A:N/ Link to song for this chapter; www[]youtube[]com/watch?v=MGKEexrjwyU
Copy, paste and replace the close brackets with full stops.
To Be By Your Side
Chapter 21
The Looming Darkness
"I dive in at the deep end,
You've become my best friend
I want to love you
But I don't know if I can."
X & Y – Coldplay
The next two months passed just as Hermione had suspected they would. Lavender had become even more hostile towards her then before and was spending most of her time crying. Hermione had been slightly sympathetic at first but it had been difficult to remain that way after being insulted by Lavender everytime she entered the same room as her.
It was as if Lavender was holding onto some vain hope that by doing this to Hermione, it would somehow stop her from spending time with Ron. It was clearly a lost cause though because now that Lavender was out of Ron's life and George was out of Hermione's, Ron and Hermione had virtually been inseperable. The only time they weren't together was when they had to sleep and that amount of time seemed to be getting shorter and shorter as each day passed.
It was for this reason alone that they were spending their Saturday night with him teaching her how to fly. If this had been a night before Hermione had met Ron, she would probably be studying before getting a good night's rest. Instead, she was doing something she never expected she would ever contemplate doing and it was more then likely that they would end up staying out past curfew. It should have been surprising at how little she cared, but she could no longer say she was surprised by anything she did for Ron.
"Come on, Hermione. Don't get your wand in a knot over it." Ron said to her, as they stood in the empty Quidditch pitch. He was hovering on his broom a little off of the ground and was waiting for her to get on. She was stood a few feet away, looking apprehensively at the broom, trying to ignore the weight in her stomach.
"Would you be saying the same thing if someone was trying to get you to hold a spider?" She answered, which quickly shut him up. She tried calming herself down, telling herself that the chances of anything happening to her were slim, but it was no use. She knew the cold hard facts about flying and the possibility of her falling and dying were very high indeed.
Ron must have noticed this from seeing her chewing her lip and, instead of thinking lewd thoughts like he usually would about it, he saw how scared she truly was.
"Hermione, don't worry so much about it. It seems a bit scary at first, but when you're up in the sky, it's brilliant. You just forget about everything and it's the most relaxed you'll ever feel." Ron explained, and she glanced at him to see a completely at ease expression on his face. A smile spread across his face as he remembered the feeling and the weight in Hermione's stomach disappeared.
She'd never thought of flying as being a stress relief before, she always assumed it was something you'd get a thrill out of which was why she always thought Quidditch had been such a dangerous sport.
"Is that why you were always late then? To our tutoring sessions?" She asked, and he blinked a few times as he came out of his daze. Once he realised what she had asked him, he awkwardly scratched the back of his neck.
"Well, yeah. I'd really try to remember to be on time but it was difficult. You could be flying for an hour and think it was only a few minutes." He admitted.
"But you started being on time after awhile, so did you stop flying?" She said, and a blush crept up his neck.
"Sort of, I just didn't do it as much." He replied, and she furrowed her eyebrows.
"How come?"
"I didn't want to forget about everything anymore." He stated, staring directly at her. She found herself staring straight back into his eyes and all of her anxiety seemed to melt away since she knew he was talking about her.
"I think I'm ready now." She said, and he beamed. She returned the smile and walked towards him. She shakily placed her hands on the broom and took a deep breath before getting on it. She tried to ignore how her heart felt as if it was pounding in her ears and gripped the broom tightly, not noticing how her hands had started sweating.
"Are you okay?" He asked, turning his head back slightly.
"Just give me a minute." She said in an oddly high pitched tone, trying to get used to the sensation of her feet not touching the ground. She looked down and swallowed, telling herself not to panic which did absolutely nothing.
Ron could feel how heavily she was breathing against the back of his neck and it took all of his self control not to shiver from it. He guessed she was still terrified and when he turned around to look at her, her expression only confirmed it.
"Hey," He said, placing a comforting hand on top of hers, nearly making her jump as she looked back at him. He instantly took his hand off hers, seeing her reaction, and scolded himself for doing it in the first place.
But, she wanted his hand back on hers. She'd simply been surprised at how much his touch affected her. It had shot electricity straight through her and had sent her heart racing. Although, at the same time, it had been incredibly relaxing since it had reminded her that she wasn't alone.
Ron forced himself not to get embarrassed and looked into her eyes.
"I won't let anything happen to you, all right?" He said determinedly, and like before, her anxiety melted away and she nodded. Ron gave her a reassuring smile and turned back around as Hermione braced herself before he shot up into the sky.
Nothing could have prepared her for what she experienced. She let out a short scream when the bitterly cold wind rushed past her, causing her hair to whip across her face. She quickly decided that gripping onto the broom wasn't safe enough so she flung her arms around Ron's waist and buried her head in his back, squeezing her eyes shut.
He hadn't realised that the speed he took off at was that terrifying for her, but the moment he heard her scream and felt her arms clutch around his waist, he immediately slowed down. He didn't want to scare her anymore by jolting to a sudden halt so he did it gradually, until they were hovering in the air again. Only this time it was roughly about twenty feet off of the ground.
He didn't want her to remove her arms around him, after all he had spent many nights dreaming about it, but she was literally holding him in a death like grip and he was having trouble breathing.
"Hermione, can you loosen your hold a bit?" He wheezed out, but she tightened her hold on him even more.
"How high up are we?" She mumbled into the back of his shirt, not daring to look down.
"A few feet." He said hesitantly, and tried to shift slightly so she wasn't holding him in such a painful way. "Please, Hermione, I can't breathe."
She loosened her hold a bit and hesitantly opened an eye, but the moment she saw how only the night sky was in front of her, she tensed again.
Ron must have felt this as he said strongly, "Don't worry. I promise, I'm not going to let anything happen to you."
Hearing him repeating himself, reminded her that he was with her. She trusted him and knew he would stay true to his word.
He hesitantly placed his hand on tops of hers on his stomach and this time she didn't flinch. It caused the exact same reaction within her, but she had been expecting it so she was able to revel in the feeling. She let out a long breath, that she hadn't realised she'd been holding in, and opened both of her eyes.
She allowed herself to actually look at the night sky without being scared and she was quite surprised at just how beautiful it was. She managed to loosen her hold on Ron, but her arms still remained around him.
He felt safe in starting to fly again, but he remained at the height they were at and went very slowly with only a soft breeze blowing past them.
Without her fear blinding her, Hermione was finally seeing what Ron had meant about flying. It was incredibly relaxing and as long as she only focussed on the stars rather than the ground, it remained that way.
"It's beautiful up here." She commented, looking at the castle. He smiled lopsidedly and glanced in the direction she was looking at.
"Sure is."
He wanted to say something else, but he had no idea what, so he stayed silent. No words needed to be said though. Hermione was content with simply being with him. It was clearly a personal experience for him, since he had spent many years with it being a form of escape, and she was grateful that he had allowed her to share something like that with him.
Up until this point, she hadn't realised how her arms were still around him but now that she was aware of it, her stomach filled with warmth and she unconciously licked her lips. She pressed her hands against him more and chewed her lip, feeling how firm he was.
She was tempted to slide her hands a little lower so she could feel his stomach. But, she knew she shouldn't and it was for that reason she let out a long sigh and said, "I think we should be getting back inside now."
"Okay." Ron answered, kind of glad she had said it. He wasn't sure how much more he could take of her touching him. He had forced himself to think about anything except her so nothing embarrassing would happen to him. He could just picture her mortified expression from realising she could cause that kind of reaction within him.
He slowly brought them back down to the ground and Hermione couldn't help but wonder why she had been so terrified. Flying had been wonderful.
"We should do that again sometime." She said confidently, and he raised an eyebrow up at her as he balanced his broom on his shoulder while holding the end of it.
"Take it you're not scared anymore?" He said, as they started walking.
"Well, it's not nearly as bad when you're not rushing around like in Quidditch." She explained, tucking her hair behind her ears. She glanced at him, hesitating a little, before saying, "And it also helped having you there."
His eyebrows shot up and he looked at her surprised. "Really?"
"Of course. It was a lot less daunting being up there, knowing I wasn't alone on that broom." She said, and noticed how he seemed a little disheartened by her explanation.
"Oh, yeah. Guess it would with anyone being with you." He replied, and it quickly became clear to her about why he was hurt.
"Not anyone, just you."
He stopped walking and gave her a look of disbelief. She also stopped walking a few steps later, and turned around so they were facing one another.
"How do you mean?" He asked, and she took a deep breath, not letting herself think about what she was about to say. She knew if she did she'd never say it in fear for his response and she needed to let it out.
"You've helped me in so many ways, Ron. I was so unhappy before I met you, but I didn't realise it then. I didn't like who I was and I was this horrible person to everyone because of it. I really had no one I could open up to and I never knew how much that had affected me over the years. There were times where I felt isolated and overwhelmed by everything and instead of telling anyone about it, I let it bottle up inside of me so I became quite a hostile person because of it.
"But then I met you, and I could really be myself around you. I didn't have to hold anything back and you accepted me for exactly who I was. You didn't want to change me but, in a way, you did. You made me happy. You've made me a better person and because of that, I trust you. A lot more then I trust some people I've known for years, so I knew you meant what you said - how I wouldn't be scared, and I wasn't, because I was with you."
She ignored the part of her that told her not to, and looked at him. He seemed to be stunned by her proclamation as he stood completely still with wide eyes and she started biting her lip nervously, wondering if she had perhaps said too much.
What he did next surprised her. He strode towards her with complete determination in his eyes and threw his broomstick to the ground before pulling her into his arms. His arms wrapped around her back and he rested his head over her shoulder, holding onto her so tightly that only the tips of her toes were touching the ground.
Similar to his initial response, she remained motionless, because she couldn't believe what was actually happening. Once she had managed to get over it though, she instantly wrapped her arms back around his shoulders and buried her face in his neck.
"Thank you." He said, and she unconciously tightened her hold on him. "I'm shite with words, you know that, but I want you to know, I feel exactly the same way."
She didn't need him to say anything else since, in his own way, it had been perfect. He needed her in the same way she needed him and that was all that mattered.
She smiled and closed her eyes, nearly trembling when his hands ran up her back a little. She breathed in his scent as he moved even closer towards her, and that was when everything changed.
Every part of him was pressed against her and it filled her stomach with warmth as her middle started pounding. His chest was right up against hers in a way that should have been slighty caustrophobic but was actually stimulating. She could feel how his heart was beating just as erratically as hers and the thought that he could be feeling something similar to her sent her blood rushing through her veins with a fiery intensity.
She could feel his hip bones against hers which only made the pounding in her middle increase. She unintentionally dug her fingers into him a little, because of the sensation their embrace was causing within her, and she expected him to pull away. But he didn't.
Instead, he ran his hands down to her lower back and pulled her against him even more so they virtually grinded against eachother. She let out a small gasp from it as it sent a jolt right through to her toes and, she couldn't be sure, but it felt as if-
Suddenly, he had pulled away from her. He still had his hands on her shoulders but there was an unmistakable gap between them. He was looking at her alarmed, as if he couldn't believe what he had just done.
"I-I'm sorry." He stuttered, with his ears turning bright red.
"Don't be." She said, almost slurring, making his brows furrow, but she didn't have time to elaborate.
"Ron! Hermione!" They heard Ginny exclaim, and they both jumped apart, before looking in the direction they heard her from. She was running up to them, looking completely out of breath, but when she got to them, she couldn't help but notice how flustered and flushed the pair of them were.
"Am I interrupting something?" She said coyly, only causing both of them to blush more.
"No." They both said in unison, and Ginny looked between them both, not believing them. She shook her head in disbelief but remembered why she had rushed down to them in the first place.
"Okay, this is going to sound well - mad, but Harry's just left with Dumbledore." She said, putting both Ron and Hermione into a state of shock.
"What?" They both exclaimed in unison.
"He said that Slughorn's real memory explained more about what a Horcrux was and how it links to Voldemort. Dumbledore thought there was no time left to waste so they have gone to find and destroy one of them." Ginny explained hurriedly.
"Wait – there's more then one of these Horcrux things?" Ron asked, picking back up his broomstick and Ginny nodded, as they all started walking back to the castle.
"Anyway, because he and Dumbledore are gone, he reckons that Snape and Malfoy are probably going to do something, so he asked me to get together as many people as I could to stop them."
"But, we don't even have any proof that they're up to something." Hermione said, and Ginny shrugged her shoulders.
"Has that ever mattered to Harry before?" Ginny asked simply, and Hermione reluctantly admitted that she had a good point. "He gave us the Marauder's Map and Felix Felicis for the three of us. He also suggested we use the D.A coins to round up a few more people."
"Hang on, what's the point though? If we don't even know if they're up to anything then-" Ron started, which only caused Ginny to glower at him.
"Because he asked us too! He's out there, putting his life at risk again, and I'll be damned if I can't help him in any way I can, no matter how ridiculous it sounds or may seem!" Ginny snapped bitterly, taking Ron aback.
In that moment, it became clear to him and Hermione that Ginny was actually terrified for Harry, despite her previously calm composure.
"So how many people have you got so far?" Hermione asked, as a way of breaking the tension.
"Just mentioned it to Fred and George on my way here, I thought it was important I let you two know as soon as possible." Ginny answered, as they walked into the Entrance Hall.
Hermione wasted no time in fetching her D.A coin and changed the date and time on it, so it would say a meeting was needed in half an hour. After she did that, she quickly made her way to the spot just outside the Room of Requirement where Ron was checking if the room was blocked.
"Any luck?" She asked him, and he shook his head, looking at the wall infront of him.
"No, I did exactly what you said but nothing's worked." He answered, and she let out a tired sigh.
"Oh well, it's not as if I was expecting a different result. Where's Ginny?" She asked, looking around.
"Gone to find Luna, and then she'll try getting a few people from Ravenclaw to help." Ron explained, and the two stood in a slightly awkward silence a few minutes. They both were replaying what had happened the last time they were alone together and neither were sure how to act around the other because of it.
Ron eventually pulled the small bottle of Felix Felicis out of his pocket and said, "Ginny's already had her share of it so do you want to have yours now?"
"I suppose now is better then at any other time." Hermione said, and Ron handed her the potion. She roughly estimated how much she could have before taking a few gulps. Her insides instantly filled with warmth and a smile spread across her face. She felt on top of the world.
She offered it back to Ron where he couldn't help looking bemused at her expression and took a small sip himself.
"Do you want the rest of it? I don't think I'll need it." He said, and she looked at him strangely, the smile never leaving her face.
"Don't be ridiculous, you need it just as much as I do." She said, in a tone that resembled Luna's more than her own one, and he shook his head.
"No, it's better if you have it." He insisted, and she stopped smiling, even though she was still feeling incredibly happy from the potion.
"No, we agreed to divide it equally between eachother." She replied, and he let out an aggravated noise.
"Look, would you just take it? None of us know how tonight might turn out and you need it more then me." He said heatedly.
"And why exactly do I need it more then you?" She replied, hoping this wasn't to do with his low opinion of himself.
"Because I meant what I said before. I'm not going to let anything happen to you and this is just another way of making sure of that." He said strongly, and her expression softened completely while her stomach flipped.
"But I don't want anything to happen to you either." She said, taking a step towards him. He looked conflicted for a few moments but she guessed the lucky potion was already working since he gave in and swallowed the rest of the potion.
It didn't take long for everyone else to arrive. Ginny and Luna had tried to get a few people from Ravenclaw, but they hadn't been very successful as it seemed no-one wanted to help with something that Loony Lovegood was involved in. They quickly gave up on trying to get people involved and had stopped by the Gryffindor common room to get Fred and George before going to Ron and Hermione. Ginny counted herself lucky that Neville had actually seen the D.A call and was eager to help, since it was evident no-one else was willing.
While they were making their way towards Ron and Hermione, she couldn't help but glance at George. It had been weeks and they still hadn't even spoken to eachother since they'd both made it their task to avoid eachother at all costs.
She worried slightly at how he was going to be with Ron. Ron had been very careful not to mention where he and George stood in terms of their friendship. All she could do was hope that they would all be able to put their past behind them and focus on the more important matters at hand.
Ron, Ginny and Hermione briefly explained what they were planning to do, and it seemed as if everyone was just as skeptical about the idea as Ron and Hermione had initially been. The only person who was siding with Ginny was Luna, who said,
"Harry has been wrong occasionally, but I do trust him, so we may as well come up with a plan."
"I was thinking that it'd be best if we split up into two groups, so one group will stay here and keep an eye on Malfoy, while the other group does the same for Snape." Ginny said, surprising everyone because they thought Hermione would have been the one to take charge.
"That does sound like the best idea." Luna said enthusiastically, and everyone nodded in agreement, feeling better about the situation now that they had a basic plan to work with.
"So how we gonna divide ourselves up?" Fred asked.
"I thought it'd be best if we remained as inconspicuous as possible, so the more Gryffindors that stay up here, the better - since we have a better excuse if a teacher comes along." Ginny suggested, which was fair enough as the Room of Requirement was located on the same floor as the Gryffindor common room.
Ginny then turned towards Ron with a slightly apologetic expression.
"I'm sorry, Ron, but it would be easier if you were one of the people that kept an eye out on Snape. You just have a better excuse to be outside his office if a teacher comes along and asks why we're there." Ginny explained, not really liking how she was singling Ron out. He couldn't deny that he was a little hurt by it, but he knew that there was a lot more at stake so he put on a brave face.
"'Course, no problem, so is it just going to be me and Luna patrolling outside Snape's office?" He asked, and Ginny shook her head.
"I'll go with you two as well, I think if there were just two of you, it would be too easy for Snape to do something, if he is up to anything." Ginny said.
Hermione was beginning to wonder about how much thought Ginny had put into this plan, since it was hardly the sort of thing she could come up with spontaneously.
"That means Hermione, Fred, George and Neville will stay up here. It's more then likely that Malfoy will have Crabbe and Goyle with him so more of you should be here." Ginny finished.
"Seems fair enough. Who's going to have the map though?" George asked, and that seemed to be the only question Ginny didn't know the answer too.
"I reckon we should have it. It's more likely that Malfoy will be up to something then Snape and Malfoy would probably head down to the dungeons if he manages to escape from you guys, so we could see him coming and try and corner him or something." Ron rambled, doing his best to hide the real reason why he wanted to have the map. He reckoned he'd probably go out of his mind with worry if he couldn't at least make sure Hermione was safe in some way, even if it wasn't the best way he could. Thankfully, the Felix Felicis was working so no-one seemed to think of this.
"That does sound best." Hermione said, and Ron's gaze flashed towards her. He couldn't prevent the grin that spread across his face which made her smile back at him. They both quickly remembered who was in their presence though so they stopped and turned their attention back to the rest of the group.
Hermione unintentionally glanced at George and she couldn't be sure, but there seemed to the faintest sign of a smile on his face.
"Okay, we should head down to Snape's office since the map says he's there." Ginny said, folding the map up.
"How long should we stay out for?" Neville asked.
"We should stay out as long as Harry and Dumbeldore are gone." Luna answered honestly, not appearing to care that it could be several hours until they returned. Neville looked unsure about the idea as did Ron, Fred and George. Hermione shared a look with Ginny, who's eyes were silently pleading with her to come up with something.
"I hate to say it but we really have no other option. Hopefully we won't have to wait too long if they are up to something though. It wouldn't make sense for them to hang around and waste time they don't have because they don't know when Harry and Dumbledore will be back either." Hermione said, and the others looked a lot more confident again. Ginny mouthed a thankyou to her which she shrugged off.
"We should get going then." Luna stated.
"Yes, be careful, don't do anything stupid." Ginny said, specifically aiming the last part at Fred and George.
"When have we ever done anything to make you think differently, Gin?" Fred said playfully, and she shook her head in disbelief. Hermione rolled her eyes but a small smile spread across her features. She looked over at Ron and the smile slipped off her face.
Ron's expression was full of worry. Not even the lucky potion could mask the uneasy feeling in his stomach. He looked at Ginny and Luna, who were walking away, before switching his gaze back to Hermione. He desperately wanted to stay so he could keep her out of harms way. She'd already been through several life threatening situations and he hated the idea of her possibly going through another one. Then again, there might not even be a life threatening situation. Harry could be wrong about Snape and Malfoy, he'd return with Dumbledore safely and tomorrow they'd all be laughing over the situation. Somehow though, Ron knew that wouldn't be the case.
He nervously ran a hand through his hair, knowing what he had to do was more important then what he wanted, and reluctantly said,
"Take care of yourself, yeah?"
His eyes were showing just how concerned he was about her and she felt her heart swell from the intensity of his gaze. He was silently begging with her to stay safe and she swallowed down the lump in her throat.
"Of course I will, you better follow your own advice as well." She answered, knowing that if it came down to it, Ron wouldn't hesitate in sacrificing himself for somebody else. He nodded and a part of her wanted nothing more then to throw her arms around him and never let him go. However, she couldn't, not only because they had to do this, but also because of the audience they had and who was among it.
Instead, he started walking away, regretfully tearing his eyes off of her so he could focus on his brothers.
"You prats better do what Ginny says." He said, a slight smile tugging at his lips.
"'Course. We'll make sure everyone does." George answered, giving him a reassuring smile. Ron's expression mirrored his for a few moments before he hurried after Ginny and Luna.
Hermione found herself smiling as well. It was as if nothing had ever happened between the two boys.
"Ron, can you put that map down for two seconds?" Ginny said irritably, leaning back against the wall behind her with crossed arms. It appeared that Ron hadn't heard her since his eyes remained fixated on the same person's name on the map.
"He can't help it, Ginny. You would be doing the same thing if you could see Harry on the map." Luna said, unintentionally reminding Ginny that she couldn't. A look of worry spread across her features for a second but then it was gone. Luna stared at Ginny blankly before returning her gaze to the ceiling, where she had been looking previously.
"What do you suppose he's doing in there?" Ginny asked, looking at the door to Snape's office, which he hadn't left once in the past hour.
"There are a number of possibilities." Luna replied, and ran a finger down the wall. "It's awfully cold and damp down here, I wonder if the common room is like this."
Ron didn't answer but Luna thought nothing of it as she hadn't really been expecting him too.
Ginny sighed and looked at Ron out of boredom. Seeing the look of immense concentration on his face, she let out a small snort and it was as if Ron had just been jolted awake.
"Oh come on! We've been trying to get your attention for the past ten minutes and snorting was all I had to do to get it? Maybe I should try transforming into a pig or something." Ginny said, and Ron smiled.
"You'd be a lot more attractive that way." He replied, and Ginny scowled at him while giving him a rude hand gesture. His attention quickly returned to the map and Ginny couldn't help smiling a little.
Seeing him behave the way he was, she realised that what Ron felt for Hermione was the exact same thing that she felt for Harry. And, well, she'd been sure that she'd fallen in love with Harry at the age of ten when she first saw him at King's Cross Station. While she admitted she was wrong about her feelings then, that certainly couldn't be said for what she felt for him now.
Hermione was pacing the width of the corridor outside the Room of Requirement, chewing on her thumb nail anxiously, the effects of the lucky potion now long gone. She didn't even care that there was a noticeable tension in the air as all her thoughts were focussed on one person.
It wasn't as if he was used to being in situations like this so it made sense for her to worry. She had to admit that he had been in a traumatic experience before, his third year was enough evidence of that, but she couldn't stop herself from fretting over him. If Snape was up to something with Draco, what levels would he go to in order to complete it? He had been a Death Eater, after all, so it wasn't necessarily beneath him to use dark magic if needed. An image of Ron being put under the cruciatus curse appeared in her mind and she had to stop walking in order to breathe properly from it.
She suddenly wished that she had fought harder for the map now. She didn't care if it made more sense for him to have it, she needed to make sure he was all right.
She started chewing her lip when she seriously began considering on checking up on him.
"Don't worry about him, Hermione." Neville said, seeing her fretting. Her eyes went wide and she turned around to look at him leaning against the wall.
"Who?" She asked, praying that she hadn't been too obvious.
"Harry. He's with Dumbledore, he'll be okay." Neville answered with a comforting smile, and a wave of relief washed over Hermione.
"Yes, yes. Of course, you're right. Sorry, it's just a little hard not to worry about him sometimes."
She felt guilty from lying to Neville, and also from needing to lie in the first place. Harry was probably in a far more difficult situation then the one they were in. Whatever these 'Horcruxes' were that Voldemort had, he was hardly going to make it easy to find them and Hermione couldn't bare to think of the sick, twisted ways he would force people to go through in order to get them.
It therefore seemed as if she should be worrying about Harry more, but it still didn't change the fact she was more concerned for Ron.
"Hermione." She heard George say, causing her eyebrows to raise. She turned around and saw him taking a deep breath before saying, "Listen, I've been meaning to talk-"
He trailed off as his eyes focussed on what was behind her and he pulled out his wand. Hermione whipped around and saw that the door to the Room of Requirement had appeared.
The four of them instinctively formed into a straight line and brandished their wands in front of them like weapons. Hermione was about to say what they should do, but the door had already opened and the four of them instantly started throwing every spell they could think of at the door. It was pointless though as it seemed that no-one was going to come out.
"Wait!" Hermione exclaimed, and they stopped, but still no-one came through. Hermione bit her lip, starting to think that they should have waited until they had seen Draco walk out before attacking. It dawned on her how they had just given away their position.
Her thoughts were confirmed when a small black object was thrown out towards them and a burst of smoke exploded out of it, completely blinding them.
"That wanker! Using our own product against us!" Fred snapped, proving that Draco had used Peruvian Instant Darkness powder. Hermione blinked several times and tried to wave her hand in front of her, but it was to no avail as all she saw was black.
"Now!" She heard Draco shout, and he ran out. All of a sudden, spells were flying everywhere. There were far too many for it just to be Draco, Crabbe and Goyle and she felt her blood rush through her veins realising it. The darkness was refusing to dissolve so she had no idea where George, Fred and Neville were and it was because of this that she was reluctant to cast some spells of her own. She didn't want to accidentally hit one of them so all she did was cast various shielding charms around her.
Then she heard it. The unmistakable cackle that belonged to Bellatrix Lestrange. Shivers crept up Hermione's spine and it occurred to her that they really had no idea what they were up against. She could no longer afford to worry about hitting Neville, Fred or George, now that there were Death Eaters in the castle.
She should have considered herself lucky that the smoke was starting to dissolve but who she saw in front of her made her skin crawl. He was the most bestial man she'd ever laid eyes upon. He had a vicious appearance to him with his pointed teeth and long nails but it was his eyes that truly scared her. They were so piercing and were leering at her in a way that made her feel sick.
The smoke had now cleared and she noticed in her peripheral vision how Fred, George and Neville were busy battling other Death Eaters. She gulped.
"Stupefy!" She snapped, but the curse simply rebounded off her attacker's tough skin. He literally let out a bark of noise at her failed attempt of stunning him and her heart started racing in fear.
"I'm gonna have some fun with you tonigh'." He practically growled, making it clear that he was who she suspected him to be. He was Fenrir Greyback.
"Look Ron, I know you're worried about Hermione, which is perfectly understandable, but could you at least try and talk to us a bit? I don't care if you still have to look at the map, but we've been here for hours and it's boring as hell without being able to talk to you. No offence, Luna." Ginny said, and Luna waved her off.
"It's all right Ginny, I've been growing bored myself." Luna admitted dreamily, staring at her wand as she flicked it so it produced some sparks.
Ron furrowed his eyebrows as he realised the spot he had been staring at suddenly had more names to it. There were so many on the parchment, it made it difficult to make out the peoples' names as it appeared as more of a jumble of letters.
"See, you're not even listening to me now." Ginny grumbled, crossing her arms.
"Just shut up for a second, Gin. I think Malfoy's out the room now, but I can't really tell." Ron said, bringing the map closer to his face.
"What do you mean?" Ginny asked, all her previous irritation now gone.
"There must have been a whole group of people in there with him but I can't..." Ron now saw that Draco had managed to run down the corridor with a few people closely tailing him. When he recognised the name of one of them, his eyes doubled in size and he started scrunching up the map.
"We have to go. Now." He stated, and shoved the map in his pocket, not caring if he tore it or not.
"What? No, we can't, Ron. We have to stay here in case-" Ginny said, and he ran a hand through his hair angrily, knowing they didn't have time for this.
"Look, I just saw Bellatrix Lestrange's name on that map so that can only mean the other people are Death Eaters too. Snape can fuck off for all I care, because they need us now." He snapped, and turned around to hurry down the corridor.
"Are you sure you saw them, Ron? How could they have – AH!" Luna said, letting out a small noise of surprise. Ron immediately turned back around to see she was lying face down on the ground unconcious. He glanced towards the end of the corridor where Snape's office door was now wide open.
Ginny made a move to get out her wand but Snape saw what she was doing and wasted no time in throwing a non-verbal spell her way. She was sent flying through the air until she smacked into a wall, before crumpling into an unconcious heap.
Anger flooded through Ron's veins and he whipped out his wand about to bellow a curse when a spell came hurtling towards him. He managed to dodge it but it appeared as if Snape had expected this as another came at him and he was just too slow. It was the same spell that must have been used on Ginny since he was lifted off his feet until he hit the painfully hard stone wall behind him.
As he fell to the ground, he desperately tried to stay awake, knowing there was too much at stake. He needed to help the others against the Death Eaters. He needed to help Hermione. He needed to protect her. He didn't know what he'd do if he lost her.
It was no use though. The spell was too strong for him and he could only make out that Snape was making his way towards him before he was enveloped into darkness.
Hermione felt rooted to the spot being under the slightly lustful gaze of Fenrir Greyback. Her mind had drawn a complete blank on what she should do. It was clear that no curse she used against him was going to work, since her stunning spell had just rebounded off of him. She tried to think of a more powerful one she could possibly use against him but it was useless. She had no idea what would work on him.
She suddenly remembered there was one thing she could do that would give her a slight advantage.
"Expelliarmus!" She cried, and saw his wand shoot out of his hand. However, he didn't seem to care. He simply sniggered – at least, she assumed the noise he was making was sniggering – and cocked an eyebrow up at her.
"Not gonna be needing that for what I 'av planned with you." He said menacingly, and she swallowed in fear. He had a certain look in his eye that made her feel nauseous.
He suddenly leapt towards her and she only just managed to dodge out of the way in time. Not knowing what else to do, she ran down the corridor as fast as her legs could carry her. Her heart was hammering in her chest in fear as she heard him start to chase after her. She looked back to see he was gaining on her at an alarming rate. Desperate, she threw her arm around her and bellowed the first spell that came into her head.
"Incarcerous!"
Thick ropes shot out of her wand but due to how recklessly she had cast it, they missed Greyback entirely. She looked straight ahead of her again to check how much distance she had left in front of her. She knew if she slowed down that Greyback would manage to catch her so she needed to plan ahead.
She heard someone yell out in pain behind her and she briefly hoped it wasn't George, Fred or Neville.
Still clueless about what she could do, without looking, she aimed her wand back at Greyback and shouted,
"Petrificus totalus!"
When she didn't hear anything, she assumed she missed again so she pushed herself even harder and ran faster, even though her legs were protesting as they ached in exhaustion.
She was just rounding the corner when she suddenly felt herself being pulled back by her hair. It had been so sudden that she'd actually fallen to the ground from it and she let out a noise of pain as her elbow hit the ground first. She instantly tried getting back up but it was pointless, he was still gripping onto her hair. He started dragging her across the floor making her scream in agony, feeling as if he was trying to tear it out of her skull. She desperately tried to take his hands off her hair, making sure she kept a firm grip on her wand, but it was useless. Tears pricked in her eyes and she whimpered in pain, feeling her shirt ride up so her skin was scraping against the stone floor.
Not willing to give up though, she got an idea and went with it. She hastily aimed her wand at where Greyback was holding her hair, praying she didn't accidentally hit herself with the spell.
"Relashio!"
The spell did what she wanted as it went straight through the pieces of her hair he had been gripping onto, so he was left with only a chunk of her hair in his hand. Her head instantly collided with the ground from how abruptly she stopped, making her feel dazed. She blinked several times, only able to see black dots, and wanted nothing more than to lie their motionless. Knowing what the consequences would be, she used all her strength to pull her heavy head up and tried to get back on her feet, when she felt a harsh blow to her stomach. It had been so sudden and severe that she wound up spinning over on the floor a few times before ending up on her side. Her eyes started streaming as she spluttered, having difficulty breathing through the excruciating pain spreading through her from her ribs. It was possible that he could have broken one of them but she didn't have time to dwell on it.
She had been holding her wand so tightly that she still had a hold of it, but it wouldn't have mattered either way. She couldn't see from her blurred vision. She tried turning over, only to flinch back into the position she'd been in from how it caused her even more pain. She lay her head on the ground breathing heavily, wishing for her head to stop pounding. She heard him walking towards her and she was just about to try and get up when there were three bellows of,
"Stupefy!"
The sheer power of the spell being performed by three people would have been enough to knock Greyback out, but because of the intensity behind it, it threw him against the wall behind him with an almighty crash before he fell to the ground unconscious.
Hermione blinked a few times and waited until her vision cleared before tilting her head up slightly so she could see George, Fred and Neville, all of them looking livid. She tried getting up, forgetting for a moment about her broken rib, and gasped from the fracture. The noise seemed to break the boys out of their trance and they all rushed over to help.
"He didn't scratch or bite you, did he?" Neville asked first, crouched down while looking over her.
"No, he just kicked me." Hermione said, wincing slightly as Fred helped her into a sitting position.
"Yeah, we saw that. You went flying, you better go see Pomfrey." Neville advised.
"Not before we tell someone that there are Death Eaters here." She insisted, now standing. She wrapped an arm around her middle, trying not to show how hurt she was.
The others seemed to agree that she had a point and it was Fred that spoke first,
"Okay, George, why don't you go tell McGonagall while I find Ginny, Ron and Luna to let them know what's going on and Neville can help Hermione to the hospital wing."
"I don't need any-" Hermione started.
"Yes, you do." George said in a stern voice that she didn't think she'd ever heard him use before.
"Hang on, the others have the map, don't they? Wouldn't they know what's going on here?" Neville pointed out, causing everyone to tense at the thought of something happening to them. Hermione could have sworn her heart stopped at the possibility of anything happening to Ron.
"I'll go now and check on them. Everyone meet back at the Hospital Wing." Fred instructed, before rushing off, with nothing but concern for his brother and sister in his mind.
"What about the other Death Eaters? You shouldn't go anywhere alone." Hermione said loudly, wincing from how badly it hurt.
"We don't have enough time for that. I'll be as quick as I can." Fred shouted back.
He was lost from sight after that and the others remained silent for a few seconds. They let the seriousness of their situation sink in until they heard a piercing scream not too far away. All of them jumped and were quickly brought back to reality.
"All right, stay safe and leave everything to us, okay?" George instructed, specifically to Hermione and she stiffly nodded. He disappeared around the corner and she started chewing her lip, trying not to panic.
She looked at Neville for some support but he was clearly as scared as she was. He felt her staring though and tried to put on a brave face.
"We better get you to the hospital wing then." He said in a shaky voice, and she nodded. As it was only her rib that was broken, she didn't need him to hold her in anyway so they instead walked at a slow enough pace for her.
"What happened to the Death Eaters you were fighting?" She asked, remembering that she never found out what happened.
"Oh - well, I think it must have been you that sent some ropes our way, and they wrapped around the legs of the Death Eater Fred was fighting, so he got knocked down. That gave Fred enough of an advantage to stun him and he then helped me knock out the one I was fighting, but the one fighting George managed to get away." Neville briefly explained.
Considering things could have gone a lot worse, Hermione chose to stay focussed on the fact that they had successfully defeated three Death Eaters, instead of letting her thoughts wonder on what the other one could be doing. She couldn't prevent herself from wondering how many Death Eaters there were actually in the castle. She knew Bellatrix was around somewhere with Draco, but there had been a lot of spells cast from the people that came out of the Room of Requirement. She wouldn't have been surprised if there had been more then ten. She should have considered herself lucky that they had, in all fairness, gotten off quite lightly with what had happened. Maybe the potion was still working then.
As she thought it over though, had it maybe been a little too easy? Had they planned before that those four Death Eaters would stay if there was anyone outside the room? Maybe they were instructed to simply keep her, Fred, George and Neville busy enough so they wouldn't be able to follow Draco.
She could feel a headache coming on with all the possibilities that ran her through her mind and it didn't help when the possibility of Ron being involved somehow entered her mind. Why hadn't he, Ginny and Luna tried to help them? She was sure if they saw on the map that they were battling Death Eaters they would have thought to come and help. Had Snape done something to them so they couldn't? Were they currently lying as unconscious as the Death Eaters her and Neville had left behind?
She was broken out of her thoughts when they made it to the first floor and opened the door to the corridor to find a hooded figure with his back to them. Her eyes doubled in size as they both stopped moving and prayed he didn't hear them enter. They shared a look and carefully backed away, silently closing the door.
"What are we going to do?" Neville said in a hushed tone, knowing the only way to the hospital wing was to use the corridor the Death Eater was currently stood in and, given Hermione's state, they were hardly in a good position to fight him.
Hermione thought for a few seconds before deciding what to do. She aimed her wand at her rib and thought carefully of the incantation before saying,
"Episkey!"
She felt the bone click itself back into place, which was more of a strange feeling than a painful one, and smiled for the first time in hours.
"Why didn't you just do that before?" He asked with furrowed eyebrows.
"I didn't think it would work with a broken rib." She answered honestl.
Neville and Hermione looked at the door before looking back at eachother, knowing what they had to do. They both took a deep breath, gripping their wands tightly, and pushed the door open. Either the Death Eater had heard them before and expected them, or he had simply turned around since he was now facing them. It didn't matter to them as he started sending curse after curse at them.
Neither of them had really been prepared for such an attack and it was for that reason that neither could send a curse back at the Death Eater. They were both too focussed on not being hit themselves. The Death Eater was relentless in his approach, barely leaving a split second before sending another curse. He laughed as they jumped, ducked and dived out of the way and it didn't take long for them to break out into a sweat.
Too many minutes passed with them being taunted like they were. Hermione's whole body was begging for her to stop moving, she could already feel several cuts and bruises coming up on her skin from hitting the wall or floor as a way of dodging a curse.
She barely missed being hit by the cruciatus curse when it became obvious to her that the Death Eater was slowly making his way towards them. She noticed how he was stood next to a large vase and, without thinking, she pointed her wand at it and snapped,
"Confringo!"
She just managed to jump out of the way of a spell he hurtled her way when the vase exploded into a thousand tiny pieces. They covered the Death Eater and he shielded his face with his arm, unintentionally letting his guard down to Neville and Hermione. She used the opportunity to disarm him while Neville tried to curse him but failed. The Death Eater had dived towards his wand at the last second, rendered practically useless without it. He managed to grab hold of it but he was too late.
"Stupefy!" Hermione exclaimed, with the spell hitting him directly in his face. His head ricocheted off of the floor from the force of the spell and he fainted.
Neville and Hermione were both breathing heavily as they took a few seconds to regain some energy. There wasn't a doubt in their minds that they would go and help the others, and they could barely imagine what it would be like up against more then one Death Eater.
Hermione remembered far too well when they had last been up against several Death Eaters in their fifth year. That situation had landed her in the hospital wing for weeks with a permanent ache in her chest, refusing to go even after she left.
Actually, now that she thought about it, she hadn't felt that pain in a long time. It had been weeks, months even since she felt any sort of pain in her chest. Knowing she didn't have time to wonder why, she pushed it out of her mind and wiped the sweat off of her forehead.
"We better go help the others." She said, and Neville nodded, swallowing.
"Where do you think they'd be?" He asked, pushing the door open to the grand staircase and they walked through.
"I don't know, but I guess we'd better check by Snape's office first." She said, which did seem to be the most logical thing to do. They'd only taken a few steps down the staircase when there was a loud crash as someone threw open the doors from the Entrance Hall and stumbled in. They both instantly recognised the flaming red hair.
"Ginny!" They both said in unison. As soon as Ginny saw them, she rushed over to them while they hurried down to her level.
"What's wrong? What happened?" Hermione asked immediately, seeing the fear on Ginny's face. Hermione didn't think there was a time where she had ever seemed so distraught. She was like a child who had lost their mother and was desperately trying to find them again.
"I-it's Ron!" She choked out, making Hermione tense all over.
"What about him?" Neville asked concerned, and Ginny made a face that looked like she was doing her best in holding back her tears.
"We - we don't know where he is! Snape caught us by surprise and managed to stun Luna and me. When I woke up Luna was still with me, in the same place, but Ron was gone." Ginny explained, in a strained tone.
Hermione couldn't believe her suspicions from before were now being proven to be true. It was somehow worse than she imagined and she couldn't bare to think about what had happened to him. She knew that Ron would never have left Ginny and Luna alone like that, so that only meant someone had forcibly taken him away from them. Had he perhaps been stunned too and dragged away somewhere? The thought of what could be happening to him made her feel physically sick and horrified at the same time.
It was somewhat ironic that the ache in Hermione's chest was suddenly coming back full-force. She instinctively clutched at her chest and tried breathing in, but couldn't. It was as if her airways had been blocked and no matter how hard she tried, nothing would be able to get through.
She was terrified. Terrified at the thought of anything harming him. He'd already suffered so much and she couldn't bare knowing that it could only be getting worse. What if he was being tortured for information about Harry? It was no secret that they spent time with eachother now, but then, why didn't they just come after her instead? Why did they have to go after him? Why was any of this happening?
"Hermione, what - breathe Hermione!" Ginny said alarmed, and placed a hand on her back. Neville seemed equally as shocked by Hermione's reaction but had no clue about what he should do, so he stayed as he was.
Hermione's heart was racing as she began to feel dizzy, but she managed to start breathing. She had to pull herself together. Panicking was not going to help anyone. She took several deep breaths while Neville and Ginny shared a look over her head.
It took a few minutes for Hermione to visibly calm down, but it became obvious that the feeling of dread wasn't going to pass until she saw Ron was safe and sound. Her heart had just started beating at a regular pace when Ginny asked,
"Hermione, what's happened to your hair? You've got a whole load of it missing."
Instinctively Hermione touched the back of her head and her eyes widened feeling exactly how short some of her hair was. If she'd aimed the 'relashio' spell she used against Greyback just a couple of inches wrong, she didn't want to think of what could have happened to her.
It looked as if Neville was about to explain but she gave him a warning look that made him close his mouth.
"It's a long story, I'll explain later. What's important now is that we try and find Ron." Hermione said confidently, letting her hand fall to her side. Ginny didn't argue.
"But where's Luna?" Neville asked worriedly, and Ginny's eyes doubled in size, as if she had just remembered something she couldn't believe she had forgotten.
"She's in the Entrance Hall with some other people fighting against the Death Eaters."
Neville and Hermione didn't need telling twice. The three of them rushed to the Entrance Hall and upon entering, Hermione couldn't believe what was happening. It was utter chaos. It was just like being back outside the Room of Requirement, except this time everything was painfully clear.
George must have told McGonagall what had happened as she was currently battling a female Death Eater (that Hermione didn't recognise) with Fred's assistance. Not too far away from that, Luna was in a losing fight with another Death Eater, who Hermione recognised was one of the ones they had been battling earlier. They all must have regained consciousness in the time her and Neville had been fighting the Death Eater outside the hospital wing, and a sharp jolt of fear ran through her when she realised what that meant.
Sure enough, Greyback was busy battling against Lupin and Tonks. Hermione didn't have the time to dwell on why or how they were even at Hogwarts as she caught sight of a body lying on the ground in a pool of blood. Her heart sank to her stomach seeing it. When she took in their appearance, she realised she didn't know who they were and relief flowed through her.
There was still a chance that it could happen to someone she knew though, and it was that thought that stayed with her as she held her wand tightly in her hand. She was going to make sure it didn't happen to anyone else.
She rushed forward with Neville and Ginny to assist Luna, and between the four of them it was clear who the victors were going to be. They fought fiercely, shooting any kind of curse that they could think of which quickly overwhelmed the Death Eater. It didn't take him long to give up as he shouted,
"Protego!"
The shield stopped them from using any kind of curse that didn't involve dark magic, and he quickly ran out towards the grounds. Knowing it was more important to stay and fight then to go after him, Hermione turned around to see that McGonagall and Fred had managed to defeat the Death Eater they had been fighting. Instead, they were busy tending to the person who had been lying in the pool of blood. It seemed as if luck wasn't on their side however, because the Death Eater Neville and Hermione had fought before came barging through the doors and sent a curse straight at Fred. Unfortunately, he met his target and Fred went flying through the air before falling into a heap.
"Fred!" Ginny cried out, and without thinking about her own safety, she rushed towards him, falling to the floor by his side. He wasn't unconscious, but he appeared as if he couldn't move from the position he was in. His face was screwed up from the immense amount of pain he was feeling, with his arms wrapped around his middle while he lay in a fetal position.
Hermione instantly cast a shielding charm around them before she went to assist McGonagall. It was obvious that she didn't need assisting though. Just as Hermione went to stand by her side, she managed to put the Death Eater into a full body bind that made him fall to the floor.
McGonagall was breathing heavily as she wiped the sweat from her brow and it looked as if she had suddenly aged ten years. She must have remembered the situation since she swiftly looked around to Lupin and Tonks, who were running out the door after Greyback. She immediately hurried after them, while shouting to the others,
"Stay here and take the injured to the hospital wing."
Hermione looked conflicted for a few moments but reluctantly headed towards Fred, Ginny and Neville. Fred still hadn't moved from his previous position and it looked as if it was impossible for him too.
"Hermione, Neville, can you go get Pomfrey? I don't want to do anything that could hurt him more." Ginny said, while Fred clutched onto her hand tightly and tears welled in her eyes as she never took them off him. Hermione swallowed audibly at the sight and nodded.
"'Course, we will." Neville said in a shaky voice, and they hastily made their way to the hospital wing for the second time that night. When they burst through the doors, they were surprised to see that there were a few people in some beds. Even though she had only met him once, Hermione recognised a sleeping Bill Weasley with vicious looking claw marks etched into his skin. Knowing there was another Weasley that needed help though, her eyes scanned the room for Madam Pomfrey, until she saw that she was stood by a window, looking out of it at the night sky.
"Madam Pomfrey! You have to come with us to the Entrance Hall, Fred Weasley's been badly hurt and can't move, and there's another body there, but we don't know who it is." Hermione explained, hurrying over to her.
Madam Pomfrey seemed unfazed though as her eyes were still fixed upon whatever she was looking at. Hermione glanced out the window and gasped at the sight.
In the night sky, there was the sign of the Dark Mark floating above the Forbidden Forest.
A:N/ Was this cliffhanger mean? Probably, but the length of this chapter was getting insane and I felt it needed a little split in it, because lots of drama in this one.
I did my research on spells for this one, although I'm not entirely sure if the 'relashio' spell would have worked in the way I used it, but there didn't seem to be anything that said it couldn't work so I stuck with it.
I know I didn't really delve into the effects of the lucky potion that much, at least not nearly as much as JK did with Harry, and while it would have been really fun, it just didn't suit the tone this chapter needed.
In other news, my exams are all over now! And I've gotten into my top choice University which is great. I'm doing a degree in English Literature with a specific focus on Creative Writing and, judging by the reviews I've recieved from some of you based on writing skill, that should be no problem ;) No clue why I'm telling you this, just thought why not?
Expect the next update in two weeks, as usual!
Thanks for all the reviews! I've only just realised that I'm over the 400 mark which is unbelievable. I never dreamed this story would get such a response so thankyou to each and everyone of you. Even to those people that complain :P