7. Chapter 7

Edited 22/4/2020

Original A/N: Hey guys! Thanks for the reviews, favouriting, and following! Keep that up!

Disclaimer: I still don't own Harry Potter. Never will. On to the chapter!

"You are a lying, filthy mudblood and I know it!"

An agonized scream echoed against the walls.

Draco bolted up in bed, gasping for air. Sweat was pouring down his face and his entire body was shaking. He put his head in his hands, his fingers grasping at the roots of his hair.

Breathe, Draco. Breathe.

He stood up shakily and headed to the washroom, where he proceeded to splash water on his face, shivering madly. He leaned against the counter and caught a glimpse of his reflection. He looked ghostly, his skin was white as a sheet, his pajamas were sticking to his body from sweat, and his eyes were wide with terror. He ran a hand through his hair, taking deep breaths, trying to slow his racing heartbeat.

Last night he had another nightmare. It was his first since his arrival in Canada. He had forgotten how real they felt.

This had been a sharp reminder.

Every moment had felt like reality. He could not escape it, no matter how hard he tried. He took another deep breath. He had forgotten how terrible they could be, and this nightmare had been especially so.

He had been forced to relive that day at Malfoy Manor, the day where Potter, Weasley, and Granger had been captured, when he had been forced to watch as she was tortured. By his aunt. By his bloodline. Before his eyes, while he stood powerlessly by.

He gripped the counter and tried to calm his heart rate as the memories played through his mind once again. They temporarily blacked out his vision. Hands giving out, he slid to the floor and his head fell into his hands. He could feel the sweat on his face.

This was the worst type of nightmare because he knew it was real. This was part of his history now, forever etched into his psyche.

Sometimes, he dreamt about miscellaneous pain and torture. But then sometimes, he got the horrible pleasure of reliving the worst moments of his life. And that day at Malfoy Manor was near the top of the list. He could still hear Hermione's screams echoing against the drawing room walls…

HERMIONE! Suddenly, all the prior day's events came rushing back to him, blocking out the world for a moment. How could he have forgotten for even a second?

Being drunk, forgetting, finding her again, talking to her, and making plans to see her again. His heartbeat sped up again. This time, however, was not due to fear, but excitement. Hermione Granger, the muggle-born, the bookworm, member of the Golden Trio, war heroine, was a missing person no longer.

Draco smiled. This was a miracle. He had found her. Staring at the wall, trying to comprehend it all, he realized something.

Yes, he had found Hermione Granger. But, he had found a Hermione Granger with no memory, a Hermione who had no idea she was even missing. He had found her weeks before her funeral. He had reason to believe she had been tortured before her memory was wiped.

Yes, he had found Hermione, but he had no idea what to do about it.

Draco groaned. What the hell did he do now? He had never been in a situation like this before, who had? Who randomly ran into their missing childhood enemy while on business? It never happened. This never ever happened.

But when it did, of course it had to happen to him.

Draco took a deep breath and looked at his situation rationally. Alright Draco, think. First things first, he had to find her again. Otherwise, any plans to get her back to London would be pointless. How would he find her? As he considered it, another memory from the day before flashed through his mind.

Excellent.

Draco jumped up from his place on the washroom floor. He ran out into the main room and over to his desk. He glanced over it quickly and spotted the little piece of paper she had handed to him, saying he could use it to contact her.

Draco picked it up. A series of random numbers were written across it. Draco stared at it, blankly. He had never taken Muggle Studies, no Malfoy in history had, so he had no idea what to do with this. Panic began to set in again.

However, he wasn't completely alone. He had resources. He had Malfoy Industries. That was it. Maybe someone at work would know what to do with this collection of numbers.

Draco rushed around the hotel room, dressing quickly. He had trouble buttoning up his shirt, his fingers still shaking. He had not forgotten his nightmare. He never would. But he needed to move on, to get this job done. Hermione's screams were still echoing through his head as he grabbed some toast. Draco took several calming breaths and apparated to the office.

He walked through the front door to find Katie and Justin standing at Katie's desk. Draco headed over to them.

"Draco," said Justin, nodding in his direction. Katie smiled at him.

"Hey guys," Draco replied. "How are you?"

"Pretty good," Katie replied, snorting slightly.

Draco raised an eyebrow. "Hmm?"

She gave another little chuckle. "Don't you hate small talk?"

Draco stopped talking for a moment. He did hate small talk. Why was he instigating it?

"Damn Canada," Draco muttered viciously. His two coworkers laughed at him.

"So, Draco, small talk aside, what's up?" Justin asked, leaning against the desk.

Draco glared at him for a moment, before continuing with his question. "How much do you know about muggles?"

"Fair bit," Katie said, Justin nodding along with her. "Muggle Studies was a mandatory subject at the Canadian Wizarding Academy."

"Really?" Draco replied, surprised. It had never been mandatory at Hogwarts, not even for one year. Not even for a month. "Why?"

"Canadian wizards are really big on total equality; on accepting people no matter what. They wanted us to learn about muggles to understand and accept them, so everyone took seven years of Muggle Studies." Justin explained, shrugging slightly.

"Oh," Draco responded, a little surprised about that, but not seriously fazed. It was like Dumbledore ran Canada. Love, acceptance, equality, the whole gamut. But now, this love and acceptance attitude was going to help him. He continued.

"Then I need your help."

Katie and Justin glanced at each other and nodded, shrugging, looking slightly confused.

He held out the piece of paper. "What is this and what do I do with it?"

Katie took it. She glanced over it quickly and smiled. "It's a phone number." Draco felt a dumbfounded expression cross his face.

"That's not very helpful," he said, as politely as possible. Damn this polite Canadian bullshit.

Katie sighed and dove into a further explanation. "You type it into a machine called a phone and then wires and satellites send the voice waves to another phone. You are able to talk to someone when you aren't near them."

Draco was still confused. There were so many words in that sentence that didn't make any sense.

She sighed again. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small, thin metal box with buttons on it. Each button had a different number. Katie looked up at him. "Want to call this person now?" Draco nodded. Katie punched several different buttons then handed it to him.

"Hold it up to the side of your face and talk normally." Draco nodded skeptically. There was no way this little metal box could let him talk to Hermione. No way. Muggles were not that innovative.

Draco held the 'phone' up to his ear. He heard a strange ringing noise coming from the little device. It was very annoying.

Then, the ringing stopped.

"Hello?" called a voice from the box. Her voice.

"Errr, hi, Hermione," Draco stuttered. "It's Draco."

"Oh, hey Draco!" she replied happily. It sounded as if she was standing next to him. Draco felt a newfound respect for muggles settle in. They could be quite intelligent. "What's up?"

"Oh, nothing much," he responded. Katie burst out laughing but clapped her hand over her mouth. Draco shot her a glare. It was rude to not participate in small talk, even if he hated it so very much.

"So, why'd you call?" Hermione asked, curious.

Oh yeah, he did have a reason for calling.

"Right. I was wondering, ummm, if you wanted to get coffee at the Tim Hortons by Yonge and Bloor?" He randomly chose a coffee shop he had seen while walking to his hotel a few days beforehand.

"Sure!" She exclaimed, chuckling slightly. "You know, Draco, for a brit, you sure know your way to a Canadian's heart. Want to meet there at four?"

"Sure," Draco said, a smile appearing on his face at the thought.

"Alright, see you then, Draco. Bye!"

"Bye," Draco finished. He heard a click. Hermione must have turned the phone off. He took the phone away from his face and handed it back to Katie. She pushed it back at him saying, "you keep it for the moment." She then started looking him over curiously.

"Yes, Katie?" Draco asked, curious of her curiosity.

"Hermione…" she mused. "That name sounds really familiar…"

"Ummm, yeah…" Draco replied slowly. Warning bells went off in his head. No one could know about Hermione, not until he understood the situation better.

But how would Katie know about her in the first place? Canada wasn't directly involved in the Wizarding War. She didn't go to Hogwarts. She had no connection to Hermione, not even the newspaper…

Fuck.

Draco remembered. Potter had splashed her face across every wizarding newspaper worldwide after she had disappeared in hopes of finding her. Damn it, Potter.

"Hey, wait a minute," Justin started, realization dawning on his face. He was a bit slower than Katie. "Isn't Hermione the name of the girl whose funeral is in a few weeks?"

"How the hell do you know that?" Draco asked sharply.

This was not a good situation.

Justin looked at him curiously, confused by his reaction. He reached over and handed him a paper that had been sitting on Katie's desk. Draco looked down at the day's Toronto Prophecy.

HERMIONE GRANGER, WAR HEROINE'S FUNERAL TO BE HELD IN THREE WEEKS read the headline.

Oh, fucking Potter, thought Draco, damning the Chosen One once more.

"Errr," Draco said slowly, looking for a plan of escape. He came up empty. Justin's eyes widened. He stuttered incoherently for a moment before speaking.

"Are they the same girl?"

Draco had no idea what to say. But, though having only known them for a few weeks, he found that he trusted these two.

Taking the leap, Draco nodded. Justin and Katie gaped at him.

"You are meeting Hermione freaking Granger for coffee?" Katie asked, disbelievingly.

Draco sighed. "Yes."

Justin and Katie stared at him silently for a few minutes. Eventually Justin spoke.

"As in, the Hermione Granger, best friend to Harry Potter, war heroine, and missing for seven years?"

Draco smirked. "Well, she's found now."

Katie spoke. "You know Hermione Granger?" She sounded completely dumbfounded.

Draco chuckled. "We went to school together for six years. She, Ronald Weasley, and the Boy Who Lived were known as the Golden Trio. The Golden Trio and I had a… well… interesting relationship."

Justin and Katie looked even more shocked. "You know Harry Potter?" Katie whispered.

"We were enemies in school, now we are…errr… acquaintances," Draco responded, reflecting on his relationship with the boy Potter.

"That's wild," Katie said. "But back to the point. How are you meeting Hermione Granger for coffee when her funeral is next week?"

Draco looked at them. He motioned towards an empty office near the back of the room. They got up quickly and headed inside. He silenced the room, bolting the door behind him.

"What I am about to tell you is in the strictest confidence." Justin and Katie nodded. Katie looked desperate for the answer. Draco sighed and jumped right in.

"Hermione's body was never found, or any sign of her for that matter. They still don't even know that she's officially dead, even if they're holding her funeral. My best friend oversees her case, so I'd know. After the hockey game the other day, I ran into a woman. It was Hermione. But I was super drunk, so I forgot. The next day, I ran into her again. I found out that seven years ago, she arrived in a muggle hospital, covered in cuts and bruises. She had no memory left but was told her name was Hermione Mason. I believe that she was captured, her memory was wiped, and she was dumped in Toronto.

"I currently have no bloody idea what's going on, but once I figure that out, I'm taking her back to London."

Justin and Katie just stared at him, eyes wide and jaws dropped. After nearly five minutes, Justin spoke again.

"Well, that sucks."

Draco laughed humourlessly. "That basically describes everything."

Original A/N: Review *cough, cough*