-Hermione POV-
Twigs and insects alike crunch under our heals as we trudge through the woods at a steady pace. The ground is uneven and I'm scared someone's going to twist an ankle, in fact, I've almost done that very thing twice now, leading to the twinge of pain that shoots up my leg with every step.
The moon disappeared behind the towering trees long ago, but streams from it settle at consistent enough intervals that it's possible to see. But along with the ability to see, the light also casts shadows that play with the mind. Giant spider legs seem to creep from under every tree, monsters looming above us silently, watching us without our knowledge.
'This is idiotic', I think, actively attempting to tune out the back and forth taunts from behind me that seems to echo about the forest, announcing our exact location to the creatures skittering about just outside our line of vision.
"Scum!"
"Snob!"
"Uncultured swine!"
"Pompous ass!"
A thin branch thwacks into my face, causing me to stumble for a moment. It leaves a hot, stinging sensation where it had hit and I heave a sigh. Spinning on my heel, I face Ron and Draco who are less than a foot apart and look close to coming to physical blows.
"Shut up!" I stage-whisper, my wide, unbelieving eyes darting between them.
Draco gives me a dark look before scoffing and slowing down, his legs lazily swinging in front of him as he haughtily picks underneath his nails.
Ron kicks the dirt and grumbles a bit, crossing his arms and speeding up next to Harry, who seems to be the only other person paying attention to our surroundings.
With those two finally shutting up, I strain my ears to hear something, anything that could give us a warning that we are not alone. A twig snapping or a leaf crunching, the rustling of leaves as something rushes passed them.
We continue on a little more cautiously, wands at the ready as we creep along in deafening silence. A rock of ever growing size seems to have taken up residence in my stomach and I keep having to swallow the urge to puke.
I hear nothing but Ron's heaving breaths and our soft footsteps on the forest floor that rings in my ears, until a buzzing flits by my ear. My hand shoots up to cover my ear, but the buzzing is still there, pressing closer, goosebumps rise on my skin and my neck prickles. I can feel the vibration of it, and I bat my hand wildly.
"What's wrong?" Harry asks, rushing to my side and gaping at me.
"Bloody hell," I hear Ron say from a few feet back along with footsteps getting closer.
"Don't move," Draco reaches up to where my hand is clamped over my ear. The buzzing becomes erratic and my head lowers so my chin is almost touching my collarbone and I squeeze my eyes shut.
And then it s gone.
I look up, flipping stray strands out of my face.
It's the size of an egg and has too many legs to count that are wriggling and writhing in the air. Draco drops it to the ground and stomps on it, the crack filling me with a sick, unearned sense of triumph.
It wasn't the insect's fault it got caught in my hair.
Draco looks at me and covers up laughter with coughing, his eyes holding mine. I resist the urge to punch him, and am about to tell him to cut it out, when the sound of something large moving behind me has all of us getting down, wands held in a white-knuckle grip.
My heart attempts to break out of my chest, thrashing and beating against my ribs. I ignore that, and scan the darkness with my peripheral vision.
We sit there, apprehension choking me, until Ron stands up and swipes a sleeve under his nose. "We gotta keep going, I don't wanna be out here any longer than we gotta be."
Rising to my full height, my knees creak and my ankle twinges, I finally understand how my Nan feels.
We move at a brisker pace, but stop not much later after Ron trips and twists his ankle. Great, if only someone could have predicted that.
I check on him and he offers a thumbs and the promise that he'll be ready to move in a minute. Usually I would insist he sit and rest until he was sure he was okay, but given our current situation, he has two minutes.
Harry crouches next to him and the two begin speaking in low tones. I shrug and move to locate Draco.
I find him standing by the edge of the small clearing we are paused in. He's leaning against a large, very old looking tree, but doesn't look as relaxed as his posture suggests.
He hears me coming and turns his head in my direction. A smile breaks out on his face. That's right a smile, not a smirk.
"You good?" I ask, letting my eyes drift to where he was looking.
The deeper we get into the forest the darker and more silent it gets, which isn't worrisome in the slightest.
"Buzzzzz," he grumbles in response.
I bite the inside of my cheek, but I can't help smiling at the jab.
"I'll give you that one," I say. "But only because it was funny, don't go thinking you can get away with that kind of stuff still."
His smile drops slightly and he looks back into the forest that has become a void filled with our most twisted imaginations.
A moment of silence passes.
"You?"
I feel my lips tug up at the corners. "I'm alright, just a little worried." I glance back to where Ron and Harry are, but can t see them due to some foliage and boulders. "I mean we have been out here for a good half hour and haven't seen as much as a rabbit, let alone a Naxa."
He nods his head and purses his lips. "I noticed that too," he wipes a hand over his mouth. "But if we re lucky, we-"
A scream rings in the air. Our wands are out and pointed at the place where the scream resonated from. We share a quick look before running to it.
Ron sits clutching his forearm, Harry is getting to his feet, a line of blood slipping down his face from his hairline.
My stomach drops.
"What happened?" I ask, fearing I already know the answer.
Ron draws in a breath and I take off my cardigan, kneeling in front of him as I wrap it around the wound.
"It was like some-some kind of creature. It came outta nowhere and clawed me and then just-then just left."
'A Naxa', I conclude dreadfully.
Harry stumbles over to us and I motion for him to help me heave Ron to his feet.
"We need to leave," I say, pulling Ron's weight up and wrapping his arm over my neck with Harry doing the same on his other side. "Now."
"What about the blood?" Draco asks, pulling the vile out of his pocket and flashing it in front of us as if it's supposed to change our minds about leaving this very second.
"Forget about the stupid blood, if we don't leave, Ron will surely be..." I trail off, shooting a grave look at Draco.
He looks as though he's going to argue, but doesn't say a word and readies his wand, slipping the vile back into his pocket.
"I hope you're happy about your decision, Granger, because with him marked, he s the perfect ba-" I don t let him finish his sentence, knowing it may ruin the small amount of progress we've made.
"I am, now let's go."
We shuffle awkwardly, slowly making our way back to the school. The air is humid and suffocating in the forest, heat shoving its way down your throat whether you want it to or not. My usually wild hair, is matted down with sweat and I wipe at my forehead and upper lip every few seconds.
We stop for a moment, giving Ron a much needed break, and that's when I hear the chanting.
I'm not sure at first, but the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and a sick feeling claws its way up my throat. It could be the wind or my imagination, but then it gets louder.
"Occidere eos. Omnes interficere. Occidere eos. Omnes interficere." It gets loud enough that the others can hear it, and how I wish to go back to the eerily silent forest.
The chanting sounds like it's right in front of us, but I can't see anything.
My eyes are darting around, but I can only catch glimpses of them in the blackness.
"Lumos," Draco whispers and the tip of his wand glows bright, it's light revealing that something is towering mere inches in front of him. Its bones can be seen jutting out of its skin at the abdomen which is eye level with Draco. Gray skin hangs loosely from its body and it wears a necklace made of teeth, some I terrifyingly recognize as human molars.
Bile rises in my throat at the sight of the Naxa.
I can't get off a warning before the creature swipes at Draco with its talons, but he ducks and rolls out of the way, aiming his wand directly at its misshapen head, he screams "Congelo bestia!"
The thing snarls and bares it rotting teeth that look like they were from a plethora of other creatures and had been roughly shoved into its awaiting gums.
It raises its long, grotesque arm and starts to bring it down where Draco is, but before it can do that it freezes and I release a harsh breath.
"Draco!" Ron screams, and Draco's whips around and is immediately sent flying by another Naxa. He hits a nearby tree with a thud and yelp.
"Congelo bestia!" I try, but the thing predicted this so it jumps out of the way and my spell hits the already frozen one.
Ron quickly pushes himself to his feet and stuff his hand into his pocket, pulling out the bag of salt, he pours some into his shaking hand, some of it missing and fluttering to the ground.
He throws it with perfect aim and hits the thing in the face.
"Take that, you ugly bastard!" he yells, reaching in for more as the Naxa hisses and makes a hasty retreat from the immediate area.
Harry sprints forward and helps a groaning Draco out of the dirt. "You alright, man?" Harry asks, his eyebrows drawn together as he brushes some dirt off of Draco's shoulders.
Draco nods looking paler than usual, he touches the edge of his sleeve where it's ripped half way up his arm. "Damn," he says despondently. "I just got this."
"Guys," I motion to the still frozen, seven-foot Naxa. "We don t know how much longer-"
"Right, Mal-um, Draco," Harry awkwardly says, opening his hand for the vile which Draco happily gives to him.
Harry hesitantly approaches the beast. "You sure it's...?" He looks back at us for reassurance. I nod along with Draco and Ron.
He jabs the medium sized vile into the creatures forearm where a prominent vein sat awaiting. We watch as the royal blue blood floods the vile. It rushes in and the vile is quickly full.
Harry seals the vile with a rubber cap and holds it securely in his hand.
"Now that wasn't so hard, was it?" Draco quips breathlessly.
I laugh and to my surprise so does Harry and even Ron.
"We better get back to the castle quickly. Who knows what state it's in," I say.
The others nod their heads and we dash to the castle, antidote in hand.
'Maybe this disease will be resolved tonight?' I think hopefully.