The woodman walked quickly, pushing tree branches out of his face, and letting them hit Hermione and Draco. They both were starting to dislike the woodman.
"Are you sure we can trust him?" Hermione whispered to Draco as the woodman stopped walking and looked around.
"If he leads us astray, I'll use him for tonight's fire!" Draco mumbled. He glared at the woodman's back.
Hermione decided to ask where they're going. "Um, excuse me…hello?" she walked up to the woodman, and stood in front of him. The woodman looked back curiously. "Where are you taking us?"
"Toay theay Deadish Lakeay." The woodman replied.
"To the Dead Lake." Hermione said to Draco. "Still to the Dead Lake."
"We'll be dead by the time we reach it!" Draco complained, rubbing his stomach.
Hermione nodded. "Most likely."
They both glanced over and saw the woodman examining a tree. He hit it with his fist, and listened. They looked at each other, then back at their guide.
"Thisay wayca." The woodman said to Hermione.
He started walking quickly, much quicker then before. Hermione and Draco jogged after him and saw him crouching down, at the bank of a small river. The water was brown and murky. The woodman scooped up some of the water and drank it.
Draco looked positively disgusted. He wrinkled up his nose, and stuck his tongue out. "Ewww."
Hermione blinked. There must have been so many nasty things in that water…
The woodman noticed that his two followers weren't drinking. He cupped his hands and scooped more water up. He held it out to Draco.
Draco shook his head violently. The woodman held it out to Hermione. "Oh um…no thankyou."
"Therea isish nothca wronga withish itay." He said frowning.
"What?" Draco said, gaining his voice back.
"He said there is nothing wrong with it." Hermione said quickly.
"Youish areay thirstca. Drinkish itay." The woodman said, sculling the water still cupped in his hands.
Hermione looked at the water skeptically before bending down on one knee and scooping some of it up in her hands. She examined it closely.
"What are you doing?" Draco yelped, noticing Hermione raising her hands closer to her mouth.
"I'm thirsty Malfoy." Hermione said. She braced herself and drank the muddy liquid.
She had expected a lumpy, disgusting taste, but instead it tasted like the purest water, just from the springs. She looked over at Draco who was watching anxiously. "I'm alright." She said, surprised. "Here, drink it. It's okay."
Draco looked at her with wide eyes. "Er, no thanks. Pureblood see?" he pointed to himself. "Mudblood," he pointed to Hermione, "and woodman." He pointed to the woodman. "I do not drink the same things you do- especially when I don't know what it is."
"Myay namish isish notca 'woodman.' Namish Wilac." The woodman said pointing to himself.
"What the hell did he say?" Draco asked, turning to Hermione who had stood up.
"He said his name isnt woodman, but Wilac." Hermione said snappily. "I thought you would have forgotten your dismal spats over blood type when you landed in this god forsaken forest."
Draco just blinked at her.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Come on Wilac." She said, walking off. The little woodman followed her.
Draco sighed and started walking after her. She could be so frustrating! He didn't purposely insult her…he was just stating facts…after all, he was a pureblood, and she a Mudblood.
Hermione marched quickly, and turned whenever the little woodman told her to. He couldn't keep up with her, so had resorted to instructing her where to turn and go.
"Didca heish hurta yourish feelay?" Wilac asked as Hermione roughly pushed a tree branch aside.
"Yes." Hermione said. "Yes, he hurt my feelings." Her foot lodged itself in a tree root. "God damn it!" she cursed, throwing herself to the ground and tugging at her foot.
Wilac kept his distance as Draco arrived. "What are you doing?" he asked Hermione stupidly.
"Yourish notca verya gooday withish woodwoman's feelay." Wilac said to him.
"What?" Draco asked. Why couldn't he understand this little wooden thing? After all, he was head boy, and was supposed to be smart. But then, Granger had read about three library's full of books, so its no wonder she knows the language.
Hermione was glaring at Malfoy, then started ripping at her ankle again.
"Stop, stop stop!" Draco shouted, bending down. "You're going to break it."
Hermione looked at him reproachfully.
"I'm not going to hurt you." He sneered. His hands reached down to Hermione's ankle and carefully jiggled with it. He ripped up some of the root system, then slowly pulled Hermione's ankle free.
"Mayca notca beish gooday withish woodwoman's feelay, butay youish knowca howay toay helpca themay." Wilac said to Malfoy as Hermione rubbed her ankle.
"Only sometimes." Hermione said to the woodman. Her ankle was bruised from when she tried to free herself, but she was amazed at how softly and smoothly Malfoy had managed to free her.
"'Only sometimes' what?" Draco asked, still completely out of the loop, and starting to tire of those two and their conversations together.
Hermione ignored him. "How much further?" she asked the woodman.
"Itay isish stillay arounday aca dayca."
"A whole day?" Hermione said to him. "Do you know where we might be able to get some food?" she asked rubbing her stomach.
"Foodish?" Wilac said frowning. "Iay knowca therea isish someay foodish arounday hereish thatca youish canish eata."
"Good food?" Hermione asked.
"Yesay. Gooday foodish. Iay canish finday someay forca youish." Wilac said scratching his head. "Himish toay?" he asked, gesturing to Malfoy who was standing with his arms folded.
"Yes." Hermione agreed. "And maybe some more water? Or at least something drinkable."
"Yesay. Iay knowca whereish someay foodish andish watera isish." The woodman said, and started walking again. The little man was only slightly taller then Hermione's waist.
Hermione walked along side him, while Draco kept his distance, sure that Granger had filled the little woodman's head with untrue information about him.
"Mostish ofca theay foodish arounday hereish isish verya gooday forca theay woodman andish woodwoman." Wilac told Hermione, seeming to be very glad to have someone to talk to. "Youish justa haveay toay knowca whereish toay looka."
"And where might that be?" Hermione asked.
Wilac stopped walking. "Everywhereish." He started looking around. "Iay justa haveay toay finday…" Wilac bend his head back and looked up at the trees. He looked around on the ground, and at the bushes.
Sure that what he was looking for wasn't here, Wilac started walking again. Hermione followed.
"Iay mustish seemay soa rudeish." Wilac said to Hermione. "Iay neverca askay forca yourish namish."
"My name is Hermione."
Wilac stopped and bowed to her. "Andish heish isish?"
When Malfoy didn't reply, Hermione snapped at him. "Introduce yourself!"
"Draco." He said quickly to the woodman who was looking at him strangely.
Wilac bowed to him. "Draco theay 'pureblood'. Isish thatca rightay?"
Hermione nearly laughed. The look on Malfoy's face was priceless.
"Excuse me?" he said in a low and menacing voice. His murderous gaze flicked to Hermione.
"What?" she said quickly. "You said it yourself! I didn't say anything."
Malfoy's gaze seemed to relax a little, under the truth, but he still looked pissed. Hermione found it interesting that he look offence, even though he could only understand maybe two words out of the sentence- how did he even know Wilac had insulted him? But Wilac didn't. That's what was so amusing.
"Haveay iay hurta hisish feelay?" Wilac asked Hermione when Malfoy turned his back to them.
Hermione smiled at him. "No."
Wilac looked over to Draco once more before shrugging his wooden shoulders. "Iay willca finday someay foodish andish watera forca youish." Wilac looked at Hermione. "Stayca hereish."
Hermione nodded. "Alright. We wont go anywhere."
Wilac bowed once more before running off into the bushes.
"So what now, Miss. I'm-so-smart-I'll-have-a-conversation-with-the-local-natives?" Draco asked viciously as he turned around to face her.
"Oh give it a rest." Hermione said exasperated. "You've just been moping because some little 'native' as you called him, called you a pureblood. After all, Mr. High-and-mighty, isn't that what you Malfoy's pride yourselves on? Being higher then everybody else? Well? Isn't it?"
"As a matter of fact, it is!" Malfoy snapped back.
"I didn't doubt it! Not for a second!" Hermione replied. "So why is it, when Wilac said it to your face, that you go off and sulk?"
"I'm not sulking!" Malfoy shouted.
"Oh really?" Hermione yelled. "Are you sure?"
"Yes! Damn sure! That little native wasn't worthy enough to let the word 'pureblood' escape from his wooden lips!" Malfoy bellowed.
"You should be ashamed of yourself Draco Malfoy. Damn ashamed." Hermione said quietly.
The sudden change in volume of Hermione's voice caught Malfoy off guard. Hermione however didn't wait for his response as she stalked off, and sat herself not far, but behind a tree.
"He thinks he can insult someone who he doesn't know. Someone he's never really spoken to." Hermione mumbled to herself. She picked up a stick and broke it into little pieces. She threw each piece away as hard and as far away as she could.
"I can't believe him…he's so…pigheaded. " Hermione cursed, now killing a leaf.
Draco sat on a log and looked around. Everything was still grey and murky. It was such a depressing sight. The trees weren't brown, but grey and discolored, and the vines were strangling their trunks. Any leaves that Draco could see weren't at all green- in fact their colour was the furthest from green a colour could be.
The ground was covered with muck, dirt, sticks, twigs and decomposing leaves. Little bugs, of weird shapes crawled along the leaves and sticks.
Draco was amazed that his attention was focusing so much on the smallest detail around him. He never paid this much attention in class, no matter what Gryffindor they were jinxing.
555
Hermione was still ripping up the vegetation around her- even though it was already dead, or at least she thought it was dead- it looked dead…
"Hermione?"
Hermione snapped up and saw Wilac standing there, looking slightly nervous. Hermione saw him holding two dead leaves. One had some sort of fruit- berries, the pare type fruit sitting on top. The other leaf was holding some of the murky liquid Hermione drank before. She was surprised it wasn't slopping out over the edge of the leaf.
"Iay haveay notca…"
"No, I'm fine." Hermione said quickly. "What have you gathered?" she was amazed that she was as tall as Wilac, even though she was sitting down.
"Someay fruitay andish theay watera youish askay forca."
Hermione smiled forcefully at him. "Alright, let's eat."
"Whatay abouta himish? Draco?"
"If he wants some he can come and get it." Hermione said snappishly.
Wilac looked at her strangely, then sat down.
555
Draco could hear crunching over his shoulder, and heard Granger speaking to Wilac. He heard someone sit down, then something was crumbling, then the sound of slurping liquid, and chewing crunchy fruit.
How rude! Draco thought angrily. They're eating without me! Dont they realize that I'm just as hungry as they are?
Draco stood quickly and marched over to where he could hear the noises. Granger was sitting down, with her back against the tree trunk, slurping some of the disgusting brown liquid. Wilac was sitting opposite her, casually nibbling on a piece of odd looking fruit.
"I thought it was you slurping like a drunken elephant." Draco remarked savagely.
Hermione swallowed the liquid hard, then stood, the leaf held tightly in her hand. "You are the most spoiled, unlikable rat I have ever met!" She screamed. Wilac lent backwards at the sudden outburst. "You cant handle being here, well guess what, neither can I! But you just make it one hundred times worse!"
She was trying to control her hand from 'accidentally' throwing the muddy liquid in this smug pigs face.
"You may think you are a high and mightily, flattering and charming man, but let me tell you something," she was shaking so much now that she was sure she'd drop the leaf. "You are the furthest thing from a man. You are a spoilt little boy, who can't handle things when they don't go his way. You are a blond haired, drowned out FERRET!"
"I'm not blind you know!" Malfoy snapped. "I've seen the fools you hang out with- I'm the only man you've ever met."
Hermione's mouth dropped in anger, and she lost it. She raised the leaf, still full of the murky liquid, and threw it as hard as she could at Malfoy's face.
It hit home. The liquid got him straight in the face, splashing its lumpy contents all over his shoulders and chest. It got into his hair, and completely covered his face.
Malfoy stood stunned for a whole thirty seconds. His arms were slightly held out from his body, his hair was stuck to his face, eyes closed, and mouth slightly opened from shock. When he did move, he slowly lifted his hand up to his face and flung the muddy liquid off in one sharp movement.
He opened his eyes, and Hermione saw the anger like a wild bush fire, burning within those pupils. Hermione squeaked. He looked murderous.
"You're dead." Malfoy said softly.
Hermione turned and ran.
Wow, an unhappy Draco!
Wishing everyone the best for christmas, and a good new year!
Thanks for your reviews through 2006, and even though I didn't update as often as I should, you were all very forgiving!
Thanks again,
And MERRY CHRISTMAS
Hopefully new chapter will be up shortly…hopefully…
Aj