Would You Like A Hand?

12 | stop

Hermione stared at Draco in surprise, not sure if he was lying or speaking the truth.

Either way, she played along and whimpered, "Sell me?"

Draco glared at her and snapped, "Did you really think I wanted to travel with a weakling like you? You're nothing but a burden."

Wondering whether he was trying to save himself or if he had a plan to help both of them, Hermione decided that for now, she would keep acting helpless. She gasped as despairingly as she could, and then took a tentative step back, as if she was startled at his hostility. She tried to summon the appropriate emotions: sick to her stomach because of his betrayal, panic because she was surrounded, and terror because she was trapped and alone.

It was hard when you couldn't quite remember how to feel.

Some of the grizzly men that surrounded them chuckled, their amusement rolling off each other like small, calm waves on the shoreline. A few of them handled their weapons threateningly.

The brightest witch of her age took care not to glare fearlessly at the bear-like men, opting to look as weak as possible. Her widened eyes showed fear, and her paralyzed stance likened her to a deer caught in headlights.

One of the bears cheered for Draco, "That's the kind of attitude we're looking for! How about you join us? You're our type of teammate!"

The Slytherin boy responded, "Unfortunately, I like to work alone. But if you'll give me something in return, I wouldn't mind bringing girls like her," Draco sneered at the witch, "to you every now and then."

Unaware that they were talking to the snake in the room, the bears continued offering reasons for him to stay.

The Slytherin boy gave them a chilling, haughty smile, stating coldly one last time that he would not join them.

"Charming, aren't you?" One man laughed loudly, "You look like you know how to catch 'em. But exactly what kind of payment are you looking for?"

Hermione knew Draco didn't have an answer - if he was trying to save himself and her, no matter what he said, the strange men would figure out he was stalling for time.

Money was no longer the most important aspect of the world, and if he had said anything about letting the both of them go, their captors would clue in immediately that Draco had been bluffing.

There were at least seven of them standing around, and if Draco was speaking the truth, there was still only one of him. He couldn't make any requests because what else was stopping the men from trapping him here with her?

Nothing at all.

And if he was speaking the truth, Hermione wasn't going down without a fight.

So instead of letting him answer the question, Hermione screamed.

She hoped it sounded like terrified nonsense, and not Confringo - the witch had discreetly pointed her wand at the far wall while everyone's attention had been on Draco.

A shelf blew up, the suddenness causing all the men to jump and spring into action.

The crackling of flames filled the room as well as surprised shouts.

In the confusion, Hermione cast another spell - flipendo - and one man on her left was knocked back into a table. She had managed to time it so that it looked like the guy had fallen over in shock.

While smoldering flames crept along the back wall, everyone yelled over each other:

"What's happening?"

"What the hell?!"

"We need water!"

"Someone get a bucket!"

While they screamed incomprehensible instructions every which way, Draco cast disillusionment charms on himself and Hermione, grabbing her arm at the same time.

When they disappeared from view, Hermione felt a tug on her arm, and she followed as best as she could. It was disorienting to follow nothingness - and even more so to feel a hand on her arm but see nothing there (not even her own arm).

She spared a second to be relieved that Draco was only lying to those men after all.

Once they were out of the store, they ran, no longer caring about how much sound they were making. The chaos in-store was enough to distract their captors.

The two of them ran past the caged, lifeless, half naked women, not sparing them another glance.

Somewhere in the back of Hermione's mind, her old self thought, we can save them - but the logical part said, we don't have time and they're practically dead; look at their faces.

The last part of her mind didn't even care for the women.

When did I stop caring? The stray thought ran through her mind as she escaped the mall.

She and Draco ran through the closest exit they could find and didn't stop. A few struggling zombies wandered about, and some turned towards the sound of their footsteps. The students cast their fire spells as they ran further and further from the mall, through the parking lot.

They ran until they couldn't see the mall.

They ran until they found another building to explore.

They ran until their disillusionment charms wore off and Draco finally let go of her arm.

They ran until Hermione collapsed in pain, and Draco remembered that she had a still-fresh wound.

They ran until they couldn't.