Chapter 11
"What are we going to do, Ron?" Hermione asked.
The flaming red haired boy shook his head and smirked. "I dunno. They got Harry and Dobby."
"If I remember that map correctly, that gap leads out to sea. I think that's where Harry went."
"Do you s'pose he's dead?"
"Ron! That's a terrible thing to say!" Hermione raised her voice and smacked Ron in the arm.
"Shh, watch it. Do you want us to be captured again?"
"No," she said in a much lower voice. "We can't just stand out here. Someone will see us."
They stood in between two towers, both against a wall that hid the Docks of the Moor from them. If only they could see the pain Harry was in. As they stood, trying to think about where to go and what to do, they heard footsteps.
Both of them stood without saying a word. Ron started to huff his air, making weird wheezing noises. Quickly, Hermione cupped her hands over his mouth, which only made him suffocate and try to pull away.
It was very hard to stop breathing all together. Ron and Hermione stood inches away from each other, their hot breath clouded around their faces. Ron was the first to stare at Hermione's lips and then she looked at his the same. Slowly, he leaned in, tilting his head to the left.
Hermione didn't move at all. She was probably telling herself that this was real, and Ron was really trying to kiss her. He had wonderful timing.
"Oh my god, what was that?" Hermione asked and jolted back.
Ron fell back where he was, pretending nothing happened. There was a loud crack nearby, possibly even around the corner.
"Poppy knew this was a bad idea," said a high, squeaky voice. "Poppy tells Dobby to go, and he goes. Stupid stupid Poppy."
"That must be the one Dobby was talking about," whispered Ron to Hermione. She nodded in return and poked out her head slightly.
Immediately, the pretty girl elf spotted Hermione's face. Poppy scrunched her nose and snarled, perhaps never seeing a young girl before. There were no teenagers on the island as far as she knew.
"Are you Harry Potter?" she asked, spotting Ron.
He shook his head. "No."
Poppy turned around and began to walk away. Quickly, Hermione jabbed Ron in the ribs, causing him to cough. She glared at him, and nodded her head very fast.
"What? Oh…Wait, Poppy! I, I, I lied," stuttered Ron. "I am Harry Potter."
The house elf abruptly stopped, twirled about and darted toward them. She had a weird grin from cheek to cheek.
"You are Dobby's freer?" she asked.
"Uh, sure, whatever you say," he said. Again, Hermione jabbed him in the ribs. He smacked her forearm away and then gave a quick smirk to Poppy. "I mean, of course I am."
"So Dobby wasn't lying?"
"No," said Ron.
"Bad Dobby, bad bad Dobby," hissed Poppy in a very different, very angry voice. "I hopes he was lying, but if you say you freed Dobby, then Dobby is really free…"
"Of course he is free! AS should you and all the other elves should be!" Hermione yelled and flailed her arms. "It's horrendous that they still enslave you! Even out here!"
"Calm down," hushed Ron.
"I will not calm down!" she shouted and put her hands on Poppy's shoulders. "You should be free, and I will make sure you are."
"NO!" Poppy screamed back in that same angry tone.
She put her arms forward and blasted Hermione back with a dazzling array of pink. Hermione flew backwards into Ron's arms, and he also fell to the ground. Poppy stood there, her usually purple eyes now flaring a shade of red.
"You sentence me to die!" she screamed.
Hermione gave a confused look, her brow raised. "Die? What are you talking about?"
"Dobby will die if Dobby is free! A free elf is a dead elf! Poppy doesn't want to die!" she screamed. "Poppy hoped that Dobby was lying… Poppy took Dobby away so perhaps he could confess his lies… But all Dobby talked about was freedom. Poppy knew then he was telling truth. Poppy had to tell on him."
"You told on him?" said Hermione. "What do you mean?"
"Poppy did good," she said proudly. "Poppy told other keeper, and she told guards about Dobby."
"You're the reason why Harry and Dobby got caught!" yelled Hermione.
Suddenly, she realized what she had said. She had forgotten that Ron was 'supposed to be' Harry. Unfortunately, Poppy caught her mistake and glared over at Ron. She then snapped her fingers and completely disappeared.
"We better make a run for it," Hermione said. "She's going to tell them where we are."
Ron helped Hermione up, his sweaty hand sliding off of hers. He gulped loudly, turned his head a few times and then sighed.
"Um, do you know where we're running to? 'Cause I sure bloody hell don't," Ron said.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "We can't go looking for Harry. There are guards there for sure. I wish Dobby were here."
"So do I… Oh, this bloody awful. I'm sorry about before. I—"began Ron .
"Holy cricket," interrupted Hermione. "Look."
A line of seven house elves, all skinny and naked, walked nearby to the left tower, each holding a bowl of soup. One stood forward, lifted his hand against a slate paneling, and the rest followed him in. Hermione looked to Ron, and he did the same to her.
Both darted behind the elves and ran into the tower. They were safer inside at least. But they knew there had to be some guards inside.
"Okay, now what?" asked Ron immediately.
"Shh. Must I think of everything?"
"You are the smartest," he said kindly.
"I know that," she said and laughed. He laughed too. It was a strange sight to see. Two escaped prisoners, wearing clothes reeking of body odor, standing in a cell tower awaiting to be captured—and yet they stilled laughed.
"So, if they get us again, we might be separated," said Ron very seriously. "Before that happens, I really need to tell you something."
Hermione took in a deep breath, and then slowly said, "Okay…"
"Well, I think you know, well, you have to know, of course you know, well, you might not. Sorry… I've been trying to tell you, and it's really hard to tell you, not just cause it's you, well, maybe, but that's not a bad thing, it's cause you're such a great friend, that's why it's hard, and even though it's hard, I just couldn't help myself, so I —"
"You're babbling, Ron," said Hermione.
"Right… Okay, here it goes," he started and then took in several deep breaths. "I'm in," he paused.
"Don't stop now! Go on," insisted Hermione.
But Ron didn't go on. Instead, he stared beyond Hermione's head and over her shoulders to somebody standing behind her. After a few seconds, she caught on and tried not to move.
A Chinese woman stood, her hair very long, sleek and black. She didn't say anything, but just stood there looking at Ron and then at Hermione.
She reached into her pockets for something. Ron didn't want to stay and find out what it was. Instead, he bolted and attempted to run down the corridor. Hermione chased after him, her little skinny legs pumping fast.
They turned a curved corner and practically ran into a dead end wall. Ron stopped short, and Hermione fell on to his back. Both toppled over to the ground, Hermione lying on top of Ron's chest.
Pop.
The woman appeared out of nowhere.
"Shh," she said. "I'm not here to harm you."
Ron looked up at her as he tried to brush Hermione off a bit. Her hand was reaching forward like a gesture that she wanted to help them up.
"Who, who, who are you?" stuttered Ron.
"They call me Arianna. I'm your friend. I'll help you escape," she said.
"Why?" Hermione asked, now sitting next to Ron with her left leg bent over Ron's right.
Arianna sighed and kneeled down. "I know your secret."
"Secret? What secret?" Ron asked.
"You're innocent," she said. "I can tell… I loved a man that was just the same. That look on your face… I knew it the first time I saw the three of— Where is the other one? The one with the scar?"
Ron gulped and hesitated to answer. It could have been a trick. But Hermione answered for him and very loudly too.
"You should know. Your people caught him!"
"Did they?" Arianna said but didn't seem surprised. "Don't worry. He'll be fine. I'll make sure of it."
"Okay… What about Dobby?" asked Hermione.
"The elf that wore clothes? I'm afraid my own elf may have gotten to him."
"What do you mean, 'gotten to him'?"
Arianna looked away. "My house elf… Trixy.. She's in charge of all the others… She doesn't like elves that claim freedom. She probably killed him by now."
"No!" shouted Hermione.
"Shh, someone will hear—" Ron started.
"I don't care! It's not fair! Dobby saved our lives and now he's dead for it!"
She started to cry. Streaks of water fell down her cheeks and over her lips. Ron tried to wipe some away, but she smacked his arm and continued weeping into her own cupped hands. Arianna, however, just smiled.
"What are you smiling at?" asked Ron.
"You can't die here… Hurt badly, yes, but never die," she said.
"Then why did you just say he was probably killed!" Hermione yelled, her face red.
"I thought you two would know by now you can't die here," she started. "You, you broke your arm when you first got here." She pointed to Ron. "Ever wonder why it's perfectly fine now?"
"I dunno," he said and rubbed his arm. "Does this mean that Harry's all right too?"
"I told you already. He'll be fine. Now, I have to lock you away."
"What!?" Hermione again shouted and rose to her feet.
Arianna hushed her. "Only until I can find you a safe passage out. Once and a while we have visitors here. I know for a fact that a researching team from Tibet will be here in a few days to observe the Yeti."
"Yeti?" gulped Ron.
"Yes… When they leave, I'll try to get you in the group to Disapparate out."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "And why should we believe you? You're trying to lock us up."
"Sweetie—"
"Don't call me that! I don't even know you!"
"Hermione, maybe we should just listen to her," said Ron, and he placed his hands on her shoulder. "It's either she puts us away or some other guard will."
"All right."
"Wonderful," said Arianna.
Within minutes, chains were locked around their ankles and hands, and they were brought back up to their cell. The exact same cell actually. It was odd that Arianna would know where it was.
"I hope that woman was telling the truth," said Ron.
They sat next to each on a raised stone bed. Their hands were no longer tied; the cuffs had disappeared just like they had before. Both of them looked down to the ground. Ron fiddled with his thumbs as he talked, and Hermione was staring at the tattooed map.
There was more silence. For some reason it was very difficult to talk. The room was almost pitch black with the exception of one candle lit, which illuminated the map perfectly.
"I think you were trying to tell me something before," started Hermione after about fifteen minutes of silence, which of course seemed like hours.
"I was?"
"Unless you don't want to tell me anymore…"
"No, no, I do," he said nervously. His voice was shaking and squeaking a little. He cleared his throat. "It's just that… I never know when to tell you. Every time I even think about it, something bad happens… I, I, I—"
"Do you like me… as more than a friend, Ron?" asked Hermione. She moved in closer to him.
"Oh! Well, um… Yes," he said very quickly. "Actually, no."
"No?" Hermione spun her head and glared a bit. "What do you mean, no?"
"I don't like you more than friend," he started. Hermione's heart sunk for a moment. "I don't like you… I love you."
"What?"
"I love you, Hermione Granger," Ron said very softly but clearly. "I always have."
"Oh, Ron!"
Hermione grabbed his head with her hands and kissed him intensively. Of course, Ron didn't resist her at all. He kissed back, his lips touching hers. They moved their heads back and forth and adjusted their hands too.
After a good minute, Ron pulled back a little and Hermione followed. They caught their breath, stared into each other's eyes and smiled.
"I've been waiting for this moment for so long," said Ron.
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"I dunno… But you know now… And from that kiss, I guess you're ok with it?
"Duh, you idiot," she said. "But you're my idiot now."
Again, she leaned in, and they embraced each other. Ron leaned back slowly onto the stone bed, and Hermione laid on top. They continued kissing each other passionately until exhaustion fell over them, and they slept peacefully. Ron's arm lay snug around Hermione's neck, and the other arm wrapped over her waist.
They were together at last.
