Chapter 6

The couple crouched behind a clump of shrubs for about an hour before the deer even looked up from their grazing. The wind had changed direction, carrying their scent into the midst of the herd. They began edging toward the other side of the clearing.

Hermione, cursing their luck, began to crawl silently through the underbrush around the outer edge of the area. She motioned to Draco for him to go the other way, to surround them. He did so and stopped when he was directly across from Hermione. The deer settled down and began to graze again.

Draco, his stomach grumbling temperamentally, edged slowly closer to the herd, avoiding catching Hermione's frantic eye. He knew they weren't supposed to do anything yet but his hunger had been gnawing at him for awhile and he had to do something about it.

Hermione, watching Draco inch inward, swore under her breath and began to do the same. There was a doe standing apart from the rest, grazing quietly with a tree to her flank, almost separating her. Ideal conditions. She motioned repeatedly at the doe until Draco understood that they would try for her.

They both crept toward her, making her nervous and jumpy. The doe allowed them to get with four feet on either side before she tried to bolt. Draco leapt at her, jabbing his spear but only grazing her side. She veered toward Hermione, who also took a chance. She plunged the spear into the doe's flank, not a mortal wound but definitely debilitating.

It jerked, its hind legs giving way, and Draco lunged again, this time sinking his spear into its neck. It squealed pitifully before keeling over. Hermione dropped to her knees beside it, tears in her eyes, and stared at it, horrified at what they had done. Draco, absolutely shaken but trying not to show it, put a hand on her shoulder and felt her shaking.

'D-Draco, p-please run back to camp a-and get one of the kn-knives out of the b-b-basket, w-will you?' she said quietly, a tremor in her voice. He nodded and sped back toward the campsite.

Draco grabbed the whole basket of tools and ran back, hesitating at the edge of the clearing, unwilling to come back into the presence of the dead deer. He dropped down beside Hermione, who hadn't moved at all, and handed her the basic knife.

Hermione took a deep breath and took the knife. Forcing her hand to be steady and willing herself not to be sick, she slit the deer's throat all the way across. It immediately spurted blood. She jumped to her feet and ran to the edge of the clearing, throwing up as soon as she got there. Draco followed her and patted her back, trying very hard not to be sick with her.

She straightened up unsteadily and walked back to the deer. She watched in silence as the deer continued to bleed.

'Uh, why did you slit its throat?' Draco asked her tentatively. She gulped before answering.

'You have to let it bleed out or it'll bloat,' she said shakily. He nodded and watched for another moment or two with a kind of morbid fascination. Hermione dropped back down to her knees and pulled out another knife. 'Let's see if I remember the connection points to get the skin off cleanly. Draco, you set up a place for a fire and bring back a lit stick from the other one, kay?' she said. He nodded again, not wanting to know what he meant by 'get the skin off cleanly,' though he was pretty sure he knew.

He set up a fireplace, lit it with a stick from the other fire, and sat down to assist Hermione, though reluctantly. She made a deep cut all the way from the anus to the cut in the throat and severed a few tendons and ligaments. Considering her initial reaction and the expression on her face, her hand was steady and sure, and she seemed to know exactly what to do.

Hermione pulled out the things in the chest and stomach cavities, her eyes closed and her face screwed up in disgust. She placed them in a careful pile near the fire to make sure no animals decided they wanted some. She filled up the stomach and bladder with water from a nearby brook to keep them pliable and took another deep breathe.

'I know it's going to be really gross but you need to help me here,' she said firmly. He nodded again, not trusting himself to speak. 'We're going to need to lift the skin off-'

'What?!' he croaked out, his throat oddly tight and constricted.

'You said you wanted meat and this is the only way to get it! If you want to eat, just help me!' she snapped. Draco swallowed the bile rising in his throat and took a hold where she indicated. Together they managed to pull the skin off with little trouble, leaving them with a bare carcass, a pile of innards, and a near perfect hide with only two holes where the spears had pierced it.

They stared at the carcass for a moment, then Hermione took a deep breath and sat down beside it again.

'Draco, can I trust you to do something for me? Even if you don't like it?' she asked tentatively. 'I can do it if you can't, but I weave better than you and this doesn't take much practice.'

'Uh, depends what it is,' Draco said, sitting down beside her.

'I would like for you to cut this deer into little strips, like chicken wing-sized,' Hermione said. Draco looked revolted. 'Oh, come on, don't tell me you've never had to cut up meat before? Helping someone cook, or something?'

'Never. I've never even had chicken wings. I always got pheasant breast on a gilded platter,' he said. 'I've never had to cut up meat, at least not raw meat.'

Hermione sighed, pulled out the knife and began to cut away steadily at the meat. 'Okay, then, you make a woven panel, about a yard square, out of a loose but sturdy weave. We need to find sticks to prop it up on, a ways above the fire, so that the meat can steam. We don't want it to go bad. We don't have the right herbs to settle the stomach,' she instructed.

'Right,' he said. He gathered materials and sat down facing away from the nauseating scene of butchering. He wove slowly but steadily, trying to keep the weave even but still dropping a few stitches. They weren't big and he pronounced it fit. Then he found a few sticks to prop the panel up with, far enough above the flames so it didn't burn.

Hermione came over carrying a large armful of meat and laid it out evenly on the smoking rack. The smoke from the fire twisted through the holes and between the fibers of the panel and curled around the meat, endowing it with a smoky flavor and toughening it.

'That should last us for a while,' she sighed. 'But I need to make a few baskets to keep the meat in once it's dried, then I need to make a stew for tonight. We need to make another fire and another panel and start smoking the other half of the deer as well so it doesn't spoil-' she said tiredly, reaching for the weaving materials. Draco caught her hand.

'No,' he said gently. 'You're exhausted, you're covered in deer blood, you deserve to go take a bath and rest. You've practically saved our lives ever since we've been here. I'll make the fire and the panel, I'll somehow manage to slice up the dead deer, I'll make another panel, I can handle it. Go,' he said, helping her to her feet. She sagged against him.

'Thank you, Draco,' she whispered, kissing him lightly. Then she slouched off in the direction of their campsite.

Draco didn't break his promise, He built up another fire, wove another panel, and cut the deer into strips (which was disgusting, by the way!). And, while the deer smoked, he wove six medium-sized baskets to keep the meat in.

Hermione returned about thirty minutes later, just as he was finishing the last basket, looking refreshed and content. She looked around approvingly as she came toward him, sitting down and beaming at him.

'Oh, Draco, you're getting so much better at this!' she said, examining one of his many baskets. 'These will be great meat-keepers! Which reminds me, we need to take that first batch of meat off the fire or it's going to burn,' she said, hopping on with basket in hand and hurrying to the first smoking rack.

Hermione piled the meat into the basket, returned for another two baskets, and brought them all back. She pulled out two strips, handed one to Draco, and ripped off a chunk of hers in her teeth. Draco did the same. It wasn't bad, rather like jerky. He ate it ravenously, finally getting his fix of protein and other minerals they had been so desperately lacking in.

'God, this is the best food I have ever eaten in my life!' he moaned, stuffing even more into his crowded mouth. Hermione nodded.

'I know, and this stuff isn't even properly cooked! Just wait till I find some herbs and I'll make us a stew out of it!' she said eagerly. And she rushed off to gather herbs. Draco watched her go, a small smile playing on his face.

Hermione managed to come up with some wild onions, which were surprisingly sweet raw, a little parsley, some more carrots, and a few things Draco didn't recognize. The threw them all in a basket she had made to be watertight, let the water soak through the fibers so it wouldn't catch fire, and hung it over the flames to cook.

'That should be done in about a half hour,' she said, sitting down across from him again, beaming.

'What would I do without you?' he asked.

'Starve,' she said laughingly.

'Probably,' he admitted. She laughed, he laughed, and they smiled at each other. 'You know, it's amazing how you can survive out here. I would go mad, I would, if I was out here alone. If I didn't have you,' he added blushingly. She grin broadened.

'I maybe wouldn't go mad, exactly, but I sure would be lonely. I may not have had the will to remember all this stuff. But when I have someone with me, I feel responsible for them. Especially you. You know nothing about survival, it was all up to me, so I made myself remember all of this, thought up everything I could to keep you alive. I just need someone to need me. That's why I became a bookworm to begin with. So people would come to me for help, would need me to get by. Why do you think I'm friends with Harry and Ron? They need me!' she put in, giggling.

'Yes, they do,' Draco agreed, laughing. 'And now I do, too. I need you, Hermione, I really do.' He took her hands, looked into her eyes, and kissed her. She kissed him back lightly.

'I love you,' she whispered. She hugged him tightly, and he her.

'I love you, too,' he said, giving her a little squeeze.

They stayed that way for a minute or two, enfolded comfortably in each others' arms. After a while, Hermione pulled back, kissed him quickly, and said, 'I need to go check the stew.'

When she returned, she was carrying two small baskets filled to the brim with a thick, meaty stew.

'We don't have spoons yet so just drink it or something,' she said, handing him a bowl and sitting down again.

Draco took a sip of it and was amazed to find it delicious. He didn't know why this surprised him, maybe he had expected less--but since he hadn't had hardly any meat--anything was still delicious. He drank it down as fast as possible, nearly choking on it.

'Hermione, this is the most delicious food I have ever tasted in my entire life!' he gasped when he had drained his entire bowl. She sniggered quietly at the broth all around his mouth and he wiped it off with the back of his hand.

'Thank you, Draco,' she giggled. 'Just some meat and a few basic spices,' she said modestly.

'No, it's not, it's scrumptious,' he said firmly. She laughed and drained her bowl as well. 'Well, now that we have meat, and fruit, and water, and fire, and shelter, and clothes, and tools, and weapons…what's left to do?' Draco asked, pulling Hermione to her feet.

She looked thoughtful for a moment, pacing a bit.

'I'm not sure. Maybe we should go exploring a bit,' she said. Draco looked doubtful. 'To make sure no one else got transported here by mistake, you know? If anyone else was here, we need to find them, they may not know how to survive out here like I do. We would need to help them,' she said. 'And we need to know what other kinds of animals are around here. We don't want to be caught unawares.'

'Okay. How do we do that?' Draco asked.

'First, we need to get all this meat back to camp and put it in another basket. Then we need to makes some carrying baskets with straps and load them with fruit and meat, maybe two days worth. Some water would be nice, but not absolutely necessary; we'll probably find more streams along the way. Take our spears and our wands, obviously, and that should be about all we need for a day or two's exploration.' She said all this very fast.

Draco--who hadn't understood as much as three words of her little monologue--nodded and said, 'I'll just let you do the packing, then.' She laughed again and began gathering up the racks and the meat to take back to the main camp. He helped her carry them all and pack them into another, larger basket, and flopped down under the overhang.

'You pack; I didn't comprehend a single word of what you said,' he said, smiling at her simply. Hermione rolled her eyes, grinning, and began to layer things into baskets.

'We won't go today, we'll wait till tomorrow,' she said. 'We'll have to put out the fire when we go, though, or it'll set fire to everything else we've worked so hard to make. We'll just start magical fires while we travel. I don't want to have to make another one by hand ever again.'

'Right you are!' Draco agreed heartily. 'Yea for magic!'

'Yea for being lazy!' Hermione imitated him. She came over, having finished laying things out, and laid down beside him, snuggling up to his bare chest. 'I just hope no one else got stuck here. As fun as it's been here with you, they might be alone and scared, nearly starving to death. Oh, great, now I feel all guilty for not looking for others sooner,' she moaned.

'Hermione, we don't even know if there is anyone else here,' Draco reminded her. 'There could be nothing to worry about at all. And if there is someone out there, I bet you know enough spells, and cook well enough, to get them all fit again.'

Hermione smiled up at him gratefully. She kissed him lightly and sighed. 'I hope so, oh God, do I hope so.'

Hermione was awoken by early morning sunlight streaming through the cracks in the clay-covered mat that served as their door. She sat up and yawned, stretching her hands above her head. She nudged Draco a few times, but he just groaned and rolled over.

She turned his head and abruptly kicked out the mat. Blindingly bright sunlight exploded into the overhang, startling Draco so badly that he let out a small scream and threw his hands up to cover his eyes, obviously awake.

He blinked in the light and frowned at Hermione, who was nearly doubled up laughing at his reaction. 'Sure, go ahead, laugh at my suffering, I don't mind,' he snapped sarcastically. Hermione smiled sympathetically at him.

'If you had gotten up when I tried to wake you, you would have been ready for daylight,' she said in her best know-it-all voice. 'But, no, you decided to be lazy and try to sleep in. Come on, get excited! We get to go hiking today, to make sure no one else got trapped here,' she reminded him earnestly. He just moaned and flopped back down, his eyes cradled in his elbow.

Hermione pulled Draco to his feet and stuffed a backpack basket into his hands. 'Put it on, wake up, and come on!' He did the first, ignored the second, and followed her into the cover of trees.

They carefully avoided the spot where they had killed the deer the day before; it was still a emotional spot for them. They walked in step, calling out for others every few minutes, and otherwise just talking.

'What made you change your mind about me, anyway?' Hermione asked curiously. 'I always thought you hated me.'

'Well, at school, I just thought of you as a silly little mudblood know-it-all, someone who just wanted to show off and impress the teachers. I never thought it was important to know all the stuff they were trying to teach us. I only learned it all because it was better at Hogwarts than it was at home. But then we got here, and I came to see how all of this stuff really was applicable to real life.

'And how smart you really were. All the studying and diligence wasn't just to try and be better than everyone else, it was actually preparing you for anything that could come alone. I saw you in a different light than at school. You went from annoying little brat to capable and intelligent woman, as strange as that may sound. It takes a life-and-death situation to show you your true potential.'

Hermione contemplated this for a moment. It seemed to make sense, at least a little bit of it.

'What about you? What changed your mind about me?' Draco asked, just as curiously. 'I always thought you hated me, too.'

'I did,' Hermione confessed. 'You just seemed like a prejudiced, arrogant bully, always treating others like they were inferior to you just because you were pureblood and they weren't. It didn't help that you insulted me, Harry and Ron at every opportunity--'

'Yeah, sorry about that,' he inserted, grinning sheepishly.

'It's okay--or that you threatened and challenged Harry at everything he did. But then we got here. And you seemed so helpless in the beginning that I felt responsible for your safety and wellbeing. Then you asked to learn how to survive on your own. You were such a diligent student, when it was something you wanted to learn, something you saw a reason for learning.

'And they way your eyes seemed to light up when you did something right. Praise was obviously something you had never gotten before, or at least not sincere praise, and it just made me feel so good to give it to you and see you respond so positively. It made me realize that you really are an intelligent and talented young man. Once again, seeing you in a new and better light.'

Draco smiled at her and blushed. It was true he hadn't gotten any praise as a child, and he still wasn't used to compliments.

'Uh, we should probably call to see if anyone's around here,' he said, by way of a cover for his pink cheeks. He turned away and called, 'Hello? Is there anyone out there?' Nothing.

Still nothing.

Then…

'Malfoy?!'

A/N Who should they find?? PLEASE review and give me ideas cuz i've got writers block and I can't think who'd be best to disrupt things a bit!!!