Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
A/N: Update! Thank you for the wonderful reviews on my story. I hope more will come though. Tell me what you think about my story! And yea. I'm having a really hard time finishing ABC, It's bordering the unfinished level in my mind state because after I read some FleurMione fictions, I felt I can't add anything more to my story. Sigh. Oh well, I do hope I get some ideas for it. For the mean time please enjoy this story before I make this a rant page. So on to the next segment. PS. Still looking for a beta-reader if anyone is interested.
Where Loyalty Lie
"Do you trust me with your life?"
*On Gestures*
[Hermione]
The wind was howling horribly that night. It was awfully chilly and dark. The hush whispers where the only thing I could hear from my slumbering state. I felt a warm yet hurried nudge of my mother as well as her frantic whispers. I tried to ask what the problem was but I only got a soft shush and a warm shaky hand on my cheek. Her eyes piercing in the dark room—worried and scared. Mother gathered me in her arms, and laid me down on a small compartment under the flooring of my bed. She kissed my forehead, it was long, sweet and regrettably I felt it was the last one I may receive. She murmured something under her breath, and then she smiled. "Love, please keep quiet and be safe" she told me. I simply nodded not understanding why she would have said that at the very moment, I was young and nothing made any sense to me at the moment. I yawned and slowly my eyes fell heavily. It became dark.
The stench of blood was all over the room. I'm scared and everything happened like a blur. The red seeped to the cold hard wood of the second floor room of our small cottage by the beach. It was the first time I actually heard the waves stop roaring from the distance and all became deathly quiet. I was shaking; I felt it in every fiber of my being. I don't know what to do, I want to cry but my mind was blank—numb. The man who stood before the body of the lady, whom I only heard of the name that morning from my mother—Clariza's throat slashed opened, gaping wide that I felt my stomach churn just by the slight sight of it. I frantically searched for my mother's eyes as she stood there her wand readily pointed at the man.
"What do you want?" hissed Rowena.
"Hmm. So this is where you were hiding you filthy whore" his deep voice said, I felt a shiver run down my spine. It was gravely horrifying how he addressed mother. He walked casually before her, his gesture was not even in the slightest afraid of the wand pointed at him.
"You've got what you wanted Salazar. You promised to leave us alone" she spat. His eyes looked at her, hardly interested. He glanced around the room, seemingly searching for something or someone. I found his gaze, it struck me cold, and I'm so afraid; this was the first time I ever felt like it. The feeling in my gut won't leave me. I'm scared to know what will happen next, if Mother would survive the murderous intention of the man before her. I silently hope—it was the only thing I could do.
"Oh did I? However, I need my heir. I know you bore a child Rowena— a child of mine"
"— A child of mine is not yours Salazar. What you've done to me is a crime, you forced yourself on me you bastard! I killed your child before I even conceived it! You defiled my being. You- you Monster!" she screamed, furiously at him. She attacked; casting curses one after another that I could not even bear to watch. The glass shattered as one curse hit the vase by my bed and the next thing I heard was a thud.
Mother's wand rolled under the bed where I was hiding and her pale hand was limply hanging above it.
The shadows of the leaves danced on the dirt. It swayed in a rhythm comfortably known by the creatures residing in that specific area. It was unusual for them to see something that does not belong to the natural occurrence of their home. They tend to stay away from it, usually condemning the place touched by souls they do not understand. The constant hoofing sounds of the unknown creatures lurking in the dark made the ground rumble in pure tension and soon it distanced from them, slowly fading into the hollow background with not even an echo left. The birds flew away from the great space, it fluttered maddeningly close to the two figures—one lying on the cold hard ground and the other slumping by the mass of what seemed to be an old tree.
It seemed odd for the herds of creatures lurking around the area to find two bodies unmoving. The centaurs steered away from them, knowing the danger of interactions with witches and wizards would put them in great peril. The Unicorns obviously seemed to have an interest in these figures; yet, they dashed by them and hid behind the large thick trees and off to the distance. The ground shook immensely and the one on the ground woke due to the disturbance.
The pain was the first to register in Bellatrix Black's mind. Her body felt sore and heavy from the impact it had just received. She looked at her arms and noticed she had a fair amount of scratches here and there though there was really nothing horrible or serious as she checked herself— and now she deemed herself lucky that she got out of harm's way. And then that made her wonder if she was bordering stupidity now because she carelessly tried to save a certain Gryffindor first year— the one of which rivaled her in everything she thought she was so good at—and ended up failing miserably as well as crashing along Hermione.
Speaking of Hermione, the girl was leaning by the tree's largest root, obviously in the same pain as her or more. The blood was seeping through her cuts, and a big dark bruise showed on her left cheek. She watched Hermione as she winced once more as the girl touched her own cheek.
"That bloody bludger is so dangerous; why the bloody hell did they even allow that to live!" Hermione screamed angrily at no one. Bellatrix only watched amused at Hermione's angry antics. Her eyes wondered to the remains of what was she presumed as the bludger. Hermione must've blasted it with a bombarding spell—Bella mused. She looked back at the bushy-headed girl, her heart panged with an unknown feeling as she saw her winced due to pain. Bella shook her head, wishing that the tightening feeling in her chest leave. She then decided to muster a grin on her face—something that may make her look strong and triumphant at that moment. Something, she knew, that can piss Hermione. She chuckled.
"Are you crazy? Who the hell are you talking to?" mocked Bella.
"It's none of your business" Hermione looked away—apparently looking very irritated at the raven headed girl who sarcastically asked her a question than help her.
"Well I guess you're right. Now, since we're awake, why don't we start going back?" Bellatrix told her companion. Hermione only looked at Bellatrix, certainly dumbfounded; she looked at her as if the girl was crazy. "What?" Bellatrix replied like the ordeal was not that big. Besides, it was getting rather cold and the forest was beginning to blow harsh winds when dawn breaks. It did not end in harsh environment and winds though, for she knew that the giants may come upon them if they did not hurry. Bellatrix shrugged and got up from the cold floor— dusting her robes in the process.
"Do you think I haven't tried that when you were unconscious for the past two hours? I broke my ankle just so you know. I can't really walk that far, and I'm not sure how far we tumbled into the forest. In any case, we're stuck here inside this hole for who know how long" explained the Gryffindor.
Taking note of what the girl said, indeed, they were trapped in a hole or cave, seemingly covered by thick masses of trees and other plants. It was crazy now that she have thought about that they ended up in some place where they may never get out. She can but can Hermione? Bellatrix contemplated on what to do. It was either leave Hermione and call for help and let her be eaten by magical creatures alone and never save her at all or stay with Hermione and hope that Madame Hooch had called on a rescue team to find them and be saved if they get here on time before they were both devoured by magical creatures and never be saved. She breathed heavily. It was a hard decision, she said to herself. But, in the midst of hating the situation, she liked it in a small bit because this gave her a chance to be with Hermione. Crazy as it sounds she liked the idea. Bellatrix quickly shook her head shooing the idea that came across her mind. This was no time to delve in that. She still wants to live. Yes. That was it she wanted to live and not die rotting in a hole-god-knows-where.
"Wait here, I'll get some planks for your ankle. We need to fix it before heading on. I just hope that the others are looking for us"
"It's not bad to hope"
"Indeed, it's not"
Hermione watched the other witch moved from her spot, barely limping and seemed that she was in a much better condition that she was. She sighed, she felt useless at the moment. She wondered though if the other witch— namely Bellatrix did not tumble with her in this godforsaken place— would she still survive. Now, she wondered why Bellatrix plummet in with her and experience all this. It was actually stupid of her, dangerous in one fact, but Hermione couldn't help feeling joyful. She was glad that someone, even if it was her rival cared.
"Should we light a flare?" Bellatrix told her and approached cautiously her broken ankle. Hermione winced as she felt Bellatrix's hands gliding on her foot and started to remove her shoes and her socks.
"Would it penetrate the trees?"As her feet was free of the material, she felt forest's humidity, it was cold like every ordinary day but what shocked her once more was the coldness of Bellatrix's slim fingers on her swollen ankle. She winced again, but in her mind, it felt soothing to the burning pain she was experiencing.
"I'm not so sure, they're really thick, and we might cause a fire if we shot it poorly" She stated. Hermione, mesmerized by both feeling and gesture, it was so new to her—how Bellatrix's usually strong grip on her arm when they argue or piss each other off became entirely soft on her broken limb. If that was the case for Hermione, it was definitely something different for Bellatrix. She was nervous, excited and at the same time distraught. It was not that she did not know what she was doing; in fact she knew fairly well how to deal with broken bones in situations like this because her early childhood consisted of broken bones from her mother's strict household procedures. She was actually touching her rival, not that it was something malicious, but the sensation of feeling Hermione's soft skin on her cold pale hands where exquisite. It was so new to her, to actually feel what she longed to feel in her dreams. Sure she often grabbed Hermione harshly on the arms, but robes almost always obscure the soft flesh she wished to feel. This, this was free from them. She inhaled deeply and gathered her sanity back. She needed to finish this and needed to take care of the wound before it started to heal differently. Bella shakily grabbed the wood plank and placed them parallel on the sides of the injured ankle, she then ripped the hem of her robes— I liked these set of robes too, Bella thought— and securely wrapped the planks together. Bellatrix's black locks dangled loosely and Hermione took the liberty to brush it away. Startled by the gesture, Bella looked inquisitively at her; the brunette quickly looked the other way.
"Is it tight?" she asked, her hand went up to her forehead and wiped the sweat that trickled down from her hair-line. She took this chance to watch Hermione's interesting brown eyes, deeply trying to understand what thoughts where behind them.
Hermione did not know what she had done. It seemed fairly simple and friendly to brush away the thing obstructing her view of Bella's determined-hardworking gaze. Her throat felt dry, her eyes shying from the intense gaze Bellatrix was giving her. Her heart started to thump madly, the proximity of their face weren't helping in the tiniest bit. She was caught in the moment; she wanted to run yet stay at this position. It was both comforting yet scary. She felt her breath hitched as Bella started to lean in. Hermione closed her eyes.
The beat of her heart was the only thing she was hearing at the moment. Did she want this to happen? She wanted; she really wanted to kiss the girl before her—that girl holding that very brilliant brain in her thick and stubborn head. She felt herself leaning in as if gravity wanted it to happen. She felt the hitch of breath from Hermione and then she stopped.
"B-Bellatrix. I think we should get going" she whispered.
The Slytherin slowly backed away when Hermione opened one eye. She barely noticed the soft pink tint on the face of her rival. "Yes, indeed we should" she cleared her throat. She then extended one hand to the Gryffindor girl and soon was enveloped in a warm tight grip of a hand. She pulled Hermione off the ground and slings the girl's arms over her neck and supported her by the waist. Both started moving to what they felt was the border entrance of the forest.
The sudden shuffle of the birds startled Fleur from her daily duty of combing the forest for medicinal herbs and potion herbs for Remus Lupin's condition. She watched the Unicorns tumble out of the bushes in a hurry as if there was something wrong in that general direction. The wind blew harshly by her and her silvery blonde hair flew with it. The ground shook, fairly heavy from its occasional herding rumble. "It's not yet dawn" she said to herself knowing exactly what's happening. "The giants should not be going down by now unless…"
Fleur swished her wand and in a jiffy the knapsack flew to her grasp. She walked to the general direction of where the Unicorns have fled from, she was curious about the situation at hand. If there was someone terribly hurt, there was going to be trouble. She moved through the trees, rocks and bushes with ease. In a few minutes, the smell of blood wafted to her sensitive nose.
"Merde" Fleur gripped the knapsack strap tightly and moved behind the tree. She stood there in silence, waiting for an injured cry. She heard twigs snap and a light shuffling of leaves, soft foot falls which were uneven for a normal person but not for someone who was limping.
"C-Can we take a break? I really can't put another pressure on my foot" the distant voice said. The other one sighed heavily.
"We really can't afford to lose time Gryffindor. Giants would be on our tails if we rest for even a minute. They smell blood, and the wind blew to their direction. They've caught the scent by now"
"I- I really can't it burns badly" complained the girl.
"I'll carry you"
"No. You're barely alright; you can't carry me all the way to Hogwarts"
As Fleur heard the voices, she felt scared, nervous—frantic. It was Hermione. She was the one injured and someone was with her. With that information in mind she ran—sprinted to the two figures walking limply. She broke through the thick ferns and she caught sight of Hermione's state. She was muddied from head to foot, her clothes were dirtied and torn, and she had bruises and scratches in the length of her arm, a huge nasty violet on her left cheek. Her leg was the one most badly injured for it had planks supporting it.
"Merde. Why in the world that every time we bump into each other you're either hurt or in trouble?" was the first sentence that escaped the French's witch mouth. Hermione's eyes looked up to hers shyly— embarrassed at her current state.
The French Witch rushed over to Hermione, kneeled down and checked the wound. Fleur watched Bellatrix with curious eyes. She felt irritation towards the black-haired young woman. She did not know why but as soon as she saw Hermione leaning her for support, it coursed in her. She shook the feeling away. Fleur inhaled deeply then sighed. "Mon ami, how did this happen?"
"I- it's an accident, we were playing Quidditch in a small pitch near the forest borders, one thing led to another. I don't really know what went wrong but the bludger was awfully persistent"
"Yea, obviously, someone roped it to you" Bellatrix interrupted which earned her a hard gaze from both Hermione and the French.
"You're lucky someone's with you, and I found you, ma belle" Fleur rummaged through her knapsack and retrieved two leaves of unfamiliar herbs and water. She then gently placed them on the open wound and poured water above it; the leave's color drained and stained the open wound. Soon it closed and the bleeding stopped.
"Thanks, we didn't know how to stop it from reopening" the first year thanked her. The French glazed her hand over Hermione's face and the young Gryffindor leaned in at the warm touch. They're gazes were intensifying and familiar that it was so comfortable, so full of meaning and Bellatrix knew what it was. Bella raised a brow. She watched the two interact and it almost made her gag. It was something she wanted to interrupt at all cause because it gave her the feeling of jealousy. She was jealous. She was jealous of how Hermione welcomingly receive the attention given to her by the French and not hers.
Coldly Bella's words cut through the air. "We need to go"
Startled by the sudden rise of Bella's voice, Hermione and Fleur shuffled away from each other. Hermione grabbing Bellatrix for support as she stood up and Fleur who grabbed her bag in a hurried swipe. "Yes, she's right" she cleared her throat.
"We need to get you to the edge of the forest. It's not that far, but the terrain is very tricky. Have you ever rode Thestrals before?"
Both first years looked wildly at Fleur, "Are you crazy woman? How can we ride something we can't see?" Bella said. That made the woman pause.
"Ah, but … hm. You've got a point there" she mused. "Well then, I shall carry you ma Cherie. We'll make good time"
"Y-you-"Hermione's pleads cut off as Fleur grabbed her by the arms and settled her on her back. The ground shook heavily, much more closely than the last two she had heard. Bella looked up only to see the sky darken and flock of birds and bats flying in a scattered orientation. The grunting sound of the creature making the noise reached the ladies ears. Fleur started to run, followed closely by Bellatrix.
"I told you they're close!"
"Shut it Black and run faster!"
"Easy for you to say!" The trio ran. They're robes swishing in a frantic pace as they battled the cold wind of the forest.
Fleur was occasionally looking back at the falling debris and trees. She stopped suddenly when she noticed that the tree behind them stopped from toppling over each other. "Watch out!" Hermione called, in a swift motion, Fleur jumped back and the tree before them fell, with a thud and there stood what they have never hoped for to meet. Giants. Fleur took a step back and came in contact with Bellatrix's back.
"Where the bloody hell is help when you need one" the Slytherin cursed.
Fleur's eyes frantically surveyed the site, she found what a hollow tree root seemed, and she stepped sideways, slowly. "Bella, is it?"
"Bellatrix to you"
The French rolled her eyes "Do you see that barren root?" Bella's eyes moved to the corner, spotting the said root she nodded. "What about-"
"I need you to run there with Hermione"
"What!" the Gryffindor and the Slytherin younglings both exclaimed.
The giants grunted and the ground shook once more "Shhh…Quiet"
Hermione buried her head to Fleur's neck. She felt something she thought she would never feel again. She thought about how her mother did this to her. That feeling before lingered in her stomach as well as in her chest. It was an unpleasant thing, the feeling of loss and abandonment. Hermione shook her head. It was not time to go melodramatic; they were only a few minutes away from being discovered and luckily the trees still obstructed the view of their predators. The ground shook once more. She gasped and gripped Fleur tighter. She felt her hands tremble in fear "Don't tell me, you're going to do what I think you're going to do" she whispered. Fleur only nodded in response. "You have to trust me, now… climb on your friend, ma belle"
Hermione nodded. Bella looked at her patiently, her arms already positioned for the transfer of load. Hermione settled herself on to Bellatrix's Blacks, thin back. Hermione can't help noticing the difference between both— Fleur's were slender yet firm. Surely, Bellatrix's was much smaller than Fleur's she felt that Bella wouldn't carry both their weight, but it surprised her, when the young witch stood there as if it was nothing.
"Go, run!" Fleur told them, and they both took off in different directions.
The professor lined before the borders as they felt the ground shook terribly close to the castle grounds. Helga Hupplepuff watched the birds and bats scrambled into the air. Godric Gryffindor was standing in a circle of five as he briefed his companions of the plan they were to take. It was not a surprise that giant's have lurked closely to their grounds because they have not yet established a very strong restrictions in the woods. Giants at one certain point can reach them though may not break through the barrier bordering the school grounds.
"Those giant's are in a havoc today"
"They're excited with the smell of blood" Severus said.
Madame Hooch went over to the founder "This is terribly my fault. I should have checked that the bludgers were not tampered with. I find it hard to believe that something sneaked pass me, they were alright when the Ravenclaws and Hupplepuffs used it earlier, Headmaster" she explained.
Godric looked at her knowingly. "Accidents happen; we must hurry before they reach the girls"
Helga approached Godric "Please find her and keep her safe" she pleaded "I- I don't know what I will say to Rowena when something happens to her daughter"
"Yes, for Rowena"
"Headmaster" Dumbledore said. "We shall place defensive charms here for when the… giants decided to throw tantrums" this made Godric chuckle.
"You never fail to amaze me Albus, I leave my student's safety to you" he said and took off with four other teachers into the forest.
The trail was immensely distinguishable for it deformed the usual diversity of the forest. Godric walked hastily to the place his charm told them have emerged to where two giants were lurking.
"Severus, if you please" the professor named Severus, held out his wand and threw a restriction spell to the un-waiting ankle of the giant. The giant roared and swiftly turned around as he felt himself be chained to the nearby tree. Godric blasted a curse towards the creäture and it fell, crashing rather hard on the cold dirt. The giant roared in disorientation, grunting in pain. He then levitated two rocks and transfigured them as cages, for the unconscious creäture.
"Well that's one" he said, and dusted his robes. When he was about to stand up, something whizzed by him, silver.
"Watch out!" the voice cried and it flew upwards out of the forest. Godric watched it wondering what that was but was cut short when the second giant emerged— trees toppling down with it. Godric blasted one spell towards the giant, missing it by the inch. The giant turned to him, with his gigantic club and swung it. It crashed the tree and it sent splinters and barks to his direction.
Hermione was lying on white linen when she opened her eyes the second time that day, the sun had set and the chill cold night's air flew into the infirmary's gigantic windows. She sighed. "Things couldn't get anymore worse for me does it?"
"No not really" Harry's voice came through the other side of the curtain. Hermione watched as the boy approached the foot of her bed. His messy black locks covered what seemed likely to be the scar from his rumored survival. His glasses perched on his white nose made his green barely noticeable. Hermione shifted from her laying state and sat up.
"Hey, Harry" she smiled. Harry simply nodded and smiled back.
"Don't forget me" Ron's voice followed through.
"How is it that you're here after visiting hours?" Harry just shrugged and looked at Ron.
"We really argued that we needed to visit you, Madame Pomfrey gave us a few minutes since its past visiting hours" he paused "and we said you'll kill us if we didn't bring your homework"
The girl chuckled at the boy's playful thoughtfulness. "I can't believe that this day was so…" she sighed. Thinking back to the event that went through the forest, it was rather bizarre like it was something out of an adventure book. In the back of her mind she can't help feeling that someone wanted her badly injured, or even dead. To think that giants and deadly bludgers were out to get her. She even dragged in two people with her troubles. She felt disgusted, miserable that she was the reason someone, specifically Fleur, to risk her life. She can't help repeating the feeling when Fleur told them to run from her for she would distract the Giant's attention. It was crazy, she knew, and it was her fault— she should have been the one who gets to attract the Giant's attention not Fleur or neither Bellatrix. She gripped the sheets, her knuckles white.
Harry's hand suddenly enveloped her frustrated ones; she looked at him, hurt in her eyes. Harry only nodded understanding his friend's predicament and said what only a friend would say "Yes, we're really glad you're safe 'Mione"
[TBC]
