time since she could remember, she felt like she wasn't lost. She had him.
Hermione pulled herself out of bed, finding her legs a bit weak, shaking slightly with her weight. It must have been passionate, she thought to herself as she bent down to retrieve her clothes which were still on the floor from when they were haphazardly tossed in the midst of her and Malfoy's activities. She pulled her blue tee-shirt over her head, and shimmied into her pants. One look at the mirror across the room told her that her hair was a complete bird's nest, and so she attempted to pat it down and tame it a bit without much success.
She did a three hundred and sixty degree turn scanning the room and making sure she did not leave anything of hers behind. As her eyes scanned the room, however, she found something peculiar. It appeared to be a picture frame, which laid face down on Malfoy's dresser. She wondered why he would turn down a picture frame as she stepped closer to it, and inferred that it must be something painful to him. Hermione glanced at the door, making sure that Malfoy wasn't on his way upstairs, before grabbing the metal frame and looking at it.
Her heart stopped.
There she was, in the picture, with Draco Malfoy at her side. Hermione guessed they were at a party of some sort, from the balloons in the background. She and Malfoy sat by a table, lost in their own world. She looked at the picture with a mixture of feelings, as she watched herself lean forward to whisper something in Malfoy's ear, smiling as she did so. Malfoy gave her a cheeky smile, and Hermione kissed him on the cheek. But it wasn't these actions that affected her heart, as much as the expression on both her and Malfoy's faces. Was it possible for her to look so deeply in love? There was a flash of light, and the Hermione in the picture looked in the direction of where the picture must have been taken, her eyes wide. She looked surprised, and she blushed and smiled at what Hermione assumed was the person who took the picture. The picture began to reply itself. Hermione watched the Hermione in the picture as she leaned forward once more, whispering into Malfoy's ear. Hermione could see picture Hermione's eyes sparkle and glisten, regarding Malfoy as if he were her only love, the only thing that could make her happy. All around them, people were chatting and laughing, but Hermione and Malfoy remained locked in each other's gazes, immersed in their own world. As picture Hermione kissed Malfoy's cheek, Hermione could see Malfoy's face soften as he gave her a smile. His eyes looked into hers, resting a bit on her lips. Malfoy looked completely infatuated with her. The flash of light came again, and Hermione once more looked forward, finally being drawn away from Malfoy's attention. Hermione recognized the facial expression she wore in the picture as one of joyful surprise, and then slight embarrassment for being caught in an intimate moment.
This picture, this moment in time, saddened her in a way. It felt disappointing to say the least, when you knew a person, and how they behaved with you through their eyes, not yours. She knew Malfoy loved her, perhaps more than she knew at that precise moment, and she felt something for him. But were these feelings toward Malfoy there because of the memories she had seen, or because of the Malfoy she could actually remember? Hermione didn't want to love the memories of him, she wanted to love him. The Malfoy she knew. And right now, she had trouble distinguishing which one it was.
Hermione heard rapid footsteps along the hall, making her almost drop the picture frame back in place in her frantic haste. She gasped as she spotted Malfoy, placing a hand on her heart and exhaling loudly.
"You can flip that picture back up, I was going to do that anyways." Malfoy said softly. Hermione felt a bit embarrassed that Malfoy knew exactly what she was up to. Next time she had to be more careful.
Hermione nodded regardless, and flipped the picture frame right side up in time to see light flash, and the Hermione in the picture wide-eyed with surprise.
"I want to love you because of you, not because of the memories you showed me." Hermione muttered quietly to the handsome blonde man in the doorway.
The former Slytherin looked down at his shoes and smiled, placing his hands in the pocket of his robes. Malfoy inhaled as if there was another matter on his mind, and sure enough when he looked up into Hermione's eyes they were serious and solid silver.
"Someone broke into the library. Whoever it was, they smashed some memories. And they left this." Draco Malfoy pulled out a folded piece of paper from his robes. "I couldn't trace the magic on it, so I figure perhaps it's muggle?"
Hermione walked up to Malfoy, taking the piece of paper from his hands. A witch or wizard would have used parchment paper, Hermione realized, studying it carefully. This was printer paper. Hermione unfolded the note, revealing a short message, typed clearly on the paper:
I am no friend, I am no enemy. Some things were meant to be forgotten.
Hermione read the message once, twice, three times before giving it back to Malfoy. A sigh escaped her lips.
"This is muggle, yes." She confirmed.
She watched as Malfoy's eyebrows scrunched in concentration, clearly trying to figure out what kind of person would do this.
"A Death Eater?" Hermione suggested. She wasn't sure on Malfoy's relationship with the Death Eaters at the present moment, but she knew he was no longer in league with them. She knew the dark mark faded once Voldemort was defeated, making him no longer a Death Eater, but his family had been close with them. The first statement in the message made sense now.
Malfoy nodded, seeing no other option. New thoughts formed in Hermione's head. She knew a Death Eater had obliviated her during a mission, but that had been an accident, hadn't it? Why did they want her to keep forgetting? What would remembering do?
"This doesn't make any sense!" Malfoy growled, exasperatedly voicing Hermione's thoughts. He raked a hand through his white blonde hair, pulling it slightly as if the action was going to make him think harder.
"I'm going to have to go to the ministry, and alert the aurors. Come on, I'll take you home." Malfoy said almost protectively. Hermione allowed Malfoy to lead her out of his room, deep in thought.
Day: 44
Hermione's heart sped up, beating quicker and quicker as her thoughts finally sank in. Two days ago, she had told the Healer she had been viewing Draco Malfoy's memories. Yesterday, Malfoy had walked into his library finding a note, and smashed memories.
Too much revolved around the healer. Hermione recalled vaguely when she first became suspicious of the healer:
"Thank you, Healer Greene." Hermione forced out as she shut the door behind the plump lady, seconds later. The Healer had not even said a good-bye, which struck Hermione as suspicious. She went over to her living room window, and watched the Healer leave Hermione's building, with a completely different demeanor than she had ever put on. Healer Greene usually carried herself upright, and walked with her head high and proud. But Hermione observed as Healer Greene walked across the street to the Apparition Point that the Healer walked as if she were uncomfortable in her own skin, walking awkwardly behind the building in front of Hermione's as if it was her first time wearing heels.
Hermione also remembered the day the healer had spilled tea in her living room, spotting a dragon tattoo on the back of the Healer's neck. She had dismissed it, thinking that people could do what they liked with their bodies, but now, with all the recent happenings the tattoo looked unbefitting for a healer, who claimed to be professional in every way possible.
Everything added up. There was no explanation. And she had been the one to tell the healer it was Draco. This was her doing.
"Hermione, love?" A soft voice said, snapping her out of her thoughts. She had been so lost in her thoughts, she had forgotten she was standing in Malfoy's library, holding a broken jar which had once contained memories.
"Uh, what? Sorry." Hermione said sheepishly, placing the broken jar back to its place on the shelf.
"I said that whoever did this did not break the memories I needed to show you. They broke ones you already saw." Malfoy said, eyeing her with an amused glance. "What were you thinking so hard about?"
"Nothing… I just zoned out." Hermione lied. She smiled at him to show her she was fine. Malfoy smiled back, grabbing one of Hermione's hands with one of his. He then tilted his head and leaned forward, capturing her lips in a sweet and caring kiss. Hermione's eyes fluttered closed, reveling in the moment. Malfoy's tongue swept her lower lip, and Hermione opened her mouth, allowing him entrance. She felt Malfoy put all his caring and protectiveness into the kiss making Hermione feel warmed and loved.
Malfoy gently broke the kiss, separating his lips from hers at the very last possible moment. He still held her hand, his thumb caressing her skin ever so softly.
"I love that I can just kiss you now." He thought aloud, giving her another small kiss on her lips to prove his point. He then led her over to the pensieve, letting go of her hand to grab an unbroken jar.
Once opened, Draco Malfoy dumped the contents of the jar into the pensieve. The memories turned into dark swirls once they made contact with water.
"This is around May, 2000. Ready?"
"Ready."
Hermione was not expecting to land in a memory full of flashing lights and loud chatter. She found herself in the main entrance hall of the Ministry of Magic, in the center of an excited crowd of what seemed to be reporters and newspaper journalists. Hermione pushed her way through the crowd, heading in the direction everyone was looking at, quickly finding a clearing. There stood the Minister of Magic, his second in command, and the heads of all departments in the ministry. In the very center, currently shaking hands with the Minister was Memory Hermione, beaming up at the minister with noticeable tears in her eyes.
"Another round of applause to Miss Hermione Granger, our new Head of Magical Law Enforcement Department!" The Minister announced, and the crowd cheered, and lights flashed.
Hermione's heart pounded, her knees grew weak, and her hands trembled. Being the Head of Magical Law Enforcement was her dream. Her goal in life. And she didn't remember it. She couldn't remember the feeling of joy, and accomplishment that came with that. This memory felt surreal to her, as if she was living in a dream, and after it was done, she would wake up. She felt happy, there was no denying. Even as she raised her hands to clap for her past self, sad tears streamed down her face.
"Thank you, for this wonderful opportunity," Memory Hermione began, her wand pressed to where her vocal chords were in her neck. The Sonorus Charm. "And as the new Head of Magical Law Enforcement, I promise the Wizarding community, that there will be better times ahead. We will work together to make our world safer, enjoyable, and more fair. I will work tirelessly to help each and every person, and make sure we are all getting what we deserve. I thank you for your faith in me, and I will not let you down."
Memory Hermione's wand lowered, signaling the end of her small speech. Memory Hermione looked over to her right, and Hermione followed her gaze, finding Memory Malfoy standing at the edge of the crowd, beaming at her with the same excitement Memory Hermione possessed in her eyes. In Memory Malfoy's eyes, Hermione found the emotion similar to the emotion of a proud parent, who was endlessly joyful that the person they loved achieved their dreams. Hermione smiled, wishing she could see Malfoy's support from her own eyes, and truly feel how it was to become the Head of Magical Law Enforcement from her own heart. A tight ball grew in her throat, at the thought of this, making her swallow hard. Memory Hermione waved to the reporters, smiling proudly, and holding herself diplomatically, like the Head of Department should.
Without giving herself time to process another thought, the memory turned black, signaling the end. But the black swirls continued to move around, changing the scene. It wasn't over.
Hermione now stood in a restaurant, a very fancy one, for that matter. She found her memory self immediately, in the center of all the commotion, seated at a large table in the middle of the restaurant, surrounded by everyone she loved. Molly, Arthur, George, Fred, Fleur, Bill, Harry, Ron, Ginny, Jill and Rachel, who were co-workers from the ministry; and Draco Malfoy. All laughing joyfully, raising glasses of firewiskey and pumpkin juice, congratulating Memory Hermione on her promotion. Memory Malfoy, who sat next to Memory Hermione, patted her thigh and whispered something in her ear, and planted a chaste kiss upon her cheek when he was finished. Memory Hermione smiled at him, and whispered back. Hermione found the exchange endearing, clearly seeing the way the couple's eyes lit up when they looked at each other. Something else caught Hermione's eye too. A flash of jealously from her red-haired best friend caught her attention, but was quickly masked once Memory Ron looked away. Memory Harry seemed uncomfortable as well, clearly not approving of his former Hogwarts rival and his best friend's relationship. What had changed? Harry and Ron seemed to get along well enough will Malfoy presently, perhaps they had gotten used to each other. Perhaps they saw how much Malfoy loved her, and decided to accept it. The feeling of disapproval that swept over her best friend's faces made Hermione quite upset. Harry and Ron were very important to her, and knowing that they didn't accept of her and Malfoy's relationship made her spirits fall lower than they were.
"So, Malfoy," Fred said, a cheeky glint in his eyes. Hermione immediately noticed everyone look guarded and cautious because, well, it was Fred talking. Draco looked slightly frightened, and Memory Hermione mirrored Memory Malfoy's expression. "How's it feel knowing Hermione's your new boss, eh? She'll get to boss you around at work and at night, yeah?" Fred winked. Memory Hermione blushed, Memory Ron choked on the food he was chewing, and George tried to stifle a laugh. Meanwhile, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley didn't seem so amused.
"Fred Weasley!" Mrs. Weasley scolded with harsh warning in her eyes.
"He's only telling it like it is, mom." George spoke up in Fred's defense. George Weasley then proceeded to make a hand motion simulating a whip, sound effects included.
Memory Malfoy's nostrils flared, and Memory Hermione bit her lip, looking unsure. Hermione let out a chuckle. Watching the moment play out was probably funnier than what it must have felt like. Sadness struck Hermione's chest like a knife. If only she could remember.
The black swirls appeared once more, and Hermione felt a lifting sensation, signaling the end of the memory.
"I know it's probably not the easiest thing, watching memories, I'm sorry about that." Malfoy said once Hermione resurfaced, catching the dejected look on her face.
Hermione nodded the tiniest of nods.
"My dream came true, and I can't even remember it." She said sadly.
"I know, love, I know." Malfoy said, immediately by her side, wrapping his arms around her. Hermione melted into his embrace, attempting to lose herself there. Malfoy pulled away slightly to look at her face, lifting a hand to brush a curl behind her right ear. Then, he planted a loving kiss on her forehead. Hermione rested her head on his chest, concentrating on the steady beating of Malfoy's heart. Which heart of his did she fall in love with? Memory Malfoy, or the Malfoy currently embracing her?
Hermione closed her eyes tightly, a tear slipping down her cheek, as she tried to answer the question that haunted her mind.
A/N: How was it? Please don't forget to leave a review! I always like to know how you guys are liking it so far, and they inspire me to keep going! Even criticism, I love it! Thank you so much and pleasseeee review!