AN: So this is not the first Fic I've written but it's the first Fic I've ever posted! It's AU Dramione, and I'm hoping to get at least a chapter up per week, but that's dependent on school work cooperating with my schedule. Reviews are loved and appreciated!
Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own any of the characters in this story. All of whom, instead, belong to Her Majesty, JK Rowling.
She could smell the grass, that slightly tangy scent of mud, sweat, and...something else. What was that? Hermione's eyes blinked open blearily, and all she saw was a haze of green. She cautiously tried to raise her head from where she lay, face pressed into the grassy earth. Everything ached and she took mental stock of her injuries. Arms – fine, her right fingers closing tighter around her wand. Legs – fine, she noted as she wiggled her toes. Head – ugh. She winced as she again tried to lift her head and instantly felt it throb painfully, accompanied by a superficial stinging sensation near her temple.
Blood. That was the other smell that had escaped her. Slowly she pushed herself up onto hands and knees and took in her surroundings. She was in the middle of a grassy field. Around her, members of the Order dueled violently with Death Eaters, shooting and dodging spells left and right. She vaguely recalled a flash of red light and dropping to the ground, before waking up just then. The battle must have been raging for quite some time now, if she had had enough time to come-to from a stunning spell. Though, she could see that the Death Eaters seemed to be retreating slightly, having been forced back by the Order.
Hermione snapped her head to the right when a jet of green light flew past her shoulder, and she heard the thunk of a body hitting the earth. Lee Jordan had thrown himself to the ground to duck the curse shot off by a Death Eater that he was dueling one-on-one.
Ignoring the sharp ache in her joints, and the throbbing in her head, Hermione twisted around swiftly.
"REDUCTO!" She shouted, her spell hitting the Death Eater in the shoulder and knocking him back a few steps.
Lee took that moment to haul himself back to his feet, dreadlocks flying around his face, and lobbed another curse at his skull-faced opponent. The nameless Death Eater dodged the curse and lunged for Hermione. Before she could lift her wand to fend him off, he had a hand around her throat, lifting her off the ground and pressing his wand into her jaw with the other hand. Shit, shit, shit! She thought fervently, trying to wriggle free of his grasp, clawing frantically at his hand and arm while she struggled for air.
"Expelliarmus!" Came Lee's voice from somewhere to the right of her. Instantly the pressure from the tip of the Death Eater's wand digging into her jaw was gone, as his wand flew out of his fingers. And to her horror, she felt her own wand ripped from her grasp by the same spell. Dammit Jordan! However, the Death Eater was still distracted from the the sudden loss of his weapon, and she took that moment to swing her legs up and kick her attacker in the ribs, knocking the wind out of him. He released her, and she fell hard to the ground, gasping for air, while Lee finished off the stunned Death Eater.
The Death Eaters had been driven back almost completely by the Order and the few that were left began disapparating on the spot. The battle was over. Bill Weasley stood and, wiping the blood and sweat from his brow, addressed the remaining Order members on the field.
"Get the injured and get back to camp," He shouted.
"Yes sir!" Came the unison response.
Hermione was fuming. Lee Jordan and his badly aimed disarming spell could've gotten her killed. She wanted nothing more than to rip him a new one, but had to put her anger aside when Cho Chang motioned her over to help a bleeding and unconscious Millicent Bulstrode.
It was never supposed to be like this. Harry was supposed to defeat the Dark Lord at the Battle of Hogwarts. But that hadn't happened. Voldemort had made his escape at Hogwarts, though no one was quite sure how. Directly following the Battle, the Order of the Phoenix had formed a larger alliance with many who wanted liberation from the corrupted Ministry of Magic. The Wizarding World had become two-sided: There was the Ministry, and there was the Order.
Kingsley Shacklebolt had taken over leadership of the Order and, when it became clear that some sort of governing system was necessary, had put in place a militaristic hierarchy. Anyone who followed the new Order of the Phoenix but did not wish to fight, became known as "The Civilians." Everyone else had undergone rigorous training in physical fitness, wand dueling, and even hand-to-hand combat. Times were desperate, and it was hardly like they were getting assistance from the Ministry – who still controlled the importing of goods. They wore uniforms that were not only easy to distribute, but also easily washed and repaired with spells. They ate rations prepared by the liberated house elves that were under protection of the order, and they lived in army-style encampments spread throughout the English countryside and even some parts of eastern Europe.
The war had dragged on for more than two years now, Voldemort's control spreading farther and farther east out of the UK and into northern France, Germany, Austria. There were even rumors that Voldemort had Death Eater camps as far east as Romania and Bulgaria.
As soon as Cho and Hermione had joint apparated Millicent back to the base camp and got her set up in the medical tent, Hermione ignored the offered attention to her own injuries to storm off in search of Lee. She found him recounting stories of the barely-finished battle with several of his buddies, just outside the camp's mess tent.
"LIEUTENANT JORDAN!" Lee looked up, eyes wide. Hermione continued stalking towards him like a hungry lion towards a gazelle. "My wand, Jordan." She said through clenched teeth. Lee scrambled to dig her wand out of his back pocket and held it out for her. Snatching the wand out of his hand she started in on him. "What the HELL was that Lieutenant!? You could've gotten me killed!"
"Colonel..." Lee looked like a kicked puppy, nervously running a hand through his dreadlocked hair.
"I know there are a million distractions on the battlefield but you cannot use that as an excuse when you fuck up. Your aim may not be perfect every single time, but when you're aiming a spell near one of your own, you CANNOT miss your target. I'm putting you on report, soldier. You're going to be on KP duty for the next month. And I had better see you working on your goddamned accuracy before the next battle! That's an order!"
Knowing better than to argue with a direct order from a superior officer, he held his tongue and saluted her. "Yes ma'am."
She returned the salute, turned on her heel and walked off towards her own tent. Distracted both by anger, and by thoughts of the hot shower she planned to take as soon as possible, Hermione ran headlong into something solid that let out a short cry of indignation.
"Oof." Hermione felt a pair of strong hands grab her arms before she had the chance to fall.
"Watch it Granger!"
She lifted her gaze to meet a pair of cool gray eyes fringed by white-blonde hair that was in desperate need of a trim. Oh great. She thought. Of all the people I could have run into, and it had to be the insubordinate ferret.
"That's Lieutenant Colonel to you, Malfoy. Keep in mind I out-rank you."
Malfoy rolled his eyes, "Yes ma'am." he drew the word out sarcastically, "You look hell, by the way. And your head's bleeding."
"Shit, I forgot about that. Sodding Jordan." She brought a hand up to her left temple, and immediately withdrew it again when the dormant stinging returned at her touch. She inspected her fingertips, which were coated with blood.
"What did he do?"
"Just nearly got me killed on the field today. I brought Corporal Bulstrode back with Major Chang and then went to go yell at him. I forgot to go back to the medical tent."
"Well then get your ass back over there now." He said as he grabbed her arm and started dragging her back in the direction of the medical tent. "Like I need you stumbling around, bleeding all over me."
"Major Malfoy!"
"It's 'Draco', but thanks anyways." He kept pulling her along, undeterred by her attempts to dig her feet into the ground.
"I could put you on report. This is total insubordination!" She shouted.
"Yeah, you could. But you won't." Malfoy retorted as they stopped in front of a tent with a large red cross on the front.
"What the hell is wrong with you!?"
"Not much at all, actually. Now, get in there. No need to thank me." Malfoy said, pulling the entrance flap of the tent to the side with a sneer. "And see if they can get the stick out of your ass while they're at it." With that, he shoved her into the tent and stalked off.