Within the Smoke
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters. Their J.K. Rowling's.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Draco had prepared for curses, for screams, maybe even death, but he was utterly unprepared for the nothing that followed.
===Note====
I'm still jet lagged so I've been writing this since 1 in the morning. Now it's almost 5 am and I still can't sleep. Oh well, at least I'm making progess. To make up for my long absence, I'm adding 2 chapters today! Chapter 3 I started yesterday and published today around noon. This chapter I began after dinner and just finished. Anyways, there's finally some romance which will develop more in later chapters. Hope you enjoy.
Within the Smoke
Chapter 4: She did the Unthinkable
Staring at his wand steadily, Draco at last made up his mind. "Lumos," he muttered. There, he thought. It was in fate's hands now. If his light should attract extra unwanted attention, so be it. If a whole mob of Deatheaters were to come swarming out of the smoke, oh well. None of that meant anything if he was to spend eternity in this mess utterly lost and unable to complete his task. Guilt was a nasty parasite. Draco continually felt it at the edge of his thoughts. And, realizing it would consume him if Hermione were to die, Draco pushed forward.
Holding his wand high, he allowed the light to cover a greater distance around him. Scanning the immediate area, Draco found nothing. Frustration turned into a bitter anger towards himself. This wouldn't have happened if he had been more patient. This wouldn't have happened if he had been more careful. But no, he thought, I had to be an unfeeling ass. He realized that in his determination to be rid of her, he had completely forgotten his original goal of returning her to safety.
He wondered where Potter was in all this. After their earlier encounter, he felt sure the boy wonder would go dashing off to the rescue and remove the witch from his hands and thoughts. Once he had apparated away, he had even recalled thinking that he would probably not meet Granger again for the remainder of the war. The belief had brought a temporary calm. But he felt certain now that fate was determined to be cruel. Obviously offended by his thoughts, fate twisted the situation and forced him to seek out his previously unwanted baggage. The cruelty in the irony was unnerving. He felt like laughing aloud over the unpredictable events leading to his current predicament.
Deciding that things could only get worse from here on, Draco abandoned whatever caution he had remaining. "Granger!" He called out "Granger! Where are you?" After shouting at the top of his voice and seeing no immediate attack, Draco risked another action. Raising his wand, he sent up red sparks in hopes that she would find him if he couldn't locate her. Once the sparks were emitted, Draco tensed and prepared for whatever would come next.
All caution, he realized, was out the window. He wasn't particular disturbed by a possible attack since he knew it was an inevitable occurrence in war. What did cause his heart to chill and his nerves to stand on end however, was the deafening silence which met his ears. Why wasn't anyone coming? Draco had prepared for curses, for screams, maybe even death, but he was utterly unprepared for the nothing that followed. He held his breathe briefly and strained to hear something, anything. But when the cruel silence resumed, the blood seemed to drain from Draco's already pale face. What did this mean?
The silence was significant, he knew. There could be several reasonable possibilities for it. The darkest thought which crept into existence now consumed his thoughts. The gravest answer to the question was that the battle was finished with one side defeated. From that rose the other question of who won. Fear of the answer though, convinced Draco to remove these doubts from his mind. He decided that he in fact did not know anything for certain at this point. Thinking negatively hardly helped his current situation. Shaking his head, Draco decided that no matter what occurred in the battle, his task was to find Granger. And no matter which side won, locating her was still vital to his own sanity.
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Hermione looked up and saw red sparks with partial clarity through the smoke. For a moment she thought she was saved. Doubt made her pause however before hurrying off to find where they came from. She had no idea who had sent up the sparks. She had no clue whether she would end up meeting a friend or foe. Hermione reasoned however, that there was little else she could do. Not having any idea of where she was, heading toward any possible savior was worth the risk. And, at the very least, she at last had a direction in which to head.Caution however, did prevent her from rushing too briskly onto the scene. She crouched low to the earth once more but could see nothing behind which to hide. Relying therefore on only the smoke to conceal her, Hermione moved slowly and quietly toward the source of the sparks. After creeping forward for some time, she began to make out a silhouette up ahead. Blinking rapidly, she convinced herself it wasn't imagined. Whoever it was, they were standing quite still. Hermione crept forward and strained to make out any features. Only a dark shape could be seen and caution made her hesitate to get closer.
Crawling to remain less noticeable, Hermione slowly drew nearer to the form. She reasoned it would have been pointless to come this far only to fear a possible savior, and grinding her teeth, urged herself to take action. Once a few feet from the figure, Hermione saw it was a man and his back was to her. She waved the smoke from her vision and looked up. He had silver blond hair. She sighed, Malfoy.
Upon hearing the noise, Draco turned abruptly and stared straight overhead at nothing. Hermione coughed and he looked down, at last seeing her.
"Granger, what in hell are you doing down there?"
"It's lovely to see you too, Malfoy." Hermione replied. Draco smiled suddenly as he looked at her. It was a new sight to Hermione when she realized it didn't resemble a smirk at all. Reaching down, he helped her off the ground and even attempted to dust off her robes. He looked relieved but she refused to believe it was on her account.
"You're okay." He sighed.
"Yes, I'm fine. I'm just right back where I started from and doomed to wander with you until the end of time it seems." Her statement had a distinctly bitter air which was not lost on Draco. His smile dropped quite suddenly and his mouth settled back into its usual grim smirk.
"Right," said Draco, "That's just fine. I try to do a good thing and look at all the gratitude I'm awarded!" He threw up his hands and turned from her.
Hermione was startled by the reaction she received at her statement and wondered why he would care at all what she said. Some guilt did build and for a moment she considered reaching out and apologizing but feared that he would snap. Either way, what did she have to lose? It shouldn't affect her what he did at all. Tentatively she raised a hand and placed it lightly on his shoulder. With that first move completed, Hermione let out a sigh in relief that it didn't cause an immediate explosion of temper.
When she still did not receive a reaction after another few seconds, she spoke. "I'm sorry about that. I didn't mean for it to come out that way." He turned around at last and looked at her curiously. Staring into his eyes, she found them uncertain. Obviously he wasn't sure if she was being sincere. Hermione briefly wondered why it should distress her that he was questioning her motives. She also wondered why the hand placed on his shoulder was now acting on its own accord. Tracing Draco's face lightly with her finger, Hermione's mind seemed to have deserted her. Stopping with a start, she drew her hand away hastily and pretended to have a coughing fit to ease the awkward silence that followed.
She feared by this point that her face had turned embarrassingly crimson and looked to the ground to avoid further confrontation. After another silent spell, Hermione risked a glance at his face to possibly satisfy her curiosity of his reaction. Looking up she saw a mask.
Draco stared straight back into her eyes with a blank expression. His mouth was set in a tight line and his jaw was obviously clenched. Besides that, he revealed no emotion whatsoever. He can show nothing at a time like this? Hermione thought, lucky bastard.
The staring contest continued for what seemed an eternity until Draco finally looked away. Hermione stared after him in wonder as she listened to him mutter to himself under his breathe. She couldn't quite understand what he was saying but decided he obviously wasn't acting joyously. Draco continued pacing for some moments and repeatedly glanced at her with the same calm façade. The entire time Hermione held her breathe and prepared for what would inevitably be a very uncomfortable conversation at best. Personally, she didn't understand her own actions and had no idea how to respond if he were to question her.
"You're really something aren't you?" He began with a bit of sarcasm. "What is this obsessive attraction you have with heroes? I mean for how many years were you trailing behind Potter? And now what? Your glorious savior isn't around and you expect to just turn to the next best thing? What are you trying to do Hermione!?" He was shouting at her now. It was causing her to tremble. "I don't know what this is but I sure as hell don't want to be a part of it." Draco finished what he wanted to say and silenced again. Hermione could hardly call his face emotionless now. It terrified her to see his angry expression. It pained her also that such an innocent gesture could result in such a harsh outbreak of temper. In his opinion, she seemed to have done something wrong. What it was exactly however, she could only guess.
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Draco had been fuming when he felt a light touch on his shoulder. A glance told him Granger was actually willingly touching him, which made his curiosity emerge. He also wondered with some exasperation what she could possibly have left to say. With some resignation, he finally turned at the sound of her voice."I'm sorry about that. I didn't mean for it to come out that way."
Draco blinked. What was this? Him receiving an apology from Granger was a rare and miraculous occurrence. In fact, he wasn't quite sure he believed it. When contemplating the sincerity of her words, he noticed with some surprise that she still had not removed her hand. Surprise turned into practical shock when the hand drifted up toward his face and began gingerly tracing his jaw line. What was she doing?
No, thought Draco, this is all wrong. Potter was the one that was supposed to be receiving this attention. Potter was the one that was supposed to be here while he was the one in battle. Potter, he thought with bitter realization, was supposed to get it all.
Hermione retracted her hand hastily and looked away. The dead silence which followed was unsettling. Unsure of what was happening or what to do next, Draco simply stared. When her eyes eventually returned to his face, he looked right back blankly. After possibly minutes, Draco wretched his gaze away and muttered to himself about the obscurities of women. He paced to distract himself and clear his head.
Clearly, Granger was just drawn to whoever protected her. And, with the recent absence of the boy wonder, she just decided to settle on whoever was near. Despite his confusion at what had just happened, one thing Draco was certain of was that he refused to be Potter's replacement. There was no way he would be second choice in this, or anything else for that matter. Granger wanted to use him. She wanted him to be her temporary relief during this chaos. Draco's pride was damaged. With these cruel beliefs tormenting him, his temper once again rose. He did the first sensible thing that came to mind and exploded at her.
===Note===
Right, so the romance was rather limited in this chapter. But since I can't seem to find a realistic way for them to get together, I'll just make it gradual. Tried to keep them in character once more though. Did it work? Review please.
-Captive