The Storm

Chapter 2

Coral Candy

CLAP

The loud rumble in the night sky, woke little Hermione Granger from her sleep. She'd been pulled away from the dream state she was in, a dream land where fairies, wizards and mermaids roamed the earth as well as humans. She blinked the signs of sleep away from her eyes and rubbed them tiredly, trying to work out what had caused her to wake. She could hear the rain clearly for her window was open, she watched on worriedly as the drops soaked the window seat and the storybook she had left there earlier. It was her favorite storybook and she didn't want it to become soaked. She climbed off of the bed and landed on the floor with a gentle thud. She dragged her doll on the floor behind her. The doll, which she had named Mary-Anne, was bigger than she, and a gift from her Aunt and Uncle who lived by the sea.

FLASH

The lightning startled the girl as she managed to see the fork piercing down into the forest not far from her home. She stood open mouthed staring out the window before she came to her senses and dropped her doll and clasped her tiny hands over her ears. She knew well enough to know that when there was lightning, there was thunder. She knew that Storms were only geographical but there was a terror about them that made her shiver inside. There was something particularly terrifying about this one. The fact that I was so close and right outside her bedroom window made a difference.

CLAP

She had been able to count the seconds in between the flash and the clap, she knew it wasn't short enough to really worry though. She ran forward to the window and grabbed the ledge to pull it down. It was stuck fast. She stood on the drenched cushion to try and push it, it still didn't move.

FLASH

She gave a startled squeal and fell backwards onto the floor, as she was only four; there was not much noise as she landed firmly on the carpeted rug. She felt tears spring to the backs of her eyes as the pain penetrated through her. It wasn't a hard fall or a very painful one, it was the fact that she was four and very small for her age that made it hurt so much. She scrambled backwards to hold Mary-Anne and climb back into bed.

CLAP

Her cry of terror echoed throughout the house, she desperately clinged to the bed covers trying to pull herself up, the bed was much too high for a girl of her age, but her mother had insisted on it, saying she was too big for a child's bed. She wished her mother had never said anything at this point as she was struggling to get up. When she at last did, she dived under the covers in fright; she could still hear the thunder in her mind, the loudest rumble yet. The storm was getting closer, she could tell, she was extremely clever for her age. As she clutched Mary-Anne with one hand to her chest, she gripped the bed spread with the others. The farm animal's bedspread that matched her curtains that had not been pulled closed. They had ducks and cows smiling up at her that usually calmed her if she waked from a bad dream.

FLASH

She remembered back to that afternoon when the storm had started as a light shower of rain, causing disappointment among the Granger family as they had planned a BBQ for their friends and close relatives. She had sat on her grandfather's lap inside as they watched the rain trickle down the window and into the grass. Her mother and father had retired to their room a while ago and now Hermione was sure she was the only one awake in the midst of the terrible weather.

CLAP

The rumble was louder than the others had been and she dropped both the bed spread and the doll from her hand and clamped them to the side of her fact and shut her eyes tightly in the hope it might ease the fear of the storm. It didn't for she could still hear the thunder quite clearly. Tears trickled down the sides of her fact as she brought her knees to her chest and slowly began rocking back and forth, humming to herself.

FLASH

After this clap of thunder, an almighty crash pierced her ears and she opened her eyes, wide with fright.

CLAP

The thunder and lightning were happening at almost the same time now and Hermione knew that the storm was closer that ever. The rain had soaked the carpet and the toys on her windowsill and the sheer curtain that normally shielded her from the outside world was hanging off of its pegs at the top of the window. She watched the wind tug at the pegs and thread until it could no longer hang on and the slight bit of material flew out of the window and into the night.

FLASH

The door suddenly slammed open and her mother came running in, still dressed in her nightclothes, she took a look at the window and the missing curtain and flew towards the bed and at Hermione. Hermione grasped her mother around the neck hugging her tightly as she allowed her mother to pick her up and grab the toy doll as well. She took Hermione into the hall and down the stairs where her father was fumbling with his car keys fully dressed. There were two plastic carrier bags sitting on the floor and Hermione could see they were filled with various items such as clothes, a torch, blankets and hastily shoved in items of food.

CLAP

Her father looked up as they approached him, he silently took Hermione from Mrs. Granger and placed her on his hip while he continued to search for the right key on his key chain.

"Daddy?" Hermione timidly asked, "Daddy, where are we going?"

"Shh, we're going on a trip sweetheart."

She looked towards her mother who was now fully dressed as well, she handed Hermione a box of cereal and her father some money and sheets of paper.

"Mummy, what are we going to do with the cereal, we don't have any milk."

"I know darling, we can't take the milk, we don't have any and we are just going to stay with your Grandma and Grandpa's for a little bit, we don't know how long the storm will last for but the TV said it would be like this for a while and issued a storm warning along with a flood warning too.

"Oh okay." Hermione said quietly, taking Mary-Anne from her mother as she was offered her.

"You ready?" Hermione's father asked, more to her mother that she but Hermione nodded fiercely anyways. "Good, good."

He opened the door and the three of them ran out to their unadventurous Mercedes that was sitting on the driveway. Hermione couldn't help but think that even though her father was immensely proud of the car that it was a bit unsuitable for an expedition like the one she was about to go on.

A.N Sorry I took this long to update, I kept losing Hermione's POV for this story and eventually gave up on it until today when I found a half finished version so I thought I might as well complete it and update. Please review; I love reviews like McAdams loves Gosling! Or whatever way rhyme went.

Hope you all are well;

LJ
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