Within the Smoke

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

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Hermione let out a frustrated breathe but ceased her feeble attempts to kick him. Lying quietly, the two stared at each other with concentration. Draco considered what to do next but nothing favorable came to mind.

===Note====

Yay, a little more romance in this one. =) Oh and to answer a reviewer's question, I never really assigned a exact age to them. I'd say their about 20 though. I figure then their old enough to have grown out of some childish habits but young enough to hold the same grudges from school.

Also, I want to have a little explanation of No Man's land in case you get confused with this chapter. In trench warfare the 2 armies find shelter about a mile or so away from each other. The ground inbetween them is called no man's land. Basically if you venture out there you could very easily get shot by the other side. Right, just keep that in mind when reading this chapter.

Within the Smoke

Chapter 6: He Turned Away

Stumbling through the smoke, Draco disregarded caution and focused solely on maintaining his fast pace. Bringing Hermione into what he believed to be the center of the action, he looked around and searched for others. Strangely, he saw no one. Were they in the right place? Listening carefully though, he heard all the sounds of combat even if he could not see it. Perplexed by this unlikely development, Draco motioned for Hermione to follow him quietly.

Something distracted him from his thinking then. A spell flew from the smoke and hit him with ferocity. Draco soared back and felt his wand wretched from his hand. His hold on Hermione was lost also. Landing on the ground a few yards back, he felt the wind forced from his lungs and his head hit the earth. He lay breathing quietly for a moment before being disturbed by Granger rushing forward and grasping at his robes anxiously.

"Where's the wound!?" She demanded. "Tell me what's wrong." She was near tears and her grip on his robes was unyielding.

Sitting up calmly, Draco bore a grim expression. "It was just a disarming spell, Granger. There is no wound. Well, except maybe the massive bruise I'm going to find on my back later." Hermione didn't seem to accept his lack of concern and stared at him stone faced. Her hands hadn't release their hold. When nothing else was said, Draco decided to stand. Before he could do so however, Hermione swiftly pushed him back down. Shaking him by his robes, she seemed to have lost control.

"Don't scare me like that, Draco! And where the hell did you lead us!? Is this your idea of safety? You could have been killed you fool! Do you have any idea what the hell you're doing!?" Her voice was shrill, her actions frantic.

The speed in which her mood changed was unbelievable. Worry blended into anger within the blink of an eye. Irritated with her unreasonable reaction, Draco suddenly pushed away her hands and sat up. When she struggled, he grabbed her wrists and, rolling, pushed her to the ground and pinned her hands.

Hermione let out a frustrated breathe but ceased her feeble attempts to kick him. Lying quietly, the two stared at each other with concentration. Draco considered what to do next but nothing favorable came to mind. If he released her, he would no doubt be slapped, which was something he intended on preventing. If he subdued her with force, then he would have to remain in an uncomfortably close position. Meanwhile, Draco was finding that meeting her intense gaze was exhausting.

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Lying with Draco over her was unnerving. Telling him so however, would have been mortifying. Her face heated up again, and she scolded herself. Hermione's eyes flickered from his face as she looked for an escape. When finding none, they returned and met his gaze. This was a most uncomfortable situation. Draco's face was slightly red from exertion. His hair had fallen over his forehead to partially block his vision. He had never looked so tempting. Hermione did something thoughtless. Lifting her head, she lightly brushed her lips against his. Draco turned his head away. Abruptly, he pushed himself up and stared down at her with confusion.

"What is the matter with you, Granger?" Malfoy asked. His voice was dead calm. Hermione considered it more dangerous than his anger. "This is the worst possible time and place for this. What are you thinking?"

Hermione didn't know what to say. The worst possible time and place? I doubt there is a good time or place for this. "Where are we?" She asked simply.

"No man's land I presume." He answered, scanning the distance. "We should get to our side before we're hit by the crossfire.

Hermione's mortification was temporarily forgotten. "Are you seriously telling me you led us right in the middle of the fight? We're going to be hit by the enemy for certain!"

Purposefully avoiding all eye contact, Draco replied without concern. "No worries, Granger. I think we're closer to our own side. It's more likely we'll be hit by one of our own instead."

Hermione was not amused by his attempt at humor. Pushing herself off the ground, she watched as Draco walked around her searching the ground. After a few moments, he bent down and picked up his lost wand. Without saying a word, he began to walk away. Sighing, Hermione believed he expected her to follow.

Trailing a few feet behind him, she asked: "How do you know which direction to walk in?"

"I'm heading in the direction that last spell came from." He replied after a pause. "There's no way a Deatheater would settle for just a disarming spell. You'll be back with Potter before you know it." His voice was slightly bitter when he spoke. Hermione wondered why he had to sulk at just the mention of Harry's name.

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Draco admitted to himself that he had miscalculated. When he first realized that they had found the battle, he charged in without hesitation. Unfortunately, he had dragged them right into the middle of the clash. On one side, there were the deatheaters, on the other, there were comrades. Each side was sending curses and spells towards the other. The two of them were now caught in the crossfire.

After considering the situation, Draco decided it was nothing to his abilities. They had made it this far, there was no way he was going to lose hope now. Besides, there were bigger issues for him to be concerned with. A slight touch he could cope with, possibly even ignore. A light kiss however, was taxing on his nerves. He silently damned her for her actions. He hated the complications she was creating.

No matter now, he decided. They would be with the others soon. Once he delivered Granger back to Potter, he could consider her not among his concerns anymore. The thought inspired him to walk faster. This experience had definitely assured him that it was much more preferable to work alone.

After much reflection, Draco decided that whatever was the matter with Granger lately was only temporary. War could affect people in strange ways. It was the only explanation which could possibly pass for sensible. Draco wasn't a fool, and he refused to believe Hermione had any true affection for him. Therefore, it would be pure idiocy to respond to her in her brief moments of recklessness. With this in mind, he walked ahead of her now and focused his attention on the path ahead. His goal now was to avoid all possible eye contact and conversation. They couldn't be far now, so it should be an easy task to accomplish.

Another spell passed them by. Hermione let out a quiet shriek and grabbed onto his arm for security. Patiently, he shook her off and continued on as if he hadn't noticed the spell or her action. Keeping his gaze from her, Draco walked steadily, unafraid of oncoming curses. Frankly, he was more fearful of the witch behind him.

With experience, came arrogance, and Draco had gained plenty of experience since leaving Hogwarts. With full confidence, he moved toward the oncoming spells and simply did not think it likely that they would hit him. Even if one did, he believed he could bare it. Physical pain was hardly something he was unfamiliar with or couldn't endure.

Hearing Hermione's steps gaining on him, Draco increased his speed in attempt to further the distance between them. He recognized on some level that he was behaving childishly but felt desperate not to meet her gaze. So what if this could be considered an act of cowardice? For once, Draco found he didn't care.

After another few minutes, shadows appeared out of the smoke. Draco smiled to himself in triumph. Finally they had reached the end of their journey, and made it with barely a scratch on them. Relieved, he pointed his wand up to send sparks into the air and identify himself as a friend. He was recognized by shouts from Ministry members and he hastened towards them. Behind him, Draco could hear Hermione running also.

Shadows turned into people as they drew closer. Ministry officials crowded around them and welcomed them back. Draco saw familiar faces, all competing to ask them where they've been and what they've done. He was irritated by their interest. He wished to just find the Minister and receive his orders on what to do next. Pushing through the crowd and leaving Hermione behind, Draco went in search of a higher authority.

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Hermione watched in silence as Draco made his way through the crowd, never saying a word of goodbye to her. She herself was surrounded by coworkers and friends but barely heard a thing they asked her. When his silver blonde hair was lost in the mob, Hermione's senses returned and with a shake of her head, realized that there were more important thoughts to dwell on.

Looking around her, she found a familiar face. Grabbing Neville by the shoulders and giving him a slight shake to cease his questions, Hermione urgently demanded the whereabouts of Harry.

"I'ono Hermione, Harry wandered out by himself a while ago looking for you. The minister damn near exploded when he found out he was gone."

Releasing Neville and disregarding what he had left to say, Hermione dashed off abruptly to seek the Minister. It was vital that they find Harry. It had become a fairly popular belief that due to the information given by the Prophecy, the only person capable of defeating the Dark Lord was Potter. If he were to be missing in action on her account, Hermione would feel the full guilt of having lost their most cherished hope.

Pushing and weaving through the crowds, she arrived at a line of tents. Uncertain of which to enter, Hermione made the reasonable bet of selecting the largest to be the Minister's. Lifting the flap, she entered. Surprised, she saw that standing with his back to her was Malfoy. Upon hearing someone new in the tent, Draco turned and for the first time since the kiss, made eye contact. If he was shocked, he hid it well. Thankfully for Hermione, the Minister approached them then from the far side of the massive shelter and disrupted a possible conversation.

"I'm glad to see you two. We thought you might have been lost. Ah well, no matter now. We have bigger problems to discuss. Potter's run off somewhere and we haven't heard from him in a couple of hours. Also everyone's getting antsy out there. Hiding here and just sending out spells isn't getting us anywhere. We're going to have set out soon and charge them."

Leaving their sheltered location and venturing out would make them vulnerable. However, there would be no end to this war if a drastic move was not made. Draco seemed to agree vigorously with this decision. Hermione herself however was hesitant.

"No worries, Granger." Malfoy reassured her. "We can't let you out there without a wand anyways."

Hermione sighed. She was partially relieved but mostly irritated that he should anticipate her thoughts.

Ignoring him, she spoke directly to the Minister. "And what is being done to find Harry?"

"Not much can be done at the time. We need everyone to be present for the battle. We could lose more people if we sent out a search party," came the solemn reply.

Clenching her teeth and refusing to create a frustrated emotional scene, Hermione turned away from both men and left the tent without another word. This was ridiculous. Harry was the most valuable officer they had. How could they even consider leaving him behind? Who else would fight the Dark Lord? No other single wizard would even consider the notion unless they welcomed death.

With this in mind, Hermione wandered the camp. Upon reaching the end of the line of tents, she resolved that if the Minister refused to take action in this matter, she would do so herself. After all, if she stayed, she would be useless without her wand. She doubted they would miss her at all. With determination, Hermione walked inconspicuously past the crowds until she found the edge of their safe site. Not looking back, she continued out into the smoke to recover Harry herself.

===Note===

Look! Hermione's doing something brave! Aren't you proud? I know, I should really stop separating the lovers. No worries, they always find each other. Review please. Reviews inspire me to write faster. =)

-Captive