Lost And Found

A NEW MORNING

"What!"

"Hermione..."

"No... No.... Nonononononononono..... It can't be true......"

"Please listen to me... "

"No! Don't come near me! You.... You bastard! You are joking with me, right?"

Draco didn't say anything. Because any words anymore would not be appropriate or appreciated. He just let her deal with the news in silence, while sitting beside her to help her in any need.

Her loud sobs filled the room. Even when she discovered that she was truly married with Malfoy and lost her memory, she didn't break down like this.

She continued to shake her head in denial.

"No.... It can't be... Malfoy, please.... Please tell me it's not true... Tell me he is alive, Malfoy... Please..."

Her voice broke at these last words.

Malfoy tried to calm down her, "Hermione.... Please calm down... I know it's a shock to you and I know how you're feeling, but..."

"No. You don't." Hermione snapped, "You have absolutely no idea how I am feeling. I don't know anything anymore... What's real, what's not... But in my memory I just came back from my honeymoon. Then I wake up married with my archenemy and the man I loved and married is dead!"

"Hermione...."

"I loved Ron, Malfoy. I still love him..."

She broke down completely at that, shaking with tears...

And Draco Malfoy bitterly remembered the exact conversation they had years ago when he first professed his love for her -

"Hermione, it's been two years. You are a ghost of your older self. Please let him go... You can't live like this anymore."

"You are a good friend, Malfoy... I appreciate your concern. But maybe I am damaged beyond repair. This war... It has changed me irrevocably."

" I can be more than just friend if you just let me in... If you just let yourself be given a second chance in life... He wouldn't have wanted you to carry on your life like a living corpse."

"I can't... I just can't let him go... I can't imagine myself with anyone else..."

"But..."

"I loved Ron, Malfoy. I still love him..."

**********

The next morning came rather uneventfully compared to the previous one.

The most daunting work that Draco Malfoy was anticipating that day was to place the recent incidents in front of the children in a sensible way.

The previous day they were told that their mother was feeling unwell and resting. But this was not a long term solution. Eventually the children would want to see their mother and it would be unfair to them if they were not allowed to see her.

Children were no fools. In some cases their instincts were even more accurate than adults and their bond with mother was one of them.

It would not be wise to lie to them.

His train of thoughts was halted when someone knocked at his door - not just any door, the door connecting the master's and mistress's bedrooms.

Hermione!

He was a bit astonished at first.

Last night when he left her room, or rather she forced him to leave her room, she was sobbing on her pillow and she absolutely refused to listen to him.