Living Proof

Chapter 15

Silence was broken and after hearing a loud sound come from behind her she jumped to her feet and was preparing to either fight or run. She didn't have a chance to decide which because her breath was caught in her throat when she discovered the blonde man from her nightmare. He had fallen on his face seemingly from the sky. He had landed right behind the tree Hermione had been resting on.

"Oh my fucking Gods." Draco groaned out as he held his abdomen in pain. It felt as if he reopened all his wounds. The lack of blood confirmed otherwise.

Hermione stood frozen unsure what to do.

Draco could barely make out her figure in the moonlight as he tried to collect himself.

"Do not-" he had to let out a huff in between his words.

"-move" Draco spit a few more obscenities before attempting to stand. He placed both hands firmly on the ground but found he only had enough strength to make it to his knees.

Hermione still stood frozen. Mouth slightly agape. She thought the only reasonable explanation for this was she was still dreaming.

She stepped back cautiously breaking a small branch in the process. Draco still sat on his knees trying to regain his strength.

"No, do not move." He huffed out before blowing his messy blonde hair from his eyes.

His voice was too familiar to Hermione. She realized this wasn't a dream. Also, Draco was not like his friend. This was not a rescue mission.

She didn't hesitate once she came to this realization. She turned and began to run as hard as she could. She nearly tripped over several roots and branches that laid in her way.

Her adrenaline was pumping and she couldn't hear anything but her heart beat. She could hear Draco's voice behind her. She pushed harder. The cold air bit her face.

She wasn't sure how far she had made it before her legs were tangled together by ropes. The ropes had snaked up her body and tightened around her shoulders. She had no time to prepare for the fall. Her cheekbone met the hard ground with a crack. She was sure her face had literally just been broken. She hissed and shut her eyes tightly from the pain.

Her heartbeat was still echoing in her ears and her breathing was rapid and sharp. The tight ropes around her body hurt but nothing compared to her cheek. She didn't even bother to struggle against the ropes. She had a feeling that if she did they would only become tighter. So she laid there and waited. She tried to control her breathing and calm herself.

Her panic was finally settling and she realized she had been waiting for longer than expected. Hermione became confused and blew her curls from her eyes to get a better view. Her vision was blurry and the darkness didn't help but she noticed a tall lean figure leaning against a tree not far behind her.

Draco used what he could of his magic to keep Hermione from running. Between that and finally managing to make it to his feet, he felt as if any moment was his last.

Hermione could hear Draco's breathing and it did not sound good. She felt strange, knowing that Draco wasn't in the best health made her less afraid. She couldn't hold up her head anymore so she settled with having to shove her nose into the ground. She laid there feeling almost awkward hearing Draco trying to catch his breath for what seemed like almost ten minutes.

"I told you not to run. Why can't you just listen?" Draco huffed out still trying to catch his breath and collect himself. His chest was on fire and he felt like someone had taken a dagger to his abdomen. He was furious.

"What part of this hasn't made you realize you are not getting away?" Draco was beginning to realize all the pain he has gone through for the particular witch bound on the ground just in front of him.