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Chapter 6-

Hermione had finally fallen asleep against a large oak. For some reason she had felt bad that she had angered Draco. He obviously was distraught over his parents. She had to push that to the back of her mind. He needed to be apprehended. Why was she hesitating?

A hand covered her mouth startling her out of her dreamlike state. Her amber eyes shot open as she instinctively tried to scream.

"Shh..they'll hear you." It was Draco's hoarse voice next to her ear. She shivered as his hot breath slithered over her ear. Without another chance at protest, Draco began dragging her up to a standing position, his pale hand still over her lips. He pushed her in front of him, one strong arm wrapped around her as he pressed his body against the tree trunk. His hand slowly left her mouth as he pulled her closer to his chest. Hermione could feel her heart beat so hard he must have felt it through her back. She held her breath as he sucked in a breath. She listened carefully as what sounded to be two sets of feet shuffled into their makeshift campsite.

Hermione held her breath trying to be as quiet as possible. She strained her ears to hear exactly what was going on. If it were ministry officials she would just have to scream and they would catch Draco immediately, but if it were someone else...She didn't want to think that it could be someone else. Draco tightened his arms around her shoulders protectively. Hermione tried to disregard the fact that she fit perfectly in his arms. She had to keep her head straight.

"See there, fire was snuffed out. He could be anywhere." A heavily accented male voice said as his shoes scuffed against the ground not that far from where Draco had been resting.

"Can't wait to get my hands on that little prat! Heard his stuck up father and mother got hauled to Azkaban." Another male voice answered.

"They should have been crucio'd for running away from the Dark Lord. They ran away like cowards." The first voice said, venom dripping in his words.

"Just you wait, we'll catch him and bring him to the death eaters. Won't they have fun." The second began laughing and then coughing.

"I'd quit the pipe Russell, we could have caught him if you hadn't been wheezing your brains out."

"Oh shut it!"

Hermione pushed back into Draco when she heard what they were saying. They must have been snatchers. She shouldn't be surprised that they would be patrolling the forest considering that they had found Harry, Ron and herself there. They probably figured that anyone running away would instinctively go there. Draco looked down at her, locking her into a stare which silently said to stay quiet.

"You know, we could just give him up to the ministry. They would probably pay." The second man said as he shuffled his feet against the dirt.

"Don't be stupid Shane. They'd throw us in Azkaban just for looking for that Malfoy kid. The deatheaters will at least reward us." The accented man replied, kicking over a nearby log. Draco tightened his grip on Hermione as the two snatchers got closer to their hiding spot. Draco put his finger silently to his lips and pointed to the wand in her back pocket. Hermione slightly nodded and allowed Draco to carefully pull the precious magical object out from behind her. He silently levitated a rock and magically threw it in the opposite side of where they were hiding.

"Did you hear that?" One snatcher muttered.

"It's coming from over there." The other replied and the two ran toward the noise, their feet rustling the leaves against the ground.

Hermione took a deep breath as Draco loosened his grip on her.

"Run!" He whispered. Hermione barely had a chance to blink before Draco grabbed her by the wrist and began running in the opposite direction that the snatchers had gone, dragging Hermione with him. He moved his hand from her wrist as he was running and intertwined his fingers with hers. Hermione couldn't believe what was happening. She gripped his hand tight as he pulled her along winding through trees and stumps. His long legs were difficult to keep up with but Hermione did her best so as to not slow him down.

Draco looked back every once in awhile to make sure that Hermione was still with him.

"We...have...to...stop...I...can't...breathe!" Hermione said between gasps as she tried to pull on Draco's arm.

"They aren't that far away. We can't stop!" He yelled back, his voice coming back clear and unwavering. She shouldn't be surprised he was after all an athlete.

"Please...Please Malfoy, my legs are going to give out!" She screamed back as he continued to tug her forward. Without another word Draco stopped, digging his heels into the ground, Hermione's body slamming into his back. She flushed pink and took a wobbly step back.

"Climb on my back." He said, his gray eyes narrowing.

"What?!" Hermione yelled and took a defensive step back from him.

"Don't argue with me Granger! I said climb on my damn back!" He yelled and grabbed her by the arm. Hermione took a second or two to contemplate what he was telling her to do. She decided she didn't have a choice. He turned around and stooped down so that she could reach his shoulders. She climbed carefully on the tall blonde's back, gripping his shoulders as he hoisted her legs up around his hips. Hermione could feel her body rock back as he took off with such speed, her cheek knocked into his shoulder blade.

After what seemed like forever Hermione finally took it upon to herself to break Draco's concentration from running.

"Draco, we can't run forever." She said close to his ear.

"They probably are long gone by now." She added, hoping he would stop his marathon through the woods.

They had managed over five miles between themselves and the snatchers. Draco nodded and stopped running, allowing Hermione to slide off his back easily and land on the ground. She sat down against a rock and tipped her head back. Draco paced back and forth like a caged animal.

"Someone will catch you eventually." She muttered as she closed her eyes from exhaustion.

"You didn't, what makes you think anyone else will?" He replied and sat down next to her. He glanced over at her and slightly grinned.

"You are ridiculous. I did catch you." She answered and furrowed her brows.

"If you caught me then why aren't I sitting in a cell right now?" He playfully nudged her in the shoulder with his own. Hermione didn't answer. Why hadn't she brought him in yet? She had been hesitating for some unknown reason.

"Your friends are probably worried about you." Draco quickly changed the topic. Hermione looked down at her hands.

"Yes, they probably are." As a matter of fact, Harry and Ron were probably looking for her right there and then. Hermione suddenly felt the weight of guilt pushing on her chest. How was she going to explain all of this to the two of them? Knowing her luck she would probably run into them somewhere in the woods.

"We have to get out of here." She abruptly said and stood up. Draco looked at her questioningly.

"Do you still have my wand?" She asked as the blonde stood up from his spot.

"Yes." Surprisingly he gave it up without protest. He looked at her again, his gray eyes narrowing in confusion.

"I'm going to apparate you out of here under one condition…" Hermione began to say as she stared Draco down, daring him to challenge her.

"What's the condition Granger?" He sounded exasperated as he rolled his eyes at her.

"You do exactly as I say and don't try and make a run for it." She said confidently. She knew that she held all of the power now that he had handed her wand back. He just eyed her incredulously.

"I mean it Draco. I want you to see something. Maybe you will understand everything that we have fought for, everything that we have died for." She added. Draco's expression didn't change, his eyes remained icy and distant.

"I can't promise you I won't run." He said quietly, his mouth forming a straight line. Hermione didn't reply, she just stared into his gray eyes hoping that something would stir inside them.

"Draco, if you run, they will kill you." Hermione rarely ever referred to the slytherin by his first name but hoped that maybe it would sway him.

"Then they will kill me. As for whatever it is you want to show me, why don't you save it for someone you think will care." He then turned on his heel and began to walk away from her.

"Draco Malfoy, you listen to me! If you are trying to fulfill some sort of magical destiny it isn't going to work by being an arse! I don't know what is so important about your damn pride but face it in the eyes of every witch and wizard you are nothing more than scum. At least Voldemort didn't run, at least the rest of the deatheaters died for their stupid pride they held. Yours...well yours I don't understand. It doesn't make sense. You have nothing left, don't you get it!" She yelled after him. He paused in taking another step and stalked back to her.

"Like I told you before Granger, you know nothing. If you had any inclination of anything that has transpired your skin would crawl. Now go back to your blood traitor friends and leave me." He snarled back. Hermione raised her hand instinctively to slap him only to have her wrist caught in mid-air.

"Not that again! You and your stupid friends are so predictable." Draco ground out, his jaw clenching and his eyes becoming dangerous as he gripped her wrist so hard she noticeably winced.

"Oh really." Suddenly Hermione smiled and then apparated on the spot, Draco still holding onto her wrist.