XXI.
She didn't know how long she remained on that branch. She knew that girl from District 6 ran as soon as she heard the cannons running, jumping from tree to tree. Who would want to remain to a place so close to 4 deaths?
Her wand was still clutched around her fingers. Bellatrix's wand was in her other hand.
An elf popped in to take away the bodies. It was a small, wrinkle creature, who was surprisingly quick to unravel the rotting vines away from her victims. It snapped its fingers, and the red-haired girl disappeared. A wave, and her blood was gone.
The dirt, untouched by anything at all.
It swooped down to pick up the blonde boy's wand and placed it on his chest. Then the blonde's body disappeared as well.
But it wasn't the retrieval of the body that brought Hermione out of her stupor. It was the shiny pin attached to the inside of the elf's grey rags.
Or what she thought was the pin. At first.
The elf bent down again, this time to magically draw all the blood back into Bellatrix's body. He concentrated, paying no attention to the tribute only twelve feet away. This time, she saw the shiny object even better.
She saw the letters.
S.P.E.W.
Her button. The S.P.E.W. button.
And in the right hands, it would turn into an AC12 coin for communication. Almost instinctively, Hermione shoved Bellatrix's wand into her pack and began to climb down the vines. She moved away from the bodies, from the elf, from the place reeking of death.
She moved with purpose.
She ran with hope.