Something to Remember

Chapter 12 Salt in Your Wounds

**

It was mid-January. Draco and Hermione, though they did get looks, seemed to now be the most feared students at school after what happened in Diagon Alley. The Slytherins absolutely despised him more than before, if possible now. And Draco knew he had a bountiful price on his head these days ...

Dumbledore had not called them back yet since. It seemed as though he wanted their minds to ponder upon the memories. They were fascinating, yes, and it showed Voldemort in a vulnerable state in a way. Draco very much wanted to contact Annie Barking .... He had become very interested in the relationship between her and Voldemort ... It was very odd. How had she managed to survive so long after betraying Voldemort? Draco honestly wondered how much time Annie had to live even now ...

Seeing Snape in Potions class now was amusing in some ways ... Disturbing in others. The fact that Snape had loved Harry's mother did bother even Draco a bit. Snape was a good person deep down at heart, one could possibly perceive, who just didn't at times know how or when to make proper decisions. And yet still, sometimes Draco did wonder what side Snape was on. When he looked into Snape's eyes, he saw only darkness and spite ...

His mother wrote him twice a week now. She was still staying with Remus, apparently enjoying it. She obviously found Remus to be a bit of a charm. And Draco wondered, sometimes, if his mother and Remus could be more than just friends. His mother would never go back to Lucius, this was obvious. He had done unforgivable things which Narcissa could now no longer bear to accept, a range of acts that only STARTED with the literal Unforgivable Curses .... And he would, in theory, for it have a life sentence impounded upon him ... Once justice was vindicated and Voldemort was gone at last, anyway ... Yes, even if nothing more incriminatory was ever uncovered, alone the already overwhelming evidence of Lucius' numerous uses of Unforgivable Curses - yes, time and time again, and never for the sake of an emergency or as an extreme defense against Dark Magic (as Draco had used it) - at this point could suffice to grant him the unspeakable punishment of the worse-than-deathly kind of kiss that could be summoned ONLY from a Dementor ...

In the meantime, however, a dreadful dilemma had fallen upon Draco, Harry, Hermione, and all the rest of the fifth-years, too (for once in a long while faced by a puzzle that was actually all-inclusive their peers just as well), which regarded the case of their future educations: schoolwork was taking over the lives of all Hogwarts fifth years now without fail. Their O.W.L.s were coming in June and as their scores were vital to their future wizarding careers, their professors gave them an overload of work. Draco already felt beyond stressed these days, and it was only a mere two weeks into the second term! With Hermione's help, however, they had managed to get through most of their work, leaving a free Sunday afternoon for their leisure.

So there they sat, in their normal place by the lake with Harry. Cho was in the library doing some work ... And they simply talked, as they had not had a chance to talk about anything but schoolwork the last couple of weeks.

"Draco, you have an insect in your hair," said Harry, laughing. Draco smiled and rubbed it out.

"It's so damn cold, isn't it?" complained Hermione, suddenly sounding irritable. It was January, probably the coldest month of the year at Hogwarts. Draco held her and together they kept each other warm.

"Annie Barking," Draco burst out suddenly. "She knows more about Voldemort than I think anyone else .... We should talk to her personally if we want to defeat him, you know."

"We?" checked Harry uncertainly, looking astounded.

"Of course, Harry. It isn't just about you anymore .... We all have a price on our heads now, don't we, Harry? We're all going to be there for you until the end, mate. And that means we're not going down without a fight."

**

The first trip to Hogsmeade was on January the thirty-first. Hermione and Harry had sent an owl to Annie Barking to meet them. At first, she had outright refused. But then, Dumbledore had apparently convinced her somehow after Draco spoke to the influential headmaster. As she was afraid for her life, Amy's single term of condition was that she would absolutely be under Polyjuice Potion's influence the entire time, no discussion about it, intentionally unnoticeable in her disguise as an average-looking, grouchy old lady.

"So, remember, if she gets uncomfortable, don't just keep pressing on, Draco, okay? Do not press on!!!" instructed Hermione sternly, as they planned the talk they would be having with Annie that afternoon. They hadn't told Ron or Ginny or Cho about it, just because they figured the less of them, the better.

"Yes, I know this, darling." Draco sounded quite annoyed, but this only made Hermione smirk.

"And Harry, be tactful, you've worked it before," encouraged Hermione, smiling reassuringly.

"Yeah I know. We'll be fine, Hermione," quickly added Harry, who came across less patient, sounding half-reassured yet half-annoyed just as well. Nerves were getting at him ...

**

When Draco, Hermione, and Harry walked into the Hog's Head, a "shadier" version of Three Broomsticks so to speak, they immediately identified Annie Barking quite easily, for she wore her covert disguise as a crotchety old lady indeed. She had told them exactly what she would be wearing, plain gray, unattractive shabby robes ... Altogether her masqueraded identity was noticeable enough for them, however contrast. Not pressing their luck, staying calm they put their hoods up in execution of a wise precaution, and then took a seat with her quickly as to not draw much attention.

"Good afternoon," said Hermione politely, nervous, though being as cordial as possible and smiling.

Annie did not return the smile. "Yes ... Yes... well, let's get down to it."

"Why did you love Voldemort?" asked Draco straightforwardly, extremely direct in his address. Hermione sent him an alarming look, but Draco honestly, knowing they had little time and much to ask, decided to get right down to it.

Annie paused for a moment before speaking. Her eyes flew suddenly wide-open, rolling up out from focus, and only then surveying from a distorted point of vision each of her startled guests, one-by-one with her uncanny oddness. "He was admirable, don't you think? Hm, cannot even be denied, I'd say ... Yes, I would go as far to unearth the intellectual truth ..."

A shivery epiphany about this woman called Annie Barking uncannily dawned upon all three of her visitors simultaneously: The pitiful woman had truly become far too weak for her own unfulfillable realm of lonesomeness, decreased to a soulless vessel, likely long ago at that; live before them without an ounce of dignity, Annie Barking appeared fully degraded of her own former identity, no doubt whatsoever the mere case of a creature lost of her sanity ...

Draco tried not to show what he was thinking as shivers ran up his spine. "Err ... in what way?"

"He came from nothing and achieved so much power. It is admirable," elaborated Annie passionately, and she at this point was smiling. "He was the most handsome man I had ever met. He was incapable of caring for anyone, though. It's not his fault ..."

Draco looked at Hermione, whose eyes had widened in disbelief. "... And was that his ultimate weakness?" inquired Draco bravely.

"I always thought his inability to love anyone but himself would be his downfall, honestly, so yes. Dunno how that will help you, though. He really is the most powerful sorcerer to live other than Dumbledore, maybe, that is ... Perhaps he has grown to be even greater than Dumbledore, too, " answered Annie with total sincerity, fear and awe masking her tone.

"How were you a Death Eater so long without killing anyone?" asked Harry incredulously, who looked very eager for an answer to this.

"Well, Tom knew I never could do that. I hated Muggles, yes; I wanted to stand next to someone who felt the same. But he knew I could not murder. He had his uses for me." But at this Annie looked away, her tone having darkened quite considerably. Draco did not want to know.

"You turned in the end," said Hermione suddenly, in a hollow, emptied voice.

"Yes. I only then realized, I suppose, that I wouldn't be the woman to change him. No one would. He could never love me." And Draco saw years of tears, years of fretting and stressing over his declaration, filling and consuming the little life left in her eyes. The woman was evidently disturbed; she loved a mass murderer that had caused unthinkable acts of evil and was still ruthless to start more! "...Use your wits and I do hope you have a lot of luck," advised Annie finally. "And remember this phrase. How do you destroy a dictator? You cut off his resources."

Hermione had now understood why Dumbledore had not initially planned for them to meet Annie. The woman, as far as Hermione was concerned, was utterly and completely mad. And she was still in love with Voldemort as well. But she also did say the way to take Voldemort down was to cut off his resources ...That was interesting. They'd have to cut off everything that made Voldemort what he was: Death Eaters, Nagini, his influence, his power .... And his magical abilities. It was the only way. They needed the Draught of Destruction that the Bones family had successfully made .... But how ... How could they create another one? Only time could possibly tell ...

**

"Valentine's Day is coming, Hermione ..." said Lavender Brown one day, when they were in their dormitories.

"Yeah, I know," said Hermione offhand, airily; she'd never liked Lavender much.

"What is your knight-and-shining-armor doing for you?" asked Parvarti Patil provocatively, in a tone that was very gossipy.

"Oh, I actually don't know ... But he'll shock me, I'm sure!" And at this point Hermione was smiling.

**

It was finally Valentine's Day. The castle was beautifully decorated and all around Draco were harmonic couples. He and Hermione were going to Hogsmeade that day, and he had a big surprise for her that he sincerely hoped she would like. It was nice, it seemed as though nothing could go wrong. There had been peace lately ...

No Dementor attacks. No killings. It was almost as though everything had gone back to normal. Of course, Draco knew it wasn't the case. But the peace around them was nice, and he wanted to ride the wave while it was there.

Draco saw Ginny and Seamus. It looked funny. They were horribly trying to conceal the fact that Seamus had his hand down her skirt as they giggled away. Draco found it pretty pathetic, quite frankly. But he supposed the girl had to live and learn ...

Ginny was intelligent. She was not stupid. She cared about the serious things going on, despite that her superficial behavior said otherwise. But she had raging hormones in her, apparently, that were getting the best of her and making her, embarrassingly enough, the school slut ...

"Meh," decided Draco finally, a little loudly as he sat at the Slytherin table by himself.

**

Hermione would be meeting Draco soon but she fancied being alone for a bit just to think in the quiet. She went up to the Astronomy Tower for some peace and she simply relaxed for what felt like hours. So much had been on her mind these days that she needed this time for her own personal sanity.

She was lying down now with her eyes closed, though she had no real intentions of going to sleep. In a use of a rather contradictory term, she was simply resting her eyes from the cruel outside world she had witnessed in just the last few months. It really frightened her ... would she make it through it all? Would Harry? Would Ron? Would Draco ....

And Hermione felt fear whenever she thought of that. Sometimes (but which was alone far, far too often), she had horrible nightmares: watching her friends die, Draco suffering, dying even, Voldemort conquering the entire wizarding world, which had but become a collective of broken hearts .... Spectating evil scenes of abomination without end. Given, she couldn't think about the real-life details of it rationally without feeling fear beyond fear, without the unimaginable sensation like pine needles slicing through her skin ...

Now, someone was coming up to the tower and Hermione groaned a bit. She was starting to get comfortable, and now there would be an obvious disturbance. She could hear their footsteps faintly, but they weren't talking. They seemed to be trying to make as little noise as possible. Probably a couple ...

Hermione sat up a bit and prayed they wouldn't come to where she was. But then they did. Two students in black robes with hoods on. And Hermione examined them closely .... Nott and Parkinson .... Oh God ...

And then Nott took out his wand so quickly Hermione barely realized what was happening. "Stupefy!"

And Hermione fell back down, unconscious.

**

Draco had been waiting for Hermione for a long time now. He was waiting for her outside the gates to Hogsmeade, and she was already twenty minutes late. It was very unusual, as Hermione was never late. In fact, she usually got very upset if Draco was even one moment late. And so Draco became a little worried.

"Hey, have you seen Hermione?" asked Draco to Katie Bell, his tone sharp with a vulnerable sense of anxiety so rare for him.

She turned back at him. She and Ron were walking together to Hogsmeade. "No, sorry." It seemed as though Quidditch bitterness towards each other had not worn off.

Draco decided to return to the castle and search for her inside.

**

Hermione rolled over and awoke. She didn't know how much time had passed ... She could barely remember her own name .... Something was going on ... A feeling inside of her .... The images in her head had not connected properly yet .... Not at all.

What had happened to her?!

Something bad, that was for certain ... And at that precise moment of realization pain struck through her body as she came to her senses, afraid in thinking, 'Something terrible has happened ... But what ... Nott stunned me ... And then what happened?! Come on, Hermione, THINK! Heavens, I have nothing ... I suppose I was asleep the whole time! Nott and Parkinson are gone now, though, so it doesn't matter right this second anyway; I've just got to find a way to escape...'

And she felt where the pain was and she understood exactly what had happened. Hermione screamed. She screamed for her life as she looked below to find herself bleeding. She screamed. And she screamed. She screamed in beg of her life. And then she fainted, all thoughts and emotions too fierce and too many to even understand ...

**

Draco heard someone scream. A female. And he heard it again. It was Hermione; he should have recognized it immediately. He panicked for a moment, but then tried his hardest to release the overcoming tension. He needed to find her. She screamed again.

"Hermione," Draco whispered. There was definitely fear and panic in his voice. "I'm coming."

**

Somebody touched her. She screamed. "No ... Please ... Don't .... Not again ..."

"Hermione!" It was Draco. He was here. Her 'knight and shining armor' as Lavender had called him. Her hero. He would always be there. "Hermione, my God, what happened?"

"Draco ... I .... Oh, Draco." She began crying hysterically in his arms. He did not say anything else to her for a short-lived moment, just held and soothed her with his protective embrace ...

"Who did this to you?" then demanded Draco; he sounded angrier than she had ever heard him before.

She was crying so hard she could barely form words. "Nott .... He was with ... Parkinson. But Parkinson was the one who stunned me first," Hermione told him, sobbing loudly. "I should have had my guard up, it's my fault!"

Draco shook his head, feeling overwhelmed and disconcerted by all of it. "Come on, we have to get you to the hospital wing ... Mark my words: He's going to pay for this."

**

"... Draco, is she okay?" It was Ginny. Draco had run into her as he'd held Hermione in his arms taking her to the hospital wing. And now he stood, by her bedside as she slept. Ginny had given him a bit of time, but it seemed as though she was very concerned.

"Physically, she's going to be okay," reassured Draco in a tone that was chilling. "But she'll never be the same again, will she?"

"Draco, you saved her. You were so brave," Ginny said humbly, full of admiration. "I'm really proud of you. How are we going to tell Harry and Ron and Cho? They'll murder Nott!"

"Not before I do," corrected Draco heatedly. "I'm going to finish him, Ginny, I really am."

He was so angry. His wife would never be the same ... Forever she'd be traumatized .... She had been raped ... She would always be afraid now of anyone touching her ... The experience would be embedded in her mind forever ... Unforgettable it would be ....

It was revenge, of course, for what happened in Diagon Alley. That was obvious. But now Nott Senior was going to have company with his son very soon. Nott had already been expelled. Dumbledore had also found Draco. Many people did see. He imagined it was traveling through school now ... Students would be returning from Hogsmeade ....

Ginny did not respond; she looked at Draco in terror.

"Ginny, can you stay here with Hermione? Please?" Draco looked at her pleadingly. He had to tell Harry himself, he couldn't let Harry hear it.

"Of course, Draco." Ginny came and sat by Hermione. "Just don't do anything stupid."

**

Harry and Cho looked absolutely happy. They looked much happier than Draco had seen them in a long time. There he stood, waiting only to be the bearer of horrible news that would ruin their perfect day ... But they had to know. And out of respect, Draco knew he had to be the one to tell them. Draco grew very pale.

"Draco, what's wrong? You look terrible," said Cho anxiously, who was looking at Draco in a worried way. Harry surveyed him closely.

"It's Hermione. She's been raped," Draco said very fast, gasping as he turned and looked at Harry.

His friend's eyes were tortured, full of disbelief.

**

"Hermione, he's gone. He's never coming back," tried Ginny to emphasize, gently spoken, addressing her injured friend with as much compassion as she could muster. She was trying her best to console Hermione ... But Ginny was feeling increasingly uncomfortable, finding it so hard to in any way help or guide her.

Hermione had awoken, but was full of tears again. She looked terrified. She was shaking like mad as she explained more to Ginny. "It was scary, Ginny. He just came up there and stunned me so quickly. In my dreams, I remember something horrible was happening, and I could feel the pain. When I woke up, I was so confused. I didn't understand what had happened. I didn't know who I was for a moment or why I was here. It was though time stood still. And then I realized what happened ...."

Harry and Cho coincidentally (and to Ginny's great luck) then walked in with Draco. Finally, after a heavy moment of shock and irresolution they went by her side.

"Hermione!" cried out Cho. Harry had gone very white. He said nothing as he looked over at Hermione frightened.

"Everyone knows what happened now. Traveling around school," Harry at last said. "Nott can join his dear father now."

And upon these chilling, factual words, Cho held Harry as Ginny and Draco sat together, simply watching each other for a moment ...

**

Hermione left the hospital wing the next day seemingly incapable of speech. She spoke to no one. She did not smile, and barely acknowledged anyone's existence, even Draco's. She hadn't taken a single day off from school, returned to her studies, and what seemed to be the Hermione before he knew her - minus the talking.

She only spoke when spoken to by a professor and even then often asked the professors to repeat themselves and gave minimal answers, before resorting to quietly taking notes, not speaking to Draco or Harry or Ron or anyone. She was not her usual impossibly studious self. She had been suppressed of being the exceedingly impressive overachiever true to her, her one centralizing component which had ever brought her confidence and personal security. Hermione's never-defeated knack for educational pursuit, for relentless dedication to her academic studies, had always been her greatest, seemingly everlasting source of fulfillment and self-efficacy.

In unhelpful addition, Hermione seemed to be incapable of sleeping on her own without waking up screaming every few hours. So every night after the first two days she used Harry's Invisibility Cloak and joined Draco and he held her the entire night .... Though she still did not speak to him, He knew he comforted her and only in his arms did she feel safe. She refused to take a potion specifically concocted for dreamless sleep, not liking that type of thing to be meddled with, but Draco knew she had restful sleep next to him. He simply held her until morning ...

**

Inevitably, however, Draco and Hermione were finally forced to talk after several days followed. It was at last imminent the day when their musical was to be performed, after months of rigorous planning, in front of the Great Hall for everyone. Hermione wasn't half ambitious as she was before, but this was to be expected, obviously. But it had run smoothly, and when it was over, Hermione was relieved. She then returned to the way she had been for the entire week, not speaking to anyone, and being by herself. Pansy Parkinson found it all very amusing. Though Hermione had told Dumbledore she had been there, it could not be proven and Nott denied her being there. She had gotten in no trouble at all, unfairly, though Draco knew there was nothing Dumbledore could do about it. Draco had been sure Dumbledore had believed them. Pansy laughed at Hermione whenever she walked by, but Draco laughed at Pansy; her boyfriend was going to be in Azkaban for a long time after what he did. Eventually it seemed as though Draco never saw Hermione anymore. She never seemed to be around once she'd learned the password for the Slytherin Common Room from Draco. She would do her schoolwork and then lie in bed and wait for Draco. It was their sole connection.

In the end, Draco ended up having to spend time with other people. Ginny had broken up with Seamus, and he began hanging out with her more. She was actually way cooler than he thought she'd be. His main goal for Ginny was to teach her a lot. He wanted her to learn to take her relationships seriously. Ginny was a great person, and he didn't want her to be the school slut any longer. He wanted to teach her though not through scolding much, but through proper example ...

"Draco, Hermione will bounce back eventually, I'm sure," Ginny said, but it sounded as though she had forced herself to say it. Draco and she were taking a walk around the lake together. "Yeah, I mean, she needs time. It was horrible," said Draco half-agreeably, half-disagreeably no less. He tried to smile a bit. He just missed his woman. "Draco, I want you to come over for Easter Break. It'd be fun," said Ginny suddenly, far more chipper in her tone. "I know break is ages away and all but I thought I'd bring it up soon ..." "Yeah, maybe, but your parents wouldn't want me there. They hate me," replied Draco sourly.

"I don't think they hate you anymore, after all you've done these days," Ginny enthused him, flashing an especially brightened smile. "I'll talk to Mum."

**

Draco and Harry were in the courtyard, finishing their homework. As they no longer had Hermione to assist them, they divided their work and they gave each other's the answers. It was not exactly right, but it was the only way they got through their work these days. Ron was not exactly a lot of help. And Cho had her own work to be getting along with, as she was a year ahead of them, and was preparing for her N.E.W.T which she'd take in her seventh year.

Harry and Draco both had their Quidditch practices to also be getting along with, which were killing them. And to make things very awkward, they had a match in which they would be facing each other at the beginning of March. This made them both very uncomfortable, but they both had told each other they'd play their best game regardless. At the moment, Gryffindor and Slytherin were tied for the lead.

"Let's do Charms tomorrow, please, Draco," begged Harry, making a most desperate, pleading look unlike him.

"Yeah, all right," Draco responded at last, slighted by a ray of annoyance. "I'm so fucking tired anyway. I'm really getting worried about Hermione, by the way."

"Me too. When she's ready to talk about, we'll be there," said Harry calmly, and they sat in silence for a moment.

"Let's go inside then, it's so damn cold," whined Draco in a tone that was raspy, rubbing his palms together for heat with earnest.

**

It was a normal day in Divination. Professor Trelawney had already predicted Harry's death a few times. Harry and Ron weren't paying any attention. Lavender and Parvarti soaked in every word as though it was the word of God. Neville looked at her fearfully.

And then the bell rang, as normal. Everyone left but Professor Trelawney asked Harry to stay. 'Oh God, the hag better not hold me back much!', Harry immediately thought to himself dreadfully.

"Remus Lupin ... He is your friend, is he not?" asked Professor Trelawney, trying to sound mysterious, it seemed. "I sense danger .... Much danger to him .... A silver dagger to destroy him!!!!" She announced dramatically, wide-eyed with features wrinkled furiously.

Wary of his surroundings, Harry eyed her closely, trembling as he felt his anxious thoughts stir through his unnerved mind. 'A silver dagger? Did she mean Wormtail's new silver hand? Hell, reckon, I have no bloody idea!''

"Warn him ... The fates say he has little time," Professor Trelawney stated very seriously, with an eerie mist to her voice.

**