Hermione slowly opened her eyes as the sun slowly flooded into their bedroom. She was still tightly tucked in to Draco's side and he was still asleep. She yawned and Draco began to wake up. She sat up and rubbed her eyes and Draco sat up and stretched his defined arms. Hermione stood up, the coldness of the wooden floor shocking her. She walked over to the closet and pulled out her outfit for the day. She made her way to the bathroom that connected to their bedroom, finding it best not to use the one down the hall to avoid an awkward conversation with Ron.
"I'll just go and pack up the rest of the food and things." He said in between yawns. She nodded and smild kindly at him. Hermione quickly took a shower and stepped out, the cold air causing her to shiver. She slipped into full length tan cargo pants and a yellow and purple striped polo shirt with a white collar. Hermione toweled off her damp auburn curls and dried the remaining wet hair with a spell. She pulled the top half of her hair into a pony tail and secured it with a clip on the back of her head. Hermione sighed, and stared at herself in the half fogged mirror. This was it. The next time she would return to Grimauld place, if she even survived, Merlin forbid she would die, she would be a changed person. She would no longer be Hermione Jean Granger, Hogwarts student. She would be Hermione Jean Granger, Dark Lord defeater. She would make her name known in the wizarding world. She would be a legend. Hermione sighed, and picked up her pajamas. She tucked them in her satchel and slung it over her shoulder, glancing around the room for any unpacked objects, and went downstairs, ready to leave and ready to fight for her freedom and her friends.
Hermione went into the kitchen and saw Ron sitting at the table, stuffing his face of course. Draco was fastening his satchel onto his shoulder and Harry, sporting two satchels already, walked over to her and kissed her on the cheek. Harry handed her a piece of toast and she quietly began nibbling on it. Everyone was ready, except for Ron. He cleaned his plate and slung two satchels over his shoulders. Everyone nervously glanced at eachother, then at Harry.
"As for Horcruxes, one was Tom Riddle's diary of course, which was destroyed in our second year." Harry said, Ron howled with justice. "The rest are unknown as of now. We need to get searching. To stay undercover, I find it best we get to a forest I've charted here on this map that hasn't been inhabited for the last 200 years. Only thing is, we're all underaged so we can't apparate. We're going to need to fly. It should just take the day to get there." Harry said.
"I've got my broom, and Harry you've got your firebolt." Ron stated.
"I've brought my Nimbus." Draco said.
"That just leaves me." Hermione sighed.
"Fly with me." Draco blurted out almost immediately. Hermione reddened and smiled at Draco. He smiled back. Ron cleared his throat loudly.
"Or not." He said, crossing his arms across his chest. Hermione scowled at him.
"Well why not?" She said loudly.
"Hermione, you two bloody shared a bed for the past two days. As if there hasn't beeen enough physical contact between you two." Ron said, gritting his teeth. Hermione groaned.
"Draco, get your broom. We're leaving. Come on Harry, Ronald." She said calmly, putting emphasis on Ron's name. The three boys stood in a dark and secluded alley next to the building that concealed Grimauld place and mounted their brooms. Their satchels were fastened to the brooms and Hermione climbed behind Draco, hugging his waist tightly and sharing her warm body heat with him. They flew off, cars turning microscopic, people becoming small dots in a mass of miniature buldings. Hermione shut her eyes and tightened her grip around Draco, resting her head on him. The cold air blew her hair in the wind. The scent of fresh trees and nature became stronger as they came near the secluded forest. Hours and hours later, they landed in between a mass of towering and large trees. Hermione staggered onto her feet as they landed on the dirt. She climbed off Draco's broom and the three boys began unpacking their tent. Minutes later, a small looking tent sat before them, but when they climbed inside, the tent contained two living areas, a full on kitchen, two bathrooms, and three bedrooms, all of these rooms stocked with furniture. Hermione sighed and placed her satchel on a nearby chair. The boys began to unpack the food and Hermione wandered through this tent, peering around curiously. Draco, Ron, and Harry finished unpacking and made their way over to Hermione, everybody nervously looking around, unsure of their next move.
"Erm- I brought this radio. It'll help track everything that's going on." She said. Ron and Draco looked at her completely clueless. Harry chuckled.
"It's like the news being spoken in a box." Harry said in between laughs. Hermione smiled. Draco and Ron still looked completely naive. She pulled the old radio out of her satchel and twisted the knobs a few times before a raspy voice sounded through the double metallic speakers. The voice buzzed some random news and Hermione shut it off. Hermione placed it on a table nearby, and turned it on yet again at a medium volume. She smiled at the three boys and took her things to her room. Hermione stood outside a room.
"Hey, Draco, erm-" She struggled. Ron scowled.
"Of course I will." He said proudly. Ron groaned and plopped down on a tan couch. Draco grabbed his things and jogged over to Hermione, the duo entering the room together. It was quite gorgeous. The walls were made of dark green cloth, given it was a tent, but the bed frame was made of deep and expensive looking carved wood. There was multiple pillows and sheets made of deep red colored silk. The tables on each side of the bed were made of the same pricey looking wood. Draco set his bag down and flopped right on top of his back on the expensive bed. Hermione jumped on the bed and crouched on top of Draco, so close to him that her breath felt warm on his reddening cheeks.
"Hello." Draco said with a smirk. Hermione chuckled. She rolled on her back next to him and they both looked up at the cloth ceiling. She placed a small hand on top of his, Draco's heart beating faster.
"I feel like we've been like this forever." She said with a dreamy voice.
"In love?" Draco practically whispered. Her heartbeat rapidly picked up. She swallowed hard and her mouth suddenly felt dry. All she could do was giggle awkwardly. Draco chuckled, "Kidding." He smiled. She calmed down, but felt a bit hurt. She had loved him, right? It was true. She felt sick and sat up, sighing in the process.
"Harry and Ron suggested they search the forest for any sign of people, we should go say goodbye." She said, he nodded and they both wondered into the kitchen, Ron eating yet again and Harry was slipping into a heavy coat. He smiled at her but Hermione could see fear behind his smile. She went over to him and hugged him for a few minutes. Ron cleared his dishes and Draco stood awkwardly in the background. Hermione let go of Harry and quickly hugged Ron before helping him into his coat.
"Be back by sunset, ok?" She said, eyes welling up and her voice quivering. Even though they would be back in a matter of minutes, Hermione couldn't help but feel nervous what with everything that's happened lately. Harry and Ron nodded. Harry shook Draco's hand and Ron just nodded at Draco. Both Ron and Harry clutched their wands and headed out of the tent, and into the dead silent wilderness.
"I should probably put a force field around our camp." Draco said breaking the silence. Hermione nodded and wiped at her eyes. Draco stepped outside and she shut her eyes for a moment, calming down. She walked into her room yet again and pulled out the familiar book on veelas, slowly stroking the binding with curiosity. She thumbed through the pages yet again and scanned the words, too distracted to comprehend the sentences before her. She sighed and shut the book, placing it back in her bag. Draco returned seconds later and smiled at her from the doorway. She smiled back, walking over to him and clapping her hands onto her hips.
"So what should we do?" She asked, he smiled.
"We could get a fire going and listen to that radio device you brought." He grinned. Draco had taken a peculiar yet adorable interest in the radio. She nodded, and they walked into the formal living area. The rug was blood red and shaggy, and Draco sprawled out on the carpet, resting. Hermione pointed her wand at the black brick fireplace and a stream of orange glittering light shot out of her wand, causing a roaring fire to appear in the ash filled pit. She walked over to the radio that sat on the table and fiddled with the knobs again, the same man's voice blaring through the speakers again. He mumbled some more news, and zhermione plopped down on the carpet next to Draco. Draco just stared at her, his mind flooded with thoughts of how beautiful she really was, and how he was so foolish not to have noticed this before. He shook it off because Hermione began to look at him with confusion. He smiled, and she excused his awkward looks. The radio buzzed depressing news of how the dark lord was only growing stronger, but it was nothing Hermione and Draco haven't heard already. Draco nervously picked at the shag and glanced around quickly. Hermione looked tense, and Draco knew she was concerned about Harry and Ron. He placed a supporting and friendly hand on top of hers, heat and power surging through his touch, and Hermione's mood turned positive in almost an instant. She smiled, eyes lighting up at him. A faint popping sound came from outside and both wizards knew someone had crossed their forcefield. This forcefield was charmed so that only Draco, Ron, Hermione, and Harry could cross it. Ron and Harry came panting through the door, sweat forming on their faces. Hermione ran over to them both, engaging in warm embraces.
"All clear, we're all alone." Harry panted, Ron nodded. Hermione handed each of the boys a glass full of crystal water. They each gulped it down, and exhaled loudly. The radio continued to buzz in the corner, and over a matter of minutes, more reports of Death Eater attacks were flooding in, and each one of the wizards in that room jumped every time a name of another wizard dead was spoken. They continued to go on through the weeks, and had reached the decision to stay in this forest until September 1st, when all the wizards would return to Hogwarts. It will be then that they will start the battle and it will begin there. They will send an anonymous owl to Malfoy Manor alerting the Death Eaters and Voldemort himself. They had to fight this out sometime, and they felt it was only right to do it with most of the school on their side and their beloved headmaster Dumbledore. There was no way they could fail with a genius like him on their side. The days slowly and dreadfully went by, and the closer they came to the first of September, the weaker Harry became. His jet black hair was messier than usual and faded to an almost grayish black. His poison green eyes seemed sad and bloodshot. He barely ate and drank only when completely neccesary. Hermione tried to comfort him, but she knew that even his best friend couldn't settle the stress of the events to be held. Weeks later, it was July 31st, Harry's birthday. His eyes eased open as the sun flooded into the room, nearly blinding him. He groaned and buried his face in his pillow. Ron snored from the twin four poster to his right and Harry chuckled. All too quickly, someone barged through the door and shouted at them to get up. Harry shot out of bed and put on his oval spectacles, only to see Hermione grinning at him from the foot of the bed. Her hair was still wet from a shower and it was braided thickly. She wore a pink jumper and denimn blue jeans. Hermione jumped onto the bed and tugged at Harry's limp limbs, dragging him to the kitchen. In the kitchen was a table full of spectacular dishes. Plates full of pancakes, waffles, crepes, chocolate muffins, blueberry muffins, toast, jam, butter, and lots of maple syrup. Ron stumbled in behind them, his eyes gleaming at the table full of food. Draco stood in the corner of the kitchen, leaning on the wall with his arms folded across his chest. He smiled at Harry and Ron as Hermione went and stood next to him.
"Draco helped me make these for you." She gleamed at Harry.
"Kreacher taught me all I know, and I showed her." Draco smiled. He looked down at a content Hermione and wiped some flour off of her cheek with his thumb, she looked back up at him with kind and loving eyes. "Sorry." He smiled, Hermione only grinned wider. Ron rolled his eyes and everyone piled their plates with decadent pastries and treats. Hermione took a seat at the table next to Draco and placed a hand on his thigh underneath the table. He smiled at her, but she didn't take her eyes off of the hungry boys. It had been the first time in weeks since she had seen Harry so pleased. Draco loved seeing her so happy, even if he wasn't the one making her. The four wizards sat there and devoured every last bite of the amazing meal, laughing and having a fantastic time, the constant buzz of the radio announcing more attacks seemed only a figment of their imaginations. The relationship between Draco and the Gryffindor bunch became stronger that day, and Ron and Harry practically considered him their friend.
A/N: Oh my Rowling. I am SO sorry I haven't been able to updates sooner, but in edition to the Sunday update, I've got 2 chapters for you right now! Enjoy! XOXO