Disclaimer- Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers not
me! Isenguard belongs to Tolkien and I don't know how many other people!
*
Chapter 10
*
They must have sat there for hours, the gloom overwhelming like an intoxicating drug that slowed their senses. But all the time Ron was calculating, how to escape? His mind ran through a thousand possible plans, each discarded, each useless.
Never in his career as an auror had he hit upon such a stalemate. He knew Jacob would be worried and frantic, which would make him all the more dangerous. He still had his wand but Jacob's dampening spells had rendered them useless.
His team did not wake up but Ron knew they were alive for Jacob had taken the trouble to bind them. Hermione sat silent, frightened but determined and angry. Eilonwy was tearful, and tired, she had been trapped for a day and a half, eventually she slept, her breathing laboured and uneven.
Still Ron's mind was working overtime, there had to be a way out! He was so lost in thought that he didn't notice Hermione struggling till she was free of her bindings.
"How?" Ron asked incredulous.
"The twins taught us that trick, years ago, I'm surprised you didn't remember. Surely it's a useful skill in your line of work?" Hermione said.
"Oh, of course! I'd completely forgotten! Thank god the twins think it's useful to learn muggle tricks! Untie me too please."
Hermione did so and Ron stretched his aching muscles thankfully. Then they set to work going over the damp walls of the strange enclosed cave they were in, looking for cracks or a way out. None were to be found.
Defeated Ron groaned and slid down the wall burying his face in his hands. It was no use!
"I can't wake them up." Hermione said; she was standing by Kate, Ken. Mark and Jane. "I think Jacob must have bitten them, a mild bite not enough to kill but to send them into a coma."
Ron looked up. He knew this Hermione. The one who wouldn't give up, despite the odds. Her determination fuelled by anger and betrayal. Her brown eyes shone in the gloom, he could just make her tumble of dark curls and slight figure.
"Hermione." He said; he knew they had no chance, not without magic.
"No Ron! I won't give up!" She said fiercely! "There has to be a way!"
Ron stood up and walked towards her, "Maybe there isn't this time." He said.
"I don't believe I'm hearing this! Not from you! Never from you!" She said, her eyes snapping angrily, he felt he had just added to the betrayal that had already been piled upon her.
"I'm sorry." He said quietly, "I've examined all the possibilities and none will get us out of here."
"There has got to be a way." Hermione repeated determinedly.
Ron looked at her, she seemed so sure, it gave him desperate hope. Hope that they would get out of the situation alive, hope that he had not failed, and hope that she could still love him.
"You're right," He said slowly, "We can't give up. We didn't give up faced with Voldemort so we certainly can't give up in the face of a mad vampire."
Hermione smiled, "Not even with the odds against us?"
"No. Not even with the odds against us." He confirmed. "We have survived worst times than this."
He made himself move closer to her, and put his hand on her shoulder. She looked up, uncertainty suddenly flooding her features. He quickly took his hand away realising that he had made the wrong move but Hermione caught it and smiled up at him.
He smiled back, and squeezed her hand affectionately. Then her countenance failed and tears formed in her eyes.
*
Hermione felt a sudden rush of emotion attack her. Salty tears threatened to fall and did when he wrapped his arms around her. She buried her face in his chest not wanting him to see the tears.
How familiar it was to be in his arms, yet a thing of distant memories. How familiar to have those large hands stroke her hair reassuringly! How familiar to breath in his scent as if it were partly hers! How many times had she cried into his chest? How many times had she turned to him for comfort? How many times had she told herself that she would never again do so?
"I'm sorry," She heard him say.
She looked up at him, his perfect blue eyes filled with regret and adoration at the same time.
*
He hated himself, how could he have hurt her? It was his fault that her pretty face was stained with tears. If only he could make it right!
He tilted her chin making her look at him, taking a deep breath he said, "Look Hermione, I should never have chased you away. I was trying to hard to protect you and only hurt you. I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry too," She said her voice shaking;"I shouldn't have left, I should have understood! I."
He silenced her with a kiss.
* She kissed him back, realising just how much she had longed to do so. When they broke apart she smiled, her cheeks still wet with tears.
"I love you." He said.
She flung her arms around his neck, desperately happy despite their situation. "I love you too." She whispered.
*
A sudden rush of elation swarmed him. He clung onto Hermione, never wanting to let her go. She was where she belonged: in his arms. Their years apart no longer counted.
Then a groan brought him back down to Earth.
"Eilonwy, you're awake!" Hermione said, breaking away from Ron and rushing to relive Eilonwy of her bounds.
He followed her and knelt down beside the elf. "There's no way out." He told her, apologetically.
*
"Harry, Harry!" Oliver Wood called out to his team mate as they left the changing rooms after training.
"What?" Harry asked, he was distracted, he was worried about Eilonwy. Unbeknownst to his tow friends, Harry had started up a relationship with the beautiful elf.
"The paper! Oh Harry it's terrible!" Oliver cried brandishing a copy of the Daily Prophet.
Harry read the article: Isenguard Disappearances, a feeling of despair growing within him.
"Merlin's beard!" Harry exclaimed, "I have to do something!"
"What can you do?" Oliver asked.
"I don't know, but there are no more games till after Christmas, I can go." Harry said, a fierce resolve flickering in his green eyes.
"Then I'll come with you!" Oliver said, worried for his team mates and friends safety, Harry could be reckless when he was like that.
"Thank you."
*
Lavender Brown sighed wearily. She had arrived on the bleak isle of Orkney that morning and had not found out anything that she didn't already know.
She sat down in the dining room about to start eating when low and behold two Quidditch Stars walked into the room.
Harry Potter and Oliver Wood: now there was a story! People had stopped eating and stared at the new arrivals.
*
Hermione, Ron and Eilonwy sat in silence, each contemplating their situations. Eilonwy still felt as if her mind was sleeping, she could not think straight. Then a rave haired, green eyed, scar ridden face swam in her head and suddenly her thoughts became clear! "Elfish magic!" She exclaimed, "Of course I'm a little out of practice but dampening spells don't work against it!"
Hermione and Ron looked up at her, hopefully, "Do you think you can get a message to somebody outside, tell them where this cave is? And warn them about Jacob?" Hermione asked.
"Yes, where is this cave though?" Eilonwy asked.
"Up North Point Path, it looks like nothing, but there is a cave there." Hermione replied.
"Good luck," Ron said.
*
When Harry and Oliver had sat down with trays of steaming food, Lavender went to join them at their table.
They looked at her with surprise, "Lavender Brown?" Harry asked, "What are you doing here?"
"Fishing for a story." She replied smiling prettily, "I." But was cut off but a sudden blue light filling the room, it seemed to be emitted from the white menu board.
Then writing appeared on the board, and it was the menu.
HELP! Was written in a tidy handwriting.
"That's Eilonwy's writing!" Maya Farmone squealed.
Harry rushed over and seized one of the board pens, he wrote:
THIS IS HARRY POTTER: WHERE ARE YOU? IS RON AND HERMIONE THERE TOO?
The reply came quickly
HARRY? YES THEY ARE, AND SO IS RON'S TEAM. THE REST ARE DEAD, I'M SORRY EVERYBODY. WE ARE BEING KEPT IN A CAVE. THE ENTRENCE TO THE MAIN PART OF THE CAVE IS UP NORTH POINT PATH. IT LOOKS LIKE NOTHING BUT THERE IS A CAVE THERE.
"I know where that is." Draco Malfoy said, standing up. Harry was surprised to see tears in his eyes; apparently he had been friendly with one of the first to disappear.
WHO HAS YOU HELD HOSTAGE? Harry wrote.
JACOB DE WINTER! HE HAS BETRAYED US ALL!
Gasps met this revelation and Jacob who had been sitting in the corner of the room eating alone was seized. And so the rescue began.
*
The three conscious hostages waited anxiously. Sitting together on the clod stone floor Hermione snuggled up against Ron's chest. Eilonwy watched them, amused despite their situation.
Suddenly the sound of cracking stone could be heard and light filled their rocky prison.
Eilonwy blinked, the sudden light hurting her eyes, and for a moment that Jacob had returned to bite them. But once her vision re-focused she felt relief flood her, for her friends, Harry, Malfoy and a man she recognized from Quidditch Weekly entered the cave.
* "Harry!" Hermione cried running over to him and hugging her friend, "Oliver?"
"You haven't changed." Oliver remarked laughing.
"Thank Merlin, Harry I thought I was done for!" Ron said, walking over.
"It's Malfoy you can thank." Harry said, "He led us here."
Ron blinked, "Thank you Malfoy."
Malfoy sneered, "My pleasure," He said, insincerely.
Hermione and Eilonwy offered their reluctant thanks. Hermione noticed Harry's inquisitive but delighted look when she took Ron's arm and allowed him to lead her from their prison.
*
"Thank you," Eilonwy said a little shyly to the great Harry Potter whom she supposed was her boyfriend? Was that the word humans used?
"My pleasure," Harry said, but his remark, unlike the one Malfoy had made to Ron: was very, very sincere. He leaned down to kiss her, overjoyed when she returned it and snaked her elegant arms around his neck.
AN- This isn't the end. There's a few more chapters yet and possibly a sequel.
They must have sat there for hours, the gloom overwhelming like an intoxicating drug that slowed their senses. But all the time Ron was calculating, how to escape? His mind ran through a thousand possible plans, each discarded, each useless.
Never in his career as an auror had he hit upon such a stalemate. He knew Jacob would be worried and frantic, which would make him all the more dangerous. He still had his wand but Jacob's dampening spells had rendered them useless.
His team did not wake up but Ron knew they were alive for Jacob had taken the trouble to bind them. Hermione sat silent, frightened but determined and angry. Eilonwy was tearful, and tired, she had been trapped for a day and a half, eventually she slept, her breathing laboured and uneven.
Still Ron's mind was working overtime, there had to be a way out! He was so lost in thought that he didn't notice Hermione struggling till she was free of her bindings.
"How?" Ron asked incredulous.
"The twins taught us that trick, years ago, I'm surprised you didn't remember. Surely it's a useful skill in your line of work?" Hermione said.
"Oh, of course! I'd completely forgotten! Thank god the twins think it's useful to learn muggle tricks! Untie me too please."
Hermione did so and Ron stretched his aching muscles thankfully. Then they set to work going over the damp walls of the strange enclosed cave they were in, looking for cracks or a way out. None were to be found.
Defeated Ron groaned and slid down the wall burying his face in his hands. It was no use!
"I can't wake them up." Hermione said; she was standing by Kate, Ken. Mark and Jane. "I think Jacob must have bitten them, a mild bite not enough to kill but to send them into a coma."
Ron looked up. He knew this Hermione. The one who wouldn't give up, despite the odds. Her determination fuelled by anger and betrayal. Her brown eyes shone in the gloom, he could just make her tumble of dark curls and slight figure.
"Hermione." He said; he knew they had no chance, not without magic.
"No Ron! I won't give up!" She said fiercely! "There has to be a way!"
Ron stood up and walked towards her, "Maybe there isn't this time." He said.
"I don't believe I'm hearing this! Not from you! Never from you!" She said, her eyes snapping angrily, he felt he had just added to the betrayal that had already been piled upon her.
"I'm sorry." He said quietly, "I've examined all the possibilities and none will get us out of here."
"There has got to be a way." Hermione repeated determinedly.
Ron looked at her, she seemed so sure, it gave him desperate hope. Hope that they would get out of the situation alive, hope that he had not failed, and hope that she could still love him.
"You're right," He said slowly, "We can't give up. We didn't give up faced with Voldemort so we certainly can't give up in the face of a mad vampire."
Hermione smiled, "Not even with the odds against us?"
"No. Not even with the odds against us." He confirmed. "We have survived worst times than this."
He made himself move closer to her, and put his hand on her shoulder. She looked up, uncertainty suddenly flooding her features. He quickly took his hand away realising that he had made the wrong move but Hermione caught it and smiled up at him.
He smiled back, and squeezed her hand affectionately. Then her countenance failed and tears formed in her eyes.
*
Hermione felt a sudden rush of emotion attack her. Salty tears threatened to fall and did when he wrapped his arms around her. She buried her face in his chest not wanting him to see the tears.
How familiar it was to be in his arms, yet a thing of distant memories. How familiar to have those large hands stroke her hair reassuringly! How familiar to breath in his scent as if it were partly hers! How many times had she cried into his chest? How many times had she turned to him for comfort? How many times had she told herself that she would never again do so?
"I'm sorry," She heard him say.
She looked up at him, his perfect blue eyes filled with regret and adoration at the same time.
*
He hated himself, how could he have hurt her? It was his fault that her pretty face was stained with tears. If only he could make it right!
He tilted her chin making her look at him, taking a deep breath he said, "Look Hermione, I should never have chased you away. I was trying to hard to protect you and only hurt you. I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry too," She said her voice shaking;"I shouldn't have left, I should have understood! I."
He silenced her with a kiss.
* She kissed him back, realising just how much she had longed to do so. When they broke apart she smiled, her cheeks still wet with tears.
"I love you." He said.
She flung her arms around his neck, desperately happy despite their situation. "I love you too." She whispered.
*
A sudden rush of elation swarmed him. He clung onto Hermione, never wanting to let her go. She was where she belonged: in his arms. Their years apart no longer counted.
Then a groan brought him back down to Earth.
"Eilonwy, you're awake!" Hermione said, breaking away from Ron and rushing to relive Eilonwy of her bounds.
He followed her and knelt down beside the elf. "There's no way out." He told her, apologetically.
*
"Harry, Harry!" Oliver Wood called out to his team mate as they left the changing rooms after training.
"What?" Harry asked, he was distracted, he was worried about Eilonwy. Unbeknownst to his tow friends, Harry had started up a relationship with the beautiful elf.
"The paper! Oh Harry it's terrible!" Oliver cried brandishing a copy of the Daily Prophet.
Harry read the article: Isenguard Disappearances, a feeling of despair growing within him.
"Merlin's beard!" Harry exclaimed, "I have to do something!"
"What can you do?" Oliver asked.
"I don't know, but there are no more games till after Christmas, I can go." Harry said, a fierce resolve flickering in his green eyes.
"Then I'll come with you!" Oliver said, worried for his team mates and friends safety, Harry could be reckless when he was like that.
"Thank you."
*
Lavender Brown sighed wearily. She had arrived on the bleak isle of Orkney that morning and had not found out anything that she didn't already know.
She sat down in the dining room about to start eating when low and behold two Quidditch Stars walked into the room.
Harry Potter and Oliver Wood: now there was a story! People had stopped eating and stared at the new arrivals.
*
Hermione, Ron and Eilonwy sat in silence, each contemplating their situations. Eilonwy still felt as if her mind was sleeping, she could not think straight. Then a rave haired, green eyed, scar ridden face swam in her head and suddenly her thoughts became clear! "Elfish magic!" She exclaimed, "Of course I'm a little out of practice but dampening spells don't work against it!"
Hermione and Ron looked up at her, hopefully, "Do you think you can get a message to somebody outside, tell them where this cave is? And warn them about Jacob?" Hermione asked.
"Yes, where is this cave though?" Eilonwy asked.
"Up North Point Path, it looks like nothing, but there is a cave there." Hermione replied.
"Good luck," Ron said.
*
When Harry and Oliver had sat down with trays of steaming food, Lavender went to join them at their table.
They looked at her with surprise, "Lavender Brown?" Harry asked, "What are you doing here?"
"Fishing for a story." She replied smiling prettily, "I." But was cut off but a sudden blue light filling the room, it seemed to be emitted from the white menu board.
Then writing appeared on the board, and it was the menu.
HELP! Was written in a tidy handwriting.
"That's Eilonwy's writing!" Maya Farmone squealed.
Harry rushed over and seized one of the board pens, he wrote:
THIS IS HARRY POTTER: WHERE ARE YOU? IS RON AND HERMIONE THERE TOO?
The reply came quickly
HARRY? YES THEY ARE, AND SO IS RON'S TEAM. THE REST ARE DEAD, I'M SORRY EVERYBODY. WE ARE BEING KEPT IN A CAVE. THE ENTRENCE TO THE MAIN PART OF THE CAVE IS UP NORTH POINT PATH. IT LOOKS LIKE NOTHING BUT THERE IS A CAVE THERE.
"I know where that is." Draco Malfoy said, standing up. Harry was surprised to see tears in his eyes; apparently he had been friendly with one of the first to disappear.
WHO HAS YOU HELD HOSTAGE? Harry wrote.
JACOB DE WINTER! HE HAS BETRAYED US ALL!
Gasps met this revelation and Jacob who had been sitting in the corner of the room eating alone was seized. And so the rescue began.
*
The three conscious hostages waited anxiously. Sitting together on the clod stone floor Hermione snuggled up against Ron's chest. Eilonwy watched them, amused despite their situation.
Suddenly the sound of cracking stone could be heard and light filled their rocky prison.
Eilonwy blinked, the sudden light hurting her eyes, and for a moment that Jacob had returned to bite them. But once her vision re-focused she felt relief flood her, for her friends, Harry, Malfoy and a man she recognized from Quidditch Weekly entered the cave.
* "Harry!" Hermione cried running over to him and hugging her friend, "Oliver?"
"You haven't changed." Oliver remarked laughing.
"Thank Merlin, Harry I thought I was done for!" Ron said, walking over.
"It's Malfoy you can thank." Harry said, "He led us here."
Ron blinked, "Thank you Malfoy."
Malfoy sneered, "My pleasure," He said, insincerely.
Hermione and Eilonwy offered their reluctant thanks. Hermione noticed Harry's inquisitive but delighted look when she took Ron's arm and allowed him to lead her from their prison.
*
"Thank you," Eilonwy said a little shyly to the great Harry Potter whom she supposed was her boyfriend? Was that the word humans used?
"My pleasure," Harry said, but his remark, unlike the one Malfoy had made to Ron: was very, very sincere. He leaned down to kiss her, overjoyed when she returned it and snaked her elegant arms around his neck.
AN- This isn't the end. There's a few more chapters yet and possibly a sequel.