24. Chapter 24

Hey guys. Normal stuff. Don't own Harry Potter. Hope you like the chapter. See you next week and stuff. I hit 70 000 words last chapter. This is going to be a long story.

I'm tired.

Draco walked back into the kitchen, trying not to show the hundreds of emotions racing through him. His mother and Hermione looked up as he walked in. Narcissa sent a smile his way. It didn't quite reach her eyes. Draco's heart contracted when he looked at his mother. It was nearly painful. He turned to Hermione instead. She was giving him a dazzling smile that did reach her eyes. His heart hurt looking at her as well. With nowhere to look, he sat down and stared at the wall, trying to crush his emotions down deep.

"Are you alright, Draco?" his mother asked, concern saturating her voice.

"Yes, mum," Draco replied, cheerily. He sounded as though he was on helium. "I just felt a little overwhelmed. I'm alright."

"I'm glad. I was just telling Hermione a bit about my Hogwarts years. When are you two going to head up there?"

"Soon, I guess. I'm thinking we should eat, and then we can apparate over."

Narcissa nodded. Turning to Hermione, she asked, "What do you want for breakfast, dear?"

Hermione looked thoughtful for a moment. "Pancakes and maple syrup."

Draco chuckled. Such a Canadian.

A house-elf heard her and started preparing the food. Narcissa, in the meantime, began a conversation with Hermione about Canada. Draco slowly sipped some coffee while listening to his mother and Hermione. The two of them seemed to have bonded fairly quickly.

Suddenly, a loud shrilling filled the air. Draco jumped up, knocking his coffee over.

"What was that?" asked Hermione.

"Someone's trying to get past the wards," Draco said quickly. Shit. They'd found her. Who they were didn't particularly matter.

"Draco, darling, don't worry," Narcissa soothed. "They can't get past the wards without either your or my permission." Draco nodded, calming down. Yay magic.

"They'll be at the gates," Draco said. "I'm going to see who it is." Draco still wanted an idea of who knew where Hermione was. Narcissa nodded, understanding.

Draco raced out of the kitchen and back through the manor once more. He raced out the door and down the sloped grounds. Arriving at the gates, he screeched to a halt.

Looking at the idiot who had tried to apparate on to the grounds, Draco felt relieved. It wasn't a reporter. It wasn't an auror. It wasn't even Harry Potter.

It was Seamus bloody Finnigan.

"Oi! Draco!" The Irishman waved from beyond the gates. "Are you going to allow me entrance to your humble abode?"

Draco looked at him skeptically, remembering something Mad-eye Moody used to say.

"In the letter Seamus Finnigan wrote me a few weeks ago, what did he say the cold of Canada was doing?"

Seamus gave him a look of incredulity. "I said it was competing with your icy soul."

Draco nodded and opened the gates. Seamus walked in.

"Was that really necessary?" Seamus asked.

"Constant vigilance, my dear Gryffindor," Draco smirked, closing and locking the gates once more. Seamus rolled his eyes, but wasn't going to be discouraged.

"So, Malfoy," the Irishman started, but Draco cut across him.

"Hermione is back, her memory is gone, and she's been hanging out in Canada for seven years."

Seamus looked baffled. "Actually, I was going to ask you how the Malfoy Industries office in Canada was."

"Oh. It's good."

Seamus nodded. The two of them began walking towards the manor. They remained in silence until they got to the door.

"So, Hermione's back?" Seamus asked.

Draco nodded. "Yep."

Seamus smiled. "Good. I've missed her."

Draco found himself suddenly wanting to throttle his favourite employee. He shook off this insanity.

Leading Seamus through the front door, Draco's mind strayed back to the conversation he had overheard between his mother and Hermione. He couldn't believe all his mother had been through. He hadn't known a quarter of what she had told Hermione. He loved his mother more than anything in the world, and now, he respected her more than anyone in the world. He couldn't believe she was still carrying on. What an amazing woman.

Seamus and he had arrived at the kitchen. Draco entered first.

"It was just Seamus," he said, replying to his mother's look of worry. Narcissa nodded, and went back to reading the paper. His mother knew Seamus well from the many midnight meetings they had had when Draco was still living at the manor.

Hermione, however, didn't know Seamus Finnigan anymore. She looked up curiously, as the Irishman strutted through the door. Seamus looked around, and quickly spotted his old classmate. His face broke out into a giant grin. It was slightly terrifying.

Seamus ran across the room to Hermione, who jumped up in surprise. Seamus quickly pulled her into a ginormous hug. It was clearly friendly, but it made Draco's blood boil.

Hermione, with no other real option, returned his hug. Seamus was laughing in happiness, and he spun her around several times. Hermione was smiling now too, throwing her head back in laughter.

Draco nearly growled.

Seamus set Hermione back. Draco had never seen his head of international offices so happy.

"Welcome back Hermione," he said. The sincerity in his voice saturated the air.

Hermione, smiling widely, replied. "You know I have absolutely no idea who you are, right?"

Seamus nodded, still smiling. He took a step back, and sunk down into a bow. Looking up at Hermione, smiling cheekily, he introduced himself.

"Seamus Finnigan, Gryffindor, and one of your classmates for approximately six years."

Hermione chuckled. She sunk down into a curtsy.

"Hermione Mas..Granger. Trying to understand what is going on."

Seamus burst out laughing. He pulled Hermione back into a hug.

"Long time no see, Miss Granger," he whispered in her ear. "I've missed you."

The way Seamus was acting around Hermione was solely out of friendship, Draco could see that. It was not close at all to the way Weasel acted around her, or even Potter. Seamus did not see Hermione in a romantic way at all. In fact, Draco didn't think Seamus saw anyone in a romantic way. He had never even mentioned a girlfriend.

Still, seeing Seamus hugging Hermione, Draco felt a growl nearly escape his lips.

Seamus, after what seemed like an eternity, let Hermione go. Hermione look at Draco, with a confused smile on her face.

Draco crushed his rising emotions, to answer her expression.

"Hermione, this is Seamus Finnigan." At this, Seamus gave Hermione a two finger salute. "He was in our year at Hogwarts, but he was in your house. Now, he works for me."

"With you, my good sir," Seamus corrected, chuckling.

Draco shot him an exasperated glare. "For me." Seamus shrugged in defeat.

Hermione smiled. "That's nice. I'm sorry though, Seamus. I have absolutely no idea who you are."

Seamus looked mock offended. "Forget moi? How is such a thing possible?"

Hermione burst out in giggles. "I'm going to like you."

Seamus laughed. "I'm likable."

Draco was near murder now.

Seamus took a seat at the table, waving at Narcissa, who gave him a nod over the paper. Hermione sat down as well. Draco remained standing, glaring at his employee.

"So, Draco," Seamus started. His best employee didn't seem to notice the look of extreme hatred currently adorning Draco's features.

"What are you guys up to today?" Seamus finished his question.

Draco took a deep breath, trying to calm his emotions. When he felt he had them under control, he answered the question.

"We're going to head up to Hogwarts after Hermione's done eating." By this time, a house elf had placed Hermione's pancakes and maple syrup before her. She was gobbling them down.

Seamus looked puzzled. "Why? Have you been up to Hogwarts since the battle?"

Draco shook his head. "No. I didn't have any reason to."

Seamus continued. "I went up last year with Dean. It's a weird feeling, man. You look around and you see the good memories, then a second later your mind is flooded with the bad. Your brain is overcome with flashbacks, which I assume," Seamus turned to Hermione, smiling cheekily, "is why you are going."

Draco nodded, trying once more to quench the urge to throttle the Irishman. What was this insanity?

Seamus was now talking to Hermione. "Do you have any memories left, like at all?"

Hermione nodded slowly. "Only two, and I've only remembered them in the last couple weeks."

Seamus smiled. "Don't worry, Hermione. You'll remember. There's nothing your mind cannot do."

Hermione looked appreciative of Seamus' support. "Thanks, Seamus," she muttered, looking at the ground, blushing slightly. Avoiding everyone's eye, she continued to finish off her pancakes.

A few seconds later, she was done. "Shall we go now?" she asked.

Draco nodded. Narcissa looked stricken.

"Draco! You two aren't even dressed." Oh yeah. Clothes.

Narcissa shook her head. "I'll give Hermione some of my robes to wear. She's going to have to get used to wearing wizard robes anyway." That sounded good.

"Hermione, go with my mum, she'll get you dressed." Hermione nodded, and hopped out of the chair. She left with Narcissa.

Seamus was still smiling. "It's strange. It's Hermione, but it's not. You know?" Seamus' eyes turned to the door Hermione had just left through.

Draco couldn't contain the growl this time. It left his lips, in a menacing fashion. Seamus looked over in surprise.

"Draco, you alright, mate?"

"What are you playing at Finnigan?" he hissed. "Why are you being so friendly with Hermione?"

Seamus looked dumbfounded. "Because we are friends."

"That doesn't mean you have to flaunt it!" Draco said angrily.

Seamus eyed him for a moment. Suddenly, his eyes popped open, and he started gaping.

"Do you think I'm interested in Hermione, like, romantically?"

When Draco didn't answer, Seamus lost it.

He fell off his chair, overcome with such laughter as to completely lose control. He began to roll around on the floor, clutching his stomach as his frame shook with rowdy guffaws. Draco just stared, unsure of what was going on.

When Seamus was able to regain control, his face was bright red and covered with tears. He was laughing so hard he had cried. Seamus stood up, clutching the table for support.

"Draco, mate," Seamus laughed. "I'm gay."

All of his ill-will towards Seamus disappeared in an instant. Instead, embarrassment took over. Draco could feel his cheeks heating up.

"Oh," he said sheepishly. "Sorry."

Seamus let out one final guffaw. "It's fine, mate. Honestly, I thought you knew."

Draco shook his head, and thought back. In all reality, this explained a lot.

"When did this, start?" Draco couldn't find a better way to phrase it.

Seamus shrugged. "Sixth year, maybe. I don't really know."

Draco felt really embarrassed now. "I totally missed this. How did I totally miss this? We're really good friends."

Seamus laughed. "It's fine mate. Sometimes you just get wrapped up in yourself, and that's ok. What I'm more curious about is, even if I did like Hermione romantically, why would you care?"

Draco found himself officially stumped. "I….um…well…"

Seamus let out a giant laugh, which was followed by several small guffaws. "Are you telling me that Draco Malfoy, Slytherin Prince, has the hots for Hermione Granger?"

Draco's heart stuttered, and the blush reappeared on his face. "I did not say that."

Seamus chuckled. "Maybe your mouth didn't, but your eyes sure as hell did."

Before Draco had time to respond, Hermione and Narcissa returned.

Hermione was draped in classic wizard robes, of the bottle green variety. They draped over her form splendidly. They were actually fairly low cut, showing the curve of her neck, which distracted Draco for a moment. The robes were trimmed with silver. Draco chuckled. How many times was Hermione going to end up in Slytherin colours?

Hermione seemed rather comfortable in the robes. She had no trouble holding herself in them, or walking in them. Her hair was down, as usual, curled around her shoulders. Her brown eyes were sparkling.

Draco's breath caught for a moment, and he worked on the ability to breath. He didn't know why Hermione in this outfit affected him so much. He had seen her dressed in much more spectacular dresses that made her look like a goddess. But seeing Hermione dressed in bottle green wizard robes, Draco's heart was pounding faster than it had in a long time.

Why though? There was nothing spectacular about wizard robes, and that's all it was. Just a classic set of green wizard robes. Her hair wasn't styled; it was just resting on her shoulders. She wasn't wearing any makeup, (not that she needed it.) She wasn't adorned with ridiculously expensive jewellery. She wasn't dressed to the nines. She was just dressed in wizard robes.

That was it, Draco realized. Hermione was dressed in wizard robes. This was the first time, in a long time, that Hermione Granger had been dressed like a witch. This was the first time, in ages, that Draco was in the presence of the cleverest witch of their age. This was the first time, in a while, that Hermione was a war heroine. This was the first time, in seven years, that Hermione was herself, if not mentally, but physically.

It struck Draco how powerful this moment was. Hermione was really coming back to the wizard world, Draco thought. This was just the first step on a very long journey. But they would make it.

Together.

"I best be heading off," said Seamus, more to Draco than the others.

Draco nodded. Then something occurred to him.

"Oi Seamus, mate, why were you even here?"

Seamus chuckled. He turned to Hermione. "I wanted to see what was up with the Gryffindor Princess."

Hermione smiled. She had taken an easy liking to Seamus. Even though Draco now knew his employee was gay, it still irked him how much Hermione liked him.

Seamus walked up to the Gryffindor Princess, and gave her a quick hug. Turning to Narcissa, he gave a short bow.

"Can I apparate out of here mate?" Draco nodded. It was only apparating in that was a problem.

"I'll see you all soon," Seamus smiled. With a final salute, and a pop, he was gone.

Draco turned to Hermione. She was chuckling as she looked him over. Draco looked down. Crap. He was still in pyjamas.

"One moment, please," he said quickly. He rushed out of the kitchen and to his room. He threw on his own set of wizard robes, which were black. Black had always suited him. He chose to apparate back to the kitchen.

With a pop, he appeared right in front of Hermione. She started, but quickly understood what had happened. She seemed to be getting used to magic again.

"Are you two going to head up to Hogwarts now?" Narcissa asked, as she took her place at the table once more.

Draco nodded.

"Does Mcgonagall know you're coming?" Crap. Draco had forgotten about that.

"She will soon," was his answer. Narcissa laughed, and picked the paper back up.

"I must say, Hermione," she said, her eyes skimming over a section. "Your escapades before your disappearance are rather interesting."

"I wouldn't know," Hermione replied. Draco almost laughed. Hermione had a rather dry sense of humour.

"Are you ready?" he asked her. She nodded.

Draco held out his hand, and she took it without question. That made him smile.

He pulled her close, and whispered, "hold on tight." She wrapped her arms around his waist, and held him.

"Bye, mum!" He said over his shoulder, as he apparated them away. Right before they disappeared, he saw his mother eyeing him and Hermione. He couldn't quite place the emotion on her face. She looked almost proud.

The sensation of apparation was something that took a little while to get used to, so Draco wasn't surprised when, following the moment they hit the ground, Hermione vomited.

Draco rubbed her back, and said soothingly, "Apparation takes a while to get used to."

Hermione straightened up, and wiped her mouth off with the back of her hand. "I can tell." Draco smiled and took out his wand. Hermione eyed it warily. He pointed it at her and muttered, Scorgify, which immediately cleaned her up. She nodded at him in thanks. Then she stood up.

Hermione looked around. Raising her eyebrows, she said, "This doesn't look like a gigantic castle in Scotland."

"Well, dear Hermione, it's not."

"Why didn't we apparate to the castle?"

"Well, you can't apparate in or out of the Hogwarts castle or grounds." Draco found it a bit ironic that it was always Hermione who was reminding people of this fact, and now she couldn't remember. Oh, how the tides had turned.

"Where are we then?"

Draco had apparated them to Hogsmeade. Hermione looked around at all the shops.

"Dear Hermione, we are in Hogsmeade, a little village fifteen minutes away from the castle. I need to send a message to the Headmistress before taking you onto the grounds, as well."

Hermione nodded and began walking up the cobbled street. Draco immediately reached out and pulled her back. He had just thought of something.

"Hermione, we are on the front of the Prophet today. If we walk around Hogsmeade looking like ourselves, we will be mobbed."

"So what do we do?" Hermione asked.

Draco smirked, whipping out his wand. "I think it's time for a little more magic." Hermione nodded, excited.

Draco cast a glamour over both him and Hermione, sending a shimmer through the air. Hermione now had blonde hair, a pale complexion, and gray eyes. He had brown hair, tanned skin and freckles.

Hermione smiled, pulling some of her hair in front of her face. Her smile grew wider when she saw the colour.

"I think we will be sufficiently disguised for the moment." Hermione nodded, and held out her hand. Draco took it without hesitation.

They walked through the streets. Nobody paid them a second glance. Draco veered into the post office, and sent a quick letter to Mcgonagall asking her permission to enter the school. He casually mentioned that the minister for magic was behind the idea.

After he sent that off, he took Hermione to the Three Broomsticks.

The Three Broomsticks, for the first time in his memory, was completely silent. It was packed, but no one was speaking. Every single customer was currently bent over today's copy of The Daily Prophet. Draco could see his and Hermione's picture on every table in the room. Thank Merlin they had glamoured up.

No one looked up as they walked to the counter, where Draco proceeded to order two butterbeers from Madame Rosmerta. He didn't look her in the eyes as he handed over a few sickles. He hadn't seen her since his sixth year, when she had been imperiused.

Hermione and he were lucky. There was one empty table in the far back corner. It was a corner booth that Draco knew, for a fact, Hogwarts students liked to use as a make out booth. With this thought in mind, he slid into it with Hermione.

Hermione eyed the butterbeer he had placed before her.

"It's butterbeer, it's delicious," he assured her quietly. Even his whisper sounded loud in the deathly quiet pub. No one paid them any mind though; they were too engrossed in the article.

Hermione took a little sip of the liquid, and her face lit up. She downed the whole glass in a minute. Draco just watched her. When she finally finished, she set the glass down.

"That was amazing," she said softly. She took her straw and stirred up the remaining froth at the bottom of the glass.

Draco nodded. "It really warms you up."

Hermione smiled. She then started looking around the pub. She was just observing the customers. Draco watched her, and wondered what she was thinking. Draco was so focused on getting her memories back that he had forgotten to ask her what she was thinking of the world so far. He should probably do that.

But, before he had time to form the words, an owl swooped in through one of the open windows. The customers all looked up from the Daily Prophet. The owl flew through the pub and landed gracefully on the table Draco and Hermione were sitting at. The owl held out its leg; attached, was a letter, addressed in green ink, to Draco Malfoy. Draco recognized the writing easily: it was the same as on every one of his Hogwarts' letters.

The other customers all looked interested for a second, but after a few seconds of staring they all turned back to their copies of The Daily Prophet.

Draco unattached the letter and the owl flew back across the pub and out the open window. Draco opened the letter while Hermione watched.

It was a reply from Mcgonagall.

Mr Malfoy,

Hermione Granger is one of the most brilliant students Hogwarts has ever had. If this school can, for unspecific reasons, help her, there is no way I can say no. Bring her up to the gates, I will meet you there.

-Minerva Mcgonagall

Draco turned to Hermione. "We can head up to Hogwarts now." She nodded, while eyeing his untouched butterbeer. He sighed, and pushed it across the table. She smiled in thanks, and downed it quickly.

The two of them stood up and left the Three Broomsticks. They set out up the street. The buildings of Hogsmeade were blocking Hogwarts from their view, but Draco knew in a second, the mighty castle would be on display. Surely, as they reached the final little shop on the street, Draco saw Hogwarts looming on the horizon. Instead of looking at his home of six years, Draco looked turned around quickly. There was no one around. He took out his wand and removed their glamours. He wanted to see her reaction on her own face.

Her eyes grew wide quickly, and her smile exploded in happiness. Her face became elated with wonder. Her eyes were glazed over and twinkling as she looked at the many turrets and towers. She then looked at the lake. She looked at the various bridges. She looked and looked and looked, as they drew steadily closer to their home. As she looked at Hogwarts, Draco looked at her. Her face was happier than he had ever seen it. There was amazement. There was astonishment. There was joy. But, there was no sign of the one thing Draco had been praying for.

Recognition.

They walked forward, and drew near to the large iron gates. As they arrived, the gates opened. They walked through them without hesitation. Waiting on the other side was an old witch. She was wearing deep violet robes trimmed with gold, and a matching hat. Her hair was pulled back into a tight bun.

As Draco and Hermione approached, Hermione wrapped her hand around his. The witch waiting for them eyed their intertwined hands with delight. Well, that was a strange reaction.

Draco and Hermione came to a stop in front of her. She eyed Hermione, looking her over, memorizing every inch. When she was finished, Professor Mcgonagall spoke, with a tear in her eye.

"Welcome back Miss Granger."

Review my internet friends