Chapter 9
Startling awake Hermione heard a scream and then a loud “What the fuck?!” from Dracos end of the tent. Groaning she pulled herself to an upright position and glared across the span of the sitting area to Draco.
“What are you on about?” she snapped
“Did you know there’s another bloody cat in here?”
Seething, this… THIS was why he had screamed and woke her up?
“no” she grated out with clenched teeth “Most of the time they just show up, I cant exactly ask questions, seeing as they’re cats and all, and cant speak.”
“How are they getting past the wards? Why are they coming here? And WHY did I wake up with one of them sleeping on my chest?
“I don’t know” she growled back.
He leapt out of bed and started pacing in front of his bunk. She could see him muttering to himself and trying to reason out how the cats continued to evade triggering any of the wards.
“Oh would you just give it up!” she yelled at him from across the tent “The cats come and they go. They don’t do anyone any harm and its not like they smothered you in your sleep” though at this point she kind of wished they would have.
Draco stopped pacing and turned towards her with a look she couldn’t quite read in her sleepy state. He stepped towards her ominously.
“How can you be certain they aren’t spying on you, relaying information to the Dark Lord?”
He looked dead serious as he asked her if the random cats that stayed with her were in the Dark Lords pocket, relaying her whereabouts and activities to Voldemort. Her mouth popped open briefly before she completely lost it to laughter.
Her laughter subsided after a few minutes. Seeing that he was standing in front of her now with his arms crossed and a stormy expression in his grey eyes she sighed realizing he was asking a serious question.
“Look, I don’t think they are spies. For one because up until yesterday I haven’t been the least bit interesting to spy on. For another, its always different cats, never the same and with that I highly doubt he-who-must-not-be-named has that many cats at his disposal. The cats have been appearing ever since Crookshanks died so that’s several hundred cats. I think his death cursed me, or he cursed me himself, to always have only temporary cat companions. I stopped looking into how they got past the wards because I have seen them just walk up to my tent like the wards just don’t affect them. Finally, don’t you think if he or the Death Eaters knew where I was located they would have tried to capture me or kill me by now? The cats just show up.” she raised her hands and shrugged her shoulders helplessly hoping this would be the end of him harping on the cats.
He did look a little mollified by her response but shot a disapproving glare at the cat that was now lounging on his bead bathing himself.
Hermione was just swinging her legs out of bed when Malfoy said something she wasn’t prepared for in the slightest.
“Right, since we’re up. Lets eat and then we can practice for a few hours”
“Practice?” she raised her brows askance.
“Yes, practice…” he must have seen her blank expression indicating she had absolutely no idea what he was blithering on about, but he plowed on anyway “Yes, well… We need to practice dueling. Keep ourselves sharp and fit for what’s ahead.”
“Dueling? No, thank you. You can go if you want but I’ll be moving to the couch to rea-”
“Nope!” he interrupted “You need to get up and do something other than read. Reading is fine but magical theory can only get you so far. You need practical application practice to defeat what we’ll be up against so its time to get up, get dressed, grab your wand and a slice of toast and get outside.”
“No, Malfoy, I will not be practicing” she was up and facing him with a glare of her own now “I do not want to practice dueling. All our years of practice at Hogwarts got us nowhere in that final battle. There is no point, he won, the Dark Lord won and I am just trying to survive one day at a time in a world where I am sure to be captured or killed at some point. So, while I am still free I will be doing the one thing that has brought me the smallest sliver of joy in this world.”
His eyes narrowed “you sound like you have given up, which is unacceptable, I wont allow it. You will practice dueling. Don’t give me that look either Granger, I’m not above dragging you out there kicking and screaming. In fact that sounds rather enticing” he smirked at her and winked.
“Ugh, you are insufferable. I don’t want to practice, it makes no difference because nothing is going to change. You and I will not change anything, I don’t care what your prophecy says!”
“First of all, its not just you and I. Second, practice could mean the difference between another failed war and victory. Practice could literally save this world. So, if you are done whining about how much you want to waste your life away here in this tent when you could be working to change the future of all wizard kind for the better, you can meet me outside.”
He swept out of the tent after grabbing a slice of the bread she had stolen in the village two nights ago. Had it really been less than 2 days ago she had been completely alone and stealing food in that tiny town? It seemed like so long ago already, so much had happened in just a short time after years of nothing changing aside from the location of her tent. She stood there mulling over everything he had said. What he said to her felt similar to her begging Harry and Ron in that tunnel to understand that they weren’t ready, to see that they hadn’t had enough practice. She knew they weren’t prepared but they were determined to fight anyway and their lack of practical magic application go them both killed. She had spent the last 7 years running, not practicing one bit, doing everything she could to avoid any need to fight. She had let herself become complacent, she probably couldn’t even produce a patronus anymore. Ugh, practice… that word had really come back to haunt her.
“shit” she whispered to herself. Malfoy was right, at the very least she needed to start practicing to protect herself. Unless she truly wanted to give up and if that were the case she might as well just allow herself to be captured. She decided then and there that she didn’t want to be captured, she wanted to be able to fight back, and she knew right now she didn’t have the skills for a true battle with an experienced Death Eater.
Sighing she walked to the bathroom to get ready for whatever “practice” Draco had in mind.
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Stepping outside she noted several changes to the wooded area surrounding the tent. There were several large boulders scattered around, sand pits, and one area where a dense fog was swirling without dissipating.
“What happened out here?”
Malfoy stepped out from behind a boulder and leaned against it twirling his wand between his fingers. He was smirking at her with a very devious look in his eye.
“I improved upon the space so we could get some proper dueling practice in, are you ready or do you need a warm up first? Perhaps some basic spell work and hexes to jog your memory?”
He said the last bit with a smug condescending tone and she could see the challenge in his eyes. She set her mouth in a hard line and her stubborn streak reared its head. She would show him she still had some skill with a wand or she would fail spectacularly trying to knock that smug look off his beautiful pale face. Damn him for being so attractive, damn him for popping up and ruining her years of lonely wallowing, and damn him for believing she could change the fate of their world.
She raised her wand and smiled coldly at him giving him a look of challenge right back. Then in an instant his wand raised and a streak of green light flew out of it. Hastily throwing up a shield she ran behind one of the boulders that was just to her right. Peeking around the side she threw a jelly legs jinx at him which he blocked with an almost bored look. He wasn’t even trying to hide! She darted out from behind the boulder and sprinted to a large pine. A curse struck the pine and bark exploded from the spot it had hit. She heard movement and chanced a look at Malfoy between the low branches, he was moving towards her now in pursuit.
“Come out Granger, hiding will only prolong what we know is going to happen. You’re out of practice and sloppy. That jelly legs jinx missed me by at least a meter. You can’t aim and you need a better arsenal of spells. The ones you are using are barely even O.W.L skill. I bet you’re out of breath too from just running from the boulder to the tree…”
He was closer now, walking slowly towards the spot where she was hiding within the branches near the pines base. She took stock of herself and the spells she knew. Admittedly she had read a lot these past years but without actually preforming the defensive spells she had read about she had quite forgotten them. She had a lot of experience in warding spells and shield charms but without anyone to practice with or the motivation to keep her skills fresh she was dismal at actually dueling with anyone. Reluctantly she admitted to herself he was right about almost everything except that she wasn’t out of breath… that much. She was only breathing heavy from the hatred burning in her heart.
She readied herself and with her wand raised she stepped out of the cover of the pines trunk and blasted hex after hex at him. She could admit to herself she lacked any experience and skill defending herself past what she learned in her years at Hogwarts but she wouldn’t admit that to him until she gave this everything she had, and probably not even after that. He had a shield up before her first spell hit and he continued to walk towards her as she pelted him with every hex and jinx she knew. Then she saw his wand raise and he waved it in a complex pattern. His shield turned from opaque to a clear shimmery blue and her next jinx bounced off of his shield and back at her. She threw herself to the side and felt his stunning spell hit her as she was falling into the soft pine needles surrounding the tree. She knew her face was stuck in an expression of shock and a little bit of awe. That was a new spell she had never read about or seen used.
Draco’s face came into view and he was smirking again, the insufferable man was as pleased as a niffler that had just stolen something shiny.
“Well, you gave it all you had so points to you for bravery and stubbornness but surely you can admit that you need all the help you can get?”
She couldn’t move but tried to convey all her anger at being bested so… so… nonchalantly by him.
“Hmm… You should control that temper too. It’ll get you in to trouble. I hurt your pride, not your body or mind. Get over it Granger. We’ll break for some tea and more of that horrid bread you have and then I’ll make sure you have the basics down before we move on to more complex and new spells. We can duel again once you’ve got a handle on your aim and more than nine spells to rotate.”
He waved his wand, removing the stunning spell, and turned and walked back towards the tent. She glared at him as she got up, brushing the pine needles from her clothes, but she followed him into the tent because she could really use a damn cup of tea.