Parade of the Sun - Dramione

PART THIRTY-THREE.

December 7; 8:19am

He was glaring at her from the pain in his arm, sitting back against the trunk of a tree, a dark look on his face. She had made the mistake of telling him she had stabbed its leg before it swiped out at him. She had pointed out that it was his own stabbing that made it swing to him, but he decided to blame her. He was angry about her staying, too, and maybe the look on her face when she had said you stayed because it looked a bit like wonder and surprise. She hadn't really given him a choice, but he had one. The beast was closing in, and their only option left was to fight it. She had tried to explain that to him, but he didn't want to listen to her right now - he probably wouldn't until the pain faded a little more.

She wondered if he had stayed because of how he needed her for the end, and they had a better chance with two. If he stayed because it was his life too, or because it was hers in that moment. She knew how much he hated any situation that might put his life in danger, but she knew that - when even given a chance - he was willing to go through it for the people he... She shook her head. It had just scared her - her reaction when she thought he was... She couldn't even think it. She couldn't even say the words inside her head, that was how much it scared her. And she hadn't thought a single thing about the spell, about needing him for that. All she thought about was him, and gone, and... She shook her head again.

They had washed up with the water bottles, leaving them with only one and a half bottles of water, but they should be reaching a main river soon. Their food supply was limited to capers and the bad peach in her bag, so the hunting would fall to her now. He looked smug about it at first, but when she started to gnaw her lip, he grew increasingly worried. If you can attack a fucking beast, you can kill a rabbit to feed us. She knew she could, she just wasn't sure how hungry she was going to be after.

"If your arm starts hurting, and you need to take a break from--" She looked behind her at the rustling sound, more pronounced than the smaller animals and birds they were used to. 

Draco got to his feet, walking quickly to his bag. "If that thing is following us--"

"It makes a lot more noise than that, and you know it."

"--pissed it off, and now it's going to come back with a--"

"I don't think it will be back. If it didn't die, it'll try to heal first."

"Wonderful. Really looking forward to the reunion. Perhaps you can just throw me under-"

"Sounds like a fantastic plan, Draco. I'll just shove you right under there when it--"

"--recognizes you as a small animal from your hair, and--"

"--breaks your other arm, or worse, you can blame me for that--"

"--to the end of it, and let it drag you through the forest. You know how much it likes smashing into trees and--"

"--rips your tongue straight out of your mouth--"

December 8; 2:20pm

"You're a lot better at tearing apart confidence than building it."

"Thank you."

"And it's a little different when it's not threatening to take my life away!"

"If you don't eat, you're going to starve. You already killed it, just cut it right down the middle now. You have to cut the-- If you vomit on it, you're just going to have to kill another one."

Hermione pushed her mouth and nose into the crook of her arm, looking away from the squirrel and up to Draco. She thought she should have read up on how to hunt and this whole process, but she still didn't think it would have helped her much. "I don't know how you did this."