A/N: Everything you recognize does not belong to me. Reviews would be amazing! Thanks!
They appeared with a sharp crack, and Hermione heard a girl scream in shock. Shoot. Bard's daughters.
"It's okay," Hermione held out her hands up in surrender. "Bard the bowman, your father, gave me permission to enter your house. I'm sorry for the surprise, but we really mean you no harm."
At that moment, Draco gave a loud grunt, and the little girl hid behind her sister. "My friend is mortally wounded. He needs somewhere to rest. Please, could you spare any surface for him to lay upon?" Hermione pleaded.
The girl nodded and offered them a cot. Hermione led Draco over and dumped him, as gently as she could, onto the cot. After a few moments, she heard steady breathing coming from him and she sighed in relief. Hermione turned around and found the girls still hovering close to the door nervously. She didn't blame them. If two strangers appeared out of thin air in her home, she probably would be scared out of her mind. Hermione tried offering them a smile of assurance, but her lips were only able to twist into an exhausted grimace.
Bard opened the door and walked in after several minutes of awkward silence that stretched between Hermione and his daughters. The little girl let out a cry of joy and jumped into his arms.
"Da! Where've you been?" She wondered worriedly.
"Father, there you are!" The elder daughter also embraced her father. "I was worried."
"Bain, get them in." Bard nodded towards his son.
Soon, Hermione could hear the loud muttering of her dwarves as they trudged up the stairs. Out of the toilet! Hermione let out a low chuckle.
"Father, why are there…dwarves coming out of our toilet?" Sigrid, Bard's eldest daughter asked nervously.
"Will they bring us luck?" Tilda, the younger daughter excitedly inquired.
Hermione couldn't help but snort in laughter.
The dwarves had gathered around the fire, wrapped in whatever blankets and clothing Bard could find. Thorin was gazing somberly out the window and started when he spotted something.
"The Dwarvish Wind Lance!" He gasped.
"You look like you've seen a ghost." Bilbo commented.
"He has. The last time we saw such a weapon the city was on fire. It was a day the dragon came. The day that Smaug destroyed Dale." Balin answered sadly.
Balin went on to explain how Girion had tried to shoot Smaug down with the Black Arrows, but had failed.
"You speak as if you were there," Bard narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
"All dwarves know the tale." Thorin dismissed Bard's suspicions immediately.
Bain, Bard's son spoke up, "Then you would know that Girion hit the dragon. He loosened his scale under the left wing, one more shot and he would've killed the beast!"
Dwalin chuckled, "That's a fairy story, lad. Nothing more."
Thorin walked up to Bard, "You took our money, where are the weapons?"
"Wait here." Bard disappeared downstairs and brought up a bunch of 'weapons'. The dwarves picked them up and proclaimed that they were not good enough, dumping them back onto the table.
"You will not find better outside the city armory." Bard spoke indignantly. "All iron forged weapons are held there under lock and key."
Balin suggested that they take what was given and leave. Bard shot down his idea in an instant by mentioning the spies that were watching the house. They would not be able to leave until nightfall.
Hermione wandered back to where Draco was laying. He looked sickly and pale. She reached out a hand to feel his forehead, and recoiled in shock at just how much he was burning up. She muttered a cooling spell, and fed him water, but after that, there was nothing she could do.
She felt helpless once again, as someone close to her was on the brink of death. Frustrated tears welled up in her face as she gently brushed Malfoy's blond locks off his forehead.
"Do you love him?" She looked up, startled, and met Kili's intense brown eyes.
"No no no…" She denied quickly. "He's more like…I have no idea how to describe our relationship. Sometimes he's like my brother, and sometimes I just want to hex him into next week."
"You care for him," Kili pointed out.
"Yes," She nodded her head. "He's protected me so much in the short amount of time we've been here…I just have to help him."
"What about you?" Hermione asked tentatively. "Do you…love someone?"
She didn't know why it was so hard to ask that one question. She hungered for the answer, but also dreaded it. Kili gazed into the fire for quite some time.
"I don't know." He answered.
Before Hermione could reply, Draco moaned and blinked open his eyes. "Bloody hell, Granger. I feel terrible."
"How? Where?" Hermione bustled around him, checking his temperature, forcing him to eat some food, and finally hesitantly looked at his leg. What she saw almost made her faint. The bandage she had wrapped it in earlier was completely soaked through with dark blood. His leg had swelled to twice its normal size, and the skin around it looked a sickly green.
"We must go," Thorin announced, standing up.
Bard had left them for a while, and the dwarves were beginning to become restless. After the dark blanket of night spread, Thorin led the company out of Bard's house, against the protests of Bard's son.
"Will you be alright?" Kili fretted over leaving Hermione and Draco.
"Fine, fine," Hermione waved Kili on. "Go get your weapons."
She half wished that he would stay.
But he bowed deeply and scurried out the door after his brethren.
Hermione sighed and sat down in front of the fire, waiting for her dwarves to return.
After what felt like an eternity, the dwarves burst through the doors. Hermione stood up eagerly to hear what had happened.
"The Master of Laketown welcomes us!" Kili announced gleefully.
"He will provide us with the necessary transport the rest of the way to Erebor!" Fili chimed in.
Hermione let out a delighted laugh, but inside she knew the Master was not doing this from the kindness of his heart. He wanted the gold.
"We are going to the Master's house to stay for the night," Thorin told her. "However, you and Master Malfoy were not invited."
"Right…" Hermione looked at the ground, not quite knowing what to say.
"Not because we forgot you, Hermione." Kili assured her. "It is because Uncle does not trust the Master. We felt that you might be more safe staying here."
"No, you're absolutely right." Hermione said, a little more bitterly than she would have liked. "Always protect the woman."
"You'll promise to be there when we leave though, right?" Ori spoke up, then blushed and looked away when Hermione turned an inquisitive gaze on him. "It wouldn't quite be the same without you and Master Malfoy."
Hermione was touched. It seemed that these dwarves did care for her! She was delighted and this only worked in solidifying her decision to protect them, no matter the cost. It was worth it.
The next morning, Hermione woke Draco up and fed him a little broth Bard's daughters had made for her. They hobbled down to the docks and weaved amongst the eager crowd to try to reach the dwarves.
Kili spotted her from a distance and hurried over to help her support Draco.
"What's this?" Hermione turned around to see a round man with greasy orange hair combed over his balding head.
"You neglected to tell me there were other members of your company." He accused Thorin.
Thorin bristled, "You did not ask, you simply assumed."
The Master smiled greasily. "As you wish, King Under the Mountain."
Malfoy hobbled forward, trying to get to the boat as fast as possible, so he could sit down. Thorin glanced at him and said, "Not you."
Draco looked at him in confusion. "What the bloody hell are you talking about? Of course I'm coming."
"No." Thorin stated.
"Look, mate. I didn't want to be on this quest in the first place, but for your quest I got mauled by an arrow. So you can be bloody well sure that I will see what I even got shot for." Draco hotly responded.
"Stay here," Thorin commanded. "However, you may join us when you are healed. Do not take me to be an ungrateful wretch, I do fully appreciate your sacrifice. But I will not allow you to slow down our quest."
Hermione felt sadness pang her heart as she watched Thorin's eyes take on the mad gleam. He was already partially succumbing to the Gold Sickness. Draco looked thoroughly pissed off as he sat on the dock brooding. He was sweating with the effort it took to remain upright, and Hermione could tell how much this was draining him of his energy.
Oin decided to stay in the end with Draco, which Hermione was extremely grateful for. "Get in the boat, Lady Hermione." Thorin demanded.
Hermione was torn as she glanced from Draco's hunched over form and Erebor. She knew what would befall Laketown when the dwarves awoke Smaug, and by Merlin she was not about to abandon a friend to dragon fire and ruin.
"I will stay as well." She announced. The dwarves let out cries of protest.
"What is the meaning of this?" Thorin thundered.
Hermione lifted her chin defiantly. "Draco Malfoy is my...friend, and I will not abandon him. My place is with him."
"Hermione." Kili pushed in front of his uncle and stood before her.
"Don't try to change my mind," She pleaded softly. For she knew that if he asked her to go with him, she would not be able to resist that temptation. She couldn't resist him.
"I won't," Kili promised her. He took her face gently in his hands, and tentatively pressed his lips to hers. Hermione's eyes fluttered shut as she felt his velvety lips softly caress hers. But it was over almost as soon as it began. Kili pulled away and Hermione felt herself leaning towards him.
He pulled her into a hug and ran his fingers through her hair. "You asked me last night if I loved someone." He murmured quietly in her ear. "I think I know now."
"I will see you again." Hermione vowed. To save you.
"I have no doubts about that." Kili smiled, and kissed her forehead once more.
Hermione watched with misty eyes as the dwarves sailed away from her and towards the mountain.
A/N: Please let me know what you thought by leaving a review! Thanks!