Important Stuff: Written by RGBTheDuckie and xakemii, neither of whom own Harry Potter.
andbytheway: Rachel failed to mention to me that the compass idea was stolen from PoTC. And here was innocent little Kimberley praising her for such an original idea! Goodness. Anyway, that's not ours either, apparently.
"No," George declared. "There's no way I'm letting you borrow my broom.
Hermione looked up at him, exasperated. "He could be anywhere. I can't apparate! The only option I have is flying."
He nodded, but kept his firm expression. "I agree, but there's no way in hell I'm going to let you borrow my broom. You'll bloody kill yourself."
Groaning, Hermione ran her fingers through her tangles of hair. She knew what he was saying was true, and that by flying she probably would kill herself, but still, she had to try. Drawing in an annoyed breath, Hermione looked up at George, waiting impatiently for the verdict.
"You stay here, and I'll go," George finally said, much to her dismay.
"No, George!" she exclaimed, feeling more and more agitated by the second. "I need to talk to Fred, to explain what really happened. Plus, I have the compass, you won't be able to find him without it," Hermione demanded, slamming her hand down on the table to emphasize her point.
George rubbed his temples. Why was she being so difficult? He could easily find Fred by himself. After all, they were twins, and had barely spent a second of their lives away from each other. Besides, he knew Fred well - really well.
"What direction did you say the compass was pointing in?" he asked.
Hermione pulled out the golden chain and flipped open the lid. "That way," she told him, pointing.
"I know where he is," he said, a grin spreading across his face. "When we were younger we found this forest, about a mile east of here, I guess. We used to go out there for hours. I bet you that where he is."
"Great!" For the first time that morning, Hermione looking genuinely happy as she wrapped a jacket around herself. "Let's go."
George let out a hearty laugh as he gripped her wrist, shaking his head. "Don't even think about it, Granger."
"It's either us, or nobody, George."
There was silence for a few moments. Fred would kill him if he let Granger get hurt, and at this rate, it was either Fred's life or hers. Okay, so he was being slightly over dramatic. After all, Fred wasn't in any real trouble, was he? They had spent years in that forest, there was no evil there. Then again... that was before Wonder Boy had shown up declared old Voldie was still out and about. George knew that he had no choice. Gripping his wand in one hand, he turned to Hermione, offering her his hand.
"Let's go."
Grinning from ear to tear, Hermione grasped his arm and clenched her eyes shut. A split second later, the two disappeared with a soft pop. They were going to find Fred.
Hermione had no clue where she was when she arrived. There was one thing for sure - they were no longer at the Burrow. Instead, she found herself surrounded by pine trees, and had George not been with her, completely lost.
"Be quiet," George whispered. "That way he won't run off."
"You're leaving me?" Hermione's eyes widened in fright as George began to walk away from her.
Looking back over his shoulder, he frowned at her. "We'll never find him otherwise. These woods are massive."
"How am I meant to find you afterwards though?"
Pulling a small mirror from his pocket, George threw it at her. "Works like Sirius's."
Hermione was still unsure of herself, but deep down, she knew that George was right. The woods were massive. They needed to split. So ignoring the gut feeling in her stomach, she nodded, and scuttled away quickly before she could change her mind.
Fred sat on the high branch of a tree, letting his legs swing beneath him. He seemed to have made his way there almost automatically; too distraught from the previous events to care. Tears had been rolling freely down his checks since he had left the Burrow. To start with they were tears of anger and rage, but those feelings were soon overwhelmed with sorrow.
He dropped his head into his hands. How did this happen? For a few hours, things had seemed perfect. He had finally gotten the girl he had always wanted... only to find out she was shagging Harry. He had thought they were only friends, but now looking back, they had always been unusually close.
Yet, it was so unlike Hermione. Maybe he should have stayed to hear her out - listen to her defense. At the time Fred couldn't bear to be in the room any longer. He would have liked to have punched Harry another time, maybe yell a little, but seeing Hermione's wide eyes, he had felt the urge to go over there and forgive her for everything she had done - to hug her and tell her it was all going to be better. So disgusted by his own thoughts Fred had stormed from the room.
A rustle from below startled Fred, almost making him fall from the tree. He grabbed hold of the trunk to steady himself. Sitting absolutely still, he peered down to see what was beneath him. He only just managed to stifle a gasp. Walking on the ground below was Hermione. She was clutching the compass he had given her in her hands and muttering to herself. Straining his ears, Fred began to distinguish words.
"Where is he?" she murmured. "The compass says he should be right here." She stopped at the trunk of the tree. It took a second for Fred to realize what was going on. She was looking for him, and the compass was telling her he was here. Which was true, little did Hermione know that he was just above plain sight.
Fred watched, amused, as Hermione searched for him. She checked behind the tree, in bushes, under rocks. Finally she slid to the ground.
"Stupid compass," she said, flinging it across the ground. To Fred's horror, tears were brimming over her eyes.
"I'm sorry Fred," she whispered, hugging her knees. Fred's chest tightened as he watched her sob. He wasn't going to give in to her pleas. No matter how much he wanted to. She had broken his heart. He wasn't going to go running back to her just like that.
After what felt like forever, Hermione stood. She wiped her eyes, and attempted to brush the dirt from her clothes. She started to walk away, before turning. She scanned the ground before her eyes landed and the discarded necklace. Slowly, she wandered over to it. She wasn't paying attention to where she was walking and her foot hit a jagged rock, rolling her ankle. Howling in pain and hopping on one leg, she grasped her foot. As she did so, she drifted backwards.
No.
Fred knew what was about to happen. From personal experience, he knew that hidden behind those trees and bushes was a slope, which fell dramatically steeply before turning into a clearing. Hermione wasn't aware of this as she jumped backwards. When she thought her foot would meet flat ground, she found nothing but thin air. All Fred could do was watch in horror as she tumbled.
Fred leaped from the tree, landing hard on the ground. His feet stung from ground shock but he ignored that. He rushed over to the trees, and pushed them back so he could look downwards. The slope was steeper than he had remembered; it would have been difficult to even walk down. Rocks were scattered across the grass, their sharps edges mocking him. His eyes wandered from the rocks, searching for Hermione.
He found her, a crumpled body at the bottom of the hill. From here he could see blood, and that was all the momentum he needed. Without hesitation he bounded down the hill. Halfway down, he skidded. His arm scrapped along a rock as he fell to his back. Within seconds he was running down the hill. The cut on his arm was nothing to him. He had to get to Hermione.
He fell to his knees beside her. Her eyes were closed, but she was breathing. A large gash ran the length of her check. Fred's fingers wandered across it as he stiffled a gasp. As his eyes flew across her body he found that everywhere he looked was battered. Bruises were already forming in places, and scratches covered her arms. Fred gasped as he looked at her legs. The knee of her right leg was unnaturally swollen, but it was what was just below that which worried him. The whole side of her calf had been pummeled by the rocks. The skin had been peeled back, leaving her lower leg soaked in blood.
"No, no, no," Fred cried. He grasped hold of her shoulders and shook her as gently as he could. "Come on, Hermione, wake up. Please wake up."
Hermione groaned and rolled slightly, before gasping in pain.
"Oh, thank, Merlin." Fred was so glad that she was awake that he didn't notice the terrified look in her eyes, not until she let out a yell of agony. He moved closer to her, and cupped her face in his hands.
"Hermione, look at me," he instructed. Hermione's scared brown eyes locked onto his. "It is going to be okay. I'm going to get you better, but you have to stay awake."
Silently cursing himself for never bothering to learn healing spells, he patted his robes quickly. Surely he was carrying something. With all the scrapes he'd gotten into with George, he must have something... Or not.
"George..." Fred's eyes lit up in realization. "Where's George, Hermione?"
There was no way that George would have let her come find him by herself. And even with the compass, he was probably how she knew where to find him in the first place.
"M-m-irror..." Hermione murmured weakly.
Had the situation been different, Fred would have felt quite awkward, but instead he made hast in searching her robes, and clasping his hand around a familiar black handle. Thank Merlin for Sirius.
"George?" Fred called anxiously. "Oi, Georgie!"
"You bloody tosspot!" George replied, laughing with relief. Though he would never admit it, he had been getting slightly worried. "Hermione was going crazy. Where are you?"
Instead of replying, Fred simply grimaced, and turned the mirror so that George could see Hermione. He waited until he could hear a sharp gasp, before turning the mirror back around.
"Can you apparate, Fred? I'm by the Old Tree..." George trailed off, thinking of a few blissful childhood memories the two had shared in the forest. However, now was not the time for this, and he snapped back into focus.
"I'll hurt her! Can't you?"
"What's me being there going to do? I'm just as bad at healing spells as you are."
"Get help, you bloody wanker."
"Oh, yes," George said dryly. "Harry and Ginny, being the only ones home, are going to be very helpful."
"George..."
"Alright, alright. You're at the slope bit, right?" George waited for Fred's nod of confirmation before continuing. "You might want to try and stop the blood... clean it or something, I'll go... Do something useful. Call me in about ten, alright?"
He wasn't given any time to reply, and he sighed, putting the mirror safely away in his robes. Looking at Hermione's disheveled form, he pulled out his wand - might as well try clean it... stop the flow or something...
Come on, Georgie...
Authors' Stuff: Well... almost a month. Almost. Sorry guys :( We fail epically. However! It's up now, right?
Kimberley would like to kindly point out the poll on her profile, though I don't think we'll be writing that one together.. *eyebrow raises*
& Well. Yes. Until next time!
Rachel & Kimberley xox