Title- Quibbles Challenge #1. incentive
Author- .Pride
Fandom/Pairings- Harry Potter/RHr
Rating- K+
Summary- First in a six-part series of one-shots. My Livejournal starter challenge. This one takes place after Chapter 14: The Thief, Deathly Hallows but before Chapter 15 starts.
Notes- I know I've been horrible about posting lately, but now that it's summer, I can get back into the swing of things! Also, keep an eye on my Livejournal; I'll probably update that faster than I update this. Thanks for reading!
Disclaimer- HP and the characters do not belong to me, they are the brainchilds (brainchildren?) of the brilliant J.K. Rowling.
1. incentive
The sound of birdcalls pierced through her sleep, jolting her awake. For a moment she thought she was back at the Burrow, but no, it was too cold and uncomfortable to be.
Grudgingly, she forced her eyes open to find herself on the bottom bunk of a bed that smelled faintly of cats, facing the yellowed canvas of the tent wall.
Now she remembered where she was. Stuck in the middle of some god-forsaken forest, all thanks to Yaxley and their botched attempt to break into the Ministry.
It was too, too cold. Too cold to think; too cold to move, let alone get up. It must've been the dead of winter. Autumn couldn't possibly be so numbingly cold.
The bird sang again. She ignored it. Wind battered the walls of the tent. She burrowed deeper into her blankets. Someone moved behind her back. She heard the rustling of blanket and bedclothes from the bunk at the far end of the tent.
Only the sound of the soft groan that followed could have compelled her to roll over swiftly to see who had made the noise.
Ron.
Hermione shot out of her bunk and crossed the tent to his side faster than she would've thought possible. Ron lay on his back, eyes closed, looking worryingly pale and still. He had apparently tried to roll onto his side but had moved too suddenly, still faint from losing so much blood after Splinching.
"Ron?" She laid a hand on his shoulder nervously. "Are you all right?"
He breathed heavily for a moment before replying hoarsely through dry, white lips. "Dizzy."
The tone of that single word terrified her.
"Don't move," she told him before leaping up again and diving for her beaded purse. She Summoned the restorative tea she'd stolen from Mrs. Weasley's pantry and an old kettle of water. Leaving the kettle prepare the tea on its own, she gathered all of the blankets from her own bunk and ran back to pile them on top of Ron, carefully tucking them in around his long frame. A fleeting image of Ron lying on the forest floor, half-covered in dark blood passed through her mind before she forbade herself to think about it again as she fumbled with pouring the tea into a mug.
Ron turned grayer still when she slid onto the bed beside him and helped him to sit up. He had at least managed to open his eyes and they were fixed sleepily on her as she handed him the mug and ordered him to drink. She watched fretfully as he gulped the hot drink down and only relaxed once she saw a bit of colour return to his face.
His eyes were bright now and they were still fixed on her. She tried not to notice.
"You look tired," he told her sleepily.
"Hm." She slid out from under his shoulder and let him lay back down on his bed, taking the mug from him as she did so.
"How the hell did you manage to get out of bed? It's freezing out here, and too damn early to be up…" He was mumbling now, still not fully awake.
She ignored this and scanned his face again, reassuring herself that he was fine. His eyes drifted closed and he was asleep again within seconds, though he looked much better than he had when he'd first awoken.
Satisfied with his wellbeing, Hermione trudged back across the tent to her bed, only to remember that she'd given all of her blankets to Ron. With a mental slap to her forehead, she collapsed onto the mattress and curled up tightly around her pillow.
The things I do for that boy, she thought to herself before falling back into the blackness of sleep.
Half an hour later, Harry came in from his watch, grumpy and exhausted, to find Hermione wrapped around her pillow. He shook her gently, told her to wake up and continue the watch and got a stinging slap across his arm for his trouble.
A/N: Not my fave, but I think they'll get better. Keep reading and reviewing!