I know, I know. After writing this, I realized that it's mentioned that Wizards don't ski. Let's just ignore that little fact, ok? It's not especially important, but I can't think of another reason for a mansion in the middle of cold-freaking-nowhere, Canada.

For this chapter, keep in mind that Harry's wand is KO'd at this point

Chapter 2

A storm. A huge, full-on, winter blizzard. They weren't going anywhere today. Ron's stomach rumbled loudly, and seemed to be an excellent punctuation on what they were all thinking: We're hungry, cold, and now we can't even try and find food or the mansion for at least another day.

Harry stood up suddenly. "I'm going to find some wood. We need to add to the stove, or we're going to freeze here."

"The tent stops the wind; we're not going to freeze to death. We'll be cold, we'll be hungry, and we'll be frustrated, but we'll be ok. If you go out in a snow storm to find wood because of either of those three things, it would just be foolish." Hermione pointed out.

Harry sighed 'I won't be long..I…I just can't stand the thought that we're about to run out of wood and be even colder. I think I could use some time out of this tent, too. Time me, just five minutes. Really. I'm a wizard; I won't get lost or anything silly like a muggle would. See, I'm bringing your wand. I'll be fine."

Hermione sighed, giving up on logic. "Fine, just go. Make sure to place a good tracing spell on the tent. If you're not back in five minutes, I swear I'm coming out after you."

Even in the magic tent, the roaring wind was loud and rocked the fabric walls back and forth violently. It was madness to go out there.

However, with the silence that met Harry's departure, Hermione wasn't so sure it wasn't madness to stay in that tent all day long. It was just…awkward! Before it had been boring, but with her and Ron alone, the atmosphere was something much more uncomfortable.

Hermione put a pot of water (once snow) on the stove, with the intent on making the only thing they had left: tea.

When she turned around, she realized Ron had stood up and stepped just behind her.

"Hermione…" He started, his voice so soft she could hardly hear over the wind.

"er…tea?" Hermione asked awkwardly, raising up an empty cup.

Her attempt to distract was to no avail, however, as Ron was growing closer and closer to her. She didn't even realize she had been backing up past the stove until she felt the fabric of the tent wall pressed against her back. As it flapped in the wind it smacked into her head, making her jump.

"R…Ron?" She asked, "See, um…"

"We need to talk, Hermione…I need, I just need to tell you this…"

Hermione knew this had been coming. But they were in the middle of saving the world, for god's sake! She hadn't even had time to think about this…or had she…Maybe she had just been deliberately avoiding the issue. In any case, she did not want to hear what Ron had to say.

Since his return from his little running away stunt, he had acted different. Kinder to her. And she had thought she had changed too. She had missed him so much. But that just wasn't enough. She couldn't just forgive him every time he made her cry, especially if they were going to have that kind of relationship.

"Hermione, after all this is over, I mean, not now, that would be awkward for Harry, wouldn't it? But I mean…I like you Hermione, I think I have for a long time now, I've just been too stubborn to see it until lately…Hermione, I think I'm in l…"

"L…late!" Hermione said, narrowly avoiding the "L" word by cleverly pointing out the time. She sidestepped Ron, who was almost pressed against her at this point. "Harry should have been back by now!"

"Hermione, it's only been 10 minutes…"

"10 minutes, much too late, I'm going to go see if I can find him. Bye!" she squeaked the last word, jumping outside into the painful wind.

She walked as fast as she could, her face burning even through the bitter cold. How could he put this on her so suddenly! Ah! How could she have just walked away like that! It wasn't like her to run away from her problems! She should have just told him…told him what? She had no idea.

It was then that she realized her moment of stupidity extended beyond simply walking away from an awkward conversation.

She had walked far enough from camp that the heavy snow hid it.

She had no idea what direction she had come from.

Harry had her wand.

Shit.

***

Except for short moments of human-like exception, Hermione was not a stupid person. No one would think that. And so, after several seconds, Hermione made the intelligent decision to try and follow her footsteps as far as she could.

After a few feet, however, they disappeared in the drifting snow. Now what? Survival skills were not high on her list of studies. Wait for help, right? Or should she try and find her way back? Just go strait back where her footprints came from, right?

And so she began to walk, hoping she wouldn't regret her decision.

***

After about an hour of hopeless search, Hermione slowly began to feel her stomach drop. She had made a bad decision. And then she had kept going. Bad decisions just seem to snowball.

Speaking of which, the snow was coming down harder and harder. It was still bright daylight, but she couldn't see more than a few feet in front of her. What the hell was she going to do?!

It was so cold….all the layers of clothes in the world couldn't help her now.

Suddenly she rammed her foot into something. Hard. She could even hear the loud "Tunk!" sound against the wind. Tears sprang to her eyes, and she yelled out, hopping up and down on one foot.

Tentatively, she held out a hand in front of her, and found she was face to face with…a fence! A metal fence! She hadn't even seen it, and was grateful it hadn't been her face that had collided with the wrought iron bars.

With tears of pain in her eyes, she began to follow the fence to the right.

***

After about a half hour, Hermione was two things: First off, she was pissed with the world. How long could a freaking fence be!? She had yet to find anything like an entrance. She had tried climbing it, but she was too tired, it was too tall, and a layer of ice had coated the thin black bars. If only she had a wand!

Secondly, she was cold. Cold and tired. She knew, in the back of her brain, that sleeping would be very, very stupid without proper shelter. But her body was fighting her brain with all its might.

A few steps later, and she felt a small gap. The fence was different. It was an entry gate! She felt down to the latch, and found there was no padlock, no chain! She began to open it when something like electricity hit her body. As she fell, something occurred to her.

Oh, right…magic…