Diffraction Patterns (I Don't Know How to Forget You)

Chapter 5: Diffraction

"I'm worried about these flashbacks," she said. "The potion I gave you—the Sana Mente—it should have sorted it, if it was just a matter of consolidation."

"Maybe he needs to take it again?" Harry asked. "It's been a while."

"Maybe," Granger said, but she sounded doubtful. "I'll look into it. But anyway. This memory. Harry's tried to erase it twice? And both times the same memory came up?"

"Right," Draco answered. "Well...parts of the same memory." When Granger frowned, a puzzled look on her face, he sighed. "It was at the Manor. You know. When the Snatchers found you, and..."

"Oh," she said softly. "Right."

"Well, anyway, the first time we tried, it started with my father asking me to check if it was Harry or not. And then we stopped. And then when we tried again, it picked up at the part where Harry took the wands out of my hand."

"Ah. Okay." She returned to her book. "But still the same memory, basically."

"Basically."

"This happened once before," Harry said. "With another memory. We stopped, and then the next time we tried, the same one came up."

"Why did you stop?" Granger asked.

Harry looked at Draco, who shook his head. "Er...I forget."

Granger didn't press him. Instead, she held her wand closer to the book, silently mouthing the words as she read.

"Draco," Harry said, reaching out, "I'm going to check your Mark. Alright?"

He nodded. Very carefully, Harry took Draco's arm and pulled it into his lap. He rolled up his sleeve with the ease of having done it a dozen times before. "Look how light it is," he muttered to Granger.

"Mmm?" Distractedly, she glanced over, and then her eyes widened in surprise. "Oh, wow." She brought her wand to illuminate what little remained of his Mark. "You can hardly see it."

"We're nearly there," Harry said. He rubbed his palm across the grey smudge. "I think if we could just erase one more memory, it would be gone."

"And you don't want to erase this one, Draco?" Granger asked, peering over at him.

"No."

"Well..." She sighed, consulting her book again. "That might be a problem. I'm worried you'll see the same memory over and over again until you erase it."

"But why?" Draco asked, frustrated.

She shrugged. "I can't say. It must be a core memory. These things aren't very clear, unfortunately..."

"Should we try again?" Harry asked. "Maybe we'll get something else."

"You could try." Granger closed her book and set it aside. "Who knows? It might change. Try thinking of something else, Draco, some other memory. That might bring something new to the forefront."

"Do you want to try, Draco?" Harry asked him.

"Well...alright. I guess it couldn't hurt."

Draco tensed as Harry took out his wand. In the bright light of Granger's Lumos, he felt exposed. He hadn't realized until now that the cover of the dark forest afforded him a sense of privacy. As though reading his mind, Harry murmured, "Hermione, could you turn off your light?"

"Oh, of course, sorry. Nox." They were shrouded in darkness. Instantly, he relaxed, even as he felt the familiar press of Harry's wand against his arm.

"Are you ready, Draco?"

"Yeah."

"Three...two...one..."