This chapter was written by floorcoaster.
Bone weary unlike anything she could remember, Hermione allowed Draco to lead her to their tent after the evening's festivities concluded. Neither spoke until they were inside, where they looked at each other somewhat awkwardly. They'd gotten through the evening with a combination of careful lies sprinkled amongst as much truth as possible and more physical displays of affection than she'd anticipated. That consisted mostly of his hands on her in different ways—twined with hers, on her lower back as they walked, on her leg as they sat; he'd even kissed her hand once. It was surprising how quickly the initial discomfort had faded.
Now, though, when faced with only each other, she couldn't quite look him in the eye. To make matters worse, they'd completely cooled off from their earlier exertions, and with the dip in temperature, she knew they'd once again be sharing their sleeping bags.
Draco gave a huge yawn and tugged off his shirt. Hermione squealed and shut her eyes, listening to the sound of him unzipping his jeans, slipping them off, and then crawling into bed. When it sounded as though his movements had ceased, she opened one eye and looked at the cot. He was laying on his back, his hands under his head which was tilted skyward. The top of their tent had a slice of window, and she followed his gaze to see hundreds of stars.
With his attention elsewhere, Hermione hurriedly slipped out of her trousers and slid in beside him, shivering at the brief exposure to the night air. She huddled in a ball until she was warm enough to stretch out a bit, then did as Draco was doing and laid on her back to look up.
After a few minutes, Draco spoke. "At least the stars are the same here. What I can see of them, anyway."
Hermione scanned the sky, quickly finding a few of her favorite constellations. "Everything looks the same to me. Though we can't see a whole lot of the sky, what with all the trees."
Again there was a long stretch of silence. Hermione yawned.
Draco rolled on his side to face her, speaking in a whisper. "We should talk."
"What about?" She didn't look at him.
"Our strategy. I'm not sure I trust them not to eavesdrop, even in here. Best if we only whisper."
Hermione nodded. "All right. What are you thinking?"
"We've got to get into that tent, but we also need to lay low. I say we take a few days to just… exist here. With no attempts to do anything beyond what we're supposed to do. We can't risk getting caught so much as looking in a direction we shouldn't. Not right now."
He was close enough that on certain words, she could feel his breath on her cheek. "I agree so far."
"Good. We'll just… do that then." Draco returned to laying on his back.
Hermione was surprised by how chilly it was. The spring days were creeping towards summer, but despite the warm sun during the day, the nights were still very cold. As she gazed at the stars, her eyelids grew heavy. Draco shifted, and the back of his hand brushed her arm. The warmth emanating from his body was lulling her to sleep, but her mind wouldn't let her succumb.
"Hey, um, Phil?"
His chuckle was a low rumble. "Yes, Beth?"
She'd already been through one war, spent months running from Death Eaters and Chasers, she'd broken into Gringotts while Polyjuiced as Bellatrix and escaped on the back of a dragon, and she'd fought in the final battle against a horde of Death Eaters.
And while those things had all been terrifying, there was one thing she'd never been without: magic.
There were two words dancing in her mind, and she wasn't sure if she should speak them out loud. Would it help to admit out loud that she was scared? Or would it only make things worse?
A wolf howled in the distance, and she felt Draco twitch at the sound. His breathing was ragged as he froze, listening intently for another howl. It really sunk in that he was her only connection to home, and if they were going to get through this, they absolutely needed each other. They needed to establish an unshakeable trust in order to be successful.
She broke the silence. "You were... Kind of incredible today."
He shifted and she could practically feel his inquisitive gaze. "How so?"
"The way you moved through the day, as though this is truly who you are." She chuckled nervously. "I was an anxious mess the whole time, terrified they'd figure us out."
For a moment, he didn't reply. "I have a lot of practice at pretending in order to stay alive." He spoke deliberately. "Or unnoticed. After… Sixth… my whole life was one long act where one mistake could cost me my life."
There was no light in the tent, but the moon was full, and though she could only see his profile, his hair seemed to glow in the silver light. She watched the steady rise and fall of his chest as he breathed and found the simple action comforting.
"I'm scared," she whispered, only risking the admission when she thought he might be asleep. So much for Gryffindor bravery.
Underneath the blanket, his hand found hers and he squeezed it. He didn't speak, but he didn't let go, either. Just when she thought he'd drifted to sleep, he whispered into the space between them, bitterness lacing his words. "We're in this together. My skills in self-presentation are a thing of legend, are they not?"
"I have to trust you." Her voice wavered; the thought was slightly terrifying.
"I'm sure that's rather difficult. But... Beth." He rolled into his side once more and propped himself up with an elbow. All the while, he kept his grip on her hand firm. She appreciated the constant contact, a tether to something real in this unprecedented time of uncertainty. "I swear on my... My essence, my nature." My magic. "I will not leave you, nor do anything to harm you." She closed her eyes and took a shaky breath. "For what it's worth, I completely trust you. But then, your character has always been more admirable than mine."
Merlin, she barely knew this man she'd been thrown into this impossible situation with.
"Maybe, for now, just trust my desire to stay alive and get home, yeah?" He gave her shoulder a light nudge with his fist.
"I can do that. And... as odd as this sounds, I do trust you. In a way." She could practically hear his skeptical look. "When I don't think about it too much."
He chuckled and returned to lying on his back, their hands still clasped together. "We should sleep. I can tell I'm going to be very sore tomorrow."
"Mmhmm. Night. Phil."
"Night, Beth."
ooo
They were awakened the next day by a bugle song. Hermione's eyes popped open and she found herself staring directly at a newly awake Draco, his expression momentarily confused. They had shifted in the night, their legs were slightly entwined, and his arm was slung loosely over her waist.
Her eyes widened, embarrassment threatening to swallow her whole, but Draco merely yawned, pulling himself free from her limbs as he stretched. Naturally, nothing they'd done in their sleep meant anything, anyway, so there was no reason to be so alarmed.
She located her jeans and grabbed them. "I think we have about forty-five minutes before breakfast." While still in the sleeping bag, Hermione struggled into her jeans, drawing another chuckle from Draco.
After she got up, he followed suit and pulled his jeans back on. Then he held up the shirt he'd worn the day before and sniffed it. He made a face, then dropped it and reached into his bag for another one. "I wish we'd brought more clothes."
Hermione laughed, surprised by his action. She started to speak, but she noticed someone approaching their tent.
Draco immediately went to their flap and opened it, stepping outside. Hermione joined him and saw a burly man with facial hair and tattoos. He nodded to her and handed her a small box. She glanced at Draco to see him holding two ratty looking towels.
"I'm Roger. Naylen sent me over." He pointed towards the woods about thirty feet from their tent. "There's a creek about a quarter mile in. You're on the schedule for bathing. Don't get lost or take too long; the next group will be along about twenty minutes behind you."
Hermione's eyes widened, but Draco merely nodded and held out his hand. "Thank you, Roger. Come on, Beth."
As she took it, Roger chuckled. "I'm your nearest neighbor, and I just have to say. You two are the quietest newlyweds I've ever encountered."
She was instantly red in the face, and she felt Draco's fingers tighten around hers. "Just trying to be respectful, mate. We are new, after all."
"I think we'd all feel a lot better if you just, you know, went all out." He grinned, exposing a mouth full of missing teeth. When he saw Hermione's expression of abject horror, he laughed with his whole body. "Or maybe not!"
Draco shook his head, chuckling good-naturedly, and tugged her along with him as he headed towards the woods. Hermione elbowed him.
"Ow!" Draco rubbed his side and gave her a questioning look. "What was that for?"
"Did you have to say that? Now everyone thinks—" She broke off. Of course everyone expected them to sleep together, they were supposedly newlyweds.
"Admittedly, it is the most unfortunate aspect of our cover. I'm not quite sure how to proceed." They reached the tree line and plunged in. There was a rope slung along the trees and a vague path had been cleared.
"Maybe we can complete our assignment and leave before it's an issue." The thought of even pretending made Hermione extremely nervous. It was one thing to hold hands and use fake names, but to carry it to such an extent… Well, she simply wasn't prepared for that.
They followed the rope and came to the creek after about fifteen minutes. Draco motioned for her to go first, politely turning his back to give her privacy. Hermione groaned inwardly, then quickly disrobed and got in the water. It was frigid, and she hurried to clean herself. She didn't bother with her hair; she'd have to think of what to do about that later. She'd thought she might enjoy the water for a bit, but she was already losing feeling in her toes. She dried and dressed as quickly as possible. "All clear."
Draco turned around, obviously surprised. "That was fast."
"Water's freezing." Her teeth were chattering when she pulled the towel around her and sat on the ground in an effort to get warm.
He frowned and headed for the water. When he started pulling off his shirt, Hermione realized she'd sat facing the water, and she spun around, though not before catching a decent glimpse. She swallowed hard. It had always been too dark in their tent for her to see much when he'd taken off his shirt, but now she could never again exist in a world where she hadn't seen Draco Malfoy's well-toned chest. It was really the last thing she needed to think about as she sat on the riverbank.
Her nerves were frayed to ribbons, fears she hadn't even given space to were crowding her mind, she was in a constant state of terror at their situation, and Draco Malfoy was the only thing holding her together.
She truly was in a different dimension.
"I'm done." He held out a hand to help her up. She'd been so caught up in her thoughts that she hadn't heard him approach. It was the type of mistake she couldn't afford to make.
"Thanks," she mumbled as she clumsily rose to her feet.
He kept her hand once she'd found her balance, and in silence they returned to camp. About halfway, they passed another couple, who waved and greeted them. Hermione almost missed the other man waggle his eyebrows at Draco.
Newlyweds. They'd just gotten married. She had to remember that, keep it in the forefront of her mind.
When they reached the edge of the clearing, they paused, taking it in. Finally, Draco squeezed her hand. "Ready for another day? So many muscles are hurting right now in places I didn't even know could hurt." He chuckled. "But one thing I learned from Quidditch training is that the more we move, the sooner we'll get through this part."
She looked over to find him smiling at her in a way that, if she hadn't known better, she might have called affectionate. Without thinking, she returned it. "Ready."
ooo
Three days passed much the same as the first day. They woke, went to the creek when they were assigned, ate, trained, ate more, trained more, ate one more time, and socialized. On one of the days, they'd been assigned to food duty, and their entire day was spent prepping, cooking, and cleaning. While it was obvious Draco had never done such work before, he more than made up for his naïveté in his willingness to learn. They'd ended up having a blast working together.
One thing she had not anticipated was how much their physical displays of affection were scrutinized, and she almost wished Draco hadn't said they were newly married. When they weren't holding hands, Draco had his arm around her, or slightly more intimate, his hand on her knee. He seemed to go out of his way to touch her, though he never made her uncomfortable.
The kisses were the most awkward.
They'd done it a few times, though it felt robotic and mechanical, typically brought on by others encouraging them or because it was expected of them in the moment. They'd never spoken of it, and she suspected that he, like she, preferred to pretend nothing had happened. Nonetheless, it had become almost natural to touch each other.
After doing their best to covertly watch how things were run, including security and patrols, they'd worked out a plan to go on an evening walk and then sneak into the off-limits tent. They joined the rest of the community around the fire after dinner to chat and drink and eat more. They were huddled in a little group of about eight, talking about nothing. Draco didn't speak much because he didn't have a Muggle background, but Hermione more than made up for his silence. Every now and then, he'd throw in a quip that made everyone laugh.
Draco's hand was resting absently on her leg as he talked to someone. Occasionally, it would creep higher, and something in her would flutter. She knew that tonight they'd need to show extra affection, so when her conversation fell into a lull, she threaded her fingers through his and gave him a look.
She leaned towards him and lowered her voice, but spoke loud enough for those closest to hear. "I'd like to go on a walk." Then she stretched her body closer to whisper in his ear. "Pretend I'm saying something that turns you on right now."
His eyes went wide and he nodded, then stood and pulled her to her feet, wrapping an arm around her waist. "My wife and I are going for a stroll. We'll see you all tomorrow."
Giggling, Hermione pulled him into the woods and out of sight of the group. Their plan was to wander for an hour or so until it was dark enough that they couldn't see. They held hands and talked quietly, testing the edges of the perimeter. Whenever they got too close to the guards patrolling, they headed back away from the edges with a friendly wave and innocent apology. They'd chosen not to try and sneak into the tent in the middle of the night. Being found then would be far more suspicious than being found inside when most people were still awake. And if they were caught, Hermione had come up with a plan for that. Draco had been hesitant at first, but really, they couldn't think up a better cover than a heated snogging session. If they were caught—and they expected to be—they'd just pretend they'd gotten carried away and were only thinking about one thing.
Once night had fallen, they took out the flashlight they'd brought and continued their lazy stroll around the clearing. Finally, it was time to make their move. They'd discovered that the back of the tent was made of two overlapping pieces of canvas. They believed they could slip through and inside without being noticed. However, they also knew that they were most likely being watched as they walked, and they probably wouldn't have much time inside.
On their final pass around the clearing, they stopped about twenty feet from the tent, and stood in one spot for about ten minutes. Hermione insisted this was to show that the flashlight had stopped moving, in case anyone was watching. When enough time had passed, Hermione took Draco's hand and pulled him behind the tent. They easily slid inside and started looking around.
Their primary goal was to locate where the device was situated inside, but they also wanted a visual record of as much as possible for the Order to peruse through their memories upon their return. Draco started to head towards one side, and she followed him.
"We have to stay close!" she hissed.
"I know."
"Just… wait a minute." She scanned the room for a table without a lot of things on it, and when she found one, she swept the items off.
"What are you doing?"
"It's part of the plan." With a hard look, she resumed scanning the room and encouraged him to do the same. With only one light, they were limited to scanning just one section of the room at a time, and she insisted they do it in a seemingly random way. She saw what she thought had to be the device, and she knew Draco had as well when he sucked in a breath.
Just then, she heard noise from outside. They looked at each other and knew it was time to put their plan into action. Hermione grabbed Draco's hand and pulled him back to the table she had cleared earlier. It was near the back, and with all the stuff inside, it would likely take at least half a minute before they were found by whoever was about to enter. Hermione hopped onto the table and pulled him closer. They fumbled into a kiss, and even though it was the most intense kiss they'd shared so far, Draco felt completely stiff.
Hermione heard the tent flap dragged back and knew it wouldn't be enough. She drew back, and to his utter astonishment, pulled her shirt off. His eyes lingered on her dark blue, lacy, impractical bra, and then she resumed kissing him. She heard voices now, and her heart was pounding furiously.
"Put your hands on me," she whispered.
"What?"
"Oh, for—"
Time was almost up and she couldn't wait. She took one of his hands off the table and put it on her breast, then hooked her legs around his waist, pulling him flush against her.
Finally—finally—he seemed to grasp what she was doing and he started kissing her back—really kissing her, his free hand gripping her waist as he leaned into her. He couldn't seem to force his other hand to move, but she didn't think it would be entirely necessary. When his tongue darted out and lightly touched her lips, she whimpered, and she happily granted the permission he sought. They didn't get far into their heated snog, however, when someone cleared their throat.
Hermione opened her eyes and squinted. She hadn't noticed the light shining on them and wondered just how long the others had been watching. She felt heat creep into her cheeks.
"You're not supposed to be in here," said a tall, very wide man.
"Oh! I'm so sorry! We were just…" She looked at Draco, who was clearly having some difficulties gathering his thoughts.
"I'm quite familiar with what you're doing, Miss Beth." The man chuckled. "But you shouldn't be in here doing it."
Hermione jumped off the table and started picking up things she'd knocked off earlier. "We're awfully sorry, again. It just… we got so caught up in the woods, and then we checked and this tent was unoccupied, so…."
She could feel their eyes on her, leering as she hurriedly tidied the table. Draco snapped out of his stupor then, took the flashlight off the table, and found her shirt, covering her with it as best as he could while glaring at the intruders.
The men all laughed and elbowed each other. The biggest one, the one who'd spoken to them, clapped Draco on the back. "Listen, just don't let it happen again, yeah? Lots of sensitive stuff in here, mate. Requires clearance."
"We'll be careful." Draco gave him a tight smile.
"Thanks!" Hermione put her shirt back on and the two of them rushed out, giggling at how they'd been caught.
They hurried to their tent and went inside. When the flap was closed, Draco started pacing. Hermione quickly went through what she'd seen in the tent while her breathing slowed. The previous fifteen minutes had been a blur of activity and adrenaline, and she knew it would take time for her heart to stop racing and her blood to stop boiling.
After a moment, he stopped abruptly and opened his mouth to speak.
Hermione held up a hand. "Wait. We should..." She trailed off, her eyes drifting to the cot.
"Oh, yeah. Right." He quickly pulled off his shirt and jeans and slipped into the joined sleeping bags. "Tomorrow I want to use that soap on my shirt. Someone mentioned it at lunch time."
"Good idea." Hermione removed her trousers and got under the covers. She shivered from the cold air and curled up, unable to talk for a few minutes until she was warm. The excitement from their infiltration had faded and she was reminded how chilly the nights were still.
When she felt warm enough, she slowly stretched until she could lay on her back. His warmth, radiating from his side, helped, even though they weren't touching.
She turned her head towards him, as was their custom, so they could speak quietly. "Did you see it?"
Draco rolled onto his side and propped his head up with an elbow. "I think so. That big black thing in the middle of the room?"
"That's my guess as well. Do you have any idea what it was?"
He shook his head. "Do you think we should just destroy it?"
"No. I've been thinking about that. If we do, they'll only rebuild it. Or make a new one. I don't think they'll ever stop, really. Maybe we can sabotage it so that it never gives reliable information."
"I'm in way over my head."
She let out a shaky chuckle. "Me too. But our assignment is only to get information. As much as we can. I think the, um, others had a more involved task, but since we aren't them, this is safer."
He shifted a little, adjusting his arm. "How are we supposed to do that?"
"I don't know." Her voice felt small in the still night air between them.
Draco lay back down on his back and laced his fingers together on his chest. Hermione made a point not to stare at him, even though she couldn't see much in the dark.
"Do we, um, need to talk?" His voice surprised her; she'd drifted into the first chambers of sleep.
"About what?" she mumbled.
He chuckled nervously. "Um, what happened earlier?"
"In the tent?" Her sleep-desperate brain was trying hard to shut down, but the slight edge of panic in his tone kept her from letting it.
"Yes. In the tent. The, um, plan did not exactly go how I thought it would."
Hermione was thankful for the darkness because she blushed. "Oh. That."
"Yes. That. You said we would snog. I was not expecting… that."
"I know." She shut her eyes tight, embarrassment at the whole ordeal catching up to her. "That was a bit of improvisation."
"A bit!" he repeated with a barked laugh. "Why did you think it was necessary?"
Hermione huffed. "The kissing just wasn't working on its own. It was too… rigid. I knew it wouldn't be enough. I just did what I had to do to sell the story that we'd been so overtaken by our passions that we snuck into the nearest structure to tear each other's clothes off. If we hadn't gotten very far into that process, the act would have fallen flat. Besides, you were clearly not into the kiss at first."
"Are you saying I wasn't a good kisser?" His tone was so incredulous she almost laughed.
"Are you saying you were giving it your very best?"
"I… well, all right, no. But what should I have done? We've got such a history, we hadn't seen each other in years, and we're just supposed to kiss like that as though it's nothing? That's… not terribly easy for me."
Hermione smiled at his dark form. "You said you're used to doing what you have to in order to stay alive. I simply see it in the same light."
"So you don't… mind? Kissing like that, I mean."
She frowned. "Were you holding back out of consideration for me?"
"I can't imagine any of this is easy or pleasant for you. I'm probably the last person you'd ever choose to be stuck in this situation with, and it was my last-second idea to say we were newlyweds. I didn't ask your permission to say that, and because I did, now we're expected to be shagging on every horizontal surface." He ran a hand through his hair, and she watched as it floated in the silver moonlight. "I'm… sorry about that."
Hermione let out a long breath. "Oh, that's—it's all right. I don't mind." A worrisome little flutter in her chest burst to life. She was deeply touched by how much he was trying to think of her, to respect her space and her person.
"Really?" She could hear the skepticism in his tone.
"Yes. Really. It truly was the perfect cover in many ways." But there was still something that needed to be said. "Only… Draco?" She spoke his name so softly she could barely hear herself, but he tensed. "We need to remember to keep things… professional. What happened earlier was done only to further our efforts here."
He nodded in the dark. "I know. I'll let you take the lead on this aspect of our relationship. Just… do me a favour, yeah? Warn me next time you plan to strip clothing off?"
Hermione blushed again. "That's fair. I'll do my best. Though, I can't imagine we'd need to do that again."
"Hopefully we'll get out of here soon and it won't be an issue."
Silence descended with the finality of his statement. Hermione was forced to realize that no matter how at ease he seemed, Draco was likely a hundred times more anxious than she was. Though she was more impressed by him with each passing day, his nerves had to be frayed. Hers absolutely were.
Those brief moments, while they'd been snogging, had been the most carefree moments she'd experienced since being drawn into this timeline, and she'd be lying if she didn't admit, at least to herself. Those moments had been pure bliss.
It occurred to her then that her trust in him had grown tremendously over the previous few days, so much so that she'd been comfortable taking off her shirt in front of him, even letting him touch her—okay, in fairness, commanding him to touch her. Even though it had only been for the sake of the ruse, there's no way she'd have done that even two days prior. Their situation had forced them together, forced them to depend on each other for their very lives. And though she'd known very little of him back in their own world, what she knew of him in this one, she liked. A lot.
Hermione nearly yelped when something touched her leg.
"Sorry," he whispered. The touch disappeared. "I… I was looking for your hand." He sounded apologetic, as though he hated to say what he was saying.
"Oh!" Her heart had started pounding erratically at the touch, but it began to slow. "Here." She carefully brought her hand up and rested it on his chest. There was a moment of vengeful fluttering inside in the seconds it lay there, waiting for him to move. His skin was warm, but it was more than that. She found him attractive, but that hadn't mattered before. Now, after kissing him—really kissing him and feeling his hands on her—she wasn't sure she could completely forget it. She'd do her best to compartmentalize that kiss, but she suspected it would be hard. She was genuinely beginning to care for him, but she had to keep firm boundaries in her mind.
She fell asleep like that, with their hands clasped on top of his chest as she mentally reinforced her barriers.
When she woke, she was alone. Hermione immediately panicked and sat up, her eyes darting around the tent. Draco's clothes were gone, but she forced herself to take deep breaths. He hadn't left her, he was just out of the tent. He probably woke up and had to use the bathroom. Truly, she wasn't worried, she was just surprised to find herself alone. Hermione quickly put her jeans on and slipped into her shoes. Hesitantly she peeked out of their tent to see if she could spot him.
Their tent was near the edge of a cluster of tents, so when she looked around, she saw a few other people milling about, getting drinks from the mess area. Finally, she spotted him near the food tent talking to a handful of men.
She stepped fully out, enjoying the feel of the wind in her face. Draco ended his conversation when he saw her and returned to their tent.
"Morning," he said with a smile.
His hands cupped her shoulders as he leaned in and kissed her so naturally that it stole her breath. It was nothing like the stilted, awkward kisses of the first few days. This kiss felt like he meant it. The pressure of his lips was light and sweet but just enough to make her sigh, and before she could begin to process this change, it was over.
"Morning." She felt breathless.
Draco smirked and went into the tent. She followed, slightly annoyed at herself. "Everyone is watching. They saw you come out, saw me walk over here." He started gathering his clothes from the day before and scrounged for the bar of soap. "Figured it would be fitting to greet my wife that way."
"Oh. Right." Something told her it wasn't going to be as easy as she thought to maintain her mental boundaries.
"I hope you weren't anxious when you woke up alone." He held up the soap. "It's our morning at the creek."
"A little," she admitted, grabbing her extra clothes.
"I'm sorry about that. There was something I had to take care of." He wouldn't look her in the eye, which only made her more interested.
"What could you possibly have had to do so early in the morning?" It wasn't that she didn't trust him, but he was acting awfully strange.
His cheeks reddened and he still avoided her. "Something... Personal. But I also went for a cup of tea, and... We should get down to the creek."
Her interest was immediately diverted. The creek was one place where they felt they were safe enough to talk during the day. "Let's go then." She stuffed their clothes into a bag and slung it over her shoulder.
As natural as breathing, Draco took her hand, lacing his fingers with hers. They passed a few people on their way to the woods, most of whom gave them knowing looks.
"It would appear that news travels fast," Draco murmured in her ear.
"Maybe it will put them at ease. Roger did say he thought it might help." She couldn't help the blush that crept into her cheeks.
When they reached the creek, Draco let her go first. "I've already cleaned up for the day. You can have our entire creek session to yourself."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "That's so generous of you to give me extra time in the frigid mountain creek. I can't wait."
He chuckled. "Actually, best hurry so I can tell you what I heard."
Anxious to hear his news, Hermione bathed quicker than ever. She dressed and wrapped her hair in the towel, then joined him to wash their shirts together. They started by dipping the garments into the creek, then used the soap to get a good lather. They rubbed that all over the shirts, and scrubbed any stains or dirt spots, before setting then set them on some rocks to dry. They wouldn't be dry before they walked back, but every bit helped and they'd hang them in their tent to and they'd be ready for the following day.
"I heard a few people talking about the device. From what I can gather, when magic is performed, molecules and atoms get shuffled around. But there are ions, specially charged particles, created from all the shuffling. The device can detect those ions by using something like…" He frowned, pausing his scrubbing efforts. "I'm not too familiar with any of this. I repeated it to myself in my head so I wouldn't forget. Something like… like a red wave?"
"Infrared?"
His eyes lit up. "Yes! Merlin, I wish you'd overheard them and not me. I take it you've heard of this before?"
"Oh, nothing about using infrared waves to detect magically-produced ionic particles, no. But I try to keep abreast of the major fields of what Muggles call science. So I know some of the terminology. I'm not sure how this helps us. There's nothing that can be done to prevent the creation of these particles. It sounds like they're a byproduct of performing magic itself."
Draco went to rinse his shirt. Hermione joined him after a minute, and together they repeatedly rinsed and wrung out their shirts until there were no soap suds left.
"Is there anything that can be done?" Draco asked.
"I don't know. I'll get up tomorrow morning and try to listen in, if you'll tell me where to go. Ready to head back?"
He nodded and started shoving their clothes back in the bag, slinging it over his shoulder before he effortlessly reached for her hand. They talked about nothing as they walked, nodding to the next group headed for the creek.
As they reached their tent, a woman they hadn't spoken to yet intercepted them. "Naylen wants to see you two. He's in his office." She pointed to a small, gray tent about twenty yards from the research tent. She didn't wait for a response.
Hermione and Draco exchanged a look, then headed toward the tent. As there was nothing to knock on, Draco called a friendly, "Hullo!" when they got near.
"Come in!" Naylen called. Draco pulled back the flap of the tent for Hermione to enter first. Naylen's tent was sparsely furnished with a desk and a chair for him, plus a couple of folding chairs leaning against the wall. "Won't you sit?"
Hermione quickly set up two chairs, and Draco covered his inaction—due to his unfamiliarity with folding chairs—by asking Naylen why he wanted to see them.
"Heard you two got a little lost last night." He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back, eyeing them critically.
She blushed and averted her eyes, finally dragging them up to meet Draco's. He was smiling warmly at her; then he looked at Naylen. "Yes, it was most unfortunate. We had no idea where we were."
"Forgive me if I say that's bullshit." Naylen now leaned forward on his desk, an unpleasant expression on his face. "You've been here a week already. Surely you're aware that there's only one structure in the whole campsite that's off limits unless you've got clearance, and that's just where you happened to end up?"
Hermione shrugged and pulled Draco's hand, still laced with hers, into her lap. "What can I say? We got a bit carried away."
"We're truly sorry. It won't happen again, we promise." Draco gave her a tender look. "The mood overtook us."
Naylen studied them carefully. Hermione made sure to look at Draco as though he were the sun, moon and stars of her world, as though there were nobody else in the room. For his part, Draco smiled and rubbed his thumb on the back of her hand.
"All right. Forgive me." Naylen sighed and sat back again, relaxing slightly. "We're just a bit paranoid around here. You're new, though, so you can't be expected to understand. Maybe a week isn't long enough to know the ins and out of the operation. The truth is… the truth is, Phil and Beth, that we think we have a mole."
Draco merely blinked, doing a fine job of hiding his utter confusion.
"You think someone in your group is a traitor?" Hermione was honestly surprised.
Naylen shrugged. "We aren't sure. We just know that for the past several months, our plans haven't gone off as we'd hoped. Nothing has been outright crippling, but these… occurrences are enough to keep setting us back. It wouldn't make sense for you two to be behind it, but we're awfully jumpy at anything out of the ordinary. And this is twice you've been implicated in something with our tent. We don't like the secrecy, but it's necessary. We're working on something really important in there, and it needs to stay quiet and protected. It could turn the tide in this war."
Draco nodded. "We're just here because we want the world to be a better place for our kind."
Naylen grinned. "That's exactly what we want, Phil. All right, thanks for stopping by. Enjoy your day. I think you're slated for…" He checked something on his desk. "Target practice in the gun range, archery, first aid, and strength training."
Hermione groaned. "I'm terrible at archery."
"You'll get better. Listen, thanks again. And I apologize for the suspicion." He pointed towards the door. "You'd best get going, don't want to miss breakfast."
"Thank you." Draco smiled and stood, pulling Hermione up with him. They were a few steps from the door when Naylen spoke again. "Out of curiosity, how did you two get into the tent?" He was peering at them with the same probing, curious expression from before. So much for the idea that their actions would no longer be scrutinized.
"In the back," Hermione said quickly. "There are two long flaps of canvas that overlap. We slid between them and found ourselves inside."
Naylen was shocked for an instant, an unguarded and honest reaction that he quickly masked. "Really? The entire perimeter is supposed to be a solid piece of canvas. My men did say you two were in the back." He grinned and waggled his eyebrows. Hermione had no doubt that the men who'd found them had spared no details of what they'd discovered.
"We weren't terribly interested in anything but each other." Draco squeezed her hand and gave her one of his adoring smiles. This time, however, Hermione wanted to imagine there was some heat behind it.
Naylen drummed his fingers on his desk, his expression troubled. Then it cleared and he smiled. "That's all. Thank you for being so candid, and again, I hope you don't think ill of us. Like I said, we've had some strange things happening lately. But again, those have nothing to do with you two. Enjoy your meal." He waved dismissively.
Draco led Hermione through the door and into the bright morning light. Their day proceeded as they'd expected: breakfast was followed by two hours of target practice. Hermione was determined to become proficient with a gun. Draco seemed almost natural with the weapons, which was a very good thing considering his counterpart had supposedly been trained as a soldier.
They took a short snack and tea break after that, then headed to the archery range for another two hours. Lunch followed, which was spent wolfing down their food because they were so hungry.
They had something of a break during their first aid session, and in this skill, Hermione outperformed him, having had a lot of exposure to Muggle medicine in her life. Their day of training ended with strength training, which turned out to be a combination of weight lifting and martial arts. Hermione was awful at it, but Draco had kept up some kind of physical exercise, if what she'd seen when he had his shirt off was any indication. He possessed a natural grace in his movements, and picked up the movements quickly.
When they were released from the sessions, they had an hour or so before the dinner bell was set to chime. Draco asked if they could go to the creek to clean up, and she agreed. The afternoons were open to anyone who wanted to enjoy the water, for recreation or other purposes.
When they were well out of sight of the camp, Draco pulled off his shirt. Hermione sucked in a breath.
"How much longer, do you think?" he asked, wiping the sweat off his forehead. "I think we've mostly got what we came for. If we're both working on this same thing, then chances are, he is using the same technique. Or a different one. We could research the different ways the particles are detected, examine all the notes in the lab, see what he was working on."
Hermione shook her head to clear her thoughts. Focus. Not stare. "Right. Yes. Do you remember where we came into the camp?"
Draco nodded. "We just have to find our way back through the perimeter—"
"Which won't be terribly easy."
"No, but we can always use our go-to diversion." He grinned at her. "We know it works."
"Very good point." She bit her lip but couldn't meet his eyes. "Do you want to stay one more day? Try to overhear more?"
"I think we should. I'm in no hurry to bolt after the day we've had." They reached the creek and Draco gave her a look. "I'm going in."
"I'm not." She held out her hand. "But I'll take your shirt."
Draco gave it to her, then started unzipping his trousers. Hermione shut her eyes and turned her head away. She felt the weight of more clothing on her still extended arm, and only when she heard him enter the water did she turn around. She was shocked to see his pants included with his garments, and she blushed furiously at the realization that he was naked.
Hermione quickly turned back around and stood there, trying to think of very uninteresting things: bubotuber pus and flobberworms and Hagrid's treacle fudge and the giant squid.
Draco didn't spend long in the creek, as the water was still frigid, so she heard him emerge and pad softly to her. "Thanks," he muttered, taking his clothes from her. After a minute or two, he came to stand beside her. "Ready."
She nodded and reached for his hand. Usually he was the one to do it, but it was now so natural to be holding him in some way that she didn't even think about her action. They talked about nothing in particular as they returned to the campsite.
"Wonder what dinner will be tonight," he said when they could see the first tent through the trees.
"I heard Elaine is cooking today, and everyone says she's the best." Hermione pushed a branch out of her way.
"If she's the one who made lunch, which was excellent, then I'm very excited for dinner."
They noticed upon entering the clearing that most of the members of the Collective were huddled near the central fire. Hermione and Draco exchanged a look and went to see what was going on. They caught snippets of conversation as they neared and then approached the first person they saw that they'd talked to before.
"What's going on?" Hermione asked Karen, a woman wearing a dark red shirt that they'd eaten lunch with the day before.
"The team is back. A group went out on a scouting mission a week ago and just returned."
Panic hit Hermione hard. Troy must surely be among the group, which meant that the one person with whom their counterparts had interacted was back. He was the one person who might notice they weren't quite who they claimed to be. When she looked at Draco, she guessed that his thoughts were in a similar vein, for his brow was furrowed and he appeared deep in thought.
After a few minutes, the crowd began to disperse. Hermione and Draco lingered, talking quietly and hoping to catch a glimpse of the team that had returned. Finally, enough people had moved that they could see the small group, huddled with Naylen and talking rapidly. Naylen turned to scan the crowd, and when his eyes fell on Draco, he pointed.
Hermione clenched his hand, her heart instantly pounding. She felt Draco tense as well and knew that things were about to get very dangerous.
Someone, presumably Troy, separated from the group and began walking towards them. It wasn't this man, however, who had caused such a strong reaction in them.
Standing beside Naylen, looking directly at them, was Theodore Nott.