Author's Note: Sorry this is kind of really late! had a lot of things to do and not much time to write. This chapter tells the healer's story, and hermione's choice. Hope you're all happy with it! Everyone seems to be really into the story so I don't want to disappoint any of you!
The Missing Piece Chapter Twenty-four
Day: 58 part II
Hermione, Draco, Harry, and Ron reluctantly take a seat on the floor in front of the sofa where Lucy Caddimer was sitting. They all knelt toward the floor slowly, looking from one to the other, shooting hesitant glares at their surroundings. Ron, mistrusting Lucy, was the last one to sit.
They all sat quietly and waited for the woman to begin her side of the story, and as Lucy slowly looked to each of their faces, it appeared that she was in no hurry to begin.
Ron coughed, in an attempt to make the woman begin, and Hermione, Draco, Harry and Lucy flinched simultaneously. Hermione shot Ron a contemptuous look, and continued to look back at the healer, with an apologetic expression. She still felt uneasy about the woman and her motives, Hermione felt it was important to listen to her side, especially since it might give them a clue as to what was going on.
"I am Lucy Caddimer, and I am or was, rather, a member of the Order of the Phoenix. I am also the person who you've all come to know as Healer Greene. I am a metamorphmagus. I suppose you all know what that is—"
"A witch or wizard with the ability to change his or her physical appearance at will, rather than requiring Polyjuice Potion or a spell like the rest of the wizarding population, yes." Hermione regurgitated helplessly from memory.
Lucy gave Hermione an awkward look to which Hermione replied with an apologetic one. Draco nudged her elbow with his while struggling to suppress a chuckle. Hermione shot Draco a look too. It appeared like Lucy Caddimer did not like to be interrupted.
"Yes, anyways… I served in the order a number of years back when Voldemort first rose. I remember fighting alongside your parents, Harry Potter." Harry seemed to perk up at the mention of his parents, his posture attentive. "And I remember fighting against your parents, Draco." Lucy's eyes seemed to mist over, fading into the past, remembering what she had been a part of. Draco Malfoy's eyes lowered to the ground, and Hermione noticed a considerable sulk in his posture. She nudged him, and he turned his head slightly to her. Hermione gave him a weak smile, grabbed his hand and squeezed. Her heart lifted when he smiled back, straightened up and returned his focus back to the woman. "I went on a lot of missions with the order and the ministry both. I was an auror for the ministry back then too. After Voldemort was supposedly gone for good, I thought I could start my normal life again, being an auror. But I was paranoid. I was scared to my wits. I was so afraid of Voldemort, and I had this feeling that he wasn't gone. I had sneakoscopes everywhere, and all kinds of dark magic detectors. Cornelius Fudge thought I had gone off the deep end, and advised me to retire. I refused. So, he offered me to give up being an auror, and take a secretary job, where the only thing to worry about was filing papers. I took it. Foolishly, Fudge made me the personal secretary of the Head of Auror Department, and often times I overheard many rumors about missions and the status about lingering Death Eaters. Anyways, I've been doing that up until a year ago.
You see, I've heard whispers about the mission you've all been so tirelessly working on. The one involving death eaters, and random missions? That one. Everyone in the department was completely confused as to what was going on, including you, Harry Potter. I remember the gossip. Anyways my paranoia rose, and I decided to see what I could find for myself in order to help. Auror instincts, I suppose. I did my digging, nothing big. Just searched for records, mostly. Until I met you, Hermione." Hermione shot up, her heart immediately racing. "I was searching through my files in the ministry library for Fudge when you ran in, mumbling something in hysterics. It was after hours, so you probably thought no one was there. But I was. I hid in behind a shelf in instinct, while you tore through papers. I caught the words, "They can't threaten them," and "not them." That spiked my interest. After you left I pulled out the files you had, and saw they were records on certain death eaters.
The next few weeks I picked up on the fact that you, Hermione, seemed calm and collected during working hours. I watched you, curious. Everything was fine. But after hours you were continuously searching. I went to the minister, telling him what I knew, and what I thought. He told me it was my paranoia. He compared me to Mad-Eye. You know Mad-Eye. I went several times but he didn't believe me. So, one day I made up my mind and decided to come to talk to you, Hermione. I went to your office to find it trashed, and a note on the desk. It said 'Give us the potion, or everyone dies.' I continued searching. I found other notes similar to that. Then it all made sense. The death eaters were threatening you. They wanted something. The missions were to attain you, hence the formula for the potion you were working on. I talked to several people after that, and found you were working on a potion that had the ability to deflect charms and hexes. It basically made the drinker invincible. It seemed like something the death eaters would be after, but I felt there was more. So I left the ministry, and disguised myself within the death eater's ranks to find out. I figured it must have been big if Hermione Granger was shaken up.
During my time with that slime I caught wind of the next attack. I knew the missions were staged so that the death eaters could grab you, Hermione. So I went as a death eater. Turns out they did have motives. It wasn't to spread terror most of the time, because instead of just killing they also sifted through the minds of their victims, which were always people related to someone in the ministry. For what I don't know. But that's not how death eaters usually behave. So I dug deeper into their ranks to find out more. I had told the ministry about what I suspected again, but they didn't believe me. Anyways. What I found was they were after you, Hermione. You see, Harry was their ultimate goal, to finally kill the one who killed their lord. By getting you, it was bound to lead to Harry. And on top of that, you were also a muggle-born witch of high power, so that would incite fear and uneasiness in the public. They also knew of your involvement with Draco, and they needed to seek revenge on him for being a traitor as well. So you were their target. If they had you, they killed three birds with one stone. They also needed information from you. That information was the potion. I then had to make a choice. I knew you were in danger. I decided to erase your memory so that any information you had could not be given to them. Then I used Healer Greene as a cover to make sure the charm worked, and make sure that you were still alive and not under the death eater's hands. I was very scared though, I was afraid that the pensieve would trigger your memories so I tried to make you stay away, but as always your logic could never be outsmarted. So I tried to scare you by trashing Malfoy's library. Sorry by the way. But there's no stopping you, I suppose."
"Why have the attacks stopped, then?" Harry spoke up. "My team is still on the case."
"They are recruiting, and want your guards down. It is my belief they will attack the ministry. But first, they are going to make that potion. First they need Hermione. Now you know everything Hermione. Without your memory, they might capture you, and you might die. But they won't get their hands on that potion, which makes them indestructible. With your memory, they can get it out of you. And they will probably use any of your memories that you hold against you. It is your choice. I only ask you choose wisely."
Hermione sat still, very aware of her rapid heartbeat. Her brain was still slowly digesting everything the woman told her.
"You had no right to take memories away from me." Was all Hermione could mutter defiantly. A part of her understood that she had been in danger, and that was why those measures were taken, but what Lucy did was a very personal offense.
"I understand you feel personally violated by what I have done. It might not have been a good move on my part but please understand my intentions were to get you out of harm's way. If you could remember what you had been through, perhaps your opinion of my actions would be different. I am reluctantly offering to return your memories. It is, after all, your choice. But please understand that returning them has grave consequences. It could mean putting yourself, and everyone you love in danger." Lucy Caddimer regarded Hermione with wise and watchful eyes as she spoke, her eyes landing on Draco Malfoy, Ron, and Harry, when she uttered the last sentence.
"Okay, well…" Harry began, in an attempt to make sense of Lucy's story, "The death eaters just want a potion, which only Hermione knows how to make. This was all part of their plan to take over the ministry and kill her, along with myself and Malfoy?"
"As far as I am aware, yes. There are also quite possibly things that Hermione knew that could answer a few of our questions, as well as to allow insight as to what went on. But please, it's very dangerous." The woman replied with an intense gaze directed at a very pensive Hermione Granger.
"So on one hand, you get answers while putting Hermione in danger, or leaving her in the dark and keeping everyone safe on the other." Ron muttered to himself. Lucy nodded in reply. Then, quite suddenly, Ron's quiet mood changed abruptly. "What are you trying to pull, here? How do we know you haven't been undercover at the ministry? You know Hermione lost her memory, and you're trying to get it back for your measly gang of rotten pureblood lovers. I see through your plan. You're nothing but a deranged bitch."
At the last words, Ron whipped out his wand so fast it blurred, and held it steady, pointing toward an unsurprised Lucy.
"Weasley, stop." Draco Malfoy spoke up for the first time, his voice cold and menacing. "Think with that small head of yours for once, you daft git. How could she be working for the other side? She's on file at the ministry and has been for years, Hermione saw it. And if you were paying attention, she doesn't want to return her memories. She's offering a choice. So put that wand away and calm down."
"I'm not an idiot Malfoy. She's a metamorphmagus. How do we know she isn't taking the shape of some order member? How do we know this is her true form?"
The room was quiet for a while as Ron's intelligent observation was pointed out. Suddenly everyone was on the defensive, however Lucy remained calm.
"Listen, you can trust my story or not. There's no way to prove it. Kill me, and she doesn't get her memories. Threaten me, and she won't get them either. It's your call."
"Then I guess we'll have to use the cruciatus curse until you give us what we want." Ron replied threateningly.
"Ron. Stop." Hermione scolded, shooting her red-haired mal-tempered friend a harsh look. "That is the real Lucy Caddimer. In the picture, Lucy has a dragon-shaped tattoo in the back of her neck. So does she. And, so did her form of Healer Greene. Tattoos are tattoos, especially if made by magic. They can't be erased, or copied. Now if we could all stop jumping to conclusions, and start being logical, we can get somewhere."
Hermione let out a sigh, and Lucy threw a grateful glance her way.
Now that everything had been set aside and dealt with, there was a choice to be made. Hermione knew she could not avoid it any longer. She knew with remembering, there came danger. Could she really put all her friends in harm's way just to get back years of her life? Or could she decide to live without knowing, and perhaps make new memories?
Her mind drifted to her friends. Years' worth of jokes, secrets, bonding was all a choice away. She could remember her job at the ministry, and her promotion. She could see all of what she saw in the pensieve through her own eyes, and feel it through her own mind. She would be able to tap into her life with Draco, and know exactly how Memory Hermione felt when they had first touched, kissed, and made love. She could have years of revelations, pensive thoughts, and events back into her brain for her to access again. She could feel included once more, and understand the topics that were talked about by everyone regarding events of years ago.
Most of all, she could understand why she fell in love with Draco Malfoy. Why she gave him a chance. Hidden memories he had not shown her. Her heart fluttered with the thought of recovering all those moments once more. To realize that she loved him as deeply as he loved her.
This seemed to be what Draco was thinking of as well, because at one precise moment, Hermione's brown eyes met with his piercing grey ones, and she knew exactly what he would say had they been alone: Do you want to remember us? Or begin all over again?
"Whatever you choose love, I support it. We'll be together no matter what." Draco whispered ever so slightly, so that only Hermione could hear.
He was right. No matter what she chose, she would always be with Draco. That was a great source of comfort as she made her final decision.
"Hermione. Don't worry about putting anyone in danger. We can fight it. You have no one and nothing to lose." Harry assured her with a reassuring tone.
"Please understand that whatever you choose, there is no going back." Lucy added.
Hermione took ten deep breaths, and her heart pumped 26 times before she answered.
"I am ready to face whatever comes." The brown-haired witch stated defiantly. "I choose to remember."
A/N: So that's vas happenin! I hope you all like it! I have a free weekend coming up, and so I could probably get the next chapter up by Monday or Tuesday at the latest, Sunday at the earliest. It all depends on you all! Leave a review please! I read them ALL and do take suggestions into account. So the more reviews, the faster the update!