Chapter 19
"Oh, no," she said, becoming disappointed in herself the longer she thought on her situation.
Hermione tentatively began to take steps in the direction she thought the school might lie, only to stop after ten or so. She wasn't sure of her heading, and she didn't want to make it worse by walking further.
"Think, girl, think! You're not that drunk anymore," she told herself, even though she was still pretty tipsy, before giving a small whine and adding, "I have to pee." The witch then took hold of her wand, grabbing it from her boot to cast, "Ventus!"
The powdery top layers of snow, for about three meters ahead of her, were quickly blown away. The witch then cast a Lumos and stuck her wand into the ice in the clearing she'd made, adjusted her cloak and pack, squated, and relieved herself.
When that chore was done, she grabbed her wand and cleaned herself, and situated her effects to their original place. She then began to check the ground for any trace of the dirt path to the school. After casting a few more Ventus' and a couple of heated Aguamentis to melt the snow, which only revealed grass, she deduced she'd strayed much farther from the beaten path than she originally assumed.
The woman didn't panic anymore than when she had initially done so, because she was fine. She'd been in so much real danger for so long that this was nothing in comparison. ("You don't always have to be in danger.") If she felt her efforts were truly hopeless, she could conjure a tent and reinforce and heat it with magic until the morning came and she had enough light to figure out where she was. But that was a last resort.
For a moment she began to regret that she still had not mastered how to send messages through her Patronus, because she would have sent one to Draco. But that would have been an even last last resort. She didn't trust herself alone with him at the moment, especially after explicit thoughts.
The witch then decided she would first walk all about the grounds before she pitched a tent, so that was what she did. She cast a Point Me, moving north through the snow, only blowing it out of her way when she'd hit drifts that reached her waist. After twenty minutes of this, and still not reaching the castle, she cast a new Lumos and looked about.
All she could see was the thick flakes hitting drifts, and blackness beyond that.
She sighed, then cast a Nox.
However, in the distance to her far right, she saw what she thought was a Lumos, moving swiftly in her direction some feet above the snow. In thirty seconds, Draco appeared, riding his broom and wearing a look of panic and concern on his face.
"Granger! Thank Merlin's beard I found you. Are you alright?" He asked her, and she could only look up at him with a smile.
"I am. Thank you… How did you know I was out here?" She asked.
"Get on the broom first, then I'll tell you," he answered, and she nodded. With plenty of his help, she was pulled up onto his broom, sitting in between his thighs. His arms moved around her, holding her inebriated self locked in. He reached forward, causing his chest to be pushed against her back as he gripped the broom between her legs to control it into turning swiftly, heading back in what she assumed was the direction of the school.
In her ear, he called over the wind and snow, "Madam Puddifoot owled me over an hour ago, now. She said you were on your way back, and for me to make sure you returned safely."
Hermione was surprised, and then again she wasn't, because the elderly witch was always so concerned with Hermione's well-being. She adjusted to turn her head just enough to ask over the rushing wind, "How did she know to owl you?"
"I told her that first night at the restaurant, when we were both there, that I was returning to school for the term," he called back.
She nodded. "That makes sense," she mused, mostly to herself. She then spoke up, turning around some to say, "Thank you for coming to find me."
He leaned farther forward, his warm chest becoming flush with her back, which she leaned back against subconsciously, and he said into her ear, "It's my pleasure, Granger. Besides," he added, "you smell like whiskey. I'm beginning to think it all worked out for the best."
As his words ended, Hermione made out the glow of the large sconces at the entryway of the castle, and Draco made it through the open entryway quickly, putting them down with ease before shrinking his broom and putting it in his pocket, all with one smooth motion.
"I would have been fine, you know," she told him, and he nodded as he began to remove the snow from their cloaks with magic, the wizard having replace his blazer with something more traditional for his trip into the snow.
"I know, Granger," he said, a smile playing on his lips at her stubborn words. "But I wasn't willing to risk it. Once I used a Revelio and found nothing, and after realizing it had been an hour since you left the restaurant and still hadn't returned I figured you could use some help. Why don't you use a Tethering charm?"
"Tonight would have been the first time in which I needed one," was her answer. He raised a brow at her, and she found herself biting her lip at his intense stare. "I… I think it was the whiskey. I've never gotten lost on that walk before."
"We're both thinking the same thing, then," he said. "It must have been quite a bit of whiskey if I of all people needed to save you."
She frowned up at him, replying, "I don't need saving."
He smirked, further amused by her, answering, "I believe that entirely. I do. But I wouldn't have felt right if I had left you out there. Everyone needs saving from time to time. I recall when, not long ago, you helped save everyone on the planet. It just so happened that it was your turn to be saved, and I just so happened to be the wizard for the job."
"Well aren't you lucky," Hermione retorted with sass, crossing her arms under her breasts as she placed her weight to one side.
His smirk disappeared and turned into a genuine smile as he said, "I do consider myself lucky to have had the privilege of saving you, Hermione."
He reached up slowly, his fingers taking a loose curl and tucking it behind her left ear. Her breath caught at the touch, but she found she leaned into him instead of pulling away, and he must have noticed this action, because it was happening again. Either she was leaning in, or he was, or they both were, but all she knew was that their were suddenly a few inches apart; the tall wizard leaning down, her face titling up with the assistance of his hand, which had moved from her hair to cup her chin.
Their eyes were locked, and Hermione had stopped breathing, and her heart was trying to burst from her chest as he closed the gap… leaving a short kiss on her temple before pulling away, leaving the witch to look up at him in confusion.
"Goodnight, Granger," he said out of the blue. "I'm going to owl Madam Puddifoot and inform her I found you. I trust you can make it to your dorm without assistance."
He then walked past her, towards the stairs to the dungeons, and she stared after him, dumbfounded, before whispering to herself, "What in the hell was that?"
