Hermione forced herself to stay awake, despite the aching in her muscles and the heaviness of her eyelids. They'd been riding for hours now, through the dense forest. She was tired of being hit by the branches and swatting away bugs. Draco's jacket, wrapped around her shoulders, was keeping most of the cold air out, but every once in awhile, a cold gust of wind would catch her off guard and goosebumps would jump up to meet it. Just when she thought she'd fall out of her saddle, Harry stopped. "We've got to rest for a bit. We'll just wear ourselves out otherwise." Nobody argued with him, for they were all rather tired. Even Draco said nothing, only slipping from his own saddle and helping her down like he'd done every time. It seemed Harry and Ron were fine with letting him be the one to help her up and down, because they hadn't thrown a fit when he touched her. As he helped her down, she couldn't help but realize how tired he seemed. He hadn't struggled at all beforehand, but now he could barely pick her up. She herself felt weak, and when her feet hit touched the ground, her knees almost buckled underneath her and she reached out to steady herself, gripping Draco's arms. He looked at her, seemingly surprised at her actions.
"Are you alright?" She mumbled something incoherent, then all but collapsed into his arms. Ron and Harry rushed over, worry written all over their features.
"What happened?! Wha-" Harry stopped Ron from accusing the blond when he saw the concern on the slytherins face.
"Calm down, Ron. He's just as confused and worried as we are." Ron gave Harry a look of disbelief, but shut up. At that, Draco shifted Hermione to a more comfortable position.
"I'm not sure what happened, Weasel," Ron's face reddened at the mocking name, but Draco continued. "One minute, I was getting her down from her horse, the next, she's passed out in my arms." Harry looked at the face of the exhausted girl. She seemed almost peaceful.
"She must have been really tired. I wonder if this world or whatever it is, is having a weird affect on us." Draco shrugged and, with a bit of difficulty, lifted the limp girl into his arms, holding her bridal style.
"We can figure that out after we get her comfortable. Do we have anywhere to lay her?" Ron found her blanket roll and laid it out on the ground. Draco put her down, and she curled up into the blankets, her breathing even. Harry sat on the ground near her, yawning, after tying up the horses.
"I think that the fact that we don't have our wands is taking a toll on us. That, or maybe the time here is different or something. I usually don't feel this tired." Ron groaned and leaned against a tree.
"I wish 'Mione was awake. She'd know what to do and what's going on." Draco was still sitting beside Harmione's crudely-made bed, looking over the book in his hands.
"We should have time to take a short break, I think. But someone will have to stand watch." The servant, whom they had all almost forgotten about, stepped forward.
"My Lords, I can stand watch. I'll wake you if anything is amiss." Ron looked skeptical.
"Are you sure?" The servant nodded his head rapidly.
"I've done it before, and I can do it now, if your majesty will let me." He bowed deeply then, and Ron made another face.
"Just be sure to wake us if there is anything weird." They then spread out on their own blanket rolls. As the servant sat a few feet away, alert, Ron glanced over at Draco. He had spread out his blankets quite close to where he'd been sitting, beside Hermione. "Harry, look over there." Harry looked over at the two. Draco's breathing was already even, signaling that he was fast asleep. The dark-haired boy turned back to look at his friend. Ron's face was locked in a angry glare and his face was beginning to turn red. "That creep's too close to her." He went to get up, but Harry stopped him.
"Ron, calm down. Though I never thought that I'd be taking up for Malfoy, he probably just fell asleep there because he was too tired to move. There's no need to make such a ruckus, we're all tired." Ron settled back down, but he didn't seem happy about it. Harry wasn't sure how what was going on, and he wasn't sure how he felt about it. He wondered it it was just the spell as he sank into his blankets and closed his eyes.
Hermione woke up to warm breath on her forehead. She shifted for a moment, wondering why she was so uncomfortable. Then, she remembered. She was in the middle on a forest, running for her life once again, and she's collapsed on Draco when he'd been helping her down. Her face flushed at the memory, and she opened her eyes only to see the said slytherin asleep only inches away from her. His face was tranquil, something she'd never thought she'd see, his features relaxed and soft. Then, her brain started working again and she sat up quickly. Why in Merlin was he sleeping so close? She looked around, rubbing her eyes. She saw the servant looking at her, and when she looked around, she noticed that she was the only other one awake. The sky was getting dimmer, and fear seized her heart, but she pushed it away, not wanting to think about what could happen. Her hands went to her hair out of habit, only to find that it was still fixed, only a few curls out of place. A groan sounded from beside her and she looked down at Draco. He sat up, running his fingers through his hair and yawning. He looked incredibly sexy like that, just waking up, and she hoped her face wasn't red. As her fingers busied themselves trying to fix a stray curl, he stretched, looked at her, and spoke.
"Did you sleep okay?" Merlin, even his sleepy voice was sexy. She cleared her throat, not trusting her voice right off, and nodded.
"Yes, I did. I'm sorry about collapsing on you. I was just so tired. I don't know what got into me!" He reached out, and instinctively, she flinched a bit, but all he did was tuck another curl into its proper place as if it was the most normal thing he'd ever done. He drew his hand easily, and she decided it was because his brain was still groggy from sleep.
"Well, Potter said something about the magic messing with our bodies. Something about us not being used to this 'world' or whatever." Hermione nodded, thinking.
"It's very possible. I can usually function on very little sleep, but right now... I wonder if the book has anything about it inside." She felt his eyes on her, and she felt herself shaking. Shaking! Her! She forced herself to calm down, breathing deeply as she shifted the blankets off her legs. There was a shuffling a few feet off, and she turned to see Harry and Ron waking up. While Ron sat trying to wake completely up, Harry stood and gathered his blankets. Then he looked around.
"Do we have any food?" At the mention of food, Ron woke up and stood.
"I have some in my bag!" He exclaimed. Draco scoffed, apparently awake now.
"It'll be a surprise if you didn't eat it all already." Ron glared at him, his face turned the same color as his hair. Hermione quickly jumped in before the two could start fighting.
"Guys, please! We're tired, hungry, and on the run, this is not the time!" She pointed at Draco. "You control your mouth, and you," she turned to Ron."Control your temper! Now please, the food!" Ron turned to the bags on his saddle, trying to keep his temper in check. He then turned back around, a couple small bags of dried fruits and nuts in his hands.
"There's not much, but it's better than nothing." Hermione smiled gratefully as he gave her a bag. She really was hungry, she realized as she ate. They at quickly, sharing with the servant, of course, and were soon strapping the blanket rolls back on the horses. Draco came over and wrapped the jacket around her shoulders before helping her back into the saddle. As she settled into the seat, he smirked up at her.
"Well, at least you didn't fall on me this time, although it wasn't too bad of an experience."
