Hermione's hand barely fit into the hollow at the base of a tree several miles away from camp. Harry and Ron were sleeping soundly, both of the boys chilled and recovering, but without the influence of the blasted locket the three of them might manage sleep. Her teeth chattered as a gust of wind brushed underneath her jumper. The night was cold enough to make her feel like she also had jumped into a frozen lake, but she had to make the rendezvous.
Harry had described a doe-like Patronus while babbling in his sleep before she left which was all the confirmation she needed that Professor Snape had assisted him. What Harry didn't know she knew wouldn't hurt him. It hadn't yet.
A feeling she couldn't shake made her check the rendezvous for information or assistance, whatever the Professor was able to leave. This time her fingers curled around the cold chain of something heavy. Wary of lockets and necklaces after the past months, she pulled it out of the snow and leaves slowly. The crunching of snow behind her made her pull it the rest of the way quickly so she could drop it in her pocket before spinning around.
"You shouldn't be out here."
She glared at Draco, dressed in thick warm wool robes with only his pale and pointed face showing, envious and angry of how comfortable he seemed in below freezing weather late at night. "Neither should you. The Professor already was here, what do you want?"
"I'm making sure you're safe. Is that too much to ask?"
"From you?" she sneered, almost as well as he could after spending so much time with him the last three years. "Yes."
prompt from: delicate-cherry
