Title: Remember To Forget
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Towards the end of a very strange seventh year, Hermione is attacked late one night by an unknown assailant. It is this attack that causes her memory to reset, taking her mind back six months… back to when she was dating Ron, not Harry…
Authors Notes: Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed the first part!!! Here's an early update for you. The update for this weekend might be a bit delayed cause I'm doing a bit of a rewrite of some chapters- not changing the story, just changing the order in which things happen and adding some new stuff (gotta love inspiration!!)
One
They sat in the common room until late that night, neither speaking. Minerva had given them the following day off from classes and she had left Professor Sprout in charge and had gone to speak with Hermione's parents.
It was daylight before Harry found his voice.
'So… how will this work?' He said, his voice wavering slightly. 'We can't … we can't tell her what's happened since November… she has to remember for herself…'
'I guess we have to… pretend…' Ron said, looking disheartened.
Despite what Ron had said to Harry when his relationship with Hermione had ended, he was miserable that it had ended and wished that he could change everything. It was why he had been so furious when Harry had started to see her- he knew that he had no chance of winning her back.
'I guess we have to talk to Ginny,' Harry said. 'After all- in Hermione's mind, Ginny and I are still together.'
'I don't know if Ginny will even talk to you,' Ron said, laughing slightly. 'She's still mighty pissed.'
'Yeah, but I've gotta try.'
'And I've gotta get to the hospital wing,' Ron stood up. 'If she still thinks I'm her boyfriend, I'd better act it.'
'Just don't touch her,' Harry growled. Ron laughed.
'I'll play it safe,' Ron reassured him, waving goodbye over his shoulder.
~*~
Ron's face was the first thing Hermione saw when she woke up and she smiled in the biggest smile she could. Ron smiled back at her and kissed her gently on the forehead.
'Good morning,' he said gently.
'Morning.'
Ron looked at her face, wishing Madam Pomfrey had been able to do more. She still had bruises all over her face and her eyes were still swollen and black.
'I feel like I've been hit by a truck,' she whispered and he smiled.
'Not quite,' he took hold of her hand. 'Do you remember anything about the attack?'
She shook her head.
'I remember…' she closed her eyes. 'The last thing I remember is you kissing me goodbye as I went to see Hagrid.'
Close Ron thought to himself. Very close…
Hermione yawned as they sat in the library, working hard on their Transfiguration essay's. Ron looked up from his and looked at her and watched her eyes dart around the library. She tapped her quill impatiently for a few moments, before checking her watch and gasping in mock surprise.
'Is that the time? Heavens, I have to feed Fang!' she exclaimed and Ron smirked to himself.
'Oh- ok,' was all he said, watching as she packed her things into her bag.
'We'll finish these later,' she said, throwing her bag on her shoulder. 'Bye!'
'Hermione- wait,' Ron said, standing up. She turned and looked at him impatiently. 'I'm not dumb.'
'What on earth do you mean?'
'Tell Harry I said hi,' Ron said simply and Hermione looked bashful.
'Ok, you caught me. Head girl, Hermione Granger sneaking out to the empty gamekeepers house to have a secret rendezvous with her boyfriend. So shoot me.'
'Ron- are you ok?' she asked. He opened his eyes and smiled at her.
'Of course. Just thinking,' he sighed. 'I'd better go- class, you know.'
Hermione watched him leave, thinking that there was something very strange going on with her boyfriend…
~*~
'Ginny!' Harry called, sprinting down the charms corridor towards the slowly disappearing red haired girl. She turned and rolled her eyes at him and started to walk faster. 'No! Ginny! Please! We have to talk!'
She stopped and he caught up with her.
'In private?' he asked, indicating to the empty classroom they were standing outside. She sighed and nodded slightly.
Once inside, she sat on one of the desks and stared at Harry.
'Well?'
'Ok, so, here's the go,' Harry started, taking a deep breath. 'Hermione was attacked in the forest last night, beaten up pretty badly. And, as a result, she's lost a bit of her memory.'
'Shall I send a card?'
'Ginny- don't be smart. This is pretty serious. Especially since…' Harry sighed. 'Ginny, she doesn't remember anything past last November.'
'And what does this have to do with me?'
'It has a lot to do with you- Gin, in Hermione's mind she is still dating Ron… and I'm still dating you.'
'So why don't you tell her that she's a little behind?' Ginny asked.
'It's not that easy- that could do even more damage. She had to remember the past six months in her own time.'
'And let me guess- until she remembers Ron is pretending to still be in love with her and you need me to do the same? Pretend like nothing has happened?'
'Uh, pretty much.'
'That is just sick!' Ginny exclaimed, standing up. 'You're playing with peoples emotions! Who knows, maybe she'll never remember and we'll all be stuck, pretending to be in love for the rest of our lives! And what if Ron realizes how much he still loves her and she remembers you, but then decides that she's better off with Ron? And what about me Harry? We'll go around pretending to be all lovey-dovey again and then as soon as she remembers, I'll be cast off again? Harry, I'm not going through that again! I've spent the past six months moving on from you, pretending that we weren't ever even together! I can't have you screwing this up for me! I've worked too hard!'
'You're right- I should never have asked you. I'm sorry,' Harry said, turning to leave.
'Wait!' Ginny called. She knew this would be her last chance to be with Harry. 'Maybe we could pretend to be together and then break up in front of her? It might jolt her memories?'
'We'll talk when she gets out of the hospital,' Harry said. He got to the door and turned around and smiled at her. 'Thanks, Gin.'
'You're welcome, Harry,' she said to the closing door with a sigh, before bursting into tears.