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: Ok so here's the next part. Big thanks to all those who are reading and reviewing- it's what makes me keep writing!!! There might be a delay in getting the next chapter posted I'm not sure when I'm going to be able to get a chance too. Hopefully it won't be too long, but enjoy this one anyway!!!
Three
The nights were long and boring for Hermione. Madam Pomfrey tried to give her a sleeping potion but she refused it. She didn't want to become dependent on something to help her sleep. She had to sleep of her own accord.
Her private reason for not wanting the potion was that every night when she was alone and everything was quiet, she could see things that seemed so familiar to her, yet so foreign. She didn't know what was going on- she had a feeling that the attack had sent her crazy and no one would tell her.
So on her last night in the hospital wing, after the usual argument with Madam Pomfrey over the sleeping potion, she laid back in her bed and stared up at the stone ceiling. Breathing deep, she closed her eyes and tried to focus on the thought that she had had that morning whilst Ron was visiting.
Was she really in love with Ron?
They had only been together for two months after being friends for six years, but every time she saw him since her attack, she wanted him out of her sight. And she had begun to suspect that maybe he felt the same- as much as he visited, it always seemed like such a chore.
She hadn't really known what to think at first when Ron had first asked her to consider being more than just friends. She had spent most of the summer agonizing over it, added onto the stress of helping Harry search for the final horcruxes. They had been in Godric's Hollow when she finally relented. At first they had kept it quiet, but had told Harry and Ginny on the train on the way to Hogwarts for the school year.
Oh Harry… she sighed heavily. Whenever Harry came in whilst Ron visited, Ron would bolt from the room. She was confused- both boys seemed to know something she didn't. It was a feeling she had had the day after her attack- sometimes she would mention things and people would look away. And Ginny- her only female confidant- hadn't even come to see her. Harry had blathered something about she was on detention, but she could tell when Harry was lying.
'What are they keeping from me?' she wondered aloud, sinking back into her bed further. 'There's something there… I just don't know what it is…'
~*~
Lavender and Parvati wanted to throw a party for Hermione for when she got out of the hospital wing, an idea that Harry and Ron both vetoed quickly. After the shock of her attack and her condition had worn off, people had begun to realise what Minerva had realized from the very start. That things were a lot different six months ago…
And that was the reason the idea was vetoed. Because of the complications around the intricate details of what Hermione thought and what was real. A party would highlight the fact to Hermione that Harry and Ginny were hardly on speaking terms. Ginny had tried to talk to him and apologise and it had worked for a moment… but then they had reverted back into their old habits. The friendly conversation turned into an argument and now they were back to where they were before.
So no party would be thrown. She was expected to be discharged shortly after breakfast and Minerva spent most of the evening before her release in the common room with the students, going through what was expected of them. She had had similar talks with all the other houses, however it was going to be hardest on the Gryffindor's, as they were the ones who spent every day with her. It was a hard thing for them all to adapt to and Minerva knew that she couldn't shield Hermione from the truth forever. She knew that one day it would come to her.
But until that day, she didn't want anything harming her. She had been hurt enough.
~*~
Hermione felt like the only feeling she could feel was confusion. The strange behaviour of Ron around Harry, the fact that Ginny wouldn't visit her in the hospital wing… she knew that there was something wrong.
The point was drummed in more on the morning she was discharged from the hospital wing. She arrived back at the common room on her own and everyone said hello quickly and looked away. With a huff she sat on the lounge next to Harry and followed his gaze into the fireplace.
'Harry,' she started. 'I-'
'Hermione, I've already told you,' Harry sighed, expecting her to ask the only question that was on her mind- whether or not there was something she wasn't being told.
Hermione clicked her tongue impatiently.
'For your information, I wasn't going to ask that,' she huffed. 'I was going to ask if you had seen Ron.'
'Oh,' Harry blushed. 'No, I haven't. I think he's in the library with Ginny.'
'Great- let's go see them!' she said, grabbing his hand and pulling him up.
Harry forgot himself as she held his hand. He knew he should let go, but he couldn't. He squeezed her hand slightly and she jumped like she had been shocked with electricity. Realising what he had done, he quickly went ahead.
Hermione watched his back retreat. She was seeing some strange flashes in her mind…
'C'mon, Harry,' Hermione moaned, pulling on both of his hands. 'Come see the sunset with me!'
'Hermione, it's minus seven outside!' Harry exclaimed. 'I'm not going to sit in the snow and watch the sun set.'
Hermione kept her hands firmly in his and he squeezed them gently.
'Pretty please?' she asked, tilting her head and giving Harry her puppy dog eyes.
'Oh, alright,' he sighed, standing up, still holding her hands. 'But if we get sick, I'm blaming you.'
'Hermione?' Harry called from beyond the portrait hole. She shook her head, wondering why she was day dreaming about Harry…
~*~
Harry excused himself from the trip to the library en route, claiming that he didn't want to see Madam Pince as he hadn't returned a library book. Hermione walked the remainder of the way on her own and was glad to spot Ron and Ginny as soon as she walked in. She waved and watched Ginny scowl and quickly pack her books up, muttering to Ron.
'I'm so sick of this,' she whispered to herself, approaching the table. 'Hey guys!'
'Hi,' Ginny said shortly. 'Sorry. Got to dash. Things to do.'
She bolted out of the library and Hermione sat in her now empty seat and sighed.
'Ron, why is everyone avoiding me?'
'I dunno- why don't you ask everyone?' he said blankly, flipping through a book mindlessly.
'And why is everyone avoiding that question?'
She stood up so quickly her chair fell backwards and the leg broke off. But she didn't stop to fix it. She had to get out of there. And fast.
Ron opened his mouth to call her back as she bolted from the library, but he couldn't find his voice. He just watched her disappear down the corridor and out of sight.
~*~
Harry climbed the stairs to the astronomy tower two at a time. He was used to coming up here, especially since Tuesday when Hermione had been attacked. It was the quietest part of the castle, especially since Astronomy lessons had been cancelled. Minerva didn't like the idea of students being out in the open, especially out in the open in the spot where Dumbledore had been murdered.
Harry knew he had to get back into researching the last horcruxes, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Especially when the person who had most of the information, couldn't even remember what month it was meant to be.
Thunder clapped overhead, following by a bright lighting bolt. They were heading into storm season and Harry didn't flinch as the rain started to fall gently on him.
From where he was, he heard the back door of the castle bang open. He looked down to see who it could be, expecting to see Filch in a fit of rage over Peeves. But it was a girl, with brown bushy hair, who was running as fast as she could.
Harry wanted to leap off the tower, down to her and kiss her long and hard, as he had been wanting to do for almost a week. But he couldn't. Minerva had warned him of the consequences of forcing her memories on her.
'Can't we just tell her?' Harry argued, pacing around the headmistresses office. Minerva was a patient woman, but her patience was slowly starting to wear with Harry over this issue.
'We don't know what would happen if all that information was just given to her at once,' she repeated for about the tenth time. 'Potter, it could cause her more damage and that's the last thing we want!'
'But what if she is remembering, can we help her?'
'If she shows signs of remembering but needs a push in the right direction, then yes, we can give her that push.'
'Why can't you just remember?' he sighed, watching her figure get smaller and smaller until it was barricaded in Hagrid's empty hut. 'For us.'