Within the Smoke

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters. Their J.K. Rowling's.

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Draco heard a curse muttered and quickly crouched close to the earth. The spell, glowing bright green, flew over his head to disappear into the darkness. Hastily, Draco sprang up and pushed forward.

===Note====

This chapter was revised on 7/15/04 after it was eariler published. If you read it before then, you might want to skim through again before continuing. I still think it's too short though.

Within the Smoke

Chapter 2: He Couldn't Be Saved

Draco wandered aimlessly within the smoke for some moments before realizing it was near impossible to locate where they had originally encountered Voldemort. And, upon further reflection found he wasn't quite certain he wanted to find the enemy. Still, he was determined to be the glorious hero of this battle and his pride prevented him from returning to Hermione without having accomplished anything. Draco felt quite certain that he had unintentionally somehow replaced Potter as the much needed protector in Granger's mind. How this ill luck befell him, he wasn't sure. One moment he was wandering – alone, as preferred, the next he found himself face to face with Granger. Dismissing the negative thoughts, Draco abruptly changed directions toward a possible glow of a spell. His whole body was tense as he moved. His wand was held at ready even though he himself wasn't.

Draco felt temporarily guilty for leaving Hermione by herself and unarmed, but quickly convinced himself it would be safer for her. His concern for her wellbeing however was intermixed with his own desire to work alone. With numbers there was safety, but alone Draco knew he would meet the challenge and glory his ambition was driving him to find. What was the use in safety if life became a dull meaningless existence?

He dissolved the image of Granger defenseless from his thoughts as he moved on. Draco thought he had heard some movement to his right and planned on investigating. As he drew closer, he realized it was a lone figure in the smoke. Egotistical as he was, Draco still wasn't entirely certain a one on one fight with a well trained Deatheater would end in his favor.

Draco heard a curse muttered and quickly crouched close to the earth. The spell, glowing bright green, flew over his head to disappear into the darkness. Hastily, Draco sprang up and pushed forward. He charged the enemy and rolled with him onto the ground. The man's cloak was tightly drawn to disguise his face. Draco managed to force the enemy's wand hand to point away. When the struggle stopped, Draco had pinned his opponent and held his wand pointed to the man's chin. Both came to a rest and breathed heavily for a moment.

Before victory was felt, another curse was spoken off to his left. It missed him by inches. Seconds following the spell, a dark figure came flying at him. Draco was knocked over. It only took a second and the Deatheater he had pinned apparated away. Draco lay panting for a second, holding his wand up ready for the next attack by this new opponent.

Straining to see, Draco was surprised and disappointed. Disappointment quicky transformed into anger. He found himself staring straight into the bright green eyes of his old school rival. Damn Fool, he thought, Potter was attacking his own side.

Draco was indignant. "Getoff! What are you doing Potter? Have you gone mad!?" Malfoy shoved Harry to the side and watched him scramble to his feet. Draco remained where he landed, panting slightly.

"I thought you were a Deatheater. Who could tell in all this smoke? Where's the other person? I thought there were two of you." Potter asked, bluntly refusing to apologize.

"Gone, I suppose. With you distracting me, I could hardly see what happened to him."

Draco was in no mood to bicker. What an annoyance Potter was, too much glory for his own good. And why was the famous trio intent on knocking him to the ground? He half expected redheaded Weasley to come charging through the fog at him next. Draco finally pushed himself up off the ground and dusted off his robes. He raised his wand and readied himself to apparate away from Potter.

"Where are you off to in such a hurry?"

"Well, you showed up crudely out of nowhere and disrupted my battle. So, I've off to find me a deatheater." Draco almost sounded cheerful. How he found cheer now was beyond Harry. "By the way Potter, your little witch is waiting for you somewhere over in that direction."

"Hermione? Is she alright?" Harry sounded urgent. Malfoy formed a satisfied smirk in believing his long held assumption that Potter was smitten to be true. Well well, keeping an eye on Granger will keep him busy while I finish up the real work, Draco thought with triumph.

Malfoy pointed distractedly off in a general direction. "She's over there somewhere. Now if you'll excuse me..." He apparated without finishing the sentence. Harry blinked and found himself starting at air. Without pausing to reflect on Malfoy's ways, he hurried off to find Hermione.

=========

Hermione sat perfectly still. She was attempting to control her breathing. She found, for some odd reason, that she felt obligated to obey Draco's orders. And after heavily panting for some moments, Hermione realized she was causing too much noise. She closed her eyes now and willed for someone to find her. She imagined Harry emerging from the smoke to protect her, but soon discovered the fantasy only raised false hopes.

Malfoy was a fool, she decided. What wizard in their right mind went looking for trouble? Obviously Harry's case was very different. Trouble tended to find him whether he wanted it or not. Harry would find her, she decided. Harry would save her and protect her while Malfoy just deserted her. She just wished her friend would arrive sooner.

Hermione stilled her thoughts and actions. Something was moving quite near. Her hand automatically reached for her wand only to recall she had lost it. Practically trembling, she slowly rose off the ground and took a few tentative steps. Hermione squinted but still couldn't make out a thing. She fiercely wished for her wand. Never before had it occurred to her how much a witch depended on her wand. Learning this lesson at such a crucial moment however, seemed unreasonably cruel.

"Lumos." A wand tip lighted a few feet from her. Hermione held her breath. Steps drew near, she backed up a few paces. Blazing red hair emerged from the smoke. Hermione exhaled at last.

"Hermione! Fancy meeting you here eh?" His voice was conversational. She wondered how he could act so normal. "Ah, this whole battle is hopeless. Everyone's stumbling around not knowing who their hexing. I damn near got Neville a bit back, scared the poor fellow to death." Ron let out a hardy laugh. He looked her over upon nearing and, finding her in better shape than himself, resumed his smile.

Hermione almost laughed. It was nice to see Ron. He had a way of cheering her. "Ron, it's been horrid! I ran into Malfoy, he was so vexing. We met Voldemort! I lost my wand when I pushed Malfoy down. He left me! Can you believe it? All alone and defenseless!" She threw her arms around him and kept attempting to communicate her story only to find it in a jumbled incoherent mess.

Ron looked confused but brightened suddenly. "You pushed Malfoy? I'm sorry to have missed that." He quickly suppressed his smile when he saw her annoyance. "Right, awful. Lost your wand? Met He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named? Terrible business." He draped an arm around her. "No worries Hermione, I'm here. I won't let anyone near you." He gave a cocky half smile. Being the youngest of so many brothers really got to him, Hermione thought, he was determined to find his own glory.

"We'll just move along here and see if we can get you back to a safe area. Don't protest now. You're too hysterical to fight in this thing." Ron guided her along at a steady pace. Hermione wasn't sure how he could know where they were going. He kept up a steady rhythm of chatter. "You're alright though eh? No injuries or nothing? Good, excellent."

Hermione grew distracted by the conversation. When Ron suddenly pushed her to the side, she didn't know what to make of it. Landing hard, she heard a curse and a flash of light.

=======

Draco appeared suddenly and surveyed his surroundings. He found no one around but decided it was better than having Potter for company. He moved steadily through the smoke. This was ridiculous, he thought, what kind of war is this? You can't even locate the enemy. Almost as soon as the thought was passed however, Draco realized he was seeing something ahead. A curse was muttered. It flashed ahead. Draco instinctively ducked even though it wasn't aimed at him. He heard many confusing noises at once then. A scream was emitted somewhere up ahead. The familiar Pop of someone apparating away met his ears. A thud of a body hitting the ground sounded distinctly. He could almost swear it echoed also.

There was hysterical sobbing. Draco moved toward it, cautious and afraid of what he would find. Mostly, he just prayed he wouldn't glimpse another lifeless face of someone her knew. He relaxed when he saw Hermione. At least the guilt of deserting her wouldn't be eternal now. She was crouching over a heap on the earth. Draco inhaled sharply when he recognized the blazing red hair.

"Oh no," he exhaled. He didn't hesitate. Grabbing Hermione's hand, he began to drag her away from the body. It did no good to mourn in a time like this. They needed to get away in case the Deatheater reappeared and decided to finish the witch next. She resisted at first, intent on remaining by Ron's side, but realizing it didn't matter what she did anymore, Hermione gave away and followed Malfoy obediently. He listened as her sobs turned into sniffs and then silence.

===Note===

Revised it cause I thought it was too short. Figured if I'm gonna finish this story I better like it. Not much has changed really, just more details given and entended conversations. Got Chapter 3 done right after I finished this too =)

-Captive