A/N: I don't own Harry Potter or any related characters

This is for the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Assignment #9 Thanatology - Task #1: Walking into the Rotor Blade of a Helicopter: Write about someone physically running from something.

Warning: mentions of an attack, almost freezing to death

Word Count: 1674

Her face was so pale, almost as pale as the snow surrounding them.

"Hermione, please, hang on, someone's going to find us, I promise," he insisted, pulling her closer to him. He could see the blue tingeing her lips, could see the frost on her eye lashes. This whole trip had been her idea, an idea he'd agreed with, and now, now if they didn't get help soon, it would end in tragedy.

"It's going to snow," Hermione stated, watching the window of the cottage she and Severus were staying at. They had decided to take a little bit of a holiday to get away from everything going on. The Prophet was still chasing both of them for an interview. Severus was still recovering from his injuries. Hermione had been the one to suggest it. Severus had agreed quickly enough, anything to get away from yet another lecture from Dumbledore's portrait, who was convinced Severus should return to teaching potions.

"Good, it's not a proper holiday without snow," Severus muttered, standing next to her and peering outside.

"You say that," she laughed. "But wouldn't it be a bit odd to be on holiday at the beach and it start snowing?" she asked, turning to face him. He smirked and kissed her forehead.

They had started dating the moment she'd saved his life during the battle. Hermione had apparently had a crush on him for the longest time. Severus had tried to deny his own feelings, but her lips pressed against his, breathing life back into him, was all the convincing he needed that he should heed those feelings.

"I'd wonder what kind of beach you'd dragged me to," he answered, causing Hermione to laugh. Something moving outside caught her attention. Severus' eyes followed hers, widening at the movement.

"It's probably just a deer or something," she said, her voice trembling. The fact there were still a fair amount of Death Eaters at large didn't escape either of their brilliant minds.

"You stay here, I'm going to go check it out," Severus stated, taking a step towards the door. Hermione grabbed his arm, her eyes meeting his.

"No. You're not going out there alone. What if it isn't a deer?"

"Hermione, I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself."

"I'm not arguing that," she countered, fighting the urge to call him 'sir'. They were past that point in their relationship, she was no longer his student, and he was no longer her superior in any way. No, they were equals now.

"Then why do you insist on accompanying me?" he asked.

"Because, if there's one Death Eater, do you really think there's not more? Not even you can watch every direction at the same time," she answered, sliding her wand into her hand. Severus nodded, pushing open the door. The wind pushed against it, blowing snow into the cottage.

"They'd have to be an idiot to be out here in this mess," Hermione grumbled as she followed Severus outside, the door slamming behind them.

Severus stared at the broken wand in his hand. It was beyond repair, even if he was foolish enough to try attempt something. Hermione's head was still bleeding from where it had hit the ground. Severus tended to her wound, noticing just how much blood was now covering his hands.

"Stay with me," he begged, using every bit of knowledge he had as a healer to stop the blood. Hermione's skin was paling. Her breathing becoming more shallow. Severus swallowed hard as he pulled her against him, holding her close hoping the warmth of his own body would help her. He ignored the shooting pain in his own leg. He knew it was broken. Without his wand, he wasn't sure how to set it properly.

"We can't stay here," he finally stated, looking around. The woods all looked the same. He couldn't be certain that they were safe here, if they would be safer someplace else. Either way, sitting here freezing to death was not the best course of action. Even if someone did come looking for them, they wouldn't know where to start. Severus ripped a piece of fabric off his torn cloak, tied it around a low bush.

"That way we won't be going in circles," he explained to Hermione's unconscious form.

"Deer don't leave human footprints," Hermione stated, pointing to a patch of freshly fallen snow. They'd been walking about fifteen minutes, looking for clues that anyone had followed them here.

"No, they don't," Severus confirmed, stooping down and studying the boot print. He could tell from the size it belonged to a male, wearing boots, there were also brushes against the snow that could have come from a robe or cloak. No, this wasn't some Muggle who happened to be out in the woods.

Severus stood back up, looking for Hermione. He spotted her a little further into the woods, her curly brown hair tucked under a persimmon colored hat. She at least claimed it was hat. Severus wasn't so sure about it actually counted as a hat, much less clothing. He was about to take a step in her direction when he felt something fly past his ear.

"Protego!" he shouted, in a moment of instinct. The spell bounced off his charm, hitting a nearby tree. Severus spun, his wand in hand, casting several revealing charms. He could see Hermione doing the same, as well as casting what he believed to be some sort of wards over them.

The whole scene was flashing lights, spells bouncing here and there. Severus knew he hit one of them, he wasn't sure who it was, they were all wearing their masks. Severus remembered the feel of the mask over his own face, his features hidden in anonymity.

"Severus, watch out," Hermione's voice yelled. Severus turned, blocking another spell, before running to Hermione. The pair of them started running through the forest, blocking spells as they went. It wasn't until the ground gave out from under them that they saw the cliff, that they were tumbling through the air. Severus grabbed Hermione, pulling her to him. She cast a cushioning charm, hoping it would save them. As they fell, Severus kept whispering it was going to be alright. The fall seemed to last forever, with them finally landing hard against a rocky ground.

At first, Severus thought the cushioning charm had worked perfectly. Hermione was certainly amazing with her spells. It wasn't until he tried to move that he realized it had, in fact, failed. His leg was broken and Hermione was laying in front him. He crawled to her, realizing she was lying in a puddle of blood, her blood. He let loose a primal howl as he pulled out is wand, his very broken wand. He dug through the snow, looking for Hermione's wand, but was unable to find it.

"This is the third big tree we've passed so far," Severus stated, ripping yet another piece of his cloak and tying it to the tree branches. He'd managed to find a large down branch, strong enough to make a temporary splint for his leg. He could push through the pain, he had done so many times while being a double agent.

"I remember there being a central lodge, maybe if we can get there," he continued. He was getting tired, tired and warm. He knew hypothermia was starting to set in, all he could do was keep moving, keep holding Hermione as close to him as possible to keep her warm. He'd gone as far as to tuck her inside his robes, wrapping her arms around his neck. He was stumbling by this point, under her weight, his own injuries.

"It's starting to get dark, Hermione. I love you, I need you to know that, just in case we don't survive this, just in case," he whispered as he collapsed in the snow, Hermione falling with him.

Light. Light was the first thing Severus saw, a blinding white light. For a moment, his brain couldn't register it, it was that brilliant.

"You gave us all quite a scare, Severus," a voice stated. He blinked, the room coming into focus, the woman speaking coming into focus. His eyes darted around, quickly taking in his surroundings. He was a hospital, a muggle hospital by the looks of it. That didn't make sense.

"Minerva?"

"Aye, you almost died, Severus," she stated.

"Hermione?!" he asked, panicking as he tried to get up.

"She's fine, Severus. Now, lay down before you attract any attention to yourself."

"Where are we?"

"A rescue center, they found you and Miss Granger unconscious, you with a broken leg, her with a concussion. Both of you were suffering from hypothermia. Miss Granger regained consciousness before you did. She managed to get a message to me through various channels."

"Brilliant little witch," he muttered.

"She is, now what happened?"

"Death Eaters, Minerva. We were attacked by Death Eaters."

"I know. We managed to round up two of them. Do you know how many there were?"

"I counted five," Severus answered, falling into his usual pattern of answering questions. He was used to Dumbledore debriefing him after every mission.

"There were six, you didn't see the one in the tree," Hermione commented, walking over. She had a bandage of on her head. She was still pale, but she looked beautiful.

"The DMLE will take care of them, hopefully. Now, I have managed to get permission to have the pair of you released to me," Minerva stated. Hermione nodded, sliding her hand into Severus'.

"Back to our world?" she asked.

"Yes, where most of these injuries will be healed instantly. I'm certain Mister Shacklebolt will wish talk to both you about the attack."

"Of course," Severus stated, wrapping his fingers around Hermione's. She smiled at him. Minerva glanced around before silently healing Severus' leg, making their leaving the muggle hospital easier. Once out of sight, she used a portkey to take them all back to Hogwarts, back to their home.