Chapter Nine

Right to Go, Left to Stop

"Draco," Hermione chuckled, stumbling blindly with the Slytherin scarf over her eyes. "Where are you taking me?"

Draco held firm to Hermione's shoulders leading her forward down the hill from their house towards the thin woods. He didn't answer, wanting her to be surprised.

Late the night before when Hermione had retired, he visited his good old mate Theo's house. Theo was out of the country for business, so Draco took the liberty of taking his car keys and his silver sports car. One of the many Theo had stored in the garage. Since the war had ended he'd become infatuated with the Muggle objects declaring them "loads of fun."

Draco thought it would be "loads of fun" to be inside those cramped metal death traps with Hermione, and he had the excuse for it too. He didn't know how to drive, and she did.

"You didn't spend more money on me, did you?"

"Are you upset about the cat?"

She huffed, "no, I'm not, but I don't want you to think you can buy my love."

"Why would I ever think that? You date the poorest bloke in our school."

"So you know, Draco, he's not that poor anymore. He has a good deal of money."

"I'm sure," he said dryly. He didn't want to talk about the Weasel. The whole point of getting out of her house was so she wouldn't think about him. "No, I didn't buy you anything. I borrowed this." Borrowed was a loose term for steal, right?

"Good."

"A little ways more," he informed, irritated at her attitude towards his amount of cash.

"If it's so far you could have apparated us."

"I thought you wouldn't like that much."

"Better than walking blind."

He nodded although she couldn't see this, but moved his hands from her shoulders to circle her waist. "Ready," he warned, turning on the spot, forcing themselves through a tight tube.

When they landed, she gasped and wheezed. "It was better walking blind," she admitted.

He laughed softly, relieved that he didn't splinch her, it was only the abruptness of it that caused her shock. He pecked a kiss on her cheek. He felt the skin under his lips heat with a deep blush. It was overwhelming, his heart swelling with the love he had for this woman. He never thought he could love someone that much.

"Draco," she scolded, though he heard the underlining smile.

They stood at the edge of his land on a dirt road in front of Theo's car. He untied the knot of the scarf and slid it off stuffing it in his pocket.

She gasped again spinning round to look at him as if she wasn't certain he was serious, then back to the car. "Draco! Whose car is this?"

"It's my mate Theo's."

She ran her hand over the shining finish. Someone could be blind by the sun reflecting off of it. He was already sweating from the heat of the day.

"I didn't know you could drive."

"I can't. I was thinking that you could teach me."

She bit her lip doubtfully. "I don't know, Draco..."

He dipped his hand in his pocket withdrawing the golden key. He pitched to her, and to his surprise she caught it so swiftly it would make any Seeker proud, and him - being a former Seeker - was quite proud.

"Nice reflexes, Hermione."

"I don't know," she started a second time staring at the key, but Draco impatiently interrupted her.

"You love to teach, so get in the car, and teach me."

She pitched the keys back to him and he caught them on his chest, but she still hesitated. He groaned walked past her to and wrenched the passenger door handle, opening it. He bowed and made a grand gesture with his hand. "After you."

Leisurely she ducked inside to the leather seats, and he slammed the door and walked to the other side, the keys digging jagged prints in his hand. He slammed the door and saw Hermione out of the corner of his eye buckling her seatbelt. He followed suit, but couldn't help but make a comment.

"Are you scared to be in here with me?"

"I'm scared of you crashing, and anyhow, it's only right to buckle up."

"If it makes you feel better, you can drive."

"You'll never learn by just watching me."

"Maybe I could. I'm smart, you know."

"I never said you weren't."

"You implied it."

"No, I didn't!"

He chuckled. He loved irritating her, and it was easier now than it was years ago. He learned how to press her buttons by watching Weasley. And she said no one could learn by watching, he thought.

"Tell me how to do this," he demanded looking for a place to put the useless key.

She took it from his fingers, and pushed it into a jagged hole under the wheel. She turned it, and the car rumbled beneath them with a roar equal to that of a lion. He jumped only slightly from it, and tried to listen as she explained the mechanics of the vehicle.

"Right to go, left to stop. Don't push too far or you'll jerk us. Use this to steer. Moving this stick will allow you to drive or to park. Always stop the car before parking it, and have your foot on the left pedal before you put it in drive. Oh, and don't drive too fast, you can easily lose control. Don't go off the road, and when you see a car, slow down and pull over, at least this time until you learn how to control it."

His mind was reeling with this jarring information. It was a lot to take in. He had a new respect for Muggles, he didn't know how they memorized all those buttons and things.

"Do you have it?"

"Left to go, right to stop."

She shook her head exasperated. "Right to go, left to stop."

"Oh, yeah, right." He thought it was pretty good since it was the only thing he had heard out of her. "Sit back, love."

She did as he said instantly, her hand flying to the edge of her seat. He thought this was particularly humorous, but did not laugh. If a Wizard who had never apparated before tried to do side apparation with him... Hermione had a lot more trust in him than he deserved. He would never trust anyone so much.

He pressed his foot on the left pedal and pulled the stick forward, and released the pedal. The car jerked forward down the incline jerking them along past the bumpy road bouncing them in their seats. Draco's chest seemed to explode with his heart pounding so furiously.

"Left to stop," Hermione screeched. "Left to stop!"

He fumbled, his mind going blank. Left... Left what? He grabbed a hold of the wheel trying to steer it straight and pulled it right, and the car lurched spinning them ninety degrees, the back end of the car tipping back down the hill past the road.

Hermione was squirming in her seat for her wand and Draco knew he should have been doing the same. His wand was right there in his pocket, but he foolishly thought that if he let go of the wheel he would lose all control.

The car tipped further back, and she pressed the red button on her belt letting it fly open. She leaned over to him, her leg crossing over to his side to reach the pedals. "Left, left," she was yelling.

The front wheels left the road, and they were careening backwards. Like the wheel had burned him he let go and grabbed Hermione keeping her against his chest, his arms around her head protectively.

He glanced in one of the many mirrors and saw the trees behind him. All of the trees they would crash into. He tensed, waiting for the blows.

The first one came, an earthquake in the car jostling them terrible. Hermione screamed and he grunted. He felt the back of his hands bruise, a bone crack as it hit the wheel, her head still protected beneath them.

Her arms flew around him, and he felt a tugging on his jeans. She was pulling out his wand. She raised it as far as his elbow when the car veered left and the wand was shaken out of her grasp falling lost under the seat.

The car tilted, and they bowed, and they crashed to their side, the glass breaking beside Draco's head. He felt warm, sticky blood trickling from his hairline to his cheek, and felt the bone in his arm snap, a pain that he couldn't express as he was waiting for more blows, Hermione's screaming. He was waiting for it all to be over.

It only stopped when the car hit yet another tree, wrenching them forward. Then all was still.

Draco listened with bated breath. He felt the pain throughout his body, but all he was focusing upon was the woman in his arms. The woman who wasn't moving or speaking. He let go of her head, it lolling to the side on to his stomach, not pale but green.

There was no blood on her. Not until he looked down. Her left leg was cut open, blood pouring out soaking her jeans, sock, trainer, and the floor. It twisted in an unnatural way.

"Hermione," he croaked. "Hermione, answer me." His hand shook as he felt her face, the blood from his hand from the white bone protruding out smearing over her face, vivid red and bright against their complexion. "Hermione, love, talk to me. Answer me."

His whole body was trembling. He didn't have his wand, he couldn't reach it, the door pushed in making that impossible. He felt her hips for her wand taking it out. He thought of apparating them out of there, but there wasn't enough room for it, and aside from being injured, he wasn't sufficiently calm. He would splinch them making things worse.

Draco had never been so angry with himself in his life. His selfishness had cost them. Again, as it had so many times in the past, starting from their first year in Hogwarts when he got them all detention.

He felt her pockets for anything else, and then he felt it, the small Muggle device. Her mobile. He flipped it open, the excruciating throbbing in his hand making him wince, tears flowing.

He looked at her long list of contacts. Her parents, all of the Weasley's, Harry, the Longbottom's, Lovegood's, Finnigan's, Thomas'. It went on and on, and only one made sense.

He dialed the Weaslette.

"Hermione? Hermione? Are you there?"

"Weaslette - "

"Who is this," she demanded with attitude and worry.

He groaned. He thought he would black out, surprised he hadn't thus far, the blackness tempting him. "This is Draco Malfoy -"

"Draco Malfoy?! How in the hell did you get her mobile?"

"It's a long story." He thought he would be sick. "I need your help - she needs your help. We were in an accident. She's hurt. Badly. Help us - her. Please." He gave the address and flung the phone shut. Then he gave into the darkness threatening to engulf him. It was only a second before that he realized he would have been better off calling Theo.


A/N: Before anyone asks the specific of Hermione's leg, I imagine that the other side of the car was pushed in too and a jagged piece of metal cut into her.