Chapter 7
Hermione squeaked and rushed into the trees in the direction of the voice, Draco on her heels. She called out again and the voice responded, "Hermione?!" She pushed aside a tree and revealed…
"Neville!" Hermione pulled the trembling boy into a tight hug. He hugged her back, clung to her in desperation.
"Hermione! Oh my God, I've been wandering around for a week trying to find a way out of this wretched forest! I thought there had to be people around here somewhere." He pulled back and beamed at her.
"Well, we're not so sure there are," Hermione said apologetically. "So far it's been just me and Draco here. Today is the first we decided to try and see if anyone else got stuck here and, obviously, they did. And this is an island so there really isn't any way off." Neville's face fell. Hermione stood back and looked at him.
His robes were ripped and torn, and he was covered in dirt. There were twigs and leaves in his hair, and a few nasty scratches in his cheeks and hands, a few of them still bloody.
"How have you guys been surviving out here on your own?" Neville asked astounded. "I've barely been keeping alive, but you guys look like you've been in a spa."
"Let me tell you, this is one tough girl you have here," Draco said, draping an arm around her shoulders and beaming at her. Neville stared at them in horror but Draco ignored him. "She knows all sorts of stuff about surviving in the wild, and it all came out of this series of books, its amazing. We've got fire, shelter, food and water, storage and baskets and all sorts of good stuff."
"You've got food?!" Neville asked sharply. Hermione nodded and pulled a stick of dried meat out of her pack. Neville snatched it from her hand and devoured it greedily.
"How did you stay alive all this time if you didn't have food or shelter or heat or anything?" Draco asked amazedly, beginning to lead the way back to camp.
"I have no idea," Neville admitted. "I didn't do anything at all for the first two days or so, just hid in a bush and waited for someone to find me; I was sure they would come soon. Obviously they didn't, so I started walking and I just ate whatever fruit I could find on trees, and tried to find some sort of cover when it rained." He sneezed violently, turning away from the others and sniffling. "I don't think I did too well on that last part."
"Oh, Neville, I'll get you some calming tea when we get back to camp," Hermione said, patting him gingerly on the back. "Then you can have a nice nap while we see if there's anyone else out there. Did you see anyone?"
"No, no one at all. I'm glad I found you, Hermione, or else I'm sure I'd be dead in a few days."
"No, you wouldn't!" Hermione said firmly. "You would have lived for a while, if you managed to find food. Anyone can survive if they apply themselves, if they just have the will." She lead Neville into their campsite, smiling as he ogled the fire and the overhang and the sparkling stream and the baskets of food in wonder.
"I'll make you some tea," Hermione said, gently sitting him down by the fire. "Willow bark is really the only kind we can make here, I don't exactly recognize the other herbs yet. But that's okay, because it has some good painkilling properties that would make you sleep better."
"And you look like you really need it," Draco said, sitting down across from the shaking boy. "Here, have a banana. It'll prevent scurvy," he said brightly.
"Uh, thanks," Neville said suspiciously, taking the banana he was offered. "You didn't poison it, did you?"
"Neville!" Hermione cried. "How could you say something like that? He's been helping me out here, and he's trying to help you. Why would you say something like that to him?"
"Sorry," Neville answered. "Force of habit, I guess." He peeled the banana and bit into it, chewing slowly to see if it tasted funny. Draco rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest.
"See? You aren't dead yet, so just eat it," he grouched. Then, under his breath he muttered, "Ungrateful little git."
"I heard that!" Neville yelled.
"Draco, Neville, stop fighting this instant!" Hermione said, glaring down at the pair of them. "If we're going to have to live together, you two will have to get along." They didn't answer, just glared at each other. Hermione sighed, placing a cup of hot tea in Neville's hands. "Drink that, and you can take a nap or something. We need to go see if there's anyone else around here."
Neville nodded and took a sip, sighing appreciatively. Hermione motioned to Draco and they set off into the trees again, Draco casting one more glowering look over his shoulder at the other boy. They walked in silence for a few minutes, looking around for anyone they might have missed on their last trip.
"Draco, are you and Neville going to be able to get along?" Hermione asked, with such a good imitation of Professor McGonagall that he almost felt contrite. His anger superseded it, though, and he scowled.
"Probably not," he growled. "He's being an ungrateful git, can you blame me?"
"Yes, I can!" Hermione said, stopping and putting her hands on her hips. "We're the ones who know how to live here, so we have to help Neville. And if he stays here with us--which he will--we can't have you two fighting all the time. It could put us all at risk. We need to work together out here. I can't be stuck with all the work while you two are busy bickering!"
"Hermione! Why are you pinning all the blame on me?" Draco said indignantly. "Why aren't you getting on his case about this?"
"Because he's tired and malnourished and upset. He needs time to get his wits about him, get back some common sense. You already have some common sense, I think, and you're not exactly using it. Even if Neville tried to attack you, we could take him. I wouldn't hesitate to take down both of you if you started a duel! And you can count on that! Now stop acting like a immature 10-year-old and get your act together!"
Draco gaped at her back as she stormed off through the trees. "Okay, this is ridiculous," he heard her mutter, pointing her wand up through the canopy of trees. Red sparks shot out of it to spell the words 'IS ANYBODY STRANDED OUT THERE?' in the sky. It hovered there. After a few minutes with no response, Hermione waved her wand and the words faded.
"That'll have to do for now," she said, turning back to him. "I'm going back to check on Neville. I'll talk to him about you. Keep looking for awhile, so I can talk some sense into him. Come back in a half hour."
Draco nodded and set off into the trees to look more carefully through the wooded undergrowth for other stranded Hogwartians. Hermione turned back toward the campsite to find Neville sitting staring into the swirling water of the stream. She sat down next to him, a hand on his shoulder.
"Neville?" she asked quietly. "You okay? You feeling any better now that you have some food in you?"
"I guess so," he said. Then he looked at her. "What are you doing with Malfoy? I thought you two would have killed each other by now, with just the two of you here." Hermione blushed a dark red, looking away quickly.
"Um, well, uh, once we…once we got time to, you know, actually talk to one another…he really isn't so bad. He's actually really nice to talk to, to be around. He's smart, and talented, and intuitive, and sweet, and…" she trailed off, a dazed smile on her face. Neville grimaced at the look on her face. Then she snapped back to reality, suddenly remembering that her friend was there. "Sorry…"
"Okay, well it's fairly obvious that you like the creep," Neville said, a hint of sulkiness in his voice. He glared into the fire. "I just can't believe it. I thought you were going out with Ron?" Hermione gasped, shocked and mortified.
"Oh my god! I completely forgot!" she cried. "I feel horrible now! I can't believe I'm cheating on Ron with Draco. Wow. I never thought those words would ever come out of my mouth," she added, frowning oddly.
"No one did. I mean, I thought if you would ever cheat on Ron with anyone, it would be with Harry or something," he said, smiling slyly at her.
"Uh, no."
"Just a thought," Neville said, holding his hands up in mock surrender. "But, still, Malfoy?! That's just weird. It messes with the whole Gryffindor-Slytherin rivalry, the Golden Trio-Malfoy rivalry, the Granger-Malfoy rivalry, all sorts of rivalries! Come on, how can you break all of those just to be with Malfoy?"
"Because I've realized that all of that enmity is stupid and immature," Hermione said primly. "I've grown up, I've gotten past all of those childhood squabbles. Why can't you?"
"Those 'childhood squabbles' were a week ago, Hermione!" Neville yelled. "You're saying that you grew up in a week on a deserted island with Malfoy? Do you have any idea what you're saying? Or have you gone completely and totally insane?"
"I'm in love!"
There was silence. Hermione was stunned at hearing those words come out of her mouth. She was sure she hadn't meant to say that, had never even considered it possible. Neville was in shock over her confession, gaping at her as if she had suddenly sprouted tentacles from her ears. Hermione clapped her hand over her mouth, tears of confusion and conflict springing up in her eyes, and Neville gave himself a little shake.
"Oh. Oh, I see. He's obviously gotten into your pants," he said spitefully. "That's really all it takes for most girls to say they're in love. Especially with someone as charming as Malfoy. Just look at Pansy," he sneered.
"Is that what you think, Neville?" Hermione whispered. "I can't believe someone I've known for over six years, that I've been friends with, that knows me so well, would even suggest that I would sleep with someone I've only really known for a few days," she said, her voice rising dangerously. She got to her feet slowly, glaring down at Neville, who was now scurrying back from her. "If you can even suspect me of that, then you're not nearly as good a friend as I once considered you to be!"
Hermione whipped out her wand, pointing it at Neville. A bit of her self control slipped and red sparks began to fly from the end of it. He let out a high pitched squeak and began to crawl to a safe distance on his hands and knees. Once he was out of range of the sparks, he scrambled to his feet, pulling his own wand from a back pocket of his robes.
"Hermione, I know you're angry, but there's no need for you to freak out like this," he said soothingly. "Dueling will get us no where. I'm sorry I said that, I know you would never do that, it's just--"
"No!" Hermione screamed, advancing on him until her wand was pressed at his throat. "Drop your wand," she growled menacingly. Neville did so, beginning to shake. He knew full well that she was a better fighter than him. He had never really had the will to physically hurt anyone, unless they had done so to him first, and Hermione had never done that sort of thing to him. "If I can tell you how to survive out here on your own, will you be able to follow my instructions?" she asked, and he nodded, dreading the order he knew would come. "Then listen up, because if you can't live with me and Draco's decision, then you won't live with us at all."
"No, no, I promise I will deal with it!" he pleaded. "I've been wandering out here for a week, and I'll never endure another day. I was on the brink of suicide out there anyway!" Hermione pulled away, looking at him with an surprised, almost pitying look on her face.
"Were you really?" she asked softly.
"Yeah. I didn't want to live if I couldn't be with anyone. I've always been a people person. Even if they didn't like me, I would rather talk to someone than be alone," Neville said honestly, dropping down to the ground glumly. "I didn't know what kind of food was safe to eat, or what water was clean enough to drink, so I would have died soon enough anyway. I was just considering making it a little less miserable of a death."
"Neville!" Hermione said, sitting next to him. "I can't believe that! Okay, you can stay here, and we'll make sure to keep you alive and well. Just don't say anything about us, even if you don't approve," she said sternly. He nodded. "Alright, we're friends. Now I have to go and catch up with Draco." She kissed him on the forehead, making him blush, and rushed off into the woods.
She traipsed through the woods, calling Draco's name. A solid twenty minutes went by before she found him, leaning against a tree, banana in hand.
"Hey, why are you so far out?" she asked, a little out of breath. He shrugged unconcernedly.
"You told me to stay away. I just kept walking till I found some food. Want one? These are really ripe," he said, offering her another banana from the bunch he had levitated down from the tree behind him. Hermione took one gratefully. "So what happened with the twerp?"
"Don't call him that!" she said. "That's why he doesn't like you, you know. He thinks you're only trying to take advantage of me, or something, and that you're pure evil. A lot of people think that, and I don't want him to disapprove of us for any more reasons than he does already."
"Alright, alright, but how did it go with him?" he asked, brushing off her admonishment.
"It was fine. We argued a bit, we made up, he promised not to make any comments about us," Hermione said, leaning against the tree opposite him. "So, as long as you keep a civil tongue, I think he will, too."
"I'll try my hardest," Draco said, and she couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not. She shot him a warning look and he rolled his eyes, swallowing the last of his banana and throwing the peel away. "Okay, I promise I won't insult the little git. Within earshot, at least." Hermione sighed, knowing that was best she was going to get.
"Good. Now that that's settled, we need to get back. We shouldn't leave him alone for long before he knows how to take care of himself."
"Don't treat him like a child, Hermione. I think he can take care of himself for a half an hour, at least. He's not that incapable, I don't think," Draco said, motioning for them to start walking back the way she had come.
"He'll have to. It took me twenty minutes to get here, and it'll take at least thirty to get back," Hermione moaned. "My feet are killing me. I wish we could just aparate back."
"Can we?" Draco asked, stopping. "We never tried aparating, did we?" he said in a tone that said quite clearly that they were idiots.
"No, I don't believe we ever did," Hermione said slowly. "I guess we should. Come on, let's try and aparate back to the campsite." She offered him her hand, which he took, and concentrated very hard on their little clearing with the stream. She took a deep breath, and turned on the spot.
