Chapter 17

Draco slid the shoji door open cautiously, unsure what kind of spells might have been used to seal the hut. Inside, a portion of the floor was lower then the rest of the room, which was covered with polished wood. Sliding off his shoes, Draco stepped into the main living space of the hut.

Crates lined the left front wall, some of which were filled with dried and sealed foods. Along the right wall, counters and a stone box went from the entry hall opening to the right corner.

Draco passed all of this, uninterested. He needed to find the area where she slept, which turned out not to be hard. The hut, he quickly realized, had only one room. The back wall was set against the stone wall of the cavern and a window was carved out of the stone with a seat beneath it. Beside the window seat, in the right corner, a futon lay unrolled, the sheets messed up.

Could she have slept here last night? wondered Draco hopefully as he knelt beside the futon, searching for some residue of her aura. Unfortunately the residue was too weak to have been recent, as was the residue on the window sill.

Outside, mists nestled themselves into the trees, creating a mystical world though which the main road they had taken to get to Senscarica and the town center ran.

The view is wonderful; he noted glancing at the green valley which lay below. A blanket was draped over the window seat as if someone had just stood from the spot. Hope shoved its way into Draco's already confused mind for a few seconds, but was dashed as soon as he realized, again, that her lingering presence was too weak to be recent.

Turning to glance at the books which were piled around her futon, he noted that most of them were text books for school or other books written in various languages. He had never realized she could speak so many tongues.

Then again, I can't image she had much else to do.

If she was hiding from her family before, then it was unlikely she could ever really come out from this place.

How did she survive? he wondered idly, though this was coming from a man who had never picked up a pan in his life, much less cooked anything.

Examining the books by Hermione's bed, Draco found a pile of sketching books and scattered pencils and erasers.

She must have gotten really bored.

Most of the pages were filled with simple doodles, though he personally liked them all. Picking up another book, a page slipped from inside, floating to the ground at Draco's feet along with a letter.

Curious, he scooped both up, but Pansy chose the moment to enter the hut. Quickly, he safely tucked the two pieces of paper into a pocket in his robe.

"Take your shoes off," he ordered, knowing full well she hadn't removed the boots which clad her feet.

(A/N: no, wizard's don't wear boots, but sorcerers do. The area they live in is too rough for anything else.)

He heard Pansy kneel down to remove the heavy shoes and felt her burning question.

"I just know," he explained as he began to shift through some more books. He felt more then heard Pansy approach from behind, curiosity radiating from her body.

"Look through some of those boxes in the corner," he ordered, hoping that Pansy would listen to him. He could hear the shifting of fabric as she moved across the room to dig through some boxes which looked like they would only contain clothes or other such small personal items.

Again Draco began shifting through the books around Hermione's futon. He was looking for something specific, something he knew Hermione kept around and might well answer all his questions though he couldn't remember exactly what it was. A vague memory trickled into his cluttered conscious.

- Flashback -

"Draco! What are you doing! Give that back!" shouted Hermione as she began to chase him down the hallway. They looked about seven.

"If you want it you'll have to catch me first!" shouted Draco in return as he jumped off her window sill and started to run for the door.

Hermione shot in front of him, causing them both to fall in a heap on the floor. Draco looked down at Hermione and grinned.

"I still have it!" he cried happily waving a book above her head.

"Do you now?" she asked as she pushed him off of her and smirked, the leather-bound book he had stolen moments ago in her left hand. Glancing up, he saw that the book he held was a book she had stolen from Tami on puberty. He dropped the book and leapt away like it would attack. Hermione's smooth laughter echoed in his ears.

"That'll teach you to steal my journal," she said, still laughing as she walked back into her room.

- End flashback -

Her journal, that's what I'm looking for.

Waiting until he was sure Pansy was far enough away; Draco knelt down, touching the floor with his finger tips and closing his eyes. The futon in front of him was made perfectly, but for some reason Hermione's presence was extremely strong, coming from some where near the clearly unused bed. No, not near, under.

Suddenly, Draco's eyes snapped open with such force that he though they would be forced from his head. Blinking several times, he realized that he had been struck with some kind of a shield or spell.

It's under her futon, he told himself as he rolled the futon up into the corner, exposing the mats which covered the floor from wall to wall.

Faint lines could be seen running through the middle of a few of the mats and Draco hastily moved them aside, not bothering to check for a guarding spell.

Wham! He flew backwards across the room, crashing into one of the walls' which, luckily, was made stone.

Well, lucky for Hermione who wouldn't have to repair a broken wall. Unfortunately for Draco, stone is not the best thing to cushion a fall and he became lost in the blissful darkness of unconsciousness, his last thought being: I am so going to get you for that Harmony.