30. Chapter 30

Hello all! I hit 400 reviews last chapter. You are all incredible. Truly. Reviews motivate me to keep writing. I read every single one of them. Thank you for that motivation, because I love writing. This chapter also is the mark at which Fate Has Its Ways passes 100 000 words. That's a lot of words.

The chapter will answer some of your questions and predictions I hope. It's amazing how this story has progressed from my original idea, but I love it. Oh, and congratulations to some of the reviewers who have been guessing answers. Some of you are right. Well done indeed.

Disclaimer: No.

Hermione, Draco, Potter and Kingsley landed on the side of a dark road. Draco blinked several times, his eyes adjusting to the darkness. He guessed this was where Nott's memories of Hermione started. No memories Hermione had landed right next to him, still clutching his hand. Potter was on his other side. Kingsley had taken a few steps forward.

Draco looked around to understand their surroundings. A cluster of lighted buildings could be seen about one hundred metres away. They were small buildings, cottages or shops. On the quartet's other side was a long winding road that led to the mountains. But before the mountains took over the dark skyline, a castle could be seen in the moonlight. It's glittering towers and turrets gave away their location immediately.

They were right outside of Hogsmeade.

Hermione squeezed his hand. He turned and looked at her. She was looking around nervously. "Where are we?"

Oh shit. He had forgotten to explain to her what a pensieve did. "We're inside Nott's memory of your attack. No one inside the memory can see us, and we can't affect anything." Hermione nodded, understanding fairly simply, though she did look slightly rattled from falling into someone else's memories.

Potter turned towards them. "Nott and the death eaters should be around here somewhere then, if this is where we started the memory." Not a second later, Kingsley gestured towards a cluster of trees right off the main road. Draco could see the thin outlines of masks in the darkness.

The four of them walked towards the trees. As they drew closer, they began to hear the voices.

"You're sure the mudblood bitch is here?" That was Nott's voice.

"Yes, Nott," replied a nasty voice from the darkness. Draco thought it sounded familiar, but he couldn't put a face or a name to it. Draco saw the outline of the mask who was speaking. The mask had turned away from Nott and was staring up the main road now. "She's coming. Stupid bitch. Befriending Potter will prove to be the stupidest thing she's ever done." The speaker sounded barely sane.

Draco saw Potter visibly stiffen out of the corner of his eye. He vaguely thought of offering the boy who lived some comfort, but Hermione beat him to it.

The war heroine let go of his hand and went over to Potter. She wrapped her arm around his waist like Draco had seen her do to Potter when they were younger. This familiar gesture seemed to calm Potter, who loosened up, and wrapped his arm around Hermione's shoulder.

Draco tried desperately to ignore them. He could feel the jealousy clawing at his insides. He turned his attention back to the death eaters. He could see all their masks in the dark, so their faces were covered. No identification possible. Draco did a quick count. There were seven of them.

They were all talking amongst themselves. Draco couldn't make out any of the words though. Nott probably had stopped paying attention. But suddenly, the meaningless chatter stopped. A hush fell over them. All of the heads turned up towards Hogsmeade. There, about fifty metres out of the village, a figure was stumbling their way down the street.

Hermione.

As she got closer, they were all able to see her face. It was tear streaked, with puffy red eyes and giant bags under her eyes. She looked dreadful.

She came stumbling forward down the path. About ten metres away from where they were, she hit a rock and tripped, landing on her hands and knees. Her wand skidded out of her coat and across the gravel. Draco groaned. He knew what would happen, but he could not believe how vulnerable a position Hermione had put herself in.

Nott and his company swept out from the trees like shadows. They were in front of Hermione not five seconds after she had fallen. Hermione looked up and skidded backwards, hastily making her way to her feet. She felt for her wand, but realized it had disappeared. The fear on her drunken face was evident.

"Well," crooned the leader, who Draco still couldn't put a name to. "What a nice present to stumble across our path."

"Death eaters," Hermione muttered nervously, backing up a few paces. She looked quickly to each side, trying to find an escape.

The leader gave a sort of hysterical laugh. "Well done. The Dark Lord may have been vanquished, but those who stay loyal to him shall never be silenced."

Hermione shot a look over her shoulder, seeing how far away from the town she was. She turned back, realizing she was too far to make a quick sprint back. "What do you want?" she said as courageously and defiantly as she was able to manage.

"Isn't it obvious?" the leader smirked, stepping forward. "Do you honestly think we don't recognize you, drunk as you may be? Miss Hermione Granger. Potter's very best friend."

The leader looked around at his followers. "Potter deserves to rot in hell for everything he's done." The other death eaters nodded enthusiastically. The leader turned back to Hermione. "We could just kill him. But, that wouldn't accomplish what we want. We want him to hurt, not die. Pain is eternal, death is unknown. Potter always hurts when the people he loves hurt. If we want to put Potter in unbearable pain, his best friend seems like a good place to start."

Hermione snorted. Draco, no memories Hermione and Kingsley exchanged confused looks. Potter just looked at the ground. This girl must've been drunker than she knew to be snorting in this situation.

"Well, I'd go look somewhere else," Hermione replied. "Harry doesn't think I'm his best friend. He hates me. He said so himself. What were his exact words? Oh yes. A no good know-it-all who tags along because no one else will take her. I don't want you in my life. Fuck off and leave me and Ron alone. What a bastard."

"Well, he's lying, pet," the leader said, taking another step forward. "You are his best friend, whether or not he said so. He wants you more than he'll ever admit. He cares about you more than you'll ever know. He loves you in more ways than a man should be able to. You are his everything."

He took another step forward, while the other death eaters made a formation behind him. He raised his wand and eyed it, stroking it with his fingertips.

"But Potter forgot something," he said, examining the wand. "Love makes you weak, and since Potter loves you, when you get hurt, he gets hurt. When you cry, he cries. And when you disappear, he'll lose himself. And then he'll blame himself. It will ruin him, driving him into an endless life of misery and despair. And then, finally, the boy who lived will be finished. Not through a battle, or a duel. But through his supposed greatest strength, which will also be his greatest nightmare. Love is weakness." With this the leader shot a jinx at Hermione.

She managed to dodge it narrowly. She turned and began to run back to Hogsmeade. However, the other death eaters started firing upon her. There were too many jinxes being thrown her way. She eventually was hit. She fell to the ground, and the death eaters surrounded her.

At this, Potter turned around, not being able to watch. Draco tried to rip his eyes away, but he couldn't do it.

The death eaters advanced on Hermione and began to attack. Instead of attacking with spells, they began to punch and kick and claw. Draco felt like that was worse. They were going right down to the barbarism of human nature to hurt her. Hermione withered on the ground. She wasn't screaming, just trying to protect her face. Eventually she lost consciousness, and just lay limp on the ground. The death eaters didn't stop.

It seemed to go on forever. Eventually, one of the death eaters grabbed Hermione, and disaparated. The rest followed. Nott stayed for a few minutes to clean up evidence of the attack. Notably, he took Hermione's wand from the ground and cleaned up the blood. It was red.

No mud.

When Nott disaparated, the four visitors disappeared with him. They all reappeared in dark room that vaguely reminded Draco of the dungeons of Malfoy Manor. It was a dungeon, Draco realized after a second look. Stone walls, a barred door leading to a staircase. There were shackles on the wall, which some of the death eaters were busy attaching Hermione to. There was a small window opposite the staircase. Draco looked outside and saw nothing but sand. They definitely weren't in England anymore.

Potter was still avoiding looking at memory Hermione. He was staring out the small window. Draco stared at him shamelessly, trying to figure some things out. Memory Hermione was still unconscious, and the death eaters were doing nothing as they waited for her to wake up. Draco decided this was the perfect time to get some answers.

"Oi, Potter," Draco said. Potter turned and looked at him. He looked exhausted.

"What?" he replied. His voice sounded broken. Lifeless. Purposeless.

Potter-less.

"Did you really say those things to Hermione?" he asked. No memories Hermione looked up. She had been leaning on the wall, looking at her past-self in shackles.

Potter nodded slowly, looking down in shame. "I was angry… I wasn't thinking straight… I didn't mean any of it." Draco opened his mouth to reply, but no memories Hermione beat him to it.

"Why were you angry?"

Potter sighed. "You being at my house that night basically destroyed my friendship with Ron I was angry at you because of that."

"What happened?" Hermione asked.

Potter shrugged. And that's when Draco finally got fed up.

"Listen Potter," he nearly growled. "I'm done with these vague answers, these context stories, and the lack of real response. Some deep shit went down between the golden trio before Hermione disappeared. It had something to do with Ron and Hermione's lack of relationship, and you. Goddamn it Potter. What the hell happened?!"

Potter opened his mouth, probably to tell him to shut it, when no memories Hermione gasped.

Her face was white, and her eyes were wide. She began stuttering, but she looked as if she had seen the light for the first time. Turning to Potter, she managed to form words.

"I get it," she breathed. "I understand what happened." She turned to Potter, who was white as a sheet. "That's why Ron was mad. That's why you got mad at me. You didn't want to admit it. That's why you're no longer friends with Ron. It was me, wasn't it? It was always me."

Before Potter had a chance to respond, a wail filled the air. Past Hermione had woken up.

As she woke up, Draco got his first look at her face since before the attack. His breath hitched and he tried not to be sick.

Her entire face was bruised and bloody. Her nose looked absolutely shattered. One eye was so black she could barely open it. Her other eye was open a little bit, but her brown eye looked dead, emotionless. The rest of her body didn't look much better. Her clothes were ripped, and Draco could see the rest of the bruises on her body.

"Oh pet," the leader crooned, walking over to where Hermione was. He leaned down and smacked her across the face. Past Hermione flinched.

"What do you want with me?" she moaned, from her position slumped against the wall.

The leader cocked his head to the side. He knelt down. "I want you to hurt," he said roughly. "I want you to scream. I want you to wish for death, and wait for the relief that will never happen. I want you to cry for Potter, who will never come."

Hermione coughed, some blood trickling out of her mouth. "He'll come," she replied defiantly.

The leader cackled. "Let's test that theory."

Then the torture really began.

This wasn't the first time Draco had ever seen this. He had even caused it sometimes. It wasn't even the first time he had seen Hermione tortured. But what these men were doing (all the death eaters were men) wasn't at all like what Bellatrix had done.

This was ten times worse.

Draco could barely keep his breakfast down. They didn't use wands. Draco guessed there must've been a no magic zone on the room to stop Hermione from using wandless magic. But what they did still caused her to scream at the top of her lungs. They cut open her skin with knives dipped in poison. They punched her and kicked her. The smacked her head against the wall. And then they did it all again. The only thing that Draco was thankful for was that they never touched her.

Those bastards wouldn't touch a mudblood. They said it themselves. But Draco didn't particularly have an issue with it.

It seemed to go on forever. Hermione screamed out until her voice went hoarse. She screamed for Potter. She screamed for Weasel. She screamed for Dumbledore. The death eaters just laughed and carried on.

Eventually, the death eaters seemed to get bored. They stopped the torture and took a step back to admire their handiwork. Draco couldn't even look.

The leader spoke first. "That's enough for now. I want her to wait. I want her to pray for Potter. And I want her prayers to be in vain. Give her water and food once a day. Well, Miss Granger, we'll see you soon. And don't try to disapparate. There's an anti-exit ward on this room." With that, the death eaters swept out of the room. But Nott stayed behind. Apparently he had the task of watching Hermione. He stood in the shadows so she couldn't see him.

Hermione slumped against the wall. She could barely move. She looked ten times worse than she had beforehand. Tears began to run down her bruised and battered face. She started sobbing. Then she started stuttering. Draco, no memories Hermione, Potter and Kingsley leaned forward to hear what she was trying to say.

"Harry," she whispered, crying softly. Potter stiffened again. Hermione kept crying. "I don't know if you can hear me. You probably can't. But, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry that I drove a wedge between you and Ron. I didn't mean to. I love you two so much. So very much. And Harry, if you don't want me in your life, I'll leave. I'll do it. But please. I'm strong, but I can't do this one alone. And you promised. You'd find me. You'd save me. And you showed me that promise. Please. I know you don't want to be the saviour. I know that. But I need you to be. For me. Please. Harry…" Hermione sobbed, crying out his name.

Crying for her saviour who would never come.

Potter fell to his knees. The boy who lived crawled forward so he was kneeling right before the Hermione chained to the wall. Potter was sobbing. He reached forward and tried to touch her, but his hand went right through. Potter sobbed even harder remembering that he was seven years too late.

"Hermione," he cried, tears streaming down his face. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry that I broke my promise. I tried so hard to find you. I never stopped looking, ever. This is my fault. All my fault. I shouldn't have yelled at you. To save my friendship with Ron I sacrificed my friendship with you. Ron wasn't worth it. He wasn't. Everything I said to you was a lie. I care about you so much, Hermione. I love you so much. I want you in my life. I've always wanted you in my life. Having you gone for the last seven years has been hell. I wake up every day and I wish the world would just disappear. I don't care about anything. My job, my house, my relationships. I would've traded it all. But I couldn't. I couldn't do anything for you. I'm so sorry."

Potter bawled his eyes out. Draco felt very uncomfortable, as if he was watching something very intimate and private. He shifted uncomfortably. Potter was still crying. Draco had never seen him lose it like this before.

No memories Hermione began to walk towards Potter. Draco reached out to pull her back, but changed his mind. Hermione was the only one who could help Potter right now.

She walked over to him and knelt at his side. Tentatively, she put her arm on his back. When he didn't shove her off, she wrapped her arm fully around him and pulled him close. Potter was still crying as Hermione hugged him.

"I forgive you, Harry," she whispered. Potter sobbed.

"You don't know the full story, Hermione," he responded, choking on his sobs.

"But I do," Hermione responded. "Never underestimate a girl's ability to figure this stuff out. I know what happened."

Potter looked at the Hermione chained to the wall. "How do you know?"

Hermione gave a sad sort of smile. "I pay attention."

Potter turned and looked her in the eye. His eyes were brimming with tears. "I'm so sorry."

Hermione hugged him close. "I forgive you. For everything. For breaking your promise, for yelling at me, for not finding me. That wasn't your fault. You did everything you could. And she forgives you too," Hermione said, pointing at the Hermione on the wall. potter let out another sob. "When I get my memories back, I'll still forgive you, Harry."

Potter drew back and looked her in the eye. "I love you," he whispered.

Hermione smiled sadly. "If I had my memories, I'd love you too, but not the way you want me to."

Potter nodded, understanding. "I love you both ways, you know. I just want you back. I don't care about anything else."

Hermione hugged him and they sat there, Potter trying to calm down. Draco stood back, gaping, finally understanding what was going on.

This was it. This was the answer. How had he not seen it before? It was so obvious now that he thought about it. It explained everything.

Draco felt his mind explode he finally understood. All the puzzle pieces fell together. Everything he had seen that hadn't made sense suddenly did because he finally posessed that final piece of missing information.

This was why Weasel hated Potter. This is why the golden duo had fallen out. This is why Potter had been so ruined after Hermione had disappeared. This is what Potter and Weasel had been arguing about at the funeral. This is why Potter had been pissed about Hermione and him sleeping in the same bed. This was why Weaslette and Weasel kept eyeing Potter when Hermione was involved.

When Weaslette had talked about her brother never getting over Hermione, she hadn't been talking about her brother.

This was the goddamn context.

Potter was in love with Hermione.

Potter had lied to that bimbo reporter at the atrium. He did have feelings for Hermione. He had stronger feelings for her than he'd ever admit. This "sister" bullshit was just a cover. Draco had thought Potter and Hermione was absurd, but apparently, that assumption itself was absurd.

This is why Potter had threatened him after the Quidditch pitch incident.

At the Weasley's dinner table, that unknown emotion in Potter's eye, that was love. It was in Weasel's eyes too. They were both in love with their darling Gryffindor princess.

That's why Weaslette was so bitchy. That's why she told Potter at the funeral that he needed to move on. She was tired of being married to a man who was in love with someone else. Draco didn't particularly blame her. That's why she wasn't crying after the funeral while she grasped Potter so possessively. That's why when she, Potter and Weasel had found out that he and Hermione kissed in Canada, she had turned to monitor Potter's reaction.

She had probably spent seven years hating Hermione. That's why she sounded so fake all the time. She probably still cared about Hermione deep down, or at least had cared about her at one point in her life, but had spent so much time hating Hermione that she had forgotten.

When Weaslette had told Hermione that she supported him and Hermione, it didn't mean she supported the two of them. It meant that she wanted Hermione away from her husband.

That's what Potter had meant when he had said that the death eaters had ruined his relationships with Weasel and Weaslette by taking Hermione. With Hermione gone, Potter broke. It must've been obvious to everyone except Draco apparently that Potter loved her more than he had always said. Weasel and Weaslette had obviously not responded well to that.

The clues had been there all along. No memories Hermione had figured it out. How had Draco not? He had observed all of this, but he hadn't been able to piece these things together. Damn, he was dense.

But one question remained. Before the attack, how had Hermione felt about Potter? Draco felt fear creep up his neck. What if Hermione had been in love with Potter too? Maybe that was the reason she had said no to Weasel.

Draco was on the verge of a panic attack when the memory started to change.

They were back in the dungeon. It seemed to be at least a few weeks later. Hermione was still chained to the wall. She looked much different than she had beforehand. Her bruises were now yellow. Her cuts were healing. She had no new injuries. However, she was thinner. Draco could see that she had lost a lot of weight. She hadn't had that much weight to lose to begin with. She was so sickly and skinny that it hurt to look at her. She obviously wasn't getting much to eat.

The barred door opened, and Nott walked in carrying a slice of bread and a glass of water. Tucked between his arm and body was a newspaper.

Nott walked over to Hermione, who looked up as he approached. Her eyes were dead. Nott looked almost sympathetic. He lifted the water to her lips and she drank the entire glass. He then stuffed the bread in her mouth, and she ate it ravenously.

Once she had gulped it down she looked up at Nott. He was standing watching her, smirking.

"What do you want," her voice whispered. She sounded so hoarse.

Nott continued smirking. "Just wanted to let you know that Potter's still failing."

He threw the paper to the ground in front of Hermione. It was a Daily Prophet from seven years ago. However, Draco recognized it well. It was the Daily Prophet announcing the outcome of his trial. It also had a large section on Potter's search for Hermione. This was about two weeks after Hermione's disappearance.

The title appeared as POTTER CONTINUES SEARCH FOR HERMIONE GRANGER. It was accompanied by a picture of Potter looking exceptionally stressed, upset and angry at the ministry. Below that was a picture of him. It had only been his trial that day; his parents' were later that week. His title read DRACO MALFOY GOES FREE. It was accompanied by a picture of him leaving the ministry. He looked exhausted, tired, but joyful none the less.

Hermione looked down at the paper. She looked over the front page. She sighed and looked up defiantly.

"He'll come," she said.

"I doubt it, you mudblood bitch. You have no one." Nott started towards the door. As he left, Hermione spoke.

"I have him." She was looking at the paper and smiling. Nott snorted and locked the barred door. Hermione was still staring at the paper. The scene changed once again.

They were still in the dungeon. Draco guessed it was at least a month later, based on Hermione's recovered bruises and cuts, and how horribly thin and weak she looked. Draco was happy they weren't still beating her though.

The barred door banged open. In strode all seven of the death eater attackers. They were still wearing their masks. Draco had no idea who the leader was. But he was obviously the man in front.

Hermione looked down, ignoring them all. The leader laughed.

"Trying to ignore us, pet? Pretend we're not here? Good luck with that." The leader walked forward and smacked her across the face. "You look pretty healed up. About a month and a half will do that. But, that's not alright with me." With those words, the vicious attack on Hermione began once more.

Draco couldn't watch this time. He turned around and tried to block out the screaming. Potter and Kingsley did the same. Only no memories Hermione watched.

What felt like hours later, the screaming stopped. Draco turned around tentatively. Hermione was as bruised and broken as she had been a month and a half beforehand. The leader smirked.

"Unchain her," he ordered. Nott and another death eater unchained Hermione from the wall. Hermione slumped down, almost unconscious. Nott and the other held her up. The leader began walked out the door and up the stairs. The death eaters dragged Hermione up the stairs. The quartet followed.

They arrived in a large dark room covered with tapestries. There was almost no natural light. All of the tapestries lining the wall depicted scenes of torture. Draco shuddered.

Nott and the other threw Hermione to the ground. She stirred, and managed to slowly sit up. She opened one eye and glared at the death eaters.

"It doesn't matter how long it takes," she whispered. "Harry will find you. All of you."

The leader laughed. "I don't care about that. He may find us, but he'll never find you."

Hermione stiffened. "You're going to kill me?"

The leader shook his head. "No. Death is easy to get over. Loss isn't. And since I want to break Potter, loss is the way to go. No, my darling pet, you will live a long life, I'm sure. However, you won't live that life in the magical world. You won't even remember the magical world."

Hermione froze. "What do you mean?"

The leader smirked. "I'm going to take your memory, pet. You won't remember the world you didn't deserve to belong in in the first place. You won't remember Potter, and you definitely won't remember how he failed to safe you. Then I'm going to drop you off in the middle of nowhere. You can live. But Potter won't, because there's more to life than just breathing."

Hermione breath hitched, but then her expression changed. She suddenly looked determined. She closed her eyes and breathed in a few deep breaths. A strange buzzing filled the air, but the death eaters didn't seem to notice. Then the buzzing stopped. Hermione opened her eyes and her expression turned broken again.

"Who are you?" she shot at him. Draco looked at her. He guessed that the leader had never taken off his mask.

The leader chuckled. "Alright, pet. I'll give you that. You won't remember this anyway." The leader reached up and ripped off his mask, exposing his face for the first time.

Draco swore.

Yaxley.

Hermione recognized him easily. She turned white as she realized fully who her attacker was.

"Yes, pet," Yaxley crooned, seeing Hermione's recognition. "Haven't you missed me? When you, Potter and Weasel snuck into the ministry, I almost got you. But you slipped through my fingers. I swore I'd make you regret that. And now I have."

Yaxley leaned down and stroked her cheek. She bit at his fingers. He chuckled and stood back up. "Always fiery, this one."

Yaxley raised his wand and pointed it directly in her face. "Goodbye Ms. Granger. Or should I say, Ms. Mason." Hermione barely had time to close her eyes before Yaxley said the spell. A blinding white light filled the air. Draco, Potter, Kingsley, and no memories Hermione were thrown into the air. When the landed and opened their eyes, they were standing in the ministry of magic courtroom, all eyes on them.

Nott still sat in the middle of the courtroom. He looked somewhat smug. Draco felt anger bubble up his throat. He wanted to beat that man until he died from the sheer pain. Draco stepped forward, but Hermione beat him to it.

She stormed up to Nott. No one made an attempt to stop her. Nott looked bemused as Hermione stared down at him, angrier than Draco had ever seen her. Without hesitation, Hermione slapped him across the face.

The sound of the slap rang through the courtroom. Hermione raised her hand once more, and leaned forward. She hissed at him, her words carrying through the courtroom.

"Who is Hermione Mason?"

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