Project 137.43.M.D.

XII. | EXCEPTIO VERITATIS

XII.
EXCEPTIO VERITATIS
(defense of truth)

Thank Merlin, the next two weeks passed without any major complications. This was mainly due to the fact that Hermione strictly avoided spending even a minute longer with Malfoy than necessary. She picked him up for his check-ups at St Mungo's and then dutifully accompanied him back to his flat. However, she didn't set foot inside again and, on top of that, cut off every conversation that wasn't imperative for the project's progress.

Their brief but explosive altercation while unpacking Malfoy's moving boxes had taken a heavy toll on Hermione, though she had to admit that the Ministry had outdone itself with the Substitute. After all, Malfoy could apparently remember things from seventh year that had actually happened.

Yep, Obliviator Headquarters had undeniably done their homework. Unfortunately, that made it all the more painful.

As if it wasn't bad enough that she had more or less readily admitted to Malfoy that she, too, had once lost her magic, he had made fun of the fact that her relationship with Ron had fallen apart. He may have had no idea that the two incidents were connected and that he had played a significant role in the former, but his words had still conjured up so much long-forgotten pain that Hermione had barely been able to function in the days that followed.

In fact, she and Ron had gone separate ways because Hermione, despite her therapy, hadn't found back into her old life for quite a while. Even when she had finally regained her magic, which had been temporarily blocked by her war trauma, she hadn't been the same person as before. She and Ron had spent weeks talking about their feelings and trying to save their relationship, but had eventually realised that there was little point.

Since then, Hermione hadn't felt emotionally connected to any man. A few dates, a few flings with chance acquaintances from random parties — that had been all. No boyfriend, no husband and certainly no children. Without realising it, Malfoy had hit the nail right on the head.

At that moment, she would have liked to shout in his face that he should shut the fuck up. Those were certainly not words she normally used in a conversation with a mentee, but Malfoy's persistent questioning and snide remarks had made her so angry that they had almost fallen from her lips. For lack of a better option, she had fled the situation. And then, in the silence of her small city flat, she had finally burst into tears.

If only Malfoy knew how much time he had taken up in her therapy sessions; how often she had agonised over the question of how he had managed to do all those horrible things, knowing full well what it would mean for his classmates and for Hogwarts; how often she'd had to talk about the images that haunted her dreams. Images of him in the grand drawing room of the Manor, standing behind Bellatrix with a blank face while Hermione screamed her head off.

But he would never know any of this. For one thing because he couldn't even remember what he had done, and for another thing because Hermione would never admit to him that he'd had such a profound impact on her life.

The cheerful tune of her little magical alarm clock, now scuttling across the bedside table, snapped her out of her thoughts. Not that she would have needed the reminder to get up — she had been awake for hours.

Sighing, she fumbled for her wand, flicked it lazily and muttered a Finite before pushing back the covers. Then she swung her legs out of bed, dressed, brewed herself a coffee and stepped out onto the small roof terrace of her flat to give herself a few minutes' rest until she had to leave for work.

The morning sun caressed her face as she sipped the black elixir of life and let the caffeine lift her spirits.

It was Tuesday. She hadn't seen him for a few days and thankfully hadn't heard from him all weekend. Today, however, Malfoy's next check-up at the hospital was due and, of course, she had to accompany him. The thought made Hermione's heart sink, but there was no way around it.