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Challenges listed at the bottom.
Word Count - 404
Not Quite
She kept a close eye on her word counter. She'd known going into this that it would be tight, but she hadn't realised that it would get quite so low.
With her soulmate unavailable to her to recharge her word allowance, Hermione had taken to writing a lot of things down. Ron and Harry had been patient with her, and she was more grateful for them that she could ever say.
They often professed that they had little choice but to be patient, because they'd be long dead without her wisdom. She was glad that laughing didn't take away her allowance, or she'd have been in a lot more trouble.
They made Fred's absence easier to deal with.
Of course, the two of them could recharge each other, so talking wasn't a problem for them. They were attached at the hip more often than not.
She handed Harry a note, her hand writing horribly shaky. She figured she could be forgiven for that, since they were riding on a dragon and she'd written it with the parchment against Ron's back to lean on.
He read the note and passed the message onto Ron, and the three of them prepared to jump into the water. Hermione was so ready to be done, and back in Fred's arms, where she belonged.
…
The castle was a mess. Rubble covered the ground, and the dust in the air clogged her lungs. They were so close to being done, but she hadn't found Fred yet, beyond a brief glimpse of him.
She ran down the corridor, away from the closest fights. She wanted to help, but her wordless casting was limited, and she was down to single numbers of her allowance.
She saw red hair in front of her and sped up, skidding around a corner and gasping with horror. Fred was battling a Death Eater, but another was behind him.
Without thinking, she shielded him aloud, and then shouted, "Fred! Look out!"
Her chest clenched, and she stared at her wrist in horror just in time to see the one tick down to zero.
"Hermione!"
She saw Fred reach out but it was too late.
Her vision blurred, and she had a vague feeling of falling before it was all gone.
…
"Hermione?"
She stared at him for a long moment. "How… how am I alive? Am I alive?"
Sadly, Fred reached out to her. "Not quite."
Written for:
Romance Awareness, Day 17 - You have a limited number of words, and you can only recharge with your soulmate (when you use up your allowance, you die.).
Romance Awareness, Extra: 38. Angst
Galleon - 40. FredHermione
365 - 182. Wisdom
1000 - 370. Running away from something.