The snow had grown thicker and heavier since noon, and the wind had kicked up, so that the snow was blowing across the road. It was near white-out conditions, and large white banks were forming on either side of the road.
"Can you even see the road?" Hermione asked, trying to wipe a bit more of the steam from her window.
"Not really," Harry admitted. "The inn shouldn't be too much further though. We'll make it."
No sooner than the words were out of his mouth, the back end of the truck started to slide. Harry gripped the wheel, trying to control the large vehicle, but the traction control kicked in at exactly the wrong time. The truck lurched forward, still turned slightly sideways and the front end slammed hard into a snow bank. Hermione threw her hand out to keep from hitting the dashboard. The back end slid a little further to one side, then stopped, and the engine died.
"Shit," Harry muttered. "Are you all right?"
Hermione nodded, trying to catch her breath. "Are you?" He was rubbing at a spot on his forehead and at first she thought his scar was bothering him. "Did you hit your head?"
He nodded, wincing. "I'm all right. Just bounced it off the bloody steering wheel. I thought this thing was supposed to have airbags."
"Let me see," she said, taking his chin and turning his face toward her. "Well, you aren't bleeding, so that's good. Does it hurt?" She lightly laid her fingers on the bruised knot that was already raising up there, and he flinched away.
"It's fine, honestly. Oh, no. No, no, no." He had tried to turn the key, but the truck didn't make a sound. He tried again with the same result. "No, no, come on." After a few more minutes, with no luck, he punched the steering wheel and flopped back in his seat. "Damn it!"
"What do we do now?"
He sighed, shaking his head. "No idea. I guess we could try to get to the inn on foot. It has to be fairly close."
"You want to walk in this weather?"
"No, I don't want to walk in this weather, but our other option is sitting and waiting to see if someone else comes along. It's going to get really cold in here though, and who knows when or even if someone's going to pass here."
"So," she said after a moment. "we walk."
"I don't think we have a choice. Can you do without your bag for tonight?"
She shrugged. "I guess. I really should take my toothbrush, though. And a clean pair of underwear."
He stared at her for a minute, then sighed. "Well, crawl back there and get them, then. Only what you absolutely have to have, though, all right?"
"Okay, okay," she muttered, clambering over the console and into the back seat. "Do you need anything?"
"No."
"Not even underwear? A toothbrush?"
"Hermione, I'll call someone first thing tomorrow and have them come and pull the truck out. We'll have all of our stuff back and be on the road again by noon."
"Well, I'll get your toothbrush, just in case," she called back, digging through her bag. It took her a few minutes to find everything in her bags, then to dig Harry's single bag out from under her things. "This is all you brought?"
"Yeah. I know how to use a washing machine, Hermione. I didn't have to bring 31 pairs of clean underwear."
She rolled her eyes, unzipping the leather bag and rifling through it. Her hand brushed up against what was unmistakably an elastic waistband. She actually blushed as she pulled a pair of Harry's boxers out and crammed them into her shoulder bag with her things. She kept looking until she found his toothbrush, then zipped the bag back up. "You sure you don't need anything else?"
"Positive."
She closed the clasp on her bag and made her way back up to the front seat. "Just let me get bundled up." She wrapped her scarf around her face and slid her gloves on, then started to do up the buttons on her coat to keep her hood on. She glanced at Harry and gasped. "Is that all you have to wear? No gloves or a hat or anything?"
"I wasn't planning on having to walk in the snow, Hermione. I'll be fine."
She reached over and fingered his leather jacket. "That's not very thick."
"It's fine. Hand me your bag." He pulled the strap over his head and reached for the door handle. "Stay put. I'll come over and help you out."
She thought he was just being silly until she actually tried to open her door and found that it was wedged shut by the snow bank. Harry had already forced his door open and climbed out. She heard his feet crunching in the snow as he rounded the back of the truck. He appeared at her window a second later. "Can you get it open?" she asked through the closed window. He shook his head.
"Climb through the back," he called back to her. "You're going to have to come out the gate."
"Can't I just come out your door?"
"The drift's too deep there. You'll never get through it. Go through the back." She sighed but heaved herself back over the console and into the back seat, then into the compartment with the luggage. Harry tugged the tailgate down. "Duck under the window. Watch your head."
His voice was almost drowned out by the howling wind, and the snow was pelting him in the face. She climbed out and into snow that was over her knees. "Holy cow," she muttered, trying to take a step toward the road. Her foot wouldn't come up out of the snow far enough however, and she toppled over into the drift. Harry grabbed her arm, nearly going down with her. "Careful," he shouted. He slid his hand into hers and pulled her back to her feet. "Take your time. Go slow."
She nodded, clinging to his hand as she lifted her foot again and managed to make it one step toward the road. It was slow going, even after they got onto the road. The blowing snow made it impossible to see anything and, even on the road, drifts were beginning to form.
Harry kept his arm around her waist, sometimes wrapping both arms around her to help her keep her balance. With anyone else, it would have bugged her, but she didn't mind it one bit coming from Harry. He kept squinting through the dark, looking ahead of them. Finally, he let out a whoop. "There it is. See it?"
There were lights burning some distance ahead, although it was impossible at first to tell just how far ahead. "How can you be sure that's it?"
"Because if it isn't, we're going to freeze to death before we find it," he laughed. "So let's just say it is and maybe we'll at least die happy."
She smacked his arm. "We're not going to die, Harry! Honestly, that's not funny."
He pulled her closer to him, burying his face in her shoulder for a minute. "Just keep walking, Hermione. You can tell me off when we're warm again."
She looked around, then scoffed. "This is ridiculous. There's no one around. Where's my wand?"
She started to rifle through her pockets, then remembered that she had stuck it into the inside lining of her coat. Harry must have realized it to, because he sighed. "I'll do it." He pulled his own wand out of his back pocket and started to melt a path through the snow in front of them.
"This should, at least, make it easier to walk," she said, watching him. His cheeks were scarlet with wind burn and she immediately pulled her scarf off and wrapped it around his neck. "No," she said sharply when he started to argue with her. "You'll be lucky if you don't already have frostbite. Now take it!"
He nodded, letting her pull it up to cover his mouth and cheeks. She tucked her arm under his so they were huddled close together and set off again.
By the time they made it to the lights, Hermione was willing to sell everything she owned to be warm again. They stumbled up the stairs to the door, and Hermione let out a sigh of relief. A sign on the front of the building read: Crispenson Family Inn.
"Thank God," Harry muttered, stowing his wand and pulling open the screen door. Hermione stepped into the lobby and immediately felt her cheeks begin to burn. She turned to look at Harry, who was shutting the front door behind him and brushing snow out of his hair. "That was fun."
She laughed. "Oh yeah. A real party."
"Hello, there," said a voice behind them and Hermione turned to find an older woman beaming at them. "My heavens, you two look positively frozen!"
"Yeah, our truck got stuck in a snowdrift down the road," Hermione said, her teeth chattering. "It's really coming down out there."
"You had to walk? In this weather?" the woman gasped. "Good gracious, you could have frozen to death. Get in here and get yourselves warmed up." She took hold of Hermione's arm and Harry's shoulder and bustled them into the sitting room, where a fire was roaring in the fireplace. "You just sit yourselves down and I'll get you a cuppa'. Sit down there now. Get out of those wet coats, come on." She stopped, staring at Harry. "Is that all you have on? That thin little coat? Oh for pete's sake, it's a wonder you made it at all. I'll get you a blanket too. You just sit down there."
Harry flopped down on the couch beside Hermione, and dropped his head onto her shoulder. He was shivering violently, and she wrapped her arms around him, cuddling him.
"Are you all right?" she asked, brushing some more snow out of his hair.
"I'm f-f-f-fine," he stuttered, the shivering becoming more pronounced.
"Harry, are you sure?"
He looked up at her through his thick, dark eyelashes, managing a grin. "I'm f-f-fine, Hermi-one. It-it-it'll st-stop in a m-m-minute."
The woman came hurrying back in with a blanket, throwing it around both of them. "Oh heavens, you should get him into a warm shower right away," she said, shaking her head and looking at Harry with concern. "Come with me and I'll get you into your room, okay? Come on."
Hermione started to tell the woman that they really needed two rooms, but then she glanced at Harry. He was shaking so hard that she wondered if he'd even be able to stand. No, she'd have to stay with him tonight, just in case. He might get sick and she didn't want him to be alone.
She pulled Harry to his feet, wrapping an arm under his. "Are you all right, Harry? Can you walk?"
He nodded, wincing slightly. "I'm f-fine. R-really."
He somehow managed to make it up the stairs and down the hall to their room, but collapsed onto the bed as soon as she let go of him.
"He may need to see a doctor tomorrow," the woman said, frowning. "I'd try to get one out here tonight, but there's not much chance of that. If you need anything, though, you let me know. And get him in a warm bath as soon as possible."
Hermione nodded, thanking the woman. When the door had shut behind her, Hermione flopped onto the bed beside Harry.
"Harry? Are you okay?"
His eyes were shut and his cheeks were a raw red, but the shivering had slowed some. "I'm fine. Tired. A little sore."
"Come on, let's get you out of those wet clothes."
He opened one eye and looked up at her. "Not tonight, Hermione, I have a headache."
"Oh," she growled, rolling her eyes. "Would you please stop making jokes?! Your clothes are soaked through and you're going to catch pneumonia if you don't get warmed up soon."
He didn't argue, so she stooped down beside the bed and untied his shoes, pulling them off his feet. They, along with his socks and jeans legs, were iced over. His socks stuck to his skin and she gasped as she felt how cold his feet were. Harry winced, jerking his foot away as she ran her hand over it. "Hurts," he muttered.
She wasn't surprised. It was more than a little purple and she knew Harry had been dangerously close to getting frostbite. She pulled his other sock off, rubbing his feet a little despite Harry's arguments. She knew that, more than actually trying to help him, she was putting off the inevitable.
Sighing heavily, she stood back up and leaned over Harry. "Still awake?"
He grunted.
"I need to get your pants off you. Okay?"
Another grunt, this one slightly more suggestive.
She tried to still her shaking hands as she reached for the button on his jeans. She unfastened and unzipped them as quickly as she could, then patted his hip. "Lift up."
"Can't," Harry muttered, and she stared hard at him. She was slightly worried that maybe there was something very wrong with him, but she was even more worried that he was about to pull some colossal joke on her.
"Come on, Harry. Just lift up a little so I can get these off of you." When he didn't respond, and didn't move, she blew out an irritated breath and grabbed the bottom of his jeans. She tugged as hard as she could, near sliding him off the bed as the jeans slid off. He took in a sharp, hissing breath and winced. "What?"
"Leg hairs," he groaned, and she had to laugh. "'S not funny, Hermione."
"Sorry, Harry," she giggled. "I didn't realize they were frozen to you."
"Ungh," he said, his eyes barely sliding open.
"Are you all right, Harry? Seriously?"
"Mhhmp."
"Harry, I need an answer that's more than a grunt. Are you okay?"
He nodded. "So damned tired all of a sudden," he said, raising his hand to rub his eyes.
"Well don't fall asleep. I need to get you heated back up."
"Hermione, you know I love you, but I'm really not in the mood. How many times do I have to-tell you that." His joke was punctuated by a jaw-splitting yawn.
She tried to ignore the joke about him loving her, and reached down to take hold of his arms. "Sit up, Harry."
He had to roll onto his side to push himself into a sitting position, and even then he looked like he might tumble over again. She pulled his jacket off and tossed it onto an armchair, then pulled at the hem of his T-shirt, being careful not to let her hands brush against anything-below his waist.
She was just about to tug it up and over his head when he caught her hand in his. "I'll do it," he said softly, and she looked up to realize that their faces were scant centimeters apart.
"Okay," she said, pulling her hand out of his and standing up quickly. "I'm just going to-go run you some hot water, then."
She didn't wait around to see if he had any reaction to her abrupt change of manner. She didn't want to know.
She went into the adjacent bathroom and bent over the tub, stopping the drain, then turning on the tap. She felt, rather than heard, him come into the room behind her and fought the urge to turn and look at him.
"I hope a bath is okay. I didn't think you could stand up in the shower."
"Probably not," he said, and his voice held an odd edge. "I can do that, if you want me to."
She shook her head, pulling a towel and washcloth from the shelf and laying them by the large tub. "It's no problem. Do you want some shampoo and soap, or are you just going to soak?"
"What, you're not going to join me?"
She knew him well enough to know that he had never, even for a second, thought she was. He was taking a jab at her, and it set her teeth on edge. She finally turned to look at him. "So, you're all set," she said quietly. "Let me know if you need anything." She moved toward the door, but he stood up straight and blocked her path. When she hesitated for a moment just to make sure, and he still didn't move, she sighed. "Harry, you're in my way."
"What's up?"
"I don't know what you mean," she said in a very unconvincing tone.
"A few minutes ago, you were fine and now you're-I dunno, irritated about something."
"Because you're standing in my way."
"No, it's not just that. Look at me," he said, and she grudgingly turned her face toward his. She'd been trying so hard not to, but when he told her to, the way he just had, she found that she couldn't refuse. "Did I do something?"
She shut her eyes, frowning. "Okay, you want the truth? The sex jokes, Harry. They have to stop."
His eyes narrowed the slightest bit, but that was his only immediate reaction. Then, finally, he nodded. "All right. I'm sorry, I didn't know they bothered you."
Of course they bother me, she thought fiercely. They bother me because I want to be shagging you senseless right now and you're standing there in your boxers looking so bloody good and I can't have you. I can't have you. She didn't say any of this, of course. Instead, she simply said, "They do."
He was still studying her carefully and she forced herself not to drop her chin and look away from him. It took every bit of her resolve to keep looking into his eyes. "All right, then."
He stepped to one side to let her pass, and she had to brush against him to get out the bathroom door. She wished, more than anything, that she had gotten her own room. He went into the bathroom and shut the door and she slumped onto the bed and fought back tears. This wasn't going to work. It was never going to work.