I was going to wait to update in a little bit, but I got ahead of my schedual (I got some bad news today, and when that happens, I write things) so you all get this early! By the way, did you see the awesome, amazing, incredible new cover?! If you go on my profile page, there's a link to see it in all its high resolution glory :)
I want to thank my reviewers, more than usual which is huge and incredible: Brynn, jaclynfrost, and CaitieWasHere. You guys all rock, seriously.
Brynn: Yay a cross story reviewer :) You types of people have a special place in my heart. and I do love writing Hermione being totally awesome, of course! Who wouldn't enjoy that?!
Without further ado, the action...or the first day in the games!
"Erm…Hermione…you okay?" Hermione lifted her head to hear Seamus' voice startling her from her silence. She sucked in a large gasp of breath.
"Fine. Just fine." She lied, forcing a neutral look on her face. Seamus looked at her with disbelief, but he just scowled and shook his head, turning away.
Hermione stayed out a great deal longer, staring at the now bright sky. Somewhere in this city, were her parents, watching the TV waiting to see their daughter live or die. Somewhere in this city people were gathering popcorn and fire-whisky to watch the first day, placing bets, and making deals. And she had to question if anyone one person in this city sat there thinking that somewhere, there were twenty-four kids going to their deaths.
But of course, that was too real for everyone that wasn't playing, wasn't it? No, instead it was like Hermione- and her classmates- were ghosts, phantoms, a game piece that was only real on the TV screen. God forbid these be a child that had their whole lives in front of them.
People didn't think like that.
Seamus was eating his breakfast, or more like letting it grow cold as he stared at a wall. A feast of every breakfast food Hermione could imagine was spread on the table in front of her, but it was hardly touched. Even though her throat felt like it was coated in acid, Hermione forced herself to eat as much as she could.
"You should eat." Hermione murmured, staring down at her eggs, "Who knows-,"
"When I'll eat again?" Seamus finished, "I know, I know." He sighed, "Me mum, hope she's not worrin too much. Wish she didn't have to watch me die, she has a farm to take care 'o." He said, poking at a sausage without actually picking it up.
"What kind of parent would they be if they didn't care at all?" Hermione asked, in that moment, glad her parents looked so upset. She could have parents that just shrugged it off, didn't care that she was here. She wondered briefly if that's how Mr. Malfoy was right now. He'd always seemed so aloof with his son; it was hard to imagine he cared.
Yet she recalled him fighting with Umbridge after Draco's name was chosen. Still that was shock, not the agony of loosing a child. Anger instead of sadness. Did that say something?
"So…"Hermione sighed, growing tired of the silence, the grimness in the air, "What was your favorite memory of Hogwarts?" She asked. Seamus looked at her curiously.
"Wha?" He began to ask.
"Oh, come on." Hermione forced a smile, "I don't want to talk bout the games. I want to talk about happy things."
"Okay." Seamus said, scrunching his face, but nodding, "Yeah. Uhm," He sucked in through his teeth thinking, "Malfoy gettin turned into a ferret." He chuckled.
"Even if that was Barty Crouch Jr, I still think it was perfect." Hermione agreed, laughing through her fingers, "It fits him perfectly."
"Or…exams being cancelled first year." Seamus offered. Hermione flicked a grape at him.
"You would like that. I was devastated." She recalled, rolling her eyes.
"C'mon, whatta bout you?" Seamus asked, "Your favorite memory."
Hermione knew without thinking, "Third year, before…well this. Harry, Ron, and I went into Hogsmead for the first time. Harry snuck out under an invisibility cloak." She recalled, "Using a magic map made by his father and friends called the Marauder's Map. It showed you where anyone was in Hogwarts at any time."
"No way." Seamus shook his head in disbelief, "You're lying!"
"It was so cool!" Hermione said, "I can't even imagine the amount of skill that it took to make it-,"
"Where's it now? I'd love to see this!" Seamus said, brightening. A dark scowl graced Hermione's face.
"Voldemort destroyed it, third year." She whispered in a harsh tone, "Along with anything else that was valuable to the school." Seamus sobered.
"Oh." He said, sliding down, "It always comes back to him." He muttered, glancing out the door. Hermione could tell the mood was gone, all happy memories once again locked away because today couldn't be ignored.
They ate, staring at the ground. They didn't know when they were expected at all.
"I'm afraid. Terrified. Everyone thinks I'm some sort of…I don't know what they think, but no one thinks I'll die." Hermione let the words spill from her, because she hadn't told anyone else, and she may not get the chance, "What if I die, Seamus? Let everyone down? I hate that I'm everyone's choice-they all thought Harry was their choice, and look at him!"
Seamus stared at her, in a silent surprise, for a couple moments.
"Hermione." He said, her word, so simple from his mouth, but yet so apologetic, "In my interviews, I lied. I-,"
He never got to finish was he was about to say, because the door opened without any warning. Umbridge stood, glancing around.
"Well, you two haven't burned the place down." Umbridge said, "Thank Merlin, other people need to stay in here once the games begin." She said.
"Are you coming to take us there?" Seamus sounded childish, and Umbridge smiled. Hermione wanted to punch her.
"Yes, we will take you down floor by floor, yours is the last- to where you will change into the official games gear. Exciting, isn't it?" Umbridge gasped, "I can't wait." She said, as if she was anxious for a new season of a beloved television show to start.
"Do you men want some breakfast? Horrible to let it go to waste." Seamus asked. The two guards looked at each other, and one came forward, despite an annoyed hiss from Umbridge.
"I'm hungry. Didn't eat this morning." The guard said with a mouth full of bacon.
"What's going to happen to our things?" Hermione asked, giving a glance back to the room she slept, thinking of her chest filled with quills, her favorite books, a journal and other personal items. She hadn't even wondered before now what would happen to them.
"We keep them, until you win. If you don't, they make for wonderful charity auction items." Umbridge gushed. Hermione felt sick; the families didn't even get their child's things? They were sold off to some creep that would have the audacity to buy a dead child's person items, like it meant something to anyone other than their families? Sesames looked just as disturbed, but Hermione knew if she said anything now, that there could be consequences later.
Once the guard was done demolishing what was left of their breakfast, they were led, one by one, down the stairs. They were loaded into a five-person helicopter, where a tracking device was implanted in their skin. Hermione cringed at the pain, but reminded herself this was probably going to minimal compared to everything else that may happen.
The whirl of the wings was too loud to ask Seamus what he was going to say, although the question burned like fire in her mind. He glanced up at her, every so often, making her desire to know ignite faster.
She never got the chance.
An hour later, at the destination, it wasn't a moment after she touched the ground she was pulled a different direction than Seamus.
She was put into a room labeled '24' and it was simple. There was a small couch with some clothes lying upon it, and a little chute that would take her up to the starting place. The room was not larger than a handicapped person's bathroom stall, and Hermione didn't know if she'd have much time, so she stripped off quickly. She had a pair of pants that fit to her nicely, yet was warm and snug. She detected a magical charm on it; these were not average pants. She had a shirt of the same material, and a large but snug thick jacket that she would perhaps wear around Christmas time. She was given also a hair elastic, and she stuffed her unruly mane into a ponytail. She donned the thin, but once again warm socks, and the boots sitting. The main color was black, but there were gold and red inserts and accents all around, accentuating curves.
She was just looking at herself in the mirror when the door opened.
"Madam Malkin." Hermione dipped her head, "I'm guessing you made these too?"
"Voldemort and I have a very prosperous agreement with these games." Malkin agreed with a small grin. Hermione gave a slow nod, trying to figure out why she was here.
"Miss Granger, you are allowed one item in the games. Do you have an item you intended to bring?" She asked. Hermione knit her eyebrows. She wanted to hit herself on the head; she couldn't believe she forgot about that rule! So many useful things sitting back on her bed that she could have brought!
"No." She admitted, growling, "I didn't."
"Well, if I may…" Malkain took a beaded bag from her robs. Hermione recognized it as a souvenir she'd gotten with her parents when they went to India for a vacation one summer. It wasn't useful, though, quite small. Yet because Hermione had no other choice, she felt warmed by the idea of having something so familiar with her. She tried to clasp it onto her coat, but her fingers were shaking too hard.
"Let me." Malkin offered. She came forward, leaning down, and as she did, she spoke softly. Hermione had to strain to hear.
"I placed an undetectable extension charm on it. Don't look in it now; the guards believe it is just a bag, but some friends have provided you with some help."
"Some friends." Hermione whispered, trying not to move her mouth, as her eyes noticed three different cameras in the room, and she expected there were other charms too.
Madam raised her palm, just slightly, nothing conspicuous as she moved to clasp Hermione's shoulder, but in that flash of a second, Hermione saw what she was supposed to see. Etched onto the back of her large ring she wore as a bauble, was a sigil she couldn't misidentify.
"Order of the Phoenix." She said in a huff of breath, so quietly that her voice strained. Madam Malkin just smiled. Hermione didn't have time to ask why or how, because Malkain straightened herself and left.
Hermione wanted to dump everything from the bag onto the floor now, but she knew she had to wait until they couldn't trace it back to Malkin or anyone else. She'd have to get more supplies, so when she dumped it all out, it would be more covert. A guard came into the room next, informing her to get on the platform. She complied.
The countdown began. And in that moment, Hermione had a horrible though. She may never see her parents again; she never got to say good-bye. Turning and hoping that these video cameras were streaming to a place where they were showing film, she began to frantically sign language at the black dot.
Mom, dad, I love you. Mom, dad, I love you. Mom, dad, I love you.
Back before she'd gone to Hogwarts, she'd gotten really sick and had been unable to talk for a week. Instead of just writing out what she wanted, Hermione had insisted her and her parents learn sign language. Although she didn't learn it completely, these were words she knew by heart.
She prayed to any god that existed her parents saw.
All too soon she felt the ground move beneath her and she felt herself moving up. She blinked into a bright sun, and found herself on one of twenty-four circles all facing inward to an empty meadow. But wait, it wasn't empty. Hilts of knives and daggers were sticking out of the ground. She would bet her beaded bag that one of them was for each of them, made by their mentor. If she could get to it.
She spun around, careful not to step off, as they'd been warned thoroughly that would be an automatic death until they were supposed to, and saw a ring of trees around them, with bags hanging from the branches. It was only a moment's connect of eyes she made between herself, Hannah, Ernie, and Elizabeth, that they knew they were heading west.
In these moments, Hermione also registered it was really warm outside. And not just warm; sizzling. It was a perfect summer day, a dog day, where she would have liked nothing more to strip off all her clothes and jump into a lake. Some were already discarding the jacket, snorting with disgust, and throwing them away. Hermione was tempted too, but then she realized that Malkin wouldn't have given this to her without good reason, especially when it seemed she was on her side. No, she had to keep this, she just wasn't sure why yet.
And if she never used it, extra fabric could make splints, or hammocks, or a number of other things. She pushed up the sleeves, but wasn't going to risk loosing this.
Five.
Hermione looked around.
Four.
She saw Pansy eyeing the meadow in front of her with curiosity.
Three.
Ernie caught her eye, and shook his head looking at the meadow. Yes, she agreed, it wasn't worth it to fight for these now. They would run.
Two.
She made the mistake of looking at Seamus, who looked more terrified than she'd ever seen him before. And when he looked up, she felt a flush come to her face, an unfamiliar feeling.
And she realized in one moment, all these people, would be out to kill here. They would be her enemies.
One.
There was no time to question.
There was only time to go.
Faye Dunbar was nothing more than a nervous wreck. She had expected her low score; of course, she wasn't made to be a killer or a murderer. She knew she'd be lucky if she lasted a couple days.
Unlike most, Faye accepted the undeniable fact that she would not win. No, instead her whole family would watch her die.
And it's what killed her the most, is that she wasn't even supposed to be at Hogwarts. When there was murmurings of Voldemort's uprising, her parents had uprooted her and her brother and sent them to Beaubaxtons, which they were assured would never be taken by him. But they were wrong. And she was sent back to that godforsaken place, picked to be in these games, and her parents would live with the idea that they were betrayed.
The bell rang and Faye literally had no plan. She tripped as she exited the platform, her foot hooking on a knife. She would have taken it had she known how to use it, or hadn't had the thought that she might accidently impale herself on it. No, instead she saw the tree-line, and while getting there wasn't the most original plan in the world, it was still more than she'd had literally five seconds ago. Lavender leapt past her, and the fellow Gryffindor' shoulder hit her own, causing her to stumble once again.
Around her, she saw people sparring. She saw Pansy pulling weapons from the ground like it was water and throw, although often missing her target. Faye began to crawl, desperately.
One cannon made her leap from her skin, so much that she felt tears trickle down her face. She was terrified.
A hand grabbed the back of her foot, and Faye didn't even have the senses to fight him off. Instead, she just meekly turned around. She saw a flash of brown and blue on the lapel of a male's suit, surprised at the violent look in the eyes of a boy who had once been a friend. Funny, how things ended. How second year, on Valentine's day, he'd given her a card with a blush, which lead to him standing above her with a rock in hand.
It was because she knew him so intimately; she found a struggle of a voice.
"Please, let it be-,"
The go-cannon rang in the distance, and Hermione took a leap off the platform, landing awkwardly. She picked herself up and ran straight, not bothering to look back to see if her allies were following. She passed two trees, both taunting her with hanging bags, but she knew if she took the time to get them, weaponless, that someone would get her from behind.
A knife whizzed past her, nicking her arm. She cussed out loud, swerving, missing another. She took a wild guess that it was Daphne, who had been directly to her right, but she wasn't going to stay and find out. She tripped, though, over a knife imbedded deep into the ground. She yanked at it, turning to see that it wasn't Daphne, but Pike who had thrown those knifes.
She pulled with all her might, and saw Wayne Hopkins scrambling to get away too, a backpack strap clasped in pale fists. She wasn't sure in that moment if she was going to kill him, but she never got the chance. He suddenly fell, his eyes turning glassy, staring at Hermione not more than a foot away, an axe deep into his skull. A cannot boomed overhead, signaling the first death, and many to follow.
Hermione resisted the urge to scream out loud. She did it silently, all her thoughts blocked out by the blood curdling howl that erupted from her brain. Looking up, she saw Pike approaching. He had no weapons, but he no longer looked scrawny. He looked bloodthirsty.
In shock, Hermione threw the knife that she wrenched from the ground with every ounce of power, and it hit his shoulder. He yelled, and Hermione took the moment to yank the bag from Wayne's dead fist, and run away. She hoped by the time he pulled the weapon from his shoulder she'd be far-gone.
Hermione was far into the forest when the second cannon sounded.
Wayne Hopkins nervously hopped on one foot and another. He knew that it would be just his luck to slip and die in front of everyone, just because he was clumsy. He had no plan, not really. He and Justin had briefly discussed some sort of idea, but it was all rudimentary.
Find water, find shelter, and hide. They both knew that they were no match for the likes of Pansy, or even Hermione for Merlin's sake. They could kill some, but they'd both be better off laying low until they had to do something, or they could get reinforcements from somewhere.
He'd gotten a five, and Justin a six. They weren't overwhelmingly good numbers, but he was fairly confident that more people would send him things than someone like Susan. She was wiping away tears, and he wanted to feel sorry for her- a former Hufflepuff- but he just…didn't. Because he saw her, and Wayne saw one less person he'd have to worry about standing in between him and his life and his magic.
The cannon went off, and Wayne was woefully unprepared. Justin took off like a jackrabbit one-way, and all Wayne could do was hope to follow. He took a long way, almost tripping over a pack that had fallen off a tree. Taking it as a good omen, he snatched it as he ran.
His brain was having an overload of all the people around him, the weapons, the smell of blood already in the air. He heard a maniac laugh from behind- Pansy- and he didn't want to be anywhere in front of where Pansy was, so he made a choice to divert and run the opposite direction.
A ball with spikes just barely missed his head, and he realized he'd run into someone just as bad- Pike. All he had to do though, was make the tree line, because he saw Hermione trip in front of him. It was unfortunate, because Hermione was always so nice and so smart, but perhaps she wouldn't last more than a day. He needed to worry about himself.
He saw Hermione struggling for something in the ground, and he saw it. Damn, it was the hilt of a weapon! For just a slightest moment, he had a crashing fear that she was going to kill him for that direction and-
The axe sunk itself deep into his brain, and Wayne Hopkins didn't have another thought.
Hermione ran as fast as she could, dodging trees and stumbling over rocks. She wasn't sure if she heard anyone else following her, but she wasn't going to stick around and find out. In this moment, with her heart rate elevated and mind reeling from the death she just witnessed, she was weaponless. Even if she had to turn and fight, her mind wouldn't have been able to conjure what she had once read about hand-to-hand combat, or the wandless magic she'd spent so long on.
She passed a tiny river gurgling around, and thought about stopping there. But she saw bloodstains in the area, meaning someone else was already there, and also she reminded herself that this was for sure a stupid choice. People needed water above all to survive, so they would flock to rivers and lakes. Her and her friends were smart and talented enough not to need it.
She ran until she felt like she'd been running for more than an hour, and found a little clearing in the woods and just collapsed. She hadn't even thought about how her friends would find her. That, unfortunately, had been the last thing on her mind.
A stick cracking to he back made her swing around, snatching up a branch, as if that would be any fight against someone who was confident enough to come upon her.
"Merlin, Hermione." She heard Ernie cough, as the little out-sprouts of the branch flicked across his face, "That's a better weapon than you might think" He muttered, rubbing the side of his face where'd he'd been attacked by it tenderly.
"Thank Merlin." Hermione said, her shoulders drooping in relief, "I didn't think we'd find each other."
"Hannah and I went together. It was tough following you; if anyone chasing you didn't have a weapon, it wouldn't be worth it, the way you sprint."
"Where's Hannah?" Hermione asked, looking around.
"Here." Hannah said, coming forward gingerly and wincing as she put her foot down. Hermione noticed and began to open her mouth to ask, but she was already explaining, "Duke grabbed me. Had a knife. He twisted my ankle, but I managed to kick him in the face." She said proudly.
"Is it really bothersome?" Hermione asked.
"Only when I think about it." Hannah said, sighing.
"You got a bag too?" Ernie cut in, noting the mud-stained black backpack at her feet.
"Yeah! I got it from Wayne." She added, but neither made any comment about seeing him dead. She would re-tell it later, not now, though, "Ernie! Did you get rid of your coat?" She scolded.
"It's like ninety degrees, Hermione." He said, shrugging, "I don't think it will be missed."
"I told him he was an idiot." Hannah broke in, sticking her tongue out at him, "We might need it for later. Maybe they just gave us extra fabric? And we'll have to make a giant rope or something?" She offered up. Hermione thought that sounded silly, but didn't say so.
"Let's see what we have between us." Ernie said, his face growing red now that he had two girls chastising him, "Did anyone see Elizabeth anywhere?" He asked, and he knew they all had the same thoughts- two cannons went off. Maybe they didn't know either death.
"No." Hermione admitted guiltily. She wished she had been a little more observant, helped her. She was only thirteen, for Merlin sakes, and here they were- three adults- who didn't give her a thought until they weren't running for their lives. Yes, perhaps it was usual, but it didn't excuse the fact it made Hermione feel horrible!
Ernie grunted, a scowl twisting on his face.
"She might find us. She might turn up." Hannah said, twisting her hair nervously, giving a weak smile.
"Let's see what we have together." Hermione said hastily, diverting the topic from Elizabeth to good things, like what the collected. In the bag Hermione had stolen, there was a band of gauze, a sewing kit, rope, survival blanket, duct tape, bottle of iodine, a small knife (probably used for things other than killing, but in a pinch would work), a roll of crackers, a compass and some fire starters. Ernie's was larger, but also more easily seen. His contained a metal water bottle, a sleeping bag (which Hermione was incredibly envious of his catch), dried fruit, flashlight, micro tarp, wire, dried jerky, and some more bandages.
"That's huge- I can't imagine there's many of those types." Hermione said.
"I only saw three others." Ernie said, nodding, "Punched Pansy in the face to get this one."
"You did not! She would have killed you!" Hannah said, hitting him lightly on his shoulder.
"I'm just saying…she may be sporting a black eye." He said, grinning. Hermione wasn't sure if she bought his story either.
"Hermione! You're bleeding!"
Hermione had forgotten all about the knife that had cut her. She saw a gentle drip of blood on the forest floor, and cringed that it had slipped her mind. And now that Hannah mentioned it, it burned. She gingerly pushed apart the ragged hole that had been sliced into her clothes, and her fingers touched the wound. She recoiled at once, hissing in pain.
"Let us see it." Hannah insisted, and Hermione shrugged off her jacket. It had gone through her shirt as well, so abandoning modesty; Hermione took it off, leaving her in an undershirt.
"It's not deep." Hannah said, and Hermione let her friend run her fingers along the edge, "For sure nasty though. Here-," She began to reach for the gauze, but Hermione let out a gasp.
"No!" She protested, "We should save that for a really bad wound. This is just…an annoyance. See? It's already stopped bleeding." She insisted, and Hannah looked at it skeptically.
"Fine." She agreed after a long moment, "But we're still going to sanitize it. Don't want it to get infected, right? Ernie, there was a river back there. Can you fill the water bottle up?" She questioned.
"I have a better idea." Ernie said with a grin. He cleared his throat, took a ridiculous looking stance, and pointed a finger from his left hand into the bottle, "Auguamenti!" He said, and low and behold, a thin stream of water emptied into the bottle.
"Wandless spell casting! I forgot. We don't need streams at all." Hermione sighed in relief, for only those that could not cast wandless spells would be forced to go there, and Hermione had a feeling it wouldn't be the experienced ones, "Wait- does anyone know any healing spells that could fix this?" She asked, touching her knife wound gingerly.
"No." Hannah said, deflating, "Sorry." Hermione looked hopefully at Ernie. He held his hands.
"Nada. We're just going to have to heal our wounds the muggle way." He said, winking. Hermione didn't laugh.
Carefully, Hannah poured the water over her cut. Hermione winced, but held her tongue. It burned more when Hannah applied a very small amount- per Hermione's instance- of the iodine over the wound, coating it to keep it safe. Hannah tried to persuade her to just use one go around of the gauze to keep it in place, but Hermione shook her head fiercely. She sat on her coat, and felt something squish.
"My beaded bag!" She gaped, and her companions looked at her curiously, she motioned them forward. She, in hushed tones, explained about Madam Malkin and the Phoenix symbol. Both were shocked, but neither could comment. She, in the shadows of her friends, unloaded the bag, saying that they could fit everything into here- both backpacks and all, if they felt safe with her holding it, of course. Neither had an objection.
The bag mostly held food, which Hermione had never been so grateful for in her life. Another full thing of water, a box of granola bars, trail mix, and more jerky. It was, though, the final item that led Hermione's bones to freeze and a strangled cry make her way up her throat.
Harry's invisibility cloak.
She had been sure in Voldemort's raids this had been destroyed, and never did she think herself worthy to be the next owner of it. Hannah lightly touched it, inhaling a deep breath.
"Is that…" She asked in a low whisper. Hermione gave her a grave nod.
"We mustn't let the cameras see." Ernie said, shoving it back into her pouch, "It's clearly for last ditch moments." Hermione had to agree. They tried to continually normally after, but it was hard when all three knew Hermione- and by byproduct themselves- had friends in high, but dangerous, places.
The next order of business was to decide if they should go hunting or not. They did have food from their packs, but it wouldn't last more than a couple days. There were still too many people to go out hunting for berries and roots with only a measly knife to protect oneself, for even when Hermione attempted some wandless magic, it was extremely weak, and if they caught fish or a different type of meat, it would need to be cooked, which meant starting a fire. Which, of course, was a dead giveaway. A neon 'were over here' sign.
"I'd feel better if Elizabeth were here going out, so at least we can stay in pairs." Ernie said, rubbing his arms cautiously, "I think we can stick with what we have now."
They lay down the lightweight tarp against a boulder, so that when they sat, they looked out to the forest.
"First four or so hours down." Hannah said, "Forever to go."
Hermione took it upon herself to ration out their food, and they were soon munching along on the beef jerky with a handful of nuts to add flavor.
"So we don't know whose died?" Ernie asked.
"Wayne. Wayne Hopkins." Hermione said, and both Ernie and Hannah saddened. She momentarily forgot the pair was once housemates with Wayne, and his death would be more meaningful to them. She described his run and the axe to his head, the way his eyes just stared at her in the light, staring blindly into nothingness.
Her story quieted the threesome a great deal; the Hufflepuffs mourning a fallen fellow, and Hermione trying to vanish the look on his face, the blood rushing down his black hair and onto the grass, blue eyes empty and flat. Also, there wasn't much more to discuss. It wasn't like Ernie could turn casually and ask if they'd heard about this or that in the Wizarding World- read the section in the Daily Prophet about a cat that could play a piano or something, at least not anymore.
They did decide, as a group, that they were not going to purposely seek out people to kill. If it came down to it, and they had to, they would fight to survive, but they would all rather not participate in it the way Pansy did. She and her Slytherin army were probably storming the forest, coming upon unsuspecting people and slitting their throats. Or not, since no more cannons had been heard so far.
Hannah suggested that perhaps they should move farther away; find a better and more stable camp site for the remainder of the game. Maybe a cave or a place they could construct a log lean-to on. Ernie wanted to give Elizabeth more time to find them, and was less concerned about being found.
"We ran far, and we together have a good skill-set. I don't think we'll be hunted, not now."
Hermione offered that they take turn sleeping, even though it was only mid-day, for there wasn't much else to do. At least one person awake at all times, although if someone really wasn't tired, they didn't have to sleep right then, but everyone should take a turn. The sleeping bag was big enough for two people, or could be used as a blanket while they slept on the tarp. It wasn't comfortable, but it was better than nothing.
But even now the air was still sticky and warm, and a blanket wasn't even needed. Hermione, who now was feeling the effects of not sleeping the previous night, offered to take a night shift if she could nap now. Hannah said she would nap too, and Ernie- wide awake, was more than happy to take the first shift.
Hannah unzipped the sleeping bag and laid it out so they had some sort of comfort underneath them instead of just a thin layer beneath the ground and their bodies, and they took a backpack each, making it softer by bunching up the winter jackets on top.
And for what it was worth, even though they were in woods with a group of now twenty-two other children all out to get each other, Hermione fell into sleep with little trouble.
So much to think about, eh? How to do you like that Malkin is part of the Order? Or that I decided to include everyone's POV as they die (morbid, but eh...)? If you liked those parts and everything else, please make my day and review! I know there's a ton of you that read it, so even just a tiny review means the world to me!
In other story promoting news, I uploaded the 'M' rated scene as a separate story to my fanfiction Omphalos, it's called 'But I Mean These Words'. I also posted a Jelsa Modern AU with soul-mate symbols called 'Snowflake Symbols', so be sure to give those a looksie if you like my writing.
Next up is the second day in the forest, and actually, we're going to get Pansy's POV too (Sorry, she's not dying, just a normal POV)
Love you all! Read and review!
