They had been walking for several hours and the skies were getting gradually darker. The ground was growing softer, squelching under their feet, as the moisture increased in the air. Hermione was cold, her feet were getting sore and the mud was splattering through her thin trainers, but she refused to give Malfoy the satisfaction of hearing her complain.
It was getting steadily darker and stopping suddenly Draco looked dramatically up at the sky, tilting his head back and squinting. "I think it's gonna rain." He grimaced, "We're gonna have to stop." Hermione looked at him in panic; if they stopped now they weren't going to move on again until morning, and the forest floor wasn't exactly where she planned to spend the night. She swallowed hard, taking a deep breath.
"Don't be ridiculous." She announced matter of factly, "A few drops never hurt anyone." He opened his mouth to argue but she marched on forward with determination, past the indignant looking Malfoy.
However, it looked like she had been wrong.
The rain poured down, crashing onto them like waves. Hermione's clothes, hair and boots were soon soaked through. She could barely stand straight as the wind whipped around her, blowing her thick, bushy hair into her face and making it impossible to see.
"A bit of rain never hurt anyone?" screamed Malfoy sarcastically. He reached forward, taking her arm, and pulled her roughly to the side. "We are finding shelter, right now!" Hermione looked forward anxiously but had to accept that Malfoy was probably right. There was only rain and fog in the distance and she could barely see the muddy ground let alone any sort of destination.
"Fine!" She glared at him angrily and nodded towards some trees. "How about over there?" Draco turned and looked at the forest some way behind him.
"Fine." And, growling with frustration he headed off in the direction of the trees without so much as looking at Hermione. She followed behind him, fuming.
By the time they had reached the trees the pair were soaked through to the bones. Her normally bushy hair was plastered to her face in long, wavy strands; Hermione was still furious. Draco, looking not much better was in a similar mood. They stumbled up towards a large oak tree, whose branches spread out among the other trees, creating a lattice of leaves that provided some protection from the thunderstorm ahead. Hermione flung herself against the bark, refusing to look at Draco. He followed suit, leaving a stony silence, interrupted by their involuntary shivers and chattering of teeth.
Huddling down, Hermione slowly reached into her back pocket and drew out her wand. Seeing her, Draco made a starting motion but she simply scoffed at him and pointed it at some branches lying across the forest floor.
"Incendio!" Instantly, bright golden flames sprung up, unaffected by the wet wood or drops of water splashing onto them from the canopy above. The warmth drew some blood back into her numb fingers and Hermione inched closer, allowing it to flow over her. She tugged off her wet boots, throwing them aside and moaned gratefully as the flames warmed her. Pulling her wet hoody off she placed it gently over a branch to dry. Draco had moved closer when the flames had appeared and he flung himself down next to her. He too pulled off his shoes and shrugged off his jacket then, feeling a prickly feeling, Hermione looked up to find him staring at her. He was frowning slightly and looked uncomfortable. "What?" Hermione demanded and he started, as if distracted. Muttering under his breath he turned away and thrust his thin navy jumper at her. Catching it in surprise Hermione looked down to find that her white vest top had gone wonderfully see-through. Biting back a groan she quickly pulled it on and inched closer to the fire, desperate to hide her glowing cheeks.
They sat like this for a while as the night grew steadily cooler. It was pitch black now and the forest was alive with the sounds of the fire crackling, the wind and rain howling through the trees and the occasional sounds of an animal or rustle of bushes.
"Malfoy?" Hermione spoke suddenly, her voice sounding oddly loud amongst the quiet forest. He looked at her scowling. Her voice faltered slightly, "What, what exactly is the plan now?" He glared again, then spoke shortly, "We find help. Anyone, so long as they're wizards." He paused for a moment. "The death eaters didn't want anyone knowing about this attack. They caught us unguarded and undefended, we need to find out what's happening."
"And what about your father? Isn't he one of the death eaters?" Draco looked up sharply and glared at her so hard that she leaned back a little in surprise. "My father isn't clear where he stands at the moment, thanks to you and your idiotic friends." He looked so angry. "He's currently locked away in Azkaban so you'd better keep your filthy little mudblood tongue quiet and not mention him again!" Hermione bristled angrily. "Your father deserved everything he got and more! And you call me a mudblood one more time you insolent little toe-rag, and I'll hex you to Norway and back!" For a moment they glared at each other in furious silence then Draco sprang up.
"Try me!" He had his wand out but so did Hermione. She was up on one knee, her wand pointed directly at his chest whilst he stared squarely down at her. Abruptly jumping up, she screamed "Densaugeo!" whilst at the same time he yelled "Furnuculus!" A wave of heat hit her and instantly large, green boils started to spring up on her hands, arms and face. She reeled back in disgust and looked up to find Draco laughing hard at her, his hands shaking in glee. But all of a sudden he stopped, and then fell back horrified, as his front teeth began growing at tremendous speed.
"Granther!" He cried out furiously, "Do somethingk!" But Hermione was too busy laughing, doubling over in mirth. "Granther!" His teeth were reaching his chest now, and showed no intention of stopping. Recovering finally, Hermione walked up to him.
"You promise to undo this curse?" Draco glared daggers at her but, unable to speak, nodded reluctantly. "And never, ever use the M word again?" His eyes narrowed and he tried to protest but was chocked back instantly by his teeth which were consuming his entire mouth and weighing his head down. He nodded again, groaning with the effort of carrying his enormous teeth and, grinning, Hermione pointed her wand at him and muttered the counter-curse. The teeth instantly stopped trying to reach the floor, and began to decrease back into this mouth, reverting back to their original size. When they were normal she stopped them and then waited expectantly. The boils were covering almost every inch of unconcealed skin, and were now starting to pop and bubble ominously. He glared at her furiously, his cheeks still flushed with indignation. Looking her up and down he smirked. "You look hideous Granger."
Spreading her arms out impatiently she waited. "Well?"
He considered for a moment then folded his arms and smiled."I don't think so; this is a big improvement on the normal sight." Hermione raised her wand threateningly and he blanched.
"Fine! Fine." Sighing he pulled out his wand and murmured the counter curse. The boils hissed and then popped, exploding in a disgusting murky goo which covered Hermione head to foot. She groaned in revulsion at the green, stinking mucus all over her hands and arms. Draco exploded into laughter again, choking in his glee and she sat down furiously, refusing to even look at him and trying desperately to ignore the sounds of his obvious amusement.
Sorry it's been a while, exams and whatnot. Let me know what you guys think! And any suggestions on how you think the story should go are most welcome (I've got a rough idea but that's all atm). Not sure when the next chapter will be up but in the meantime have a good week and good luck with any exams!