Shut Up and Kiss Me

Chapter 19 | She's Not Gone

We were walking on moonlight

And you pulled me close

Split second you disappeared

And then I was all alone

"Like I'm Gonna Lose You" by Meghan Trainor ft. John Legend

Chapter 19
She's Not Gone!

The moment Draco opened his eyes and found himself on that cold floor, tears filled his eyes. He couldn't believe that that after so much time apart, their encounter was so short.

Blaise helped get Draco back on his feet, even though he'd taken a bad hit to the head.

"You were out for quite a while. Do you think you're able to talk about it? The aurors are right outside."

"Just give me a cup of water first, my head is killing me." Draco's voice came out all choked up.

Neville, who had gone earlier to get him some medicine, reached into his pocket. "Here, take two of these. They do wonders."

"We have a request here to access your memory to the incident, and inspect the validity." The auror started. "As you can read it is not obligatory, that would be illegal. However if what you're saying is true, this could be quite a lead. Sign the form, Mister Malfoy."

Draco gritted his teeth as he reached for the quill. Willingly allowing people into your head wasn't as easy as it seems. He kept reminding himself of Hermione's state, her screams and tears. Her pain made it easier for him to scribble his name on the form.

As he lent a part of his memories to the aurors, he couldn't help wondering what was going on in Hermione's mind when she first met him. Not the 11 year-old Draco, he was a prick. But the man she fell in love with. Was it pure attraction? Did she look over and feel a soul she could connect to on a spiritual level instantly? Or did that occur over the days she spent with him?

It suddenly hit him how much he had left to learn about Hermione. How little he actually knew.

After bottling the memories, one of the aurors- the one with a missing arm- took Draco aside and talked to him urgently.

"Listen here son, it's not looking good. I've seen thousands of cases like these. War hero or not, soon when the evidence stops coming in and the investigation goes cold, arrests will be expected. Even if sometimes, an innocent person goes to jail."

"So they've ruled out the possibility that this was a runaway case?"

"Yes, your memories will help prove that."

"Won't they also prove that I care for her and wouldn't hurt her?"

"That you care for her... Probably. But never hurting her, how are your own memories help your case?"

"So basically, I'm fucked."

"Yes most probably."

"Are you telling me all of this to threaten me, because I'm very confused."

"Consider it a head's up."

"For what?"

"The worst."

Not even a thousand head's ups would have prepared Draco for the interrogation inside the ministry he had the next day.

As they kept coming at him with accusations, memories of the night after the attack on her in the hospital. They had joked that he should become a lawyer. He vowed to himself that in that interview that whatever happens from that point forward, the moment he finds Hermione he will with his mission to become the first lawyer in the wizarding world.