7

Draco was just about to bite into his third piece of fruit when he heard a blood-curdling scream. "Holy fucking hell!" he said, jumping up and taking off. He ran as fast as he could, following her screams for help.

"Granger!" he yelled. "Where the bloody fuck are you?" He crashed through the jungle, blasting plants and vines out of his way. "Hermione!"

He heard her scream off to his left and turned in that direction, ready to sprint. He took a running step forward and was confronted by a huge plant that reminded him way too much of a Venus Flytrap.

It was twice as tall as he was; the stems and leaves were dark green, shiny and were topped with a giant, blood-red flower that was opening slowly, as if yawning lazily.

As Draco watched, the plant bent forward, and snake-like vines slithered across the ground, wrapping themselves around his ankles. Just as he raised his wand, ready to blow the bloody thing to kingdom come, it emitted a cloud of yellow-tinged pollen right into his face.

"What the hell?" he said, trying to wave it away. He was suddenly very sleepy and wanted nothing more than to close his eyes. "No! Must not go to sleep..." he said, his head filling with fog. "Granger in trouble... needs me..."

The vines were now winding their way up his body and lifting him off the ground. The flower opened even wider, preparing to devour him.

Hermione screamed Draco's name, his eyes snapped open, and he looked around in horror. He struggled until his hands were free from the vines and stuck his wand into the flower. "Not today, bitch!" he said and blew it up.

He landed on his back with a sickening thud and scrambled across the ground, trying to avoid the vines that were still searching for him. "Get the hell away from me!" he screamed, setting them on fire with his wand. They made some kind of high-pitched screech and shriveled up. He kicked them with his foot, looking disgusted.

"Malfoy! Help!"

Draco turned and ran, almost falling several times. "I'm coming, Granger!" He jumped over a fallen tree, waded through a murky puddle that was up to his knees, ripped down a curtain of hanging moss and came upon a scene so terrible that he almost turned and ran, despite Hermione needing help.

Hermione was clinging desperately to a branch high up in a tree. Her feet dangled precariously close to the open jaws of a man-eating dinosaur. She pulled them up, hooking them to the branch. The animal jumped, snagging its needle-like teeth on her skirt, which ripped, sending the Deinonychus crashing into the ground. It got right back up and started to jump at her again.

"Granger! Where's your wand?" Draco shouted.

Hermione, tears streaming down her face, shouted back, "There! On the ground!" She had a large cut on her cheek, and blood was dripping onto the dinosaur's face, driving it mad with hunger. "Oh my god! Hurry!" she screamed, trying to hold on. She screamed again when a light flew from Draco's wand, hit the Deinonychus in the head and sent it flying into the bushes.

He located her wand and bent over to pick it up. "Fuck!" he said, realizing that the pack was now focused on him. They circled around him, making some strange clicking noise. There were too many of them; there was no way in hell he could stun them or kill them all.

Draco slowly stood up. "I'm going to toss your wand up to you, Granger. You better catch it; I do believe my life depends on it!" A large Deinonychus darted towards him, and Draco fell back, hitting his head on the trunk of the tree.

Hermione pulled herself up so that she was sitting on the branch. "When you're ready," she said, watching the dinosaurs close in on him.

Draco took a deep breath and, without taking his eyes off the animal in front of him, tossed her wand into the air. As soon as it left his hand, the pack attacked.

It happened so quickly. One minute he was standing, wand out, and the next he was flat on his back, wand nowhere in sight. Three of them were on top of him, biting his arms and slashing at his stomach with their large claws. He knew he was screaming, but the sound was far away. He tried to kick them off, but they were just too strong, and the more he fought, the more they slashed at him.

Hermione caught the wand and jumped down from the tree, hearing her ankle snap. Everything went black, and she struggled to stay conscious. She gripped the tree for support. Black and gold spots were dancing before her eyes, and she felt like throwing up.

She took a few shallow breaths, trying not to fall over. "I'm coming, Draco," she said, pushing off the tree and rushing forward. The ground was slick with blood, and she slipped and slid, trying to keep her balance. "No!" she screamed, aiming her wand at the hungry pack. "Get the fuck away from him!" She limped towards him but was knocked over.

Draco managed to get an arm free, and he desperately felt the ground for his wand. "Come on! Come on, damn it!" he said. "Yes!" His fingers closed on it, and he brought his hand up swiftly and stabbed the dinosaur in the eye. It let out a loud roar and fell off his chest.

Hermione rolled over. She was covered in Draco's blood, and she hastily wiped it from her eyes. As soon as she could see, she wished she couldn't. There was one of the pack crouching low, ready to jump on her, jaws open and eyes murderous. She tried to hit it with a spell, but it missed and hit the tree instead, sending splinters of bark flying through the air.

Draco screamed as one of the dinosaurs sunk its teeth into his thigh. His other leg came up automatically, and he kicked it in the head as hard as he could, over and over until it collapsed. Something clicked in his brain, sending him over the edge, and he felt a surge of immense power. "I'll kill you, you fuck!" He aimed his wand and yelled, "Avada Kedavra!" The Deinonychus flew backwards and lay on the ground, dead.

Hermione covered her head as the animal jumped. She could hear Draco shouting and screaming, and then she felt the dinosaur fall on top of her chest, knocking the wind out of her. She passed out.

"Granger? Granger!" Draco shouted, pulling the heavy body off her. He lifted her into his lap. "Say something!" He put his ear to her chest and listened for her heart. It was beating. "Damn it, Granger! Wake up!" He was crying and felt like he was going out of his mind. "Fucking open your eyes right now, or I'm going to..."

"To what?" she said, eyes fluttering open. "Kiss me?"

"You wish!" he said, smiling.

Hermione slowly sat up and looked around. "It seems that I owe you a life debt."

"How about we forget about the life debt, and you just let me make love to you?"

Hermione started to laugh, thinking he was just being his perverted self. "You're joking, right?"

"It's not a joke, Granger. I want to make love to you." He put his bloody hands on her cheeks.

Hermione, seeing that he was dead serious, stuttered, "I... um... well you... we..." She stopped and looked into his stormy grey eyes. "This is not the time or place to make love."

Draco glanced around. "I see your point." He suddenly leaned in and kissed her, making her head swim. "Let me know when it IS the right time and place." Suddenly his face contorted painfully, and he groaned. "Damn this hurts!" he said, clutching his stomach. He took his hand away, and it was covered in fresh blood.

Hermione scrambled out of his lap and helped him to lie down. She was hoping beyond hope that he wasn't mortally wounded. She lifted his shirt and froze.

Draco sensed her sudden fear. "How bad is it?" he asked, trying to sit up and get a look.

"Very bad," Hermione said, trying to remain calm.

"Can you fix it?"

"I'll see what I can do." Hermione took off her shirt and wiped the blood from his chest. There were three long and very deep slashes that ran diagonally from his shoulder across his chest and stomach, ending at his hip. Any deeper, and he would have been disemboweled. As soon as she had cleaned off the blood, it started to bleed again. It was pooling beneath him at an alarming rate.

"Draco, I'm going to use my wand to heal the wounds. It might hurt, I'm not too sure." He didn't answer. "Draco?" she said, gently smacking his face. He was unconscious. "Please let this work!" she said and, with a trembling hand, went to work healing.

Six hours later, Draco started to come around. He could feel someone lying next to him, warm and soft. "Granger?" he asked, reaching out for her and finding her hand.

"I'm here." She brushed the hair from his cool forehead and kissed it.

He sat up slowly, still holding her hand. "How did we get in this cave?" he inquired. "And where did this fire come from?"

"I levitated you here. There was no way I was going to stay in that jungle in the dark with god knows what lurking about!" She stood up and hobbled over to the corner. "I healed you as best as I could. Hopefully it won't leave too much of a scar."

Draco looked down at himself. "Where are my clothes?"

"I had to take them off. You had a serious bite wound on your leg that required attention." She picked up a thick log and hobbled back over to fire.

"What's wrong with your ankle?" he asked, concerned.

"I think it's broken."

"What? Come here!"

Hermione put the log down next to the fire and sat down beside him. He examined her bruised and swollen foot. "Ow!" she said loudly as he tried to turn it.

"It's not broken."

"But I heard a snap!" she said angrily. "When I jumped from the tree, I landed on it, and I distinctly heard a snap!"

"Perhaps you just landed on a stick and the snap you heard was the stick breaking in half?"

Hermione frowned. "Maybe," she said defiantly.

Draco chuckled. "You really don't like to be wrong do you, Granger?" He smiled, totally amused. "You better get used to it. As long as we're together on this little time trip, you'll find that I'm the one who's always right."

"Oh shut up! I should have left you in the jungle to die!"

"And why didn't you?" he asked, his fingers caressing her leg. "Could it be that the thought of living without me drove you to such drastic measures? After all, not everyone would heal their sworn enemy, levitate him to a safe place, lie next to him in the dark and sweetly kiss his forehead. I do believe you love me, Granger!"

"I do not!" she said, smacking his roaming fingers.

"Oh, yes, you do!" he said in a teasing voice.

"Draco?"

"Yes, my love?" he said, pulling her close.

Hermione shoved him away. "Look!"

Draco narrowed his eyes. "Look at what?"

"There!" She pointed to the log she had set down. The light from the fire was dancing around the walls, and it illuminated the piece of wood just right.

"Okay, so now do you think the messages mean something?" Draco asked.

Hermione stared in disbelief. 'in two days, toMorrow will be yesterday.' She turned and looked at Draco. "What the hell is going on?"

to be continued...