Chapter 7

When she woke up the next morning, she felt warm snuggled in the baggy clothes and blankets, and didn't want to get up. The soft light was pouring in though the curtains, and it occurred to her that she had no idea what time it was. But she was sure this was day three in the Malfoy house. Ok, Lestrange house. Whatever.

Day three. And she still hadn't explored the house! She sat straight up.

The horcrux could be easily within sight, in any room of the house! She hadn't even bothered to look. She felt ashamed of herself.

OK, so for two days she had been delirious with fever, but yesterday…she had been delirious with something else.

It was time to get to work.

She stood up, and looked at her reflection in the mirror. She badly needed a shower and a brush. Her hair was a mess. She would work on that, after searching for the horcrux. She was a girl on a mission, and her hair could wait.

She decided to start at the entryway she had seen yesterday. Was it only yesterday? It seemed like forever ago.

The big rooms made her feel like she should be wearing shoes. Standing around in baggy clothes and socks in an entryway that looked more like a ballroom made her feel out of place.

There were two doorways, other than the front one, plus the staircase. Hermione decided to try the stairs, curving upward to the second level of the house. Ski Lodge. Mansion. Whatever.

Upstairs none of the lights were on. Obviously Draco was not using the upstairs. In fact, Hermione still didn't know why he was there. Was he guarding the horcrux? If so-not that she was complaining-he wasn't doing a great job.

She went right at the top of the stairs, and moved down the hallway. She explored for a long time, through everything from servants quarters to a bedroom she was fairly certain belonged to Bellatrix.

She found many objects that seemed dark in nature, and was careful not to touch any or trip any spells. Without her wand, she was at the mercy of whatever spell came her way.

It had to have been a full two hours when she decided to call it a day and get some breakfast. She didn't want Draco wondering where she was and find her riffling though his aunt's underwear drawer or anything. She couldn't explain what she was searching for, afterall.

The hall seemed like it would circle around if she followed it, and so she headed forward. It was very dark here, and Hermione ran her hand along the wall to make sure she didn't trip. If her sense of space was at all in tune, the staircase should have been just ahead.

That was the last thing she thought before she felt the wall go all sticky. The sticky substance refused to let go of her hand. It was bad that she couldn't see. It was bad that she didn't have a wand. It was a very, very bad situation.

Hermione pulled as hard as she could, and the substance released her. She smacked into the wall opposite the trap, and released a sigh of relief. That would have been horrible! Who knows what would have….have…

She tried to stand up straight. No use. Now her whole side was stuck to the opposite wall.

"Shit!" She said out loud.

She knew she shouldn't do what she did next. She knew it. But what is your natural instinct in this situation? She put her hand on the wall and tried to push herself fully upright.

She looked at her hand, horrified. Her other arm was pinned to the wall, along with the side of her head and thigh. And now she didn't even have her free hand!

'ok, calm down.' She thought to herself. She took a deep breath. Panicking would only make it worse. This was a simple tacky-trap. Not the most legal security spell, but certainly effective. It usually didn't just trap the victim, but tended to suffocate them as well. But that was if they panicked and got more tangled up in it.

Hermione closed her eyes and stayed very, very still. She thought about all that she had read about getting out of this mess. Every option involved a wand.

'If I stay still...then what? It won't get me out of this! But it won't get me killed, either.' She thought.

She was still trying to think herself out of the situation when the sticky mass moved. A shiver traveled down Hermione's spine. It moving was a bad sign. It meant it wasn't just a tacky-trap. There was some dark modification to this trap, and she was sure she didn't want to find out what it was meant to do.

The black stickiness started to quiver and vibrate. The pulsating made it move further and further up her skin. She watched in horror as her hand disappeared in the black mass right in front of her eyes.

To hell with staying still! To hell with not panicking! This was a panic-inducing situation!

She screamed, loud and echoing in the large empty house.

The blackness swallowed her arm, and a large portion moving over her stomach and back met at her other side, closing around her middle. Then it began to squeeze, as if trying to pull her flat to the wall, into the wall itself even! Breathing became harder and harder.

She was beginning to see stars out of her one eye not covered by blackness when she saw Draco burst from the shadows with a pinpoint of light at the end of his wand.

He had a scared but determined look on his face.

The black goo coated her mouth, stifling the new scream that was pouring from her. She fought to breath in through her nose, but in an instance that was covered as well.

She felt a strong hand rip at the covering on her mouth. It gave way reluctantly, attaching to the hand instead.

"How do I stop it?" Draco asked, holding his wand in his left hand far away from the goo.

She would have said something smart-assed, like "A trap in your own home, and you don't know how to stop it?" but she didn't think wasting words would be smart. Instead, she gasped "Aquamenti," using the last of the air left in her lungs. The squeezing continued, and she heard something snap and a sharp pain in her ribs.

Draco yelled "Aquamenti!" and a jet of water hit the goo. It instantly began to dissolve. But because it could move, it almost looked like a dieing thing as it shriveled and melted to the ground.

Hermione collapsed, drawing in a ragged, heavy breath of air. It hurt to breath. She breathed anyways, of course, frantically and deeply.

Tears were streaming down her face at this point. She noticed a small piece of black left on her shirtfront and ripped at it frantically.

"Hold still dammit! Aquamenti!" Draco said, and sprayed away the last bit of the monstrosity.

Hermione gave one look at the remains of soggy blackness on the carpet at sprang forward to the kneeling Draco Malfoy. She threw her arms around his neck, burying her face in his collar.

"Oh my god! That was so stupid! So stupid!" She cried, gasping in between most of the words. She was sure she had broken a rib, but holding onto someone felt more important than staying still and not hurting right now.

"Yeah, it was pretty stupid!" Draco yelled, but he brought his arms around her, hesitantly. He finally held her tightly.

"I just..I can't believe I touched it…thank you…again."

"Yeah, this makes what, two times in the past three days? How often do you almost get your self killed in a usual week?"

Hermione laughed, and it hurt. "Well, I don't know about in a week, but with my life a few times a year isn't so unusual."

She was able to breath a bit better now, but it still hurt a lot. She knew a broken rib was nothing to scoff at- it could puncture something. But just for a few minutes more she wanted to be comforted, even if it was with insults.

The two sat in silence for a moment, when Hermione began shivering. No fireplaces were lit up here, and she was all wet.

"Soaking wet, again, I see. Let's try and avoid seeing snake-blankets and such this time, ok? Let's get you warm before you get sick." Draco's voice was gentler-he had finished yelling at her.

Hermione was still pressed against him. She breathed in his scent again, and nuzzled her face into his neck.

He took in a sharp breath.

She didn't care what her brain was telling her at the moment. She felt safe, and where his arms touched her she was warm.

Her lips brushed the small crevice where neck meets shoulder. His skin was soft, and she pressed her lips against it, kissing him gently. Her reached up from his shoulder to touch his hair. It was hard from gel, but felt just right in between her fingers.

His breath came faster. In a shaky voice he asked "Granger…what are you doing?"

She stopped cold. What was she doing?

It occurred to her that she was freezing, and that her rib was on fire. She pulled back from Draco, shaking her head. "I…nevermind. I think I need a healing spell. Do you know "episki?"

"I never practiced it. Healing spells are 7th year stuff. Where are you hurt?" His voice was suddenly firm, back in control.

Hermione almost burst into fresh tears as a pang of pain ran through her and she said, "I think it broke my rib."

"That's what that crack was? Ew…"

"Ew?" Hermione fought back laughter. Laughter hurt.

Draco was silent for a moment, kneeling beside her. In a quiet voice he asked, "Can you do it? The healing spell?"

Hermione frowned. "Of course I can do it."

Draco chuckled. "Of course, your Hermione-fricking-Granger, after all. Whatever was I thinking?" He looked serious again. "Here." He held out his wand to her.

Hermione started at it, the looked to Draco's eyes. He was trusting her with his wand? He was leaving himself defenseless? For all he knew, she could heal herself and apparate the hell out of there.

But she knew she wouldn't. She should. But she wouldn't. That had been established a while ago.

She reached out and grasped his wand, turning the tip towards the spot on her, which felt like thousand of ants were biting her. She laid down to get the proper angle, and said "Episki." She felt a warm sensation as the bone stitched itself back together again, followed by coldness in the rib. Yes, with magic, it really was that easy. She had no idea how she had survived three days without hers. Oh, right. She knew exactly how.

She handed the wand back to Draco, looking him square in the eyes. He nodded and stood.

She stood up too, testing out her rib. No more pain.