Ch. 10 Hermione's Adventure: The Battle of Stratum

Hermione threw her back to the wall, panting for breath. She wasn't quite sure what she had gotten herself into. What seemed like a good idea had turned into an intense battle that she feared she'd loose. She'd already been shot three times and had only two bits of life left before she was out for good.

"How you holding up?" A boy around her age asked, diving behind the barrier Hermione had her back to.

"This is really intense for a harmless game," Hermione commented.

The boy laughed, "that's the spirit of it all! Now, we just have to get close enough to their base to figure where we could possibly infiltrate it and take down their flag."

"It's in the very right corner," Hermione said, using her know-it-all tone since she wasn't sure why it was so hard to see where the opposing team would run to for sanctuary. "Their flag is probably inside the barrel. At least, that's where I would put the thing."

"Smart thinking!" the boy commended. "Are you sure you've never done this before?"

"Laser tag? No. I've never played laser tag, but I have done a few things similar." Hermione said, thinking back to when she broke into the Ministry of Magic.

"Well, you keep at it, I'll round up the second quadrant and talk invasion."

"The best way in is to have Macy distract the watch guard on the left since the two seem to fancy each other. Then, we can use the weak point as the quickest path to the barrel," Hermione said, she was actually growing bored of the predictability of the battle. Her teammate nodded, trusting her insight and tumble out of his hiding spot.

Hermione stayed rooted to the spot. She needed to finish this game and return to her Horcrux hunt. She was certain that if Harry and Ron knew that she was playing laser tag at the world's largest laser tag arena, Stratum, they would be furious. Quite frankly, she was furious with herself for letting herself get caught up in this game. Entertaining as it was, it was a distraction. A distraction that Hermione figured would be perfect for hiding Horcruxes. Anyone who was trying to find them would be distracted by the intensity of the game that they forget to look for the soul fragments.

It was clever on Voldemort's part, but not clever enough to get the best of Hogwart's brightest student, receiver of 10 O's on her O.. No, Hermione saw right through the plan. She was playing a game within a game.

Forgetting about laser tag, Hermione began to sneak around the arena, looking for other hiding spots that weren't concealing flags or holograms of flags. The difficult task was to avoid being hit by the opposing laser tag team. They wouldn't bother if they saw her moving away from the flag, but the more she moved away from the post, Hermione noted the increased intensity of Red Team members.

Being a Blue Teamer, Hermione had to wonder if they were A) Death Eaters, or B) guarding the actual location of the flag and set up an elaborate decoy. Just like when Voldemort planted an image of Sirius being tortured in Harry's mind.

Hermione, turning away from her mission once more to focus on the game, hardened her face. She knew her teammates were heading for disaster when they try to storm the mock base and she was too deep in enemy territory to run back and warn them. She would have to carry on alone, like Owen Wilson in "Behind Enemy Lines."

She quickly dove behind a wall, concealing the middle of her gear which showed her team color. She scouted out a good target point of infiltration. Hermione made a mental note to tell Ron and Harry about her side trip. Even though they'll be mad about her getting distracted, she would point out how all this laser tag really sharpened her strategy skills.

Seeing an opening of advancement, Hermione stealthily dodged to her next safe point. It wasn't as safe as her small barrier by the wall, but from her new point, Hermione could catch a glimpse of where the real flag. All she had to do was pick it up and carry it back over to the Blue Team's base. Of course, everything is easier said than done.

She checked to see if there was no one coming for her last advancement before retrieving the flag when Hermione Granger locked eyes with a girl from the Red Team. She tried to shoot her with her laser gun, but the girl got her first. Hermione was not only down to one bar of metaphorical life, but she was down for the count for a whole 60 seconds. Within those 60 seconds, the Red Team managed to surround her.

It was a lost battle. Hermione looked around her captors and saw a few of her own teammates. She saw that half of them were going to make a stand for her, lead be the boy she was speaking with earlier. The other half was going to go for the flag. A good idea if it had not been for the fact that Hermione could see the group of the Red Teamers crouched behind a barrier, anticipating an attack.

In the final seconds of Hermione's freeze time, she had a flashback to her first year when Harry and Ron were stuck, squirming in a patch of Devil's Snare. She even heard Ron shouting at her for, in a state of panic, forgetting that she was a witch and didn't need wood to start a fire.

It was at that moment where Hermione realized something. She was a witch! Of course she knew that, but because she had to dig back to her muggle-born roots, Hermione slipped out of touch with her witch self and lost track of the wand she had tucked away in her pocket. Of course, she would never use it, but who said you need a wand to perform magic?

Looking down at her timer, Hermione had made a decision. "Confundo," she muttered under her breath while looking at the players hidden from view. Her timer went up and she came back to 'life' but was shot down immediately after, losing all her points. Hermione was out but the victory was short lived when the Red Team saw the Blue Team take off with their flag.

Hermione walked cooly out of the arena. She gathered her things from the locker and was met by her fellow team members, who were celebrating a joyous victory. They were clapping each other on the back and saying something about root beer floats. Hermione paid them no attention. She felt a little guilty using magic on those muggles, but the moment called for a desperate action. It was a harmless little charm anyways.

She waited until the noisy group left the locker room before she advanced to the lobby. She hoped to catch up with Ron to see if he was any more successful than she, or if he'd been distracted too. She knew Harry wasn't going to get side tracked, he was a man on a mission and no one can divert his attention.

It was just before Hermione left the building when she was stopped by the boy she kept running into the arena. They had made quick acquaintances before, but she figured it was only until the game was over. Yet, here he was. Without all his laser tag gear, the boy was rather handsome. Strong built, most likely played a muggle sport, almond shaped caramel eyes and a square face. His sandy blonde hair was spiked with the aid of product, but unlike most people in the Phoenix area, he seemed to lack the bronzing skin. It wasn't pale, just slightly tinged with the rays of the fiery inferno that she would bake in.

"Hello," Hermione said plainly. Her friendship with this boy was going to be reaching an end and she could end it like Casablanca, mutual, or she could end it like Old Yeller, by taking this dog down tearfully. She preferred the Casablanca approach,

"I saw what you did back there," the boy said softly. He looked at her in awe, which was weird since Hermione didn't even know his name, nor he hers.

"What do you mean?" Hermione shifted uncomfortably. He couldn't have know about the spell.

"You sacrificed yourself to make sure my laser tag team's undefeated record holds strong. But at the same time, you didn't know that we are undefeated, did you?"

"No. I just figured there was no point in saving myself when there's a greater cause at hand."

"What's your name?"

"Hermione," Hermione preferred the Casablanca approach but there was something beautiful about the end of Old Yeller.

"I'm Brian," the boy returned.

"Hello Brian," Hermione was about to say something else when she heard in the distance, "Golden Trio, ASSEMBLE!"

"I have to go," she said simply, it was a Casablanca ending after all. She turned to leave so she could disapparate to the calling when Brian grabbed her arm and pulled her toward him, kissing her fiercely.

"If you're ever in the Gilbert area, look me up," Brian said breathlessly. He let her go and walked out of the building to his awaiting friends. Hermione was left stupefied, wondering where she was and why Brian wasn't Ron.

AN: as you can probably guess, the next adventure is Ron and we shall learn who is summoning the Golden Trio. Stay tuned!