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Memories…Visions…Nightmares…

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It was early morning the next day and Harry was in the infirmary, sitting beside Hermione's bed when she woke up. He stood up and came beside her as she opened her eyes and looked at him.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Weak," Hermione said in a raspy voice so Harry grabbed the goblet of water from the nightstand and carefully made her take a sip from it. She visibly relieved when she drank it. "What happened to me?"

Harry looked at her as his face twitched slightly. "Pomfrey said it was an allergic reaction, from the pumpkin juice that you drank," he said.

"From pumpkin juice?" Hermione asked sounding confused.

"I know, right?" he said. "I asked her how you could be allergic to it when you've been drinking it for so long. She said that sometimes the body develops these allergies which we didn't have before. Yours was quite a serious one. It scared us."

Hermione looked at him for a minute before whispering a 'sorry'. Just then Pomfrey walked in and came straight to them. She then started to diagnose Hermione so Harry stepped to the side, letting the medi-witch do her job.

"How is she now, Madame Pomfrey?" he asked her once she was done.

"Everything looks good," the medi-witch replied before looking at Hermione. "I think you will be good to go by lunch time, dear."

"Thanks, Madame Pomfrey," Hermione said smiling slightly. The medi-witch nodded before administering a few potions to her. After Hermione had taken all of them, Pomfrey left. "So, it looks like I won't be having any pumpkin juice from now on," she said.

Harry smiled with pressed lips before placing his hand on top of hers. "Neville and I took notes for you from yesterday's class," he said causing her to chuckle. "Don't scare us like this again."

"I'll try not to," she said.

As lunch arrived Pomfrey freed Hermione from the infirmary, much to the latter's relief which didn't last long when the medi-witch recommended that she skipped classes for the day and use that time to rest in her dorm. Hermione wanted to argue that she was feeling fine enough to attend the remaining classes but Harry and Neville weren't having it. She ultimately agreed but that didn't mean that she would just 'waste' the day. Instead of going to her dorm to rest she went to the library. Because classes were still going on the place was completely empty. Hermione gathered a bunch of books from the shelves and headed for her favorite place to sit when she noticed that it was already occupied by someone else. Much to her surprise, it was Daphne Greengrass.

The Slytherin saw her but said nothing. She simply moved her books to one side, making space at the table for Hermione. She then looked at her again, as if telling her that it was alright to sit there. Hermione chewed her lower lip, thinking for a minute before she put her books on the table and then sat down in front of Daphne.

"Shouldn't you be resting?" Daphne said a moment later as she moved her focus back to the book which she was reading.

"Uh…I feel fine now. Thanks," Hermione said a bit nervously. An awkward silence then filled between them. She kept stealing glances at Daphne who was completely focused on her book. Finally, Hermione couldn't resist. "Why aren't you in class?" she asked.

The Slytherin looked at her with an expressionless face. "I know enough about you to know that that wasn't supposed to be your first question for me," she said. Hermione looked a little flushed. "It's alright. I wouldn't mind."

There was silence between them again before Hermione spoke. "Are you and Harry really together?"

"Yes," Daphne said simply, "and we would really appreciate it, if you didn't tell anyone about it, especially Weasely."

"I won't," Hermione said.

"Are you certain?" Daphne pressed. Hermione looked at her with a raised brow so Daphne leaned back in her chair. "Just making sure," She said.

Silence filled between them again as Hermione couldn't think of anything to say to Daphne. She saw that the Slytherin wasn't saying anything either which told her that maybe she didn't want to talk at the moment. Wondering if she should leave, Hermione then thought against it. Because she didn't exactly hide her feelings on her expressions, she got Daphne's attention.

"Something bothering you?" the Slytherin asked. "You look like you want to say something."

"Do I?" Hermione said. She was honestly surprised how Daphne knew but Hermione wondered whether she was the right person to ask that question. Maybe she knew something. Maybe she didn't.

"If you have something to say to me, now would be the time to say it," Daphne said.

Hermione decided to go with that as she also thought that maybe she won't get another chance like this. "I think Madame Pomfrey is lying to me," she said.

Daphne looked at her with mild interest. "Why would you say that?" she asked.

"She told me that I had an allergic reaction," Hermione said. "But I've had an allergic reaction before and it wasn't anything like what I had experienced yesterday."

"What are you allergic to?" Daphne asked.

"Pineapples," she said. "Only my parents know about it. I was eight years old when we first found out. I still remember how I felt that day. My face had swollen up and my throat had closed. What I felt yesterday was anything but that. My body felt like it was burning on the inside while at the same time I felt like I was drowning. I know for sure that it wasn't an allergic reaction."

"So that is why you think that Pomfrey is lying to you?" Daphne asked. Hermione nodded slowly. "Why would she do that?"

"I don't know," Hermione said. "Seems like, I'll have to ask her. Besides, it's unethical to hide anything from your patients, even in the magical world."

Daphne seemed surprised that Hermione knew that. "You know about the Healer's Oath?" she asked.

"It's framed and hung on the infirmary wall, next to Pomfrey's office," Hermione said.

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It had happened all of a sudden. A powerful explosion had shook Malfoy Manor, surprising everyone, including Voldemort. Lucius was at once looking for the source of the explosion and he found out that it had taken place in one of the guest houses on the southern side of the estate, about half a kilometer from the main manor. Because the entire estate was protected by wards, it didn't make sense how the explosion had happened because no one could infiltrate the place without Lucius knowing about it. However, the wards hadn't alerted him of any intrusion and all the death eaters at the estate were accounted for and none of them were on the southern side.

Apparating over by the guest house, Lucius looked around when he spotted someone move swiftly behind the trees. Without hesitation he fired a series of exploding curses, taking down the tree line where he had seen the person, when a spell came flying at him. He quickly raised a shield, just in time to block it. He recognized the spell and was surprised because it was just a knock-out spell and nothing serious.

It was then that the mirror in his pocket buzzed and he saw Narcissa's face on it. He didn't have to ask her what happened as the words had already left her mouth the moment he picked up her call before he quickly made his way back to the main manor. Once there he saw Voldemort was out in the front yard looking angry and also somewhat scared. Beside him, Bellatrix was shouting at the death eaters to 'find them'. Without wasting any time Lucius walked up to him and knelt down on his knees.

"They're gone," Voldemort said. Lucius didn't miss the hint of fear in his voice but he didn't dare look at the dark wizard for he was afraid that that might be a really bad thing to do at the moment. He simply stood up with his head still bowed down, before he turned around and took as many death eaters as he could to look around the estate for the missing items that had just been stolen from the Malfoy Manor.

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"What should we do?" Daphne asked. She and Harry were talking using the mirror as they lay in their beds during night. He wasn't surprised though when she told him that Hermione suspected of being lied to about what had happened to her.

"Does she suspect me?" he asked.

"Not from what I could tell," Daphne said. "She thinks that only Pomfrey is lying to her. If Hermione knew that you knew then I'd have seen it on her face. She isn't exactly great at hiding what she's thinking."

Harry sighed. He thought about it for a moment. "If she doesn't suspect me then I think we shouldn't tell her anything," he said.

"And what if she does?" Daphne asked. "I just want to be ready for the worst."

"Then we just tell her and hope that she understands," Harry said. His face then became expressionless as he paused. "What do we do about Ron?"

"We wait for now," Daphne said. "Pomfrey and McGonagall won't let this slide, not only because he used a Class-II restricted potion, but also because he used it on an under-aged student. I don't know how Weasely will be punished but knowing McGonagall, she won't let it slide."

"I still can't believe that he'd stoop so low," Harry said. His voice was shaking which told Daphne how angry he was. "What if Umbridge interferes? Knowing how much she hates me, she won't let this opportunity go and will probably save Ron from any hard punishment."

"I don't think McGonagall and Pomfrey would let Umbridge know," Daphne said, "seeing how much they and every other faculty in Hogwarts hate that woman. They would have to be quick with Weasely though because if he gets the chance then he might go to Umbridge for help and then we know what might happen." She saw Harry's face. She knew how much he cared about Hermione. "Hey," she said, making him look at her, "we'll get through this."

"Let's hope so," Harry responded slowly.

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"Is that the house?" asked Matt as he stopped the car in the quiet muggle neighborhood.

"According to the address, yeah," Ann said leaning a bit forward, so as to see if she could read the name on the mailbox. "It says 'Cohen'. That's her maiden name."

"Probably had a spat-out with her husband," Matt said. "Why would she move here, of all places?" The neighborhood was tens of kilometers away from the nearest city and there weren't many houses in the place either.

"I don't know," Ann said, "but when I got the news about her moving to a new place, I couldn't help but worry. It took me a whole month to find this address."

"Do we know why she moved out?"asked Matt. "Was it actually because of her husband?"

"All I know is that she did it out of the blue," Ann said. "Our informant didn't know where she went so I had to reach out to find her whereabouts. Apparently, it's been months since her husband left her and she had been living alone in that house before finally moving to this place."

"And where is her husband?" Matt asked.

"I don't know," Ann said. "He's not the priority because he was never in the picture to begin with. Let's go, shall we?"

"You really think this is a good idea?" Matt asked.

"We won't know unless we try," Ann said. "Besides, we are just two strangers who are looking for our friend."

Matt sighed as the two got out of the car before heading towards the house. However, as soon as they reached near the fence they stopped before exchanging a glance of surprise.

"Do you feel that?" Matt asked.

"What should we do?" asked Ann when the door to the house opened and a woman walked out looking at the Greengrasses.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"Um, do you know where the Johnsons live?" Matt said smiling awkwardly.

"I don't know any Johnsons," the woman said. "Maybe ask around?"

"We'll do that," Ann said this time. "Sorry to bother you."

"It's alright," the woman said smiling before she went back inside. Ann and Matt wasted not another second as they turned around and went back to their car.

"There's definitely something off," Ann said. "There's no way a muggle – who knows nothing about magic – has a ward around their house."

"It wasn't just any ward," Matt said slowly. "I touched it with my magic and its weaving pattern surprised me. Whoever erected that ward is no mere magical. They are highly skilled, not to mention powerful."

"Why would they ward her place of all people?" asked Ann. "Do they know who she is?"

"Even if they did, why would they ward the place?" Matt said. "It's definitely meant to protect her. It also means that she is in contact with a magical either with or without her knowledge of who they actually are."

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Daphne found herself in a familiar place. However, she couldn't remember what this place was, when suddenly the ruins of the building appeared in front of her. It was the Malfoy Manor and it was completely destroyed. The tall towers were gone as were most of the roofs. She was standing far enough from it to see how much damage the place had taken. Confused as to how she got here she looked around and stopped when she saw the tombstone.

She felt a chill down her spine as she read the names engraved on it. They were of Draco, Astoria and Scorpius'. She remembered the last name from the dream she had a while back where Draco was adjusting the camera to take a picture of everyone. Astoria had come out of the manor holding a toddler who she had called Scorpius. He was her and Draco's son.

Her heart began to race and her breathing quickened. Her legs started shaking and the next moment it felt like all the air around her was gone. As she tried to gasp she found herself sitting in the bed in her dorm, breathing heavily. She looked around in panic before realizing that it was just a dream as she quickly used occlumency to calm herself. Once her breathing was under control she grabbed the water bottle from the nightstand and gulped the whole thing empty before sighing audibly.

She then sat there thinking about her dream. It didn't feel like one. It felt real which made her wonder whether it was actually a dream or something else. She compared it to Harry's visions from last year, which he had told her felt real. The fact that they had turned out to be real later that year scared Daphne. She wondered whether someone was intruding her mind, just like Voldemort had done to Harry. However, she would know if someone tried to do that to her. While she wasn't the strongest occlumence practitioner, she knew enough to know if and when someone tried to infiltrate her mind. This didn't feel like an infiltration though. This felt…different and too real. Maybe they were memories?

But memories of what, she wondered. Questions filled her head as she thought more and more about it before it became too much for her as she grabbed her head and screamed her heart out. Luckily, because of the privacy curtains around her bed, no one in the dorm heard her. She felt like losing her mind as she stopped screaming and just stared at the bed while panting with her eyes wide open. She then closed them and once again used occlumency to calm herself down. It took a little longer this time but her thoughts were finally rested before she fell back on her bed with her eyes closed. It wasn't clear whether she was asleep or she had blacked out.

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Thanks for reading…