They'd been walking for a few hours in silence. Hermione was focusing on keeping her feet moving, she'd never been much into sports, she'd always thought she was more of an indoors girl. Stepping over twisted roots and pulling aside prickly branches of bushes and trees she laughed quietly to herself at just how far from indoors she was, pushing forward across the rough inclines and muddy ground. Draco was walking at a steady pace behind her, simply taking the rough terrain in his stride.

Suddenly Hermione turned.

"Where exactly are we going Malfoy?" His pace didn't falter.

"Away."

She waited, marching beside him.

"We need to get away from the castle. Pretty soon it's going to be overrun with Death eaters." Running slightly to keep up with him and panting slightly from the excursion she pressed on. "How do you know that?"

She waited again, still running beside him, hands on her hips. With a dramatic sigh Draco stopped, part way up the muddy incline, and turned to look at her, looking resigned.

"We're not safe here."He looked her in the eyes and she felt a pang of doubt as she registered the grim look within the muddy emerald.

"The attack yesterday was no accident. It was planned. It wasn't just a random strike on a bunch of students, this was co-ordinated, prepared, and those death eaters had been well trained." He looked down at the floor then back up before groaning. "The more I think about it the worse it seems. This has probably been going on for months, they'll have rounded up anyone dumb enough to stick around and Merlin only knows what they plan to do with them. But whatever it is it's not good."

His gaze intensified suddenly as he looked straight into her eyes. "Like I said Granger, those were trained fighters and that was a strategic attack. We're in trouble. I don't know what's going on and I don't know what they're planning, but whatever it is, it's going to be big."

He turned back and started back up the path, leaving a stunned Hermione in his wake.

As she trudged along behind him Hermione thought back to the previous night. It had just been her Harry and Ron; they'd been sneaking out across the grounds, walking back from Hagrid's hut. It had been a mild night, but the wind had been chilling and her pink sweater and faded jeans weren't quite warm enough to protect her against its icy waves. Despite this they'd still enjoyed the wander round the grounds at night.

It was always beautiful seeing Hogwarts with all the students sound asleep, and the teachers locked up in their studies. The campus would seem to stretch out into a vast, exciting world, but with every inch being a part of home.

The sky had been clear that night she remembered suddenly. The moon shining bright against the dark background, lighting up the path back clearly, and casting everything it could touch in a silver glow.

She shivered, as she recalled Ron, offering her his jacket but she'd shrugged it off. Harry had been talking about something, she couldn't quite remember what, when suddenly they'd heard a crack, like the sound of a twig in surprise they'd scanned round, their eyes already adjusting to the dark, wondering if there was a student out of bounds or perhaps a stray cat that had got in somehow.

And then suddenly Harry had dived on top of the two of them, pulling them down into the undergrowth, as the sky caught fire.

In a moment it had transformed from a calm, tranquil night into a warzone, with spells ricocheting off trees and voices shouting everywhere. She remembered Ron, pulling her away and Harry yelling instructions, telling them to keep down and get to cover.

They'd ran for the trees and, for a moment, the wind had been in her face, pulling her hair aside and across her for-head as she'd turned back to take one last glance at the destruction before her. It was only now that she could take in what she had seen.

Hagrid's hut had been aflame, blazing like a flare against the darkness, and teachers had been furiously defending themselves from dark figures in black cloaks, who had suddenly sprung out of nowhere.

The sounds had been deafening and she could still hear Ron's cry echoing in her ears as he'd tripped, sprawling along the ground, dragging her with him. She'd pulled him up back to his feet but he'd twisted his ankle and could only hobble, with spurts of agony escaping his lips whenever he tried to put too much weight onto it. She'd called out to Harry who had come running, sprinting towards them with spells flying out of his wand as he ran. Together they'd dragged Ron away, shooting curses at the hooded figures and trying to think straight in the blaze of confusion, noise and madness.

And then suddenly she'd been thrown into the air as an explosion caught them all, tearing them away from each other with a thunderous roar that had shaken through her core. She'd landed roughly and, amidst the pain and confusion, all she'd been able to see was darkness and lights, with shouts coming from all directions.

"Run Hermione!" A voice had called out of the darkness and crawling away, Hermione had ran; ran towards the forest, ran out of sight away from the noise and the battle. She hadn't seen where Harry and Ron had ended up but she trusted them, trusted that they would keep each other safe.

Now, as she thought back, fear flooded through her like ice at what might have happened to them. At the time there'd been no time to think, no time to comprehend, but now she could see that Draco was right, the attack had been planned. They'd never had a chance to defend themselves, no one had been prepared, it had just been an average night.

For a moment she wondered if it had been a trap for Harry but then she corrected herself. No one had known they'd been out, it had just been bad luck they'd decided to go out when the attack had happened.

Draco looked at her briefly noticing the way she'd pulled her sweater down so that it covered her hands against the cold, but he said nothing. Realising that she was not going to ever get some sort of chivalry now, especially not from him, she resigned herself to the long walk ahead.

She would tough it out, there wasn't any other way. It was going to be long, and cold and dark and she didn't have any idea where they were going or what she was walking towards, but she knew that going back wouldn't be an option. So she trudged on forward, against the wind, through the mud in silence.

Thanks so much for thr reviews and favourites and follows. I hope I can match your expectations, and I'm sorry for being slow, I can't promise I'll be the fastest poster but I promise that I'll try never to just stop writing.

Please keep reviewing, criticism too, and any ideas or suggestions you would like would be great - I'll try and incorporate them into the story!

I'm not too confident about my grammar or the lay out as well so if you have any constructive criticism there too that'd be great! Too many paragraphs?

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