Penance

Kazfeist: I love it when people pick up on the small things that I don’t say :). You’ll have to wait a couple chapters for this to come up but it makes me happy that you’re reading between the lines.

Thank you for all my wonderful reviews! They are my addiction.

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Hermione leaned back in her seat, one hand on the wheel the other cupping her aching neck. She was tired. They had been driving for hours and the only diversion from the road had been the one stop they had made for gas. She looked over at Malfoy who was on high alert, his wand clenched in his hand which rested on his lap. He caught her gaze, his expression unchanging.

“You need to sleep,” he stated simply.

“I’m okay.”

“You were swerving again.”

She sat up taller in her seat and lowered the window, the cold air and driving snow smacking her face as she attempted to wake up. She turned up the music which made Malfoy draw a face. Ignoring him she began to sing along, shaking her head to chase away the cobwebs clouding her vision. She glared at Malfoy when he turned down the music to the point that she could barely hear it.

“I was listening to that!” she protested.

“You’re going to break both of our eardrums with that shit! What kind of music is that?”

“It’s called Bon Jovi you prat! And don’t touch a woman’s stereo!” she flipped it back up and continued singing until he turned it down again. She turned it back up with a glare and slapped his hand when he went to turn it down again.

“What the fuck was that for?” he complained.

“I said don’t touch the stereo, Malfoy! My car, my rules.”

Shaking his head he turned to stare out the window and she smiled smugly dancing in her seat as she sped down the freeway. She loved the feel of the road beneath her fingertips and she flew at far greater speeds than was posted. She thought she was incredibly lucky to have not been pulled over by now but she had a strange feeling that they were being followed. She knew she was just being paranoid by what he had told her but she couldn’t stop the feeling nonetheless that she had to keep one step ahead.

When the song ended she turned the music back down to a tolerable level and kept on. It wasn’t long before her tired body began pulling at her eyelids, gravity threatening to win.

“Granger, you need to sleep. I don’t fancy you putting us into another ditch.”

Snapping up she looked at Malfoy who had dark semi-circles underneath his eyes. “I’ll see if I can find us a motel or something.”

“A what?”

She rolled her eyes. “Somewhere for us to sleep.”

“Well can’t you just, you know, stop the car or something?”

“Look at that, you remembered the name! But no, I can’t just pull over. For a short bit, yes, but I don’t want a cop to come knocking on the window.”

“What’s a cop?”

Frustrated, she blew out a calming breath. “It’s like an Auror for muggles. They can write you tickets, take you to jail, namely things I don’t really want.”

She kept driving until she saw an exit for a town called Greenstone. She pulled onto the ramp and searched all directions to see which would most likely sport a motel. Looking to her right she saw that Malfoy had fallen asleep and smiled. He was really handsome when he wasn’t talking.

She drove for a few minutes before encountering a Motel 8. She pulled into the drive and parked, nudging Malfoy. He shot up and whipped out his wand, pointing it at her. She jumped at the sudden movement and backed into the door, away from the wand.

“Malfoy, it’s just me!”

She could see that he was breathing hard and was somewhat worried. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Sorry, living on your feet all the time tends to make you paranoid. Just, say my name next time, alright? Don’t nudge me or anything. I don’t want to attack you.”

“Yeah, sure.” She felt guilty for having worried him so. Grabbing her bag she climbed out of the car and locked it before starting up to the front doors. She walked up to the front desk and ordered two rooms.

“One is fine,” Draco said matter-of-factly. He smiled at the lady behind the desk who smiled back with a blush creeping up to her cheeks.

“Will one bed be alright?”

“Two,” Hermione said quickly, glaring at Malfoy. He shrugged and flashed his perfectly white teeth at the clerk.

“Two it is,” she said merrily and gave them their total. Hermione’s head reeled at the price but she reminded herself that she probably wouldn’t need the money anymore anyways. She handed over the dollar bills and took the room key directing Malfoy to the elevators. He was very hesitant at getting inside and once it started moving he braced himself against the wall.

“What the hell is this thing?”

Hermione couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s an elevator, Malfoy. It’s what muggles use when they don’t want to take the stairs or can’t.”

“Why wouldn’t they be able to take the stairs?”

“Well, some people are disabled and can’t walk, others are too old, some people have strollers that can’t make it up the stairs or heavy luggage. There are a lot of reasons.”

He was very green by the time they reached the fifth floor and Hermione couldn’t wipe off the grin from her face no matter how hard she tried.

“Next time we’re taking the stairs.”

She shook her head and slid the card through the slot on the door and swung it open. The room was clean and tidy if a bit small. Hermione didn’t mind, they would only be here a few hours anyway.

“I’ll take the first shift, you go ahead and sleep,” Draco said as he sank onto the furthest bed and kicked off his sneakers. Sneakers? Since when did a Malfoy wear sneakers?

“We aren’t in hiding, Malfoy. They won’t find us here; we’re over three hundred miles from where we were. Go to sleep, you look like death.”

He seemed somewhat soothed by her words if not a bit uncertain. Finally he nodded and rolled onto his side away from her. Ignoring the fact that she was still in her jeans, Hermione flopped onto her bed and closed her eyes. She was asleep in minutes.

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Draco rolled onto his back with his hands behind his head. He could hear the deep even breathing of Granger and was glad she was getting some rest, she would need it later. He had learned to go on little or no sleep for days and weeks on end so he had decided not to argue with her when she insisted he get some rest. He had simply feigned sleep until she herself was snoozing.

He let himself look over at her. The moon was wafting in through the only window in the room. Before the After War he would have sneered at the drabby venue but now he knew there were much more important things to worry about. He had a bed, a roof over his head and he was still breathing. He had nothing to complain about.

He could see the side of her face that was looking at him and he could see the dark bruises marring her pretty features. His chest tightened when he remembered he panic he had felt at her terrified cry. He hadn’t really intended on leaving her, he had just gone for a walk to cool his temper, clear his mind. He had not gone very far when he’d heard her screaming. He knew that sound, the sound that haunted him at night. He could still see his Aunt Bella, now Lady Bella, leaning over Granger’s limp form, lifting a strand of hair and whispering something into her ear before cursing her, making her writhe in anguish as screams were torn from her throat. He had seen the torture she’d gone through, knew it hadn’t been the first time or the last. When he had been sent down to Potter he had been so thankful, he couldn’t take it anymore. When the last battle came and he had stumbled upon her and Potter draping themselves over the lifeless form of Weasley he knew he had to help. When he’d seen the Dark Lord head their way he knew he’d protect her with everything he had. He’d seen the look in Harry’s eyes as they’d latched onto his, begging him to save Hermione who was at the mercy of the Dark Lord. The only thing he had done for Potter had cost him his life and he had to live with the fact that he was partially the reason The-Boy-Who-Lived was dead.

But now he knew otherwise. There was no mistaking him, no matter how gaunt and sickly he’d looked, no matter how wretched or dirty he was, it was Harry. The bastard had taken one look at him and thought he was going to torture him, kill him. That was another reason why he needed Granger. Potter would never come with him and he needed someone who he would go with.

Stop making bloody excuses! he scolded himself. If you have to lie in your own fucking mind you really need some help.

Clenching his fist painfully he turned back to Granger. Even in sleep she looked disturbed, tormented by demons. He had always wondered what it was that had made her run. Hearing the pain in her voice as he’d spoken about Potter had made it obvious that he and Weasley were topping the charts. But there had to be another reason. The Granger he had known wouldn’t have just packed up her things as soon as it started getting hard. She would have rolled up her sleeves and suggested a book that would fix all of their problems. He used to loath her bushy head, her bossy know-it-all demeanor. It made him sick to think about the way she’d raise her hand before a question was even asked so she could spout a four minute long monologue about the differences between using a Bezoar and using a potion. He still grinned when he remembered about the teeth-elongating spell he had used on her accidently when he’d missed Potter. His blood still boiled when he thought about the day she’d slapped him in third year, although for a very different reason. She was gorgeous, even more so after nearly three years. She’d grown, she’d changed. She was no longer the impish bookworm but rather a jaded woman with a backbone and a few moves of her own. He had no idea how she’d gotten away from her attacker seeing as he towered over her and probably doubled her in weight. All he’d heard was a pain-filled grunt and suddenly his arms were full of a frantic half-naked Granger who started kicking his ass the second she touched him.

No, she was definitely not the same girl, although the bossiness didn’t seem to have worn off any. He intended to get to the bottom of her. She was intriguing, a mystery.

No, this is not a game! You are only using her to help Potter, that’s it! Nothing else. After this she’ll go back to her life as a muggle and you’ll go on being a loner.

He hated that his own mind was right. It seemed that he was so in need of human contact that he had come to ask for Hermione Granger to help him. What happened to ‘he worked alone’? He admitted that yes, he did indeed need her help and yes, he thought it would boost morale among their flailing group to bring her back alive but he also enjoyed having someone to talk to, even if it was just bickering. How long had he been on the hunt this time? Seven months? Eight? He couldn’t remember. The only time he spoke to people he was either reporting in or threatening. His weakness sickened him.

He realized too late that she had woken and her big brown eyes were staring up at him.

“You haven’t slept yet, have you?” she asked, raising herself on an elbow.

“What do you care?” he sneered. Yes, there was the Granger he knew. Always in other people’s business.

“I don’t. Stay up all bloody night if you want! Just don’t come crying to me when you’re tired tomorrow.”

He barked out a cold laugh. “Granger, if you hadn’t been hiding out here in your plush little life here you would understand that not all of us need a full eight hours and three square meals.”

She scoffed and turned away from him. He was pleased that he had gotten to her. It really ticked him off that she had just dropped everything, even faking her own death, so that she could live as a bloody muggle. He had thought maybe she had been as Harry had, captured, hurt, alone. He had made it his own personal mission to find her. He had told no one about it, not wanting to upset anyone in case he did not find her alive. When he found her not only alive but well and most certainly not under the thumb of Death Eaters his blood had boiled. It had taken him a bit to calm himself enough to actually approach her and when he’d noticed a few select Death Eaters hanging around he’d taken extra precaution. He knew they would notice her absence sooner rather than later. He hoped they would be well on their way to cracking Harry’s guards by then.

He could tell by her stiff posture that Granger was not sleeping. It took hours, in fact, for her to fall back to sleep and the sun had already risen. He allowed her another hour before rousing her and cleaning himself up in the bathroom. He loathed doing it the muggle way but he didn’t want to leave any traces they might follow until they were out of the states. Then he would aparate, keep her from doing any traceable activity so he could keep her advantage a secret for as long as possible. He hadn’t told her yet, but he planned on putting her car back into a ditch today to make it look as if she had run off the road. They might assume she had died when they couldn’t find her or it would at least delay them from her trail.

He waited patiently as she prepared herself and took her own shower. He hoped she wasn’t one of those women who took forever to get ready like Pansy always had. It bothered him to no end when a woman had to take twenty minutes to put on some makeup that they would just take off later that night.

He wasn’t disappointed as barely ten minutes later she strode out of the bathroom, hair wet, face free of makeup. He decided right then and there that Pansy had a reason to put on makeup. Obviously not everyone had the same clean-faced beauty as Granger. Even with half of her face bruised she stilled looked wonderful.

“Ready?” he asked. She nodded and they headed back down to the lobby taking the stairs this time. He didn’t care what she said, that moving box had ‘painful death’ written all over it. She turned in the ‘key’ which was really just a card type thing and they left. She pulled into a bright red building in what she called a ‘drive-through’ and ordered them some food. She handed him a bag and a paper cup of coffee. It wasn’t tea, but it was caffeine so he didn’t complain. Much.

“Where are we headed today?” she asked. He contemplated her question over the little English muffin sandwich she had gotten him.

“We need to get back to England before we can use magic. They are used to tracing me around the country but doing it over here is suspicious. I hope they don’t pick up the scent from the magic I used last night, especially with it being so close to your flat.”

“You shouldn’t have used it. You put yourself in a lot of danger doing that.”

“I’m always in a lot of danger. A little more won’t hurt.”

She pulled back onto the road and the little junk bucket she called a ‘car’ was soon moving way too fast and passing other cars. About midday she stopped again to get them food and Draco thought his stomach might erupt from the consecutive meals. She got back onto the road again and he let her finish eating before he broached the subject. He needed to do this carefully, cajole her.

“Granger, put your car into a ditch.”

“What?”

So much for cajoling. “You need to make it look like you crashed. We’ll have to find another way back home.”

“I don’t know how you’re forgetting this, but my home is about five hundred miles back that way. How do you expect us to get back to London without aparating? I can’t afford plane tickets! And if we wreck the car how are we supposed to get anywhere?”

“We’ll walk.”

“No, no we are not. Harry is waiting for us. Do you understand that he has spent the last two years locked away? I’m not going to make him wait any longer just because I’m worried about my safety. This is ridiculous. We’ll just aparate, right now.”

“Damn it, Granger! Stop thinking that you understand the way things are now! You can’t bloody help Harry if you’re dead! If you make it look like you had an accident they might think you died and stop trailing you. It’ll be hard getting Harry out if the Death Eaters are jumping down your throat.” Stupid chit! Always thinking she knew better than everyone. Well this was one time she didn’t.

She was silent for a while. Suddenly she pulled the car across a lane and stopped on the side of the road.

“Get out.” She said.

“What the fuck, Granger?” Was she fucking mental?

“You heard me. I said get out.”

Her hands were gripping the wheel so tight her knuckles were white and she stared straight forward, eyes intent. Shaking his head he unbuckled the seat belt like she had shown him and clambered out of the tiny car.

He turned to say something to her but she leaned over his seat and pulled the door shut before swinging back onto the empty road, tires skidding.

He watched her go, gaining speed rapidly. He hoped she killed herself in that damn thing, the stupid self-absorbed bitch.

Then his heart flew into his mouth as he watched her veer sharply into the deep ditch on the side of the road, the car smashing into the ground with a gut-wrenching crash.

“Holy fucking Merlin! Granger!” he booked it, running as fast as he could while his feet slipped and slid on the snow covered ground. He called her name and willed her to climb out of the car. When he finally skid to a stop beside the car he jumped into the ditch on her side, the snow coming up to his knees.

“Granger!” he ripped open the door and his heart started again, thudding wildly when he saw her slumped over the steering wheel, unmoving.

“Fucking hell!” He pulled her back against the seat to assess her wounds. Gravity worked against him and he smashed the belt holder-thing until it released her and he was able to lift her out of the car.

He knew they couldn’t be found. Someone would stop to see if they were alright and he couldn’t wait around for them. Hefting her more securely into his arms he disappeared into the trees lining the road, trudging through the snow. Her head bobbed over his arm unceremoniously and he had to force himself not to look at her until he could lay her down. When he finally did she opened her chocolate orbs and looked up at him.

“Malfoy? Wha-what are you doing here?”

Blood soaked the side of her face where the windshield had shattered and cut into her. With shaking hands he looked over the rest of her finding superficial cuts and possibly cracked ribs. She moaned in pain when he tried to feel whether or not her ribs were actually broken so he stopped.

“Where does it hurt?” he asked. Stupid, idiotic girl!

“Everywhere.”

He fixed what he could; thankful for the training they had all received from Madame Pomfrey. He cleaned up her face as best as possible (cleaning spells were not quite up there on his importance list) and tried to work on her ribs. He didn’t know if he could fix them or even if there was anything to fix but he could lessen the pain enough so she could think. He heard her take a deep breath when he performed the spell and he held it knowing that when he let it go some of the pain would go back. She hissed when he dropped the spell and grabbed at her right side.

“Is is broken?” he asked. He didn’t know how to fix broken bones. She shook her head however and rubbed them gently.

“Just sore. My knee, can you check it?”

She grabbed above her right knee as if she wanted to grab the knee itself but realized it would be too painful to do so. He pulled her jeans up but couldn’t get the material above her knee so he told her to take off her pants.

“No! I will not!” she protested.

“Fine, suit your prude arse.”

She glared at him then her eyes fell to his wand.

“Malfoy, you’re using magic!”

He could have kicked himself. Why hadn’t he thought of it before? Well, it was too late now.

“Granger, do you want me to see if I can help your knee or be a prude little cunt?”

“Why are you being such an arse to me?” she asked, offended.

“Because you are bloody mental! What the fuck were you thinking crashing at those speeds? Why did you kick me out of the car?”

“It needed to be realistic, Malfoy! And I kicked your bloody arse out of the car to spare you the pain but you obviously don’t deserve it!” she tried to get up but put weight on her knee and cried out, grasping a tree for balance when she nearly fell over. He rose and held out a hand for her but she turned away from him. He could hear her sniffing and knew she was probably in a good amount of pain. She was lucky to have come out of something like that relatively well.

He noticed she was shaking rather hard and knew her coat was on the floor in the back of the car as was her bag.

“C’mon, Granger. Let me look at that knee and we’ll get the bloody hell out of here.”

He grasped her elbow and tugged gently to get her to turn. She finally did, her eyes red rimmed and a tear still making its way down her cheek. He swiped at it and pulled his hand quickly away when she looked up at him questioningly. What the fuck was he playing at?

He pulled off his robe and draped it around her. “There, now you can keep covered up. Now can I look at it?”

She nodded and slowly went about taking off her jeans. She lifted the long robes passed her knees while the jeans dropped to the ground. He saw immediately that it was red and swollen to nearly double its normal size already. He knelt on the ground and felt it gently while she held her breath and let out a couple whimpers. It wasn’t broken; she had probably just banged it against something. He could probably lessen the swelling somewhat, it wasn’t his strong suit but he figured anything was better than nothing. She was going to have to walk for a while and the less pain she had the faster they could go. When it finally resembled a knee again he turned around and allowed her to pull up her pants in private, catching a glimpse of her leg in the meantime.

It was a good looking leg.

She tapped him on the shoulder and handed back his robe. He pulled it on, glad for its warmth.

“Can you walk?” he asked. She put weight on the knee carefully and nodded. She limped but was able to move at least.

“Thank you,” she said. He nodded. It was the least he could do seeing as how she had spared him all that pain as well. She looked loads better but still as if she had been run through the mill.

“Let’s get your things from the car and get out of here,” he said. She agreed and they ambled through the snow slowly, her leg hindering her. Draco dug into the back seat through the unlocked door and pulled out her things, handing her her coat and scarf. She tugged them on and buried her hands in the pockets while he lifted out her bag. He heard a car slow and a man stuck his head out of an old green thing, much bigger than Hermione’s car with a huge open box in the back of it.

“You guys alright? Do you need me to call an ambulance?” he hollered.

“No, we’re not hurt. Could you give us a lift into town, though?” Hermione responded.

“Sure thing! Hop on it.”

The man leaned over and opened the door closest to them. Draco gripped her arm before she started forward and glared at her.

“How do you know we can trust him?” he growled.

“He’s just trying to help. Not everyone is evil, Malfoy. It would take us hours to get to town walking. Let’s just take the ride and figure out what we’re going to do from then.” Grumbling, he conceded and followed her in the big car. He had to give her a hand up with her sore knee and when he climbed in her noticed there were only three seats in the large thing. What was the point of having such a big car with so little seats? Hermione sat in the middle and Draco nearly cursed the big man when he reached over Hermione but he was simply pulling a belt over her.

“There yeh are little lady. What’s your name?”

“Janie and this is my friend David.”

He was slightly awed at how easily the lie slid from her but remembered she had been living one big lie for nearly three years.

“It’s nice to meet you guys. Car hit a patch of ice?”

“Yes, I’m afraid. We’ll have to get it towed.”

“That’s too bad. Those Honda’s can last forever, let me tell you. Now this green giant here is a trooper,” he claimed patting it on the dash.

“What year is it? ’46?”

“Close, my girl! ’48. My grandpas gave it to meet. He bought it brand spankin’ new off the lot.”

Draco rolled his eyes as the two went on and on about cars. Leaning against the door he submitted to the fact that this was going to be a very long ride.

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XOXO

RynStar15