How Did This Happen?!

Running and Hogwarts

They walked onward through the morning with no unexpected problems halting their progress – only Draco's injury gave them cause to pause and rest. The sun shone brighter through the trees, the breeze rustling the leaves and making dancing patterns on the forest floor.

"Hermione, we need to stop and rest for a minute, my ankle is killing me." Draco gasped as he breathed through the pain.

Hermione stopped and sat down on a fallen branch from a nearby tree. "Alright, but we can't stay here long if you want to be in bed at Hogwarts before tonight."

Draco walked up and slumped down next to Hermione on the fallen branch. A flash of pain shot through his skull like an axe had fallen upon it.

"Hermione... Argg!"

"Draco! Are you ok? What's wrong?" She grabbed his hand not knowing what else to do. Suddenly the pain stopped, he sat there for a moment with the sweat running down his face.

"Draco are you alright?" she asked as he shook in the aftershocks.

He turned slowly to face her, as grey eyes met amber there was a moment of understanding.

He quickly pulled her toward his body, pressing his lips to hers in a rapid, bruising kiss; then he slowed into a more adoring, gentle embrace, with their lips barely brushing against each other – sending little shocks of magic through both their bodies. They moved closer to each other, and the hand that Draco didn't have around Hermione's shoulders met with her upper thigh. They angled their heads for a better alignment of their lips and the kiss slowly deepened to allow their tongues to tentatively duel.

Suddenly, rustling bushes and trees in the distance interrupted them; the crackling of leaves rubbing against each other was followed by a very loud squealing sound from the same area.

"What in Merlin's name was that?" Draco asked, breaking the kiss – his eyes wide as the squealing became louder and closer to them. Hermione stood up, leaving him on the fallen tree branch.

"I don't know," she answered, "but I think our stop is over. It's probably a good idea to start running, now."

Yet another loud squealing came through the trees. Draco, with adrenaline flowing through him, stood up quickly, suddenly able to ignore the pain as his flight-or-fight reflexes took over. "Yeah, good idea, let's go."

They started running (though, in Draco's case, hobbling) as fast as they could through the thick forest. They stopped abruptly when they came to a small open space, trees stood around it like prison bars.

"Which way Hermione?" He looked at her desperately, hoping she knew what to do next. She set her wand on the palm of her hand and spoke clearly, "Point me!"

The wand spun to point North. "Ok, let's go. Follow me Draco!"

She held her hand out with the wand in front of herself, her other hand gripping his and practically dragging him as they continued to run and limp as fast as they possibly could through dense forest. Finally, the trees gradually thinned out into a few sparse saplings in a clearing. They were panting for breath, holding the stitches in their sides, and calming down. It seemed like forever-and-a-day before they finally stood still.

Panting hard Hermione looked at Draco and tried to speak but between gasping breaths, it was mostly nonsense and broken sentences. "We... lost... whatever... was... squeal"

They tried to listen for any more movement in the distance above the pounding of their hearts, rushing blood and heavy breathing; hearing nothing but the natural rustling of branches in the wind, they sat down in the grass to catch their breath.