In The Forest (Excerpt from an upcoming Harry Potter/LOTR story I'm working on.)

AN: Obviously I do not own and of the HP or LOTR characters they are just the building blocks of my plot. Hope you all enjoy, I will be working this in to the main story which is still being written, and will not be published for a while as I am taking great care to sync it to the LOTR movies but keep my plot on track time wise with those events. Please excuse any grammar errors, I did my best to catch them.


The night was a dense darkness that no stars could penetrate, though it could just be because she couldn't see the stars much from beneath the canopy of the strange forest they had followed the orcs in to try to get Merry and Pippin back. She and Draco had quickly fallen too far behind the foul group but had thankfully still been able to follow their trail as it was most obvious still. Finally, at her wits end she collapsed to the damp ground. The blonde wizard turning back to her when he noticed her absence.

"I cannot go any further, my legs and feet are screaming at me."

"Mine too, Granger, and we are not going to be able to catch them tonight anyways." Malfoy sat down next to her. "We'll set out again in the morning and leave some kind of clue for the others to know what direction we are heading in just in case they lose sight of the trail."

"Sounds good enough to me; it shouldn't take the rest of the group too long to catch up with us." He mumbled an agreement as he leaned back in the damp leaves, his arms resting behind his head. "Hey Malfoy, have you given anymore thought to who could have sent us back in time?"

"Not particularly, I can only come up with Dumbledore, or the four Founders of Hogwarts, but again while all five of them are incredibly powerful in their own right, they are all dead." He glances at her curiously. "What about you, any theories cooked up in that brain of yours?"

"For once in my life I don't have an explanation. I already feel like a failure, our group has barely been in this time and already we have been pulled apart. Harry and Ron went after Frodo and Sam, we deviated and are after Merry and Pippin, we didn't really take stock of our group before we left to make sure the other three made it through the attack." She hugged her knees close to her body and buried her face in them.

This was a side of Granger he had only seen once and had hoped to never see again. Sitting up he awkwardly placed a hand on her back to try and comfort her, but she let out a soft sob. Pulling her close he let her rest her head against his chest until she could muster the strength to pull herself together. He stared out into the darkness and for the first time since their journey began thought about his family and what they must think. The funny thing about time turners was that someone not only had to turn time back but must also turn time forward to return to the correct time. Unless it is a small jump in time and you end up in the exact spot where you left originally someone must return you to the correct time. They had not turned the wheel, and they had gone back much further than their lifespans would have to live, this concerned him the most. Would they die here or would the person who sent them here eventually return them to their own time? If his father ever found out who was behind this, they would pay dearly and everything he had achieved to turn the Malfoy reputation around would be for not.

"Granger, I think we should move to a more secluded spot, should one of those creatures or something worse stroll by we will be terribly exposed."

She nodded in agreement and allowed him to help her to her feet once more. They moved deeper in the trees, looking at each tree for a decent nook to bed down in for the night. It did not take them long to find a good spot, it was an enormous Rowan tree that the bottom of the trunk had partially collapsed in on itself and created a flat flooring within its base. They ducked inside and laid their packs to one side apart from their blankets. He laid his out flat across the flattened floor so they would have something soft to lay on, she smiled softly at the gesture. They laid down on the makeshift pallet he had created facing each other with her blanket covering them for warmth.

"Granger, can I ask you something?" She gave him an inquisitive look but nodded. "I know you didn't really want to discuss it before, but just between you and me, what really happened between you and the Weasel?"

"He's an arse."

"Everyone knows that, always was one in my opinion."

"Well, when the War ended and clean up at Hogwarts was almost complete, I spoke to McGonagell regarding doing an express semester so I could complete my education. She of course agreed and praised my desire to do this, but Ron took it as an insult for some reason. He started saying things like I thought I was too good to just take one of the many jobs offered to me because of my label as a "war hero", that I just had to prove I was the smartest person around me. How that if I didn't get a job that actually paid something worthwhile we could never get our own place. It was every day in front of everyone who mattered. He even said these things in front of Kingsley, though that landed him with a month-long suspension from Auror training and ultimately set him back. So, then it became my fault that he could no longer work with Harry as his partner because Harry moved on to the next part of their training and got placed with a new partner.

It just got to be too much, and I called it quits. Until he can prove he can stop being a petty brat and learn to take responsibility for his own actions I can't see us moving forward as a couple. Naturally, he did not take my leaving all that well either, tries to play it off like it was his idea, but no one believes him."

"He's an arrogant twat." He brushed a rouge curl from her face making her smile softly. "So, how are you managing classes? Hogwarts isn't even open to students yet."

"We had my fireplace connected to the floo network and I go to the castle after breakfast Hogwarts time, and I meet privately with each professor till around one. After which I go back home to eat a quick lunch before going to Flourish and Blotts to work until closing."

"I don't know how you manage that; it doesn't sound like you get to have much time for your friends."

"It is less than I would like, but everyone is busy trying to move on. Ginny will be going back to school in September for her seventh year, Molly and Arthur have been helping George with the joke shop since Fred died, and Harry will soon be a full time Auror."

"You're not going to keep working at Flourish and Blotts forever are you? I mean I know you love to read and all, but that doesn't seem like it would make you happy in the end."

"No, not forever, I don't really need to work as it is now, I have enough saved to live on for a year or two comfortably, but I would rather not wait till I'm almost completely broke before I start dipping my toes in the work force." She shrugged noncommittedly. "I haven't really decided where I want my career to go. I used to think I wanted to go to the Ministry and work in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Then, we went on the run and though I have always been a quick learner, I realized I was not adequately skilled in healing. I mean I knew enough to have certain potions on hand, but nothing worthwhile. So, I played with the idea of becoming a healer."

"What do your parents think?"

"They don't know about any of this...or that they have a daughter at all."

"I don't understand..."

She squeezed her eyes shut as she felt them begin to water back up. "Before I set out with Harry and Ron to hunt horcruxes I obliviated my parent's memories of me to keep them safe from the Death Eaters, then had them moved to Australia. There was nothing anyone could do to reverse the spell, so now I am essentially an orphan just like Harry. I know the Weasleys have tried hard to fill that void, but unlike Harry they don't understand how I really feel."

He pulled her back against his chest and again held her tightly. There were no words he could form to comfort her against this feeling of aloneness. He knew all too well the lesson that family was the most important thing, but he had not yet had to deal with the loss of them yet. They laid there while she cried not saying anything more, and when he could no longer hear sounds from her, he looked down to see she had fallen asleep. He wished there was something he could do to give her her parents back. Realizing his own inability to do anything to help the situation, especially in their current predicament he finally closed his eyes and let himself drift to sleep.

When she woke it was still dark outside their temporary shelter, and she could feel Malfoy's arm draped protectively around her waist. She had not been this close to a sleeping man since her and Ron had slept together while on the run. They had never shared a bed when they returned to their normal lives, the idea of being caught by his mother making him uncomfortable with the idea. She had not realized how much she missed being this close to someone, and oddly enough Malfoy's presence next to her made her feel safe.

She looked up at his still sleeping face, though she could not really see much through the darkness. She could tell he was also stirring, probably due to her waking movements, however, when he gave a low groan against coming to wakefulness she felt something else of his press against her abdomen; her face flushed scarlet as her own body reacted.

What had woken him up, he felt as if he had only been asleep for a few minutes at best. He felt Granger move just slightly against him, probably just moving in her sleep, but then his own body suddenly became aroused at the idea of her against him so intimately and he suddenly felt very awake. He groaned in frustration, but that only seemed to make the situation worse, her small movements sending jolts through him that had his manhood pulsing. God, he hoped she was still asleep.

"Um, Draco..."

No such luck. This could potentially be the most embarrassing moment of his life if he said or did the wrong thing with this particular woman. Opening his eyes and looking down at her face he could just barely make out her eyes shining back at him. Against the warnings his brain kept trying to send out, his hips gave a small jerk forward, he heard her intake a small breath at the movement. She did not move away, and he knew for a fact that she could feel his manhood against her.

"Hermione..." He paused before deciding to risk it. "This may sound strange coming from me and all, but I would like to kiss you right now."

Her mouth pressed against his a moment later as she scooted up to be level with his face, and her hips were moving against his softly causing his loins to turn to fire. He rolled her to her back so that he was positioned above her, their lips still locked in a fiery kiss. He held half his body weight off her by leaning on his right arm while his hand stroked her hair and his left hand trailing down her side to pull her knee up around his waist. She complied without resistance and mewled as he gyrated his hips harder against her core to release some tension.

His hand moved from her knee up her hip and slipped under her shirt raising goosebumps as his finger skimmed her skin until they found the soft mound of her left breast and gave it a mild squeeze. Her back arched under his touch. His lips moving to the valley of her neck as she softly chanted don't stop in his ear. He bucked against her core with more insistence this time his extremely hard member telling her that it wanted in her most sacred place. Her fingers pulled at his vest and shirt till she could manage to free him of the materials. Her mouth finding its way to his collarbone and placed hot open mouth kisses along the exposed skin.

Releasing her breast he moved his hand behind her back and pulled her flush against him before pulling her other knee up and bringing them up to a sitting position with her straddling him before returning his lips to her neck. He liked this feeling, her legs wrapped tightly around him; both moaned at the friction of her rolling hips as she tried to bring them to a wild climax. Not ready to find that completion before they had begun, he tightened his hold around her back so she could not move too much as his free hand slid into her pants. Pushing aside the delicate undergarments he pushed a long finger into her hot center. She threw her head back with a loud satisfying moan, this was followed by more intense moans as he added another finger and began to thrust while adding pressure from his thumb on her clit. Her hips desperately trying to move in time with his fingers. He could feel himself getting ready to cum just watching her.

"Hermione, look at me." Her head came back up so she could look him in the eyes. Her lips parted as she panted, her body begging for release. Her fingers gripped tightly to his shoulders. "Don't look away from me, Hermione, I want to see your face as I make you cum."

"Draco, please...I need you..."

Then, he added a third finger without warning, she gave a sharp gasp before he began to thrust his fingers furiously while still teasing her clit with his thumb. Her gasp turned in to fast short pants as her body rocked from the motion of his hand within her. Her eyes widened and she screeched a loud 'Yes' as he felt her walls clench around him and her juices flow over his fingers. When he could no longer feel her spasming around his fingers he withdrew his hand and laid her on the blanket again.

He removed her clothes while she caught her breath, his own remaining clothes following soon after. He descended upon her with a hunger that seemed to match her own cause she spread her knees invitingly. He crawled between them placing small kisses on the inside of each thigh before kissing up her flat stomach. His eyes catching the multiple scars on her olive skin, he would ask about those later. Reaching her breasts he captured her left nipple in his mouth and swirled his tongue around the pebbled bud, taking her right breast in hand he gave it a squeeze as he had done to its twin earlier. Her body rocked against his as if asking him for more. He moved his mouth over to her right breast ensuring it too got the same attention before moving up to her neck.

Her hips bucked impatiently beneath his weight and his cock twitched reminding him that he very much wanted to be buried to the hilt in this woman. He wanted her to see just how much of a man he was, make her never want another lover. He leaned up so he could look down into her eyes, yes, he wanted her, there could be no denying it. Leaning forward he captured her lips in a rough kiss, their teeth clashing. He felt her small hand wrap firmly around his penis and begin to pump a steady rhythm as his own hips matched her movements, but before she could bring him to release he snatched her hand away and pinned it beside her head.

"Wrap your legs around my waist." She complied. "Are you ready?"

She nodded quickly. She watched him take his penis in his hand and lined himself up with her dripping core before grabbing her hips and thrusting in with one sharp buck of his hips. A loud groan fell from her lips and her eyes closed from the pleasurable pain the movement had caused. Her vagina stretched to accommodate his endowments, and she was quite certain she had never felt so complete during sex before. However, when she realized he had not started to move yet she opened her eyes again to see why, she desperately needed him to begin moving within her. His mercurial eyes were watching her intensely as if waiting for her to give him the go ahead.

"Draco, please."

That did it, he was thrusting into her, her sensitive nerves beginning to ignite again and coil in anticipation for her next release. Her legs squeezed him closer as her hips met him thrust for thrust. He bucked harder and faster, she could just barely keep pace with him, the moment his penis made impact with her uterus shockwaves went through her that were almost uncomfortable. However, the pain would soon render complete satisfaction and pleasure once he allowed her to fall over that peak.

He watched the ecstasy roll over her expressions at each thrust delivered from him, he'd had to give himself a moment so he didn't finish just upon entering her. Her walls had been tight and were gripping him enticingly, making it hard not to spill his release in her then and there. He must have stayed still too long for she had finally looked up him with her honey brown eyes, pupils blown from arousal. His name falling from her lips had been all he needed to find his control, but then she'd said please and he felt he had to give her the ultimate pleasure.

"Don't stop, Draco, I'm almost there. Oh yes..." Her words breaking into his thoughts in breathy pants.

No, he was not ready for her to find release just yet. He slowed his thrusts into methodical rolling motions. She grunted her disapproval and called him a tease for not letting her finish. He smirked in satisfaction at her reaction. When he felt her start to flutter around him again he changed tactics to jerky hard thrusts with no rhythm for her to follow. Her nails digging in his arms and her glare the only show of her indignation this time. Feeling her walls calming down some he made his thrusts slow and deep making sure to hit her cervix every other thrust, and never pushing forward the same length of time between thrusts. He continued this until she threatened to unman him if he did not bring her to an orgasm quickly.

"As you wish, Princess."

He gripped her hips and with one hard thrust that hit her cervix with what he knew had to be a painful impact. Then he lifted her hips and brought them up off the ground so she laid at an angle before setting a relentless pace that had her growling and screaming his name into the early morning air. The feeling of control over her, whether she got to cum or not, had him soaring high above cloud nine. He could feel his own release coming.

"It's almost time, Hermione."

"Draco, please I can't hold on much longer."

With one hand he reached between them and stimulated her clit as he continued to plow into her without restraint. Her voice failed her as her back arched and a silent scream left her as she came hard around his still punishing thrusts. He knew it would not be much longer before he too would fall over that precipice. He could feel her already beginning of flutter around him again as his own release came bubbling to the surface. With two last thrusts he sent them over the edge, he held his exploding member deep inside her spasming walls until he filled her womb with his seed and then still bucked a couple more times until he slipped his flaccid cock from her.

Her hands stroked his back as he pulled out of her exhausted body and laid over her gently as he kissed his way up the valley between her breasts. When his lips reached hers, she returned the kiss with a fire she had never expected to feel towards him. How could she go back to anything else after the performance he just gave her that was of the utmost superiority she had ever experienced? Did he always have sex like that, so primal, so domineering she felt as if she had been the sacrificial virgin to some ancient god? Did she really want to know those answers and possibly ruin this moment by asking? He clearly had not been thinking of Astoria as he plundered her, and she most certainly had no wisp of Ron on her mind as she let him have his sinfully delicious way with her.

"I can hear your brain moving, Hermione, do you want me to answer those questions right now?"

"What?"

"You, are a terrible occlumens, I don't even have to try legilimency to hear them, they are so loud."

"Oh." She debated her answer. "No, not right now, I want to stay like this a little while longer. I haven't felt this way in a long time."

Silence floated over them for the next several minutes, but he could tell she was somewhat embarrassed by his ability to read her mind so easily. "Don't be embarrassed about not being able to hide your thoughts, it is not exactly the easiest skill to master. I had no choice but to learn the skill, otherwise I could have ended up dead during the War. Voldemort would not have taken a liking to some of my deepest thoughts."

Her inquisitive brow rising in question had him continuing his story. "Well, the biggest problem would have been that had he read my mind he would have known how much I wanted to kill him and planned every possible way to do so every day. I began to see the errors of our way of thinking when he moved into our home and began killing people, forcing his followers to watch Nagini devour their bodies. However, there were other thoughts swimming in the back of my mind that no one would think would have crossed my mind considering how I was raised. These would have proved to give Voldemort a means to torture me with." He leaned in to whisper the next few words in her ear. "I had secretly harbored an infatuation with you since fourth year at the Yule Ball. I had been skulking around the entrance to the Great Hall when you came down the staircase in that dress of a lovely shade of blue. I didn't want to admit it then, but I could not help but notice your beauty that night."

"I don't even remember seeing you in the vicinity that night."

"I didn't want to be seen, I was hiding from Pansy then, she was being particularly clingy. However, after that night I could not stop thinking about you. The way your dress hugged your curves so perfectly, I had never dreamed you had such an enticing figure underneath those school robes. I wanted you to desire me, to want me; though then I had thought it was only so I could snub you with rejection. So, I began to build my reputation that eventually landed me with a rather haughty nickname." She bit her lip to keep from laughing at the name in which he was referring.

He felt his cock coming back to life as he explained how his infatuation had started to her. He softly rocked his hips into hers making her gasp quietly. "But you never seemed to take notice of me in such a way, you still turned your nose up at me for being a git or rolled your eyes at my arrogance. This only made me want to get under your skin more, but then the incident in the Department of Mysteries happened and my father was arrested. I was forced to push aside the thoughts of you that would not stop running through my mind. Voldemort wanted to punish my father by forcing me to take the Dark Mark and gave me a mission I was doomed to fail from the beginning. I knew then that I had to become a master Occlumens and Legilimens to keep anything I loved or desired outside of the obvious from being discovered and used against me."

"But...you...never..." She panted as she fought her arousal, completely entranced by his startling confession. "Draco."

He took his now rock-hard penis in hand and guided it into her welcoming heat. This time he led them in a gentle rhythm, making sweet love to her rather than a thorough fucking. "You wouldn't have taken me seriously had I made my feeling known then. I barely acknowledged them, still clinging to a misguided ideology. Then, when the War ended you were with Weasley and I did not think I could tell you, though I had no idea how to tell you either."

She moaned as he hit that sweet spot, her hips coming up to meet his. "You're wrong about one thing though...oh yeah... I did know about your...AH!...exploits back then. Especially during fifth...fifth year. So many of the girls whispered about you...so many rumors...I'd never heard so many over...ah ah...over one boy before." With surprising agility, she flipped them over so she could have a turn on top.

He grunted in pleasure as she rode him steadily, her hands balancing her against his chest. His hands reached up to hold her waist and guide her movements into more coordinated rhythm. When they were once more synced in their movements, he moved to stimulate her clit but her hand came up to slap his away.

"Not yet." Her head fell back as she bounced above him oh's and ah's falling from her mouth in tandem.

Finally, pulling her face forward again she looked back down into his eyes. "I couldn't sleep some nights, the whispers could be so pornographic at times that I'd find myself hot and bothered, desperately wishing I could experience what the girls twittered about. I would think about boys from my hometown that I'd had crushes on, and some of the boys from Hogwarts. Do it now, Draco!" His thumb found her clit and began to circle and apply pressure causing her hips to jerk as she fell apart around his cock.

As she came down from her orgasm she looked down into his eyes with a serious look. "I even fantasized it was you that would satisfy my needs once or twice, though I never believed it would actually happen."

He flipped them back over before pulling out of her, rolling her onto her stomach and lifting her hips before pushing back into her. He set a faster pace this time determined to wring at least one more orgasm from her by the time he finished. Her only sounds as he plowed her were quickly panted 'ah ah ah's', he slowed his pace, not wanting to rush their release. Rolling his hips in a steady pace that allowed him to hit her cervix with each thrust; he reached one hand around and found her clit again and slowly applied pressure until she was bucking against him.

"One last time, love, then I'll let you rest."

"OH, please Draco...I need..."

"Shhhh...we're almost there."

Slightly applying more pressure to her clit as he began to feel his release forcing its way out, he picked up his pace. Another minute later he was screaming her name into the morning air as she came undone and he spilled inside her with a weird primal satisfaction that made him envision her rounded with child. His child.

They fell asleep for another couple of hours before he awoke again to the sun hanging midway in the morning sky. The pallet next to him empty, he sat up quickly and realized he could not see Hermione anywhere within his eyesight. Grabbing his clothes, he quickly got dressed and went out into the waking forest. She was not anywhere around their enclosure. Moving out further into the forest he heard the distinct sounds of rushing water, he made for the water.

He found her bathing in the spring beneath a small waterfall, her head thrown back into the downpour as her hands worked through the long tresses of hair. Her breasts arched out, nipples pert and begging for his mouth to devour them. He stripped quickly and joined her in the water. She smiled at him as she pulled her head out of the water. Upon reaching her he pulled her close, his lips descending upon her neck and making a trail down to her delicious breasts. She moaned at his ministrations, her hand gripping the platinum locks of his hair effectively keeping him to her. However, when his hand seeked out her core she hissed and moved away. His first thought being that she regretted their tryst this morning.

"Sorry, I just don't think my body can handle much more after our activities earlier." She moved back into his embrace and kissed his jaw tenderly as her hand wrapped around his length and gave it a little squeeze that caused him to grunt.

"You're very good at what you do, dominating my body to your will without really asking me to be submissive either." She pumped her hand up and down, up and down as her lips traveled down his neck and to his collarbone. He felt her teeth graze the pale skin there, the feeling making him buck in her hand. A few more pumps of her hand and he felt himself release into the water.

"I think we are about even now, don't you?" She gave him a coy smile as she swam away from him.

He smirked at the memory of her cumming in his hand, her look of ecstasy had been so alluring to him. "We should probably get moving, if we stay here too much longer there will be no hope of ever catching up with our stolen comrades."

She agreed and they quickly finished bathing and got out. Dressing and returning to their tree they recovered the rest of their things and relocated the orc trail.