Remember

CHAPTER 25: Revelation









Draco Malfoy watched as Hermione moved through the corridor slowly. She stayed close to the wall as though she needed it to be close in case she required its support to remain upright. She had her arms curled protectively around a leather bound book, her head hanging low as she hid behind a curtain of hair.









He felt his stomach turn as he stared at the shell of a witch he begrudgingly admired. He would never admit it to anyone, especially his father, but he had the utmost respect for her. She was courageous, fiery and more intelligent than any witch he had ever known. He couldn’t stand seeing her so broken, so lost in her melancholy.









He stepped from the shadows to block her path. She didn’t even look up as she attempted to step around him only to have him sidestep and block her path.







“Where are you off to in such a hurry?” Draco asked his arrogant sneer firmly in place as he tried to provoke her. “Cat got your tongue, Granger?”







“Excuse me please.” She whispered weakly trying once more to get around him only to find her path blocked again.









“I don’t think I will…what happened to you, Mudblood?” He used the epithet he knew would get her blood boiling.









“Please, Draco…” She pleaded softly. He gasped in surprise when she used his name, she had never used his name, it was always Malfoy or some other derogatory term.







“Granger…look, I know we aren’t friends and we probably never will be….but something is seriously wrong with you…what happened?” He asked, thankful that it was nearing curfew and the halls were clear. He would never hear the end of it if anyone heard him trying to comfort her.









“You wouldn’t understand.” She said.









“Did….did someone hurt you?” He asked. He had seen the women after the revels, the sad, forlorn looks on their faces once the deatheaters had finished with them and he felt anger rise up inside him at the thought of someone forcing themselves on her.









“No…it was nothing like that.” She said.









“Is it Potter and Weasley? Are they giving you a hard time?”







“No…it isn’t them.” She shook her head.









“Then what is it? Are you worried about graduation? About being alone now that your parents are gone? I know you aren’t worried about your N.E.W.T.s, you could have passed them fifth year!” He reached for her shoulders and shook her slightly. “Look at me….” Her eyes were filled with tears when she looked up. “Soon you will be able to leave this school and all the memories behind….is that what bothers you? Memories of being here?”







He was so close to the truth with those words that she felt sick to her stomach. She jerked free of his hold and fled down the hall and up the stairs towards the top floor. Draco cursed softly and chased after her. He wasn’t sure why but he was certain he should not let her go anywhere alone.







He followed her up the stairs, taking them two at a time as she raced towards a rarely used corridor. She was fast; he would give her credit for that. He followed her down the hall and up the narrow staircase only to find a large, wooden door slammed in his face and locked securely.







He tried every spell he could think of but she had warded it tightly. He turned and fled down the stairs to seek help and he was just about to round the corner when he was jerked backwards sharply by his robes.







“What are you doing roaming the halls, Mr. Malfoy?” Severus asked, glaring at the young man.









“Sir…I….I was following Granger.” He admitted.









“I thought I told you to leave her alone.” Severus growled.









“I was talking to her….just talking…not hurting her….I just wanted to know what was wrong with her and she ran. She took off down that hall and up the battlement stairs, she locked the door and I can’t get past the wards sir.” Draco pointed towards the entryway to the corridor and Severus felt his heart begin to pound.









“Get back to your room, Draco, and speak of this to no one.” Severus said, abruptly releasing the boy’s robes as he moved quickly down the hall and up the narrow staircase that led to the castle battlements. He stared at the door for a moment, fear causing his pulse to race as he unraveled her wards. He cursed softly, wondering how she managed to weave such an intricate spell at so young an age. With a rough shout of triumph he released the spell and the door flew back on its hinges as he shoved through.









His stomach dropped when he saw her standing along the wall, her hands braced on the stones as she stared over the side. Fear tore through him, fear that she would lean forward just a little more and tumble head first onto the ground below.







“Step back.” He said softly, not wanting to startle her. She didn’t look at him, she continued to stand there staring out into the night.









“Please leave me alone.” She said quietly. The tears burned her cheeks, raw from so many days of near constant crying.









“I can’t do that…you need to step back.” He said, closing the door and locking it behind him in case someone came. “Do not make me tell you again, Miss Granger!” He shouted, his fear made him angry.









“I wasn’t going to jump.” She said softly as she took a step back. “I just wanted to come here…to remember.”









Severus had done the same on more than on occasion. He had come to the spot where he had first made her his and thought about her, what they had shared. He saw her run her fingers over the braid at her wrist and he immediately recalled the curl now nestled safely in the top drawer of his bureau; he had kept it for all those years.









“Nothing in this world is worth you making yourself ill over, Miss Granger. Your melancholy is disrupting classes, worrying the staff and interfering with the education of others.” He said roughly, trying not to give in and go to her.









“You don’t understand.” She said, sobbing softly. The man she loved stood right behind her, chastising her for being a nuisance not knowing that once upon a time they had loved deeply and she mourned the loss of it.









“What is it that I don’t understand, Miss Granger? That you had a romance while you were away? That you were separated? Do you fancy yourself a modern day Juliet ripped from her beloved Romeo and destined to die for love?” He snarled. “Pathetic.”









“Not pathetic. As much as I missed my friends, my life here…I wanted to stay with him, I would have stayed with him had there been a way, had it been possible.” She said quietly. Severus felt his anger begin to seep away at her words. “I loved him, I know you don’t believe me but I did…I still do and I always will. You can make fun of me all you want but he is the other half of me and I will never be whole again now that we are apart. I love him and I miss him more than you will ever know.”







Severus stood there, soaking her words in like a sponge. Something inside him snapped and he lunged forward, grabbed her arm and swung her around to face him. With his other hand he grasped her chin and tilted her face up so their eyes met.







“Me.” He growled. “Not him you foolish girl. It is ME you love, ME you pine for!” he said angrily. Her eyes widened and a small whimper slid past her lips.









“You remember.” She sobbed.







“Yes.” He hissed. “Foolish, besotted boy that I was I refused to let Dumbledore wipe my memory. I have been tormented for the past several months by headaches as my memory was altered, watching it play out in my dreams every night.”









“Damn you, why didn’t you tell me? I have been grieving for you!” She cried, pounding her fists against his chest, finally showing an emotion other than sorrow. Severus grabbed her wrists to subdue her, jerking her against him so that his face was a scant inch from hers.







“And what purpose would it serve? I am not the boy you fell in love with. I am a grown man who is far too old and jaded for such a young witch.” He argued.









“Age had nothing to do with it; I was drawn to you long before I was jerked back through time.” She admitted. “I loved you and you said you loved me too, was it a lie?”









“No…it was not a lie.” He said, his tone softer and his hold on her wrists looser. “But there is no future for us, Hermione. We knew that then and it still holds true now.”









“Why? Why is there no future for us, Severus? What is there to stop us? You still love me, don’t you?” She uncurled her fists and clutched the front of his robes.







“I am your teacher…”







“For another two weeks.”









“I am too old for you….”









“Age means nothing; I am far older than my years.”









“I am a possessive man….”









“You always were.”









“You love the boy I was….”









“I love YOU, period.” She said softly, color blooming in her cheeks. “Do you still love me?”









“Gods forgive me, as wrong as it is I do.” He said, sounding as though the words were being ripped from inside him. Hermione cried out softly and lifted onto her toes, her hands still clutching his robes tightly as she pressed her lips to his. He groaned and kissed her back, feeling as though the world has set itself to rights with the taste of her.







He released her wrists and wrapped his arms around her, kissing her until her knees buckled and she slumped against him. He gathered her close and slid to the stone floor beneath them, his back against the wall as he cradled her in his lap.







“This is going to get complicated.” He said, brushing a kiss against her temple.









“When has it not been complicated, Severus?” She asked, burrowing into his chest, her face nestled into the side of his neck. How many nights had he sat and held her that way? He missed the feel of her in his arms, the scent of her hair, and the taste of her.









“You…we…have to be careful until you graduate, Hermione, I am still your teacher.” He said, smoothing his hands over her curls.









“We will manage.” She said, sighing into his throat.









“People are going to be shocked and they may not be nice about it.” He said.









“People were shocked before and they weren’t always nice about it.” She chuckled. “Stop looking for the negative, Severus. We found something amazing and as luck would have it, we get to keep it, let’s just focus on that.”









“My optimistic little witch, always looking for the good.” He said, laughing slightly.









“Say it again.” She whispered.









“What?”







“The part where you said I was your witch.” She kissed the side of his neck softly as she embraced him tightly.









“Never doubt that you are mine, no matter what happens, you are always mine.” He held her tightly to him and prayed silently that she would not come to resent him for his hold on her, because he just could not bear to let her go.