They had walked for miles. Night emerged and starlight twinkled down at them through the frosty air. His feet were sore and his hunger had come and gone; leaving his stomach consistently achy. As if that wasn't enough, for the past three hours, his head provided a thumping, throbbing symphony that echoed and bounced inside his skull.

He'd told her, of course, but every time he stopped for a blessed break she'd turned and insisted they press on. It was miserable. But at least he wasn't alone in it. Her nervous gaze flickered across the landscape all day, occasionally glancing up to the sky as well. Her anxiety was palpable. He'd watched her fiddle with her wand as she walked, a little too frigid in her posture.

Though, he couldn't blame her. They both wore dark clothing that would stick out to anyone looking for them in the much paler grass they walked through. Still, she hadn't slowed her pace.

He held back a groan. She was a bloody relentless witch.

"Well, I think that's as far as we're going to get tonight."

"Finally!" He cried exasperatedly, letting his weight drop him to the ground. The world around him spun with the action. He leaned forward, cradling his head.

The night was bright with the moon high and full. Conjuring a light would act as a beacon, so Hermione decided against it. She sat and joined him, rustling the tall grass and dropping her wand between her crossed legs. They also couldn't light a fire. That meant no heat source. She looked at the grass around them. Maybe they could build a hut or some sort of shelter with it?

Malfoy grumbled under his breath in front of her.

No, probably not. Asking for his help was definitely out of the question. He was drained.

She absentmindedly kneaded her thighs. They were both exhausted.

"What do you have for headaches in there?" he asked, nodding to her pouch and interrupting her thoughts.

"Sorry, I don't have anything to help with things like that anymore," she said earnestly. She was still a couple of ingredients short for a pain potion.

"It's fine," he sighed, "just… don't talk for a while," he said, waiting for the world to straighten again.

She quirked an eyebrow, looking over his hunching form in the moonlight. It's not like they'd been talking all day. In fact, they hadn't spoken a word in a couple of hours. Her lips turned up a little. How to shut up Draco Malfoy: utterly exhaust him.

The cut in his shirt had, at some point, ripped a little more, giving her a sort of open view of his chest. She could see the very tip of his healing injury, as the darkened skin peeked from behind the fabric. Her eyes glided a little higher, his pale skin stretching over his pectoral.

Lingering a moment, she watched the muscle contract as he brought his arm down to massage his calf. Transfixed, she watched it expand as he gave a long sigh, lazily rubbing at his leg. An image clouded over her mind.

He sighed again, this time, in a bed lying next to her. She pictured him quiet and exhausted…but in a completely different manner.

Something tugged below her hips.

Grabbing her wand, Hermione shot up from her position on the ground and turned away slightly in her step, ashamed of the scarlet creeping up her cheeks.

He looked up at her, surprised by her sudden movement.

"I'm going to look for food," she announced, not looking at him.

"…sure," he rolled his eyes, not really in the mood to analyze her behavior.

Hermione nodded and pushed aside the grass, gratefully taking some long-legged strides away from him.

What was wrong with her?

She pinched the bridge of her nose in an attempt to calm herself. This was Draco Malfoy she was thinking about. The guy whose loyalties were to himself, or the dark lord, whatever was more convenient. The guy who bullied and terrorized her in school, the guy who haughtily believes he's far more superior in every way. The guy who threatened her at least once every day and openly admitted to wanting to kill her.

The guy she was stuck with.

And apparently, she was developing some kind of twisted reversal of Stockholm syndrome.

She crossed her arms, the crisp air chilling her through her clothes. She wasn't that desperate…was she? The question resonated with her and she dug a foot in the ground, not willing to explore it.

A couple of steps in front of her, the grass rustled and a hair hopped into view, emerging from its burrow.

Her stomach lurched. Food.

She exclaimed an incantation, producing and firing an arrow, but the spell missed and the rabbit took off in a frightened frenzy.

"Bollocks," she groaned and pushed her legs to run after it.

"Malfoy?" he heard her shout from a distance. She hadn't been gone that long. She must have caught whatever he heard her chase.

"Over here," he answered evenly. There was no reason to shout. The meadow was proving to be a quiet area.

"Where exactly?" she sounded from a distance, "could you stand up a moment?"

"Just follow the sound of my voice Granger – you'll find me".

A couple of minutes later her silhouette emerged from the grass and she sat down across from him.

"And? Where's the food?"

"I take it the headaches gone?" she said, trying to make herself comfortable.

"It'll be better after I eat. Where is it?"

"I couldn't catch it," she responded, a little deflated.

"What do you mean you couldn't catch it? You have a wand don't you?" he grumbled condescendingly.

"Look, it was a hare, it zig-zagged, I chased it but I lost sight of it. It got away," she defended.

Does he think he could have done better? Her eyes blazed at him and her chest puffed, ready for a fight.

But Malfoy didn't hold her fire. She noticed he held his knees close to his chest, shivering, and his eyes had closed, decidedly ignoring her.

Hermione reached for her bag, opened it and sunk her arm into it, looking for the only heat source they would have the privilege of having tonight.

"Here," she said, and Draco opened his eyes as her potions book thudded to his feet, "It's going to be cold tonight."

"Then start a fire," he snapped.

She looked at him poignantly as if silently questioning his intelligence.

"You know I can't just light a fire," she finally sighed. "We have no means of building a shelter, I can't control a fire and it's the perfect way of telling the world where I am." He began ripping pages and stuffing them in his shirt.

"So we freeze tonight then? I mean I remember you having a good night last night-" she blushed at his reference-, "but I bloody well froze. No point fussing about getting caught if we don't actually wake up tomorrow."

He wasn't wrong, she thought, rubbing her arms. Tonight was already colder than the last.

He tossed her the book as he finished stuffing his shirt.

What were they going to do?

"Seriously Granger, this isn't funny," he said, teeth chattering as a breeze rolled by.

No it wasn't.

Hermione didn't answer as she copied him, ripping the pages from her book and making little balls to stuff down the front of her shirt.

"C'mon Granger think."

"I am. Fire is out. No trees to shelter the wind-" she mumbled as she closed her eyes. Trembling as the wind picked up again she went through ideas.

"Spells," he tried.

"None that will last all night,"

"How about for right now?"

Hermione picked up her wand and pointed an incantation to him with the intention of blowing hot air his way. The wind picked up in strength, taking away the heat from her wand before it had a chance to reach him.

"Any time Granger!"

"It's not working!" she hollered back, frustrated.

Hermione dropped her arm. They stared at one another for a moment. Forming an idea, Hermione looked away and reached into her bag, retrieving the clothes she used last night.

"What are you doing?"

"Adding layers," she replied as she tried to fit Harry's shirt on top of her crumply and deformed shape, the paper loudly crunching as she forced it over her torso.

"You want Ron's?" She asked, grabbing the shirt and lifting her arm to him.

Draco hesitated.

Noticing his internal struggle, she pipped up, "he'd never know. And honestly, I already feel a little warmer."

Deciding he'd hate himself another day for this, he reached out and yanked the garment out of her hand before pulling it over his head. He hadn't needed to force it. He took small comfort in knowing the Weasel had gained some weight. Particularly in the abdomen as the shirt easily stretched over his frame.

Hermione laid down and brought her knees to her chest, seeking maximal heat absorption. She heard him mumble as he followed suit, turning away from her.

He didn't know how much time had passed but he had yet to get a wink of sleep. Granger had clearly lied to him. His shivers, which looked more like convulsions, hadn't subsided despite the extra layer of clothing.

"Granger, I c-can't take this anymore," Draco said loudly, hoping to wake her up if she was lost in a blissful sleep.

"N-Neither can I," she answered immediately.

Of course, she's awake.

The sound of crunching behind him made him turn his head to look, turning over completely when he saw Hermione on her knees with her wand pointed to him.

"What the f-fuck are you-"

A rope poured out from her wand, binding his legs together.

"Argh!" he roared sitting up, "what the hell?!"

He raged, pulling at the ropes, but she had already shuffled her way over to him.

"Hands," she demanded, raising her wand once more.

"No," he recoiled, hiding his arms from her sight, "my hands are already numb Granger, you're going to cut off the circulation."

"Then I'll tie your arms," she reasoned, the cold wind whipping her hair about.

"Sod off!"

Another gust of wind on her face pushed her over the edge.

With the strength of both of her hands, she grabbed his closest shoulder and applied her entire body weight on it, causing him to roll onto his back. She was tired and frozen and frankly, she wasn't in the mood for his shit.

With his arms now exposed, she shot another rope from her wand that quickly wrapped itself around his arms. She was getting rather good at that spell.

"Granger-" he seethed, rolling on his side away from her.

"Oh, you sod off it!" she snapped and dropped down next to him. She was desperate. So she was doing what her barely functioning brain push her to do – seek warmth.

Draco turned his head to yell at her but was met with her bushy brown hair. He whipped his head back around to get it out of his face. Then her back collided with his.

What…the fuck…

Had Granger lost her marbles? She was actively pressing her back into him.

And was that her ass too?

Draco bounced on the ground to get away from her. Then instantly regretted it. The wind blew up his back, reigniting the goosebumps that had suddenly disappeared moments before.

Quick as lightning, Hermione turned to him, slightly hovering over him as she pressed her wand into his cheek.

"I swear to God Malfoy, I will petrify you as I did to Neville in first year, I'll do it right now and without regret if you don't stop moving. And I won't lift the curse until morning," she added to get her point across.

He didn't answer her and didn't move. She took it he understood and she resumed her spot behind him, pressing her spine and ass into his. Draco screwed his eyes shut. Partially in fear, partially in disbelief.

Having Granger ruling over him with an iron fist was going to physically start to make him sick. Frustration swelled within him, filling his chest with bitterness and animosity. He was practically her slave; using his mind and body at her beck and call. His thoughts darkened. Under Voldemort's rule, it'd be the other way around. He mulled it over, imagining different scenarios where he could exact revenge. He shuddered; some thoughts were better than others.

Five minutes passed and his shivering ceased, the heat of her body spreading to him like a slow-burning flame, warming him from the outside in.

Sooner, rather than later, sleep and exhaustion overcame them both.

Sunlight beamed on Draco's face, rousing him from the best slumber he'd had in a week. He spread his arms, but his restraints prohibited it. A gust of hot air blew across the back of his neck, down his shirt and slithered onto his shoulder blades. His already semi-hard member twitched in response. He sighed, imagining dead unicorns and picturing his aunt Bellatrix.

He knew it was Granger behind him. He refused to let her be the reason his morning could be so good. He turned his head a little to look at her from the corner of his eye. At some point, she had turned around in her sleep and from the feel of it, she had her cold nose nuzzled into his neck. He looked down her body. She'd apparently spooned him too.

He turned his gaze back ahead of him, resting his head back on the dry ground. She'd been impressively frightening last night. Enough to make him clam up at her temper. It was the little bit of ice her personality secretly harbored. The part he'd only glimpsed at before. But to his surprise, he didn't hate the proximity. The thought turned over in his head again and again. He should feel revulsion. But he just felt…numb.

She sighed a little breath again, the hot air brushing against his spine. His cock wanted to respond. He sat up abruptly, disgusted with himself, the horror of his behavior finally crashing down on him. She was a mudblood. And not just any mudblood. Potter's mudblood. The loudmouthed, preachy, miss perfect know-it-all. And his dick apparently couldn't care less. All this time alone with her was screwing with his head. That or she scrambled things real good while she was in there.

Hermione awoke at Draco's quick movement.

"Untie me" he ordered, peeking at her from behind his bangs while keeping his back to her.

"Oh," she said, still groggy from sleep. She fumbled around the ground looking for her wand. It wasn't in her pocket.

"Now, Granger," he pressed. His morning wood wasn't going away and that was not something she needed to know. Not a conversation he wanted to experience.

"Just a moment," she said, already irritated by his impatience. Finding it, she waved the incantation his way. As the day before, his restraints slithered away and disappeared.

"I'm going for a walk," he said and jumped up and into the grass, out of her sight.

"But we'll be walking all day," she answered, confused at his sudden need to escape her.

Then she recalled her position this morning.

Ah. That explained it.

Hermione frowned a little at the thought. He was probably freaked out. She rubbed the sand away from her eyes. Well, he could deal with it however he pleased. The truth was she didn't regret it. He was warm, and to her dismay, she realized it provided her with some comfort, in light of their strange and otherwise uncomfortable situation.

Hermione picked herself up and pulled out the crumpled paper underneath her clothes and stored them back into her bag. Might as well re-use it. Then she took off Harry's extra shirt. The day was warm and it was no longer necessary.

She hesitated to put it away as her mind turned to him. She ran her fingers over the hem and clutched it tightly. She missed him and wished he was out here with her.

"Granger! Granger get it!" called Malfoy from afar.

What now? She thought, looking up.

She tried not to giggle as she heard, more than she saw, Draco zigzagging around the field. The crumpling of the papers in his shirt exaggerated the hilarity as he ran to and fro like a crazed man.

"Useless woman, do something!" He yelled at her.

Useless woman? That wiped the smirk off her face. She sobered up, remembering who she was dealing with.

Dropping Harry's shirt into her bag, she caught up to him, ready to tell him just how useless she was going to be to him when the hare ran passed her.

"For fuck's sake, Granger," heaved Malfoy, waving his hand out, "you were right there."

"On it," she stated, turning on a dime. She chased it, running this way and that, shooting arrows from her wand and completely missing it every time. It ran by Draco, who finished plucking the remaining paper from under his shirts as Hermione followed hot on its tail.

"Alright stop, stop," Draco grabbed Hermione's arm as she ran by, her momentum forcing her to turn and look at him.

"What are you doing?! It's getting away!"

"Stop," he repeated, "The bloody animal isn't leaving the area. You've been running in circles with it for almost five minutes. We need a plan."

Hunched over and trying to catch her breath, she wiped her brow, "well do you have a plan?"

She shook his hand from her arm.

"We need to corner it," he frowned.

"There's no corners as far as we can see Malfoy."

"Then we get it where we can't see it."

Hermione waited for him to finish. He waited for it to come to her.

"Oh! It's burrow!"

"Exactly. It'll calm down and return to its home," he said, scanning the area, "where we'll whack it."

"That's actually pretty crafty Malfoy," she said, offering him a small smile. He returned it with a proud smirk of his own.

"Well, I am in Slytherin," he said, soaking up her compliment.

The smile widened on her face, "yes, I know, how can I forget?"

He stood a moment, basking in the glory of his ingenious plan.

"No really, how can I forget? I've been trying to for years now and I can't seem to forget about it," she said, her smile turning into a rather cheeky grin.

His eyes darted to hers. She was being playful with him. His mind back peddled and drew the line. It was wrong. He wasn't one of her friends.

"Let's go find it," he clipped and strode forward, keeping an eye on the ground.

Feeling a little disappointed with his lack of reaction, she started in a different direction, surveying as she went.

She called him over when she found it. It was nothing more than a little bump of dirt with a cleverly hidden hole surrounded by dry grass.

"We need to draw it out where you can be waiting for it at the entrance," stated Draco. Hermione nodded and stood a few feet from the hole, wand at the ready.

"Now what?"

"Now I frighten it," he said, taking a couple of steps away, presumably atop of the den itself.

Draco looked up at her and she nodded. She stared down the hole, prepared. He jumped up and landed hard on the ground.

Nothing happened. He tried it again. And again.

"Well," said Hermione, "it was a good plan."

"It'll work. It's deeper than I expected," he said, looking around for a heavy rock he could throw down, "we just need a bigger disturbance".

Hermione's stomach gave a growl. Hunger made itself known and it wasn't happy with her.

"Let's keep moving. Maybe we'll come across that camp today-"

"Ya or maybe they've already packed up and gone. Then we would have wasted the only guaranteed food source we have," he ranted, angrily hopping on random areas around the hole.

Hermione bit her lip as a thought floated into her mind. A very, very dangerous idea that would most certainly turn Malfoy back into a bumbling zombie. Her brows furrowed. Or worse.

Her stomach gave another growl, uncaring of the risky choice she contemplated.

"You're sure a big enough distraction will have it running out of this exact hole?" she asked, weighing her options.

He looked at her, confused a moment, "well I presume so Granger, I didn't notice another one in the area."

Taking a deep breath she made a decision. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out the other wand Malfoy had used…when she'd performed an unforgivable curse. She switched it to her other hand, in case she needed to use her own.

He stared it a moment.

"How long have you had that?"

"Since we escaped the deatheaters," she said honestly, watching him closely.

Draco visibly calmed as the wheels in his mind came to life. She wanted to give it to him. It was his way out. No, not quite, he thought, eyes drifting back up to Hermione. He needed to silence the mudblood first. Squishing down his excitement, he carefully calculated his reaction.

"Well, toss it over then," he said, nonchalantly.

"That's not really what I had in mind," she said, bracing herself.

"How do you mean?"

"What I mean is I'll give it to you…when I'm sure you'll give it back when we're done," she said, lifting her wand at him a little to make her point.

"As in…an unbreakable vow?" he questioned.

"No, you need a third party to make an unbreakable vow," she replied, "I mean…as in I'm absolutely sure you give it back."

What the fuck was she on about? There was nothing in this world that would make him give it back to her and she knew it. No amount of cruiciatus curse would compel him to give it back to her once the wand was in his hands.

Compel. Somewhere, a lightbulb turned on.

"Granger," he started, bringing his hands up and taking a step back, suddenly afraid, "no."

"It's the only way to make it work," she argued, taking a step forward, "it guarantees my safety, and I've already cast it before so I know I can do it again-" she said, advancing some more.

"Granger that was a fluke and you know it," he said, taking another step back, "And I'm still suffering the after-effects of that little miracle. No. You're risking my life. Again."

"No, look," she said stopping a couple of steps in front of him. "I won't do it without your permission. You get to choose. Either we try it again with a strong chance it'll get us a meal today, or we don't do it at all and we keep walking, and hope something else will come along."

"Or, you give me the wand, my brain doesn't fry and we get to eat," he replied, opening his hands to her. It was so close.

"Malfoy, choose," she said, pointing her wand to the rabbit hole behind her and holding up the other wand with her hand, trying to convey the choice she wanted him to make.

"I choose-" his arm darted out for hers with the speed of a seeker. His other hand wrapped itself around her neck as he hooked his leg around her smaller one. This was it, his window to freedom. In a bought of speed and strength, he flipped her down, holding tightly to the wand in her hand. He let her go as she fell, standing tall and beaming a smile he thought he'd never experience again.

Hermione landed with an "Oof," alarmed and mortified.

"You know you should really hold on tighter to your wands, Granger," he said, radiating glee as he twirled the wand in his hand, "it could without a doubt come in handy to you some time."

Reacting on principle, Hermione sent a stun at him, which he stumbled but deflected as she scrambled back to her feet.

"Easy," he said, wiping the smirk from his face, trying to guide the situation. He kept the wand pointed down, itching to use it.

But she only saw red, pointing her wand at his nose.

"I'm hungry. You're hungry. Let's focus on getting the rabbit," he said, trying hard to ignore the euphoria of magic activating inside his veins.

She stood there – heaving in anger and at a complete loss of words.

He waved his hand at her, "go stand in front of the hole again, I'll scare it out."

"You tricked me."

"You gave me an impossible choice."

"Bollocks!"

He was going to need to make her see the logic.

"Granger you can't blame me for trying it. You would have done the same if the tables were turned."

He knew she knew it was true.

"So now what?" she said, breathing heavily through her nose, but more level headed than ten seconds ago. Her tailbone throbbed where she landed on it, but she kept her focus on him. Her situation just turned from miserable to sinister, and she racked her brain to try and find a way out of it.

"We hunt," he replied.

She wasn't falling for it.

"Is this…a truce?"

"For now," he said honestly. Granger was a formidable opponent, he could admit. But the adrenaline high was just calling for him to strike. He felt energized while she practically trembled in fear, like the tiny hare they were about to slaughter. Draco smirked; some of last night's scenario's playing through his head. Oh the things he could do.

"You go stand at the hole then," she said, grinding her teeth and gathering her courage as she walked back up to him.

That wouldn't do. Draco frowned. Then he'd be the one distracted by the hare.

"I don't even know the spell, Granger. Let's get this over with."

"Then I'll teach you," she persisted. It didn't take a goblin to figure out he wanted her distracted. The moment she was, he would strike.

"You know what? I'd rather bloody do it anyways," he said, walking past her and making his way in front of the hole.

"I thought you said you didn't know the spell?" She asked sarcastically.

Keeping his eyes on hers, he pointed his wand over his shoulder and shot off an arrow that made a wide arc into the distance before frightening some birds as it landed.

"I lied."

Fine. She thought. She would play his game.

She angled her wand to the ground, staring at him. She had a plan of her own.

"You ready?"

He nodded his response and lowered his eyes to the hole, bringing his wand up.

"Bombarda," he pronounced clearly. Whatever plan she had flew out the window at his preemptive strike. The ground in front of him burst open, exploding, completely destroying the rabbit's mound and nest underneath it; and effectively blinding Hermione as the earth shot into her eyes and the dirt beneath her crumbled, making her lose her footing.

She threw up a protection charm, desperately rubbing her eyes. He struck it down in two shots. She threw up another one, rapidly blinking as she pushed her feet in reverse, standing up and trying to gain some distance between them.

Draco advanced. He needed to immobilize her. She skillfully blocked both of his disarming charms while blind.

"Petrificus totalus!" He shouted.

"Protego!" she warded him off again. His spell struck her shield with a loud resounding bang.

Holy shit, thought Hermione in alarm. That was a really strong hit.

Clearing the rest of the debris out of her eyes, she started fighting back.

"Stupify!" She cried, but he dodged it.

They continued their duel, lights of every color flying across the field. Evenly matched, Hermione eventually lost her temper.

"Come on Malfoy! You want to kill me that badly you're going to need to do it properly," she hollered at him.

It wasn't his intention. He was figuring it out as he went. But he knew he needed to find a way to keep her quiet. To put it in her own words, it guaranteed his safety. Obliviating her memory was his best bet. He just needed her to stop moving.

She shot him a stinging hex and it hit the tip of his elbow; causing it to blister and welt as if he's just suffered a terrible allergic reaction.

Fuck it. Screw immobilizing her.

"Diffindo," he yelled, intending to cut her down.

She threw up a guard and sent back a tripping jix.

He jumped to avoid it. Gracefully handing on his feet, he twirled and fired a particularly nasty one; "Sectumsempra!"

Hermione let out a gasp, ducking and rolling out of the way, feeling the heat of it graze the back of her thigh as she went.

That would have been bad.

Hermione got back onto her knees and sent him another stun before ducking back down into the grass. He shot a couple more curses but they missed. She peeped back out, cast the reducto curse, and plopped back down.

He blocked it right before it hit him.

The spells were becoming more dangerous. They were both acting recklessly and the situation was quickly escalating out of hand.

"Incendio," yelled Draco, waving his wand in her general direction as he marched ahead. No hiding.

The yellow grass absorbed the flames like a hungry wildebeest, grazing one patch onto the other, quickly reducing it to ash and spreading quickly.

"Let's have it then mudblood!" he called, provoking her as only he knew he could. Then, from his left, a powerful jet of water emerged from the field, knocking him clean off his feet. He fell with a dull thud, head smacking the ground and instantly reviving his migraine from the night before.

Hermione got up from her hiding place and hosed down the immediate danger as the flames licked around her. Then she turned and swiftly did the same to the surrounding area. But the fire raged beyond her now, and the once quiet meadow seemed to come to life, panicked rodents and other animal sounds filled her ears as their homes burned around them.

The danger was overwhelming. This had to stop.

Pouring all of her heart into her concentration, Hermione incanted "Aguamenti." A wave of water vigorously burst from her wand, the kind of surf you only see on a rough day by the ocean. It flooded as far as the eye could see.

With renewed hope, she ran in a wide circle, her jet slowly turning with her, like a sprinkler, and muffling all escaping flames in the vicinity.

"Locomotor Mortis." Her legs locked together mid-stride and she crashed to the ground.

"I gotta hand it to you Granger, that last one hurt like a bitch," said Malfoy, striding towards her.

She turned to the voice in a fury. This was all his fault. Everything was his fault.

"Then I hope this one does too. Stupify!"

Once again he blocked it, but this time she was ready. She'd already unbounded herself and got on her hands and knees, raising her arm at him.

"Expelliarmus," she said, with as much power as she could muster.

This time, the wand flew out of his hand as if an imaginary string had yanked it. It sore high above her head and landed somewhere behind her. He stopped in his tracks. She didn't bother trying to get up to catch it. There was no need.

Sitting back on her ankles, she dug her head in the crooks of her elbows.

It was over.

Draco stared at the wand as it flew off into the burnt field and took a step back in disbelief. She disarmed him. With one of the simplest spells in the book. He looked back down at her. Her hands covered her head as she knelt on the ground, resembling a turtle. Her wand was still tightly gripped between her shaking fingers.

He needed to get out of there. He turned and ran.

Hermione heard him flee. She rocked herself back into a squatting position and considered her options once more. On the bright side, he was wandless again. And she knew never to let him near one for as long as she so lived.

He actually tried to kill me.

It was an intoxicating thought and her eyes morphed into a shade of dark they'd never seen before.

Pushing herself up, she ran after him.

Draco ran as fast as he could; his lungs begging him to stop. His head screamed, threatening to shut him down if he continued to push himself past his limit.

"Stupify!" he heard from somewhere behind him. He looked back to see how far she was when the red light hit him. He was hurled to the ground once again. This time his ears rang with the impact.

He slowly tried to push himself up. When he couldn't, he rolled onto his back instead, trying desperately to overcome his shell shock.

"Reducto!" she screamed, the earth blew up beside his face, making him scream in terror.

Hermione reached him.

Giving his head a firm shake, he tried to crawl back up. She launched herself on top of him, pinning him down and straddling his waist. One hand grabbed a fistful of his collar while the other gripped her wand like a knife and she dug it into his chest.

"Don't," he wheezed.

Red sparks spilled from her wand, burning a hole through Ron's shirt, right above his scar.

"Stop," he panicked, bringing his hands onto hers and trying to pull her wand off him.

She didn't budge. It reached his own shirt, easily eating through the silk and scorching him with an intensity that seared his skin.

"Granger you could kill me," he said, trying to push her off in freight. But Hermione held still, digging it deeper into his wound and forcing him to flatten against the ground.

"Why shouldn't I?" she rebutted.

"We've been through this," he wheezed, "you couldn't live with yourself."

"Well the more I think about it, the more it seems logical for me to off you- after all- you were going to kill me anyways right?"

"No-" he wailed as she increased the power, the wound re-opening as she drilled.

"That's what you've been telling me since we've started this little adventure!" Her voice escalated, "that's what you just tried to do! You set fire to an entire ecosystem trying to do it!" she finished, screaming in his face.

"I-"

"No! Why shouldn't I kill you?!" She stopped the onslaught on his chest and leaned forward, jabbing the tip of her wand under his jaw and boring her eyes into his.

He looked up at her in despair, breathing rapidly - "please don't kill me Granger," he begged, his eyes wide and teary. "I want to live," he said, voice croaking.

Something inside Hermione broke then. All the frustrations and fears of the past couple of days resurfacing. Her fatigue, her hunger, her anxiety of Harry and Ron's wellbeing, her fear for the fate of Ron's parents, her fear of the future to the wizarding world and all the resentment she held against Malfoy seemed to pour out in an instant.

Without thinking, she let out a wail and threw her wand off to the side. Lowering herself completely on top of him, she curled her arms around his nape and hid her face into his neck and cried inexhaustibly.

A/N: Whoooohooo! What a ride. This was my longest chapter yet. Things are taking a turning point after this, tune in soon to find out ;).