Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from Harry Potter. Original characters play minimal roles.
CHAPTER 4
"Ron, have you seen my invisibility cloak?" Harry whispered as the two best friends sat down for dinner.
"Huh? Oh. No I haven't." Ron replied, turning around after bonking Seamus hard on the head. "What, is it missing or something?"
"Yeah..."
"Well, you probably just stuck it somewhere in our dorm." Ron said absentmindedly, using his fork to create simple pictures of ferrets in his mashed potatoes. Than he stopped to admired his handiwork before stabbing them callously and devouring them.
"No, it isn't there." Harry said agitatedly while massaging his temples. " The last time we used it was when we snuck to the kitchens and than went to Hermione's room."
"Well than, maybe Hermione has it." Ron shrugged as he attacked his roast chicken.
"Yeah, but we haven't seen her all day!" Harry answered unhappily while poking at his food. He nudged the morsels randomly on his plate, finding his appetite had somewhat left him.
"I know." Ron agreed sullenly. "You don't suppose she's been in the library for all this time?"
"Nah. I mean she said she'll meet us at The Three Broomsticks but we never saw her."
"Also," Harry continued, his brows drawn together. . "Ginny and Parvati couldn't find her and you know that fifth year girl she's tutoring? Well, she told me that Hermione never showed up."
Ron gulped a swig of pumpkin juice and glanced around worriedly. "Do you think we should look for her after dinner?"
Harry nodded.
"Yeah..." Ron reasoned, chewing thoughtfully into his corn. " But you know how girls are. They disappear somewhere and than, bam...they pop up again."
Harry grinned and gave his friend an amused look. "Disappear and than pop up again?"
Ron shrugged, than shifted in his seat uncomfortably. "Yeeeah, but I gotta say, this is a kinda weird...are you sure no one has seen her?"
:-:-:-:
"Where in the eight regions of hell are we in?" Xavier spat after elbowing someone hard to untangle himself from the rest of the group.
He scanned the area quickly, "We weren't here before."
"Brilliant deduction, Sherlock." Hermione said sarcastically from her position on the ground as she rubbed ruefully at a recently bruised, elbowed area on her arm. Maria brushed off dirt from her cloak and shot a confused look at Hermione when she heard the word 'Sherlock'. Hermione also caught the Slytherin heir glancing in her direction curiously. Luckily, he made no comment and instead calmly plucked the small compass out of a dazed Steve's grasp and examined it.
"Odd. It's a portkey." He said finally.
Everyone stared.
"What was a damn portkey doing in the middle of nowhere?" Xavier said irately.
Stella shrugged. "Who knows?" She frowned at the dirt all over her coat and said bitterly, "Uggh, the fact that we're stuck in the middle of Merlin knows where is the problem."
Hermione who was as surprised as everyone else, raised her eyebrows. "Why won't it work if we touch it again?" She blurted out as she stood up.
"What do mean?" Stella said irritably, swerving her eyes coldly towards Hermione. "Everyone knows that a portkey can only transport you somewhere and that you have to use a different one to go back!"
Hermione was startled at this bit of information, but quickly covered her expression of surprise and said hastily, "Oh, that's what I meant." So that's why it didn't transport Tom Riddle!
Xavier snorted as he surveyed the forest-like area around them but Tom glanced again at Hermione, a thoughtful look on his face.
Steve looked around nervously, as if awaiting someone's wrath to unleash on him. As soon as he realized that no one was blaming him, he asked hestiantly, "So... what are we going to do next?"
Good question.
Hermione scrunched her eyebrows in a moment of thought when a idea came to her. She quickly pulled out her wand, the smooth wood gave her a sense of comfort as she gripped it firmly and said, "Point me!"
Nothing.
"Point me!" Hermione said again, this time a bit louder.
Nothing. Hermione's eyes widened with surprise. Why isn't it working?
Tom Riddle slowly took out his wand and said clearly, "Accio wood!"
Nothing.
"Parcia Firna!"
"Nom Delien!"
Difficult spells, simple and average ones, jinxes, charms all tumbled hastily out of their lips, none with any effect. For a brief moment, Hermione and the Tom locked eyes, than the Slytherin heir smoothly pivoted to face the rest of the group.
"It appears that this area is protected from any type of spell...so our wands won't be any use."
"What!?!?!" exclaimed Maria and Xavier simultaneously, both flabbergasted.
Everyone went silent, taking time to sort their thoughts out.
"Well then...does anyone have any ideas?" Steve asked desperately, looking from one person to another.
Stella shot him a nasty look. "This is all your fault. If you haven't been so stupid, we would be back in our cabins and--"
"I hate to break the argument," Tom Riddle interrupted calmly. "...but it is nearing sunset and we need to come up with some solution quick."
They all stood in a depressing and rather awkward silence.
"Perhaps...some of us should stay here and the others should walk in separate directions and see if we're near any familiar area, the beach or any of the professors." Maria spoke up hesitantly.
Xavier glanced at Tom.
Tom Riddle casually scanned the thick forest and nodded. "Xavier and I will go." He took a step forward than paused. He reached into his bag and grabbed a bundle of white ribbons from a container. Than, he handed half to Xavier.
Xavier blinked, staring at the bundle in his hands blankly.
"Tie them to the trees, so we're know how to get back." Tom explained as he started walking away from the group.
Xaiver nodded and than without a backwards glance, whirled around in his swish of robes and cloak and left the opposite way.
:-:-:-:
"I got ourselves some firewood." Steve said gruffly as he staggered towards the three girls with the huge amount of weight on his arms.
"Thanks!" Hermione said happily, finally being able to create a small fire with the firestone and wood. She glanced around, her features scrunched in a thoughtful frown. She turned to Maria and voiced her thoughts. "Isn't it peculiar that this place is so clear of trees and big rocks? It's as if someone had camped here before."
Maria took a quick look around, "You're right!" She said in a surprised tone.
"It's getting awfully dark..." Stella suddenly commented worriedly as she searched for anything useful in her bag. "They haven't returned."
Hermione tilted her head slightly to see only a few rays of red-orange sunlight in the increasingly darkening sky. To her surprise, she suddenly did feel a slight unease for them. She would never admit it, but she felt a tinge of worry for both Xavier and Tom Riddle.
"I just thought of something. What if this isn't a portkey and our travel was caused by something else?" Maria asked curiously, squinting hard at the broken compass in her hands.
Steve shrugged, "Who knows?"
"Who cares!" Stella snapped. "I don't give a damn on how we got to this rat hole, I want to find a way back!!!!"
Hermione ignored her and turned to Maria. "I was thinking that since it is so dark and all, we ought to prepare for the night incase no one finds us."
Steve coughed. "Sorry. I accidentally left mines on the tree stump...where we were before we got here... I guess I'll help Maria."
Stella glared, her face contorting into a ugly mask and then she tossed her hair while making a disgusted sound. She walked over to the edge of their camp and sat grumpily on a rock hidden almost in the shadows, her eyes flashing brightly with a touch of ill-concealed hatred.
Maria smiled kindly and beckoned Steve over to where she sat cross-legged while dumping all of her bag's contents onto the ground. Hermione reached into her bag and pulled out two small pocketknives. She smiled, pleased. Than she pulled out two tablecloths, which she realized, could actually be some use in more than one way.
"Are any of you guys hungry?" Maria suddenly inquired. "I've got some biscuits...my mother made some. She thought I would need it..." Than she trailed off, a homesick look on her face.
Hermione glanced at the ground as she tried hard not to think of Hogwarts, Harry and Ron, her parents and most importantly, her time. She wondered silently what might happen if she were never to go back for the thought chilled her immensely. She huddled near the fire to further warm herself. She sat, staring at the dancing flames until she felt something soft and round pressed into her palm. She turned to see a biscuit and Maria smiling at her.
"Eat." Maria gestured flimsily and than walked towards Steve and Stella.
Hermione stared the biscuit, her stomach already growling with hunger. She uncrossed her arms from her chest and without further ado, she ate it. She than pulled out her wand, tracing the wood with her fingers. It was once a source of security, a way to protect herself, but now it seemed useless. She shivered a bit and stuffed her hands deeper into her cloak pocket when Stella suddenly gave a happy yell.
"Tom, Xavier!" Stella shrieked with glee as she rushed to greet two hazy figures approaching their area.
Both of the Slytherins looked extremely tired and from the look of their faces, their journey hadn't been a very successful one. Stella looked expectantly at them both but then Xavier plopped on a mossy log near the fire and spat, "There was nothing."
"Nothing?" Maria echoed skeptically. Steve who before was sitting calmly beside her, exhaled sharply and looking up from his biscuit, horrified.
"Nothing." Tom replied grimly, the orange light of the campfire reflecting color over his pale visage.
"Nothing except a pond." Tom continued, his demeanor calm, collected, and in the depths of his dark brown eyes no emotion could be traced. "Though, I didn't go across."
Hermione watched as he sat down idly, his hair stirred from the slight wind and drooped unappealingly against his perspirating forehead. The Slytherin heir swallowed and let out a smoky breath that rose into the air while his eyes blinked continuously from tiredness. He then turned and glanced around warily, "We need to be careful around here. Once or twice while I was walking, I'm quite sure I heard some rather heavy movements belonging to a pack of some type of animal."
Xavier nodded bleakly. "I did too and-" He paused, staring angrily at the fire. "-none of the professors are around."
In the pearly grayness of the moonlight, the group sat silhouetted against the dim light as they lapsed into silence. The sky suddenly became darker causing Hermione to glance up and see the drifting clouds covering the small crescent moon. A cold wind brushed up against her pallid face, causing the ends of her curly, brown hair to scatter around her face and her cheeks to flush. She rubbed her fingers together, unconsiously moving closer to the only source of heat.
"We will have to stay here for tonight." The Slytherin heir finally stated, confirming everyone's fears.
Next Time: Back at Hogwarts, Harry and Ron finds out Hermione is no where to be seen, professors have no idea what happened...and then the duo decides to do a little investigating of their own.
A/N: Back again. I can't believe I didn't update for such a LONG time! Wow. Well, I finally got chapter 4 up and I promise the next chapter will come out quicker because I'm nearly done writing it. :) Also, you might have noticed that I have changed the title to what I believe is much suitable one.
A couple of people have asked me if this story was going to be a 'romance'. Though the romance is definitely not in the chapters now, I promise there will be. The original characters in the fic have minimal roles so Tom and Hermione action won't be squashed away. :)
Cookies to: Taren, Emily, Lady Evanescence, Bluberry-Gurl, cutemouse, Only I, Cheri, Taurusette, Rea, someonelse, Zaralya, kas, Moon Archer, Artemis MoonClaw, Merja, and Anigen.
Thanks, your reviews are awesome!