She lost her breath as she hit the lake. Her body and was instantly cooled.
Re-orientating herself, her legs scissored as she started for the surface. Her lungs began to burn as she pushed upward and the need for air overtook her senses.
Debris was still falling into the water, making her path to the surface take that much longer as she dodged oncoming rocks and heavy branches.
With a final kick, she emerged audibly, inhaling and sputtering as the waves pushed their way into her open mouth and into her lungs.
After catching her breath, Hermione looked up to where she had fallen. A couple of trees had caught fire and parts of the precipice were still hurtling towards the water. She pushed her aching body and turned away from it.
"Where do you think you're going, Granger?"
She twisted her head and found Malfoy treading water a mere ten meters closer to the rock face.
How she wished he'd have hit it.
She ignored him as she swerved around and continued on her path to the safest shoreline.
She thought about Harry and Ron and prayed for their safety.
With all the ruckus, she didn't hear Draco catch up to her, and she screamed when he grabbed her thigh.
She took a deep breath and ducked underwater. She twisted her body so she was facing him and landed a swift kick to his abdomen. She kicked him a second time with her newly freed leg and gained a few feet of distance.
"Get away from me!" She shrieked when she resurfaced and aggressively splashed water his way.
It occurred to her that he was wandless so she patted her pockets only to realize she must have lost it when she hit the water.
Her wand was made of vine wood.
Vine wood floats!
She desperately started looking for her wand in the morning light. But the water was littered with twigs from the tree that had fallen. It was going to be like finding a needle in a haystack.
Draco was royally pissed.
He lost his wand; nearly died falling off a cliff and that bitch of a witch just kicked him with almost enough force to make him puke. He gripped his aching stomach with one hand and took off after her.
Screw his father's plan. She was gonna drown.
Granger was turning and twisting, clearly looking for something.
He used her distraction to his convenience as he swam up to her again, this time prepared for a fight.
He dodged her kick by grabbing it with both hands, followed by a quick pull that made her head bob under the water.
He used the opportunity to let go of her leg and grabbed her arm. As she came back up for air, he reared his arm back, closed his fist and gave her a quick blow to the face.
She swallowed water as his fist connected with her teeth. The metallic taste of blood that poured from her mouth was quickly replaced by lake water as he proceeded to put his entire weight upon her, submerging her in the process.
Her hand brushed a twig, and in a moment of blind panic, she clasped it and plunged it between his ribcage. She heard his howl of pain from under the water. When she surfaced, she noted he was crying, frantic breaths escaping him.
Good. Serves him right.
The taste of blood refilled her mouth and she realized that if he were to regain his strength; she might not be so lucky a second time. So she took a moment to calm herself and closed her eyes, brows creased in concentration. She ignored Draco's moans and focused on her wand. She felt her magic seep from her and it drew her to the right. She opened her eyes and followed it.
It was a marvel his lung hadn't collapsed.
She must not have jabbed him deep enough to pierce it.
Nevertheless, he wasn't so stupid as to pull it out in the water. With every breath the pain flared and staying afloat was becoming more difficult.
God, he hated her, with every fibre of his being. She must have found what she was looking for because she now started a front crawl to the shore. Movement on the higher ground caught his eye and he wheezed a laugh.
She wasn't going to get very far.
Hermione was renewed with hope. She was reunited with her wand, and she could now get to land and search for the boys. She would soon reach the shallow water and run to safety.
As her dominant hand rose from the water in the classic front crawl pattern, it was hit with a curse. The water swallowed her scream as her arm limped, unquestionably broken. A fusillade of more dark spells was thrown at her from above, blocking her route to safety. She could do nothing but retreat.
The glimmer of hope was ripped from her as she side stroked to escape.
But she had nowhere to go.
The lake was huge and she wasn't going to make it across. She couldn't apparate; she wasn't grounded to something to take off from.
It was her turn to cry as she helplessly swam away from shore, water being blasted all around her.
She expected to be hit at any given moment.
As she swam back in the general direction of Malfoy, she realized that if she made it, she could take a page from his book and use him as a human shield.
The idea gave her renewed her strength, and she picked up the pace to reach him. He was barely treading water when she did, only his face breaching the surface. With her left arm, she made a show of pointing her wand at him, using only her legs to keep her afloat.
The firing ceased.
"Piss off," he croaked.
She jabbed her wand under his jaw as a response.
"Won't matter,"
"I think it does."
"Not for long," he wheezed.
Unbelievably, as soon as the words left his mouth, spells were fired from the cliff, like arrows, soaring high into the air before they crashed into the lake before them, each one coming ever closer.
Hermione noticed curses didn't stop when they reached the water but seemed to be going straight through it.
She assumed the increase in spells meant their back up had arrived.
Draco took her confusion as an opening and made a grab for her wand.
"Stupefy!" Was her unthinking response and he was knocked out cold.
She looked up again and watched in horror as the sky lit up in red; over fifty curses began raining down her way.
She couldn't outswim them.
Something brushed her leg and she jerked her head down. Malfoy's sinking body gave her a theoretical solution.
She held her breath and dived in after him; her good arm outstretched, reaching to him. As the water began to glow red from above, she grabbed his shoulder, wrapped her legs around him and practically screamed in her mind a place she knew she would be safe.
As the spells pierced the water, they apparated.
End of chapter two.