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Au/N: to divide the number of reviews I have by the number of chapters I've posted, you get 15.3. Isn't that a lovely number??? But I'd like it even more if it were bigger!!!! (This is a hint. Unless you are blind—which you aren't, or you wouldn't be reading this—then you'll take the hint and leave me a review!! Mucho thanks, people!)

Chapter Eleven. The Fog

Hermione Granger

Once we were outside, I turned around to see the house we'd just been in. The house held a warm, happy memory, even in the middle of all the madness.

But it wasn't there.

"Malfoy! Where's the house?" I cried in alarm. His hold on my hand tightened considerably, but he kept walking, pulling me with him. My eyes searched frantically for any sign of a house, but there wasn't one. We were in the middle of nowhere, standing at a crossroads. The road was made of dirt and gravel, and I didn't recognize my surroundings at all. It was cold and nighttime, but the stars and the moon weren't out to light our way.

"Where are we?" I asked softly; worry was building up in my chest and weighing me down.

"Don't worry, 'Mione. We're not too far from your house." That answer was not good enough. I narrowed my eyes at the back of his head and dug my heels into the ground.

He stopped with a jolt, along with me. I held him back with all my strength, but I knew he could've thrown me off or dragged me along if he'd really wanted to. Eventually, he gave up and released me. He turned to smile his warm, genuine smile at me.

"I tell you what…I'll go first, if it makes you feel better. But there's nothing out there, I promise. Your house is just around those trees there."

He turned again and began to walk away, his shoes grinding into the gravel road. As his footsteps fell faint in my ears, I noticed that a strange fog was approaching eerily from three sides of me, crawling along the earth as though possessed.

"Fine! Just…leave me, then!" I screamed, stomping my foot hard on the gravel road. He laughed in the distance, probably thinking I was joking.

I crossed my arms against my chest and thought of the many ways I'd repay him for this.

"Hermione?" his voice called suddenly, with a strong urgency to it. "Something's…not right…" came his voice again from somewhere ahead of me. The fog was so thick and fast-moving that he was completely hidden by it in a matter of seconds. I reached out into the white fog so that I didn't bump into anything—and gasped in pain as it sent an electric shock through my body.

I screamed as I jerked back my hand and backed away from the white expanse of nothingness before me. Malfoy heard me scream.

"Hermione! Don't move! Stay exactly where you are; I'm coming for you!" he yelled, the fog even seeming to muffle his voice. Shaking my head, I noticed that his words seemed to echo…and drop considerably in pitch. Finally, all I heard was a dull buzzing sound. Fear surged through me as I inspected the hand that I'd plunged into the fog.

It was gone.

My hand had completely disappeared.

"MY HAND! MALFOY! MY HAND IS GONE!" I screeched, but to my amazement, I only heard a low buzzing noise. My throat began to close up; I saw that my other hand was disappearing as well.

Looking around frantically, I saw something that frightened me more than anything ever had. The fog had surrounded me, leaving a small circle around me. If I was any kind of sane, I knew that no cloud was supposed to encircle objects, and clouds definitely weren't supposed to shock you and make body parts disappear. Realization stung almost as much as the fog did.

It was another trap. We'd been followed, found-out, tracked down…

Searching desperately for a way out, I turned completely around, looking for a space in the barrier around me. There was none. As I moved, I realized that the circle was becoming smaller and smaller—and my body was becoming almost transparent.

Suddenly, just as all hope was abandoning me, I felt a strong hand clamp down on my shoulder. I whipped around, my heart pounding in my chest, expecting to find Voldemort or a Death Eater.

But there was no one.

Then I heard a buzzing. A low, urgent buzzing. I stared into the spot where I'd expected to find a person standing, confusion accompanying the throbbing in my head. I still saw no one.

And then two soft, moist lips pressed against mine. I stood still at first, shocked to the core, not seeing anyone to kiss me. But I recognized the way the invisible mouth moved against mine, and I knew—Malfoy.

The lips abandoned mine, and I heard buzzing again. Malfoy was trying to talk to me, which explained the buzzing. And…he didn't know that I couldn't hear him. Thinking quickly, I pointed to my ear, and then I shook my head furiously. The buzzing stopped; I assumed he was trying to understand.

My feet began to tingle. I looked down and saw that the fog had wrapped around my ankles, and my feet had disappeared. My legs were fading fast; I couldn't tear my eyes away until the only thing I could see was my thighs. Then I closed my eyes tightly and took deep breaths. And I felt it begin to rain. It soaked into my clothes, ran down my back, and slid down my face. But the fog was almost touching my skin now, and I felt painful pricks of electricity jabbing into my body. I bit my lip to keep from crying out.

I wished I could see Mal—Draco. I wanted so badly to see him again; the pain was dizzying, but I knew that if he kissed me again, or if I could only look into his eyes, I'd be alright.

If I could touch him, we'd both be okay.

Keeping my eyes closed, I reached out again into the fog, feeling for Draco's face. The pain was so intense that I screamed out loud, my lungs aching for air. It felt like a thousand tiny knives were cutting into my flesh, ripping at the muscle beneath, sawing at the bone. But then I felt my hand collide with soft flesh, and I forgot the pain.

Draco. I felt him.

His warm hand gripped my wrist in reassurance, but I could tell he was in so much pain. The fog was coming. I felt it press against my back.

And it burned and cut and ripped away at everything.

But I couldn't scream anymore.

It should've been unbearable, and it very nearly was…but I could endure it…because I loved Draco. And he was there with me, right then, when I needed him. He could've turned and run away as soon as he knew what was happening, but he hadn't. He'd stayed. He'd stayed to hold my hand while I suffered—while we both suffered. I didn't know what was happening, and I couldn't ask him.

But I knew that if I ever got out of it, I was going to ask him to marry me.

Hermione Granger Malfoy. Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy.

Hermione Malfoy.

Hmm.

With a little sigh, I smiled. And when my knees gave away, and I knew I was falling, nothing made me happier than to know that I was, at least, falling with him.

End Chapter

Like it? Short and bittersweet.

This is NOT THE END!!! It may seem like it, but it's not over just yet.

Review and I'll make sure you read the ending before Christmas!