"It'll get dark soon so we'll set up here, there's fish in the lake I can cook"
It was the first sound apart from the rustling of trees and the crunch of shoes on the ground since the morning of shouting and confusion. Hermione had casted a silencing charm as they had walked to allow herself to cry without judgement but no charm covered her shaking hands or shoulders, let alone the red puffy eyes that caused Draco to double take and secretly regret his behaviour earlier. He wasn't sure what to say, in the past if someone came to him crying, he would just sit silently listen to them complain before telling them to sort their self out and just get on with it, but in the past week or so things had shifted slightly and he knew he wouldn't be able to use the same tact. Instead, he went, short, simple and without sarcasm
"Okay, you do that and I'll do the tent" a small smile of gratitude spread across Hermione's face and she nodded in agreement,
"okay."
XXX
Nightfall came and both wizards sat in silence opposite one another with the campfire between them, the orange glow lighting up both wizard's faces and flickering across the dark lake, conflicting with the reflection of the stars in the night sky.
As Draco watched the gleam of the moon and stars creating a parallel universe on the water's surface, he realised that after nearly a week living in this forest he didn't actually know where he was. He waited until Hermione passed him his dinner and rather than saying thank you, he asked,
"Granger, where actually are we?"
Hermione sighed, sat back down and looked out across the lake with a faint smile at the memories she has
"I used to come here with my parents and we would camp near the lake" the witch said as she risked a look at him across the fire. She thought she saw a flash of envy in his eyes before he questioned a careless use of phrase on her part
"used to?" he quipped. She flushed and started to explain herself purely just to maintain the civil atmosphere the wizards had created,
"well, we can't really come anymore with me being a witch and them being... well not, it's not safe for me to-" the soft swoosh of owl wings distracted the pair as Hermione's owl sat in a tree just outside the wards. "Duffy!" she called and ran through the wards to take the small slip of paper hanging from the dainty owl's beak, stroking its head, whispering to it and sending her back into the nights sky with a charm that casted a soft light around the owl so she could find her way. When she turned back around, she noticed Malfoy brushing his clothes down and getting ready to go into the tent,
"I'll leave you to it Granger" and with that he was gone again, closed off.
She sat on the edge of the lake and let her legs hang into the cool water that had no gradient of descent but purely a straight drop several metres down and opened up her first letter from the boys, which was dated the day after Dumbledore's death. From the neater, less angry handwriting, the witch guessed it was Harry who had written the letter.
Mione,
I don't even know how to tell you this and I'm sorry we couldn't tell you in person but, Dumbledore has died. The night you left he was killed and fell from the Astronomy Tower; does this mean you can come home? Everything here has been manic, the locket I told you about turned out to be fake and someone with the initials RAB has it but me and Ron are going to find it. We'll keep you posted if you don't come home but we hope you do.
We need you Mione and we miss you already. Come home please,
Love, Harry & Ron
Tears rolled down the witch's face as they had earlier today and as she remembered that tragic night, the look on Harry's face, the fear on Snape's and the absolute calmness on Dumbledore's she had imprinted in her mind as well as Draco's cries and Bellatrix's whispers that still rung in her ears. She cried for them all, everyone who's lives were changed by the Headmaster of Hogwarts. In a fit of rage, she kicked out in the water and before she could grasp onto the edge of the lake it broke beneath her weight and she tumbled into the cold water with a small splash.
Draco laid on his camp bed still fully clothed again, staring at the sky through a small hole he made in the tent's fabric, counting the starts he could see whilst asking himself unanswerable questions about Granger's letter and the day's events. He counted star number 17 when he heard a splash from outside the tent and the wizard laughed at the idea of Granger going for an impulsive late-night swim. She'd never seemed the impulsive type, rather the opposite, she'd always be the person who had to plan everything in advance and had thought of hundreds of different ways something could go before it had even happened. But when the first splash wasn't followed by the sound of someone swimming in the lake, Draco started to worry, she had his wand and knew where they were so he dashed out to the lakes edge looking for any sign of her but there was nothing, nothing except a letter and her wand at the edge of a broken bank, and the fire slowly burning out due to lack of fuel. He contemplated taking her wand and simply leaving for less than a second. Instead, he gazed over the edge and casted a 'Lumos' with her wand, surprised at its fast compliance with him and as the light casted over the water, chasing away the reflections of the dark blue sky, his blood ran cold. Hermione was under the water, unconscious.
A surge of adrenaline caused Draco to rip off his jumper and shoes and dive into the biting cold water, he waved his hands about blindly in the water trying to find her as his Lumos surrendered them to pitch black under the water. He brushed past her arm and held onto her for dear life, kicking back up to the surface as his lungs clawed for oxygen. His head broke the water's surface first and he gasped for air whilst using strong, powerful strokes to haul them both to the water's edge, his arm belted around Hermione's waist for the second time that day.
Once on the bank he picked her and her wand up in one swift motion and took her into the tent. He rushed to set her down and propped up against her bed before grabbing a towel and two blankets from the side of them, as well as casting warming and drying charms around the pair of them. In the soft light of her lantern, he can see a pale blue tint outlining her lips and blushing the tip of her petite nose and finger tips. In his panic he wrapped the largest blanket around him and wedged himself between Hermione and the bed so she was leant against his chest. He pulled the blanket around the pair of them and tried to shake her awake.
"F***sake Granger wake up, please wake up, please" his voice shook with fear and his teeth chattered against the witch's ear, he closed his eyes and rocked her back and forward silently begging she woke up so much that he didn't realise tears beginning to roll down his cheeks or that the witch's eyes had slowly fluttered open.
The first thing Hermione saw was the grey fabric of her blanket pushed under her chin and the first thing she felt wasn't the cold seeping through her body but instead the strong arms that were clamped around her waist and the sharp jaw and chin resting on her shoulder. She couldn't comprehend how she got there or why she felt safer in his arms than anyone else's but she allowed a smile to creep onto her face as she let herself a final moment in his arms before pulling forward and turning to face him
"what happened?" she asked sleepily as a wave of relief flooded his face as he pulled the blanket around him and passed her the second one, almost shyly
"you fell in the lake Granger, you were down there unconscious for about five minutes and, s*** your head's bleeding." They both reached out to the source of the cut at the same time but Hermione was so numb she couldn't feel the cut, but she had enough feeling in her fingertips to grab one of Malfoy's hands whilst the other brushed blood off her forehead,
"your hands bleeding too"
He looked down surprised, "must've cut it whilst getting you outthe lake" he paused whilst she let go of his hand and returned to her head,still trying to find the cut, "let me Granger, you can't even feel it let alonetry to clean yourself up, just wait here in the warm alright?" He left the roomto get medical supplies he knew would be in the bathroom without having to askas she sat, confused because of the blow to her head and that less than fiveminutes ago Draco Malfoy had her sat between his legs with his arms held aroundher whispering in her ear.