Author's Note: Another chapter! Sorry for the REALLY late update, it was tech week for the musical at my school and so I literally got home at 10pm and had absolutely no time to write. But that's past, now I have time! Please enjoy this chapter, loves! And please review at the end! I really enjoy reading your thoughts and comments, even if they're completely irrelevant!
The Missing Piece Chapter Twenty Two
Day: 50 part II
It could have been a very tender moment. For Hermione Granger, it would have been the culminating moment in which she finally proved to herself that she in fact loved Draco, and he did in turn as well. For Draco Malfoy, it would have meant having his love back where she belonged, thus completing his life, and allowing him to be happy again. Hermione realized all of this in a split second, and saw in Draco's eyes the yearning to talk about the tender memories, and exchange his feelings. But she couldn't stop the healer's name from coming out of her mouth, and the adrenaline and uncertainty that came with the realization that Healer Greene had taken her memories.
The moment was ruined.
In place of that came danger. Just how much, neither of them knew.
"Healer Greene." Hermione repeated to Malfoy, her hands shaking, and her heart beating wildly in her chest. She couldn't stand still. She had to do something now. Hermione looked around the room anxiously, looking for something she didn't know what. She just needed to do something.
"What?" Draco questioned, obviously not catching on to what Hermione just said. It was obviously not the reaction he had been waiting for, and the nervousness in his eyes told her he desperately wanted to know what Hermione knew.
"Healer Greene was the one who-who obliviated me. She did it!"
Hermione could not breathe properly. It was as if the air in the room was just not enough. Her head spun. She felt sick. She had a feeling about that woman from the start, why didn't she catch on?
Draco gripped Hermione by the shoulders to steady her, and make her look into his eyes.
"Hermione, are you sure. Are you absolutely positive?"
"Yes! Yes, Draco! Yes! She—I saw her! I saw her tattoo! I know it's her!" Hermione's voice trembled, pleading him to believe her. She felt as if her entire world was collapsing, and at the same time, anger was rising in her chest toward the vile healer…
"Let's go." Was all Draco Malfoy said to her as he grabbed her hand and pulled her to the fireplace.
Everything was a blur. From when she got out of the ministry fireplace, to the elevator, to knocking on Harry Potter's office door. Everything came into focus for Hermione once Draco started explaining everything, and Harry's shocked face looked between Hermione to Draco's.
Harry ran a hand through his dark and untidy hair in exasperation.
"I checked her records at the hospital. There is no record of her having ever worked there at all. She doesn't exist."
"Is that what why you left in such a hurry the last time I floo'd you, Harry?" Hermione asked, piecing everything together. Why else would have Harry left so abruptly two days ago? Her mind was racing, fueled by adrenaline.
"Yes." Harry said quickly. "And the witch who was attending me also said that I had gone there and informed them that they did not have to send healers, because Hermione was going to be taken care of by her own family. Clearly, this healer went as me under polyjuice."
Draco looked confused between Hermione and Harry, and Hermione quickly explained what happened the day the healer last came to visit her, hastily updating him on recent events.
"We have to look for her. She's the prime suspect in this case now." Draco said solidly. Hermione remembered the time when he had brought her to the park and vowed to find the person responsible for her loss of memories, and felt warmth in her stomach as she looked gratefully into Draco's eyes.
"There was no trace of her at the hospital, Draco. We have nothing to go on. She might even have used a fake name, who knows. And if she was the one who trashed your library, she left no trace whatsoever. She's good at hiding her tracks." Hermione said helplessly. She was very determined despite the odds, however, to find this wretched woman and figure out her motives.
Draco Malfoy's face lit up.
"Which means, she is highly trained. She had to have worked for someone to have had this sort of training in covering her tracks."
"Brilliant, brilliant." Harry commented, having nothing to add himself. He paced his office with a determined look.
"She was either part of the order, or an auror." Hermione gasped in realization.
Harry stopped pacing.
"Okay we need a full search of everyone who had worked for the ministry, particularly the auror department, and a search of the Order members, all from the last ten years." Harry ordered. "I'll get Ron in on this; he can gather a few other aurors to help him out. Malfoy do you want to take care of the Order business?"
"No problem." Draco accepted, looking eager to do anything that would get him closer to Healer Greene.
"I'll research ways to get my memory back." Hermione stated solemnly. Harry gave her a peculiar look, to which she added, "There's a reason why she erased my memories. There's something I knew that she doesn't want me to know."
Day: 51
Her living room was filled with what looked like every book ever written concerning memory modification and ways to get it back. There were towers of books on every inch of her living room, stacks on the coffee tables, piles of books laid open on her sofa, kitchen, and scattered around the floor. It looked like a madman's house. Hermione was so desperate to gain her memory as quickly as she could, that she couldn't bother to even close the book, nevertheless finish reading the sentence if she found the book contained nothing of importance to her.
Hermione was furiously scanning her eyes over the words on the page she was reading when she heard her fireplace burst into a bright green light. She stopped what she was doing and immediately stood up, her heart pounding madly.
"Draco? Harry?" She called out to the fireplace. She figured it was one of the two, probably giving her an update on something she had found.
A foot came out of the green flames, but the rest of the visitor's body could not come forth due to all the books clouding the fireplace.
It took a second for this fact to register with Hermione, but once she realized it, she ran to the flames and began to throw books away from the fireplace to allow Harry or Draco entrance.
Once a second leg and a torso appeared from the flames she realized it was neither Harry nor Draco, but a certain red haired male whom she had not heard from a very long time.
"Geez Hermione, how—what are you doing? NEWTS already happened, no need to study for them." Ron greeted lightly. He stood in her living room now, dusting all of the soot off of his brilliantly orange hair and his robe. Hermione smiled, chuckling quietly at the joke, and later shook her head.
"I'm just doing some research in order to find how to get my memory back, that's all."
"Oh." Ron replied, the corners of his mouth sinking a bit. Hermione cocked her head slightly at this, a heavy feeling inhabiting her stomach. This better not be one of Ron's difficult visits. Every time her friend seemed to visit, he nearly always left angry, and Hermione with a horrible feeling in her heart.
She walked over to the sofa, adjusting her step size to avoid stepping on any books, and occasionally moving some out of the way with her foot. She then cleared an area of the sofa for him to sit, and another area for her. Ron sat, looking around. The expression on his face told Hermione he was trying his best to look comfortable, but the truth was he was far from it.
"What's on your mind, Ron?" Hermione asked carefully, knowing full well why he might be there.
"A lot of things, Hermione." Ron replied honestly, looking at the books on the floor. "I heard about the healer, Harry updated me on it. I'm going to work with him and do everything I can to help."
Hermione smiled, internally relieved that she was wrong about why he visited her.
"I appreciate that, Ron." Hermione said earnestly.
"Yeah." Was Ron's reply. There was silence in Hermione's living room now as both of them searched for something to say. Hermione mused at how things had become awkward with Ron, and how it hadn't used to be that way.
"Why are you… Why do you like him?" Ron said slowly and deliberately after a few minutes of silence.
Hermione's heart began to pound madly once more, and her stomach sank with a heavy feeling. Did he always have to do this? She sighed, facing her best friend bravely.
"Because he's a gentleman. He's helped me out as much as he could, and he's never given up on me. He's devoted. He's been by my side even when I didn't want him there. Even when I had no idea of what had happened." Hermione answered simply. The words slipped so easily from her mouth that Ron couldn't doubt they were the truth. "Why are you asking, Ron?" She added, part of her not wanting to know the answer.
"Because he's… What if he's the reason you've forgotten everything? You know the kind of company he keeps, and the family he's from—"
"Ronald if you're going to attack Draco I suggest you leave before you anger me further. Draco no longer keeps company with death eaters, he quit a long time ago. The family he's from has nothing to do with anything, you know very well he does not agree with their views any longer. Stop picking on his past because you want me to fall in love with you instead, Ron." Once those words came out of her mouth she wished they hadn't sounded so harsh and piercing. The pained look in his eyes and the shock in his features told Hermione the words cut him more than she had intended.
Ron recovered relatively quickly, however, and his hurt look hardened into indifference.
"Haven't you ever considered the fact that perhaps he could be the reason why you got obliviated? Perhaps not the direct reason, but maybe they're trying to get to him through you? Haven't you ever thought of that? You're smart Hermione."
"Of course I've thought of that!" Hermione fibbed. "But that just doesn't make sense. They don't want him for any reason, so they have no motive to attack me."
"You're wrong. Death Eaters attack people for fun, and revenge. Come on, even you know that. You didn't forget that much. Your love for him has clouded your ability to think, I'm guessing. You know full well that's a possibility."
"You're just searching for excuses, Ron." Hermione said quietly. She knew he was right, but she didn't want to give away the fact that she was defeated.
"I'm telling you that Malfoy is not good company. For your own safety. Because… because I love you. And I realize you don't love me like I love you, and I accept that. I'm just looking out for you. Because I don't want to see you hurt, or dead." Ron replied. His words came out quietly, yet they filled the room, echoing off the walls, and settling into Hermione's heart. Ron stood up, walked toward the fireplace, dodging books on his way out. Before leaving, he paused, and turned one last time to Hermione. "When you lost your memory, and you were in the hospital all those days, Malfoy wasn't the only one in pain. He wasn't the only one who thought he lost the love of his life forever."
And with those last words, Ron Weasley turned his back on Hermione and headed out through the fireplace.
Hermione stayed frozen and silent for what seemed like ages. The only thing that registered in her mind was the soft ticking of a faraway clock in her kitchen. There she stayed, the meaning of Ron's words sinking into her chest and staying there.
After twenty more ticks of the clock, Hermione shook her head in an attempt to shake those words from her head, and stood up, realizing she had to meet Draco and Harry at the ministry in less than five minutes.
"Good, you're here." Harry said, looking up from a pile of papers as soon as he saw Hermione. Hermione smiled in turn, and sat down right in front of her best friend.
"Where's Draco?"
"On the third floor, researching ministry members for Healer Greene." Harry replied nonchalantly, returning his gaze to the pile of papers. "Have you found anything on memory modification?"
Hermione heaved a sigh, grabbing a book and opening it, curious to see what Harry was doing. It was a detailed record of the Order of the Phoenix, and its members. There must have been about twenty books on the table, but Hermione knew the Order was formed a while before Harry was born. There couldn't possibly be twenty books dedicated to the 20 or so years the Order had been in existence.
"No, I haven't found anything yet, but I'll let you know if I do. What I know so far is that I need the person who Obliviated me to give the memories back. It's the only way. Are all these books records of the Order?" Hermione asked, turning a page and scanning through a page containing the records of a Lucy Caddimer.
Harry scratched his nose and pushed his glasses farther up the bridge of his nose.
"Some. Others are records of their missions, and cases they were involved in, history, etc. I figured I'd be thorough."
Hermione nodded silently, and proceeded to leaf through the rest of the book, pausing every so often at a familiar name, like Lily Potter, or Remus Lupin.
"Okay Potter, Greene never worked for the Ministry of Magic, that's for sure." Came Draco's booming voice from the entrance of the library. Hermione felt her face instantly light up and she turned around toward the sound to see the handsome blond man walking toward her. His eyes caught hers and he smiled, his silver eyes immediately shinning brighter than the dim candles around the library.
Draco Malfoy placed a hand on Hermione's shoulder, and bent down to plant a sweet kiss upon her forehead in greeting.
"We're never going to find anything!" Harry burst out in sudden frustration. His sudden outburst made both Hermione and Draco jump. Hermione scrunched her eyebrows in concern.
"You know… I doubt we would find anything here. We aren't looking in the right places." Hermione replied calmly, shutting the book she was leafing through and setting it back down on the table. "Well," She added, upon looking at Harry's confused face, "The healer is obviously good at hiding her tracks. She wouldn't use her real name, or her real appearance."
"We have to contact her, and make her come to us." Draco added, following Hermione's line of thought. Hermione nodded in silent approval. After a few moments, Harry put down his book and nodded as well.
"Makes sense…" The dark haired wizard thought. "But how?"
"The way we usually track down Death Eaters." Malfoy replied in an obvious tone, folding his hands across his chest.
"No." Hermione curtly replied. Draco's face fell, and Hermione gave him a slight apologetic look. "I mean, she could possibly be part of a larger group, but it would be hard to track down the group and its activities. I think she most likely works alone. Which means… we're going to have to try and establish contact directly. Perhaps owl mail."
"Hermione, she's a Death Eater, she trashed Malfoy's Library, and obliviated you… I mean what else could she be?" Harry questioned, his eyes burning in frustration.
"Think, Harry! This isn't how a normal Death Eater acts. Death Eaters go killing people, not erasing their memories. She's something worse. She's after something else, I am not her target."
Draco Malfoy pounded the table with his fist, perhaps a bit harder than he should have.
"Okay. We have to get in touch with her. We have to see what she's after, what she wants, anything. No more sitting around." Malfoy spat out, looking from Hermione to Harry. Hermione could see Malfoy's urge to do something in the way his eyes kept looking desperately between her and Harry.
"Yes, let's invite her for tea tomorrow, and have a nice chat. I'm sure she'd be more than willing to tell us everything she has done and will do, and undo the memory charm on Hermione. Brilliant." Harry retorted, his voice dripping in heavy sarcasm. Draco Malfoy's nostrils flared. Hermione knew being taken as an idiot didn't go down well with a person like Draco Malfoy, and Harry wouldn't back down if Draco decided to verbally attack him.
"Sarcasm won't get us anywhere." Hermione quickly intervened before anything began between the two old rivals. "I know we're all frustrated. Let's send her an owl, though."
Harry Potter did a double take.
"You're seriously writing her a letter?" Harry asked in utter disbelief. Hermione sensed Harry was looking at her as if he were wondering how much her IQ dropped. This frustrated Hermione, because he possibly couldn't think her that stupid.
"Harry, please. Of course I will write her a letter. And I will put an undetectable tracking spell on it. That way once she opens it, we will be aware of her location, and we will be able to apparate there directly, effectively trapping her, and catching her by surprise." Hermione retorted in a superior tone. She allowed herself to wear a smug look as she regarded Harry's dumbfounded look and Draco's half pleased, half impressed expression.
"Let's do it now." Was all Draco Malfoy replied, once it was evident Harry had nothing to say.
A/N: Review please! I'm starting the next chapter now, so the more reviews, the sooner the next chapter is up! And as always, thanks for reading!