Erase and Rewrite (Dramione)

Tend and Bend

Hermione,

Any luck with your memories?
Just wanted to let you know I'm staying with some friends.
They said you're welcome here too, so how about it?
You'd be safe with us.
This last week I've begun to realize sending you to The Order probably wasn't the wisest move.
I wanted you safe and I sent you with them when they are in open war.
What an idiot I was.
But keeping you would have been selfish. I'm done with being selfish...
Now that I think of it, sending you away was selfish too. If I had kept you, you would have hated me for keeping you away from the war.
And I don't want you to hate me!

What I'm really asking,
Is for you to pick me!
Choose me!
Come back to me and tell me you're mine!
And never leave again.

Anything you want, I'll give you!

Please!

Choose me!

He stares at the letter and then crumples it to a ball in his fist.
Ridiculous!

No,
he is not going to write her!
He is not going to beg her.

She had promised to find him when she got her memories back,
and if she didn't...
Well, then he'd know he was right after all.

These hopes of her return only made him worse.
Time after time the past few days he had tried to tell himself she'd had her memories back already
and she would have already found him if she still wanted him.
She would already be here.

But she wasn't.
Which had to mean she didn't want to be here.

He had lost her.

And no matter what he had tried to make himself believe before,
only the thought of losing her like this,
losing her again,
made him want to scream.

Of course he couldn't let his friends see his desperation.
With Blaise and Theo he pretended to be fine,
indifferent,
almost bored.

Only in his room,
alone in the dark of the night,
did he let himself miss her.

Blaise and Theo wanted to stay out of the war.
But occasionally they sent Blaise's house-elf Bunny to spy the dark side for them.
That's how they got information on how the war was processing.

Now, that's what suddenly gives him an idea.
There is a way for him to know how she is!
So he calls for Dipsy.

"Yes, master?" The elf appears in seconds.

"Dipsy, I want you to look after Granger." he tells it quickly, "But don't let her see you. Just make sure she's fine."

Dipsy looks at him with wide eyes as it answers: "Dipsy does that already master!"

It's his turn to stare.

"Dipsy is a free elf! So, when master decided to send Miss away Dipsy bound herself to Miss! Now Dipsy hears if Miss calls and Dipsy can follow her too. Dipsy has been making sure Miss is okay."

"Why didn't you tell me before?!"

The elf has known how she is this whole time!?
The elf knows if she decided not to want him!?
And he has been living in the dark!?

"Master never asked! Dipsy explains:" The elf sits on his bed, "House-elves are meant to be bound to someone. Even when one is free, it's better to be bound. It gives one a purpose. A free elf can choose a master for itself. So Dipsy has bound herself to master, of course. But Master took Miss as Dipsy's family! And when Dipsy lost Miss in the forest, Master was so scared! Dipsy thought it's better if Dipsy looks after the girl when Master is not able."