"Hermione wake up, it's your turn to take watch." A voice whispered through the darkness that clouded the witches mind. She slowly opened her eyes and immediately was met with the sapphire blue eyes that always made her heart beat faster.
"Five more minutes Ron…." She mumbled into her pillow as she burrowed further under the blankets. She heard a low chuckle as he rubbed her back.
"Come on Mione, just for a few hours, and then its Harry's turn. Plus the necklace is sort of weighing on me." he stated, adding the last part more to himself then for her but it did its job.
She sat up, stretched in a way that was reminiscent of her dear old half kneazle Crookshanks, and gave a big yawn. "Alright hand it over and catch some shut eye, see you in the morning." He gave her a tired smile as he handed her the necklace before crawling into the bed she had previously occupied and immediately began to snore. She looked down at the red head and brushed some of the hair off of his freckled face. "If we don't make it, I want to know I told you this at least once, so Ron." She whispered getting quieter. "I love you. " After uttering those words in to the still darkness of the night she grabbed her jacket and walked out to the dying fire to keep watch.
Two hours passed and the necklace felt heavy on her neck. She ran her hands through her grimy hair and looked longingly at the lake that was just outside of the protective borders of their camp. The only thing on her mind for the past hour had been how desperately nice the water would feel against her dirty skin.
Ignoring her growing need to submerge herself into the sparkling water, she picked up an old copy of the Daily Prophet that was dated for two weeks ago, and there on the front page of the prophet sat a man she had come face to face with months ago, although he didn't know. She studied him, his dark hair pulled back away from a handsome chiseled face, dark brooding eyes, and a smirk that promised mischief. She stared a little harder at the photo; something about it was bothering her. Minutes passed as she studied him and suddenly it clicked, that was HER scarf around his neck! She glanced at the title of the story, "Scabior: The Snatcher That Has Snatched Our Hearts!" Hermione rolled her eyes, must have been written by Rita Skeeter.
She scanned the writing, and learned he was supposedly number two on the list of the hottest bachelors in England, her nose scrunched up at the fact that Malfoy was number one. He was 25 years old and he stated he loved his job because, "hunting was always a passion of mine, now I get to put my skills to work for the ministry. It's thrilling, the chase, and when you finally catch what you have spent so long hunting, the victory you feel coursing through your veins, there is nothing like it." Hermione raised an eyebrow but kept reading, nibbling her lower lip when Rita asked about his new accessory that hadn't left his neck in months, wondering if there was a special woman in his life.
"This scarf, I found it tied to a tree, it belonged to someone very important to me, I don't know her personally but I feel because of this scarf I share a connection with her. See I know things about this person just because I've studied it, there is a tear on the end, the shows it got caught, and she is either very impatient or was in a hurry and couldn't bother to try and unsnag it. There is a stain from coffee on the other end where it looked like it spilled; she like most everyone else isn't a morning person. But you can tell this was a very prized possession of hers, she wore it often based on the fact it's a little worn in areas but other than those few problems it's in immaculate condition. Her smell lingers even now on the fabric, light floral with a mix of firewood and dirt, which tells me, she was on the run."
After reading that Hermione was shocked, he was very observant, she looked down and she felt goose bumps rise up across her skin. Hermione decided to keep reading as Skeeter asked if he had any clues as to who the owner of the mystery scarf was, "Hermione Granger. I have no doubt it once belong to 1/3 of the golden trio and it helps remind me that one day, someday soon, I'll catch them."
Hermione tried to calm the unease she felt about this stranger in the paper, and threw the paper into the dying embers, giving them a quick new life that died out seconds after flaring up. She sighed loudly and glanced at the lake once again debating whether or not to give in to her need to be clean.
She knew it was risks but if something happened she could easily find her way back through the protective shield, and she highly doubted that anything would even happen tonight, the snatchers didn't even know if the trio was even on the same continent as them. Plus she could see where the area of the campsite was just as well from the crystal clear water as she could from the uncomfortable log she was occupying, and be able to alert Harry and Ron if something happened.
Looking down at her hands, and seeing the black dirt that caked the underside of her finger nails, made her make up her mind, she stood up and quickly made her way outside of the enchantments. She glanced back and tried to calm her mild panic at the fact she couldn't see the camp anymore, just because she couldn't see it didn't mean it wasn't there.
Quickly she undressed and performed a temporary warming charm on the water, it wouldn't last long, but it would last long enough that she could clean up. The steam from the warm water as it hit the cold air was mesmerizing as it danced over the surface of the water. She waded in and silently dived into the water. The red of the necklace vibrant against her pale skin and her dark hair a halo around her face as she emerged from the depths of the steaming lake feeling better and quickly scrubbed her hair. She never even noticed the dark eyes watching her until he spoke. "Why 'ello beautiful, I've been lookin for you."