Ch 19: Holes

"Too late," Hermione heard just as she rounded the corner and neared the Mist Suite. At least that answered her primary concern; Draco was still alive. And since he was obviously talking to someone, Horris was, too. Not that the latter worried her overmuch, she doubted Draco would hurt him, and the fact that the blond hadn't been forced to sedate him was a good sign. When she turned into the doorway, she had to stop. Why, they looked practically civil! At first glance, anyway. Draco seemed to have recovered from his earlier… erm, accident. And she fervently held on to the hope that that was all it was. He was reclining in one of the wing-backed chairs while Horris occupied a stuffed seat opposite him. Horris looked a bit worse for wear, but she figured that had mostly to do with him pushing himself too hard and not anything Draco might have done in retaliation.

"I assume everything is alright on the home front, Lea?" Draco prompted. She gave him a curt nod before turning to look Horris over more carefully. Thankfully, she had caught Ginny before the girl could alert anyone that something was wrong. It would have been terrible to scare the Asps right now; the news that their Alpha was not dead had most of them already itching to come and see for themselves. And like it or not, she knew very well Horris was not ready for anything of the sort. When she had spoken to Remus earlier, he was also having to nearly chain Sirius to keep him from barging in, and Mrs. McGonagall was doing all she could to help the Professor hold fast and stay away. The latter had agreed that giving Horris sometime before seeing him again, though keeping to that decision was wearing the Professor down, and it had not even been a full day since he last saw Horris.

"Is the Weaslette settled?"
"I told her you were fine, she was safe, and that she didn't see what she thought she saw," she answered Draco again. Thankfully the girl had already been running away before Horris showed himself. They hadn't told Ginny about Horris's 'recovery', nor a few other people that did not need to know. They had planned to keep the news away from Sirius and Remus as well, but the former bee-lined to the catacombs before so much as greeting anyone or tossing his things into the room he was to stay in… and of course, once he saw Horris's body wasn't where it should be, he had the predictable reaction of ranting and raving until answers had to be given. "I also gave her some calming draught before advising her that a nap wouldn't be a bad idea with all the stress she's been through."

At the last, Draco snorted, knowing that the ginger was probably the least-stressed individual here with the exception of the elves. He was right, of course, but it did no one any good to let said ginger know.
"Ginny's here?" Well, that got Horris's attention.
"Yes, though we haven't exactly told her that you're here…" she answered,
"What? Why?"
"It's a long story Ho-" she stopped herself just in time, though still unwilling to call him Harry, "It's a long story. Suffice to say she's not here under any will but her own. Hell, it'd have been far easier if she'd chosen to stay at Hogwarts."
"Yeah, but unfortunately she's crushing on Dean, so…"
"Draco!"
"What, we both know it's true… hell, the two of them are probably among the only ones who don't realize it."
"Ginny and Dean? Dean's an-"

"Asp, yeah." Hermione nodded, sparing a glare at Draco, "Look, that's the least of the things you need to worry about right now. Important thing is Ginny is fine and you don't want to worry about her. Really. Trust me."
"Trust you? Hermione, are you listening to yourself?" Horris demanded, "I should kick his ass for so much as thinking of-"
"You need to settle down," she tried to calm him, waving off Draco when he started getting up, "They don't even realize they're crushing on each other yet. Hell, it's half speculation, anyway. Don't worry when nothing's happening." she took a deep breath, continuing on her original point. She'll chew Draco's ear off later.
"I don't even know how confusing this must be for you… but you just need to take it slow and try to think it through. And trust us; me, if you can." She reached out, slowly, giving him a chance to move if he did not want to be touched. He let her move some of the overly-long hair behind an ear before she moved to feel his forehead. "You're still weak, and a little feverish besides. I'm sure your earlier stunt took more out of you than you're letting on."

"Malfoy said my venoms were back," Horris murmured, the implication making her yank her hand back before she realized what she had heard. Merlin, couldn't Draco have warned her? What if Horris wasn't in control of them… what if-
"What I said was that when they come back, you'll know," Draco corrected, making her panic subside. She tried to smile reassuringly at Horris, though judging by the look on his face, the damage had already been done, "Though if you'll let her, Lea will be able to scan you and see if they're even trying to grow back." Then, to her, he added, "right below the kidneys; if the sacks are growing back you can't miss them."
"What do you think," she asked Horris, who still looked decidedly hurt by her knee-jerk reaction to his earlier statement, "you know the scan's harmless, and that way you'll know." She spotted him looking over her shoulder at Draco and turned to face the blond herself, "Draco is actually overdue to meet the rest of the Asps for their morning drills," she told Horris while daring Draco to disagree, "several have already asked what was wrong that they hadn't had them when it's nearly noon." Draco understandably snorted, but got up and nodded in compliance. None of the Asps, they both knew, would care if they never had morning drills again. Still, it would help Draco and the others work off the tension that has been building since he announced Horris's improved (and altered) state.

Draco shuffled out without more than a pointed look that told her as clear as day that if anything went wrong he would never let her hear the end of it. She waited a few more seconds before pasting a smile she didn't quite feel and turning back to Horris.
"What do you say we take care of your hair, while we're at it?" she offered, "You never did like it too long, and that's the longest I've ever seen it."
"That… that'd help, actually. I feel like a girl," it was the first half-humorous thing he had said since before he went off to fight Voldemort, and she allowed herself to enjoy the moment.
"Wanna do that first?" she offered, already leading him through to the bedroom.
"Let's get this venom thing out of the way," he offered instead, lying face down on the bed without being asked, "I need to take my shirt off for this, right?"
"I'll just hike it up," she offered, already leaning in to pull it up near his shoulder blades. She made sure she took her wand out slowly, saying the spell a little louder than necessary for it to work. He may trust her, but giving him some extra assurance that she wasn't trying to bespell him may help her in the long run. She still was unsure how negatively her reaction to his venoms was affecting him. "Well, you don't have venoms. For now," she told him after moving the wand up and down just above his back, "I do see pouch buds forming, though; I figure those will grow to full size and the venoms will return, then. Not sure how long that will take, though," she told him honestly. "If you're okay with it, I can check again tomorrow; see how fast they're returning."
He sat up and pulled his shirt down methodically, obviously waiting for her to make the next move.

"So, how short do you want your hair? I can cut it like you used to wear it?" she offered, picturing Horris's usual haircut in her mind.
"Whatever," he shrugged, "just make me look like a guy again."
She nodded, walking him into the large bathroom and laying a towel on the floor so the hair would fall onto one easily-movable surface. Muggle of her, she knew, but she did it all the same. She cut his hair slightly shorter than how she remembered him wearing it, smearing a little gel through it for good measure. When he turned back towards the mirror, a soft 'huh' was all the comment he gave her, but she couldn't exactly blame him. From what she remembered of how he looked as Harry, way back when, his hair was always causing him problems. Horris's current looks were a major step up in the hair department. She let him pretend to not check out his hair for another minute before deliberately banishing the cut hairs into oblivion after having gathered them in a pile on the towel.

"Now what?" he asked her after they both moved out of the bathroom,
"Well, now I figured you'd start ranting and demanding answers of me, to be perfectly honest," she half-teased. After he simply stood there for a minute, she wondered if the strange room was really the best place for him to be right now.
"Or, I could show you your room," she offered, thought the thought was spoken before she fully registered it. Was that even a good idea? Well, Horris was still weak, and by now Draco would have taken the Asps outside to train. The halls should be clear. The Manor was locked down tight, so the worst that could happen was that he might try to run and hide somewhere. The risk should be minimal. On the off chance the room jogged his memory, however, it was a risk she was willing to take. And the sooner Horris remembered the sooner everything would be okay. The sooner the Professor could be truly reunited with his son, the sooner Draco could stop forcing himself into the leadership role he obviously hated. The sooner she could be Lea again. Merlin, it felt good to be called that again; so good she feared showing it lest Draco realize his slips and go back to calling her Hermione again.
"Don't you need to check with the Asps before you take me from my cell?"
"You're not in a cell," she insisted, huffing indignantly. Even if the Professor wanted to keep a closer eye on him while they tried to sort out what had happened, it was for Horris's good; not to cage him. "The Professor just wasn't sure if taking you to the Heir suite would be a good idea when you were so confused when you woke up," she told him honestly. She assumed half of it was his worry that Horris might get violent and destroy some of his old things; things the Professor had cherished after Horris died. Now though, with her there… "I figure it might help you remember."

Horris just kept looking at her for a bit, then agreed with a silent nod. She was certain that her face lit up like a light, but honestly couldn't force herself to care. Horris wanted to see his room; wanted to remember!

Hermione guided him through the maze of corridors, having given an elf quick instructions to let Draco know where they were as soon as there is a lull in the training. She had made the mistake of not making such a stipulation once before; the elf had jumped in mid bout and nearly caused some kind of injury... Draco stayed stubbornly vague on the details of the matter. The walk took nearly twice as long as it would normally, but the most direct route passed directly in front of the suite Remus and Sirius shared, so the round-about way was necessary.

"Are we going in circles?" Horris asked as if reading her mind,

"I'm avoiding someone," she replied honestly, sparing a glance out the big window she knew looked out across the area Draco used for training sessions hoping he wouldn't barge in and cut their time short; even now Horris was remembering that this wasn't the most direct route to his room. Though she couldn't be utterly sure of the former, the pause he took when she opened the door could point to nothing else. Horris definitely felt some connection to this place.

She hung back in the doorway, letting him just look around without her hovering for now. Soon, however, she found herself offering commentary on the objects he focused on. "The Professor barely let the elves in here to clean, so everything is right where you left it. We put the cloak clasp with the Snape crest on it in back in its box over there," she mentioned, pointing toward a chest of drawers on their left, "I'm sure the Professor would really like to see you wear it again sometime. And there's the broom Sirius got you. I'm sure we can organize a Quidditch game out on the pitch if you'd like... I'm certain the others would like to ride their brooms again." she tried to keep everything light, hoping that would put him more at ease. Unfortunately he stayed silent and simply kept slowly looking around, not give her much chance to see if it was working.

"Would you mind if I look around by myself a little?" he asked her eventually, still holding that same expression on his face, "it's kinda distracting having you hover."

"Okay..." she agreed hesitantly, "I'll be right outside; so you don't get lost coming back." Then, remembering that despite her hopes, he wasn't simply Horris, she added "please don't destroy anything; I know you don't remember it now, but you'll hate yourself for it later."

"I promise not to break anything," Horris told her, for the first time looking her square in the eye, "I just need to do this alone."

After searching his face for signs that he was lying, she stepped out and shut the door. It was the only exit out of the suite; it had no balcony or window that someone could fly out of. And she truly believed him when he promised not to damage the things inside.

She was standing there a good twenty minutes when she saw Draco coming toward her from the other end of the hall.

"I was just about to go in and check on him," she said once he was close enough.

"You let him stay in there alone?" the blond demanded, "are you crazy, Lea?"

"He promised not to break anything, and if he tried I would have headed and stopped him," she promised, "he needed some time to take the rooms in by himself; try to remember."

Draco stared her down while she spoke, silently voicing his disapproval. Then, as if the notion simply struck him, he asked "how long has it been since you heard anything?"

"A while; I guess he's just looking at everything."

"I don't like this Lea," he told her again, "I'm going to see him."

Hermione chose to stay outside, but perked an ear toward the still-open door. She could hear Draco opening doors and stomping about, but little else. Then, after another door that was nearly slammed closed she heard nothing again. She was just about to go in and see what Draco had found when a long series of colorful explicatives rolled off the blond's tongue. A millisecond later the door truly slammed and Draco came stalking towards her.
"We have a problem, Lea. A big one. Go get Remus here; or better yet, cousin Sirius."
"What happened? Is Horris okay?"
"No, Lea, he's gone." She felt the blood drain from her face at his snapped reply, "The elves were told to move the Mirror into warded storage long ago, but it's still here," Draco practically growled, "obviously, he knew how to use it. Now go. Get Sirius. Hurry."

She ran.