Please Be There If I Remember

Chaper Three: Confusion

After Madam Pomfrey had talked to him about telling her if he saw any memories to which he bit his lip and told himself to shut up, not wanting to remember the cold feeling of the floor beneath him and the pain on his back, he decided to say nothing. Maybe it was a stupid decision, and maybe it would bite him in the back later, but he told himself that he would tell her if he ever saw another one again.

With that in mind, he learned that the date was November 14, 1995, and the place he was in was a school called Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He was in fifth year, and the boy who had walked him back to the hospital was named Harry Potter, although Draco vowed to always call him Green Eyes in his head just for the familiarity of it. His mother's name was Narcissa Malfoy, his father, Lucius.

Lucius. For some reason, the name set a sharp bitter taste in his mouth, and his palms started to clam up. He shook his head quickly and focused on something else.

As it turns out, he really was rich, which was a huge relief in itself. Next thing he knew, he had a mirror placed in front of him and a pale, pointy face stared accusingly back at him. Looking at the grey eyes he realised he had quite an intimidating aura around him, the kind that screamed, "Leave me alone, I have things to study and places to be!" Luckily, he remembered how to read and the different spells for magic, so at least he wasn't a muggle.

Madam Pomfrey had looked at him strangely when he said that, like she had expected there to be something else added to his blurted-out statement. But he could not for the life of him figure out what those brown eyes were trying to decipher when she turned away to hand him a map of the school.

"There is the Great Hall where you go for meals, and here are the Slytherin dungeons where you will live."

Oh ya, he almost forgot (ironically) that he was in some kind of house called Slytherin. Turns out each one had certain traits and his were cunning and ambitious—which didn't quite fit his new persona as much as he hoped it would, but, well, what can you do.

With a long nod of thanks to the mediwitch who had basically saved his life, he strode out of the hospital wing with a new purpose: to find Green Ey—Harry Potter, and to thank him for bringing him back to the hospital wing so he could tell someone about the whole, uh, memory went poof issue.

Pomfrey had also said that she was going to contact his mother and father to tell them, to which he had profusely denied and had pretty much begged her not to, but the witch was firm. She said he had to tell some people whether he liked it or not, and that to try and keep it a secret would be a waste of time. She also followed that statement by saying that he should tell his roommates. Draco drew the line at roommates.

"No," he had said firmly, and meant it.

"Draco, some people have to know. Even if you don't tell them, they will figure it out eventually."

"No," he reaffirmed again. He had no idea why he was so stubborn on the issue, it wasn't like it would help him any to keep it a secret. But something about everyone knowing that he had his entire memory wiped and then falling down the stairs sounded pretty pathetic to him, and Draco Malfoy refused to be looked on as pathetic. With a bitter sigh, Madam Pomfrey grudgingly agreed.

"But if you are in a situation where you find you do not recognize someone and you do not remember, please ask someone you know, because we have had traitors in this school before, and I will not let another one of my students come into this hospital half dead again because of it." The dark look in her eyes made Draco shiver, but curiosity about what had happened overpowered him and he decided to ask her about it another time.

"Will do, Madam Pomfrey. And...thank you."

"My pleasure, Mr. Malfoy." And Draco left with a warm feeling in his heart that made him forget all about the memory that had plagued his mind.

Once he walked out of the wing, he stopped abruptly to come face to face with non-other than Harry Potter, the singular person he was just about to go looking for.

"Oh, hello Harry, I was just looking for you actually. I just wanted to say thank you for bringing me back to the hospital wing, it was quite helpful for my endeavour."

Really, that boy needed to stop looking so confused.

"Endeavour? And what the hell, did you just call me Harry!? Malfoy, if you don't stop this right now, I will bring you straight back into that hospital wing until Madam Pomfrey tells me what happened to you because I really can not deal with this at the moment." His eyes were narrowed and Draco noticed the bags under them and the exhausted look in them.

"Yes, Harry, my endeavour. Also, what is wrong with calling you Harry? Unless we aren't actually friends, then I am terribly sorry Potter." The name rolled off his tongue like butter, and his lips formed the word like he had practised saying it in front of a mirror for years. He wanted to say it again.

"Friends," Harry said flatly like he didn't even know such a word existed.

"Yes Potter, friends. I wasn't aware that that was such a foreign concept to you." Now he actually hoped they were friends and that this was just common banter or a joke between the two of them. Draco thought they would actually look pretty good together. As friends.

"Now, if you would excuse me, I have to go to find the Slytherin dungeons to await my certain death." Draco sneered at the prospect of meeting his dorm mates and Harry almost seemed to sigh out in relief at the sight of it, whispering something like, "Oh thank Merlin he's back," under his breath.

Draco then turned around and started walking towards the hallway behind him, fighting the urge to take out the map in his pocket.

"Wait— Malfoy! Malfoy, where in Godric Gryffindor's name are you going?"

Draco turned to see an exasperated Harry behind him.

"The, uh, Slytherin dungeons, of course."

Malfoy's don't stutter.

The thought came so fast to his head that the whiplash made him almost tumble to the ground, but he was able to catch himself just in time just before he got a faceful of hardwood floor. He instinctively straightened his posture and lifted his chin in defiance to the strong voice that sent tremors down his spine.

"That's the way to the staircase, not the dungeons," Harry said sceptically with a singularly raised eyebrow.

"And how do you know where the dungeons are?" Draco asked with a mirroring expression, hoping that that knowledge wasn't available to everyone else in the school.

"I—uh...You know— I just...nevermind."

"Having trouble articulating your words, over there?" he said, then added a Potter after it to sound even more intimidating. So much for being a gentleman. He quickly shook the thought away. I am being a gentleman, he's the one being a confusing arse.

Fire burned in Green Eyes' gaze. "Shut up, Malfoy."

Draco threw up his hands in defence. "Sorry, I didn't mean anything by it." Oddly enough, he found that he was being completely sincere.

Harry was the one who stumbled there, mouth gaping open again and Draco had to tell himself to shut up already about the stupid fish out of water analogy.

His eyes suddenly narrowed again. "Whatever game you're trying to play, Malfoy, I am going to figure it out," he said, before promptly turning on his heel and walking away, missing Draco's shrug. With one final look at the empty spot where Green Eyes had been, he opened up the map and tried to figure out his way to the dungeons.