Thanks to everyone who's reviewed the first two parts so far (Lucifer's Garden, prin69, fantasy, and RussianWolf7) – and ten points for Mystical Witch, who was kind enough to submit an idea for a later chapter. Now, read on:

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Chapter Two:

I'm Not Safe

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"If you move, I'll kill you."

Hermione whipped around and nearly fell off the platform in shock. She found herself staring at the dark sculpted wood of Draco Malfoy's wand – which was pointed directly at her face.

"You!" she gasped, hauling herself to her feet. Malfoy raised his wand as she stood, keeping it aimed at her head. Hermione found that she couldn't do any more than stare at him in shock. What in the name of Merlin was Malfoy doing here? She hadn't seen him since that night at school when… Suddenly everything seemed to flood back into her mind – Dumbledore and Snape…all those people dying at Voldemort's hands…And here was Malfoy, in the thick of it all.

"You bloody bastard!" she shrieked. She lunged for him, not even considering the consequences, only focusing on the primal urge to get her hands around his scrawny pale neck and squeeze as tightly as possible.

Malfoy took a few steps back and brandished his wand a few inches away from her nose, forcing her to fall back. "Don't you dare, Granger," he growled. "I'll kill you. I will."

She glared at him from across the platform, held at bay by his wand, yet too overcome by blinding fury to let that stop her for long. She had been looking for a way to express her emotions for the past three weeks, and the present opportunity was too good to pass up. Considering that he was armed, and Hermione was not, it probably would have been a good idea if she had held her tongue; but she couldn't help herself. "You won't kill me, Malfoy," she spat. "You haven't got the guts. You couldn't kill Professor Dumbledore and you won't kill me -"

"Shut up, Granger!"

"- because you're nothing but a scummy coward -" She took a daring step forward, her entire body shaking with an overwhelming rage.

"I said, shut up!" His hand trembling with a fury that matched hers, he adjusted his wand for a better aim.

"- and a bloody Death Eater!"

"Stupefy!"

Hermione barely had time to blink in surprise before the spell hit her and threw her backwards. There was a flash of red, and she was falling, and then everything faded to darkness.

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Draco watched in horror as Granger's limp form disappeared over the edge of the platform. There was a dull thump as she hit the ground. He dashed to the edge, hurriedly stowing his wand away, and looked down at her, sprawled unconscious at the foot of the structure. She'd fallen a good ten or fifteen feet – she'd been standing so close to the edge, he hadn't thought – oh, Merlin, that had been stupid of him. This was an unexpected twist – the events of the last three minutes seemed to him as much of an upheaval as the events of the last three weeks. He hadn't anticipated that by escaping England he would be running straight into the arms of his enemies – he certainly hadn't expected to find Granger, much less Stupefy her.

Now there was another problem weighing on him – he was willing to bet that the chance that Granger was all alone here, in hiding in the middle of Draco didn't-know-where, was about one in several million. Draco knew for a fact that he wouldn't have to worry about coming up against Dumbledore, but there were several of Dumbledore's supporters that Draco was just as eager to keep away from. Which meant that wherever he was, he had to get somewhere else, and fast.

There was also the problem of what to do with Granger now that she was just lying there. He didn't know how to tell if she'd broken something; none of her limbs were lying at particularly odd angles, but that might not mean anything. Draco stepped away from the edge and rubbed his forehead with one hand, wondering what to do. If someone like Potter or McGonagall showed up and found her lying there, he or she would know for certain that one of the Dark Lord's followers was in the area, and Potter's friends were certainly capable of tracking Draco down and killing him.

Yet he couldn't very well help Granger. That was a very easy way to get another black mark against him in Lord Voldemort's book. Besides, once she woke up, she'd go running off to tell precious Potter that she'd seen him, and Draco would be just as dead as if he had left her alone.

Logically, that meant that he simply couldn't leave her there to be found by her allies.

Draco's grey eyes lit up at his next thought. Since that was the case, then what he could do was this: he would take her back to England, where he could be certain that he hadn't injured her unduly, and then he could fix her up and present her to the Dark Lord as a gift. Maybe Lord Voldemort would overlook his current dissatisfaction with Draco if Draco brought him the key to Voldemort's victory over Harry Potter – because what wouldn't Potter do to keep one of his best friends safe from harm?

It was brilliant.

Smirking triumphantly to himself, he went over to the ladder and let himself down onto the ground again, wondering what on Earth he was going to do about Granger. He was no MediWitch – it might be dangerous to move her, and the Dark Lord might be more displeased with him if he turned up with a dead Granger than if he turned up without her at all. He turned around to see how injured she was – and she wasn't there any more.

Draco stared down at the spot where he knew she'd been lying just a few moments ago, blinking stupidly. He glanced around the clearing, but he was sure he hadn't mistaken the spot where she'd been. She simply wasn't there.

There was a noise off to the right, and he looked up sharply to see a little blot of bright green moving through the trees a good distance away – Granger's shirt. He could make her out between the trees and branches, hurrying through the woods with one hand clutched to her head, reaching out to some of the trees for support. His heart sank. There was a good chance he could catch up to her, but he didn't know how far it was to wherever Granger was staying, and if he followed her he might end up face to face with McGonagall.

He sighed. What the hell. He had nothing to lose but his life, and there was a pretty strong possibility that he'd lose that anyway.

He took after her, running as fast as he could though the woods, dodging around trees, pausing only once to yank his school robes free when the fabric caught on the branches of what might have been a gooseberry bramble. She knew he was behind her; he'd seen her turn her head as she ran. He pulled out his wand, hoping that he might have a clear shot with another stunning spell. It was no use; the trees kept getting in the way, and once Granger reached the road she simply plunged into the trees on the other side, further obstructing his view.

Draco arrived at the road and paused, wondering what to do. The path he and Granger had been following didn't continue on the other side of the road, and now Granger was simply pushing her way around trees and brambles. He could follow her, but he didn't know where she was going or how on Earth he was going to get there with his clothes still intact; yet his only chance, perhaps, of not getting killed was dashing through the forest away from him. He sighed again and began gingerly picking his way through the trees.

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Hermione rounded a clump of bushes and threw a look back over her shoulder. Malfoy had reached the road – he'd paused for a second, but it looked as if he was still following her. Hermione's shoulders sagged briefly. She was panting heavily, her head was pounding painfully, and she had numerous stinging bruises on her legs where twigs had whipped her as she passed. The last thing she wanted to do was run the rest of the way home; but if she could get back to the cabin and lock the door before Malfoy hit her with another spell, she'd be relatively safe.

She had been a fool to leave her wand in England. Ron had warned her, before she left, that things weren't safe anywhere – but she'd thought, what harm could she come to in the middle of nowhere in Canada? And besides, she hadn't completed her seventh year of school; she wasn't allowed to do wizardry during the summer. In her subconscious, she knew that, given the chance, Voldemort would probably still kill her whether she was underage or not, but she had still left her wand behind when she'd left England. She hadn't thought she'd need it.

Who could have known she'd be hunted through the forest by Malfoy, of all people?

Hermione glanced behind her again. Malfoy was still there, though he was following her at a slightly slower pace. That was good – in thirty seconds, she'd be back in her cabin and Malfoy would be locked out.

She dashed out of the trees, ran across the driveway and hurried up the steps to the front door. She spent a few frantic seconds pulling at the doorknob, which had a habit sometimes of sticking; then suddenly found herself in the entranceway and slammed the door shut behind her. Breathing heavily, Hermione turned the lock on the door and went to the window to look out.

Malfoy hadn't left the cover of the woods; he leaned against a tree, looking a bit out of breath. They stared at each other across the driveway for a few moments; then Malfoy turned and made his way slowly back through the trees.

Hermione reached for the blinds and quickly closed them, plunging the cabin's main room into gloomy half-darkness. She heard footsteps on the stairs, and turned to see her mother peering at her from the foot of the staircase.

"Hermione?" Mrs. Granger asked. "What's going on?"

"I need to write a letter to Harry," Hermione said, ignoring the question. She started for the stairs, and pushed past her mother. "And I'll need to borrow a few pounds so I can have it sent first class. It's urgent." She hurried up the stairs and paused at the top. "And if you could call and see about getting the first available flight back to England, I'd really appreciate it."

"Hermione!" Mrs. Granger exclaimed, frowning up at her daughter. She could tell by Hermione's manner that something wasn't right. "Tell me what on Earth is going on. What's all this about?"

"Please, Mum," Hermione said, giving her mother a pleading look. "I promise I'll explain, but we have to get back to London." She paused, and added in a tremulous voice,

"I'm not safe here anymore."

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Sorry if it's a bit shorter than usual. I'll try my best to throw some longer chapters in later to make up for it.

In the meantime, I'd really appreciate it if all you lovely people would send me some constructive criticism. Have you got any ideas you'd like to share? I'd love to hear them!