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October 3rd, 2009
A heavy knock burst Hermione away from her reading. A distraction came out of nowhere to disturb her. Disturbing her numerous rereads of one of her favourite books, Pride and Prejudice. Hermione really desperately needed comfort right now and this was one of her comfort books, it was always going to be one of her comfort books. She needed all of the comforts right now, what with her fiancé, Draco, still being away with his work. It always worried her, and she hated how much worry always bubbled in her stomach when Draco went away on a work trip.
In the back of her mind, Hermione knew that she wasn’t expecting any guests, but maybe there was a surprise for her. And of course, Draco wouldn’t have needed to knock because he had his own bloody key to the whole place. It was technically his flat after all. Though, he admitted that he hated that Hermione always called it that, even if she was just being sarcastic about it, he would always state and inform her that it was “actually their flat and not just his anymore”. But even then, Draco wasn’t supposed to be back yet. He had falsely promised Hermione that he would try and be back before Halloween, but then he added that it would possibly be the week of Halloween, as things were getting pretty serious with work. He couldn’t even really guarantee that he would even be home. His job wasn’t the safest thing in the world, and she wished he worked at a safer one.
Hermione stood up from one of her favourite dragon leather wingback chairs in the Malfoy library, still clutching onto her hardback book tightly. Like all her strength was coming from holding onto the book and if she let go then she was falling to the floor.
Why was Hermione feeling all kinds of nervous and anxious about something all of a sudden? Her stomach was turning and twisting, knotting itself together, squeezing tightly as she walked out of the library, moving further and further away from her safe place. Her stomach continued squeezing itself tighter and tighter with every single step that Hermione took towards the front door.
Hermione started slowly walking down the stairs, taking every single step as slowly as humanly possible. She wanted to run away as fast as possible away from the door as she slowly opened it. Dread was bubbling up and filling more and more of Hermione’s stomach. Her stomach continued to twist, squeezing itself together tighter and tighter. She opened the door slowly, and Hermione peeked her head around the front door of her and Draco’s townhouse.
Hermione instantly spotted and came face to face with Blaise Zabini, but there was no sight of Ginny Weasley standing with him. Which she found incredibly strange, they were always spotted together. He was standing there in his usual funky and fashionable dress shirt and his smart, navy blue dress trousers. But there was still no sight of his girlfriend, Ginny, standing with him. Which was the first telling sign for Hermione that something was wrong and that something was going on. The second and final sign for Hermione that something was wrong was that Blaise had very bloodshot eyes, he had clearly been crying. Why had he been crying? What’s happened? What’s happening? What—?
“Granger, it’s— it’s—” Blaise started to stutter, his voice breaking as he tried his hardest to hold everything together and hold back his tears. He was struggling. Hermione could tell that Blaise almost broke down just at the pure sight of the woman. “It’s Draco…” Blaise finally got out the words before his voice trailed off into nothing again. And at his words, Hermione felt her world slowly start to collapse around her.
“He… He was in a freak accident. He— he doesn’t remember… Draco doesn’t seem to remember anyone, no one except Narcissa and Lucius. All of the doctors are currently assessing him and everything else right at this moment.” Blaise stuttered out. Hermione’s knees buckled underneath her but she clutched tightly onto the door frame to remain standing, to keep herself stable and together. But she wasn’t stable. “Oh, Granger, I am so, so sorry.” Blaise grabbed Hermione and hugged her close, holding her up so that neither of them would collapse and fall onto the floor. They really needed strength from each other right now.
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Hermione ran into the London hospital, not stopping for anyone or anything. She looked up towards the different direction signs, leading to all of the different wards there are within the hospital. The panic continued to rise further up and throughout her body. She hated this feeling right now. She needed to find Draco and or Lucius or Narcissa. Hermione could hear Blaise running into the hospital behind her, having kindly offered to pay for the taxi they had taken to get there. He already sounded partially out of breath, and clearly, someone hadn’t been exercising as much lately, but Hermione really needed him to get it together right now. She really needed Blaise to be able to keep up with her because Hermione wasn’t going to be stopping until she reached her Draco. She wouldn’t stop until Draco was back in her arms again and she knew that he was probably safe.
Hermione ran through the corridors of the hospital, flashes of pale blue flying past her as she ran, pushing and rushing past people, the panic continuing to build throughout her body. She wanted to stop and take a breath, but Hermione did not have the time right now to do that. Hermione felt like a panic attack was going to happen at any point if she didn’t find Draco right at that moment. She really needed Blaise to fucking keep up.
“Granger!” Blaise’s voice shouted towards her. “The other way! He is the other way!” She heard Blaise continue shouting behind her as she started running down a corridor, ignoring him. “Granger! Hey, Granger, this way, not that way.” He shouted again, finally grabbing her proper attention. Hermione stopped in her tracks, slightly skidding across the floor before turning and running back towards him, starting to run back in the direction that Blaise had directed her to go towards. Hermione continued running and running, faster than she had ever run before in her entire life. She was speeding like the wind through the hospital corridors.
Hermione finally reached the correct ward, a stitch making its horrible presence known as she stopped running, spotting Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy consoling each other outside of the private hospital room. The private room that Hermione could only assume was holding her Draco away from herself. And, of course, his parents had demanded and paid the extra fee for a private hospital room for their son. She heard Blaise finally catch up behind her as Hermione’s thoughts took hold of her panic, making her think the worse things.
Why hadn’t Lucius or even Narcissa rang Hermione and informed her of the news on Draco? They were engaged for fucks sake. Why hadn’t no one thought to ring or find another way of informing her? How long had he been here? Days? Weeks? Months?
Hermione notices that Lucius is whispering something to Narcissa before he walks over toward Blaise and Hermione. Narcissa walks slowly behind her husband, trying and gaining the attention of Blaise. Were they trying to distract her or something? What was going on, and why hadn’t Hermione been able to see Draco yet? Distracted by what was happening with Narcissa and Blaise, Hermione hadn’t noticed that Lucius was grabbing her arm and didn’t notice anything until he was pulling her out of the hospital ward, and pulling her further away from Draco. Further away from her love. He was practically dragging her away and out into the donation-funded hospital garden. Knowing the Malfoys, they probably had funded most of this hospital themselves.
“Miss Granger, a word, please,” Lucius stated sternly as he sat down on one of the benches, patting the spot next to him. Hermione hesitated at first, not liking where this was going, but then just decided to accept the offer, it wasn’t worth the fight and sat down next to her future father-in-law.
“How is he doing? What have the doctors said? Have they even done anything about him yet? Can I go and see my fiancé yet, please?” Hermione burst out with loads of questions before she had even properly sat down on the bench. She could still feel all of the panic bubbling up into her chest. The panic was really starting to hurt her heart. It was as if her body knew that something was seriously wrong and that something terrible was about to happen to her and Draco. It was a warning sign.
“Miss Granger, please, just relax and take a breath. My son is perfectly fine but the doctors are still currently performing tests on him. No one has been able to see him since he arrived at the hospital. We are all a bag of nerves, so Narcissa and I know how you are feeling. When the time comes, Cissa and I will be the first to see him. Then his fiancée will be the next to visit him.” Lucius informed Hermione, the excitement of being registered as second on the list covering her entire face. Lucius looked towards her, realising the utter excitement that was written over her face, and so he quickly shot her down from her high horse. “Then his close friends like Mr Zabini, Mr Nott, and Miss Parkinson will be visiting him. And then, Miss Granger, you're down at the bottom of the list. Even the servants back at our family Manor are ahead of you.” Lucius finished informing her. Hermione then realised the meaning behind all of this, almost like his father had planned on him getting hurt in the accident.
“But—” Hermione started but her voice trailed off, she wasn’t strong enough anymore.
“No, Miss Granger. No. It is time for a fucking reality check, excuse my language. But Draco has a reputation to uphold right now and it is time for him to stop playing around with girls. He has a proper fiancée now. Draco is engaged now to Miss Astoria Greengrass, who is a proper young woman. So, you aren’t needed on the scene anymore, Miss Granger. This means that you can have a fresh start. A proper new start. Become the young woman that you are destined to become, but without Draco. How about you move to a new place? Move away from London and start somewhere new. But one thing you need to do is forget my son. Forget about Draco.” Lucius informed Hermione, not letting her say anything. He just said everything that he needed to tell her, not letting her have her opinions.
Hermione stands up from the bench, grabs her handbag, and stays silent. She stared down at Lucius, tears threatening to burst from the seams but she willed herself to stay strong. Hermione shook her head before storming away, running away down the hospital corridors and back out of the hospital. She continued running down the street, running further away from the hospital. Finally, she broke down. Her knees buckled underneath her and Hermione fell down to the floor, all the tears bursting out of her. Hermione curled up on herself, curling like a ball, in the middle of the pavement, accepting the state of her defeat.
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February 14th, 2010
Hermione had decided to move to Bath in the early days of January 2010. She had been relatively newly single for a couple of months at that point and wanted a completely new start. She needed to move somewhere that he could possibly never be but that was difficult, as Hermione spotted him everywhere. However, not even a month into living there, on Valentine’s Day, Hermione realised what a complete mistake she had made.
She had sat down for a late lunch meeting with her current manager at the time. The restaurant where they were meeting was quite fancy, somewhere that Hermione wasn’t used to going to. All of the walls and practically anything that could be covered in decorations for the holiday. This was the first mistake box ticked. It was too overly decorated for Valentine’s Day, it was so much, it was really overwhelming for both Hermione and her boss. The second mistake, Hermione realised, was when three slightly taller-than-average platinum blondes walked into the restaurant.
Hermione then, of course, spotted and instantly recognised Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy first. How could she not? The Malfoys were one of Britain’s richest families, obviously excluding the Royal Family, but the Malfoys were up there with some of the richest, tax-avoiding families. The Malfoys were one of the older families, containing generations upon generations of old money. Hermione was pretty certain that the Malfoy family owned several businesses around Britain, and possibly even around the world. Thinking about it, the Malfoys probably owned this very restaurant, it wouldn’t even surprise Hermione at this point.
Hermione followed the movement of the two elder Malfoys with her eyes, before looking directly at the person she hadn’t even been expecting to see today. Seeing him only just a couple of months after their breakup. But there he really was. But was this a dream? She blinked, clearing her eyesight and there he still was. Nope, this definitely wasn’t a dream right now. And fuck, he looked really incredible right now. He looked like he hadn’t even really aged a day. Even with the smattering of grey hair throughout his locks looked fucking fantastic.
Draco looked exactly like he did the day that the two of them first met. Hermione remembered that day so clearly. She remembered every part of it as though it was only yesterday when they first met at their bookshop.
“Draco— ?” Hermione’s body wanted to speak, she wanted to scream out loud to him and reach out. She didn’t care at that point what the other patrons in the restaurant would say about her dramatics. She could be fired right there and she would still reach out for her Draco. That man there was her Draco. Her lover and he were okay. He was— Fuck. He wasn’t hers anymore.
Hermione felt trapped inside of her own head, she felt stuck. What the fuck? Why couldn’t she move right? Why did it feel like she couldn’t even move a muscle right now? Was this all just a dream? All just happening inside her head. She knew that she hadn’t been sleeping much recently but Hermione didn’t think it could get this bad that she had started to imagine Draco Malfoy standing on the other side of the restaurant. Because it had to be a dream, right?
She wanted to scream loudly at this blond man, scream out towards him. Hermione wanted to scream about how she had tried to fight for him. Hermione wanted to scream about how she had tried to do anything in her power for him but she just couldn’t survive without him. She tried to push herself, to see through all the smoke and dirt that was metaphorically surrounding her, she needed to help him.
Hermione reached out toward the figure, her arm physically reaching and calling out for Draco to join her once again. She could hear her mind screaming. Draco come back to me! Please. Please come back to me! Hermione’s mind shouted out time and time again, but nothing left her mind. No words left her body as she started to feel a pulling sensation throughout her body. Her heart was pulling and pushing her forward but something seemed to be keeping her back and away.
She looked hurriedly around at the blurring scenery, quickly realising that she must have stood to run to Draco. Hermione noticed the looks of disgust staring at her as she realised that security had been called and was dragging her backwards as she struggled, wriggling in the stranger’s grip. Why were they dragging her away from her fiancé? What had she exactly done wrong? Hermione didn’t understand. Though the screaming probably didn’t help with the situation of trying to get towards him.
As she was dragged through the closing restaurant doors, the last thing she did see was a mixture of horror, shock and a glimmer of slow recognition flicker over his face.
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August 23rd, 2011
Hermione walked through the cobbled streets of Bath, taking in the early morning dew as she walked towards her job at Topping & Company Booksellers. Even in the winter, this walk to work was gorgeous and Hermione’s favourite. She lapped up how quiet the tourist city was at this time in the morning and it was one of her favourite things. She could quietly explore the cobbled streets as she made her way to work, always taking the longest way from her flat to the bookshop. There were a few straddlers on the streets, some were patrons still drunk from the night before and some were patrons doing the same walk as Hermione, on their way to work. She hummed to herself, nearing the top of Milsom Street and where her bookshop was waiting for her.
As she entered the building, smiling as the smell of books and the warmth of the lights surrounded her, she moved towards the back where the staff room was and disposed of her belongings into her usual locker. Hermione could hear the utterings between Georgia and Luke, both younger employers but respected her regardless of their differences in age.
“Good morning, Hermione!” Georgia’s chipper voice broke through the silence playing around her mind as she entered back onto the main shop floor. “You’re looking rather cheerful for an early Tuesday morning start, any updates on the situation?” Georgia continued, smiling largely as the two of them moved back towards the cashier's desk, where Luke was jotting down words into his small notebook. Usually, there was more stock to place on the shelves but it seemed that Georgia and Luke had already done the majority of it, and if Hermione knew much about right now it was that mid-August is usually quite slow in normal, fiction stories. Late August and early September was always their best time as booksellers.
Ah yes, the dreaded situation which had been the nickname/code that Georgia, Luke and Hermione used to talk about the happenings between herself and Draco. They knew all about what had happened between the two, she had told them all about it since moving here in 2009. All of them, Georgia, Luke and their boss had been on her side, especially when hearing about what happened at the restaurant last year and the sighting of Draco and his family. Hermione had tried to not inform them about what happened but she couldn’t keep quiet about it for very long.
“I like coming to work, especially when the weather is so gorgeous. As for the situation, no more updates. Though I do see his parents throughout town more often than I used to before the sighting.” Hermione shrugged, reading the list Luke was writing before moving around the shelves. She could hear Georgia following after her as if there were more words to the situation when there really weren’t.
Hermione could feel panic rising in her chest at the memories hitting her of last year’s Valentine’s Day, but she tried to ignore the feelings. She shrugged them off, delving deeper into the romance section, oh how ironic of her to be here. The pages surrounding her had the love that she dreamed of, the romance that she wished for herself and Draco. Instead, she had been granted the memory loss and right person, wrong time trope. She could feel it in her bones, the love that she and Draco had for each other was meant to be but the world around them had other ideas.
“Any news from the doctors? I know that you’ve been talking to them, Luke’s sister is working on Draco’s case file.” Georgia raised her eyebrows, staring deeply into the back of Hermione’s head. She sighed, busted, before turning around and facing the truth and Georgia’s awaiting face. Hermione frowned, as Georgia’s eyebrows seemed to raise higher into her hairline. “And… what did they say?” Her voice grew louder, grabbing the attention of Luke, who was now poking his head around the shelves.
“Nothing, absolutely nothing. The doctors were reluctant at first to give me anything about his case but then when I explained the situation, they were a little better at giving me some sort of idea of what they were doing. But nothing is improving, though they’ve said that maybe some time with his friends might help, get them to help remind him of stuff from his past.” Hermione informed them, restocking the shelves and finding anything to distract her hands from picking at her skin. It was a nervous tick, always had been. She needed to busy herself or she was going to cry about the loss of her Draco. “So, hopefully, our friends are going to be travelling down soon to come to see him, and hopefully we will start to see some improvements in his health.” She sounded optimistic as she moved away and walked back to the cashier, getting ready for the shop to open for the day.
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The day was slow, just like any normal mid-week day but today was especially slow even though it was the summer holidays and Bath was teeming with tourists. But they were all down near the Roman Baths, exploring all the historical sites or they were just bumbling around the shops and didn’t want to march all the way towards the bookshop. She helped the few patrons that did busy themselves around the shelves, mainly spent her time, though, restocking the shelves and placing books back where they were supposed to be.
After lunch, which she spent pushing her fork against the leftover pasta bake that she had bought with her, she was behind the cashier, serving the elderly couple that always spent their days in the bookshop together. She caught a glimpse of blonde hair and her brows furrowed at the sight.
“Narcissa!” Hermione coughed, inhaling at the sight of the Malfoy woman standing opposite her. She had heard from Georgia that Narcissa would come into the bookshop occasionally but had yet to physically see the woman in this building. “How can I help you this afternoon?” She continued, smiling warmly, not letting a sign show how shocked she was at seeing the elder Malfoy. Though, at least it wasn’t Draco’s father.
“Yes, I placed a book on pre-order for Draco and was sent an invoice to state that it had arrived in the store. Usually, we have them delivered straight to the house but I was already in town and wanted to stop by.” Narcissa smiled, ever the gracious woman. Hermione smiled back, nodding before turning around and hovering her eyesight over the shelf that held all the pre-ordered books. “How are you holding up with this heat?” Narcissa made small talk, seemingly something that she never really did with employers at the stores she was a patron within. Hermione reached up for Narcissa’s book and accidentally looked out the store windows as she turned, noticing a similar head of blond standing outside the door and her heart filled with pain at the sight.
Hermione turned back around, masking all emotions off her face as she looked back at Narcissa. She placed the book on the table and smiled. She breathed out of her nose, the noise louder than she expected. Hermione shrugged the feeling off, handing over the book and smiling at the woman, who was quick to walk and leave the shop. Georgia caught sight of the movement, noticing the famous Malfoy's blonde hair and her eyes were the sizes of golf balls as she walked over to Hermione. She nodded at Georgia, Luke watched them, and suddenly they both knew what had just happened.
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December 20th, 2011
Hermione hugged her jacket closer to her body, holding the takeaway cup of mulled wine in her right hand, welcoming the warmth to spread throughout her shivering body. It was a practically cold early evening in Bath and even though the crowd grew larger as it progressed deeper into the dark, Hermione still couldn’t keep herself warm. Sipping on the festive drink, she mulled around the stalls, hovering over all of the little trinkets and Christmas-themed things that people were selling. It was beautiful. The mixture of the stalls and the twinkling Christmas lights above settled down into her body and warmed her from the toes and slowly warmth finally spread throughout her.
She zig-zagged her way through the busying crowds, spotting a few familiar faces of regulars from Topping & Company and spotted Georgia and Luke walking around the stalls, hand in hand. Something that she would interrogate them about after the Christmas holidays, but it was clear that her suspicions of them being boyfriend and girlfriend were correct. Hermione smiled to herself, sipping at the mulled wine before throwing the empty cup into the nearest bin. Her eyes then latched onto the familiar sight of a tall blond head weaving its way through the crowd.
“Draco?” She muttered to herself, willing her legs to walk faster to hopefully catch up with the blond. Hermione looked around, searching for the blond, who she hoped was alone on this wintery evening. She finally found herself walking behind the blond, and as she turned her attention away from him, noticed that he was joined by Astoria for the evening. Clearly, she had ventured out to Bath as this was the first time she was seeing the two of them in attendance to something together.
As if by magic, the couple turned around and looked for the owner of the voice who called out for Draco. Astoria’s eyes locked onto Hermione, a slight glimmer of recognition passed through them as days of working together at the small bookshop in London sped through her memories.
“Hermione?” Astoria’s welcoming voice questioned, smiling warmly at the woman. She hooked her arm through Draco’s arm, the dazzling of the massive engagement ring on her finger catching Hermione’s eyes before she looked back up towards the couple. “How have you been? God, it has been ages since I have last seen you, and look how much has changed since those days.” Astoria smiled, her smile dazzling almost as sparkling as the ring on her skinny finger.
She had to know that Hermione and Draco had been previously a thing, the way the younger woman was smiling was weird and off-putting.
“Oh, how rude of me. I should introduce the two of you.” Astoria’s sickly sweet voice rang out as the three of them moved out of the crowd and onto the side of the pavement. She patted Draco’s chest with her hand, smiling up through her lashes at her man. “Draco, this is Hermione and we used to work together in London. Hermione, this is Draco and we are engaged!” Astoria cheered, smirking at Hermione as she watched Draco and Hermione nod at each other, the interaction was awkward if not interesting.
“Nice to meet you!” Hermione smiled, nodding towards Draco. She tried to keep all her emotions hidden, trying to keep the smile true to herself but Hermione could feel herself cracking under the pressure. Astoria was watching, waiting for her to break like this was a test set out by Lucius Malfoy and Astoria, herself. Checking the time on her phone, Hermione decided to make an excuse for herself to leave. “Sorry, but I’ve really got to go. I am meeting a few friends for some drinks and I really shouldn’t be late.” Hermione excused herself before quickly scurrying back into the crowd and walking as fast as her legs could take her away from Astoria and Draco.
She had felt her heart reach out for him throughout that short-lived conversation and she should have left before they were introduced back to each other but hopefully, she stuck in his memory this time. Hermione needed to be in there. She needed to be in his memories so that they could be together once again.
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January 3rd, 2012
Hermione patiently patted her feet against the cobblestones, wrapping her jacket closer to her body as she was still feeling the December cold, as she stared at the exit doors of the train station. She hadn’t really been waiting for very long but at the same time, it had felt like she had been waiting for years already for her friends to arrive. Hermione knew that the group had left London fairly early, Theo was constantly sending her update texts, but they all had to probably account for the time that Pansy needed to get herself presentable and ready, lucky that they most likely had a first-class carriage to themselves than because there were so many in the group nowadays.
“Hermione!” Ginny’s voice rang out through the early morning crowd as she pushed her through towards where Hermione was standing. Ginny wrapped her arms tightly around the woman’s body, squeezing tightly as the others slowly joined and crowded around the two hugging women. Ginny pulled back and hovered her eyes over Hermione’s body, assessing the woman that she hadn’t seen in so long. “How have you been?” Ginny asked, even though everyone here knew what the answer was going to be and Hermione couldn’t help but sigh as she thought about her answer.
“I’ve been alright, I suppose, just taking every day as it comes. But it makes things harder when his mother is a regular customer at the bookshop and so doesn’t make it easy to forget or get over him.” Hermione frowns before switching it with a smile, hoping that no one noticed but she knew before anyone said anything that they had all clearly noticed what she had done. Her eyebrows furrowed as she spoke and looked towards every single one of her friends, Pansy stepping forward to envelop the girl into a tight hug. “Narcissa seemed to always support our relationship, but it was Lucius that hated me and everything I stood for. He never even tried to hide his feelings, he always made it abundantly clear that he hated me and wanted Draco to marry someone else.” She frowned, this time allowing it to remain on her face and not caring that her friends will see it. They knew how she felt and was feeling in regard to Draco and the Malfoy parents.
As Pansy stepped away, standing back beside her boyfriend, Neville, the two men, Harry and Theodore, stepped forward and smiled warmly at the curly-haired woman. Hermione’s face brightened up at the sight of the two men, but the thought in the back of her head was that these two were the ones that originally introduced her to Draco and if they hadn’t then they wouldn't be in this position.
After hugging everyone, even Marcus opened his arms for a hug which he never used to do with Hermione, they all walked towards the air BnB that Pansy and Neville had rented for a couple of days that they would be spending in Bath. The house was large and ornate, it was beautiful and probably cost the couple a lot of money to rent. They would be leaving on the 7th, leaving as late as possible so they could spend their last day with Hermione. Though tomorrow, plans would be different as Theo, Marcus, Blaise and Pansy would be travelling towards Wiltshire and visiting Malfoy Manor, that was a monthly occurrence but hadn’t been happening recently because the four of them struggled to travel down to Malfoy’s family estate.
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Hermione sat down at the large table, smiling around at her friends as the cocktails and other alcoholic drinks were placed on their table. She reached forward for her cocktail glass, wrapping both of her hands around the glass and lapping up the feeling of the cold blocks of ice sinking into her skin. Hermione sighed, trying to follow the multiple conversations that were happening around her but she was deeply struggling to keep up with everything. She had missed this though. She had missed being surrounded by her friends. Nothing beat going for drinks with her London friends.
“Hermione?” Theo patted his hand gently against her arm. She turned her face towards one of her best friends and the concern written across his face was something that Hermione hadn’t seen in a long time.
She knew what this conversation would lead to and she wasn’t nearly drunk enough to get emotional but knew that deep down she really needed to let everything out with a friend that properly understood the situation. Georgia and Luke could have the situation explained so many times but they would never properly understand the pain that Hermione felt. Theo didn’t either, Draco did obviously get to see his friends more than Hermione but Theo was closer and understood the extremes.
She shook her head lightly as she spoke quietly, her words only for Theo. “I don’t know how much longer I can do this, Theo. I miss him. I miss him so much. I miss him every single day. Every day I wake up wishing that he was laying beside me in bed but he isn’t, and probably won’t ever again.”
Hermione moved closer towards Theo and rested her head on his shoulder, sighing as she blinked a couple of times.
“He’s never going to remember me, is he? Because even if by a tiny miracle he did remember me, then his father would probably gaslight him so much that Draco would be forcing himself to forget me all over again.” Hermione frowned, irritated, allowing a few tears to fall from her eyes and land on his jacket. She felt Theo’s hand softly brushing through her hair as tears continued falling from her eyes, sniffling quietly so that no one except Theo noticed what was happening, hopefully, everyone else was just continuing on with all of their separate conversations. Pansy looked over quickly, releasing what was happening, smiling solemnly at Hermione before turning back towards her conversation with Neville, Charlie and Marcus.
“He loves you, Hermione. Loves you so, so, so fucking much. No one could ever replace that love because he definitely doesn’t love Astoria as much and doesn’t love her the way that he loved you.” Theodore spoke softly, still brushing his hands throughout her hair before stopping so the both of them could sip at their cocktails. Theo and Hermione connected early into their friendship over their love of the same cocktails. “We promised you when we found out what happened all those years ago that we’d help him remember you and we still are completing that. It is just taking ages for it to work but we are slowly seeing some recognition behind his eyes when we say your name now.” Theo informed her as she lay her head back onto his shoulder. She didn’t say any more words, not knowing what to say any more about the subject and instead closed her eyes, lapping up the sounds of the bar surrounding her. Welcoming the sound of her friends conversing with each other like old times.
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January 4th, 2012
Marcus had rented a car for the day as there were no direct bus or train routes that went close enough to Malfoy Manor. And so, that was how all four of them were now bundled into a dark red Mini Cooper and were leaving the air BnB, driving on their way towards Wiltshire with Pansy anxious about the way Marcus was driving.
The shitty GPS announced loudly the directions as Theo and Pansy talked quietly in the back while Blaise stared out the window at the winding scenery, mainly fields filled with sheeps and cows.
“What were you talking to Hermione about last night? She seemed quite upset.” Pansy asked Theo, turning her body slightly towards him, as much as the seatbelt across her body would allow. “She was definitely crying, and I think everyone noticed but no one wanted to say anything. Hermione’s been struggling for ages in silence and now we’re here and she’s still trying to hide it.” Pansy raised her eyebrows, frowning as she thought about Hermione and how silently she had suffered without them.
“We were talking about Draco. It didn’t last for very long, she didn’t want to ruin the evening, which she could never do. But, she’s losing hope. Hermione doesn’t believe that he is ever going to remember her.” Theo replied, furrowing his brows as he stared at Pansy.
“Hermione’s right to be losing hope though, there have hardly been any updates for months, Theo.” Pansy stared and sighed heavily. “He is only just remembering us and we’ve been keeping in contact with him the entire time, and Lucius actually talks about us. Astoria helps and talks about us. No one is talking about Hermione except us and we aren’t there regularly to remind Draco about her. No one is reminding Draco about Hermione.” She frowned, not wanting to be harsh about it but she needed to be harsh because someone needed to be. It shouldn’t be coming from Pansy but she knew that if any of this got back to Hermione then she was the only one that Hermione would listen to.
Theo opened his mouth to speak but the GPS announces that they’ve arrived at their destination. He mouthed, “We’ll continue this talk later.” Pansy nodded as Marcus parked up on the drive. All four of them spotted Narcissa, Lucius and Draco standing in front of the open front door, waiting for them to finish getting themselves out of the car.
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Theo, Blaise, Marcus and Pansy sat around the table, all four of them staring at Draco as he sipped at his tea. The silence was deafening as Draco’s tea cup was placed back carefully onto the coffee table. Pansy stared at her best friend, looking at the lines across his face. Pansy was worried but knew that she couldn’t fucking say anything yet, or at all, because Narcissa and Lucius were waiting just around the corner, listening in to the conversation they were supposed to be having.
“How have you been?” Theo was the one to finally break the silence. He smiles at Draco, trying to get something before he reminded the man of his ex. “You seem a lot better than last time, we’re sorry that it’s been a while since we’ve been here physically but we’re here now and that’s what matters.” Theo rattled off, he always did this when he got nervous and he felt stupid for being nervous in front of someone that he’d been friends with since they were little kids.
Draco picked up his teacup and leaned forward to sip at it before answering. “I’ve been alright. Astoria apologises that she can’t be here today, she’s gone out shopping or something, I can’t remember what she said.” He smiles, looking at Theo before looking at his other friends. “The doctors seem to think things are approving, which is good but every time I try to remember parts of the past, my head really hurts and the doctors think that’s the next step. To try and remember those memories, try the hardest before the headaches become worse.” Draco recalls the information, still smiling as if this was normal for any human being to go through. It wasn’t. He should be with Hermione, they should be together and living their lives in London.
Departing footsteps could be heard against the tiles as Narcissa and Lucius finally left, allowing all five of them to be the adults that they’d been for years. Draco shouldn’t have to be constantly watched over like a baby. Yes, he may be not well but he can still act like an adult.
Everyone sighed, releasing the tension that had been hovering in the air knowing that the parents were hovering over everyone and listening in to make sure nothing and no one was overstepping. But now, they could do the real stuff. Make Draco try and remember Hermione.
Pansy nodded at Theo and the man sprung into action. He reached down into his dark, autumn brown satchel and grabbed out the photo album, which was originally Hermione and Draco’s. The item was being kept safe in Hermione’s apartment in Bath, but Theo had snuck in last night and “borrowed” the thing off the couple to further help with this process. It would work. He had promised Hermione that he would get Draco to remember her. Theo finally found the page he wanted, the photos from Halloween 1999 where Hermione and Draco had been tricked by their friends to come dressed as Danny and Sandy from the film Grease. Theo smiled to himself at the memory before moving himself closer and placing the album down on the table for Draco to see closer.
Pansy cleared her throat, moving closer to Draco. “Draco, can you identify everyone that is in this photograph?” She softly asked, speaking slowly as if she was talking to a child to not overwhelm the blond. They had perfected the voice to use and Marcus and Blaise always took a step back during these moments, letting Pansy and Theo deal with all of this.
Draco leaned forward, hovering over the album and stared at the photograph. His brows furrowed as confusion slowly trickled down his face. Theo and Pansy stared, seeing the cogs working double time to help him figure out who was staring back at him in that photograph.
“That’s me, Theo, and two others who I don’t really recognise.” Draco finally spoke, looking up at Pansy and Theo, waiting for someone to help fill in the gap about the other two in the photo. “I’ve seen her around before. She’s one of Astoria’s friends right?” Draco continued, pointing down to where Hermione was smiling at the camera.
Pansy stared at Theo, her breath hitching at his words. Astoria’s friend? Hermione would hate to know that that was what Draco was calling her, yes they had worked together back in London but they had never been friends with each other. Astoria was a bitch. In every sense of the word.
“That’s my boyfriend, Harry, and that is Hermione. She used to work with Astoria. You actually were very close with Hermione. The relationship you have with Astoria is similar to the one you used to have with Hermione.” Theo informed Draco, finally answering his question without spilling too much information. He couldn’t exactly come out and say that woman was his ex because then Draco would get too overwhelmed and possibly that would send him back to square one. Then they’d have to start all over again. Theo couldn’t risk that. They couldn’t risk any of it. It was too much right now and they needed him to remember Hermione. They needed Draco to remember Hermione. Hopefully, something has got to improve. They really need things to improve.
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June 5th, 2015
Hermione sat at a single table at her favourite small bakery in Bath, alone. She always seemed to be all alone these days. Though, Hermione supposed that she wasn’t truly alone when she had the company of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy. But she was used to being alone now, for years she had been alone.
She sipped on her strong, however, still quite rather milky coffee. Hermione wasn’t quite what she had ended up ordering, as the smell of freshly baked bread moved around and engulfed her every sense. She loved the scent. It was a comforting smell. Hermione opened up her book, her favourite, Pride and Prejudice, and welcomed the worlds and the characters to pull her fully back into their world. It was comforting for Hermione. It was like returning home for her. And it happened to be set within one of her favourite eras too. The Victorian Era. Hermione sighed, neither happy nor sad. Rather just content with her life at that very moment.
Hermione was very well off in her job at the moment, and she had heard a rumour that she was in the lineup for a promotion to manager at the bookshop. She had relatively nice living arrangements, which were situated near the river and one of her favourite parks. It was one of her favourite spots in Bath to nuzzle down and dive into one of her books, whether that be a new or a favourite book. And Hermione has a secure— oh um, never mind. Hermione did have a pretty secure, long-term relationship.
She sighed again, heavily this time. It was on days like today when she really, really missed him. Especially on this day. June 5th. A special day, it was always classed as a special day for her. A day that she always enjoyed celebrating but then suddenly had to stop celebrating the birthday so tragically about five years ago. And if she remembered correctly, then 2009 was the last June 5th that Hermione had spent with him. Spent together, celebrating it together.
He had always hated celebrating his birthday, it had reminded him of the bad times when he was younger, but Hermione had always insisted that they should always spend his day together, celebrating his day, the way they should, in style.
Hermione bought herself a slice of cake from their favourite bakery in Bath, a completely different one, separate from the one she was sitting at. She had many, many favourite bakeries, especially the ones in Bath. They were the best here in Bath. Though, the two of them had completely different tastes. He liked the stronger-tasting sweet cakes and Hermione, in all honesty, would have rather had something that was savoury instead. Their favourite bakery reminded Hermione too much of him, it was a constant reminder for her and it constantly was hurting. She passed by it too often and consciously made her walk around longer to avoid their bakery.
Instead, Hermione had started a new tradition for herself. Ever since moving to Bath by herself, she would buy herself a slice of cake, something that she classed as his favourite. Hermione would then take it back to her place, where she would stick a candle into it and sing Happy Birthday.
For her stranger.
For her friend.
For her lover.
Hermione suddenly looked up from her book, distracted by a new smell engulfing her senses. She looked around, smelling a familiar cologne. Hermione knew that smell, she knew it like the back of her hand. It couldn’t be, could it? No. It couldn’t be him.
“Draco?” Hermione called out, standing from the chair properly and staring at the person who smelled like her love. Her heart broke as her eyes lingered on him.
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