A/N: I know, an update so soon, right after Be Careful What You Wish For! Yes, my update dates have gotten a bit mixed up, but that happens when you write, I suppose! Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, not only this story, but all of my stories! Keep it up! Reviews make my fingers type faster!

Yours Creatively,

~*Writergurl24*~


And suddenly, like light in darkness, the real truth broke in upon me; the simple fact of Man, which I had forgotten, which had lain deep buried and out of sight; the idea of community, of unity.

~Ernst Toller

Ch.3: Blackout

Hermione stared up at the black sky, not knowing whether it was night or day. Not long after she had made her first kill, the whole sky and gone mysteriously black. It troubled her. She wasn't sure whether it was because of someone's powers or because the virtual game was messing with their minds.

She unstuck her make-shift band-aid from her side, wincing at the sharp pain that shot through her. She took out the slightly-crumpled marigold leaves from her pocket, laying them down on a stone slab. She searched the ground for a moment, and finally found a good-sized rock with which she used to pound the juice out from the marigold plants. Taking another leaf, she spread the juice across her wound, almost letting out a cry of pain as it seeped into the cut. She then went about re-dressing her wound with more leaves and sap.

Suddenly the sky lit up with something that seemed similar to fireworks. Blinded, Hermione covered her eyes with her hand. Even with her eyes shut, she could see the blaze of light and screwed her eyes up tighter, the image burning into her eyelids. When the light had somewhat receded, Hermione uncovered her eyes and returned her gaze to the black-as-night sky.

Little lights bobbed in the sky, each different colors. They drew together until they seemed to be as one, forming a moving picture replay of the first kill of the game- Millicent Bulstrode, the girl that Hermione had accidentally set on fire.

Hermione watched the horrible scene once more. It had haunted her memory and burned her closed eyelids ever since it happened, but it was horrifying and sickening to see it replayed so vividly. She closed her eyes, unwilling to see the image again and feeling a bit nauseous.

When the image dissipated, the lights flew back down to earth and Hermione realized that they were little fairies each of a different color. She remembered fairies of that sort being used for decoration at the Yule Ball and couldn't help but admire their beauty.

She tore a strip of venison meat off of a bone and chewed slowly and thoughtfully, still staring at the sky. The meat had a strange, gamey taste that only a ravenously hungry person would like.

She was worried that the Slytherins would want to get revenge on her somehow for the death of Millicent Bulstrode.

Oh, what am I thinking? she thought to herself. They're going to come sooner or later. Might as well get it over with, she thought, trying to reason with herself. However, that thought didn't make her feel better in the slightest.

Realizing that she was out of marigold and knowing she'd need some later, Hermione stood up and made her way to the entrance of her little camp. She flexed her fingers and a tongue of flame appeared, the very same that had granted her the bittersweet first victory of the game. With this in her hands, she ventured out cautiously, for she was aware that the darkness that was blanketed over everything might be the result of someone's power.

Halfway through the forest, Hermione heard footsteps on the fallen leaves to her right. She extinguished her flame and ducked behind a large oak tree, hoping the person hadn't noticed her. A few seconds later she realized it was two pairs of footsteps and that made her all the more nervous. If they had noticed her, a fight would be inevitable, as would her death. She couldn't take on two people, and she hadn't even thought about their powers.

She still was blind as a bat and could hardly see the tree in front of her, but she knew when they approached. She heard their voices as well as felt their presence.

"Blaise, don't you think it's a bit stupid making everything dark?" came the all-too familiar, drawling voice of Draco Malfoy. Hermione had to stop herself from gasping. She slunk behind the tree even more to make sure that they did not see her.

Blaise Zambini had the power of darkness.

"No, I don't. They darkness is host to murderers. The others will be lured out and then I will find them." the boy replied calmly.

Hermione had to admit, it was a pretty good plan, one that she wouldn't have thought of if she had the power of darkness. But she had to agree with Malfoy, no matter how much she loathed the git.

"They're more than likely suspicious of the sudden darkness," Malfoy persisted. Hermione could hear Blaise make a sneering noise.

"They'll think that it's the game playing tricks with their head, making them go mental or something."

Hermione listened until their voices and footsteps faded away and then she let out the breath she had been holding. It had been so close . . . One wrong move and they would've known that she was there.

A crazy thought suddenly came into her head. What if she were to follow them and wait for them to split up, then attack one of them from behind? She would have the advantage of surprise, right? If they were surprised, then maybe they wouldn't be able to fight to the best of their ability. Not at first, anyway. Maybe she could give them some good injuries at least, if she didn't kill them.

Silently, she followed them, darting from tree to tree every once in awhile. The leaves hardly rustled beneath her feet, a result of which had taken hours of practice. She knew that in order to survive in this game she would have to be silent when stalking prey.

Where were the two Slytherins going anyway? Did they have a camp somewhere near? Or did they decide to team up temporarily to take out their enemies faster? Had they seen anyone else yet? The way they were arguing and crashing through the forest, it was hard to believe that they hadn't.

Too lost in thought, Hermione forgot that she was supposed to stay silent. She stepped on a dry twig and it cracked. She froze, listening, wondering if the two Slytherins had heard her mistake.

"What was that?" Malfoy demanded. Blaise didn't answer.

"Who's there?" Blaise called out. Hermione was silent and still. Mentally she cursed herself for not paying attention to where she was walking. Whatever happened, she had lost the element of surprise. She was sure to die now.

She heard footsteps coming closer and she slowly and silently moved to hide behind a tree. Her breath hitched in her throat as footsteps started to come closer to her tree.

"Who's there?" Blaise repeated. Hermione was silent once more, listening as closely as she could for more footsteps.

"It's probably just an animal, Blaise," Malfoy drawled.

"No, that definitely wasn't an animal," growled Blaise stubbornly.

She heard Blaise's footsteps as they came closer and she dared not move or breath.

"Eavesdropping, are we?" came a voice next to her. She jumped and let out a muffled scream. Blaise was standing next to her, a furious look on his face. When had he gotten there?

"I- I- I-" she stammered.

"Answer me!" he growled.

"Y-yes, I w-was," she stuttered. He snarled and yanked her out from behind the tree by her hair. This time she let out a true scream that echoed into the forest. Malfoy's face contorted into a look of worry and surprise when he saw her, but as soon as it had appeared, the look was gone.

"Blaise, Mate, we don't want to give away our location," Malfoy said, looking over his shoulder anxiously.

"You're right. Maybe we should just kill her and be done with it," he said thoughtfully. Malfoy sighed frustratedly.

"That's not what I meant."

"Well, that's what I meant," growled Blaise. He lunged at Hermione and she dodged out of his way just in time to see him go lumbering in the other direction. She turned and began sprinting back towards her camp, not even looking over her shoulder.

She heard the sound of wind whistling behind her. She wasn't sure what was happening, but she forced her legs to carry her faster through the forest.

"Blaise, stop!" came Malfoy's voice.

Hermione swung around to see Blaise charging at her with some sort of home-made knife that looked as if he had made out of stone. Hermione braced herself for the searing pain, knowing that it was too late to dodge.

A blur of platinum hair flashed before her as Malfoy stepped in front of her just as Blaise's stone-knife reached her. The blade punctured the skin, plunging into his stomach. His scream was blood-curdling. It made her skin itch and the hair on the nape of her neck prickle.

Draco Malfoy had saved her life.

"Draco, what the hell?" Blaise raged angrily. Malfoy didn't answer, only raised his hand to the sky, his face contorted with pain.

A wave of water from a nearby creek suddenly rose up and engulfed Blaise in a ball, giving no mercy, no chance to let him breathe. And just like that, as soon as everything had happened, it was done.

Malfoy dropped to his knees, clutching his stomach.

She lingered for a moment, trying to make the decision. She knew there were two different options: help him, or leave him to die. He had saved her life, now she would save his.

Slowly, she walked over to him and held out her hand. He took it and she helped up stand.

"Why are you doing this?" he asked her suspiciously.

"Why did you take that knife for me?" she retorted.

"Fair question," he grunted.

"Well? Aren't you going to answer me?" she snapped.

"Granger, I'm hurt, here. I would prefer that I get somewhere comfortable and get my wound dressed and bandaged before I start spouting out Merlin knows what," he replied, wincing again. She gave an angry sigh but finally relented.

"Fine. Come with me."

Once they had reached her hideout and she had dressed and bandaged her wound, she sat down next to him, intending to confront him about his actions.

"Why did you take the knife for me? You could have just let Blaise kill me," she whispered. He was silent for a long time before finally replying.

"Damn it, Granger, it was an impulse and don't you make me regret it! You Gryffindors always think that we Slytherins have to be evil or something, don't you? It's like you think we actually wanted to follow the Dark Lord. Well, maybe our parents did, but most of us kids don't. The thing is, we don't want to go off and start joining the Order either," he said thoughtfully, looking up at the sky.

"What do you mean?" she asked him, genuinely confused.

"I mean, you Gryffindors always see the world in black and white, no gray. You think that the world is split up to good people and Death Eaters and nothing in between. That's not true. There are some of us out there who represent that gray."

She was silent for a moment, taking in all that he had said.

Maybe there was much more to Draco Malfoy than she thought.


A/N: Yes, I know, I'm late with this chapter and it's incredibly short! I'm so sorry! I have been having a massive Writer's Block this week... =( By the way, I'm not going to be updating next week because I'm going to a church convention. I'll be writing whilst I'm there, though (hopefully!) so I should update after I get home!

Updates make my fingers type faster!

May the odds be ever in your favor,

~*Writergurl24*~