CHAPTER 10
Oh No
Hermione was sitting in her mother's car, driving down the highway. Her mother wasn't speaking, almost like Hermione wasn't even there. It seemed to be very late at night, and the time on the dashboard read 1:36 AM. Hermione wondered why they were driving so late at night, and really didn't remember getting into the car with her mother in the first place.
Her mother rubbed her eyes and yawned. She looked to be in her pajamas, and looked very tired. Hermione really didn't think that she should be driving, so she offered to trade places. Her mother completely ignored her, once again as if she weren't there. Hermione sighed and stared out her window. The highway they were on looked very familiar. It was the highway on the way to Harry and Hermione's house.
All of a sudden, her mother started coughing. She took her hands off of the wheel and covered her mouth, as the car swerved to the other side of the road. A bright light came around the bend as a large truck rolled towards them. It honked its horn and Hermione's mother swerved back to the other side of the road. She ran off of the highway and into a group of shrub lining the road. Her wheels got caught around the vines and braches and turned her car onto the side.
The windows were all broken and her mother was bleeding slightly from the lip. The back end of the car was still on the road, probably leaking gas.
"Mum?" asked Hermione, trying to reach out to her mother. It was as if she couldn't move. Her mother once again acted as though she couldn't hear her. "Mom, I don't know what I did to make you ignore me like this, but look where we are." She said, once again attempting to reach out to her mother. Hermione could now smell the scent of gasoline strongly. She tried to reach for the door handle to climb out, but she still couldn't move.
Hermione heard the faint sound of music. Maybe that meant someone was coming their way. The sound was approaching fast, and it didn't sound as if they were planning on slowing down any time soon. Hermione attempted to call out to them, but they apparently only noticed there was the back end of a car in front of them when they hit it. It was another truck, which swung around, causing the car to flip over and slide into a tree on the other side of the highway. This surprisingly did not hurt Hermione. But her mother was crying and bleeding from her upper brow.
"Dear God," she said. "Please let me live. I just want to see my family again. I want to meet my grandchild." She sobbed. "Let me live, God. Don't do it for me. Do it for my family, God. Please..." then the bed of the truck swung around once more and rammed the tree through the top of the car, trapping her mother in her seat.
Hermione looked down only to see that there was a branch ticking into her mother stomach.
"No!" she shrieked, once again wanting so badly to reach over to her. She watched her mother take her last breaths, and die.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Hermione woke up and screamed. Harry sat bolt upright, baffled and shaken.
"Wha-what happened?" he asked groggily.
"She's gonna...she's gonna get killed. I have to call her, tell her not to leave the house-"
"Hermione what are you talking about?"
"My mother. She's going to get in a car accident."
"What?" he asked, utterly confused. Hermione hurried over to the phone in the corner of the room and dialed her parents' number. Her very tired-sounding father answered it after about four rings.
"Hello?"
"Daddy! Daddy, keep Mum in the house, whatever you do!"
"Hermione?"
"Where's Mum?"
"She's right here. Do you want to talk to her?"
"Yes, please." It took him a second to hand the phone over.
"Hermione, Dear, what's the matter?" asked her mother's voice.
"Don't leave the house ever again. Ok, Mum? Never again...well, at least not in a car."
"Hermione, are you ok? Do I need to come over?"
"No!" she replied quickly.
"Hermione, I'm coming over." Hermione looked at the clock on the wall, which read 1 AM.
"Mum, please."
"Good-bye Hermione, I'll be over in about forty-five minutes." And with that, she hung up. Hermione threw the phone at the wall and flipped over the table it had been sitting on. Harry hurried over to her just as she was about to throw a picture of her mother at the door. She dropped it onto the floor as she hugged her and the glass shattered into many pieces. Hermione just sobbed in Harry's arms. It was like she had already lost her mother.
"Shhh, it'll be ok. It'll be just fine." He cooed, kissing her forehead.
"I've got a feeling, Harry. A feeling in my gut that I just can't ignore. I was supposed to be the one to stop her...but now I'm the one that made her get into that car and get on that highway and die."
"Hermione, what are you talking about?"
"I had a dream. A dream like my mother was on her way to our house around 1:30 in the morning, and she got into a car accident. And all I can remember feeling that whole time was angry, because she wouldn't listen to me. But it turns out I wasn't really there at all..."
"But, Hermione, that's just a dream."
"But this was so real. I could smell her car leaking gas, and I felt the impact of the car on the tree, and...and...she died, Harry. I watched her die." Harry had nothing to say to this.
It was now 1:30 and Hermione was pacing around the bedroom.
"In six minutes my mother is going to be run off the road by a truck, and then all hell will break loose...where the hell is she?!"
"Hermione, she said she'd be here in about forty-five minutes, right?"
"Right..."
"It's only been thirty minutes, just calm down. She'll be here in fifteen minutes and everything will be fine."
"No she won't be here in fifteen minutes." Just then there was a knock on the door. Hermione rushed out of the room and ran to the front door. Her mother was standing on the doorstep drenched from the rain outside. She flung the door open and hugged her mother with all her might.
"What's the matter with you, Hermione? You act as if I died and came back to life."
"In a way you did." Her mother seemed a little confused at this, but Hermione didn't care. "You're early."
"Yes, well, mothers who worry try their best to hurry." Hermione smiled and kissed her mother on the cheek.
"I love you, Mum."
"I love you, too. Is there any chance that I can stay here tonight? I don't feel like being out on the road now. I'm afraid I might go to sleep at the wheel." Just then her mother let out a loud cough. Hermione's eyes widened.
"How about Harry and I drive you back tomorrow?"
"That'll be fine, dear. Where's the phone? I need to call your father and tell him I'm staying." Hermione took her mother to the kitchen and handed her the phone. She walked back up the stairs to fix up a room for her mother. Her mother wasn't dead. It had all been just a dream. Or, perhaps, her mother hadn't been killed in the accident because she had been hurrying over. If that was true, Hermione really had saved her life.
Oh No
Hermione was sitting in her mother's car, driving down the highway. Her mother wasn't speaking, almost like Hermione wasn't even there. It seemed to be very late at night, and the time on the dashboard read 1:36 AM. Hermione wondered why they were driving so late at night, and really didn't remember getting into the car with her mother in the first place.
Her mother rubbed her eyes and yawned. She looked to be in her pajamas, and looked very tired. Hermione really didn't think that she should be driving, so she offered to trade places. Her mother completely ignored her, once again as if she weren't there. Hermione sighed and stared out her window. The highway they were on looked very familiar. It was the highway on the way to Harry and Hermione's house.
All of a sudden, her mother started coughing. She took her hands off of the wheel and covered her mouth, as the car swerved to the other side of the road. A bright light came around the bend as a large truck rolled towards them. It honked its horn and Hermione's mother swerved back to the other side of the road. She ran off of the highway and into a group of shrub lining the road. Her wheels got caught around the vines and braches and turned her car onto the side.
The windows were all broken and her mother was bleeding slightly from the lip. The back end of the car was still on the road, probably leaking gas.
"Mum?" asked Hermione, trying to reach out to her mother. It was as if she couldn't move. Her mother once again acted as though she couldn't hear her. "Mom, I don't know what I did to make you ignore me like this, but look where we are." She said, once again attempting to reach out to her mother. Hermione could now smell the scent of gasoline strongly. She tried to reach for the door handle to climb out, but she still couldn't move.
Hermione heard the faint sound of music. Maybe that meant someone was coming their way. The sound was approaching fast, and it didn't sound as if they were planning on slowing down any time soon. Hermione attempted to call out to them, but they apparently only noticed there was the back end of a car in front of them when they hit it. It was another truck, which swung around, causing the car to flip over and slide into a tree on the other side of the highway. This surprisingly did not hurt Hermione. But her mother was crying and bleeding from her upper brow.
"Dear God," she said. "Please let me live. I just want to see my family again. I want to meet my grandchild." She sobbed. "Let me live, God. Don't do it for me. Do it for my family, God. Please..." then the bed of the truck swung around once more and rammed the tree through the top of the car, trapping her mother in her seat.
Hermione looked down only to see that there was a branch ticking into her mother stomach.
"No!" she shrieked, once again wanting so badly to reach over to her. She watched her mother take her last breaths, and die.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Hermione woke up and screamed. Harry sat bolt upright, baffled and shaken.
"Wha-what happened?" he asked groggily.
"She's gonna...she's gonna get killed. I have to call her, tell her not to leave the house-"
"Hermione what are you talking about?"
"My mother. She's going to get in a car accident."
"What?" he asked, utterly confused. Hermione hurried over to the phone in the corner of the room and dialed her parents' number. Her very tired-sounding father answered it after about four rings.
"Hello?"
"Daddy! Daddy, keep Mum in the house, whatever you do!"
"Hermione?"
"Where's Mum?"
"She's right here. Do you want to talk to her?"
"Yes, please." It took him a second to hand the phone over.
"Hermione, Dear, what's the matter?" asked her mother's voice.
"Don't leave the house ever again. Ok, Mum? Never again...well, at least not in a car."
"Hermione, are you ok? Do I need to come over?"
"No!" she replied quickly.
"Hermione, I'm coming over." Hermione looked at the clock on the wall, which read 1 AM.
"Mum, please."
"Good-bye Hermione, I'll be over in about forty-five minutes." And with that, she hung up. Hermione threw the phone at the wall and flipped over the table it had been sitting on. Harry hurried over to her just as she was about to throw a picture of her mother at the door. She dropped it onto the floor as she hugged her and the glass shattered into many pieces. Hermione just sobbed in Harry's arms. It was like she had already lost her mother.
"Shhh, it'll be ok. It'll be just fine." He cooed, kissing her forehead.
"I've got a feeling, Harry. A feeling in my gut that I just can't ignore. I was supposed to be the one to stop her...but now I'm the one that made her get into that car and get on that highway and die."
"Hermione, what are you talking about?"
"I had a dream. A dream like my mother was on her way to our house around 1:30 in the morning, and she got into a car accident. And all I can remember feeling that whole time was angry, because she wouldn't listen to me. But it turns out I wasn't really there at all..."
"But, Hermione, that's just a dream."
"But this was so real. I could smell her car leaking gas, and I felt the impact of the car on the tree, and...and...she died, Harry. I watched her die." Harry had nothing to say to this.
It was now 1:30 and Hermione was pacing around the bedroom.
"In six minutes my mother is going to be run off the road by a truck, and then all hell will break loose...where the hell is she?!"
"Hermione, she said she'd be here in about forty-five minutes, right?"
"Right..."
"It's only been thirty minutes, just calm down. She'll be here in fifteen minutes and everything will be fine."
"No she won't be here in fifteen minutes." Just then there was a knock on the door. Hermione rushed out of the room and ran to the front door. Her mother was standing on the doorstep drenched from the rain outside. She flung the door open and hugged her mother with all her might.
"What's the matter with you, Hermione? You act as if I died and came back to life."
"In a way you did." Her mother seemed a little confused at this, but Hermione didn't care. "You're early."
"Yes, well, mothers who worry try their best to hurry." Hermione smiled and kissed her mother on the cheek.
"I love you, Mum."
"I love you, too. Is there any chance that I can stay here tonight? I don't feel like being out on the road now. I'm afraid I might go to sleep at the wheel." Just then her mother let out a loud cough. Hermione's eyes widened.
"How about Harry and I drive you back tomorrow?"
"That'll be fine, dear. Where's the phone? I need to call your father and tell him I'm staying." Hermione took her mother to the kitchen and handed her the phone. She walked back up the stairs to fix up a room for her mother. Her mother wasn't dead. It had all been just a dream. Or, perhaps, her mother hadn't been killed in the accident because she had been hurrying over. If that was true, Hermione really had saved her life.