She read in his chair by the fire, but she started to itch after an hour, wondering if he was watching the memories. Were there many others she hadn't seen?

As the clock ticked closer to midnight, she picked at their dinner plates until finally he opened the door. She quickly stood, taking in his exhausted expression and furrowed brow.

He stared at her and she stared back. When she could stand it no longer, she blurted, "Did you watch them?"

After a silence that seemed to last lifetimes, he nodded. She twisted her hands together.

"What about the ones in the vials? Did you watch those?"

He dipped his chin again, and his eyes lifted from the carpets. He opened his mouth, and closed it.

"I didn't watch those," she said. "Was there…is there something in them that's bothering you?"

His throat bobbed as he studied her. "Do you remember when Goyle's father went missing?"

"Yes, he was never found." She drew a sharp breath. "Or was he?"

Draco rubbed his brow. "Let me start earlier."

She waited. He dropped his hand and tilted his head at her.

"What's a Horcrux?"

Hermione blinked, like a hit had landed to her stomach, reeling her back decades.

Chapter End Notes

Updates every other Sunday. (Next update 7/26/20)

Chapter 32

Chapter Notes

So many thanks to raven_maiden and SaintDionysus for their work on this chapter! We have a podcast that recaps The Auction chapters called Austen, Bronte, and Hugo Walk into a Bar...

I want to pimp out the wonderful NikitaJobson and Avendell who both dropped some amazing art this week. Nikita added Lucius to this lovely Narcissa portrait , and Avendell was commissioned to do an Auction piece based on the first (heated) kiss ! If you're on tumblr, be sure to like and reblog to let them know that you think they're incredible.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Lucius Malfoy prowled through a thick wooded area, following a small sphere of light that did little in the way of illumination.

Hermione dropped into the memory next to a gnarled tree, Draco joining her a second after. She rushed to follow Lucius as he cut through an untraveled path, slicing branches and thickets away with his wand. Draco's footsteps were light but close behind her.

"Did you watch all of his memories?" Her heart beat quicker in her ribs as she turned to look at him.

They'd barely spoken since the moment in his bedroom five minutes ago, when he'd shaken her universe with a single word.

Hermione had shot question after question at him until he'd finally returned to his body, telling her she needed to come to the Pensieve with him. She'd flown out of the door and down the stairs before he could draw breath, tossing the simplest definition of a Horcrux over her shoulder at him once he caught up with her in the corridor. But he'd said nothing. He'd remained silent even when he took her hand and plunged them into the Pensieve to watch the first memory in the tray holding three black-tinted vials.