"I'm so sorry, Draco," Hermione kept her eyes to the floor, her heart breaking at the memory of the boy in front of her.
Draco didn't know what to say; all he felt was shame. "I should've fought him. I never wanted the mark. But I was a coward. I was too scared to stand up to him because he threatened my mother."
Hermione turned to look at him and grabbed his hands. "You can't blame yourself, what could you have done? You were 16, a child! Trying to fight him would've been suicide!"
There's that warm feeling again. When he still didn't look up at her, she continued, "You know that's the problem with us Gryffindors." This got his attention. "We can be terribly reckless. Brave, sure, clever? Not always. And that gets us into so much trouble."
He flashed a small grin and squeezed her hand, "You know us Slytherins and self-preservation," she let out a giggle as the next memory started.
They were back in her room, though the decor was a bit older, the books definitely thicker, and there were no toy wands littering the floor. Hermione stiffened as she looked at herself, not much younger than she is now, sitting on her bed crying, staring at the vinewood wand in her hands.
"Granger, if this is another Weasley weep fest, I'm going to gouge my eyes out." He looked over at her and was immediately silenced. Ok, it's definitely more serious than some teenage crush gone wrong.
Memory hermione walked down to her living room and they followed. On the couch were the Drs Granger, watching a moving picture in something hermione called a "television".
"Obliviate..."
Draco watched in shock, his mouth ajar as he watched the silvery blue tendrils of memories flow from her parents to their daughter's wand. He looked around the room and pictures were changed, Hermione being erased from them.
He catches Hermione's eye and she's in tears, shaking like a leaf. "You erased yourself from your parents' memory...why?"
She looked at him, heartbroken. "This is right before we went to hunt horcruxes. I did it to keep them safe from Voldemort, as I wouldn't be able to protect them."
He stared at her in awe, and to both of their surprise, he pulled her into a hug. She was surprised by his actions, but couldn't help but wrap her arms around him and sob into his chest. "I miss them so much."
He let her cry. "We'll find them. After this is over, we'll go find them, and they can see the best mind healers in the wizard's world. We'll get them back."
She shook her head against him, flattered that he even cared so much for two random muggles. "I tried to reverse it after the war, but I found out that the spell was too far gone. It's permanent, they'll never know they even had a daughter." His heart broke for her. As he released her the memory began to change.
They landed in a forest. Oh no. There stood Ron, yelling at her and Harry, throwing around accusations, and finally storming off.
"I never did think you two were a good fit, you know?"
Hermione snapped her head around to look at him. "What? Why?"
He shrugged. "You're way too smart for him. You need somebody who can keep up with you and support your ambitions. Somebody you can have intelligent conversations with."
She lifted up one eyebrow and smirked at him, "Oh yeah? Who would you suggest?" She never got her answer.
They felt the pull they were grown used to now, when they changed memories. They looked at each other confused, as the location was the same, but felt different. Memory Hermione stood in her spot and went inside the tent. Again the duo followed, her mind giving off a small smile as she watched Harry turn the radio dial and begin to dance. Soon they were laughing and spinning. Harry always did know the right thing to do to pull her out of her shell.
"Well, the Weaslette isn't going to like this," Hermione smacked Draco's arm playfully. "Oh, hush you."
He turned her to him and looked her in the eyes, those delicious brown eyes. "No seriously, was the weasel right? Are you and Harry..?"
"NO!" She turns away from him, crossing her arms to her chest. "He's my best friend! I don't see him like that! Not like I..." She stopped herself cold before the words came tumbling out of her mouth against her will. What was that? What was she thinking? That's the problem, she was being emotional and not thinking.
"Not like you what?" Draco was way too close to her. He never got his answer. Next thing they know, Hermione and Harry dissolved into thin air, and they heard Harry and Ron arguing outside of the tent. They followed the noise. They had moved to the next memory. Draco had his eye narrowed at three men dressed in black, wandering awfully close to the golden trio's campsite.
"Who are they?" Draco turned to ask Hermione and saw her eyes wide and face pale. "Hermione, what's wrong? Who are those guys?"
"They're the snatchers," she says evenly, "they're the ones who bring us to the manor, and me to your Aunt Bellatrix."
~~~~~~~~~~~
"Two weeks have gone by, Minerva, and nothing! Nothing at all from either one of them! What if they never wake up?" Molly Weasley was pacing in the headmistress's office, waving her arms about.
McGonagall had her fingers held to her temples to try and quell the looming headache. "Mrs Weasley, we've been over this. Those two are two of the smartest wizards I have ever known. They will figure this out. They are book smart and resourceful and fully capable of coming to at the very least a truce with one another in order to solve a problem."
Molly huffed and sat down in her chair. "I know you're right, it's just, she's like my own daughter, I can't help but be worried."
"We're all worried, Molly, but things will work out the way they should. It has to."