The Burden of Memory

Authors Note: Thanks as always firstly go to my betas. Shannon and Alexandra are awesome. I also had some extra feedback from my inspiration for this fic, Jayficlover left her mark here to, so I just wanted to make a point to pass the awesome torch to her as well. In fact, I think I'm going to call then TEAM AWESOME! lol. For anyone who hasn't already noticed, I have started new fics called Alluring Lullaby & History Repeats Itself, please check it out and tell me what you think!(I'll also be posting the usual header for these on my other accounts)Also, Cravedom, you should really leave me your email! I would love to answer the questions you've been posting to all of my stories lol

Chapter 12 No one expects the Hermione Inquisition

Hermione was slightly irked as she knocked on the door to Harry’s flat. She had tried to floo over earlier and found the connection blocking her out.

Harry answered the door brightly, but his face instantly shut down the moment he saw her. “Mione, come in,” he offered.

She maneuvered into the flat and put on her best Mcgonagall glare. “Did you think you were funny?”

Harry looked curiously at her. “Pardon?”

“I’m assuming you blocked the floo on purpose,” she said.

Harry laughed. “Oh that. Well, I was a bit miffed at your lack of help last night,” he said, shooting a look at Draco, who was sitting in the living room and still well within earshot.

“Oh?” Hermione began, pretending as though Draco wouldn’t be able to hear her. “And how did that go? Was there cuddling?”

Harry yanked her sharply by the elbow, pulling her into the kitchen. “Yes,” he hissed, a bit embarrassed. “I should still be mad at you, maybe I should make you leave,” he huffed.

Hermione stifled a giggle. “Maybe you should thank me,” she mused, but Harry only glared at her.

“Regardless, you need to reset the floo wards. What if I had desperately needed to contact you,” she said frantically, her original point resurfacing among the thoughts of hot boy cuddling. Somehow she had always known Harry was off limits, but it wasn’t until just a few months earlier that she understood the reason behind it.

Harry was gay, and no girl would be able to change that.

Harry only shrugged. “I figured if you really needed me, you would have apparated over… like you just did,” he pointed out smugly.

“Yes, but the closest apparition point is still a bit of a walk. That could have cost me precious time if you were in danger,” she scoffed.

“Fine. I’ll fix them. Did you actually come here for anything aside from telling me off?” Harry asked.

“Yes actually. I wanted to find out how you discerned Draco isn’t lying about the memory loss,” she asked quickly and quietly.

Harry blushed. “Er… I just sort of believe him.”

“Harry really, try to be at least somewhat pragmatic here. He could be lying-“ she began, but Harry cut her off quickly.

“He’s not.”

“But how do you know?” she asked with a searching look. “I think your feelings for Draco might be clouding your vision,” she said frankly.

The statement seemed to cause the same reaction as if she had smacked him with a book, and she knew that look well, because she had done just that on many occasions. “My…!? I don’t…!! Impossible!” he squeaked in a stutter, as if scandalized.

“Harry, this is no time for denial. I did some inquiries at the Ministry about Malfoy, and I recovered some things that were… not so pleasant.”

“This is still Malfoy we’re discussing right? I would have been more concerned if you turned up stories about him rescuing abandoned puppies,” Harry scoffed, still defensive.

Again Hermione stifled the urge to laugh. “Harry, this is serious.”

“Fine, go on,” he said, giving her a bored wave.

Hermione rolled her eyes. “A wizard by the name of Elias Acworth told me about a letter he had anonymously received. It was detailing the plan to kidnap you,” she hissed, glad to not that she finally had Harry’s attention based on his newly ridged stance. “It wasn’t signed but they feel certain they know who wrote it based on the handwriting.”

Harry was silent for a moment and then his eyes took on an impatient twinkle. “Well, go on. Who do they think wrote it?”

“Draco,” she replied without ceremony.

Harry paled and sputtered. “No, that can’t be. I don’t know why, but Hermione, I just know he doesn’t mean me any harm.”

“Well, either way, if he’s telling the truth, he shouldn’t be opposed to some questions… under the influence of Veritaserum.”

Harry sighed and sagged against the wall. “You’re right. I should have done that right off. I’ll go talk to him.”

Hermione smiled, pleased with how well Harry was taking the news and watched as he went into the living room and sat beside Draco. They talked quietly back and forth and eventually Draco only shrugged and nodded.

She started a pot of tea and waited for Harry in the kitchen. “I thought if we put some in the tea, it might not feel as intrusive,” she offered when he arrived.

Harry nodded and smiled. “Thanks, Mione. It’s far kinder than I would have gotten from Ron.”

She could feel her eyes clouding over at the mention of Ron’s name. “That’s because Ron is an insensitive buffoon.”

A bark of laughter escaped Harry’s lips. “Still mad? I would have thought the infatuation with Vane all night last night would have gotten rid of some of that.”

She could feel the blush creep up her cheeks. “We knew each other before, you know? Vane and I. We went to primary school together and I had an enormous crush on him,” she said with a small laugh.

“Well, he told me last night that he had liked me, and then when I left, he thought he’d never see me again. It was really sweet. He had no idea why I left until he saw me with you yesterday. He doesn’t even care that I’m a witch,” she said excitedly.

“Of course he wouldn’t. It’s in his blood,” Harry said. “That’s great though…and it helps explain why in Merlin’s name you thought it was a good idea to date Ron. Maybe you’re just infatuated with red hair,” he teased.

Hermione rolled her eyes but laughed. “It really was a terrible idea wasn’t it?”

Harry nodded but his mocking words were drowned out by the teapot whistling that the tea was finished. Hermione took three cups and poured tea to each, then the Veritaserum into the last, which she handed to Harry. “Give this one to Draco, I’ll carry ours,” she instructed and Harry nodded.

Back in the living room, he handed him the cup and Draco sipped from it immediately. When the cup was mostly drained, his face began to scrunch up and contort slightly. He frowned and shook him head. “I feel… odd.”

Hermione smiled. “It’s beginning to work. You’ll feel compelled to answer all of our questions honestly,” she told him.

Draco nodded and waited for the onslaught. “Tell us your name,” she asked first, trying to establish that it was working.

“Draco Abraxas Malfoy,” he replied mechanically.

“And how old are you?”

“Seventeen… almost eighteen.”

“Before we found you, had you been planning to hurt Harry?” she asked, her voice firm and unyielding.

“No,” he replied instantly and then hesitated. “But… I feel like there is more to that answer… I just don’t know what,” he sighed.

“Do you know of any plot to hurt me?” Harry amended.

Draco’s face once again shifted as he tried to concentrate on the question. “I… I think I might… but I can’t remember anything that recent. Older memories come back to me easier.”

“How much of your memory do you retain?” Hermione asked.

Draco’s face contorted and he seemed to be finding a hard time answering. “Almost everything is fuzzy, just a blur of color and sound in my heard, until Harry says or does something that triggers my memory, then everything in and surrounding that memory gets crisper,” he recounted.

Hermione bit her bottom lip and shot Harry an apologetic look. “Has it only been Harry who triggers your memory?”

Harry looked at her incredulously but Draco seemed to think about it. “Yes and no. When I see people, like you and my parents, I remember some things about them, but not important things. It’s only Harry though that helps me recover lost memories just by speaking to me about certain things.”

“Interesting,” she mused.

“How is that interesting? Maybe he only thinks that because I’m the only one who has ever tried to help him remember,” Harry corrected, looking a bit agitated.

“Maybe,” Hermione replied with a nod. “Malfoy, can you recall the day you were attacked by a hippogriff? We were just outside the forbidden forest and Hagrid was the teacher and Harry had an easy time of riding him, so you thought you’d be cocky and walk right up to it, and it lashed out at you.”

Draco listened intently and then seemed to concentrate on her words, but after several minutes shook his head. “I don’t remember it,” he sighed.

“Harry, you try and get him to remember that same instance,” she prodded.

“But-“

“Just try,” she huffed.

Harry sighed. “It was in Care of Magical Creatures, third year,” Harry began until Draco started blushing. “What?”

“I… remember it. The thing barely grazed me but I made such a fuss over it,” he laughed.

Hermione’s eyes went wide, but Harry still looked skeptical. “You just didn’t give him enough information.”

Hermione rolled her eyes. “I think his memory loss is magical, not physical,” she said. “I mean, we all had our suspicions, but I think this proves it.”

“But what about that brain trauma that my uncle mentioned seeing in the CT scan? Do you think it was also forged with magic?” Harry asked, though Hermione knew he agreed with her assessment, just not the reason why. When he saw her nod, he added, “How does this prove that he didn’t just bump his head?”

“The spell cast on Draco was customized so that only you would be able to help him regain his memory,” she whispered.

“Rubbish,” Harry said after a moment of consideration, rolling his eyes. “All we truly just proved is that you can’t get him to remember and I can. That could be true for any number of reasons. Maybe it’s because I’m a guy, or because he knows me better, or because he likes me more… as a friend… n-not as,” he started stuttering again and eventually groaned and ran his hand through his hair in defeat.

Both Hermione and Draco were smiling widely. “Do you like Harry more,” Hermione asked in a teasing tone.

“Yes,” Draco answered instantly then his eyes went wide. “How about no one ask anymore questions along those lines while I still have this stuff in my system?” he pleaded.

Harry nodded in agreement, and Hermione could feel a wicked grin spreading across her face. “Do you love Harry?”

Harry’s eyes went impossibly wide as he looked at the boy sitting next to him.

“I… I don’t know,” Draco whispered and Hermione shrugged.

“It’s only a matter of time, I’m sure,” she said.

“I can’t believe you just did that,” Harry hissed at her, this time half-considering dragging her towards the fireplace and blocking her floo access, indefinitely.

“What? It’s not like I asked him if he wanted to make wild passionate love to you,” she added with a smirk that would have rivaled Malfoy’s own.

“I d-“ Draco started but cut himself off with a hand clasped firmly over his own mouth.

“Hermione,” Harry snarled in warning.

“Fine, fine. I’ll leave you two be. I think I found out enough to exonerate Malfoy,” she said brightly.

“Good, then you can go,” Harry huffed.

Hermione only laughed and trailed over to the door. “Be good, boys,” she called over her shoulder, before leaving the flat.

--

Harry threw a pillow from the sofa at the closed door. Hermione was such an instigator. Harry should have lied through his teeth when she confronted him about his sexuality.

“I’m sorry about her,” Harry told him. “I don’t know why she always has to be such an arse.”

“She cares about you,” Draco replied.

Harry shrugged. “I suppose… I mean, I know she does. Sometimes she just oversteps the bounds a little.”

“And you never do?” he asked.

Harry laughed. “I thought you were the one being questioned today. How would you like it if I started asking you all sorts of personal questions right now?” he asked.

“Like what?” Draco asked, looking genuinely curious.

“Do you love Lara?” Harry asked.

Draco winced and shook his head. “I think I can though, quite easily. I just need a little time to get to know her.”

“Do you think there might be someone out there better for you?” Harry asked.

Draco shrugged. “I suppose it’s possible.”

“Does my being gay offend you?” he asked.

“No,” Draco said at once and then clamped his mouth shut to keep from saying anything else.

“Have you ever thought about being with men?” Harry asked, his voice was only a whisper and the two boys had moved closer together with every question, so that they were now only inches apart.

“Not until recently,” Draco answered.

Harry’s breath hitched and he was leaning toward Draco, who at the moment looked quite welcoming. Harry’s brain shut down. He was going to kiss him, damn the consequences. He was so close that he could taste Draco’s breath on his tongue, warm vanilla with a hint of something more exotic…

Harry heard the sharp click of the door and Draco must have too, because they leapt away from one another like frightened cats.

Harry attempted to look casual but felt like he was failing miserably. Luckily neither Ron nor Lara seemed to notice anything amiss. Lara went and sat on Draco’s lap and Ron glowered at the two of them together.

“Did you miss me,” Lara asked him.

“Er… I didn’t really have the time. Harry kept me very busy,” Draco answered.

Harry had to stifle a laugh as the Veritaserum was still working its way through Draco’s system, making him be honest. It seemed as though Draco was trying to come up with the most tactful way to say ‘no’ he could find.

His answer still made Lara frown slightly, but eventually she only shrugged. “Ron and I had fun. He took me out for ice cream,” she said brightly.

Harry made a face. “I’m not a big fan of ice cream,” Harry replied.

Draco blinked several times and then looked at Harry curiously. “I don’t like ice cream either.”

Ron rolled his eyes. “Who cares? No one even asked you, ferret.”

“Ronald,” Lara chastised, and Harry had to do a double take to make sure it wasn’t Hermione.

“What? I didn’t even threaten him,” Ron groaned.

Harry laughed, because it was in fact an improvement on Ron’s behavior toward Draco. “Please try to be nice, Ron.”

“I am,” he huffed.

“How can you not like ice cream?” Lara suddenly asked Draco. “I love ice cream.”

All three boys balked at the sudden change in topic.

Draco shrugged. “It makes my stomach hurt.”

“You’re probably lactose intolerant,” she mused. “How sad.”

Draco laughed. “Why is it sad?”

“We’ll never sit at the park and eat ice cream together,” she noted, looking a bit wistful.

Ron came over and snaked his had around her waist. “That’s what you have me for,” he said.

“Oh, Ron,” she teased, surprised, and blushed slightly. “…You’re such a good friend,” she said smiling; not having expected the red-head’s input.

Ron’s face fell at the last word and both Harry and Draco had to stifle a snicker. “You’ll have to try harder, mate,” Harry went to whisper in Ron’s ear. “I’m doing what I can from this side,” he added, eyes flickering to Draco.

Sure, getting Draco away from Lara was the number one priority, but maybe keeping him for himself wouldn’t be a bad bonus for the effort.

Harry shook his head. He couldn’t be with Draco, not even if the boy wanted him. He was with Lara, and in no way shape or form would it be appropriate for him to date Draco after that. It would be the same as him trying to date Hermione after she and Ron broke up.

It just shouldn’t happen, so Harry wouldn’t let it.

Plus, based on the hand rubbing along Lara’s thigh, he suspected Draco was straighter than both had allowed themselves to speculate lately.

Authors Note: Harry's fallen into a well, save him with your reviews!