She could see the towers of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy in the horizon. It was so near, but still so far away.
She sighed and sat down on the stump of what once was a magnificent tree.
Small plants and bushes all around her carried big and colourful berries. Her stomach growled warningly and knew that she would have to eat something soon, or she would pass out from malnutrition.
The berries were never an option though. She had been in the Forbidden Forest for too long to fall for their seductive tricks.
They were poisonous. It was absolutely lethal to put one of those in your mouth.
She knew. She had experienced it, not once - but five times. Hunger can make you do stupid things.
She would have to get food which was safe to eat. Like the roots of the stump.
She got off the stump and got on her bare knees, her skirt being too short and ripped at the hem to cover her more than half-way down her thigh.
The dirt felt cool against her skin and she immediately started digging into the soft soil with her ulcered and filthy hands.
Soon she got to what she wanted. The juicy roots.
She laid flat on her small belly and used her teeth to gnaw the hard shell off the roots. Which revealed the watery insides.
She greedily ate and drank everything she could get. It was more water than nutrition, but it would keep her fueled until she had the chance to get something that would actually fill her up.
Then she stood up, letting the soles of her feet sink slightly into the soil as she put weight on the ground.
She brushed some dirt off of her gray and brown shirt, which once upon a time had been white as snow, and straightened her black pullover.
Her sand-coloured hair was messy and tangled to the point where it looked like a bird's nest. She pulled every section of hair she could grab and tucked it behind her ears.
Suddenly she heard something swish, not too far away from her. Her body tensed up and she used every one of her senses to learn more about where the sound came from.
The noise came from a thicket of briers to her right and she instinctively moved away from it, slowly.
She seemed to be doing fine, trying to get away as quietly as humanly possible, until she stepped on a branch.
The small sound of it snapping in two halves broke the silence and echoed.
The thing which hid in the briers jumped out.
Her eyes widened and she didn't waste any time as she immediately started running for her life.
It was an Acromantula, a huge spider. Its long hairy legs and staring red eyes came closer.
From previous encounters she had learnt that they were far from friendly. Well, they didn't like humans.
She ran like there was no tomorrow. And she wouldn't live to see another day if she didn't outrun the beast behind her.
She ran through small spaces, jumped over logs and zigzagged between trees, but still she couldn't seem to shake the spider off.
Its clicking sounds was never close behind.
She knew that even if she was riding on a kick of adrenaline, she wouldn't be able to run forever. She needed to find a good hiding place.
An idea crossed her mind.
She had to run to the cave. Her cave. Her home.
She turned to the right and started running towards a mountain of rocks, the spider still nipping her heels.
The heart of the girl was beating so hard. So loud. So desperately.
And her lungs was working on full capacity.
Her ragged and panicked breaths came out in strained pants and she held her stinging side protectively with her hand.
But she never stopped running.
The leg muscles flexed as the legs moved like drumsticks. 10 meters away from the cave. The Acromantula was so close to getting her that she almost could feel his fangs scratching her legs.
5 meters away from the cave.
She dove down and started crawling inside the small opening. The spider was way too big and awkward to fit in there.
He wasn't ready to give up though. When he saw her body disappearing into the darkness of the opening among the rocks he charged.
And bit down.
She screamed in pain as his fangs penetrated her skin and flesh. She kicked depserately to make him let go and succeeded.
A kick had landed on the spider's eyes. He hissed. The girl wasn't worth his effort anymore.
It wasn't like she was a good source of meat either with her scrawny body.
He turned around and started making his way back to the nest. Aragog could never know that he had failed to kill such an easy prey.
She sat with her hands wrapped around her knees, back leaning against the wall of stone. Whimpers escaped her mouth.
The wound which the spider had inflicted hurt. She reluctantly took a look at the gash his fangs had made.
It wasn't deep, but then again it wasn't the deepest wounds that stung the most.
She would be fine.
It took hours before her breathing and the beatings of her heart calmed down.
But she was safe in the cave.
It had just been an ordinary day of trying to stay alive in the Forbidden Forest.
She curled herself up into a ball on the uneven ground and closed her eyes.
Strength. She needed strength to survive tomorrow too.