Hermione's cheeks flushed as she turned to face the front again. The ache in her chest twisted, sinking heavy in her gut. It felt wrong — to have them both in this moment.

Her breath hitched as her younger self dropped to her knees, raising the basilisk fang high and plunging it into the Horcrux. Her heart lurched in her chest as the cup let out an agonizing scream, like steel scraping against steel. A great wind struck up, twisting around them and billowing giant waves in the water as the ground rattled beneath their feet. Ron dropped to a crouch behind her, his eyes wide and his hands gripping her shoulders.

And then silence — apart from the slap of the waves against the chamber walls. A black tar oozed from the cracked gold.

She watched herself scramble to her feet, startling as her right trainer kicked the basilisk fang — watching it skid across the stones and slip into the water before spinning around to Ron.

"There!" Hermione ran to the edge of the stone walkway, pointing down at the murky waters. "It fell just there! Draco, did you—"

She whipped around, and found him staring at her and Ron. They were embracing.

Her mouth went dry, her feet frozen underneath her.

Finally, her past self lowered on her toes, letting her arms fall to her sides. Ron's hands dropped from her hips as she stepped away. There was an awkward silence before they began laughing, babbling about how well the other did and grabbing more fangs.

The two of them walked past her, towards the basilisk skeleton, breathless and pink. Hermione remembered how her skin had started buzzing then, spurring her to kiss him in the Room of Requirement just minutes later.

Hermione blinked at their backs. It felt though she was two separate people in that moment — as if her past self had become someone else, living somewhere Harry and Ron and Ginny were happy and safe. But even if she could connect the two paths, she'd leave half of herself behind.

A throat cleared behind her, refocusing her thoughts. She spun around. "Did you see it? It fell just here."

Draco nodded, his expression cool. He waved his wand, and they lurched up and out of the Pensieve. Hermione stumbled to the desk when they were firmly planted in Lucius's study, leaning against it as she steadied herself. Once Ron was safely tucked away in her mind, she found Draco shutting the first door of the cabinet, Lucius's memories already back inside the basin.

"Wait," she said. Draco's hand paused on the second door. "Maybe we should look around the Pensieve memories a bit. See if there's anything useful."

"I have no interest in viewing my father's memories, Granger." His fingers slid down the wood. "I've seen enough previews. I've already lived most of them."

"I understand, but there might be—"

He snapped the cabinet door closed. "They're a distraction. We should be focusing on the Horcrux."