A/N: I didn't think I needed to clarify, but "Her Cell" refers to Hermione being a prisoner. It does not refer to her having a cellphone on hand. Not only do I highly doubt an 18 year old Hermione, with no parents, who's been on the run camping for months, would have one in May of 1998, but I'm fairly sure she would not take it to a magical battle when established lore says magic and muggle tech doesn't get along.
Anyways, thank you for reading, and pls stop commenting about her cellphone QnQ
As soon as they arrived in some wooded area Hermione shoved herself out of his arms, a look of disgust clear on her face. He only rolled his eyes and motioned for her to turn around.
"Do you want out of the damn cuffs or not?" He grumbled when she didn't obey right away. She raised an eyebrow at him and he huffed. "I'm not letting you go, but I won't have you falling all over the place" Finally she turned so he could get the cuffs off of her. Once they fell to the forest floor she pulled her arms to her front, rubbing at her aching wrists.
Malfoy didn't wait for her, just started walking up the barely-visible trail. She glanced around, but when she didn't see anything but trees she followed him quickly.
"Where are we?" She asked as she reached him.
"Wales." He didn't stop or look at her when he answered.
"Where in Wales? Why Wales?"
"That's where it is." He grumbled.
"Where what is?"
"My house- Do you ever shut up, Granger?" He stopped on the path to face her, an exasperated expression on his face.
"I'm not known for that, no." He rolled his eyes and turned to continue walking but she stopped him with a shaky hand. "Thank you."
"Don't thank me." He grumbled and pulled away from her. The pair continued their walk. Hermione waited for him to explain, keeping up a few steps behind him.
"Why not?" She finally asked when he didn't respond.
"Because I have no idea what the fuck I'm doing." Malfoy grumbled and grabbed her arm so she could pass through the wards as they reached a clearing. As soon as they crossed what she assumed to be the property line a small cottage appeared in front of them.
"Wait- Those are amazing wards-" Malfoy groaned and continued to pull her along despite her turning back to examine the wards. "Malfoy!"
"Yeah, they're Black family wards. You've been to Grimmauld, so I don't know why you're-"
"Black family? Why do you have Black family wards?" He stopped at the porch and stared at her a moment. "What?"
"My mother was a Black."
"Well yeah, but I thought pureblood wives became solely connected to their husbands. Black property should be-"
"It wasn't a Black property. It was her mother's. When grandmother died she left it to mother."
"Oh…" Hermione looked around for a moment then, taking in the small cottage. It was quite lovely underneath the overgrowth and grime of disuse.
"And when I turned seventeen, mother gave it to me." He finally opened the door and motioned for her to go inside first. She hesitated a moment before stepping over the threshold. She felt the magic around her shudder and then accept her as Malfoy stepped up behind her.
It was quite lovely, if dusty and stale. The small living space was right in front of her, with a kitchen to her right. She could see several doors to other areas in the house, but chose to simply walk in and stand against the wall leading to the kitchen. Malfoy started to walk past her and stopped, holding his hand out to her.
"Wand." He said. Hermione jumped a bit.
"They snapped it."
"I know, give me the pieces." She searched his eyes for a moment before pulling out the remains of her wand and placing them in his hand. She watched him examine the pieces. "I might be able to fix it."
"And why would you do that?" She questioned, raising an eyebrow.
"Because as soon as I can I'm getting you out of the damn country." He grumbled, turning away to dig about in the kitchen. She narrowed her eyes as she watched him dig through the cabinets.
"Are you going to elaborate…?"
"What's left to elaborate?" He pulled out some eggs and bread, checking it for mold before starting the stove top. "I can't leave until I get rid of the mark, and I can't just let you leave without someone to help you-"
"I don't need your help-"
"Oh really? Should I take you back to the manor?" He glanced at her pointedly, then turned back to the stove top.
"Thank you, but I can just leave-"
"If you get caught Granger, I'll go down with you." He grumbled. "So we get rid of my mark, and get out as refugees. The Order has us landlocked right now, enough got out to raise the alarm outside of Britain. But if we get you out we can actually take him down-"
"Take him down?" She sputtered, pushing his arm so he'd turn to face her. "I'm not Harry. I'm not some chosen one."
"Obviously not, Potter is dead. And you're alive."
"Don't-"
"If Potter was alive and you were dead, we'd be screwed. But Potter is dead and you're alive. So we have a chance-"
"I'm a good student, not some hero in a book. Malfoy, let's be real here." He moved the pan off the heated coil and faced her properly now, watching her curiously.
"You really don't see it." He said quietly. She tilted her head in confusion but he only chuckled at the motion. "Granger, the other ministries will block us off and cut off trade, but they won't actively go to war with Britain. If they had you, they would."
"That doesn't make sense."
"You scared the Dark Lord today. Potter upsets him. Pisses him off. But you scared him, well and truly."
"He's been scared of Harry-"
"He's been scared of Potter's success. Not Potter. But you scared him today. What did you even show him?"
"Horcruxes." She mumbled, watching his reaction. He seemed mildly surprised, and she figured he'd known there was something at play here. "I showed each one as it was destroyed."
"How many?"
"Seven, if I'm right about Harry being one." Malfoy watched her in silence for a moment and she fidgeted under his gaze. "Malfoy-"
"How many are left?"
"None." She met his eyes then. "Neville killed Nagini. That was the last one."
"Who else knows?"
"Just us." She motioned between the two of them. "Harry was sworn to secrecy by Dumbledore. That's what we were doing this year. Trying to find them and destroy them."
"The room of requirement-"
"Exactly." The pair watched each other for a drawn out moment. Finally Malfoy turned around to continue cooking them food. Hermione waited for further conversation before stepping over to the barstools and settling in to watch him.
After a while, he finished, setting a plate of eggs and toast in front of her. He leaned against the counter across from her as he started to eat. Slowly she picked up the fork and took a few bites. Her stomach growled in appreciation and she quickly downed the whole meal. She had no idea when her last meal was.
"For now, you're going to eat, take a shower, and rest." He said matter-of-factly and Hermione narrowed her eyes at him. "You're only making that face because I'm right."
"I don't have clothes. Or anything, really." She said, watching him realize.
"I'll have Tippy come stock you up in the morning." He responded, finishing the last of his meal. In a blink he was gone, returning after a minute with a pair of sweats, an over-large shirt, and basic soap. "Here."
"Thank you…" She mumbled, picking at the clothes. They were comfortable at least. And clean.
"Go, get a shower and we can work out the necessities for Tippy when you come out. Bathroom's behind you." She searched his face for anything that told her he was being anything but kind. When she didn't find it she disappeared into the bathroom to clean up.
