Lost In Our Memories (Dramione story) [COMPLETED]

Chapter 8

The next day Hermione's house was full of people. She had used a small extendable charm on the flat to make sure everybody would fit comfortably. They were all chatting merrily, reminiscing about their school years or talking about their jobs and families. Hermione thought the company of so many people was very welcomed. The night before she kept thinking about Draco Malfoy and the possible reason for his strange behavior towards her. He acted cold and rude but came to help her even though she could have handled those gits by herself. He also seemed genuinely worried about her and that made her feel even more confused. Just who exactly was this Draco Malfoy and why was he acting so strangely? Why did he try to hide his arm? For a moment she recalled seeing a dark lining on his skin, but he had jerked his arm away so quickly that she hadn't been able to make out the pattern. After much pressure, Harry had eventually told her he was working with Malfoy, but didn't mention any details about his past, not even the fact that he went to Hogwarts.

Could it be... No, it cannot. After all, he works with Harry as an Auror. A consultant, yes, but an Auror, nonetheless. But then again I know there have been former Death Eaters who renounced Voldemort and his followers and helped Aurors with names and hiding locations. Could he be one of them? Could he also be a former Death Eater that had changed sides?

Hermione's thoughts swirled around, making her confused and unaware of what people were saying around her.

"Hermione, are you feeling alright?" Ginny's voice brought her back to reality.

"Ah, yes, yes I'm fine. Just lost in thought." Hermione said quickly, smiling at her friend.

"Maybe Nargles are giving you a hard time, Hermione. You better be careful, they can be quite nasty. Making your head all fuzzy and confused." Luna said airily, looking at Hermione with her bright blue eyes.

"Y-Yes, you're right Luna. I should be careful to stay away from the Nargles." Hermione said, smiling unsurely.

"You might try to stay away from them, but they might not stay away from you." Luna said, nodding to herself.

"How've you been doing, Hermione? How's work?" Cho Chang suddenly piped up, trying to bring the conversation on a more normal subject. Hermione gave her a grateful smile.

"It's good. Lots of work. You can't imagine how many unfair laws are currently active and it will take quite a while before we review all of them, and even a longer time to propose changes." Hermione started vehemently on the subject.

"Hermione, I hope you're not talking about that spew madness again." Hermione heard Ron's voice.

He had just arrived, an arm around Lavender's waist and a wide smile on his face. Hermione jumped to her feet and gave him a tight hug, then turned and gave one to Lavender as well, welcoming both to her home.

"It's not spew Ron, it's S.P.E.W. and no, it's not about that. This is bigger than that." Hermione said, her eyes starting to glow the same way they did when she thought about the unfair treatment of other creatures in the magical world.

"Yeah, Yeah, whatever you say, 'Mione." Ron said, rolling his eyes.

Hermione huffed but didn't answer. She already knew Ron wasn't very interested in the subject. Even though his own girlfriend was now a werewolf, he was still quite oblivious of the laws that prevented her to have the same rights as the rest of the wizards. Nevertheless, during these past three years, the Ministry had been able to make some changes, and werewolves were now able to get better jobs, as long as they could prove they weren't a danger to the public. That helped Lavender get a job as a junior Healer at St. Mungo's.

Had Lupin still be alive right now, he would have been able to continue teaching at Hogwarts. Hermione thought sadly.

"Better leave Ron alone, Hermione. You don't want to make him smart now, do you?" Harry said, appearing at Ginny's side and smiling teasingly at his friends.