Once upon A Thyme

11. Nothing's going on

 It was a quiet summer's evening. The air was warm and the sun hovered in the sky, reluctant to set. This was the second time they had come to Flinders Wood. The first time
was five days ago when they had hunted for Fayferns. Fernseed was the pollen that grew in the flowers of a Fayfern. Fayferns bloomed only once a year- on midnight during
Midsummer's Eve and they were always found near mushroom rings. They found the tiny plant easily enough and marked out the area.
On this night, their presence in the wood had a different purpose. Draco and Hermione sat facing each other on the ground near the Fayfern patch. Scattered around them were bunches
of herbs which Draco had filched from the manor grounds. Both wore a look of intense concentration as they tied the herbs into silk ribbons that Hermione had provided. Only if you had gone right up to them could you have heard what they both were chanting quietly...
"One for the Goddess and one for the God
This one even and this one odd
Rosemary, rue and sweet orpine
Daisy fayfern celadine...." Muttered Draco.

 He felt slightly ridiculous, though he had studied this in Professor Binn's class, he never thought that such old magic was actually effective. These chants were from the Herbalist era of magic, everyone knew they had been replaced with the Realist school of magic. He glanced over at Hermione and saw that she was taking this very seriously.

"We read the circle about and about
Dancing gaily tout a tout tout!
Thread the ring about and throughout
Laughing gaily tout a tout out!" Hermione chanted quietly, tying the herbs into the ribbon with a series of little knots.
Draco focused his attention back on his own chaplet and finished his chant.
"One for the Lady and one for the Lord
One for the sheath, then one for the sword."
He fastened the two ends of his ribbon together and held his completed chaplet out for inspection. Hermione finished her rhyme and took his chaplet in her hands. She turned it around and pulled at it to see if it was tight enough. She nodded and handed it back to him
"Are you sure this'll work?"
"Positive, I got the chant out of Mary. If we wear these, we will be perfectly safe on Midsummer's Eve."
"If you get taken by the fay folk don't expect me to rescue you."
"I won't. Anyway, it's roughly the same chant as the one Professor Binns had us memorize in fourth year when we were covering the Herbalists."
"I can't remember anything about History of Magic," said Draco, "You know what, Hermione, it seems that as the days wear on here, I'm starting to forget bits and pieces of my life back
there."
"That's a side-effect of the Thyme Eliminus, Draco" said Hermione immediately, "Didn't you read the footnotes of your Potions Textbook? I felt it start last week."  

  "You did?" Draco looked relieved, "I thought I was going potty or something."
"Don't worry, it's normal. Once we've spent longer in the past than in our present lives, we'll totally forget our future lives. But that won't happen because we'd have to spend eighteen
years here before it happens."
"What have you forgotten so far?"
Hermione laughed, "That sounds so silly- if I'd forgotten, I couldn't remember could I? Well anyway, I forgot some spells. Like I can't remember how to shrink something anymore."
"Reducto" said Draco.
"Yes, that's it. But it's not the only one, I forgot various other spells too. And I spent half of last night trying to remember the name of my cat."
"Crookshanks" said Draco, automatically.
Hermione smiled, "Thanks. Crookshanks. Goodness, I miss him. He was such a sweet cat....I hope Dumbledore sent him home to my parents."
"Your sweet cat tried to take my eye out once."
"That's because you sat on him in the Prefects' common room. Anyway, what about you Draco? You said you'd forgotten some things as well..."
"Well, aside from spells which I've forgotten...what's the name of the Minister for Magic?"
"Cornelius Fudge"
"Great- I was supposed to have a meeting with him last week. And I've forgotten the names of some of the companies and stocks I'd invested the Malfoy money in. It really bothers
me."
"I didn't know you ran the Malfoy estate now," Hermione was surprised, "Are you really in charge of all of it?"
"Yes," Malfoy pulled out a leather cord out of the collar of his shirt and there was the ring. "This is the Malfoy signet ring. The head of the family always wears it."
Hermione nodded. "I saw it on your finger in Potions NEWT. But I didn't know what it meant."
Malfoy gave a small sigh, "It means, Hermione, that I am the head of the Malfoy family now since Lucius isn't around anymore. I basically run the whole estate- including seeing to the
upkeep of Malfoy Manor and our other personal properties, and I also oversee our investment portfolio."
"Kind of like what my father does here, with Audley and Fanhope to help him."
"Exactly."
"I've been helping out now that he's away. It's not easy at a Audley and Fanhope bring up thorny issues like having to collect and pay tithes, and whether we should rotate the lands
and that sort of thing."