Inside Your Mind

somebody that i used to know

Somebody That I Used to Know - Gotye

November 1st 1999

'HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?!' Hermione shouted as she threw another cushion at Draco's head.

'Granger, I've explained everything I did and why I did it!' Draco shouted back as he ducked out of the way.

'No, Malfoy!' Hermione yelled, never having felt anger like this before in her life, still attacking him with any cushion she could lay her hands on. 'You betrayed me! You knew how I felt when my magic was threatened by the bloody Minister for Magic! And then you took it away!'

Draco stopped dodging the cushions, barely flinching when one hit him in the stomach.

'Six months.' Hermione spat as another cushion flew from her hand. 'SIX FUCKING MONTHS I'VE BEEN LIVING A LIE. YOU STRIPPED ME OF MY MAGIC.'

All she knew was anger. Had she stopped to think about it, Hermione may have found herself congratulating Draco on his use of the Memory Charm. It had been hand crafted, subtle, nuanced. Not to mention the utter brilliance of adding a trigger to bring her memories back. She wished that was something she had thought of for her parents. It was a very advanced version of the spell, though, and Draco really did deserve a pat on the back at his use of that level of magic. It was rather incredible if you could look past the negatives.

Right now, and for a little while longer, all Hermione could see were the negatives.

'Granger, I didn't think-.'

'NO, YOU DIDNT THINK!'

'Granger, will you just calm down for one second?!' Draco pleaded as Hermione reached for the next thing to throw, having finally ran out of cushions, and bent down to pick up the glass of water.

Arm in the air, water sloshing over the rim of the glass, poised and ready to throw; Hermione paused. Her heart was pounding and her chest was heaving. She had thought that Draco had hurt her while they were still at school but this pain hit her harder. Right in the heart.

'Hermione.' Draco pleaded once more, his voice dropping to a loud, pained whisper, as the hurt he was feeling presented itself on his face for her to see.

Hermione squeezed her eyes shut at the sound of her name and placed the glass of water back on the table. She could probably count on one hand how many times Draco had called her by her first name and hearing it again, for the first time with all of her real memories since that night in January, was strangely enough to calm her boiling anger.

'Why did you do it, Draco?' Hermione whimpered as she clamped a hand over her face in an effort to hold back the sob building in her throat and the tears that were burning in her eyes.

Hermione thought she had known betrayal when Draco led her on, making her feel things towards him that she had never imagined were possible, and then made her feel as though it had all been some elaborate scheme. Which still stung if she were honest with herself, but she reluctantly accepted that his reasoning behind his behaviour was admirable.

'Please believe me when I tell you that I pushed you away because I thought it would keep you safe. Everything I've done is to keep you alive.'

Hearing his excuse again when her memories had come back, his reason behind treating her the way he did, she half believed that he was telling the truth when he claimed to love her - granted he had a funny way of showing it - but taking her magic when he knew how much that would hurt her? That is what true betrayal felt like.

'My only thought was to keep you safe from the things that were happening in the Wizarding World.' Draco said as he took a few steps closer. 'You were raised in the Muggle world, you know how it works, you could blend in easily and hide in plain sight. I didn't consider how it would feel for you to have your magic taken away.'