Harry bolted upright almost falling off of the top bunk.
He rolled up his sleeve in search of the source of the burning at his left wrist. The beaded bracelet that he wore at all times curiously glowed white and pulsed in time with his heart beat. After a moment of contemplation, Harry's eyes widened in realization. He suddenly recalled what Hermione told him the day she secured the bracelet to his wrist.
"If one of us sees something or someone suspicious we'll use this to call the other 'll glow white and we'll seek each other out immediately"
"Ron?" he called out cautiously.
His best mate only snored lightly in response.
'Guess it's safe to say it's Hermione who's found something' he concluded.
Harry swung his legs over the edge of the bed and jumped down onto the icy wooden floors jolting the sleep put of him.
Light headed from arising so quickly, Harry clumsily pivoted on his heel almost smacking his head on the side of the bunk bed. He recovered and reached under the top bunk to shake his best mate's shoulder. "Ron, wake up! Hermione needs us!"
The redhead only rolled over and scratched at his illuminated bracelet. Harry clapped his friend on the back not too gently.
"Come on Ron!" he growled out.
"Blimey Harry, let a man rest will ya!" the ginger replied sleepily, his eyes squinting at Harry's bracelet. "And shut off that lamp it's blinding me!"
Harry rolled his yes and stuffed one pajama clad leg into a snow boot. "It's not a lamp, it's your braclet! We need to find Hermione...now!" Harry had just shoved his other foot into his boot and was reaching for his jacket when Ron suddenly sprung from his bed and scrambled to get his snow boots on.
"Hermione's calling us! Harry we've got to find her!"
"Yes, I know!" Harry was growing slightly irritated at Ron's lack of attentiveness in the morning. The dark haired boy grabbed his wand from his pillow case, pushed his glasses up to his nose and marched to the entrance of the tent with Ron only a few unsteady steps behind him.
Just outside of the enchanted tent the air was frosty and the sun's rays shyly peeked through snow covered trees.
Harry pointed his wand at the charmed bracelet, his breathe came out in puffs of smoke as he spoke clearly.
"Quaerelucem"
The light from his bracelet rose in a small ball and sped forward in a straight line towards the river.
As Harry followed after it he could hear Ron frantically cry out from behind him.
"But what is she doing out in the woods, alone, before sunrise."
That was a good question. They would only know once they reached Hermione, whever she was.
Harry's heart skipped a beat; or whoever she was with.
Draco wasn't sure where he was. The last thing he remembered was running... But he had been running for days so that wasn't much to go on. He knew it was winter, but he couldn't feel where his body ended and the cold around him began. The burning never ceased. If anything, it was spreading, enveloping his flesh. It was agonizing. He would have cried out if he had any strenth left. Draco could feel himself slipping into a rest more peaceful than sleep.
But that godforsaken burning just wouldn't let him lie still! Just as Draco thought he could finally rest, hot flames would thrust him back into consciousness, even if just barely so. It was as if the burning had a will of it's own; it's voice constantly prodding at the back of his mind.
'Not ye!t'
Suddenly, feeling much more alive Draco focused entirely on the task of figuring out exactly where he was. Although the burning was eating Draco alive from the inside, the cold numbed his proprioception. He couldn't even feel his eyelids as he attempted to pry them open.
Knowing that he was running out of time didn't make her approach the dark wiazrd any quicker. Though still very much unconscious, Hermione knew better than to rush to the aid of a murderer...or at least she assumed.
Three years after Voldermort's demise there had been a sudden series of what were believed to be hate crimes. Some devious person had set fire to four Squib houses using inextinguishable flames so that they burned to the ground. Ten people were killed. The Ministry of Magic deemed it " possible Death Eater activity" though the criminal had never actually been spotted to the day. But now, laying at her feet, five years after the War, was one of the most wanted people in the Wizarding world.
The Malfoy family had gone "missing" since the fall of Lord Voldemort and so the Ministry had slapped them at the top of the "Undesirables" list.
The Daily Prophet had published the Pure-blooded clan as "Wanted criminals for aid in the attempted genocide of muggle born witches and wizards."
And now Hermione had been given a choice. Save the Death Eater now, then turn him in to the Ministry where he would be thoroughly questioned (perhaps to the point of brutality) and then thrown in Azkaban for the rest of his miserable life.
Or she could let him die. But then...
Knowing that Draco would inevitably be sentenced to a rot behind bars under the opression of soul sucking Dementors, if turned in to the Ministry alive seemed all the more satisfying.
Shaking her head as if to rid the sudden vengeful thought, Hermione slid another frozen foot forward. She would save Malfoy only to see him squirm at the stand in the hands of a jury who would show him no mercy. At least this was the plan that she had convinced herself of until Malfoy suddenly started hacking uncontrollably.
Hermione had almost lost her footing from the surprise of it. With every cough Malfoy's body jerked violently off the ground, his head tossing in random directions. From where she stood, it looked absolutely insufferable.
At that moment pure instinct kicked in. She dropped to her knees and was at his side in seconds. With a cool disposition Hermione stirred her wand above Malfoy twice clockwise and once counterclockwise. "Cognosco" she said clearly. The tip of Hemione's wand pulsed in a light pink and she ran the tip from the top of Malfoy's head downwards. The tip of her wand grew redder as she reached the Death Eater's chest, suddenly flashed purple twice, then faded back to pink as she approached his hips. Hermone's brow furrowed in concentration as she repeated the pathway of her wand only to receive the same results.
Not good.
Something that she couldn't see on the surface was causing Malfoy to be terribly ill and she needed to determine if it was safe to apparate back to camp in his condition. Hermione scooted her knees a few centimeters away from Malfoy's thrashing form but reached her wand closer to his midsection. When pointed at a healthy witch or wizard, her wand would glow a steady ice blue. When injured, it would produce a light pink that may progress to red depending on the severity of the injury. But her wand had also flashed purple at one point which meant that in addition to being injured, Malfoy was also either hexed or poisoned. Malfoy suddenly released a particularly nasty cough and lurched away from her. His head rolled to the left, revealing a nasty gash at the base of the back of his neck on the right side. It disappeared into the collar of his bloodied shirt so she couldn't see where it ended.
Hermione's wand flared a dark purple. She gasped and her heart skipped at the amount of blood that was flowing from the wound, no doubt increasing from the wizard's thrashing. 'That must be the source!' she thought. She clamped her hand onto Malfoy's right bicep in an attempt to hold his upper body still. But no sooner did her fingers close around his arm did Malfoy's eyes spring open.
Draco was beginning to lose his nerve. Not matter how much he tried to move, he couldn't feel his body. He groped for something to grab onto; anything! He couldn't feel which way was up or down. He couldn't feel anything!
'Come on mark!' he urged. 'Give me something! You've dragged me along this far' Just as the thought left Draco's mind his Blood mark sprang to life, burning hotter than ever! 'There!' He grabbed onto the heated sensation that came in waves and pulled himself into conciousness.
Draco's eyes snapped open. Something had latched onto his arm. He took no time swinging his entire body weight in his captor's direction. There was a yelp before his body crashed into something that felt very human. And then, something was let lose in Draco; something dangerous.
Before she knew what was going on Hermione had been flipped and pinned to the ground. Her head snapped back, smacking into smooth rock and she could taste blood at the back of her toungue. Malfoy's knees squeezed into her ribs and his hands pressed her arms painfully into the ground. Her wand had flewn out of her hand when Draco pounced on her, rendering her utterly defenseless. All of her breathe was gone. Every clever thought had left her the minute her wand left her hand and so she did the only thing that was left. She panicked.
Hermione writhed and kicked under Draco's hold but any method of escape that she tried proved to be fruitless. He wouldn't budge! The young witch sucked in a gulp of cold air and desperately slammed her feet into the ground bucking her hips up in the process. Draco only pressed his hands harder into her arms, squeezed his knees a bit tighter and she was once again immobilized.
Hermione's heart pounded in her chest, frustrated tears pulling to the corners of her eyes. Malfoy's wild grey eyes bore through her. His matted, bloody hair hung around his face like a curtain and his breathe came in hot staggered pants across her dace.
Draco looked into the frightened, honey colored eyes below him. It was strangely the only thing he could focus on. Everything else was blurry. He could feel something leaving his body. It oozed from his body and onto the person he kept captive underneath him. The air around them grew from cold to bone chilling. Draco's squeezed his eyes shut in realization that what was being released from his body was indeed dark magic. Whatever it was doing to his victim couldn't have been pleasant because she was screaming.
She was screaming.
His eyes snapped back down and a cluster of multiple emotions shot through him. She was...
And a sharp sharp pain thereafter.
An indistinct "Stupefy!" was the last thing Draco remembered hearing before he once again succumbed to darkness.
Hello!
I apologize for updating after such a long time...University takes up a lot of my energy. Hopefully the next chapter will come to me quicker.
Thank you for everyone who has reviewed my story thus far and added it to your 'alert list'! I really appreciate it!
Um..yes! I made a tumblr last night that will be devoted to Dramione drabbles, Original characters introduced in, and a glossary of spells that I've invented for this story.
You may follow me, make suggestions for betas, drabbles, stories whatever! I'm very new to this Um..thank you! (see my profile)
The Hunt