Chapter 24

Hermione woke up in the middle of Piccadilly Square, which was most odd. She was fully dressed and standing next to the fountain, surrounded by people. She had no idea how she got there. She had no idea where she'd been, or where she was planning on going. Maybe she had been sleepwalking.

After a moment of uming and ahing, she decided that she couldn't stay there all day. Her memories hadn't returned so there was nothing for it but to go home. She got a little worried when she walked past a record shop and realised she didn't know any of the artists showcased in the window.

She took the tube home and was presented with the burnt out shell of her house. She felt like she'd woken up in a parallel universe. She had no idea what had happened. If it hadn't been for the fact that the house was boarded up, she would have assumed that it had just happened while she was out doing whatever it was she was up to.

She just couldn't remember what happened. After a good half hour of staring, she went around to her aunt's house. And her presence brought on a commotion as apparently they hadn't known where she was for several years. Years! They were bitterly disappointed when she didn't know where her parents were because they had been missing for years as well.

Having Hermione back gave her aunt hope that maybe her parents were alive too. The next few days went like a blur.

She was looked over by doctors, who proclaimed she had amnesia. Then questioned by Police where it was established that she was actually lacking long stretches of knowledge. The doctors established that she didn't have any brain damage, so everyone assumed that she had experienced some severe psychological trauma. They said her memories may return, perhaps starting in dribs and drabs, but nothing came.

Eventually a really strange post card arrived through the mail at her parents' house apparently written by her for some person named Harry, talking about a vacation she had been on several years earlier. She remembered the vacation and the handwriting was hers, but she couldn't remember writing it or this Harry she had sent it to, at her parents' house.

The Police took the card and investigated it. It was mailed recently from inside England. Most odd. It also had a cryptic message at the end about her parents preferring Adelaide and as far as everyone could establish, her parents had never been to Adelaide.

It didn't take the Adelaide Police long to find two British dentists working in the city. Like Hermione they were also suffering from amnesia and had an adamant desire to stay in Australia. Hermione's aunt was very hurt that they hadn't been in touch in years and had left her to worry all this time, but they couldn't be reasoned with.

Hermione flew to see them, but they didn't remember her. At first they didn't believe that she was their daughter, but eventually, with the help of photographic evidence they grew to accept it. They still didn't want anything to do with England and their family there, so Hermione's relationship with them was superficial at best.

The doctors assumed it was a consequence of the trauma they had all experienced.

Before long Hermione returned to England. She had a much closer relationship with her aunt and she wanted to be home, which ended up being a little flat in Sheppard's Bush. After a few months of trying to remember her missing past, Hermione gave up and got on with life.

She got a job in one of the smaller local libraries. It didn't pay very well, but she didn't mind. Besides, they didn't seem to be able to find her academic records. The Ministry of Education officials were baffled, but they eventually suggested that maybe she had been educated overseas. As a result, they determined that she would have to sit an international education equivalency test to determine her competency level.

Hermione scored sufficiently well that she would gain University Entrance if she wanted it. The idea of going to University was appealing, she had always expected that she would, but the doctors suggested that she wait until the beginning of next year in case there was some distressing progress on the amnesia front. So she stayed at the library.

Eventually she got a boyfriend. She met him in the library one day. She gave him membership and he came back the next day and took her out for coffee. It just kind of progressed from there. She adored him. He was smart, sexy and he didn't seem too phased by the fact that she couldn't remember half her life. He worked as a financial analyst for some privately owned firm.

Right now she was sitting at the pizza takeaway waiting for her pizza. It was almost ready. They were having a night in tonight and she couldn't wait to get home. In to her cosy flat and out of the cold rain that was coating the entire city. Rainy cold days were hard at work as they brought in all the people with nowhere else to go. Some smelled less than fresh, others were belligerent and fighting, and it typically fell to her to kindly ask them to leave. But work was over and she had a nice evening ahead.

A ring of the bell told her that her pizza was ready. It smelled marvellous. Hermione ran through the rain down her street to her flat and let herself into the main door.

She balanced the pizza on one hand while she let herself into her flat.

"Draco?"

"In the kitchen. Did you get the pizza?"

"Yes, can't you smell it?" She said and shimmied her coat off. "What movie did you get?"

"Something where lots of shit blows up." He said and came out of the kitchen dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. Hermione smiled when she saw him. She always did.

"Really, Draco, can we ever get something French."

"Of course, we can." He said. "When we have run out of every other kind of film."

She nudged him and then pulled him close for a kiss. He was the absolute best kisser. She didn't know how she had gotten so lucky. He was perfect in every way.

He sat down and grabbed a slice of pizza and Hermione followed suit. She cuddled in and rubbed her feet on his as he put his arm around her. She wouldn't do that for long, because she had learnt from experience not to get too carried away with the touching or the pizza and movie would be wasted. There was plenty of time later and she would saviour the wait, the slight touches, the anticipation.

They watched the movie as they ate. It wasn't a great one and Hermione had trouble keeping concentration. Before long, her hand snuck up his shirt and stroked the smooth, taunt stomach she loved so much. She could feel him tense under her fingers.

"You're trying to distract me you minx." He said.

"What, me? Like I would do something like that." She said and let her hand drift down to his waistband.

He moved in a flash to grab her knees and pull her down on the sofa beneath him. Hermione loved the weight of him on her as he proceeded to kiss her. She sighed as she was welcomed the sensations and feelings that somehow had become her home.

She never worried about what she couldn't remember any longer, whatever it was she was pretty sure it couldn't compete with her present.

The End

A/N Thanks everyone for reading and reviewing. Much appreciated.