HIS VOICE LIKE A SHOCK WAVE,

THE GOD OF THE EARTHQUAKE SPURRED THE ARGIVE FIGHTERS ON.

-Homer

Prompt: Poseidon || Water. Storms. Earthquakes.

Title: Earning Trust
Rating: T
Word Count: 350
Warnings: N/A

"WAIT!" Hermione screamed as she careened to a halt at the lake's edge. A crack of lightning whitened the night sky, zapping its target in the water. Her ears popped as a deafening shockwave knocked her to the quaking ground.

She blinked in horror while the air sizzled with Poseidon's power.

Scrambling to her feet, she sprinted and dove into the freezing lake, strong panicked strokes pulling her closer. Fighting against the water, clothes dragging her down, she cursed every insult and side-eyed glance directed Draco's way since he joined the Order.

No one trusted him, but the feeling was mutual.

Earned trust went both ways.

And if she'd known he'd pull this stunt, she wouldn't have trusted him with her discovery.

Too slow.

Hoping it wouldn't backfire, she summoned Draco's shirt and cried with relief as he sped through the water, pulled by his collar. His body collided into hers with a splash, and she clamped an arm around his chest, pointing her wand at his sternum.

"Extraho aqua!"

Water dribbled out his nose and mouth and she kicked to shore, praying he wasn't dead weight. Levitating him to the grass, she struggled out of the lake and collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath with burning lungs.

"Draco?"

Her voice trembled. She pressed an ear to his chest, next to the now destroyed locket he stole from Harry.

It was faint, but his heartbeat was there. Was he breathing?

Eyes squeezed shut, she choked back a sob.

Pinching his nose, she sealed his mouth with hers and proceeded to heave air into his lungs as hard as she could, making herself dizzy.

"Draco?"

Wiping tears away, she leaned down for another attempt, and his lips were warmer this time. He shifted underneath and her heart leapt. "Dra–"

Hands cupped the back of her head, holding her in place.

"Keep going."

She shifted her gaze to see bloodshot eyes glittering with mirth.

"You were awake?"

"No, I definitely drowned."

"Then why–"

"I trusted you to save me."

"…Oh."

The warmth blossoming in her chest could have dried them both.

Chapter end notes:

Drabbles are super hard! Trying to pack so much into so little. Every word counts! I'm going to put my lessons learned after each one.

Lessons learned:

1) dialogue was too rushed at the end, causing pacing issues.

2) not entirely clear what the plot was, adding the sentence "with her discovery that channeling Poseidon's power could destroy Horcruxes." would have solved that issue.