"Hermione! I don't want to go into a bookshop when we are supposed to have fun. I want to go to Zonko's. I'm low on dungbombs and my brothers' new Blow-You-Up Bubblegum is supposed to be in there." Ron whined as they stopped in front of the joke shop.
"Fine! You go into your silly joke shop and I'll go check out the new edition of History of Magic. I'll meet you back here later." Hermione ordered as she began to stalk off.
Hermione found the new edition along with about ten other books at the bookshop. She paid for the books with the money that she had. Hermione secured her scarf around her neck as she walked out into the chilly February air.
She was just about to enter Zonko's when something small, gray, and fat caught her attention. Hermione turned quickly and saw a rat with a silver paw scurry into an alley between The Three Broomsticks and Honeyducks. Forgetting all about logic, Hermione raced after the rat.
She slowed to a walk as she entered the alley. She held her wand tightly in one hand and her books in the other. Her ears were open and her eyes were squinting into the darkness.
There was no movement. Only silence met her ears, and stillness met her eyes.
Hermione hadn't been ready when someone grabbed her from behind, and with a startled cry all her books fell to the ground. Someone shoved an empty bottle of water into her hands, and it took her only a fraction of a second to realize that this was all a trap.
She tried to drop the bottle, but before she could the familiar tug at her navel told her that the Portkey had been activated.
Two seconds later, her feet landed on the ground again and Hermione stumbled backwards. Before she could regain her footing, someone said, "Stupefy," and she knew no more.
"Ennervate." So cold. I am so cold. "Granger, are you awake?" That voice… So cold. I know that voice. "Granger, you need to open your eyes. I need to get you out of here." Here? Where is here? I saw a rat… Followed it… Portkey… I was stunned!
Hermione opened her eyes and met those of gray. She jerked back a bit because they had been so close. It took a moment to realize who it was.
"Malfoy? What are you doing here? And-" Hermione looked around at the dark room and stone floor, "Where is here?"
"I'm here to save your arse seeing how you couldn't while you were stunned. And to where we are… I'm not sure." Malfoy explained, as he got to his feet not even bothering to help Hermione up.
"How do you not know where we are? How did you get here if you do not know where we are?" Hermione said logically as she pushed herself off the cold ground.
"I was called through my Dark Mark and I apparated here." Malfoy told her as he began to scan the room.
Apparated here? Dark Mark? That means he's a- "Why would a Death Eater be helping me?"
"Use your brain, Granger, I know you have one. I work for Professor Dumbledore, not my father. But if I don't do as my father I'm most likely to end up dead. So, the professor has made me a spy. So, lets get out of here before we both end up dead." Malfoy said quickly.
Hermione just nodded as she followed Malfoy to a certain tile in the ground. He pulled out his wand and levitated the tile up and instructed her to jump through the now visible hole.
Hermione did as she was told and landed in the dark tunnel and waited as Malfoy jumped down after her. He motioned for her to fallow and again, she didn't object.
They had been walking for nearly half an hour when the tunnel finally began to ascend upward. As they got to the point that they had to crawl to get through the tunnel, Malfoy stopped and pointed his wand above him. He muttered something in a whisper and the ground (or ceiling to them) blasted apart and left an opening for them to climb up through.
Malfoy lifted himself onto the ground and looked around to check if the coast was clear before saying, "It's clear. C'mon."
Hermione lifted herself up and found herself in the middle of the forest. This time, Malfoy did help her to her feet, but only to get going faster. They weaved through the trees, not really having a destination, just knowing that they had to get as far away as they could from wherever they just were.
"Don't suppose you have your wand?" Malfoy asked Hermione as they ducked under a low branch. Hermione checked her pockets and shook her head.
"I either dropped it when I was grabbed from behind with the rest of my books, or the Death Eaters took it away." Hermione let a defeated sigh leave her lips as she stepped over an exceptionally big root.
"You could always get- Damn it!" Malfoy's sudden outburst made Hermione jump. When she looked at him, she noticed that he was doubled-over clutching his forearm.
"It's burning?" Malfoy nodded slowly. "Go. They'll know that you are the spy if you don't show up."
"They'll think I'm at Hogwarts. Apparation is impossible there. But we need to keep going." Malfoy said and added, "Quickly."
"Why?" Hermione asked dumbly as she struggled to keep up with Malfoy's large tracks.
"This means that they have noticed that you are gone. They'll be after us in a matter of seconds. Now c'mon." Malfoy instructed. They walked, or rather ran through the forest hoping to find its end soon, but that didn't look like it was going to happen. And before they knew it, the sounds of footsteps getting closer were heard echoing throughout the forest.
Malfoy cursed softly, and before Hermione could react, he grabbed her hand and pulled her off the path they had been following and down a hillside where they found a little brook. On the other side of the brook was a thicket of trees. Malfoy pulled Hermione over to it and jumped through the close trees, grass, and bush. Hermione hesitated for a second and then followed him.
To her amazement, inside the thicket was a clearing. Malfoy was pointing his wand at the trees surrounding the area and said, "Silencio!" He sighed deeply before explaining, "They won't be able to hear us now, and I doubt they'll think to look in here."
Hermione examined the surrounding trees and said, "Will we be able to hear them?"
Malfoy looked at her for a second and said, "Yes. But it will be hard with the trees blocking most of the sound anyway." Hermione nodded her understanding as she sat down on the moist grass. Malfoy sat across from her and they sat there quietly, not saying a word, just listening to the sounds of the wind in the trees.
Hermione closed her eyes in a soothing way and just listened to the forest noises. Something touched her shoulder and she jumped in surprise. She opened her eyes and it turned out to be Malfoy. He was now much closer and he was looking at her.
He didn't say anything, but their eyes met and an understanding formed between them. They were no longer enemies. She didn't see him as Malfoy anymore, more as Draco, and he didn't see her as Granger anymore, more as Hermione. That understanding was so brief that Hermione wondered whether or not it had actually been there.
"Draco," she started. The name sounded weird on her lips and she had to pause to get use to it.
"Hermione," he said more to himself than to her. Her name sounded weird coming from him. He grinned at her and she smiled back.
"Thank you." Hermione found herself saying as she gazed upward at the starry night sky.
"For what?" Draco asked looking at her.
"For saving my life. You could have left me there to rot, but you saved my life. Thank you for that."
"I had to save your life…"
"No you didn't. You could have told Dumbledore that you had been too late, and that I had already been dead. But you didn't, and I thank you." Hermione insisted.
"Your welcome." He said slowly as if he wasn't sure that was the right thing to say. Hermione shifted her gaze from the sky to him. He was looking right at her, and their eyes were locked in less than a second. They stayed like that for sometime before something happened.
Draco leaned in and kissed her on the mouth. At first she just stared at him as he kissed her, but as he pulled away Hermoine quickly caught his lips again and kissed him back. When they pulled away they both looked at each other strangely.
Hermione started to say something, but Draco cut her off. "The Mark has stopped burning, that means they're gone. Let go."
Hermione only nodded as she stood and followed him out. As they climbed back through the brush, Draco caught her hand and held it in his own. Hermione only smiled as they walked through the forest.
From far off, the moonlight shone on them. Hair of silvery-blonde and bushy-brown could be seen through the trees every so often. Luckily, no one was there to watch them as they disappeared from view and appeared in view, and most luckily, no one was there to see that their hands were holding the other loosely.