Author's note: Let us begin with overwhelming gratitude for you, our dear readers. One hundred reviews, four chapters. Not sure if 'thrilled beyond measure' really covers it all.
As for the delay in this update, illness, lack of sleep and stress all played a factor in delaying the finished product. We can only offer our humblest thanks for your patience. This is the first chapter in which the combined writing talents (feels a bit egotistical to write that about ourselves) of OtterlyArdent and TheMourningMadam coalesce.
We're both over-the-moon-excited about this chapter. This is the chapter we've both envisioned from the start.
As always, we do not own Harry Potter. This is fanfiction. No monetary profit is being made. We're paid in reviews.
Onward.
Draco woke slowly, the ether of dreams slipping away as his other senses heightened his awareness level. Breathing deeply through his nose, he could smell it; a sweet yet musky, wet scent carried along on the breeze. The air crackled, heavily charged, and Draco felt the fine hairs on his arms prickling; standing erect as a cold shiver ran down his spine.
A storm was coming.
After a brisk shower filled with thoughts of Hermione and a quick wank when said thought roused his sleeping cock, Draco dressed quickly before gathering his gear and safely stashing his wand in his boot. Then racing to his bike, he studied the dark clouds blowing in and the ominous strikes of wicked light out over deep water, he might barely make it into the station before the sky opened on Winthrop's Wharf. The first large droplets pelted his muscular form as he pulled into the station's lot.
As soon as he entered the station, he could feel it. A subtle thrum of nervous anticipation. A slow smirk spread across his mouth as he nodded in greeting to the guys and gal, confident that instinct was driving the tense sets of shoulders and twitchy ears. Draco wasted no time pulling on his gear. Everyone knew the call was coming. It was only a matter of when.
Sheets of rain poured from the heavens, and the sound echoing around the firehouse held an eerie quality that seemed to make his skin itch. The pale wizard let out a low, aggravated groan. His pulse was elevated, and his guts were churning with nerves. He hadn't felt this way since his probie days. Draco tried to battle the out-of-character emotions coursing through him with the delightful memory of Hermione's lips moving tantalisingly against his own. And when his chest constricted in an almost painful way at the thought, Draco squeezed his eyes shut and focused on his breathing.
The storm simply had him on edge, and it was normal to worry about the safety of those important to you when the weather turns dangerous. With his swirling silver eyes still closed, Draco imagined her under her mother's throw blanket with a book in her hand, safe, warm, and happy with her parents. It didn't erase his unsettled feelings or erase the chill of foreboding he felt in the face of the angry storm battering his sleepy little town.
Not even the deluge could dampen the brilliant smile on a petite brunette's lips as she entered Devya's shop. With an extra skip in her step and a wave to the bookshop owner - who had a knowing grin playing on her lips – she disappeared into the stacks, happier than she'd ever been before. Devya shook her head, amusement sparkling in her eyes. A rumble of thunder, loud and ominous shook the windows at the front of the store.
Wrapping her cardigan tightly around herself to ward off the sudden chill in her veins, Devya cast a look over her shoulder in the direction Hermione went, but the brunette was already lost in the labyrinth of books. Turning her attention to the storm raging outside the window, the shopkeeper grimaced at the sheets of rain slanting oddly down Main Street. She briefly shut her eyes and sent up a silent plea to the Heavens above for safety through the onslaught.
Devya had just turned to follow Hermione, feeling rattled and jittery from the storm, when a crack so loud echoed around her she had no choice but to shriek in fear, duck and cover. After several panicked heartbeats, Devya opened her eyes, which had slammed shut of their own accord, but saw nothing amiss. Feeling more than a little foolish, she carried on, intent on riding out the storm in the company of her friend.
Hermione had startled at the deafening crack, unprepared for the loud noise or rush of static through the air. A smell like burning wire assaulted her senses, and she surmised a strike of lightning had been very, very close. Her heart beat a fast and furious rhythm against her sternum, while she tried to temper her fight or flight response. Setting a calming hand above her breasts, Hermione took a few deep breaths before turning her attention back to the shelves.
Both women were still incredibly on edge as thunder seemed to rattle their very bones, the rumbles seemingly never-ending. Devya sped her pace, winding through the stacks unable to shake her rapidly mounting unease. "Hermione?" she called out nervously, having a good idea of where the brunette was located but unwilling to take the chance of being wrong. "Back here, Dev!" Hermione's voice came from several aisles back and to the left, just as she had assumed.
Hearing Devya's voice offered Hermione a false sense of security, what unease she was battling seeped away hearing her friend's voice. Soon she'd no longer be alone, and she could laugh with Dev at their mutual fright. A small chuckle escaped her at the thought. She trailed her fingers lovingly over the spine of poetry by T.S. Eliot, but her excited grin turned into a grimacing frown as the tangy, woodsy odor of smoke tickled her nose.
Straightening her spine, and pulling the book off the shelf, Hermione let her eyes dance up and down the aisle where she was located. No visible smoke. She sniffed, then sneezed as her sinuses burned at the assault. "Devya?" Hermione yelled, her tone wary and back on edge. A creak sounded above her, and she slowly lifted her eyes to the ceiling.
"Almost there, luv!" Devya called back, desperately pushing the anxiety engulfing her mind away. She too could smell something burning, and close. Too close for comfort. "Christ Almighty," she muttered, breaking into a run.
Hermione's magic was quivering, her first clear warning of the danger they were facing. Licking her suddenly dry lips, the petite witch took off at a brisk pace knowing instinctively that she needed to flee, now. Her eyes swept along the ceiling nervously as a mournful, inhuman groan came from above. "Fuck," Hermione breathed. She could feel beads of sweat forming on her brow, and to her mounting horror realized the normally drafty bookshop felt stiflingly hot.
Devya had come to the same terrifying conclusion as Hermione, and her breath caught in relief as her eyes fell on Hermione's form about a hundred feet away. She was certain her face was just as pale as her friend's, but her wide and horrified amber eyes locking on her own would haunt her for the rest of her life. Another rumble tore through the air, and both women wobbled on unsteady legs as a slight, but growing tremor began making itself known.
They froze. Only for a moment, to get a feel for where the danger was getting ready to strike. Another ungodly sounding crack, so like that of the lightning strike both women momentarily thought it was still the raging storm outside, and then a roar that stopped Hermione's heart. She'd heard the animalistic sounding rage of a blazing fire before, after all.
Hermione's heart leapt into her throat as her eyes traced the rapidly spreading cracks above her. A moment of terror induced clarity chased away all unnecessary thought, and Hermione whipped her wand out of the holster strapped to her wrist. Dev was still frozen and trembling in fear, watching the destruction spread. Hermione ran full out, her thoughts solely on reaching her friend and apparating both to safety. As she'd proven once before, Hermione held no fear of obliviating someone if it saved their life.
One moment Hermione's feet were pounding toward Dev before her blood-curdling scream hit the witch like a brick to the chest. Then sharp, excruciating pain on her right side. Her wand slipped from her grip the second the falling debris clipped her shoulder and knocked her forcefully to the ground. She heard a shriek of her name before her skull slammed against the floor with a sickening thud. Her eyes closed of their own volition against the blinding pain. Sweltering heat coursing through the air around her was the last thing of which she was aware. A devilish heat. Crackling heat. Fire.
Panic seized Devya's chest as her feet carried her forward, knowing her dear friend could do nothing to avoid injury. Licking flames slithered around them, hissing in tongues that scarred every inch of everything they touched. A desperate sob broke free from her chest; her eyes burned with tears that had nothing to do with the smoke. "HERMIONE!" Devya screeched as loudly as she could, and felt her throat burn against the strain.
Noxious smoke held absolutely no pity on her lungs, and the coughing that overcame her shook her frame with vicious force. "Oh God," Devya whimpered, as she stumbled to the floor by Hermione's side. "Oh, Hermione," her voice cracked. "I'm so sorry," she cried while tugging on the smoldering debris frantically. It was so heavy, it barely moved, and her quaking certainly didn't help. Coughing and blinking away her tears, Devya felt her heart break when Hermione weakly groaned, the shifting debris sending shockwaves of pain throughout her body.
"Wake up, Hermione. You gotta wake up, luv," Devya croaked, changing her tactic and pulling Hermione's free arm, desperately hoping to free her that way. She only succeeded in tugging her unconscious form an inch or two back the way she came. "Fuck!" Devya screamed, the blistering heat leaving her skin feeling stretched and raw. "Come on! I can't leave you, luv!" Another round of bone-rattling coughing left her gasping for breath. However, there was no longer any clean air to suck in by the lungful.
As her guilt-ridden sobs began, Devya reached across Hermione and lifted the collar of her shirt up over her mouth and nose, before pressing a kiss to her forehead. Devya quickly covered her own before swearing, "I'm going to get help, Hermione. Draco's on his way, luv. I know exactly where we are and he will, too. He'll get you out, Hermione. I know he will."
Draco had just finished his coffee and half-eaten toast when the alarms rang shrilly through the station. His cup hit the floor, shattering as he snapped to attention and took off at a sprint, meeting his crew at the lockers. Details were crackling over the coms, enticing the adrenaline already surging through their veins. Lightning strike, 423 Main. Fast-spreading fire. Already engulfed more than one floor.
Draco was half-listening, hurriedly throwing on the remainder of his gear, which is why it took him a moment longer than it should. "Devya," he breathed, swallowing down his fear for his friend and fondness for the bookshop. After all, it's where he found Hermione. One more breath to settle the fear and grief, and then Draco shut it all out. His skill with occulemency was a great advantage for Draco; it made it much easier to shut off his emotional responses and do what must be done.
Piling onto and into the rig, Draco blocked out the excited chatter around him. It was a large fire, something they rarely experienced in the sleepy cove. Instead, he did his checks, made sure his equipment was functioning properly and focused on his magical core, pulsing a slow, steady current through his very being. It never failed to center and calm him. He needed the calm, knowing his friend was in mortal peril. Draco pulled on his helmet, the sirens screaming in his ears, and closed his eyes. He ran through his brief cache of memories of Hermione shining with a brilliance that would forever leave him in awe of her glory. Warmth spread from his chest outward and through his limbs, the mere thought of his witch leaving him burning for her.
As the rig slowed to a stop, Draco felt the energy around him change with a dreadful suddenness. One look at the scene and he understood. The fire was a sinuous beast, roaring and demonic. His heart clenched in his chest as a weary groan came from the structure, knowing the building was a loss. Wailing screams captured his attention as the linemen began unspooling the hoses and his relief was sharp and short-lived as his eyes fell on Devya. Liam Bradbury, from the shop across from Devya's, held the extremely distraught, soot-covered woman back from running back into the flames.
Draco's legs carried him to her side without much thought, the cacophony of the fire, sirens, and screams blending into nonsensical sounds of terror. "Devya, thank fuck! I was so worried about you," he called out over the din. Her wild-eyed gaze narrowed on Draco and Devya lurched forward, breaking through Liam's restraining hold. Her hands thumped hard against his shoulders, and Draco brought his hands to her hips to steady her.
"Draco! Oh god, Draco!" Devya sobbed, clawing at his chest. "She's trapped in there. Oh, god. Oh…" the rapid rise and fall of her chest, along with her persistent, wheezing cough worried Draco. "Hey, hey," he soothed while motioning for oxygen, "Just breathe, Dev. Breathe." Draco's words were careful and controlled, but something deep inside him cracked at her words. And when her eyes left him, focusing on the nightmare behind him, cold seeped into his heart when she opened her mouth and screamed, "HERMIONE!"
Draco hadn't truly experienced the icy grip of terror squeezing his heart since the Dark Lord held his wand on the young, blonde wizard's mother, ordering Dumbledore's demise in exchange for Narcissa's safety. But the moment he realized Hermione was still inside the burning building, it hit him full force like ice in his veins. "Where?" he demanded, giving Dev a sharp shake to bring her attention back to him.
Angus, hearing Draco, turned his attention to the pair - his eyes narrowing in suspicion.
"Poetry, back left," Devya whimpered, her tears mixing with the slowing rain. "She was unconscious and trapped under debris when I had to leave her." Draco's eyes snapped to Angus's, burning with fierce determination. Angus barely had time to shake his head and call out, "Malfoy, don't!" before Draco turned and rushed through the open door.
Barely pausing, Draco pulled his wand from his boot. "Defensionem Fumi!" he murmured, clearing the smoke in the direction his wand was pointing. The oppressive heat barely registered in Draco's mind as he assuredly made his way through the roaring flames around him, toward the back stacks where he knew Hermione lay unconscious. He couldn't lose her. Not like this, not now, when they had only just found one another.
Everything beyond the blinding flames was murky and dark, without his spell, the heavy smoke would greatly obscure his vision. Even with his magic, his eyes were straining for any sign of Hermione. Draco dodged a falling rafter and felt his heart twist painfully. It was taking him too long, especially with her injured and trapped inhaling toxic smoke and ash into her lungs. Draco refused to think about what would happen if he arrived too late.
Just as panic began to quicken his breathing and his heart started to crack and fissure at the edges, Draco spotted a dim aura of color through the haze of smoke and fire. He doubled his speed, knowing his witch was close, having eyes on her position brought him a small modicum of peace. But nothing could ever have prepared him for the onslaught of emotion that hit him when his eyes finally fell on her dangerously still form. A non-verbal Wingardium Leviosa immediately removed the damned debris that had crushed her.
Draco had Hermione in his arms within three beats of his thundering heart. Beginning the treacherous retracing of his steps, Draco shifted so he could point his wand to her chest, "Rennervate!" Swallowing back a wave of sick, he pulled off his oxygen mask and placed it over her mouth and nose. Draco was nearly knocked over by a swell of gratitude and outright affection for Devya, having thought to cover his witch's face, in an attempt to prolong her life.
"Stay with me, Hermione," Draco begged, twisting and turning away from devilish, licking flames. Holding what breath he had left, he shared the mask with the witch in his arms, only when necessary. When he found their path relatively clear, Draco scanned her limp frame, quickly taking inventory of her injuries and burns. Luckily she seemed relatively unscathed, at least for the moment.
The entire building had been engulfed by the flames; debris crashed all around them. Draco could only rejoice when his eyes fell upon a steady stream of glowing light at the front of the store. Thirty more seconds and he'd have her out. Then he would allow his clawing worry and concern run wild. Tightening his hold on Hermione, Draco ran full out for the exit.
"I think I can see something!" he heard someone shout moments before they emerged from the inferno.
Draco kicked the tilting front door the rest of the way off the hinges, quickly stowing his wand back in his boot as he collapsed to his knees on the sidewalk a safe distance from the flames. The rain had stopped completely now, though he couldn't see where the plumes of smoke ended and the swirling clouds began. His eyes quickly scanned her broken form as she lay on the concrete walkway, stripping off his helmet, oxygen tank and fire-retardant coat. He placed his ear next to her nose and mouth and a hand over her heart.
His sweet witch, this blessing that had skipped so strangely into his life, was no longer drawing any of the world's oxygen into her lungs. He felt his heart stop as he tried to throw up his Occlumens abilities and block out the fact that this patient was the love of his life. His beautiful, resplendent, vivacious love.
The paramedics were rushing over to her just as Draco tilted her head back and opened her mouth to begin CPR. "Malfoy, let us take it from here, mate," one of the paramedics told him.
Draco was deaf to the protestations of the medical staff. He was breaking about ten protocols by performing any method of medical assistance, but he didn't care. "Leave him!" Angus commanded somewhere behind him. "That's his girl. Go ahead and get a line started in her arm!"
Draco used the heels of his hands to pump at her breastplate, counting to thirty. Each sickening crack of her sternum or ribs brought him one step closer to vomiting as he wandlessly and mentally said the spells to mend the broken bones before they would crack once more. He brought his lips to hers, giving her the prescribed two solid breaths of air, his hands shaking as he pinched her nose and held her chin.
The paramedics moved around to her other side, cutting her shirt sleeve all the way up. He had about two seconds to realize that her Mudblood scar was on that arm. The female paramedic's face screwed up at the sight of it, but she quickly composed herself and cleaned her forearm, searching for a viable vein to begin an intravenous line. Draco did another round of thirty compressions, mending and rebreaking the bones as he went. As he was administering the first of two breaths, Hermione drew in a rattling breath of her own.
Relief washed over Draco as he looked down at her and for the first time, noticed long paths traced into the soot covering her face. It wasn't raining any longer, and she was unconscious. It took him a long moment to realize that the streaks had come from his tears, falling as he had administered lifesaving breaths into his witch's delicate body. He leaned forward, running his hands behind her head to feel how damaging the bump to her head had been. He drew back a hand covered in blood but noted that it didn't seem to be pooling around her. He silently mended whatever cut may be back there so it wouldn't continue to seep. He felt down her neck to verify it had no serious injuries and then assessed every inch of her he could grasp.
When the others began to cut off a bit of melted denim from her legs, he saw that she had some minor burns, but nothing immediately life-threatening. Draco collapsed back onto his haunches, sobs of relief racking his body. Angus came to his side, putting his hand under his brother's arms and helping lift him to his feet. "Come on, Draco. They've got to get her onto the gurney."
"She's alive," Draco was able to croak out, wiping at his blackened face with the backs of his hands.
Angus smiled widely and grasped Draco's cheek harshly. "She's alive because of you, you crazy fucker! You disobeyed a direct order from your Chief and ran into that building! You could have been killed!" he bellowed, grabbing Draco into another tight hug. "Fucking mental bastard!"
Draco could only give a weak laugh at his Chief's beratement. He glanced to where the paramedics were lifting Hermione on a backboard onto the stretcher. "I'm going with her."
Angus nodded. "Go. We can manage here," he told the blond wizard.
Draco noticed for the first time that fire engines had come from the two neighboring towns to assist in the efforts and the restaurant next to Devya's had burned nearly as badly. Draco looked for the plump bookstore owner and spotted her sitting with a Fire Investigator, explaining what happened. He had no idea how to ever repay her for saving Hermione's life.
The medics got Hermione into the back of the ambulance and Draco climbed in with them, sitting alongside her. He took her tiny hand in his own, pushing her hair back away from her face as the female medic used a hand-powered breathing valve to fill Hermione's weakened lungs slowly. "She's not breathing on her own regularly yet."
Draco pulled her hand to his lips and kissed it, feeling the hot splash of his tears once more as they streamed down his caked and dirtied face. The smell of incineration, blood and hopeless despair filled his nostrils, and he refused to be brought back to the Final Battle at Hogwarts. He needed to stay present for Hermione now. He held his lips against her hand, his heart feeling as though it were being torn apart. "Please stay with me, love. Please. We've only just begun."
He clung to her hand like a man drowning. His eyes scanned all of the machines around, searching her vitals. Her heart rate was slow and ragged, but present. Draco knew he needed to get her to St. Mungo's. These muggles were amazing at what they did, but there were some things magic could handle much more efficiently. He resigned himself to apparating them both out of the ambulance. He looked at the female paramedic and locked eyes with her pitying blue ones. "Obliviate!" he whispered, and the girl's hand slipped from the breathing valve as she collapsed back against the wall of the ambulance, knocking down a cabinet filled with glass vials. She was unconscious, and Draco felt his stomach clench at the shit storm he had just resigned himself to creating. The Ministry officials were going to kill him.
He held Hermione's hand, and they were instantly in the wizarding hospital's lobby. Healers and medi-witches immediately surrounded them, levitating Hermione up and running down the hall with her. Draco ran alongside her, and when they got her to a bed, the lead Healer pushed him out of the room. "I don't even know what to ask about what you're wearing, where you've been hiding, why you've shown up here with an injured Hermione Granger. But I'm calling the Aurors!"
"Dra-co," came Hermione's gentle croak from the bed.
He looked at her and felt a soaring in his heart at the sound. "Do what you must, but I am not leaving her!" he told the Healer, retrieving his wand and pointing it at her in one fell swoop.
The witch glared at him and backed up slightly, watching as he rushed back to Hermione's side. Her pretty eyes fluttered open as the team of Healers flitted around her. Draco sank to his knees alongside the bed, the closest Healer moving out of the way to allow him access. Hermione reached weakly in his direction, and he took her hand once more, leaning forward to push her damp and ash filled curls away from her forehead. "Oh, love…I never thought I'd see those pretty brown eyes open again. I have never been so frightened in my life."
"Did he say brown?" came the whisper of someone behind him.
"Does that mean—"
"He can see her in color?"
Draco ignored all of the whispers behind him as he brought his lips to hers. Hermione lifted her other hand to his jaw. "You saved me," she told him quietly.
"We've saved each other. I absolutely love you, Hermione. Not the soulmates bond, not the pull of your magic and soul to mine, not because you're so vibrantly beautiful. I love you," he confessed, hoping she felt the same despite the short time they'd been together.
"I love you, too, Draco," she said sweetly, putting her head back into the pillows once more and grasping his hand to squeeze it.
Endnotes: We sincerely hope you love it as much as we do. Be a doll, and please, leave a review?