Beginning at the End ⏃ Dramione

Chapter 9 3/4: Abandoned

After Draco finished eating his breakfast outside, he felt calm enough to speak with Hermione again. Having something in his stomach actually had helped and now he wanted to apologize. He half expected her to apologize first, only because it seemed to be more of her nature than his.

When he returned to the tent, she was nowhere to be seen, but he noticed her curtains were shut. He walked over to the front of her bed, thinking about speaking to her, but eventually decided to step away, deciding it was best for her to rest.

He assumed even after their fight, that their truce and agreement about the two full days without potion remained. Draco opened the larder to find one tin of green beans and decided this would be the best time to find that Muggle store he had been to years ago.

It did not take long to whip up two more vials of her potion for her legs, as he had kept detail notes in one of his journals. He placed them on an edge of her bed that was outside of the curtain, in a spot where they would not roll off.

When she wants to come out, she will see them there. Satisfied with that thought, he grabbed his wand to Disapparate.

An hour later, Hermione slowly awakened. Her legs were still not working, and she figured she would have to call for Draco's help. I hope he's in a better mood...

Sliding open her curtain, she glanced around the tent, but he wasn't anywhere to be seen. "Draco?"

No response. She was a little frustrated, but she reminded herself that she could not expect him to be at her beck and call.

Just then, she noticed two vials on the outside edge of her bed. He remembered... now I feel like a git. All he has done is save me, mend me, allow me to interrogate him, and apparently, put up with my nightmares. Okay, from now on, I'll be on my best behavior... unless HE acts like a git, in which case, I'll totally fight back... She took one of the vials and drank it down. The taste of the cherry vanilla filled her with more guilt. I need to say sorry and thank him now... I actually LIKE talking to him when we aren't ready to kill one another, which was what, for all of two minutes? Okay, I need to find him. Perhaps he's still pouting outside and expects me to approach HIM...

After exactly three minutes, Hermione was able to get up. She retrieved her purse added the new vial, vowing to keep it near at all times. On her way over to it, she checked the back of the tent to see if Draco was there. When he was nowhere to be seen, she decided to look outside. Again, Draco was nowhere in sight.

Did he take a walk? I had to have been sleeping for at least an hour. Would Draco go on a walk for an hour? Slowly, it dawned on her, He was fairly upset... and he left those vials near the bed... did he leave?

Hermione began to circle the tent, and wondered if it was safe to shout for him outside. Would that attract snatchers or Death Eaters? Are Death Eaters even looking for us this far away from England?

Walking back inside, she decided that he would not have left without his bag. Checking near the kitchen island, she saw that it was gone. All his items were gone: potion, tools, cauldron, all gone... and there was no note.

He left. He has left me. Alone. With my portkeys and wand!

As the panic was building up, she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her toe from kicking a kitchen stool on accident. She pinched her eyes shut from the sharp pain and she sank down in defeat. As the pain subsided, she stared at the tent entrance. If he was going to return, there would have been a note, right? Quickly standing again, she combed every surface in the kitchen, but they were all empty, not a single sheaf of parchment in sight. Her hands fell on the counter surface and her head slumped. I have finally done it: I've even managed to scare off Draco Malfoy. He probably would choose being a Death Eater over spending any more time with me. This is why I can't ever get a boyfriend! I'm too much, too hard on people! I'm the last person anyone wants for company! Hermione dragged her nails over the scalp of her head and closed her eyes...I mean you lose some sleep, that doesn't mean you just LEAVE. Ugh! He could have at least said goodbye! But this was probably easier. Of course he would take the easy way out. Maybe he really did only save me to have a connection to the Order.