"Blackbird"
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot, and even that was inspired by other stories and, of course, the song "Blackbird" by John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
Chapter 5
Draco was examining a rather nasty-looking bruise that was forming on the top of Hermione's forehead when he heard the sound of nearby footsteps. He froze, listening carefully as the footsteps got nearer and nearer. Upon realizing that the footsteps were coming from the secret passageway that they had just fallen through, Draco speedily stood up, trying to figure out what to do with Hermione. Knowing that the approaching footsteps most likely belonged to Snape, a person Draco had no interest in seeing again today, Draco quickly lifted Hermione off the ground and began sprinting towards the dark forest.
Draco threw himself and Hermione behind a large tree just in time to see Professor Snape appear at the bottom of the stairwell. "Who's there?" Snape barked, closing the secret passageway with his wand. "At this point, there is no way to avoid detention, so if you are a student, show yourself NOW!"
Draco held his breath as Snape slowly came nearer to where they lay hidden, his voice cutting through the thick silence of the woods. Draco knew it wasn't safe to move; Snape had had his wand out and ready the moment he entered the forest. In Draco's lap, Hermione began to stir, rapidly returning to her conscious state. She slowly opened her eyes, looking around herself in confusion. Draco caught her eye and brought one finger to his lips, telling her silently to remain quiet. She looked at him uncertainly, but didn't say anything. She sat up and moved so that she was now sitting next to Draco with her back against the tree trunk, a place she felt much more comfortable with than she had with her previous position in Draco's lap.
"WHERE ARE WE?" Hermione mouthed, still very confused about how they had gotten outside at all.
"The Forbidden Forest," Draco whispered quietly, still listening for Snape's footsteps. "The passageway we fell through dropped us on the grounds and Snape followed us. Wait—" Draco paused, hearing Snape's footsteps quicken behind them. Once again Draco gestured for Hermione to be silent.
Hermione heard Snape's footsteps and noticed that they were close and were getting nearer by the second. She slowly and silently got to her feet, back pressed up against the tree, and began sliding carefully around the trunk. She peeked around the tree and saw Snape looking behind some dark bushes, unaware of Hermione's presence. Hermione quickly realized that this might be her only chance, and drew her wand out of her pocket. Aiming the wand at the potions master, she whispered, "Stupify."
Snape immediately collapsed into the bushes he was looking through, unconscious. Hermione let out a sigh of relief and turned back to Draco. "He's unconscious...for now, anyway." Draco peeked around the tree himself to make sure she was correct before standing next to her. Hermione walked over to Snape and took away his wand, pocketing it. She then lay Snape on the ground so that he wasn't hanging so precariously on the bushes. She cringed as she looked at him. "Jesus, Malfoy, what the hell did you do to him?" Hermione asked, looking away from the unconscious professor and up at Draco.
Draco continued looking at Snape with disgust. "I smashed a bottle of green goo over his head." Hermione just stared at him, wide-eyed. "The bastard was trying to kill me! What the hell was I SUPPOSED to do?" Draco kicked angrily at some leaves on the forest floor. "Fuck. What the hell are we going to do now?"
Hermione looked back down at Snape guiltily. She would never in her wildest dreams have guessed that she would one day stun a professor. The worst part was that she was now even more thoroughly involved with this whole chaotic problem. She thought about their options. "Well... I really don't see any solution now." She said hopelessly. "I would say we should go to Dumbledore, but now that we've stunned and disarmed a teacher on the outskirts of the forbidden forest, I don't think that would be the greatest idea somehow..."
Draco thought for a moment. He knew that leaving was pretty much his only choice, but at the back of his mind he felt guilty about leaving Hermione to explain to the teachers about why he had left. He didn't know why he cared what happened to her, one of the few people he had actually hated most of his life, but she had tried to help him this evening, and he felt indebted to her. However, no matter how guilty he felt, he knew that running away was his only option. Even before they'd gotten been chased by Snape, he knew that going to Dumbledore wasn't the answer, and now he felt that there wasn't even a choice in the matter. "Look, Granger," He began uncertainly, "I'm sorry that you've gotten so involved in this mess, and I'm sorry that I have to leave you here to answer the inquiries of the teachers on your own, but my only option right now is to do what I originally planned on; to run away."
Hermione was kneeling on the ground, next to the stunned teacher whom she had already forgotten about in her thinking of their possible solutions. She looked up thoughtfully at Draco and stood, brushing the dirt from the ground off her robes. "I know you have to go, Malfoy. And..." She paused, uncertain of whether she should continue. "Could I go with you?" She bit her lip, looking at him nervously, having absolutely no idea how he would react.
Draco looked at Hermione, surprised. "C-Come with me?" He repeated.
Hermione shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. "Well, it's just that it would solve a lot of problems. There wouldn't be any witnesses; no one would know where we had gone. Snape would be the last to have seen us, but even he can't be certain that it was us."
Draco thought about it. "But what about your family at home? Won't they worry about you?" He asked her.
Hermione didn't speak for a moment. Her eyes flashed with a mixture of emotions: anger, sadness, fear...there were many. When she spoke, her voice had a cold edge to it. "No." She said with certainty.
Draco frowned, confused about her family. He decided not to ask her about it just yet and his thoughts drifted back to the idea of her leaving with him. He couldn't see anything particularly wrong with this plan, but it seemed odd that two people who had been enemies as long as they had known each other would run away together. There was something inside him, his younger self, that said leaving with Hermione would only result in disaster. But yet another part of himself, the part that was determined to leave the past behind, reminded him that Hermione had only been trying to help him this whole night, with no apparent benefit to herself. And, come to think of it, they had actually gotten along fairly well for two whole days now, ever since they were made Head Boy and Girl. As she looked at him hopefully, he decided to give her a chance. "Yes, you can come with me, if you're positive that's what you want to do. We'll have to move quickly, so you'll have to keep up. Are you sure you want to?" He said, watching the anxiety vanish from her features as relief swept over her.
"Yes, I'm sure." Hermione said, determined.
"Then let's get going." Draco turned around, heading back to the castle. He wondered what on earth he had gotten himself into by allowing Hermione to come with him. Was it really the right decision? Draco looked sideways at Hermione, who was walking next to him. He stopped walking for a second, remembering that they had just left Professor Snape on the ground. "What about Snape?" He asked Hermione, who continued to walk a few yards in front of him.
"Leave him there. I make a point of not helping bastards like him."
Draco smirked as he realized letting Hermione go with him might not have been such a bad decision after all.
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Hermione rushed into her room to pack her things. She scrambled around, packing anything worth keeping and leaving everything else behind. She could only bring her backpack, as her trunk would be far too large to carry a great distance, so she placed a charm on the inside of the bag to make it larger than it appeared. She packed as many clothes as she could fit, all of her money and anything that she could sell if they were desperate, and an old photograph of her parents. She looked down at the old picture before she put it in her bag. Her parents were smiling at her and waving, it almost brought tears to her eyes when she remembered she would never see them again, as they had died that summer. She quickly stuffed the picture into her backpack and zipped it up, bringing only one more thing in her pocket: the book she was currently reading (The Count of Monte Cristo). When she was sure she'd packed everything she needed, she hurried across the hall to Draco's room.
Hermione knocked quickly on the door before opening it. She looked around and saw that Draco was also only taking a medium-sized bag rather than his trunk. Just as she was closing the door behind her, he zipped the bag closed, obviously finished packing. He then proceeded to put on his robes, when Hermione decided to ask the question that had been nagging her for some time. "Er, Malfoy? How are we going to get far away from here if there's only a few hours until classes begin again and the teachers realize we're gone?"
Draco smirked, reaching into his closet and pulling out his broomstick. "We're going to fly."
Hermione looked uncertainly at the Firebolt in Draco's hand. "F-Fly?" She asked, her voice a few tones higher than usual.
Draco noticed her discomfort and realized at once what must be wrong. "Granger, are you scared of heights?" Hermione nodded, still eyeing the broom apprehensively. Draco sighed. "Well, I'm afraid this is our only choice. It's too late to start out walking, as even now the sun is rising, so you'll have to fly or stay behind."
Hermione looked up at him and nodded once again. "Alright," she said, "I'll fly for a little while, but on other days, when we're not as rushed can we PLEASE walk?"
"Yeah, alright, but quick, let's get going before the other students get up." He gestured for her to follow him to the balcony, where he mounted the broom. He stuck out his hand to pull her up on to the hovering broom with him, and she grudgingly put one leg over the broomstick and sat down. Draco instinctively put his arm around her waist as the broom surged forward, slightly slower than usual with the added amount of weight. Together they flew through the cold, crisp morning air, speedily leaving the old castle and its grounds. After a while, even Hermione began to relax a little, despite the high altitude, and she eventually fell asleep, her whole body resting on Draco's torso. Soon enough, the sun had fully risen, and, for everybody below them, the day was just beginning.
They were now miles from Hogwarts, having flown for several ours without resting, and Draco was beginning to feel increasingly drowsy. He spotted an empty field below them and decided to take a break. They quickly descended and landed gracefully in the shade of a tall tree. Draco carefully rested Hermione on the grass next to his Firebolt and then lay down beside her. Within seconds, his lack of rest caught up with him and he was in a deep sleep.
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AN: Well, I think this story has gotten better, as I promised it would a long time ago. I hope that you all are enjoying this story and please review!
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot, and even that was inspired by other stories and, of course, the song "Blackbird" by John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
Chapter 5
Draco was examining a rather nasty-looking bruise that was forming on the top of Hermione's forehead when he heard the sound of nearby footsteps. He froze, listening carefully as the footsteps got nearer and nearer. Upon realizing that the footsteps were coming from the secret passageway that they had just fallen through, Draco speedily stood up, trying to figure out what to do with Hermione. Knowing that the approaching footsteps most likely belonged to Snape, a person Draco had no interest in seeing again today, Draco quickly lifted Hermione off the ground and began sprinting towards the dark forest.
Draco threw himself and Hermione behind a large tree just in time to see Professor Snape appear at the bottom of the stairwell. "Who's there?" Snape barked, closing the secret passageway with his wand. "At this point, there is no way to avoid detention, so if you are a student, show yourself NOW!"
Draco held his breath as Snape slowly came nearer to where they lay hidden, his voice cutting through the thick silence of the woods. Draco knew it wasn't safe to move; Snape had had his wand out and ready the moment he entered the forest. In Draco's lap, Hermione began to stir, rapidly returning to her conscious state. She slowly opened her eyes, looking around herself in confusion. Draco caught her eye and brought one finger to his lips, telling her silently to remain quiet. She looked at him uncertainly, but didn't say anything. She sat up and moved so that she was now sitting next to Draco with her back against the tree trunk, a place she felt much more comfortable with than she had with her previous position in Draco's lap.
"WHERE ARE WE?" Hermione mouthed, still very confused about how they had gotten outside at all.
"The Forbidden Forest," Draco whispered quietly, still listening for Snape's footsteps. "The passageway we fell through dropped us on the grounds and Snape followed us. Wait—" Draco paused, hearing Snape's footsteps quicken behind them. Once again Draco gestured for Hermione to be silent.
Hermione heard Snape's footsteps and noticed that they were close and were getting nearer by the second. She slowly and silently got to her feet, back pressed up against the tree, and began sliding carefully around the trunk. She peeked around the tree and saw Snape looking behind some dark bushes, unaware of Hermione's presence. Hermione quickly realized that this might be her only chance, and drew her wand out of her pocket. Aiming the wand at the potions master, she whispered, "Stupify."
Snape immediately collapsed into the bushes he was looking through, unconscious. Hermione let out a sigh of relief and turned back to Draco. "He's unconscious...for now, anyway." Draco peeked around the tree himself to make sure she was correct before standing next to her. Hermione walked over to Snape and took away his wand, pocketing it. She then lay Snape on the ground so that he wasn't hanging so precariously on the bushes. She cringed as she looked at him. "Jesus, Malfoy, what the hell did you do to him?" Hermione asked, looking away from the unconscious professor and up at Draco.
Draco continued looking at Snape with disgust. "I smashed a bottle of green goo over his head." Hermione just stared at him, wide-eyed. "The bastard was trying to kill me! What the hell was I SUPPOSED to do?" Draco kicked angrily at some leaves on the forest floor. "Fuck. What the hell are we going to do now?"
Hermione looked back down at Snape guiltily. She would never in her wildest dreams have guessed that she would one day stun a professor. The worst part was that she was now even more thoroughly involved with this whole chaotic problem. She thought about their options. "Well... I really don't see any solution now." She said hopelessly. "I would say we should go to Dumbledore, but now that we've stunned and disarmed a teacher on the outskirts of the forbidden forest, I don't think that would be the greatest idea somehow..."
Draco thought for a moment. He knew that leaving was pretty much his only choice, but at the back of his mind he felt guilty about leaving Hermione to explain to the teachers about why he had left. He didn't know why he cared what happened to her, one of the few people he had actually hated most of his life, but she had tried to help him this evening, and he felt indebted to her. However, no matter how guilty he felt, he knew that running away was his only option. Even before they'd gotten been chased by Snape, he knew that going to Dumbledore wasn't the answer, and now he felt that there wasn't even a choice in the matter. "Look, Granger," He began uncertainly, "I'm sorry that you've gotten so involved in this mess, and I'm sorry that I have to leave you here to answer the inquiries of the teachers on your own, but my only option right now is to do what I originally planned on; to run away."
Hermione was kneeling on the ground, next to the stunned teacher whom she had already forgotten about in her thinking of their possible solutions. She looked up thoughtfully at Draco and stood, brushing the dirt from the ground off her robes. "I know you have to go, Malfoy. And..." She paused, uncertain of whether she should continue. "Could I go with you?" She bit her lip, looking at him nervously, having absolutely no idea how he would react.
Draco looked at Hermione, surprised. "C-Come with me?" He repeated.
Hermione shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. "Well, it's just that it would solve a lot of problems. There wouldn't be any witnesses; no one would know where we had gone. Snape would be the last to have seen us, but even he can't be certain that it was us."
Draco thought about it. "But what about your family at home? Won't they worry about you?" He asked her.
Hermione didn't speak for a moment. Her eyes flashed with a mixture of emotions: anger, sadness, fear...there were many. When she spoke, her voice had a cold edge to it. "No." She said with certainty.
Draco frowned, confused about her family. He decided not to ask her about it just yet and his thoughts drifted back to the idea of her leaving with him. He couldn't see anything particularly wrong with this plan, but it seemed odd that two people who had been enemies as long as they had known each other would run away together. There was something inside him, his younger self, that said leaving with Hermione would only result in disaster. But yet another part of himself, the part that was determined to leave the past behind, reminded him that Hermione had only been trying to help him this whole night, with no apparent benefit to herself. And, come to think of it, they had actually gotten along fairly well for two whole days now, ever since they were made Head Boy and Girl. As she looked at him hopefully, he decided to give her a chance. "Yes, you can come with me, if you're positive that's what you want to do. We'll have to move quickly, so you'll have to keep up. Are you sure you want to?" He said, watching the anxiety vanish from her features as relief swept over her.
"Yes, I'm sure." Hermione said, determined.
"Then let's get going." Draco turned around, heading back to the castle. He wondered what on earth he had gotten himself into by allowing Hermione to come with him. Was it really the right decision? Draco looked sideways at Hermione, who was walking next to him. He stopped walking for a second, remembering that they had just left Professor Snape on the ground. "What about Snape?" He asked Hermione, who continued to walk a few yards in front of him.
"Leave him there. I make a point of not helping bastards like him."
Draco smirked as he realized letting Hermione go with him might not have been such a bad decision after all.
******************************************************
Hermione rushed into her room to pack her things. She scrambled around, packing anything worth keeping and leaving everything else behind. She could only bring her backpack, as her trunk would be far too large to carry a great distance, so she placed a charm on the inside of the bag to make it larger than it appeared. She packed as many clothes as she could fit, all of her money and anything that she could sell if they were desperate, and an old photograph of her parents. She looked down at the old picture before she put it in her bag. Her parents were smiling at her and waving, it almost brought tears to her eyes when she remembered she would never see them again, as they had died that summer. She quickly stuffed the picture into her backpack and zipped it up, bringing only one more thing in her pocket: the book she was currently reading (The Count of Monte Cristo). When she was sure she'd packed everything she needed, she hurried across the hall to Draco's room.
Hermione knocked quickly on the door before opening it. She looked around and saw that Draco was also only taking a medium-sized bag rather than his trunk. Just as she was closing the door behind her, he zipped the bag closed, obviously finished packing. He then proceeded to put on his robes, when Hermione decided to ask the question that had been nagging her for some time. "Er, Malfoy? How are we going to get far away from here if there's only a few hours until classes begin again and the teachers realize we're gone?"
Draco smirked, reaching into his closet and pulling out his broomstick. "We're going to fly."
Hermione looked uncertainly at the Firebolt in Draco's hand. "F-Fly?" She asked, her voice a few tones higher than usual.
Draco noticed her discomfort and realized at once what must be wrong. "Granger, are you scared of heights?" Hermione nodded, still eyeing the broom apprehensively. Draco sighed. "Well, I'm afraid this is our only choice. It's too late to start out walking, as even now the sun is rising, so you'll have to fly or stay behind."
Hermione looked up at him and nodded once again. "Alright," she said, "I'll fly for a little while, but on other days, when we're not as rushed can we PLEASE walk?"
"Yeah, alright, but quick, let's get going before the other students get up." He gestured for her to follow him to the balcony, where he mounted the broom. He stuck out his hand to pull her up on to the hovering broom with him, and she grudgingly put one leg over the broomstick and sat down. Draco instinctively put his arm around her waist as the broom surged forward, slightly slower than usual with the added amount of weight. Together they flew through the cold, crisp morning air, speedily leaving the old castle and its grounds. After a while, even Hermione began to relax a little, despite the high altitude, and she eventually fell asleep, her whole body resting on Draco's torso. Soon enough, the sun had fully risen, and, for everybody below them, the day was just beginning.
They were now miles from Hogwarts, having flown for several ours without resting, and Draco was beginning to feel increasingly drowsy. He spotted an empty field below them and decided to take a break. They quickly descended and landed gracefully in the shade of a tall tree. Draco carefully rested Hermione on the grass next to his Firebolt and then lay down beside her. Within seconds, his lack of rest caught up with him and he was in a deep sleep.
**********************************************************
AN: Well, I think this story has gotten better, as I promised it would a long time ago. I hope that you all are enjoying this story and please review!