Promise

Chapter 12

                   

Hermione had been back at Hogwarts for two days. She had returned early s she could prepare for when the rest of the student body would arrive and also because she wanted to do some research on her own. She still couldn't shake the headaches she got when she thought about the time Draco had kissed her and her subsequent reaction. No matter how hard she tried to think of what had caused her to go unconscious, she just couldn't figure it out. Instead, a throbbing would begin in her temple and become more painful and persistent until she was sure she would pass out again. The strange thing about the headaches were that they would only last for as long as she thought about it. The moment her mind shifted onto any other subject, the headaches disappeared.

Hermione sat in the school library reading up on memory charms, spells, and potions. She tried to match everything she learned with what her parents had told her. From what she found, she gathered that it was likely she knew Draco when she was younger. It would explain the existence of the memory block. The only thing she didn't understand was the trigger. Whenever she thought of the words 'home' and 'Draco' together, the headache would begin with a fury but when she tried 'home' and 'Malfoy', nothing happened. It didn't make sense to her why the memory made such a distinction. She mulled it over again and again but couldn't figure it out.

After a couple hours of going around in circles, she finally decided to call it a day. She wasn't getting anywhere by reading the same things repeatedly. She stood up and stretched out her body, stiff from sitting in the same position for so long. She stretched out her hand and lifted the charm on her ring. She looked closely at the ring, with it's angel wing engraving, and wondered what promises were sealed away in it. It was another thing on her mind, what her younger self could have possibly promised, and to whom.

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Back in their shared suit, Draco was lost in his own thoughts. Christmas had proven to be more insightful than he had expected. He had stayed in the castle along with Blaise and Theo and other prefects to watch the other kids. Pansy, meanwhile, had been out gathering information. Pansy, Theo, Blaise, and himself had been sending anonymous tips to ministry since the end of the war to help them catch the rest of the rogue death-eaters. It was something only people with their connections and power could pull off. So far the had managed to find most of the remaining members of Voldemort's inner circle. The only one that had continuously evaded them was Antonin Dolohov. They had searched everywhere for him, asked everyone who might know but still, he remained hidden. Until now. Pansy had managed to gather some information on his location while she was away. He was rumoured to be hiding in forests all over Europe. Constantly moving from place to place, making it difficult to pin him down. After hearing the news from Pansy, Blaise had immediately penned a note to the ministry telling them everything she had found out. The ministry would start searching every forest as soon as they could. If all went well, Dolohov would be caught soon.

Hermione, entering the suite disturbed his thoughts. She looked exhausted again. It was likely she had been in the library again. She had basically lived there since her return to Hogwarts two days earlier. He watched her slump to the kitchen and begin making herself some tea. He was worried about her health. She needed to take better care of herself. She rarely ate properly and spent so much time researching whatever it was that had caught her attention that she hardly slept. He wanted to talk to her about it but she had been avoiding him since her return. Draco decided to take the chance while she was in the kitchen to talk to her. He didn't know when she was going to disappear again. As he was getting up, she walked into the den where he was sitting with two mugs in her hand. She took a seat on the couch, beside where he had been sitting and set both mugs down before looking up at him expectantly. He was taken slightly aback but sat down again and picked up his mug. He waited for her to speak first since he didn't know what to say.

"I need to ask you something," she eventually began, "and I know it might sound crazy but I need you to be honest with me. Can you do that? Please?" She asked him. He nodded his head for her to continue.

"Is it possible... I mean, did we ever meet before Hogwarts? Can you remember?" Draco felt all the wind knocked out of him. Could he remember? How could he forget? He had held those memories close for almost ten years. They had kept him going when he ready to give up. Draco put his mug down. He didn't know what to tell her. She had asked for the truth but he needed to know why she was even asking. What had happened to make her suspect.

"Why do you ask?" He said instead. He watched her mull over what to say, he could tell she choosing her words carefully.

"There's something I'm trying to find out, about myself." She told him. He knew she was avoiding telling him the entire truth but he also didn't want to push her. It was the first time in a long time that she was willingly talking to him.

"We did. Meet before Hogwarts that is. I remember." He told her. She saw the excitement in her face when he said it.

"Really? When? Where? How? Why? Tell me everything." She demanded. She was practically bouncing in her seat she was so excited.

"It's more like we knew each other." He told her honestly.

"We knew knew each other? She asked, but before he could answer her, she passed out again.