Disclaimer: Yes, none of these characters or anything are mine, except those horrible creatures that are littered throughout the story. They belong to my sick, twisted imagination. Anyways, aside from that, let me put in a little spoiler here for people that actually read stuff like this...uh...Hermione and Draco meet an unexpected pair inside of the manor but the reunion is shortlived. The end.
[This isn't...anything that I expected. At all. Nobody told me anything about this. Is this a lie? Is this all made up?]
Dreams.
Mental escapades that encapsulate vivid images to create a story for the individual that is experiencing them. Some of them are able to instill raw emotions which are visibly felt by the dreamer. Other times they can either appear to be confusing or rational.
However, if there is one recurring theme to the subconscious driven phenomenon, then it would be how Draco was never able to remember a single one of his dreams. But the train ride? He remembered all of it. The only reassurance he had that the entire episode was a figment of his imagination was him physically waking up at the beach.
Draco let out a sigh and buried his head into his knees. It really had happened. When he had been presented with a choice, he had done the most un-Slytherin thing possible. At this point, he couldn't really say anything that would convince the witch that he had saved her with an ulterior motive in mind. He didn't think he could persuade himself either. His only saving grace was that the bloody Mudblood had enough sense not to bother him.
Slowly lifting up his head, Draco numbly listened to the whispers of the breeze while slowly breathing in the briny aroma. Taking off his boots, he scrunched his toes tightly, feeling the rough texture of the sand, which was still damp from the retreating tide.
The blonde fell down backwards onto the sand and stared up into the light sky. So much had happened in such a short period of time, and none of it had gone according to plan. They had definitely veered off course, and all sense of time was lost. How long had it been since he had accepted this mess of a mission? A few days? A week? Maybe even more?
It wouldn't surprise Draco at this point if the members of the Order had pronounced both of them to be dead. There were only two people that knew of his continued existence, one being Snape, which gave him absolutely no hope of being rescued from this unknown location.
And the Mudblood. Granger.
If someone had told him that he would be stranded in the middle of nowhere with the know-it-all witch, and not be throwing insults or hexes at her, he would've scoffed and sneered at them. But now?
Draco stretched his right arm into the sky and shakily faced his palm upwards. He slowly balled his fingers into a fist before bringing it down to his forehead. The blonde once again closed his eyes, his pale lips curved upwards, before finally breaking out into a quiet laughter.
"I'm alive..." Taking out his wand, he felt the familiar surge of magic tingling through his fingers. "...and I've still got my magical core intact."
This might not be much of a silver lining, but with the absurd number of obstacles that were thrown at them during this expedition, it was nothing short of a miracle that they were still functioning, and breathing.
Draco let out a small groan before lifting his upper body from the sand. He didn't need a spell to tell him just how much time he had wasted wallowing in such a pitiful state. The dream specter was right, he had chosen his path, now he was going to see it to the end.
Getting back up, Draco put his shoes on while rubbing the back of his neck. Placing his left hand onto his right shoulder, he twisted it in a circular motion and let out a big yawn. He took a brief moment to get a feel for his surroundings. What he saw was a nondescript beach with the usual pairings of sand and water stretching for miles on end. On the opposite side was a grassy path leading to a thick forest.
There couldn't be too many known beaches with surrounding forests near Hogsmeade, yet why was he unable to recognize this one? They couldn't be too far off from either the village or their target destination, since they had traversed through a connected sewage line.
Draco shook his head and pushed the thought to the back of his mind. This wasn't the right time to be pondering about his misplaced knowledge of the geography of magical Britain. They were still on a mission together, and he was going to both survive and finish it.
Wiping the remaining sand off of his clothes, Draco made his way over to Hermione and gave her a look over before rubbing the back of his neck. He opened his mouth before promptly closing it and proceeded to repeat the process a few more times before finally asking, "You alright there, Granger?"
Hermione blinked a few times and sighed before responding, "Could be better I suppose, but none the worse for wear."
Draco also let out a sigh before giving her a slight nod. "Alright...come on, let's see if we can find anything on this beach."
The pair started making purposeful strides around the sandy lot, hoping to discover something, anything, during their progress, or lack thereof. The first few paces were mind-numbingly monotonous, with the same sandy scene being replayed in a constant loop.
"Merlin! Whoever made this beach should've at least put something up that would make it easier on the eyes. I mean, not even a single tree or a manor! It's like some poor Mudblood randomly decided to put one up in the middle of nowhere."
"Malfoy, how did you come to the conclusion that this place was made by a Muggle-born?" Hermione asked, ignoring the obvious derogatory term that he had used.
Draco shrugged and answered, "Simple, any property that is owned by a proper pure-blood is usually filled with tasty luxuries, especially ones that are considered to be the latest in the mainstream market."
"Figures," the witch grumbled. "I suppose it's done to demonstrate a family's wealth and prestige, right? They're basically showing everyone the difference between them and the rest of the world."
Keeping up the steady pace, he replied back, "That's only partially true, Granger. It's also done to stimulate the economy. We make attractive commercialized landmarks, that brings in tourists, and in return it means we need people to work at those places."
The two continued to walk alongside the yellow grain road, wishing that it would lead them to greener pastures. But, much to both of their chagrin, Draco had been right in his complaint about the beach. The only thing that was breaking this repetitive was the occasional wave that swept across the shoreline, and the steep coasts from when they made a turn.
"Hey Malfoy?"
Hermione blinked and waited for a response. No answer. A brief moment of silence.
"While I was trying to resuscitate you, I noticed something peculiar about the...mark on your left arm."
Draco froze when he heard the open admittance of invading his privacy from the bushy-haired witch. Enraged by this, he turned around and pointed to her face. "Who the bloody hell gave you permission to go sticking your nose into other people's business?"
Hermione shook her head and pushed the blonde's hand aside, "First of all, I would appreciate it if you didn't stick your finger at me." Managing to keep her cool, she continued on with the conversation, "Secondly, it was hard for me to ignore it when it was in plain sight while I was trying to resuscitate you."
"You keep saying that you were resusi-ting me."
"Resuscitating,"
Draco glared at her before cutting right back in, "Whatever it is, what exactly do you mean by that?"
Hermione opened her mouth and was about to answer before staring wearily at the blonde wizard. She bit her lower lip while shifting her eyes around and finally replied, "According to standardized Muggle dictionaries, the definition of resuscitating is the act of bringing someone or something back to life, or waking them."
The Malfoy heir gave her a strange look and asked her, "What are you hiding?"
"It's nothing, so just drop it, alright?" Hermione scowled and walked right past Draco. However, she had only managed to take a few steps before the blonde roughly grabbed her arm.
"Don't walk away from me when I'm talking to you! Tell me before I-"
"The snake and skull on your Dark Mark aren't connected like the ones I've previously witnessed." Hermione said in a soft yet firm tone. "Is there a particular reason why it's different from the rest of your group, Malfoy?"
"Raaah!" Draco screamed in indignation, forgetting his intentions for the conversation. Tossing Hermione down to the sand, he brandished his wand and aimed it at her. Both of them merely looked at each other, neither of them willing or able to break the thickening tension that was accumulating between them.
"Aah, Aah, Help...me...help me?"
The two blinked at hearing the intrusion of this new voice. They weren't sure of what to make of what they had just heard. On one hand, they definitely heard someone cry out to them for assistance. But, the actual tone that was used to convey this message wasn't...normal.
There wasn't a problem with the word selection or even the language, since they understood it without any difficulty. The trouble lied in the fact that this person, if it was one, sounded completely inhuman. The intonation that the individual used was that of someone who was unsure of their current predicament and was merely searching around for any listeners. There was also the issue with the voice carrying two cacophonous notes, rather than the usual one that the rest of the population held when they spoke.
"S-save...me...save me?"
This time, neither Draco nor Hermione were able to overlook this strange cry. With their argument all but forgotten, both of them turned towards the location of the one that wielded the dual-tonal voice.
The perpetrator?
"H-hey Malfoy..." Hermione said in a hesitant manner.
"Yes, Granger?" Draco answered back, not taking his eyes off the creature.
"Sea creatures are normally found in a body of water, hence the label, right?"
"Yes, Granger,"
Hermione blinked a few times before pointing to the entity and asked, "What is a selkie doing out here?"
Draco openly stared at what he assumed to be a selkie and wanted to say something, anything, to her so that he could assure the both of them that everything was fine, and that there was nothing that should worry them. But, the longer he stared at the aforementioned creature, the more he was convinced that there was something wrong with the world.
The selkie, or the thing that closely resembled one, retained most of its physical attributes aside from two major differences: its hands and face. Gone were the elongated fins that helped propel them around underwater, and instead there were humanoid fingers that were attached to the end of its arms. The fish-like mug that seamlessly blended in with the dirty corals was replaced with one that was eerily similar to that of an Evolved.
"Even the dazed stare, pupil-less eyes, and hideous veins all look the same as the pale monster's!"
However, despite the display of such a grotesque twist in its appearance, that wasn't what had them rooted to their spot, but rather what the selkie was doing. They had stumbled upon it in the middle of its meal, with it happily grunting and munching away on a prey that the disfigured beast had caught. The being in question?
A Grindylow.
Neither of them were sure of how the ecosystem worked, but they had an inkling that what they were witnessing was an abnormal sight. The Grindylow was frantically trying to free itself from its eater's grasp, while the selkie was using its newly formed fingers to hold it still. The optics was made worse when they were able to see the being writhing in obvious pain.
"Help...me...?"
"Wait," Hermione muttered, eyes still glued to the disturbing scene. "It was the selkie that was the one saying those things?"
Events continued to get stranger when the Grindylow succeeded to escape by ripping itself from the trapped body part. The escaped being awkwardly slid across the rough grains of the beach, almost getting to the sea when the selkie shrieked and immediately dove after it. The disfigured sea mermaid managed to grab its prey once again before letting out a loud cackle.
With its recaptured prize firmly held in its grasp, the selkie rode the waves for a few seconds. However, jubilation quickly turned into panic, with the sea creature attempting to swim away from where it was situated.
"What in Merlin's name?"
Things became outright bizarre when a big tidal wave crashed down to the right of them and onto the shore, revealing dozens of similarly deformed selkies. All of the sea creatures began rolling around wailing while having a dull expression plastered on their humanistic face.
"Malfoy!" Hermione shouted, pointing to the lone selkie that was still in the ocean. The deformed mermaid had suddenly stopped swimming, it was simply floating around with seemingly no intentions of moving. It was at that moment that a big whirlpool started to form beneath the halted sea creature.
Draco could only stare in awe when a humongous, wild kelpie burst out from the swirling vortex and viciously grabbed the selkie in between its maw, before diving back down into the depths of the ocean. The situation further deteriorated into a chaotic mess when the group that had been washed ashore turned their attention to the two humans. Every single one of them stuck their tongue in a canine-like manner, before they all began to awkwardly waddle on their hind fins while pulling themselves forward with their arms.
Both travelers looked at each in horror and frantically made a run for it.
Hermione let out a tired sigh from the day's hectic event and stared at the entrance to the forest. She couldn't help but shake her head in disbelief from what had just transpired over the past hour or so. Yes, they had completed their primary objective in exploring the beach, but they were no closer to figuring out their location than from when they had first regained consciousness. If anything, investigating this area had done more harm than good for her probing mind.
When she and Draco had run away from the distorted sea creatures, they had moved forward, and in turn hastened their exploration. However, much to her dismay and puzzlement, they had somehow wound up back where they had started. Not wanting to accept this bizarre conclusion, she had almost demanded the blonde to go swimming in the ocean to verify this information, only to see if the discovery would sate her hypothesis.
The important keyword being almost.
Hermione had a niggling feeling on how the conversation would unfold and knew that it would end on a bad note. She also knew that there was no way that she would suggest it now, not with odd deformities lurking in the hidden depths of the ocean.
Still, this begged the question. Where were they?
She distinctly remembered that they had come from an underground laboratory within the Hogsmeade sewers. Regardless of how Hermione tried to put the pieces together, the two of them being on an island made absolutely no sense. If anything, shouldn't they have landed somewhere near the village?
That was the other thing that bothered her, why was such a huge and elaborate, Muggle designed room built underneath Hogsmeade? Better yet, why would any magic user even bother creating a place of research, when spells would regularly interfere with modern technology? It seemed to be really counterintuitive and a waste of resources and time for any sensible wizard to invest in such a place.
Then there was the issue with Draco. Yes, he had saved her, but there was no doubt in her mind that if it wasn't for the oath that he had taken, then he wouldn't have hesitated to leave her. Still, with that being said, the infuriating blonde could've easily retreated and saved himself. However, she could also make a claim that all of these current disasters could be traced back to him. It almost felt like she was slowly starting to lose control of the path that she was taking.
Maybe if she just let go...
"No," Hermione grimly thought, banishing any hints of doubt from her mind. "I just have to trust McGonagall and get to the meeting location." Taking a glimpse at the person next to her, she mentally sighed. "Remember who it is, it's Malfoy we're talking about here, years of bigotry and prejudice won't just suddenly disappear."
Having temporarily assuaged herself, Hermione looked ahead to the forest that they were about to enter. "Malfoy," she began to say while taking a few steps forward into the woods. However, she was held off from the questioning spiel that she had prepared after taking a look at the scenery.
The entrance to the umber-brown ancient forest appeared rich in both context and atmosphere. The wood incense reeked of age, one that stemmed from centuries of snapped branches crashing to the floor and decomposing naturally. Much of the composting, organic scent rose up in waves of pleasant fumes. It was with a light yet cautious heart that she stepped into the overarching vault of leaves and limbs.
"How beautiful," Hermione thought to herself, not expecting the sort of visuals of the magnificent forest. Every big, sprawling tree that she passed reminded her of a watchful guardian, a silent sentinel of the grove. The sun's light had yet to pierce the lush, green swards, thus much of the area appeared to have overhanging hoods of black shadows. Coils of vaporous mist was enwrapped around the thick timber trunks, writhing around them like the wisps of an incorporeal Patronus charm.
Hermione couldn't believe that such a wonderful example of nature could exist in such a dreadful time of war. Huge roots spread across the ground, with arthritic boughs, that were gnarled with age, shedding their leaves down onto the floor. The foliage itself started to become thick and lavish, forming a cover to hide them from the eyes of the outside world.
"Bloody hell," she heard Draco mutter, not bothering to hide the awe-inspired fascination in his voice. "I didn't know such a place existed anywhere near Hogsmeade."
"Malfoy, how do you know that we're even near..."
Before Hermione could finish the sentence that she had started, she heard shuffling sounds coming from deep within the interior. The noise was deadened by some cleverly woven piles of leaves that were strewn about around the two. When the pair trudged along a bit more, they spotted some creatures that were a curious sight to both of them. Each of them for wholly different reasons.
"What in Merlin's name is that?"
"Oh! What are those animals doing here?"
Draco blinked a few times before asking, "So you know what those things are? Are they dangerous? Will they pose a threat to us?"
Hermione bit her lower lip and shook her head. "Those were deer, rabbits, monkeys-"
"Hold on," Draco said, interrupting her in the midst of her explanation. "Why are creatures like this near Hogsmeade in the first place?"
"Why are you looking at me like I know?" Hermione asked, shrugging in response. "If anything, shouldn't I be the one asking you, since I'm the one that's still ignorant of this world, remember?"
"For Salazar's sake!" Draco kicked a patch of dirt before slamming his foot onto a nearby tree. "Would you stop being so bloody impossible and just cooperate with me for once?"
The Muggle-born witch stomped her foot and responded, "What do you think I've been doing this entire time?"
The blonde turned to her and spoke, "Aside from parts where our lives were on the line? You've still been fighting me every single step of the way!"
"Oh really?" Hermione stated in a dangerously low tone. "Do you honestly think I've been uncooperative for this whole thing?" Letting out a sardonic chuckle, she added, "If we're going to be playing the blame game, then I'll take my turn on pinning something on you. Now, what should I start with?"
Before the argument could turn for the worse, an area with a wide glade, where the trees fell away, revealed the clear, crisp, evening sky. Any and all thoughts of their recent argument were all but squelched when they saw the beginnings of the night's stars glimmering with lumos-like clarity, luminous and bright. A moon silently hung in the distance, casting a shimmering sheen over the woods, spotlighting the area that the two had been occupying.
It was at that moment when a majestic looking avian erupted from the knot of the bushes. The solitary bird was soon joined by the remaining members of its flock, and amazingly began to trill out a harmonious symphony. The heart-stirring melody that was orchestrated by these animals was a much-needed elixir that managed to soothe the pair's aching spirits.
Hermione crossed her arms and took a deep breath. This wasn't the right time to be arguing, was it? She didn't know what had come over her, but for some reason, she had allowed herself to get drawn into another petty fight with Draco. She took a step back and put things into perspective. They had just escaped a life or death situation and were able to find some type of haven within the forest. Compared to what they had just experienced, everything else seemed to pale in comparison.
"Malfoy, about what I said before..."
This time it was Draco's turn to shake his head while he proceeded to rub the side of his temple. Closing his eyes, he sighed before telling her in a dejected tone, "Look Granger, both of us were in that sort of mood, right? Let's just leave it at that, shall we?"
Hermione found herself slightly stunned from the unnatural response that came from the blonde. Even if she was a bit disoriented by the unexpected quasi-apology, she was grateful that Draco had pushed them past the awkward situation. The relief was short lived when she spotted some strange marks on the side of a stump.
"Oy Granger," the blonde Slytherin called out, "let's get a move on, I want to get out of this ruddy forest."
"Wait," the bushy-haired witch called out, crouching down. She reached out with her fingers and touched the scarred tree bark. For some reason, her thoughts weren't on the strange markings, but rather the implications of seeing such recognizable animals roaming in magical Britain. All this brought her back to her original musings: How was the Statute of Secrecy being broken in such a big, yet inconspicuous manner? Did this mean the Evolved and parts of magical Britain were being exposed to the Muggle world?
Her thoughts were interrupted before she could ponder on this subject further.
"Well? What is it? Did you find anything there?"
Hermione bit her lower lip and shifted her eyes back to the torn trunk. She stared at the scratch for a few seconds, trying to see if she could dispense something to Draco. There was no way she was going to voice her concerns to the blonde.
"Malfoy," Hermione began to say while jogging her brain for any relevant information that she could use for this situation. Blinking a few times, she tilted her head and looked at the marks a bit more carefully. It was fair to state that she had been removed from the Muggle world for quite some time, but she didn't think there were any animals that were capable of leaving such a heavy imprint. In fact, she was willing to wager that these were made from the very same fearsome creatures that they had barely managed to evade.
"I think the Evolved are in the forest too," she finally stated before turning her head back to Draco.
She heard a hitch in his breathing and his voice drop in volume, "You sure Granger?"
Hermione nodded back to confirm her suspicions before getting up on her feet.
The two wasted no time getting back on track, determined to leave the forest as soon as they could. This time they were able to take notice of the more ominous signs around their environment. They found dried splatters of blood along with traces of feathers and furs scattered about in a messy fashion. In fact, the deeper they advanced, the more unsettling everything seemed to become around them.
There were light screens of mist that were caressing the moss-encrusted tree barks with which was silently released every time the pair passed by one of them. The mist seemed to seamlessly glide around, looking for empty space, deadening the sound and haunting the glades that it passed by during its search. A bleak silence hung overhead of the hallowed grounds that the pair found themselves trespassing. The area appeared to be void of any life, the presence of death comfortably tending to its private property.
Nothing dared to grow here.
Nothing was stirring.
Nothing was shining.
Nothing was singing.
It was all nothing, an empty echoing, like the hushed tones of a dreadful, haunted graveyard.
Hermione found herself shuddering at the creepy atmosphere. She couldn't help but feel out of sorts from the sudden shift in the environment. For the majority of her stay in magical Britain, the setting had been rather consistent. If there ever was a change, then she would at least be prepared for it in advance.
"Well, there were the few exceptions, but I had Harry, Ron, and the Headmaster in the vicinity so it wasn't much of a problem," Hermione mused to herself, lost in her own thoughts. "I wonder where Ron and Harry are now? Given the alternative course that they had to take, I would say that-"
Stumbling on her feet, Hermione awkwardly landed, face first, onto a sodden patch of dirt. Letting out a small groan, she rubbed the right side of her face while lifting herself off the ground.
"Oy, Granger," she heard Draco say in a leveled tone, "pay attention to where you're walking, will you? We can't afford to stop here, not with those things looming around the corner. Pick yourself up and watch your step."
Hermione let out a huff before scrambling back up to her feet. Quickly brushing herself off, she took a quick glance at the object that had tripped her. It was a dead body. Her first reaction upon spotting the corpse was to do an immediate investigation upon it, to give her clues and information that would be helpful to her endeavor. She wasn't Madam Pomfrey, and she certainly couldn't claim herself to be an expert on the human anatomy. But she did manage to deduce something about the corpse – one that reminded her of the grim nature of humans.
"It's unbelievable how selfish people can be. Even with the prospect of having these abominations running around, they still insist on waging this mindless war! I don't know..."
"Granger!" She heard him call out once again, his voice laced with a mixture of desperation and fear. "We have to leave now! There are dead bodies here and-"
Draco numbly looked down at the corpse and blinked a few times. He didn't know what was worse, the fact that he had almost expected to find a dead body in the forest, or that he had become desensitized by the sight of one. Either way, it didn't change the fact this was slowly becoming the norm for him, rather than the exception. Still, this wasn't the time to be mulling over this, he had to go and warn Hermione.
Turning around, he began running towards the bushy-haired witch when he found himself tripping and losing his balance. However, Draco had managed to recover enough to falter with a modicum of grace, allowing him to squarely plant his knee in the soft dirt. Muttering a few choice words under his breath, the blonde shook his head and slowly got back on his feet.
He didn't know what it was that could've caused him to tether around like a drunken Gryffindor, but it didn't concern him a single bit. There were much more important matters to attend to, like escaping from the forest before they became part of the dead body count.
Spotting her, Draco called out, "Granger! "We have to leave now! There are dead bodies here and-"
He didn't understand why his body had stopped moving. One moment he was trying to reach Hermione, the next, one of his knees had buckled and consequently, dropped down on the ground with no knowledge of him wanting to do so. Did someone recently use the Imperius on him, and he was now just shaking off the effects of being under the control of the spell? No, he immediately ruled it out since there were too many factors that argued against this being a possibility.
Draco looked over his body and noticed an arrow piercing the side of his leg. He found it really strange that, despite something this sharp digging into his flesh, his pain receptors had not informed him of this harmful intruder. In fact, if it wasn't for him visually perceiving the wooden projectile, he knew that he would've been ignorant of the injury.
"Bloody hell, even though it doesn't hurt, I still can't move," the Malfoy heir grimly thought to himself. He tried to make his legs budge a few more times, but every attempt brought upon the same failing result.
"Malfoy?" Draco lifted his head up to see Hermione approaching him. "What are you doing over there? Did you find something of importance?"
"D-don't you dare come near me, Mudblood!" He shouted out, purposely trying to get her enraged. There was no possible way he could relay the warning in time, not without her triggering a trap herself. He knew that where there was a trap, then an accompanying person would be nearby to hear it being activated. The best thing he could do was hope to get her to become indignant at the insults he was hurling at her, ensuring that she wouldn't come near him for the next few minutes.
"What is wrong with me? Here I was, Merlin forbid, actually worrying about you but it turns out that I shouldn't have even bothered, huh?"
"Granger..." Draco said in a low voice, starting to feel his body stiffen.
Turning her head away from him, Hermione continued in an icy tone, "I'm going to do what I should've done back at Hogsmeade."
"Damnit Granger," the blonde wizard gritted his teeth and added, "Just shut your mouth for a second, will you?"
This brought upon the desired effect, with both Hermione and Draco quietly staring at each other. The silence was quickly broken when they heard another person's voice shouting from the distance.
"It's over here! The trap was triggered in zone five-three!"
"You think we catch anything there, yeah?"
Draco saw Hermione's eyes widen. He could only imagine what was going through her mind right now. If they hadn't been in such dire straits, then he would've stared at her with a victorious smirk while giving her the usual condescending look. However, this was not the appropriate time to be indulging in petty schoolyard behavior.
"Don't worry too much about it, the paralysis poison should do most of the job for us."
"Stick to how we normally hunt these things, yeah?"
By now, Hermione had reached Draco and began pulling on him, urging him to start moving so that they could get to safety.
"If it's a wild animal, then the two of us should be enough to finish it off and put it out of its misery."
"What if it's a human, yeah?"
Draco tried his best to swat Hermione away, attempting to make her go without him.
"Then I hope they haven't given up yet, I love the wild chases that human opponents tend to give to us."
"Especially those poofs called wizards, yeah?"
When Draco heard the last bit from the two speakers, he felt his blood boil. What was this, a group of disgruntled Mudbloods that wanted to take revenge on their superiors? His fingers twitched and shifted towards his robe, ready to take out his wand.
"I always love the part when they become desperate and try magic of some sort and end up becoming food for those hideous buggers instead."
"Those creatures really are ugly, yeah?"
Even though he had wanted to retaliate against the disrespectful pieces of garbage and demonstrate the painful consequences of running their mouths in such an abhorrently ignorant manner, Draco wisely decided against it.
"It looks like this one somehow ran away. Want me to call back-up, yeah?"
"Ssh ssh, quiet, I hear something."
The sound of Hermione dragging Draco away from the trap did not escape the attention of the speakers.
"Wait, hold on...I don't see the arrow anywhere, and the hilt of the grass looks disheveled. I can also see hints of footprints going in the opposite direction. From what I can tell, there's at least two people here we can hunt...what do you say that we do a little more investigation and not tell them about our prey, just yet?"
Both Draco and Hermione were out of breath at this point. Hermione, due to her helping to carry the blonde, and Draco, from forcibly pushing his body when it hadn't recovered from its bout of paralysis.
"Granger," the exhausted wizard grunted while pushing her away from him. "Give me something to bite on."
"What?"
"I'm starting to feel...it doesn't matter, I need something to bite on. I'm gonna take this arrow out of me."
Hermione stared at Draco for a moment before sighing and shaking her head. She quickly crouched down to pick up a large tree branch and returned to the blonde.
"Listen, Granger," Draco began huffing in between erratic breaths, "I need you...told hold me down...as hard...as you can, alright?"
The Malfoy heir saw Hermione stare at him once again, with a somewhat somber and forlorn expression before nodding her head. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and leaned back against a giant tree. The bark felt rough against his skin. He paused for a split second before grabbing the end of the wooden projectile that was digging into his leg.
"Hrghk." Draco bit down hard on the stick and began pulling on the arrow. It was a particularly odd, yet painful sensation. On one hand, the poison had done its job of paralyzing most of the affected leg, leaving the actual penetrated area to retain the ability of having its sensory receptors send a message via the nerve fibers whenever it felt pain.
In other words?
"Huuuu..." It was taking all of his willpower not to give up. In terms of pain, this wasn't the worst one that he had ever experienced. Not by a long shot. Still, the burning sensation that he felt whenever he tugged on the arrow had become quite unbearable. To top it all off, the process of taking out the projectile was taking a very long time.
"Agh!" Draco's scream was deftly dulled by the dirty branch that was wedged in between his teeth. He had finally managed to take the arrow out from his leg, but not without some trepidation. A sickening squelching sound was accompanied by chunks of his flesh ripped out from his leg. It wasn't pretty, but it certainly got the job done.
[Ugh...]
The two stared at each other for a moment, aware of the close proximity, but neither had it in mind to raise this point. Instead, Hermione gave out a small sigh before releasing her grip on Draco's shoulder. Parting her sweat-laden hair to the side, a light huff came out from her lips before asking, "Malfoy...are you alright? Um...Malfoy?"
Draco opened his mouth to reassure the worrying witch that everything was alright and that they should hurry and leave. However, rather than words, a vile mixture of blood and vomit was expelled from his body. Weakly chuckling, he leaned against the tree to help hold his weight while also stroking his wand. The movement was an unconscious habit that he had developed over the years, one that used to bring him comfort, no matter the circumstance.
Now? It was a bitter reminder of what he took for granted and what he was not allowed to use. An ability that would've solved most of his problems, all waiting to be unleashed at the tip of his fingers.
"Let's go, Granger," Draco managed to wheeze out in between his coughing fits.
"Hold on," the bushy-haired witch said, taking out the small box that McGonagall had given to her from Hogwarts. Taking out a small vial, she tossed it to Draco and informed him, "It's an antidote for the poison. It'll take some time for the effects to settle in, but it should help cleanse your body."
Hermione closed her eyes and rubbed the bridge of her nose but otherwise kept her lips closed. Once again, she had been tempted to say something more to the blonde, but knew that her words would fall on deaf ears. Instead, she allowed Draco to hold on to something as vain as his pride and waited for him to pick himself up before running from the spot.
"Hey, look, there's some blood over here, and the arrow seems to be discarded here as well."
Why hadn't they caught up yet? Or did the process of removing the aforementioned projectile take longer than what was expected? No matter the case, the pair were doing their best blindly scrambling around, trying their best to navigate through the dark, treacherous forest. After what seemed like an endless loop of tree branches, vines, and plants, Hermione suddenly felt herself getting pushed to the side.
"Malfoy," she hissed in an annoyed tone, "what are you doing?!"
Rather than responding, Draco put a finger across his lips while shaking his head.
"Huh? That's weird, I thought they would've come through here, that was the pattern they were running, yeah?"
Much to Hermione's incredulity, the two hunters had been waiting for them to appear at the next turn. They had been calmly talking about the route they were taking and the moment that they were supposed to 'arrive' in front of them. If it hadn't been for Draco's action of halting their progress, then it was more than likely that they would've been captured, or worse.
"They probably twisted around to the other side. If we head directly to sector D, then we should be able to cut them off from the route."
The duo waited with bated breath until the coast became clear. Speaking of Draco's action...
"How did you know?" Hermione whispered to him in between her ragged breath. The air seemed condensed and restrictive, the feeling mirroring that of someone trying to cut off her air supply.
"I don't recognize the tacky garments that they are wearing. Who or what are they?" Draco sighed and shook his head before sitting on a wet patch of moss. He had ignored her question and posed one of his own.
The bushy-haired witch bit her lower lip before answering, "I-I think those were..." The hunters had donned on clothing that could only be found in the Muggle world. They were wearing what she could only describe as bulky, dark green army jackets and thick, black pants, with black gas masks over their faces.
She hesitated to tell him her thoughts, knowing how violently he would react to her hypothesis. There was absolutely no indication that he had gone past his engraved bigotry. Heck, they were only traveling together because of the contract and oaths. Still, it would certainly be beneficial for their plight if Draco was to at least be aware of a few things.
"I'm not one-hundred percent sure of who they are, but I remember reading descriptions of people like this. How some were using this war for their own purposes."
"So, these people are going around killing others just for fun? How absurd."
Hermione merely sighed and kept her opinions to herself. She had somehow managed to answer the question in a round-about way while keeping his suspicions low. There was too much at stake for them to get into one of their usual petty bickerings. Standing back up, she began brushing herself off when she heard him whisper to her, "Keep low, don't run, and try to avoid making too much noise. I'm not entirely sure how, but they've somehow been able to track us through the sound that we're making and something else. If we minimize the noise, then we can at least make it more difficult for them to find us."
Nodding back to him for confirmation, Hermione lowered her body into that of a crouching position and quietly followed the blonde. The two made sure to follow an irregular pattern in their steps while trying to leave as little trace of their previous step as possible. While she was initially able to mentally map out the route that they were taking, eventually, the shrubbery all started to seamlessly blend in together, making her become confused.
The two had met quite a few close calls, with the hunters literally being a step or two away from discovering where they were hiding. It was a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse, with the consequence of being caught the forfeiture of their lives. After weaving through another portion of the long-winding, never-ending forest, Draco held up his hand to signal them to a halt.
"I think we should call for back-up by now, since we lost track of them, yeah?"
"You kidding me? They're gonna have our heads when they find out that we've been fooling around with the trespassers. All we have to do is find them before they get to the manor up ahead, and once we do, everything's gonna be alright."
Hermione's ears perked up once she heard them mention an area that wasn't the Merlin forsaken forest.
"Well, no need to worry about it, I don't think we've allowed anyone to go that far."
"But what about the three that got away from us and made it into the manor, yeah?"
Hope began to fill her chest when she heard references to other survivors. For the duration of this journey, the only people she had met thus far were enemies, with the only familiar face being that of the blonde wizard. The thought of meeting someone whom she recognized and was possibly friendly with helped inject some life back into her.
"Well, that was probably just some freak accident or something, right? I mean I think all of us tried, but we can't even get past the gate, right? So even if they do, they'll probably just get stuck like us and just give up or something. So just shaddap and help me find them."
"Who died and made you king? I didn't vote for you, yeah?"
Hermione and Draco stared at each other before nodding at the silent, unanimous agreement that came between them. Words were not needed to communicate what their next objective would be – to reach the manor. They patiently stayed inside the thick bushes, waiting for the coast to become clear so that they could move once again.
"Shit, we got a problem, yeah?"
"What is it?"
It was at that moment that the two hunters frantically ran from the premise, not bothering to pick up their discarded weapon. The pair looked at each other in wonder and gave a nonchalant shrug before coming out from the thick bushel. Curiosity quickly took over the two but each for entirely different reasons. Draco got his hands on one of the pistols that had fallen to the ground, while Hermione was trying to solve the reason for the chaser's sudden departure.
"Granger, have you ever seen anything this queer before? It looks like one of those firearms, but much lighter...Granger?"
Hermione immediately grabbed hold of the blonde and uttered the one word that she knew would get her message across to him.
"Evolved."
Draco's expression instantly shifted to a more somber one and turned his attention to his surroundings. The trees behind them began to shake with vigor, which was accompanied by a familiar high-pitched, inhuman snarl.
"Granger," the Malfoy heir said, looking straight at Hermione.
"Right," she responded with a nod and went around to secure a route for them. However, the idea was quickly erased when they heard a mishmash of voices and footsteps approaching them from the distance.
The abominable creatures were laying await in an ambush from one side, while a group of hunters was coming from another. There was the option to retreat back to the spot where they were hiding, but with what seemed like an inevitable bloodbath, it was prudent for them to get away from their current location.
Still, the question remained: Would they be able to get away in time unscathed? They had been lucky thus far to avoid any major or fatal injuries. But would they be able to continue skating on such thin ice? It would only be a matter of time before misfortune fell upon them in their misguided journey.
"They're somewhere in this sector! Contain and eradicate them before they get a chance to infect anyone!"
Luck seemed to have struck twice, with the hunters dispersing, clearing a path for Draco and Hermione to take. The pair took this well-timed distraction to sidestep both the hunters and the monsters. Once again, they found themselves running through a myriad of vines and branches that seemed sentient enough to impede their progress. It didn't help that cacophonous sounds of loud gunfire, blood-curled screams, and muffled cries could be heard off at the distance behind them.
Draco heard the Mudblood start to mumble some incoherent mess under her breath, presumably to keep herself sane under these frightful conditions. Either that or cursing all those that were involved in getting her mixed in this chaos. He was also starting to feel a sense of drowsiness and a fever overtake his body. It was quite tempting to just drop everything and take a nap on the soft floor of the forest.
However, once they came upon a clearing, none of the issues seemed to matter anymore. Somehow, the direction they had chosen turned out to be the one that led to the place they were looking for – the manor.
Both Hermione and Draco took in a deep breath, reaping in the sight of the huge building. It seemed to be deeply embedded within the shadows, with empty darkness echoing and folding inside itself, completely absorbing any incoming sunlight. Most of the surrounding trees were lifeless, with long and spindly branches floating in the air, mimicking the movement to that of a ghost. Brown, dead leaves littered the ground and danced macabrely, many of them smelling like rotten fungus and decomposed corpses. The manor itself gave off a ghastly impression to the pair, with much of the exterior in shambles and exhausted of any decorum.
A huge steel gate surrounded the parameters of the old mansion, effectively cutting the building off from the rest of the forest.
Draco shakily let out a sigh and stared at the impressive landscape for a few more seconds before shaking his head. The gate was too high for him to climb by himself, and even if he could make it up, he didn't think he had enough strength to properly propel himself around to the other side. Then there was also the factor of the girl that he was towing.
"Ugh," the blonde groused, shaking the front door of the gate. "It's jammed from the other side, huh?"
"I've got an idea Malfoy," Hermione chimed in. "Why don't you boost me up there?"
Draco crossed his arm and thought about rejecting the proposal when he chewed on the idea for a few more seconds.
"I mean, I can try to push you up there, but it looks like you're still suffering from the effects of the poison and..."
Their discussion was curtly interrupted when they heard shouts coming toward their direction.
"Malfoy! Come on!"
Draco trailed his palm over his face and gritted his teeth before crouching down and lowering his arms. He waited for Hermione to place her foot upon his hands before lifting her up to the top of the gate. The blonde began to have second thoughts about the decision when he saw her struggle to get herself over to the other side.
"Hurry up, Granger! They're coming!"
Hermione hurriedly dropped to the ground and scrambled to her feet. For a split second, Draco feared that she would leave him behind and get inside the mansion by herself. However, this silent fear quickly vanished when he saw her work on getting the door open.
Never had he been glad that she was anything other than a Slytherin than at that particular moment.
Seeing the gate open, Draco took a deep breath and stepped through the gate when he felt a peculiar, yet familiar sensation wash over him. One of the first things he noticed was how stagnant the air felt around him. The second thing was the noise, or lack thereof – weren't there some hunters that were about to find them? What about the animals in the forest?
Blinking a few times, he slowly turned around to see...a large brown wall rather than the steel door that he had initially passed through.
Draco opened his mouth to say something but promptly closed it. What could he say? What could he ask? At this point, with everything that had happened, he knew that the only thing that either of them could do was to simply move on with the journey.
Looking at Hermione, he could see that she had the same mix of curiosity and resignation dawning over her.
Author's Note: If you ask questions or comments while you review, I'll try my best to answer them and in terms of updating, since this has a somewhat 'meh' viewership, it's not too high on my priority list. Although I also make sure to try and make it more quality over quantity in terms of these chapters. Also, go look at the school chapter again, it has been refurbished with more polish and shine to it. The Hogsmeade chapter should be my last re-release before everything reads a bit more better than how I first started writing this story. Anyways, later!