Her arm throbbed from wrist to elbow. The stinging heat of pain took her breath away. Or maybe that was the falling sensation that caused her stomach to lurch and her chest to seize. At this point, she couldn't tell.
She held her injured arm close to her chest, blood seeping into her shirt, as the wind rushed from under her.
She would have liked for it to stop, but the second it did, she regretted it.
Her breath flew from her lips as she collided with the earth. Her head jerked back on impact, causing stars to temporarily blind her vision as she connected with something. The sickening crack that sounded would have twisted her stomach if she hadn't been so focused on the pain that came with it.
All at once, everything was still.
She laid there for a moment, assessing where she hurt and what was not working properly. The answer was everything. She groaned.
Her groan was answered with another a few feet away.
As carefully as she could, Hermione eased herself into a sitting position. The world swam with the effort. She took a deep breath and laid back again, wishing the waves in her head would stop.
The grass to her left rustled as someone rolled over.
She turned her head and peeked an eye open.
"Draco?"
He moaned. She watched his chest rise and fall with deep effort.
"Where are we?" He managed after a moment.
Hermione shook her head slightly. "No idea."
She watched as he pushed himself up. He took a long look around. Something about the set of his mouth had hers turning down.
"What? What is it?" She forced herself to sit up.
Her eyes widened. Before her was an open meadow surrounded by heavy woods. But what had really caught her eye made her mind reel.
Standing before her, staring at the two of them with huge black eyes, were three - not just one, but three - deer-like creatures. They ranged in age, with two adults of different sizes and a young fawn no taller than Hermione's hip. Their fur shimmered in different shades of brown, grey, and black.
The young one bayed and pranced behind its mother, setting the world into motion.
The bigger deer, whose horn curled up over the top of his head, reared on his back legs. His tail slashed back and forth as he came down onto his front so hard, his hooves dug into the grass beneath. He pawed at the earth as the smaller adult nudged the fawn away.
"Hermione." Draco's voice was barely above a whisper. "Run...now!"
She gapped at the deer.
The logical part of her mind told her that, from what they had observed of the species so far, they were usually nonviolent. But this deer was not acting to her normal expectations.
Her breath caught as it swung its horn about in a territorial threat.
Oh, shi-.
She was yanked to her feet as it charged forward. She had been so focused on the male that she hadn't noticed Draco jump up. That must have been what set the creature off.
Despite the pain surging through with each step, Hermione ran as fast as she could manage. Draco's firmly clinched hand on her wrist did most of the work.
They burst through the tree line but did not stop. Dodging trunks and bushes, Draco pulled her along until they were several yards from the meadow.
Hermione threw a look over her shoulder.
"Draco, stop!"
He did not slow down.
"Draco!"
She gave a violent tug on her arm, forcing him to glance back at her.
"What?!"
"Stop!"
He looked past her and, seeing as they were no longer being chased, slowed to a stop.
Hermione took many hearty breaths, trying to force the air into her burning lungs. Her arm was now swollen and her head pounded. She was doing all she could not to fall over.
Draco did not appear to be in the best of shapes either. He leaned back onto a tree and extended his leg. He raised his pant's leg to find a swollen ankle. It was already changing colors on him. He pursed his lips at the horrid thing.
"Running on a twist isn't the best idea," Hermione quipped.
"Yeah, well, we didn't have much of a choice, now did we?" He retorted. "Besides, you're not at your best right now, either."
His expression softened as he took note of her.
"Are you okay?"
She shot him a look.
"Honestly?"
He stepped, winced, then stepped again, making his way to her as careful as he could. She met him halfway. Together, the two of them settled into the underbrush to look over their injuries.
Luckily, Hermione knew a bit of first aid spells, courtesy of Harry's Horcrux Hunt.
"Let me see that ankle again," she demanded, reminding herself a bit of Madam Pomfrey.
Draco raised his the hem of his pants.
Hermione grabbed her wand. She cursed herself for not having her bag with her. She had plenty of potions and tonics that would do better. But a spell would have to suffice.
She waved the tip of her wand back and forth over his ankle like one would wrap a bandage, muttering the spell under her breath as she did so.
Draco sighed in relief.
Hermione eyed it as she finished. It was not perfect, but it would do until they got home...if they got home.
She shook the thought from her head.
"Here." Draco held out his hand for her injured arm. Pushing her doubts aside, she carefully pulled it away from her front and allowed him to gently grab hold.
He cradled it in one hand. Very slowly, he traced the deep cuts with his wand, singing an incantation under his breath. The bleeding stopped. A slight sting filled each slash before immediately soothing as if a balm had been used. Hermione watched as the skin came back together.
He glanced up, meeting her eyes when he had finished.
"Thank you," she whispered.
He shrugged and looked away.
"When the dark lord and his mates take over your home, you learn a thing or two."
Hermione nodded. She did not let on that she knew the truth of the spell he used.
Instead, she looked around for the first time.
"Where do you suppose we are?"
Draco's brows knitted together. "Not a clue. The air still has a bit of chill, so maybe we haven't left England."
He pushed a hand through his hair, sleeking it back. "One thing's for sure: we are no longer on Malfoy Estate."
Hermione stood. "Well, let's fix that."
She walked over to him and held out her arm. Draco momentarily blanched at being the one escorted but took hold nonetheless.
They turned on the spot. An unpleasant lurch took hold of his stomach, but not the usual one associated with apparition.
They found themselves thrown to the ground.
"What- ?"
"Well, that worked swell."
Draco yanked his arm away and began pacing the small area.
"This is just great - wonderful even! Not a clue where we are, can't apparate, and I bet the nearest floo is eons away!"
Hermione let him ramble on. Honestly, it took longer than it should have for him to notice her silence. He shot her a look out of the corner of his eye. His snarky attitude drained from him.
"Hermione?"
She did not respond. He moved to sit beside her.
"There has to be a way for us to return home," she muttered.
"How? Our apparition is blocked."
"So you've mentioned."
"And we don't know where we are."
Hermione nodded. "Yes, there is that."
"And the bloody deer is nowhere to be found."
She blinked, her face scrunching up in confusion.
"What?"
"The deer! The reason we're here in this forsaken forest in the first place. I haven't seen it since we landed."
Suddenly, she shot to her feet. "That's it!" She turned to him. "Draco, you're brilliant!"
Mildly amused at her sudden change of attitude, he smirked. "I'm well aware."
She ignored him to pace as he did, hands flying in the air as she spoke.
"If we could find the deer - our deer - then maybe I can alter the tracking spell - that is, if it's still in place - to guide us home! I could track the deer to track us, so to speak."
Draco felt the excitement bubble up, but did his best to hold himself in check.
"Would that work?"
She stopped and startled. "What do you mean 'will it work'? Of course it'll work. I designed it!"
A smile pulled at his lips.
"No need to get testy now."
She ignored him and went back to her muttering and pacing.
"So, here's what we do..."
Author's Note:
Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Harry Potter series. Those rights belong to JK Rowling. I am only borrowing her beautiful creations.
Let me know if ya'll are enjoying the story! I love hearing from ya'll!