"I can't do this."
"Hermione, we've gone over this, you've already promised-"
"I know what I said, Harry." She snapped in return, looking a tad bit frazzled. Hermione shifted her bag from one shoulder to the other in discomfort with wandering eyes, looking at the cabin behind her, the sky through a thick canopy of leaves, the somewhat muddy soil beneath their feet, anywhere but Harry's face.
"Hermione." His voice was stern now and she finally looked up at him, keeping her bitter expression despite knowing it wouldn't do her much good. He returned her stare before giving in, his hand lifting to pinch at the bridge of his nose. "I know."
"Do you, though?" She asked in a desperate tone. "Do you understand what you're asking me to do, Harry? I know that this is important, but-"
"It's not just important, he could die." Harry retorted. The emphasis he put on his last word made Hermione wince involuntarily. He continued. "And there's no one else. Everyone is scattering around trying to put this fire out, and both you and I know that Ron wouldn't last more than three hours before killing Malfoy himself." She wasn't looking at him again, and Harry placed a hand on her shoulder in an effort to show some form of comfort. "You're the only person I can trust with this, Hermione. Please."
Her face was stuck in a permanent frown, but when she finally responded her voice had the grudging weakness of acceptance. "For how long?"
Harry frowned in return. "You know I can't answer that. For as long as it takes the Ministry to find these insane bastards and bring them in. It could take a while, but it's practically all we're working on right now. Malfoy is the only public informant. That makes him the biggest target. We offered him freedom and protection for information, we have to keep up with our side of the deal, Hermione-"
"I know, I know." She waved her hand at him impatiently, looking back at the cabin again with distaste and seeing a blond head move past a window. She could hear Harry sigh again.
"You're the best dueler we have, if anything happened we need someone who could actually protect him."
"I'd rather be hunting down Deatheaters than living with one."
He ignored the comment. "I'll check in on you randomly. We don't want anyone picking up any patterns. I have to go…"
"Go." She said dismissively, "I'll handle everything here."
Harry seemed pleased in her acceptance and embraced her, hugging her tightly. "Remember, no-"
"No magic. Yes, I know Harry, I'm not dense." She finished for him, finally cracking a small smile and releasing him. "Go and figure out how to stop them so I can get out of here, please?"
"I'll try my best." He returned her smile and took a few steps back, glancing at the cabin one last time before finally flashing her an amused smirk that he was probably holding in the entire time. "Have fun." With that he was gone, disapperated away, and Hermione was left standing there with her bag in the middle of a forest miles away from civilization.
It took her almost an hour to finally go inside, checking the protective charms around the perimeter before the sun started to go down and she had no other choice than to enter the cabin. Anxiety clenched in her chest as she passed the threshold, an uncomfortable weight in the pit of her stomach as she turned to lock the front door and finally set her wand aside in the cabinet beside the coatrack. Pulling the drawer open she saw Draco's wand as well, dark and fierce looking, and when she closed it she turned only to jump in surprise with a little cry.
Draco Malfoy sat on a couch in the living area, looking uncomfortable and more stiff than usual. His back was straight and his hands rested on his legs, steel eyes trained directly on her and unblinking. He still had that insufferably proper air about him, his hair slicked back without a strand out of place, but he seemed thinner than he was two years ago in Hogwarts. There were shadows under his eyes to represent many a sleepless night, and although she could still feel his confident aura practically suffocating her from across the room there was a broken weakness about him that was either new or she had just failed to notice before.
"Are you going to just sit there staring at me?" She hissed at him, her voice more aggressive than she had originally intended, but he didn't seem to notice. He stared for only a moment longer before standing suddenly, breaking his stoic stillness, and striding across the room through an archway into the kitchen. Hermione blinked. "Where are you going?"
"To get something to eat." He called back in a similar, annoyed tone. "Am I allowed to eat or do I need to ask permission?" The comment induced a quiet groan on Hermione's part, her eyes closing in both frustration and absolute fear of what was in store for her.
The next few days weren't what she had expected. Continuously preparing herself for an explosive argument kept her on edge, but Malfoy had failed to say more than a word since their arrival. He was a quiet being, she was realizing. One who didn't seem to care about the numbing boredom that came with the sudden transition to a muggle life. He rarely left his room, closing the door and disappearing for days at a time, only creeping out late at night to grab something to eat now and then. For the most part, Hermione felt as if she had the place to herself, and that was perfectly fine with her. So when she had left her room in the middle of the night to get a glass of water, she was surprised to see the soft glow of the television on, and hushed profanities being whispered before it.
She considered ignoring him. Just pouring herself a glass and heading back to her room, but her curiosity was peaked. She slowly padded into the living room, the view of Malfoy sitting on the ground with discs and cases strewn about him coming into focus. She stood there for a few moments, watching him slap away at the DVD player and calling it names that even a DVD player didn't deserve to be called before she finally asked, "What in the world are you doing?"
He jumped, obviously having not seen her, and when he looked at her in the dark she felt a sudden chill run up her spine. His face seemed even thinner than before, his usually neat hair free of product and falling into his face. There was a light shadow of facial hair that stained his jaw, and his eyes seemed sunken, and far away. She had barely seen him in the past week, and a pang of irrational guilt stabbed away at the pit of her stomach. Perhaps she should have checked on him…
"Nothing." Malfoy responded, turning his attention back to the player. He started smashing at the buttons again. In any other situation, Hermione would have found it amusing, really. He obviously had absolutely no experience with muggle technology, and although they couldn't get television all the way out here Harry was kind enough to leave them with some niceties. A television, a movie player, a radio… all of which Malfoy probably had no idea how to use. She again considered going back to her room, but before she could finish the thought she was walking over to him, sitting beside him in the mess of movie cases. She could feel him stiffen beside her but she ignored him, reaching forward to plug the device in. She was welcomed with flashing lights and a greeting on the screen.
"You have to plug it in."
"That's stupid."
"It's electricity."
"It's stupid."
Hermione rolled her eyes and pressed the eject button, watching the disc holder slowly creep out. "You put the movie in there." She explained calmly, and she watched as he silently placed the disk in upside down. She reached and corrected it before pressing it into the machine, hesitating to ask her next question. "When was the last time you ate?"
His sunken eyes flickered with life as he looked back at her, confused and seemingly cautious at the question. "Why?" He asked defensively, looking nervous. She frowned.
"You look horrid."
His caution turned into insulted defense. "I'm living in the middle of the fucking woods."
"When was the last time you ate?" She repeated.
"I'm living in the middle of the fucking woods with some bloody know-it-all auror who is supposed to keep me safe from a force that's more powerful than both of us combined and you wonder why I look horrid?" His voice was strangled and sounded as if it was on the border of hysterics, and Hermione could see his hands were trembling. He seemed to be searching for confrontation, a fight of some sort, and Hermione was unsure if it was because he was upset with her, or upset in general. She felt no pity for Malfoy, but she wondered how hard it would be to accept that you still had no freedom after turning your back on some very dangerous people in the effort to sustain it. She frowned before standing up.
"You should eat." Was all she said before turning to leave him, his eyes wide with frustration and something that almost resembled fear as he watched her go.