Something to Remember

Chapter 13 The Power of Goodbye

**

It was towards the end of February now, and Hermione still was very much isolated from the rest of the outside world. Draco was getting quite concerned now, but still he continued giving her space, just as she so stubbornly wished. But, Draco had decided if she did not start talking after another week, he personally would be in merit to figure out a way to force her to somehow, for the situation would hence then be quite emergent. He missed his 'Mrs.', missed his 'one-and-only', missed his beloved Hermione so dearly, so very, very much, especially now more than ever -- Pure certainty inside Draco confirmed his initial intuition that her not speaking to anyone at all definitely would NOT realistically assist his suffering wife in moving on in even the most minute way possible.

And thus, there remained no doubt whatsoever that Draco Malfoy was, indeed, beyond eager for his wife's traumatic isolation to cease.

Nonetheless, Draco had Quidditch practice nearly every night now since the match between Gryffindor and Slytherin was approaching, and they were anything but fun these days. His Slytherin teammates seemed to find error in everything he did, and had made a personal hobby out of abusing him as much as they possibly could. Draco personally felt he had never flown better. He couldn't wait to see Harry having to congratulate him ...

The idea made Draco smile. He did know, however, that Harry was also an amazing flier. He had never been able to defeat him. However, he really believed this would be the time he did. Draco and Harry both had promised to act as they had before when it came to Quidditch ... Fierce competitors who loathed each other, in other words.

The match between Gryffindor and Slytherin, however, was still nearly two weeks away. It seemed as though the workload was growing more and more from their teachers. Snape had given them so much homework Draco thought he'd likely finish it on his deathbed. It wasn't, though, as if Snape (or any of Draco's other teachers for that matter) cared that the students were extremely stressed and overworked.

So it was one morning when Draco Malfoy, miserably seated purposely next to no one in the Great Hall and barely even talking upon an outsider's greeting, rushed through his breakfast so that he could finish an important essay for Snape -- that the angst-ridden, teenage Slytherin boy therein found himself very much in a glum mood. If nothing else, today would be filled with his least favorite subjects: Potions, Transfiguration, History of Magic, and then finally Astronomy at midnight. Draco was getting quite depressed. It just seemed impossible to get through everything on their plates lately. He and Harry, for instance, were splitting their work up between each other, but in the end, ONLY Harry had Divination and ONLY Draco had Arithmancy, and both classes respectively had a large load of homework these days. If only Hermione were actually talking to him these days ('God forbid!' Draco too often thought sarcastically to himself) -- then Arithmancy wouldn't be too much of a problem for Draco. But as that was surely not the case ...

"Draco," muttered a very dull, weak voice behind him. "You might want to read this."

Draco, startled, turned sharply around, and was immediately relieved to see that it was Hermione. Draco brightened very much, but his relief turned out to be quite brief, for she just handed him The Daily Prophet and walked away quickly. She did not turn to look back at him, did not even bother to pass a comforting glance his way, and he was her husband of all people! For a moment surprising anger started to boil inside him ...

But then Draco saw. It was dead in the headlines ... Horror of a brand-new magnitude had crashed upon them: "BREAKOUT in Azkaban of Very Dangerous Death Eaters -- Rodolphus and Bellatrix Lestrange Escape!!" As Draco read the article, his eyes immediately inclined a look over at Neville Longbottom, who was sitting solemnly at the Gryffindors' table. It was very sad. Neville had never told anyone the story, but Draco knew as Bellatrix was his aunt, of course. Bellatrix and her husband had tortured Neville's parents into insanity after repeatedly inflicting the Cruciatus Curse upon them, as they'd both been Aurors ferociously fighting against the Dark Lord back then. It was horrible, but that was why Neville lived with his grandmother. Draco believed the Longbottoms had a permanent residence in St. Mungo's ...

Harry apparently noticed Draco reading the paper and had come right over. "You know about Neville's parents, don't you?" Harry said shortly, in nothing but a whisper.

"Yes, how do you?" asked Draco back.

"Dumbledore told me last year. Promised I wouldn't tell anyone, but as you already know ..." Harry was still whispering in his breathless explanation. "But now they've broken out of Azkaban once again, how terrible I reckon this is going to be ..."

"Harry, things are only getting worse, they really are. We have to do something. I feel like it's up to us, isn't it?" Draco spoke profoundly.

"It is, isn't it? Me, Harry Potter, the one with the power to destroy evil and treachery ... And you Draco, my friend, my best friend, the guy with the hidden agenda. And Hermione, the smartest witch we'll ever meet ... And Ron, of course, the most loyal friend anyone could ask for ..." And Harry looked away. Draco smiled at Harry. Harry had never once called Draco his best friend ...

"It is. The Ministry can fight all they want, but it's YOU, Harry, who is truly obsessed, who won't rest until Voldemort is gone for good."

Harry did not respond, stunned by the remarkableness of Draco's illuminating comments. Not quite yet ready to speak, his eyes blazed bright-green with a flashing, immersed passion ...

**

In days to come, security in the castle tightened more than ever before. Students were not allowed to leave their dormitories past eight now, regardless of age. Students could not even leave the castle unless there were very special circumstances. Their professors looked especially worried in times as of late -- shrill, unbecomingly tentative days crumbling into the ghostliness of one another without end. Neville, too, even looked paler than ever these days, yet he seemed to be working twice as hard in his studies now, surprising everyone considerably ...

Cho and Harry barely saw each other these days, except at lunch and almost never between classes. And Quidditch and homework basically prevented them from being together almost ever in the evenings. And Draco was pretty worried himself where they stood; it was as if being together didn't matter to them much anymore. But then again ... He and Hermione were just as distant these days, only seeing each other at nights. But it was that connection, the fact that Hermione needed and wanted to be with him at that precise time each and every day -- nighttime, when she could be cuddled beside him, sleep within the sereneness of their loving embrace -- which served as unfailing, pinnacle proof of their untainted dear love ...

**

"Harry, you look terrible," said Draco boldly, definitely coming across outright blunt one cool late-evening in the castle. Harry had just come inside from a very rainy Quidditch practice, and he was muddy and looked absolutely exhausted.

"I know, I'm so tir--tired," explained an indisputably exhausted Harry, who was yawning loudly.

"Let's take a holiday," said Draco lightly, but neither of them honestly had enough energy in them to laugh.

"Actually, tomorrow is Ron's birthday!" Harry, surprisingly amused, humored his friend's remark. "I reckon we're taking him to Hogsmeade, matter of fact. But listen, there's something I've been meaning to tell you, mate."

"What's that?"

And Harry told Draco all about what Professor Trelawney had "informed" him of the other day.

"Wow ... I dunno what to do about that," responded a very taken aback Draco, still sounding very surprised even after a suspenseful, prolonged moment of silence that seemed to just hang in the air awkwardly. "But you know, most prophecies like that can be altered. We should tell Remus."

"How, though?"

"Fireplace meeting ... Slytherin dungeons, midnight tonight. I'll send him the invite by Owl Post right now."

**

Ginny and Lavender were together in the Gryffindor Common Room area discussing boys and their current lovers. Ginny and Lavender had recently become friends, because it was only now that Ginny had time and proximity (in light of Hermione's remoteness) to newly-realize there was shockingly much more to Lavender than Hermione had told her. Lavender was, in fact, much cooler than Ginny had forethought. But considering Ginny's only basis to draw from had been the extremely negative portrait of Lavender framed into her mind by Hermione, such felt quite understandable.

"So no hard feelings about Seamus, then?" Ginny asked. Lavender and Seamus had briefly dated.

"Not at all, I barely liked him," reassured Lavender, smiling. "He irritated the hell out of me. Regardless, we looked good together at the Yule Ball, damn it!"

They both laughed. It felt good to be wrapped up in nothingness for a while. When she was around her brother and his friends, everything was so 'life-and-death', and nothing but worrying and such. When she was just hanging with Lavender, she felt as though she could be normal. She didn't have to worry about whether the next twenty-four hours would result in her death or not.

"So why did you and Seamus break off?" asked Lavender curiously.

"I was beginning to fancy someone else," confessed Ginny in a low, quieted tone of voice, blushing furiously.

"Wow, who?" demanded Lavender to know, sounding excited.

"I can never have him, but it's Draco," whispered Ginny, immediately flushing scarlet.

"WHAT IN THE BLOODY HELL?" screamed Lavender.

"Lavender, shut up!" snapped Ginny, sounding scared.

People were staring at them now.

"He is married. As crazy as it is for him to be married at fifteen, he is. Move on, girl," ordered Lavender in a whisper, as though questioning Ginny's sanity.

"But it wasn't official or anything ... Just a little religious ceremony. By wizarding law, they are not married. They're waiting until they become of age for all that," countered Ginny evenly, as though that fact alone meant a whole lot of anything for her chances.

Rolling her eyes, Lavender peered straight back at her friend in a most ordinary fashion, unaffected by Ginny's words. "Oh God, Ginny, come to your senses, will you?! Married men ... Not cool!!!" exclaimed Lavender strongly, at the high point of her disapproving call.

"He's been so good to me, like, you know, unintentionally leading me on," Ginny quickly continued explaining, but now sounding hopeless. "... I just want one kiss." Ginny was now staring into space dreamily.

Yet Lavender merely once again rolled her eyes at Ginny, and even made a well-spirited, snarky look of respite at her hopelessly crushing friend. "Sorry, Ginny. Not happening."

**

On the other hand, dinner had also been a memorable, albeit odd, experience for Draco this evening. He was sitting with Harry as usual, but now Ginny was acting all odd around him, and it was freaking him out. He had seen her as a sister lately, and now she was being weird. She and Lavender Brown walked by him, giggling, and Ginny, blushing, had greeted him, which then caused Lavender to explode into even more (hideous) giggles.

Draco had never seen Ginny hang with Lavender before, she was almost always with Hermione, who was of course, unavailable at the moment. But what an odd replacement. He had never liked Lavender much. Then again, he had never liked Ginny much either 'till recently ...

Draco sat with Lavender and Ginny. Ginny was blushing furiously. "Hey, Draco," greeted Lavender, sounding much too innocent.

"Hi," said Draco awkwardly. "What's with you, Ginny?" Draco said outright, forgetting Lavender existed.

"Nothing," said Ginny indignantly, who had snapped back into her senses. "Stuff on my mind."

"All right then, well ..." And he whispered into her ear about Remus and meeting him tonight, and wanting her to be there.

"I'll be there," Ginny made confident note of, not speaking any louder necessarily, just this time having some conviction in her tone. It was a first for tonight, given the input of her schoolgirl, "googly-eye" touch-up apparently made for a stark contrast in Ginny's behavior.

Lavender eyed them suspiciously. "Where is Hermione, anyway?" she wondered out loud, frustration inched a space in her inflection.

"She doesn't come to dinner that much anymore," answered Draco sourly, reluctant to even answer, and inadvertently assumed a bit of a nonrhythmic shrugging, awkwardly posturing left then right as he leaned in his discomforted stance.

"Well, maybe you should be there with her. Heaven knows she isn't my favorite person, but it was kind of sad what happened to her," said Lavender. "She needs you right now."

"I know, but she won't talk to anybody," stressed Draco.

"Yeah, okay, whatever," agreed Lavender nonchalantly, her point of caring apparently gone. "So are Cho and Harry still together?"

"Yeah, why?" asked a rather curious Draco.

"Oh lord, it's damn obvious they're so over," said Lavender sardonically, mocking Draco. "I mean, honestly, do you not see the obvious?"

"Well they're both just quite busy, and NOT over, not at all," Draco retorted sharp mention of, now glaring at Lavender. "Some people have obligations."

"Eh, whatever. You'll see soon. I give it twenty-four hours. What about you, Ginny?" asked Lavender laughingly. Ginny was blushing as both Draco and Lavender stared at her.

"Draco, you do have to admit they seem kind of over lately," said Ginny in a tiny, partly-fearful voice.

"Meh ... Anyway, what's the deal with you and Parvarti, Lavender?" asked Draco cleverly, sharply turning the tables on Lavender to their stark surprises.

"Parvarti who?" renounced Lavender immediately, heat now inundating her tone. She suddenly looked angry and disgusted, and as though trying to actually make Draco believe she sincerely did not know who Parvarti was.

But the young Malfoy, made irritable by this immature girl, did not stand down, and was even particularly menacing as he added, "Oh, come off it! I heard she snogged Dean ...While you and him were dating." Draco looked absolutely delighted, and then directed Ginny and Lavender with a point of his hand at a very happy-appearing couple near them-- the likes of none other than Parvarti Patil and Dean Thomas, indeed together, and indeed holding hands like lovers!!

Lavender looked nothing short of livid, clenching her teeth so hard her words stuttered in reply. "Yes, well, she, uh ... She is no friend of mine anymore after that, not that twit!" clarified Lavender flippantly, fighting to breathe for a moment in the heat of the whole affair. Letting a few icy moments pass by, trying to drift away from the topic Lavender brought up calmly, "And I have a new love interest anyway, guys."

About half a second later, "... And who would that be?" inquired Ginny directly, smirking at her newly-beloved friend.

"Harry Potter."

**

Draco and Ginny had the displeasure of walking into the precise kind of unwelcoming scene which they'd both leave having rather not witnessed. They'd been walking back from dinner and had decided to go study in the library for a brief while. But instead, because Draco and Ginny went precisely when they went, the two unsuspecting pupils gained only the "exciting" surprise of being guests to a menacing scene in suspenseful development before them:

"I'm so sick of you, Harry!" shrieked a very angry Cho. Facing her was Harry, who looked like he was going to explode with anger.

"Fuck you, Cho. You have no idea what we've been going through, and this is how you treat me!" slammed Harry. Ginny and Draco were stunned.

"I don't know why I ever dated you, Harry. You were never worth my time. And to think, I actually thought I'd be with you for the rest of ..." And Cho ran away, apparently at the verge of tears. Many people were staring now, and then Madam Pince rushed over and kicked Harry out.

"Oh God," thought Ginny aloud, her pessimistic displeasedness nearly sounding void of empathy or concern for the torn couple; a mere moment later, matter of fact, she actually looked almost to the point of laughing. "What the bloody hell they were arguing about, I wonder." It wasn't even a question.

"I guess Lavender has her chance now," sneered Draco sarcastically, and they both laughed.

"OUT!" barked Madam Pince, and looking daggers at Madam Pince, Draco and Ginny left.

**

Harry and Ginny were with Ron at Hogsmeade for his birthday, and Hermione had even tagged along reluctantly, too -- it seemed, though, more just out of obligation apparently. Draco, meanwhile, was bored and alone in the castle this bright afternoon day, the first day of March, as there was no Quidditch practice and for once, unbelievable as it sounded, he and Harry had all their work caught up.

So bored, Draco went to find Cho, and actually managed to find her in the Owlery, mailing off a letter to her younger sister back at home. "Cho ... How are you?" Draco finally asked her, very much implying he wanted to talk about Harry, finally.

"I'm fine," replied Cho immediately, looking away into space; the intent of her especially defensive demeanor came across cryptic and uncertain, more so than ever just as her whole body grew to a point of frigidness that tested natural boundaries, almost (or so it at least looked).

"Are you sure? I'm here, you know," consoled Draco in a rare vulnerable tone, trying to sound as nice as he could. And then he spoke again, bluntly, going to back to his normal self. "What did you do to Harry?"

Cho scowled at him. "Nothing. Harry doesn't know how to treat a lady. He's too wrapped up in himself," she said scornfully, sounding as though she had been dying to say that.

Draco let out a mirthless laugh. "Harry is the most selfless person I know." Cho was now refusing to look at Draco. "He's had a lot on his mind lately."

Cho began crying hysterically. "I can't be with him anymore. Harry can't commit to women, can he? He has a job to do. And you know it ..."

Draco patted her on her back a bit, and nodded. "He does have a job to do, yes. And anyone who cares about him has to understand that, and understand that Harry does need a companion, but he cannot rest until his job is done."

Cho sobbed a bit, but then looked up at Draco. "I'm the one who's been selfish, aren't I?"

"Duh," blabbered Draco unkindly, mockingly too, yet he was not laughing. Only a year ago seeing Cho simply cry even more in reaction to his unrelenting, cruel honesty would have left Draco slopping in laughter. "Talk to him if you want him back, Cho. He never wanted to hurt you." No, that selfish and cold, "hardened" version of Draco was no longer in existence -- and that matter of fact brought none greater satisfaction than he himself, the new Draco Malfoy that is, whom those around him recognized as being his very own, singularly true version of self.

And so thus it was that this rather more charismatically-inclined version of Draco, therein standing, instantaneously seemed to compel every thought of Cho's mind into his 'woo of persuasion', right towards giving confidence to the meaning subscribed in Draco's words.

**