((A.N. Okay, I lied. Here's another chapter. I know I told you I wasn't gonna post another one for a while, but I just couldn't leave you guys in suspense. The last chapter seemed a bit unfinished to me. There are a lot of things you guys have been waiting for in this chapter, but I'll give no more away! Read for yourself and enjoy!))
Diclaimer: Osama wants world peace, Johnny Depp is NOT hot, Bush is a Democrat, Orlando Bloom loves me, pop ups are NOT annoying, the world is flat, girls have no interest whatsoever in guys, Michael Jackson is perfectly normal, Draco loves muggles, and I own Harry Potter. Get it yet?
Hermione got off of her horse clumsily and began running toward Draco's motionless figure.
"Draco? Draco!" she cried, falling down next to him. She turned him over and realized that he had indeed hit a tree branch.
This is my fault, she though suddenly. I wanted to race, and if he hadn't been looking back at me, he would have seen it coming. Tears began streaming down her face. He was obviously unconscious, but she felt for a pulse and found one. She examined his head tenderly.
"Draco!" she said, smoothing his hair back gently. He didn't stir. What if he never wakes up? Hermione thought, her heart pounding. She had heard of sleeping concussions before, in which the victim, after being hit on the head forcefully, fell unconscious and eventually stopped breathing.
"Draco, wake up!" She shook his shoulders with increasing violence. She hit him across the face to no outcome.
"Draco Malfoy, wake up this instant! You numb headed, goat brained, fool of a boy! If you don't wake up, I'll– I'll–"
Suddenly Hermione did the only thing she could think of. She leaned down and drew him up into a passionate kiss. She was surprised when his lips reacted after a few moments. She held the kiss a little longer and then drew away, gasping for breath. Draco opened his eyes, chest heaving from lack of air.
He stared at her for a few moments before realization dawned on his face.
"How did I– what did you– what . . . ?" Draco stuttered, for once in his life at a loss for words.
"You hit a tree branch," Hermione said, as if that explained everything. She couldn't help but laugh in relief. I should've known, she thought ruefully. Fool of a boy will come back from the brink of death if he thinks he's missing out on some action. She grinned foolishly.
Draco laughed softly. "Guess it took a hell of a lot more to beat you than I thought."
He felt his chest carefully. "The tree branch hit me in the chest, I think. It just knocked the wind out of me."
Hermione sighed in relief. Suddenly her face turned serious. "You scared me so much," she whispered, searching his eyes for a response. Draco sat up shakily, looking around. In their gallop they had crossed the meadow and were currently on the opposite edge.
"I must not have noticed we'd reached the other side," he muttered, dazed. "I was too busy staring at . . . At you." His cheeks colored in a boyish fashion and he looked away quickly.
Hermione smiled at his antics before looking around.
"Where are the horses?" she asked suddenly. She turned to see Snow in the same spot she had dismounted.
"Ebony was probably frightened when I flew off. She most likely went back to the stables. She knows how to get there," draco said, still out of breath. He too looked around.
"Well, here's as good a place as any to have a rest and some lunch," he stated after a few moments.
"You're hungry . . . after that?"
"Starving," he said, grinning at her shocked look.
Hermione helped him up and they made their way back to Snow, where she untied a picnic basket from the horses saddle.
The sunlight in the meadow seemed to make even the air around them glisten with fresh beauty. A slight breeze ruffled the waves of the summer green grass, and the rest of the world was far away to Hermione is this place.
They spread a blanket out near the center of the meadow, Draco watching Hermione's dreamy expression carefully. Did she really kiss me back there, or was I dreaming? He wondered lightly. I was dreaming, he concluded bluntly.
They sat down and began taking items out of the picnic basket: potato salad, crumpets, triangle sandwiches, and cherry cobbler. They conversed about nothing for the majority of the meal, until Hermione brought up the inevitable.
"Draco," she whispered, her expression becoming serious. " . . .I'm scared." There was no need for Draco to inquire as to what she feared. The Death Eater initiation was on both of their minds.
"Hermione, you know I won't let them hurt you," he said, taking her face gently in his hands. Despite his soft manner, there was a fierceness in his eyes that rivale d even the intensity of fire.
She looked away, casting her eyes down at the checkered picnic blanket. "It was just something your mother said once. I asked her why she'd married Lucius, and she replied, 'he was perfect, and we were in love. When he got the Dark Mark, though, something in him changed. He became as evil and as corrupt as his father before him.'"
She stopped abruptly and looking up at him, near tears. Suddenly he realized that it was not herself she feared most for. She did not fear Lucius, she did not fear lord Voldemort himself as much as she feared that he would become exactly like them. She fears she will lose me, Draco realized.
"Oh, Hermione," Draco whispered, drawing her closely to him. She clutched him as if he was the only thing holding her up.
"I will never be like him. Don't worry about that anymore. My father . . ." he trailed off, as he had so many times before. He could not think of a word bad enough to use on his father.
"I hate this curse," Hermione whispered into his hair. "He could say anything . . . anything . . . and I would have no choice but to obey."
"There is one rule of magic you are forgetting, Hermione," Draco said indignantly. She couldn't help but smile. "For every curse there is a counter curse."
Hermione pulled away and looked up at him, her eyes full of hope. "With a curse as ancient as this one, though, the counter curse must be very difficult to perform. Near impossible, I should think," she said quietly.
"Have you ever run into a spell that is too hard for you to perform, Hermione Granger?" Draco inquired skeptically.
Hermione laughed lightly, wiping her tears away. "I suppose not," she said after a few moments.
"There is one more thing you are forgetting about this whole curse," Draco continued, a grin spreading over his face.
"And what would that be?"
He took her hand before saying, "You are bound to me too."
Hermione looked up at him, a smile sneaking across her features. "Are you sure?"
"Why don't we find out?" Draco asked mischievously.
"Okay," replied Hermione, crossing her arms. "Give me a command."
Draco stroked his chin for a moment, and their eyes locked.
"I want you to kiss me. To this you are bound!" Draco said before she could protest.
"Draco!" Hermione said indignantly, although from the sparkle in her eye he could tell that she was pleased. "How dare you! I refuse to be ordered to kiss you!"
Draco just laughed before saying. "Alright, then. May I have the privilege of kissing you?" Hermione's eyes narrowed as she noted the sarcasm in his voice.
"If you insist," she said finally, her eyes meeting his.
Draco moved his face closer. "I do insist," he whispered, his lips touching hers.
At first the kiss was soft and sweet, raindrops cascading off of a flower petal. With time it deepened, wind brushing across a crimson rose.
Hermione felt in that kiss, a change. She could not tell whether the change had occurred in her or Draco, but in that moment she knew that all animosity between them had vanished. Not that Draco would change from the arrogant git he always was, nor Hermione from the studious bookworm her friends knew her as. Simply that she felt a feeling for him unrivaled by anything or anyone, and he for her.
They parted softly, each wondering if the other had noticed the change. They were silent for a few moments, content with the quiet sheltering them.
Indeed, it seemed that this opulent silence was the only thing sheltering them from the storm to come.
((A.N. Next chapter, the initiation! *dun dun dun* Tell me what you thought of this chapter by reviewing!))