A/N: Thank you to everyone who's read this far and has sent wonderful comments and messages my way! I absolutely love hearing your thoughts, predictions, and analyses of the story. I prefer not to give much away in terms of plot but I do want to put forth a general warning that this story deals with some uncomfortable themes that can be triggering. Please proceed with caution. All my love. -OhLenaLena

Chapter 8

"I don't like this," Nott was saying. He and Hermione were carrying the back end of Ginny's stretcher, huffing with fatigue, while Harry walked ahead with Cho. Cho appeared disoriented and weak, yet she walked with Harry mostly unsupported.

Malfoy looked back at them from the front end of Ginny's cot. He groaned as he stumbled over some stones on the ground which he didn't see coming on account of turning to look at Nott. "You and me both, brother," he said after cursing for half a minute.

Nott gave Malfoy a grave look. Nott often communicated without words.

"What's not to like?" Ron said, wincing as he switched his hands on the corner of the stretcher. "Pretty girl comes back from the dead."

Malfoy shot Ron a scathing look.

"What?" Ron said. "You never seen a ghost before, Malfoy?"

"This is no time for your idiotic jokes, Weasley," Malfoy spat.

"It is strange," Hermione narrowed her eyes as Harry helped Cho across a particularly uneven stretch of exposed roots. "We're meant to believe, what? That she just somehow escaped?"

Nott looked over at her and shook his head. "Something doesn't add up."

"She could be a spy," Neville whispered behind them.

"She just all of a sudden switched sides?" Luna said, squeezing herself between Hermione and Nott. "Here, I can take over," she said, relieving Hermione as she gripped the corner of the stretcher.

"Thanks, Luna," Hermione said, rubbing her hands together and bringing them up to her mouth to blow out a breath of hot air against her frozen fingers.

"Worked for Malfoy," Neville muttered, and Nott gave him a sideways glance. "I can take the other end, Theo," Neville said.

Nott nodded at him and stepped aside as Neville took up his corner. Luna gave Neville a small smile as he hoisted his corner higher, taking the bulk of the weight upon himself.

Nott and Hermione fell behind. The woods loomed over them with coils of swaying branches, overgrown and uninhibited. With the recent frost, the deciduous trees had begun to shed their leaves anew, even their freshest buds stood little chance against the changing weather. Nott slipped his hands into the pockets of his tattered trousers and looked over at Hermione. He studied her for a while before asking, "What are you thinking?"

Hermione shrugged.

"You think they let her go."

Hermione looked up at him with a solemn expression on her face. "Don't you?"

Nott glanced back up at Cho and Harry at the forefront. "The question is, why?"

…

"Some accounts depict Theodore Nott as having lost his mind," I say.

Malfoy looks up at me and moves his mouth sideways, pursing his lips thoughtfully. Then he chuckles, "Well, he certainly wasn't the only one."

I give him a sympathetic smile. "It was a difficult journey."

Malfoy raises his eyebrows. "That would be an understatement."

I lean forward uncomfortably and give him a serious look. "I don't mean – I don't mean what you think I mean."

Malfoy slopes over the table, his eyes exploring my face. "Why don't you tell me what you mean, then?"

I swallow loudly and wince self-consciously, feeling heat flood my face. "I mean after. After it was over, why did he disappear?"

"Disappear?" Malfoy scoffs derisively. "The man receives more attention from the media than Viktor Krum. You'd want to disappear too."

"He – does he still keep in contact …" I trail off slowly.

"With?"

"With anybody?"

"Fuck if I know," Malfoy leans back in his seat and his expression says that he's not fond of the topic of conversation. After a few seconds of uneasy silence, Malfoy gulps and says, "We did things, you know?" He narrows his eyes watching my reaction. "Things you don't just come back from unscathed."

…

Their new camp was smaller and the trees around it were more dense. Neville was right, the creek running through the forest by the clearing was quite convenient. They took turns drinking the water bubbling against the rocks and filling up their bowls. They were careful with the water, consistently aware that it may be the next thing to go. Plenty could be done to impede a supply of fresh water. Honestly, they were quite surprised they still had one.

Harry washed Ginny's face and neck and, truthfully, she looked cleaner than any of them with all the extensive care that she was receiving. Cho sat near them and watched as Harry dabbed a wet cloth over Ginny's chest, underneath the collar of her shirt. Ron and Neville began building shelters on the outskirts of the clearing while Luna collected stones to contain the fire they would be building. Nott took inventory: they'd brought the spears – the ones George had had the forethought to make – Oliver Wood's broom (just in case); an axe that Malfoy had transfigured early on; the bowls that were now lined up by Harry, full of water; several satchels with the last of their berries (these were becoming increasingly scarce given the onset of an early winter), and the remainder of the bubotubers; a pile of wands – a heap of indiscernible sticks, really – several pairs – or rather not pairs – of shoes that they'd found abandoned after the attack; and Neville's cooking pot. Nott took the liberty of filling the pot from the spring. He filled it right to the top. Then, he, Malfoy, and Hermione set out to gather firewood and brush for the huts.

Nott began to pile the logs in a heap near the clearing, venturing farther and farther out to find suitable materials. The area was crowded with silver birch which, as they'd previously learned, didn't burn for very long, so they would need to collect more of it to last the evening.

"We should try to talk to her," Hermione said. "I'm sure she's got a story."

"She's been mute," Malfoy said. "Won't even speak to Harry."

"What the hell happened to her?" Hermione said quietly, mostly to herself.

Nott came up behind her and just stood there with a pile of soggy wood in his arms. He was silent for a while, watching Cho and Harry interact in the middle of the clearing. Finally, he sighed, "This birch is wetter than your mother's cunt, Draco."

Hermione's eyes widened as she turned to look at Nott.

Malfoy, who'd been gathering needled branches for the shelters, sighed. "Fuck," he said. Nott's profanity didn't seem to phase him in the slightest.

Hermione looked down at Malfoy. "Aren't you going to defend you mother's honour?"

"My mother's honour?" Malfoy let out a laugh. "Now there's an oxymoron for you."

"Sorry, Granger," Nott said impassively, "forgot you were here."

"And if I weren't, it would make it ok?" she rounded on him.

At her outrage, Nott sucked in his cheeks and grinned. Blinking down at her through a thicket of dark lashes, his face, as a whole, remained relatively unmoved, save for the subtle smile on his lips.

"It's disrespectful," Hermione said indignantly.

"The more pressing matter is that, if we can't make a fire tonight, we'll be very fucking cold," Nott said.

Malfoy stood up from his crouched position and straightened his back with a groan. "We'll have to huddle," he said, smirking at Hermione.

Hermione glared at him, her face flushing despite the wintry air. A distressing exhilaration suddenly gripped her at the sight of his suggestive expression. It almost dizzied her – knowing that they shared a secret. That they had an inside joke.

Nott glanced between them with slightly narrowed eyes. When Malfoy went back to camp to deliver an armful of branches, Nott turned to her, saying, "You could do worse."

She slowly lifted her gaze to look at him. "I'm not doing anything."

Nott watched her calmly. "Yet."

"You're irritating me, Nott."

Nott began to chuckle. He dropped the logs he was holding and placed a palm over his face. He looked at her through the spaces between his fingers. "I'm quite glad you're with us, Granger," he said.

"That makes one of us."

Nott dropped his head, his shoulders shaking. Hermione bit her lip, smiling at his reaction. When he looked back up at her, she was laughing too.

…

"Marian."

"Marian," he says quietly. "It's a pleasure, Marian."

I smile.

His dark eyes rest on mine and I wonder who will look away first. When neither of us do, I begin to feel like I need to gasp for air as my breathing quickens. He narrows his gaze. "Who do you remind me of, Marian?"

…

Hermione was painstakingly drying one log at a time with a hot air charm. Nott was assembling the firewood in the pit, cursing occasionally at its damp state. Malfoy, was piling dirt and dried leaves over the two huts Neville was building with Ron. Cho was sitting with Ginny, her hands over her neck. Luna and Harry were on their way out of the clearing in search of food. Hermione was –

Hermione doubled back and stared at Cho who was kneeling over Ginny, her fingers wrapping around Ginny's neck – she was choking her!

Hermione sprang up, screaming and running for Cho. The others in the camp looked in her direction. Nott was next to jump up. He was closer to Cho so he got to her first, prying her off of a lifeless Ginny.

"What the fuck? What the fuck?" Hermione screamed as Malfoy arrived. He grabbed Hermione by the shoulders and practically threw her out of the way, landing with a skid at Ginny's side. He grabbed her wrist, feeling for a pulse. He dropped it in frustration and stuck a couple of fingers against the groove on the side of Ginny's neck, along her carotid.

By this time, Ron and Harry were on scene. Harry dropped to his knees at Ginny's side, yelping, "What happened? What the fuck happened?"

"Malfoy!" roared Nott, struggling against a shrieking Cho who was beating against his grasp. "Malfoy, let me look at her!"

Malfoy leapt up and grabbed Cho at a run. Nott shrugged her off and slid in beside Harry, taking Ginny's face in his hands. "No, no," he whispered. "Don't give up on me, Red." He placed his hands on her sternum, beginning to compress her chest rhythmically. "C'mon, Ginny. Come on."

"Is she breathing?" Ron sobbed. Between the frigid cold and the tears, he was a snivelling mess.

"I need my wand!" Nott yelled, continuing to push into Ginny's ribcage.

"The fuck are you going to do with it?" Harry screamed, but he was already up and running to look for it.

"Use mine!" Hermione jumped in.

Nott shook his head. "I can't take that chance." He looked up at her. "You're going to have to do it."

"Wha –" she gulped. "What am I doing?"

"You need to give her a counter-shock."

"What?"

"You need to shock her," Nott said steadily. "In her heart. Now. Ron, come around to the other side."

"I can't," Hermione cried. She shook her head, the tears pouring down her face.

Nott, continuing to press against Ginny's breastbone with his palm, watched her evenly, "Hermione, you have to. Either you do this, or she dies right now."

"Let me!" Ron pushed his way in, holding his wand out to Ginny's heart.

"No!" Nott yelled, throwing a firm grasp over Ron's wand hand. His eyes shot up toward Hermione and they looked almost pleading. "We need two. To create the current."

Behind them, Cho had scraped herself out of Malfoy's grasp and he, Neville, and Luna were chasing her around the clearing. Cho was throwing hexes in their direction as she ran.

"Hermione," Nott's level voice cut through their screams, "look at me, Hermione."

She looked up at him. His dark eyes were reassuring but she shook her head. "I don't have any magic left."

"You can do this, Hermione," he said. "If anyone can do this, it's you."

Hermione nodded, taking some deep breaths to steady herself.

"The current has to go through her heart," Nott spoke quickly and clearly as he tore away the front of Ginny's shirt. "Ron, administer yours here, on the right side." His voice was simultaneously resolute and calm. "Hermione, you're there." He placed an index finger to the lower left of Ginny's ribcage.

"What happens if one of us can't get a charge?" Hermione said.

Nott looked up at her, lifting his hands off of Ginny's chest. "Make sure you get a charge."

Hermione breathed out through her mouth and, pointing her wand at Ginny's chest, she blinked up at Ron. "Electrica Eructo," she muttered. A dim orange light ignited at the tip of her wand, burning out in a blue spark.

Nott was watching Ginny. "Again," he said.

"What?" she stared at him.

"Again, Hermione!"

"Electrica Eructo." Ron was louder this time. The flash that erupted from his wand flared for a fraction longer than last time, Ginny's body jolting in response.

"Her skin is burning," Hermione cried, seeing the redness appear beneath the tip of her wand, gagging as the smell of it reached her nostrils.

"Again!"

"How many times, Nott?" Hermione sobbed.

"As many as it takes. Again!"

"Electrica Eructo."

"I can't lose you, Ginny!" Ron sobbed. "Not you, too."

Ginny began to stir.

"Oh my god," Hermione whispered. "Is she awake?"

Ginny wheezed.

"Ginny?" Harry cried. He ran back over to them, carrying the handful of wands he'd located at the edge of the clearing.

Nott sank backward, his hands hitting the ground behind him, gasping.

"Ginny?" Ron wailed. "Ginny!"

Ginny opened her eyes.

Hermione clapped a hand to her mouth, shuffling out of the way just as Harry nearly tripped over her. She looked up at Nott, who had risen and backed away. He was half-smiling at her with a dazed sort of expression. Hermione began to sob again. She sprang up and ran for him, throwing her arms around his neck.

Nott remained unresponsive for a moment, as if her reaction had caught him off guard.

After a few seconds, she felt his arms close around her back, his head bow down into her shoulder. He spoke into her neck, "You did it."

She wept against his chest. "Thank you," she shook her head. "Thank you, thank you."

He continued to rest his head in the curve between her neck and her shoulder, his breath hot against her skin.

"How did you know what to do?" she whispered. "How do you always know what to do?"

He let out a low chuckle. She felt him smile into her neck. "Mum's a doctor."

"A healer, you mean?"

Nott shook his head.

"Your mother is a muggle?" She released him and stepped back slightly, glancing up at him as he lifted his head to look at her.

"I didn't say that."

Hermione furrowed her brows. "Your mother's a witch but she practices muggle medicine?"

Nott gave her a cordial smile. "She's quite fond of muggle research methods. Says they're leagues ahead of magical healers in that respect."

Hermione's arms were still on his shoulders, her fingers entwined behind his neck. His hands had slid down her back and were sitting on her waist. She didn't know why she did it, but she grazed her fingers through the hair on the back of his head, feeding them through the soft waves of it. He began to pull her. Pull her at the waist as he walked backward – backward into the thickness of the woods behind him.

His gaze was absorbed in her, as if there was nothing else going on around them. As if Malfoy hadn't just tackled Cho to the ground behind them while Neville and Luna flanked her on both sides. As if Ginny hadn't just been revived. He watched her carefully, trying to interpret her intentions. She moved with him still, no signs of stopping. So, he stepped quicker – glided – his hands sliding up, moving swiftly like their rushing velocity.

As soon as they were past the treeline, as soon as they felt the branches scratching against their skin, he drew her in. His hands came up so fast she barely felt them move. His lips were locked on hers before she could take a full breath, as if he needed to kiss her before he could reconsider. He kissed her with an impatience that was intoxicating. The way he leaned into her was moving – unrestrained. He curved over her, consumed her, enveloped her in an overwhelmed, turbulent embrace.

She felt his lips drape over her like a physical manifestation of bliss. His fingers swathed her cheeks, her mouth, neck, in paroxysms of exhilaration. She kissed him back, of course. She kissed with the urgency that she felt, flattened herself against him, feeling his warmth seep through her despite the bitter wind that whipped around them. They stumbled over the roots that wound through the earth, they crashed into trees that had the audacity to stand in their furious path, they broke through brittle branches as they flew farther into the forest.

His hands hovered over her face, slipping along her jaw and into her hair. They snuck along the back of her neck, trailed across the dips of her shoulders, slid along her collarbone, as he breathed into her a hot, uneven breath. As his lips crept along her cheek, as his tongued swanned its way to her ear.

"Hermione," he breathed, "when I said you could do worse –"

"You meant yourself?" Hermione smiled into his neck as his teeth skimmed her earlobe.

He chuckled quietly, "I was going to say, it wasn't my place."

Hermione detached herself slightly, and he lowered his head to keep her mouth close to his. "And now?" She lifted her eyes to look at him along the bridge of her nose.

He watched her, slid his thumb across her cheekbone, drifted it over her lips. He sighed, stepping closer – as if that were possible – and she felt his body come up against hers, felt his hips brush hers, his chest support her own. "Now," he said, a smile curling his lips, "he can't have you."

She had but a moment longer to breathe him in. Then –

"Ron!" It was Harry who was screaming.

Hermione whipped her head around, squinting through the perpetual darkness.

She ran. She let go of Nott so fast, it was like he was never there. But she could hear his footsteps gaining behind her. They broke through the brush into the clearing and froze. Cho had Malfoy in a headlock with a wand pointed to his temple. Ron was slowly stepping toward them with his wand held out. Harry, who was supporting Ginny's head on the ground, was bellowing for Ron to retreat.

"Fuck," Nott swore into the night. "Where the fuck is my wand?"

"Let him go!" Ron yelled.

But Cho's eyes were wild. She wasn't going to be listening to Ron. She wasn't going to be listening to anybody.

"Ron!" Hermione yelled, "Get back!"

Ron turned his head toward her and his expression was stunned. He gestured toward Cho, "She's got Malfoy!"

"I can see that, Ron," Hermione cried. "Get back, Ron! Please get back!"

Nott had come up by her side and extended a hand before her, the firm stretch of his forearm blocking her from moving forward. He nodded at Ron.

"No!" Hermione screamed as she looked between Nott and Ron – as Ron raised his wand. "Ron, no!" She began to struggle against Nott's arm.

Cho's gaze trailed back and forth between Ron and Hermione until she finally pointed her wand at Ron.

Nott swivelled around and, just as she began to run toward Ron, plucked Hermione right off the ground, plunging her backwards into the thicket of foliage at the edge of the clearing.

Just as Ron muttered the first syllable of his stunning spell and Cho released her grip on Malfoy to lift her wand higher, Nott spun back around, gunning for Cho. And as the voiceless curse lit up the tip of Cho's wand, Malfoy, who'd been thrown aside, lunged at her ankles, destabilizing her, while Nott rammed into her, bringing the three of them down in a heap as the jet of her spell soared high over the canopy of trees.

Ron looked up, watching the red stream shoot far above his head, and then gaped at the mound of their bodies on the ground. "Wicked," he said, a beam spreading on his face.