A.N. So finally I have another chapter up! It's just a filler but I promise good things are coming! I do not own Harry Potter or related characters. If I did then Draco and Hermione getting together and living happily ever after would be canon! Please read and enjoy! 3
Draco and Hermione hit the ground in a wooded area with a thud. Draco slowly got up on all fours panting slightly. He was perfectly aware that apparition felt like getting sucked through a tube but he was quite sure that any and all unpleasantness should end the second upon arrival. Something had definitely gone wrong. He turned himself over so that he was sitting and examined the pain in his leg. His right pant leg was torn and bloody. He had evidently splinched leaving some skin behind because he had a mild laceration that went from below the knee to just above his ankle.
"Fuck." Draco muttered.
Then for the first time since arriving he turned his attention to Granger. She was lying on her side still out cold. That wasn't good.
"Granger, wake up!" Draco shook her shoulder none too gently. Slowly she stirred. Her eyes fluttered and then opened wide. Draco backed a few inches away to give her space. She sat up and took in her surroundings.
"Well it's safe to say this isn't The Burrow." Hermione muttered.
"Are you actually being ungrateful right now?" Draco demanded angrily.
"No even close so don't get so defensive. The escape plan if Death Eaters ever attacked us at Grimmauld Place was to apparate to The Burrow." explained Hermione.
"Great, now I know for next time." said Draco sarcastically.
"Well it's not like we didn't tell you on purpose." shot back Hermione.
"Well don't make stupid comments about how we're not where you want to be. I just saved your life, a thank you would be nice!" yelled Draco.
"Unbelievable!" exclaimed Hermione. "So where did you end up taking us?"
"Salisbury. Wiltshire" added Draco, more calmly.
"Wiltshire? Isn't your house around here?" asked Hermione.
"Yes, actually it is." said Draco.
"Where all the Death Eaters like to hang out?" added Hermione.
"Okay, I get it, I didn't apparate to your stupid Burrow." responded Draco.
"Just the next best place, right?" Hermione was glowering at him.
"Oh please! You think I apparated here because I'm really am still in league with You-Know-Who?" cried Draco.
"It is pretty suspicious." commented Hermione.
"I should've known better." Draco grumbled. He stood up and started walking away.
"Where do you think you're going?" called Hermione.
"Away!" Draco shouted. He would've been walking faster but his leg was becoming quite the inhibition.
"Wait a minute!" insisted Hermione from behind him.
"Why should I?"
"You're limping!" Hermione finally reached him and caught his elbow.
Draco stopped, turned around and snatched his arm away. "So what? I'm just a Death Eater, right? It's not like it matters if I get hurt!"
"Stop being so melodramatic!" insisted Hermione, "Now sit down before you make it worse!"
Draco sat down. He had told himself not to get so worked up but he couldn't help it. He knew It would be hard to integrate with Granger and her lot but he was willing to bet she was going out of her way to make it even more difficult.
"If you've got any healing spells up your sleeve, now's the time to pull them out." said Draco.
"I don't know any." said Hermione distractedly. She was rummaging in her beaded bag.
"Then what are you doing?" asked Draco.
"Getting you this!" said Hermione.
She pulled out a small bottle and Draco's eyes widened in surprise. "Not that I'm complaining but why are you carrying Essence of Dittany?"
"So I can help 'misunderstood' jerks when they splinch." said Hermione dryly.
"So…Potter and Weasley?"
"Very funny. You're going to have to move your hands so I can see the wound." instructed Hermione.
Draco, who had been trying to quell the bleeding in his leg with his bare hands eyed the bottle warily. "You do know that stuff stings, right?"
"Don't be such a baby, now let me see." said Hermione.
"Granger, have you ever had to apply Dittany on yourself?" asked Draco.
"No, can't say I have." replied Hermione as she uncorked the bottle.
"Then perhaps 'sting' is too light a word. It actually burns!" Draco insisted, "Are you sure you don't know any spells?"
"Positive. It's either Dittany or bleeding out through your leg." warned Hermione. "Which by the way, you've been doing since we landed."
"Okay, okay. Just be careful." said Draco. He slowly uncovered his shin and rolled up his pant leg to his knee.
"Please, I am the epitome of careful." insisted Hermione.
Draco had no more arguments opposing the use of Dittany. He nodded, all but scrutinizing Hermione as she poured a few drops of it on his leg. He hissed in pain as she rubbed the offending substance into his wound but the pain quickly ebbed away. It wasn't like the last time he was exposed to the stuff. Within minutes he might never have been injured at all.
"Uh, thanks." muttered Draco. He didn't know what to next or how to act. This whole situation was way too far outside the norm for him to feel comfortable.
"Try walking." instructed Hermione.
Draco rolled his eyes. It was almost like she cared. He walked back and forth a couple of times before asking, "Satisfied?"
"Yes but maybe you could see Madam Pomfrey at school next week just to make sure. She would know if I didn't cover something." said Hermione.
"Jolly good. Let's get out of here." said Draco.
"Take my hand." Hermione said.
"Come again?" asked Draco, taken aback.
Hermione sighed loudly. "I promise you won't get any mudblood germs. We're just going to Ron's house."
"That wasn't what I…oh forget it." Draco mumbled. He took her hand and they apparated with a pop.
The second they landed Hermione let go of his hand and marched ahead of him. Draco followed at a slower pace. He knew Hermione must have been pretty angry but he hadn't even wanted to piss her off. A few years ago he might've been proud of an involuntary insult. Things changed. It irked him that she expected the worst of him. It irked him that Potter and the whole damn Weasley clan could at least pretend to want to help him but not her. She had to be difficult. When Draco got to the front door he noticed it was being held open for him by a short, plump woman he could only take to be the Weasley matriarch.
"Get in, get in before you catch your death!" she insisted.
Draco quickened his pace and hurried inside the house. Immediately upon entering Draco struggled not to show disapproval. It wasn't the one room hovel he'd always assumed it was but it wasn't much better. Everything, everything seemed to be made of rotted wood and none of it, in Draco's opinion was fit for even house elves. The kitchen table was lopsided and the chairs were mismatched and rickety. Draco didn't even want to think about the rest of the house.
"It's not much." said Mrs. Weasley beside him, "but it's home. I don't imagine you're used to anything quite like this."
"No, not quite." said Draco, finding his voice. "In any case, I must thank you for letting me stay. There are few who would at this point."
"You're quite welcome dear." said Mrs. Weasley happily. "Oh your hands are all bloodied. Whatever happened?"
Draco looked at the palms of his hands. He hadn't noticed till now that they were in fact as Mrs. Weasley described. "I splinched some skin on my leg. Granger fixed it up though."
"That girl." said Mrs. Weasley as though no other explanation were necessary. "I don't know where my Ron would be without her. Harry too. Dead most likely. I always tell them to keep out of trouble but do they listen? Oh listen to me rambling! Hold out your hands, dear. I'll have them clean in a jiffy!"
"That isn't necessary," Draco began but Mrs. Weasley had already taken out her wand. He nodded held his hands palm up.
"Scourgify." said Mrs. Weasley clearly. "There, perfect."
"Thanks." said Draco. He was unaccustomed to such genuine kindness. He was quite sure that his own mother wouldn't be half as welcoming if Weasley showed up at their front door!
"Not a problem. Now why don't you go into the sitting room with the others? I'm sure Hermione and the boys are telling their sides of what happened at Grimmauld Place." suggested Mrs. Weasley.
Draco nodded. He was sure that's what they were doing too. No doubt it was all his fault the Death Eaters had known to go there. When he entered it was as he expected.
"…must have been Malfoy who tipped them off!" theorized Ron.
"Ron I've just said! That makes no sense. They were after him too." Hermione explained.
"You know, Weasley, believe it or not, I'm not so dumb as to invite people who want to do me harm to where I'm at." Draco drawled.
"If it wasn't you, then who was it?" Ron demanded. "Because it wasn't any of us! "
"Snape." said Harry, "Ron, it's been Snape all the time. We've always suspected him and now he's finally shown his true colors."
"Exactly." said Hermione.
Ron sat back in his seat. He still looked skeptical but it was clear he was done talking now that he'd had his say.
"So what happened to you two?" Harry asked Hermione. "One minute you were there, the next you were gone. You took an awfully long time to get here."
Draco inhaled. He was just as curious about her answer. Hermione said simply, "Draco apparated us to the wrong location. He didn't know we were supposed to come here."
"Why didn't you just apparate?" asked Ron.
"A Death Eater got me with a jinx. I wasn't even conscious." explained Hermione. She glanced sideways at Draco before continuing. "If it wasn't for him, I probably would have been killed."
Harry and Ron both looked at Draco with shocked faces. Draco stared back, silently daring either of them to argue. He supposed he was going to have to get used to this. Unabashed surprise every time he proved he wasn't secretly a spy for the Dark Lord or just an "evil" Slytherin or even just a stupid rich kid. All three boys broke eye contact when Hermione went on.
"Between that and Draco splinching, it took some time before we could get back. I assume things went smoother on your end?"
"Yeah." said Harry, "We injured enough of them that they decided to retreat. We apparated here immediately after in case they came back with reinforcements. And except for you, no one was really injured."
Hermione nodded, "Well I'm just glad we're all safe. It was really close back there."
"A little too close if you ask me." said Ron. "When we get back, I say we make the wards stronger."
"You don't think you're going back there, do you?" Draco stepped in.
"Why wouldn't we?" Harry asked.
"Let's think, shall we?" said Draco sarcastically, "Your secret keeper died, your house is no longer unplottable and they are probably expecting you to go back there. I wouldn't be surprised if Death Eaters are staking out the place right now!"
"Draco's right, Harry." agreed Hermione. "Going back there is the worst thing we can do."
"Besides you know you'd rather be here with us anyway." Ginny came into the room and sat down beside her brother on the sofa.
Her grin suggested to Draco that she meant it humorously but he could see that Harry found little humor in it. Harry stood up. "I think I'm going to bed. Good night."
He stalked away. Ron stood up to follow but before he left he addressed Draco. "You're rooming with Harry and I for the week…so yeah…just so you know."
"Did I miss something?" asked Draco.
"Oh no, not a thing!" snapped Ginny. She left also, leaving Draco and Hermione alone.
"That wasn't very convincing." Draco muttered to no one in particular.
Hermione moved from the armchair she was sitting in to the sofa everyone else had just vacated. "Harry and Ginny broke up." she explained dully.
Draco however, didn't feel any more enlightened. "So?"
"So Harry is kind of awkward when it comes to girls. Couple that with his 'saving people' thing and you get what you just saw a minute ago." continued Hermione.
Draco still didn't think he knew what was going on but felt it didn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. "You're pretty weird." he said finally.
"Is that so? I must say, I find the relevance of that comment to be pretty much nonexistent." Hermione retorted.
"You're right but I stand by it." Draco countered.
"Explain." said Hermione crossing her arms.
"Well it's just that one minute you're fighting me on everything and the next you're talking to me like nothing I've done matters. It's just weird." answered Draco.
"It's because I want to believe you've changed." explained Hermione. "I want to and then I remember who you are and that there is no reason to believe you."
"You healed my leg. Even when you thought I apparated you to Death Eater headquarters." said Draco.
"You saved my life." replied Hermione. "Thank you, by the way. I should've said so earlier."
Draco eyed her carefully "I wouldn't get used to it if I were you. Nice guy Draco doesn't visit often."
Hermione actually smiled at him. "I'd be a little concerned otherwise."
"Good, I'm glad that's cleared up." said Draco.
"Seriously, though. I really am grateful." insisted Hermione.
Draco paused for a moment then said, "Let's just call it even."
A.N. Okay so I'm pretty sure Dittany doesn't actually sting in the books but I thought it'd be more in character if Draco was whining a little bit about something that really isn't a big deal. XD
-Please review!!! 333
