She did as Draco had instructed and held onto him for a minute before they moved apart and she followed him. She was so tempted to look around but she knew she couldn't. Draco glanced back at her a couple of times. She stepped close behind him and spoke urgently.
"Draco, can't we just apparate?"
"You can't apparate in a Quidditch Stadium, Hermione," Draco said. "Or how would they sell tickets?"
"I can't see anyone - maybe we're imagining things."
"Maybe." Draco said but he didn't stop his pace for a moment. As he said this something bright skimmed past Hermione's ear and hit a chair with a shower of sparks. Draco spoke urgently, "or maybe not!"
Draco grabbed her hand and started to run. It was difficult negotiating the stands - the chairs were close together with precarious steps down to each level. Another spell flew past them and Hermione cried out.
"Draco!"
"Just run!"
She clung to him desperately and he was almost dragging her along because he could move so much faster than she could. Her breath was coming quickly in the effort to keep up with him and because of the adrenaline. A spell hit the upstand she was running past and the sparks burnt her arm. Before she could register this another spell skimmed Draco's shoulder, knocking him to the floor. He scrambled to his feet and withdrew his wand before aiming it over his shoulder whilst resuming their sprint out of the stadium.
They reached the rails at the bottom of the stadium and Draco let go of Hermione's hand before aiming a spell above them. He then leapt over the rails, landing the large drop with ease and grace. Hermione screamed as a spell hit the railings making them rattle.
"Climb onto the rail and jump down to me!" Draco instructed. Hermione looked down at him, hesitating. "Come on Hermione - don't be scared, I'll catch you."
Hermione shook her head. "I'm not scared!" she said. She looked above them and got out her wand and her intention became clear to Draco, who reached up to stop her.
"No!" he said. "We don't know how many there are - just come with me!"
"No," she dodged a spell that came at them, closely followed by another. "You just go and get a broomstick so we can get out of here."
"I'm not leaving you - stop wasting time and come with me!"
A spell zoomed over her head and hit Draco on the chest. He fell to the floor and lay there unmoving. Hermione felt herself go cold and she jumped over the railing, landing heavily. She crawled over to Draco and was unbelievably happy to see he was breathing. A corner of her mind wondered why their attackers weren't using the killing curse but she didn't have time to think about it because she had to wake Draco.
He was lying unmoving and he hadn't fell stiffly. His eyes were shut so he hadn't been hit by Immobulus. That made you freeze on the spot in whatever position you were in when the spell hit. Hermione's shocked brain tried to think what spell had been used and if she could reverse it.
She tried 'Rennervate' but nothing happened. A shower of sparks hit the rails again and Hermione knew she hadn't time to try anything else. She took one more glance at Draco before sprinting off towards where she thought they had been heading - the broomstick cupboard. It seemed a long run to the wooden doors but she made it and unlocked them with her wand.
The room was in darkness and having no idea which broom would be best, Hermione just grabbed the nearest one and started the long run back towards Draco. To her utter relief he was sitting up, rubbing his head. She threw the broomstick at him and he stared at it in astonishment.
"You've got it already?" he asked.
Hermione looked up just in time to see another spell heading straight for her. She jumped out of the way, falling onto her back and she heard Draco call out her name.
"I'm okay," she got back up. "Get on the broom!"
She heard a noise behind them and turned round to see three dark figures jumping the railings further down the stadium. Draco was on the broom and he made to pull her on behind him when she realized that the figure was heading for the broom cupboard.
"They're getting broomsticks!" she yelled, taking off at a sprint before Draco could stop her.
"Hermione! Leave it - let's go!"
"No - they can follow us if they have broomsticks. I need to seal the room!"
She didn't hear what else Draco said because she was running so fast. The figures had their backs to her and they were easily going to reach the cupboard before her unless she did something. She aimed a spell at the nearest one but it was impossible to hit a moving target when she was running this fast herself. She saw another spell almost hit one of the figures and looked up to see Draco above them on his broomstick, aiming spells.
In front of the figures was a large container which had pictures of broomsticks and different shaped balls on the side of it. Hermione could tell it was big enough for her to hit whilst still running. She looked up at Draco, trying to decide if he was far enough away before raising her wand and shouting her spell.
"Expulso!"
The container exploded with force, knocking Hermione to the floor and lighting the dark stadium with a flash that left spots before her eyes. She jumped back to her feet, scanning ahead of her to see if their attackers were still there. There was smoke and she couldn't see so she just ran again desperately hoping the explosion had stunned them as they were closer to it than she had been. As she got nearer she spotted a figure on the floor but he was moving already, lifting his head. She jumped over him and reached the storage room. She slammed the doors shut whilst glancing at the slowly rising figures behind her.
"Colloportus!" She sealed the door and then just for good measure she added a repulsion charm.
"Hermione! Get on quick!" Draco's voice was behind her and she turned to find him hovering with his hand outstretched.
She ran at him, letting him pull her on the broomstick behind him before he soared high into the sky, leaving three dark figures staring up at them from the ground below.
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
Draco had soared really high, making sure they were quickly out of sight of the stadium. Hermione clung to him for dear life because she had never been this high on a broom before and it was terrifying her. They seemed to fly for ages until Hermione began to feel really cold and stiff. She tried to relax her grip but felt a panicky feeling as soon as she did. She leant forward so that she could speak into Draco's ear.
"Where are we going?"
"I have no idea!" Draco had to raise his voice for her to hear him and she stared at him astonished. He saw her look and spoke again. "I'm just getting as far away as I can and I'm taking a very indirect route to do it."
"I know a place we can go," Hermione said in his ear. "But I have no idea how to get there on a broom - we need to land and apparate."
Draco didn't argue and he immediately lowered the nose of the broom so that they flew downwards. Hermione felt as if she was slipping forward and her stomach did a sickening turn again. She closed her eyes and leant against Draco, trusting him to land them safely.
When she opened her eyes again they were standing by a lake but it was now the middle of the night and she couldn't see much else.
"Where is it we can go?" Draco asked, urgently.
"Harry had already set up a safe house for you should you need it. He wouldn't tell me the location, for obvious reasons..."
"So how are we going to get there if he hasn't told you?"
"He showed me a picture of it and told me to memorize it. That way I can apparate there anytime without having to know where it is."
"Clever," Draco acknowledged. "Do you think you can do it?"
Hermione nodded. "Hold onto me."
She forced the picture into her mind - a small cottage with a thatched roof on a country lane. In the background there was a steeple. She did the quick turn to start apparating and then almost instantly, she was standing right outside the exact cottage she had just pictured in her mind.
"Is this it?" Draco asked but his tone wasn't a complaining one - it was just a question.
"Yes - but this is a Muggle village so let's get inside." Hermione opened the gate and they both went down the small front path to the door. Hermione waved her wand and the door opened so they could both step inside - Draco lowering his head a little through the small door.
The inside was exactly how Hermione expected it to be. Small, pretty and quaint. Draco walked around the room, touching the flowery sofa and wooden fireplace.
"Interesting," he said and Hermione sighed.
"We're here so that we are safe - not so you can critique the decor," she said, bluntly.
"Keep your hair on! I know why we're here!" Draco snapped back at her. "Doesn't mean I'm suddenly going to be the world's biggest lace curtain fan!"
Hermione tutted at him and sat heavily on a large, bright yellow armchair. "I can't believe what just happened! They mean business don't they?"
"I had no idea they were onto me," Draco sounded upset and Hermione looked up at him.
"Are you okay?" she asked, gently. It had been a long night and the last thing they needed was to fall out with each other. "We shouldn't argue."
"Why not? It's what we're good at!" Draco sat on the sofa, sulkily. "You shouldn't have tried to fight them on your own."
She felt upset by his critisism because she felt that she had handled herself pretty well."Yes I should! If you hadn't been hit with that spell it would have worked perfectly. You could have fetched a broomstick and come back to get me."
"I was hit by the spell because you insisted on fighting on your own instead of listening to me!" Draco said, his voice tired.
"You weren't in charge! I'm the one who works for the Ministry!" Hermione knew she should be defusing the argument but she couldn't help but stick up for herself.
"Yes - behind a desk!" Draco answered, cuttingly and she glared at him.
"I think you'll find I was a damn sight better than you with my wand! You spent half the time on the floor unconscious!"
"I've already told you who's fault that was!"
"Why are you worried about who's fault anything was!" Hermione knew her voice was rising but she was angry and upset. Draco's attitude was upsetting her because she was now in hiding and stuck here with no-one but him until Harry could ensure they were safe again.. They were isolated. She wanted to burst into tears but turned it into anger instead. She stood up and walked over to Draco before bending slightly and hitting him in the chest. "We should be glad we got away but instead you're sitting on your ass, criticizing your surroundings, criticizing the person who's been risking her life to help you," she pointed at herself, "and to be honest, right now, I could cheerfully turn you in myself!" Draco raised his eyebrows at this comment but said nothing. Hermione gave a sniff as her barely in control emotions threatened to spill over. "We could be stuck here for a long time with no-one but each other and you should be happy because you have definitely come out with the best end of that deal!" Hermione did something she very rarely did and burst into tears. She needed Draco to be the new Draco that she had grown to like. She really couldn't deal with the old Draco when her world had been turned upside down - she needed his support. Angry at herself for breaking down in front of him, Hermione turned around and ran into the other room, slamming the door behind her.
Oh dear! Emotions are running high! Let's hope there's some making up next chapter...x