Draco replied hesitantly, “I have a problem...”
Professor McGonagall looked at Draco; curious as to what problem he could have that he would come to her with.
“Go on, Mister Malfoy.”
Draco sighed and began telling the story of the past month. Professor McGonagall didn’t interrupt him, but waited for him to finish.
“... And so, that’s basically it. Do you know how to fix this?” asked Draco.
Professor McGonagall was speechless. She thought he was just making this up... or maybe he was crazy.
“Mister Malfoy, now isn’t the time to make up stories.”
Draco gaped at her and then quickly defended himself. “I’m not making this up!”
The Headmistress looked at the young man.
'It’s a shame what stress does to them, especially in their seventh year,' she thought to herself.
“Mister Malfoy, just sit right here. I’ll contact someone from St. Mungo’s to come get you as soon as they can.”
Draco looked horrified. “I’m not crazy! I swear! Ask me something only Granger would know. She’s in here with me.”
Professor McGonagall sighed and decided to go along with this little game.
“What is Miss Granger’s Patronus?”
Hermione told Draco the answer quickly. “It’s an otter.”
Draco repeated the answer to the Headmistress.
The Headmistress replied, “Well, you could have seen her conjure it at any time. What is Miss Granger’s middle name?”
Hermione said, “Jane.”
Draco repeated her answer to the Headmistress again.
Professor McGonagall still didn’t believe him. “That was a lucky guess. Jane is a common name. This one you definitely won’t get unless you’re telling the truth. What did I give Miss Granger in her third year?”
Hermione told Draco, “A time-turner.”
Draco looked at Hermione curiously. “A time-turner? I’ve never even heard of them.”
The Headmistress stared at Draco as if he had just grown a third head. “You really can see her!”
Draco rolled his eyes. “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you for the past ten minutes. Do you know how to get her back in her body?”
Now that McGonagall knew that Draco wasn’t lying or crazy, she was clueless as to what to do. She wondered what Albus would’ve done.
“That’s it!” exclaimed McGonagall.
“What’s it?” Draco asked.
“Follow me, Mister Malfoy, and you too, Miss Granger, wherever you are,” McGonagall ordered.
She took off at a brisk pace. Draco and Hermione had to jog to keep up with her.
“Where are we going?” Draco asked after five minutes.
McGonagall didn’t answer but after she took one last left and stopped at the end of the hall in front of Professor Dumbledore’s portrait.
McGonagall turned to Draco, “I don’t have any idea what to do. I think that only Professor Dumbledore could help you.” She sniffed and added, “But he’s dead. This is just as good. Tell him what you told me. I’m sure he can help you.”
Draco looked up at the life-size painting of Dumbledore. The painting was amazing and captured him perfectly, down to the twinkling blue eyes. Draco told his (or rather Hermione’s) story again. After he was done Dumbledore chuckled.
Draco looked at him, nonplussed. “What’s so funny?”
Dumbledore stopped laughing and replied, “You shall soon see. I’ve only heard of this sort of occurrence once before. A boy fell off his broomstick from fifty feet in the air. We thought for sure that he would die, but he didn’t. He remained in a coma for four months. A girl came to me claiming that she, too, was the only one who could see him. When they came to me, I didn’t know what to tell them, or rather her. I was surprised because she really disliked him, and I knew she wouldn’t make up something like that. But when she did come to me, I could tell that they weren’t in the same relationship as before. She came to me three and a half months into his coma, right when they were about to give up. Two weeks later he miraculously woke up. I asked her how she managed to get him to wake up. She told me, ‘I realized something I should’ve realized a long time ago. If this had never happened, if fate hadn’t intervened, I would live a very different life, a life not fulfilled.’ I’ll let you figure out what she meant.”
Hermione stared at Dumbledore and then glanced at Draco. “Ask him who the students were.”
Draco, being the translator, told Dumbledore, “Hermione wants to know whom the students were.”
Dumbledore smiled and replied, “Lily and James Potter.”
Draco was shocked. “You mean Potter’s parents?”
Dumbledore smiled again and nodded.
“What are you saying that we should do, Professor?” Draco asked.
Dumbledore’s eyes twinkled. “You’ll figure it out when the time is right.”
Draco gave him a look that seemed to say, “Are you kidding me?”
Dumbledore looked at Draco, and said, “You two had best be off. You need to get Hermione back into her body. Let’s see if you can do it faster then they did. Besides, I need to make an appearance in my portrait in Minerva’s office.”
Hermione and Draco walked away and as soon as they were out of the corridor containing Dumbledore’s portrait, Draco complained to Hermione, “Why does he always have to be so cryptic? Couldn’t he ever just come out and say something?”
Hermione sighed and shook her head, her curly locks flowing out slightly, “That’s just how he is. Plus, once you have figured out his what he meant, you have a better, deeper understanding than if he just told you.”
Draco replied both stubbornly and childishly. “Does not.”
“Does too.”
“Does not.”
“Does too.”
”Does not.”
A voice came from behind Draco, “Are you arguing with yourself, Malfoy? Have you finally lost it?”
Draco turned around to discover Potter and Weasley. He went along with his usual habit of making fun of them.
“Would you look at what the hippogriff dragged in, Pothead and Weaselbreath. Though I’m surprised it was willing to touch you, Weasley.”
Hermione glared at Draco, “Draco! You can’t make fun of my friends.”
Draco decided it might be best to listen to Hermione because she would give him hell later if he didn’t.
Ron was fuming at his little comment though. “Why, you little ferret!”
Harry placed a hand on his shoulder, “He’s not worth it. Think of what Hermione would do.”
At this Ron immediately stopped. He looked at his friend and knew that Harry had a point. The comment about Hermione hit him hard. It had been terrible the past month without her.
Hermione saw the sad expressions cross their faces and was glad that, this time, they had at least noticed she wasn’t there, unlike last time. Her eyes started watering. “You need to tell them that I’m okay, that you can see me.”
Draco looked at her and asked, “Are you crazy?”
Confused, Harry and Ron looked at Draco. Harry asked seriously, “Are you on something?”
Draco smacked his head with his hand, having forgotten (again) that they couldn’t see Hermione, and that only he could. You would think that he’d get used to that by now.
Ron replied to Harry, “I think that means ‘yes’.”
The two started edging away as Hermione looked at Draco with pleading eyes.
“Oh, all right,” Draco said, though only because of her sad, puppy-dog expression. “Potter, Weasley, wait.”
They looked at him, slightly afraid as they thought that he was schizophrenic. They didn’t want to know what the voices had told him to do.
Draco began the speech that he’d told McGonagall and Dumbledore about him being the only person who could see Hermione.
Draco’s words only confirmed Harry and Ron’s belief that Draco had lost his mind, and this was written clearly all over their faces.
“I’ll prove it to you,” Draco told them. “Ask me anything Hermione would know, and I’ll tell you what it is because she’ll tell me seeing as she’s right here.” When he said that, he was pointing to the air where Hermione was, but it was just air to Harry and Ron.
“All right,” Harry spoke up. “How long did Hermione and Ron go out?”
Draco asked Hermione, “You and the Weasel dated?”
Hermione replied, “No! We didn’t! That’s a trick question.”
Draco told Harry and Ron, “That’s a trick question. They never dated.”
Ron replied this time. “Anyone could have guessed that. If we had, the whole school would have been talking about it “ people love gossip, and anyone who dates is gossiped about. When is Hermione’s birthday?”
Hermione told Draco, “September nineteenth.”
Draco repeated Hermione’s answer to Harry and Ron.
Harry replied, “You could’ve found that out from someone talking about her birthday.” Draco raised an eyebrow at this explanation. Harry continued with another question. “What does S.P.E.W. stand for, when did she start it, and what is her reaction when you call it ‘spew’?”
Hermione glared at Harry. “It’s not ‘spew’! It’s S.P.E.W.! It stands for the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare. I started it in our fourth year after I saw how badly the house-elves were being exploited. They’ve been brainwashed into thinking that they like working for free. They just don’t know any better. More need to be like Dobby and be paid.”
Draco repeated this, word for word, to Harry and Ron. After he finished he turned to Hermione and informed her, “They like working, they weren’t brainwashed or anything! Are you talking about Dobby, my old house-elf? He wasn’t right in the head. Have you ever even tried to talk to Dobby?”
Hermione glared at Draco. Draco told Harry and Ron, “And now she’s glaring at me for saying that.”
Harry and Ron turned towards each other, than looked back at Draco. Harry said, “You’re not kidding, she’s really there! Tell her that we miss her.”
Draco chuckled at their reaction. He informed them, “She can hear you perfectly fine, and see you. She just can’t talk to you or touch you.”
Ron asked Hermione rapidly, “Are you okay? Do you feel any pain? Has Malfoy been treating you all right? What happened to put you in a coma?”
Hermione smiled and said, “I’m fine. No, I donn’t feel any pain, not anymore. Draco’s been treating me fine, at least he is now. It took a while at the beginning. Voldemort used the Cruciatus curse on me(that hurt) until I was in that state because I wouldn’t tell him where Harry was.”
Draco repeated what she said to Harry and Ron.
After they absorbed this, Harry asked the question that was eating away at all four of their brains. “Why is Malfoy the only one who can see you?”
Hermione sighed and replied, “I don’t know.”
Draco repeated what she had said and added, “Neither do I, nor does McGonagall, and if Dumbledore knows, he’s not letting on.”
Harry stiffened at the mention of Dumbledore’s name. “You saw Dumbledore?”
Draco kicked himself mentally. “Not in person, we talked to his portrait.”
Harry asked eagerly, “Where is it?”
Hermione begged Draco, “Don’t tell him! He won’t leave there if you do. It will ruin him to see his portrait. Don’t tell him, not now. He’s not ready.”
Draco agreed with Hermione on this one. “I can’t tell you.”
Harry looked like he wanted to rip Draco’s head off, “What! Why not?”
Draco replied, paraphrasing what Hermione had said, “It will tear you up inside. Don’t do this to yourself.”
Harry glared angrily at Malfoy. “Like you know what’s best for me!”
Draco shot back, “Hermione told me not to tell you.”
Harry’s look softened. “Hermione, did you really say that? You really don’t want me to see him?”
Hermione felt bad but told Draco what to say.
“Yes, it will kill you. You won’t leave him and you won’t get over him. You need to heal, and you can’t do that if you visit his portrait frequently. Please, just wait until you’re ready to visit him.”
Harry nodded and didn’t press any further on the location of his mentor’s location.
Draco felt the situation growing awkward and decided it was time to leave. “Well, we had better get going. We have to figure out how to get Hermione back in her body.”
Harry enquired, “Where do you plan to figure this out?”
Draco replied, exhausted by the very thought of it, “The library.”
Harry chuckled. That was just like Hermione. If there was any problem, even if, such as in this case, it was potentially life threatening, she would look for the answer in her trusty library. ‘If it’s not in a book, then it’s not worth knowing,’ may as well be her motto.
Ron spoke up. “You two had better get going, then. There are a lot of books to research in there. Bye!”
Then Harry and Ron ran off quickly, not really wanting to research. Although they later felt a little guilty, they knew that Hermione and Draco were researching and decided that that should be enough.
Hermione and Draco headed off to the library yet again. Instead of looking for books, she walked immediately to her favorite table. She tried to sit down and lean back in the chair, but she fell through the chair.
Draco chuckled at her. “Did you forget that you just fall through things?”
In response Hermione glared at Draco, but a smile couldn’t help but form on her lips. Soon she started laughing. The two of them started laughing uncontrollably. Their laughing grew so loud that the librarian came over and glared at Draco. Draco quickly suppressed his laughter, but Madam Pince continued to glare and threaten Draco with her feather duster, at which Draco had to fight even harder to suppress his laughter, which was threatening to explode.
As soon as she left, the two of them burst out laughing again.
Draco, panting slightly as he tried to get his laughter back under control, told Hermione, “I’d help you up, but given the circumstances...”
Hermione, cutting him off, replied as she got up, “It’s fine. It’s sweet of you to offer, though, and that’s what really matters.”
Draco gave her a genuine smile, instead of his usual smirk. Hermione smiled in return. She had never known that he had such a great smile.
She looked over Draco’s shoulder and saw something. Hermione walked right through him to go over to the bookshelf. Hermione looked at the tiny brown notebook wedged between two incredibly thick volumes of a series detailing the numerous properties of various dragon organs.
“Draco, could you come over here?” Hermione asked him looking at the peculiar, titleless book that she had never noticed before.
Draco, incredibly confused, walked over to where Hermione was standing. He noticed the book she was looking at and pried it out from between the enormous volumes. He held it so both he and Hermione could read it and opened to the first page.
It read:
“This journal belongs to Lily Evans. These are my experiences with a magic hardly anyone has encountered. This magic deals with limbo, and when only one person spots these spirits. I assume that one day in the future someone will encounter this strange magic again. I hope my experiences can help you.”
The Only One Who Could See Her by Kattelena Riana
Chapter Notes: Here's the next chapter. Sorry for the long wait, but I had to think of something and how to apply it, etc. A big thanks to my beta kathyhermy123! You're awesome! Reviews are much appreciated. Thanks to A_Pink_Lady for giving me the idea of including Harry and Ron!