Disclaimer: The Harry Potter universe and all its lovely characters are not mine.

A/N: Written for Roll-A-Drabble Challenge (May 2018), hosted by Hermione's Haven.

Pairing: Hermione/Harry

Rating: T

Origins

His lips were blue, and it made her slightly worried.

"H-H-Herm-mi-o-ne." His body shook violently as the cold crept inside their cave. His teeth chattered, and its loud echoes nearly drowned out the wailing of the snowstorm.

"Oh, Harry," she lamented. She inched closer and wrapped an arm around him. His head fell on her shoulder, and she pressed her cheek on top of his head, a vain effort to keep his body from losing more heat.

"S-s-so—" he faltered, his warm breath a welcome sensation on her chilled neck. "S-so sorry."

Hermione shook her head. "Harry, you have to stop that," she said. "What happened wasn't your fault."

He lifted his head, and his eyes burrowed into hers. Though they burned with anger, Hermione was relieved. Now, they weren't lifeless, like they had progressively become over the past several days.

"If I hadn't b-brought that device back to the department, we wouldn't be here," he said.

"If you hadn't brought it in," she countered, "then those Death Eater sympathizers would have found a way to detonate it. Then a lot of innocent people would have been in our predicament."

"But, at least, you wouldn't have—" He clamped his mouth shut and tore his gaze away.

Hermione rested her chin on his shoulder. "I did my job. So did you. It's our responsibility as Unspeakables to keep those Dark items out of dangerous hands."

He released a shaky sigh and turned his imploring, green eyes to her again.

"I don't regret that we did our job right," she added softly.

"What if we n-n-never find our way back?" he asked. His lips blanched as he pressed them in a thin line.

She wanted to reassure him that they would find their way home. With their wands obliterated by the explosion that sent them there, however, she was afraid that a return trip was nigh impossible.

Hermione settled for honesty.

"We're going to be fine," she said, conviction ringing true. She covered his hand with her own icy fingers. "You and I – together, we'll be fine."

Harry stared at her, eyes wide as if he had a sudden revelation. She wondered, fleetingly, what it might have been, when his gaze dropped down to her lips.

He reached up and cupped her chin with his palm, swiping the pad of his thumb over her bottom lip.

"Blue," he said, his voice rough.

She froze, and it had nothing to do with the ambient temperature.

His tongue briefly flicked over his lower lip. He started to tilt his head; suddenly, he paused. "Sounds like the storm has passed." He stood up, a bit unsteady on his legs. "I – I'll try to find some wood to restart the fire." He began stumbling out of the cave.

After his first few steps, she regained control of her muscles.

"Harry, wait!" She got to her feet and slipped off the oversized cloak.

"Don't go out there without your cloak," she said, throwing it over him and fastening it around his neck.

He curled his fingers around her trembling hands. "Are you sure you won't be too cold without it?"

"I still have mine, and I promise to stay inside," she said. "Don't be long."

Harry offered her a small smile and lightly squeezed her hands before heading out.

Hermione waited at the mouth of the cave, watching his retreating form. Although he went far, she could easily pick him out; his dark cloak was a sharp contrast against the blanket of snow and ice.

The only other figures she could make out in the vastness of the winter landscape formed a herd. The creatures looked small from this distance, though she knew them to be large mammals. Their shaggy brown fur stood out in the gray-and-white background, and their long, curved tusks jutted in the air.

About Eleven to Twelve Thousand Years Later

As he walked across the Common Room on the way to the sixth year boys' dormitory, he heard a loud snort.

Hermione lounged near the crackling fire, her legs stretched over the length of the sofa and head bent over a large book.

"Something funny?" Harry asked. He gestured for her to make room. She lifted her feet up and then rested her feet on his lap when he sat down.

"Just some nonsense in this book about the origins of magic," she said. "Listen to this."

He leaned back on the sofa as she cleared her throat.

"'While the modern wand has been perfected over generations by wandmakers such as Ollivander and Gregorovitch, earlier iterations have been unearthed during archaeological excavations. The oldest wand discovered, to date, appears to have been created during the late Pleistocene epoch, colloquially known as 'The Ice Age.'

This discovery coincides with legends of the First Wizard and Witch. According to myth, this couple came upon a tribe that had been following a herd of woolly mammoths. While those early humans hunted with rudimentary weapons, the First Wizard and Witch used only short, wooden sticks, which is now believed to have been the earliest prototypes of the wand.

The couple was said to have joined the tribe, and magic passed through their lineage, along with the knowledge of how to create wands. Thus, the first magical community was born.'"

She gave him a sardonic look. "Can you believe this?" she sneered as she slammed the book closed.

"What?"

"This book is basically saying that all of magic came from these two individuals," she said, her eyes rolling heavenward. "It's complete rubbish!"

He shrugged. It was the first time he had heard the story, and it really didn't seem any more preposterous than other theories of magic's genesis.

"I guess we'll never know for sure, though, right?" he asked gently as he tickled the bottom of one foot.

She gave him a playful kick. "Oh, Harry," she said. "However magic came to be, I can promise you – it's not because of some magical Adam and Eve."

A/N: Thanks for reading!

Challenge Prompt:

Hermione/Harry pairing

Use Huddling for Warmth/Time Travel Tropes