Harry and Hermione
Harry and Hermione are walking through the Forbidden Forest, a couple hundred yards west of the Womping Willow. The trees are taller in this part, and they completely block the sun as it begins to descend. The two of them stumble over broken branches as they attempt to follow the faded footprints left by Ron.
"Lumos!" Hermione shouts and her wand illuminates their feet as well as her distressed face. Before Ron stormed out of the Gryffindor common room, they had all been taking a nap. They had gotten little sleep that week because of their schoolwork, and since it's a Friday, even Hermione kicked back next to Harry and Ron and closed her eyes. It couldn't have been more than an hour later that Ron left the room, fuming. Still half asleep and confused, it took Harry and Hermione a minute to get up and chase him.
"Could he have seen us?" Harry asks, looking down at Hermione.
"He must have. You were still holding my hand when he left the room."
Harry and Hermione turn their walk into a jog, all too aware of the dangers of the Forbidden Forest at night. They want to settle this with Ron as soon as possible. Despite the amount of experience they have gained in their seven years at Hogwarts, there is a laundry list of enemies that could overpower them in the darkness, which is when the strongest and most absurd creatures emerge. Harry lights his wand and lowers it to the ground.
"He took a left here," Harry says, looking deeper into the forest. "He's changed a lot from the boy who used to be afraid of spiders."
Hermione's face is grave, and looks sincerely worried about Ron.
"We should tell him when we find him, Hermione. Put an end to this. He's just running away because he wants your attention."
Hermione remains speechless. Inside, she isn't exactly sure how she feels about either one of them. They have always been there for her, and she has always been there for them. Seeing their friendship triangle broken over selfish feelings is something she thought the three of them were better than. She contemplates her relationship with Ron and her intimate friendship with Harry, and wishes she had just kept the brother/sister relationship she once had with both of them. But right now she is worried sick about Ron, who could now be dead for all she knew. "What got into him?" She asks herself. He had been spending a lot of time on his own the past few weeks and mysteriously disappeared for hours at a time on the weekends. She was getting to the bottom of this.
Harry and Hermione continue deeper into the forest until the sun sets below the horizon and the trees around them loom heavily in the darkness. Owls call in the distance, and indistinguishable noises echo throughout the forest. For the fourth time, Hermione looks over her shoulder, half expecting Professor McGonagall to appear with other staff members, scrutinizing her and telling her the two of them were expelled for being so foolish. It isn't quite the ending of her education that she had expected. But, of course, they are alone now, and she has far worse things to worry about. They're deep in the forest, and despite having Harry by her side, she's scared. It's pitch black, and the night creatures of the Forbidden Forest have come out.
They follow the path until it stops at the edge of a cliff in the forest. It's a steep slope, at least two hundred yards, with boulders and shrubs at the bottom. It's not a survivable drop.
"He must have gone around," Hermione says. "We need to find where his footprints continue."
"I don't think they do, Hermione. They stop here" His voice wavers as he stares down the cliff, and he starts to feel nauseous.
"No, over here!" Hermione shouts. She's leaning forward, her wand pointing toward the ground. "Look! These tracks are enormous!" Harry comes closer to see what Hermione is pointing at. Looking down, he sees huge foot prints. They're at least three times the size of the average wizard's.
Harry's stomach drops. "You don't think they could be.."
"A giant's?" Hermione finishes his sentence for him. They look up at each other with fear in their eyes, not daring to follow the footprints even deeper into the forest.
Hermione says, "We would have heard him scream if a giant had grabbed him, right? And what would a giant be doing in these parts?" Hermione glances at the cliff. "You don't suppose he could have…fallen?"
"Or jumped," Harry says, his face pale.
Hermione is about to speak, when pounding footsteps, "THUMP..THUMP..THUMP.." are heard in the distance, coming closer to them, followed by a "RAAAAAWRR!"
"It's the giant!" Hermione shouts desperately. "Ron! Where are you!"
The giant's footsteps stop no more than twenty yards ahead of them. The large trees cover its figure, however, they can hear its heavy breathing.
"We can't worry about Ron right now, Hermione. We need to get out of here. I think it heard you." Harry grabs Hermione's hand and gets ready to run.
A voice comes from the trees. "Just what I would expect from you, Harry. Always eager to stab a friend in the back, and leave him for dead. But Wawp has been here for me, while you've been too caught up in your love affairs to even notice me."
"THUMP, THUMP, THUMP" The giant emerges from the trees, and sitting on his shoulder is Ron, his eyes full of rage. He looks down at the two of them. "I knew I was always the outcast, but you guys could have done a better job of pretending to be my friend. I never meant anything to either one of you, always pushing me aside."
Harry and Hermione stay frozen in their tracks, too bewildered by what they are seeing to even comprehend what Ron is saying. Hermione speaks first. "Ron..you're sitting on a..on a…a giant. Is this where you've been going?"
Ron ignores her. "I want you to pick, Hermione. Me or Harry."
Hermione remains speechless. Harry shouts, "Have you lost your mind, Ron? Come back with us, and leave this beast behind. We can talk everything out. You're losing it, Ron!"
"Shut up, best friend. Wawp, get him!" The giant grabs Harry and firmly holds him in his hand while Harry desperately squirms.
"Ron! Stop!" Hermione shouts, her eyes now full of tears. She points her wand at the enormous giant, but knows every spell of hers will be futile.
"Shut up, Hermione," he says. He glances at the cliff. Only one of us is coming back with you tonight. I want you to pick."
Hermione stares upward at Ron while tears flood from her eyes. She lowers her wand.
"How can I pick, Ron? You are both brothers to me. Please, get down here and don't do anything more stupid than you've already done!"
"A brother? Is that what you consider what we've been through, Hermione? You disgust me." He spits on the ground, but it accidently lands on her forehead. He takes no notice while she wipes her face in agony.
"Wawp. Walk to the cliff!" he shouts.
Harry continues to squirm in Wawp's grip, and the circulation in his body begins to shut off as Wawp squeezes him even tighter. The ground shakes as he thumps his way to the cliff. Hermione shouts in anger and fear, and Harry's face feels like it may explode. He knows he must do something, and soon. He can see Ron's red hair from the corner of his eye as he sits smugly on Wawp's shoulder.
Hermione follows Wawp back to the cliff. Catching her breath, she pulls her wand from her robes. "Don't do anything stupid, Ronald" She points her wand to her own throat. "Let Harry go, or I'll do it."
Ron laughs. "I don't think so, Hermione. Put your wand down, or Harry will experience a nice little cliff dive."
Staring into his eyes, Hermione knows he is serious. But she also knows that if she puts her wand down, the end result will likely be the same, and Harry will be dropped. Wawp is now holding him tightly by the throat as his body dangles over the cliff.
"Ron!" Hermione shouts, "his face is purple! You need to let him go!"
"As you wish," Ron replies. "Wawp, go ahead and-"
"No!" Hermione shouts. "Don't drop him. I choose you, Ron, but only if you set him down safely and come back with us. Please"
Hermione stares up at him, knowing he has completely lost his mind. She can't even be that upset with him; he's obviously ill. She wishes nothing more than to get back to Hogwarts safely with him and Harry so Madame Pomfrey can check him out.
Meanwhile, Harry's face has now turned a deep shade of purple, and he no longer struggles in Wawp's grip. She believes he has already passed out, but it's hard to tell in the darkness.
"Ron, if you don't let him down, his head is going to—"
POP!
Harry's head flies off his shoulders like a cork, and lolls its way down the cliff. A fountain of blood sprays from his body and showers Hermione below. Petrified, she screams and cringes. Ron, also covered in blood, is disgusted. He screams and shouts, scaring Wawp. Wawp thumps left and right and spins in circles, completely discombobulated by all of the commotion.
Hermione, still out of her wits, pulls her wand from her robes and points it at Wawp's head. "Stupify!" she screams.
Of course, it's not enough to actually stun the giant, but he does lose his footing. He stumbles on the edge of the cliff and trips over his feet. With Ron on his shoulders, they tumbled downward to their death. Ron's prolonged shout is the last thing she hears before she passes out and collapses to the ground.
She wakes up hanging from a tree. She tries to wiggle her arms, but fails. She tries to wiggle her legs, but they too are wrapped in a silk-like thread. She looks to her left and sees the thick branch she is hanging from. She must be at least fifty yards in the air.
"You and your friends have woken up the entire foresssssst," the raspy, snakelike voice comes from above her. She feels hairy pinchers poke the top of her head.
The spider speaks again, "I'm lucky to have found you first. You look like quite a delicious treat."
Hermione rolls her eyes upward and sees the spider face to face. Her heart drops and her eyes water in fear.
"What are you going to do with me?" she asks. "Please. Please let me go"
The spider laughs a horrible, dry laugh. "Begging won't help you out your situation. I haven't eaten in dayssss."
Hermione comes back to her senses and the entire night's events hit her like a brick wall. She cries harder than she ever remembers as she recollects the horrible, gruesome deaths of Harry and Ron. She closes her eyes, and waits for the spider to begin to eat her. She wonders how her parents will react when they find out she has been killed, and it's unbearable.
"Let me make a deal with you," Hermione says. If you let me live, I can bring you more food. Witches and wizards from Hogwarts. Nice fat ones." She knows she could never do such a thing, but she's desperate to buy herself more time. This is her last resort.
The spider taps his pinchers on the branch, clearly contemplating her offer.
"But how do I know you are telling the truth?" he says. "No. I cannot trust you, you can never trust a human to uphold their dignity."
Hermione reflects on her relationship with Ron and how she broke his heart, and how he had gone berserk and practically killed Harry. She supposes the spider is right. She closes her eyes in defeat as she slides into the wet, slimy mouth of the spider. Her last thought is her wishing she had never dated Ron in the first place.