We both stared down at the empty space on his unblemished arm, breaths shallow, hearts racing furiously.

I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out. Instead, we looked speechlessly at one another.

And then suddenly, as though a magnetic force was at play, the space closed between us as we held onto each other tightly, our bodies almost humming with joy at finally being together again.

"Hermione," he murmured, peppering kisses over my face, his arms tightening around me. "You did it, you really did it."

"You did it," I breathed, my heart full of love as I looked into his eyes, "you saved me and then freed yourself even though it's made you an enemy of his."

"I saved you because I love you," he said firmly, his eyes flashing defiantly, "I saved you because I'm on your side, I'm always on your side, even if it hasn't seemed that way in the past."

"I love you too," I said quickly, cupping a hand to his face, sighing in the blissful feel of the cool skin of his cheek against my fingertips. "And even though I hate that you felt the best thing was for me to forget that, I do understand why you did it. You were trying to protect your family."

A shadow fell instantly across his face, his features pinching in anger. "They can all rot in hell as far as I am concerned. The only one I was trying to save was her. My mother."

I could feel the sudden acceleration of his heart and we held onto each other a fraction tighter as we exchanged fretful glances and I knew we were thinking the same thing.

"Do you think they're okay?" I asked, knowing it was a pointless question but I just had to acknowledge what we had left behind. The idea that Harry had been caught was a thought I couldn't contemplate, and I knew it was the same for him regarding his mother.

He shook his head, regret rife in his eyes. "I don't know. But you are, and right now, that's all I care about."

A loud creak from somewhere deep inside the building made us both start. I twisted around in Draco's embrace, raising his wand which was still clutched tightly in my grasp.

We both strained our ears into the silence, holding our breaths. Nothing.

"It's not safe here," I whispered, "anyone could stumble upon us."

"Where else can we go?" Draco asked, his voice hushed behind me.

With my free hand, I reached down the front of my top, relief hitting me when I realised my beaded bag was still stuffed in my bra.

"How do you feel about camping?"

*****

We had lost the original tent when the Snatchers had caught us, of course. But luckily, knowing how careless Ron and Harry often were, I had the foresight to pack a spare tent.

So, back to the forest I went with my new and improved companion who looked just as enthralled by the idea of living in a tent as Ron had done.

"Is this it?" Draco spluttered once he'd crawled into the A-frame tent which had room for nothing but a double sleeping bag. "You can't even stand in the thing! And where are we supposed to wash?"

It was certainly a lot smaller than the tent I had shared with Ron and Harry. But this was a Muggle tent which I had pinched from Mum and Dad's attic, and therefore lacked the bells and whistles a wizard's one would normally have.

"I think I heard some running water close by when I was casting the protection charms," I said helpfully as I crawled in next to him, "It was possibly a river, although it was too dark to see. And I've got all the necessary toiletries in my bag."

"Isn't there a hotel we can check into?" Draco asked, the disdain in his drawl evident. "It's not like I can't afford somewhere habitable for us."

"The second we put ourselves amongst civilisation, we risk getting caught. This way, we can place protective spells around us and remain undetected. It worked for me and the boys... well, until Harry decided to be an idiot, that is."

Draco raised his eyebrows, an amused smirk twitching at his lips. "And you're surprised because...?"

I smacked his arm, although not hard because I was still feeling incredibly weak from my little excursion to Malfoy Manor. Clearly sensing this, the smirk fell from Draco's lips as his eyes narrowed in concern.

"Here," he ordered, slipping off his shoes before climbing into the unzipped sleeping bag and holding out his arms for me to join him, "come and get some rest."

I didn't hesitate, kicking my own shoes off and sliding in next to him. He zipped us up inside and I lay cocooned in his arms, my body relaxing against his.

"I missed your smell," I murmured against his chest, deeply inhaling the scent from his crumpled shirt. "I may not have remembered in my mind, but I did in my heart. My heart missed everything about you."

His arms tightened around me as he gave a heavy sigh. "I'm sorry. I'll never stop being sorry. It killed me to see you and not have you remember what we'd shared. And I know it was my doing, but I really thought at the time that I had no other choice."

"I know."

Silence.

"We will find them again, won't we?" I asked tentatively when Draco remained quiet, possibly deep in his own tortured thoughts. "Because, honestly, even though Harry's supposed to be the one to win this war, he and Ron really are useless without me."

I could feel Draco chuckle against me. "I can believe that, Granger." He tucked my hair behind my ear and kissed my forehead. "But please let's get you recovered here first. And then together we'll find them, I promise."

My heart warmed with relief, and, after exchanging 'goodnights', I found myself finally closing my eyes as I snuggled against him, allowing the steady beat of his heart to lull me to sleep.

He didn't know it, but he was healing me just by being there.

*****

The sunlight blinded my eyes when I awoke, and I closed them again instantly, trying to work out where I was.

And then the memories came rushing back to me, panic coiling tightly in my chest as I recalled how I had gotten separated from Ron and Harry just as Voldemort had been summoned.

Had they escape? Or had the unthinkable happened and Voldemort had killed my two best friends?

My eyes sprang open again, my lungs struggling to expand as I attempted to gulp in air.

An empty space was next to me where Draco had been. I wondered where he'd gone, trying not to let my imagination run away with me. The idea of being left on my own was somehow more frightening than the thought of having to endure the Cruciatus Curse again.

But then I heard rustling outside. I sat up, reaching for my wand, before remembering with quiet dismay that it had been taken by the Snatchers. If Draco had indeed gone, then he would have left me without means to defend myself, and I knew he wouldn't do that after everything he'd risked for me already.

Still, I couldn't hide my relief when Draco's head appeared through the flap of the tent as he came crawling back in on his hands and knees.

"Went for a piss," he explained, manoeuvring himself fully inside and landing heavily down next to me. "Sorry, I didn't want to wake you. You needed the rest. How are you feeling now?"

Slowly, I nodded. "Aching a bit." My voice was hoarse and thick with sleep.

Draco pulled from his pocket a red flask which I recognised from my beaded bag. "Here," he said, passing it to me. "I filled this with water from the river you must have heard last night. I know a filtering spell, so it should be good to drink."

I gratefully accepted and drank greedily, the water tasting fresh and cold as it soothed my dry throat.

"I also managed to catch a salmon," he said, beckoning towards the tent flap, "I've got it poaching on the fire I made outside. I know you've got cans of goods in your bag, but I saw him swimming about in the river and I thought he might make a nice breakfast."

I looked at him, my eyes wide. "Six months of camping with Ron and Harry and the best we could catch between us was a tiny tasteless pike fish. How do you do it?"

A smirk twitched at his lips as his grey eyes twinkled amusedly into mine. "Because I'm Draco Malfoy, and when I want something, I get it."

"And not in the least bit arrogant about it, I see?"

He answered me with a pointed gaze, our matching smirks stretching into warm smiles. And, despite the dire circumstances that had brought us back together, I couldn't help but feel my heart swell. For I had missed this Slytherin boy, I had missed him so very much.

But the events of the previous night still weighed heavily on my mind, and, even though I had promised Draco that I would fully recover first, I still needed to know that my two friends were okay and that they had somehow managed to escape.

Luckily, Draco was clearly thinking the same as me.

"Look, I noticed Potter's cloak was in your bag," he murmured, his arms going around me as he pulled me back into his embrace, "how about after breakfast I go and see if I can find out any news? I won't take any risks, and I promise I won't be long. But there's no point starting the search for Potter unless we know he's back out there somewhere. And-" he hesitated, swallowing. "-I need to know that my mother is okay... you understand?"

"Of course I understand," I said at once, reaching up to push his hair back from his eyes. "And yes, go, before we drive ourselves insane wondering."

"After we get some protein in you," he said authoritatively, quickly pressing his lips against my forehead before slithering back out of the tent to attend to the salmon.

*****

After breakfast (which was the most heavenly meal I'd had in literally months), Draco took off with the cloak whilst I went and had a bathe in the river, soothing my aches as I washed myself from head to toe.

I tried not to look down at the destroyed skin upon my right arm, the letters still burning painfully into me, a grotesque reminder about what this war represented.

I splashed away the tears from my face, telling myself that I mustn't cry yet, not until I'd found Ron and Harry and defeated that bastard who had caused all of this suffering.

And then I'd let myself cry, I'd cry until I had nothing left in me. But for now, I needed to stay strong.

"Hermione?"

Gasping, I self-consciously flung my arms over my bare chest as I spun around to see Draco standing on the bank of the river, staring at me with an unflinching expression on his face.

"Draco!" I exclaimed, feeling my face flame, "you startled me-"

"I wanted to come and find you straight away," he cut in abruptly, beginning to loosen his tie as he strode towards the water's edge. "Potter and Weasley managed to escape before he arrived. My family is in disgrace but no one was captured or killed. It's the best news we could hope for at this time."

I closed my eyes in utter relief, thanking the heavens. And when I opened them again, it was to the sight of a shirtless Draco waist-deep in water, striding towards me, his muscles rippling beneath his torso as he moved.

"I haven't got anything on!" I gasped as he began to close the gap, his hungry eyes never leaving mine, making me blush and smile furiously at the same time.

"Good," he drawled as his hands reached my waist, fingers digging fervently in my flesh as he pulled my hips roughly up against his, "because when I say I've missed you, I mean I really missed you."

"Oh!" I gasped again, feeling a familiar hardness press against my stomach, causing all the blood in my head to rush south.

He caught my lips in his, kissing me sweetly at first, but the moment a soft whimper vibrated longingly at the back of my throat, he deepened it, groaning. And I responded with equal enthusiasm, flinging my arms up around his neck so I could clasp my hands in his hair, my fingertips grazing his scalp.

The feel of his skin against mine was to die for, and, wanting more, I swung my legs up in the water and wrapped them around his waist.

And then, right there - in the same spot where Draco had caught our breakfast - he showed me just how much he had missed me.

Twice.

*****