Within the Smoke
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters. Their J.K. Rowling's.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Though partially distracted by the smoke, Draco's thoughts wandered to horrible images. A young witch alone, accosted by scores of powerful Deatheaters while she herself was wandless.
===Note====
Yay, I wrote another chapter finally! Oh, and btw I revised Chapter 2 a little so you might want to read that before continuing on this. The main events didn't change but more details were added and conversations extended. So glad to be writing again, missed my laptop while I was away. I think I slowed things down somewhat for this chapter. Still, don't know if I'll make it to a actual novel with this story, maybe just a short. After all, the battle can't go on for like 10 chapters. Anyways, hope you like it, review please.
Within the Smoke
Chapter 3: I Lost You
Finding that the silence was testing his nerves, Draco ventured at conversation. "There're always casualties in war, Hermione." She flinched, he realized he said the wrong thing. "There's nothing you could have done really." He was met with more silence. "You know, I met Potter a while back. Maybe we'll see him again around here." Hermione looked up. And we're finally getting somewhere, Draco thought.
"Harry's okay?"
"Yeah, he's okay. Damn near killed me back there. I'd say he's great." Draco couldn't help the sarcasm. It seemed to erupt from him whenever the conversation turned to Potter. He subdued the rest of what he was going to say when remembering her current distress. "Right, right. Okay, I'm done. You okay? You know, besides...well..." Finding himself quite obviously horrible at consolation, Malfoy decided that it would be best to just keep moving with his mouth shut. Hermione was not helping his vain attempts either way.
Walking in silence, Draco felt as if he was alone as he preferred instead of followed a few paces behind by a practically useless young witch. This contentment was not meant to last long however. He was disrupted from his peace when Hermione at last spoke.
"Where's Harry?"
Unfortunately for Draco, her topic of choice was one he did not particularly favor. In an attempt to show some sentiment however, he chose quite patiently to follow along. "I'm not entirely sure where he is now. There're no landmarks out here to go by. I ran into him not long after I left you though so he can't be far off." Draco found by clenching his jaw he could almost speak of Potter without nasty side comments. Yes, this was positive, he decided. Maybe with a little encouragement she wouldn't be so damn depressing anymore. Personally, he couldn't take drama. And, Hermione sobbing was a sight he preferred not to witness again.
"Look, don't worry. We'll get back to our side and Potter will probably be waiting there." While I'm out where the real danger is. "You'll be safe once we're there and be looked after." By that bloody fool who's probably in love with you. "Let's just hurry up and get out of this smoke." For both our sakes.
Hermione quieted again. She also began to fall behind. In his own attempt to remove her from his company, Draco didn't realize the near impossible pace he was setting. He now began to pause every few minutes for her to catch up, otherwise she would be gone from sight altogether. Estimating that they had walked for at least another hour, frustration was beginning to creep on. During that time, Hermione had also regained her composure to an extent. She was speaking again, only Draco found quickly that he preferred her silence.
Quite naturally, Hermione seemed to defer her distress to other emotions, bitterness being her favorite. Unfortunately, Draco found some of that bitterness directed towards him for possibly leading them further from safety.
"We've been here before you know."
"How the hell can you tell?" He reported back.
"You're leading us in a bloody circle!"
"Well would you like to just sit here doing nothing till the whole damn thing is over!?"
"Maybe someone would find us then at least."
"And maybe we'll get found by a nice friendly group of Deatheaters! Then you can sit back and watch me take them since you don't even have your damn wand!"
Again, Draco managed to hit the statement which would end the conversation. Her eyes became downcast again but he refused to feel regret as he fumed. Once more, he found himself obligated to assist her, and once again she was hardly making it any easier. He was beginning to wonder how she could have ever reached such a high level in the Ministry. In Draco's opinion, she was virtually useless.
"You know what? Forget it. Doesn't matter. Let's just keep moving." Draco was satisfied that she was at last cooperating, even if it was with a negative attitude. He began to set an even quicker pace. The faster they separated, the better it would be. He was determined to find others who to take this burden off his shoulders.
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Possibly, another hour passed but it was impossible to tell for certain. The entire time Draco trudged along with a bitter air and never once bothered to look back to see Hermione's status. Her crude remarks were fresh on the memory and draining on the will. He was becoming quickly convinced that he was in fact lost, but refused to feel the shame in attempting it. He was the leader here and he would be responsible for finding their way. But, while the mind remained determined, the body grew weaker. And, his legs ached for want of rest. Sighing with resignation, he realized it was impossible to resume their trek without some break. Draco turned around to notify Hermione of his decision, certain that she could find no fault in it.
He found himself staring at smoke. He peered into another direction, and found no sign of Granger. He spun in a complete circle and his breathing became heavier as he grew frantic. Where in hell is Granger? He began backtracking but was uncertain whether he was even going in the direction he came from. The haze seemed to thicken around him. Additional smoke, he realized anxiously, meant something was happening, a real battle perhaps containing a larger number of people. He felt desperate. He needed to reach the battle. Draco flatly refused to miss a key moment in the war.
Though partially distracted by the smoke, Draco's thoughts wandered to horrible images. A young witch alone, accosted by scores of powerful Deatheaters while she herself was wandless. How long had he been walking alone? How could he have been such a fool? Granger was wearily and drained, there was no way she could have kept up. The fault rested on him, and he was prepared to take it all.
Finding his decision obviously made for him, Draco wretched himself away from the fantasy of being the glorious hero charging first into the fight. Grimly, he settled for the fact that he was obligated to find Granger. His deed would be quiet and unknown while Potter was no doubt already facing Voldemort at the very center of the battle. Draco let his disgust at the thought play in his mind for a bit before realizing it was useless. Once again he found himself in the role previously filled by Potter. Once again he was responsible for the useless little witch. And once again Potter would obtain honor, glory, and everything Draco sought after.
Pausing briefly, he assessed the situation. Odds were not in his favor, Draco realized. Suppose he had chosen the correct direction in which to backtrack, how would he maintain moving straight? The additional smoke also prevented him from seeing much at all and he judged that it was quite possible that he could be a few yards from Granger and never know she was there. Draco also considered lighting his wand to assist him with the search but was put off by the fact that he didn't know what type of attention he would attract. For once, he found, he was looking to avoid confrontation with the enemy. His task was grueling as it was and could hardly be helped by additional delays.
Realizing after careful consideration that this left him alone, lost, and practically blind, Draco's spirits began to fall. Failure was not a familiar feeling to him, and he wasn't prepared to experience it now. His pace was quickened and his search became more frantic.
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Hermione opened her eyes and wondered where she was. For a brief moment she considered she was dreaming since this was hardly her bed. In dreams though, there was no pain and she drifted back into reality when she realized her entire body ached. Her head throbbed too which could have been from lack of oxygen. Hermione coughed violently and subdued her deep intakes of breathe when finding it only brought smoke into her lungs.
Frustrated, she tried to recall what she was last doing. Distinctly she remembered Draco. But where was he now? The ground on which she was laying was rough and left scratches on her skin. The familiar sight of smoke still surrounded her. Obviously, she was still in battle. How did she end up on the ground though? Wild fantasies soon followed of being ambushed and rendered unconscious while Malfoy walked ahead. Her imagination exploded with images of Deatheaters and herself defenseless. Slowly the fiction subdued when Hermione realized she did not recall having been attacked by anyone whatsoever. Bitterly, she realized that her current condition was a result of her own weakness. She had fainted. It was as simple as that.
She cursed herself for not being stronger, braver, and worthier of her position at the Ministry. Obviously she couldn't take the trials of war emotionally or physically. With that came the determination that she would resign as soon as this was over. She would content herself with a quiet life, possibly even teach at Hogwarts. To do this however, Hermione thought, she would actually have to overcome her first obstacle of finding her way back alive.
With some difficulty, Hermione pushed herself off the ground and took some unsteady steps forward. She dusted off her robes in an attempt to stall having to choose a direction. The situation was already bad. She did not intend for it to become worse by selecting a path that would take her into the midst of a group of Deatheaters. Her thoughts continued to drift to the whereabouts of Malfoy. The cruel idea that he had purposefully deserted her came up repeatedly but she pushed it away with some difficulty. She did not want to think ill of him, even though internally she believed him quite possible of such an act. Even if that was the case, she reasoned, it wasn't as if he knocked her unconscious with his own hand. Therefore, the fault was in her lack of endurance.
Figuring any direction could lead to a possible improvement from her current isolated location, Hermione hugged her robes tighter around herself and set off. Whichever way she turned, the scene which met her eyes was the same. Nothing by smoke and darkness surrounded her and it was impossible to tell how far she was from savior. It was quite probable that she was headed in the direction she previous came from, and this thought slowly but surely drained her hopes and energy.
After an estimated 20 minutes, Hermione stopped abruptly and sank to her knees. Her breathing was haggard and noisy. The smoke was not only affecting her vision but her respiratory system as well. Her head spun and the dizzying effects of not receiving enough oxygen rendered her to the ground without her even realizing it.
Gradually, she sank further onto her hands and knees. Closing her eyes Hermione concentrated on her breathing. It became easier after a few moments and she regained her senses. Smoke drifted up, the air was better if she remained low. This however left her with the unfriendly thought that she might have to crawl to safety, and that was a feat she did not wish to attempt.
Once the dizziness subdued a reasonable amount, Hermione pushed herself back on her feet. Holding a hand over her nose and mouth, she slowly resumed her trek. Surrendering to her own weakness was not something Hermione was prepared or willing to do again. If this was to be the end for her, she fully intended to meet it fighting.
===Note===
I really should get to some romancing soon. I don't feel like I can write it right though. I don't want it fluffy and want to keep Draco in character as much as possible, but that makes it hard to twist him into a guy Hermione could love. Any ideas? Oh, and review please!
[Edit] Much love to Amadea who let me know of my spelling errors. I fixed those as soon as I read the review. Thanks! Let me know my mistakes guys. I tend to miss things the spell checker doesn't catch.
-Captive