Lost In Our Memories (Dramione story) [COMPLETED]

Chapter 10

As promised, a Dramione chapter ;) Enjoy!

After he left Harry's office, Draco went straight for the Atrium in order to leave the Ministry. He walked passed the fountain of the wizard, the witch and magical creatures and without realizing, his thoughts went to Hermione.

Wonder what she thinks of this, the fact that they remade it the same way as before. I bet she gets riled up by the image. Potter told me she always hated it.

"Awful thing don't you think?" a calm voice, spoke from behind him, making Draco jump.

"What?!" he breathed out, turning on the spot, his eyes widening as they fell on Hermione.

She had walked behind him, completely taking him by surprise. She was staring up at the fountain as well.

"The way that elf is looking up at the witch and wizard is just awful." She said with a scornful look. "It was disappointing to see they had reconstructed the fountain in this way. I thought after the war things might change, but I see they haven't." she finished with a sigh.

"It's not easy for things like this to change. It takes a long time to change what has been passed down for generations. Laws and customs are the hardest to alter." Draco said quietly, staring at her face intently.

"I suppose you're right." Hermione said with a deep sigh. "Anyway, I'm sorry to have interrupted your musings. It was rude of me."

"It's alright. My musings were pretty much the same as yours." He said, giving her a small, tentative smile.

Hermione returned the smile and they both stayed there for a moment in silence. Draco felt something stir inside him, a memory coming to the surface and the words came out before he could stop himself.

"I'm sorry about Dobby." He blurted out, his eyes widening as soon as he realized what he just said.

"How do you know about that? How do you know about Dobby?" Hermione rounded up on him, looking suspiciously at his guilty expression.

"Uhm... well... P-Potter told me about it." Draco finally managed to say, feeling himself get smaller under her scrutinizing gaze.

After a terrifying long moment, Hermione appeared to be satisfied with his answer. Her features softened and she let out a small sigh.

"He was a wonderful elf. Helped us a lot, saved our lives, Harry's more than once."

I know. I know it all. Draco thought bitterly, remembering that day at Malfoy Manor and the feeling of dread he felt when his aunt's knife flew before his eyes. He felt horrible later when he found out the elf had died. The creature had served his family for years, after all, and Draco had been fond of Dobby, even though he was never allowed to admit that.

***

When Saturday came, Draco found himself alone in the flat. Blaise was on duty at St. Mungo's and had left early in the morning, leaving Draco to his own devices.

After having a small breakfast, Draco paced around his room for a while, feeling bored as hell. Deciding a bit of air might help improve his mood, he went out into the terrace. He took a deep breath, taking in the sweet air. The day was beautiful, and it brought with it all the fragrances the beginning of Autumn usually has. The weather made it impossible to decide whether it was still summer, or Autumn: beautiful clear blue sky, sun shining warmly, birds chirping and people walking in the park and on the streets.

Draco took in the scenery and something occurred to him.

"Wonder what happened to Crookshanks. He hasn't been here in a while." He muttered to himself, glancing to the left, where Hermione's terrace was.

After a few moments he looked down at the street and his heart stopped. There she was, walking slowly along the park. At first, he thought she was heading for the same bench she used to read on, but Hermione made a right turn and headed for a building across the street. The whole ground floor of the building was occupied by a library, stacked with books and albums.

Draco snorted and shook his head. Of course Hermione would be going to a library on a Saturday. Then suddenly, a thought crossed his mind. He took a moment to decide, hesitating. A second later he was walking down the same street as Hermione, careful to keep a safe distance from her.

I'm beginning to think Blaise is right. I am starting to act like a bloody stalker. He grumbled in his head, mentally berating himself for his foolish behavior.

He reached the library just as Hermione was stepping inside. He stopped, giving her a few seconds advance and then entered himself. The library was indeed big, with tall stacks of books coming out from every corner, shelves also flooded with books that looked both muggle and magical. Draco noticed Hermione navigating the maze of books until she reached a row of shelves in the far back of the library.

Draco followed her, slowly and quietly so that she wouldn't see him. But there seemed to be no danger of that happening anytime soon. Hermione seemed to be oblivious to anything around her. She had eyes only for the books. Draco saw her face shine with excitement when she found what she was looking for and chuckled despite himself.

Not exactly paying attention to where he was going, Draco managed to bump into someone. He saw a tall man and heard a rather gruffy voice as they both apologized. When Draco turned to look at him, the stranger was already making a left behind a stack of books. He saw a flash of red just as the stranger's head disappeared from view. Draco frowned, but soon remembered what he was doing there and pushed the man out of his thoughts.

He peaked from behind the shelves and saw Hermione struggling to take out a book from a top shelf. It was too far out of her reach and she was tiptoeing, stretching her arms as much as she could. With a huff, she put down the rest of the books she had collected and took out her wand. In a second, the large book she had wanted flowed slowly towards her and landed neatly on the floor on top of the rest.

Draco smiled and retreated his head, fearing she might look his way. He decided he might as well take a look at the books there. The smell of old books and parchment made him miss the library back at the Manor, the one place he felt comfortable while living there.

Thinking about the mission he was about to go on, he decided to check out the potions and spells section. He walked along the rows and picked up several books, browsing them with interest. It had been a while since he read. After several minutes, Draco got so lost in his activity that he did not notice Hermione leaving her spot. They were now both walking along parallel lanes of the library, both with their noses stuck inside a book. Seconds later the lanes ended and...

CRASH!

Thank you all for reading this story! I hope you enjoyed it. Sorry for the cliffhanger, but I just had to ;) Stay tuned for the next chapter tomorrow, picking up from the Crash! Have a wonderful day everyone! ^^ <3