DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. Don't sue, I'm poor. EXCEPTION: I own the Witches of Trane, the Crystal Orb, the flying carpet idea for the story (kinda), the idea that the forests of Albania are next to the Dead Sea and the Door of Serenity.
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CHAPTER 19: The Other Side of the River (Chapter rated PG)
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Hermione stood up, and said a few simple spells she knew, to make food for her and Draco. They were on a large cliff, looking over a raging river, next to a forest infested with zombies. Hermione had never felt so claustrophobic. All she really wanted to do was jump over the river to the other side of it, and run in the fields. She wanted to scream and jump and shout and just be wild, for once. She'd never done that, and wondered what it was like.
As the food was appearing, she looked at Draco out of the corner of her eye. He was staring at the other side of the river wistfully. She felt a pang of guilt in her heart. This was the boy that had tormented Harry, Ron and her endlessly during school. He made their lives miserable. And now... Hermione wasn't sure what they were. She also felt kind of odd, knowing that she probably wasn't the first girl Draco had said 'I love you.' to. She wasn't oblivious. Despite Hermione's constant geek ness and bookworm habits, she still knew what was going on around her. And she knew for a fact that Draco wasn't an innocent boy. She'd never thought of him as one, either. He was the Slytherin Sex God, and that's all there was to it.
Hermione and a few other girls were probably the only ones in the school he hadn't shagged after some reckless night of drinking. And it made Hermione sick. Even to look at him. She felt like she should just go to the other side of the river without him. But she knew she couldn't. She had fallen for this guy, ignoring her better instincts. Something about him... attracted her. Maybe it was his hair, or his eyes. The mysterious air that hung around him like a swarm of flies. Hermione liked mysteries. No one knew, but sometimes, instead of reading school books for homework and potions, she really read murder mysteries. They fascinated her.
Draco saw her staring at him for a while, and he chortled. "What? Is there a zombie behind me or something?" he laughed, throwing his head back. Hermione admired his long, graceful neck. She felt like a stalker vampire, and shook her head, expelling all bad thoughts.
"Sorry." she said, turning back to the food.
After they had finished eating some chicken and ham sandwiches, Hermione had one, Draco had 3, peas, sprouts, and carrots, a rabbit that Draco caught, he was extremely proud of himself, but Hermione "accidentally" burned in her process of cooking, custard tart and Pumpkin Juice, Hermione was feeling much more content. She was suddenly very tired, and settled down for a nap. She rested in Draco's lap, her head in the crook between his collarbone and shoulder blade. He wrapped his arms around her waist, and they fell asleep together, leaning against a tree from the forests of Albania.
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A couple hours later, Hermione woke up, cold and shivering. She looked up, and saw a slightly overcast sky, through thick branches. She turned around, to look for Draco, but he wasn't here. He was standing at the edge of the cliff, looking down into the river. She was panic-stricken for a second, thinking the worst, but then smiled.
"Don't do it, Draco! You're too young to die!" she shouted out, laughing slightly. He turned around and grinned sadly, walking towards her.
She stood up and stretched her aching muscles. "Hi." she said. He quickly kissed her, and then turned back to look out over to the fields at the other side of the river.
"How will we get over there?" he asked, quietly.
Hermione sighed. "I don't know." she walked over towards the edge, and looked down into the rushing water. She heard Draco come up behind her.
"It's kind of freaky." he said.
She nodded, wrapping her arms around herself. She felt like someone was watching them, and turned around to observe the forest. She couldn't see any Zombies, but reached for her wand in her waistband, anyway. But it wasn't there. She gasped, turning back to Draco.
"My wa-" she stopped. It was in his hands.
"I took it just in case something happened." he explained, handing it back to her. "Sorry." She nodded, glad he thought of it.
The cold, prickly feeling of someone staring at her started to fill her chest, and she looked down. She was so shocked; it didn't even register within her brain until about 5 minutes later.
There was a little doorway in the side of the cliff across from them, and someone was in it, waving hysterically. She could make out red hair, and gasped. "RON!" she shouted.
Draco whipped around. "What? Where?" She pointed and jumped up and down, laughing and crying with happiness. "It's him he's here!" She was so happy he was okay. 'How did he get there?' she thought. 'Who cares!? He's safe.'
Draco grinned and scratched his head. "That Weasel always finds a way out of everything, doesn't he?"
Hermione nodded and calmed down, still grinning.
"How will we get him out?" asked Draco.
Hermione had an idea. But it would take Draco's help, and a little bit of patience.
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Here ya go! Chapter 19. I think this chapter is pretty good, myself. Well, I won't be able to update as much anymore. School started today, and that majorly cut ingot my writing time. I have all sorts of homework, projects, tests, you know the drill. I'll try to update every other day, if you guys keep reviewing. I'm not getting as many reviews, and it makes me kinda think not that many people are reading anymore, so I might just stop all together if that's the case. I mean, what's the point? So, let me know you're out there. :-) Thanks
P.S. I got a livejournal! My friends finally broke me. This won't be good in the future, I give into pressure too easily. Anyway, check it out. It's not friends only quite yet. If you want to be friends, just let me know by commenting! livejournal . com / users / hysterical
KayteeLern - Thanks! I try to mix in a lot of things, I'm a very mix-and-match kind of person. And to answer your question: Nope! I just write down whatever comes to mind. Thoughts seem to form their own ways into Notepad for me. Thanks! Eats cookie
MiSs JoVaNNa - We can only hope so, right? You should check it out, it's good. :D
