Hermione groaned. She'd woken up to find half her flat completely in ruins and no sign of her husband. She spent the last three hours casting repair charm after repair charm to get everything back in working order.

"Draco?" Hermione called again, as if he would just round the corner. "Where did he go?"

The earthquake had been a strong one. She couldn't remember any of what had happened before it struck, only that she woke up in her bed having obviously been healed. She thought Draco had been with her when the ceiling caved, but her last clear memory was of him promising to take her to the library when the weather calmed.

Hermione settled onto the sofa and wrung her hands together. She quietly listed where he could possibly have gone.

The Burrow, she thought, or perhaps 12 Grimmauld Place? Could he have gone to the Manor to get some help from his mother? Would he have apparated to St. Mungo's? What about his friends' homes?

Idly, Hermione got to her feet and headed to the kitchen. She put on the kettle for some tea, and as she did, she took a deep breath. Despite the panic of the earthquake, she was feeling better than ever. Her head was fairly clear and her nerves mostly settled, and each breath of air sank deeply into her lungs.

"Perhaps I should go search for Draco?" Hermione murmured aloud. "At least, I could call around."

With her mind set, Hermione got to work. She gave a floo call to Harry's, belatedly remembering that he wasn't home. No one was at the Burrow, and soon she realized she didn't know how to contact Mrs. Malfoy or any of Draco's friends.

It was probably best to just stay at home and wait for him to return. He would come back soon, he always did.

Hermione picked a book and quietly scanned over its pages, listening for the sound of the front door. Soon her book was over, and she made herself another cup of tea.

The minutes turned to hours. It wasn't long before the moon was high in the sky, and there was still no sign of Draco.

Hermione chewed on her bottom lip, wondering what else to do. If her friends were unavailable, she had no way to contact anyone else who might know Draco's whereabouts.

He would never leave me for this long, a voice whispered in the back of her mind.

Hermione grabbed her wand and went to the windows, staring down at the street. She hoped each silhouette passing by would look upward and she'd catch a glimpse of her husband's face, but there was no such luck.

The longer she stood there, the more the clouds gathered. Soon, the moon was no longer visible and thunder crackled through the sky once more.

"Just once, can't we have a quiet night?" Hermione scolded the sky. She turned her back to the window, jumping as a lightning bolt lit up the room.

As the storm brewed, Hermione went to her closet and found her cloak. She wouldn't leave – where would she go? But the cloak brought her some comfort, as though wearing it would somehow provide a plan of action.

The sharp sound of rain slapped against the windows. Hermione sunk onto the sofa, remembering how comfortable everything felt when she wasn't alone.

"Perhaps I should apparate to the Burrow." Hermione said to herself. "At least I wouldn't be alone. Mrs. Weasley would probably have some dinner, too."

Yes, being with family and eating Mrs. Weasley's cooking was tempting. Hermione hurried to her bedroom and penned a note to Draco, just in case he returned while she away.

As she finished writing, she glanced at the crumpled parchment on the floor. When she'd woken up, the entire room had been a mess, but she'd noticed the parchment and quill on the floor right away.

It was in her handwriting, but she didn't recognize the message. The writing had comprised of words like "Constantine", "trapped," and "walnut", but Hermione had no idea what it meant. She'd surmised that she must have had a strange dream and written something down in her sleep to try and remember it, but the dream was long gone by now.

The only part of the message that truly worried her was the last paragraph, "Walk through the front door. I think that's how to escape. I've never been out, and neither has the Fake-Draco in my daytime life. I have a feeling it's the key."

She had no idea what it meant, but the message felt ominous. Fake-Draco? What could that possibly mean? She was fairly certain Draco wasn't an imposter. And the 'daytime life' – what could that refer to? She was sure she wasn't living two different lives during the day and night.

But worst of all – the door.

The message was right. She truly could not remember the last time Draco or herself left the flat, much less through the front door. At first, she'd thought that they would never need to because they could apparate or floo everywhere, but thinking back…she couldn't remember the last time they had done that, either.

The more she thought about it, the more she had to convince herself that it was foolish. Both of them were more than capable of leaving, as evidenced by Draco's disappearance.

Hermione held onto her wand and stared at the note one more time. If it would put her mind at rest…

She dropped the note onto the desk and hurried out to the corridor. Outside, the storm raged harder, nearly shaking the walls of the flat. Hermione paused and threw up some strengthening charms, hoping her repairs wouldn't come undone in this weather. She reached the front door.

There was a crash in the kitchen. Hermione changed route and turned toward the inside of the flat – the windows had shattered!

She cast a quick spell to repair them, and then a drying spell to clean the rainwater after everything calmed down.

Hermione sat down on the sofa to catch her breath. That could have been a disaster.

Again, she thought quietly. First the storms, the earthquake, the constant terrible weather at the drop of a hat. The more she thought about yesterday, the more memories seemed to open up. Hadn't Draco been – hadn't he been a different person? Or…something was wrong. She wracked her brain, trying to remember exactly what had happened.

The parchment! Perhaps it wasn't a scribbled dream.

"Walk through the front door." Hermione decided. If nothing happened, she could feel foolish, but if not…

The moment she stood up, another lightning bolt struck the window. Hermione screamed as she flew backward, hitting against the wall.

Everything was singed, the smell of electricity burning into the air. Hermione stared in shock – what are the odds of a lightning bolt hitting the same magically protected building twice?

She sat up. The wind howled and the rain followed its example, rushing into the kitchen and living room with abandon.

Hermione slowly cast another repair charm, covering the window. She had a sneaking suspicion that she could be doing this cycle all night.

She turned around and ran for the door.

There was another crash, but this time, Hermione didn't look back. The smoke detector above began beeping wildly, and smoke began to fill the hall. Hermione didn't stop. She grabbed for the doorknob, but swore as her hand made contact – it was burning hot. There must be a fire on the other side, too.

She could stop and put out the fire in her home, repair the window, clear the damage, and then try again.

Or…

Hermione cast a quick spell to cool the doorknob and hurled the door open, just as the smoke grew heavier and the walls crackled with more fuel for the fire.

…

Hermione's eyes flew open. She stared up at the unrecognizable ceiling as her memories returned to her, just as they did every single night. Was she sleeping? Then why was her body responding to her movements?

She squeaked softly as she rolled her head and recognized the plain setting around her, filled with beds and gray curtains and white walls – the Hogwarts infirmary!

And sitting on the chair next to her bed, fast asleep in a position that could in no way be comfortable –

Draco had done it! He'd saved her! Hermione felt a whoosh as all of the air in her lungs left her. She hadn't felt this relieved since…since she'd woken up second-year after being petrified in the library. She'd had to rely on someone else, and they hadn't let her down.

The figure on the chair woke up at her movements, and Harry's shining face came into view. He threw his arms around Hermione and she relaxed into his embrace. "Hermione, you're awake! You have no idea how worried we all were!"

"What happened?" Hermione whispered. "Did Draco return safely? How did you save me?"

"I'll tell you everything." Harry promised. "Just let me get Madame Pomfrey first. She only let me stay in here if I promised to get her if your condition changed."

Hermione agreed and Harry hurried away. He was back in half a minute, and Madame Pomfrey bustled over. "Mr. Potter, go inform the Headmaster and your Head of House of this development. I'm sure they'll want to see Miss Granger in the morning, after she's had her rest."

"Madame Pomfrey," Harry started, but the look in the mediwitch's eye made him shoot Hermione an apologetic smile and race out the door.

By the time Madame Pomfrey finished checking her over, Harry had returned with Ron at his side.

"Everyone wanted to come, but I convinced them that Madame Pomfrey would be upset." Harry explained.

"I'm already upset at the two of you." Madame Pomfrey sniffed. "Patients need rest, Mr. Potter!"

"Please, Madame Pomfrey." Hermione begged. "I don't want to be alone right now."

Madame Pomfrey eventually relented. "Just a little while, and no excitement."

"We promise." Harry and Ron chorused.

They took their spots on either side of Hermione's bed, and Ron reached over to fluff the pillow for her. "This is a bit funny, actually, being in the infirmary because of you. Usually it's Harry. Or sometimes me."

"Usually thanks to Quidditch." Harry added brightly.

Hermione shook her head at them. "Alright, enough dillydallying. Tell me everything."

And so they did. Harry spoke, with Ron chiming in every few minutes. After they told their story, Hermione told an abridged version of hers. She left out most of the relationship that she'd shared with Draco, pretending instead that it was a memory lapse from when they were still stuck together. She needed more time to process that whole situation.

Once they were all caught up, Hermione began musing what Constantine's plan could be. "She needed my life and magic force. Hopefully since you saved me, she didn't get what she needed. We should set up a guard around the Reviver so she can't come back to it again. I do have a feeling that she used that area specifically because the magic there was more potent than anywhere else. I mean, otherwise she could set up a Reviver in every park."

"Hermione, you ought to rest." Harry said gently. "Why don't we do this brainstorming in the morning?"

"Of course, but, I just think it would be helpful to have something to report." Hermione said weakly.

"Hermione, your side of the story of what happened is more than enough to report." Ron told her. "You don't need more."

"I know, it's just…" Hermione winced. She took a deep breath and grabbed Harry's hand nervously. "Look, I told you both that while I was there, I would forget my memories every time I woke up. What if – what if I go to sleep and…and I forget again? When I wake up, what if I don't remember anything?"

Harry put his arms around her. They were quiet for a long moment.

"Well," Harry began slowly. "You also told us that Draco Malfoy had all of his memories when he came to rescue you. So, it's likely that even if you forget, the rest of us will remember, yeah? And we'll fill you in, every time."

Hermione frowned. "He did, but I never even saw you or Ron, or anyone else. You were always conveniently missing. What if I wake up and you're all gone again? What will I do without you? Who will fill me in then?"

Ron glared at Harry. They held a starting contest for almost ten seconds, and then Ron sighed. He stood up, looking mightily uncomfortable. "Oh, fine. I'll get the git."

"What on earth are you talking about?" Hermione asked.

He waved her off and disappeared down the dark hallway.

"What's he talking about? Who's he getting?" Hermione turned to Harry, but he only hugged her tighter and kissed her forehead.

"Just rest, Hermione. I love you."

She relaxed a little at that, feeling safer than she had in a long while. Still, there was a large part of her that knew this was far from over. And a small part of her knew that she would eventually have to think through all of the events from the past few days and make some decisions.