A/N: Thank you to all for your support! It really keeps me going! Well, I'm officially on spring break now, so my updates should be a little more frequent! Thanks again!
Everything you recognize does not belong to me! Please read and review!
The burning town somewhat resembled a campfire from where Draco was sitting ashore. He had awoken from unconsciousness to find that he couldn't breathe. Panic seized his mind as he frantically tried to force his lungs to cooperate. At last, his lungs expanded and he gulped in air, only to find that the air was filled with smoke. Draco almost hacked out a lung trying to expel the thick smoke from his chest.
A hand patted him soundly on the back and he opened his watering eyes. He stared up at six faces peering worriedly down at him. Bard's children, Bofur, Oin, and…Tauriel. So it wasn't a dream after all. But there was one face missing.
"Granger?" He choked out. "Where.." He coughed violently.
"Dina, mellamin," Tauriel said soothingly.
Draco had no idea what she said, but it calmed him down somewhat.
"Lady Hermione went with our father to try and defeat Smaug," Bain told him from the front of the small boat they were on.
"Aye, what a brave lass she was." Bofur agreed.
"Was?" Draco had another coughing fit. "What do you mean?"
"Smaug is the chiefest and greatest calamity of our age." Bofur stated. "To make such a stand against him is a suicide mission."
"But that's what you dwarves were setting out to do, right?" Draco wheezed. "Why is Hermione and Bard the ones facing him when it was a dwarf's quest to begin with?"
"Why do you think Smaug came to Laketown?" Oin asked quietly. "When Thorin marched on Erebor, do you think Smaug just ignored them?"
A heavy silence weighed upon the boat of survivors. "I promised," Draco turned to Tauriel. "I promised Potter I would keep her safe. Please, we have to go find her."
"Amin hiraetha," Tauriel breathed. "I'm sorry." The boat bumped ashore and she helped Draco out of the boat.
"I will go search for your friend," She decided.
"Let's go." Draco nodded and made to stand up.
"Havodad, mellamin," She gently sat him down. "I will go alone. You are much too weak."
"NO!" Draco coughed out. "No, I can't lose you too!"
"You underestimate me," She smiled down at his sitting form.
At that moment, the rest of the town caught on fire, and so did Draco's hopes of Hermione getting out alive.
"Da!" Tilda screamed at the burning town.
There was a sharp crack of apparation and two forms collapsed in front of the group. "Da!" Sigrid gasped and rushed to Bard's slumped form
Draco stumbled over to Hermione with Tauriel's help and winced. Her hair and robes were charred and her face was covered with soot. She had nasty burns on her hands and her head was bleeding steadily.
Tauriel began immediately tending to Hermione's wounds. Draco turned to Bard's unconscious form and took in his injuries. They weren't much better than Hermione's. Draco pulled out his wand and tried to remember any healing spells.
"Tergeo," And most of the blood was siphoned off. "Vulnera Sanetur." It was the same healing spell Snape had used to heal his wounds in his sixth year after Potter attacked him. It ceased the blood flow from Bard's arm. Draco continued repeating this spell on all the bruises and cuts that littered Bard's body.
"Ennervate," Draco pointed his wand at Bard after he was done. Bard moaned and rolled over.
"Da!" His daughters hugged him. "How are you feeling?"
"Like I battled a dragon," Bard replied. The reunited family huddled close together and just held each other. Draco turned his attentions back to Tauriel and Hermione.
"How is she?" He asked Tauriel.
"She will live." Tauriel assured him. "She is strong."
"Esta sinome," She said in elvish.
"What does that mean?" He asked her.
"Rest here," She translated.
"I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight," He responded honestly. "Will you teach me more elvish?"
"That depends. What would you like to know?"
"How do you say 'You are beautiful'?" Draco wondered.
"Lle naa vanima."
"Tauriel, Lle naa vanima." Draco was satisfied when he saw her cheeks tinge the faintest shade of pink.
"You silly mortals think you can so easily charm an elf." Tauriel scoffed.
"How do elves 'charm' each other then?" Draco asked curiously.
"It is very rare that elves fall in love. We are immortal, but we can die. Either in battle, or of a broken heart. Love is taken very seriously by elves." She warned him.
"Same from where I come from. When…my kind got married, we were magically bound to our partner."
"Hmm…" Tauriel hummed in the back of her throat.
Draco felt oddly content as they stared out at the still blazing remains of Laketown. Occasionally one would say something they had thought of, and the other would respond thoughtfully.
The more he spent time with her, the more strongly he felt. Ever since the first time they had talked, Draco had noticed a passion within her. Unlike the Elven King she served, Tauriel told him about how she yearned to explore the world, how she felt connected to each race; whether man, dwarf, or elf. However, Draco knew that this would never work out.
Even if Tauriel accompanied them to Erebor once Hermione healed, she was immortal and he…was not. Draco finally understood why she was so guarded with him. She was afraid to give her heart, because once he died, she would too.
The sun slowly rose, and its bright rays danced across the water, making the lake glow softly. Bard and Hermione were still asleep, and, thankfully, so were the townspeople. Draco was eager to get away from them because he could sense that there was to be a riot on their hands soon and the first people the townsfolk would point to would be the foreigners who were responsible for burning the town. Yes, Draco decided. The sooner they left, the better.
"Tauriel," he addressed her. "We should leave soon. The people will wake and will most likely be hostile towards us."
"That is true," she nodded. "You should wake Lady Hermione, I will wake the other dwarves."
"Hermione." He whispered and gently poked her shoulder. She gave a moan of pain and continued to sleep. "Granger, wake up."
She stirred and blinked her eyes open. "Wha?"
"We gotta go to Erebor. I don't think we're safe here." He said softly.
She nodded her head a little and slowly sat up.
"It is good to see you awake," Tauriel smiled.
"Thanks," Her voice sounded scratchy and wheezy from the smoke.
Before the sun had completely risen, all five unlikely companions were packed into a boat and were rapidly rowing towards the Lonely Mountain. Oh what a sight it made indeed, Draco thought wryly. Dwarves, elves, and humans all working together.
"What happened?" Hermione coughed.
"You fought a dragon," Draco answered grimly.
"You are very brave, Lady Hermione." Tauriel commented.
"Oh," Hermione's cheeks reddened. "It was nothing really."
Draco rolled his eyes at her utter…Gryffindor-ness. His arms ached from rowing the boat, however he kept his mouth shut. But his exhaustion must have shown because Bofur immediately volunteered to row for him. Draco knew he probably should have handed the oars over, but he didn't want to seem weak in front of Tauriel who was gracefully rowing in the front. Speaking of Tauriel…she seemed to be getting along fantastically with Hermione.
Once the two women had gotten past the standard frigidness of first meeting, they soon found that they had much in common. Draco leaned back and watched as Tauriel exchanged stories with Hermione about how she had become Captain of the Guard.
A shadow fell upon the boat when they passed beneath Erebor. Draco looked up at colossal mountain in awe. It oozed mighty strength down to the last pebble. Their boat bumped against the shore and Tauriel nimbly leapt out. After helping both Hermione and Draco out, the three followed Oin and Bofur who had eagerly run to the immense front doors.
Bofur pounded his mattock on the door and stepped back as the heavy doors scraped open. There stood Thorin, alive and weary looking. Bombur and Bifur let out yells of delight and embraced their brother. Oin rushed forward and Gloin laughed heartily, pounding him on the back.
"Hermione!" Draco heard Kili shout from behind Thorin, and before Thorin could open his mouth to protest, Kili had wrapped his arms around Hermione and hugged her close.
"Kili!" Thorin finally snapped. Kili leaned back with a guilty expression on his face.
"Sorry, Uncle," He mumbled and walked back until he stood behind Thorin again.
The latter strode forward and regarded Hermione, Draco, and Tauriel with narrowed, suspicious eyes. "How did you survive?"
Draco watched as Hermione frowned. She was not expecting this, he realized.
"You should have seen her, Thorin," Bofur piped up. "She stood up to Smaug alone, when no one else would!"
"Is that true?" Thorin asked Hermione gruffly.
"Well, yes, I suppose. But I didn't kill him. I was only buying Bard time, it was Bard who really defeated him." Draco rolled his eyes at her modest answer. If she was anyone but Hermione, she would not have hesitated to step up and claim the praise she deserved.
"Smaug was slain?" Thorin asked in surprise.
"Well, you don't see a great dragon flying around burning everything in it's path, do you?" Draco said sarcastically.
"Why don't we talk about this inside, Thorin," Balin stepped forward.
"Very well," Thorin agreed.
But when Tauriel made to enter as well, she found Thorin's sword pointed at her throat. She stopped calmly in her tracks.
"Not the elf," Thorin spat.
Draco tensed. "She's not the enemy."
"You grow too bold, Master Malfoy. I will not permit an elf to enter my grandfather's kingdom." Thorin growled. "Leave and do not speak to your kin about Smaug's defeat nor of the treasure within Erebor."
"Very well, Thorin son of Thrain. I take my leave of you now." Tauriel agreed coldly.
"But-" Draco protested. He had just got Tauriel back and now she was leaving again. She shot him a warning glance.
"It was a pleasure to meet you Lady Hermione," Tauriel bade Hermione goodbye. She then turned to Draco.
"I do not believe this will be the last we see of each other," She curved her pink lips into a smile. Draco couldn't help it. Screw not falling in love with her.
He strode forward and pressed his lips on hers. She stiffened in his arms, but Draco's mouth tantalized hers so that she slowly wrapped her arms around him. Draco's mind was numb, but in a good-I-just-snogged-the-brains-out-of-an-elf way. He pulled back reluctantly. Something told him that no matter what she said, it would be a while before the two had another moment like this.
"Bye," he hoarsely said.
She turned around and pushed the boat back onto the lake. Draco dragged his feet reluctantly into the mountain as the great stone doors scraped shut behind him.
A/N: So...what did you guys think? Please leave a review! They are all greatly appreciated!