Night Thirty-Five
The sun has already gone down, but there's plenty of light here at the field production camp. Somewhere behind the tents I can hear the low hum of a gas generator. If this small tent I'm in is any indication, the production staff doesn't have it that much more luxurious than we players. A single light bulb dangles from the center of the tiny room. There's a canvas cot in the corner, a tiny table next to it, and I'm sitting in a glorified lawn chair. According to the crew, the main production camp a few miles away isn't that much better.
They've given me the odd pairing of a warm blanket and a cold drink. I'm thankful for both. Despite the warm night air, I still feel chilled. It probably doesn't help that I'm steadily sipping from my tall cup of ice water, trying to soothe the lingering soreness in my throat. Just the ice would be nice enough, but the water is obviously bottled instead of the flat and flavorless boiled water we've been drinking at camp. This water is so crisp it's almost like a fizzy drink.
I can hear voices outside of the tent, and I want to go out and join them. I feel like I've been sitting here for hours, my only company the occasional visit from Malfoy or a member of the crew to bring me more water and ask if I'm doing okay. I know that Pete is in this small camp somewhere, but I don't know where. I guess I woke up again pretty fast, and they made a quick decision to move the whole situation out of the playing area. Despite my protests that I could walk, Malfoy insisted on carrying me back here to the camp.
I wonder what Kiki and Ellen are doing. I know a production assistant was sent to tell them that Pete, Malfoy and I were going to be away for a while, but they weren't to be told why.
I put my cup of water on the small table, wrap the blanket around myself tighter and get up out of the chair. My legs are a little shaky, but I stand quietly for a moment and the feeling goes away. The voices get louder outside, and as I come out of the tent, Malfoy is in a heated discussion with the head producer, Larry, about the psychological testing we all had to go through to get on the show.
"Of course we wouldn't let someone on the show if we knew they were dangerous." Larry shakes his head. "But sometimes unpredictable things happen. There's no way to know what will happen to someone when they're deprived of enough food or water or rest. I'm not going to tell you his test results, but I can tell you that we had absolutely no reason to believe anything like this would happen."
I clear my throat, and both men look over at me. Malfoy steps quickly to my side.
"You shouldn't be out here, you should be inside resting."
"I'm doing fine. Sitting in there was boring, and I don't want to be alone." His eyes search my face with concern, trying to make sure I'm telling the truth about feeling better.
"Larry." A member of the production team beckons from a larger tent. "We need you for a minute."
Larry puts a concerned hand on my shoulder. "I'll be right back." He walks off into the tent. Malfoy runs his hand gently down my cheek.
"Hermione, I ..." He pauses and swallows, then opens his mouth as if uncertain what to say.
There's
a rustling from the larger tent. Larry is there again, holding the
front flap open. "Draco, Hermione, will you join us in here"
We walk
into the tent, where there are a half-dozen people sitting around a
table. I freeze in the doorway, scanning every face to make sure Pete
isn't here. Larry puts a hand on my elbow, sensing my apprehension.
"Pete's not here, it's just production staff." He leads me to a seat,
and Malfoy takes the chair next to me.
Larry indicates the dark-haired cameraman seated on the other side of the table. "You know Justin, of course." The man has an icepack held to the back of his head, and raises his other hand in a weak wave. Larry makes sure we know everyone else, all familiar members of the production staff.
"We have a problem." Larry looks down at some papers on the table in front of him. "Pete's story is very different from yours, and even though it sounds a bit unbelievable," he rolls his eyes, "we have no absolute proof that it didn't happen his way."
Malfoy stands up, furious. "What the hell do you mean?"
Larry waves a hand at Malfoy, indicating that he should sit down. "Draco, please. Let me finish." Malfoy slowly sits back down, looking at his hands clenched into fists on top of the table.
"Justin here was certainly knocked out cold, but he never saw what or who it was." Justin gives me a sympathetic look from across the table. "Pete claims that he entered the area just in time to see ..." Larry picks up a sheet of paper and sighs before reading directly from the paper, "a coconut fall from an overhead tree and, quote, whack that guy in the head."
Malfoy mutters under his breath, "You've got to be shitting me." His fists clench tighter.
"Pete then went on to say that Hermione entered the clearing and fainted, 'obviously from overtaxing herself' during the challenge. She fell to the ground and struck her cheek on a rock."
Malfoy looks up. "Convenient, how he can explain everything away."
Larry finishes up with the story. "Pete says he was concerned about Hermione, and rushed over to try and revive her. It was at that time that Draco entered the scene, found Pete leaning over Hermione, pulled him to his feet and punched him several times."
Malfoy starts to stand up again, so I put a hand on his shoulder. He looks at me for a long moment, then sits back down. I lean forward toward Larry. "So what now?"
He shakes his head sadly. "There are a couple of ways we could go from here. Unfortunately, there's no real clear path. If we had any proof of your version of events, that would be one thing. But we've gone over Justin's footage – his microphone broke when his camera hit the ground, so all we have is a long, silent shot of a bunch of trees. Nothing at all was captured on film." He looks at Malfoy, then nods toward another of the cameramen. "Phil followed Draco, but by the time he got there, it was just Draco surrounded by three unconscious people on the ground."
Larry leans in and concentrates on me. "Hermione, we'd like to know what you want us to do. That will at least give us something to go on. You have options here - you can press charges if you like, but that would disrupt and possibly end the game. If you're comfortable with it, you can let Pete back into the game." I shudder at the very thought, and everyone can see my discomfort. "Tribal Council is tomorrow night, and I know you guys were going to vote him out anyway."
Malfoy looks up at Larry in surprise. Larry laughs. "We do have some idea of what's going on out there. We've been observing you for over a month." He turns back to me, waiting for my answer.
I look around the table at these people, then turn to Larry. "So it's mostly up to me?"
He shrugs. "We'll certainly take your wishes very seriously before making a final decision. Tell us what kind of resolution you'd like to see, and we'll take that and the whole issue to the main camp for discussion."
Malfoy moves in his seat beside me. "You haven't told everyone yet?"
Larry shakes his head. "Only the people in this tent, and Pete, know that a situation has occurred. That's why we'd like to know what Hermione wants us to do, so we know how to approach the situation with the rest of the crew."
I put a hand on Malfoy's knee under the table, then turn to Larry. "Is there a place I can talk this over with Draco before making my decision?"
Larry leads us back out to the same small tent I was in earlier. "We'll all be back at the conference tent, just come on in when you've decided." He closes the flap and leaves us alone.
Malfoy quickly hops up and casts a silencing spell around the tent, then checks to make sure there are no recording devices inside. Once we're both convinced we can talk without being overheard, we sit down next to each other on the small cot.
"All right," I sigh. "Let's go over the actual options."
"You can't be seriously thinking about letting Pete back in the game."
"Please note, Mr. Malfoy, that I said 'actual options', which opens us up to some different choices than those presented in that meeting." I reach under my t-shirt, whisper a spell and pull out my wand, transfigured back into its normal state. "Surely a smart fellow like yourself can come up with better options than those two."
He looks at me for a long moment, head tilted slightly to the side. He opens and closes his mouth silently a couple of times, trying to figure out what to say. Finally, he speaks. "Are you sure you're a Gryffindor?"
I smile at him. "Bravery got me a punch in the face. I'm more than willing to see how things work from a more ... snakelike perspective."
He smiles back at me, and clasps his hands together. "All right then. Let's talk about these options."
"The only valid option they already gave me was prosecuting Pete through the law. But, they're right, it would be very disruptive to the game."
"I don't think you want to go to the far extreme with the other option," he says. I look at him, puzzled. "You could allow Pete back in the game, but under Imperio."
I shake my head. "You're right, I don't want to do that. I don't think we can risk this by using anything Unforgivable, even though right now I'd love to give Pete a taste of Crucio."
Malfoy runs his hand through his hair, a pensive look on his face. "We could Oblivate everyone here at the camp."
"And what, do Pete as well? Let him back into the game for one day?"
"It's an option. We'd have to destroy some of the film from today as well."
I shake my head. "These are fairly smart people, won't they be perplexed at having no footage at all for several hours of the game?"
"They must have some coverage of us doing mundane things at camp – eating dinner, doing chores. We can duplicate some of that to cover the missing time."
A thought strikes me, and it makes me feel a terrible sinking in my stomach. "We'd have to Oblivate Ellen and Kiki as well, so they don't ask too many questions about where we've been."
Malfoy silently takes my hand.
Damn you, Pete. Damn you for making me have to make this crappy choice, where the only way I can win is to betray the only friend I've had since day one. But I realize that using magic is the only way we can keep the game running smoothly, and I'll only have to be around an Oblivated and hopefully less violent Pete for one more day.
I sigh. "That bastard. There must be a better way."
I look up at Malfoy to find him staring at the ceiling. "If we could only get to just Pete."
"What?"
He turns to me. "If we could get Pete alone, we could just Oblivate him. After all, the crew is willing to let him back into the game. He'd only be there for one day until we vote him out. Then we'd just need to come up with a story to tell Ellen and Kiki, and plant that into Pete's head."
"But what about the crew? They'd know the truth."
"They've already said, they don't know the truth. They have no evidence. Sure, they believe your story, but they can't prove anything." Malfoy starts tapping his fingers on his knee. "The one catch is that one or both of us would have to talk to Pete alone, under the guise of convincing him to come peacefully back to the game. A quick couple of spells, and he's back to where he was mentally earlier today. We just have to stick together and stay out of his way, and vote him off tomorrow night."
I think about it for a minute. "It would be a lot easier. And I feel no guilt at all about hexing that turd."
"So we have a plan A and a plan B, then?"
I nod. "Let's go talk to Larry."
I squeeze Malfoy's hand and stand up. He stands too, pulling his own wand out of the pocket of his shorts. I raise an eyebrow at him.
"Had it ready already." He grins. "Ever since I came after you at the waterfall, actually. But the urge to personally punch the guy took over from casting a more impersonal spell."
I softly cup his cheek with my hand. "Draco Malfoy, you're a good man."
He smiles down at me. "I love you."
I kiss him gently. "I love you too. Now let's go clean house."
Wands pocketed, we leave the tent together.