Chapter 30
Theme: Memory
Optional Prompt: Have we met before?
He stood, hidden in the shadows of the alley, his eyes sweeping along the length of the street, searching. It had been one month since he had been able to return, 30 days of not knowing if she was safe. Finally, his eyes locked on the witch who visited him in his dreams each night; unwelcome memories surging to the surface. Her breath hot against his neck, her eyes full of adoration as she gazed up at him, the promise to always come back for one another, but that was before.
Before the war, before Harry fell at the final battle, before Voldemort began his new world.
His mind came back to the present as he watched her make her way to an open table at an outdoor cafe. The sun caught in chestnut hair and Draco could not pull his gaze from her face. A face he had memorized years before that no longer held the worry of the war. A serene calm graced her features as she pulled out a book from her bag and began to read.
Unable to merely observe any longer, Draco crossed the alley until he was standing over her table. Warm amber eyes snapped up to him and for a moment he swore there was recognition, and his witch was there, but in a blink it had passed.
Hermione cocked her head to the side, assessing her companion. “Can I help you?” she asked, confusion and intrigue openly displayed across her face.
Draco swallowed hard, pushing the burgeoning pain deeper behind his walls. “I’m sorry Miss, but there seems to be no other tables, would you mind if I sat here for a moment?”
He knew it was stupid, but it had been years since they spoke and he needed this, needed her.
Smiling broadly, Hermione pushed the chair across from her out from the table. “Of course,” she said, “I’m sorry if this comes across odd, but have we met before? I have the strangest feeling of familiarity about you…” She trailed off her amber eyes searing into his own.
Draco’s walls shattered, images again flooded his mind, images he had long buried out of necessity. A fight about her safety, Hermione refusing to hide and stay safe and his final act of cowardice because he could not lose her; lifting his wand and obliviating the love of his life before sending her to Australia. Gone from his life, but safe from this new world.
Clearing his throat, Draco made a choice, “How about I tell you a story. Once upon a time, there was a Gryffindor Princess…”