A/N: I am so, so sorry this update is so late. I never abandoned this story – just a LOT of personal stuff happening, plus I got married (yay!) and a bunch of other crazy stuff happening. However this story is very much still happening, so here is the next chapter. There is a time jump… however the story needs it. I really hope you enjoy it! Feedback is welcome as always.

serenarian1 xx

Chapter 11 – One Year Later

Draco exited the Auror Office, a look of determination on his face. He was only six months away from completing his Auror training and it was so close now that he could almost taste it. Success.

As he passed through the threshold he heard Harry's voice behind him. "Draco! Before you go…" He spun around to see his boss hurrying along the corridor to catch up with him, and smiled as Harry pushed his glasses up his nose in his usual fashion.

"What can I do for you, Harry?" he asked pleasantly.

The green-eyed man standing before him grinned. "Ginny is driving me mental. She just Floo called and wants to know whether you and Hermione are still coming over for dinner tonight. She's going stir crazy, keeps referring to herself as the 'Auror widow' being as you, Hermione and I are all here at all hours of the day."

The mention of his girlfriend made Draco smile. Since that night when they'd confessed their feelings for each other in that Muggle alleyway, they had embarked on a relationship that was as thrilling as it was difficult. Hermione had requested that she no longer train him; considering it a conflict of interest, and Harry had insisted on filling her shoes. For the last year Harry had taken personal responsibility for Draco's Auror training while Hermione worked out in the field. It had been working very well so far – better than Draco could have ever imagined. He found that he liked and respected Harry a great deal and they had developed a friendship. Suddenly remembering that he had been asked a question, he cleared his throat and shook himself. "Yes, Hermione and I will come over for dinner tonight, as promised," he answered.

Harry was still grinning. "I still can't quite believe it, you and Hermione. Back at school it would have been unheard of. "

Draco rolled his shoulders uncomfortably. "Part of me wishes I remembered," he muttered. "I can't believe I knew you and Hermione for seven years and I don't remember any of it."

Harry put a hand on his shoulder, his expression kind. "You never know, someday you might. Now go home, do what you need to do, and turn up at our house on time."

Draco nodded and Apparated home. Hermione was sitting in the living room, engrossed in a large tome. The cover read 'Memory Charms for the Prodigious Wizard'. Hearing the pop, she looked up and smiled at him. He gestured to the book she was holding. "What's that all about?"

She flushed. "I was hoping it would shed some light on what happened to you," she admitted quietly. "It's been over a year now. Sometimes I wonder if we'll ever find out what happened."

He took her hand in both of his. "It would be good to remember," he agreed, "but I want you to know that I'm happy. My training is going well, I seem to remember the main things I need to know and you and Harry have filled in some of the blanks. I have you."

She looked at him, a questioning look on her face. "But don't you ever wonder about what else happened? How your father died? Where you were for those three years?"

"Of course I do," he responded. "I just – Hermione, you know I don't remember my father. If I did, perhaps I would be more desperate to know the truth." He raised her hand to his lips, gently kissing her fingers. "To be honest, I'm more concerned with finding out what happened to Ron. For your sake."

"I know," she whispered, leaning into him and resting her head on his shoulder. "It's funny – for years that was all I thought about. Finding out what happened to him. But now – I want to know what happened to both of you. I want answers for you, Draco, as well as for Ron."

Draco kissed the top of her head. "Seems to me that they'll most likely come at the same time," he reminded her. "If I – if I ever remember anything, I hope I can give you the answers you need about Ron."

Hermione smiled and snuggled in closer to him. "It's always a bit strange hearing you call him 'Ron'," she chuckled. "You never called him that at Hogwarts. It was always 'Weasley' or 'Weasel' or some other kind of insult."

Draco grimaced. "Seems like I wasn't very original with my putdowns."

Before Hermione could reply, a loud tapping sound came from the nearby window. She jumped up and opened it, watching as a large tawny owl flew into the room. It landed on the back of the armchair and shook its wet feathers before holding out its leg. Hermione accepted the letter and fed it an owl treat before turning her attentions to the parchment. "That's funny," she commented as she broke the seal. "This is from the Ministry."

Draco watched her face as she read, quickly standing up when she clapped a hand over her mouth. He noticed her hands were shaking. "Hermione, what is it?"

She was already scrambling to get her cloak and throwing his at him. "We have to get to the Auror office… Harry's found something."

Within minutes they were stepping through one of the fireplaces at the Ministry and hurriedly making their way along the corridors towards the Auror Department. They burst in through the main doors to see Harry standing in the foyer; a tired look on his face but determination gleaming in his green eyes. "'Mione, Draco… I'm glad you got here so fast. Come with me," he bade, opening a nearby door and gesturing for them to go inside. He followed them in and closed the door behind them. "Please, sit. You'll need to."

They all took seats before Hermione's patience finally expired. "Harry, what is going on?" she asked impatiently.

Harry pushed his glasses up his nose before responding. "As you both know, we have regular Auror patrols on sites of pertinent interest; where Dark magic has been concentrated for example, or where battles took place during the war," He shot an annoyed look at Hermione, who was gesturing for him to get on with it. "For the last three years that patrol schedule has included Malfoy Manor."

"Wait… you mean my former home?" asked Draco, taken aback. "Why?"

Harry opened his mouth to answer but Hermione got there first. "Well, during Voldemort's rise to power he used your house as a base, people were tortured there and of course…"

"Thank you, Hermione," interrupted Harry, shooting her another annoyed look. "There's no need to give Draco another taste of what some of our colleagues shot at him."

Hermione felt her cheeks go red, remembering. She was immensely proud of Draco after the abuse he had gotten from the other Aurors. They had seemingly decided that if they couldn't convince their boss that the 'Death Eater protégé' was not Auror material then they would simply force him out. He had endured hazing, pranks, cruel words and frequent taunts before eventually Harry had been forced to step in. Draco had simply asked that there be a training session where the other Aurors could ask him whatever questions they wanted; in order to prove that he genuinely didn't remember any of it. Harry had allowed it, and begrudgingly the other Aurors had seen that his amnesia was indeed real. Since then, Draco had earned some respect among his colleagues for not responding with curses, hexes and bullying (as would befit the young man they remembered). Draco grinned at her and nodded at Harry, inviting him to continue.

"As I was saying, Malfoy Manor has been on the patrol schedules since the end of the war. We didn't release that information to everyone for obvious reasons. It is how Lucius and Ron were discovered." A solemn look clouded his face as he spoke. "Seamus was on patrol there this afternoon, and… well, he found something surprising." Reaching into his pocket, Harry held up a small glowing vial.

At Hermione's gasp, Draco frowned with confusion. "What is it?" he asked, leaning forward to peer at the glowing wisp inside the glass vial.

"It's a memory," she answered, her voice low and shaking. "Harry – where did Seamus find it?"

He cleared his throat. "This is why I called you both in straightaway. It was found on the floor of the former study… the location where Lucius and Ron's bodies were found. I haven't viewed the memory yet. I wanted you both to view it with me."

Draco swallowed. He looked at his girlfriend and saw nothing but kindness in her warm brown eyes. He knew she would refuse for his sake if he was truly uncomfortable. While he was genuinely afraid of what the memory might hold, he knew she needed to see it. Taking her hand, he kissed her fingers before nodding. "Okay, let's do it."

Harry got up. "I'll go and get the Pensieve. Wait here for me."

"Draco, are you sure you want to do this? We don't know what we will see," said Hermione worriedly. "What if it shows you were involved?"

"Then at least we have the answers we both want," Draco replied, his steady tone of voice hiding the deep chasm of fear that was opening up inside his stomach. "Hermione – you need to know what happened. I want that for you. If I was involved then I'll accept it… and so must you."

She flung herself into his arms and he instinctively held her tight, winding his fingers into her hair. "I'm scared, Draco," she admitted quietly. "I don't want to lose you."

He rubbed her back gently. "I don't want to lose you either."

The door opened and Harry re-entered the room, carrying a small silver dish. He placed it in the middle of the table between them and looked serious. "Okay. Draco, let me explain how to view a memory. In a moment I will pour the contents of that vial into this bowl. To view it, we simply put our heads in the bowl. Make sure the liquid is over your head."

Draco couldn't help but chuckle. "How are we all going to fit our heads in that tiny thing?"

Harry laughed. "Oh come on now Malfoy, you're a wizard aren't you? Do the honours."

Feeling a light blush tinge his cheeks, Draco produced his wand from his pocket and held it over the bowl. "Engorgio!" he declared, and before his eyes the bowl became cavernous. He saw with surprise that the bowl was in fact deep blue, not silver, and that golden-coloured runes danced along the edge. Harry poured the memory into the bowl and suddenly it was filled with silvery liquid.

"Ready?" asked Harry. The couple nodded their agreement and taking a deep breath, they all dunked their heads.

They appeared in a long and dark hallway, the only light coming from the scant few candles that were mounted in forbidding-looking sconces mounted on the walls. Draco looked around curiously, hoping to feel some rush of memory, but felt nothing. At Hermione's quizzical look, he shook his head.

"Remember, the people we will see cannot see or hear us," whispered Hermione to both men as they made their way up the corridor. "We are here as silent watchers, nothing more."

"I know that," grumbled Harry. "I know I can't save him so please stop reminding me." They reached a doorway ablaze with lamplight and made their way inside. Draco was too preoccupied with following them to take much notice of his surroundings until they found themselves a suitable vantage point. Then he looked up and his breath caught in his throat. A man stood near the fireplace, sipping from a tumbler. Draco's eyes roamed over the man's features, so similar to his own. The same white blond hair (albeit longer than his), the same pointed chin and skin so pale it resembled alabaster.

He reached for Hermione's hand. "Is – is that…"

She squeezed his fingers in a silent gesture of support. "Yes," she whispered. "That's Lucius Malfoy – your father."

Suddenly a noise from the doorway drew their attention. A red-haired man was standing there, his wand pointed at Lucius's chest. "What are you doing here, Malfoy?" he demanded, his voice breathless.

The blond man looked over at him lazily, his eyes travelling slowly over the Auror uniform the man wore. Draco watched as a sneer broke out on the man's refined features. "I rather think I should be asking you that question," he responded, his tone icy. "This is, after all, my home. But then, as a Weasley, I hardly expect you were taught common manners."

Draco felt Hermione and Harry shaking beside him. "Ron," whispered Harry. "Why did you confront him, mate?"

Ron stepped into the room, raising his wand higher. Lucius stepped back, his face breaking into a smile. "Now, now, Weasley… there's no need to be hasty. I defected, after all. I'm not a Death Eater anymore."

Ron's face turned purple with anger. "You're not a Death Eater anymore because there ARE NO DEATH EATERS ANYMORE!" he raged. "Voldemort was stopped and you ran away like the foul little coward you are. I'm not surprised your wife left you, Malfoy, you're a snivelling piece of dragon dung just like your son."

Draco winced, but couldn't take his eyes away from the scene that was playing out in front of him.

Lucius was now regarding Ron with a look that would have melted rock. "How dare you? I came back to look for my son! That's why I am here!"

Ron laughed harshly. "Well, he's not here. He's nowhere. We have been searching the country for him, and he's nowhere to be found."

"You wouldn't tell me even if you had found him!" roared Lucius suddenly. "And as for my wife, she didn't leave me." His eyes were glittering now with barely suppressed rage. "She tried! Oh yes, she tried. Turns out that my darling Narcissa wasn't as untouchable as she thought. She soon succumbed when I shot my favourite curse at her."

Ron's mouth dropped open. "You… killed your wife?"

Lucius smiled. "Of course. She was no use to me. There was only one thing I needed from her, and she refused to give it voluntarily so I took it by force."

Harry was clenching his fists. "Stun him, Ron! Body bind him! DO SOMETHING!"

The grin was still on the elder Malfoy's face as he suddenly shook his right arm, a wand appearing in his hand. Ron reacted instantly and shot off a hex at the older man, but he deflected it easily. Within moments spells of all colours were ricocheting off the walls of the room, destroying the little furniture that remained. Ron kept up his defence, throwing all kinds of offensive and defensive spells before Lucius eventually broke the deadlock with a wisp of grey from his wand. Ron flew backwards, landing against the wall with a heavy thud as shackles appeared from nowhere and locked around his wrists and ankles.

"Malfoy, let me down!" he roared, his wand arm flailing as Lucius disarmed him, catching his wand neatly.

"Did you like that one, Weasley? A spell you didn't know. Not many know of it – and nobody can cast it unless they are a Malfoy. One that was created by the very first Malfoy – my dear ancestor Armand." The taunt dripped from Lucius's lips like honey. "It comes in very useful. And yet you could shout the word 'imperet' as often as you like, and nothing would happen."

Ron was staring at him now, his struggles muted. "Why would you tell me that?" he demanded. "What are you going to do with me?"

"Nothing," replied his captor. "I don't need you, seeing as you have already given me the information I needed. You cannot find my son. Therefore, I see no reason to keep you… hanging around." He chuckled before flicking his wand in Ron's direction. "Avada Kedavra!"

Hermione screamed as the jet of green light erupted from the wand and struck Ron straight in the chest. She cried into Harry's shouder as Draco watched the body slump in the restraints, all life gone out of those blue eyes that clashed so much with that red hair. Before he could move to comfort her, another sound made them all stop and look up.

Lucius jumped, startled, his eyes moving towards the door. "You," he said in quiet surprise. "What –"

A figure was present in the doorway, hooded and hidden from view. The light had not reached them enough to illuminate the forbidding silhouette. The trio stared, trying desperately to identify the newcomer but could see no distinguishing features.

Lucius was still talking. "What are you doing here?" he demanded angrily. "I thought…"

Before he could say any more, another flash of green light illuminated the room before Lucius slumped to the floor. Another colourful spell lit up the room, this time blue, and Ron's shackles disappeared. Ron's body fell from the wall and landed heavily on the floor, resting opposite the splayed body of Lucius Malfoy.

Harry, Hermione and Draco emerged from the pensieve; gasping for air. Hermione's tears were still rolling down her cheeks while Harry's eyes were deeply troubled. Draco could do nothing but sit there in shock. Minutes passed before Harry spoke.

"Well it proves one thing. Draco definitely wasn't responsible for Ron's death," he stated, his voice shaking. "But we can't say for sure who killed Lucius."

"That couldn't have been Draco either," added Hermione. "Didn't you notice that whoever killed Lucius cast a wordless – and wandless - Killing Curse? Draco can't do that, he never could. I've only ever seen one wizard do both wandless and wordless magic, and that was Dumbledore."

Harry's brow furrowed. "That's an excellent point, Hermione. It checks out, though. The bodies were in the same place that we found them although we never found any wands. I'm guessing the person who killed Lucius took them."

Draco was silent. Hermione looked at him and was concerned to see what appeared to be tears forming in his grey eyes. "Draco – are you alright?"

He shook his head, closing his eyes. "No, no I'm not. That man was my father and he was the vilest man I've ever seen. He killed my mother, and I don't even remember her!" A tear escaped his eye, running down his cheek as he looked at Harry and Hermione. "Was I close to my mother? Do you know?"

Hermione was the first to speak. "I couldn't say for sure, Draco, but… everything we saw seemed to indicate that yes, you were."

"And my… my father? Was I close to him, too?"

This time Harry spoke first. "I'm not sure close is the word I would use. You emulated him, from what we could tell. You certainly saw him as a role model. You bragged about him in school."

Draco grimaced, his face twisted in self-loathing. "I must have been a horrible person," he whispered.

Hermione immediately stood up and went to him, taking his face in her hands. "You were, Draco, but you are not that person anymore. You are completely different… you are a good man." He tried to move away, but she would not let him, looking into his eyes with a ferocity that surprised him.

Harry nodded. "Our 'Mione doesn't usually read people wrong, Draco." He smiled sadly. "I agree with you that your father was a cold-hearted evil bastard, but you were never as bad as him." He shrugged. "You certainly aren't anything like that now."

Draco brushed at his eyes angrily and Hermione let go of his face. "I just didn't expect him to be so… so evil," he sighed. "I have so much respect for you both after seeing that. It makes me even more determined to be an Auror – and a good one, at that."

Hermione looped her arm through his. "And you will be, Draco. You will be." She looked at Harry before taking her seat again. "So that memory was just recently found?" she asked, her voice now businesslike.

Harry nodded. "Seamus found it earlier, just before we were due to finish work. It definitely wasn't there before. We did a full sweep of the room when we found the bodies under the lockdown procedure."

Draco leaned forward. "Was anything else found in the room?"

"Nothing, other than a lot of dust. There were no footprints, nothing. It just seemed to have materialised there."

"Has the Floo been checked?" asked Hermione. "It could have been thrown there by somebody in the fireplace?"

Harry shook his head. "There hasn't been an active Floo connection in Malfoy Manor since before the war ended. Voldemort closed them all and they were never reopened." He pushed his chair back. "There's no use us spending all night here. Ginny has a full meal ready and under Warming Charms at home. You still willing to come for dinner?"

Hermione looked at Draco and they both smiled before nodding. "As much as I love cooking, it's not a patch on Weasley cooking," quipped Hermione, and they both followed Harry out of the room.