Sole Survivor
Night Thirty-Eight
"But you did see the look on his face?" Malfoy holds aside a tree branch for me as we discuss the very strange tribal council on our way back to camp.
"Very strange. Especially," I agree, "when he told us to head back to camp."
He nods. "Something tells me that Pete's mystery illness has something to do with it."
We find our way back to the beach and plant our torches in the sand. Malfoy throws a couple of logs on the fire, then walks up to me and takes my hand. "So it's just us now."
"Nothing to do now but wait," I say. I open my mouth to speak again, but before I can get a word out, he's pressed his mouth to mine. It's exhilarating, the freedom of not having other players observing us.
We finally break apart. "Nothing to do?" Malfoy grins and runs his fingers lightly down my arms, then takes my hand in his.
He pulls me gently by the hand to the other side of the shelter, where it's harder for the cameras to see us. We walk a few yards away from camp, sit down on a log on the beach, and Malfoy arranges me so we're more or less facing each other. It's a moonless night, with the flickering reflection of our campfire in the sand as the only light source. My back is to the shelter, and his back is to a cameraman; I can see the small red light of a camera blinking merrily in the distance over his shoulder. We're as alone as we can be, in this weird crowded situation.
Malfoy looks around to make sure the cameraman is behind him, touches his hand to his hip, and whispers a spell. I know this one, and by including my name in it, he's assured that I'm the only one who can hear his words.
"Hermione Granger," he begins, "we've had quite a few ups and downs in the last dozen or so years. But this last month has been, without a doubt, the best month of my life."
He clears his throat nervously and reaches into his pocket, pulling out something small and cupping it in my hand so I can't quite see it. He shifts on the log so he's no longer sitting on it, but kneeling in front of me. Oh Gods, I know what he's about to do.
"After being so close to you this last month, I can't imaging living my life any other way." He opens his hand and holds out the object to me. "Hermione, would you marry me?"
Even seeing it coming, it's still something of a shock. I open my mouth, but can't make any sound come out.
"You don't have to give me an answer right away," he says, his eyes searching mine. I look at the object in his hand, and carefully take it. It's a fascinating ring made from woven grasses, with a small, perfect white seashell woven into the top in lieu of a diamond.
I look him in the eye. "Did you make this yourself?"
He grins. "Nobody else out here making fancy jewelry, that's for sure."
I lower my head to look at it closer, so the cameraman can't see my lips move. "No magic?"
He reaches his hand out to touch my face, and I look up into his eyes. Even in just the dim light from the flickering light of our fire reflecting off the sand, I can see that his eyes bear no malice, only love. In fact, there's a clear path down one cheek, the track of a single tear.
"No magic, except for you."
It feels like the whole world has stopped. The usual noises of the jungle seem quieter than usual. I open my mouth to speak, but close it again. I know what I want to say, but the perfectionist in me wants to say it just right.
Malfoy, still smiling, cocks his head to the side. He blinks quickly a couple of times, then the smile slowly fades from his face. His eyes flicker toward the jungle, and I realize that the usual noises are quieter than usual. The birds, bugs and other critters are now unnaturally silent. He takes a breath to speak, but is interrupted by a strange hissing sound behind me, on the other side of our shelter.
Suddenly there's a lot less light on the beach, and I realize the hissing sound behind me is the sound of a fire doused by water. Malfoy's hand grips mine tightly as he looks over my shoulder, craning his neck to see over the top of the shelter. I glance over his shoulder quickly before I turn around, checking to see if our cameraman is nearby, and I'm not entirely surprised that the blinking red light is gone.