Of Doves and Dragons

Chapter Forty-four: The Miles Between

"We sat back and watched our legacy give way. What am I supposed to say? You go first, lying's worse. This Dutch courage going to my head."

-Minke, Rest

The unlikely trio landed back on the outskirts of Shell Cottage at half-past eight. All were winded, having just barely escaped the clutches of Filch while running through the grounds to the Forbidden Forest to where they could safely apparate. It seemed to have been long enough past their expected return for the Order to have been worried as Hermione nearly flung herself at Weasley.

"I thought something might have happened when you hadn't returned." She confessed, when she broke away from a wonderstruck Ron, and glanced from Draco to Harry. "Did you get it?"

Harry nodded astutely wiping the sweat that was dripping down his nose.

Draco looked behind the brainiac entirely prepared to see Ember sat by the fire or engaged in a conversation with Fleur but he couldn't find her through the blowing cloths of the tents and the bodies walking around the fire. "Where's Ember?" He asked after a moment, causing Hermione's relieved face to tighten.

She licked her lips, shifted from one foot to the other, and Draco held his breath. "She hasn't come back yet," Hermione admitted.

Even though he understood her words, he couldn't help but continue to scour the campsite for a glimpse of green eyes. She had to be back. She trusted Snape so much that she had convinced him that it would be fine. He trusted her judgement enough to let her fly away from him and now she wasn't where she was supposed to be.

He didn't realize that he looked as panicked as he felt, or that his breathing had turned irregular, until Harry spoke. "A million things could have happened."

"That's what I'm worried about." Draco whispered breathlessly, finally tearing his eyes from his useless search and lethally training them on the trio.

Hermione took a step closer to him at the look in his eyes; the desperation flowed out of his pores. "She could still show up. You three were later than expected."

Draco felt like his thoughts were a step behind a wall of petrified emotion that confused his senses, and therefore it took him until then to reach for his pocket and rip out the gold coin. In his palm it began to shift in a message. Hermione narrowed her eyes indignantly. "Is that?"

"Yes I stole your idea Granger. It wouldn't be the first time." Draco spat half-heartedly as he waited for the dial to spell out the message.

She frowned slightly at the slight but let it pass considering he was clearly on the verge of an anxiety attack.

The three watched as the tension of his shoulders, the tightness of his knuckles, and his pinched face seeped out of him like a great sigh had taken over his soul.

"What's it say?" Ron bravely asked after a moment.

Draco felt his heart throb painfully at the two words she left him with. Trust me. He didn't know where this placed her, where she was or how she was fairing, but he knew that it would have had to have had something to do with Snape and that was a chilling enough thought. One thing was clear, she wasn't coming back to the rendezvous tonight.

He gulped in the wake of the confirmation that she was out there on her own.

"Draco?" Harry urged, apprehensively.

He looked over to the expectant faces all leaning in towards him. "She's..."

"Not coming back?" Hermione suggested hesitantly.